Here's a little more backstory for Eli, along with the first appearance of his younger twin brothers. The next two planned stories focus on fat and inflation, so there'll be a bit of wait before the next vore-centric story after this.

Riley tries to help Eli endure the company of his voracious twin brothers.

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Breaking Tradition:
By: IndigoRho

Riley sat patiently on the couch, leaning forwards rather than reclining. The puma was reluctant to relax while his friend Eli roamed the apartment, clearing away piles of odds and ends and occasionally tossing things into the garbage can. He had tried to assist earlier, but Eli insisted that his friends shouldn't have to deal with his messes. Not that there were many. The arctic fox was very orderly in general, and appeared to be spending half his time rearranging and readjusting things already in their correct place. Riley hadn't expected him to worry this much.

“So, how was your date with Marcus the other night?” Riley asked in obvious jest.

Eli halted his newest trek to the trash to glare at Riley. “Ha ha. You've been chatting with Niall, haven't you.” He accused.

“Just a few texts,” Riley answered, smiling. “He just wanted me to remind you two not to stroll through the park at night, too many predators.”

“Can't be that many left considering his binging,” Eli said.

Riley frowned. “You know he means well. Mostly.”

“Forget it, I don't want to waste time complaining about that bottomless pit right now.” Eli returned to his busywork. “Anyway, you would have been so proud of Marcus.”

“Oh?”

“We were marathoning a trilogy, and I swear in between every movie he somehow got fatter.”

Riley just giggled.

“No seriously. Lights out, hour-and-a-half of poor plot twists, lights back on and bam! Rounder gut!” Eli said as dramatically as possible. “Never even noticed him eating. His shirt was MVP of the night, desperately trying to keep up with him, fighting the impossible fight. I can't imagine what horrible things you put that zebra's poor clothing through whenever you have a feeding session or whatever.”

Riley had lost track of himself, daydreaming about his boyfriend gorging absentmindedly in the glow of the television. Snack after snack vanishing from sight, liters of soda washing them all down. Not enough light to see just how much he was consuming. Riley would have to suggest a movie night of their own sometime soon.

Eli watched in confusion as Riley stared blankly off into space, blushing. “Riley if you're zoned out give me a heads up so I can bail. I'd prefer to never see the inside of your stomach again.”

“Not funny,” Riley smiled, bringing himself back to reality. “I was just thinking I should have brought Marcus along with me. He's never met the twins.”

“Hopefully he never does.” Eli said with little humor.

“Harsh.”

Eli didn't seem too guilty. “You know my brothers. They'd never eat one of my friends, but they also wouldn't be able to resist messing around with someone like Marcus. They can have a morbid sense of humor when they want to.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Riley couldn't deny the sentiment. He did know the twins well enough.

“And thanks again for being my backup,” Eli said. “I can't standing being alone with Nathan and Noah for too long. They can be as bad as dad when they want to.”

Riley nodded. He had been friends with Eli since they were children, and had seen first hand just how poorly the fox got along with his family. Eli's parents believed strongly in predation, as did his younger twin brothers. Simply being apathetic about the predator lifestyle would have caused tension, but Eli's vocal opposition had led to Riley witnessing far too many awkward dinner table arguments. They all still cared for each other in their own confusing ways, though. Not that they were eager to admit it.

“Any time, Eli. You've always been there for me,” Riley assured him. “Do you think Niall could've kept them in check, though?”

Eli glared again. “Even if I thought he would, he's too busy digesting away his vigilante spree. I don't care how big the dumb goat is, how do you even eat three people in one night?”

Riley seemed surprised. “Wait, he ate three?”

“Yeah. Worst part is, Marcus and I ran into him after he'd swallowed the first one, and he kept insisting that it was just temporary and that he was protecting him.” Eli rolled his eyes. “And for once I was dumb enough to think he was maybe, just maybe, telling the truth!”

“Niall hasn't gone on that kind of frenzy in a long time, he has to have a reason for it.” Riley said with some doubt.

“His 'reasons' for eating are flimsy even at their best,” Eli replied. “Hell, the only reason I even know about his accomplishment is because he sent pictures the morning after to the twins, who then sent them to me. Because that's not childish at at...”

Riley looked away in dismay.

“They idolize Niall way too much, and he encourages them in return.” Eli sighed. “I'm sure they're just dreaming of the day they get three prey in their bellies, all desperately struggling to live. And they choose their victims even more callously than Niall does.”

Riley honestly couldn't think of a good response, anything that would make Eli feel a little less bleak. Instead, he tried to gradually divert the conversation. “Well, regardless, I'll do my best to keep Nathan and Noah in line when they get here.” He smiled meekly. “I can pin one of them down if you want.”

“I doubt it,” Eli replied bluntly. “You haven't seen them in a while, have you?”

A barrage of knocks at the door stole their attention. Eli begrudgingly walked over to answer, mumbling under his breath about how there was a doorbell. A quick glance through the peephole confirmed the obvious, and Eli opened the door with no attempt to feign enthusiasm. Two identical obese foxes were there to greet him. Their smiles matched, their voices lacked distinction, their wardrobes were interchangeable. Even the patterns of their transitioning fur coats had somehow managed to coordinate, much to their delight. While many twins fought for a sense of individuality, Nathan and Noah reveled in their shared existence. They wasted few opportunities to confuse their friends and family, not to mention prey. Right now, however, the one on the left was noticeably fatter than the other.

“Hey big bro,” the twins said simultaneously to maximize Eli's irritation. They slid past him into the apartment, forcing Eli to dodge their guts.

Eli put his head in his paw. “Yeah, hi. You're both looking fatter,” he answered with dread.

The fatter twin slapped his belly and laughed. “We are? Can't say I really notice that sort of thing myself,” he said with sarcasm.

His relatively thinner half glared at him for a moment before looking into the living room. “Hey, is that you Riley? Looking good!” He headed in his direction.

Riley barely reacted to the twins arrival, simply staring in disbelief. He'd last seen Nathan and Noah less than a year ago, and both had been lighter than he was then. While the twins were dedicated predators, they had always seemed to stay in decent shape, never breaking two hundred and fifty pounds. Now, though, even the thinner of the two had to have been a bit over three hundred. The lesser twin dropped onto the couch to Riley's right, leaning into it hard. The heavier twin had followed close behind, squeezing himself onto the couch to Riley's left.

“You've...uh...both been eating well,” was all Riley could think to say.

The twins had a good laugh at that. “Sorry Riley,” the left twin replied. “You know we're both obliged to the ladies. You'll just have to resist our oozing charm.” He jiggled his gut for emphasis.

Riley stared down at the floor in embarrassment.

“Leave him alone, ass,” Eli growled, standing across from the couch.

“We're joking, we're joking,” the right twin insisted. “Riley knows we don't mean anything by it, right Riley.”

Riley recovered himself. “Yeah, yeah, Nathan.”

“Ha! I told you!” the left twin shouted victoriously. “Riley always manages to guess who's who.”

Nathan crossed his arms in annoyance. “Oh whatever, Noah. He cheats, I know it! It's that damn nose of his.”

Riley chuckled nervously. “No you both smell the same, Noah's just always the fatter one.”

He hoped the lie would be enough to satisfy the pair. Riley was open about his strong sense of smell and how it played a role in his sleep eating, but there was one detail he very rarely mentioned, even to his friends. To Riley, every individual had a unique aroma, one his senses translated into levels of assumed...deliciousness. He had no problem resisting the urges to consume while sober or awake, but when asleep or inebriated he lost all control. With the twins, no matter their size, Noah always smelled more appetizing than Nathan. Of course, their aromas paled in comparison to Eli's. For some unfathomable reason his smell evoked one of the strongest desires for consumption he had ever endured, a desire that seemed to have actually provoked his sleep eating in the first place.

The first victim of his sleep eating bouts was his friend Eddy, during a camping trip. Eddy had been using one of Eli's spare sleeping bags that night. Later during the trip Riley was discovered wandering the camp, near the tent Eli was actually sleeping in. Inevitably, he managed to swallow Eli himself during a sleepover, but only after walking past three others to do so. Riley had never told Eli just how intense his aroma was, and as far as he knew Eli had never connected all the various coincidences over the years. With luck, he never would. Riley knew Eli would never forgive himself if he learned the unintentional role he played in Eddy's digestion.

“He's only fatter cause he always waits for me to eat first, then finds a meal a size larger,” Nathan complained.

“And I only wait cause you call dibs on the first thing you see!” Noah countered. “I take my time and make the meal count.”

Nathan decided to drop the issue. “Whatever,” he said, and glanced at Riley's stomach. “Speaking of meals, looks like Riley got a decent catch of his own recently.”

Riley looked at his soft, round belly in dismay. He enjoyed its feel and appearance, but both had come at the cost of another living being. The unintentional predation had saved his boyfriend from a similar fate, though, which provided some comfort.

“I just don't get it man,” Noah added. “How the hell do you get swallowed by someone who's asleep. I've seen you when you're in the zone, and you pretty much just stumble around the whole time.”

Eli stepped in once more. “Riley's condition isn't a joke you idiots, and stop harassing him!”

The twins seemed surprised by Eli's aggression. “Shit, bro, I know it's serious, I honestly wasn't trying to make fun of Riley for it,” Noah insisted with earnest. “We always locked our doors when he slept over, you remember.”

“Eli I'm fine,” Riley spoke up, smiling again. “It's nothing I haven't heard from Niall a dozen times over.”

“See Eli?” Nathan said. “Ooh, and Riley, Niall's been telling us all about your new boyfriend. Where's he hiding?”

Riley should have known Niall would bring Marcus up to the twins. “He's busy with a piano lesson, unfortunately,” he lied.

Nathan looked oddly disappointed. “Oh well, probably for the best. I'm hungry enough as it is.”

Eli looked ready to go off on the twins again, but Riley quickly shifted the conversation. “So what have you guys been up to recently?”

“Still working at the warehouse,” Noah answered. “Pays the bills and they'll let you work on a full belly, as long as it's not full of a coworker.” He snickered in Nathan's direction.

“Oh shut up, it was one time,” Nathan grumbled back. “I still can't believe places can fire you for eating coworkers now. I mean, if I'm having to work my ass off just to cover for someone too stupid or lazy to do anything right, I should be able to terminate their employment early.”

“You're just lucky you were both off the clock, and the manager that night was willing to look the other way,” Noah said with amusement.

Eli didn't seem to enjoy the conversation's new direction much. “Yeah, it's so strange people would prefer to work in a place where they didn't have to fear being eaten alive by their coworkers on a daily basis.” His sarcasm was rather unsubtle.

The twins simply ignored him, pretending Riley was their only audience. “One nice thing about the job, though, is that the hours have been flexible enough to give us plenty of time to wrestle.” Nathan said.

“We're in a local fed, Columbia Championship Wrestling.” Noah added. “I doubt we'd ever want to go pro or anything, but it's a fun distraction a couple weekends a month.”

“The crowd loves booing us! We're a tag-team called the Avalanche Bros, and cheat a bunch to win. Reinhard, the guy who runs the whole thing, he really wants us to make a career of it.”

Riley wasn't used to the twins expressing such enthusiasm for anything not related to vore. “So why are you guys refusing?”

Noah shrugged. “Pay's questionable, and the full-time guys have to travel around the state a lot cause Reinhard wants to expand.”

“If he starts booking more vore matches then we'll consider it,” Nathan said.

“Wait, I thought pro wrestling was all planned beforehand,” Riley asked. “How does a vore match even work?”

Nathan looked excited for all the wrong reasons. “Same way as a normal one! Mostly. You plan the finish, who eats who in what way, and then the winner throws up the loser backstage after.”

“Alright, that's a lot tamer than I thought it'd be.”

“Well, they usually end that way,” Nathan grinned slyly. “If the loser's been causing problems in the back, or just isn't getting a good crowd reaction, then Reinhard might call for a digestion finish.”

Eli become rather uncomfortable. “You never told me there was any vore involved in the wrestling gig, why are agreeing to something so dangerous?” He said, not with anger but with concern.

“Digestion's really rare,” Noah insisted. “Reinhard doesn't want to lose half his roster every week, and he gives plenty of warnings to wrestlers if they're in danger of a one way trip.”

“Besides, we're almost always the ones doing the eating, fits our heel gimmicks better.” Nathan said.

“Like last week,” Noah nodded, giving his belly a triumphant shake. “Reinhard pretty much told the other team outright that they'd be digested if they didn't make an impact that night, gave them like a million chances to back out and just quit.”

Nathan looked at his twin's larger gut with envy. “I just wish they hadn't been so scrawny.”

Eli's moment of apprehension was waning fast. “I don't even know why I bother.”

“Ooh, I just thought of the perfect cheap gift to get dad for his birthday!” Nathan shouted. “We could make a DVD of some of our vore matches!”

Eli covered his eyes with a paw and sighed. “Dad would love that sort of thing,” he admitted with disdain. “But the whole point of this meet-up was to think of a group present from all of us. That would only cover you two.”

“By 'all of us' you just mean us three,” Noah interrupted. “It's not like Mason or Ella are part of it.”

The trio's older siblings both lived out of state, and had families of their own. Their views of vore were closer to Eli's than the twins. Mason had only hunted once, during high school, and never liked talking about the experience. Ella was nearly disowned by their parents when she married a rather chipper, vegetarian deer. Once they had moved away, their parents and youngest brothers had directed the bulk of their pro-vore ire at Eli.

Eli rolled his eyes. “You know what I meant. Mason and Ella can afford nice gifts on their own, we can't. And dad tends to just reject whatever I bother to get him...”

“Alright, alright, I'm sorry,” Noah apologized. “And you'd totally be able to contribute. You could edit all the raw footage together so it's actually watchable, you used to do that sort of thing all the time.”

Riley smiled at the apparent progress. “Eli that sounds really nice, I'm sure your dad would appreciate it.”

“Yeah...yeah that'd be doable, and affordable,” Eli relented.

“And we'll warn you when to fast forward through all the digestion celebration zoom ins!” Noah unfortunately added.

Eli just shook his head in silent frustration while Riley frowned.

“Then it's decided!” Nathan declared. “We'll copy some stuff from Reinhard and send it your way whenever. Now I believe the next order of business is that pizza you promised.”

“I made the call to Mezziano's literally right before you knocked, it'll be a while,” Eli said. Riley was confused at first, but a quick glare from Eli clued him in to the ruse.

The twins seemed disappointed, then looked at one another. “Dibs on the delivery boy!” They both yelled nearly simultaneously, before arguing for a solid minute over who had won.

“No! No one's getting eaten in my apartment, especially not some poor delivery boy.” Eli growled again at the twins.

“Oh come on, delivery boys are basically an unwritten part of every take-out place's menu, they even have a price!” Noah complained.

“You get fined for eating them, they don't have a price-tag!” Eli wasn't about to give in, not on an issue like this.

Noah attempted to press on. “Please? We'll pay the fine ourselves. Hell, we'll pay for the whole delivery!”

“I'm not gonna waste time arguing about this, the answer is no, now and forever!”

The twins went back to ignoring Eli. Noah lifted himself off the couch, moving to a more open area of the room. “We'll figure it out later, let's just settle dibs real quick,” he told his twin. Nathan followed suit, standing just in front of Noah. The pair raised their hands up and, after three quick slaps of the palm, both displayed a closed fist. They were playing rock-paper-scissors. Riley was once again lost, while Eli paced back and forth a bit, fuming under his breath. Two games later, Nathan was celebrating his victory, boasting about how delicious the delivery boy would be. Noah begrudgingly accepted the outcome.

“Whatever, I bet he'll be rail thin. I'll gain more weight eating the pizza,” Noah said. “Now it's time for my consolation prize, we've got plenty of time before the real food arrives.”

“Worth it,” Nathan said, sitting down in a nearby chair and raising his legs in the air for some odd reason.

Riley watched Noah approach his twin and kneel before him, grabbing his ankles. To Riley's shock and confusion Noah began swallowing his brother's feet. Nathan continued grinning smugly, gloating further as his legs began to slide down Noah's throat.

“Nope, I'm hitting the jackpot, I can feel it! I'll be digesting him for days!” Nathan suddenly giggled, his legs tickled as Noah tried to respond with a full mouth. He then finally noticed the look Riley was giving them. “Oh, yeah, I guess we've never done this around you, huh?”

Riley shook his head. “No, this is new.”

“Rock-paper-scissors decides who eats a contested meal. After that, on the rare occasion there's time to kill, loser gets to swallow the winner till the meal actually arrives.” Nathan explained, as if it were a completely normal, sensible custom.

“Just one of the many, many reasons I insisted on us avoiding my house all the time during high school,” Eli mumbled to Riley. “How the hell are we related?”

Nathan snickered, lowering his paws into Noah's welcoming maw as the rest of his legs disappeared from view. There was little fear in the back of his mind, even instinctual. He had experienced being swallowed far too many times for such a thing, and he welcomed every new occurrence. Predators generally considered being swallowed a sign of weakness, even if it were temporary. Nathan and Noah, on the other hand, saw it as valuable training that had saved their lives on an occasion or two. The twins wouldn't flail aimlessly or struggle themselves further down a rival predator's throat, they would strike precisely, injure their attacker in ways that would force them to give up on their meal.

Noah finally reached his twin's waist, prepared to tackle the large belly that lay beyond. He grabbed onto Nathan's back and slowly lifted him up of the chair, rising to his feet. They remained in place as Noah stretched his mouth further and further, working to envelop the soft belly of his meal. With a great deal of effort he passed the widest point, and gravity kicked into high gear. Strong gulp after gulp drove Nathan into his brother's stomach in a matter of seconds till only his head remained exposed.

“See you guys in a bit!” Nathan said cheerfully, before vanishing from sight.

Riley watched in morbid fascination as the outline of Nathan traveled down Noah's throat, leading towards his twin's swelling belly. Noah grabbed a hold of his massively expanded belly as his temporary meal settled in, a blissful look on his face. He teased his brother a bit by gently prodding at him.

Noah burped a little, but quickly swallowed more fresh air. “There's something oddly satisfying about a willing meal,” he said gleefully. His belly jostled a bit in response. “Ok, ok. Mostly willing.”

Eli had turned his back on the display as soon as it began, and seemed content with remaining like that. “I can't believe you two eat each other so...nonchalantly.” He shuddered.

“What's so weird about it? We always let each other out after a bit, nothing permanent,” Noah replied. “Though Nathan would do wonders for my waistline.” He grinned devilishly.

Noah's belly shook more aggressively this time. “Hey, you know I'm joking!” He said. “I'd never eat you, that'd be like eating myself, or something. And I know the feelings mutual.” He gave his gut a playful punch.

The sudden ringing of the doorbell was a welcome distraction. As Noah watched, somewhat confused, Eli hurried to the door. He couldn't believe how perfect the timing had been; if the pizza had arrived just a few minutes early his plan would have fallen apart. A quick peek in the peephole confirmed just how lucky he'd actually gotten. Eli quickly unlocked the front door, opening it wide to reveal a rather overweight lion holding pizza boxes. The delivery boy, whose name tag claimed was called Sam, was similar in size to Nathan, likely close to three hundred pounds. Eli was surprised the lion had managed to survive the job considering his weight. For a moment, he considered the possibility Sam was actually a predator.

“Uh, one large cheese, one large pepperoni for an Eli?” Sam asked, nervously.

Eli breathed a sigh of relief. The lion's intimidating presence was shattered the moment he spoke up. He definitely wouldn't have stood a chance against the twins, despite his size.

“Yeah, that's my order,” Eli answered, grabbing the pizzas. “If I were you, I'd flee before the gluttonous idiots in here get a whiff of your scent.”

Sam took the warning to heart, waddling away as fast as he could manage. Eli closed and relocked the door, carrying the pizza with him to the living room. To his annoyance, he discovered Noah in the process of hastily attempting to throw up Nathan. Little progress had been made, with part of Nathan just barely visible in Noah's throat, but plenty of drool had pooled onto the carpet.

“Delivery boy's long gone,” Eli fudged the truth a bit. “You two will just have to deal with pizza instead.”

Noah looked disappointed at first, but then remembered he wasn't even going to be the one to eat the delivery boy. He ceased his efforts, smiling, and casually swallowed down whatever of Nathan had exited his stomach. His re-swollen belly bounced around in objection.

“Well Nathan, looks like you lost out on your meal,” Noah taunted. “You might as well stay in there a while longer. I'll make sure to send you some pizza.” The movement in his stomach seemed to disapprove of the plan.

Eli sighed at his brother. “This is ridiculous. I shouldn't have to time a delivery like that just to ensure you and Nathan don't act like asses.”

Noah tried to ignore the insult. “What did he look like?”

“That's not the point!” Eli yelled in response, before calming himself down. “Whatever, he was thinner than I was, would have been quite the feast.”

“Eh, doubt Nathan would have bothered with him, then. I know I wouldn't have.” Noah shrugged. “The time spent digesting him wouldn't be worth it, and we gotta bulk up for the hunt with Niall in November.”

Riley and Eli both appeared uncomfortable. “He shouldn't have dragged you two into that anniversary stuff, I don't like it,” Eli said.

Now it was Noah's turn to be annoyed. “The hunt means a lot to Niall, it's how he wants to remember his brothers,” Noah said sternly. “Nathan and I are honored to be part of that.”

“Sure, sure,” Eli mumbled. “Do me a favor, both of you,” he forced Riley into the conversation. “If someone ever eats me, just bring fresh flowers or have a picnic if you really want to remember me.”

“Hey bro, don't joke about that sort of thing,” Noah frowned.

The room grew silent, with the exception of Noah's unruly belly. Noah and Eli didn't seem that interested in arguing further, so Riley tried to lighten the mood as best he could. “Hey, why don't we have a go at the pizzas while they're still warm,” he smiled, nervously. “I can smell the bacon from here, and it's making my mouth water.”

Eli gave Riley an odd look, cracking open the two pizza boxes and checking on their contents. “Do you have a stuffy nose or something Riley? I didn't order anything with bacon.” He revealed the pizzas.

Riley stared at the evidence for a moment, before a sudden realization hit him, overwhelming him with embarrassment and shame. “Yeah, yeah, allergies acting up again,” he made a show of sniffing loudly and rubbing his completely clear nose. “They always taunt me with phantom scents.”