Just Like Old Times [PTRN]

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#43 of Patreon Stories

Weekly Patreon story from December 2022!

On a mission in a quadrant of space that seemingly has nothing of value in it, Garbage and Happy discover a remarkable planet that proves the complete opposite is true~ Dogs in Space!

9467 wordsORIGINAL POST


The oppressive vacuum of space yawned for miles around the Pluto as the spacecraft blasted through uncharted star systems in search of a suitable replacement planet for Earth. Unrelenting emptiness, void of any landmass was all that could be seen, barely any celestial bodies around to even act as a light source. The crew of the ship were thousands of miles away from the M-Bark at this point and hadn't been back in what felt like ages.

The crew, in this case, wasn't the team that normally flew the spaceship, but instead an impromptu duo of Captains Garbage and Happy. The white-furred poodle in particular felt incensed at being forced to fly on a vessel that wasn't his own, but had no choice as the squads from both ships had been flagged for needing additional training that he and the other dog had completed in the previous month. He put forth the option to wait as he far preferred traveling with his crew above anything else, but a new mission out into space was deemed necessary, meaning that he had to team up with the corgi against his will.

Garbage, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as annoyed as what his counterpart was, but he did find it weird to not have the others on board like they normally were. It left him having to talk with the poodle to pass the time as he'd exhausted all other forms of entertainment. While that wasn't necessarily the worst thing in the world, conversation eventually dried up when they ran out of things to speak of. He never realized how important having different perspectives on things was until just that moment.

Watching the vast nothingness of space pass them by had Happy reclining in his chair, his hands rubbing his eyes as he struggled to stay awake. "Ugh, this is painful," he yawned. "How have we not picked up anything new since leaving the M-Bark?"

"I don't know how we haven't seen any planets either," Garbage groaned, his body draped lengthwise over his chair with his limbs splayed over the edges.

Laying back and staring at the ceiling, Happy drummed his fingers as he tried and failed to come up with something new to keep himself amused. His will to persist in the mission was draining rapidly. "I don't know about you, but I'm about ready to head back at this point."

"No way!" Garbage righted himself immediately, swiveling his chair to face the other canine. "We're entrusted with finding a suitable planet to replace Earth. We can't stop until our mission is complete."

"While that's noble of you to say, Garbage, the fact of the matter is that we've been out here forever and haven't discovered a thing." The lack of information relayed from the ship's computer proved Happy's point, with him not even able to verify the accuracy of the radar equipment by observing the universe around the two of them out of the window. "Besides, the other crews are off doing the same thing at this very moment. There's no shame in saying that this particular mission was a bust and just heading home."

Garbage wanted to protest, but his own body was growing increasingly tired from the never-ending monotony. Nevertheless, he hated returning back to base without even a shred of new data to report. "But isn't that the point of coming all this way into uncharted territory?" He pleaded for the poodle to listen to him. "Come on, where's your sense of adventure?"

"Your call to continually drift through the far reaches of space is inspiring, believe me," Happy rolled his eyes as he sat up in his chair, "but consider this - if we were to go back now we could call it a day, relax, and then head out tomorrow with our regular crews ready to go after a good night's rest. Think about it, we'd have twice as many ships searching for new planets than we do right now."

"Uh..." While Garbage didn't want to concede that the other dog had a point, even he knew that the futility of their search was palpable. He stroked his chin as he tried to think of ways to stall for as long as possible, but struggled due to his own desire to see his friends again. "How about we do this for five more minutes?"

While it wasn't what he ideally wanted to hear, Happy acquiesced upon hearing that he'd eventually get his way. "Fine. You have five minutes to try and excite me before I turn this ship around."

"Yes!" Garbage cheered, leaping out of his chair in elation. "I'm sure there's something out here for us to find."

"For your sake, I hope so. You're no fun to be around when you're disappointed."

Displeasure marked Garbage's face as he glared at the other dog. "You're not one to talk with how you literally barked at me earlier."

Even though his first instinct was to plant his feet and insist that justify himself, Happy instead let the jab slide off of his back as he was in the process of getting what he wanted anyway. "Fine, I apologize. I shouldn't have lost my temper as much as I did even though I still believe you're clearly in the wrong over devouring all the food aboard the ship."

That got Garbage to purse his lips. "Yeah, okay, that wasn't my finest moment," he rubbed the back of his neck. In the midst of their conversation the radar sounded out, indicating to the pair of them that their search wasn't as fruitless as initially thought. "Hey look, I think the computer found something!"

"Lemme see that!" Happy rushed to the monitor to read the results of the computer's analysis. "Atmosphere in perfect condition; healthy, carbon-based vegetation; continually flowing water cycle--"

"Woah, it's perfect!" Garbage peered out the front window of the ship, nudging the poodle to do the same.

Happy found himself transfixed on the view of the world in front of him, amazed at how incredible it looked at first glance. He'd seen pictures of what Earth used to look like in the past, and it hit him as to how uncannily similar this planet looked in comparison. "It really is..."

"Come on, let's go see it!" Without warning, Garbage grabbed the controls of the ship and angled them downward, not accounting for the speed in which they were already traveling.

That sent Happy hurtling backward, barely able to cling onto his chair as he watched the view of the planet consume the entirety of the front window, only getting closer with how fast they came in. "Garbage, watch your speed of entry!"

"Ah relax, I've seen Nomi do this a bunch of times. I know what I'm doing." With a confident smirk, Garbage looked over the controls laid out in front of him, only to freeze when nothing seemed familiar to him. "What, how did she do this?" He grimaced, hitting buttons and flicking switches that looked right in his mind, with very few of them actually accomplishing much otherwise. Nevertheless, his actions did enough to cool the jets of the ship, allowing them to impact a large body of water with minimal effect on the two of them. "Splash landing!" He cheered, watching the poodle clamber back to his feet.

Happy, meanwhile, didn't feel much like celebrating in his dizzy state of mind. "I hate you so much right now." With a quick shake of his head, he regained enough of his bearings to realize that water completely surrounded them, with land in sight but still a ways away from them. "Move over," he grunted, assuming control from the corgi and bringing them over to the landmass.

Any animosity that Garbage might've felt at that moment immediately dissipated upon witnessing the planet up close, remarking at its wonder. "Oh wow, check this place out!" He squished his face against the glass, taking in the sights with a grin that stretched from ear-to-ear.

"Genuinely astounding," said Happy, the words slipping out of his mouth as he viewed the lush landscape. For some reason, out in this empty quadrant of space, was a planet that resembled their home so much that he could've easily mistaken it for Earth without any of the pollution ruining it. "Come on, let's go have a physical look of the area."

The drawbridge to the ship lowered, letting the dogs out to wander around, both of them in wide-eyed astonishment at the sights set out in front of them. They barely had to take any steps for the mental checklists in their heads to mark off everything that a planet needed in order to be considered appropriate for their humans to live on - the fastest that either of them had that happen.

"Well, I must say this literally made the slog of a trip worth it in the end," Happy mused. "I can't believe something like this exists out in the middle of nowhere."

"Dude, check it out," Garbage pointed behind the other canine, "those look like trees on the M-Bark."

"They're remarkably similar in shape," The massive coincidences had Happy perplexed, though relieved. He then noticed a bushel of blossoms at his feet, intrigued to learn just how far the similarities went. "And these flowers smell like the ones we've got as well."

"They taste like them too!" The stem of one of the blooms was in Garbage's hand as he devoured the head without a second thought.

Happy cringed, not knowing the physiological composition of the plant that the corgi just consumed. "I... would advise against doing that until we figure out what they're made of." Trying to put the other dog's potentially dangerous shenanigans out of his head he looked back towards the Pluto, noting how crystal-clear and calm the water was. It put him at peace. "This might just be the most perfect planet that I've ever seen with my own two eyes."

"Yeah, I think the humans would really like this place," Garbage beamed. Just then his stomach gurgled out, though not negatively reacting to the flower that he'd just eaten. "Oh, I think I'm hungry again."

"Again?!" Happy's jaw nearly hit the ground when he heard that. "Has it even been an hour since you last ate? I barely had anything, so it should be _me_who's wanting food, not you."

That got Garbage to freeze in place, his train of thought interrupted as he looked at the poodle. "Do you though?"

With the topic of eating popping up, all the effort that Happy had put into ignoring his empty stomach had been for not as the sound of grumbling emanated from his abdomen. "Yes, I'm starving."

"Alright, let's not waste a moment on looking for food to eat then. I'm sure there's gotta be something around here for us to munch on," Garbage looked around the site for anything resembling food, ambling off in another direction when nothing popped up.

Not noticing the other dog leave at first, Happy had to jog to catch up, glowering at the other captain. "Well, we wouldn't have to scavenge for food if _someone_didn't eat all our rations."

Garbage stopped mid-step and looked up at the other canine, feeling that the accusation was unjust. "What? I was stress-eating!"

"I thought that was Loaf's thing," Happy arched a brow as he prodded the corgi's midsection.

Garbage grumbled, his cheeks going flush. "Who do you think I picked it up from?"

Happy sighed in exasperation. "What could even make you that stressed? You've done this a million times in the past already, so I can't understand what would make this different."

"Have you been around yourself lately?" Garbage shot back, his eyes narrowed at the poodle. "You can be pretty intense, you know."

While he'd rather not agree with the amber-furred corgi, Happy conceded that the exploration of space usually left him passionate in his quest to find a new planet. His fingers fidgeted amongst themselves. "Well, that... wasn't my intention. I was just getting antsy after not finding any suitable planet for ages now."

Garbage could only groan upon hearing that. "It's only been - what - a day or so? Relax, we're doing fine."

"It's never usually taken my team this long to find one before!" Happy gripped the other canine by the shoulders. "I'm sure you can understand my impatience."

"Hey, it's okay," Garbage slid out of the other dog's grasp. "Sometimes my team goes several missions finding only terrible planets to scout out. We're totally fine with that!"

Happy was aghast to hear such a thing. "I would absolutely never be fine with that. I'd want to locate at least a semi-decent one at best before heading home."

"Just like today--oh wait!" Garbage poked the other captain in the chest.

Happy swatted the corgi's finger away. "Today was an exception; I was completely thrown out of my element and had trouble adjusting."

"Well, all your anxiety should be gone now. This place will surely knock the socks off the guys back home!" With a self-assuredness that he was known for, Garbage returned to his exploration, though stopped after taking a single step when he spied what he thought were apples on a tree. "Hey, that looks like food!"

"Hey, wait up!" Happy took off after the other canine, amazed that those stubby legs carried the corgi so far in such a short amount of time. He was just about out of breath when he caught up to the other captain, who he noticed was simply staring at the tree.

While the sticks and leaves seemed accurate enough in his mind, Garbage cocked his head when he looked at the fruit itself, a quizzical expression plastered across his face. "Oh, that's... not exactly what I expected."

"Huh, weird looking fruit," Happy plucked one from a branch to inspect it, befuddled by what he held in his hand. His fingers contoured around the various curves that it possessed, thicker in some areas than others and having a bend in the middle that made it look almost like a flexing arm. "I've never seen anything like this before."

Unlike the taller poodle, Garbage couldn't quite reach the literal low-hanging fruit with his stumpy limbs. He grunted as he jumped for the one closest to the ground before getting the idea of using the tree itself to help, bouncing off of the thick trunk to reach the edible plant matter. "Got it."

Happy thought nothing of it as he took a bite, his eyes going wide as saucers when his teeth didn't sink into the flesh nearly as much as he thought they would. "Ah, it's really dense!" He could see his miniscule bite marks, annoyed at how much force he had to put into eating the strange fruit.

"Dense with nutrients, I hope?" Garbage nervously chuckled as he took a bite, not expecting the skin to be so tough to puncture. "You'd have better luck trying to eat a tire!"

"Well, at least it's better than starving." With his resolve steeled, Happy continued his onslaught of the fruit, barely able to get his muzzle fully buried in the flesh before taking the smallest of bites possible. Even the meager amount of fruit in his mouth had to be laboured over to thoroughly masticate enough to be swallowed. He wasn't a fan. "Man, my jaw hasn't hurt this much ever since I ate peanut brittle that one time."

That struck Garbage as odd. "You've only ever eaten it once?"

"Garbage, I couldn't open my mouth for an hour. It was traumatizing," Happy glared at the corgi before digging back into his fruit.

Try as he might, Garbage could only make slight progress in the consumption of the fruit. Still, his hunger pushed him to eat as much of it as he was able to. "It's a little bit easier to eat once the skin's gone."

"Only marginally, I'm afraid, but it'll have to do." It took Happy longer to eat his share than anything else of a similar size, but he managed to gnaw the fruit down to the core. He let out a content sigh as he dropped it unceremoniously to the ground. "Well, the planet's not perfect, but having only a single downside is still the best I've managed in my career."

Garbage huffed as he stripped his own fruit of any morsels, not expecting to endure quite the workout in just trying to eat. "Yeah, I'm sure someone else will figure out what to do with this stuff. It's not bad otherwise."

While the single fruit didn't do a whole lot to sate his hunger, Happy was still relieved to have eaten something; he could finally focus on the rest of his mission now. "Alright, let's get comms up and running on the Pluto and report our findings with the M-Bark."

The pair of dogs made their way back to the ship, the temperate climate of the planet not affecting them thanks to a cool breeze passing them by. Having found a possible new home for their humans made them feel pretty good too.

A neat, little dossier had been created for this planet, yet to be named, but the two of them knew that they'd get rights to that - they both wanted that privilege for themselves, though. Regardless, their work was done and they were ready to return home.

Hmm, maybe after getting a little shut-eye first. It'd been a long flight out there, and neither of them really got a chance to rest on account of needing to stay vigilant in case of something needing to be taken care of. With them being docked on dry land it meant that they needn't worry about the possibility of anything happening. While the corgi was eager to snooze away, he first showed Happy to an available room - Ed's cabin - much to the poodle's supreme chagrin. Still, any port in a storm.

Like all other times he'd been on long missions, Garbage slept like a log, flat on his back with his arms splayed to the side. Not a single thing could potentially wake him up now barring something physically shaking the exhaustion out of him. It was naps like these that he cherished the most.

His catatonic state made him blissfully unaware of anything happening in his surroundings, or more importantly himself. It was slight at first, but his body twitched under his jumpsuit. Various muscles tensed as he slept, flexing to their peak before falling to rest again, only to retain the size. More and more his form gently spasmed, any and all fat caked on his frame practically vanishing as musculature took its place, becoming just as thick in a matter of moments. If only he could've been awake to see it all happen.

The fabric of his jumpsuit easily held his burgeoning bulk, accommodating his chest as it swelled out with every passing second. He let out a soft groan as a slight constricting sensation was felt, though not enough to stir him out of his slumber. His pectorals continued their rise off of his chest, graduating from barely defined to mounds of beef in no time flat. His short stature would ensure that he noticed this first.

His arms bulged out with added heft, tensing into softball-sized lumps before ballooning past that. Triceps that he barely noticed before had swollen up into horseshoes that would make the gym fanatics green with envy. While his limbs put the sleeves of his jacket to the test, his jumpsuit didn't have any issues containing his growing beef. Everything that he wore left nothing to the imagination.

The same was said of his legs, which blimped up with sumptuous muscle mass, thickening into mighty logs that exploded in size with every flex. Thighs that at least had some definition to them before now rippled with bulk, the fabric of his suit enveloping all of it. Were he like this earlier, trying to get the fruit from the tree would've been a piece of cake.

In what felt like no time at all, Garbage had grown from a tubby specimen of a corgi into a veritable pint-sized powerhouse the likes of which the M-Bark rarely saw. Heh, he might be able to give Barclay a run for his money now!

Happy, meanwhile, experienced the same thing, also just about dead as a doornail. While he tended to shift in his sleep more than anyone else that he knew, he still didn't feel anything amiss as his body began its own expansion.

The lanky poodle hardly ever stepped foot in the weightlifting section of the base's gym, which would make it odd from an outsider's perspective now that his pectorals had started surging away from his chest. They filled with beef with seemingly every breath, getting stuffed like the pillow that he laid as time ticked away.

His back also benefited from the growth, each muscle group undulating as it flexed in accordance with the ones around it. A slight moan could be heard as he shifted onto his side, the swelling of his lats going unnoticed as they flared wider under his arms. Even the rising of his traps wasn't enough to wake him up despite his neck usually being sensitive to sudden changes like this.

Like the rest of his torso, his abdominals got in on the action, tightening into firm bricks unlike what one would see on a cobblestone path. The ridges between them clearly defined the hilly masses, which continued to bulge larger as he slept. His shredded trunk heralded development in the rest of his body, culminating in his lower half receiving the same treatment and bloating up into thick poles that rivaled even those of the humans. Just his appearance alone commanded respect.

What felt like eternities had passed before Garbage aroused from his slumber, the sensation of a ton of bricks weighing him down despite not actually being there. Ugh, he was groggy from his nap, but the rest of him felt good - strangely heavy, but good. He barely registered that his face was firmly planted in his pillow as he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, needing to push himself onto his back to fully accomplish the task.

Man, he felt completely out of it. While he wasn't exhausted anymore, he certainly had trouble trying to move his limbs. Did he sleep on them or something? Trying to raise an arm felt almost impossible, feeling particularly numb for some reason. He might need a hot second to regain some feeling in them.

He laid there in peace, his mind slowly waking up as he began to regard the sights around him. His bunk was fairly humdrum as he'd been forced to clean it recently and simply forgot to fill it back up with all the stuff that he usually kept in it. While necessary given the state that he'd put it in, sprucing it up back to how it was when he first got it made it feel a little less like home.

There - he seemed to have feeling back in his body again. With a grunt he pushed himself off of his bed, sliding back into his shoes as his mind still hadn't processed any of the changes yet. He yawned and scratched his arm, not sensing anything different despite the fabric outlining his newly gained heft. It wouldn't be until he passed the full-length mirror in his room that he noticed something off about himself, backing up to the reflective surface when his brain finally understood that he'd transformed into a hunk in his sleep.

Gentle prods along his bulging beef indicated that - yes - this was really him and not a dream, though he could tell just from sight alone as his dreams never quite looked this good. He could stop himself from giving a few poses in the mirror, chuckling to himself when he saw his jacket bunch up to try and contain his flexing musculature. The fact that his pecs were so close to his nose floored him, though he knew with his lack of neck that it was easier for that to happen than on other dogs. Still, he couldn't get over his drastically different appearance, thoroughly enjoying his swollen physique. "Ooh, check me out!"

As if universally the opposite of the corgi, Happy didn't have any trouble at all rising from his nap. The amount of exercise that he got normally made his sleep particularly restful, with this session being no different. His limbs felt a bit stiff and awkward, however, though he just chalked that up to the fact that he'd been sleeping on a different spaceship to his own. That never happened on the Venus.

With a long yawn he righted himself into a sitting position, only to just about push himself off of the bed entirely. That was odd. Maybe he was more tired than he thought and didn't realize how much strength he was using.

That theory held water until he performed his usual stretches after waking up, immediately noticing the changes to him that had occurred while he was out cold. He froze in panic as he viewed the recent additions to his body, unaccustomed to the sight of any noticeable muscle mass on his frame. What did he look like - one of those fools who did nothing but spend all day in the gym?! He was an important man and his time was precious!

But that didn't change the fact that his body now fit that aesthetic perfectly, especially with how his jumpsuit profiled every one of the curves that he'd gained. He gave each part of himself an experimental flex, his lips as tense as his musculature was as he observed how it bunched up with his movements. The material of his attire actually caught itself within the pinch points that his bulk created, much to his chagrin. Try as he might, viewing this as a positive was tough in his eyes.

In complete contrast to the formerly lanky poodle, Garbage had no qualms with his bloated bulk, paying extra attention to how it all bulged out with every flex. He threw himself into every pose that he could think of, giving himself a show of pure corgi beef that he knew no one else could top. An ecstatic grin stretched across his face when he saw his pecs jut out from the top of both his jumpsuit and captain's jacket. "Oh man, I totally get why those gym guys do their thing now. This is so cool!"

And that's when he remembered that he wasn't the only man on board, recalling that the poodle was in another cabin resting up. That made him curious as to whether or not his - what would he call this, an affliction? Condition? Oh, 'condition' sounded good - was shared with the other captain. The thought got him excited, hoping that the other dog liked this as much as he did.

It was only when he got closer to the occupied room that he heard groans of distress, immediately cluing into the state in which the other canine was in. It perplexed him considering how stunning he found himself to be, but he knew that the other dog always had to strive to be different from him. He wished that for once the poodle could give it a rest.

Happy was busy fidgeting in his jumpsuit when the corgi walked into the room, his eyes flicking to the sudden movement and causing him to stop when he saw the other captain look similar to him. "Oh no, you got huge too!"

"Yeah, I did!" Garbage cheered, puffing out his chest. "Isn't this awesome?!"

"Uh, no, it's not," Happy scoffed, the feeling of the material still a bit uncomfortable given how much more of him it had to stretch around. He grunted as he attempted to lessen the strain around his thicker neck. "I know you're incredibly vainglorious, but--"

"Oh, and you're not?" Garbage interjected, a pointed glance shot at the other canine.

Happy groaned, hating that he might have to accept what his body was like now. "Not in this regard." It annoyed him that the corgi didn't seem to mind this so much. "How are you okay with this happening to us?"

Garbage shrugged his cannonball-like shoulders. "I dunno about you, but I think this is cool. I've always wanted to be jacked like those other guys!"

"You..." Happy cocked his head, a confused look on his face. "You know you could've just exercised then, right?"

Garbage slumped forward. "That's too much work! Why can't I just get muscly by eating junk food?"

"Because that's how life works," Happy rolled his eyes. "So clearly, this is a result of us being on this planet, though I don't know what exactly caused it. Could be the contact with the air or water, maybe--"

"Oh, maybe that weird fruit!"

"Also a possibility," Happy cupped his chin in thought. "Alright, we need to analyze whatever we can find on this planet. It'll be vital in our report that we figure out what's making us like this."

"Can't I just check myself out a little bit more first?" As much as Garbage knew that having concrete knowledge on their condition was important, he couldn't help himself in wanting to explore his body just that little bit more. The poodle answered his question by yanking him off of his feet while leaving the room, eliciting a spark of surprise that even the beanpole dog was significantly stronger than before. That spurred excitement into welling up inside of him.

Happy bent down to collect a sample of the water by the Pluto, corking it in a vial that he placed in his belt next to a fragment of dirt. It displeased him that he could see his chest whenever he looked down, but he knew that a captain of his calibre could triumph over this calamity and ignore his bigger form. The understanding that it would take a while, however, made him groan.

Garbage, on the other hand, was more than happy to put his new abilities to work, carrying as much of the fruit that could after having shaken the tree to retrieve them. The pile held by his brawny arms reached well over the top of his head.

Happy palmed his face when he saw what the corgi was up to. "Garbage, we don't need to process that many. One is sufficient."

"Oh, I know," Garbage replied, his nose shoved to one side in order to not disturb the fruit heap. "I just grabbed some extra for the ride home in case we get hungry. I dunno about you, but I'm a little peckish at the moment anyway."

In spite of his growing exasperation with the other dog, he couldn't deny that his stomach could use a little extra something to fill it, especially when it made its presence known with a very audible grumble. "Yeah, me too..."

The pair of dogs made their way back aboard the vessel, their samples ready to be analyzed by the computer. Unexpectedly both the dirt and water specimens didn't turn up anything interesting, merely exhibiting the same properties as those found back home. It left the two of them astounded until they regarded the pile of fruit now situated on the floor of the ship, their gazes locked in shared realization.

Happy grabbed one and allowed the computer to evaluate it, watching the screen and seeing it populate with all sorts of peculiar data that neither of them had seen before. The characteristics of the fruit were unlike anything experienced back on the M-Bark. "Aha, that probably explains it," he scrolled through the information until he landed on a particular detail that stuck out to him. "It appears that each piece of fruit has one thousand percent the normal protein content of any meat back home."

While he wasn't the most knowledgeable about canine physiology, Garbage knew enough to know that dogs had limits on stuff like this. "That doesn't sound like it should be healthy for us."

"It doesn't, and yet our bodies seem to have found a way to deal with it," Happy let his chest puff out, now a bit amazed at how well the protein had been metabolized by his body. "Maybe that's also a property of the fruit."

"So, uh," Garbage gulped, "having learned all this, are you still hungry enough to eat any more of the fruit? You seemed pretty upset earlier."

"Unfortunately, I am," Happy rubbed the bridge of his nose before pushing his mounting feeling of dread to the side. "Whatever, I'll deal with this back on the M-Bark. Surely_someone_ can figure out how to change me back."

"Okay, catch!" Without warning, Garbage chucked one of the fruits at the poodle's head, completely oblivious as to whether or not the poodle was paying attention.

"Ah!" Happy shrieked, barely catching the fruit at the last second. He growled at the corgi. "What do I look like, a--" Upon hearing himself nearly complete the phrase he stopped himself, unwilling to degrade himself like that. "Don't finish that sentence."

The pair of them began to munch on the fruit, finding the process a little bit easier for some reason. It wasn't like it was effortless, but it was still a step in the right direction given how miserable the experience was before.

It actually allowed them to eat quite a few more pieces than they thought, which pleased the both of them given the nature of their hunger. They piled the empty cores off in another heap on the opposite side of the ship, wanting to sate their appetites in favour of properly disposing of them.

"Oh man, I'm stuffed," Garbage sighed in bliss, rubbing his gut as it made work of his meal. "Can't believe I'm full and there's still a ton of these left," he said, noting the pile on the floor next to him.

"These must be more filling than we thought. I can't eat another bite." With a laboured grunt, Happy pushed himself to his feet and ambled over to the computer to plot the course for home. The ship did so upon his command, needing his input only to manoeuvre them back into space, which is where the autopilot took over.

Garbage reclaimed his co-captain's chair after so long without using it, though his eyes drifted back over to the collection of fruit with an idea brewing in his head. "Say, what if he got some of the other dogs to try that stuff? I bet it'd be a hit!"

"Garbage, that's the absolute last thing we should be thinking of doing. We still don't know the full properties of that fruit, so we shouldn't be messing around with it," Happy was steadfast in his unwillingness to enjoy their shared experience, preferring to remain professional as that's what was expected of him; it's what got him that far in life already, so he knew that staying on course was the right call. The abrupt twitching of his bulging musculature strained that conduct, however, and it immediately rang alarm bells in his head as he witnessed his doggy bulk spasm before his very eyes. "Wait, why is this happening already?!"

The panic present in the poodle's voice caught Garbage off-guard, who whipped his head to see the other canine's flexing heft before noticing that his own was doing the same. His mind instantly landed on the most plausible reason as to why. "Dude, we ate more of them than we did the last time."

"Oh no, this can't be happening to me!" Happy jumped out of his seat in consternation, tugging at his jumpsuit in an attempt to shuck it off. His growth had commenced in that time, with his arms taking advantage first and thickening into pillars not unlike those found decorating various facilities on the M-Bark. This was a disaster!

"God, you're uptight! Just relax and enjoy this." With eager anticipation, Garbage watched as his own bulk began to swell and take on more size. His chest puffed out as muscle mass piled on underneath his pelt, pushing his fluffy pecs out until they strained the front of his captain's jacket. "Awesome!" His enthusiasm waned when he felt the pressure mount in the collar of his top. "Oh, wait." Fearing the seams of his favourite article of clothing giving way, he quickly unfastened the buttons and stripped out of the jacket, leaping to the floor to give himself more room to do the same with his jumpsuit.

It was fortunate that Happy got his jumpsuit off when he did as his back blimped out in the blink of an eye. In a split second it grew mountainous, commanding more of the room around him than it used to as the peaks of each muscle swelled further away from the valleys between them. His traps in particular burgeoned greatly, practically swallowing his long neck as they rose above the base of his ears. Likewise his lats grew winglike as his frame broadened out, his shoulders stretching wider to ensure that his body could handle it all, whether he wanted to or not.

That got his front to explode in size, ballooning out as his pectorals became thick slabs of beef that invaded his peripheral vision. He huffed as he grasped them in shock, feeling their rigidity as his fingers failed to dent the flesh. It distracted him from his abs condensing into bricks that looked more at home fortifying a wall with how solid with muscle mass they'd become. In spite of the horror that radiated throughout his body, he couldn't stop a trickle of pleasure from coursing through his veins. Somehow - in some capacity - he was enjoying this, and he hated that fact.

The same could not be said for Garbage, who was overjoyed with his changes. The thrill of growing bigger excited him to his core and he zealously awaited more developments in his body. His arms ballooned out to an extraordinary degree, bloating with densely-packed heft that only accumulated the longer that time marched forward. He adored how they couldn't rest at his sides anymore, having to lean at an increasingly larger angle with every passing second. Such a concept never struck him before but now he wanted more of it!

His legs followed suit, blowing up into tree trunks as big as the ones back on the planet. Stuffed with swollen beef it appeared like they'd inflated, only without any sort of compressor. His quads blimped out in all directions, smashing into one another and causing him to whimper from the stimulation received. With all his growing bulk his nerves were running in overdrive as they supplied pleasure to his brain, culminating in his package surging larger the more his muscles rubbed against one another. Feeling his shaft plump up along with the rest of him was an event that he wished to experience again.

Focused on his own world, Happy didn't even see what the other dog was up to as he tried in vain to prevent his own expansion from happening. He groaned in frustration as his own pole fattened like the rest of him, though his disapproval of his growth left it limp against his engorged thighs. That didn't stop his balls from milking his ascension for all it was worth as they bloated into knee-slapping cum tanks, positively roiling with seed. The fight to avoid getting aroused seemed to be futile at this point.

Garbage moaned in delight as he felt his already tight abs benefit from his growth once more, doming out into a thick tortoise shell of a gut that packed as much heft into it as was possible, just about protruding out as far as his pecs did. The sensation of his girthy length contouring around his abgut left him beside himself in sheer bliss. "Oh yeah, this is exactly what I was hoping for," he chuckled as he looked over his immensity. That's when he noticed the poodle having finished his own expansion, who gasped when they made eye contact and immediately hid his modesty.

"Uh, yeah, um..." Happy gulped, his hands barely doing anything to conceal his fledgling erection. "If you could look elsewhere, that'd be great, thanks."

Garbage huffed, his massive chest bouncing as a result. "Dude, we've showered together multiple times. We know what the other looks like naked."

"I know, but--" Happy groaned, but ultimately realized just how pointless trying to shield himself was given the amount of euphoria his body naturally produced, moving his hands away to let the corgi view his struggling boner.

"Heh, you're really fighting it, aren't ya?" Garbage made his way over to the other canine, noticing how the rosy blush crossing the poodle's face showed through that white fur. He couldn't understand why the distinguished captain didn't like the additional size like he did. This was the best thing that had ever happened to him!

Happy, by complete contrast, was aghast with the further changes to his body, though knew nothing could be done about it now. He sighed in defeat as his boulder shoulders slumped forward, his titanic traps bulging as his muzzle rested on his prodigious chest. "I should've seen this coming, shouldn't I?"

Garbage could only laugh. "Hey, it's not so bad. Think of how much more respect you'll get from your crew now!"

Happy eyed the corgi suspiciously. "I don't think 'respect' would be what my squad feels when they all see me."

"Ah, you're making yourself feel bad for nothing," Garbage patted the other dog on the back, inadvertently feeling up the unadulterated strength bulging within every muscle group. "For what it's worth, I think you look great!"

"Somehow, that doesn't exactly make me feel better," Happy groaned. Just then his nose twitched, his gaze narrowing as his nostrils flared. He couldn't tell what exactly he picked up, but all that he knew was that this caused his schlong to rise to full mast. "Wait, what is that?" His heart nearly raced out of his chest.

Seeing the other captain sniff around caused him to do the same, a smile curving the corners of his mouth when he picked up a delectable aroma. "Oh, I'm getting it too! I wonder why we're only getting a whiff of it now."

Happy also pondered that fact, trying to think of what could be simultaneously strong enough to casually whuff without trying, recent enough that neither of them had noticed before, as well as potent enough to induce his pillar to throb against his torso. The gears in his head turned as his mind spun with many different possibilities as to what the smell could be. And that's when it hit him, his eyes bulging wide in realization. "Ah, it's our scent! Whatever was in the fruit is making it act like an aphrodisiac."

"A... what now?" Garbage tried to cock his head as he did when confused, only to learn that his traps prevented him from doing so.

The corgi's ineptitude got Happy groaning in irritation. "Seriously, Garbage? I thought you'd have surely heard of the term by now."

Hearing that only got Garbage more confused. "Why? Is it in the captain's manual or something?"

Happy's breath caught in his throat, his hands frozen in place as he only just understood that the nature of wasn't something formally discussed in their training. "Well... no, but--"

"Then how do you know what it is?" Garbage quirked a brow.

"Uh, you know..." The more that Happy tried to skirt around the concept, the more flustered he grew. Memories of him sniffing his teammate's used jocks flooded his mind, causing his cock to pulse with excitement. "Experimenting and stuff," he rubbed the back of his bull neck.

"What kind of experimenting?" Garbage asked in earnest.

Happy finally put the kibosh on the endless questioning. "Garbage, I don't have time for this." Feeling hopeless in attempting to inhibit his flourishing arousal, his head buried itself in his hands, hoping that it wasn't that much longer back to the base. "I just hope I can get checked out soon enough so that I can take care of my needs. The last thing I want is to relieve any tension while we're still on the ship."

"Really?" Garbage laughed. "I'm more than okay with that! I was gonna do that anyway since I'm so pent up right now."

Fear gripped Happy just as he did the same to the other captain's muscly shoulders. "Garbage, you can't!" His voice dripped with concern.

Garbage, on the other hand, didn't see an issue with the idea at all. "What? Why not?"

"I--" Happy grimaced, his mind coming up with nothing to help him in this situation. "I don't know - that's the problem! We have no of knowing what could happen to us if we let ourselves cum."

"Oh my god, you are so high-strung," Garbage said as he viewed the panic written across the poodle's face. While he could easily ignore the other canine and worry about making himself feel good, he knew that an entire spaceflight with a quivering behemoth wasn't exactly high on his list of things to do that day. There had to be something that he could do to calm the other dog down, and it was only then that he thought of something guaranteed to work. "Hey," he watched the other man's eyes meet his again.

Happy didn't get a chance to respond before he felt the amber-furred canine's lips press against his, immediately inundated with repressed memories of all the times that the two of them did this in the past when they were closer together. He let himself melt into the embrace, refusing to fight it off as his worries washed away. That was always one aspect of their friendship that he sorely missed.

The feeling was mutual with Garbage, who felt his turgid crotch rocket throb with need as all of his withheld desires flooded to the forefront. He let hands roam around the poodle's enormity, thoroughly enjoying what the tremendous beefcake had to offer. It only made his arousal stronger as his attraction for the other dog flourished.

Air being forced from his nostrils, Happy moaned as the corgi's ministrations set off his libido, feeling it surge and coax out a glob of pre from his tumescent prick. He reveled in the sensation of his bulk pressing against the shortstack's, especially savouring the inconceivable width that the other man possessed. It was getting too much for him to handle and he pushed himself out of the embrace, a string of saliva connecting him with the other captain. "Garbage, I... I-I can't hold back anymore. I need it - I need..." He gulped. "You."

It'd been ages since the pair of them had done anything like this, leaving Garbage mildly amused to see the poodle so sexually insistent about him given how far apart they'd drifted recently. "Oh captain, my captain," he traced a finger along the other canine's bulging cum pipe, watching his friend squirm from the abrupt sensation.

"Garbage..." Happy moaned, belching forth another dob of preseed from his aching shaft.

Now that his thoughts were on their intimate past, Garbage began to recall all the things that they did together while they'd been in training. There was one thing in particular that stuck out to him that he remembered the other dog _really_enjoyed. "Hey," he grabbed the poodle's hand before sitting on the floor of the Pluto, "come down here with me."

The gears in Happy's head turned as he wondered what the corgi had in store for them, only to immediately understand what was being communicated, his fluffy tail fervently wagging behind him. He took his place beside the fireplug, shaft already drooling a steady stream of precum in anticipation.

"Oh look, someone's finally living up to his name!" Garbage smirked, gently gripping onto the other canine's shaft and letting his fingers get covered in pre.

While a part of him still thought that they should definitely wait to get back to the M-Bark before engaging in sexual matters, the overwhelming majority of Happy felt more than ready to play ball. "It's been a while," he nervously giggled, his tail thumping against the floor.

"Too long, I think." The slick sensation of his hand gliding to the tip of the poodle's dick had Garbage eager to relive past memories.

"I _did_miss this," Happy gingerly grasped the corgi's girthy meatlog, feeling the same thing with how much slimy precum coated his hand. The sensation of his own schlong getting manhandled was electric, and he hoped that he gave it right back to the other captain.

Garbage sucked in air through his teeth, his dense musculature bulging from the overwhelming pleasure that the poodle's simple touch invoked inside of him. He writhed from how good his friend's hand felt on his rod, his hips involuntarily bucking to try and help with the process. "Clearly I did too," he laughed.

His own chest heaving from the arousal coursing through him, Happy firmly bobbed his hand along the other dog's turgid endowment, feeling the veins snake along the flesh. "Man, I can't even get a hand around your dick anymore. It's so thick."

"You're packing quite a bit yourself, stud," Garbage wryly grinned, squeezing the other canine's hog as best as he could, relishing in the way that the diamond-hard python didn't relent to his grasp. It got him tensing his muscles from the knowledge that the power present in the other dog's member was far stronger than he was, his chest pushing out in front of his muzzle where he could inhale his scent for himself. He could hardly handle his own immensity, let alone his friend's.

Happy was sent reeling as the stimulation on his magnum dong rocked his body, pure pleasure racing up his spine, forcing him to lean back with his free hand supporting him. The way that the corgi went rough on his cock without it relenting caused his arousal to surge inside of him and grunt his approval. He did the same on the other captain's doghood, stroking the pulsating fuckmeat as he felt it spasm in his grip. The pair of them were hornier than they'd ever been, and he couldn't be more thrilled with that fact if he tried.

Feeling the other canine's caressing picking up in speed, Garbage reacted in turn, ensuring that his fingers were as tightly wrapped around the cockflesh as possible while bobbing his hand along it. Despite the might in his grasp, the sheer volume of precum drooling from the tip of the other dog's dick prevented him from clutching too tightly and instead promoting the activation of the poodle's oversensitive nerves. He could tell how much his friend loved it given the increasingly loud moaning coming from the other man, giving him all the incentive to continue.

Having his pillar fondled harder than it'd ever previously been got Happy practically fucking the other captain's hand, pistoning his cock into the corgi's grip and showering the amber-furred hand with translucent preseed. He snarled as he tried to maintain composure, the incredible pleasure rocketing throughout his body hindering that from happening as his libido raged inside of him. For too long he'd let himself go without relieving his stress, now understanding why that wasn't the best idea as years of tension melted off of his broad shoulders. It clued him in that doing this regularly was actually as good as the other canine had suggested and knew that he'd be performing this act more from now on.

Garbage let out a series of strained growls as euphoric bliss ripped through his nervous system, pummeling the pleasure centre of his brain. He hadn't gotten used to how amazing this new body of his felt, though he could tell from the other dog's spasming that the poodle hadn't either. That didn't bother him, however, as this would be the first of many times getting each other off - he was sure of that.

Happy whimpered in delight as his cock picked up in its jackhammering, helping the corgi's hand reach its base with every thrust. Feeling such a manly appendage grope his endowment had him lust-addled and ready to blow, doing everything in his power to hold on and edge himself longer. Try as he might, his resolve failed, and it only took him a few more bucks of his hips before his titanic tool shot out rope after sticky rope of pearlescent jizz into the air, barely an arc being made as it rained down on the pair of them. Maybe his friend was right in saying that he'd been too uptight - this would certainly help with that.

The sensation of feeling the other captain's thick log of canine fuckmeat blast its load high into the air got Garbage's determination breaking down as well, his nose buried in his heavy chest as his own pillar geysered thick spunk that streamed back down to the floor. He cried aloud as his fat cum tanks drained as fast as they could, emptying at a rapid rate that caused his copious amount of jism to pool along the floor with the other man's. The overbearing pleasure hammering him nearly got him to black out.

Feeling the prostate-induced pressure in his bulging taint begin to dissipate got Happy starting to pant in relief, though the amount of virile dogbatter that his kneeknocker orbs produced meant that he still had quite a bit to shoot out. He felt like a firehose with how fast his slick fluid jettisoned from his cock, though he could take comfort in the fact that the end was in sight.

Garbage's eyes were screwed shut in ecstasy, his nose inundated with his own heady scent. He couldn't get enough of his musk, never before thinking to try this when he was smaller. It got him blasting even harder as an inferno of erotic bliss raged through his soul. He pumped his shaft through the poodle's hand as much as he could, wanting every last drop of cum to discharge. Heh, he was definitely right to want to get his rocks off while being this huge!

After what felt like whole eternities had gone by, Happy finally felt the last of his flow dribble from the head of his shaft, the remnants oozing down his length in sticky rivulets. He gasped in panting breaths as his chest heaved from exhaustion. The use of both hands to support his tired bulk was needed now, otherwise he'd find himself slipping backwards onto the generous lake of cum that the both of them had inadvertently created. He wasn't too concerned, though, as, if this ship was anything like the Venus, then their output would be dealt with automatically just like any other liquid. Hooray for modern conveniences.

It took until his muscles finally relaxed before Garbage popped his snout free, inhaling fresh air for the first time in a little bit - though it wasn't exactly as fresh as it could given the intermingling musk of both him and the poodle assaulting his senses. He didn't mind that, however, as he'd come to appreciate their smells, even going so far as to relate the scents with unrelenting pleasure. It gave him plenty of ideas as to what to try with the other dog next.

Happy physically turned his body to look at the shortstack corgi, a lust-drunk expression contorting his face. "Alright, when I said we'd be captaining together one day, this wasn't exactly what I thought would occur."

"But you never said it wasn't going to happen," Garbage pointed out through wheezing chuckles. "Maybe that means you knew the whole time."

"Yes, because I, of all dogs, could've predicted something like this to take place between us out of everyone working aboard the M-Bark. Give your head a shake," Happy playfully punched the other canine in the shoulder, the solid muscle barely budging in spite of their shared exhaustion.

Garbage went and turned his body to look at the poodle, his chest puffing out as his feelings for his friend blossomed. Maybe this would be the start of rekindling their former relationship. "But it was fun, right?"

"It was," Happy admitted. "It's just like old times, huh?"

"Nah," Garbage shook his head as he placed his hand on the poodle's burly shoulder, "this is better."