Popping a Button
"What do you want for breakfast, Lo?"
"I'm good, thanks. Morning sickness," Loki said, almost sheepishly.
"Again? You haven't eaten much since...well, since Hurricane Thor blew through. You sure you're OK?"
"Hurricane Thor. I like that," Loki chuckled. "Yea. I'm fine, though. Tummy's just been upset," he said, rubbing it gingerly.
Tom studied his husband intently. "Alright," he sighed reluctantly. "I've got meetings. New script. I'll be home later tonight. Try and eat something, OK?"
"I will," Loki said, kissing Tom goodbye.
***
Loki flopped down on the couch and flipped through the TV channels trying to find something to watch. He threw the remote on the coffee table after settling on The Food Network, closing his eyes willing the pangs of hunger in his abdomen to go away.
He'd been mortified at Thor's description of him. He'd always been slim, maybe not athletic, but certainly never sluggish and heavy like he was now. He'd been comfortable with his weight gain, with his gravid belly, until Thor had called his attention to it. Angrily, he went into the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards for something to eat, suddenly absolutely ravenous.
He returned with all of the snacks Tom had bought him the morning of Thor's arrival. He tore into a huge candy bar and devoured it in three bites. He went for a bag of Cheetos next, licking the orange cheese off his fingers greedily. The more he ate, the hungrier he felt. Once he finished the snacks, he called for pizza, also getting wings, breadsticks, and pasta. He polished off the delivery, laid back, and waited for the feeling of fullness, warm and heavy, to settle into his belly. He didn't have to wait long.
He hadn't taken into account that his recent decrease in food consumption would shrink his stomach capacity as quickly as it had. He leaned back against the couch, eyes closed, hands resting on his full belly. He was too stuffed, too lazy, to even rub it. He could hardly breathe. All he could do was concentrate on the intense pressure in his bloated stomach. He lifted his shirt up, exposing his warm belly to the cool air in the room. It felt good, soothing.
And then he felt the pressure release, followed immediately by a soft clatter from across the room. He sighed in relief as his engorged stomach spilled from his pants, surging into his lap to rest full and heavy on his thighs. Now that he wasn't hurting as badly, he began slowly rubbing his huge gut soothingly, groaning at the weight of it. He briefly thought about getting up to retrieve the popped button, but was feeling far too fat and lazy to do anything about it. Tom would help him when he got home.
***
"Darling, I-" Tom began, then stopped in his tracks when he saw Loki on the coach, bloated and swollen, in obvious distress. "Oh, sweetheart, what happened?" he cooed soothingly, placing his warm hands over the taut flesh of Loki's tummy. "Do you need your belly rubbed?"
Loki nodded weakly. "I was hungry," he said through a burp.
"My poor baby. But you're not sick anymore?"
"I wasn't," he hiccuped. "I just felt bad that Thor called me fat, so I decided to eat less. But then I got hungry...then this happened," he finished, gesturing to his swollen midsection.
"Oh, my poor baby," Tom murmured, eyebrows furrowed in worry.
"I feel better than I did an hour ago. I burped a lot," he said, sounding slightly proud. "And I popped a button. It landed somewhere over there,"
Tom chuckled and went to locate the missing button. "I'm glad your appetite's back, Lo," he smiled, kissing the god's belly.
"How'd your meeting go?"