Tag: pooltoy

cooper’s pool day (c)

for Cooper

It was a warm, sunny Spring day – and as far as Cooper was concerned, that suited him just fine.

Winter had been rough, after all – lasting all the way until April, with the occasional snow flurry or downpour-for-days still happening even now! It was well into the time warm weather would’ve been preferable, and, as he stood a little straighter, adjusting the towel over his right shoulder and listening to the birdsong, he’d made his mind up right then and there.

Today was a pool day.

Luckily, with the advent of the warmer season (and spring break!), the local pools had opened their doors for the first time since last fall, all manner of critters looking to beat the heat splashing about in the cerulean depths of the pool.

Eagerly, the ferret hurried up his steps, unlatching the pool gate and stepping inside. A familiar sound-and-smellscape struck him immediately; laughing, splashing, the scent of sunscreen and chlorinated pool water… the smells of summer, washing over him with such intensity that if he closed his eyes he’d have assumed it was August. Still, a nice day was a nice day – and he certainly wasn’t going to squander it by standing around thinking about the pool. He was getting in!

Letting the gate shut behind him, Cooper wandered along the empty chairs and picked a particularly sunny spot to lay out, umbrella casting just enough shade to cool it off. He laid out his towel, tugged off his shirt, and had just started to lay down when something poked into the small of his back.

A… bottle?

A squeeze tube, of some kind? The ferret blinked, shifting a little and reaching underneath with a paw. Sure enough, a little toothpaste-reminiscent tube of something was laying on top of the chair, freshly retrieved. Some sort of sunscreen for fur?

Barely used…?

Cooper glanced around, wondering if he’d laid down in a chair already claimed. No towel, no bag, no goggles or anything indicating someone was coming back for their errant ointment… huh. Probably fine?

With a mental shrug, he popped the cap free, squirting a little into an open paw. When in Rome, right?

The scent that hit his nose was completely unexpected, as if concentrated pool water had suddenly washed by. An odd mix of chlorinated water, and a strangely plastic smell?

Bleh. Probably why they left this stuff behind. Still, free sunscreen was still sunscreen…

Well. Generally.

Cooper squeezed a little more, rubbing it on his nose and his tummy, trying his best to cover the parts he knew he’d burned on the last time he’d laid out by a pool for a while. It felt nice and cool, almost like aloe, oddly enough. Maybe it had something to do with…

His line of thought, naturally, was interrupted as his paw brushed back over a spot he’d already rubbed the sunscreen into. It was smooth, his pads gliding over it as if he’d run his hand over plastic… and when he looked, he had.

Already, spreading slowly out from the patches he’d applied, his fur had begun to mat down and smooth over, carefully decaling itself into simplified versions of the patterns it was replacing. A chunky seam had begun to work its way up his tummy, the barest first hints of a cute little “do not overinflate” labeled valve beginning to poke out of where his belly button had been just a few minutes earlier.

Cooper, for his part, was beyond bemused. He was looking for a nice day at the pool, and… well, floating in it all day wasn’t a bad way to spend it, he supposed.

Figuring the change might finish a little faster if he rubbed a little more in, Cooper started to squeeze a little more out of the little tube… only for his paws, before his very eyes, to begin to swell, doubling in size as they softened. 

Well. He supposed that was just as well.

With a loud sqrk the ferret’s tail began to inflate, swelling from base to tip like an inflating balloon – and as it did so, Cooper realized just how light he was getting. The pressure from the tail literally lifted him slightly from the chair, and, as he wobbled for a moment in place, he tipped forward!

His paws flew up to catch him, tumbling towards the concrete sides of the pool deck… but he merely lightly bumped against the ground, tight trunks around inflated thighs groaning a little in protest.

His cheeks and face began to swell, softening as their shapes began to simplify from those of a real ferret to a toy one. For a moment, his vision went blurry – but, as it finally corrected a few moments later, Cooper realized the changes had… stopped?

The ferret stood there for a moment, looking himself over – the sunscreen… sure had turned him into an inflatable. Something seemed a little cliche about that.

Oh, well. No better way to spend the day at the pool, right?

Can You Handle It (commission)

It was a chilly Spring day in the local park, as far as Chaotic was concerned. Normally, he’d have been at home bundled up – a warm cup of hot chocolate, a movie, perhaps – but, duty called – and so, he was out wandering along the old concrete paths rounding the lake, daydreaming as his wares bounced and bumped and shimmied in the bright sunshine and wind overhead.

Chaotic, of course, was a balloon vendor – a dream job, as far as he was concerned. Set your own hours, stop when your day’s merchandise is gone… and, well, balloons.

Who didn’t like balloons?

Chaotic definitely did. In fact, he was so lost in daydreaming about balloons that he’d almost entirely missed the rabbit sleepily wandering down the path ahead, almost tripping over them!

“S-Sorry!” Chaotic managed, catching his balance and breath as the bunny glanced between his waist, where the many, many strings were tied – and the raccoon himself.

“S’okay?” The rabbit offered – though, now that Chaotic really looked – it wasn’t your standard fluff-and-fur affair. This rabbit was soft, little tag sticking out of its tail – a plushie rabbit?

Oh, well. He’d met weirder, around here. 

Still, as the wind picked up, the strings began to tug slightly on Chaotic’s belt, the raccoon having to struggle a little just to manage to keep his footing – to say nothing of how blushy it might’ve made him if he hadn’t just barely managed to keep it under wraps.

For a second, he imagined himself being carried off – drifting away above the trees, held up by the strings and wind and sky.

“…Hello?”

Chaotic blinked, feeling how warm his cheeks had gotten. Oops.

“U-Uh, yes?”

“I said, are you selling those or just walking around with them?”

The bunny thumped one of their little paws, one ear drooping a little as they tilted their head at him. 

“I, uh, yeah? I sell them, dollar apiece.”

“…Hm!”

The rabbit brought a paw to their chin, tapping it twice. “I’ll take one, sure?”

“Okay, which one would you like?”

Chaotic shuffled slightly. He hadn’t had as much variety as he’d have liked in his stock this morning, but… oh well. Balloons were balloons, after all? He had huge yellow ones, a few red ones, and a lot of hearts for nearby Valentine’s day – surely the rabbit would be able to pick something?

Finally, after a moment, the rabbit pointed. “That one!”

…Except, they hadn’t pointed up at the bundle at all. Following their finger, Chaotic realized it was… about level with his tummy, more or less.

“Wha-“

The instant he began to ask what that even meant, a loud hiss reached his ears – and, as he glanced down in surprise and bewilderment, his tummy began to expand right out of his shirt! Fluffy at first, it soon sprouted a little plastic valve as the fur around it began to mat down into soft, raccoon patterned vinyl, leaving the flustered raccoon to sputter and stammer as the plushie bunny giggled away.

“S-Stop this!” Chaotic finally managed, just as his pants began to tighten as his legs swelled out, shoes giving up the ghost as his footpaws sprung outwards due to the air pressure within – painting themselves on as rough inflatable approximations of the real thing. His tail, too, didn’t escape the changes – inflating from base to tip as the fur softened and melted away into just more vinyl, seams popping up where the raccoon’s legs and tail met his increasingly rounded and hollow midsection.

“I mean, you did ask,” The rabbit offered, watching curiously as the wind began to gust again – this time, catching the raccoon off guard as it dragged him a few feet backwards, the lifting power of the balloons growing with each passing second as yet more of him turned to simple plastic and air!

Thinking quickly, he decided he’d simply untie the bundle before it was too late – and, glancing backwards to gauge where they were, realized two things.

The first being that the balloons were no longer tied to his belt – but instead neatly tied around both of the little plastic handles now sprouting from his lower back, soft and plasticine like an increasing amount of him now was.

The second, was that he had handles. Inflatable pooltoy handles, and, try as he might, he just couldn’t reach them.

“U-Uh, can you… help?” Chaotic managed to squeak out, watching his handpaws begin to swell into bappy inflatable mitts just as his footpaws had, arms swelling up until his shirt felt like it was held on by threads.

“With what?” The rabbit asked, amused.

“…Untie these?”

“Hmm.”

The bunny wandered around to peek at the handles, just as the changes began to creep up to Chaotic’s neck – and, as his snout flattened out into a smiling, painted-on grin, the bunny giggled.

“…Nah, I think it suits you!”

Chaotic started to protest, but just as he began to grumble – the wind, once again, picked up.

This time, Chaotic’s paws skidded along the soft grass as the raccoon struggled to find purchase, eyes darting between the bunny and the sky in an attempt to communicate the problem – but if the plushie noticed, they didn’t say anything.

The helium in the balloons tugged and tugged as the wind blew, until, finally, Chaotic felt his paws leave the ground completely. An inch at first, then two – then six, a few feet!

For a moment, he almost got caught in the trees overhead – holding onto the branches for dear life, even as his paws squeaked and squirked against the branches without any dexterity or grip – until, with a mighty tug, the wind yanked him free.

“MMPH!” He called out, cheeks burning red even through vinyl – but he was simply too high up, too light.

Up into the early afternoon air he drifted, buffeted about by the wind as he listened to the bumps and squeaks of balloons and vibrations of strings, watching the green park below slowly recede as the sky opened up around him.

Far down below, watching the raccoon recede into the wild blue until there was little more than a dot, the bunny giggled – cupping their paws around their own snout.

“Have a nice flight!”

Thinking to themselves, they dug around in a pocket – and dropped a dollar on the spot the raccoon had been standing a few moments earlier.After all, they had gotten a balloon, right?