When the food replicator on Jack's ship gets a new update, he and his friend might find themselves getting more food than they expected

Commission for  doodlegabble featuring their character Jack, and including  Lonewolf13727 's character Jokull

Part 2

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Jack smacked the side of the food replicator a few times and sighed. It had shut down for an incoming ‘update’, but it had been rebooting for some time, and he was starting to get worried that it wasn’t going to turn back on. Was the machine outdated? Was the software incompatible? He couldn’t try the good ol’ turn-it-off-and-on-again method if it wasn’t quite on in the first place. And if it did have to do with the installation of an update, what if pulling the power supply made the entire system crash?

He decided in the meantime, perhaps he could go check on other aspects of the ship. The slender, eight-foot three dragon dipped back into the main living space, the soft lighting bringing out the rich color of his red fur. This room was the coziest by far, including a plush couch so big he could lose himself in it, and a coffee table along with other basic amenities nearby, more convenient than his bedroom, which seemed small and plain by comparison. Through this room, was the navigation room, and then some supply rooms he rarely needed to access. The ship was overall self-sufficient, running on an automated system controlled by voice commands. Taking it into the depths of space for a vacation now and then was by far the most relaxing place he could go to recharge.

Of course, if the food replicator stopped working, he’d have to end his trip a bit early. Jack groaned. He didn’t enjoy the prospect of living off his store of emergency rations until he could bring it in somewhere for repairs.

With a sigh, he was about to sink down onto the comfortable couch when he heard the system turn back on in the other room. Instead, he sighed in relief. It seemed he had nothing to worry about.

“Do you want me to check on that?” called a voice from one of the other rooms. A few moments later its owner emerged, looking in at Jack with soft green eyes. Unlike Jack, the other dragon had dark purple scales instead of any fur.

“It’s alright, I haven’t sat down yet.” Jack shot his friend, Jokull, a brief grin. “Just because we’re on vacation doesn’t mean I have to be that lazy.” He couldn’t imagine just sitting around all the time.

“Just offering to help!” Jokull retorted. “You know I’m usually the one in charge of food around here.”

Jack snorted. It was true; no matter what the replicator spit out, sometimes Jokull took it upon himself to try making it even better. It was like a self-imposed competition. “Well, I’m perfectly capable of checking on the machine.”

Jokull ended up following him to the replicator anyway. The machine was lit up and looked ready to go.

“Should we try it out?”

Jack shrugged. It wasn’t anywhere near mealtime yet, but at least it would give them an idea of what to expect. “Sure.” He flipped the switch. It hummed to life.

“Can you select burgers? I could really go for a burger,” Jokull said from behind his shoulder.

“Hang on.” Jack started to put in Jokull’s usual burger preferences. Before he pressed enter, he decided to make an extra for himself. He wanted to try it out too. When everything seemed ready, he stepped back to let the food replicator do its work.

“Maybe the update will make it go faster,” Jokull suggested.

Jack thought was already pretty fast, but he certainly wouldn’t oppose instantaneous food. “There’s probably just like, a dozen new options or something.” That seemed more likely. Even though there were lots to begin with, it would be nice to change up the menu.

It took almost no time at all for the machine to do its work. Maybe it really was a bit faster. When Jack removed the food, he was shocked.

“It’s so… big,” Jokull commented.

Jack carefully set down the plates with the massive burgers. “I was thinking the same thing.” So not only did it work faster, but it made significantly more food, too.

Jokull hungrily dove in, the first to try it out, since he’d been the one to ask. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment before his eyes widened. “Hey, it’s tasty.”

Jack dug into his own, also surprised by the amount of flavor. The huge juicy burger, complete with all his favorite condiments, tasted as good as any freshly-made beef straight out of a restaurant. Despite its size, before he knew it, he was licking the last of the grease off his fingers.

“I’m kind of tempted to make another.”

Jack raised his brows. His own belly felt fully stuffed. “Right now?”

Jokull shrugged. His own lean stomach was bulging a bit. He rested his paws on it and sighed in satisfaction. “I know it’s nowhere near dinner time yet, but since I’m treating myself anyway, I feel like I deserve to go all-out.”

Jack had to admit, even though he wasn’t hungry anymore, he was tempted too. “If you have one, I’ll have one,” he agreed, letting Jokull do the work of getting the burgers this time. He felt full enough to doze off, but knew he had room for one more before taking a nap.

When Jokull placed it in front of him, he’d forgotten how much larger they were than the burgers he was used to. Maybe I’ll just have half. He took several large bites anyway, absorbing the fresh flavors washing over his tastebuds as his teeth sank into it. He quickly started to feel even more full, but it would be such a shame to waste the rest. He didn’t really want to put it away as leftovers, either; it defeated the point of having a replicator do the work of making food for him. Sometimes Jokull liked putting together meals, but Jack liked his food directly in his maw where it belonged.

Shoveling in a few more bites, he felt his stomach stretch farther, fuller than it had been in a long time. On his lean frame, his packed gut was visibly rounding out with the pressure of the fresh food stuffing his stomach. He continued gorging, though, until he realized all of the burger was gone.

He finally sat back, rubbing his paws over his incredibly bloated belly. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten this much. Even though he was panting a bit, there was a deep satisfaction in the way he felt so satiated and full.

Jokull suddenly burped. Jack had barely even noticed Jokull finishing up his own large meal. “That was actually kind of amazing.” On the shorter dragon’s frame, the burgers made his gut look even more swollen.

“I think I need a nap,” Jack laughed slightly, although he didn’t really feel like getting up.

“Me too.”

Neither of them made a move to do such a thing. Jack figured he could rest right here for a moment, relaxing with his best friend on what was turning out to be a very successful vacation.

~

Within a few days, Jack found himself pretty familiar with all of the new settings on the food replicator. Everything seemed to have more options, which he’d expected. The unexpected bonus was still the fact that it was much more delicious, and also… bigger.

Even with his eating schedule restored after his huge ‘snack’ with Jokull the other day, he still found himself very full after every meal. There didn’t seem to be a size setting, unfortunately. The programmers probably assumed that everyone would just make more food if they wanted it—apparently never suspecting that people might want less. Or maybe that was harder to program or something. Jack wasn’t really sure.

What he was sure about was that for several days in a row, he found himself practically slipping into a food coma after every meal. Jokull seemed to be keeping up, cramming just as much extra food into his even smaller body. He’d been looking bloated practically all the time lately. Jack didn’t blame him; he felt pretty much the same way. Staring into the mirror while brushing his teeth after a meal, he seemed to have a food baby almost constantly.

It was about a week before he had finally begun adapting to the new huge portion sizes. His stomach stretched easily with each meal, leaving him feeling content. He’d rub at his bloated belly afterwards every time, amazed again and again at how delicious everything had been.

It was around the same time that he was pulling on his clothes one morning and realized they seemed to have shrunk a bit. Was the automated laundry system starting to go? He let out a quiet growl at the thought of having to replace it anytime soon. He just hauled on his jeans a little bit harder, sucking in to push the button through the hole, hoping they’d stretch back out throughout the day.

Later, passing Jokull in the kitchen, he decided to mention it. “Hey, have you had any problems with your laundry lately?” If it really was starting to fail, Jokull would be having the same problem. But it was still possible it had only messed up one load of laundry.

Jokull was sitting at the kitchen counter, the food replicator lit up nearby. He was in the middle of shoving a massive slice of pizza into his mouth. The rest of the pizza was nearby, its aroma inviting Jack to sit down with him. At least it didn’t matter how large the portions of pizza came out, since they’d be sharing anyway. All of the extra cheese and greasy toppings were a bonus.

The purple-scaled dragon shrugged. “I haven’t done laundry in a few days. I’ve been wearing sweatpants every day anyway.” He grinned a bit. “Didn’t you know we’re on vacation?”

Jack snorted through his nose. “Well I’ll probably end up wearing sweatpants too if all my jeans shrank.” The idea of wearing cozy clothes was appealing, though. Even on vacation, he was having trouble relaxing. Even though that was the whole point! “I’ll have to dig them out of a drawer somewhere.”

He soon grabbed a slice of pizza for himself, the cheese trailing behind as he separated it from the rest. The circles of pepperoni had a visibly greasy coating. Biting into it, it was pure flavor, the salty meat, cheese, and fresh tomato sauce complimenting each other perfectly. He almost moaned in delight. He wasn’t even hungry or anything, but by now he was so used to stretching his stomach that he didn’t waste any time shoveling in another bite, and then another. He put his other paw on his stomach, feeling how taut it was getting beneath his shirt. He suddenly felt a bit upset to realize that his shirt had shrank too, the bottom riding up slightly to leave a bit of his fluffy tum showing. Damn technology.

Despite Jokull waving away the questions about laundry, as Jack sat and watched, he noticed that Jokull’s own shirt was riding up quite a bit. His clothes had obviously been affected as well, but Jack supposed maybe the other dragon hadn’t noticed due to his much shorter stature. He stifled a groan; just one more thing to fix when vacation ended. Vacations weren’t meant to stress him out!

Finishing up the slice, he pushed himself to his feet, deciding to go change into something more comfortable so he could stop thinking about it.

He slipped into the bathroom to go change, so that he could check out his outfit in the mirror as he dressed. It had been a while since he’d worn any particular leisure clothing. Worming his way out of his shirt, he tossed it aside in favor of something loose. He paused as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

He looked particularly bloated today, especially after all of that pizza a few moments ago. What caught his attention was the fact that usually, on his lean frame, that meant his gut hung rather far off his frontside, but today… Well, he noticed his front had a bit of a slope to it, where his puffy chest was meeting the top of his belly. He tried to smooth his fur down, wondering why it would stand up in such a way, but quickly realized it wasn’t the fur. The lean muscles of his chest were slightly soft and flabby.

He scratched his head in confusion. How had that happened? He pinched at it again, realizing for the first time that he was perhaps a bit thicker all over. Aside from the taut rounded gut hanging off his middle, he also seemed to have softer arms and legs, maybe a slightly thicker tail, too. Turning to the side, he slipped his paws under his stuffed belly and rubbed it. He expected it to feel packed full, but was surprised to realizing it was also a bit soft, and folded over his paws when he hefted it. He frowned in confusion.

Had he gained weight?

He supposed it was normal for someone to gain a pound or two over a vacation. He had spent a lot of time lounging around and relaxing—it was basically required, or could it really be called a vacation at all? He suddenly remembered the increased portion sizes of the food, too, and figured that could be the most recent culprit. He’d just have to take it easy on those massive meals. After his vacation when he went back to work, he was sure it would just shed right off anyway.

He chose one of his larger shirts, expecting it to be nice and loose, but it seemed to fit quite well, like he’d grown into it. He also chose a comfy pair of sweatpants to lounge in, but realized even his biggest pair clung a bit tightly to his thighs, his ass straining the seams where his tail peeked over the waistband, which itself was digging in a bit tight. He knew that latter part was probably due to his bloated belly pushing against it. He was sure the pressure would alleviate once he finished digesting his latest binge.

Yanking down on his shirt a few times to be satisfied it covered his whole gut, he made his way back to the kitchen. He was surprised to find that the rest of the pizza had vanished in his absence. That was a lot of pizza.

“Sorry.” Jokull grinned a bit sheepishly at the look on Jack’s face. “I didn’t think you’d be coming back.”

Jack ended up waving away his concerns. “I can always just have it make more.” And it would make lots and lots of pizza, too, if he did. He was definitely in no danger of going hungry.

He instead moved into their living area to make use of that huge, plush couch, sinking softly into the cushions with a sigh. Jokull ended up joining him a moment later, his own stuffed belly dominating his frame as he ponderously made his way over. Since he was around two feet shorter than Jack, the same amount of food took up an even larger portion of space on his middle. He groaned a bit as he lowered himself carefully onto the cushion next to Jack.

“I can’t believe you ate all that pizza,” Jack snickered softly, poking the scaly tum.

Jokull swatted his paw away. “Well I couldn’t just let it go to waste! And I didn’t know you wanted more.” He rubbed at his own bloated gut, smoothing away some of the pressure.

Jack decided to help, also rubbing his paws over his friend’s swollen stomach, feeling the way that his fingers sank into the softness on the surface. He realized for the first time that, like himself, Jokull was beginning to look genuinely wider all over, not just with food. As he continued kneading the round surface, he noticed a bit of pudge squeezing beneath his fingers.

“I’m starting to feel better,” Jokull sighed after a few minutes. “How are you feeling?”

“I didn’t have nearly as much to eat as you did,” Jack said with amusement, rubbing his own stomach, but it was true it was still very bloated. His shirt was riding up even after choosing a bigger one. He smoothed one of his paws over the exposed fluff, feeling his own belly squish as he pushed his fingers into the soft pudge that was forming. The kneading felt good. “I think I’m going to have to go on a diet after this vacation though,” he chuckled.

Jokull leaned over and brushed his paw over Jack’s belly next, grinning. “Maybe you should thank me for eating all the pizza before you could.”

“Sure.” Jack rolled his eyes. “Maybe you’ll have to come on a diet with me.”

“I’m not interested in dieting,” Jokull huffed, leaning back into his seat. He sank into the comfy couch cushions, his heavy belly looking content on his lap, and when he crossed his arms, it pressed out far enough to even rest his arms over it slightly. “I’m here to relax and enjoy good food.”

Jack laughed and went back to rubbing Jokull’s gut, although he was now aware of his own bloated belly pressing up against his friend when he reached over. He realized it would probably be a good time for a nap, tucked into the couch with his friend, so they could sleep off their pizza binge. He hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long time.

~

Jack was getting rather frustrated a week later while tearing through his closet for something to wear. Most of his large, comfortable clothes had shrunk in the wash again, although he was getting a sense that it might not be the machine that was the problem.

It wasn’t beyond his notice that his middle had softened considerably, the pudgy layer of fat on his body puffing out over the waistband of any pants he tried on, and every shirt he owned rode up over his drooping moobs to expose his soft, flabby midriff. He knew he couldn’t blame the thick collection of adipose on faulty laundry machines.

He was well aware continuing to stuff himself with the items from the food replicator was playing a huge role; in addition to being larger and more delicious with each update, the food also seemed more calorie-dense and fatty, leaving him constantly craving more. The weight gain wasn’t some sort of cosmic mystery. His belly was really beginning to round out, thick love handles beginning to bulge off his sides, and wide, soft thighs supporting his heavier frame. His arms jiggled when he moved them, his pudgy fingers finding that their only purpose lately was to bring food to his muzzle. He wasn’t in denial.

And he wasn’t the only one seeing the effects of the food replicator’s latest update; Jokull was sporting quite the potbelly these days himself, but seemed as calm as ever. He loved food and let it show, acting rather unconcerned with the way his shirt only pulled partway over the spare tire that hung over the waistband of his sweatpants. Those weren’t fairing much better, clinging tightly to his body with all of the seams stretched. Jack idly wondered if he should let the shorter drake borrow some of his own clothes—until Jack lost all the weight and fit back into them, of course.

Feeling curious, he wondered how much he actually weighed. It would be nice to know exactly how much weight he had to lose at this point, to not let himself go too much. He wandered into the bathroom and hopped on the scale, noticing the way his belly bounced and jiggled with each step. He was normally around 280lbs, so he was expecting to see the number a few pounds above that. Well, maybe more like ten pounds about that. Surely not more than fifteen. He knew he’d been really, really going overboard with the food lately, but he didn’t want to think he was out of control.

The number 340 glowed bright red at him from the screen. He blinked a few times to be sure he was reading it correctly. It had only been several weeks since he’d started shoveling in the larger, fattier food. Sure, he’d been shoveling it in like a dump truck, but it was still only several weeks. Maybe I stepped on it wrong? He stepped off and stepped back on, now hyperaware of how he had to bend over to see the number on the other side of the curve of his belly, but the number read the same.

He scratched his head. He wondered if he should bring it up to Jokull. Surely, his purple-scaled friend had noticed, but why hadn’t he said anything? Well, maybe for the same reason I haven’t said anything about Jokull’s weight gain, he thought a moment later, although that still felt slightly different. There was no way Jokull hadn’t noticed the significant amount of lard he’d packed onto his frame.

When Jack emerged a while later, he ended up wearing his largest pair of sweats, stretched to their limits beneath his hefty gut, and a shirt with multiple X’s on the collar that still looked like more of a crop top.

Currently, Jokull had his ass planted firmly on the couch with what could best be described as a feast before him; another update several days ago had only multiplied the amount of food and calories. The scent of the savory meal made Jack’s mouth water. “What did you get?”

“A little of everything,” Jokull forced out around his current mouthful of food, hardly slowing down or pausing for an instant to even make the words. There were a couple of empty plates already nearby, the previous contents of which Jack could only guess at, but the coffee table in front of the couch was still covered in platters of overflowing sandwiches, packed subs, salty chips, hamburgers stuffed with multiple patties, greasy french fries, what looked like a side of loaded pasta—it was as if when presented with the question for what food he should order, Jokull had simply typed in “Lunch” and let the machine do its best to oblige.

“Come join me.” Jokull beckoned him over, slurping the remnants of something cheesy into his mouth. He pushed a plate of nachos Jack’s way. He had to reach far over the bulging curve of his gut, which was taking up a significant amount of space on his lap and even the couch cushion around him. He didn’t let the overflowing chub get in his way in the least, making sure Jack could come sit next to him.

When Jack sat down, his own heftier frame sank deeply into the other couch cushion. He reached out for something to eat, briefly overwhelmed by the amount and variety of food. He eventually just settled on grabbing a burrito from beside the plate of nachos Jokull had pushed toward him. Even though it seemed one of the easiest things to grab, it was still so massive that he needed both paws to wield it.

“Hey, uh, Jokull,” he began, still while taking a huge bite of the burrito. His eyes widened a moment later; the flavor that exploded into his mouth was intense. He began gulping down the burrito more ferociously, feeling sauce drip down his chin that he quickly licked up to avoid losing a single ounce.

“Yeah?”

Jack had been so entranced by the flavors washing over his tongue for a second that he’d almost forgotten he was speaking. “Right. Jokull. Do you think we should, uh… maybe go easy on the food?” He knew that last part came out a bit weakly. The deliciousness of the food they were enjoying right now made the question seem almost absurd, but he reminded himself of the way the two of them were basically bursting out of their clothes, and he didn’t think he could go without addressing the situation any longer. “With every update, this stuff gets larger and more calorie-dense, yet we’ve been pounding it down almost nonstop. Have you noticed we’ve been gaining weight?”

Jokull shrugged. “Yeah. Do you want to try the salad instead?” He pushed what was supposedly a salad toward Jack. He saw that even the salad had all of the richest ingredients and the fattiest dressings on top.

“Not really my point,” he snorted, although he marveled at how the food replicator was able to add so much flavor and texture no matter what they wanted, absolutely nailing it each time. “I’m thinking of cutting back.”

“Jack.” Jokull’s voice was suddenly more sincere as he actually focused on the furred dragon for a moment. “If you want to diet, I fully support you. I’m not trying to tempt you into overeating or something.” Then he hefted the burger he was currently about to chomp down on, so large it took up both paws. “I happen to like this. I’m not worried about gaining weight. I love the feeling of eating until I’m fully, one-hundred-percent sated, getting to nap it off, and then doing it again. I know I’ve gotten heavier, softer, wider—I don’t see those as bad things.” Finally, he was unable to resist another moment, and ripped a huge bite out of the burger. He chewed thoughtfully before adding, “My biggest worry right now is what to wear.”

Jack had to laugh a little at that. “Me too.”

He thought while he began to absently shove food into his maw, almost mechanically at this point. Jokull seemed content with his larger, thickening body. He didn’t care about getting even larger. He maybe even seemed interested in gaining more, if he kept shoveling food down at the same rate.

Jack thought about his own body, aware of every soft roll and fold. He took one of his paws away from the current bite of burrito he was finishing—his other paw refusing to let go for even an instant until the entire thing was between his jaws, of course—but used his free paw to wander curiously over his body, squeezing at every bulge of pudge and soft collection of lard on his widening frame. His fingers sank deeply into the adipose on his middle, which enveloped them even as his stomach grew taut underneath from the weight of the food he was currently packing away. His gut bulged over his lap, heavy and full, even as he continued to stuff himself. His soft, padded arms brushed his sides every time he moved them, jiggling and shaking the flab of his chest, and the chubby curve of his blossoming second chin even wobbled as he chewed.

He had to admit Jokull was right; the heavy feeling of gorging himself on delicious food until he couldn’t take in another bite, and then pushing down more food anyway, had an immense satisfaction to it that he couldn’t put into words.

While lost in thought, he’d automatically grabbed more food, now finding several hamburgers amidst the gluttonous pile. He looked at it for a moment before shoving it into his thickening muzzle, marveling at how two juicy burgers had started it all.

At his side, Jokull was steadily chowing down on his own portion of the food, his gut visibly swelling a little as he stretched it to its limits, downing untold quantities of food bite after bite, fistful over fistful without pausing for a moment. Jack found himself eager to keep up, certain he could eat more due to his naturally larger body, and the feeling of his own gut swelling to match only spurred the binge onward.

He was almost surprised when he rooted around through the empty plates and trays to find not a single trace left. He was unbearably stuffed, his belly so round and heavy that he was having trouble even moving from the pressure of it, but still spent a moment searching before conceding that they’d really finished every last bite.

Jokull sat back with a sigh, his own belly looking rather strained, the bluish scales stretched wide. “That felt so good.”

Jack had to agree, but wasn’t sure he could spare breath for the words, so he just nodded. He rubbed his belly contentedly, kneading the ball of dough, sighing in relief.

“I’m going to keep doing this,” Jokull said suddenly. He hefted his own ball of lard in his lap, sliding his pudgy fingers under it and straining to lift it slightly. It only jiggled in response, too full to budge. “Maybe it’ll be fun to see how much more I can eat every time. How much bigger I can get. How soft I am as I push myself to my fullest.” He wriggled slightly in his seat, bringing attention to the way that his soft sides wobbled in response, his chubby thighs compressing as they spread on the seat around him. “This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

After a moment of careful consideration, Jack felt inclined to agree. The temptation of eating and eating as he swelled, feeling the weight of the food in his belly turn into more of him, expanding his pudge, making him a sturdy, immovable wall of a dragon… was appealing. “If you go for it, I’m coming with,” he grinned.

Jokull raised his brows. “Are you sure about that?”

Jack frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Not sure you can keep up,” Jokull smirked.

Jack playfully gave him a good shove, although it did little more than make his entire body tilt and wobble in response. “You’ll be the one struggling, tubby.”

Jack’s body jiggled as it pressed into Jokull’s, and the scaly drake gave his tum a few friendly pats. He grinned back. “We’ll see.”

Later that night, as Jack lay in bed, the soft flab of his body pressed out around him and the encompassing weight of his stuffed belly pressing down, he knew they’d both be seeing soon enough.