Originally published November 21, 2017.
Contains: weight-gain-related themes, direct encouraging, romantic themes.
For Halloween this year, I tried to come up with a spiritual follow-up to The Prize Winning Pumpkin. I wanted to write anther story where a guy paints his stomach to look like pumpkin, specifically the kind of Jack-o-lantern-looking candy bucket that kids take around to collect candy in on Halloween. In the end, it causes him to grow bigger, perhaps due to magic or an old spirit like The Prize Winning Pumpkin, or perhaps because of some pranksters treating him like the bucket he’s dressed as. I went through a few ideas, but none of the really grabbed me enough to write the story.
Then I came across this piece of furry art by Monochrome Pup, which solidified the idea for me: the candy pail and overeating connection is deliberate, and both the man and his boyfriend are into it. That gave me what I needed to write the story, which I now present to your after two days of frenzied writing time.
Synopsis: Donny and Markus are going out on Halloween in a couple’s costume, where Markus is dressed as a child and Donny is dressed as a Jack-o-lantern candy pail. Hoping to maximize how much they can stuff into Donny, they decide to visit all the parties they’ve been invited to, try the snacks, and leave, seeing how much Donny can eat in one night.
“How’s it coming?” Donny asked as he looked down over his bare torso.
“Almost there,” Markus answered, his words slow and deliberate like the brush strokes that painted on the last few lines of his design. After his brush lifted off the bottom of Donny’s stomach, he let a sigh. “This would be easier if you were going as a regular Jack-o-lantern. Pumpkins don’t have evenly spaced lines. But candy pails do, so I have to get this perfect,” he said, lifting his paintbrush after dipping it in the darker orange that made the indents on Donny’s belly. “Or at least, close enough to perfect.”
“I mean, the candy pail was your idea–”
“I know, I know,” Markus replied. “I wasn’t complaining. Man, I can’t wait for tonight,” Markus beamed like the excited boy he was about to dress up as.
“We’re still doing the crawl right?”
“Right. Show up, make an appearance, raid the food table, then leave.” Looking up into Donny’s eyes with a smile, Markus concluded, “Repeat as many times as you can.”
A devious grin spread across Donny’s rounded face. He wasn’t usually one for parties, but knowing he wouldn’t have to stay at any of them for longer than it took him to stuff his face to his satisfaction had him looking forward to that night.
“Or until we run out of parties to go to. But,” he stalled, before pulling out his phone and scrolling through. “Between you and me, we got invited to at least a dozen parties total. I’d be surprised if we manage to hit all of them before you pass out.”
“Sounds like a challenge to me,” Donny chuckled. He wanted to pat his beach-ball-sized belly, which looked extra rotund on his short frame, but he also didn’t want to ruin his boyfriend’s work. Instead, he settled on patting the back of his love handle.
“Thank you for not smudging the paint.”
“Of course, dear.”
It wasn’t much longer until Markus finished drawing the final line, finishing up the Jack-o-lantern candy Paul design. “Alright, I’m going to go get changed.”
“I’ll go put on my handle,” Donny replied, before walking into the kitchen to pick up the rope contraption Markus had made for their couple’s costume. It was composed of a rope tied into two loops at the end to slip over Donny’s arms and nestle into his shoulders. As he picked it up, he was thankful Markus had opted for a soft cloth rope, instead of an itchy hemp rope of a plastic one that would have had him all sweaty. Slipping his hands through the loops, he pulled it up until the loops were snugly against his shoulders, before letting the “handle” fall behind his head.
The simplicity of completing his costume gave Donny some time to wonder how Markus would pull off looking like a boy. At over six feet tall, compared to Donny’s 5’3”, with a slender frame to match, Markus had the definitive appearance of a grown man. They probably would have had an easier time making Donny look like a child, but he was too short to use Markus as a pail.
But when Donny saw Markus walk out of their bedroom wearing oversized overalls and a white, long-sleeve shirt, he burst out laughing. “Oh man, it’s perfect.”
“You think?” Markus asked modestly. “I wish I’d put as much effort into it as I did into yours. I feel sloppy.”
“Babe, it looks amazing. Now come on, let’s go milk these parties for all the treats they’re worth.”
As the embarrassed smile on Markus’s face turned into a devious grin, he walked up to Donny asking, “You have everything you need?”
After tapping the pockets of his extra loose cargo pants, held up by his longest belt, both worn in anticipation of an expansive night, he replied, “Yep.”
“Then let’s go fill you with treats,” Markus said with a grin, pulling Donny in close for a kiss before grabbing him by the handle that hung between his shoulders and leading him out the door.
Sylvia always timed her parties for the early birds who didn’t want to stay out late, making her house a perfect first stop for Markus and Donny. Even though the two arrived at her place at 4:00, the volume of cars parked outside indicated that it was already packed. Perfect for sneaking in to get some snacks before making a quick exit.
After walking in, the two found a crowd made up mostly folks in their 30’s and 40’s, still dressed in costume, but standing around having civil conversations with drinks in hand. Only a few had snacks, but neither Donny or Markus were worried about their prospects.
“Hey!” they heard a familiar voice say.
“Hey!” both men greeted in unison, before Markus grabbed Donny’s rope and held it at his own head’s height, easily clearing Donny’s head. “Trick or treat!” Markus called out.
“You guys!” Sylvia guffawed, “That’s genius! Well, the treats are over there,” she said, pointing toward the kitchen. “Take as much as you like; I’m trying to get everyone else to do the same, but they’re all too uptight to eat sweets this early.”
“Oh we won’t have that problem,” Donny assured her.
“Great! Well, enjoy yourselves!” she said, before walking off to mingle with the other guests.
Leaning in toward Donny, Markus whispered, “Told you this was a good idea. Not only will we fill you with treats, but we’ll make the civilians help by pointing them out.”
“Yeah yeah, now let’s get to the filling,” Donny insisted, striding to the kitchen ahead of Markus, who followed with a gleeful smile.
In the kitchen, they found a spread covered with brownies, cookies, and other substantive sweets decorated with spooky colors of frosting. Occasionally, guests would come in to get drinks before heading out to rejoin the party, meaning no one stuck around long enough to observe how much Donny ate. Assured he could gorge scot free, Donny filled a plate before turning back to Markus.
The two made conversation to look as inconspicuous as possible while Donny cleared his plate, then filled it again, then cleared it again. He emphasized the brownies and the cookie sandwiches, the former topped with fudge, the latter squished together with frosting between them, both the most common treat and the the most filling among those available. All the while, Markus only took an item or two for himself, content to watch his boyfriend gorge with a satisfied smile.
Once Donny had finished his fifth plate, he was starting to feel all the treats build up in his stomach. “Okay, I think I’m satisfied with what we can find here.”
“Fine by me. You ate plenty. Besides, I want to go somewhere where the atmosphere is a bit more exciting.” Markus grabbed grabbed the Donny’s rope, and with a more sinister tone in his voice, he continued, “Come, my candy pale. We’ve got to fill you with a lot more treats before we can call this a good night.”
Both men chuckled as Markus lead Donny out of the party. Once they were in Markus’s car, Donny could feel the lump of frosting and brownie and cookie inside of him, rounding out his “Jack-o-lantern” just a bit. “Oh man,” he said, wanting to rub his belly but not wanting to ruin the paint job. “If the food coma doesn’t get me, the come down from the sugar rush sure will.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Markus asserted, before reaching behind Donny’s seat. Donny heard the familiar sound of a cooler opening, prompting him to furrow his brow. “Markus, you didn’t bring drinks, did you?”
“What’s wrong with that?” Markus asked, with a look of genuine innocence.
“Open container laws!”
With a chuckle, Markus pulled his hand back, revealing a quart-size plastic jug of milk. “I think they’ll be fine with this open container.”
“MIlk?”
“Helps regulate blood sugar, or so I’ve heard. This way we can ensure food coma gets you before sugar rush.”
Donny started at the carton a little longer, before shrugging and taking it in hand. He drunk half the bottle en route to the next party, closing the bottle with a small burp. Once Markus had parked, Donny asked, “Can you put this back in so it’s cool when we leave?”
“Sure thing,” Markus replied, putting the milk back in the cooler before both men got out of the car.
Donny knew Jerome’s “bring something to share” policy meant his parties had a variety of foods to eat, including some more substantial ones that would make a good base for the night. If his party started earlier, it would have been their first stop. But they had to make sure enough people had already arrived that they could get away with sampling the substantial snacks and slipping out.
Inside the house, the two found a more dense crowd in attendance, but still had an easy time making their way around as they looked for the food. A few rooms in, they found Jerome, mingling with the other guests. After grabbing Donny’s handle in one hand, Markus tapped Jerome on the other.
“Trick or treat!”
“Ha! Oh man, that’s good. That’s gotta be the best couple’s costume I’ve seen so far.”
“Thanks, Jerome,” Donny said modestly.
“Well, if you’d like to fill your pail with treats,” Jerome giggled while looking at Markus, “The food is in the dining room over that way,” he said as he pointed toward the room’s exit.
“Thanks,” Donny said, nearly running out of the room before he added, “and thanks for inviting us.”
“Absolutely, happy you could make it.”
With a wave, both men departed for the dining room, where they maintained their ploy of talking to each other as Donny kept taking food from the table. Spread out over the black-and-orange table cloth were several pies, including a pumpkin one that Donny took three slices from; several spreads of pastries that were as buttery as they were sweet; a chocolate fountain with many snacks for dipping (Donny favored the coookies); and assorted healthier snacks that Donny didn’t bother with.
Jerome had put out plates that were on the smaller side, forcing Donny to fill his plate eight times before he was satisfied. Once he’d finished the eighth, though, he let out a belch and an “Oof,” before his hand absentmindedly migrated to his belly, to give it some relief.
“Ah, ah! Don’t do that,” Markus chastised.
“Right, the paint job.” With a sigh, Donny continued, “It’s going to be a long night.”
Leaning in close so he didn’t have to talk loudly, Markus whispered, “We don’t have to keep doing this if you don’t want to. We could just go home and order a shit-ton of delivery.”
“Are you kidding?” Donny chuckled, though he couldn’t laugh very loudly with how full he was. “Not after all the effort we put in to this whole plan. We need to at least show off these costumes some more.”
After Markus’s concerned frown turned into a smirk, he relented, “Alright. Let’s head out then. Seems you’ve had your fill,” he said before he gave Donny’s belly a few pats.
“Oh, so it’s okay for you to touch it?” Donny asked, only half-serious in his indignation.
“You can too. Just don’t rub.”
Donny let out a sigh, before he raised his head with inspiration. “I have an idea. But it’s probably better to try it out there.”
With a nod, Markus started the walk toward the door, with Donny following close behind. Once they were out in the cool night air again, Donny felt it was private enough to try his idea. Placing both of his hands flat on top of his stomach, he alternated gently pushing them in, simulating a rubbing motion as best he could. To his relief, it seemed to settle his stuffed stomach a little bit.
It was then that Donny realized his belly had already grown noticeably bigger from his night of eating. The top was firm, stuffed full with all the treats he’d eaten, and rounded out as it stretched to make more room. With the same patting motion, he took inventory of his belly’s size, finding it had swelled out a bit in nearly all directions. The only exception was down, as his gut seemed to need to use that girth to make more room upstairs.
“How’s it coming?” Markus asked. When Donny looked up, he saw a grin on Markus’s face.
“It’s a start.”
“Good attitude,” Markus told him, before they both got in the car. “Milk?”
“Yes please,” Donny answered, realizing how thirsty he was. Once Marcus passed him the half-empty quart, Donny chugged the rest, before letting out a burp and lamenting, “Oh Jeez, that might’ve been a bad idea.” After capping the jug, he dropped it by his feet and leaned back in his seat. The milk felt like it had settled around all the food in his belly, but it still made him feel extra full. He tried his paw-ing motion again, finding some comfort as the milk sloshed around his stuffed gut.
“Ready for more?”
“By the time we get there? Yes,” Donny assured him.
“Good. There’s still plenty of room for more treats in my pale,” he said before giving Donny’s belly a few more pats.
Donny had lost count of how many houses he and Markus had visited. Previously, he’d been the one taking the lead and the first to arrive at the food table after it had been pointed out. Now he found himself being lead Markus’s hand until he was close enough to the food to do what he did best. It started with the two walking hand-in-hand through the houses, after Donny had done his best to pass himself off to the host like he wasn’t already full of several parties’ worth of food. But once the parties got wild enough, Markus lead Donny through the crowds by his handle.
And Donny loved it. He loved his boyfriend pulling him along like a toy, leading him to a table full of treats before giving him a comment like, “Time to fill the pail,” or “The more treats we fit in you, the more fruitful of a night it was.” In those moments, all Donny could pay attention to was the sweets, until he’d filled his plate, then Markus, until his plate was empty. They’d repeat until Donny didn’t want to eat any more of the current selection of sweets, when Markus would lead him out of the house by his handle once again. Once outside, Markus would give him a few belly pats and a few words of encouragement. “Quite the haul we’re collecting.” “This is going to be a fruitful Halloween.” “I love how spacious my candy bucket is this year.” And they’d walk back to the car together.
However, after a house where damn-near everything had been dipped in chocolate, Donny found it hard to keep up with Markus on the way to the car. Once they stepped outside, Markus strode ahead giddily, but Donny could only shuffle toward the road. If he weren’t breathing so heavily from how much he’d eaten, he would have pleaded with his boyfriend to slow down. All he could do was hope didn’t get left behind.
For Donny had a lot more weight to carry around than he did at the beginning of the night. His taut, heavy stomach served as a constant reminder of all the cupcakes and cookies and candy and brownies and confections and sweets he’d stuffed himself full of, making him wonder how he managed to walk at all. Considering how close he was to waddling out of the house, though, he thought that wondering how he managed to “walk” was the wrong question.
As Donny lead his treat-filled gut toward the car, he walked with a wider stride and shorter steps than usual, his legs barely bending as he waddled like a penguin. His arms stuck out diagonally as he moved, when he wasn’t trying to lend his full stomach some relief. Regrettably, the paint on the sides of his gut had smudged from his attempts to help his stomach feel better. As tired as he was, some sliding was inevitable as he tried to paw at his gut.
But against all odds, the smiling face on the front of his belly remained untouched, merely cracked from the skin beneath it expanding. Those triangular eyes and toothy mouth were clear as day, while his own face, with eyes and mouth both half-opened, didn’t display quite the same level of joy. At least his belly could smile for him. And it was a growing smile.
Over the course of the night, Donny’s once beach-ball-sized belly had expanded to a gut closer to the size of a truck tire. It was completely stiff on top, stuffed well past what Donny thought his capacity was, radiating a dull pain as it stretched to try to contain everything Donny was putting into it. It forced him to lean back as he walked, giving his belly as much room to stretch out as possible, thus causing it to push out even farther. Even all that room couldn’t stop his stomach from feeling sore, but it seemed to have long ago given up on trying to get him to stop eating by feeling full. Now, it was just passively complaining.
Once Donny finally got to Markus’s car, it took him a lot of grunting and groaning to maneuver his gorged body into the seat. The seat back had been steadily getting pushed back farther and farther as the night went on, and once he was inside, Donny was nearly lying down. But Markus was still able to reach the milk for Donny to drink, his fifth quart of the night. In spite of how full he was, he still drunk from the jug, out of some vague notion that it would help him stay awake. The line between the come down from a sugar rush and a food coma had become quite blurry, and he wasn’t sure whether the milk was preventing the former or encouraging the latter. Either way, he gulped it down, before his hand fell at his side and he let out a labored sigh.
Donny felt Markus take the milk jug out of his hand, assumedly to cap it and put it back in the cooler. It was a good thing, because Donny knew he would have dropped it if he had to hold onto it. Soon he felt Markus’s fingers wipe the milk that was dribbling down his open mouth. He then felt Markus’s hand on his overstuffed gut, rubbing at the already smudged section of paint where his crammed stomach was. Letting out a low groan, Donny felt a sense of relief roll over him that could only come from someone else rubbing his belly.
“How’s my big ol’ candy pail doing?” Markus asked. His tone had a huskiness that would have made Donny go wild if he weren’t so full, while also carrying a tone of genuine concern.
“I… I dunno…” Donny gasped between heavy breaths. “How am I doing?”
“Marvelously. You’re full of so much candy. All the other trick-or-treaters are going to be so jealous of us.”
With his eyes closed, Donny let out a satisfied, “Mmm,” as Markus kept working over his gut.
“Think you have it in you to visit one more house?” Markus asked.
Slowly opening his eyes. Donny closed his mouth, previously hanging open from the food coma and the relief of Markus’s touch, before he grunted, “Bring it.”
With a low chuckle, Markus turned the key and drove off.
Donny dozed off until they reached the house, the party inside so loud that it woke him from his stupor. “This sounds… too crowded… for me…”
“We’ll just eat their food and head out. Besides, I think you’ll find I’ve saved the best for last.”
Markus hopped out of the car with an excited enthusiasm, before he walked around to the other side to help Donny get out too. It took quite a bit of pulling on Markus’s part, but eventually Donny was standing, and waddling toward the loud house at Markus’s lead.
“This one’s could get a bit wilder than the rest,” Markus said warily.
“How so?” Donny blurted out between heavy breaths.
“I know the woman who’s hosting. She has a way with crowds and… a weird taste in pranks.”
“So what do you think is going to happen?” Donny mumbled, unable to commit to the full sentence.
“I don’t know. But if you still want to go in, I’m game.”
“Yeah,” Donny blurted out, before a tiny belch escaped from his mouth. It seemed there wasn’t much room left in his stomach for air. “Let’s do this.”
With a nod, Markus kept dragging his overly-full candy pail as fast as it could move, before they finally stepped inside. The crowd remained loud throughout much of the packed house, but the people standing near the door all paused their conversation to look at Markus and Donny. With Donny’s handle already in head, Markus raised it and yelled out, “Trick or treat!”
Laughter emanated from the groups near the door, but it didn’t seem to be derisive. “Oh that’s awesome.” “Finally an age-appropriate trick-or-treater.” “He looks just like those candy pails!”
And then a voice called out over everyone else’s comments: “Come on, we gotta give him some treats!”
In his half-aware stupor, Donny felt himself being dragged through the house, possibly by Markus, possibly by someone else. By the time he could force his eyes open again, he was in the kitchen, standing in front of a table covered by trays of candy, cookies, cupcakes, brownies, chocolates, seemingly everything he’d already eaten that night. He supposed that made sense for what was by far the most crowded party they’d been to so far.
But Donny didn’t have much time to think about it before he felt those treats shoved in his mouth.
In his overstuffed stupor, Donny chewed as fast as he could, while cheers and shouts made the whole situation too overwhelming to take much in. Occasionally he could hear comments like, “Let me get a turn!” “Here’s your treat!” “Fill him up! The fuller he gets, the better a night it is!” “Stuff him to the brim!”
The smell of spilled alcohol made the whole happening make slightly more sense, but Donny could barely make sense of anything. In the sea of excited faces, he couldn’t make out Markus’s. He was barely cognizant enough to stay standing up, let alone walk away from the situation. All he could do was keep chewing and swallowing as his mouth was stuffed over and over again with the available treats. All the while, his stomach cried out in a dull roar as it stretched fuller and fuller to accommodate all the treated being crammed inside it.
Donny could barely take in anything about what was happening around him. He could barely register the strong tug on his handle, pulling him around the house as yet more treats were stuffed in his mouth. Maybe he was being paraded around, the great pumpkin, grown so big it would surely break records at the county fair. At least, that was Donny’s thinking, until he felt the cold outdoor air against his skin as he swallowed the last treat shoved in his greedy mouth.
The cold air woke Donny up enough to see that Markus was dragging him out of the house. Once they reached the car, he turned around, and Donny saw that his eyes were wider than he’d ever seen them. “Donny, I… I’m so sorry. I didn’t know they’d… do something like that. Oh gods, I shouldn’t have brought you in there. What was I thinking?”
By then, Donny was having a hard time staying cognizant of everything going on around him, even though there was so little of it now. But he could still make out someone shouting from the house, “Hey, being that candy pail back!” before another voice shouted, “There’s plenty more sweets to go around!”
Marcus let out a frustrated growl, seemingly ready to lash out at the drunken revelers, before Donny muttered, “Marky…” That got him to calm down, and he looked into Donny’s barely-open eyes. “Give… the people… what… they want…”
“Donny…”
“What… I want…”
In his dazed state, Donny could barely make out the shocked looked on Markus’s face. But eventually Donny heard Markus let out a sigh, followed by a happy-sounding, “Alright.” He then felt a tug on his handle, followed by a chorus of cheering from the house, a chorus he could hear getting louder as it got closer.
After Markus parked the car in the lot of their apartment building, he took a wistful look at his stuffed boyfriend snoozing in the seat next to him. He knew Donny was a big eater, and wasn’t all that surprised at how much he’d be able to get down that night. Nor was he so surprised that his belly had now grown bigger than a truck tire by a solid inch on all sides. He had to admit, though, he was surprised at how into the crowd-feeding Donny had been.
With a smile, Markus undid his seatbelt before reaching over to gently rub his hands over Donny’s painted belly, not caring how smudged his hands got. Once his hand touched Donny’s gut, Donny’s gentle snoring was interrupted by a snort, before his eyes opened gradually. After a grunted sigh, he whispered, “How did I do?”
“Amazingly. How do you feel?”
Donny didn’t seem to be able to muster an answer to that question. Instead, he slowly smacked his lips before letting himself sink down farther into the seat, letting out a quiet, “Mmm” as Markus rubbed over his packed belly. It was a good enough answer for Markus.
Markus had seen Donny quite stuffed before, but this was truly a new standard for him. As he let his hands glide over Donny’s mountainous gut, he was struck by just how far of a journey they had to make now to glide over the entire thing. Even more striking was just how firm it was, solid as a rock from all the treats stuffed inside of it. Only the side and the bottom had any give, letting his hands sink into the warm flab just a bit before they met the firm core yet again.
Thinking back to the final house, Markus wasn’t sure how he’d managed to get his leaden boyfriend into the car. He wasn’t looking forward to the prospect of getting him out of the car and into their apartment either, where he’d surely collapse on either the couch or the bed to sleep off his all-night stuffing session. But for now, it was just him and his boyfriend and his boyfriend’s massively engorged gut. Markus could stroke the mammoth protrusion lovingly as Donny let out his appreciative groans, barely able to express much more. And for the moment, that was all Markus needed.
The Plot Thickens 