Borrowed Time Chapter 2 (Part 3) (Patreon)

A continued collaboration between myself, and my dear friend Firefox!

Written by Firefox 

Illustrated by Me

Hot topics in Hot Topic - Loretta needs some better friends.

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The Hot Topic was a bit of a walk from the food court. Not long enough to merit stopping and resting before making the trip, but even at a leisurely pace, the need to get off her feet was becoming very real for Loretta by the time she could see the bold logo standing over the shop front. She could also see Genevieve and Jake just beyond the entrance, looking and gesturing up at the wall of tee-shirt graphics on display. They were holding hands, smirking at one another as they chuckled. 

In that moment, as with many before it, Loretta envied Genevieve. Not for Jake, because she wasn't interested in him; she envied their relationship. She envied the closeness she saw between them. That painfully familiar, empty feeling was opening up in her stomach when Genevieve looked her way and smiled, letting go of Jake's hand to wave her closer. Envy melted into bitter self-loathing, disgust beating out her rekindled appetite. She forced herself to smile as she stepped inside.

"Check it out," Genevieve almost whispered. She was pointing up at a shirt bearing an image of two unicorns touching horns, making eyes at each other as hearts floated between them. "I guess same-sex is definitely canon now if it's on the merch."

Loretta sighed quietly and shook her head, smirking in spite of herself. "And how many seasons did it take for that?" Her smile became more sincere. "I guess it's better late than never."

Genevieve met Loretta's gaze, grinning and waggling her brows. "Want me to get it for you, birthday girl?"

With a sly, sideways glance, Loretta squeezed her hand into her pocket, retrieving her mother's credit card. She held it casually at eye level with Genevieve, allowing her to inspect it.

Genevieve's eyes widened. "Woaaaah! Platinum? My mom would never let me hit the mall with something like that!"

Loretta smiled and shrugged. "There's not much I can really think of buying." She lowered the card, looking it over herself. "I don't have much space in my room and I'm pretty sure they still don't carry anything in my size here."

"Aw, come on Lorrie." Genevieve put her hands on her hips, tilting her head. "It's your birthday. Indulge a little!" 

Before Loretta could agree, Genevieve looked over her shoulder. Jake was calling for her. She gave Loretta a glance and a smile, and then darted through a pair of closely spaced shelves that Loretta had no hope of squeezing between. She exhaled a quiet sigh, shuffling up to the cubby holes holding the tee-shirts on display above. She rummaged through the available sizes but the largest option was one X shy of her requirement. Even if she had expected as much, it was still disappointing. She let the shirt unfold, holding it by the shoulders as she examined it up close.

Even if it was a bit too small, and she only planned on wearing it at home, it made her smile.

"Well, there's no harm in at least trying it on," she thought to herself.

"Oh, so now that there's lesbians shoehorned into the show, you're watching it again?" Chloe boredly asked from behind.

Loretta jolted with shock. She kept her eyes forward, bringing the shirt a bit closer to her chest. "Um… n-no... but I still like the characters?"

"Ugh. Of course you would say that, you were never a real fan." Chloe slid into view with a look of contempt. "But I've been a part of it since it was just rumors on the net. They practically took one of the fanfics I wrote and made it into an episode, you know." She looked down, one brow raised. "Not that you'd know anything about quality writing."

Chloe snatched the shirt out of Loretta's hands, holding it up high and squinting at it. A cruel grin spread over her lips. Loretta suddenly felt very small, even though she knew she was too big to run or hide. 

"How pathetic," Chloe said as she dropped the shirt to the floor, "They pander to you for one episode and you come crawling back."

Loretta furrowed her brow. "W-what do you mean by—"

"Uh, because they only put a lesbian couple in it for woke points, obviously!" Chloe huffed, gesturing with one hand palm up. "There shouldn't be lesbians in the story, it doesn't make sense!"

"Every single one of your OTPs is a male gay couple," Loretta slowly stated.

"Ugh, that's so sad that you don't know the difference." Chloe laughed and shook her head. "You know I'm just trying to help you. Maybe if you took my advice and lurked on the imageboards for a few months, you'd actually absorb a sense of taste." She grinned smugly and added, "And I'd say you could try the whole camgirl thing, but—"

Chloe abruptly wrapped her fingers down the sides of an imaginary circle, crudely gesturing at Loretta's figure. Loretta looked away, gripping her wrist with the other hand, trying to prepare herself for more ridicule. Chloe chuckled, but it never came. Moments later, she could hear Chloe starting an argument with Jake, while Genevieve tried and failed to mediate. 

Loretta let herself look around, relieved to find that she was more or less alone again. Her gaze next wandered across the shirt in a heap on the floor. She felt inclined to leave it there, after being mocked for her interest in it, and because bending over was a real chore. The sound of Genevieve's laughter reminded her that this was her birthday, and she was supposed to be buying things that would make her happy. Taking a deep breath and spreading her legs a little wider, Loretta braced one hand against her thigh for support, and exhaled a low groan as she leaned forward. Her free hand swung for the shirt, snagging it and hauling it back up with her. She took another deep breath once upright, her sigh of relief a silent one.

The way back to the changing rooms was crowded with shelves of merchandise and racks of clothing that she had to very carefully inch past. Even trying her hardest, her hips and belly and backside all nudged or otherwise disturbed the toys and trinkets and garments on display. It was painfully obvious to Loretta that this store had not been arranged with people of her stature in mind. She reached the far end of the store without incident, and shifted her weight enough that she could look back. All of her friends looked so far away. So did everyone else. She seemed to be the only person by the changing stalls, in fact, but she welcomed the sense of privacy.

Each stall appeared to be of the same dimensions, so she accepted that there was no real alternative, but she was already dreading the idea of squeezing into such a tight space. A feeling of claustrophobia came over Loretta as she waddled into the nearest one. Adding to this was the way she completely filled the mirror at the rear of the stall. Her feathery hands settled against her middle, squeezing gently into herself. There was no denying that this was her; a big, feathery blob squeezed into sweatpants and a zip up hoodie. 

She reached for the zipper and tugged slowly, revealing tooth by tooth the immense proportions under the baggy clothing. The shirt she wore was visibly strained, stitches pulled tightly along the seams that had not yet come undone, tiny glimpses of her plumage and bra visible through holes in the tense threads. It was something of a miracle that she hadn't burst out of it yet. The soft, sagging crescent of tummy that her shirt was incapable of concealing swelled out from under the hemming, black and shiny as ever. She reached for the bottom of the shirt and carefully pulled it up, the worn graphic of the pegasus quickly lost in wrinkles. The back of the shirt rolled over her head first, her wavy locks bouncing back into place once free of the stretched out collar. Her arms followed, one wobbling bicep at a time. 

With Chloe's jeering still fresh in her mind, the sight of her broad, rounded shoulders and the exposed upper hemisphere of her belly made her cringe. 

Loretta grabbed for the un-purchased shirt, holding it up and looking it over a second time. She imagined herself trying to squeeze into it, popping stitches and stretching it out, only to find it covered even less of her gut than the shirt she had worn into the store. Frustrated and discouraged, Loretta left the shirt in a heap on the narrow bench beside the mirror.