Valentine’s day was the most romantic night of the year for most couples. For Tanu, it was the night before. The Bent Tail has always been a popular spot for lovers who failed to get the reservations they dreamed of on couple’s night. That meant she and her partner were too exhausted hosting the other’s dinners to indulge in their own intimacy at the end of the night. Regardless this February 13th was probably the most thrilling she had in a long while. Despite Hund’s brutish appearance, the massive husky managed to arrange a lovely dinner with the help of his friends. Tanu will treasure reminiscing on that succulent meal; it would definitely make a fun story to tell others in the future. But her night was not over yet.

Having indulged in their passionate intimacy, Tanu now laid beside the fluffy sinkable mound that was Hund’s relaxed arm. The massive husky struck fear in most of the other lifters at his gym. His constant scowling combined with his intimidating body built from years of lifting truly was a force to be cautious around. It must have been quite the juxtapose to see Tanu, a relatively fit yet significantly smaller raccoon laying comfortably in the folds of Hund’s arms. The husky spread restfully over the bed like a sprawled-out starfish. The poor dog had quite the day, and the big meal stirring away in his round soft stomach certainly didn’t make staying awake easy. Having had her time to reflect, Tanu closed her eyes, ready to join Hund in the world of dreams. It seemed that Hund wasn’t prepared for her to join him yet.

“KKKKUKKKKKUKKKKUKKK!”

Tanu’s eyes bolted open. Did someone start the blender in the kitchen? Soon another growl emanated through the room. Despite the slight grogginess being jolted back to the waking world, she quickly realized the problem. Hund laid their mouth agape, breathing heavily from his mouth. With every breath he took, his rotund gut rose and fell, a pleasant sight for Tanu on a usual night. But during the evening meal, Hund had consumed more alcohol than he typically allowed himself from his friend Pan’s careful wine selection. Most people are devils when hungover in their waking hours. Hund didn’t get hungover, but his body certainly was no saint after a binge. As Hund exhaled, his air passageways vibrated the air to produce cacophonous snores.

Tanu took a deep breath and tried to meditate out the noise. At first, it seemed like it was working as she felt herself plunge deeper into slumber. But then she felt a shift. Then, as she cautiously opened her eyes, she realized Hund now laid on his side, and his mouth now blasted warm air and loud noise in her direction. Tanu responded by grabbing a pillow and sandwiched it against her head. Then, for every strategy she tried to suppress the snores, Hund’s unconsciously managed to foil it. She tried waking him with gentle nudges. Nope. When that failed, she when into full-on prodding. Nada. Feeling desperate, she even tried to push Hund off the bed, hoping that the collision would jolt him awake. The problem was Hund weighed several hundred pounds. Even though lifting heavy was not foreign to her, Tanu’s weary body was in no position to attempt to push such a weight now. She could have left the room and slept on the sofa, but this was their bed. She was not going to let Hund take her sleep away from her as much as she loved the pooch.

Tanu tussled restlessly for what must have been hours. As Tanu tried to sandwich her head against a pillow once more, desperately out of options, she realized she had a last possibility. Instead of blocking the noise from reaching her ears, why not stop it at the source? Hund was lying on his side, his mouth agape in her direction. It would be so easy. One pillow should be enough to block his mouth. Would he suffocate? Maybe. Probably not. Hund’s swallowed more important things than a pillow. But, despite the risks, Tanu was willing to take the risk. Grabbing the fluffiest pillow she could find, Tanu put both her hands behind it. She looked over Hund once more, peacefully sleeping despite the havoc he was causing to her own sleep schedule. With a resolved breath, she shoved.

“KKKUKKUKK-“

Tanu smiled to herself giddily. Her plan worked. Or at least she thought it did. In her zealous, her shove lodged the pillow all the way to the back of Hund’s throat. Besides being a gifted lifter, Hund was also a master eater. Even in his sleep, Hund could eat out a buffet if someone wanted to feed him. The secret was his mechanical ability to swallow. Then, when the pillow hit his uvula, the muscles of his throat immediately began peristalsis, gulping down the fluffy mound.

“GLK”

Tanu’s eyes widened. She wasn’t afraid of getting swallowed down by her boyfriend. She was aware Hund was a pred and even indulged in that side of him. The problem was Hund wasn’t awake. Whenever she asked Hund to gulp her down, the proper safety procedures were there to keep her from getting digested to mush. Then, with his belly digesting down the night’s massive dinner, it was already primed to break down whatever fell into his gut now. Tanu tried frantically pulling her hands out, but Hund’s jaw was clamped down on the marshmallow-like morsel her grip was attached to. Several gulps in, and she could feel the pillow slipping down his throat along with part of her forearms.

“Hund, wake up!” Tanu cried, hoping that would stir his partner. Several more gulps in, and she felt the pillow slip down Hund’s throat, creating a prominent bulge from the outside. Frantic, Tanu began pulling harder, hopefully, strong enough to break the vice-like jaws of her boyfriend. Every gulp inched her deeper and deeper into Hund’s jaws. She tried changing her leverage to get more force behind her to pull in her panic. Throughout this struggle, she couldn’t make out the slight tear that had begun to form in the pillow. As Hund took a final gulp, fulling sinking the fluffy mass down his esophagus, Tanu made her last tug. The internal tug of war combined with the relaxing of Hund’s jaw after that gulp caused Tanu to pull away from a shred of the pillow. As she flew back, several feathers exploded out of Hund’s mouth. One of those feathers gracefully floated in the air for a short bit before landing almost purposefully on Hund’s nose. Despite Hund’s closed eyes, his body reacted to the tickle. Face scrunched and hand raised, Hund swiped the feather away but not before letting out a massive sneeze dislodging more feathers that may have lodged themselves on the way down.

Hund’s eyes shot open to the loud “A-choo!”. As he raised himself out of bed confused by the shower of feathers, Tanu’s back laid against a wall, head over heels at the end of her tumble. Hund looked at her, looking for an answer. All she had to say was one phase.

“That’s what woke you up?!”
- - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -
“Heh, I was really knocked out there, huh?” Hund said to Tanu. Tanu stared at him, eyes bloodshot and arms. The two sat in the same bed, yet any sense of romance had left the scene.

“Ugh, sorry about that.” Hund awkwardly began to apologize.
“This isn’t the first time. I put up with it because it happens so rarely, but I really wonder why I don’t try to change it.” Tanu said. “I’ve had so many accidents with you.”

Most boyfriends would say, “Calm down, you’re probably just cranky,” or some other statement to invalidate their partner’s anger to their digressions. Fortunately, Hund surprisingly didn’t fall into this trap.

“I guess Ty was right,” Hund said. Tanu unfurled her arms slightly. She wasn’t expecting Hund to relent here. “He told me you hated my snoring while I was sleeping in the sauna that one time.”
Tanu looked at Hund. What was Hund about to do? Hund got up and opened a drawer to his dresser. After some fishing, he pulled out a small box and walked back to the bed. As Hund got under the covers, he tossed the box onto the sheets in front of Tanu. Tanu’s face was a mix of a smirk and a scowl. The box contained several earplugs.

“I didn’t think this was a problem until tonight,” Hund said, anticipating the angry question Tanu was about to ask. Hund’s stomach grumbled uneasily. It didn’t look any more prominent than before. Still, one pat to soothe it was enough to cause Hund to belch out more feathers from the pillow currently occupied in his gut. Tanu placed one ear plugin, and her eyes widened. It was so quiet, even as Hund let out that belch.

“Do you want me to leave so you can get some rest?” Hund said shyly. Despite being a full-grown husky, remarks like that reminded Tanu that he really is just a big puppy. Tanu gave Hund a peck on the cheek and a slight smile.

“You did eat my pillow. I’m going to need a replacement.” Tanu said teasingly. Hund’s face softened to a smile as he returned to his sleeping position. Tanu nestled himself against Hund’s warm softness. She could tell Hund quickly returned to slumber despite the faint rays of morning light shining on him. Even though the snoring was intense, all Tanu felt was the slight vibrations from Hund’s heavily heaving chest. The earplugs had worked. Tanu quickly followed suit into sleep, a smile over her face. Like dinner, Hund had saved the night despite his gruffness.

---

Happy Valentine's day to all the loners and lovers out there! I had this pic saved for a while (This actually was made way before the version without Tanu) but I couldn't find the right time to post this. Thanks to  Ticl for making this piece and  liger626 for the challenge to make this story