Fern watched the clock as she tried to study. Seth would be home any minute. They'd been friends since early college, and remained platonic roommates since the arrangement had continued to work out. Their friendship was solid, they had fun living together, and everything remained fine.
Just fine. Fern tapped her pencil to her lips, groaning in frustration.
Things would have remained just fine, if Seth hadn't discovered how much competitive eaters made. Things would've remained just fine if Seth didn't practice pushing the limits of his belly capacity to train himself for the bigger competitions in the area that paid out more--going hungry for a day or so to "hollow himself out", then eating as much as possible to stretch his stomach. Things would've been fine if Seth's overstuffed stomach wasn't perfectly taut, rounded, and insanely loud when he trained or competed in said competitions. Fern put her head in her hands, giving up all hope of concentration.
And, of course, all of this would have been fine if these elements didn't push every single button of the belly kink she'd hidden since stomach growls in cartoons made her feel funny as a kid.
It was at that moment that the lock clicked and Seth stumbled into the apartment with a labored groan.
"Hey, Fern-bug. Another successful training in the books."
Fern swallowed hard and willed her composure into place. Her eyes went straight to his stomach, which strained against the fabric of his t-shirt, a small sliver of skin showing between the waistband of his basketball shorts and his grey, overtaxed top. Fern opted for humor to cover what would otherwise be straight up ogling.
"That shirt deserves either a medal or a break."
Seth moaned, puffing out his cheeks as he made his way to the couch. "Ain't no rest for the wicked. And this round of prep was wicked." A thick, churning set of gurgles coursed through the air. Fern could feel her ears turn pink.
"Sure sounds it. I can hear your stomach from here."
"I bet. It's working overtime, the hotdog challenge is this weekend. Prize money is in the thousands, so I had to prep. The record to beat is twenty-three."
"And how many did you eat?"
She could hear the tired triumph in his voice.
Another wet, bubbling groan echoed from the living room. Fern rose from her seat at their small kitchen table and walked to the couch. Her mouth dried out at the sight of Seth, head tilted back, shirt rolled up to expose his dome of a stomach, both hands holding his laboring belly as it ceaselessly complained in a cascade of gurgles and a sick sounding glorp.
"Jeez," she breathed.
"I know," Seth moaned "this is some tummy, right?" He groaned again, shifting his weight as a particularly painful set of churns tore through his abdomen. His fingers dug into the skin ever-so-slightly, showing how little give there was. His belly was truly stuffed. He groaned again.
Her heartrate accelerated, eyes roving over the perfect curve of his gut.
"No, it's fine. I'll rub your belly."
Seth's brows furrowed and he lifted his head to look at her.
"What? No, I was going to ask for some ginger tea."
Panic, cold and heavy sank into Fern's chest. She felt her face flush, her eyes darting from Seth's face to his belly as embarrassment turned her legs to jelly.
A slow grin overtook Seth's face.
"Oh my god, Fern. Do you dig this?!"
Fern squeezed her eyes shut, hands balling into fists by her side.
"Gross, Seth, no! Absolutely not!"
"What is there to "dig" exactly!?"
Fern kept her eyes shut, but could hear Seth get up from the couch. She could tell by the heat of his belly and the increased volume of the noises, the labor of Seth's breathing, that he was only inches away.
"You're the one who volunteered to touch me. You're the one who's blushing beet red. Open your eyes, Fern."
She slowly opened her eyes. She met Seth's gaze. There was something deeper in his brown eyes, a spark that normally wasn't there. Seth took a step back.
"I want you to look directly into my eyes and tell me that you don't want to rub my belly. Without blushing."
He raised an eyebrow. Fern open and closed her mouth twice more before her blush deepened and she dropped his gaze, her eyes lingering on his noisy tummy. Seth's lips twitched into a grin.
"So you do like it. You're not alone, you know. There are a few fans that come out to the competitions to watch. Nobody's ever offered to rub my belly, but they've stared--and not in a rude way either. And to be honest, I'd definitely like it."
Fern felt an unexpected pang of jealousy. It must've shown on her face, because Seth chuckled, right before he winced. Another round of gurgles spiraled through his system.
"Don't worry, you can be the first to touch. I think we both know we've drifted a bit beyond platonic, here, Fern-bug. And if I'm honest, the idea of you touching me, taking care of me after I'm all stuffed--it does turn me on a bit."
"Well, If we're being honest...the noises are the main thing for me. I definitely wanna touch your belly, this is all really hot, but," she bit her lip, "something about what it's doing right now, the noises, what it's doing, I just, I don't know..." she fumbled for words.
Both of Seth's eyebrows shot up and he looked down at his extremely noisy belly.
"Huh. So, all this," he patted his belly, "just does it for ya."
Fern nodded wordlessly, flushed. Seth's grin broadened.
"You could not have found someone with a better body or hobby. Do you know how much more motivation this is for me when I compete now? Gotta come home to my lady with my belly as big and noisy as possible, get her all flustered."
If Fern could've melted, she would've. Seth's teasing faltered when his belly erupted into another round of painful sounding churns. He grimaced.
"Let's make us both happy now, shall we?"
Fern helped him back to the couch, guiding him to a position where he was half laying down, shirt rolled up so his dome of a stomach was exposed and ready to be rubbed.
"I can't believe you fit twenty-five hotdogs in there."
"With buns?! No wonder it's so active."
Fern gently lowered her ear to the apex of his abdominal arch. She was instantly awash with noise. There were thick, strong churns that she imagined were the poorly chewed bread. Angry, violent sloshes that she supposed were the hotdogs being tossed around. And amidst it all, long, winding bubbles that crested and roiled from one end of his abdomen to the other that she could envision was all the water he drank to wash everything down. All these noises vibrated against her cheek as she listened, the bubbles tickling lightly while the deeper churns rattled her ear. It was a miracle that Seth wasn't doubled over.
"God, your tummy's going nuts."
"Not your belly, you don't. Poor thing is pissed."
As if on cue, another angry set of rumbles churned through Seth's body, causing him to groan.
"Rub him better, then. Please."
Fern was happy to oblige. She gently pressed her palm into the taut drum of his belly, eliciting another set of moans from Seth. She winced.
"Sorry, I know, but this will help."
She began rubbing clockwise, his belly sloshing in rhythm with her motions. A loud bubbling, rumble shuddered up from the center of his stomach and shortly after Seth released several deep burps. He sighed contentedly, his stomach tangibly softer.
"See? I know what I'm doing."
A quiet "Mmm" was his only response as his digestion kicked into a different gear, half as troubled but twice as busy. After several more burps, Seth's belly was less distended and considerably less noisy--to Fern's slight disappointment. She rested her ear on his side and looked up at him.
Seth smiled, gently patting his stomach, testing its softness.
"Well, would you look at that. Almost good to go again. I'll definitely need to keep you around for competitions. You give me quite the edge."
Fern ran her hand over the remaining curve of his belly, nuzzling against it as she listened to it burble.
"More than happy to help."