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Better than Bananas Written by Leo_Todrius Commissioned by Anonymous

While science had once been the domain of those wishing to help the world end its problems, it had been decades since scientists had operated for the sole purpose of helping humanity. The scientific community owed its livelihood to mega-corporations and trade syndicates, equipment manufacturers and drug companies... and when business was in charge of science, the research rarely made sense. Despite a world epidemic of obesity, Globucorp had commissioned the creation of a weight gain formula with rapid results. Doctor Rich Anderson had been eager to take up the mantle, though Sam Lysander had not been as impressed. Still, it was a way to pay off his college debt.

After years of working in the lab, the formula had been perfected... at least on paper. They had tested on mice, rats, guinea pigs and Globucorp was ready to test on primates, though the laws in the states were too restrictive... so Doctor Anderson and Sam had been flown out to a remote jungle testing facility. It was a mixed bag for Sam. He hated animal testing, he hated what he was being forced to do, but at the same time he was coming across the fantastic landscapes and dealing with amazing animals. He had always been fascinated by Gorillas.

Ajani had been brought to the compound when he was fairly young and had developed into a sizeable silver backed gorilla. He wandered around on his short hind legs and long hands, using his knuckles like feet. His body was covered in thick black fur other than his leathery face and he strutted around like he owned the place. While the Gorilla preferred cantaloupe and pears, Ajani had been receiving more and more food items in liquefied bottle form to get him ready for the coming experiment.

Sam prepared the weight gain formula, looking out into the yard as he did so. The formula was thicker than a milkshake and tended to be chalky creamy white when not mixed with other items. More than just being incredibly high in protein and carbohydrates, the mixture included a chemical concoction that kept the body from rejecting such a high meal and dramatically increased retention of the fat and muscle building resources. Sam still was rather unsure about subjecting such a thing on the Gorilla, but he would be replaced at the drop of a hat if he were to oppose the plans... plans he only knew a small portion of.

Rich Anderson was famous in the field, he always got results... but Globucorp was interested in achieving results faster than testing routines would allow. Doctor Anderson had been promised a sizeable sum of money if he were to engineer an accident in which human testing would be started prematurely. In order to accomplish this, he had selected both Ajani and Sam out of dozens of gorillas and thousands of research aides. Namely, Ajani was a social sharer which was an incredibly rare trait for Gorillas, and Sam had the most compatible genetic profile while still being versed in animal interaction. As far as Doctor Anderson was convinced, it was a perfect fit.

Sam closed the bottle, securing the lid on before he moved to the thick door. The complex was a small U shape of rooms, labs and closets nestled inside a labyrinth of fences and trees and open lands, but adjoined to the main structure were test chambers that could be sealed or left open depending on what the experiment called for. With Ajani outside, Sam opened the inner door and scooped up several pears and a basket full of bananas before he moved out. While Sam had been focused on his work, he hadn't noticed doctor Anderson keeping watch. With Sam heading outside, Rich moved forward and shut the inner door, locking it before he moved out of the way of the window.

While Sam hadn't heard the door shut, he soon noticed the detail when he had finished setting everything out on a table for Ajani. Sam moved back over to the door and put his hands up against it, trying to push it open. He knew it was a futile effort, the door had no handle and special hinges to remove any possibility of a gorilla getting into the facility... and Sam wasn't nearly as strong as a Gorilla. Still, he tried in vain, banging on the window in the hopes someone would hear him. Doctor Anderson heard him clearly as he moved back into his office and sat down, turning the security monitors on.

Having heard all the racket, Ajani had grown interested in what was going on in the facility. He wandered along, striding forward on his hands and feet, coming to the doorway of the testing area. Seeing the human, Ajani let out a series of grunts and vocalizations. Sam spun around and tried to calm himself. Ajani was one of the most social animals in the park. Sam scrambled for a plan before he smiled, lifting his hands to try the sign language.

"New food Ajani, good food. You try?" Sam spoke aloud as he signed. Ajani had never been much for the sign language, though on some level he understood it. Ajani looked around before he spotted the table full of food. Ajani let out grunts of excitement, moving over at once. He scooped up a pear and popped it into his mouth like a succulent candy, gnashing it with his teeth before he peeled the banana and ate it as well. Having satiated his immediate hunger, Ajani started looking at his various food options. He did love them all, though the bottle was new.

Sam felt terrible as he watched. He may have been fearful for his own well being, but he was still a scientist and this was the fruition of all the months of testing. Sam said nothing, watching as Ajani lifted the bottle. He sniffed at it, turned the bottle in his hands and then brought the rubber stopper to his mouth. He gave it a draw and the creamy white liquid flowed across his lips and down his throat. Ajani gave the bottle several pulls, gulping it down before he lowered the bottle.

"Is it good? Does it taste okay?" Sam signed. Ajani gave a grunt and started moving right toward Sam. Sam backed up into the corner as the gorilla charged, but as usual Ajani stopped just short of him, offering the bottle. Sam chuckled in surprise, "No thank you, you have it." Sam said. The gorilla didn't seem to care, pushing the bottle up towards Sam's face. Sam tried to push it away but the gorilla jammed the rubber end into Sam's mouth and squeezed the bottle. Sam's cheeks bulged out as it was filled with the concoction. His eyes were wide in shock. It hadn't been tested on humans; it was to gain weight... He knew he had to spit it out but it tasted so... good... like vanilla bean, like love.

Slowly Sam relaxed, starting to slurp and suck on the bottle, his eyes slipping shut. His adam's apple bounced as he swallowed it and felt a tingling spreading through his body. He had always been lanky and thin, but the chemicals seemed to be working already. A thin layer of fat spread across his body. The ribs sticking out of his skin softened, his pointy chin rounded, his bony shoulders grew smooth. Slowly Sam's taut stomach started to distend and push out as thicker layers of fat dropped down over his arms.

Ajani had merely been interested in sharing at first, but even he could see the human changing, growing. Ajani had always thought the humans were too tiny and needed to be bigger. The gorilla slowly sat down and pulled Sam onto his mouth, keeping the bottle wedged in his lips. Sam obediently lay down, gulping at the stuff as his legs grew puffy and his shirt slid up, exposing his rounding belly. He had been a measly hundred and twenty pounds, but he had to be up to a hundred and sixty already. Slowly his pectorals started pushing out, inflating and rounding as his nipples stretched.

Somewhere, deep down, Sam knew he should stop, that this was going to destroy him... But slowly he reached up, resting one hand on the bottle, holding it in place as he sucked it down. His neck thickened, his belly rounded, his shoulders grew even softer. The bones of his spine disappeared beneath fat, all muscles on his torso were subsumed. His fingers got pudgier, as did his toes. Soon his clothes were growing painfully tight, cutting into his flesh. Sam reached up his free hand to tug at his shirt but he still couldn't stop drinking. Sensing he was in distress, Ajani reached and grabbed the shirt before tearing it open, then yanking Sam's pants off, knocking his shoes off in the process.

Ajani grunted in dismay at how many layers humans seemed to wear, every piece of clothing had another underneath. Ajani tore Sam's underwear carefully in two before tossing it aside, tearing the socks from his feet until at last the human was naked. Ajani grunted happily in success, holding a fattening naked male human in his arms. Seeing the nest of hair around his groin, Ajani grunted and reached to tickle the human's fur. He bumped against Sam's cock in the process and blood rushed into it, though it didn't seem to just be blood. The cock was even plumping up from the weight gain formula, getting wide and fat, thicker and thicker.

Sam appeared to be nearing two hundred and fifth pounds, looking as if he'd always been overweight. He seemed to bear it well, no longer looking like a weakling. If anything, his weight made him more imposing. Still, he kept suckling away, adding on the pounds like crazy. His belly was thick and bloated, rounded like a watermelon. Ajani smiled, reaching to caress the belly. Doctor Anderson watched in amazement and awe from his position in his office, keeping track of it all. They were ground breaking findings, and not just for the formula but for ape socialization too... and there seemed to be side effects from the formula itself.

While Sam had certainly been of legal age, he hadn't been overly masculine... but adding so much weight seemed to be amping up his testosterone levels. New hairs were pushing out of his chest and under his arms at an astonishing rate before covering his stomach and arms and legs. His face darkened with stubble. Sam kept nursing the bottle until it was nearly empty and started to echo with each suck. Slowly he pulled his fat lips off of it, groaning in delight. Sam had added over three hundred pounds to his body. The scrawny weakling was gone, replaced with a huge behemoth of manly fat that looked as though he belonged on a motorcycle or behind the wheels of a truck.

Sam reached up to caress Ajani's cheek in thanks for sharing, it really had been delicious. Sam smiled until he looked at the hairy hand on the ape's cheek, then his arm, then his body. He groaned in shock and dismay, overwhelmed by what he had done to himself, though the shock was tempered a bit by his thick cock. It was a rather impressive size to say the least. Still, Sam realized what had happened. It was no accident that he'd been locked in, or that Ajani had been the ape selected for the trial. Sam gritted his teeth before closing his eyes. He knew Doctor Anderson was behind it... No doubt he'd fine the cell door conveniently open when he tried it, unless Sam was to be multiple stages of the experiment.

The transformed researcher didn't spring up or run to the door. He lay in Ajani's lap, contemplating his options. He thought of all the test chambers, all the emergency escape hatches, all the doors. He started trying to think of the most viable way to get back into the facility under his own terms. After some large degree of contemplation, it struck him; the independent sciences wing. Globucorp hadn't risen to such promising levels without knowing how to pinch pennies. While the bulk of the facility was set for ape testing, a wing of the complex had been set aside for tests that had to be conducted outside of the United States regardless of how they were to be tested. Sam had only been in there once, but he knew that the fire escape doors weren't as tightly secured as the others since there were no Gorillas right outside. It seemed like his best bet but he'd have to wait Doctor Anderson out before he made his movie... and after such a big meal, all Sam really wanted to do anyhow was take a nap.

"You want nap?" Sam signed to Ajani. Ajani grunted happily and lowered his head, closing his eyes. Sam closed his as well, staying on the furry lap of an ape he felt far closer to than to his co-workers already.

****

The hours had crept by slowly for Sam, far slower than he would have liked. The nap had been restful, food had appeared in the enclosure when they awoke, but it was clear he wasn't getting back in the regular way. Sam had waited for the cover of night fall before moving out into the yard and disappearing into the trees, at least for the sake of the cameras. He had doubled back, leading Ajani through a camera blind spot over to the back side of the complex. Sam was hesitant to use the unique ape for his plans, but brute force was rather important... and he wasn't used to exertion in his new body or the humidity. Sam's hair was slicked with sweat, sweat that beaded out from his fat, plump body.

Sam would point and Ajani would grab the fence, pulling the chain link in two. It was difficult but not impossible, and the researchers had relied on the fact that Gorillas typically would get tired of peeling back layer after layer, but in the cover of darkness they advanced quickly. Sam moved to crawl through one of the gaps before he felt a big leathery gorilla hand slide around his waist, the thick fingers curling around his shaft. Soon Ajani was pumping Sam's cock. Sam gasped in shock, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. He glanced over his shoulder, realizing the gorilla was jacking himself off too. It seemed like a terrible time, but he couldn't deny it felt good.

In moments Sam and Ajani were moaning, each primate releasing their seed out into the air and over themselves before Sam tried to get them back on track. They continued to the far side of the complex before Sam moved up to one of the fire escape doors. He slid the cover panel out of the way but before grabbing the door release, he reached up into the gap in the door and pulled out a wire, plugging it into an empty port. With the alarm disabled, they would have a far easier time getting in. Sam pulled the door release and swung the door open, their path partially blocked by a rack of plastic cases on wheels. Sam stepped up into the building and pushed the rack out of the way slowly, watching the beakers jiggle.

Sam edged further into the lab, looking around for any evidence of what he'd walked into. There were countless biohazard warning signs and liquid CO2 coolant tanks. Sam was starting to regret his decision, but no more so than when he heard smashing glass behind him. Sam spun around to see Ajani squeezing through the doorway, knocking over more cases. Sam rushed up, hissing to try and shush the gorilla. Ajani furrowed his brows in dismay before he pushed past Sam. He'd never been allowed in the building and he wanted to see what it was all around. Sam ran after Ajani, grabbing onto his arm to try and slow him but he was merely dragged along by the gorilla.

Ajani picked up beakers and sniffed them before deeming the scents disgusting. He tossed them to get them out of the way, the liquids smashing across the ground, soon bubbling and frothing. A strange silvery mist began spreading across the floor. Sam moved to climb up off the floor and onto a step ladder, but it was as if the gas was following him, slithering one way and then another. The floor rumbled as Ajani collapsed, though he didn't seem to be in pain. He looked over at Sam in confusion as the gas swept up across his body. The flowing plumes moved across Sam as well before he suddenly felt numb.

Sam slipped and clattered to the floor, landing roughly. The vapor around them was chilly, though it was warming up fast... and soon there were sparks of light in the gas as if electricity was bouncing from one point of the cloud to another, back and forth between the two... and that's when it all started. Sam grunted suddenly as sensation returned, the sensation of popping bones and tight skin. His arms ached and throbbed as he entered what he could only describe as growing pains. His arms lengthened and his hands started to swell. His fingers grew thicker and longer, his palms and wrists widened, even his knuckles grew. After filling with so much fat, the growth on his arms was actually a relief, giving him more body to support it on. The same could not be said for Ajani.

The ape grunted and thrashed in fear as his body was changing. His hands were reforming, becoming smaller and more dexterous. His fingers were less leathery as the black pigment drained away fro them, turning a softer pink color. New fingernails formed, then fingerprints, as the black fur sunk into his skin and disappeared, or at least it seemed to before fur began emerging on Sam's hands and arms, spreading upwards, the pigment darkening quickly in his skin. Sam called out deeply as his shoulders throbbed and ached, spreading out wider. His neck increased in mass too, filling with muscle as Ajani lost it.

The Ape was looking far more human as the moments trickled by. His arms had shortened up, his back was less hunched, his neck was less massive from muscle, though it had gained a thick layer of fat. Every bit of fur that receded on Ajani emerged on Sam, giving the research technician a furry coat of sorts. It hugged his hot, huge new muscles as he hunched forward, his arms dangling across the floor. Sam's lungs rose and fell in shock at what was going on. He was becoming a gorilla; there was no other way to explain it... Sam watched as his chest rounded and grew, spreading out. His ribs got thicker; his torso stretched and compacted in various ways and black pigment spread through his skin before thick soft fur burst from his chest, connecting to the fur on his shoulders and arms.

As strange as Sam looked, Ajani was in a stranger state. The gorilla had been reduced to a fat human torso and arms with short gorilla legs and a gorilla head. For the moment his two ends were too heavy to move with the diminished musculature, but that was changing. The thick, dense mass of his legs seemed to redefine and reshape. The Gorilla's legs unbent, stretching out longer, adding on inch after inch as muscles shifted and skin softened, the fur disappearing, muscles disappearing from the feet as they stretched out longer and resembled hands less.

Sam panted hard, nearly screaming out in pain as his legs jammed up towards his body, growing thicker and denser. Muscle piled atop muscle as his toes curled painfully, gaining new joints, the skin thickening. Soon Sam's toes were clenching and unclenching more like hands than feet as black fur swept across his legs, his feet growing leathery and dark. With their legs changed, the change swept around their waists to connect the changes in their lower bodies. Sam's ass cheeks started swelling out dramatically as Ajani's shrank, the ape's cheeks shrinking to almost half of their original size. The hair shrunk away, leaving bare pink cheeks. Sam, however, had gained furry black pillowey ass cheeks.

Ajani's pubic fur diminished, though it didn't disappear entirely. He was left with a ring of soft hair around his sizeable gorilla package. The disappeared fur emerged on Sam's body, growing out like a fur bikini bottom to fill in the gap around his hips. Soon Ajani's cock started growing out longer, but it didn't lose any of its width. Unlike all the other changes, Sam's cock grew wider but it didn't grow any shorter. Soon their cocks looked rather similar, though Sam's gained the dark coloring of a gorilla while Ajani's became pink like a human.

The two were in an almost laughable state, the swap of bodies nearing completion. From the neck down their bodies had changed, leaving only their heads. Ajani had the round, dense head of an ape on the body of an obese human while Sam looked as if he had pulled on the world's best gorilla suit ever... but the effect did not last long. Sam's shaggy brown hair seemed to retract into his head, turning into short black fuzz as it shifted. Ajani's fur grew out into a mop of shaggy brown, making him look like quite the hipster ape.

Sam clenched his eyes shut as they started to throb and ache. Beneath his lids the blue drained away from them as dark brown swept in, but the eyes themselves became more perfect spheres, smaller and closer together. When they opened again they looked like small dark pools of obsidian from a distance. Ajani blinked and blinked as larger blue eyes opened, taking in the world with greater acuity. He grunted in delight, though his voice was lifting in pitch. It shifted from the grunts of a muscled beast of the forest to a man little older than a teenager. Ajani's lips softened and turned pink while Sam's turned black and leathery, his neck filling with immense and simplified vocal chords.

Ajani's flat nose started to push out from his face, the nostrils shrinking and disappearing beneath the nose as it came to a point, the bridge of the nose pushing out as the skin turned pink as well. Sam's nose, predictably, was having the opposite reaction. It crumbled and flattened like a crushed soda can, becoming flat against his face as the nostrils stretched wide in the leathery skin. While black fur swept over Sam's cheeks and chin and forehead, his ears shrunk and his skull reshaped, Ajani's cheeks and chin became hairless, his forehead becoming flatter as his brain was given more room to grow... and grow it did.

Deep in his skull, new lobes and brain cells were being built by the strange vapor. Ajani started to have more complete thoughts as the synapses fired up for the first time. He looked around and caught his reflection in the side of a stainless steel case, but as he moved he realized that the reflection belonged to him, that he looked like that. He reached up with his human hands to feel his human face, how smooth and soft and small it was. He looked down at his body... At least his cock was as huge as he remembered it. He tried to use his toes to grip onto something but they were largely useless.

Across the room Sam was having a similar experience, though his brain had remained as it was. He had become a Gorilla, though the change wasn't as harsh after his massive weight gain. Sam slowly pushed himself up; though he was using muscles he was completely unused to. He nearly fell over as he righted himself, managing to stay up. He grunted a bit, looking at the Gorilla that had inherited his own body. Ajani moved, trying to walk as he always had though his back legs were far too long. He tried walking on his knees but the floor was hard against them. Ajani grunted in anguish.

Sam lifted his gorilla hands and signed 'hold onto table, stand up, use feet' where Ajani could see him. Ajani hesitated before wrapping a pudgy fat hand around the corner of the table and slowly hoisted himself up. The floor seemed further away than it ever had before, scaring Ajani a bit but he managed to reach his feet. His toes gripped at the floor before he wobbled a bit, sighing with relief. He took a hesitant step, then another. Despite his immense size and new muscles, he seemed to adapt well. Sam moved to try and keep up, nearly falling over until he instinctively leaned on his own knuckles.

It was hard to put into words at first, but as Sam moved around he felt... powerful, majestic, amazing. The muscles were like a drug. Sam grunted in delight, blood flowing into his cock and making it harder than ever. He was a powerful beast, he was a gorilla... and he wanted to fuck. Sam still had his mind, but his instincts were so strong. Looking around the room, there certainly was a viable target. Sam charged and knocked Ajani onto the floor, moving to rub his hard cock between the cheeks of his former body... and then, in one fluid motion, he speared into the former ape.

Ajani had been terrified by the sudden motion of the beast that was so much bigger than him, even more so when he had been violated... but as soon as Sam's hybrid cock bumped his prostate and released a wave of pleasure throughout his human body, Ajani wasn't quite as concerned. His eyes fluttered shut and he basked in the pleasure, pushing his ass back against Sam hard. Sam thrust in and out, getting used to his new body, loving the feeling of being so dominant until his head tipped back and he slammed his fists against his chest as he came, emptying his ape spunk into the ass that had been his own minutes before. The two crumpled to the floor, overwhelmed. They languished in the afterglow for many minutes before a plan started to bubble in Sam's mind and a wicked grin crossed his ape lips.

****

Doctor Anderson yawned, slipping out of bed. He'd tried to get a good night's sleep, but the findings had been too amazing. He knew despite it being the middle of the night where he was that there would still be a few hours at Globucorp headquarters for them to get back to him. The test had been a success, Sam had fattened up in minutes. The doctor could already taste the money he stood to gain from the whole ordeal. He moved out of his room and down the hall, wanting to check on how Sam was doing. He moved through the labs on the way to his office before a huge furry arm came out of an adjoining hallway and sent him flying. Doctor Anderson coughed and sputtered as he slid across the floor, landing at the large, fat feet of Ajani. He looked up in terror.

"Sam, I'm so sorry... I didn't realize you were trapped out there and when I did I came to get you out right away!" Anderson begged. Ajani grunted and slammed his fists against his chest before he lifted the doctor up. The doctor struggled against the fat man and broke free, turning to run before he came face to face with the gorilla. He hesitated, not sure what to do. Sam pushed Anderson back again before dropping him into the chair. Ajani did as he was taught and strapped the man in around the wrists and ankles. "Sam, what are you doing?" Anderson whimpered.

'I am Sam... Your dark projects are even worse than I thought.' Sam signed. Anderson couldn't help it, a laugh escaped his lips, then another.

"That project worked too? Sam, you... you are going to be a very famous man." Anderson said, watching the gorilla move to start mixing various things, "Sam, listen to me... You swapped bodies; you incorporated a fattening agent into your body. You are the proof that these two sciences work... Can you imagine how much fortune we could make? We make the world fat, then they pay to be swapped into healthy bodies that we provide for them. We can get you a body back, any body you want. We can make this work!" Doctor Anderson said, hesitating as he watched Sam worked. He could tell he was working on the fattening agent, but it wasn't just any fattening agent... It was one of the rejected prototypes. Anderson fidgeted.

"No-." Ajani grunted in poor English, his mind growing all the time.

"Don't do this Sam, don't... We could be such amazing partners; we could do so much together..." Anderson whimpered. Sam came over, moving on two legs and a fist, carrying the bottle before he moved it for the doctor's face. The doctor tried to turn away, but Ajani grabbed his head. The rubber nub pushed between his lips and against his teeth before Sam squeezed. The potent stuff sprayed in through the gaps and hit his taste buds, tasting like liquefied bologna. Anderson wanted to scream out as the stuff started to work on him at once. His cheeks puffed out with fat, his chin got thick and the wrinkles on his forehead disappeared. His neck got fat, then the new mass began sweeping out even faster.

Sam carefully kept squeezing it in, knowing that the doctor wasn't just becoming fatter; he was becoming less intelligent too. Seconds had passed between thoughts, then Anderson couldn't remember why he had been so agitated. The stuff tasted delicious. Soon he swallowed at will, then gulped, nursing on the bottle. Every so often a thought would flare up that he should fight it and he slowed down, but then he gave in again, unable to remember why he had been so concerned. Sam watched the man's pecs fill out into man boobs before his belly rounded and ballooned out. His arms got aprons of fat and his legs got chunky, his clothes growing tight. Ajani moved to try and tear the clothes as he had before, but he wasn't quite strong enough.

The gorilla that Sam had become reached over with his free hand and easily split the cloth, tearing it apart. Anderson's growing girth was soon oozing out of the clothes. Ajani relaxed the wrist straps as they got bigger before crouching down to relax the ankle straps. He paused, near the floor, finding crouching very interesting... and it was interesting finding things interesting. His new mind truly was a marvelous thing. He stood back up and watched the doctor pass two fifty, three hundred, three seventy five, then even four hundred pounds of fat. The doctor had become docile, happy and incredibly stupid. When the bottle was fully drained, Sam lowered it from Anderson's mouth. Anderson had a hazy, drunken happy smile on his face, not sure where he was but he didn't much care. Sam signed for Ajani to release him and the doctor was released from his chair, though he sat there before looking around for more food. Sam looked around at the laboratory that had changed so much, knowing that it was Globucorp's plan to make the world fat and buy their salvation back. Even if it meant their death, he couldn't let them find anything... and Doctor Anderson had no doubt already called them. There was only one thing he could do.

****

Birds called out as the sun began lifting above the horizon, casting out its warm rays across the vast jungle... Though it was not the only source of light. Sam and Ajani had spent the night getting all the test subjects out of the facility, past the outer fences before setting the building ablaze. Ajani, Sam and Anderson stood on a hill overlooking the flaming ruins of the building. Every chemical, every security tape, every computer and every sample had been burned away. The last cinders were glowing softly, beams and girders falling in upon one another. Without Doctor Anderson there was a strong chance they wouldn't be able to reconstruct the data of what he had created. If that was the case, then the world might have been saved, but their lives had certainly changed forever.

Sam turned, moving off into the forest slowly. Ajani followed closely after him, leading Anderson along. The three were naked and would spend the rest of their days that way, surviving off of what the forest had to offer. Ajani and Sam had already shared intimacy once already, but with Ajani's growing mind, the limits of what they could share were lifting dramatically. The branches swayed and eased shut behind the three as they disappeared into the jungle, hoping to hide away from humanity for the rest of their lives.