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"I'm Kent." The badger-koala said with a smile. "Glad to finally meet you."

Craig rubbed his eyes a bit and looked again over the much larger male, rotund and soft in black and white and grey. The short badger was speechless for the moment. Even though he'd been told exactly what to expect, it was still a sight to behold: two halves of a single person returning to being the whole.

"I know a bit about you from Kent and Kent's memories." Kent chuckled with a bashful look as his waving paw scratched behind one of his large marsupial ears. "But I do want to get to know you better now that I'm whole." He lowered his paws to both rest atop the broad curve of his large belly.

The full-badger looked over the arrangement of faces printed on the hybrid's belly again, recalling the colorful, lineless marks on the white upper belly had been on one half while the white line-art faces on the black lower belly had been on the other.

"Was there anything you wanted to ask me?"

Craig perked, returning his eyes to the much taller male's own. "Oh! I was just wondering. Are the belly burrow and that deep pouch... well..." The badger pondered how to phase it. "Half Predscapes? Both halves of you had so much space on the outside of your bellies..." He blushed a bit, stammering, "Well... you know what I mean."

"I suppose you could think of it like that." Kent tilted his head slightly, causing one ear to dip down against his plump dewlap. "They are a biproduct of my predscape existing when I'm split apart. The prey inside are sorted out between koala and badger bellies if I reform separated like that." He idly rubbed over a few of the faces on his belly with a sort of protective air. "To them, they just feel woozy and pass out. When they wake up they're either in the burrow or the pouch."

The badger nodded his understanding. The otter he'd met in the larger badger's navel had said as such.

"And I'm sure you figured that anyone can enter or leave in that state. They're perfectly physical." The hybrid continued. "But when I re-merge into one body, they are absorbed into my fat and go back to my full predscape. Along with any newcomers Kent and Kent stuffed in there first." He chuckled, his whole belly bouncing.

"Just how much do you recall from being... well, separate?" Craig walked a little bit closer, doing his best to not just stare at the broad belly of the larger male.

"Oh, I remember all of it." Kent chuckled. "It was a bit of a trip the first time merging to be whole again, sorting through two parallel sets of memories. But it's happened enough now that I can sort of... well, unify them for all the parts my two halves spent together."

"You recognized me right away, I noticed." The small badger smiled.

"Yep." The hybrid smiled, head tilted down in such a way that his dewlap smushed up around his round, pudgy cheeks. "Though when I am separate, my halves have their own personalities as I'm sure you could tell."

"Koala you said you're of two minds." Craig nodded. "And they're always going after each other..." The badger trailed off. "I do have one more question."

"Shoot." Kent returned his paws to resting on top of his gut comfortably.

"The thing that splits you is needing to be reformed?" The smaller male tilted his head. "After meeting your two halves, I have a hard time believing you could be prey to anyone!"

Blushing, the hybrid stood upright. "Oh... as hungry a predator as I am, my split selves are more so. See, the only way to become whole again is for one to consume the other." He gestured with one hand miming chomping over the other with his fat fingers. "But when I am whole, I'm far more free to enjoy the other side of things. I'm sure you know how nice it is to be prey." He winked. "And I'm sure my big soft resemblance to a marshmallow animal certainly helps attract the big eaters." He blushed a little deeper, then averted his eyes from the smaller male, clearing his throat. "Was that all the questions?"

Craig nodded. "Yeah. I think I get it now."

Kent smiled. "Good, glad that we're better acquainted." He shifted his weight with a heavy wobble of his belly, looking around. "Though I'd rather not part ways. Would you care to join me for a trip to the lakeside?" The hybrid smiled down at the full-badger. "There's a spot there I always enjoy having a spot of dinner at."

It was the shorter male's turn to blush, the white stripes on his face flushing pink as he got the gist. "Well, that does sound nice..."

The big hybrid brought one thumb down along the white fur of his upper belly and brought it down to the boundary between the two disparate fur colors. The digit hooked in behind the black fur, revealing it to be the lip of a pouch. He then dragged the pouch open, bending forward to bring the opening down for Craig. "Hop in, then. It's a long walk."

Craig perked as he looked inside. Lined up perfectly with the white outlines on the outside of the pouch were markings of the same style as those on the upper half of the belly.

"Oh, that. Would be dishonest to hide all my markings in my pouch, wouldn't it?" Kent explained. "So, when they form down there they show through to the outside."

The small badger nodded, before carefully easing one leg, then the other over the open lip.

A broad press of the hybrid's free paw helped get Craig settled, before Kent stood up straight again.

Craig found himself with his arms just peeking out of the pouch, facing outwards. He carefully tucked his elbows in at his sides and rested his paws on the lip.

Once the badger was secured like that, Kent set off walking at a steady pace. It was soon clear to the smaller male he would have had to run to keep up just based on the difference in the size of their strides. Despite how wobbly the belly had seemed just observing the big hybrid, actually riding in the pouch was surprisingly smooth, just a gentle sway and bob with each step.

Thinking about the size and heft of his current transport returned Craig to thinking about how odd it was that such a large critter could be eaten. "So, Kent?"

"Mmmhmm?" Kent kept walking, but the dishes of his large ears clearly angled downward towards his own belly.

"How did you end up split today?" The little badger asked. "I mean, who got you?"

Even from below, Craig could see a bit of a blush on the chubby cheeks of his host. "Oh, someone I know was nearby and was feeling peckish." He lowered one paw to stroke between the badger's ears with a broad finger-pad. "And I seeing as I was around, that put me on the menu." He cleared his throat, withdrawing his paw. "As it were."

"But you have so many prey on display!" Craig couldn't help but raise his paws over his head, which didn't reach up to the larger male's chest, let alone his soft dewlap or shoulders. He dropped his arms in front of the pouch. "I mean, is that fair to all these critters?" The badger gestured to the otter's face where it was rendered in abstract blobs of color.

Kent used both paws to lightly tuck his passenger's arms back into place as they had been. "It happens." The hybrid even tightened his pouch with a flex of some unseen muscle. "And until a split occurs, my predscape is maintained. Even when I'm just fat on someone else. No one can get at them, they're safe." He exhaled, having gotten a bit passionate about the subject. "Anyway, when I'm eaten too, it's easier for me to drop in and visit everyone in there. It only 'stops' when I get split."

The badger fidgeted. "Oh... Well that's good. I'm glad, actually." Craig smiled bashfully. Despite how flippant the two Kents had been about predation, he could tell that Kent really did care about those he'd consumed.

The hybrid gave Craig another gentle rub on the head to show no hard feelings.

It was during that lull in the conversation that Kent fully exited the trees. The badger had to blink and shelter his eyes from the midday sun suddenly so much brighter without the diffusing leaves of the forest. Up ahead brush gave way to a low, ground-covering foliage and then a pebbly beach at the shore of the lake.

Craig closed his eyes and then turned his attention up and back to his host, holding a paw out to keep the sun in his eyes. He was about to ask just who the predatory friend was, when he saw Kent was looking off into the distance.

Almost as if reading the badger's mind, the hybrid pointed out towards what he was looking at. "There's the guy who gulped me."

Careful not to let himself look at the sun, the smaller male followed the pointing finger forward and to the spot.

What he thought had been part of the underbrush with a tree stump on it at first glance, he now saw was a broad green blanket with a large brown raccoon seated upon it. The longer Craig looked, the better his eyes adjusted to the light and more details came to view. The raccoon was bare save for a red bandanna around his neck, and his ventral fur was a far lighter shade of tan than his darker coat. Laid out on the blanket in front of him appeared to be many plates, some kind of picnic. And laying against the basket the food had presumably all come in was a very large tan jacket with a black and white patch on the visible shoulder.

"I knew if I found him, I'd find my jacket." Kent chuckled a bit with a wry smile.

"Who is he? I mean, besides the guy who got you?" Craig tilted his head a bit. It was easy to tell, even from this distance, that the raccoon was just as large as Kent, but a bit more pear-shaped overall.

"His name's Devon." Kent began to walk again, heading that way. "Come on, I'd be happy to introduce you." Crossing the distance far faster than the little badger could run, the hybrid cupped a large paw to the side of his muzzle. "Hey Dev, you better have taken care of my jacket!"

The raccoon laughed, waving in a beckoning motion. "Welcome back, Kent! As you can see, I've been having a light snack while I awaited your return." Devon's picnic spread was now clear to Craig, many heavy pastries and hearty foods. Nothing a small critter would think of as 'light'.

Kent came to a stop at the edge of the blanket, standing upright as if waiting for a space to be cleared for him to sit with the other large male.

Devon had moved only a couple dishes when he spotted Craig. "Oh? Now who's this?"

The hybrid chuckled, placing his fists on his hips. "Well, this is Craig." He jutted his hips, as if showing off the comparatively tiny male. "Ran into him recently."

The badger bashfully waved to the raccoon.

"Or rather." Kent continued. "Kent and Kent did." He gave a bit of a bounce in place. "After reunion I invited him to the lakeside for lunch."

Devon raised his brow playfully as he looked between the two. "Some restraint for a sweet thing like him."

Craig blushed deeply. He cleared his throat. "So, uh. How do you and Kent know each other?"

The raccoon chuckled, returning to moving dishes. "Oh, that's quite the story..."

Kent held up a paw. "Indeed, it is." He placed the paw on top of his belly, sending a ripple down along Craig's back. "And I'd be happy to let you know it some other time. It's too long for a lakeside luncheon."

Devon chuckled, getting a big enough space cleared for the hybrid at last. "That's fair."

"Suffice to say, Craig," Kent concluded. "Our relationship is something out of a classic 'cat and mouse' cartoon." His tone was playful rather than dismissive. He tugged at the lip of his pouch, opening it up for the badger.

The smallest male held onto the lip to keep from slipping right down when it loosened, then carefully clambered back out onto his paws on the blanket.

The raccoon smirked a bit. "Except in those cartoons the mouse never gets eaten."

Craig blushed deeply as he got himself used to standing on solid ground again. "I wouldn't mind seeing you two 'perform' sometime, if that's alright." He smiled. "I watched Kent and Kent go at it too."

Devon grinned. "Of course you did, since Kent's here in one piece."

"We'd be sure to invite you next time there's a performance." Kent chuckled as he stepped around towards where his jacket lay.

"Why shouldn't Craig join in?" The raccoon gave the badger a look that made Craig feel like a shortcake in a bakery window display.

"Now Devon, we should get to lunch." Kent moved to sit down.

"Agreed." Devon grasped onto Kent's arm and tugged, opening his jaws wide.

Despite what seemed like an off-balance position of being mid-sitting, Kent twisted deftly to avoid Devon's jaws. He brought his weight down not on the procyon's tongue but on his belly, partially knocking the wind out of the would-be predator. "I might have expected something like that." Kent smiled to Craig playfully.

Giving a gentle shove to the hybrid's back, the raccoon huffed with a smile. "You fully expected it."

Kent rolled gracefully to his knees without bowling over Craig, reaching out one paw to pick up his jacket. "Yes, yes I did." He smirked as he started pulling it on. It snugly settled onto the rotund male's shoulders, the front laying open across his chest and splayed out by the size of his belly. The lapels folded out from the collar, nestled snugly against his dewlap.

"Wow..." Craig looked over the now dressed hybrid. "That's well tailored." The badger thought that it was a bit more for accentuating his frame than actually staying warm... but Kent had so much insulation already.

"Thank you, it's my favorite." The badger-koala posed with a smile. Now that he was this close, Craig could see the patch on the shoulder was a simplified version of his badger half's face. A simple twist from Kent the other direction showed off the other shoulder had a similar rendition of a koala. "Now, are you ready to take the plunge, Craig? All the way this time..."

The badger perked and looked around. "A bit early for dinner, but..." He couldn't help but smile broadly as he walked up to the much larger male.

Kent took a moment to address Devon. "You are alright with me having lunch, right?"

Devon chuckled and nodded. "I'd be a hypocrite if I objected. I brought my picnic lunch and you brought yours."

That elicited a blush out of Craig, distracting him enough that he didn't realize it until the paws were on him that he was being hefted off the ground. He looked up just in time to see the gaping jaws of his new friend and the rippling gullet beyond. At his size, he was hardly a struggle to stretch over. He shortly found his whole body wrapped in that powerful throat, fur soaked with drool. The badger squirmed all the way down...

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Kent finally sat back onto his hips, planting his hands on either side of his belly. There was a light jostle as the badger inside hit bottom, easily mistaken for an after-wobble of his seating.

"Really, Kent... that's your ninth." Devon said with faux disapproval. "What am I going to tell my dietician if my favorite snack keeps getting so big?"

The badger-koala laughed aloud. "Oh, I'm sure you'll think of something, you always do." He set to rubbing into his belly with both paws, feeling for the small shape beneath so much plump cushion. His trained stomach could feel all the badger's flustered squirms, but from the outside it was a bit more difficult. "All comfy in there, Craig?"

Craig's movements settled somewhat, though he didn't remain still for long. He was soon pressing back into the rubbing paws.

"That's a good badger." Kent smiled warmly, his stomach letting out a happy groan. The hybrid felt his stomach starting to get into gear, working on taking Craig all the way in with all the others. Craig's face appeared amidst the other eight marks, just above the lip of the predator's pouch. Around the same level his head had been when he rode in it just minutes prior.

The raccoon smiled, shifting in place on the blanket. "He really does look good there."

Kent stifled a belch with his fist as he felt the last of Craig fully settling into his plump mass and his mind safely drift away to join the others. "Thank you. I thought he would." The hybrid stroked a paw across the new marking, before smirking a bit. "And you do too, when you do."

"Ah..." Devon pressed himself from a cross-legged position up onto his knees, allowing his pear-shape a bit more of a curve than allowed when rested on the ground. "But when you're back here," He gave one of his rump cheeks a slap, sending a wobble through his plump frame. "You're the best mark of all~"

The hybrid's predatory bravado faltered momentarily, a blush rushing up Kent's cheeks as his eyes locked onto his friend's hip. That was where the bottom-heavy raccoon tended to keep him. He returned his attention to his own belly, kneading over his new layers of softness and trying to ignore the laugh that his nonverbal reaction earned him from the raccoon.

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Craig murmured, gradually re-awakening after losing consciousness in the snug heat of his new friend's stomach. At first, he thought he was laying on Kent's belly, with his lower half tucked into the hybrid's pouch. The badger blinked the sleep from his eyes and found that he was laying on a big cushion that was colored like Kent, complete with a cute, simplified plush head sewn onto it. The "pouch" was a black blanket wrapped over him, perhaps sewn to the cushion to complete the effect.

Twisting in place, the badger got himself seated upright with his hips still nestled under the blanket. He found himself in a large, open chamber. The walls were carefully carved wood, flowing seamlessly from the floor to the ceiling with nice, organic openings leading out into a tree's canopy. Looking up at the ceiling, he realized from the visible rings in the wood that he was in was a hollowed-out tree. Spread out around the chamber were other big cushions, bean bags, and other such things, but each was designed to either be the whole of Kent's body or just a simplified version of his face.

Most of these cushions were occupied by a critter. Craig soon recognized them all from his journeys into the belly folds of the disparate Kents.

The mouse, who was facing his way, perked up and waved. "Oh, welcome! We were all wondering why you weren't here yet!"

The others turned and waved as well.

Craig carefully clambered out of the faux pouch and got on his feet. In the process he faced the other wall properly. Set into it was a series of level bookshelves, totally stuffed full of different fabric-bound tomes. The edges of the bookshelf were as organic and curved as the open window he'd seen before. The badger turned back to the others. "Oh, right. Kent introduced me to Devon before lunch."

The otter leaned back on the cushion he was nestled onto. "Ah yeah. You can tell they know each other well, can't you?"

The mouse giggled with a pronounced squeak. "When you get the chance, watching them go at it is almost as good as Kent and Kent."

The fox held his paw forward with a single finger extended. "At least with them you have a chance to watch it." He crossed his arms with a slight huff. "Instead of falling into a pouch."

The mole, who Craig had seen in the pouch before, piped up. "It's a very cozy pouch."

Craig chuckled, putting his paws on his hips. "Well, I think this predscape's very cozy. Last one I was in had dozens of moogles." He paused, looking over at a side-table against the wall. On it was a lamp with a bulb-shaped base. But the base was painted to resemble Kent's face. "Okay, I understood the cushions, but the lamp?"

The stoat covered his mouth as he laughed. "Oh, Kent says he wants us to remember where we are. So that we don't just get lost in here."

"You really stick around that long?" Craig tilted his head.

"He's a bit protective." The blue jay chuckled, standing up from his belly-beanbag. "Now, since there's two of us who have never been to the predscape proper, how 'bout I give a tour?" He tilted his head towards the lynx.

Craig remembered the feline had said he had only just been stuffed into Kent's navel when they last saw each other. He smiled. "That sounds like a good idea."

The cat stood up as well. "Is there really that much more? I thought it was just this room?"

"Oh, there's whole other levels!" The mouse squeaked excitedly. One by one, the others stood up as well, gathering around the two newcomers.

Craig smiled as he started to be ushered along towards some carved-in steps leading down further into the tree. The badger hoped that he'd get to stick around for a while in here. Who knew when next Kent would split, with Devon around. But he knew that the hybrid would keep all of them safe, even after that.