Sigh. The one that got away. Lou was still thinking about it, even days later. The chase was so titillating, and the tiny morsel was so delicious once he got him all curled up in his tongue. But, deals were deals, and friends of fairies were friends of the goanna, so he had to spit whatever it was back out. And he still regretted it. He had never seen a creature like that before, at least not at that size; he could have let the most unique meal of his life slip right through his claws! And for what, the promise of a meal further down the line? There was nothing that could replace a treat like that. Except, perhaps, another one...which is what Lou had been spending the past few days searching for, to no avail!


The big lizard had snacked on his fair share of slugs, leeches, and other forest denizens over past couple of days; but it just wasn't the same once he had gotten a taste of the finer things, so to speak...eating them just got his tummy rumbling for something tastier. He still didn't know what a human was, but he knew that they were absolutely scrumptious, and he would do anything for another shot at one. Preferably one that didn't have any fairy friends to mess up the whole thing...


The goanna lurked through pools of muck, turned over logs, snacking on leaves, snails, and anything else that was in his way. To the point where his belly would probably be more than full on any other day! But Lou was on a mission today. A mission that wouldn't end until he piled one of those humans on top of the muck that was already filling up his gut. Most creatures knew to scatter when Lou came stomping around for a meal, and he was hoping that it would clear everything out except for the human who wouldn't know the same. And, as he clambered his way over a newly-fallen log, he saw just what he had been looking for.


Crumpled up on top of a leaf, looking dizzy and discombobulated from the act of being shrunken, was another human! This one looked to be one of the workers who had been cutting down the forest with his yellow hard-hat, bright jacket, and sturdy boots...just extra reasons for Lou to scarf him down right then and there! The goanna watched from the brush for a few minutes as the man slowly regained his sense of self, rolling off of the leaf and plopping right onto the forest floor in a manner that would most definitely wake someone up. It wouldn't be fun without a bit of a chase, after all, and Lou was more than happy to give his treat all the time he needed to get back to his feet!


For the human, this was quite a jarring and dizzying experience. He had barely gotten his bearings on top of that leaf before falling off and plopping right on the ground, the pain certainly waking him up, but also shaking him even further! And there was no solace in sight, as just when he was starting to recover and - slowly - get to his feet in this new, jarring environment, something else came down on him. Not literally, although it was pretty close to doing so: the clawed, red foot of some kind of lizard creature, slamming down just inches away from him and kicking up a bunch of dirt in his face! It seemed like this poor human had been shrunken down right in front of Lou, and the goanna was not going to let this meal go, no matter what anyone said…


"Welcome to the food chain.~" Lou said calmly as he stepped forward, the human immediately screaming and scrambling to his feet; not only because of what those words meant, but because they were coming out of a giant, hungry-looking lizard! Of course, Lou was going to have a little bit of fun with his meal before he scarfed it down, so he was more than happy to let his catch get up and start running like hell through the grass blades that were now like tree trunks he needed to swerve through. Though, this time he didn't feel like singing a song…seemed to attract fairies at the worst of times.


This unfortunate human was running at top speed, only to get discouraged when he looked back over his shoulder and saw Lou more than keeping up with him in such a casual way. If the reptile could sweat, he most certainly wouldn't be right now with how lackadaisically he was following the snack he had laid eyes on. "I wonder if you do really taste like chicken~" Lou continued to tease as he watched the human nearly slam right into a passing snail, something that would have most certainly cut Lou’s little “chase” short…an obstacle for the human, but to the lizard, it was just a tiny snack on the road to a much bigger, more satisfying one. The human looked back over his shoulder once more after catching his bearings, wincing as he saw Lou lean down and slurp the slug right up out of his home! The goanna chugged the slimy mollusk right down in one gulp, filling up a bit of room inside of him and giving the human a squishy little landing pad for when he eventually slid inside himself. The shell clattered the ground behind Lou as he continued to stomp his way through the forest, his underbelly bulging out ever so slightly; giving Lou a bit of sway to his step as he sauntered behind his scrambling meal.


The human's art was pounding out of his chest multiple times a second, anxiety causing through his veins every time you looked over his shoulder and saw that blue was more than keeping up with him. It took an incredible amount of energy and coordination to keep doing that well also dodging anything in his way, and eventually, he would have to mess up. It came in the form of a stick jutting out of the ground, small enough to escape the humans scanning eyes, but big enough for him to trip over it and go crashing to the ground once more, landing in a pile of thick, muddy dirt that made moving even harder for him…not the most appetizing addition, but Lou was more than willing to look past that! His little snack floundered around on the ground for a few moments, a shadow being cast over him as blue stomped over and just watched it all happen, before he flipped over unto his back and squeaked in terror at the goanna that loomed over him!


The goanna would have loved to keep up the theatrics, but sadly, his gut was actually starting to get quite angry with him now. So, instead, the pink tongue that had occasionally been hanging out of his mouth shot right out and SPLATted the human square in the chest, blue pulling back and reeling his treat in as he started stomping right over the spot where his snack had tripped and fell. He didn't snap his jaws around his little morsel yet, though. Instead, he curled his long tongue up the human’s body, getting as much of the meaty flavor as he could while crawling up a nearby tree in search of a slightly-nicer place to enjoy his meal. With his arms bound at his sides, it was difficult for the human to try and fight off the tongue that had ensnared him, so instead, he settled on yelling. A lot. Words that were probably pretty offensive in whatever dialect he was speaking. But, more importantly, words that would probably attract a bit of unwelcome attention. Those that might shame the goanna into giving up his meal, or perhaps those large enough to make him a snack himself! So, as much as Lou liked having his little snack curled up and hanging out outside of his mouth, he needed to get the show on the road already.


*homf~* 


In the blink of an eye, like a chameleon reeling in a bug, Lou opened his mouth up and pulled the human inside, chomping down firmly to lock the squirmy little guy inside his drooling maw. Thick globs of saliva dribbled down onto his meal as he floundered around inside, bulging out the little red pouch that Lou had along the underside of his neck. At least there was room in here, though the intense, muggy heat bearing down on the human while he was inside here made it much less apparent! Slimy, smelly, and with only one available exit: down the back, gulped down the waterslide of Lou’s throat to join all the other snacks he had in preparation for the most special one of all~


And, despite the human not really wanting to think about it, that was where he would be heading post-haste. He could already hear the rumbling of the impatient stomach coming up from deeper in the goanna's body, letting him know just how much the lizard's body wanted to claim him. And, eventually, the pouch that he was being held in as Lou’s tongue worked and licked over everybody started to tip backwards. And then, all at once, the flesh quivered and clenched inward, pushing the human right to the back of Lou’s throat before - *glllnk!* - he was gone. Claimed by the hungry depths of the forest, as little more than a bit of a snack for one of its most ravenous inhabitants.


Lou rumbled pleasantly as he felt the little human wiggling all the way down his throat, a small bulge made that quickly stretched out the stripes along the side of Lou’s neck before disappearing into his vermilion underbelly. And, even though pound-for-pound the human was a lot less food than even the snails he had slurped up earlier, Lou felt so much more satisfied now. He flopped backwards onto the branch he had to come to rest upon, letting his stuffed, striped stomach just sort of ooze and splay all out in front of him, in the perfect spot for him to pamper and stroke over it with his claws for as long as he wanted! And at this point, if a fairy did happen to come by, well…as far as they were concerned, he just had a few extra leeches for lunch today!


For the human, though, a fairy intervention was pretty much his only chance at escape now. He had just slithered down the slimy, pulsing throat of the goanna, and now, he was being unceremoniously dumped into a cauldron of a stomach that he would need to use all of his energy to even bulge out a tiny bit! Thankfully, it was far too dark in here for the human to see what exactly the thick sludge he had been deposited into was made of, though he could definitely feel some rough plant matter mixed into the goop as it was churned and mixed up all around him…blegh. Lou was a freaking fatass, to the point where the human was almost offended that he even needed another meal in himself! As soon as he was dumped inside, though, Lou inverted his body to rest on the branch, completely immersing him in that thick semi-digested muck he had been spending nearly all of his stomach time carefully trying to maneuver around…and with all the wet bubbling and groaning the stomach was making, it was only a matter of time before it all that stuff got a lot more liquid.


"Mmh...cut down my forest, will you? I think you'll see that the forest has something to say about that..." Lou taunted as he drummed his clawed fingers along the top of his stuffed, gurgling belly, more than satisfied with what all the lead up and the chase had resulted in at the end of the day. He could feel the human wiggling around in there, for sure, and he delighted in every little movement, but soon, he'd get mulched and melted like everything else that disappeared inside the goanna’s drooling, insatiable maw. He could already sense it starting to happen in there, as the movements gradually became less powerful and much more...scattered. Lou was just more than glad to finally have a sample of what had gotten away from him before, and have nothing in the way of him enjoying it...least so the human still writhing deep inside his efficient, reptilian stomach!


Lou enjoyed the next hour or so of just listening to his belly, occasionally munching on another leaf or an errant passing insect to add to the thick muck the human was sloshing around inside of him. Said human was barely conscious by now, practically buried in the digesta the tight sack was bundling him up in...guh. It stunk in here, too, and to hear the lizard taunting him in perfect English was just insult to injury. Hopefully this was all a bad dream or something, and he’d just wake up in a few hours and tend his resignation. Hopefully he'd wake up before Lou's proud belches made it a little too tight in here...


"Welcome to the food chain.~" the lizard said once more after another satisfying *huuUURRrph~*, the rank scent of his gut being carried away by the cool night air as he rested on this little branch. As he drifted off into a pleasant sleep, all he could think about was catching another human, hoping for the opportunity to arise once more. A goanna could dream.