inflatable – deep future

Poolbunny (commission)

A commission for @poutine_sheep!

It was a cold, cold January day – and, naturally, Emmy was spending it as he usually did. Bundled up beneath a blanket or two, alternating between playing games and watching the occasional movie that caught his eye as he scrolled through the seemingly endless list of cable channels.

The world outside was blanketed in snow and ice – which, maybe, was why the sheep was so surprised when their doorbell rang, and soon enough Cai had joined them on their couch, snowed in and content.

The movie the two had been watching finally drew to an end, credits being cut off by a commercial – one of a pair of beachgoers enjoying the sun, some sort of inflatable flamingo toy being tossed around further down the beach.

“Ugh, winter’s just too cold,” Cai said aloud, tugging their own blanket a little tighter. “Summer’s more my season, even if you guys don’t really get it up here.”

“Winter’s fine,” Emmy rebutted, shrugging. “Get to stay warm and cozy, even if the snow and ice isn’t great.”

“What, not a fan of the beach?”

“I like it! Just… haven’t been, much.”

“Really?” Cai blinked.

“Not exactly the closest thing to visit,” Emmy shrugged.

The conversation dragged for a moment, before, absently, the sheep mentioned… inflatables. The flamingo was back on screen, grinning as it bounced around in the waves. It looked… inviting. Nice, even.

“Probably… nice, you know? All floaty.”

“What, being an inflatable?” Cai asked, a curious look on their face as they snuggled a bit closer, leaning on the sheep.

“Yeah, like… I don’t know. Hard to explain.”

“…Given the chance,” Cai began, eyes twinkling. “Would you?”

“Oh…” Emmy trailed off, thinking. Would he?

“…Yeah, I think so.”

The next thing Emmy knew, they’d been gently pulled to the side – and the bunny had pressed their nose to his, meeting the sheep’s gaze.

“Let’s see, eh?”

The next thing Emmy knew, the bunny had kissed him – completely bewildering the sheep, until, after a moment, their cheeks suddenly… filled with air.

Huh?

Cai took a deep, deep breath, puffing into Emmy with all the care of someone inflating a raft for a day on the waves, and to the sheep’s amazement (and concern) they felt their tummy begin to rise, displacing the blanket as beneath his clothing the sheep’s wool began to smooth over, gently squeaking and squirking as it swelled.

Emmy didn’t know it, but as puff after puff was forced in through the sheep’s soft, pliable snout, he began to get… bigger. Slowly, at first, as puff after puff rounded the sheep, but soon noticeably enough that the blanket wasn’t exactly covering much of him anymore…

..revealing, to Emmy’s surprise, off-yellows and creams, his tummy no longer held beneath the shirt he’d been relaxing in, swollen as it was. Cai, taking a break from filling their friend, grabbed the tummy between their paws, giving it a long, squeaky rub.

“Everything you hoped for?” The bunny asked, grinning up at Emmy in a bucktoothed beam.

“Y-Yeah…” The sheep breathed, giving his swollen, off-color tummy a prod. It gave beneath his hoof like… an inflatable, would. The colors weren’t his, but… if anything, that made him excited.

“Keep going?” Cai offered.

Emmy merely nodded, enjoying the sensation as the bunny scooted over, climbing onto his swollen tummy and lay on him like an airbed, snouts pressed together.

Cai, again, took a deep breath – and pushed more warm, comforting air into the sheep, bursting the buttons on Emmy’s pants and shortening his legs somewhat – hooves beginning to slowly, methodically puff up into inflatable bunny paws, if a few sizes too large.

The bunny guided the transformation, sometimes slow, sometimes quicker, rubbing and squeaking and squeezing at Emmy as more and more of him began to become an inflatable copy – wool shrinking away as it was replaced with painted plastic, internals dwindling away into so much warm, comforting bunny air.

Emmy grew – twice, three times their original size as the bunny puffed, and puffed, the poor couch starting to run out of space as the changes crawled ever higher. A valve, the hallmark of a toy, began to sprout as Cai sprawled across the toy’s huge chest – then a barcode, dotting Emmy’s thigh.

The sheep’s ears stretched, towering, overinflated shapes reminiscent of the bunny filling him – and then came the hair, a molded, bright blond mess of seamed plastic and air. Emmy could barely focus, so lost in the bliss of being so light, and full, and… bunny! They weren’t round by any stretch of the imagination, merely… big! Soft. Squeaky.

Just like he’d wanted.

“Ready?” Cai said, finally, looking the sheep in the face.

“Hm?” Emmy replied, dreamily.

Cai didn’t wait – grabbing the sheep’s cheeks gently but firmly, and beginning to rub – rubbing and massaging and gently squeaking the remaining wool as it, too began to soften and yellow, inflating beneath their paws into the soft, pliable cheeks of an inflatable bunny. Emmy’s eyes began to change, square pupils first lightening to a bright blue – and then changing entirely, rounding out and flattening into the printed decals of an inflatable Cai.

His snout, too, didn’t escape unscathed – gaining a brand new printed-on pink nose and a little plastic bucktooth, shortening considerably!

Lightheaded from the change, the two giggled at each other – and, with a squeeze, Cai hugged… themself.

“Well,” Cai said after a moment, poking Emmy’s nose.

“How is it?”

The sheep-turned-toybunny thought for a moment, resting a cushion-sized pooltoy paw on the bunny.

“…Different.”

You’re Hired! (commission)

A commission for a friend!

As far as Ollie knew, the old Bucky’s Starcade arcade had been abandoned for decades. At least as far back as his dad’s childhood, the empty space on Coral Street had stood stark, and abandoned – slowly decaying away as the town around it moved on, bright and growing.

Maybe it was the faded announcements of 70s retro-games and the promise of unexplored urban space that drew the dog in – or maybe, just maybe, Ollie wanted to be the first to step inside for who knew how long. Maybe they’d always been curious what lay behind the boarded up windows and fogged over front door, permanently affixed with a “Sorry, We’re Closed” sign that stood in stark contrast to the building with its bright reds and whites.

So, it was with a frankly brave amount of courage that the dog pushed open the front door one sunny afternoon, tugging their phone free of their pocket and clicking on the flashlight. The lock had rusted through, revealing a room full of dusty arcade games in various states of disrepair… but, oddly, nowhere near as bad as nearly fifty years of neglect would have suggested. It looked almost… new?

Bewilderingly so, as Ollie realized the place was less of an arcade and more of a play… center? Nothing outside had suggested this – maybe an owner or the company that’d run the place had kept it clean, inside?

As the dog’s eyes adjusted to the dark, they realized a few things. First, the place apparently still had power – red exit signs glowing in the dark, a little faded but definitely intact.

Second, the arcade had a few oddly out-of-place items scattered around, like an old ball pit and a plastic play place. Still, as Ollie wandered around, snapping a few photos to show his friends later, the place felt… homey. Nostalgic, in a way the dog couldn’t really quite place. It must’ve been quite the hangout spot in its heyday, all wood grain and old posters. Oddly enough, most of the posters included a yellow bunny – clearly the place’s mascot – drifting around cartoon stars, or dressed in almost Flash Gordon-esque spacesuits. There’d even been a statue of it near the entrance, tall and oddly… shiny.

The dog was in the middle of photographing an old Space Ace machine when, to his incredible surprise (and slight horror) the lights turned on. First a bright white, then… yellowing?

Bright, clearly relatively new – and a sign that this place wasn’t quite abandoned, yet. Ollie’s thoughts shot to it having a security guard, the dog spinning around to explain how he’d definitely just gotten lost and wanted to go home…

…and coming face to face with one of the strangest sights he’d ever seen. A big, slightly see-through tummy, multicolored shapes scattered around inside. Ollie’s gaze drifted up, across squeaky paws and arms, to the huge, grinning face of a bunny.

An enormous, ten foot tall inflatable bunny, yellowing the fluorescent lights shining down through it. The mascot statue hadn’t been a statue at all?!

“UH?”

“A new hire?! And I wasn’t TOLD?”

“YOU TALK?”

Ollie was so taken aback, in fact, that he froze in place – just in time for the huge bunny to heft him up under the arms, lifting the bewildered dog to eye-level.

“Where’s your outfit? You’re not in uniform!”

“I don’t work here-!” He protested, confused.

The bunny clearly wasn’t listening – as, with a wink, it opened wide, stuffing the puppy in with all the care of someone taking a bite out of their lunch.

The slick plastic was about impossible for Ollie to find a grip on, pushing against the stretchy vinyl and only managing to deform it slightly. It also didn’t help, unfortunately, that the phone slipped out of his pocket, sliding away onto the carpeted floor of the arcade as its owner was swallowed with a loud, greedy squirk.

Ollie didn’t fall far, landing with a thud in the huge toy’s tummy amidst a veritable sea of plastic balls.

“LET ME OUT,” he shouted, pressing his paws into the interior of its tummy, but… to no avail. In fact, the act of doing so made his paws feel odd.

Weird. Sticky?

With a huff, Ollie plopped down on the “floor”, kicking a few balls away. Surely somebody would see him in here?

He thought about calling for help, but… the phone laying in view outside of the toy rabbit crossed that off the list. Maybe he could…

Could.

Ollie frowned. His thoughts, for some reason, kept returning to toys. Toy rabbits. Toy dogs?

It confused him, enough that he rubbed his chin-

Squirk.

Ollie blinked, glancing down – and blanched, as much as a white-furred dog could. His tummy, before his very eyes, had begun to swell. A new bump had appeared in the middle, tenting his shirt outwards, and with shaky hands he tugged the fabric back to reveal a very soft and slightly pink inflatable valve, quietly hissing as air began to fill the dog’s midsection.

T-The toy had to be doing this, right? He had to… to…!

Squeaking, Ollie stood up – legs almost giving out as he realized they, too, had begun to become simple plastic and air, filling out his shorts as the waistband began to force pressure into his tail.

Climbing was out of the question, it was far too steep and slick – and the bunny toy hadn’t moved in a little while.

It seemed content to watch.

“Let me out!”

No reply came, aside from a big, bucktoothed grin.

The changes climbed downwards, Ollie’s toes sticking together as his footpaws inflated into big, toyish paws with painted-on pawpads, tummy riding his shirt up as a brand new barcode faded in on their see-through side.

“P-Please?”

Higher it climbed, spreading down his arms in a cascade of squeaks and hissing as it met the already-changed paws from the dog’s earlier contact with the tummy, rendering their paws largely entertainment use only.

Their clothes, too, seemed to have begun to succumb – shorts tearing down the sides as his air-filled thighs simply proved too full to hold, shirt flattening out as it slowly shifted from real, red fabric to a new printed-on red-and-white striped pattern on the inflatable toy dog Ollie was becoming!

Ollie’s neck was next, gaining a printed-on big blue collar as his mouth began to taste ever so faintly of vinyl – and, as the changes reached his head, the puppy was stricken with the worst case of lightheadedness he’d ever felt.

In… fact, all he seemed to be able to think of was how nice it was to be a toy. Right?

He’d been hired today as one, after all. Can’t reopen an entertainment business without entertainers…?

Ollie’s paws slowly raised to his face, cupping his snout as it swelled and stretched and reshaped into a cartoonish vinyl recreation of itself, glasses molding themselves perfectly into place with only the faintest of painted-on reflections, and, after a few moments, it was finished.

The dazed toy plopped down on the ruins of his shorts, swaying slightly.

“Well, someone’s ready for their first shift,” The big toybunny giggled, giving its tummy a pat.

“Welcome aboard!”

Salvage Trouble (commission)

A commission for @vanillayote on twitter!

“Delivery for… uh, Ran?”

The coyote blinked, looking up from their desk at the newcomer who was hanging around the entrance to the salvage shop, a hovering dolly loaded with a crate or two of miscellaneous junk drifting behind him like a lost duckling.

“…Rain?”

“…Sure,” The delivery man shrugged, holding the pad out as the coyote crossed the shop and placed a palm against it. It dinged a confirmation chime, lighting up bright green as the dolly hovered inside – and, unceremoniously, dumped the boxes on the floor.

“Have a good day!” The delivery man said cheerily, turning on a heel and wandering back out into the busy exterior of the station’s dock district – leaving the confused coyote and the two mystery boxes in the middle of his shop, standing out starkly as clean and white against the shelves upon shelves of random starship parts and scrap they’d managed to accrue over the last year and a half, mostly from the various scrappers and salvagers who frequented the docks.

Maybe that was who’d left these for them?

Rain hefted one of the crates, peeking at the label – merely listing where it was to be delivered and to who, but… little else. Their contents were marked as scrap, so, at the very least, he had new inventory… but…

After a few moments, Rain simply shrugged. Oh, well. A good samaritan sending leftovers to be resold wasn’t exactly a bad thing, was it?

They did have to at the very least sort through it, though – which was where their own dolly came into play, scooping the two crates up and carrying them into the back for proper inventory and sorting.

The first few pieces they’d gone through were standard fare – burnt out control circuits, a valve for a MKXIV plasma conduit on an old backup reactor, a few old couplings – but, as they made it to the second crate and sent their few helper drones away to place the first crate’s new inventory in its proper places, something caught their eye.

Sitting atop the contents of the second crate was a curious square object – brassy and rectangular, inset with three sets of vertical blue lines. It reminded them vaguely of some sort of datapad, but… seemed off, somehow.

Curious, Rain plucked the object from the pile. It was surprisingly heavy, given its size – but lighter than the materials would’ve implied, already giving the junk dealer some ideas about composition – and possible sale prices.

At least, they were; their paw suddenly exploding outwards into a couch cushion sized inflatable paw slightly ruined that train of thought.

“WHAT.”

The tiny object was catapulted into the front of the store, landing in a pile of junk with a clatter – as Rain’s predicament, naturally, began to worsen. Their outfit began to tighten as his body underneath began to expand, fur flattening out into soft, pliable plastic – their attempts to tug at it with his still-unchanged paw eliciting enough squeaks to give the confused coyote enough clues to piece together what exactly might’ve been happening.

“OH THIS SUCKS,” Rain shouted to nobody in particular as their pant legs shredded, new inflatable thighs expanding outwards until they were practically the size of chairs themselves, the coyote managing to stumble and squeeze their way back out into the front of the store just in time for their tail to knock over a few shelves, expanding out into a ridiculous size and gaining a brand new valve of its own.

They tried to scramble for the pile of junk they’d seen the little device land inside, only to suddenly feel their midsection wedge against the ceiling – the loud hiss of expanding plastic playing about the coyote’s ears as they scrambled against the floor, squeaking and squirking without moving an inch. Then, suddenly, their other paw followed suit – rocketing outwards into a shelf to their left, knocking the shelf over with a loud clatter before it began expanding outwards and upwards, overshadowing the coyote’s still normal-sized chest and head! At least, until the hissing suddenly grew louder.

And closer.

Uh-oh.

With a loud FWOOMP, Rain’s muzzle suddenly shot outwards – printing itself on as a huge expanse of softly rounded plastic, cheeks falling victim a moment later!

“MMPH?” The coyote squeaked in protest – but, as expected, it wasn’t of much help. Their ears followed a moment later, and as the hissing grew even louder, Rain found that they’d become an enormous inflatable coyote – and at the rate they were expanding, there wouldn’t be an inch left in the already cramped and mostly-filled store that they hadn’t covered…!

A few hours later, a rabbit stepped off of the station’s lift – squinting at their little wristpad for the map the dockmaster had given them. A few turns, a trip down the stars, and some walking later, and they felt as if they should have arrived… right? Wasn’t the salvage shop supposed to be…

They skidded to a stop, glancing first at the store in front of them – and then through the glass, a huge slightly-see-through mass of… something, squishing up against it.

A huge black nose and a pair of worried eyes were pressed up to the front doors of the shop, bulging out into the station’s walkway ever so slightly.

“…I think I’ll come back later?” The rabbit managed, blinking a few times.

“You, uh, seem… busy.”

Beach Day

A gift I wrote for a friend! :>

It was a clear, sunny summer day – and, as far as Cai was concerned, perfect weather for a nice day out in the surf and sun after a long, long winter!

The rabbit whistled to themself as they unbundled their beach supplies, spreading a little towel out on the sand and carefully driving the umbrella’s pole into the ground, shading their little secluded corner of the beach just enough to cool it off beneath the warm May sky. Further down the beach, a few beachgoers and out-of-towners were enjoying the surf, the wind carrying the sounds of distant music and laughter their way as the rabbit sprawled out in their chair, intent on spending a few hours relaxing.

That was, at least, until something rolled up to their chair – bouncing off of it with a soft “thoomp” and plopping to the sand unceremoniously, shaking the bunny out of their reverie and drawing their gaze downwards.

A… toy?

A small, lime green pooltoy ring, about bunny-size, with little hold-on handles around the edges.

Lifting their sunglasses, the bunny glances back up the beach – but doesn’t see anyone chasing after it. Maybe it’d just been rolling for… miles? It was a windy day, after all.

Shrugging to themself, Cai slid out of their chair, giving the ring a quick visual once-over to make sure it hadn’t damaged itself in its long tumble, before planting their paws on their hips and gazing out at the ocean.

Blue, calm, and awfully inviting – it was starting to get a bit warm on the sand, anyway. Why not take a quick dip? Couldn’t hurt, could it?

Already imagining the cool water against their fur, the bunny eagerly plucked the ring up from the sand, pulling it over their head…

…and immediately being struck by the most intense sense of dizziness they’d ever felt, the poolring sliding down their body until it unceremoniously wedged itself around their tummy – which, promptly, expanded out around it.

Their vision sprung upwards, causing the rabbit to wobble – before, after a moment, it all cleared up, leaving Cai confused and… frankly, bewildered.

For one, their vision was a few good feet higher than it had been before they’d tugged the ring on – something revealed to be symptomatic of a much bigger change a moment later when they glanced downwards, new painted-on eyes and grin meeting their new rounded, flat-bottomed inflatable dinosaur hands and huge pear-shaped tummy, valve sticking out just over the top of the ring as if to hammer home that it, in fact, had been responsible.

“Mmph?!” Cai exclaimed – though it was more of an extended squeak than anything more substantial.

Down the beach, Mole skidded to a stop – suddenly stricken by the strangest sense of dizziness.

“Ugh…”

Instantly, he froze – hands flying to his face, brand new soft rabbit paws prodding at the unfamiliar snout and hair, then the long ears.

“Uh-oh.”

Everything below his waistling remained unchanged, for the most part; huge dinosaur stompy paws and his big, inflatable tail – but who knew how long that would last? He had to find that ring, quick!

Back up the beach, Cai was trying their best to tug the ring back up over the valve – bracing it against the chair, grabbing it as best they could without fingers, even considering, for a moment, trying to gesture to the closest beachgoers that they needed help – but it seemed the spot they’d picked for being secluded had, in fact, succeeded in that front.

Finally, as they gave the ring one last enormous tug, a loud SQUIRK reached their ears – and, unceremoniously, the pooltoy ring dropped to the sand.

Cai’s trunks vanished as it passed by – a huge, inflatable dinosaur tail springing forth like a flood of green vinyl, slapping the sand and knocking the chair over. Their paws swelled into big toy dinosaur feet, dainty rabbit toes replaced by chunky plastic and painted-on decals – and, as Cai wobbled, the wind tripped them up…

…sending the big inflatable dinosaur tumbling to the sand, grumbling internally.

Before their very eyes, the wind picked up again – and the ring began to wobble, before with one great gust, it took off, bouncing across the sand into the distance!

“Hey! Stop that ring!”

Cai blinked in surprise as a short yellow rabbit skidded to a stop just next to their chair, panting – though it wasn’t the similarity of his outfit that surprised them.

It was… well. It was Cai!

“You, uh, put the ring on, huh?” The rabbit asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of their head. “Sorry about that! I’ll… uh, go get it!”

With that, he darted off – leaving a very confused inflatable sprawled out on the sand, watching the ring – and rabbit – disappear into the distance.

…Some beach day this was.

New Merchandise Wanted (commission)

A commission for @snouttalk on twitter!

“Help Wanted.”

…What kind of pool supply store hired in January, anyway? Was there a demand for pool stuff in the off season?

Arno frowned, crossing their arms. Heated pools, maybe. Who knew.

Shrugging to themselves, the poodle pushed open the door – intent on, at the very least, asking. Couldn’t hurt, right?

The problem was, the store appeared… closed. Completely closed, as if it had been abandoned over the past year entirely – empty shelves aside from a few dusty boxes, a cobweb here and there. It definitely didn’t fit with the “We’re Open!” sign cheerfully plastered to the front door, which had, apparently, been much dustier on the inside than out.

“Uh. Hello?”

There’s no reply, beyond the jingling of the bells as the door shut behind them.

This store clearly had been closed for months, at least – half-packed boxes of pool supplies and various cleaning chemicals scattered about in haphazard piles, various toys and floats neatly packed in plastic and stacked for boxes they’d never been placed inside of.

A fine layer of dust coated everything they could see, meaning… there was almost certainly nobody here to stop them from taking a look around, right?

There were aisle after aisle of empty or mostly empty shelves as the poodle wandered around, hoping maybe to find something worth keeping – after all, the place had clearly been left unlocked for a reason. Maybe they were hoping someone would take the stock they couldn’t?

Finally, after almost an hour of exploring, Arno was bored, and they had plenty of other things to get done before the day was over.

They crossed the store for the last time, stepping over a few discarded yellow pieces of folded-up vinyl, before pressing a paw to the door’s handle and pushing.

It… didn’t budge.

Arno tried again, giving it a little more force – but, despite the added elbow grease, the door was… locked?

How could it have locked?!

Grumbling, the poodle turned to look for a rear entrance in the back, stomping back across the store’s floor towards the employees only door – only to almost immediately trip over a discarded box.

Down the poodle went, falling to the floor with a loud, shelf-shaking thud – where they lay for a moment, dazed.

When Arno finally sat back up, they noticed two things almost immediately. The first being that the lights, somehow, had come on – and the second being that something soft and plastic was under their shirt on their tummy, tenting it slightly.

Confused, the poodle lifted their shirt to peek – spotting, to their immense surprise, a small, plastic valve sprouting from where their belly button was just a few moments earlier – fur around it matted down and… shiny?

A cautious poke yielded a shocking sqrrk of poodle pawpad against vinyl plastic, which, before their very eyes, began to spread!

“U-Uh, what? Hello?”

Arno’s first instinct was to try and tug the valve off – but all that did was introduce them to the strange sensation of their newly plasticized skin tugging along with it, stretching and protesting as the skin around it began to change even faster! It swept down below their waistline in just moments, the cool, creeping sensation of vinyl crawling up their chest and around to their back as the poodle scrambled to their feet!

Immediately their balance was thrown off as one of their paws practically exploded outwards into a puffy inflatable poodle footpaw, the legs of their shorts starting to tighten as seams worked their way down the poodle’s legs, the hissing of air filling the dog’s ears as they swelled outwards uniformly, becoming more toyishly proportioned!

The other footpaw followed suit quickly after, along with Arno’s tail – swelling from base to tip like a balloon as, unseen, Arno’s thigh gained a brand new safety warning label.

Every toy has to be safety compliant, after all.

With a loud ripping sound the poodle’s shorts finally gave up the ghost, Arno’s chest soon putting their shirt to the test soon after as seams began to crawl down the poodle’s arms as they waddled about, trying their best to find some way of stopping the changes or to remove the valve behind it all – in vain, much to their chagrin.

Pushing open the door to the employee area, Arno stumbled about as their neck began to swell, fingers mitting together into large pooltoy paws as they finished changing. Maybe if they got out of the store they’d stop changing?

They picked the first exit-looking door they saw as their ears began to swell, hissing loudly as they filled with air – only to discover it was a bathroom.

Grabbing the sink, they stared into the mirror just in time to watch their muzzle plastic over, the corners of their mouth tugging themselves first into a smirk – and then a wide, cartoony grin, which immediately froze into place!

It was over in an instant – and soon enough an inflatable poodle was staring at themselves in an old dusty mirror, a grinning, static face staring back.

“MMph?!”

They tried one last time to tug the valve free, a last-ditch effort to maybe, just maybe, change back – but only managed to uncap it, the worrying hiss of escaping air reaching their ears just as one of their footpaws began to crumple.

Uh-oh.

Shuffling out into the hallway, the inflatable poodle managed to make it back out into the store, going flatter with each step…

…only to collapse completely just by the other discarded toys, a flat pile of black and gold plastic, grinning up at the ceiling.

Do (Not) Overinflate (commission)

A commission for @Firr on twitter, featuring @AuraPuffs!

“Ugh…”

Firr yawned, flipping over with the thwump of a big skunk tail slapping against a couch.

“BORED.”

Aura, currently occupied with bopping his zipper back and forth with his big plush paws, agreed. It was simply too hot to go out, too slow to stay inside; it was, naturally, a lazy, lazy summer day.

A boring summer day.

“Maybe you’ve got something in the garage?” Aura offered, gesturing towards the garage door. It would’ve been easier with thumbs, but it got the message across well enough. “Bikes or something?”

“Just bike pumps,” Firr replied off-handedly, waving a paw. “And what can you do with-“

He paused, and grinned. “Actually, yeah! Let’s go check the garage, huh?”

Aura, puzzled, pushed himself up to waddle after the suddenly-eager skunk, curious. Bike rides were fun, yeah, but… that exciting? Probably not.

Firr ducked through the door ahead of the plushie fox, giggling to himself, and there came the sound of boxes being rummaged through, a few clangs as things were thrown aside, and, curiously, a loud moo.

“C’mon in!” Firr said after a few further barnyard animal sounds, Aura’s curiosity piqued. A surprise?

“What’s the big mystery?” Aura asked, peeking through the door – just in time for a hose to be shoved directly into the plushie’s snout, a rubber band wrapping around it to secure it firmly to the fox!

“Big’s right!” Firr grinned, hefting a little black and green (it looked a bit like him, actually) bike pump, before hammering the handle down with the excitement of someone blowing up something big!

Immediately Aura’s cheeks puffed up as air rushed down the rubber hose, then… stopped, the air going somewhere else. His first thought was his tummy, but, suddenly, his footpaws comically sprung outwards, first doubling, then TRIPLING in size!

“HMPH?” The fox exclaimed in the way only someone with a hose in their mouth can, cheeks burning bright red as their handpaws quickly followed suit! They looked… different. Plastic? Not at all the usual felt and fluff the plushie was used to, as they began to feel lighter with each pump from the pump!

“What’s up, pillow-paws?” Firr teased, giving another pump to the handle. “Hose got your tongue?”

The plushfox didn’t reply, too busy focusing on their still-swelling paws and rounding tummy to pay attention. Squeaking and squirking, Aura tried to reach up towards their snout – failing, of course, as they began to grow too pressurized to bend their arms properly. Aura had almost doubled in height from those alone, wobbling as the hose started to lift past Firr’s head height, still tightly stuffed in Aura’s swelling snout!

This, of course, only compelled Firr to pump faster, a giggle escaping the skunk as Aura began to take up a good portion of the garage itself, rounding out as his arms and legs began to swell out just as his paws had.

“You’re right, the garage WAS more fun,” Firr grinned, giving the fox a few extra pumps as even their ears swelled up, zipper looking like a sprig of grass poking out of the squeaky expanse of white and orange plastic!

“MMPH!”

Aura’s back finally hit the ceiling, swelling larger, and larger, cheeks burning a bright, almost fluorescent red!

“Aaaand ta-da!” Firr proclaimed, giving the hose a tug as it popped free, rubber band unwinding itself as if it was nothing! A pressurized whoosh of air escaped from Aura’s overfilled squeaky snout for a moment, before it, too, sealed!

“I did a good job, if I say so myself,” Firr boasted, grabbing his vest with both paws and flaring it. “Now, where’s a tether…”

He spun on a heel, starting to walk deeper into the garage, and promptly planting a paw directly on a pipe.

It rolled, pitching the skunk forwards… and, perhaps in an act of karma, directly onto an air compressor’s hose.

“Mmph?” was all Firr had time to say before a nearby broom, precariously perched against a shelf, tipped over… landing directly on the “pressurize” button of the compressor.

The compressor roared to life, filling Firr’s cheeks to practically comical levels – and, completely unsurprisingly, his tummy.

It began to swell normally, as normally as the situation allowed, anyway – but, then began to bulge, the skunk’s legs being pushed aside as a new, squishy, inflatable pink mass pushed from his lower half!

Immediately blushy, Firr spared a look – now being held up by an inflatable udder!

Oh.

Oh dear.

Trying to reach for the hose, the skunk was stopped as his lower half began to swell outwards, tail shrinking down into a comically small (if still oversized) cow tail, new patterns filling in as the skunk’s usual black fur became simple black spots on white cow vinyl!

He could hear Aura snickering from across the garage as his midsection began to blow up much as his rear had, footpaws reshaping into huge, stompy rounded inflatable cow hooves, handpaws already starting to follow suit as he flailed for the hose. It was no use; he wasn’t going to reach it in time, as even his arms began to grow more rigid, legs now firmly quadrupedal.

He wasn’t even going to be an anthro parade cow?! LAME.

Trying to push himself up, he only managed to force more air out of the udder into the rest of him – shooting his usually soft and fluffy skunk snout out into a huge inflatable cow snout, hose still firmly stuck in it as little horns began to push out of his increasingly squeaky and air-filled head, ears stretching out and one gaining a nice, yellow, inflatable cow tag! (with a price, to boot)

By this point Firr was the size one would usually associate with a bounce house, taking up most of the garage Aura hadn’t already filled, the last little bits of fur falling free as his transformation finished, and popping the hose free as it became too pressurized to stay firmly in, flopping to the floor as the compressor turned off!

The parade-sized fox and cow made eye contact for a moment.

“FIRR.”

“SORRY.”

Some Strings Attached (commission)

A commission for @Sqrlster on twitter!

Parade Day, the flyer read in cheery, balloonish font. Celebrating sixty years of parades, downtown! Why, you might ask, would we hold a parade for parades? Why not?

Sqrl blinked at the flyer he’d been handed, slightly confused. A parade day for parades? What kind of event was…

His internal monologue trailed off as he noticed the large, underlined “FREE FOOD” at the bottom of the flyer, and shrugged. Free food was free food, who cares if the event was weird, right?

“Hm. I’ve got a few hours, why not?” Sqrl affirmed aloud, spinning on one of his big paws to head deeper into town, towards the music he could hear!

It was a huge, bustling affair; an entire city block had been filled to the brim with crowds and booths and live music, the smell of carnival food and hissing of distant floats being filled adding to the busy surroundings in wonderfully weird ways. Sqrl sampled a little bit of everything as he wandered along, humming to the music – before he began to feel a bit… odd. Lighter on his big paws. Must just be the fun I’m having!

“Say,” One of the event staffers called, waving the squirrel over. “You look like a trustworthy sort – care to help me get the floats ready?”

Sqrl nodded enthusiastically – who didn’t like blowing up balloons?

He followed the staff member into a back tent, walking along the rear of the event towards the adjacent street the parade balloons were being filled on – all the way not noticing his paws beginning to swell, his tail’s fur starting to mat over into plastic starting with the tail tip.

The staffer seemed to notice for a moment, before the bunny shrugged and kept walking, after all – what was one more parade balloon?

It was barely any time at all before Sqrl had started to help out, unfurling big, cartoonish animal floats from their boxes and trucks they’d been stored in since last year’s parades – even if touching them made the squirrel feel a little more odd, their fingers tingling as they finally plopped down on a surprisingly softer rear to take a quick break.

“Whew!” He sighed happily, wiping his brow. Two hours of nothing but filling balloons? Ridiculous!

“Okay!” The rabbit finally said aloud, clapping his paws together. “Just one balloon left and we’re ready to start.”

“One?” Sqrl asked, glancing around. He certainly didn’t see any, aside from the ones already drifting overhead. “Where?”

“Where?” The rabbit asked, chuckling a little. “That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?”

As if on cue, the squirrel’s paws doubled in size.

Tripled, even!

“Huh?!”

The hissing he’d been hearing all day wasn’t far away – it was right under his nose!

Well, his belt line, too. Either way, the squirrel jumped up in surprise as his lower body suddenly began to rapidly expand, stretching his poor shorts to the breaking point as his increasingly parade-sized thighs began to strain and stretch past what they would hold – splitting down the legs and falling to the ground as the bunny staffer watched with a mixture of amusement and anticipation!

Was this why I felt so weird today?! Sqrl thought to himself, trying to press on his tummy with his handpaws as it, too, began to swell outwards – Sqrl’s big tail stretching and inflating into something more befitting a parade-sized critter than a normal squirrel, bumping into a few helium tanks he’d used earlier to fill a bunny float! They, promptly, fell to the ground hissing.

Sqrl, by now, was feeling… dizzy.

Floaty!

I… gotta get up, the squirrel lazily thought to himself, mind swimming as his shirt finally started to tear and rip, handpaws blowing up into massive, parade-sized versions of themselves as he watched, arms swelling from his armpits outwards into rounded, plastic tubes full of helium.

He didn’t want to get up, even as little hoops began to pop out of his big footpaws, ropes attaching themselves seemingly by magic!

“How’s the last balloon coming, folks? The parade’s due to start in ten minutes!” A voice from somewhere out of view called, drawing the rabbit’s focus.

“Almost done!” The rabbit called, quickly tethering the brand new ropes to their spots on the tarmac as Sqrl began to grow larger, stretching both upwards and outwards as the curious sensation to flop over began to gnaw at their thoughts. Parade balloons didn’t stand up, did they? They were on all fours!

Dazed, Sqrl flopped over – starting to lift off of the pavement as two ropes dangled from their huge, rounded paws, quickly gathered up by the bunny and tied down, too. H-Huh… did I always have those?

The squirrel managed a glance downwards, feeling just how right it felt to drift there – and how familiar the tethers holding them down against the wind were. Of course I had those!

They looked silly; a massive, parade balloon squirrel body with a tiny, fluffy head topping it – though, as the changes crawled up their neck, even that began to shift. First to change was the squirrel’s snout, springing outwards with a loud fwoomp of filling plastic as his smile became simple detailing paint, followed by his nose!

His eyes followed next, first freezing straight ahead, then flattening into simple, painted-on Sqrl eyes – and, finally, even his ears swelled up, his whole head filling and swelling until it, too, was parade-sized!

B-But… squeak?

Sqrl’s thoughts were scattered, bouncing around inside his empty helium-filled head – until, finally, they stopped as the tanks ran dry; just another parade balloon for the Parade Day festivities!

The bunny cheered, clapping his paws together as he called a handler crew over.

“C’mon, let’s get started!”

The bunny tugged on their cap, grinning up at the huge inflatable squirrel’s face. “It’s time for a parade!”

Toy Delivery (commission)

A commission for @sockfox on twitter!

Sock was bored.

It was a hot, muggy August day – and he’d been cooped up inside for much of the summer instead of going to, well, anything summery. No pool, no cook-outs, nothing!

It was either too hot, too rainy, or too… busy!

So, maybe that’s why he was so surprised when a package was dropped on his front porch one hot afternoon, a simple cardboard box with only his address and the curious company sender title “Summer Fun, Inc” printed on the label. Could you even send mail without a return address?

Sock, hefting the surprisingly light box, glanced around. No mailman in sight, no mysterious gifter walking off down the sidewalk that they’d surely have seen – it was if it had appeared from thin air!

What could be inside?

Carrying the box back in, the fox plopped it down on the table, digging through the nearby kitchen drawers for a box cutter or a knife; eventually one turned up, and Sock gently cut the tape holding the top flaps shut.

Inside was… yellow.

Something folded, yellow, and soft to the touch – vinyl?

Did I order inflatables and forget? Sock wondered to himself, confused. Oh, well. Might as well puff one up to see what it looked like, right?

Tugging a pump out of the closet, the fox gently unfolded the flattened toy, taking notice of the long, brown-tipped ears and little painted-on bucktooth. A bunny!

Stuffing the hose in the toy’s valve, Sock began to pump – watching with delight as the toy began to fill, little ears standing up as it began to round out to a cute, anthro bunny shape. A squeaky mop of blond hair crowned the toy’s head, along with a little star-shaped barcode on their thigh – it was, all in all, pretty cute by inflatable standards. So cute, in fact, that he forgot that he hadn’t actually even ordered it. Lucky mistake, huh?

Finally, after about ten minutes of pumping, the toy was full – and Sock was exhausted, tugging the hose free and capping the bunny’s valve. Whew.

It stood about three and a half feet tall, cute little smile and bright blue eyes seeming to stare right back.

“Well, aren’t you cute!” The fox chuckled, giving the toy’s nose a little boop, sending it rocking. The box included two more, too – what a score!

For now, though, he felt like a couch nap was the best option, yawning as he turned to head for the living room – but pausing at a quiet squeak behind him.

Glancing back, the toy was just as he’d left it – maybe a little more towards the table than he remembered, but he could’ve moved it when he’d touched it.

Shrugging, Sock wandered off to take a nap… and the toybunny set to work filling its friends, dragging them out of the box first, then filling them up with the pump Sock had left behind!

The fox woke up a little while later to… well, to a sight, certainly.

Three bunny faces were peering down at them in various states of curiosity, and as he shouted in alarm and surprise they all bounced back!

“U-Uh,” Sock stammered, coming face to face with moving… inflatables?!

Since when did they move?!

Sock got his answer when the same pump he’d used earlier was plopped down on the couch, one of the toys stuffing the hose in his mouth!

“Mph!”

Another pressed down the handle, a hiss of air rushing down the hose and swelling out his cheeks… but this was different, seeming to quickly go down as the air went somewhere else.

Huh?

The toybunny settled into a rhythm, pumping air into the bewildered fox even as their tummy began to swell, sliding their shirt upwards. Their eyes instantly darted to a bump, pressing out where a belly button was a few moments ago – and, before Sock’s very own eyes, he gained a soft, translucent plastic valve, much like the one the three rabbits sported!

The third bunny giggled, the first sound any of them had made aside from the squeaks of their movement. “Ta-da!”

“Mmph?!”

No reply, that time.

Slowly, methodically, the fur around the valve began to mat down – softening, smoothing into Sock-patterned vinyl in a wave of tingling change; sweeping first over the sides of the bewildered fox’s tummy, but also spreading upwards beneath his shirt, and downwards, out of sight.

The thought occurred to him that he could’ve simply tugged the hose free; in fact, he could do it right now, but… for whatever reason, the motivation wouldn’t come. He was much more satisfied watching the change than actually stopping it.

He felt his lower body begin to lighten, plastic and seams slowly crawling the length of the fox’s tail until even the very tip solidified into a plasticine, vulpine shape; finely (if simply) detailed, flat pattern swaths modeling the fox’s usual fur patterns in expertly-sprayed lines. It squeaked slightly beneath him as he moved it, legs and footpaws following suit as he raised one to see. His toes first melded together as the plastic washed over them, vinyl digits joining into a cute, if not very useful, vinyl paw-mitt.

It was at this point that the hose was tugged out of the fox’s mouth, and gently stuffed into the valve now peeking out from beneath a shirt that didn’t quite fit anymore, inflatable rounded thighs making Sock’s poor shorts strain and groan.

Again, the puffing began – this time, forcing his arms slightly outwards as they inflated from the base outwards, chest hollowing out with a deep, satisfying tingling sensation! Testingly, he squeezed his flank, delight welling up inside as it gave beneath his grip much like one would expect air-filled vinyl to.

A new sensation from his back sent his paws searching there, too; soft, pliable squared-off hoops of plastic had emerged from the middle of his back, recognizable as handles from the feeling alone. Pooltoy handles, for… a pooltoy fox. Made sense, he supposed.

His arms continued to change, fingers starting to melt together much as his toes had. It was fascinating to watch, fur and fluff first seeming to merge together, before gaining the slight translucency and lightness of air-filled plastic. He gave his paws a testing open-and-close, listening to the quiet squirks of vinyl on vinyl.

At this point even the three rabbits were watching the fox’s changes with curiosity, as it began to crawl up his neck and onto his face! Sock felt the urge to giggle, forcing it down for a moment, before he began to smirk.

Then grin.

Then laugh, a long, drawn out giggle escaping his snout…

…and then, nothing, as it solidified into a plastic, painted on smile, nose flattening on as simple detail paint!

His mitts instantly flew to his face, tugging on the smile. But how will I breathe?!

Panic gripped the fox for a moment, before he realized he… wasn’t breathing. He didn’t even feel as if he needed to breathe, as his vision blurred for a moment as his eyes, too, became simple detailing paint on a Sock-shaped inflatable.

The last to change, fittingly, was the fox’s ears. His hearing swam for a moment as fur and skin turned to plastic, before returning somewhat echo-y; whether that was due to his new ears or the fact he was now hollow remained to be seen.

With a quick little tug the hose popped free, Sock’s valve quickly being capped by the three inflatable rabbits – and, as he sat up, dizzy, one saluted.

Another grabbed a piece of paper from the coffee table and a pen, scribbling something.

After a few moments, the toybunny spun around, holding out a hastily (and somewhat poorly) scribbled sign.

“POOL DAY?”

Sock would’ve giggled if he could. Pool day, indeed.

Lift With Care (commission)

A commission for chaotic!

“…Whew!”

Chaotic would wipe his brow if he could – though luckily, the suit’s foam support that pressed against his forehead wicked the moisture away easily enough. He’d been working as a contractor on the Johannesburg-Mandela Orbital Tether project for nearly six months, and it was… slow going.

The hardest part, funnily enough, was the exact problem the tether aimed to solve – movement of heavy material into low orbit over this part of the planet was logistically, and economically, a nightmare. Heavy lift rockets only took things so far, and with the sheer amount of carbides and steel being moved up the towering edifice a single load at a time the company was projecting a completion date nearly twenty years into the future.

Kept him in a job, though.

The raccoon went back to welding a joint in section C50, carefully following the lines highlighted on his suit’s ops HUD. Sixty hours a week for a pretty handsome check every two weeks wasn’t the worst gig he’d taken, not by a long shot. Still… sometimes he wished the load was a little lighter. Burnout was a constant danger up here, even if the views were incredible.

Somewhere far below Johannesburg sprawled, the ruddy browns and greens of the Cape of Good Hope outlined against the cloudy ocean. A lift balloon drifted by, dragging another ton of material along with it as it ascended the length of the tether to the capstone station at the tip – likely loaded with electrical equipment for interior work.

For a moment, the raccoon wondered what it would be like to be a lift balloon. Probably easier, right? Just carry stuff, all big and tight and…

He shook his head, forcing the pink tinge away from his cheeks. Focus. Just a few more hours and he could return to the hab level for some shuteye.

Chaotic blinked as his radio crackled, and the familiar canine face of the tether project’s ops AI appeared – scruffy, and stained here and there with… motor oil? Clearly an attempt at a “worker” appearance, if nothing else.

“Good afternoon, civilian contractor #32001! Your medical readouts pinged a heightened heart rate?”

“Oh. Um.”

“Are you in danger? Can I be of assistance?”

“N-No, I’m… fine. Just working… hard, you know?”

“I don’t!” The AI replied cheerfully, holding their holographic paws up. “Can’t hold things, after all.”

“…Ah. Well, I’d better get back to welding, so…?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that stuff! You’re being reassigned.”

Chaotic blanched, grip on his welder slipping and letting it drift away slightly before he grabbed it again, tapping his helmet with a gloved finger. “Reassigned?! I’ve worked this gig for months!”

“Oh, you’re still going to be helping,” The AI shrugged, pushing a shipping manifest and tracklist to the raccoon’s visor. “We’ve got sixty three tons of molybdenum waiting dirtside for a heavy-lift platform, and the company’s estimates for shipping us a new set are a year at best. So, I’ve decided to make do with what we have on-site, and make one.”

“…I’m going to be making a heavy-lift balloon?” Chaotic frowned, confused. “I’m not exactly an engineer-”

The raccoon was cut off, quite suddenly, by the emergency oxygen supply’s breathing hose shooting out of the helmet’s chinrest and stuffing itself straight into his mouth, clamping against his muzzle. REMAIN CALM, the visor helpfully read in bright blue text. ADMINISTERING EMERGENCY O2.

“I’m going to be making a heavy lift balloon!” The AI giggled, just as the raccoon’s cheeks began to round out. “Thanks for volunteering!”

Chaotic flailed, welder spinning away into space as the work suit’s substantial oxygen supply rushed into his mouth! He felt light-headed, tummy already starting to expand ever so slightly inside the form-fitting material, giving the raccoon first the appearance of a paunch, then a gut – and beyond, the loud hiss filling his ears suddenly the only thing he could focus on!

“MMPH,” Chaotic protested – trying his best to grab on to the tether’s metal frame – and managing after a few tries, despite the insistent stretching and groaning of the suit’s material as he began to fill out into a more pear-like shape.

Something clamped onto his back as he clung to the tether, squeezing his… surprisingly squishy frame as the subtle vibrations of something being attached to the rear of his space suit momentarily distracted the raccoon from the building pressure. Help, maybe?

…a hope that was quickly dashed as the flow doubled, an autonomous work drone jetting away to its next assignment on tiny RCS directionals as Chaotic continued to strain and press against the suit, tummy finally spilling out as it tore along a seam! For a moment he panicked even harder – after all, space was generally bad for exposed skin – but the tummy that had broken free was… inflated fabric. Taut.

Familiar.

“Coming along nicely!” The AI sing-songed, watching the raccoon’s tail swell from base to tip, shrinking in slightly along with his limbs as he began to round out properly, entirely lost in the ever-building pressure as even his ears swelled up against the interior foam of the helmet…

After what seemed like an eternity, the drone returned – clamping onto the massive ball of a raccoon-turned-lift-balloon with the care of a dragonfly landing on a leaf. Tethers were attached to the raccoon’s feet and hands, and, with one last quick spray of instant-hardening space-rated paint, the words HEAVY LIFT were scrawled across his tummy.

“There!” The AI cheered, assigning the drone to drag the new lift balloon down to the worksite for his first job. “Let’s get started!”

Horsing Around (commission)

A commission for Caz!

Newt grinned, wiping their brow. After their last little bout of troublemaking a few towns back, they’d decided to lay relatively low – and, if they were honest, it’d been a well needed break!

Tonight’s stop was in a little creek bed, water trickling down from a spring up in the hills, and providing just enough cover that it’d be relatively hard to stumble across without meaning to.

“Ah…” The varmint sighed, washing their dusty paws off in the water.

…until they noticed someone else in the reflection, the varmint casting a curious glance over their right shoulder.

On the rocks up above their little campsite, a figure stood.

A coyote? A yellow and brown coyote, garbed in a tan outfit and a blue bandana, little six point star pinned to their chest. A… sheriff?

“Well, howdy,” The coyote drawled, tipping their hat. “Nice day for camping, huh?”

“…Kinda?” Newt said warily, sizing the newcomer up. They knew most of the sheriffs in these parts – they’d never seen this one before.

“I do have to be the bearer of bad news,” The sheriff chuckled, sliding down the little incline and dusting their jacket clean.

“I’m here to take you back to town.”

“Town?” Newt intoned, glancing back at their pack near the little campfire they’d built. If they could just get across the creek…

“We can do it the easy way or the fun way,” The coyote grinned, grabbing a bit of rope from their belt. “Which’ll it be?”

Newt didn’t reply. They tried to jump up, making a run for the campfire – only to swiftly stop in their tracks as rope swiftly wrapped around their shoulders – pinning their arms to their midsection!

“Fun way it is!” The sheriff called, giving the rope a tug.

The rope itched – and then… tingled.

Fur beneath where it was tightest began to smooth over, patterns simplifying into approximations as the varmint’s fur began to change into soft, pliable vinyl.

Another tug began to swell their tummy, little plastic nub starting to press out of their rounding midsection as the coyote watched, wide grin framing their face.

“Your spree was awfully light,” The sheriff called as the varmint started to wobble on their increasingly inflatable thighs and legs, footpaws melting together into useless inflatable hooves. “So I figured a light punishment was in order! Plus, every sheriff needs a horse, right?”

“Horse?” Newt called in surprise, watching their handpaws swell up and melt together into slightly oversized inflatable hooves, just as their center of balance started to shift.

The varmint (horse?) wobbled, finally pitching over just as their posture shifted from their usual anthro bipedal shape to a more toyish quadrupedal shape! Out of the corner of their eyes they could see a vague saddle decal beginning to fill in on their back as their tail shrank down and expanded into a squeaky horse tail, rump swelling out as their shorts gave way.

Moving their head became harder and harder as their neck swelled up, cheeks filling up with air as they, too, turned to plastic.

The changes seemed to stop for a moment – just long enough for the coyote to make their way over, and give their squeaky back a pat.

“W-Wait, change me ba-!”

Just as they started to finish their sentence the coyote plopped down on the oversized inflatable almost-horse – swelling their new face out with a loud SQUIRK of protesting plastic, new equine face swelling up complete with a printed on grin and decal reins.

“Now,” The sheriff giggled, reaching under the horse and popping open their valve.

They wandered over to the camp as the horse began to go flat, rummaging through the bag before throwing it over their shoulder, scooping both it and the deflated pile of plastic up.

“Let’s get you back to town and have a little fun, huh?”

The next thing Newt knew they were gently refilling, the warm sun on their vinyl back drawing their attention first upwards – and then forwards, to the coyote pumping away on an old-timey air pump!

“Mornin’!” The coyote grinned, tipping their hat at the toy they knew couldn’t respond – just before a dusty rabbit skidded to a stop nearby, staring wide-eyed at the huge toy now adorning the front step of the sheriff’s office.

“…Wow!” The bunny exclaimed, pressing their paws to their cheeks. “Is that really the Cheyenne Critter?!”

“Sure is!” The sheriff grinned, leaning on the toy with a slight protest of fabric against vinyl. The sheriff reached down, giving the toy’s valve a nice, long squeeze between two fingers. “Ponyboy here won’t be causing any more trouble, though.”

“Wow! You’re the greatest, Sheriff!” The bunny exclaimed, before darting off into town.

Hefting a little banner and dropping it over the toy’s back, the coyote offered a quick pay. “I think you’ll make a better advertisement than you did a bandit, pal. Thanks for the help!”