Written with @RoaryTheFygar 's permission Contains Trauma, mentions of Trauma, Coping, and the aftermath of Blueberry Inflation. This is a serious story, not a kink. May be disturbing to some readers. Abby sat silently on her bed, staring intensely down at her feet. She was hunched over, sitting perfectly still. It was hard to do anything else. The door opened, her ears perked for a moment. It was Naomi. She had heard the telltale sloshing. The blue dog had brought two cups of hot chocolate, one in each hand. She looked at her despondent cousin as she came in the room. She set the two mugs on the dresser, slowly making her way around the bed and sitting next to Abby. The wolf barely reacted to her presence, but now it was incredibly difficult to keep the thoughts down. She felt Naomi’s presence next to her. Her cousin’s body seemed to radiate a soothing warmth. Her lip quivered, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. Then she found herself in an embrace. She caused this. She almost lost Naomi. ~ Naomi finished making the two cups of hot chocolate, silently pouring the mix into the scalding water. It would be a while before they could drink these comfortably, but at least they smelled nice. She collected the two mugs and started towards Abby’s room, trying hard to tune out the sloshing noises and sensations emanating from her middle. Every step was heavier now, the juice remaining in her made it harder to walk. But she didn’t care. She slowly and awkwardly twisted the handle, pushing the door open with her foot. Abby was sitting on her bed in the darkened room, the only source of light being the window next to the door. Her back was to Naomi. The blue dog sighed to herself, setting down the mugs and walking to sit next to Abby, her movements slow and deliberate. When she sat down, she saw the despondent look on Abby’s face. She could feel the emotions her cousin attempted to contain. So she hugged her. ~ Tears fell freely from Abby’s eyes as Naomi tried to comfort her, the wolf finally breaking down as everything came to a head. “I’m sorry…” She whimpered, bringing up a hand to wipe away her tears. Naomi said nothing. “I… I almost…” She couldn’t get the words out, every attempt resulting in a gag as she slowly realized the gravity of what she was trying to say. Naomi couldn’t bear to think about it either, she knew she had to stay strong. “Abby… I-It’s not…” She tried to comfort her cousin. “I…” The wolf’s voice caught in her throat. Naomi herself found it difficult to form any words. The weight of it all made her mouth feel like it was made of lead. “I-I’m… fine…” She uttered the ineffective comfort weakly, her voice wavering as tears of her own fought to escape. Abby looked up at Naomi for a moment, tearing her eyes away as she saw the blue fur yet again. She covered her eyes with her hands, hunching forward and whimpering softly. The guilt was overwhelming. Naomi fought back the tears equally as hard, holding her cousin tighter. It wasn’t her fault. It was her own fault. The images flashed before Abby’s eyes. Juice. Blue fur. A massive round Naomi. She was dwarfed by her size. And she almost got too big. Tearing her hands away from her eyes and dropping her glasses to the floor, she cried out in mental anguish as she saw Naomi’s face. The blue dog was staring back at her, cheeks puffed grotesquely large, her eyes filled with fear. Finding that her comforting tactics weren’t working, Naomi tried to shake her cousin out of it. Before she sank too far into the horror. “A-Abby!” Naomi cried into her ear, trying to bring her back. In a moment the face fell away, revealing the dark room and her discarded glasses laying at her feet. It only made her feel more guilty. “I’m... so… s-sorry…” Abby apologized weakly, leaning into Naomi’s embrace. Naomi gently loosened her grip around her cousin, wrapping her arms around Abby to properly hug her. “Y-You almost… p-p-...” She couldn’t finish the sentence, the horrifying scene threatening to come back at the very mention of Naomi’s narrowly avoided untimely end. “I know,” Naomi managed to say with strength she didn’t know she had, “I know…” They both remained silent as they both processed it. Naomi felt chilled and terrified at the thought that she nearly perished just hours before. Abby felt guilty beyond anything she had ever experienced before. She was just in time, but only barely. Had she hesitated a moment more, it was likely Naomi wouldn’t be there. But she was. Abby fully returned the hug, closing her eyes and letting the tears come as they wished. Naomi finally let her own tears fall, making two small trails down her face and dripping onto Abby’s hair. But the wolf didn’t care. If anything, it made her hold on tighter. Naomi’s body was soft. The juice in her midsection made her constantly look and feel bloated, and Abby’s arms pushed it out of the way in her embrace. If she could ignore it, she could pretend it wasn’t there. That it wasn’t always going to be there. Naomi felt the juice simply collecting around Abby’s arms, enveloping them as she held her ever tighter. It was sickening, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. To have her cousin hugging her, right here and right now; it was more comforting than any amount of apologies Abby could have given. The closeness and bond between them was tested. They were nearly torn apart from each other in a very gruesome fashion. And they were stronger. Naomi and Abby soon realized how dark it had become in the room, much time had passed. Abby’s hair was soaked from Naomi’s crying, but when the wolf looked up to the dog… They both bore the softest grin through the tears. - They were sitting in front of the fireplace, sipping their (now cold) hot chocolate before a roaring flame that cast a flickering light and comfortable warmth over the living room. They each stared into the flames, a hand locked in the other’s grasp. The presence of the other made all the difference. The pain they shared brought them mentally and physically closer than they could have ever hoped before. It felt good to be alive. It felt good to be with the other. They broke their staring contest with the flames simultaneously, looking at each other with a deep understanding. The pain was not gone. Far from it. But maybe it hurt a little less.