The Gastacular Burpstorm - Chapter 5 (Commission) (Patreon)

Elated, Richard Benton couldn’t stop grinning as they walked to the movie theater.

            I almost heard Burpstorm burp! Oh my God oh my god ohmygodohmygod!

            He replayed the scene with that sound in his head over and over that when he helped open the door for her into the movie theater he just stood there dumbly and got stuck holding the door open for other people passing by for a good long minute.

            Martha snickered once he was finally relieved of his duty. “You got stuck there for a bit.”

            “Ah yeah. I zoned out.”

            She glanced at the snack bar. “Are we going to get anything to eat?”

            “Gotta go with a classic popcorn.”

            As he ordered large bucket, the cashier pressed him for ordering the limited time deal of a large combo with a drink and candy bar, eying his date. He refused at first but the cashier kept egging on the whole “one dollar less deal”, especially since Richard had his membership card. In a flight of awkward panic, because he hated being at the cashier for a single minute longer than he needed to be, he said, “Yes. Fine. I’ll have that.”

            He gulped hard, feeling guilty. He did subtly try to get Martha to drink earlier by ordering her a rum and Coke before she arrived. He had made sure to be there on time and had actually been waiting at the bar for her for almost twenty minutes. He tried hard not to think about it as a deceptive mean trick, but then again he wracked his brain over how it did feel kind of fucked up.

            “Sir?”

            Richard snapped out of it and took the large tray.

            When Martha turned around from the movie posters and saw the large tray, her eyes widened with what he detected was worry.

            “Uhhh. Yeah. It’s just a deal thing. And I’m a member here so…I can have most of it if it’s too much for you.”

            Martha hesitated, but then relaxed. “Too much? Nah, man. I’m gonna gorge on it. Today can be my cheat day anyway.”

            Richard melted then and there. He was trying hard not to fall too much in love with her right away. She had this boyish edge to her while also displaying herself as conventionally girly. The idea of her eating and eating until she burped out loud…he snapped out of it before it became apparent that he was zoning out.

            “Cool. Let’s head on in.”

            He replayed that tremendous rumble from her throat back at the restaurant. The sound had been inhuman. He recalled the curious glances of the old couple behind her, probably thinking something had broken or was falling down. He seriously considered that gurgle a dead giveaway that she was, in fact, Burpstorm. No matter how hard Martha hid it, the sound of that rumble in her throat was simply impossible by normal human standards. It had risen above the sound level of the live band. No normal human’s body could possibly make a noise that loud.

            Was she alien? A mutant of some kind? So far, she had done everything else “normal” – walking and talking and eating and breathing. Maybe this was some kind of Peter Parker situation where she was stricken by a mysterious radioactive…thing.

            More suspiciously, her belly was visibly bloated. Richard knew all she ate was a single skirt steak at the restaurant. The bubbling mix of Coke and alcohol must have did her in. Ever since they left Havana Central, Martha had been adjusting her dress around her waist, pulling at it and trying to straighten it. She did this quickly, as if trying not to be seen or trying to come off as if it were out of habit.

            The movie had been out for a number of weeks already; thus, the movie theater was not filled – in fact, they were the only ones there! Richard couldn’t believe his ploy worked! He had purposely chosen a movie like this so that they could have more time alone, without the nervousness or awkwardness of sitting next to people. But the best possible scenario arose as the movie started and they were still the only ones there. He kept glancing around nervously to the point where she asked, “What’s wrong?”

            “Oh, nah. Just curious how many people were here. I thought there’d be more. I hope this movie doesn’t suck.”

            “If it does, we can always sneak into another one.”

            His heart fluttered again watching her chomp on the bucket of popcorn through the opening scene. He had strategically placed the large Coke between them in hopes of attracting her interest. She would glance at it every now with a daunting look, almost as if she could hear a temptation and was resisting something, especially whenever he reached to drink from it. Popcorn after all left a lot of little bits and pieces in one’s throat and mouth – better to wash it down with something.

            When she noticed he was staring a lot, she gulped hard and whispered, “Sorry. I’m hogging all the popcorn.”

            Richard shrugged innocently. “Sorry for what? You can have all you want.”

            Her eyes lit up like a child realizing they could have whatever they want for Christmas. She looked so touched, to the point where Richard wondered how awful her previous suitors must have been, implying they must have policed her eating habits. “Really?”

            She placed a hand on his forearm. She must have done it out of instinct because after a second she realized what she had done and immediately withdrew her hand, clearing her throat as she returned to paying attention to the movie.

            Richard slowly drank from the Coke, again still hoping she would follow suit. She didn’t seem to take the bait though, so he tried to stick to making a good date out of this.

            Throughout the movie, and because they were the only two in the theater, they started to speak louder calling out all the tropes and what they liked and didn’t like. Halfway through, Martha admitted, “I actually thought ‘oh no’ when you suggested this movie, because I always felt like it was going to be a stereotypical rom-com action-adventure movie.”

            “Aw, you shoulda said something. I could have picked something better.”

            “I wasn’t going to say that off the bat. Would’ve been rude.”

            She laid back with her feet kicked up on the seat in front of her. She threw popcorn in the air trying to catch them in her mouth. By that point, they had lost track of what was going on in the movie and were discussing the weird roles Daniel Radcliffe had been in before after he finished Harry Potter.

            Richard took another sip of Coke and said, “It’s almost done, are you sure you don’t want any?”

            Martha seemed to freeze staring at the cup.

            Richard lifted it and shook it, indicating that there was little left with the ice rattling in there.

            Martha looked to him, then back to the Coke, then before he set it down she said, “Yeah, I’ll just have a sip.”

            Richard nearly couldn’t contain his excitement. He stared at her drinking the rest of the Coke. What was supposed to be a sip ended up being the rest of the drink, which was about a little less than a quarter. When she made a slurping sound, she retracted and said, “Oh shit, sorry.”

            He chuckled. “I thought you said a sip.”

            She wiped her lips. “Sorry. I haven’t had soda in so long that I just…lost myself there. I forgot how much I missed it.”

            She became a little nervous – he could tell by the way she tensed gripping the edges of her armrest and sitting back straight like an arrow. She had stopped joking around and simply watched the movie without any commentary.

            Minutes dragged on without them saying anything. Richard thought he heard a rumble but it must have been the bass from the movie. But then there came the unmistakable gurgle similar to the one she had back at the restaurant. He caught her gripping her armrests tighter and squirming in her seat.

            “Y-you okay?” he asked abruptly.

            Martha nearly jumped. She took a moment to respond as she gulped hard. “Mmmh? Yea.” The sound of her voice had tightened. He knew she must have been holding back. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

            “You got something on your lip?’

            “Oh?”

            Richard reached out to wipe off some salt from the edge of her lip from the popcorn. Martha looked straight into his eyes and he realized he was dangerously closer to her face, since he had leaned forward to see better at the mess on her lips.

            She’s so goddamn fucking gorgeous. How is she still single?

            He got so lost staring at her that he had completely forgotten the danger that was about to unfold. The inhuman gurgle rose up again and her cheeks started puffing out. Before he could process what was about to happen, Martha grabbed him by the arm and swung him down on the floor.

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!

            Richard covered his ears but witness in awe at the effects of her destructive power. The overhead lights shuddered and began falling. The movie flickered until it lost power, and soon everything else too, even the AC. He felt blood rush to his cheeks as he recalled taking cover on the floor too the first time she belched in his presence, back when she saved his life.

            As the belch weakened, Martha gasped for air and groaned, sounded satisfied.

            They were in completely darkness, even the light on the EXIT sign had broken.

            A few seconds passed by, before Martha uttered, “Sssshhhit.”