A Soothing Stomach For Gris

My entry to @LivesInAStomach’s Endo-Rama contest ( https://aryion.com/g4/view/739361 )! I don’t usually post on Saturdays, but I made an exception this time so I could post this story without interfering with my commission posting queue. This story contains brief mention of suicidal thoughts and self-deprecation.
I haven’t written a Gris & Dwayne story in AGES, though I have gotten takes on the characters from other writers (mostly through trades). I still love these two very much though, so it was really nice to revisit them for the first time in about a year and a half.
Fun fact: in early 2020, I had a sequel to The Special Class ( https://aryion.com/g4/view/590384 ) in the works. In that story, Gris’s anxiety amps up as Dwayne goes out with Krista, and he wonders if Dwayne still loves him. Dwayne suggests Gris get to know Krista, and so Gris goes out with em. The two really hit it off, and end up having some fun, vorey times together. :3
Unfortunately, my computer completely died as I was writing it (it had to be replaced), and I hadn’t backed up my flies in a while, so the story became completely lost. umu I want to revisit it sometime in the future though, but for the moment, putting up commissions is my main priority, especially as my posting queue gets larger and larger. So we’ll see what comes of that. . .
(Tangent: I have fond memories of writing The Special Class. As I recall, it contained one of my first written blowjobs. Fun times!)
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This story contains brief mention of suicidal thoughts and self-deprecation.
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After the phone call, Gris had been slipping for a while.  But eventually, the human went over the edge.
It was just a normal day of doing art commissions—at least, it was at first.  But as the human worked on a particular piece, and the client requested more the more revisions, he felt himself getting a bit testy.  Sighing, he messaged the client and told them that they’d used up their free revisions, and they would have to pay for more.
He didn’t have to wait long for a reply.  Five minutes later, an angry rant was in his inbox, screaming about how Gris WOULD do the revisions requested for free OR they would request a full refund from PayPal.  A full refund on a $500 piece—that Gris had already mostly completed!
The human felt his hands shaking, and his fingers tapped anxiously against his knees.  He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and stood from the table.  He couldn’t deal with this right now.  Going to the kitchen, he made himself a cup of vanilla mint tea, then went to the living room on the left and sat on the couch.
Glancing at the clock, he saw that his wolf boyfriend, Dwayne, would be home soon.  “I gotta get it together,” Gris muttered, sipping his drink.  “I don’t want him to see me like this. . .”
Pulling his phone from his pocket, he opened his messages and pondered on how he should respond.  If the client did escalate and try to request a refund, he did have proof that the piece was completed . . . but would that be enough?  He groaned and put down his tea, then lay down on the couch.  What should he do?
He closed his eyes, trying to forget for a moment, and soon drifted off to sleep.  The next thing he knew, furry hands were gently shaking him, and Gris sat up.
“Hey babe,” Dwayne said, smiling down at the human.
“Hey,” Gris replied, scooting over for his boyfriend.  Dwayne sat down next to him and put a comforting arm around his shoulders.
“You ok?” the grey wolf asked.  “You don’t usually take breaks during client work. . . Did something happen?”
Gris sighed.  “. . . Kind of,” he admitted.  “Some asshole wants me to do more revisions for free or they’ll refund the piece.”
“That’s bullshit!” Dwayne exclaimed, frowning.  “They can’t do that!”
The human shrugged.  “They can and they will, I guess.  I haven’t responded to them yet, so. . .”
“I see,” the wolf said.  “So that’s got your anxiety up?”
Gris nodded.  Then, he hesitated for a moment before adding, “I . . . I don’t think it’s just that though.”
“Oh?”
The human sighed.  “You remember what happened on Monday?  When my mother called?”
“Yeah,” Dwayne replied, nodding.  He gave Gris a comforting squeeze.  “You’re mom’s a real transphobic asshole, babe.  Try not to let her get to you.”
“I /know/, but. . .”  Gris took a deep breath.  At first, he tried to hold it in.  But then, everything burst out of him, and he couldn’t control it.  “B-But what if she’s RIGHT and I’ll NEVER be a real man and I’m j-just a FAILURE after all?  I mean, I can’t even do art right and that’s my JOB!”  Tears ran down his cheeks.  “M-Maybe I’m just better of dead. . .”
“Don’t say that,” Dwayne said firmly.  “Your mother is wrong, Gris.  You’re successful; you’re talented; and you’re a real man, through and through.  I’m glad you’re here.”
Now the human was full-on sobbing, and his wolf boyfriend hugged him tightly.  Gris felt himself relax in the furry embrace, and he smiled.  In the midst of his dark thoughts, sometimes it was easy to forget how much Dwayne loved him.
The two stayed like that for a little while longer, and then Dwayne released him.  “You know,” the wolf said, “if you want a nice place to relax, my stomach is happy to have you.  What do you say?”
Gris nodded, letting out a happy sigh.  “That. . . That sounds really nice.”
Dwayne grinned and stood up.  “Good.  Hang your feet off the edge of the couch.  Then I can swallow you.”
The human obeyed, and the wolf went in front of Gris’s toes.  Smirking, he opened his maw wide, revealing a bright blue tongue and glistening teeth, and then shoved his prey’s feet into his mouth.
Gris sighed in contentment as his boyfriend tasted him, loving the way he was being lapped up.  This was heaven. . . For the moment, his anxious thoughts went to the back of his mind, and he enjoyed being food for the one he loved.
Dwayne gulped the human down quickly, knowing that Gris liked the destination much more than the journey.  And so, legs were quickly sucked in, slurped up with amazing speed.
When the wolf reached his prey’s midsection, Gris felt his toes enter a new space with a /pop/: this was his boyfriend’s belly.  Immediately, Dwayne’s stomach let out a loud /grooooooowl/, which reverberated around the area.  The human smiled.  Soon all of him would be curled up inside. . .
Dwayne swallowed his boyfriend’s midsection, then chest, then shoulders, and soon, only Gris’s neck and head were left.  A moment later, those, too, were gulped down, and the human was on his way to where he belonged.
Gris smiled as he traveled down the tight, cylindrical chamber of Dwayne’s throat, and soon, he piled into his boyfriend’s gut.  The blue walls gurgled and grumbled around him, squeezing his body gently, and wet, harmless juices dripped onto his flesh.  He let out a happy sigh and hugged his knees, relaxing in the fetal position.  Whenever he was here, his problems felt so far away. . . And doing it with Dwayne made it a very loving experience, because the wolf cared so much about him.
The human closed his eyes, feeling himself drift off.  Later, he would have to deal with the client, and figure out how to respond.
But for now, he could just relax.
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Gris heard distant beeping and groaned, opening his eyes.  At first, he was confused, but then he heard the familiar growling around him and remembered where he was.
“Timer just went off, babe,” Dwayne said.  “You ready to come out?”
“Yeah, I’m ready,” the human replied.
A moment later, there was a loud /lurch/: Gris was forced up the esophagus, and soon, his head popped into Dwayne’s mouth.  A moment later, he was held in the wolf’s arms, quite damp from his time in the hungry belly.
Dwayne smiled and gave Gris’s face a few loving licks.  “How was that?” he asked.
“Good,” the human replied, letting out a happy sigh.
“I’m glad to hear that,” the wolf said, kissing him on the cheek.  “Want to wash off?”
“Gladly.”
And so, the two went into the shower together.  As Gris rubbed soap into his body, he felt his anxieties coming back, and he groaned.
“Relax,” Dwayne reassured his boyfriend, bringing his hands forward and giving the human a gentle shoulder massage.  “Talk to me, hon.  You ok?”
“Just wondering what I’m going to tell that client,” Gris mumbled.  “I hope it goes over well. . .”
“We can come up with something together,” the wolf reassured him.  “Don’t worry.  I know this stuff can seem really large and daunting in the moment.  But we always figure out a way through.  And we’ll definitely do it this time.  Ok?”
The human nodded.  “Thanks, babe.  I appreciate it.”
“Of course,” Dwayne replied, kissing Gris gently on the cheek.
After their shower, the two heated up some frozen pizza and tea, then sat on the couch with /The Mammoth Money Game Show/ playing quietly in the background.  Together, they drafted a message to the client on Gris’s phone, saying that the changes would be paid for, or not made.  And if a refund request was submitted to PayPal, Gris had proof of the transaction taking place, and screenshots of past messages.
The human nervously hovered his thumb over the “Send” button, and after a moment of hesitation, he pressed it.  A moment later, a “Response Delivered!” notification appeared, and he breathed deeply.  “Hopefully they’ll get the message,” he muttered, taking a bite of the pepperoni and onions pizza.
“I’m sure it’ll be ok,” Dwayne reassured him.  “And if anything happens, you know I have your back.”
Gris’s phone let out a /bzzzzzt/--he had received a reply already!  Snatching his cell, he opened his client messages to see the following statement:
“Understood.  Thank you for your time.  I do not want to pay for more changes, and considering what you have told me, I won’t request the refund.”
He let out a big sigh of relief and showed Dwayne the message.  The wolf cheered and exclaimed, “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
“Agreed,” Gris said, sending out a brief thank you to the client.  He sighed and flopped down on the couch, finishing his food.  “That’s a load off my mind for sure.”
“Do you feel better?” Dwayne asked.
The human nodded.  “Yeah.  The client and the stuff my mom said was really stressing me out, but now, I don’t feel nearly as bad as I did earlier.  And . . . I think spending time in your stomach really helped clear my head.  So, thanks.”
The wolf snuggled up next to him and kissed him on the forehead.  “Anytime, babe.”
And so, the two enjoyed the rest of their dinner.  It had been a rough ride for Gris, but everything had, thankfully, worked out in the end.