Chapter 19 - #019 /the name game/

That evening I lay down to sleep on one of the couches in the unopened arcade. It felt a little odd. I had been sleeping in the arcade graveyard in Hi-Score for literal weeks. Though I had to admit while it was certainly odd, it was substantially more comfortable. This had less to do with the soft furnishings and more to do with the space. I was so softly padded the comfort hardly mattered, but my old cubby between the machines in Hi Score was a seriously tight squeeze for a fat girl such as myself. In fact with how utterly engorged I had gotten during the day, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have even fit. I spent most of that evening swatting at and rubbing my absolute dome of a sensitive gut, trying to get it to settle in spite of how stuffed it had become. The sheer heft of it was actually keeping me awake even as the evening dragged on. It was hard to sleep with my gut churning away all those calories. I figured I might as well just get up and maybe try some practice rounds of our counter-pick character on the machine. Though as I did, I heard a noise from another part of the arcade. At first, I thought it might just be the couch complaining about all my mass in motion. But it was followed by another sound.

Even waddling around in the dark, I didn't find it particularly tricky to locate the source of the disturbance. It was a closet, likely for a janitor. The door was wide open, which was odd, since it hadn’t been when I had lay down to rest. One doesn’t exactly go cross country as a runaway without acquiring some degree of street smarts. But I was also locked into the building for the evening. If it was some type of pulpy serial killer, I was certainly going to be in trouble, but I was willing to bet it wasn’t. I was a big girl anyways, I was sure I could handle it. I heaved myself into motion as fast as I could. My thick booty knocking against the door to the closet. Slamming it on myself, and sending me tumbling gut first deeper into the tiny space. I’m cool headed but I couldn’t help but blush a bit at that uncoordinated display. I had effectively knocked myself onto my gut like some kind of turtle. I let out a sigh of relief, at least the room seemed to be empty, which meant there was no intruder. It was only then that I felt the wriggling.

“Um...excuse me Monika, do you...do you mind” a familiar high voice asked me in the dark of the room. I froze up. There had been an intruder, I had just fallen directly on top of him. I had them utterly pinned beneath my gut and thighs. If this had been one of those aforementioned serial killers, this would’ve been ideal. Unfortunately, I could hardly fault this particular intruder. After all, they owned the building. “Seriously, I’m struggling to breathe here” they practically squeaked. They really did sound like a girl sometimes. I managed to find my self control and slowly eased my bulk up to my feet. Which wasn’t precisely easy. Especially as it became clear this janitors closet was not designed to accommodate a girth of my particular size. The sides of my gut were spilling onto the shelves on the two horizontal walls. I was basically as wide as the room in its entirety. Though if nothing else I managed to give Esra Anthra the space to both breath, and get to his feet. As my eyes adjusted, I could make out his fashionable clothes, and sharp features. As well as maybe even a hint of a deep blush, visible only in the darkness of the room. “Sorry about that, you caught me surprise” I told him, though I was unable to keep a hint of smugness out of my voice. “Yes, it’s my own fault, I probably shouldn’t have been doing this anyways” he responded in a tone that sounded genuinely apologetic.

Only then did it strike me just how odd the encounter was. I had been so caught in my surprise, and admittedly enjoying having gotten one over him, I had been completely distracted. What exactly was he doing snooping around his own building so late at night. Thankfully there were some context clues. On the ground beneath where I had been crushing him, I could see a familiar overloaded plastic bag. One spilling out junk food onto the ground. Thankfully nothing had opened up in the giga ton impact of my girth. It didn't take a genius to put the pieces together. There was just a point of confusion. “Why didn't you just tell Fleur no like usual” I asked. He certainly had no problems turning down her food deliveries previously. “Because her usual fussing has evolved into genuine concern for my health” he said with a sigh. “I keep telling her I’ll be fine, but she feels the need to do it anyways...” he explained with a sigh. “More for me then” I told him casually. As I scooped up one of the candy bars. I had taken enough time to digest. Even in the darkness I felt him watching me as I ate. Yet I couldn’t quite discern the depths of his curiosity. A fat girl like me eating free food was a given after all.

“Well, if perhaps, this food is sufficient recompense for disturbing your rest I should really be going...” he muttered awkwardly. I put a half effort into taking a step to the side. Leading to a prolonged couple of moments of our bodies being pushed together by the small interior. My big and soft one, enveloping his slender small one. I wasn’t entirely sure if I was interested him in really. But I certainly did like to watch him squirm. After those few embarrassing moments, he managed to make it the door, but as he scrambled to turn the handle in the dark. It made an ominously uncooperative noise. “Did I really break that with my butt” I said having to suppress a quiet laugh at the capabilities of my behind. “Well, it’s possible, but it’s more likely it just locked behind us...” Esra said looking more than a little stunned at the idea I had managed to do that with my sheer girth alone. “Fleur should be back in a few hours...” I explained dismissively. We were going to be there for a while, but I hardly minded much.

I waddled to turn in the broom closet. All the shelves had to express their opinions, rattling and creaking as I turned like a semi-truck failing to parallel park. Nevertheless, I did find a comfortable spot. And lowered myself to the ground to sit. Across the room Esra let out a sigh but did the same thing. Sitting down across from me, the plastic bag between us, while I ate. “You remembered my name” I brought up as I took a long swig of soda. He had a quiet smile. “Of course, our contest has been intriguing” they explained. “Everybody always seems to remember mine” they added with a sigh. “Yeah dude, it’s pretty weird” I told him honestly. It was so foreign to me, the way he just sat there completely not touching any of the food situated between us. “I don’t hate it, it’s certainly unique, but If I have children I’ll go for a more traditional name.” they said taking a stretch of their slender arms. “Like what?” I interjected. They paused and gave it a few moments of meditative thought. “Laura, it’s a Latin name, with ties to the bay laurel plant, in greco-roman tradition, it symbolized victory” he explained, and I almost spat out my drink.

“You know what If I have a daughter, I’m going to name em after something I think sounds nice” I fired back after a long drink of soda. Esra laughed as if the concept of this amused them. “I suppose that means you’ll name them after food then...” he suggested. It was the oddest thing, the words were definitely a jab about my size, but his tone was genuinely curious. “I do enjoy food, like a lot, but I’ve got other things going on to, I like arcade games, and the beach” I shot back I wasn’t usually one to pout. But for every reason his hyper serious nature brought that out of me. “True but it’s quite clear that you, really, really love food” he said gazing across at me. I presumed he just meant how downright huge I had gotten. Which wouldn’t have been wrong, but as I glanced down, I realized I had completely devoured all the food in the plastic bag. Barring a few outliers. I hadn’t even realized I had been doing it. It was probably for the best It had been a small bag. If I had eaten as much as I had the previous day, I might’ve gotten genuinely wedged in there.

“I don’t really love it, I like it, I just do the things I like more than most people” I explained to him. “I see, I think “most people” would describe themselves similarly, but most people are certainly not your size” he told me point blank. I blinked a few times at that. He certainly had me there. “I just have a big appetite is all, I always want more” I told him rubbing my gut a bit. He smiled at me and chuckled a bit. “I think few people would honestly admit that about themselves, so it’s odd we have two trapped in this closet together” they explained with the hint of a smile. That seemed rather contradictory for a person who was literally hiding his lack of food consumption from his secretary. “I just can’t help but need more...” he said almost sadly leaning back against the door quietly. A silence formed between us as we both kind of pondered one another. “I think I’m going to try and get some sleep” I told him unable to suppress a yawn.

It was the truth, and the feeling of sleeping crammed into a corner was almost nostalgic. “Well in that case, you mind answering one more question” he asked quietly. I nodded. My jiggling body ensuring such was visible even in the unlit room. “Since it wouldn’t be after food, what kind of names do sound nice to you?” he asked and I pondered it as I got comfortable in the corner. Stretching out my jiggly space filling body to nestle into a comfortable niche. “I don’t know...Deena...I guess” I told him as I finally found the perfect pose and settled into rest for the evening. My rival didn't say anything further that evening. There hadn’t been a point in us discussing the competition. We both knew that on that front. We’d convey what we had to say at the arcade booths.