Next week, Brianna is starting to look a little soft.

(This chapter originally by "MightyHalberd")

Luckily, your new job did turn out to be more then just screwing in light bulbs. A week into the job and with the nitty gritty surface level issues taken care of you were starting to quite literally get your hands dirty and start dealing with the real issues on the station. And of course, now that you were doing something that couldn't be replicated by a walking toaster with a spreadsheet, you started to really settle into your new life, getting a feel for the layout of the station and the culture and the lifestyle of Omicron.

It helped that you weren't the only one new to the station anymore.

"Filter's replaced," you announced after climbing out of the air duct, holding out the hideously dirty bit of synthetic material you pulled out of the system. "That should be the last one on this level."

"Euugh..." your new co-worker Garwa shuddered, her voice tinny and muffled. "Were I not afraid of opening my mouth lest I vomit, I would commend the durability of human lungs."

"You and me both," you reply, chucking the old filter into the incinerator nearby. "After today I kind of wish I had my own personal air supply."

"It's far more trouble then it is worth," she replied, adjusting the mask over her mouth and nose. "But if you so desire I can procure one for you."

You chuckle lightly as the two of you pack up your equipment for the day. Admittedly, you were surprised when your co-worker turned out to be a Selanian, and moreso when you turned out to get along pretty well. The gray-skinned aquatic aliens that needed rebreathers to live among humans were pretty renowned for being cold and calculating bureaucratic types, more suited to the halls of corporations or governments (oftentimes one and the same, really), but while she was certainly stoic and serious, you didn't expect her to have such a dry wit or as little patience for bullshit as you had, and you quickly became fast friends after exchanging jokes about exactly where a particularly anal-retentive researcher could stick his replacement light bulbs.

"I think I might just spend a couple hours in the shower after dinner," you say, wiping off your hands on a rag. "Were Selanian stations this bad when you worked there?"

"Contrary to stereotype, my kind is no less dysfunctional and, on occasion, repulsively sloppy as your own," Garwa said, folding her hands behind her back as the pair. "And from what I understand, our watertight ships were even more detestable in their sanitation."

"Very inspiring," you comment as the pair of you saunter into the cafeteria. You wonder what's on the menu today before you spot a familiar face sitting at a table nearby, already halfway through a cheese steak.

"Brianna!" you announce brightly.

"Mmph?" she mumbles through a full mouth as she glances up at you.

"Haven't seen you in a while how are...you..."

You trail off as you get a good look at her. It has been a week since you ran across one another, but you distinctly remember her being thin, almost bony with a well-defined chin and an a lithe physique. That almost certainly didn't hold true anymore; beneath her lab coat you could see the pronounced curve of a belly pushing up over her belt, and at the right angle her angular facial features have definitely softened somewhat. Maybe it was your imagination run wild, but it looked like her hips were a little wider as well, and her chest...well, she HAD a chest now.

"...doing fine, shanks..." Brianna finished your trailing-off question for you. "Just...mmf...hungry..." You winced, realizing that you let your kink get the better of you and you've been ogling her changing physique instead of speaking. If she was offended or even noticed the slight though, she didn't show it, instead focusing on the last few bites of her meal.

"Is this an acquaintance of yours?" Garwa asked, bowing her head slightly as she came up next to you. "Well met, I am Garwa of house Chosam. By what means do you know of my friend here, Mr.-"

"Nice to meet you too Garwa," Brianna said, cutting her off. "But I have to get going. I've overstayed my dinner break and I need to get back to the lab. Great to see you again!" Giving you a quick smile and grasping your hand briefly, ignoring your friend entirely, she bolts out of the cafeteria, her more shapely rear end bouncing ever so slightly on her way out the door.

"Your friend is rotund," Garwa stated as bluntly as possible the second she was out of earshot.

"I noticed," you admit, tapping your foot nervously. Your thoughts immediately turn to those yellow berries, wondering if the extra pounds she carried may have been related.

"You are not worried for her health, are you?" your co-worker asks. "It is my understanding that modern medicine has alleviated or cured many conditions that arise or coincide with excessive body fat."

"It's not that...it's..." You take a deep breath, debating whether you should just be blabbing about her little experiment, given that it was entirely allowed. That being said, it wasn't illegal as far as you know, and you had the impression that Garwa would have figured it out in time anyway. "I helped her with a side project last week, trying out some berries she had. I'm wondering if they did something to her."

"...I have never heard of such a phenomenon," Garwa said, crossing her arms again. "Are you certain there is not a more mundane reason behind her slight gain? Occam's Razor is the term your philosophers use, I believe."

"Between you and me, I flunked philosophy," you tell her.