Pokimane Gain

Chapter 1

"So I had this dream last night…"

Pokimane paused for a moment. She wondered if this'd be a risky thing to confess to her chat. But it had been a minute or so since she had last spoken, so she needed to at least say something to entertain them.

"So I had this dream last night, where I was eating… sorry gimme a sec-"

Poki cut herself off to ensure that she had quicksaved before entering battle.

"Where I was eating… and I just ate soooo much. Like I ate so much."

Poki's sight drifted off focus as she tried to re-envision her strange yet vivid dream.

"And I just expanded. I just expanded. My belly just grew like 5 inches…"

Poki gestured her hands outward from her stomach, for a moment trying to signal how big she remembered herself being. Beginning to realise what she was doing in front of 20,000 people, Poki's eyes widened and awkwardly placed her fingers back on the keyboard with a panic.

Poki darted her eyes toward the second monitor. She begged to God that chat hadn't gone into a frenzy over how much of a weirdo she was being. But thankfully, all she saw was the train of "LOL"s and emotes entering the feed. And with that, the worried expression quickly faded away. She let out a slight and a nervous laugh as she attempted to change the subject whilst the people weren't suspecting much.

---

The rest of the stream went off without a hitch. The night was a resounding success; filled with stacks of subscriptions and very generous donations.

"Haha yeah.. anyways, I really gotta go now guys, ‘k bye!!!"

Poki said with little sign-off pose as the stream transitioned to the "offline" animations.

As Poki turned off her screens, she remembered that embarrassing moment mid-stream. Why didn't chat care? She would've figured that at least some of them would've been taken aback by her weird statement, especially made by someone as petite as her. But everyone just laughed it off.

She sat in silence for a bit, cross-legged on her chair.

"AHA! That's it!"

Poki exclaimed, startling her cat Mimi who'd been lounging about close by..

"Of course no one freaked out, everyone has these sorts of dreams at least once, right?. That's why no one thought to say anything!"

She explained to her cat, peeved that it had been awakened from its early evening nap.

"It's just that mine was… a little unorthodox."

Poki said to herself in a quieter tone.

She sat in silence again, this time with facial expressions shifting from frowns of thought to eyebrow raises of self agreement.

She had been replaying what was left of the dream in her mind. What she ate was something that was already in her kitchen, which made Poki develop a slight twinge of curiosity. What if…?

"Well I got the rest of the night off… and it's not like I can leave the house…"

---

Poki stared at the tub of honeycomb-flavoured ice cream plopped across from the kitchen table chair where she sat. She remembered her dream self really going to town on this one, which was strange since she had never even touched one of these things before.

A streamer friend of hers had gifted her it the last time there was a big meetup at her place, along with a rave review of the product. She accepted it, of course, but she never really planned on eating the thing. She had kept it around solely in the hope that maybe a boy would've come over who coincidentally had a sweet tooth, but the pandemic had put a halt to anything like that.

Poki had been very careful and cautious when it came to the virus. And while that led her to being safe at home in her little self-sustaining bubble, it also meant that she had spent most of the last year isolated, alone only with her cat and her online friends to keep her sane. Although the circumstances were a bit strange, she did deserve a little bit of self indulgence like this.

"Let's see what all the hype is about then.."

Poki remarked as she dug her spoon into the hard surface.

Taking out a sizable chunk, Poki courteously swallowed the first piece. She immediately sighed with pleasure, feeling the cold sensations travel slowly from her mouth down to her stomach like the antithesis of a nice, warm bath. Her arm subconsciously reached in for another, not that her brain would have objected anyway. Tastes of sweet honeysuckle and vanilla kept finding ways through her lips; the bliss she felt the first time repeated over and over as she swallowed as quickly as she could to make way for another. As time went on, the cream decreased in its ridgedness and grew softer; leaving more for her to swallow with ease.

Since the first bite, Poki hadn't opened an eye throughout it all; as if she’d been transported into the dream world itself, consuming more and more and mo-

Until she felt a strong twinge in her stomach, causing her mind to forcefully snap herself out of her blissful trance.

"What the fu…"

Poki sluggishly groaned, trying to heave herself out of the slouched position in her seat. Upon trying, though, a vulgar twinge of pain struck across her midsection like a thick bolt of lightning.

"YARRRGH SHIT!"

WIth that, Poki decided to just stay where she was. After all, she didn't need to sit up upright to witness the aftermath of what all her daydreaming gluttony had done.

Patches of runny spilled cream were splattered all over the table's surface, with some areas having splotches seeping down onto the floor. Mimi was happy to lick on sweet little puddles they made, which at least made cleaning this all up an easier job later on.

Poki grunted as she shuffled herself upwards a smidge. The tub still had a little bit left inside; the sludgy bottom bits gooifying at a rapid pace. The sight of ice cream at this point almost made Poki barf, but at the same time, there was just a tiny bit left. Taunting her. The tiny bit left that Poki wasn't good enough to finish off.

"Urgh….come on.."

Poki meekly clenched the spoon yrt again, using it to gather up all she could from what was left. She shakily balanced the slop with her wrist, carefully guiding it towards her mouth one last time. But unfortunately for her, one whiff of the honeycomb scent was enough for Poki to revolt in disgust, flinging the scoop back into the hollow tub. The force of which toppled the whole thing over, with the messy sludge splatting and spreading in every conceivable direction.

Exhausted, Poki laid her head between the sleeves of her sweatshirt in defeat.

"Grrrgh…I concede…"

She muttered through the gaps before dozing off, hoping that it’d resolve all the indigestion rumbling down in her tummy

With her last few fleeting thoughts, Poki couldn't help but feel pissed off at herself.

She had come all that way, to get so close, but to fail at the last hurdle. She felt she could've done it as well, if it weren't for that rotten honey smell ruining everything.

Just before dozing off, Poki made herself a mental note. She'd go into town tomorrow and go into whatever superstore was closest, and buy that exact same tub again. And she'd keep buying that same tub until she could finish it all in one go.

---

Over the next few weeks, Poki set her plan into motion. She kept her promise, and after paying the price of a few stomach aches, she managed to finish a tub in its entirety within the first week of her "training". But Poki didn’t feel entirely satisfied with just that. Still intrigued, she decided to diversify into other types of food. Chicken, fries, chocolate; every night Poki pushed herself to the limit to see how much she could consume. At a certain point it became sort of a routine; at first she’d wake up, have a light breakfast, stream for a few hours then eat as much as she could fit inside of herself.

It was a weird new hobby, sure, but there was something Poki felt each time that made her come back for more, like a rush of adrenaline or exhilaration. She just couldn't put her finger on the specifics just yet.

Unbeknownst to her however, was that with each new form of food she decided to test herself with, her waistline grew that little bit further outward. Of course it wasn't anything major, but regular viewers of the stream would begin to notice bumps and bulges that would ever-so-slightly protrude from her seated midsection. Any remarks of concern or snidery from these viewers, though, would be nearly instantly drowned out by the hundreds of chats being delivered at the same time. So for the time being, Poki’s nights of uncontrolled gluttony went unfiltered and unchecked.

----

Months Later


“No no, listen, you gotta try this!”

Poki pointed enthusiastically to her webcam before rolling up the full meatlovers pizza in her hands into a cylindrical, grease filled monstrocity; a strategy developed over her more recent nights of binging.

“See? All the pizza, none of the mess!”

She exclaimed proudly before chowing down, the crunches and sounds of pleasure being clearly recorded for all on the mic nearby to hear.

There was a very tense atmosphere in chat. Pretty much everyone had caught onto Poki’s “lifestyle changes” by now, but none of them really had the gall to call her out. So on the surface, at least in Poki’s eyes, she had successfully kept her secret under wraps. In the eyes of everyone else, the clues couldn't have been any more apparent if she tried.

The visible backdrop of her room was scattered with a who’s who of different takeout boxes. Cartons of Thai, Indian and Chinese food were dumped behind the curtains, stacks of unwashed dinner plates laid dormant by the bedroom door and piles of pizza boxes were sloppily “hidden” behind her undone bed covers.

It was apparent that hygiene had taken a hit throughout this time. Poki had disregarded her previous morning routine of rigorous makeup and cleaning before turning on a stream, She instead practically rolled from her bed to her gamer chair, to where she would spend a few minutes touching herself up with her PC camera acting as a mirror, where she’d add a few bits of makeup and adjust her hair to make it more-or-less as presentable. She had recently given up on wearing meticulously matched designer outfits, opting now to wear the sets of comfy complimentary (and most importantly, stretchy) merch shirts and sweats that were stored away for so long in her closet. She had completely fallen in love with them, using the snug cotton both as PJs, for streams in daytime and for her messy binges at night. It’s not like the stream would notice that she kept using them day after day, she would rationalise to herself; because it wasn’t as if they could sense the stench that was beginning to emanate from them.

One thing the stream could sense, though, was how the outfit she wore perfectly captured where all the added poundage was distributing throughout her body.

The graphic tee she wore, a loose fit several pounds ago, now awkwardly stretched and strained in various areas, warping the tee’s design into a series of abstract, oblong shapes. The short-sleeved shirt accentuated the newfound puffiness in Poki’s arms, an engrossing layer of chub wrapping itself all around. The light grey sweatpants made a clear outline of her thighs, which had recently closed the gap in between each other. Poki could constantly be seen adjusting the waistband of her pants, both to continue the charade of making her waist seem “smaller”, and also to repeatedly fish out the wedgie her ever-expanding butt was giving her hopelessly shrinking panties.

“mmph..fank you sugrbaby19 for the 200 bits!”

Poki splurted out through mouthfuls of cheese and ham.

Today Poki had an extra bit of energy, as today she'd finally be joined by one of her streamer friends once again. She admitted she was kind of relieved, as it’d been a long time since she’d last been able to get any of them on the stream. In reality, though, many of her colleagues were trying to wiggle their way out of hanging out with Poki in any capacity, knowing full well the eggshells they’d have to tread in front of the waddling PR nightmare.

---

“So we were like- driving for miles and miles down the highway.”

“Mhm…*slurp*”

“. .."

“Because we had to be in Houston in time for-”

“*sluuurp*...Mhm. Oh! Sorry! Am I being annoying?”

“Uhh...no. You’re fine.”

The voice chimed back to Poki, trying not to be irked by her constant guzzling of spaghetti bolognese.

“...T-To be in time for-”

“Did you stop at any places on the way up? I’ve heard there’s some FIRE buffets along the strip you guys went on. Like they’re those places truckers go to and they get those massive plates with eggs and bacon and pudding and hashbrowns and…”

The other streamer turned away from the mic and sighed worryingly. This was the fourth time Poki had roped food into a conversation, and they were beginning to really question what the hell was going on in her mind. They had tried to catch up with Poki with general questions like how work was going or about family, but all that she could care about was food in the past, present or future.

“...And sometimes, they’d stack all the buns on top of each other for someone like Guy Fieri to eat it. Well, did you go?”

“Oh-um...No, we didn't.”

---

After a few hours of playing World of Warcraft together, the pair approached the gates of the final dungeon boss.

“Alright Poki. You all set before we go in?”

“Yep! I got a few sodas over there...Couple Lays to my right...got some jerky if I need it too, I think I’m ready!”

“...In the game, Poki. Are you ready in the game?”

The streamer said with a sullen face.

“OH-uh,yeah, that too. Ready!”

Poki retorted with an embarrassed face.

“Well alright then, ‘cus you’re gonna need all the help you can get. This bitch is tough.”

The voice muttered as their characters entered the lair of Ny’alotha.

As Poki hunched forward, the rolls of her midsection began to fold and jut outward, seeping over the waistband of the grey sweatpants. Poki was once again oblivious to the explosions of text coming from her other monitor, continuing to play on as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Her concentration broke, however, with the high pitched chime of an upcoming text-to-speech donation message.

Thank you StarFox63 for the $10 donati..”

Poki’ cheerful expression dropped as she caught a glimpse of what was about to be said.

“Dayum poki ur giving H3H3 a run for his money with all that fupa GODDAMN”

“PFFT-”

The friend couldn’t help but snigge a little as a sea of LOLs and emotes flooded the chat.

“YES!!!” exclaimed a few, “Finally someone said it…” said another.

Poki’s eyes darted frantically in every direction. Wherever she looked, she saw the consequences of what all her “training'' had done to her.

On her left, she saw what she thought was her fanbase, revelling in commenting how disgusting Poki was or how far she’d fallen. Maybe she had driven off the actual, concerning fans long ago, and all that came now were just passers-by looking in to see the one-woman freak show.

On her right, she saw the video feed of her once close friend, desperately trying not to combust into laughter themselves and join in on the fun. It was all making sense to her now; why everyone always had an excuse to bail out when she wanted to chat, or why people randomly unfollowed her without reason, or why it was just her by herself everyday.

And in the monitor in front of her, she saw herself, still with a burrito clenched in her hand.

“I...um…”

I need to go.”

Poki launched herself at the POWER OFF, turning off her entire PC as fast her sluggish body could. Poki was now in complete silence, but her thoughts only grew in its volume and detail. Tensing up, Poki threw the burrito into the trash bin in visceral disgust.