Indegestion

When daylight broke through the windowsill Rogue winced and slowly turned around, sitting up to rub the daylight out of her eyes and stretch out a yawn. Getting up to her feet she already realized she was now… Larger. Each step sounded heavier and her inner thighs rubbed against each other when she walked towards her dresser and mirror.

“OK Rogue, time for the damage.”

The instant she spotted her reflection she didn’t like what she saw. Her once sharp features were now softened, giving her a rounded face and cheeks. Her arms were thick and pressed up against her now massive H cup breasts which had burst open her gown during her sleep. Her stomach was a soft round orb that pressed up against the dresser and even though she couldn’t see it she knew her ass was almost as wide as the desk. She wasn’t plump or just fat now… She was obese, and if her math was right, after eating 3 people she had to have weighed a little more than 400 pounds. She wanted to cry, her figure was ruined and all because of a mutant frog man that had tampered with her powers. Gathering her strength, she went over to her cloths and rummaged through what she had and what could fit. To her dismay… Not much. Everything she had was meant for a woman a third her size, even her favorite jacket no longer fit her. Eventually she found a large sweater to tie around her bust as a top and tied a blanket around her waist like a skirt.

Looking back at her reflection she posed for only a second before she slumped and began to sulk. “How could this get any worse?” A deep growl from her stomach was her answer. “Oh FUCK OFF! How can ah be hungry?!” Wringing her hands and shaking her fat stomach she glared at her belly and fumed. It was because of her new appetite she was in this mess and now it wanted more. Steeling herself she opened the door to her room and took a tentative step out to get something to eat, if she were lucky no one would notice her before she escaped back to her room.

“HOLY SHIT! ROGUE?!”

Bad luck seemed to like company when Marie found herself surrounded by students on their way to their morning classes.

“What the hell happened to you?”

“Oh my GOD, did you touch Blob last night?”

“Ewwwww!”

“That’s a HUGE bitch!”

Frowning at the shocked faces and whispers, Rogue shook her fists and cried out. “Everybody shut up!” To her amazement, they all did. Looking around the hallway, all of the students present had stopped talking, in fact they just stood there like time had stopped completely. Calming down, Rogue waddled over to one of the students and waved her hand over his face. Garnering no reaction. “What happened?” Staring deeper at the boy in front of her she gasped when she started seeing his memories and thoughts, seeing bits like what he chose to wear waking up, what he was planning for breakfast, even the song still stuck in his head. “Thank you, Emma…” Shaking her head she looked over to the rest of the throng of students and concentrated, setting them back into motion.

“Nothing to see here kids, ahm completely normal, just go on to class and ignore little ol me.”

Reacting like they all just woke up from something they went back to heading towards their classes. None the wiser of what had happened. Continuing to the kitchen Rogue looked to the classmen and went a bit further, projecting a thought into everyone’s heads that instead of a 400-pound woman waddling the halls, it was Rogue as she was BEFORE she absorbed Toad’s powers. Svelte and thin, she was wearing her trademark green and black costume with her favorite jacket.

Heading down the hall, she turned the corner and bumped into Megan Gwynn or Pixie as her classmates called her thanks to her iridescent wings. “Morning Miss Rogue, heading off to the kitchen? I think Mr. Logan is still there making coffee.”

Looking into the young girl’s mind, Rogue was relieved to see that the young pink haired girl only saw her old trim self, standing in front of her instead of the 400-pound whale she had become. “Why thank ya’ll sugah, don’t doddle you’ve got a class to get to.”

Seeing the student run off, Rogue wiped her forehead and sighed a breath of relief, for now she could cover for her physique until she fixed it, and hopefully fix her powers. Moving on, her stomach growled angrily again when she passed a few students running late, even scaring a few from the sound. Blushing and looking sheepish, Rogue quickened her pace, grimacing at how her bulk swayed with each step. Pausing to catch her breath a sudden thought came to mind, she was fat, like REALLY fat. What could this be doing to her body? For all she knew her added weight could drive her to have a heart attack or suffocate under her own weight if she collapsed, not to mention diabetes or kidney stones or any other health problem a woman of her weight would be… No! SHOULD be suffering. Flexing her arm all she could see was the thick layer of fat that now insulated her insides, the though made her go pale.

“Ah’ve got to do something about this, NOW!”

Finally crossing the doorframe of the kitchen, Rogue found the tea cup left behind when she ate Emma Frost, now cold and ignored on the table. Across the other side of the kitchen standing in front of the coffee maker was Wolverine, staring at the dripping kettle with a bored expression and a lit cigar in his mouth. Hearing a growl behind him, Logan looked back to find Rogue fidgeting at the door, looking exhausted and rubbing a hand over her flat green clad stomach. “Hey Rogue, made some coffee.” Blowing a plume of smoke from his cigar, the short X-man pulled himself a mug to pour his drink.

“Morning Logan, should you really be smoking this early in the morning?”

Snorting out a chuckle, Logan just smirked at the thin looking woman, wriggling the cigar between his fingers. “Heh, the fringe benefits of being me Rogue; can’t get sick and can’t get injured, perfect bill of health.”

Hearing those words, Rogue thought them over. Logan had the ability to regenerate, his healing factor made it so he could never suffer any kind of injury or ill condition no matter what state he was in. Hearing her stomach growl again, Rogue licked her lips, staring back at Wolverine. “Perfect bill of health…”

Pouring himself a cup of coffee, Logan set his cigar down to take a sip when he felt Rogue press up behind him, gently gripping at his shoulders yet showing incredible strength. “Uhm… Rogue?” Looking up, the last thing he saw was the ravenous gleam in her eyes before she opened her mouth and enveloped his head in her jaws. Caught off guard and muffling out cries of panic, Wolverine’s claws shot out of his knuckles, trying to flail around and cut the insane woman who by now started working her way down his shoulders. Gripping his arms tightly Rogue prevented him from doing anything short of just kicking wildly, but the claws did catch her attention when she lifted the small man up.

Focusing with her new powers of telepathy she entered Logan’s mind. “Stop struggling, ahm hungry and ah NEED you, so go unsheathe them claws, you angry house cat!” Feeling his body go limp in her arms and his claws retract back into his hands, Rogue finished what she had started, gulping him down bit by bit until his shoes finally passed her lips with one final swallow. Staggering back and leaning against the wall, she felt her stomach groan and churn, hard at work trying to digest her latest ‘meal’. “You’d understand Logan, ah can’t control mah hunger, if I kept goin around eating people Ah’d drop dead!”

At that moment, her stomach lurched and Rogue closed her eyes when a rush filled her veins. She could feel her insides change all at once; the strain on her back and joints lessened, her skin getting tighter and losing much of its sag. Inside her breathing and heart rate improved, her lungs and heart adapting to her now 500-pound bulk. Raising her arms, she felt a tightness knot at her wrists, starting off as an itch before becoming painful. Wincing, she gave a sigh of relief when three bony claws shot out between her knuckles. The wounds they caused healing instantly and letting the swelling die down. Breathing in deeply, Rogue took a quick glance at her retractable claws and sheathed them back into her knuckles, shivering at the sensation before looking down at her firm but round stomach. “Well Logan thanks for the gifts, ah didn’t WANT to gobble you up but it was either you or me.” Breathing in again Rogue felt a little distracted when she could smell practically EVERYTHING on the floor she was on. Just from the kitchen alone she could make out the next four classrooms down the hall, the deodorants and perfumes each student wore, the flower pot on Storm’s desk three doors down, the cleaning fluids from the closet across the hall. It was quite a bit to take in.

“And ah thought Emma’s powers were a bit much…”

Giving her head a shake, Rogue regained her composure and walked over to the coffee machine, taking Logan’s drink in her hands. Taking a long sip, she rubbed her stomach and sighed in relief that she was full, for now. “One problem out of the way, now how am ah gonna fix all this fat?” Rogue frowned when another thought occurred to her. "And then there's his adamantium skeleton to worry about," she said, looking at her heavy, sagging belly where Wolverine's body was being absorbed into her. "Oh, that's gonna be a bitch to pass, if ah can pass it at all..." She didn't really want to think about having adamantium bones stuck in her belly for the rest of her life, plus the claws they still had would be annoying to put up with. "Maybe if ah eat someone with phasing powers, or..." She blinked, and slapped herself. "Would y'all listen to yourself!" She said, giving her head a shake. "You're tryin' to fix this, not make it worse. You already ate Toad, Gambit, Emma and now Wolvie, you can't go... around..." Her voice trailed off when she saw someone at the doorway.

It was one of the students. Cessily Kincaid, the red-headed liquid metal girl known as Mercury. She was staring at Rogue with wide, metallic eyes and a nervous smile on her face. Seeing her lithe, slim body trembling, Rogue gulped nervously. "Um... Hiyah, Cess." She wasn't among the students making fun of her earlier she discovered with fright. She didn't get the mental whammy she placed on the others.

Mercury grinned weakly. "I was just... I wanted to ask Professor Logan about a paper for his class..." she said, giggling fearfully. "I... I guess he's not available right now..."

"Ah assure you, sugah, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this."

"Oh?" Mercury said, slowly backing away from Rogue, the frightened smile not leaving her face. "That's good... You can tell me about it... later..." She ran for it! Morphing into a wave of silver liquid and flowing down the hall at a shockingly fast speed.

"DANGIT!" Rogue shouted, chasing after her. “Come back here, you slippery eel.” Rogue called out, running as fast as her overweight frame could muster. Mercury slithered away for her life, darting past corners in the hallway looking for an escape, her slithering becoming more when she heard Rogue crash into a wall behind her. Rogue’s heavy footfalls stomped like some angry elephant or rhino, hell-bent on catching the amorphous mutant girl, already she could feel Logan’s bones rattle away in her stomach and feel the pin pricks of his claws scratch her stomach walls. “Ahm not gonna hurt ya girl, just wanna talk!”

Mercury didn’t want to hear a word of it, slithering past another corner her speed increased when she caught a ventilation grill and poured herself through it. Just when the tail end of her liquid metal body passed through the metal grate, Rogue’s fist slammed through it, trying to reach her. “Come on, come ON!” Squeezing through the grate was simply impossible for the bloated woman, her forearm was simply too fat for the 6-inch space to pass through. Sitting up and huffing in annoyance Rogue began to worry, closing her eyes she reached out with her new telepathy but all she got was the background noise of the rest of the school’s thoughts jumbling around in her head, indistinguishable from each other. “Stupid telepathy, wish these powers had a manual sometimes!” Picking herself up, her mind went straight to damage control. “OK Rogue, no big deal, right? What could she tell the others? That their little ol Southern Belle isn’t so little no more? Ah could talk mah way out of that… Unless she saw me eat Logan!” Sweating now, she wrung her hands around the fabric of the sweater she wore as a tube top. “Ah could bullshit mah way out of it, use these new mental powers ah got to think nothin’s wrong… Or I could eat’em.”

Hearing her stomach growl, Rogue glared down at her plump middle and shook it with her hands. “YOU shut up! It’s because of y’all that ahm in this mess!”

“Rogue? Who are you talking to? What happened to that vent?” Turning around sharply Rogue found Shadowcat cradling a couple books under her arm not 3 feet away, the phase shifter looked back at the mental projection of the thin and trim Rogue and fidgeted on the spot. “Oh, hi Kitty.” Smiled the woman standing up straight, sniffing the air and almost leering at the smaller woman. “Ah was just trying to catch up with Mercury, that lil trickster got wind of a secret is all.” Moving up closer Rogue sniffed the air again, noticing the smell of Kitty Pride’s shampoo still in her hair and the hint of perfume she wore.

“Really? What kind of secret?”

With a smile that seemed a bit too predatory, Rogue bent down to whisper into the woman’s ear. “Wanna hear it? You gotta promise me to keep it a secret if you wanna know.” Hesitant for a second Kitty nodded her head before a strange sensation of fatigue washed over her, closing her eyes she fell instantly to sleep with Rogue catching the petite woman in her arms, her telepathic command to make Kitty pass out, worked like a charm. Licking her lips, Rogue opened her mouth wide and pulled Shadowcat into her mouth. Stretching her jaws wide like a snake or toad, Rogue gulped the woman down head first. Grabbing hold of her arms she lifted her up and pulled her down her throat, the bulge in her neck getting larger when Kitty was nearly halfway down. Within a few minutes Rogue swallowed down the girl’s feet and lurched back against the wall, cradling her full stomach.

“Now to wait for the results…”

Hearing her stomach churn and groan it didn’t take long until Rogue felt Shadowcat’s powers add to hers, closing her eyes she put herself in a relaxed state and instantly the crystalline clank of a metal skeleton plopped to the ground, having been phased out of her stomach. “Aaaaaah, that’s better!” Looking down she found her stomach just a bit smaller now that a hundred-pound metal skeleton wasn’t weighing her down anymore. Apart from that she was surprised to find keys, pocket change, Emma’s earrings, metal buttons and a couple pants zippers on the ground as well… Along with her top and skirt.

“Oops, gotta remember that.” Picking up her makeshift clothing Rogue redressed and picked up Logan’s bones. Heading over to the window she opened it wide and tossed the bones into a bush underneath the window frame. “There! That aughta do it, now to deal with all this.” Bringing her hands to rub around the bulge of her round stomach, Rogue knew that she still had a long while to go if she were to shed, what? 400 pounds? “Well so long as these hunger pangs don’t hit maybe ah can go on a diet… Or ah can gobble up Mystique, dem powers would make me slim and trim in no time.” Catching herself, Marie frowned. “NO! Bad Rogue, maybe call up Beast, he’s got to be working on something to get rid of fat, right?”

Mulling it over in her head, the southern beauty came to a decision and waddled her way down into the sub levels.

*

After taking a trip towards the elevator and making her way down to the level where the black bird, lab, cerebro and danger room were located, Rogue hoped that the blue furred genius had something, ANYTHING that would fix this problem. “Should have gone to him first, dunno why I didn’t…” Stepping towards the lab door she opened it and peaked her head through. When she did, a delightful scent filled her nostrils, something she couldn’t quiet put her finger on.

“Hello?... Hank? Are you in here?” Knocking on the archway of the lab, the 500-pound woman waddled in and looked around, finding the place seemingly empty. Sniffing the air and still finding that alluring smell made her blush. Looking up, she found Beast hanging upside down, his feet gripping a steel pipe on the ceiling while going over some notes. “Good morning Rogue, how can I… LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO!!!

Losing his grip off the pipe and landing heavily on the floor, Beast snapped up with wide eyes at the massive bloated woman standing in front of him. It LOOKED like Rogue, but there was a tint of green to her skin and her eyes were black with red dots. THAT wasn’t what caught his attention though. What did was that she was almost 5 times her original weight! Almost three feet wide and twice that around, Rogue was now morbidly obese. Even more outlandish was that she was wearing makeshift cloths OUT of her cloths, wearing a sweater tied at the arms around her like a bikini top and a blanket around her broad waist. “ROGUE! What happened to you?!”

“That Toad got me during the attack in the city yesterday and ah ended up with his powers, now ah’ve been fattening up ever since.” She cied out, omitting what or whom she had been eating that made her so fat. “Can you help me doc?” Putting her hands together she pressed her cleavage up until it touched her chin, begging for his help. Her nipples were starting to tent in her top and she didn’t know why, she just seemed so… Flustered being near the doctor getting himself off the ground in front of her.

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do, here, lay on the table and we’ll do a scan to see what’s wrong.” Moving past the blue furred doctor, Rogue breathed in deeply and found the source of the scent filling her nostrils, it was him. Wolverine’s heightened senses must be picking up Hank’s masculine scent, something that was starting to stoke Rogue’s arousal the longer she was with him. Laying on the table, a scanning bar hovered over her bulk and traced past her head to toe. “Alright let’s see what’s wrong… Hmm… Despite being so… Well fat, your actually in good health, and… Huh.” Taping the screen, Hank zipped to a read out of her middle. Her stomach read like a black spot that couldn’t be scanned. “What?” Blushing deeper, Rogue turned to her side and lounged on the table, all she could smell now was Beast and it was starting to make her hot and bothered. “I can’t make out anything too specific now, but it seems that your stomach has changed completely, my scanners can’t even read it.” Typing a few commands off his screen, he still got no reading off of Rogue’s stomach. “It’s almost like its bouncing off the X-rays… Or absorbing them.” He was about to continue but he suddenly found a large mass pressed up against his back, with a pair of H cup breasts resting on his head and Rogue’s top dropping unceremoniously on the keyboard in front of him.

“Is that so doctor?” Breathed Rogue huskily, letting her hands roam over his furry chest. “What ahm ah going to do? Ahm scared Hank, ah need a big strong MAN to keep little ol me safe” Gripping at her skirt she plucked at the knot holding it around her waist and tossed the thing over to the side. Whatever self control she had coming into the lab was long gone now. Spun around in his chair, Beast found himself face first into the abyss of Rogue’s cleavage, one hand pressing the back of his head to keep him there, while the other drifted down to pull at his trunks. “Mfffgh, mghfff ffffgh, mfff!”

“What’s that Sugah?” Asked the massive woman, giggling to herself while toying with the hem of his shorts, when she finally pulled Beast away, he gasped for air. “Rogue! What’s gotten into you?!”

“You just smell…” Breathing in deeply Rogue gave the blue furred animal man a drunken look, her eyes glazed over with arousal. “Good.” Catching Beast off guard she kissed him, pressing her bulk against his chest and pinning him against the computer desk display. At this point Hank was struggling to hold back a naked woman twice his size from trying to get into his pants, pushing her away incited a moan just before she finally broke away and stared at him with a pout. “What’s the matter Hank? Not good enough for ya?”

“Rogue, I don’t know what’s happening to you, but you need to take control of yourself.”

“Or maybe ah need to take control of YOU!” Giving Beast an intense look, Rogue stared deep into Beasts eyes and used her new telepathy to enter his mind. Stopping his struggles, Beast’s mind went blank when she kissed him again, her hands finally grabbing hold of his trunks and prying them clean off to be tossed over her shoulder. “Now come on you big blue teddy bear, give ol Rogue some comforting…”

*

Slithering out of an air vent and regaining her physical form, Mercury stood up and looked around. In Charles Xavier’s master study, she found the man sitting by the window sipping tea and reading a book by his side.

“Professor! Professor I have to tell you something.”

Turning in his chair the master telepath smiled at the metallic girl, closing his book to have her attention. “Well good morning Miss Kincaid, what is it?”

“Professor!” Running up to his desk she wrung her hands at her chin and practically danced with anxiety. “I just saw Miss Rogue in the cafeteria, she was HUGE!!!”

“Well there was that incident with Toad the other day, perhaps…” Looking into the girl’s mind, Professor X’s face turned from comfort… To flat out confusion. In her mind Rogue didn’t have a pot belly like she did when she returned from the mission, she was flat out corpulent! So much so she was using clothes tied together just to BE clothes that fit her. Even stranger was the split-second image of what looked like Rogue eating a pair of shoes, whole! “Cessily dear…” Crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow, Charles let out a sigh to steel himself. “You have my attention.”

“MISSROGUEATEMRWOVLERINEANDSHECAUGHTMEFINDINGOUTANDCHASEDMEDOWNTHEHALLSBUTIJUMPEDINTOTHATVENTANDGOTAWAYANDNOWIDONTKNOWWHERESHE…”

“Slow down girl, I’m a mind reader, not a lip reader.” Seeing her pause and shake her head, Charles reached out with his mind to find his X-Men. Many were teaching classes or were on break, but some were just flat out gone. He couldn’t sense Gambit, or Emma, or Kitty OR Wolverine for that matter.

*

The lab looked like a stampede had ran though it. Tables and chairs were broken and ruined on the floor, along with glass vials and containers that had been smashed and broken on impact. Sparks flew from a broken overhead light and the cracked screen of the computer desk continued to blip out broken data.

At the center of it all Rogue laid on her back while a drooling Beast plowed into her, her one leg wrapped around his waist while the other was hoisted over his shoulder. When she had taken hold of his mind she had done a number on his wits, reducing him to an animal in the rut, the pair had done it in almost every position and corner of the lab. Breaking everything in the process.

“THAT’S IT! More! Harder, HARDER!” Crying out at the top of her lungs, she could feel Beast plumb deeper into her womanly depths, grunting with effort and damp with sweat. Unable to stop yet unable to keep going, Hank looked at the brink of exhaustion, panting for air before tensing up and groaning out when Rogue’s pussy clenched around his cock. “YEEEEEeesssssss…..” Both sharing an explosive orgasm, Beast finally had too much and passed out right on top of Rogue’s stomach and tits. Panting and sweating herself, Rogue hummed and moaned in post coital bliss, still half drunk with lust and squirming on the floor. A low growl filled the lab and Rogue smirked, giggling to herself while she panted for air.

“Guess ol that exercise made me peckish…” Playfully petting Hank’s hair with her fingers she slowly pulled him up her stomach and bust. “Why not have a snack…” Opening her mouth wide, Rogue wrapped her lips around his head and began the slow process of pulling him down her throat. Her neck bulging wider the further Beast went down, her green lips stretching impossibly wide to swallow what had to be the biggest meal she had eaten yet. When his clawed toes passed her lips, the rest of the day’s events had finally caught up to her and she passed out on the floor, her meal bulging her stomach out like an orb just before sleep claimed her.

Hours had passed, with Rogue slowly opening her eyes, stirring awake after what felt like a weird dream. Rolling onto her side she went to scratch an itch behind her ear, stopping instantly when her hand felt shaggy fur. “What the…” Bringing her arm up to her face she found her skin covered in thick blue fur, her fingers sporting black clawed finger nails that looked sharp as razors. Looking down she found herself completely covered in blue fur from head to toe, her feet sporting the same claws as her hands. Rolling up to a sitting position she managed to lift herself up to her feet, wavering slightly when her now larger stomach nearly sent her falling forward.

“Aww come ON!”

Turning around she looked at her reflection through the polished metal of the wall, leaning closer to get a better look at her face. Her ears were now pointed, her nose the only bare bit of skin on her face, which looked more at home on the snout of a bear or lion. Stepping back with her feet pads thumping heavily, Rogue looked like some big, fat, blue grizzly bear. “How did this happen?! All ah did was come in here to ask Beast for help and… He DID smell pretty good.” Trying to remember back she grimaced when she remembered being drunk with arousal and practically pouncing on her former friend… Then eating him “Ah can’t believe it, ah got Wolvie’s senses and it turns me into a nympho? Logan wasn’t a skirt chaser!... Except when he was chasin Jean around, or that time with Storm, and Psylock, and… And… AH FUCK ME!” Slamming her fist against the nearby table, Rogue left behind a nasty dent. Whatever she could do to hide her situation, it was impossible now. Close to 800 pounds and looking like the cookie monster after he ate the bakery, Rogue stressed and worried what her next step should be. “How can this get any worse?”

And just like that Rogue felt Xavier’s voice in her head. “Rogue? This is Charles, I’ve been having a conversation with Miss Kincaid and well, it seems she found you in worse straights, mind telling me more?”

A cold chill ran down her back when she heard his voice, panicking, she thought quickly. “Uhm… Ah’ve just been under the weather after that ol’ Toad gave me green skin is all.” With her new telepathic powers, she tried to keep the memories of just about everything she had been doing hidden from the professor. For a moment, there was silence before she felt his voice again in her head. “Very well, by the way, I’ve noticed that some of our staff are missing, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would you?”

“No, apart from Mercury and Beast ah’ve not bumped into anyone else.” Again, keeping her memories hidden she waited for the professor to respond. “Very well then, I’ll head down to cerebro to get a better chance at finding them.”

Going blank, Rogue worried. Shifting back and forth and biting her thumb, the gigantic furry woman thought about what she could do to fix it, that is if she COULD!

“What ahm ah gonna do? WHAT AHM AH GONNA DO?!” Pacing heavily in the lab, the massive blue furry woman began to panic. Her appetite wasn’t just a little problem anymore… She was Huge! Heck if it wasn’t for her inhuman strength she’d be immobile right now, she kind of wished she was at this moment, at least it would keep her from gobbling up anyone else. Even the idea of eating another person made her stomach growl. “Oh, Fuck OFF! Who do you want me to eat NOW huh?” Grabbing hold of the bulk of her blue furry stomach she gave her bulbous middle a rough shake, baring her new sharp teeth in rage. “Who else do you want on the damn menu? Cyclops? Colossus? Maybe ah should go over to the cells and gobble up…”

Mystique, the shape-shifting leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants. After the X-Men had defeated them, Xavier had them put into the dampening cells in the lower levels until they could be transported to Genosha. With her powers, she could revert herself back to her original shape, with her powers she could transform herself back to looking normal. Eagerly gambling on the possibility, Rogue stomped her way out of the lab and nearly got caught on the doorframe trying to get out. Making her way down the halls she could already smell the blue woman in the large room at the next turn, licking her lips in anticipation.