Fiber Optic Bundles of Joy Part 10 (Patreon)

WARNING

! The following includes weight gain, gambling and all around amazing writing !

Once more, written by RabidBadger from FAhttp://www.furaffinity.net/user/rabidbadger

Illustrated by me! Thank you as always, for your continued support <3

This week's image sponsored by Joe The Englishman! Who bid highest in a YCH to such extent that he's won a permanent spot in our crew as well as his character to be featured in last week, this week, and at leastone more week to come!

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Joseph found himself where he’d often found himself in the intervening days since they chose a destination – leaning up against Agatha’s belly while they watched old movies together. It was an odd thing to do to pass the time, but they had plenty of it to pass – space was big. He’d availed himself of a more varied menu than he thought possible for an auto kitchen, but apparently the shiny fox had made that a priority recently. There were exceptions to the routine, but only so many. One among them was gaming with the AI, which had its own secondary purpose.

“Gotta make sure we’re up to snuff for this – going to guess that on a station full of pirates everyone’s a card shark, or has one in their pocket.”

Red had been simulating poker, blackjack, liar’s dice – Agatha was playing as well but as Joseph looked at their remaining ‘money’ he was largely breaking even, Red had some number that wasn’t displaying properly on the holographic interface, and his mother was in debt to her artificial offspring for several thousand credits.

“Ye’ve gotta be cheatin’ mate. Gonna be some hacked off pirates if ya get caught.”

Joseph felt the belly he was leaning up against burble and churn. He’d been using Agatha’s overflowing middle as a back rest for days – the rodent was surprisingly accommodating about the whole thing. Placement wasn’t really a problem since Red provided screens for each of them.

Agatha chimed in grumbling up top.

“Probably dealing himself the best cards, just wants to stuff my face and- nngh, hey! S-stop vibrating my- ngf..”

“Hey now – I am not! I just have the means to calculate the odds, gotta imagine most of the pirates are going to be doing the same yeah?”

Joseph pursed his lips a bit, feeling his own stomach begin a protest at the length of time since his last meal – which by his best guess was maybe an hour and a half ago. He had to spare a moment to take himself in again after that, the bulbous expanse of his chest, the wobbling thick thighs as wide as his entire body had been prior to all this, the way his marshmallowy gut flowed between them and touched the cold surface of the ship’s deck. He knew everything Red fed them made it worse, that the AI was as addicted to indulgence as they were at this point – more so probably. So he said the first thing that came to mind.

“We about ready to wrap this up mate? I’m hungry.”

The screens shut down, and otter and mouse alike heard the gentle hiss of hoses and the faint hum of the floating waldos in the kitchen going to work.

“Music to my – well, I like the sound of it. So by my count you’ve got your pick of meals Joseph, mom you’ve got about five gallons of that mint chocolate protein batter coming – per time you borrowed to get back in the game – and it’s my pick for movies from now until – well, when I say otherwise.”

Joseph struggled to his feet, something notably harder than it had ever been before meeting Red and his mother. He had to heave his bulk to the side, rocking left to build up enough momentum to send his flesh cascading to the right like a mound of pudding being spilled. It got him to the next step though, hands on the floor, feet under him. Enough to be able to make slow work of the rest of it. One knee under him, a good strong push, and he was breathing heavily but upright.

“Yeh yeh, like it wasn’t gonna be anyway ya ruddy hued ruddy scoundrel. Bacon, eggs, ‘n potatoes by the way. Nice’n crispy on all fronts.”

Joseph had let out a few grunts here and there during that – Agatha had produced one dumbfounded yelp about ‘five per – you didn’t s-‘ before a muffled glumph sound signaled she had probably started paying back her first loan to her son already. That, and there was a faint vibration traveling through the floor that the otter had come to recognize was Agatha’s other main physical need being seen to. Indeed, a quick glance at the mouse saw her face bloated with full cheeks, a little drizzle of chocolate running down her jowls, but her eyes were rolled back in mind-blanking ecstasy. Which might account for why his captain was so silent for the moment.

He wasn’t inclined to question too much – he’d come to terms with things quickly enough, and he smelled the bacon already which did a wonderful job of smoothing over mental wrinkles. Joseph found himself eyeballing the kitchen and rubbing his paws over the squishy expanse of his middle, feeling it give way to the faintest pressure and leave little paw prints when he moved them. It really didn’t feel like proper fat, but it served all the same purposes. He also briefly clenched his ass tight together, mostly because there was a pleasant twinge every time he did so these days. He almost asked the good Captain for a rump based feeding session right there, the first one had been so very intense. Almost, he was perhaps not quite ready to dive into that new pleasure head first yet. In the end he wandered (waddled) back toward Agatha’s quivering body with an enormous plate full of breakfast, knowing full well the waldos would fill it back up as needed.

”So we’re arriving tomorrow – I know we’ve got shopping and hustling to do. There anything else there? I mean, I imagine there’s games aplenty but if this is a pirate casino-“

Joseph didn’t answer right away – Red knew why, mouth stuffed full of bacon and eggs. The AI was ‘tasting’ it too so he’d understand. The otter felt it slide down into his prodigious belly, not nearly sated yet – that would take ages. Behind him he felt the rhythmic thrum of the mouse being stuffed dutifully by her child, and as much of a hopeless glutton as he was now he still marveled at how much food that rodent could make disappear in a day. He paused before his next bite, best to answer the Captain after all.

“Well, sure. I mean.. s’pirates. They sell anything – things, time, experiences, people.”

His Captain was silent for a few moments after that, just the sound of machines and chewing filling the ship’s hollow confines. Eventually a movie flickered on before them, opening with a grandfather reading a story to his child about a gigantic tool with amazing blond hair on some farm or another.

Maybe I can be a better kind of pirate.

***

Their day had continued much like that, eventually decaying into a barrage of pirate themed films and non-stop feeding tinged with bad jokes and abysmal performance in games by rodents. Like any day, even in space where the measurement is largely arbitrary, it ended – and when Joseph awoke he saw a rather impressive cluster of colored light in the distance on the ship’s main screen. Blearily, he stared at it and licked his dry lips.

“Izzat..?”

“The Coronet? Yep!”

Agatha was already eating he saw, being stuffed full of what looked like a milkshake made with blueberry waffles – and he was pretty sure he smelled cream cheese, butter, and maple syrup in there. He immediately wanted some, but the sight of the station looming ahead seemed more important. He had dozed off leaned into Agatha’s belly, feeling the mold of flesh around his shoulders and back more as he started trying to move. Dislodging from it was a bit awkward just by virtue of how little leverage one could get on such soft bulk. Eventually though gravity (artificial or not) surrendered, allowing Joseph to roll over and hoist himself upright.

“..It looks a fuckin’ mess, dunnit?”

Nobody had to answer, as the station loomed closer it was obvious enough. The bright glow amid the asteroid ring was indeed a hazy shade of gold – something to do with the way a peculiar form of radiation played with the dust in the asteroid ring it occupied. The station itself was an insane amalgam of pilfered ship hulls, legitimately constructed domes and tubes, and a myriad cacophony of brightly lit signs in an equally insane selection of languages. There were no docking protocols to speak of, no real security as it was – nobody who came here would reveal the place. They weren’t that stupid. Nor would anyone who tried to start trouble survive long. So their ship approached one of the many docking ports in unmolested silence.

A few loud thunks and a quiet was all it took. Joseph felt nervous – and why wouldn’t he? Last time he’d been here he was young, stupid, thin, and not naked. Of that lot he was debating whether the nudity or the lack of stupidity made the most difference now in degree of trepidation he felt.

“Just us going in for the first trip at least Joseph, you ready?”

The otter looked upward – even though he knew that was largely pointless.

“Not takin your mum along for this?”

There was a muffled groan somewhere behind him, but if Agatha objected she did so around the thick bulge of a feeding tube – which made it a bit less coherent than it might otherwise be.

“Mom’s a bit recognizable, if the Cloud has a presence here I want to scout it out incognito first. Plus she owes me another fifty pounds worth of chugging shake.”

Well, if nothing else the first part of that made sense to him. Joseph nodded, heading toward the loading ramp as it started to descend and let in the spicy, raucous atmosphere of the station.

“First thing’s first, gotta get something ta wear.. not like they got decency laws but still.”

Joseph found the docking area more or less empty, a few drones but no signs of life within the small loading bay. Everyone was left fairly autonomous as far as day to day things like this. So he managed the awkward downhill waddle of the ramp, feeling his belly shake and bounce through each heavy footfall, paws thundering on metal. By the time he reached the bottom of it he was panting a little from the impromptu jog, and trying to ignore the stirring between his legs all that shaking of his pillowy flab had caused.

Or many laws at all I’d wager.

Joseph made for the nearest wall, leaning heavily on it while he took a breather.

“Nah, nah mate. They got a few. Some of em are downright reasonable even. Just not too many of em, an the punishments are all medieval. Losing hands, ending up property, and yeah – walking the plank.”

The otter shivered a little at that last thought, but he’d had his rest. Heavy footfalls began again, each one sending a tiny cascading impact tremor through his thighs, up over his ass, and into the sea of flesh above it. He planted a paw on the button to open the bulkhead into the rest of the station.

The scent immediately struck Joseph like a hot wave to the face. Perfumes, spices, sweat, smoke, and pleasures of the flesh. It caused his back to twinge, a chill of nostalgia dancing through his spine at that. Scent always held hands with memory after all. He followed the corridors toward the noise, eventually starting to see signs of other people here and there – most of them dirty, rough around the edges, but generally relaxed. Some of them ignored him, some smirked, one horse with a mechanical set of legs gave his ass a vigorous groping as he passed by which earned a blushing grin over his shoulder. That, he thought, might bear seeing through later.

Then he rounded the corner into the main halls.

It was a bit shocking how much the volume changed, everything had been muffled echoes until he took that wobbling pace into the main chamber and was assaulted by the cacophony proper. There were people everywhere – some in rags, some in suits decorated in gold and obscure crystals, still others in leather and pieces of scavenged tech, and every conceivable mix therein. Some of them manned little store fronts, usually framed by burly armed guards – others meandered around them shopping, or following those who did (some as comrades, some meekly and without making eye contact), but these were just those who had set up on the ‘streets’ inside (mostly corrugated metal in bad need of polish Joseph noted). There were buildings too, taverns with malfunctioning holosigns, small gambling halls and inns – like something from fantasy carved into spaceship hull and asteroid bedrock. And then-

What’s that one?

Joseph let his gaze wander off into the distance, and upward. The only structure in the area that looked permanent, so to speak. The primary shell of the building was repurposed from a ship, like many other structures here – but not from parts of one. The entire ship, originally an ancient luxury space liner, was intact and parked in the middle of a giant cul de sac of ramshackle establishments in the distance. The hull had dulled with time, but the white and gold still shone in places – the observation bubbles had become observation decks, strewn with tables – and the name;

“The Errant Heir.”

Joseph said the words with a faint trace of awe in his voice, but it was clear it wasn’t exactly all access inside. There were more brutish looking and far better armed men near the loading ramp to the liner than anywhere else in the area – even a couple of automated turrets from the look of it.

“Biggest game house in here, but if you aren’t filthy full a scratch an got an invite? Don’t bother.”

They still hadn’t really drawn attention it seemed, which suited Joseph just fine. He had to zero in on a stand somewhere with clothing if he could, though what could he get on such short notice for his build? The otter paused, he’d seen what he required – among other things. A multi-colored bunny was ambling away from a small store front, dragging a large draconic individual in wrist bindings, blinders, a muzzle, and a collar away via a leash attached to.. well, a great number of piercings. Behind them though the place looked like it might have something to cover at least part of himself as well.

“We’ve got some coin right boss?”

Joseph had some loose notion that the AI was well off for now, but it was hard to be sure what that meant explicitly. Still didn’t stop him from stepping into the store’s confines. The immediate reaction to which was to think that the outward appearance of the place didn’t in anyway do the shop justice.

The space inside must have been cut out of the asteroid, because the small doorway gave way to a small department store worth of merchandise. Joseph saw a chunk of wall dedicated to collars, cuffs, restraints – must be where the Technicolor rabbit did her purchasing because there were some blank spots. But there were plenty of other choices. Fine dresses in patterned silk were sitting right next to armored encounter suits, and those were next to a vat of some white gold liquid that was sealed tight in a transparent aluminum barrel. Beyond that were bolts of cloth, packaged nano material, and an array of crystals in a display case that were probably not just shiny objects.

Lingering near them was what he assumed to be the proprietress, a somewhat chubby mink with long pale green hair hanging over the left side of her face. That face was grinning a little, looking Joseph over in a way that chilled his spine a bit – like he was for sale too.

“Bit delicious. Bit cold too I’d wager. An I never lose one of those luv. Feelin threadbare?”

Joseph swallowed, thinking to himself that it was curious Red had gone silent – but he’d look proper crazy to go trying to talk to him right now.

“Err, yeah. Needin something that’ll do tha-“

The mink took a step closer, planting two dainty hands against Joseph’s outstretched belly and eyeballing it as if she was judging the quality and quantity of the fur more than anything else.

“Mmm, you might yes – or not. Feeling cold – feeling lucky? Wager a pound of flesh or two in a game, for a thread or two?”

The otter looked down and swallowed again – he really wasn’t sure what to make of this woman’s attentions, or offer. Perhaps though, if she was underestimating him due to his new girth? He didn’t cut the figure he once had but it had no bearing on his talents at the table. So perhaps..

“W-what, err, what’re ya – izzit just us two playin or-?”

The mink’s hand traced a lazy trail across Joseph’s middle, going to one of his wrists and tugging him toward her.

“Back room, if it’s a deal? To deal in the back room.”

Joseph briefly questioned in his mind once more where his Captain was, but damned if he was going to wait too long. He knew what he was doing.

“Arright, deal me in.”

He’d expected to be led to a back room, not so much to be literally led by the wrist – or to be tugged exactly two steps into the center of the shop before the floor began rising up like an elevator – the ceiling above him peeling apart. The upper room looked downright opulent, pillows everywhere in an insane kaleidoscope of colors, small view screen photos here and there of mostly nude individuals – all a bit portly it seemed, and a table in the center of the room sporting bottles, a hookah, dice, cards, and two other players set at a low sitting table surrounded by still more cushions.

An older ebony furred horse, sporting a bit of a belly and also sitting there nude – apart from a fez – and a nubile young thing he was having some difficulty with the species of. There were definitely mods at work – some of her seemed vulpine – but there were horns behind her ears, and while the bulk of the woman’s body was white her arms were a sandy shade. She had on a dress done up out of whatever the blazes was in that canister below, evening gown in shape but it seemed to move and flow a great deal. The both of them were idly playing with a few dice each.

“About time you got back ‘madame’ Blanchie.”

The mink folded her arms under her chest, and settled in at the third side of the square table, leaving Joseph staring at the final place. The floor looked comfortable to be sure, but he’d be sitting a little ways back to accommodate his belly.

“Pay her no mind, rude little thing – really. I trust everything went well below, Blanchard?”

Their hostess eyeballed the vixen(?) at the table, scowling gently, but she also busied herself sliding a bottle toward Joseph’s place at it while he slowly eased himself down to the pillows below. That, and made sure each of them had a simple, opaque cup – and six dice.

“Needed a fourth dear – no good with three, one third the fun. Liar’s dice, got the rules yeah? Except bets. Each round buy in’s the price of the article, or six hundred for you river kitty. Pound for pound. Five rounds, winner take all, bets around the table until someone calls crawfish.”

Joseph heard grunts of agreement from both others, and one of impatience from the odd girl, but he wasn’t rushing. He lowered his ass into the waiting pillows and then took a deep breath before he adjusted the overhanging of his belly, and took hold of the glass full of dice. He did think he knew the rules fairy well, you bet on the entire table’s dice – not just yours. This, he thought, was why he could still beat Red sometimes. Machines had limits, Red was better at bluffing than he’d have expected but he could tell it didn’t come naturally to the artificial fox. So it wouldn’t help anyway if Red were here – this was all bluffing all the time.

Six hundred – that was steep but not unheard of, he was pretty sure Red had to have that much at least? Five of that much that is. Five times payout, so if he won even a single round that was a profit right? They all raised their cups, giving them a decent shaking – which Joseph mimicked instantly. Then then overturned them on the table, cup still obscuring the dice – at which point the Mink touched his arm.

“Dice on your man-tits dear, must make allowances. We don’t mind.”

He was still trying to figure out just how the hell to react to that when he did what she said. Cup upside down on his own fuzzy moob. Trying to ignore the broad grin from the horse and the smirk from the horned vixen thing who was looking just a bit smug. The mink opened, bidding on threes – something Joseph noted with a blank poker face he had none of – given that it went clockwise he took the next bet with sixes (something he had three of and was betting at least one other person had a bit in) – this kind of thing continued around the table once, and then again – right up until the liquid white gold wearing vixen chimed in something about thirteen fives and the horse in the fez gave her a stern eyeballing.

“Bullshit, my lovely darling. Bullshit. Let’s see the dice.”

And that left them all showing theirs – which made it blatantly obvious the girl had just lost, and apparently earned Joseph a quick spot of cash as he’d come closest to being right without going over. The next hand ended in a similar fashion – the girl called out by the mink Blanchard this time – but it turned out the horse had a closer bet that time. Joseph saw the vixen’s confidence wither a little each time, so in rounds three and four it ended up being him and the ebony horse accused of lying – which the horse was after a very long round, and Joseph was not after a remarkably short one. Then came the fifth pass of the dice, and it stretched on forever.

The betting was tense, and slow – raises of no dice or one only, just changes in the targeted number. Crawling up from three twos, slowly around and around, eventually reaching Joseph who had last circle postulated that the four of them had nine fours between them – not wholly impossible since he had three himself. He pursed his lips, raising the total by one – still possible if not likely, but not an inflammatory move. The vixen was sweating bullets though, and very nervous – if that garment she was in was new, and made of something special, she might be in trouble. So when her demeanor cracked briefly she cursed out something about eleven sixes Blanchard put on a tiny smile.

“You are not a very good liar for a fox girl. Show us.”

As they had done four times prior, they all lifted their cups. The vixen was nowhere close – Joseph was closer than he thought, but still over by two, Blanchard had likewise guessed poorly – and the horse clapped his hooves together once with an easy smile on.

“Excellent! That should cover the fez and the robe I saw to go with it yes my dear?”

He wasn’t waiting for an answer, but clearly the portly mink agreed with the man as she did not attempt to stop his egress. As to the other two, she pushed glasses of wine toward each of them. Joseph was fairly sure he was still in the black on this even if he hadn’t won outright. He reached down for the glass, the vixen didn’t move at all – looking like a cervine in a station floodlight.

“Little girl and big boy – big boy okay, six rounds of round ass stake per round but only won the short stacks, long runs cost you more, but you can make back six grand ones yes? Little girl though – oh that thing on you – maybe you should’ve stayed sky clad, lest someone throw you to the sky?”

She produced a small tablet just as Joseph was trying to decipher all that – short stacks, long runs? Was that six hundred per trip around the table he’d been wagering?! Chrome, what the hell did that mean for the girl? Red probably had that- Red.

“Err, jes a minute mum. Tryin ta sort that out-“

Joseph thought the Captains name as loudly as he could, trying to get the artificial intelligence fox’s attention. Meanwhile, Blanchard produced a small tablet and pressed something, after which point Joseph felt a buzzing in the back of his hand. The data node, she was trying to access their funds? His buzzed, but the vixen’s beeped sharply twice.

“Tsk – no credits girl? Thought not. You though – you unlock and we can wrap this up. Like you better with that butt on display anyway."

The otter narrowed his eyes and tapped at his hand a little, once more trying to get his captain’s attention mentally, each passing moment watching the mink grow less patient looking until her eyes were flat with annoyance, and she tapped the tablet again.

Joseph saw the dart that hit the vixen in the neck – he felt the one that struck him in the same place. Everything started to go fuzzy and dark after that though, just about as he thought he could faintly hear the voice of Red in his ears, calling his name.