Branson Story: 1
My role-playing partner apparently has a life, so I'm hoping to explore some of Bran's psychology with this hiclet as the character is all hot and bothered, now.
CW:
Hiccups purposely induced
Arousal mentioned as the result of having hiccups
Blushing mentioned as the result of arousal
It's too late to write well so grammar is probably atrocious!
Faster hiccups, but not painful or uncomfortable.
Mention of orgasm in a public bathroom to deal with arousal.
Bran is a soft boy.
Bran is a sweet boy.
Two queers platonically meeting and talking about deep ass shit in less than a second.
As queers do.
Fat positive body description.
Body hair positive descriptions.
Bran liked having hiccups. He liked the feeling of a hiccup happening. The tug in the middle of his body and the flop of his fat belly was arousing. The sound creaking in his throat and the surprise of each one, feeling it coming only a fraction of a second before it did. He loved the way they interrupted his speech. He loved repeating himself. He loved looking down at his body and watching it spasm. He loved running his hand lightly along the hair on his belly and feeling the soft flesh jiggle.
Bran liked having hiccups.
He knew he wasn't the only one in the world who liked hiccups, but rarely had he met anyone who liked having hiccups who also really liked having them in public. Most of the time, the people he connected with online were incredibly uncomfortable having hiccups in public. With some exceptions, this wasn't Bran. Part of the joy of having hiccups is it made people pay attention to him without him having to make an effort. It broke the ice of conversation. And, without them knowing, it gave him the opportunity to tease them with his persistent, induced case.
Bran supposed he was a bit of an exhibitionist in this way. It seemed silly to call himself that legitimately as he had no desire to have sex with any of the people he allowed his hiccups to flirt with. He was asexual. People didn't arouse him sexually. Being aroused emotionally, however, was a different story.
He was genuinely interested in people. He was interested in their personalities and stories. He wanted to learn about others. He wanted to connect. He craved connection, actually. If he thought too hard about it, he'd realize it was because he had so little connection as a child. But Bran didn't like to think too hard about many things. (Though he frequently ended up backing into the trigger topics and finding himself nose to nose with his trauma through wanting to connect with others.)
There were few times Bran actually didn't like having hiccups. Most of those times involved not an induced case, but an unexpected bout of hiccups. His naturally occurring hiccups weren't near as pleasant as those he induced. They sounded gross to his ears and felt more violent. They were also nearly impossible to get rid of. Perhaps if he had ever found a relationship with anyone who enjoyed hiccups he would learn to like and appreciate their occurrence, but as he hadn't, he tried to hide out during the days of his natural hiccups. His uninduced hiccups frequently attacked him throughout a day.
He also didn't want to actively be a distraction or a bother. So, if his hiccups were obviously distressing someone or interrupting an event, he didn't want them. If they were induced, it didn't take long to get rid of them. If they weren't, he would rather leave than be a bother.
Most of the time, though, his hiccups ended up being charming or endearing. His friends knew of his frequent cases and teased him about it, which made him blush and hiccup all the more.
He tried not to induce around the same people too often, though. It seemed suspicious to hiccup all the time. So, when he could, he'd take a weekend to go to an event in a part of town he'd never been before, or outside the city. As he was an artist, he often also looked for places connected to the art community. As he was trans and queer, he also liked to support local businesses who shared the aspects of being queer owned.
So, when he saw a poster for a gallery showing at a queer-owned coffee shop right outside the city, it was perfect. He could sit down and get a bite to eat and some coffee and follow it up by drinking something carbonated or sparkling, if offered, and wander the back room of the coffee house with a good case of hiccups.
And so, holding the cup of sparkling water (this being a sober event) the 6-foot tall, fat, freckly, ginger-haired man with arm tattoos and his shoulder-length thick curly hair tied into a bun slowly walked around the small backroom amid other viewers looking at the plethora of artwork by queer artists. He scratched at his chin under his beard and wondered what it would be like to be able to trigger his hiccups via a close to the skin nerve, as some seemed to do, on his chin.
Bran was wearing a low-necked, white, A-line undershirt with a patterned short-sleeved shirt button up, which was open, over it. His ginger body hair on his chest and arms was very visible, even through the tattoos on his arms.
He was wearing shorts and, though his undershirt was tucked in, his belly hung over the waistline. It was slightly distended with having just had a turkey and cheese croissant sandwich in the café, though he thought his belly was big enough it really wasn't that obvious one way or the other.
The artist always got a little excited by the prospect of inducing right before he did it. He toyed with the cup of sparkling water with his fingertips. And, despite his real reason for being here, he did take serious consideration of the talent represented on the walls. He was always on the lookout for another piece of art for his walls anyway.
With an anticipatory swallow, he put the cup to his lips. He widened his throat more than he normally would when drinking, and he took a gulp of the fizzy liquid allowing the satisfying burn of carbonation to coat his throat. The effect was instantaneous.
"Himpk!mmp!hmp! Mm," he murmured after the first three hiccups that started his case. He placed his hand on his chest partially performative but also from the genuine instinct to do so in offering comfort to the spasms.
After that first cluster his hiccups settled into a less quick rhythm. He suppressed them to give the impression of humility and normalcy. Someone who didn't have a hiccup fetish (or didn't care about interrupting others) certainly wouldn't let their hiccups out in full volume unless it couldn't be helped physically. He'd thought a lot about perception when hiccuping in public. Too much, at times.
Feeling his hiccups start to solve themselves he calmly took another gulp of his drink. And then, immediately, another mouthful was forced down his throat.
A "HUP!" broke through and he was satisfied with the fact he'd gotten a good case going, audible no matter how hard he tried to suppress them.
He apologized to those who looked at him after that louder hiccup. The attention made him flush with excitement which always read as embarrassment.
He lowered his hand down to his bouncing belly and rubbed it as the hiccups persisted strongly and with a decent speed, round and sharp behind his closed lips. Then he spied a really interesting piece of art and made his way through the viewers, apologizing as he had to push through some of them.
"Sorr--ry. Scuse HMP! scuse me!" he said.
Oh, that was cool, he thought as he looked up at the framed art. For a moment he let his hiccups out "Hup!...hu'up!...hip!...HILP!" as he studied black canvas with a painted skull in the foreground. But looking closely he saw on the painted picture of the skull was what looked to be a very accurate depiction of the continents and oceans on Earth making the skull floating in the deep black background seem to be representative of the heavenly body itself.
"You good?" said a voice next to and below him.
Bran looked down to see a shorter person with a large "They/Them" pin in a sheer croptop that showed their top surgery scars under a pair of suspenders attached to a jeans. They smirked up at him, sparse mustache squirming under their nostrils.
"Yeah-HUP!" Bran said, a bit flustered he hadn't noticed them next to him. "Sorry-HMP!-can't se--eem to shake hulp! shake these! hmMP!-mm."
He'd completely forgotten to suppress his hiccups while looking at the painting.
"Ooh, yeah. They sound pretty rough. You okay?" they asked.
The stranger wasn't unusually short. They seemed around 5'4, perhaps. But next to Bran most people were a bit dwarfed.
"Oh yeah HU'UP! I get them HM'MP! get them alo--lot," he explained, using his script. "Sorry HULP! if they're bo-HOP!-othering you. Try--ing to hilp! keep them qu-himp!-quiet!"
Beneath the undershirt his belly hopped impressively. He didn't miss the glance down the new person gave. He was used to it. Most people noticed the movement regardless of their interest in his hiccups. It wasn't a subtle motion. He still blushed at the acknowledgement.
"Naw, you don't have to do that. They probably don't feel too good if you keep them in like that. I don't think anyone would mind. They're just hiccups," they said. "You said you get them a lot so I'm guessing any offers of cures..."
Bran could feel his face get hotter with the mention of the word. Having hiccups was one thing, saying the word seemed to be a nearly insurmountable hurdle in public. Or in private. He still didn't understand it.
"Yeah, not HIMP! not reall--ly all that HU'ULP!hulp!-pardon, not a--all that helpf-ULP!-mm. I just HUP! usually MP! usually let the-hip!-em go on the--eir own! Less frustr--stration all HMPK! all around HUP!" he explained.
"Yeah, I get that," they said shoving their hands deep in their pockets with a nod, neon green streak in their hair shaking a little with it. "People like to be helpful even when it's not welcomed. Some people just need to go through their stuff. They have a right to make that decision, I think. I mean...I know this is pretty fucking philosophical from a conversation about hiccups but..."
Bran chuckled.
"No I HIMP! think the poi--point still stands. MP! Hav--ing autonom-HIP!-my doesn't ju-hulp!-just mean HMP! having contro--ol over wha-HUP!-what you decide t--to do with hmp! with your body or HUH! whatever. It--it's about HULMP! deciding hup! deciding what you wa--ant to go thr-UP!-ough and how hup!hulp!, sorry, how you wanna HUP! learn those less--sons and when MP! you want to a--ask for help. If himp! if HIMP!" he paused to chuckle and cover his mouth with a fist shaking his head in excited amusement. "If you ever do!" he finished quickly before the next hiccup. To his delight, the other smiled and laughed.
"Yeah, you nailed it!" they exclaimed.
"Hi--ccups not withsta-HU'UP!-standing?" Bran asked having to wince his way through saying the 'word' and thankful it had been naturally interrupted by a silent one.
"No-no! I think they helped. Sealed the metaphor beautifully! You're very eloquent!" they said, grinning.
"Hm HMP!...I'll ta--ake it!" he said with a grin. "Also HUP! off top--pic but this ULP! painting is HULP! totally under--priced. Fifty doll-HERP!-dollars?" Bran said, aghast.
"Oh yeah?" they asked. They tilted their head to inspect the art with a squint. "Why? What would you price it as?"
"At lea--east two HUP! two hu--ndred! The det--tail is HU'UP! is gorge--ous. I walked hm'MP! acro--cross the room to hm'MMP! get a clos--ser look at it. HULP!HIP! Ooh...hi'ULP!, damn. Pardo--on," Bran said and took a breath to calm himself down as he rubbed his chest.
"Well obviously the artwork excites you," his companion noted as Bran blushed all the deeper. "Hm...two-hundred?"
"At le-HEEP!-least!" Bran agreed.
They nodded and pulled a pen out of their back pocket and scribbled out the $50 price and wrote $200 beside it on the paper placard that identified it.
"Uh, are HERP! are you all--lowed to do MMP! that?" Bran asked. This definitely wasn't the formal gallery presentation he was used to, but he still thought maybe writing on someone's label was frowned upon.
"I'd say so," they said. "It's my art, after all."
Bran hung his mouth open producing a nearly deafening HAAUK! which echoed throughout the small room causing many to suddenly look to see the source of the sound.
"Shiit," Bran whispered as he covered his mouth and the stranger giggled. "Fu-HUCK!, that was hulp! ridiculou--us! Um. So, I lo--ove this hup! painting, one. HUP'M!-mm. And t-IP!-two, I'm buy--ing it!"
Bran pulled up his Venmo and immediately started the transaction from the username on the same label as the price.
"Fuck you!" they yelled in surprise.
"No tha--ank you," Bran spied the name under the title of the work, "Tam-HUP! I'll ju--just take the ar-ERP!-art. I'm Br-HERP!-Bran, by the wa--ay!"
Tam had looked at their phone in shock as $200 showed up to accept. They looked back up at Bran and noticed, belatedly, Bran's hand outstretched in front of his belly, which bounced again causing the loose shirt over his undershirt to wave back and forth.
The shorter artist grabbed Bran's hand in excitement.
"You really like it that much, Bran?" they asked in disbelief.
"I re-HIP!-really do!" he confirmed with a smile, suppressing another hiccup with a jerk of his chin.
"That's awesome. Thank you so much! That was seriously just a joke price change! I didn't think..." Tam said and trailed off.
"Can I HIMP!-I get you--ur Instagra--am, if you HULP! have one? HM! mmf," he said as he rubbed his tummy again. He was fighting a little arousal at this point he'd need to manage before he drove home. It was definitely from having the hiccups so long and their increasing speed.
"Yeah, yeah!" Tam said and gave him their handle. "They starting to hurt?"
"Hm?" Bran asked, not understanding until he realized they were referring to his hiccups. "HM'MP!, oh, mm. No ju--ust a little HU'ULP! uncomfort--able," which wasn't technically a lie, "Might have--have to get go--ing home HUP! actu--ally. HULP!, mm. See if I--I can rest HILP! rest these o--off." Which was kind of more of a lie...
"Yeah. They look like they're throwing you around a bit!" Tam exclaimed. "Don't blame you for being tired."
Bran reddened again. If Tam noticed, they didn't say anything about it mercifully.
"Go-HOOP!-ood to me--meet you, Ta--am! Shit..." Bran cursed lightly as the hiccups kept getting faster.
"Oof. Good to meet you too, Bran! Pick up is in a few weeks. The date is on the café's website. Good luck with those things!" they exclaimed.
"Thanks! HU'UP!HUH!" Bran said and rushed to the bathroom sign in the back.
The redhead had to wait there as there was two people in front of him for the single stall restroom. The other bathroom had a hand-written "Out Of Order :(" sign on it.
He muffled his hiccups and surrounded his body with his arms as he felt the hiccups increase in intensity and speed. Fortunately, it wasn't too long a wait and even more fortunately it didn't take Bran that long to solve his arousal.
As Bran finally headed home, he luxuriated in the trickle of soft hiccups left after his orgasm. The hiccups didn't last long and soon his body was spasm-free. But he didn't mind too much losing them. He could get them back if he wanted, but Bran felt satiated for now and happy to have had a chance to meet and speak to a talented artist.
Now to get home and make a space for that new painting he'd have in a few weeks!