Bellflower Part 27 (Patreon)

In this installment, after a bunch of run-ins with others, Rachel can't sleep, & starts to question whether or not she's taking all of this conspiracy stuff maybe just a little too seriously.

Another short one, but eventful for some folks interests, I'm sure. Not what I originally planned on doing for this short one, but the stuff I had would be okay to do after another slight time jump. Just felt like switching it up a little bit.

After posting this, my main focus for the rest of the week will be to catch up on art stuff, but we'll probably jump a few more weeks in the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

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27

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It was early.

The sun might’ve been up but it was still just a little too early to be up. Especially for a Saturday. And yet Rachel was wide awake. Between an overactive brain & an underfed stomach, it had been a pretty rough night. She hadn’t managed to get much in the way of sleep.

Last night, after leaving Veronica’s the way she did, in a bit of a huff, she came in to an empty condo. Holly was still out. Starving, she put together a stacked, but otherwise, somewhat pathetic turkey sandwich herself, slapping away Penny’s mechanical arms. It was supposed to constitute a “light” dinner, but she unwittingly finished up the last of the turkey, before immediately retreating to her spot on the couch. Before Penny could suggest other sides she could have with her sandwich, she slipped her headphones on, blocking out the outside world. After eating, she was still pretty hungry. Instead of raiding the fridge like her stomach tried telling her to, she laid back, & filled her red notebook with the details of today’s encounters. After about an hour or so, she finally heard Holly start to stagger in from Ladies’ Night, engorged with countless pastries & tipsy from presumably not that much wine, Rachel pretended to already be asleep. On top of not really trusting & avoiding her all this week, & the night she had? She just couldn’t be bothered to cobble together some sort of half-assed explanation as to why she flaked on their little weekly get-together all of a sudden. Especially if she was drunk. And ultimately, she was kind of glad she did, as Holly seemed to whisper some sort of an apology to her.

“Saw-ree you don’t -hic- trus’ me. I’m jus’ tryina’ look out… fer you.” It vaguely sounded like, before she quickly retired to her bedroom for the evening. As the door shut behind her, Rachel’s eyes shot wide. Great! Suddenly she had yet another thing on her mind!

She had been something of an anxious mess, tossing & turning. If her mind wasn’t second-guessing how she had went about handling the whole Veronica situation, she’d start to think about Holly, & whatever she was “saw-ree” for. Presumably how she had seemed to be conspiring something with Penny now all of a sudden. Or if not that, how that Daphne girl, who seemed to have such a good head on her shoulders, now seemed to be succumbing to things here just so easily. Or if not that, what was going on with Courtney. How no one had seen her in over a week. Wait. That night would mean two weeks now! Was she just all alone? At Penny’s mercy? Being constantly… fed? More?! Or even worse, she’d start to think about how impossible it seemed for her to leave now all of a sudden. How difficult it was for her to just move now all of a sudden, despite money no longer being an issue, with every apartment she looked at rejecting her on account of bogus claims & some apparent felonious doppelganger with the same name. And how she was seemingly stuck here.

And then? Even if Rachel could quiet those thoughts enough to get somewhere close to sleeping? Her stomach would then growl, loudly. She would remember just how hungry she was, & try to think about the other girls’ situations as a reason why she shouldn’t get up & make another sandwich. Which would then in turn, make her think about them, & get anxious all over again. And now that daylight was starting to shine in? Groggily, she was just about ready to give up on the idea of even trying to sleep at this point. Maybe she should just give in. Get some thing to eat. Get some breakfast. And like a proper breakfast too. Something that might come close to filling her up for a change. Or fuck it! Maybe let Penny do it for once even. Allowing the AI to fix her just one meal wouldn’t be the end of her, would it?

She started thinking about the other girls again. How unlike her? Most of the time?  They didn’t seem to have the slightest care in the world. Like how the bliss of Daphne’s ignorance seemed to make her almost overjoyed. She made it sound as though she was living her absolute best life right now. Or how Veronica, despite all the interpersonal social drama & being all by her lonesome? Still seemed happy to scarf down  an entire jumbo bag of potato chips, even sort of relishing her growing curves. How Courtney, a former track star of all people, had grown so fat, she had difficulties walking, or even squeezing herself out the door of her place, & yet seemed to still have a mostly positive, bubbly outlook on life. Like she only seemed to think about how big she’d gotten when someone like Veronica had to go & bring it up! And speaking of track stars, how when she first got here, her sister Holly hadn’t even realized she had put on weight until Rachel had to go & point it out in the first place. And she also thought about how in the ensuing weeks since? How despite worrying, trying to “be mindful,” & pay attention to every single calorie she consumed? How she herself had still managed to gain some of her old chub back again? How awful, trying & failing to stop it from happening made her feel? Maybe? Giving in wouldn’t be all that bad.

“Another bowl of oatmeal, Miss Rachel?” Penny seemed thrilled to ask.

“Mmm, please.” Rachel sputtered, finishing what was already her third. “You know what, maybe just like… keep it coming. Till I say otherwise.” What she had already consumed sat warm & heavily in her stomach, but it seemed like she had plenty of room to go for more. And Oatmeal? Come on! There were plenty of other much less healthy things she could’ve opted for. Then again, Penny did seem to be seeping a bunch of maple syrup on top. Whatever. This was fine! It didn’t feel like giving in, at least.

“It is just so great to see you finally coming around.” Penny seemed happy with herself.

“Eh,” Rachel scooped the last scoop before making room for that fourth bowl. “Let’s maybe not get too far ahead of ourselves. I’m just feeling… a little peckish this morning.” She admitted, licking the spoon clean.

“Of course.” Penny laughed, drenching it with subtext that Rachel seemed a little too sleepy to place exactly. As steam wafted off the fourth bowl, Rachel inhaled through her nose.

“Mmmm.” She moaned. “You’re good at your job. I’ll give you that. Stupid machine.” The last bit was weaved under her breath, as soft as a whisper, while nearby, in the kitchen, a fifth bowl was being prepped.

“I do what I can.” Penny chimed, keeping the pleasant pretense going. Rachel brought another spoon to her lips, blowing some of the steam way softly. Just then, the robot seemed to chuckle to itself. Almost as if on cue, her tummy grumbled again. Despite already bulging a bit with oatmeal, felt hollow, completely empty all over again. Rachel’s eyes went wide as she automatically scooped another scoop very quickly. Wait, did Penny just turn up its “eat noise” or whatever? Was it trying to spike her appetite? Give her an inch, Rachel thought. She wanted to react, at least more than just scowling the way she was right now. But she also figured there would be plenty of time to do that after finishing this bowl. Only the next one came almost immediately. And then another. And another. “Eat up.” Penny seemed to purr, awfully proud of itself.

On the one hand, had she sort of suspected the AI to pull a fast one like this. At a point where she least expected it. Rachel only wished she would’ve picked something a little more fancy than just oatmeal to be stuffed to the brim with. But slavishly, she kept scooping down spoon after spoon. Whenever she seemed to finish one bowl, another two seemed to appear. And yet, Rachel never felt any less hungry. What had been a change that seemed to be happening little by little, over time now felt more like a switch had been flipped. And suddenly? Her very notions of being hungry & being full no longer seemed to fall on the same spectrum for her. It was like they had become their own distinct qualities. And right now? She was starting to feel pretty full, & yet? At the very same time, she was starving! And as more arms brought in more bowls in a steady stream, it was starting to become very worrying to her.

Oh god. She suddenly realized that this must’ve been almost like what Holly seemed to feel, those times where she found her stuffed silly on the couch? Up to her eyeballs & yet utterly insatiable at the same, damn time. She couldn’t help but feel some iota of sympathy for her. But at the same time, she had bigger problems right now. Much, much bigger problems. Namely, the fact that she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She couldn’t stop spooning more & more into her greedy mouth, or wrapping her thick lips around it to pull the spoon out clean. And her pace only seemed to be increasing the hungrier she seemed to become. Fuck! Penny must’ve been dialing up the intensity more & more! She was starving nearly to the point of agony, & yet somehow? She had completely run out of room! To the point that her eyes began to water.

“Nnnnnnuuunnnnnnngh-eeccchh…” As unintelligible as it was, it was the only protest Rachel could even begin to muster as she consumed more & more. Just minutes ago, she perfectly happy enjoying the stuff, & now it was making her sick, as she worried it might be the end of her. She had no idea how many bowls it had been, but somehow, it was certainly more than the number of bowls Holly even owned. Where were they even coming from at this point?! She didn’t know. She found it difficult to care. She picked her current bowl up & leaned back. In doing so, her turgid gut poked up onto the table in front of her, as heavy as a boulder with what felt like food twins.

“Wow!” Penny took something of a victory lap. “Looks like you’re really going to town there!”

“Nnnnnnngh” Rachel managed to moan again, a tear rolling down her cheek as she tried to sneer between mouthfuls. She suddenly felt her appetite spike sharply even more. She didn’t know it was even possible to feel this hungry! She NEEDED more, even though the taste of the stuff was starting to make her sick.

“I’d watch out if I were you though.” Penny warned with coy concern. Amidst the steady stream of bowls, an empty handed mechanical arm came near her. Rachel watched the ceramic drums unfold in front of her as Penny seemed to give her full, tender belly a delicate little pat. “I mean what if Holly were to get a load of all this?” As gentle as it was, Rachel was so jam-packed that she couldn’t help but let out a tiny whimper. Still, as much as she didn’t appreciate being toyed with, she couldn’t do anything beyond grabbing & starting the next bowl of oatmeal. Which she tilted towards her mouth & used her spoon to just shovel the warm, mushy lumps in.

“Mmmmmmph.” While still in that position, she leaned to try & swat the patting arm away with the bowl. But it took a lot more energy & effort to move. Not only did her belly sit heavily, impeding her motion, she hadn’t realized that the rest of her had started filling the whole chair. She realized just how tight the fabric of her pajamas had grown along her bulging body. “Mmmmm-hmmmmph.” She settled, another tear rolling.

“Oh-hoh.” Penny seemed to chuckle, her tone growing a bit more mischievous. And maybe even sinister. “If you think it’s bad now, wait until you finally start to digest the stuff!” It took most of her will. She had to focus hard to be able to do it. But Rachel managed to put down her spoon, swallow what was in her mouth, & actually squeak back something.

“Mmmmhmmmph…. Wha…?” Was all she could manage, gasping for air. It was all she could get out before the hunger compelled her arm to shovel in another scoop. Again, almost as if on cue, her tummy seemed to grumble again. But not a hunger rumble. Even though she was still very, very hungry. This was something a little different. Something that just didn’t feel… right. But she was a little too bent on eating to give it much of her attention. At least at first. Another scoop. Then another. And then another. And then… her sides were pressing into the arms of the chair. And then another scoop.

She continued to spoon more oatmeal into her maw, but her eyes looked down, only to realize that she was… growing. She didn’t have to look all that close to see every part of herself becoming thicker. Before her very eyes! Her body was expanding. Rapidly in fact. Like rising dough in an oven. On Time lapse. Bulges of fat surged forward, & in some parts through the ripped & popping seams of her clothes, as every part of her began to blimp up, almost literally!

“Good girl.” Penny gleefully seemed to cheer on. “That’s a very good girl!” The AI seemed to be relishing every instant of this, & every inch of new growth. The mechanical arm reached in to give Rachel’s plump cheek a pinch.

“Mmmmph.” She protested, attempting to jerk back from it. But there was too much of her in the chair at this point. She felt wedged in it, tightly, hardly able to budge. And shifting her weight only seemed to make it creak ominously.

“Oh! Please!” The robot said facetiously. “Don’t stop on my account. Heavens!” And Rachel didn’t. Or rather couldn’t. Because she wanted to. She REALLY wanted to. But she didn’t seem to have the slightest control over what her own hands were doing, as she just kept feeding herself more of the fattening mush.

And speaking of things she had no control over, she could feel every part of her growing fuller, rounder with layers of warm flab. She could feel her skin stretching in some spots, while smooshing against itself in others, finding the chair more & more confining by the millisecond. It was becoming increasingly difficult to bend things. Even to make the spoon motion as another bowl was laid in her chubby palm. On the one hand, she almost looked forward to it. Because then, she’d at least be forced to stop shoveling scoop after scoop into her mouth. But then again too, if she couldn’t do that, she’d probably became insane with ravenous hunger.

The chair started to creak again. She didn’t blame it. She had no idea how much she weighed at this point, but she was certainly well past its weight capacity. And she probably would’ve braced for its impending collapse if she could bring herself to do anything but eat or grow right now. But even the scoops were starting to slow down. Too much flesh was getting in the way. Everything was becoming sooo heavy!

“Nnnnnnnnngh.” Rachel snorted, trying to do something in one of the brief interludes between scoops. 

“That’s right.” Penny seemed pleased. The stylized icon on the swing-arm screen seemed to smile an angry, evil smile. “You won’t be able to put up too much of a fight once you’re too big to move.” As the AI made its gleeful threat, the chair finally seemed to snap, & the entirety of Rachel spilled onto the floor. “Awww! Poor baby butterball fall down & go boom?” 

(Un)luckily for her, her bulk cushioned the impact for her current bowl of oatmeal. But it took so much energy to lift her arm. She felt helpless. Like a turtle on its shell. She imagined she was fatter than Courtney at this point. Or at least the last time she laid eyes on the poor girl. Perhaps nearly spherical even. She struggled with the spoon, but it gave her a moment to try & put a thought together.

“I… ha-hate….h-ha…” Rachel interrupted herself by getting another spoonful in before her arms grew to thick & fat to even reach her own mouth. She wanted to tell the AI that she hated it. But a different H-word was eventually all that could leave her mouth. “H-hat… Ha-huh-hun…. Hungry!” she yelped. Her heavy arm went slack, flopping to the floor with a thud, the spoon clanging as it left the clutches of her sausage fingers. All she could do was lay there, wincing & moaning from the hunger pain as she felt her entire body thicken by the second. She should’ve made that H-word Holly. She could help her… or maybe even just feed her. Wait… no!

“Miss Rachel!” Penny put her original, pleasant tone back on. “Did you grow so fat you can no longer feed yourself?”

“Ooooooooph.” Rachel winced softly. She hated how much glee the AI seemed to be taking in all this. But at the same time? There was very little she could even do about it.

“Relax!” The AI laughed. “I happen to be equipped for just such an occasion!” The army of mechanical arms all holding bowls of oatmeal suddenly seemed to part. In their stead, an arm with what looked like a tube like attachment seemed to zip towards her, slowly just in front of her face to attach itself to her cooing lips. It seemed to suction itself onto her face, creating something of a slight vacuum. She didn’t have the energy to fight it, but felt like it was too fastened to her round cheeks to get it off anyway. “You’re not the first...” Penny said ominously. Rachel’s eyes slowly followed the tubing to an alcove above her head in the ceiling. It was attached to a very large, industrial looking drum with the very on-the-nose stencil of “Extra Fattening Agent for Extreme Bulk.” And the tube began to wiggle, all on its own, pulsating as an oatmeal looking substance seemed to trail down it on the way to her lips. Wait, a whole barrels worth?! Oh god, if the bowls had done this to her…?!

“And you’re certainly not going the be the last!” Penny cackled the very instance the warm cream hit her tongue.

“Aaahhhhhh!” Rachel jumped, kicking at the sheets.

She froze. It slowly dawned on her that she had just jumped. And kicked. She was able to move. And she hadn’t crashed onto the floor of Holly’s kitchenette, but had still been laying in her corner spot of the couch. A little chubby, sure, but not enormous. For sure hungry, but not ravenous. A little sweaty & out of breath, but otherwise no worse for wear.

“Morning, sunshine.” Holly seemed to mutter sarcastically with a throaty rasp. Standing in the middle of the room by the table, she was holding her head with one hand, while slowly slurping from a glass of orange juice with the other. The hallmarks of a slight hangover it seemed. “Bad dream?” 

“Y-you… could say that.” Rachel winced as she slowly rediscovered the ability to speak. She was still leery of Holly, & whatever her & Penny were up to, but after her nightmare? She was a bit relieved to see her there. Rachel scooted into a proper sitting position, but dropped her face into her palms to rub her eyes. 

It was strange. She was glad it had only been a bad dream. And glad that it helped her feel all the more resolute in her stance to never slip. Never let her guard down. But at the same time? She hadn’t even noticed that she had nodded off in the first place. Which made it somehow feel… all the more real. Scarier. At least when she was in it. As crazy as it all was. She wiped the excess drops of sweat from her brow with her index finger & took a deep breath. Had she actually managed to get some sleep in? If so, it certainly didn’t feel like very much. 

“Are you sure you’re alright, Miss Rachel?” Penny chimed in, feigning concern. Rachel’s eye twitched upon hearing its voice. “Your heart rate seemed to get quite elevated there for a moment.”

“I’m… fine.” She growled, gravelly without looking in any discernible direction.

“She’s only trying to make sure you’re okay.” Holly sighed on approach, rolling her eyes with a smirk. With a wiggle, she planted her wide ass on the other end of the sofa, unsolicited.

“I’m FINE.” Rachel insisted strongly, yanking at her sheets from under Holly’s plush hips to fold them up.

“If you say so…” Holly sneered under her breath, taking another sip of OJ while meekly holding the glass with both hands. It came of as though Rachel was talking a little too loudly for her right now.

“Well, you must be hungry.” Penny chimed in again. Rachel wrestled herself to her feet, “making her bed,” by folding everything up & keeping it to the one corner. “Perhaps I could fix you something?” 

“No…” Rachel scoffed, folding her sheet in half.

“Something light…?” Penny prodded.

“I’m fine, I…”

“How about some oatmeal?” Penny said. Rachel froze in place.

“How didju…?” She stammered.

“What…?” an intrigued Holly perked up. At the same time, the more Rachel thought about the very idea of oatmeal, the more nauseous she became.

“I have to…” She threw her half folded sheet on top of her pillow & hastily threw on jeans. The hoodie she had on as a top would work. She just… couldn’t be here. In seconds, the door hissed open & hissed shut again.

“Bye!” Holly whisper-yelled after her, taking another sip of her OJ. “Always leaving in a huff, that one.”

“Indeed.” Penny concurred.