Commission for  Raksha_Jareth.

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You Are Being Detained

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Lilith and Rex strolled casually down the midway. The sounds of the carnival blared all around them; loud conversation, tinny music, and the delighted screaming of children all combined into a joyful, raucous cacophony. Barkers at nearby booths shouted at passing potential customers, trying to ensnare the gaze of the curious or hungry.

"Hello there, officers!" A tall, lanky rabbit called out to the two uniformed animals. "Care for a bite of cotton candy?"

Lilith grinned, turning to her German Shepherd partner. "What do you say, Rex? Cotton candy?"

Rex looked down at her through his sunglasses and a straight face. "We're on duty, Lilith. Maybe when we take a break."

Lilith pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest, but Rex ignored the irate hyena, continuing to scan the crowd for pickpockets. Finally, Lilith shrugged and did the same, searching for signs of trouble.

She found one almost immediately.

There are plenty of good, kind weasels in the world; many are good business men, good parents, and good citizens. Lilith would never discriminate against someone because of their species. This particular weasel, however, Lilith had experience with, and she knew him to be a weasel of the worst sort. Mark had been in and out of jail more times than Lilith could count, on a litany of different charges. She didn't know what the shifty crook was up to here, but it couldn't be good. He didn't have any kids, and he couldn't possibly be here to enjoy the rides.

He didn't seem to have noticed Lilith and Rex yet. He was peering through the crowds, looking for something.

A young otter pup, carrying a bright blue balloon, walked by.

Arms flashed out. A weasel paw slapped over the otter's mouth, and another wrapped around his waist, dragging him backwards. They disappeared into the space between two tents.

Lilith's fur stood on end. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears. She looked at Rex; he was looking the other way. He hadn't seen.

Lilith knew exactly what protocol demanded, and exactly how that would play out. She would tell Rex what she had seen. They would follow Mark, rescue the cub. They would arrest Mark. And then, for lack of a better word, Mark would weasel out of it. He'd hire some slimy lawyer and come up with some sob story, and somehow manage to get out on bail or make some sort of deal to get the case dismissed. Within weeks, he'd be back out on the streets.

And Lilith was sick of it.

"Rex," she said, carefully. "I'm going to go ahead and take my break now."

Rex looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. He could probably tell that she was angry, but she tried her hardest to play it cool.

"I'm kind of hungry. I want to grab some snacks," she explained, already walking off. Rex shrugged, then went back to scanning the crowd.

Lilith waited until he wasn't looking, the slipped through the crowd and between the carnival tents.

The back of the tents formed a small enclosed area with the fence at the edge of the carnival grounds. The weasel probably planned to hop the fence and make his way out through an adjoining field, at which point he... actually, Lilith didn't want to think about what he was planning on doing with the young pup.

Fortunately, Mark was still on this side of the fence, holding the young otter, who squirmed in his arms in an attempt to escape. "Just hold still," Mark said. "Stop fighting back and I won't hurt ya."

Yeah, right. Lilith marched up to them. "Hello, Mark."

Mark froze, his spine going rigid. He slowly turned his head to the side, and then up to look at Lilith. He forced a very fake grin.

"Oh, officer," Mark said, his slightly nasal voice already grating on her nerves. "This young lad got separated from his mother. I was just helping him find her again."

The bastard already had his story ready. "Uh-huh," Lilith said. "And you thought maybe she was back here?"

"Well, you never... ghhck!"

Mark's excuse died in a surprised gurgle as Lilith wrapped a large hand around the weasel's throat and squeezed hard. Mark gasped, dropping the cub, who scampered away from his captor.

Lilith ignored the child for now; she would check later to make sure he had found his way back to his parents. She chose instead to focus on the weasel. "Mark, I think it's time I put an end to your crap once and for all."

Mark gasped as he was lifted into the air by his neck. "Y-you can't..." He managed to stammer.

"Watch me."

Lilith opened her mouth wide, and Mark's eyes grew huge as he stared into it. He only had a moment to look before she shoved his head inside.

She heard his muffled screams reverberate on the inside of her own head. "You can't do this! I've got rights!"

Lilith swallowed, any further protests becoming muffled as his head squeezed into her tight throat.

He fought back, of course; she had expected him to. He writhed and squirmed, trying to wiggle his way out of her throat. But he wasn't going to weasel his way out of this one. Lilith held him firm, and he stood no chance against the strong hyena. Her throat bulged out as she shoved his shoulders and chest into her gullet. He pounded against her chest with his hands, but got little reaction, and then his arms were pinned to his sides as his torso vanished into her mouth.

She kept swallowing, her muzzle sliding over his chest. His long, thin body slid into her easily, and now she took his ankles in her hands and lifted them up, both to stop him from trying to kick her and so she could tilt her head back and let gravity help. His waist slid into her maw, followed by his hips, and now only his legs and long tail remained on the outside. The kicking legs soon followed, leaving just his tail, twitching and thrashing at the air. She slurped that up as well, and with a wet gluck, sent the weasel down into her waiting belly.

Her stomach bulged out in front of her, popping a button or two off her uniform. The weasel continued to writhe and fight within, and she felt him try to claw his way back up her throat, only for her to swallow him back down.

"Wow."

Lilith's eyes snapped up. She thought the otter pup had run away, but there he was, standing nearby, watching.

"Um..." Lilith said.

"That was so cool!" The otter said, his eyes wide. "You really ate him! That was amazing!"

"Er... yeah." This was not the reaction Lilith had expected. Maybe the cub was used to preds? "Look, kid, what's your name?"

"Derrick."

"Okay, Derrick. Are you here with your parents?"

"My mom, yeah."

Lilith looked down at herself. Her stomach still bulged with the clear shape of a weasel inside. "Derrick... before I take you back to your mom, maybe you can help me with something. How would you feel about some snacks?"

- - - - - - - -

Lilith and Derrick looked at the impressive spread of carnival food laid out before them. The pup had done a great job, taking the money that Lilith had given him and buying as many snacks as he could, before bringing them back here to the relatively secluded picnic table she had found. The table was now covered with hot dogs, corn dogs, cotton candy, funnel cakes, nachos, and even a whole pizza.

Lilith sighed, then dug in. She began to demolish the huge pile of food, practically inhaling the food.

"Wow," Derrick said, munching on a corn dog himself. "You sure are hungry."

"Uh-huh." The truth was that, while she did love stuffing herself, this was an entirely different situation. "Look," she said, pushing an entire hot dog into her mouth and swallowing it without chewing, "here's the deal. You can't tell your parents about what I did, okay?"

The otter pup looked confused. "Why not?"

"Because... because I'm not supposed to do that."

"But..." Derrick's brow furrowed. "But my mom eats people all the time! You know, if they're little, like rabbits and mice and stuff. Doesn't that mean it's okay?"

Well, that would explain why he was so comfortable around predators. She poured an entire bowl of nachos into her mouth. "Yes, but... this is different. I'm a police officer. I'm not supposed to hunt while I'm on duty."

"But he was a bad guy, right?"

"A very bad guy." Her stomach squirmed.

"Then doesn't that make it okay?"

Lilith sighed, mostly because she agreed with him. "Look, just promise me you won't tell your parents?"

"Okay, I promise," Derrick said.

Lilith nodded, then continued stuffing snack food down her gullet. Slowly, the hard bulges in her belly rounded out as Mark was buried in partially-chewed mush. She could still feel him twitch, but unless someone actually put their hand on her belly, no one would be able to tell that a person was in there with all that carnival food.

"Alright," she said. "Let's go find my partner."

She found Rex near the tilt-a-whirl, talking to a petite female otter wearing a sun dress and a pair of round glasses. The moment he saw her, Derrick rush forward. "Mom!"

"Derrick!" The otter pup's mother held her arms out, catching him in a hug as he rushed up to her.

"I take it this belongs to you?" Lilith said, stifling a burp.

Rex looked at her, one eyebrow raised in that infuriating way he had. "Overdid it a little with the snacks, don't you think?"

"What can I say?" She said, as innocently as possible. "I found this little guy over by the food carts. Thought we could help find his mother. Looks like you beat me to it."

"Thank you so much for finding my son."

"It's no problem, Miss...?"

"Stacy. I swear, he was right behind me, and then he just vanished," she said.

"A bad man grabbed me!" Derrick said.

Lilith's heart skipped a beat as both Stacy and Rex looked at the pup.

"Yeah, but she at him all up!" Derrick pointed at Lilith.

This was why she hated kids: They were terrible at keeping secrets.

All eyes turned on her. "Oh really," Rex said. He, along with Lilith, turned to Stacy to see her reaction.

The otter looked at Lilith's belly, then at her son, then at Lilith's belly again. Lilith's heart jumped up into her throat. If the otter decided to file a complaint about this...

"You know," Stacy finally said. "Kids say the darnedest things. Always making up stories."

"But..." Derrick started, but his mother just patted him on the head.

"Thank you," Stacy said again. "For bringing my son back to me." Then she took Derrick's hand in hers. "Now come on, Derrick, let's leave the nice officers alone. And don't let go of my hand this time."

"Yes, mom."

Rex waited until the otters had disappeared into the crowd before whirling on Lilith. "What were you thinking!? Why didn't you call for backup!?"

Lilith huffed. "And what, arrest him? You know how well that's gone before."

Rex looked at Lilith's belly again. "Mark?"

"Mark."

Rex sighed. "Lilith, you know I have to report this, right? You're already on probation. You could lose your badge over this."

"Rex..."

Rex held up a hand to stop her. "But on the other hand," he continued, "I didn't actually see anything happen. I can't just report you on the testimony of a child just because your stomach looks a little bloated."

Lilith let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Rex."

"Besides," Rex said, "Mark was a scummy sleaze ball who would probably serve the world better as an extra layer of hyena pudge than anything else. You know, theoretically. If he happened to be in a hyena's stomach right now." He paused a moment, then continued, "but Lilith, I'm serious here: you can't keep doing this. I am not bailing you out any more. You hunt on duty again, you're on your own. Got it?"

Lilith nodded. "Got it."

"Good. Now I don't know about you, but I could go for a little cotton candy."

Lilith smiled, patting her belly as she followed her partner towards the concessions stands.