Fruiting Bodies, ch. 13 (Patreon)

**** Voting options to come! Holiday weekend yard work got in the way. ****

“That was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise,” Ethan said, his cheerful tone a sharp contrast to the armed guards standing behind him.  They had the elevator blocked, making it clear that Tom’s suite had just become a luxurious prison cell.  “I knew we were getting close, but I didn’t think a rift like this would…if only we’d been better prepared…” he trailed off with an exasperated smile, his expression landing somewhere between pride and fury as he looked at the confused pair.  “What you two just experienced was a taste of your true purpose.  We’ve danced around it in the past, but it’s foolish to pretend at this point, isn’t it?  Spore,” he said, gesturing to the suite and the building around them, “was never the real goal.  THIS is what we’ve truly been working towards.”  Ethan gestured again, but this time the walls around them faded, exposing the hazy cloud that swirled in and through and around the top of the building.  The sky overhead was split, a cluster of titanic fungus now pushing through the rift like it was sprouting on the floor of the cave.  They could see similar growths appearing all over the city, a creeping network of mycological terror that existed just on the other side of a dangerously thin cosmic barrier.  It wouldn’t take much for the walls between realities to crumble, and when that happened there would be no going back.

“We…we did this?”  Dave had his back to the group as he looked out the windows, less concerned with the guards and his new status as a prisoner than he was with the blooming apocalypse he and Tom may or may not have ushered into being.

“I like to think of it as a team effort, but credit where it’s due,” Ethan clapped.  “Still, it’s a bit premature.  We’re going to be working overtime on clean up for the time being.  If things become too chaotic too quickly we run the risk of losing control, and we’re not quite there yet.”

“Is this going to happen every time we touch,” Tom asked, still keeping a safe distance from Dave.  He was uncharacteristically covered in a pair of small gym shorts and a tank-top, practically a three-piece suit by the shifting stud’s standards.

Ethan shook his head, his smile as fixed as ever.  “No, this had less to do with you and more to do with dimensional alignments.  They happen all the time…they’ve BEEN happening all the time and most people never know…but now the walls are thin enough for that power to bleed through in spots.  Spots like you two.  And Will.  And Tyler.  I’d honestly expected them to be together by now, but if they’d made contact as well we’d be having an entirely different conversation.  The next alignment isn’t due for a while, so now that we know where we stand we have some time to prepare.”

Dave finally turned from the window, his meaty arms folded beneath his chest and resting on the top of his furry muscle gut.  He’d pulled on a pair of tight gray trunks, but the rest of his beefy frame was on display for the group.  He wanted more than ever to wedge a thumb in his mouth, but he refused to give Ethan the satisfaction.  “And what about us?  Are your guards really going to shoot if we try to leave?”

“Tranquilizers only, not real bullets for the pair of you,” Ethan sighed, his tone going apologetic.  “I understand how this feels.  I do.  But you two are far, far too important to lose now.  And they’re here for your protection as much as anything else.  This situation is bound to draw attention from unsympathetic parties, and while I have every confidence that you’re perfectly safe inside the building, we can never be too careful.  Besides, you know everyone already!  These aren’t just ‘guards.’  It’s not as if I’d stick strangers up here to watch over you,” Ethan said, sounding offended by the mere idea as he gestured to the armed group.  “Sawyer, Peterson, Lyle, and Hyatt are four of our best, but you already know that.  I believe you’ve worked with each of them at one time or another, yes?”

Dave’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the group.  Sawyer, a broad, middle-aged bulldog of a man had accompanied them multiple times on outings in the past.  The rugged, square-jawed stud’s mere presence was intimidating, his stern expression and brawny frame radiating a sense of barely-contained fury.  He was always quiet and polite, a consummate professional even when surrounded by the decadent debauchery that tended to follow whenever Dave, Tom or Will left the building.

The same went for his young protege, Peterson.  The short, stocky blonde was like Sawyer but half the older man’s age and with half the older man’s experience, leaving him with a smug arrogance that he had yet to grow out of.  Where Sawyer was all business while on the clock, Peterson would watch the surreal events unfold with something close to envy.  And while he’d never actually crossed a line with any of the guys, Security was especially strict about those rules, he wouldn’t need much of a push to make it happen.

Lyle and Hyatt filled the space in the middle.  They were in their late twenties and mid-thirties, respectively, and both had deceptively lean, athletic frames.  Looking at them in their uniform of tactical pants and branded polos, neither strained against the fabric the way Sawyer and Peterson did, but the slightest movement would cause their steely arms to flex and inflate, or for their already-prominent pecs to pop just a bit more.  Neither had the older man’s intimidating presence or the young hunk’s smug demeanor, and instead the duo carried themselves with a friendly air.  They were your handsome neighbor, or your older brother’s best friend that you had a crush on growing up, desirable and approachable in a way that was strategically disarming.  The boy-next-door brunettes were the good cops; the brawny brutes were the bad.

“Now, as always, just ask if you need anything,” Ethan continued as he strode towards the elevator.  “Your badges have been deactivated, but one of these fine fellows will make sure you have whatever it is.  Honestly, it won’t be that different from your regular day-to-day.  I’ll be busy managing the clean up crews for the immediate future, but I’ll check in on you as soon as I can.”  With that, the unnaturally handsome man flashed a final smile through the closing doors and disappeared, leaving a lingering silence in the spacious suite.

“Well, shit,” Tom laughed, walking over to Dave but still keeping a safe distance.  He had his back to the guards and kept his voice low, his head spinning as he saw the ethereal fungus steadily overtaking the city outside.  “Looks like you were right.”

The burly bear gave a short laugh and shook his head as he turned to face his friend.  “Looks like Tyler was right.  You think Ethan was telling the truth?  That Will went to find him?”

Tom shrugged.  “Wouldn’t surprise me.  Will started pulling this thread just before you did.  Guess whatever fog they’ve kept us under might be fading.”

“I wish it was that simple.  They might’ve kept us from seeing the big picture or thinking too hard about it, but no one MADE us do anything.  On some level we wanted this.  We could’ve walked away like Tyler, especially in the beginning.”

Tom braced himself and put a hand on Dave’s shoulder, letting out a sigh of relief when nothing happened.  “So how do we fix it,” he asked quietly.

Dave turned and slipped his hands up under Tom’s tank-top like they were about to start going at it, their lips brushing as they pressed their foreheads together and whispered.  “We need to find the other guys before we can do anything.  Any ideas on how to get out of here?”

“I can always try the obvious,” Tom grinned.  He gave Dave’s ass a squeeze before trotting over to the guards, opening himself up to whatever it was the group might desire.  “Hey guys,” he said, his tone friendly and flirty.  “So, uh, now that the boss man is gone I don’t suppose we can talk about this, can we?”

The expected tingle and shift to his body never came, telling Tom that the easy approach wasn’t going to work.  Security was specifically trained to resist outside influences, especially guards at the level of these four.  “Sorry sir,” Sawyer grunted.  “Orders are orders.  Believe me when I say we all hope we don’t have to do anything drastic.”

“Like the man said…just another day around here,” Lyle added, trying to soften the older man’s gruff response.  “Don’t let us stop you from doing anything else though.  As long as you don’t try to leave, pretend we’re not even here.”

“Right.  Just one big party up here, isn’t it,” Tom sighed, feeling the tingle he’d expected earlier suddenly run through him.  This time it was accompanied not by a shift in his body but by a shift in the air, the spectral haze of spores swirling like glitter suspended in oil.  As he’d suspected the guards didn’t seem aware of either the cloud or the phantasmal growths seeping in all around them, though Dave’s quick nod told him the other man had seen the shift in the fog.  Tom reached out with his mind, feeling for the spores the same way he connected with his shifting body as he spoke again.  “I mean…no reason it can’t be, right?  Like Ethan said, we’re all friends.  If we’re stuck up here together might as well relax and have some fun.”

Tom kept his expression neutral when his voice punched through the hazy cloud, causing the swirling mist to coil thick and dense around the oblivious guards.  Like when they’d been in the cave, he watched the ghostly powder cling to the group, sucking into their mouths and nostrils as they breathed and leaving a film on the exposed bits of their skin.  He continued his casual demeanor as he turned and walked back to Dave, unsure whether they should continue to push or let things ride for the moment.  Something was happening, they just didn’t know what, and they didn’t want to run the risk of the security crew catching on if they felt outside forces pushing against their resistance.

Fortunately for the two captives, the raw power permeating the atmosphere proved to be more than enough for the task at hand.  Surprising no one, Peterson was the first to show signs of its influence.  After a brief moment of silence when Tom finished speaking, the brawny blonde let out a low sigh, his broad shoulders dropping.

“Fuck it…guys, he’s right.  This is Tom and Dave we’re talking about.  You fellas aren’t going to make this difficult, are you?”  He waited for the pair to shake their heads before shrugging off his weapon and bending down to untie his boots.  “Thank god…been a fuckin’ day, I tell you what.  Whole building went nuts after whatever happened up here.  Feels like I’ve been goin’ for a week at this point,” he groaned, flashing a brief glimpse of his abs when he untucked his polo and popped the fly of his pants.

“I hear that,” Hyatt said, following suit.  The toned brunette stretched his long arms in the air before folding them behind his head, seemingly unbothered by the tenuous grip his open pants had around his trim waist.  “The shit I saw today…”

“Bro.  Don’t get me started,” Lyle laughed, giving Hyatt a backhanded slap on his firm stomach.  Unlike his friends he peeled out of his polo entirely as opposed to simply untucking it, giving everyone a clear view of his toned, defined torso.  “I was with the group that found the IT crew up here.  That was something.”  In an instant, the mood had gone from “high alert” to “decompressing in the locker room,” with only Sawyer holding out.  Even then, the gruff man had visibly let his guard down, looking considerably more relaxed as he leaned against the wall next to the elevator.  And, more importantly, he hadn’t made any moves to stop or reprimand the others for their behavior.  “What about you, old timer?  You gonna chill with the rest of us,” Lyle asked.

Sawyer flashed a rare grin and shook his head.  “Someone should stay on task.  You’re not wrong, though.  You boys have earned a break after today.”

“Ooohhhhh, dad said we’ve been good,” Peterson laughed, looking over at Tom and Dave.  “You guys got anything to drink up here?”

“Whole bar over there,” Dave nodded, pointing to the veritable pub that sat in the far corner.  He slipped behind the counter and forced a broad smile, feeling the same static tingle as Tom coursing through him.  He wanted to grab it, or, he thought, maybe IT wanted him to, to speak the words that only he and Tom could.  To guide creation.  To bring new life into being.  “Whiskey?”

“Double,” Peterson said, oblivious to Lyle sneaking up behind him.  But even when the other man grabbed his pants and tugged them down, the burly blonde simply took his drink when offered and drained it in a single pull, letting everyone see his stuffed blue briefs as he leaned back to empty the glass.   He looked down at his bare, meaty thighs when he saw the expectant expressions on the others’ faces, shrugging.  “What,” he asked, lifting the bottom of his shirt to fully show off the straining underwear.  The pouch was filled to capacity by his girthy package while the back stretched near to the point of breaking around his ample cheeks.  “You want to see my piece?  Here…I’ll do you one better.”  Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Peterson hooked his thumbs in the elastic waist and tugged the underwear down, letting his hefty equipment flop free and wag wildly as he stepped out of the discarded briefs.  Given his relatively short stature, the bottom of his polo just barely provided coverage if he didn’t move, but that clearly wasn’t a concern as he turned back to the bar and flashed his full, round rear to group while asking for another drink.

“Not the weirdest thing today by far,” Lyle said as he took up the spot next to the stocky blonde.

“Best ass, though,” Peterson winked as he lifted his glass.

Lyle leaned back and looked over at the plump, bare globes with their light dusting of golden hair.  “Eh…a little big.”

“Fuck you, bro!” the blonde laughed.  With his free hand, he reached over and wrapped a meaty arm around Lyle’s tight waist, slipping his calloused paw into the front of the other man’s open pants.  “You just jealous ‘cause no one’s ever said that about this thing?”

Watching Peterson grope Lyle’s bulge pushed Dave over.  He’d been hanging on to a thread of resistance, but it slipped from his grasp the way the young brunette’s cock slipped into his friend’s hand.  He told himself he did it because they still needed to address the Sawyer obstacle.  The older man hadn’t shown any signs of moving, though even in the moment what was about to happen felt like a sledgehammer approach.  “Oh my,” Dave laughed, leaning into the charged atmosphere.  “You guys really are just a bunch of party boys, aren’t you?”  Like blowing into a cloud of incense smoke, the haze swirled around the group again.  This time it not only clung to them, it seeped in through their skin, and the effects were immediately evident.

“I’m not jealous,” Lyle said, grinding his hips harder against Peterson’s hand instead of pulling away.  “I’m mad you’ve kept it covered all day.”

“Um, hello, what do you expect me to do,” the blonde asked, his fat cock already twitching to life.  “I can’t just walk around with it bouncing everywhere.”

“Beg to differ,” Hyatt said, stepping up behind Peterson to grab each cheek and begin clapping them together.  The older brunette had already stripped down to just his tented boxer briefs, a dazed grin on his face as he looked around at everyone.  “What kind of party is this if there’s no music?”

“On…on it…” Tom stammered, surprised by the breadth of their new abilities.  All they’d done was speak a few words and the haze of spores had made it so.  It was like what happened to them in the cave, but now they could control it.  He turned on a pulsing dance playlist and signaled for Dave to join him while the trio at the bar continued down their new path.

“Thaaaaat’s better,” Hyatt sighed, letting go of Peterson’s plump cheeks to grope his own lean frame as he started gyrating in place.  Meanwhile, the shorter blonde was now fully jerking off Lyle, who only pursed his lips and bobbed his head with the beat.

“Holy fuck I needed this,” the younger brunette laughed, seemingly oblivious to the way his cock stuck too far above the waist of his underwear.  The pecs he had to look down over to see it also stuck out farther than they had, but his only concern at the moment was getting Peterson’s shirt off.  Like himself, his friend’s already-massive chest seemed plumped and heavy, just like the now-clapping globes at his rear.  The ample mounds had added noticeable mass, the growth all the more evident in the way the twerking mounds rippled and collided.  “Omigod, bro, I really did need that ass ‘cause it’s lookin’ amazing right now,” Lyle laughed, an enlarged arm flexing when he reached over to squeeze a supple globe.

“I know, right,” Peterson sighed, popping his hips to work the expansive bottom.  Given his shorter stature the extra muscle was making the young blonde look thick and curvy, a frame that perfectly accentuated his hefty new club of a cock.  They were all filling out with muscle, but where Lyle and Hyatt simply looked more ripped and sculpted, and Peterson was fit-thick, Sawyer was starting to look like a ‘roid beast.

The buttons had already popped off the older man’s decimated polo, the sleeves having long since ripped around his inflated arms while the bottom was pulled up and tight from both the expansion of his muscle gut and the heaping piles that were his pecs.  While he still stood near the elevator, the older man had the same dull grin as everyone else and was shimmying in place, but it wasn’t until Hyatt wiggled over that he abandoned his post.

“Ugh, enough already!  Get over here, daddy,” the older brunette whined.  He grabbed the remains of Sawyer’s polo and tore it free, giving the older man’s mountainous, granite chest a loud slap.  The completely foreign sound of the bare-chested bulldog’s giggle caught Tom and Dave off guard, but his three peers seemed entirely familiar with the sound.

“What…what were we supposed to be doing,” Sawyer groaned, the last remains of his previous self clinging with an impressive resolve.  It only lasted until Hyatt began tweaking his huge, solid nipples, at which point Sawyer’s wide hips began wiggling and swaying to the music like everyone else.

“What’s it look like?  Partying.  Duh,” Hyatt said, rolling his eyes.  “And speaking of, you are overdressed, grandpa.”

Sawyer just grinned, his hulking arms flexing as he rested his hands on top of his salt-and-pepper crop while Hyatt struggled to remove the plastered-on pants.  While he was on his knees, the toned brunette wrapped his lips as best he could around the rigid girder that sprang free, eliciting another round of deep giggles.  The rugged mountain pumped his hips and grinned as he looked over at Lyle and Peterson, the blonde’s plump rear now impaled on the brunette’s thick cock while they both writhed in time to the music.  “How…how we doin’, boys?”

“So…soooooo good,” Lyle sighed, clinging to Peterson’s inflated muscle tits as they gyrated against each other.  “Be better if you bring that thick ol’ cock over here.”

“The cock doesn’t get old, thank you very much,” Sawyer grinned, pulling free from Hyatt’s lips and guiding the other man back to his feet.

“Just thick,” the brunette laughed, wiping his mouth and draping himself around the older man as they danced over to join their friends.

Caught up with each other as they were, none of them paid any attention when Dave fished through their discarded pants for a badge before both he and Tom disappeared into the elevator.