The mouse awoke, she felt sick to her stomach. The damp soil met with its contents as she turned over, narrowly avoiding getting vomit on her fur. It looked like- but no it couldn't be... Was she outside?  It was warmer than the tank she spent her whole life in, more humid too. Her nausea was lifted by the rich, earthy aroma. Stretching her limbs she felt a breeze. Yes, soft, exquisite air through her fur. She couldn't help running a few steps, laughing, falling, not caring. Grass below her, crickets in the distance, she loved the way the leafy canopy above her looked... but she longed to see the stars. She'd heard many things about the outside world, but nothing sounded quite as beautiful or enchanting as gems lighting up a vast blanket of darkness.
	She forced herself up and ran between the trees, leaves and branches wooshing past her. The mouse's sprint was cut short by a seemingly endless brick wall. "No!" She bashed it with her clenched paws. As she started choking back tears she heard it. Rustling, behind her. Nothing special, perhaps just the wind, but something about it raised the fur on the back of her neck. Run, she should run. Her legs bolted, she followed the wall away from the sound. The foliage near it was easy to avoid, ducking lower branches and forcing heself through some smaller gaps. The new wall that seemingly sprang from nothing was far more difficult to dodge. She grasped at it and collapsed against it. The tears came, heavy, dripping with mucus. This was no life. Boxed. Tales of an outside world, of freedom. The mouse curled up in her corner, if the feeling in her stomach was right it was the last place she could call her own.
	"Oh, pity. That's no fun. What happened to the chase?" The large snake looked down at the sniveling mess by his coiled body. He almost felt bad.
 	"It's pointless. Just get it over with!" The mouse sobbed. The snakes tongue toyed with an extended fang, he laughed. It was interesting. She.
	"What's that?" His tongue flickered.
	"This- this boxed, boring life! I just-" She made the mistake of looking at him, then quickly averted her eyes. "I can't take it anymore. Do it." The snake smiled. she understood.
	"Look at me." She couldn't bring herself to do it. "Look!" His tail turned her head for her, he was closer than she'd expected. His eyes were a deep brown, scanning over her. "There is more, you know?" His gaze met her's, his slit like pupils becoming engorged. "Outside... or even within this box. These walls."  The mouse nodded. "Hmm-hmm." He chuckled. "Pet, you're far too cute to kill." The snake's tail flicked around her waist, pulling her close. His jaw unhinged and his tongue wrapped around her entire face. His coils surrounded her body.  He relinquished her from her from his mouth and she gulped down fresh air. "Just a taste, pet." She shuddered as the tip of his tail slid up her leg and teased her lips. The mouse had never felt such a rush of adrenalin or pleasure. Just feeling his cool scales was enouh to put her fur on end, but his tail, his tongue, his strength... The snake's forked cock slipped from his cloaca and his coils tightened aroumd her as he brought it closer to her dripping pussy.
	"What-" He silenced her, putting his mouth over her muzzle, as he pushed her down onto one of his hemipenes while the other brushed against her lips and clit. A muffled yelp escaped the mouse as her  blood trickled down his pink cocks. His coils pulled her up and slammed her down again, and again, and again. Her cries becoming weaker as she became lightheaded from oxygen deprivation. The snake waited until she went limp in his grasp before pulling her from his jaw. She whimpered softly as she was used like a cock sleeve. As she came to her whimpers became moans. "Mmh...mmh..." He felt her tighten as she came close and pumped her body on his cock faster. "Oh god... Oh fuck!" She clutched him as her body twitched with pleasure. He slowed his pace as she reached for his head, putting his mouth around her, wanting to feel that primal fear. The act made the snake feel like a god. More powerful than before even though it was committed by his prey. The snake drooled around her as his cool, reptilian seed filled her. She felt his hemipenes jolt inside her and he squeezed her a little harder before relaxing completely. He had expected her to leave when he'd let go, but instead the mouse settled in his coils
	 The snake awoke to the light twitches of the mouse still in his grasp. "Good morning." He extended the proper greeting he'd learned from his contact with humans. They had also let him read books, but that was before they began dumbing down the exeriments. She stiffened, the snake smelled fear and his mouth watered. The humans always made sure he was hungry and what would another mouse be in the grand scheme of this sick place? His jaw poped open, drooling and unthinking.
	"Good morning." The mouse replied in a light, feminine voice. Suddenly she seemed delicate. Precious. In the strangest way he wanted to protect her from everything even, if not especially, himself. In a perfect world they wouldn't be in this infernal place. Slowly thoughts linked together.
	"How good are you with those paws of yours?" The mouse looked confused.
	"Why?" She looked at her fur covered digits.
	"We're going to escape." He said with fire in his eyes and a devious smile. His hunger could wait.

	The zookeeper assigned to watching the monitors that dislayed the bioengineered snake exhibit couldn't believe his eyes. They were having a conversation, like regular people. The rest of the staff explained that this happened before at other exhibits, but he would eat the mouse when got hungry enough. He kept the other activities between the snake and mouse private though, but the picture of them didn't seem to stray far from his mind.