The Rendering Pit Chapter 24 (voting opportunity!) (Patreon)

Rigel finds himself exploring his options, after his new body has landed him with some unexpected issues, but also some unexpected opportunities! 

This story was written by RabidBadger and illustrated by me! We thank you for your continued support, you've helped make this series what it is <3 

PROCEED TO THE BOTTOM FOR VOTING OPTIONS! 

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Rigel was making good time as he waddled ponderously down the halls, but there were complicated reasons for that. Ones that left him thinking a bit more than a walk down the hall usually did. Not that walks were a bad time to think, but they usually were a time to get that kind of thing done - not the actual subject of all the personal musings. 

His own immense body was not easy to move, but it should be harder - Rigel was completely sure of that much. He’d seen how hard things got for Samuel, and how hard they were getting for Genevieve, but it was his potential fledgling friend Nathan that was the clearest benchmark of something being a little off about his state. His partner in being blue, immense, and scaled was wrestling with issues like sweating, back pain, knee issues - all problems the school could and would solve in short order. All problems Rigel ought to have, and didn’t. 

Not to say that things were problem-free for Rigel of course, his body was just so damn huge that it got in the way of things for starters. Doors tended to be a bit narrow, and his hips were so much broader than he remembered - bumping into people was inevitable, as was knocking things off tables, all that kind of thing. Rigel had started developing a small complex about the matter, apologizing every time his butt touched something. That was only the tip of the embarrassing ice berg however. 

It got a good deal worse, leaving him blushing purple, the first time someone approached him about his new ‘brew’ and asked if they could try some. Rigel had seen the insides of juvenile detention before, he knew there was always a source of booze somewhere, but the idea that in a place full of peers who were unquantifiably more dangerous than they looked his body would be one such source had never entered his wildest nightmares. Now he was dealing with people showing up regularly to inquire about it, like the oddly slender alpaca with the purple crystalline horns and strange golden shawl that hung off a hovering drone of sorts around her. 

Yasmina was her name, he’d gathered. Rigel might have known that already in fact, it was difficult not to catch wind of the heads of the student bodies. He’d never expected to be approached by Sigma Prospero of course, not with just how fantastically heavy he’d become, but here she was just the same.

“I understand if you don’t want to commit to a membership just yet dear, but I think you’ve achieved something that our ideals can help you with. I think what you are now can become a unique, positive option for-”

Rigel stopped, he had to. Not out of fatigue or pain, for some reason he just didn’t seem to feel those all that much anymore. It was why he felt a little bad about looking at Nathan - none of the physical ills this kind of bulk should bring on had happened to him. Instead, he had other problems. Like wanting to politely let down one of those most gorgeous women he’d ever met and then immediately producing a rampant cacophony of yeast-driven alcohol and fruit scented belching the instant he opened his mouth.

The reptile promptly covered his snout with both hands and resigned himself to staring in horror at the red and white furred woman. Yasmina did look surprised, or startled at any rate, but after a moment she curled one lip artfully upward.

“If it tastes half as good as it smells dear… Do please consider the offer?” 

A gentle little poke to Rigel’s belly set some of his accumulated internal pressure, which he was having a great deal of trouble keeping track of, escaping him via the backside. Something that only deepened the royal shade of purple he was turning.

“I’d love to try that, and so would more than a few of my friends, all of whom have deep pockets and know a thing or two about comfort. Think it over.”

All Rigel could manage there was a nod, a half panicked thing that just wanted to be free to go hide and get his head on straight again. He could handle being nobody, or being distrusted - being desired was something new. Rigel wasn’t good at it. There’d been that caracal with the two sets of extra limbs and the abnormally large butt that showed up from Ingen non-Terminus who he’d had to force himself not to stare at while turning them down, and then the tubby raccoon who hadn’t wanted to say who he represented - only that there would be ‘rewards for faithful help with a sacrament’ which hadn’t been at all terrifying. It made him let out a held breath of relief when Yasmina seemed to accept letting him think it over and turn away.

Then he’d gone and belched again as soon as he did so, but Rigel quite literally couldn’t control that. He doubted anyone realized just how much control he’d lost given how excited everybody he talked to was about the idea of sticking him in a juicer, or recreating the results he’d gotten, or just cherry picking (and he knew they had intended the pun when they called it that) some of the gene sequences that left him with plant-like absences of pain and fatigue. 

Rigel was still a bit lost in the enormity (pun most assuredly not intended) of the situation he’d stumbled into by failing when he should have succeeded when his tablet went ‘ping’ at him from the bag over his shoulder.

“Who the…”

Rigel blinked down at the thing - the tone was the generic one he had for new contacts, though as soon as he saw the staff tag attached things narrowed down considerably and he knew he’d at least be opening the mail.

Rigel,

I hope you don’t mind me contacting you personally dear, it’s the nurse. I wanted to congratulate you on the gene therapy matrices you created and on the accidental discovery - they’ve both led to an astonishing number of possibilities and discoveries already. Such things don’t go unnoticed or unrewarded here. 

 I have taken the liberty of discussing your discovery’s implications with Professor Tenebrae, who was amicable after some persuasion to offering you a few choices as to the nature of such a reward.

1: Professor Tenebrae is willing to offer you a teacher’s aide position while you make this your primary focus of study. This would mean more access to school services, including a private dorm near your Professor’s wing of the University.

2: You could enter into a contract allowing the University staff and students to pursue your research alongside you, which would carry its own immediate and long-term financial and scholastic benefits, but might mean someone else beats you to using this as the basis of their thesis.

3: You could sit on this, or go your own way with it. Personally I’d love to help if I can but this choice is yours whichever way it goes. 

See you soon
 -The Nurse

Rigel let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding as he let himself smile. Not that he had a lot of choice about seeing her - he still needed help with drainage occasionally. Nowadays it was more about managing and cleaning a tap though, technically anyone could help - but the nurse had earned his trust about the matter and the lack of dignity didn’t sting quite so much around her. 

“Not like I have to make a decision right now anyway - about any of this. Got plenty of time and options.”

The intent after that was to tuck his tablet back away and head somewhere else, Rigel wasn’t precisely sure where he was going just yet apart from not roaming the halls. One voice in him was preaching for going to the dorm and getting some privacy, another wanted to head for the commons grove and stretch out a bit under the sun lamps - that one risked more socializing with group suitors but that might not be such a bad thing, or he could always head to the cafeteria. These notions were in Rigel’s head, but it was the cat that was in Rigel’s way. More specifically, a cat - one with obviously dyed hot pink fur wrapped in some very tight shiny gold shorts with a matching tank top - managed to be right there when Rigel started the heaving swing that was required to get his feet moving for a turn in any direction.

Rigel winced hard as he felt the rough outline of the cat against his gut for an instant, and then heard the small heap of cat land beside him with a yelp of surprise. Hopefully just surprise. 

“Eesh! Freaking objects in motion man. You might need a turn signal for your ass. Just saying.”

There was a small wreck of emotions that hit Rigel there, the primary three being embarrassment, annoyance, and a barely suppressed urge to laugh at that comment which would’ve invalidated the other two. As it was he did stop and take careful stock of his surroundings again while waiting for hi pendulous belly and chest to stop moving. It took a while.

“That - sorry, I mean. I don’t think I was moving all that fast really so I’m not sure how we got here but - you’re not hurt at least, right?”

The blindingly pink feline, who upon close examination looked to be the fittest creature Rigel had seen in the school - not an ounce of fat under that fur that he could tell - smirked and gave the reptile a playful bump at the hips. Mostly this resulted in the cat bouncing off of him and Rigel feeling all that internal pressure start to churn again.

“Been sat on by bigger than you. Speaking of which, my big fluffy couch has been wanting a chat if you don’t mind.”

Immediately closing his eyes as they rolled upward, Rigel stifled the urge to belch again, swallowed it, then spoke.

“Can it wait, please? I’ve had people crawling up my butt all day and I just want to relax a little.”

The cat’s lip curled a little, and his eyes (odd things, pale lavender, kind of shiny - shimmering in fact - Rigel was having a hard time looking away from them) locked with Rigel’s for a moment. 

“That’s fine big guy, just keep an eye out for a message later from Donovan Ingram alright? When it comes in just take the call and accept the video feed.”

Rigel blinked hard and fast. His thoughts had gone a little cloudy on him there, but they kept doing that a lot anyway with his body’s strange new habit of producing alcohol. He had to stop and focus to catch up on what was said. The gist of it was there, he’d heard the cat clearly enough, but it felt like his head was buffering a video or something - the idea was lodged in there even if it wasn’t playing yet.

“Th-that’s fine… I - I’ll see you later then.”

The pink feline grinned again, giving Rigel’s belly a surprisingly well executed grab and jiggle that forced out that belch he’d been fighting with for a while. His prior confusion withered under an onslaught of berry scented alcohol tinged haze running through his sinuses and leaving him light headed enough to need to lean on the wall for support. 

“You just might!”

*** 

It wasn’t that much later he found himself in the cafeteria. That had been an educated guess on Rigel’s part as to where to go to endure the least annoyance. The cafeteria was always sporting a wide selection of massive students and strange students and the few who veered into both categories at once, like that cow with the second head he kept meaning to go talk to sometime. He didn’t stand out quite as much, and there was always Genevieve having a little bit of power and control over the place if push came to shove, or shove came to sit on in self defense.

The idea hadn’t been a total success, though. Some of the various factions vying for his attention had still followed his extremely noticeable self and set up camps at tables near to his, but not near enough to technically be badgering him. He knew, he’d checked the school guidelines about it. All he could really do was nurse his drink (he was still trying to figure out what he did and didn’t like food-wise since the changes) and listen as they bickered from table to table, each one apparently talking about him - or around him - or just about his findings.

...spero does not just take thin applicants thank y…

…nefits it could have reversing damage from infes…

…ought you people loved your ‘conditions’ and nev…

…tally different perspective on life as being part pl…

…just look at the way that ass moves when he…

“Seriously!?”

Rigel immediately wished he hadn’t had the outburst, for a small train of reasons. The entire cluster of groups seemed to decide in unison that the one responsible for annoying him was the group that annoyed them the most, and that it clearly wasn’t their fault. A much more raucous exchange began after that, one that Rigel didn’t care to look at or linger for. It might, in fact, be his escape if it lasted long enough.

It was worth trying anyway. Rigel collected his tablet and went through the lengthy process of working his thighs and ass loose of the bench and table, trusting that things behind him were still loud enough that he had time to do this. Starting his waddling escape, Rigel threw everything he could into it. Pushing against his belly and sending it up and out of his way. It left the bulky thing sloshing and slapping against his thighs every time it came back down, but it was the best he was going to do. Probably. Rigel had some doubts about whether or not the extra effort actually made him faster anymore.

He’d only gotten as far as the central lunch kiosk when his tablet beeped at him. Not just once, it was an incessant string of them. One that, as he looked at it, was the result of an incoming video call. 

There was a piece of Rigel that told him to ignore the annoyance and answer, a strangely compelling one, but that was a lot of annoyance to quell. Besides, he was almost certain it was just more of the same that was happening behind him. Then again, the cat had been polite enough - kind of. 

It was far from his only option, though. Genevieve was right there and the room was a chaotic mess - he could get to her to talk and ask advice.

The message from the Nurse was too - she, or his Professor, either of them could offer insight. 

He just had to make a choice.

-=VOTING OPPORTUNITY=-

https://www.strawpoll.me/15796860

A: Rigel should talk to Genevieve (and get his head on straight) 

B: Rigel should talk to the Professor Tenebrae (ominous tidings) 

C: Rigel should talk to the Nurse (surely she has his best interests at heart) 

D: Rigel should answer the call from Donovan (it's a call, that can't be too dangerous - right?)