Artwork by predaderp

Still clad in his space suit and manipulator arm pair, Trey paces restlessly in the corridor-like space that runs through the length of the small ship's living area and cockpit as he waits for Mish to come out of the bathroom – his patience not only being tested by the long wait but also by his gurgling empty stomach which constantly reacts to the rich oily scent that permeates the air inside the ship as it rises from a large cooking pot on the table. Earlier on Mish had arranged a small contract to ferry a few boxes of spare parts to a booming fishery operation on an icy ocean planet – at least they had been packed neatly inside boxes instead of my stomach, Trey ponders – and on top of the agreed payment for the spare part delivery, Mish had negotiated a return delivery of rare fish where the payment included a boxful of local eel catch in advance to bolster the dwindling rations in the ship's freezer.

”I guess why people find these unnerving to eat...”, he muses to himself as he glosses over the kitchen counter and the pot which both glow from the bioluminescent flesh of the eels, the glow adding an eerie green tint to the otherwise normally lit interior. But regardless of apprearances, Trey's hunger only intensifies and he soon finds himself salivating uncontrollably from the smell every time he passes the table, his tail swishing as he chirps anxiously.

”Mish! Are you still going to take a long time?”

”Why? You're not in a hurry are you?”

”N-no…! I was just - nothing!”

Thus unable to coax anything conclusive out of Mish who seems to be content to occupy the bathroom for grooming, Trey continues to pace about with his eyes fixated on the pot which has now stopped simmering completely, whining and licking his chops until he finally hops on the low stool next to the table to grab the pot with his extra arms so that he can take a peek inside. ”Well, if she's not coming out, I'm not waiting any longer! And I don't care how this soup looks~” he huffs after taking a deep whiff of the maw-watering aroma before sticking his muzzle into the pot greedily to start lapping up the thick sickly green contents.

The strange appearance of the soup belies its actual texture and taste, as he finds both quite palatable and the soft malleable flesh of the eels proves to be easy to lap up – so he continues to gorge even if it doesn't take long for his stomach to start feeling full, as it has been a good while since he has had the opportunity to taste freshly cooked food instead of endless portions of tasteless thawed canned food. Eventually his lanky midsection rounds out and starts to swell prominently, sagging towards the floor slowly although he barely seems to notice as his head dips deeper and deeper into the pot which he keeps tilting towards himself.

Although the state of his belly isn't the only matter which escapes him as he eats due to how he ignores the soft creak of the bathroom door, completely unaware how Mish carefully pokes her head through the opening to stare at him… mesmerized by the sight of the bioluminescent glow spreading throughout his belly as it expands to the point where it crowds the entire space between the stool and the table while his underbelly sags below his hindpaws on the stool. However she doesn't stay silent for long, as the urge to get closer drives her to walk right up to him and get his attention by planting her forepaw on his midsection. And like many times before, his immediate surprised flinch and the following anxious chirping elicits an amused meow out of her. ”Hungry? You're almost bright enough for me to turn off the lights and save power!”

”Mew – wha - you did this on purpose, didn't you?” he exclaims after the initial shock, his ears splayed in embarrassed manner and his tail flicking as he spills a bit of remaining soup. ”I – hic – didn't know I'd be glowing...”

Her ears still perked and tail quivering from amusement, Mish utters a few select meows to plunge the room into darkness save the surprisingly bright soft light radiating from Trey's greatly swollen and churning belly. ”That's better! I kinda forgot to warn you about that, but, you did it to yourself! Might take you the whole way back to the Axenaar spaceport to digest that.” she muses and keeps probing his midsection with her paw while he whines.

”Yes… but I can't sleep like this! And I'm too full to move… meow!” he complains weakly as he tries to make his way out of the stool after letting go off the pot, nearly stumbling onto her as the weight abruptly pulls him onto the floor with a thud. Undeterred by this, she in turn starts to push and goad him towards the space suit racks near the airlock, forcing him to drag himself over the floor.

”Don't be silly, we'll put a blanket on it and it'll be alright – but I want to rest now, so lets get you out of that suit and into bed so that you can rest too after all that work!”, she tells him as the automated rack starts to take apart his mechanical arm setup and the rest of the suit after he manages to stand up. And as the process goes on, he simply mews obediently and continues to rub cheeks with her, already knowing that it'll be a long night of stuffedness and belly rubs thanks to her...