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Thicker

Chapter Eleven

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944

Gehart could not tell Khen that he'd lost his job. On top of everything else, it had simply proved to be too much, saying instead that he was taking time off to spend with his buck and to work on a secret project. Although he was curious about what the project was, Khen was far too elated to hear about Gehart spending more time with him after a particularly busy and stressful time at work to worry about that, launching himself bodily at the larger deer in a hug. Gehart didn't want to look at the scales again for fear of what he would see there but, well, it was more than clear that he wasn't dropping any weight. How much he was gaining, however, was not something he needed to know when everything should have been all fine, just fine.

His project? The big secret of it all? Well, Gehart was looking for the taco truck of course. His belly wouldn't let him do anything else, the weight of it seeming to drag him about wherever he went, grumbling and rumbling, taunting him with its inescapability.

"So - what do you want to do?" He said one morning, sitting at the breakfast table with such a bright smile on his face that Gehart's heart turned over for him, loathing the lie. "Do you want to go out? We've got to do something now that you have more time off! There's no point just sitting at home... Unless you want to do other things at home, of course."

Khen's sinuously soft tone insinuated something more and Gehart could not have denied that he was, most certainly, sorely tempted to take his sweet buck up on that offer. There was nothing that he would have liked more - except for finding that damn taco truck and the obsession that came along with it - than to pin his buck to the wall, dragging his hips back so that he could pound him full over and over again.

"Mmm..." He said, letting Khen's paw softly massage his thigh, caressing and teasing lightly, pressing into his flesh. "Maybe later. Definitely later."

But that meant that he had to scramble to come up with something and Gehart did not even want to consider just how he was going to squash himself into the tiny seats at the movies, everything crushing and crowding in on him in a darkened room. Anything else? What else could they do?

Think, Gehart, think!

"Isn't the carnival still running?"

That alone seemed to seal the deal as Khen laughed and jumped up, scraping his chair back even as he came daringly close to a much younger display of joy in clapping his paws together for sheer, raw glee.

"Yes! I haven't been in years. It'll be quieter now too, on a weekday, don't have to worry about fawns and cubs running about, getting underfoot."

He made a face, although Gehart had seen just how he was with his younger nieces and nephews, sweet on them even though he professed that he didn't want offspring. Where his actions conflicted with his words, he wasn't sure what Khen wanted with regards to adoption or anything of that like, but he could not have said that the deer did not at least seem happy with where he was in life, his lot in life.

They'd talk about it another time. Cringing, Gehart stood, joining him with a false smile plastered across his muzzle.

"Sure! You seem to like it, so the carnival it is!"

It was not an ocean-front affair like the ones he remembered from where he used to live, though it was probably best not to have so many amusements on a pier. They were often packed up for the winter months where he lived in his younger days, growing from a fawn into a young buck and then an even bigger stag, but the one near where they lived operated all year round, changing the decorations and themes to suit. With tourists coming through also, they never seemed short of business, although carnies themselves were odd ducks too, at least in Gehart's opinion. Maybe that was because he didn't spend much time at all with that sort of person but he wasn't about to dig into it all that much. As long as other furs were nice to him, it wasn't something that he spent much money on mentally, to be fair.

People hadn't been that keen on being nice to him since his weight had shot up though. As much as Gehart tried to tell himself that it was all in his mind, his weight inconvenienced more than just himself but those around him too, whether he needed support to reach something on a top shelf at the supermarket (unable to get close enough with his belly pushing him back) or could not squeeze down a narrow aisle at all in a speciality shop for Khen's favourite alcoholic beverage. He shuddered. He'd knocked over the whole end cap of glass bottles and fled the scene of the crime as if the hounds of hell were on his heels, a guilty churn clawing at his guts, even then. It would not have happened if he'd not been so thick (physically!) but he just didn't know what he could do about it. He couldn't go back, most certainly was not welcome there anymore, but the shame of it followed him, a sinking guilt that sank its claws into his very soul day in and day out.

His gut had not cared. He'd sworn it had rumbled with pleasure.

Thicker...

_ _

Always, thicker. Of course, as if it could be anything else but thicker by then.

Being around others came with so many problems that, to Gehart, it just didn't seem worth it anymore. He didn't like others having to walk around him, giving him a wide berth as if he was about to explode, a balloon that had been filled to its limit with helium, all about to pop. He didn't like knocking things over with his belly, even if it was only in the confines of his own home. More than once, in Khen's office, he'd knocked the phone off the desk, fumbling to set it back up again as he cursed and swore, trying to appear that he wasn't doing anything in there at all. In all honesty, he'd just been using the computer to search for more and more taco trucks, not that he had been at all successful in his endeavours at all. The taco truck seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth, something that may or may not have even existed for all the tangible evidence it left behind.

The carnival, however... Well, that could not be so bad as long as he was with Khen, he told himself, though the first barrier was the turnstile that he had to wedge himself through. He gave it a good go and a valiant effort was made but the tiny, rotating wheel barely fit around one of his massively thick tree-trunk legs anymore, a blush of raw humiliation burning through his cheeks. Eventually, the canine taking admission fees had taken pity on him and let him around the back way through the employee entrance, though Khen was jovial enough to josh him about it, telling him that he was special for coming in through the backdoor. The double entendre, of course, was neither missed nor unappreciated from Gehart's point of view.

"I can't remember the last time I went to one of these!"

Gehart smiled. As humiliating as it had been not to enter the carnival like everyone else, the normal way, it would all be worth it to see a smile on his buck's muzzle. He most often saw those lips twisted into a lustful moan those days - not that that was at all a bad thing either.

"Of course! It's going to be great fun!"

Yes, yes, yes, it was a good idea, wasn't it? He told himself as he bumped into a passer-by and murmured his apologies. A pram was in his way and he tried to edge around it even as he mentally patted himself on the back, the two of them trying to take in all of the sights as they merely strolled around, taking their time, step by step. It took them longer than usual with the first touches of summer coming forth, warming the air, though it was the perfect time to be out and about before summer itself rose to a heady throb of sweltering heat that would have had Gehart sweating even more than he already was. As much of a good idea it was to get out there for a date, particularly when it was a last-minute idea, he puffed and heaved, dabbing at his forehead with a tissue, although the fur there was already soaked through with sweat.

The path was not very even and that made it all the more difficult for Gehart to make his way around, shouts and cries filling the air, even though the carnival was only moderately busy. He had to be careful how and where he walked, though Khen slowed to match his pace, considerate of him even then and not wanting to make him feel left out or as if he was being too slow to do things, to enjoy the carnival as he would have back when he'd been a lighter weight altogether. But Khen was always right there by his side with a smile that lifted him from even his heaviest weight, not allowing his heart to drag him down like a lead weight in his chest, weightier than his stomach could ever be.

"I'm glad I'm here with you, Khen."

The deer blushed and "aww'd", holding Gehart's paw tightly in his own. Yet there was no need for further words as they took in the sights, a mix of old and new in what the carnival had to offer them, passing by the rides designed for youngsters, even though they both remembered squealing and crying out with fearful glee on the teacups and the bumper cars when they'd been much younger. Gehart sighed. There was no way he'd even fit into a bumper car anymore. He may as well be one himself scooting and zooming all over the rather aggressive game area. Youngsters had been violent back in his day!

"Step right up, step right up. You, good sir! Have you ever tried your paw at hooking ducks?"

Gehart turned automatically to face a grinning fox with a jaunty hat perched atop his head, his striped jacket typical of the show but cleanly pressed with straight lines from the iron. The game that he was manning was a circular tray of water that ran around the whole exterior of the stand, filled with floating ducks that, surely, would have different numbers and prizes marked on the underside.

"You, lad, you're a big one, I can tell you like your food!" He went on with his spiel, jabbing Gehart lightly with the rounded end of a hook-like cane. "You'll have an excellent reach for this game! Would you and your partner like to try it out?"

Gehart gulped and shook his head but Khen was already there, smoothing things over. How did he always know when Gehart's stomach was churning in that way, nerves leaping up and over one another as if they simply could not be contained?

"No, no," Khen smiled. "We only play games we can actually win, my friend. And with furs that are polite, you know."

The fox's jaw dropped and Khen steered his lover away by the elbow, chuckling lightly.

"Idiot... Don't listen to them, they don't know what they're talking about, love."

Yet Gehart knew that he was an obstacle there and so many other furs had to step around him, taking up enough space for at least four furs to walk and mosey along in the space that he took up. Grumbling and rubbing the back of his neck, tension building in the small muscles there, he swayed a little too far to the side, bumping into a tall bison who snorted and scowled, entirely too grumpy for a day that was supposed to be fun, supposedly.

"Watch it!"

"Jeez," Khen grumbled as the bison half-trotted away, head high and his hooves lifted a little too high to be natural. "What's got his goat?"

Gehart's lips twitched.

"I've not been allowed to say that anymore since Todd joined the office. Forgot how much I missed that little expression."

"Oh, yeah?" Khen grinned. "Well, goats can be like that, can't they? All the jokes we have are about having a "nice rack"!"

Guffawing brokenly, he slapped his thigh and bent over, Gehart's cheeks flushing, although the mirth was shared between them.

"And you have a nice rack too, hun," Khen chortled, barely able to get the words out as tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. "A very nice rack... Just the rack that a stag needs, you know?"

What he implied was obvious and Gehart could not help but join him in his humour, lifting his head high, showing off what he had. It was a shame that his stomach still dominating his figure, drawing every eye regardless of anything else he did.

"What, this rack? Or is there another rack you're talking about?"

He couldn't be too obvious about such jokes out in public but they knew what the score was, Gehart pushing his shoulder blades back to show off his chest area, even though it didn't really do all that much. Khen's eyes dropped though and the deer pressed his lips together, sealing a groan back behind them, whimpering softly, although he had to be covert, had to be discreet. It was not fitting to allow his lover to turn him on so much in public, even if Gehart's increasingly round, spherical shape got to him more, in the best way, than ever before. The buck coughed into his paw, straightening with some difficulty even as Gehart gave a little wiggle that made his flesh tremble ever so slightly, tempting him in.

"I... Uh..."

Khen laughed again, heat creeping down his neck. But there was more to the date than simply ogling his partner, as much fun as that was too.

"Hey! Let's get something to eat! I'll choose so you don't have to worry about getting something healthy. If the doctor asks about that, you can just say that I made you eat it. And who's going to argue with me?"

Khen's grin was infectious, though Gehart didn't know where that part about seeing the doctor had come from. He looked down at his gut as his partner darted off, discreetly groping and grabbing at his belly, the fat fitting into his paws as even more spilt down over his belt, weighing heavier on his bones than ever. It must have just been a slip of the tongue and not indicative of anything else, he thought, not paying attention to what was around him as he turned one way and then the other, trying to judge if he'd gained more in the last few days. The scale didn't go up to his weight anymore and there was no way to tell, though he could have gone for a heavy-duty one elsewhere to keep track if it had been deemed necessary. His eyes, right then and there, were his only way to gauge just how much fatter he was getting.

Still, his lack of attention didn't help his case either as he swayed too far to the side, crashing into a cart of balloons while the attendant cried out, grabbing for them. He didn't know just what the big deal was at first while he blurted out some kind of apology, but the gazelle squealed and squawked and cursed and grabbed for the balloons floating up and up and up. Only then did he realise that he had hit the cart with such force that it was leaning over at an angle, allowing the balloons that had been looped over a pole on one side of it to free themselves, sailing skyward into the blue-washed expanse with a glitter and a flutter for their farewell.

"Damn it!"

He gaped and tried to help but only succeeded in tipping the rest of them free, any balloons that may have been salvageable for the gazelle floating away in such a slowly taunting manner that one would have not been amiss at all to anthropomorphise them. Up and up and up they went, into the atmosphere that would soon press in on them, yet none of them were as close to popping as Gehart felt he was, cheeks red-hot with embarrassment.

"I am so sorry!"

He clasped his paws together, trying to appear as amenable as possible even as he backed away. Giving the vendor some space was all well and good but she scowled and lunged for the last balloon with a frenzied curse just at the very moment that it floated out of reach.

"You know you're going to have to pay for those!"

Gehart's cheeks burned all the more fiercely.

"Yes, yes... Of course."

Maybe Khen would have stopped him from doing it if he'd been there but he was busy getting them hot dogs and didn't see a single thing. Paying up some extortionate sum for the balloons, he made good his exit, more carefully edging down some stone steps in the general direction that Khen had left in. The deer was nowhere to be seen and Gehart could not chase the blush from his cheeks and neck, panting lightly as he forced his body to move at a pace that it was uncomfortable with.

Ah... There he was. The tension eased from Gehart even as the taunting balloons floated overhead, shimmering in the sunshine while he did his best to ignore them. Of course, Khen had chosen something unhealthy to eat but there was very little healthy fair at a carnival, to be honest, the hot dogs that he reappeared with something close to the best option available at that time.

"Hey, aren't those balloons pretty? Do you think they set them off like that every day?"

Gehart gulped.

"Er... Maybe." He rubbed the back of his neck, the sweaty itch there not disappearing but growing worse and worse. "They're really bad for the environment, you know, especially if they go out to sea. Turtles think they're jellyfish...or something..."

Khen gave him a strange look, taking a bite of his food and chewing thoughtfully.

"I guess I never thought of it like that. Huh."

Gehart had given him something to think about at least and not in a bad way as the stag focused on his admittedly small hot dog, the slice of cheap meat enough to make him drool. It was just one little treat and yet his stomach still twisted guiltily as he fed it into his mouth, even groaning softly as he gulped it down, unable to help himself from devouring it in two swift bites. He barely even chewed, intent only on getting the morsel down into his stomach as quickly as possible, salty and meaty sustenance sliding down his throat like something a deal more lustful and phallic. It was not something that he usually did, him and Khen comfortable in their roles and how the sexual part of their relationship worked, but it was still amusing to note as he swirled his tongue around the last part of the manufactured meat sausage, distracting himself from the act of eating that, for too long, had had a sense of guilt attached to it for someone of his size.

He couldn't help that. But he could take his mind off it, at least for a little while, as he swallowed down the last morsels with open relish. Khen was not far behind him, of course, as he licked off his fingers, taking their rubbish and throwing it away quickly as if there was somewhere very important that he had to be.

"Come on! I want to check out the rollercoaster here!"

A rollercoaster? Well, that was most certainly more than enough to distract Gehart from his rumbling stomach and just how each and every gurgle sounded suspiciously like "thicker". It was just his tired mind playing tricks on him and he lumbered heavily along with Khen, the stroll taking them where they needed to go as his heavy gait pushed his weight to one hoof, leaning to the right, and then back again to the left for each complete stride. It seemed, even to him, an awkward way to get around but his waddle was all that he had to work with, bearing his weight down onto each hoof evenly and heavily, not even able to shift his weight anymore in that manner. Rocking back on his heels would have simply rendered him off-balance that that was not something that Gehart wanted to play out by any means.

The rollercoaster was something that was designed for adults with a youngster-ish twist to it, painted in bright colours that drew the eye. Red and yellow denoted speed and even Gehart felt a little shiver of anticipation as they queued up, not having to wait too long to get to the front and step onto the wooden boards from where they could board the well-maintained rollercoaster.

"Er... Sir?"

The attendant stopped him, the bull holding out his paw, although he was younger than Gehart and dressed uncomfortably in a T-shirt and jeans that didn't quite seem his size, too large on his scrawny frame. And who had ever seen a scrawny, scruffy bull like that? Gehart frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Um..." The bull scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry, sir, but you may not meet the weight restrictions for this ride. Perhaps..."

"Nonsense!"

His heart pounded, his mouth too dry, pushing on, flustered to the extreme. Weight restrictions - who had ever heard of a rollercoaster having such a thing? It was designed to fill every carriage, of course! Height restrictions were a thing but that was all there was to it as Gehart ignored the attendant completely and shoved his way to the very first cart of the rollercoaster, prime position while the others that were waiting for their turn shuffled their paws uncomfortably. It was not a spectacle that anyone wanted to see.

It would have been an exceptionally tight fit even without Khen squeezed in beside him but Gehart made a triumphant noise, despite his tight throat and dry mouth, as he managed to wedge both of them in. Neither deer was about to worry or complain about being squeezed up against one another but the safety bar was another issue, a double one that was supposed to come down over both of their laps at once. Khen squashed himself as much into the corner of the carriage as he possibly could, trying to help, but Gehart could not, try as he might, wedge the bar down into position.

He should have been able to see the writing on the wall as his sweaty palms slicked and grabbed wetly, pushing and pushing, but no amount of pushing was about to squash his hefty gut into place, not even if he'd been the only one sitting there. He grunted and heaved and did his very best not to look at anyone else, caught up in his own moment of humiliation, everyone staring at him, watching the guy who was getting thicker, thicker and thicker again still make a fool of himself.

"It must be broken!" He announced at last, although getting himself out of the sunken cart was going to be a more difficult endeavour still than even dropping into it had been. "This is terrible - how can you put people on this knowing that it's broken?!"

Grunting and mumbling more complaints, he swatted away the paw of the attendant who wanted to help him out, polite to the last, heaving and dragging himself out with all the strength he possibly had in his upper body. The entire rollercoaster rocked with the grind of his body making its way back to the platform, as if it was a miniature train station, though Khen joined him quietly, agilely, highlighting the massive difference in their sizes as Gehart leaned heavily on a railing. That alone, however, was not going to help him catch his breath, as much as he hoped it would.

"Look, there's an old weight machine here, something for fun," the bull suggested helpfully, his eyes kind despite the situation he had been forced into. "If you're under the limit, please come back and I'll do my best to help you. These old bars are safe here, they'll never come loose when you're riding the 'coaster, but sometimes they are a grind to get down."

"I think we'll do just that!"

Gehart's bluster was all for show, however, falling despondent as they trudged away. His head hung noticeably and he slowed and slowed, even though he wanted to get away from the rollercoaster as quickly as possible, gut rolling, swelling out, seeming to bulge more after being so constrained by the stupid bar of the rollercoaster that hadn't even done him any good at all.

Rollercoasters are stupid...

"You know you could have still gone on it," he muttered to Khen, although the deer was off to the side, picking up a pack of kettle popcorn for them to share, presumably, freshly popped. "You don't have to do everything with me."

Khen smiled and stretched up on the tips of his hooves to kiss Gehart's cheek, softening his grizzly demeanour just a little.

"I only want to do it with you."

Just walking worked up a light lather of sweat, though the rollercoaster hadn't helped Gehart much in that regard. Not wanting him to linger too much on what had happened, Khen pointed out the hall of mirrors, bouncing in front of one right at the entrance that made him look, somehow, as if he was ten feet tall.

"Look!"

He flung his arms out, fatly tall, the mirror distorting his shape further as he leaned in close to it, nose twitching and ears wiggling. Even Gehart had to crack a smile at Khen's antics, the buck pushing the boat out just to make him feel better. He followed Khen into the amusement, having to squeeze through the entrance sideways for how narrow it was. At least, that was what he told himself. It was just ridiculously narrow, yes, not designed for normal-sized furs, even though Gehart did know and understand that he was far from being normal-sized by any stretch of the imagination at all.

"Thinner?"

He blinked at a mirror, pausing before it as it stretched him up without adding to his bulk at the same time. In that mirror, he appeared to be slimmer and lighter than Khen and, wondrously, he pawed at his own face, the hanging fat and jowls almost gone even then. Of course, the mirror could only reflect what was there and not actually strip the fat away from him, so his features remained as they were, the mirror flexing as he pressed up to it, distorting it with the touch of his belly.

Gehart sighed. Nothing like that was permanent.

"Oh! This one is good!"

Khen twisted back and forth, the mirror making his butt or his muzzle look huge but only that part of him, Khen swapping back and forth as he shoved his body parts into the distorted part of the mirror. It was a laugh and even Gehart had to chuckle as he shook his head, joining Khen in something that was a side more playful and fun than a mirror that reminded him of the body that, if he could have had, he would have snapped up in an instant.

They moved through the hall, surrounded by mirrors, so much movement on all sides of them that they had to constantly keep turning their heads in order to take in everything, every trick mirror that the hall had to offer. Around the mirrors, it was dark, the spotlights focused on the gleam of the reflective surfaces alone, giving them the impression that they were in a maze, although Gehart could have just walked through them all, he was quite sure, if they did happen to get lost.

Thicker...

_ _

No, he would not linger on the mirrors that made his belly look even larger than it already was, flirting through with a set to his jaw, though seeing himself through such a lens was stranger than anything else. Twisting reality, his proportions were shifted askew so that his lower half was larger than his top, twisted and contorted. One side, his left, skinny and the right huge. Which one was true? Gehart turned and turned and turned, sweating heavily, licking his lips, salty with the lingering spill of his own sweat.

They were nearly out though and, finally, Gehart took a deep breath and paused before the final mirror of the hall, one that, quite typically, made him appear much larger than he actually was, ballooning out his stomach as if he was an inflatable that could be put on display to amuse the wiles of youngsters. His stomach heaved in the reflection of the mirror and he smirked at himself as his image made the same face back at him. Regardless of how much weight he'd gained, he wasn't that fat.

Wait...

Gehart blinked, turning one way and then the other. He seemed to be doing that a lot of late. What was wrong? Something was wrong, very wrong, with his reflection...

Thicker.

His stomach gurgled - and then he saw it. For the final mirror of the set was not a trick mirror at all but a real one, a normal one, the one that was intended to return everything to normalcy after their very reality had been distorted. The fat fur staring back at him, scratching the massive round of his stomach, folds of fat visible even through his shirt, was not a trick at all but the real image of Gehart.

He gulped hastily and moved on, sweating and shifting his bulk quicker than he had all day. No, no, he couldn't be that large, not really. But it had been a long time since he'd taken a real good look at himself in a mirror and he didn't want to again, the full-length mirror tricking his mind in ways that he didn't want to acknowledge.

Should he keep looking around the carnival for the food truck? He pressed his lips together and wondered. It could be there but there didn't seem to be any visiting trucks at such a carnival in the off-season, everything a fixed placement except for littler things like the balloon cart. Talking and eating with Khen, mindlessly devouring popcorn mouthful after greedy, buttery mouthful was not enough distraction for him but there did not seem to be any lead on the matter that he really should have spent the day focusing on. Like in so many other places, the crow that he was so very sure had cursed him was nowhere in sight and his weight gained and gained and gained.

Ah, what's the point...

"Maybe we should just go back to the rollercoaster so you can ride?" Gehart suggested, taking Khen's paw. "He's not going to know if we lie and it says I'm under the limit. I'm sure that thing is safe, I'm not worried about that."

But he was too late as Khen darted forward, considerably lighter of hoof than the stag he was almost at risk of leaving behind. The weight machine was set against the side of a snack shack, tall and gaudy, even higher than Gehart stood when he stretched himself up to his full height. Khen laughed and tugged him forward.

"Look, it's not even a serious thing!"

Gehart leaned in, not really wanting to see what numbers the machine went up to but finding that, besides most of the higher numbers (for that was where his eye went instantly) there were more positive descriptors of one's weight, perhaps as a way of softening the blow. For the skinnier ones...ah. He wasn't wasting much time on those as his heart pounded, mouth dry with the terror of anticipation.

Thicker.

_ _

"More to love," he read out loud, the listed descriptors beside the machine in its battered, worn paint. "Juicy, curves in all the right places, too hot to handle, big and beautiful, those with buns have more fun... Khen, what the hell is this?"

The buck laughed.

"Oh, come on, it's just a bit of fun... I bet you get "juicy" from it"

Rolling his eyes, Gehart dug out a nickel, the fee for the machine.

"This better be worth it...for you."

Giving the buck his best bedroom eyes, Gehart stepped up onto the scales, striving still to hide just how violently his heart was pounding. The machine wouldn't be right, he tried to assure himself. It would give a false reading, he'd be able to laugh it off. Maybe it would even go the other way, to the lighter side, screwing with those that paid to use it. That wouldn't be that strange at a carnival, surely?

His hooves settled into place as he broke out into a fresh sweat that had nothing to do with all the walking that they'd been doing, looking away, chest rising and falling rapidly with the fatty rolls of his chest. His moobs were defined even through his shirt as Khen pulled a lever to activate the scales (damn it, he was hoping his buck hadn't spotted that, he could have claimed the machine there was broken too) and the scales gave a long, ominous creak.

Thicker...

_ _

Gehart grimaced.

Oh, shut up.

_ _

But the needle was moving, shifting and spinning, flitting through the options of weight, creeping up and up and up. How high would it go, floating straight past "big and beautiful" and "more to love" too?

Higher and higher, there was no stopping it as the pounding in Gehart's ears rose to a dull crescendo, throbbing and pulsing, palms slick and wet as, against all hope, he tried to think the lightest thoughts he ever had. He closed his eyes, squeezing them shut until they hurt, stars leaping and dancing on the inside of his lowered lips, seeking out any light as his mind tried to make sense of the visual feedback even then. Bodies were funny like that but at least it gave him something else to focus on, at least in that little moment, other than the weight that would surely be displayed.

Ka-clunk!

_ _

Khen sucked in a breath. With his eyes closed, Gehart prayed.

"Awww... What a rip off. I know it only cost a nickel but that's a cop-out."

Was it over? Could he look? Barely opening his eyes, he squinted at the display, wanting to see but not wanting to see at the same time. He had to know, had to make it all stop, the scales creaking under him, squeaking as if the mechanism working it was about to break even then under his colossal girth.

Yet what was on the display before him was not just a colossal number (he glossed over that part) but something even worse, something that he could never have expected to see, not even there...

"Thicker."

That was all it said, just "thicker", so innocuous that it was quite as if it had always been there. In bold too, block capitals. It didn't want to be missed but, truly, it was difficult to miss one as thick as Gehart was. Before his eyes, the word floated and stretched (it had to be a trick of the light), filling the display and even blocking out the number, his breath catching in his throat, his heart pounding, blood roaring against his eardrums.

"Thicker?" Khen scoffed. "Just what is that supposed to mean? Come on, Gehart... We'll find somewhere else more fun to go, don't worry."

But all Gehart could think was one thing.

"Thicker."

Always, thicker.