In the Belly of the Giant

Part 38

Eren couldn't put off her responsibilities any longer. She had avoided the question long enough, and tried to push it out of her mind, but she couldn't continue in this manner indefinitely. She had to make a decision about her job.

After being eaten so many times, she didn't think she'd be able to go inside any giant mouths voluntarily. It had been bad enough when Jake the Snake shut his jaws around her and wouldn't let her out of his filthy mouth, but being swallowed was a whole different matter. Eren was afraid. Even if there wasn't any real danger of becoming someone's lunch, she suspected just being inside a mouth, surrounded by teeth and pink flesh and saliva, would trigger a panic attack.

She thought she might try to acclimate herself by going inside a mouth she knew was safe, like Joey's. However, Joey flatly refused to allow her inside his mouth. He couldn't stand the thought of his vulnerable girlfriend being in his mouth, even if he didn't swallow her. He still felt horror at the memory of her moving on his tongue, sliding down his throat, and thrashing desperately in his belly. He never wanted to go through that nightmare again. He didn't know how Eren could be brave enough to even attempt to go back to work.

Eren wanted to say goodbye to her coworkers, so she decided to hand in her resignation in person. She asked Joey to take her to the clinic and keep her safe, and Joey reluctantly approved. He knew, logically, they couldn't stay locked up in their apartment forever. Eren was morose about losing her employment, a career she had trained so hard for and previously enjoyed, so he made an attempt to see the positives.

"Your boss was a jerk there anyways," Joey said as he carried her along the sidewalk. "It was time for you to move on to something better, something different."

"Yeah," Eren mumbled half-heartedly.

"Maybe you could get a job with Stephanie at the nail salon. She mentioned before, with your small size, you'd be really good at doing the nail art," Joey suggested.

"I guess," Eren replied listlessly. "It's not really my thing though. Plus, I'm not very artistic."

"Sure you are! You could paint little flowers on nails, couldn't you? Or... um... I don't know what else they paint on nails. I'm not the type of person to get a manicure." Joey chuckled as he imagined how silly his manly hands would look with long pink nails.

"Yeah, I suppose I could." Eren didn't sound very enthusiastic. She was far more enthusiastic about teeth cleaning, but that was in the past now.

Joey walked up to the clinic and went inside, carefully scanning the room for any potential threats as was his habit. Eren was hit with the familiar smell of fluoride and toothpaste and felt a pang of sadness as she remembered how fulfilling her job had been for her. She would miss this place.

"Oh, hi, Joey. What are you doing here?" the giantess secretary asked, surprised to see him. She brushed away a strand of her auburn hair and adjusted her purple glasses. She did a double take when she spotted Eren sitting in Joey's palm.

"EREN!" she squealed. She practically vaulted over the reception desk in her rush to reach Eren. She grabbed Eren out of Joey's hand and gave her a generous hug, nearly shoving her tiny body into her cleavage.

Eren flailed her arms, slapping the secretary on one of her bulging breasts. "Audrey, you're crushing me..." she gasped.

"Oops! Sorry!" Audrey apologized, pulling Eren out from between her boobs and holding her gingerly, in a more civilized manner. "Oh, Eren... I'm so glad to see you're okay! I was so worried about you!" Her face contorted with emotion. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to save you..."

Eren patted her hand with sympathy. "It's okay, Audrey, you didn't know. All that matters is that I'm back now."

"Are you... coming back to work?" the secretary asked hesitantly.