This wasn't Avour's usual life-or-death assignment, where he had to hunt down supernatural entities. The red panda was skilled in both combat and magic, and had made a name for himself by facing off against formidable foes. But this time, it was just a simple side job. He was on his way to some town that he had never heard of, where there had been several complaints about some sort of pest that kept stealing people's foods and wreaking havoc.
He pulled the red hood over his red-and-white fluffy head and shrunk into his black jacket, fending off some of the cold on his way down the road. It was probably a wild raccoon or something, he thought. Still, it was worth going down there and give his professional opinion. At the very least, he suspected that there was some credence to the frightened reactions from the civilians, and he would see it through to the best of his abilities. After all, his job was to help others, first and foremost.
His first order of business was to go around and interview the townsfolk, and really get to the bottom of these reports. And the more he heard them speak, the more far-fetched his initial guess of 'just a racoon' appeared. It wasn't just stolen food: missing furniture, misplaced objects, tied shoelaces...and even graffiti at hard-to-reach places. Might've been some delinquents, of course. But the few troublemakers that Avour talked to didn't even seem aware about most of these misdemeanors. Yet, a bunch of incidents seemed to crop up all over town every night, and sometimes throughout the day. It could have been an organized group harassing the quaint village, but he couldn't shake off how the evidence pointed out to a single culprit.
And then, he heard one particular testimony that put all the pieces together. A small child claimed to have seen a large-eared fox with glowing red eyes the other night, as she walked by the closed toy store. The vulpine seemingly noticed her through the glass right back, and somehow, joined her outside. It gave her a stolen doll she was staring at, said "don't tell your parents", then vanished into thin air. The child asked Avour if he was looking for the nice man, and he simply nodded to her without saying anything else.
The red panda now knew what – or more precisely, who – he was dealing with. Some kind of mischievous teleporting fox, likely an outsider, going around doing petty crime. There was no indication that he had committed anything heinous yet, but he wouldn't leave it to some perpetrator's dubious morals to find out when it was too late. Plus, it wouldn't do to leave all of this villagers helpless and scared, at the mercy of this mysterious man. There was only one thing that he could do: confront him directly.
"Confront him?!" The mayor asked Avour after he'd presented his findings, twitching her whiskers nervously. "But how? You said that he teleports erratically."
The red panda leaned over the town map sprawled over a table, bringing his digit to one of the buildings near the outskirts. "Not exactly. There's this lumber mill that's been reporting some missing inventory every morning. It isn't much, not enough to arouse a lot of suspicion, so they didn't feel like filing a report. But it's always the same amount that gets stolen. As such, I've deduced that our suspect is grabbing some fire logs to stay warm every night. I don't know where his hideout is, but if I stake out this lumber mill tonight, I'm sure I'll find him there."
"Wow, you're really something else, Mr. Inden! I don't know anyone who could pinpoint an exact location..." The calico mayor said as she slumped onto her office chair, reaching for her phone. "Alright, then. Whoever this menace is, he must be stopped. I'll talk to the sheriff and see if he can spare any men to help with–"
He interrupted her. "No, ma'am. We don't know how dangerous he could be. It's better if no one else is there to get hurt. I can handle it alone."
"Well, okay, if you say so... I trust you'll handle this professionally without a fuss, Mr. Inden."
The red panda nodded and leaned away from the table. He stood up and formed a plan in his mind, but he didn't need to bother her with the details.
"Alright, I'll leave now and get ready, Mayor Walsh. The next time, I hope to bring good new–"
Before he finished his sentence, Avour jumped across the room at one of the drapes by the window, and pulled it aside.
The cat jumped in her seat at the brusque movement. "WOAH! W-What was that? Is there a c-cockroach or something?!"
Holding his black blade in his paw, the red panda looked at the seemingly empty space by the window, then let go of the curtain. "...No, it's nothing, ma'am."
***
After his preparations, Avour came in just before the lumber mill closed down for the day, before the sun was set and the cold had started to be a nuisance. He set up a simple stun trap: as soon as anybody grabbed any of the fire logs, they'd be shocked and incapacitated. It was relatively harmless and couldn't kill anyone – after all, the red panda had questions for this fox.
Teleportation powers... The red panda never had to face off against someone with that skill. Hopefully, it wouldn't come down to fighting the suspect. But if it did, Avour was prepared. He'd watch the target behind some cover, ready to strike him if he turned out to be violent. And Avour didn't mind waiting for hours as he stood guard. The annoying chill that came with the night would keep Avour awake, no doubt. But most importantly, by that same token, he knew that the cold would prompt his suspect to come here and fetch some fire logs tonight.
In fact, it didn't take long at all. Out of nowhere, the mark materialized from nowhere, air rushing with a 'zwoop!' noise from where he stood. He was clearly a fennec fox, slim at the waist and about the same height as him. His fluffy fur was a grayish brown, slightly darker at the limbs and medium tail, but what stuck out the most about him the most were his large ears, characteristic of his species, with white tufts sticking out. Avour had kind of expected a brutish monster, but he looked just like a lean fennec fox who didn't wear any clothes. No wonder why he needed a fire to warm himself every night.
The red panda had him in sight, but he wouldn't jump too soon, lest the fox teleported away. He was curious about the glowing red eyes that the little girl had mentioned, but he couldn't see them from behind. And as he intently watched the fox, the mark suddenly disappeared with another 'zwoop!' noise. Instead, what looked like a small rift was left behind, a dark crack in reality floating mid-air...
"Hello there!" The voice came right next to him, close enough that Avour felt the breath of air on his cheek.
"WAH–!"
The surprised red panda turned around, and threw one of his kunai. The knife materialized out of thin air with his magic, flying out in the direction of the voice. But it hit the wall after the fox teleported away once more, who was now standing a few feet away from him. Sure enough, those two irises gazing back at him, bearing a light red hue, were the brightest things in the dark lumber mill.
"Eek! Easy, there!" The fennec fox giggled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you were trying to hurt me...! Heh. You're Mr. Inden, right? Are you a fan of mine?"
The red panda grumbled after his cover had been blown, watching as his magical kunai dissipated after being used. "...The name's Avour. I've been looking for you."
"I know you have! I noticed how you've been going around, asking all sorts of questions about me. I'm Buster, by the way."
"It was you in the mayor's office earlier today, wasn't it...?" Avour asked, keeping a close eye on Buster. He wouldn't lower his guard for a single moment.
"Maaaybeee~!" The fennec taunted him. "You certainly caught my eye. An outsider coming to town, carrying a blade on your back, talking with the all-important mayor, getting the best suite in the hotel, and even setting up a booby trap so you could catch me or something..."
Avour's jaw nearly fell. "Wh– What? You've been watching me all along?!"
"Yep! You must be quite a big – and creepy – fan, wanting to kidnap me like that!"
"I-I'm not your fan!" The red panda roared back. "Or a kidnapper...! L-Look, I don't want to hurt you. But I can't let you go around causing trouble, scaring innocent people who are just going about their days."
"Ohh! Now you're playing good cop, bad cop! So, are you gonna arrest me or something? Doesn't sound so different from kidnapping me, really..."
This Buster guy really was getting on his nerves... "I'm not a cop, either! ...Still, it's true that the town hall is looking to press charges. Theft, vandalism, disturbance of the peace. If it was up to me, we'd sort this out peacefully, without the police. But I really need you to cooperate with me, here."
"Heh. They really make me sound like some big, bad criminal! And then, what? You're supposed to be the acclaimed hero that they call over, who comes to save these poor townsfolk from my terrible, silly pranks?" He put his hands to his hips and showed Avour his black tongue, speaking dramatically.
The red panda raised his finger. "Silly pranks...? Why even go through such trouble to keep terrorizing this town over and over? As far as I'm concerned, what you've done is bad enough already. And who knows, maybe you're just practicing your newfound powers to commit something worse! Well, I'm not gonna wait with my arms crossed until you rob a bank or something."
Buster simply laughed it off. "Whoa whoa whoa, where did that come from? And why would I even wanna do that? Robbing a bank... Money is such a bother, when I can just steal what I want instead."
Avour was losing his patience. Now the mischievous fox was just plainly admitting to his crimes, and joking about it to boot! "Whatever your reasons for doing this, you better stop and go clean."
The red panda went for his arm, but Buster immediately vanished, only to reappear a few feet ahead. "Hah! Why would I? This is just too much fun! I have a different proposal. How about we get to know each other better?"
"So you're finally going to speak?"
"Nah, that's not what I meant. But you'll find out reeeal soon, though~." He licked his lips suggestively. ...Was that a threat?
Avour raised his hand, another kunai manifesting right next to his head in mid-air. "D-Don't make me use force against you...!"
"Ohh, is it a fight that you want? Now THAT is exciting! By all means. And don't hold back!"
This taunting trickster wanted to have it the hard way, then... Fine, Avour thought. He pointed his finger, and the throwing knife was propelled towards the brownish fennec – but it had barely covered half the distance before Buster had teleported to a different spot in a split second.
"Stop doing that! It's annooooying~..." The fox complained playfully, his glowing red eyes not even staring back at Avour. He had a devious grin on his snout, clearly enjoying how he was getting a rise out of the red panda. "But seriously, is that the best you can do?"
The red panda summoned two more throwing knives, with his dominant paw reaching for the short blade that he carried on his back. He was starting to get a sense of where Buster would teleport whenever he threw his knives, and he had a quick plan forming in his head. With the fennec cornered, he could throw one kunai in his direction, another at the opposite corner of the room – to lure him away from there –, and then swiftly strike in the middle of the two with his longer single-handed saber. That way, Buster would have nowhere to escape. A part of him still didn't want to hurt the prankster, but he was left with little choice...
Now that he had a plan, Avour didn't hesitate. With extreme spell-casting precision, he threw both knives at the same time, not wasting any time to pull out his blade–
"Oop!"
He heard Buster's nonchalant voice, coming from above and behind. Immediately after, the fennec fox's weight pushed onto his back, before the red panda even had time to react and turn around. His teleporting opponent fell on him, pinning him down as the blade slipped from his paw.
"Ngh–! Damn it. Get off of me!" Avour growled as ferociously as a red panda could, but his adversary didn't even flinch.
"Why, so you can throw more sharp things at me? I don't thiiiink so~! Alright, let's get a good look at you..." Buster eased his weight on Avour only to turn him around, making sure to put his knees back on the clothed fighter's shoulders. Those glowing eyes, with the same hue as the inside of a ripe grapefruit, stared right back at him with an amused expression. "Aww, I didn't realize what a cutie you were! I could just eat you up~!"
The fennec's teasing brought some blushing to Avour's cheeks, which were thankfully hidden under the naturally red fur. "D-Don't do anything rash, Buster! I have backup outside!"
"Heh, we both know that you don't! Or did you forget that I was eavesdropping on your conversation with that mayor lady?" Buster giggled as he touched Avour's black nose with his finger. "Also, asking me not do anything rash... That's quite rich coming from you, mister shoot-first-and-ask-later! Are you always sooo forgetful? ...Or, maybe, is there something distracting you~?"
Inching his snout closer, Buster opened his jaws right in front of the immobilized red panda. It was quite dark in the lumber mill, but Avour could still see the black flesh between the white teeth, and a cushy tongue sticking out. Such a warm, inviting sight– N-No! This wasn't the time to be thinking about this...especially not with this guy!
"You know, I meant it. What I said earlier." Buster poked more fun at him. "I still think we should get to know each other better, Avour. And what better way than to keep you all close to me~? But I've never tried red panda before..."
He brought his open maw towards him again, this time directing the red panda's nose and chin to the gap between his jaws. He and Buster were about the same size, but Avour knew that it wouldn't stop him. There wasn't much for him to do, unable to fight back against the eager fennec fox or even his own desires. He secretly enjoyed it, but he was too prideful to admit it to this tricky thief.
Buster kept going, running his tongue over the white fluffy underside of Avour's snout. He brought his grayish-brown paw behind the head and pulled it upward, squeezing more of Avour into his maw. The red panda had a large crimson tuft on his forehead, making the head look bigger than it actually was. It easily slipped right in and brushed against the black palate, tickling the roof while Buster hummed pleasantly at the taste.
As much as the red panda hated to admit it, he didn't mind his predicament that much. The fennec fox was being careful with the half of Avour's face that was in his maw, he could tell, while seemingly intent on swallowing him whole... Although he didn't understand why Buster decided to do it in the spur of the moment, other than escalating his previous teasing. Avour tried to struggle, but his predator still had him grabbed and pinned, sending his snout further deeper as the licks moved down to his red-furred neck. He may have been utterly defeated, but this was adding too much insult to injury...!
The fennec showed no qualms, gorging himself on the red panda more and more. Avour's snout poked the back of his maw, and he'd have explored more of that sensation, were it not for the pressing cold from the nightfall. He'd come down to this place to make himself warm, but he was quite busy devouring his new acquaintance. Sure, he could have stolen Avour's clothes – his jacket and pants did look warm, after all. But then the red panda would've probably been less cooperative, and more importantly, they wouldn't fit him once his belly was all filled.
Instead, he picked up his pace. As soon as the red panda's nose entered his throat, Buster swallowed, squeezing those struggling arms together to fit the shoulders into his maw as well. Avour's grunt echoed in the gullet, his head getting shoved inside and his ears being filled with slurping sounds. The fennec no longer could taste his fluff once his black tongue had reached the covered chest, but continued to swallow him hurriedly.
The red panda still didn't want to admit defeat. After all, he had failed to capture Buster, and now he was the one being captured. He tried to squirm himself free with more vigor, but the fennec's swallows were unrelenting. And so, Avour found himself deeper down the tunnel of black flesh, his shoulders trapped in place as they entered the fennec's neck, the cold breeze from outside being replaced by Buster's stale warmth. Despite their similar sizes, Avour was making his way into Buster's stomach, though neither of them were really surprised – this wasn't a new experience for either of them.
"Hmf...y-you won't get away with this!" The red panda growled.
But the vulpine simply laughed around him, from how cute and non-menacing his 'snack' was being. Another 'gulp!' brought the clothed abs between Buster's jaws, his fangs ever gentle and careful not to tear into Avour's jacket. The predator's glowing eyes watched the long striped tail jutting out from the back, and wrapped his dark tongue around, to get a bit more of the red panda's taste even as he rushed to swallow him down.
Once Avour's head pushed into his stomach, the fennec decided to stand up. The extra weight wasn't a problem for him, even with the red panda's cute kicks into the air. Buster grabbed the bulky winter pants to funnel those legs into his mouth. Closely watching and feeling as his belly stretched out, with the lumps underneath his brownish fur squirming as more of Avour slipped into his stomach. Buster turned his head up, letting gravity do most of the work of bringing that tail and snow boots into his confines.
The red panda knew that fighting it would be pointless, and he put his efforts instead into making himself comfortable, not knowing for how long he would be kept in the fleshy chamber. The black walls would push out with every shove of his shoulders, and then his paws once the rest of his arms spilled inside as well. Avour felt the fennec's satisfied pats as the maw above gnawed on his boots, before sending them down. There was a bit of saliva on the red panda's clothes and fur, but not too much that he couldn't wipe away with his hands.
Buster felt the mass slip down from his throat, finally getting Avour settled in his stomach. The only exception was the tip of his fluffy tail, which was still hanging out of his maw. Even if it wasn't there, the biggest indication that the red panda had been devoured was the distended skin on his belly. But as he was ready to tuck away the last of that fluffy appendage, his body instinctively shook. A shiver, in reaction to the night's cold. And the movement didn't go unnoticed to Avour as it happened everywhere around him.
"If you're feeling cold, you might want to grab some logs to make a fire..." He suggested, hoping that Buster would take the bait.
"Pff. As if I forgot about the whole deal with the trap!" The fennec answered the muffled voice in his stomach, his tongue flicking around the tail sticking out of his mouth. "Nice try, though."
"T-Then let me out so I can disarm it!"
"Hmmm... Nah. I have a better idea~."
Avour's surroundings suddenly jostled with a 'zwoop!' sound whistling by, squeezing his face directly against the wall of the stomach. Whatever Buster had done, it was quite disorienting. Even more so when he suddenly jumped into the air, landing on his back on something cushy. The fennec bounced on a mattress, while Avour had to readjust to the new direction of gravity.
"Hey, this is a pretty nice room that they gave you!" Buster shouted to his new belly-filling companion, looking around the decorated and warm room. "Much better than that dump I was staying in."
Avour paused for a moment. "...Wait, did you just teleport us to my hotel room?!"
"Yeah! It's not like you're gonna be using it for a while... So I might as well borrow it!"
And with that, Buster slurped the last of the ringed tail into his jaws, sending it down along the rest of the red panda.
"A-A while?! When will you let me out...?" Avour asked meekly. He tried to readjust himself, but with the fennec contently patting his belly all of the time, it was hard to do anything useful. He was completely powerless – but at the very least, he was relieved Buster wouldn't be able to see the blush on his cheeks.
"Umm, let's seeeeee..." The fennec continued to rub his brownish-furred belly as he thought out loud, deliberately teasing the red panda as much as he could. "Maybe when you and I are veeery good friends! Maybe you'll even learn to stop being such a stickler for rules while you're at it."
"Friends? That's never going to happen..."
"Then you're staying in there for longer. I'll get to know you, and you'll get to know me – and my stomach – even better!"
"U-Ugh..."
Avour lounged back on the fleshy chamber, annoyed at the thought of having to stay in here for however long he wanted... Hours, potentially even days! If Buster's goal was to get a rise out of the red panda, he was certainly succeeding. At the very least, it didn't seem that the fennec had any nefarious plans other than keeping him trapped in there.
He felt another shiver from his captor, and Avour pushed his gloved paw against the warm folds. He didn't gain anything if the fennec felt uncomfortable, other than more guilt. "...If you're cold, you should take a warm bath. There's a tub in the bathroom, and–"
"You have a bathtub?! Oh, I gotta check it out!"
Buster jumped off the bed excitedly, seemingly unbothered by the extra weight in his squirming gut. He warped a few feet away with another 'zwoop!', before Avour heard the sound of running water filling a tub behind the layers of flesh. The fennec dumped the entirety of what looked like bubble bath soap into the tub, watching the warm foam rise before he slipped into the inviting water. Lying down on the ceramic cradle, he relaxed as his cold skin soaked the soothing bath, with just his long-eared head and bulging belly sticking out of the white bubbles.
The red panda could hear the slight sloshing outside of that belly, with the room getting slightly floatier from buoyancy. It also swayed a bit to the sides, lulling him and making the stomach even comfier than before. It felt quite nice and soothing, as much as it pained him to admit – but that didn't mean that he'd ever tell that to Buster. By all accounts, Avour should've been able to beat him and get him to fall for his trap. And it wasn't fair that–
"...Wait, my trap...!" The red panda suddenly jostled as he remembered.
"Hm?"
"I never took apart the trap in the lumber mill that was supposed to stun you!"
"And," the fennec rubbed the sudsy foam over his enlarged midriff, "what are you going to do about it...? You have other things to be concerned about, new friend~."
"M-Mmf... No..." The red panda grumbled, melting towards the bottom as his muscles relaxed. He wanted to fight back, but it was just too cozy in here!
"Besides, that can be your first prank. Tomorrow, we'll see if someone falls for it!"
Avour yawned, getting sleepier the longer he stayed in the bubble bath belly. The wet sounds, along with the soft and cushy interior, were making it hard for his eyes to stay open. "What...do you mean...?"
"I'll show you later... After all, if you're gonna be my friend, then you gotta stop being so law-abiding. Live a little and have some fun, for once! We're gonna be partners-in-crime, you and I..."
Buster chuckled, and instead of fighting back, the tired red panda simply fell asleep to the sound of his laughter...
***
...
"...Hey..."
...?
"Are you awake, Avour?" The fennec's voice reverberated through the walls, which were also being shaken and jostled by paws from outside. "Or are you still asleep?"
"Mmm... Hm?" The red panda grumbled and pushed against the tight organ, only to find that his stretching was limited. He was still groggy from his comfortable sleep, and it took him a few more moments to recall the events of last night. Including where he was, and whose stomach he was in.
"Morning, sleepyhead!" Buster greeted him cheerfully. "Sounds like you were enjoying your nap~."
Avour wasn't gonna admit to it, and he simply scoffed. "Y-You better let me out already, or..."
"...Or you're gonna pretend to be mad? Please do! You're so cute when you try to be threatening!"
"H-Hmmf..."
The fennec chuckled. "But maybe save it for later. If you don't wanna miss out on your first prank, that is."
"My...what?" The red panda was admittedly confused.
"Oh, remember that booby trap you set up yesterday? I thought it'd be funny to keep an eye out for it, in case someone tries to activate it."
"What?! B-But it's a stun trap! Someone could get hurt...!" He instinctively kicked at the walls, despite knowing that it would be pointless. "And you're gonna let them trigger it for your amusement?"
"Yeah! I mean, you were trying to harm me – a total stranger – with it, right? So it's not so different from what you wanted to do in the first place!" Buster spoke in a gleeful Manner, his tone not betraying any rancor towards the red panda stuck in his stomach.
"W-Well..."
"Besides, I wouldn't be worried about anyone getting hurt..."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't worry, just pay attention and listen." The fennec ordered before he teleported away.
Already at the intended spot, Buster was staking out from the same vantage point in the lumber mill that Avour had used last night. Inside of the soft black folds, the red panda could only tell what had happened by that usual teleporting sound of rushing air, every time Buster tore a hole in reality.
As Avour placed one of his fluffy white ears against the humid chamber to pay closer attention, the first thing he noticed were the incessant sounds of the fennec's body. His heartbeat, his breathing, the slight ruffling of the walls as his limbs moved. It had been several hours since he'd been swallowed by Buster, and despite the carefree personality of his devourer, it had been nothing but a cozy experience. An experience that Avour wished would end sooner rather than later, however...
"Here they come...!" The fennec whispered to his belly, and the red panda heard footsteps echoing outside. He could've fought the stomach containing him, or shouted to call their attention, but he had to admit that he was curious about this prank, after Buster had implied that nobody would get hurt... Regardless, Avour wasn't exactly thrilled about a civilian potentially getting harmed.
At first, there wasn't anything to pick up on. Just a staggering silence which seemed to last for ages from anticipation. Then there was a man's voice, muttering something barely intelligible about logs not going missing. But finally, he heard the sounds of clanging metal, immediately followed by splashing water, and wood logs being dropped on the ground.
"Gah...!"
A goat who worked at the lumber mill suddenly yelled when a water bucket fell squarely on his head and drenched his clothes. He couldn't see anything with the metal cylinder covering his head, but he did hear a man's laughter, despite the fact that he'd arrived to work alone. He tried to remove the bucket from his face and looked in Buster's direction, but he saw nothing other than a tear in reality right moments before it dissipated.
As he grumbled about his soggy clothes and stormed off to complain to his coworkers about their stupid prank, he failed to notice the lost saber in the corner of the room.
***
"Oh, man...!" The vulpine giggled as he immediately landed on the grassy hill outside, unbothered by the weight of his own belly as he lied down, giddy about another successful prank. "You should've seen how he jumped as soon as the water bucket fell on him!"
"A water bucket...?" The red panda's muffled voice asked from his belly, his bulge shifting around as he readjusted to a more comfortable position, now that his predator was lying down. "B-But what about the stun trap?"
"Oh, I got rid of that! I think a classic water bucket prank would be way funnier! Even if it's kind of unoriginal."
"But how did you switch them?"
"You see, after you fell asleep, I got preeetty bored... And I thought about ordering room service, but you are already soooo filling~."
Avour blushed and curled more into a fluffy ball. "S-Shut up–"
"But then," the fennec fox continued, "I decided to come back and defuse your trap, and replace it with something funnier. Just had to cut some wires and tie some knots, really. Finding a water bucket definitely took the longest time, though..."
"So, you just replaced my booby trap...?"
"Yeah! I guess you didn't expect that at all, did you? I ended up tricking you as well!" Buster shifted his belly to the side against the grass, jostling the red panda in his stomach as he was forced to readjust himself again. He stroked his distended midriff covered with his furry forepaws. "Ohh, you feel quite nice moving in there... You know, you're not complaining about my belly as much as I expected. Maybe you even liiike it in there~?"
"Y-You're so childish..." Avour growled...but he didn't have it in him to lie.
"So you don't deny it? You must really enjoy it, then... Either way, it doesn't matter to me. You're staying in there until we're veeery good friends, remember? And helping me with a single prank doesn't count."
"Helping? You completely changed my booby trap!"
"But you could have yelled at that guy from my belly. Yet you didn't, did you?"
"Glrk–! B-But you asked me not to–!"
"Aww, no need to be so flustered! We're pretty intimate now, you and me. Or should I say, you and my belly~?" Buster continued to tease him, squeezing his bulge to smoosh the soft black walls against the red panda's clothes and fur. "And it all worked out, in part, thanks to you! That makes you my accomplice, now."
Avour groaned. He had to admit that this looked pretty bad for him. He wasn't looking forward to the earful he'd get from the mayor, after he was let out...
"But only an accomplice!" The vulpine continued. "That alone doesn't make us friends...yet."
The red panda took a deep breath, trying to recollect himself. "R-Right... You said something about 'getting to know each other better', and 'keeping me close'. Is that why you s-snacked on me?"
"Kinda. I was also feeling peckish, and I can't resist sweeties like you~."
The fennec just bragged about it so casually... But if Buster wasn't doing anything really reckless, then playing along with his teasing was the least that the red panda could do in his position. "So you just go around, swallowing people down and pranking them...and what else?"
"Heh. If you really wanna know, I don't swallow just about anyone. Only the tasty-looking cuties~! And I cooould do other stuff...but it's all just so boring. It's way more fun to go around, traveling all by my own, playing tricks on people and grabbing whatever I need. Stuff like food, or fire logs." He sighed. "I don't see much point in doing anything else. Not after it happened."
"After what...?"
"After I got my teleportation power... It's a long story, and you're not gonna believe me, anyway."
The red panda pondered for a second. Was he really just willing to reveal the source of his power, or was he bluffing? "Alright. Humor me."
"Well, how do I explain this in layman terms... I pretty much convinced reality to let me open holes to travel around."
Silence. Avour expected more to this 'long story', but that was it, apparently. "...That can't be true."
"See? I told you you wouldn't believe me! Kinda hard to trust you guys if you think all I do is lie..."
"Who are 'you guys'?"
"I dunno... Cops. Leaders. Whatever your very-important-yet-secretive job is."
"So...any authority?"
Buster shrugged his arms, despite the red panda not being able to see it. "If that's what you wanna call everyone that keeps getting on my feet... I dunno, I just find it funny when people overreact to my jokes. Pranking really is a lost art these days..."
"Hmm..." Well, Avour had to admit to himself that he was someone who suspected Buster's intentions from the very start. But as far as he'd witnessed, he was just an obnoxious and reckless goofball. Regardless of the truth about his teleportation power, he didn't do anything reprehensible other than some thefts and causing minor public disturbances. "Then why were you stealing from the toy store?"
"Oh! Did that little kid tell you that, did she? Hehe, that rascal... I was looking for a plastic insect to place on the mayor's desk while she wasn't looking. You should've seen how that cat was scared, it was pretty funny... And it was right before you came into her office! She must've been so embarrassed about that prank, that she didn't even tell you!"
"So you were in her office that day... Hah, that's pretty funny, I admit." The red panda chuckled, lowering his defenses at Buster's apparent honesty.
"You know," the fennec teased, "despite your tough-guy act, what with you throwing knives everywhere and looking cool in your jacket... You're not as threatening as I thought."
"...Was that supposed to be a compliment? Because it just sounds like I failed at doing my job."
"And that's a good thing, because now we get to spend some quality time together! And I found out that you actually have a sense of humor, deep down, as much as you try to hide it. Maybe we might not even be so different, after all."
"Hah! As if." Avour gritted his teeth. "I can tell that you aren't evil or anything, but you aren't good, either! I'll never agree with someone who goes around, frightening innocent people, just to get a kick out of it."
"Why not? Sounds to me that you're too much of a good guy to even try it yourself..."
"Yes, that's exactly why! That's called being decent and having empathy!" He punctuated it with a weak kick to the stomach's wall, which Buster responded to by hugging his belly tightly and squeezing him in place, to Avour's annoyance.
"Maybe it should be called not having a sense of humor! They are just pranks... Everyone is so serious about every little thing that other people do, for some reason."
Avour tried to fight the fennec's tight hug and words, but he was completely at his mercy inside of his stomach, despite being roughly the same size as him. It made him blush, and Buster probably chuckled from realizing it. Playing with others was what he enjoyed, after all; and teasing the red panda stuck in him was no different than his usual pranks.
"Well, I think I've said enough about me." The fennec announced as he released his stomach, going back to simply patting the squirming bulges. "What about you, Avour? Is there something you like~?"
"Something I like...? I'd like it if you stopped terrorizing these townsfolk, and started using this powers for good instead of being a bully."
Buster scoffed, not hearing the answer he'd expected. "Boo. Boriiiiing... But fine. I'm pretty much done with this lame place anyway, and I was gonna hit the road soon."
"R-Really? Then...you'll let me out?"
"Not yet! I still have one final prank in mind, you know. And this time, you're aaaactually gonna help me pull it off. And when it's over, I'll leave this town alone, and you're gonna stop chasing me around. Deal?"
Avour sighed. "As long as you don't do something incredibly stupid... Deal."
***
Buster stood on the top of the town hall, staring at the beige wall below. There weren't any railings on the roof, but he wasn't worried about falling. Even when his large belly jostled and changed his center of gravity.
"Are you really sure that this spray paint is non-permanent?" Avour's muffled voice asked.
"It's the fifth time that you ask me that! Sheesh..." The fennec hugged his belly again, knowing that the red panda would get too flustered from it to ask the same question again. Letting go of his distended midriff to let his stomach relax, he grabbed the paint can and warped a few feet down, finding his footing on an external sill. He smooshed his gut, this time against the wall. "Don't move too much in there, unless you want me to fall."
"Oh? I thought you weren't afraid of heights."
"I'm not. I just don't want to slip and have you ruin my drawing." Buster snickered as he shook the can of water-proof paint in his paw.
Despite his predator's overconfidence, Avour didn't want to get him hurt, so he simply remained as still as he could between the black folds of the stomach. "It doesn't feel like I'm helping at all from here..."
"Well, you definitely are! Not as an accomplice, but as artistic inspiration~."
The first droplets of paint sprayed from the can, painting the beige wall red. The streak of ink followed his arm, as far as he could reach. Once he was satisfied with the first few lines, he created another tear in reality to move a few feet across the façade, continuing on his drawing pretty much uninterrupted.
The red panda didn't do much other than admire it from the sidelines. The hiss of the graffiti added to the usual organic symphony, and the walls felt warmer than usual from the sunlight heating the fennec fox's fur. His coat and pants, now wetter from almost a full day of soaking the moisture of Buster's saliva, weren't needed anymore to shake off the winter cold in this tight and warm hug. But he still shivered from nervousness, essentially letting Buster commit a crime in broad daylight despite Avour's better judgment. Either way, it wasn't like he really had a choice...
The fennec continued to teleport around different spots to continue his drawing, and his public actions were already garnering some attention. It was hard to miss the thick painted lines on brick and glass, and a small crowd started to form in front of the town hall. Buster mostly ignored them apart from a grin to himself, instantaneously warping across the different vantage points to the townsfolk's gasps of surprise. Reactions seemed to vary from astonishment to disapproval, with a certain band of local troublemakers loudly encouraging him instead. The noise was building up as the gathering grew, reaching a flustered red panda's ears.
"Heh, do you think they notice you in there, as well?" The vulpine teased the bulges underneath his grayish-brown fur. His light red eyes stared back at the crowd for a second, amused at the commotion they were causing. They seemed more focused on his public artwork than his bloated figure, but Avour didn't know that, and curled into a very embarrassed ball of fluff as he failed to make himself any less noticeable.
"Hey, you!" A feminine voice shouted from below, which both of them immediately recognized as Mayor Walsh. "Stop that this instant! ...And whoever it is that you have in your belly, spit them out immediately!"
Avour's heart sank a bit as he shriveled even more in dread. He'd been spotted. "O-Oh, this is bad...!"
Buster scoffed, not even bothering to look away from his 'canvas'. "What is she gonna do," he whispered to the red panda, "call the sheriff or something?"
"Somebody, call the sheriff!" The calico yelled to the crowd.
"Figures. Always having someone else do the actual work..."
The fennec shrugged and continued to work on this big section, a large filled triangle at the tip of what vaguely looked like a snout. He could tell that Avour was getting more restless in his belly, and when he tried to pat the bulge to console him, Buster lost balance, and one of his digitigrade feet slipped. Before he could fall from the wall, he simply teleported to a different spot, hearing a collective sigh from the big crowd. There must have been about three dozen people watching them now. But Buster displayed no concern whatsoever, not missing a beat as he went back to graffitiing.
A pair of paws pushed out from his stomach, after the sudden jostling, before the red panda spoke. "W-What happened? Did I make you lose your balance?"
"Don't worry about it." Buster said as he smooshed his prey, slightly endeared by Avour's concern towards him. "I'm almost done with the graffiti, anyway."
"What did you even paint, anyway...?"
"Oh, just something that I like a lot~."
He teleported to the upper corner of the façade, and Avour readjusted himself in the fleshy bag after yet another 'fwoop!', from the fabric of reality casually warping around them. Unbeknownst to him, Buster had graffitied a large, crude, and barely recognizable face in red paint. It had large ears, a big tuft of hair on the forehead, and stripe-like markings on the fluffy cheeks with a ring around the snout. It wasn't a masterpiece by any means, but to the fennec, it looked close enough to the red panda's face to be recognizable. Some of the crowd likely saw the similarities on the portrayed face, if their snickers were any indication.
For his finishing touch, Buster scribbled a large speech bubble in red, with Avour's bulge covering most of the text as he painted each letter. Tossing aside the nearly empty paint can, he turned back to the unexpected audience just as the sheriff arrived at the scene. Just in time, he thought. It was a shame that he wouldn't stick around to witness the crowd's last reaction...
Standing on a window sill, he simply bowed to them theatrically, scrunching up his squirming belly as he leaned forward, and immediately vanished. Behind him, a speech bubble pointed to the painted red face was revealed, which read 'I'M FENNEC FOOD!' in big, hurried letters.
***
A guffaw filled the woods that Buster had teleported to, only for the red panda in his stomach to hear. The intense belly laughter lasted for at least one minute, with his abdominal muscles squeezing down on Avour. The red panda couldn't help but giggle a bit in turn. He hadn't expected the fennec fox to have such an ugly laugh, or to even be capable of laughing so much at his own joke.
"Aw, man... I haven't laughed to tears in so long!" The vulpine rubbed his grapefruit-hued eyes as he finally managed to speak again, with his belly muscles aching from laughing so hard. "And you laughed too! That's pretty surprising."
Avour rubbed the wall affectionately, now that he had room to move a bit. "I only laughed because you did...! But m-man, that was pretty thrilling. It felt like my heart would jump out of my chest at any second!"
"Right? Oh, maybe next time you'll be the one doing the graffiti!"
"O-Oh, well, I-I-I could never–"
Buster blew a raspberry as he smooshed his belly again, albeit more gently. Despite the reckless personality, Avour thought that the fennec wasn't that bad, after all. He leaned into the pressing paws with his blushing snout.
"Mm... Being in your belly for almost a day has been quite nice. As much as I hate to admit it out loud, I'll miss being in here."
"And he finally admits that he likes my stomach, to the surprise of everyone!" The fennec announced sarcastically, stroking the noticeable bulge of Avour's nose. The red panda instinctively grumbled from the over-the-top teasing. "But don't worry, I'm not planning on letting you out just yet."
There was an awkward pause. "...You WHAT?! But I thought we were friends now!" Avour screamed as he convulsed and kicked the walls.
"Well, yeah! We are friends. But we're not 'veeery good friends'... Not yet! That was my condition." Buster stretched his arms and legs along the floor, enjoying the sudden burst of energy from his prey struggling against the stretchy walls. "There are more places to visit and more pranks to pull. And you haven't even been in there for a whole day! I was thinking at least two days, or three...or four. At least."
Avour slumped back, covering his flushed face despite how no-one else could see it. Of course, there was always a catch with Buster, wasn't there? He had no choice, yet again; fighting would be completely useless. How long was Buster actually thinking of keeping him in here? The more he thought about it, the more flustered he became... And the fennec giggled around him because of course he could tell that he'd exploited his weak spot for bellies, once more.
Oh, well... This mission was going to last way longer than expected. At least he and Buster were on friendly terms. And he was somewhat curious about what other shenanigans this trickster wanted to put him up with...