The Quarantine 15: Epilogue

One year and 6 months since the first lockdown

“This food is delicious, what a great spot.”

“There’s no question we’ll be back,” Emilio said with his mouth full of noodles.

The boys were at a new Chinese buffet that had opened up near their house, a strange anomaly in the post-Covid world. Indeed, they felt a bit nervous about attending a buffet, but they were vaccinated and took the risk. Besides, they were too hungry to pass up a new restaurant. They’d tried about every spot in a five mile radius and when a new one popped up it was cause for celebration. Plus, they had yet to experience a buffet now that they were both bonafide fatties.

With plates piled high they dug in. Alex was becoming so fluffy and caked in fat that his belly pushed and bulged against the table in front of him. Getting in and out of a booth was no longer an easy task, but he preferred this over a rickety chair that he poured off the sides of. Emilio wasn’t far off from having to squeeze into the booth. He had about an inch between his belly and the table that was rapidly growing closed as he filled up his tank.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Emilio said with another mouth full of noodles. “Do you remember that neighbor I told you about at my parent’s house? His name was Grant?”

“Refresh my memory…”

“He sorta came onto me awkwardly. Well, lo and behold he was a closet gainer/encourager all this time. He messaged me on Grommr! Can you believe it? He said he got divorced because he was gay and is now just discovering this kink. No doubt was he losing his shit watching my weight yo-yo before his eyes!”

“Is he cute? Should we send him a little belly play vid?” Alex grinned and patted his gut loudly. He was learning that public displays of pride in his weight drove Emilio wild.

“Why not,” Emilio said and took a massive bite of casserole.

By the time they finished their meal both men were bloated beyond belief. They had plans to meet Danny and Amir at a nearby gay bar but were growing sleepy with a food hangover. Wedging themselves free from the booth they waddled out of the restaurant, deciding to do a lap around the block in the hopes of waking up a bit.

“This was a dumb idea,” Alex said breathlessly. “I can’t… can you… can you believe that I’m winded from… from walking just a few yards.”

“It’s hot out babe,” Emilio replied, “and I’m sweating like a pig.”

“It’s just unbelievable. You look like a different person from when we first met. I’m not sure I would recognize either of us pre-quarantine. I mean your ass alone has doubled in size.”

“Yeah, and now it’s growing a swamp that rivals those in Florida! I’m dying, let’s get to the car.”

The swollen men piled into the car and headed to the bar. Alex was growing exhausted from all the activity. Simply exiting the car had become a chore lately; his belly was always in the way. This was evidenced all over Alex’s face as his cheeks had grown rosy with exertion and his mouth hung agape with heavy breathing. Nevertheless, they waddled inside and found Danny and Amir sitting on the back patio.

The couples hadn’t seen each other in some months and Danny and Amir seemed a bit shocked by the girth of their counterparts, particularly Alex. They didn’t need to say anything. Their eyeballs and expressions spoke volumes. However, Danny and Amir had continued to swell in size as well. None of the men were alone in experiencing the phenomena of the quarantine 15.

Amir wore a pale lavender polo shirt that complemented his skin tone and clung to every generous inch. He was undeniably a man with a belly. A good sixty pounds of chub rested at his midsection alone, his belly button visible through the overstretched fabric of the shirt. A small roll  formed atop his gut and below moobs that were beginning to sag. From behind he surely had several visible back roles. Still, Amir’s face remained relatively slim and had he been sitting behind a table one might not even suspect his obesity.

Danny, on the other hand, was smaller yet somehow more noticeably plump. The paunchy dad bod at his waist had swelled into a protuberant pot belly that looked like a baby bump. It didn’t help that he wore an Under Armour tee from his fit days that clung to his chub like a second skin. While Amir had juicy thighs and thick arms balancing out his chub, Danny’s weight was collected almost exclusively on his belly and face. His once chiseled features had softened under a double chin and chubby cheeks.

The four overgrown men squeezed next to each other on a bench on the back patio. It creaked beneath their weight. Their shoulders and love handles pressed against one another forming a continuous chain of pudge. In each man’s lap sat a well fed belly bulging against tight shirts. Their hands grasped frosty cold beers.

“I remember last summer one of you said something about when we return to gay bars that all the twinks will be fat. Was it you, Danny?” Emilio mentioned.

“I’m not sure, I think it was Amir.”

“Well, whoever it was was not off base. Look at that one and his friend over there.”

Across the bar stood a pale twink with a bleach blonde undercut and frail arms. His aqua blue tank top hugged a ring of pudge around his center that was only accentuated by skinny jeans on the verge of bursting open. He chatted with a friend, a black guy in equally ill-fitting clothes: a T-shirt that was riding up around the love handles and tight pants that struggled to stay up past his oversized ass. Judging by their collective lack of muscle mass it was evident these were some serious quarantine gains. Both men were undoubtedly dealing with their first 30 pounds.

“Yeah, that group too,” Amir motioned towards the other corner of the patio.

Over there stood a gaggle of gays sipping sugary drinks and gesticulating wildly. Their bellies subtly bounced and folded underneath going out clothes from a whole year ago. Almost everyone in the group was overweight to varying degrees. Most were like the blonde twink, a bit of pudge that refused concealment. Some were a bit heftier, sporting double chins and slight moobs. One guy was even pretty fat. All of them were bulging out of clothes that had surely sat dormant in their closets for the last year and a half.

“Damn,” muttered Alex, “Y’all are right. I don’t think there’s a bony butt in the bunch. Hell, makes me feel better about all this chubbery slowing me down lately.”

“Tell me about it,” the other three men said in unison.

“Say, how much have you two put on, if you don’t mind my asking?” inquired Danny.

“Oh boy, I don’t know about revealing that. It’s a lot, if you couldn’t tell…” Alex shyly responded.

“I weigh 257 pounds,” Emilio eagerly responded. “And I weighed 165 at the start of quarantine, so that’s what? Around 90 pounds gained? Can’t say I’m mad about it either!”

“Good for you,” congratulated Amir, “you look good as a thick guy. I’m about the same- around 250. That’s 50 gained during quarantine. Never thought I’d surpass 200 and here we are!”

“I’m at 215 but that’s a lot for me, I have a smaller frame and all,” Danny replied, “but honestly I don’t mind it and we’ll see what the future holds. I’m learning to be comfortable wherever I’m at.”

Alex sighed, “Okay… I guess I’ll divulge. It’s kinda shocking really but I guess you guys can see as much,” Alex patted the gut pooling onto his lap and sagging between his legs. “I’m pushing 400 pounds if you can believe it. And I was at 160 a year and a half ago… you do the math.”

“Wow,” Danny muttered.

“So 240 gained,” Emilio boasted. “And now I have double the man I love, couldn’t be happier.”

“Thanks, hun,” Alex said just as his stomach let out a loud grumble.

“Hungry already! This thing can’t be tamed,” Emilio said while slapping Alex’s gut loudly a few times.

A few of the nearby pudgy twinks turned when they heard the slapping and eyed the four overweight men on the drooping bench. They seemed to like what they saw, muttering to their friends who also turned and looked. A few made eye contact and smiled.

Amir laughed, “looks like these tanks have only upped our value on the market! These boys look hungry in more ways than one!”