(This story contains male weight gain. It also contains egregious misrepresentations of quantum physics, so if you know anything about that topic, I’m sorry.)
Juan and Andy walked down the sidewalk hand-in-hand on a warm September day. Their matching polos and khaki shorts matched the weather well, all light colors and loose fits. The two men were both on the thinner side, but weren't the type to show that off if the occasion didn't call for it. So they wore clothes that hung loosely around their body, able to breathe and keep them cool on a day like that.
“You really didn't have to get me something this… grandiose,” Andy insisted.
“Oh hush,” Juan teased. “Five years together is a big deal. And besides, it’s a present to both of us.”
“Right. How does it work again?”
“I’m sure the researcher can explain it better than I can. All I know is that by the end, we’ll have the perfect sex toy for us to share.”
“Maybe it’ll be some kind of double-sided strap on. Something to please you while you’re topping me.” An old man passing the two gave them a stare with his mouth hanging slightly open, before he kept walking.
“Ooh, that’s genius!” Juan said as he looked up at his much-taller boyfriend. “I hope we get that.”
“Can we make requests?” Andy said with a smile.
“I don't think so,” Juan admitted. “But I guess we’ll see when we get there.”
As the two were walking, they crossed paths with a very heavyset man who was walking the opposite way. He wore a blue tee shirt that draped over his ample belly, looking like a large sack of grain as it stuck out rotund over his athletic shorts. He ambled toward the two with his arms swinging widely and his spherical belly bouncing as each foot hit the sidewalk. He was the largest man either of them had seen in quite some time, and they couldn't help but steal some covert glances as he walked by.
“Damn,” Juan whispered once they were out of earshot.
“Yeah,” Andy agreed wistfully.
It didn't take much longer for the two to arrive at their destination, the quantum physics research building at the local university. Juan had worried they’d have a hard time finding the room, but they immediately spotted a sign to point them to their destination: Project Pleasure.
“Seems rather on the nose,” Andy remarked.
“Probably good for publicity,” Juan said. “Well, we’re thirteen minutes ahead of schedule. Should we walk around a bit?”
“Nah. Maybe if we go in now, they’ll take us early.”
After they walked in, the two found themselves in a small, white room, with a sign asking them to sign in on the tablet securely latched to the table. After Juan did the honors, the two sat down, before they were greeted by the opening of the other door in the room a few minutes later.
“Hi,” the scrawny young man asked. Juan reasoned he was probably a research assistant, maybe an intern. “Are you Juan and Andy?”
“Yep,” the two said in unison.
“Okay, great,” he mumbled as he looked at his clipboard. “Please follow me.”
The two followed the assistant down a short hallway, before they entered a much bigger room than the previous one. The room had several desks with computers on them, but the centerpiece was the configuration in the middle. There were two chairs with screens and wires attached to small sensors, and in the center, a platform with several large mechanical arms pointing at it. And standing admiring it was a woman in a lab coat who turned around as the two came in, her waist black hair floating up as she did. “Hello! You must be Juan and Andy.”
