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A Word of Caution: As the title indicates, this story contains elements of soft vore (an act where a living being is swallowed whole and alive by another), along with some suspenseful situations. If you follow me by this point this should be nothing new, but if you stumble upon this from elsewhere, please be aware of this before reading. If you like vore, then by all means, enjoy the story. If you don't specifically care for it, consider yourself warned if you do choose to read anyway, though I hope that the story itself should be something to appreciate anyway. If you outright hate the concept, then don't complain to me if you choose to read further and don't like what you see.

Drachenfutter (German): An idiomatic expression, translated as "dragon's food"; the phrase refers to a gift one gives to a romantic partner that they know is angry with them, with the intent to try to patch things up.

While this is typically an idiom, not meant to be taken literally... Sometimes it happens that it works just as well as such...

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I was afraid. Terrified, even. I knew I'd screwed up big time that night. It was just an innocent mistake, but she wouldn't forgive me so easily. And honestly she'd be right not to. What I'd done... There were things you could mess up and get away with. That hadn't been one of them... I gulped nervously, standing outside the entrance to our home, the opening looming ominously before me. I couldn't put it off any longer. I had to talk to her. And yet... what could I say to her right now?

You're probably reading this thinking "Well, what could possibly be that bad? I've apologized to my husband/wife/spouse/significant other plenty of times, and it can be hard, but what's the worst she can do to you?"

If so, you're probably not a human who's in love with a dragon.

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My name is Markus. If you saw me on the streets in town, or in the tavern, you'd think I was just any other guy. And for the most part I am. I'm not really an incredibly strong man, at least not enough so to be notable for it. And I'm not that smart either. Clearly I'm not, if I got myself into this fix... But even without anything about me that's particularly notable, I ended up all but betrothed to a dragoness. I still don't entirely know how it happened... What I do know is that when I'd gone to propose to Franziska, the woman I loved, I found that she had just accepted a proposal from another man named Oskar, and she wasn't willing to turn him down in favor of me. I'd run off after that, not really worrying where I was going. When I'd grown tired I had found myself out in the woods, alone, far from town, or from anyone I knew. Then I felt the box with the ring I'd bought for her in my hand, remembered her rejection, and hurled it as hard as I could into the darkness. I didn't care how much it had cost me, how much it had been a waste to buy, or that I could have kept it and used it later when I met another woman. All I could think of was getting her as far behind me as possible.

And then... she'd appeared, out of the darkness. I'd thrown the ring into a cave in a nearby cliff wall, and from the cave a gigantic dragon had emerged. "And what have we here...?" she'd asked in a surprisingly smooth voice. "Were you trying to give me something?" She was holding the box in one clawed hand, in what seemed almost an impossible thing for her to do with how much larger she was than it. She opened it and looked inside, gasping slightly. The ring sparkled even with the lack of light, its beauty sure to captivate anybody (or so the jeweler had said to me when I'd bought it). "A ring...? Were you just wanting to donate this to my treasure hoard? I appreciate it if that's what you wanted to do. ...Or were you attempting to confess your undying love to me?" She grinned almost mockingly, and I couldn't even quiver in my shock and fright. "Er, well, it was meant to be an engagement ring, but..." Her grin turned to her own look of surprise. "Hmmm... A human proposing to me...? Now that is unusual... Especially since I've never seen you before tonight. But... you do look rather cute. And it'd be fun to have a human as a partner..." Before I could do anything to respond or back my way out of it, she'd smiled gently at me. "I accept. What is your name, little human? Mine is Katarina, and I think you'll make a great husband for me. And if you don't... Well, I don't have much to lose with that. If you're not up to the task..." She grinned, her sharp, long teeth flashing in the moonlight. "Let's just say I'll have a free snack."

And that was it. I hadn't had a chance to argue; Katarina had swept me up in a surprisingly gentle claw and carried me back to her cave. And from that moment I'd been hers. And somehow... I didn't mind. Her cave was now my home as much as it was hers; I barely spent time at my own house anymore. Not that she'd be able to visit me there. And she was able to keep it surprisingly warm, and protect me from the elements in her own ways. And the centerpiece of her cave was the treasure hoard. Piles of gold, jewelry, and other such things filled the back of her cave; she'd collected it all in her long lifespan and guarded it carefully. And she'd added my engagement ring to the top of one of the piles, and given me a strict message: I could use a few gold coins here or there to purchase something, so long as I didn't take anything else from her hoard. The gold coins weren't important; they were shiny, and she liked having a lot of them, but she'd always be able to find more. But the jewels, the armor and weapons, and other things like that... Those were harder to replace, and a source of more pride to her. So I wasn't entitled to use them in the same way I could just take some of the coins. ...I should have listened to her warning more closely.

In any case, I'd become welcome in her cave, a luxury few if any humans could ever claim to have received. She even enjoyed my presence, once I got used to her and wasn't too intimidated to do anything but stare in awe at her. (Not that she minded that, either...) But I never expected to truly fall in love with her, not at first. I'd proposed purely by accident; I'd never met her, or even seen any dragons before that night. I didn't even truly believe they were real before I'd seen her. ...So how could I expect to truly love her, having met her like that? And yet... I'd become attached to her out of more than fear, slowly but surely. The initial motivation for staying by her side, fear of turning from a lover into a meal, gave way to a strange sense of awe at her presence. It was subtle at first, easily mistaken for the same intimidation I'd felt on first seeing her. But slowly, as days and weeks turned into months, I began to notice a different feeling. I could see that she carried herself with a sense of grace, a powerful poise that no human woman could possibly compare to. She was... beautiful, in a way. And I was proud of her, proud to be hers, and proud that she let herself be mine. I knew that some day she might grow bored of me, or anger at some slight, and then she'd be single and I'd be dead. That's just how it would have to go, with a relationship like ours. And yet... I somehow accepted it. I no longer cared, no longer was looking for a way out of her grasp... I was comfortable within it.

This change hadn't been lost on her either. She was initially amused at my discomfort; in some part of her mind, she probably knew I hadn't meant to propose to her, and didn't care. I couldn't see what she saw in me, but something had convinced her to take me under her wing. And as I became more genuinely interested in her, she'd been all too happy to let our relationship blossom. She'd told me about herself, her past, and I'd done the same. Eventually she even started letting me go out with her, flying through the midnight sky as she hunted for food or for treasure to take back to her hoard. It began to feel like she really cared about me, beyond just being a plaything. But the question remained... Had she had other humans she'd "loved" like me, just toys in her long lifespan that came and went, her affection an act to make things more fun? ...Or was at least this time real? I couldn't tell, and almost didn't care. I was hers, and I accepted that whatever ending she desired for me, I'd be helpless to prevent no matter how much I fought or fled. She'd effortlessly track me down, and if I was ever vulnerable... No matter what I feared she might do to me escape was out of the question.

So the time passed. And I could now genuinely say I was truly in love with her. And soon the night came that I felt the crisp air, just like when we'd first met - it had been exactly a year. I had decided to go into town, and try to get something nice for her to add to her treasure hoard, as an anniversary present and as a sign that my love for her this time was true. I should have just taken some gold coins, like I was always welcome to, and gone to the jeweler's to buy whatever he had that was shiny and beautiful for her. And I'd tried to do just that. But my first mistake was stopping at the tavern. It wasn't unusual for me, or anyone, really. I didn't go to get drunk, just to enjoy a pint of ale in celebration of the evening. And then... Oskar walked into the pub, a sullen expression on his face. Curious, I approached him at the bar. "Hey, man. Why the long face?"

He'd sighed, almost melodramatically, as he ordered a drink. "Oh... Well, to be honest... Tonight would have been one year since I got engaged to Franziska. Only... Well, she dumped me about a week ago. She'd been nice for a while, sure, but... Something happened with her lately. She always seemed tired. And then she just... she said she couldn't take it anymore. I... What did I do wrong, Markus?" He stopped. "Markus...? Oh, that's right. You were the one she turned down that day. Was the ring you gave her not good enough?" He smirked, his overworked sorrow vanishing in an instant. Even when upset, he could somehow be the most insufferable person in the town.

I knew that what he'd said shouldn't have bothered me. But between how out of nowhere his barb was, and the small but still potent amount of alcohol I'd consumed, it struck a nerve. "What are you implying? The ring I gave her was the most gorgeous one money could buy. She only picked you because you got to her first, and she couldn't bear to break it off with you for someone else on the same day."

He kept smirking. "Perhaps you're right. But... Well, she gave me back the one I bought her. Perhaps we can have a friendly wager...? You bring the ring you got for her, and I bring the one I gave her. We compare them, and whoever's ring was the more beautiful will get both. Sound like a deal?"

In hindsight, I should have known he was up to something. I really should have noticed that he was too confident with himself for how upset he'd been acting before. Or how he kept smirking as he proposed his bet. But I was too blinded by my anger and slight drunkenness to think clearly. And I knew that Katarina would be out on a hunting trip right now. And while I was confident my ring was the better one, the idea of getting one free from this bet was too good to pass up. Maybe it would make a good anniversary gift. "I accept your terms," I'd said with a smirk of my own. "I just need to go and get it. I'll be back before you know it, and you'll see that mine was better all along." I'd stood up, paid my tab, and left, feeling in high spirits. I'd be able to slip into Katarina's cave, grab the ring, take it back, win the bet, and return in time to put it back, all while getting another ring for the hoard as a present. Nothing could go wrong, I thought. How wrong I was...

As I'd suspected, the cave was empty. The ring was still in its box, on display on top of a pile of treasure in the center of the hoard. I'd always found it flattering that she kept it there. Maybe she did truly care for me, like I cared for her. At least, I liked to think that was it, and that it wouldn't just someday get knocked down into the rest of it all, lost in her treasure like I'd be lost in her. I took the ring, careful not to disturb anything else too much, and returned to the tavern. Oskar was still there, and waved me over as I returned. "Damn, Markus... That took a little while, how far out of town do you live?" I shrugged. "Oh, you know me. I just like to keep things quiet, away from the hustle and bustle here." I'd never mentioned Katarina in town. If they knew that a dragon lived in a cave in the woods, they'd try to kill her. And if they knew I loved her, they'd probably try to kill me. So I figured it was best that everyone just thought me a hermit who kept to himself.

Oskar smirked again. "Well, whatever works for you, man. So, let's see that ring of yours, then." I nodded and held up the ring box, and he held his up. "You give me your ring, I'll give you mine, and then we'll compare them. We each know what our own rings look like, so we'll need a closer look at each other's, right?" I nodded, a little more slowly. Something seemed off about this whole arrangement. But I was a man of honor. I'd agreed to the terms, and had to follow them through. Slowly, we exchanged the boxes, and opened them.

The box I'd been handed... was empty.

Oskar grinned, looking at the ring. "Oh, man, you weren't kidding when you said this was a great ring. ...Thanks for letting me have it, man. Maybe this might convince her to stay with me!" With that he'd run out of the tavern at a blinding speed, leaving me dumbfounded and cheated, holding nothing but an empty ring box. I asked around the bar, and everyone else agreed that it had been an extremely dirty move. Franziska had broken up with him for his tendency towards shady acts like this. The others all agreed with my side of things, that he'd promised a fair wager and skipped out on it as little more than a thief. But they couldn't do anything about it, and neither could I. Until the next morning at the very soonest, my ring was gone, and there was nothing I could do.

I walked out of the tavern, cursing myself and my gullibility. I should have known he was just a cheating scoundrel all along! I went to visit the jeweler, but his store had closed; my trips back and forth to Katarina's cave had taken too much time. Now I had lost both my original engagement ring, and been unable to buy a new gift or even a suitable replacement. And then I realized that I had made an even worse mistake, as I trudged through the woods back to her cave: her hunting trip would be over by now. She'd know that the ring was missing, and would be waiting for me with fire in her eyes for an explanation...

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And so I stood outside her cave, the entrance looming like the jaws of a fearsome beast. Only too fitting an image, for what she'd promised my fate to be if I angered her. I stood frozen in the night, unable to step forward but even less able to run away. What could she be thinking right now...? She might have thought that I'd taken the ring and run, trying to get away from her. What would she say when I came back? But as I stood out in the cold, I knew that putting it off would only make her more upset. And she had every right to be furious with me for my mistakes... There was no need to provoke her further. I'd betrayed her trust, and now I had nothing to show for it but my own arrogance and mistakes. So I gathered my courage, and my shame, and stepped into the cave for what I feared might be the last time.

Katarina was there, her back to her treasure hoard, staring at me as I approached. "So. You've returned. Where is the ring?" Her eyes pierced through me like daggers, rooting me to the spot.

I bowed my head, feeling remorse above all else. "Katarina... the ring is gone... I took it with me into town, and it was stolen from me there." Technically this was true, but it was far from the whole story, and by the way her glare intensified, she knew it.

"I specifically told you that that ring was MINE now, human. Even if you meant to bring it back, it was not yours to take. Even of all the treasure here that you are not entitled to, that one in particular you should not have taken. ...That ring was what you gave me, a year ago when we met, to indicate that you wanted me to make you my lover. For you to take that of all of my treasures away from me... Do you not love me anymore? Do you wish to bring our relationship to an end? Because you know what that will mean for you, correct?"

I swallowed nervously. "No... I... Katarina... I could never want our relationship to end, even if I would survive it. I've... I've done you wrong, and betrayed your trust, and our love... I..." I swallowed again, hardly believing what I was about to say. "I submit myself to your judgment and punishment... I deserve it, and I love you too much to bear not making it up to you in what meager way I can. Even if it costs me my life... You're the only one I want to spend my life with. I can only hope for your mercy, but I accept whatever you think I deserve." I knelt before her, bowing my head. I'd meant everything I said. Even if this mistake proved fatal... She was the one who had the right to decide my fate.

She looked down at me, her glare softening somewhat. "Markus... You are mine. You've known that since the day we met. And it is my role to determine what punishment to give you for this offense. ...But I think that I promised what that would be back at the start, did I not...?"

I glanced up at her again, seeing her gaze. It wasn't so much softer with tenderness as it was with... desire...? But I knew all too well what she was trying to say. "...Yes, you did. You said if I upset you... I'd become a snack for you..." I looked at her sharp teeth. A thin tongue wormed its way out of them, licking her lips. It was a frightening image, but I was too filled with shame and regret for the fear to overpower me. If I'd been less in love with her, I might have begged her to change her mind, to spare me. But I couldn't bring myself to such an inelegant action before her. "...I... I understand, my love. If that's all I'm fit for to you after this, I can't argue with you. Please, just... be gentle. This is all I can offer to make things right. I won't resist. ...I'm so sorry for what I've done, but I can't escape my punishment."

She nodded, somewhat stiffly. "Very well. I'm glad that you see reason, Markus. Do not try to fight me. I don't want to see you as a coward who couldn't accept his own mistakes, and I can tell that your feelings towards me are sincere. You deserve at least slight mercy. Now..." She leaned down, her gigantic face looming before me, her sharp teeth gleaming in the light of the flames she kept burning in the corners of her cave. "Prove to me that you accept what I will do to you. Climb into my jaws of your own accord." Slowly, they parted, strands of saliva dripping from her teeth as they parted to reveal the inside of her mouth. It was dark, wet, and fleshy, and her hot breath wafted over me as I stood up to face what lay before me. Her tongue moved ominously on the floor of her mouth, and I breathed slowly and deeply as I prepared myself. She was right. I had to face this honestly. I was hers to consume, hers to decide what would happen to. I slowly stepped forward, pushing through the hot air as I climbed over her sharp teeth into the humid space beyond them.

Even now that I was "inside" her, she didn't move yet. She was waiting to see what I would do in there. But there wasn't much to do, honestly. I felt a drop of sticky spit drip down onto my head from above, and blinked to keep it out of my eyes. But I dared not wipe it away; it was her way of making the journey to come smoother. And I had no right to offer even that small of a resistance. Instead, I knelt down, on top of her tongue, and lay on it, letting her taste me. The thin, serpentine muscle moved around beneath me, wrapping around me and probing me gently as her jaws narrowed and closed tight, sealing me in the darkness. Sighs of contentment echoed around me; she must have been enjoying my taste, and willingness to offer it. Her tongue tossed me around a bit, feeling me move in the space of her mouth as I felt her lift her head from the ground. She was serious about eating me, and I knew I had accepted that long since. I could only hope this would help her think of me as a true friend who made a mistake, rather than someone who betrayed her.

Soon her tasting stopped, and I felt my world become still once more. "Mmmm... Markus, you are actually quite delicious... But I think that the time has come. If you're ready... Crawl forward, and let me decide your fate. If you're not ready... I'll still swallow you from where you are." She didn't say anything else, but I could feel the unspoken meaning: if I stayed and waited for her to do it, she'd doubt the sincerity of my love for her. And though I feared her punishment, I couldn't bear to leave her aching any more than I could help. Slowly, I crawled forward, my eyes having adjusted slightly to the darkness. The abyss at the back of her throat loomed, waiting to engulf me. I almost thought I felt her laughing as I obediently pulled myself to the edge of her throat, the seemingly endless chasm now directly below me. "Good... Your acceptance of the situation is commendable. Now... I'd say hold on tight, but it wouldn't help. And I want you to fall down anyway~" Her voice was now almost sultry, slightly mocking. But I didn't love her any less. In fact I almost loved her more for it. And then... Suddenly, yet somehow gently, her mouth tipped, and I fell down into the darkness. A surprisingly short way down the tunnel narrowed, and then, with a loud "GLRK!", I was sucked down through into the gullet of my dragon.

As I felt the fleshy walls surround me and drag me deeper, I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply as much as I could. It was out of my hands now. Now... There were two ways this could end. I'd gotten to know about what her physical body was like in the year I'd known her, so I knew that there were two places I could end up from being swallowed. If I went down to her stomach, what would greet me would be acids, churning, and a quick demise. But there was another passage from her esophagus... Like other dragons, she had a "crop", or storage pouch, that branched off of her throat a little ways before her stomach. If I ended up in there... I'd be stuck until she decided to let me out, or decided to dispose of me by sending me the rest of the way down. Still, it would be the better outcome of the two. But I couldn't bring myself to hope for either, and simply trusted her to make the best decision as peristalsis pulled me further, closer to the point where her decision would be made clear...

Suddenly, I felt my course shift. Instead of sliding downwards I now moved almost horizontally, and then my progress slowed to a halt as another tight ring of flesh sealed the passage in front of me. Slowly, I felt the muscle moving, the opening dilating a little bit, until the walls of Katarina's throat squeezed behind me, pushing me into the empty chamber beyond. As I gathered my senses, I took stock of my surroundings. First, I felt no acids, then a quick feel around the walls felt no opening at the back of the chamber. The sounds that reached my ears from below were a groaning and churning mixture, which I took to be her stomach working down the remains of her hunting trip earlier. And from above, a constant thumping sound: her heartbeat, strong and full of life. From all this I gathered where I was. She'd sent me to her crop, not to her stomach. But I couldn't sigh with relief or even thank her. This could mean anything, and certainly didn't mean that I was safe yet. But still... I sighed and lay down, the squishy, wet walls moving constantly around me. Again, all I could do was wait to hear her response.

Outside, she lay down, her job done. "...Now. For now, you are safe. There are at least three different ways that you would not be right now, if you hadn't been so genuine in your apologies. But you've proven that you accept my judgment over you, so I have no reason to believe you intentionally betrayed my emotions. ...However, if I change my mind, you are still held captive within me, and at any moment I could decide to send you down the other way... So don't think I've spared you just yet. Do you understand, Markus?" It was all I could do to squeeze a meek "yes" out; her words reverberated around inside her, like they were being spoken by the world itself, or by a god on high commanding his people.

Her body shifted; she must have been moving to a more comfortable position, now that she was simply addressing a tiny human trapped in her crop. "Very well. ...You may explain yourself. Be honest, and leave nothing out of your explanation. If I decide that you're lying to try to save yourself, then the results will not be pretty. However..." She sighed, and her voice lost some of its anger. "Markus, I really don't want to kill you. Believe it or not, I've become... attached to you, more so than just amusement at the idea of a human and a dragon as a couple. You've actually been a pretty sweet person this past year. ...So I was devastated to think that you'd betray me. ...And yet, the way you accepted what I was going to do to you, I could tell... You feel the same way about me. ...So please... Just tell me that I'm right to want to let you live."

I gasped slightly. "...Katarina... I... I'm so sorry about everything... I have no excuse. I wanted to get you something special for tonight, since it's been a year since we first met... But... I was weak, and my pride lost me both the ring and any chance to get you something new. I... If you'd decided I wasn't fit to live with you anymore, I would have accepted that judgment..." I told her everything, how I'd met Oskar at the tavern before going to buy her gift, and how he'd tricked me into letting him take her ring. By the end of the story I was practically in tears; remembering every sign I missed and mistake I made was a knife in the heart, and now that I knew that Katarina wanted me to live, I became afraid that she'd interrupt my story at each one to tell me we were through. But she stayed silent throughout my story, and made no attempts to bring me back up her throat.

After a brief pause, she sighed again. "...Markus... You're a fool for letting him trick you, you know that? ...But your intentions were good. And based on what you've said, it should be pretty easy to get it back from him, unless he's smart and sells it out of town instead of trying to give it to that woman. ...But from what you've said he's a bigger fool than you, and he doesn't even have the decency to be nice to those around him. ...I'll tell you what. Tonight, you stay in there, where I can know you're not losing any of my treasure. In the morning I'll let you back out, and you will bring me back that ring by nightfall. If you can do that, and maybe get something else nice, all will be forgiven. ...But really... Assuming I get my ring back, having you as a snack like this has been enough of an anniversary gift. And it's one that can't be bought in any store." She laughed, shaking the walls around me a bit. "...Make yourself comfortable, Markus. You're going to be staying there all night, so you might as well enjoy it."

I smiled a bit, still with tears in my eyes. "...Katarina... You're too nice to me, you know that?" I laughed, snuggling against the walls of the small chamber I would be staying in. "...And, surprisingly enough... It's actually very comfortable in here..." I was surprised to hear myself say it. And yet, it was true. The soft, warm enclosure rippled around me slightly, and the sound of her heart above was soothing somehow. "...I'm still very sorry that I put you through all this... But if this is a gift that I have to offer to you, I do so wholeheartedly... This is how much I trust you, Katarina. ...Thank you for everything you've done for me this past year... I was afraid and unsure at first, but now... Now I would never want to live without you. Even if it meant being your food... I was willing. And I can only thank you for your kindness in letting me live, and I promise you I'll do what I can to make things right. ...And maybe sometime in the future, we can do this in better moments, when we both know it'll be safe." I hugged her gently, glad to be with her. "I love you, Katarina..."

I could feel a slight pressure from outside; she must have been rubbing a clawed hand across her belly to return my gesture. "...That would be lovely, Markus. I love you too... I'm still upset, but... I have a feeling that you'll be able to make things right. Now, get some sleep, my love. You'll need all the rest you can for tomorrow. ...And I'm glad to hear that you're happy in there... Somehow, that makes this all almost worth it, knowing that you trust me so much and enjoy getting to stay inside me... I've been longing to do this for so long, but I couldn't find the way to ask you that wouldn't scare you off. ...But... I suppose this worked out well for that." Another rub from her claw. "...Now you're truly my lover, Markus. Show me that I've picked right."

...And so, I spent the rest of that night, snug and warm inside her crop, just below her heart. Somehow it should have terrified me from the start, her swallowing me. But somehow I trusted her more than I trusted myself after what I'd done. And somehow, even then... It was pleasant, staying in her crop. And as I drifted off to sleep, I knew that I still had work to do to heal our relationship. But I was also confident that I could do so, and knew that she would want me to succeed rather than writing me off. And as her heartbeat lulled me to sleep, I could tell that this was only a bump in the road, and that we'd come out of this stronger, closer, and more in tune with each other than ever before.