an acquired taste

Anything upsetting. Maybe it's just too loud today. Too bright today. Maybe it's been stressful as of late, and the prey needs some time to just shut down. Maybe the news is too much, or the weather is too cold or wet, or maybe the prey doesn't feel like talking for the rest of an outing - that social battery all drained out.

Insert the pred, uniquely aware of their prey's internal status, able to read them like a cute little book. Squatting down, putting their hand at the small of their prey's back and looking into their eyes. Almost  as if they operate on a synchronised wavelength, their prey nods, and steps closer towards their pred, who opens their mouth, and allows their prey to delicately place their hands on their pred's tongue. Pred being careful not to be too rough, not to swallow too hard, smoothly swallowing their prey whole, using a finger to trace their prey's descent inside their body into their warm gut. Feeling their prey settle and curl up into a ball in their stomach, with their head just below the ribs.

Internally, the prey is instantly somewhat calmed, Put away in a safe place, nice, soft, warm, and dark. All the sounds of the outside world are muffled, and replaced with the comforting noises of their pred - the sound of their pred's strong heartbeat, lungs taking air in and out, as well as intestines quietly gurgling beneath them. The gentle movements of peristalsis, lightly squeezing and loosening against the prey's body.