Gwooorrrbl

Kovu's belly rumbles impatiently as he prepares the kitchen to make himself some food.

The lion glares down at his midsection with an exasperated sigh, muttering "Settle down; I'll fill you up soon…"

Shaking his dark mane back from his face, he lays out ingredients for a nice sandwich for himself – Two slices of bread, a slice of bologna, a piece of romaine lettuce, and a thick slice of tomato. Pure perfection, in his mind.

As he's putting the rest of the ingredients away, he gets an idea for how to make the experience even better. It'd be one thing to eat the sandwich as he is… But if he were smaller, it'd fill him up even more!

Using a bit of magic, he shrinks himself down to about two inches tall, standing atop the counter. He takes a moment to adjust to his surroundings, finding it fascinating to see the world at this scale. His kitchen seems to stretch on for miles, and his appliances tower over him like buildings. And his sandwich…

Kovu's expression falls as he realizes he forgot to actually assemble the sandwich before shrinking – And he won't be able to use his magic again until it recharges, so to speak.

"Oh well," he says to himself, "I needed a workout today anyway…"

Heading over to the ingredients, the lion looks at everything laid out, trying to figure out how best to build his lunch.

First, he steps to the bologna and rolls it up like a carpet before hoisting it over his shoulder and carrying it to the bottom bread. Then he rolls it out – And much to his surprise, it works as he intended it to, lying flat atop the slice of bread!

One down, three to go. Next comes the lettuce.

Thankfully, it's relatively light, if a bit awkward to handle, and Kovu places it neatly atop the bologna.

Then he turns his sights to the tomato. This is fairly simple as well – He hoists it onto its side and rolls it to the rest of the sandwich, laying it on top of everything else.

Finally, all that's left is the top slice of bread.

The miniature lion lifts the bread onto his back, aiming to spread the surface area as much as he can so it doesn't tear. Then, he makes his way over to the rest of the sandwich. But just as he reaches it, he slips on a tomato seed that must have fallen off the slice when he was rolling it over! Kovu yelps as he stumbles, landing with a wet splat atop the tomato slice, before the slice of bread he was carrying falls atop him!

"Mhhf!"

Kovu struggles, trying to push himself up, but all that happens is his hands and paws sink into the tomato. He finds no purchase, and he sighs gently.

"Well, I suppose I could start eating from the middle…"

But before he can begin, he hears his front door open, followed by a familiar voice calling out. "I'm home, Kovu!"

The shrunken lion's ears perk when he hears his partner, Kiara. Maybe she can help him!

"Kiara! I'm in the kitchen!"

There's no reply; evidently, Kovu's voice is a bit too quiet (or muffled) for the full-sized lioness to properly make out!

The smaller lion wriggles a bit as he hears footsteps through the home, as well as Kiara muttering softly. "What a long day… I could really go for a bite to-"

Her words cut off when Kovu hears her enter the kitchen, and his expression drops. She's no doubt looking at the sandwich on the counter.

"Oh, Kovu, you sweetheart! Thank you! This looks delicious!"

The tiny lion panics softly. "Wait, Kiara, I'm stuck inside the-!"

Suddenly, he feels the sandwich being lifted from the plate, his words once again falling on unresponsive ears. He tenses, holding on tightly to the tomato, trying to prepare for what's coming.

Sure enough, Kovu feels a bite just behind him as Kiara stuffs about half of the sandwich in her mouth at once!

With less weight on him, the shrunken lion manages to squirm free from the sandwich, pulling himself out and landing squarely on the lioness's tongue. Perhaps he can try to get her attention now.

"Kiara, listen; you've got me-"

Before Kovu can continue, he abruptly finds himself pinned to his mate's palate by her tongue, held in place by the wet and squishy muscle beneath and the ridged surface above! Thick saliva, accumulating from the tasty sandwich and the evidently tastier topping within, rushes past him as she suckles on his tiny form, taking in as much flavor as she can get from him!

"Huh, what's this? It's delicious!"

Kiara keeps him pinned as she swallows down her bite of sandwich, wanting to continue tasting him all over. She doesn't seem to register the fact that it's her partner she's enjoying; to her, he's just a scrumptious surprise within the sandwich!

The warm, wet tongue drags all along Kovu's form, keeping him from even struggling. It pushes him against the soft flesh of her cheeks, bulging them out for a moment before she brings him back to the middle of her mouth. Thankfully for the tiny lion, she seems content not to try to bite or chew him!

Unfortunately for him, it seems she's done tasting him. The tongue begins to rise as she tilts her head back, angling everything toward the rippling gullet at the back of her mouth.

Kovu yelps softly and grabs the muscle as tightly as he can, holding on to keep from falling deeper. He hears a deep Glllp below him as Kiara gulps down the saliva in her mouth, and he watches as her throat opens to drain everything down before it tightens once more.

"Mmm?"

Apparently confused to feel something gripping her tongue, Kiara lowers her head again. Kovu's expression lightens as he realizes she must have finally realized he's there, and she's getting ready to let him out again. Sure enough, her mouth soon opens, and he releases her tongue and starts to move toward the light so he can-

Splooosh!

Before he can react, a torrent of cool water rushes into Kiara's mouth, knocking him off-balance and washing him toward the back of the cavern!

Floating in the mouthful of water, he tries swimming to the front of her maw again, but only a second later, her throat opens as she swallows once more! He makes a desperate grab for his partner's uvula, but the dangling bulb of flesh is too slippery to hold on to, and he sinks right into the embrace of Kiara's esophagus!

Glllck!

Trapped by the snug tunnel of wet flesh and pushed along by the water around him, Kovu holds his breath as he's forced downward, deeper into his mate's body! He can feel the vibrations of her heartbeat quaking him as he descends, though said descent doesn't last for long. Before he knows it, he's being pressed against the tight esophageal sphincter at the bottom of her gullet, which readily parts to let everything into the chamber beyond!

The miniature lion falls for a moment before landing in the pool of stomach fluids with a splash!

Swimming to the surface, he sputters and looks around, not bothering to question how he can see within the unlit chamber. The folded red walls shift back and forth, pushing in and out, moving to mix the contents of the stomach around. Thankfully, the fluids seem rather inert at the moment, no doubt diluted from the water and her swallowed saliva, but he still pulls himself atop a piece of lettuce so he isn't floating in the broth more than he needs to!

His reprieve doesn't last too long, though, as Kiara's cardia opens again and drops another mouthful of sandwich atop him, knocking him back into the stomach fluids! A moment later, he's splashed by another swallow of water, making him cough and sputter again.

"Gah… Careful, Kiara!"

Kovu feels two firm thumps to the belly he's stuck inside of, followed by a whoosh of air rushing upward. In the distance, he hears a wet Boouurrp!

"Excuse you," he mutters with a roll of his eyes.

"Excuse me," Kiara says a moment later.

He hears her chuckle softly before she speaks again.

"That was incredible… I wonder where Kovu got to? I need to know what all he put on the sandwich; I hope I can have whatever that special ingredient was again!"