Day 14: Like Cats and Oranges [ Encasement / Stuck ]

This is a Monster Girl Encyclopedia fiction.

"Weston Thornburg, private investigator." Detective Weston flashed his wallet, containing the papers qualifying him as a private detective "Do you have a moment of your time, ma'am?"
The witness indicated that she was happy to help, but wondered if she was in trouble.
"I am not associated with the police, but if you could cooperate, that could potentially save lives."
The witness became agitated that lives were in danger and couldn't respond coherently.
"Calm down, ma'am. We are not jumping to conclusions. As far as I can tell the one at large is in no danger, but I'm in need of the full cooperation of the public to make absolutely sure of it."
The witness calmed down and wondered how she could help.
"The one I am looking for is a red haired male aged 18, one foot five and green eyes. He was seen heading in this direction this morning. Can you tell me anything useful about this individual?"
The witness confirmed that between 30 and 45 minutes ago the individual had passed her by around 80 feet north. She found his appearance startling, even aggressive so she sped off without taking notice to a safer part of the area.
"Thank you for your cooperation, ma'am" Detective Thornburg wrote what the squirrel had said in his notepad then pocketed it, "Your assistance, I believe, will prove vital."
Detective Thornburg questioned more witnesses, and while not everyone proved to have seen the individual in question, they all contributed something important about the big picture.

There is no such thing as useless information. Eventually the trail stopped by the great willow tree in the forest. Was this a dead end? No... he had done his homework, used all of the skills in his training, and it led him to this place. This is where the individual he is looking for should be, but he can't see him.
Unless....

Detective Thornburg looked up, and a triumphant smile extended on his face.
Jackpot.
The cat was on the tree, looking down nervously from high above.
"May I presume I'm speaking to Mr Peppi?"
"Meow!"
"Thought so. Your owner has been quite upset. Do you have any idea how long you've been missing?"
"Meow!"
"Yeah, yeah. Technically you're her owner, but leaving your pet human away for four days is irresponsible behaviour. Humans need love and attention, you know? Now why don't you come down there, and I'll lead you back to her."
"Meeeeeo-owwww..."
Detective Thornburg folded his arms, "The same way you came up there of course. If there is a way up then, certainly, there is a way down too."
"Meow..."
"You should have thought of that before you got up there."
"Meow."

Detective Thornburg pinched the ridge of his nose, "Okay... fine... God, I don't get paid enough for this..."
The detective climbed the willow, getting up all the way up near the top where the cat had climbed.
"All right, Mr Peppi... here I am. Now why don't you..."
"HISSSSSS!"
Mr Peppi extended his claws towards the detective, who raised his hands.
A set up!
Damn! After everything he dug up on this fello, detective Thornburg never even considered that mr Peppi may have been the type who carry a concealed weapon.
"Put those away, Mr Peppi! I mean you no harm. We are all friends here."

The cat didn't listen but continued to wave his claws at the detective.
"Things get tough. I know that. Trust me, I do. But this ain't something you can come back from if you go through with it. Can you get away with it? Eh, you may fool the police, maybe. Possibly. But you can never fool yourself."
The cat growled angrily but his claws receded.

"Thank you... thank you so much, Mr Peppi.." And with that the detective lunged at the cat, who in turn immediately jumped out of the way and clung to the trunk of the tree, as furious as he was terrified.
The detective tripped, and fell, and screamed.
So this was how it was going to end.
Passed away in the line of duty.
A hero's ****. The **** of a pet detective.

He never did hit the ground though. Instead he landed head first into a squishy, jelly-like substance and was submerged to his waist.
Detective Thornburg opened his eyes, and his vision was completely filled with vibrant amber, and beyond the amber was the curvy silhouette of a beautiful naked woman.
For a moment the detective was perplexed, but as his nostrils filled up with the sweet, honey-orange scent of the substance surrounding him there was no longer any doubt.
He had run into a barometz; a plant-monster girl who lures her prey into the jelly-like fruit surrounding her where they are trapped with her, allowing her to have her way with him.
That must have been what happened to him, only the prey is supposed to be trapped with his legs in the fruit, not landing head-first like detective Thornburg had.
Detective Thornburg imagined that she must have been upset; screaming bloody **** that someone was gonna suffocate inside her fruit. Of course the detective wanted to scream as well, but he resisted that urge. Not only would anyone outside the fruit hear him, but he would lose precious oxygen, which he needed not to suffocate.
He tried to swim out instead. That didn't work. His upper body sent the jello jiggling wildly, smacking his face into her soft yet firm body. He could hear her giggling, which evidently was not something she wanted to do.

Screaming wouldn't help.
Fighting wouldn't help.
Running wasn't an option.
All that was left was the one thing he could do. The one thing he was trained to do as a detective:
To listen.

":......... okay...?"
Hearing anything outside the fruit, at this point, was a fool's errand. Yet he continued. He focused. He used his senses as well as his imagination in order to perceive the words being spoken...
"......eat.... off of me..."

Eat?
Eat!
Yes. He was, after all, in a fruit. And if there is one thing fruits are known for, it's being edible.
He opened his mouth, and took a bite.
It was sweet... a mixture between the flesh of an orange and fresh cream; sweet in exactly the way it needed to be, but not too sweet.
He wanted to eat more, and that was exactly what he needed to do.
He munched off the fruit, until he could get a breathing space. He kept the munching up... though made a point to be careful; he didn't want to hurt the lady by biting into her. Instead he licked the fruit from her skin, relieving a moan of delight and pleasure from her.
The project of eating lasted all day, and when he was done he was quite dozy from the meal, and the barometz was covered in his saliva and thoroughly excited from the experience; as well as relieved that the man wasn't gonna suffocate.

"AWuaaaaaahhh!" The humanoid woman portion of the monster girl, who had features of a goat, cried her eyes out, "I thought you were gonna diiiiie! Hold me..."
"Ah..." The detective shook his head while looking at the leftover jelly that encased the legs of the plant girl, standing between him and her, "I would, but really I have an appointment to make. If it is of any consolation, that's one of the best semi-liquids I've almost drowned in." The detective held his hand before his mouth as a small, inaudible burp escaped his lips.
"You.... you'll come and visit me at least... right?"
"It's a date..." The detective said, though he didn't really mean it. He was simply suspicious of women who biologically developed ambushes and traps to snare their partners.
He ran off and didn't look back.
He had gotten far. He came so close. But Mr Peppi remained at large.
Still, he had to give his progress report to Mrs Peal, and if she could only give him more time he knew he would be able to get the job done, one way or another.

"Oh, Mr Peppi!" Mrs Peal said and nuzzled the cat in her arm, "You're finally back, my little snuggums!"
"Ah... " The detective was surprised to see that the cat had already returned. What was the game he was playing at?
"See!? He returned all on his own!" Mrs Peal said."
"I..." The detective was unable to get a word in...
"Fat load of good you turned out to be. See if I am gonna pay a penny, when this good little kitty returned all by himself!"
Oh... so that was his game? Mr Peppi was determined to get back at the detective, and he was gonna hit him where it hurt; the wallet.
Cats like those... they are a nightmare to work with.
"I... I see.. if you ever need my assistance in the future... do not hesitate to call."
"I'll call you if I need someone to bumble around happlessly!"

The detective walked. He didn't have a destination. It wasn't a destination he needed, but the walk. Something to clear his head.
Although he didn't need a destination, he found that his feet had, on their own, taken him to the place where he almost drowned. The taste of the barometz's fruit had subsided in his mouth, and now he found he was thirsting for it.
"You... you came back!"
"Of course..." The detective found himself saying, "I wouldn't dare to leave such a sweet, young woman."
Since then the detective learned to lick the fruit from the barometz body when it appeared. Eventually they formed a relationship, and moved in together.
It was time for the detective to put his hat on his shelf, settle down and form a family.