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Too many candies and other snacks during late night study and writing sessions seems to be catching up to Asteria...

Just another fun character concept. I was trying to play around with a few different ideas and got enough goods to turn into a fun little sequence (though only slight weight gain) instead of a mess of images this time. Hope you enjoy!

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If you haven't checked it out yet, Asteria appears in my latest story:

Ashes of Asteria - Ch 1: Like a Moth to a Flame[Author’s Note: This story contains elements of WG, stuffing, and romance. This is a realistic, slow-burn story taking place over multiple parts with a focus on character and relationships, and a lighter focus on fetish subjects. This intro chapter is fairly light on the spicy, fetish-y bits, but there will be more to come in future parts. Read the description below for more details.]“Will that be everything?” Des asked, the girl on the other side of the window endlessly distracted by her phone. She absentmindedly pulled out her card while he rolled his eyes, punching in the total and passing the machine over to her. Grabbing a cloth to wipe the sweat collecting on his face from the oily steam of the kitchen behind him, he let out a sigh as he stared out into the student building lobby and saw the endless line of drunken, hungry freshmen, each of them loud, impatient, and increasingly ornery while waiting for their late-night grub. The main pub on campus operated a side kitchen offering most of their menu up until midnight on weekdays, and Des closed down the house three nights a week. He had been working kitchens since high school and needed the money while trying to pay his way through his degree.The machine beeped its approval, and Des didn’t bother asking if the girl wanted her receipt. Ripping off the paper and grabbing the order chit, he spun back around to the deep friers behind, lowering another basket of fries. His coworker and best friend, Jay, was further back grabbing some buns from the walk-in, and their other coworker, Natalie, was busy pulling a steaming plate of melty, cheesy nachos from the oven. Des had no idea how just the three of them managed this volume night in and night out, but the heavy rock blaring over the kitchen speakers definitely kept them awake and swinging.“Here you go,” Des had returned with the girl’s fries, handing them over the counter window. “Next please—ah, shit…” The crash could be heard even over the thundering drum solo. “Come on man…” Des sighed even louder as he saw a guy struggling to stand back up from the floor, having fallen over and knocked over a table bearing an assortment of condiments, utensils, cups, and other supplies. “Hey Jay, can you look after the counter a sec? Some idiot made a mess in the lobby…”Jay gave him the thumbs up and Des hopped around the door out into the lobby to try and clean up the mess. Fighting through the crowd to the area of the mess was difficult enough, but beholding the full mess caused his shoulders to slump again. Shaking his head, he knelt down and began scooping up a bundle of straws into a garbage bag and started grabbing condiment bottles and throwing them up on to the table after lifting it back up again. As he bent down to grab one of the napkin dispensers, he noticed another pair of hands grabbing at some of the items also. Looking up, he saw a gorgeous girl, brunette with cute bangs, average height, wearing a baggy grey hoodie with rolled-up sleeves and some jeans. She had picked up a couple of trays and placed them back on the table, and knelt down again to collect some more items.“Hey, thanks for that,” Des smiled at her. She smiled back, soft and warm. “No worries,” her voice was soft and warm also. Surprisingly deeper and mature sounding despite her stature. It had a fullness to it unlike the squeakiness of most of the girls he saw come by the kitchen. “You get all kinds of idiots in here this time of night, you’d think they’d have the decency to help too, but…” she trailed off with a bit of a knowing laugh.“No kidding,” Des said. It took a few minutes but, before long, they had gotten most of the items sorted and replaced. He gave the table a quick wipe down before turning back to her again. “Thanks so much for your help! Have a good one!” “You too!” she said with another smile, looking right into his eyes. The interaction was brief, but something about her was magnetic and he found himself a bit smitten as he turned to head back to the kitchen.The trio in the kitchen banged out a couple dozen more orders and before they knew it, they were nearing closing time with just a few stragglers left in line.“I’ll be with you in just a moment!” Des called out to the front while he was turned to the side and quickly pulling out a few different appies out of the oven.“Take your time, I know it’s been a crazy night!” the laugh at the end was what set Des off as his eyes quickly turned in the direction of the familiar voice. Sure enough, the same girl that had helped him earlier was now waiting to order at the window.After plating and passing out the appy orders, Des moved back to the till, grabbing a towel to wipe the sour cream and salsa globs off his fingers.“Hey hey! Fancy seeing you again!” his eyes lit up as he looked into hers. God she was pretty. “And thanks again for earlier, meant a lot and reaaallly helped me out, especially all the little condiment packs.”“It was no problem at all,” she waved him off with a smile. “Honestly, I only recently just started coming over to this building for food and I can’t believe the shit you have to put up with, with these guys,” she gestured behind her to the still-raucous crowd of bordering-on-belligerent students in, on, and around the booths in the main lobby.“Ahhh, they’re not too bad…” Des said as he leaned his elbows onto the counter, trying to look like he was playing it cool. “We’re always this busy round this time. When you’ve got that late night craving, this is the best place on campus for some grub, whether it’s for study energy or to absorb some of that extra alcohol in the system. Know what you want yet? Otherwise, feel free to ask me any questions.”“Hmm…” her brows were still furrowed as she scanned the menu on the wall. “I kind of just wanted some tendies and fries but the pulled pork sandwich looked sooo good too… But I was kinda craving the fries also haha...” that laugh again, followed by flutters.“Why not both?” Des smiled, animatedly shrugging his upper body.“Nooo,” she pouted. “I’ve spent too much money on food lately, I need to watch myself. I’ll get the sandwich, please!”“Coming right up,” Des winked at her as he punched in her order and handed her the machine to pay while he spun back into the kitchen. He quickly dropped down another basket of fries while he set about making the sandwich. Fresh brioche buns. Juicy, saucy, fresh batch of pork and slaw to match. After plating up the sandwich, he also boxed up a small order of fries.“Here you go—oh, and these are on the house, as my way of thanks again for earlier,” he winked at her again as he passed over both items of food.“You didn’t have to do that!” she gasped in delight. “Thank you though! I’ll have to make sure to do an extra 20 on the treadmill in the morning though!” she giggled while playfully rubbing her middle through her baggy hoody.“Well, when you’re done you can swing by again for breakfast!” he called out as she picked up her things and began to turn away. “We open at 7:30 and our bacon breakfast sandwich is verry popular.”“Hmm… what about ‘Second Breakfast’?” she stuck out her tongue as she dragged her eyes down from his gaze towards his shirt, a simple black tee but with a Lord of the Rings meme featuring Sean Bean’s blown-up mug.“One does not simply have one breakfast on a weekend!” He teased back at her. She simply laughed as she turned and left.Des turned his attention to the next customer in line immediately after, but for the remainder of the night his mind couldn’t get off of that girl—the prettiest eyes, cheekbones, long and healthy-looking hair… Nevermind how fun and also considerate she obviously was—a little cheesy with the humor too, but endearingly so. Plus, the nerdy streak was a definite turn-on for him. He only wished he could have seen more of what she was working with underneath the layers of comfort clothes. Given the way her eyes looked over the feast he had handed her, she had no problem with her appetite, and probably had a few curves to match beneath that concealing hoodie. Now that was something he wanted to see. Oh well, what were really the chances that he would run into her again anyway? Still, always nice to have a good daydream.* * *“Alright everyone, welcome to Week Five, it is time to go over your term project,” the professor announced over the class of about eighty. Des groaned, hiding in the back of the lecture room, exhausted already from the grind of his class and work schedule. 8 AM classes were miserable—he still wasn’t sure why he made this life choice. Creative Writing was supposed to be a fun elective for him to try and learn some new skills and develop some motivation for the novel he had been chipping away at but kept shelving on the back burner.The professor droned on. Something about a short story, a few thousand words, some other loose guidelines, and they were being paired up with a classmate to do edits of each other’s drafts, with a whole marking scheme for an editing portion also. Great, Des thought, another group project that was going to suck the life and time out of him. “Destin Ashford?” the professor called out and Des snapped out of his distracted trance, raising his hand. The professor had been announcing pairings but he had gotten lost on one of his mobile gacha games. “And Asteria Williams, you’ll be together.” Des’ heart skipped a beat as he looked around for the other raised hand and he locked onto a familiar face down in the second row. Smiling back at him, he swore it was the same girl he saw a couple of weeks ago closer to the start of term. He waved back down and then they both put down their hands and the roll call continued.Everyone started packing up their bags once the professor finished calling out names as class was coming to an end. “Destin, right?” the girl had come up the steps of the aisle and tapped him on the shoulder as he crouched over his bag, stuffing in his laptop.“Hey, yea! You can call me Des for short, though. Asteria, was it?” he reached out to shake her hand.“Aster is fine also,” she smiled, taking his hand. She had soft skin and a firm, warm grip. “Fancy meeting you here, huh?”“Yea, I thought I remembered you wearing a med school hoodie when we ran into each other that one time, so I wouldn’t have figured to see you here in Creative Writing!” Des couldn’t believe his luck.“Ahah, yea, the hoodie belonged to my mom, actually,” she said. Today she was wearing a puffy winter jacket, not much better for his curious eye. Around 5’5 he reckoned, and from her face and general shape she seemed reasonably fit but not tiny. Possibly a current or former athlete. “I’m still a junior, plan is to get into med school. Biology major, for now anyways,” she laughed a bit nervously. “I’ve always had a bit of a creative streak and needed another elective, so figured I’d give this a shot!”“Oh no way, I’m taking it as an elective too!” Des said as he tried to lean back against the desk row and strike a cooler looking pose. “I’m in Economics right now, also in my junior year. Maybe trying to get into journalism school post grad though. I do some freelance media writing work on the side but creative writing is… different, you know? Scratches a different sort of itch, fulfills a different aspiration.”“Yes, it definitely does!” Aster laughed. “I guess you could say kind of as a hobby I’ve been poking away at this idea for a novel since high school and was hoping this class might give me some extra tips and inspiration to get really back at it.”“Oh that’s amazing!” Des said.. “Wow, I’m nervous already about you taking a look over mine when I’m finished! I’ve got a pro on my hands…”“Oh no, I don’t deserve that kind of flattery haha…” Aster blushed at the compliment. “Besides, you actually do real writing, for real money! I should be taking notes from you!”The two laughed and traded a bit more small-talk as the classroom emptied. They walked together through the corridors and back out into the main campus courtyard.“Well, I gotta head over to microbio now, but it was amazing meeting you!” She reached into her bag for her phone. “Should we exchange numbers to text and plan when to get together and work on our stories? Or email too, whichever!”“Text is fine,” Des said quickly as he also grabbed his phone. “Here, you can put your number in and I’ll shoot you a message to add me.”Aster punched in her name and number and then with a warm smile and short wave she was off.Des’ gaze lingered a bit as she walked away. How crazy was it that he would run into this girl like this again. She was smart, funny, seemed to genuinely care about her school and career goals, and they seemed to have some shared passions and aspirations around writing.Even the stress of having to work the closing shift that night couldn’t wipe the inner grin off his face as he made his way home. This was the most excited he had been for a long time.* * *“I prefer the interpretation of something more like, ‘falling star’, or ‘shooting star,’” Aster was staring out the window of their third floor study room, bathed in the warm sepia of the setting winter sun. The twinkle of starlight was peaking at the edge of night, a curtain slowly calling across the sky.“It’s not common, and it’s a very pretty name,” Des said, leaning back in his chair and looking as deeply at Aster as she was the sky. Their books and pens were splayed across the table, empty cups of coffee and snack wrappers pushed to the sides. What was supposed to be a quick session after their classes that day turned into an impromptu hangout as they lost themselves in conversation.“And yours?” Aster turned now to look at Des, her eyes twinkling like her namesake.“Pretty much exactly what you would think by looking at it,” Des shrugged and chuckled. “Guy’s name for ‘Destiny’, or ‘Fate’, or whatever you want to call it.”He was trying to laugh and play it off as silly, but Aster’s gaze remained serious and as she studied him, eyes locked and attentive. “I really like it,” she smiled. “Seems both of our parents were pretty creative… Maybe that sort of infused us, influenced us to be pursuing this—” she bounced the ball of her pen a few times.“Thanks, and yours too,” Des returned the smile. The two sat in silence for a minute or two, trying to return to their work for the dozenth time but failing, each lost in a cacophony of their own thoughts and distractions.“Tell me more about the novel you’re wanting to write,” Des asked, breaking the tension.Aster considered for a few moments, hesitant at first to respond, fidgeting in her seat while trying to find the words. “Well, it’s this kind of sci-fi thing, but set on this distant moon colony. There’s a major famine and drought taking place and this one metropolitan city is on the brink of an uprising against a megacorporation administering the region.” Des caught her eye briefly and she blushed, visibly nervous. “I know, it sounds trope-y and basic on the surface, but it’s going to be very character driven! I especially have these ideas really ingrained in my head, like specific scenes, that I really need to write down…”“So you’re extremely visual, then? With your imagination” Des asked.“Yes! It’s kind of like a movie in my head,” Aster laughed. “Do you visualize or imagine things like that also? When you write…?”“Yea, I do actually!” he laughed again also. The brief tension that had just moments ago hung in the room had evaporated and they launched into yet another side tangent, with Aster gushing about a few choice scenes. Her favorite character and the protagonist was a rugged pilot, Jarad, and there was plenty of imagery around the ashes and dust that coated the colony in storms. Des’ dreamy eyes were glazed over in awe but he drank in every word of his partner’s enthusiastic exposition.Their project long forgotten, they spoke and bonded about a list of topics like childhood friends catching up on missed lives. At some point, Des had gone out for some hot chocolate and a refill on snacks, and they moved their chat from the study desks over to the lounge seats in the library closer together. Night settled, yet the stars danced as their children shone alight.* * *The two of them simply could not stop talking. Texting before, between, even during classes… And when they weren’t glued to their phones they were usually found together at a café on campus or one of the pubs grabbing a drink to work on their project—which of course kept turning into excuses to just chat. Still, they really were diligent students both and were making some real progress just a couple of weeks since receiving their assignment. They found that later-evening was their peak productivity period and had taken a liking to this one late night coffee shop for when it was time to really get things done.“…And then Jarad makes the jump onto the wing of the fighter!” Aster swung the slice of banana loaf she was holding through the air, miming the action. A dusting of crumbs broke off and sprinkled over Des’ arm, resting on the table, both hands wrapped around his cup of coffee while he listened intently.“Oh, that’s going to be such a good way to end his arc,” Des said, eyes wide, piecing together where she was going.The two of them had been at the little downtown coffee shop for a couple of hours talking nonstop. Similar outings had become a regular occurrence the past several weeks. To Des’ surprise, Aster had actually also been tossing around ideas and notes for a story of her own for years. She was really into steampunk or similar vibes and most kinds of post-apocalyptic sci-fi—she amazed him with how much she also seemed to nerd out of over high-fantasy and sci-fi settings, especially anything lore-heavy. They had traded trivia questions and dove deep on plotlines and twists galore from their favorite books and movies, more than once getting into a playful argument over some ‘controversial’ hot takes. “What do you think you’re going to call it?” Des asked, taking another sip of his dark roast, black.She didn’t even blink. “Ashes of Astra IV” the loaf lingered in the air again for purposely over-dramatic effect and they both giggled. “But seriously, I think I’m going to go with that. I think the image fits well too into multiple themes including Jarad’s brother, what happened at the outpost, and of course the executions and the uprising.”“I like it, personally!” Des agreed.“I just wish I could come up with something iconic for Jarad, like you know when certain characters have these iconic lines during their defining, pivotal…”“...last, fatal, moments…?” Des threw in.“I mean, I think I plan to leave the ending a little open ended, for effect,” Aster finally scarfed down the last bite of the loaf. She had actually managed to plow through several rounds of snacks—mostly sugar loaded—since they had arrived, never mind two huge fraps. She was wearing a cute little leather jacket and simple white tee that hugged a generous chest and a bit of softness around her sides and middle. Her thighs were strong and well rounded if packed into her dark blue jeans. She had mentioned one night how she was a big time volleyball player in high school but mostly stuck to rec leagues through college so far, injuring her knee pretty badly the summer before freshman year. She definitely still showed the tone and strength, but witnessing her unapologetic appetite at each of their gatherings left no wonder for Des that she had to be close to picking up a later version of the freshman fifteen. Still, she carried and dressed it extremely well.“My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean…” Des started to say.“…yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?” Aster finished. “One of my favorite lines! Haha, of course you would know it!” The way her eyes lit up always sent butterflies through Des’ core. As they had been talking over time there seemed to constantly be these little moments of bonding—like some kind of fate. Shared childhood experiences, family vacation destinations, favorites of everything—food, plays, movies, seasons, superpowers—and so many more things. It was constantly surreal how much they had in common.“Cloud Atlas is quite the underrated story!” Des piped up. “Though, I have to admit, I’ve only read the book and never got around to seeing the movie.”“Oh, well you have to see the movie! We should watch it some time!”“Any excuses to enjoy some buttery popcorn!” Des agreed, his heart racing a little at the prospect of a movie date with Aster. He still had not been able to confirm if she was single, and so far had been way too shy to actually ask her out, though every day he felt himself building that confidence. Little comments like this definitely felt like signals, and made him think it would be soon.“Oh my god, yesss, triple layered!” Aster’s eye’s rolled back into her skull as she let out an exaggerated moan for effect. Her hands went to her middle, looking a bit overstuffed from their extended session. It seemed the more she ate, the better she wrote, and the more ideas seemed to come forth. It was truly a sight to behold, and Des found himself… liking it…?“Ohhh, haha, well I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but that’s how I’ve always gotten it as well!” Des laughed, another random similarity, of course. “And it’s the worst because you’d always have to emphasize for the staff like, ‘no, extra extra butter, like the full three layers. Of course they’d always warn you that the butter might start dripping out the bottom there’s so much but… if I don’t need new pants after enjoying a proper bag like that, you’re just doing it wrong.”“oof—you’re telling me!” Des caught Aster subtly reaching down to unbutton her jeans—that was definitely hot to him. Huh…Aster got Des to read over a few more passages, as it was his turn to copy edit and give some feedback. To his surprise, however, the barista suddenly popped by to inform them the café was closing, much to his lament. Why did time seem to fly so fast when the two of them were together? “Ugh.. Where did the time go?” Aster spoke aloud their thoughts—of course she was thinking the same sentiments. “Hey! Want to swing by Mario’s on the way back to campus? I’m kind of craving their margherita…”Of course Des was game. He was not about to pass up an opportunity to spend more time with this wicked smart, passionate, and very attractive girl. Moreso, however, he still didn’t know why he found her appetite and curves so attractive and, academic that he was, both of his ‘heads’ agreed that more ‘research’ was in order.* * *It had snowed the night before, so much so that most of the roads were closed. But that wasn’t the reason she was so down, Des reasoned. She normally liked the snow, and they had even gone on a couple of walks on a trail behind the science building that led into the woods on the hill. Even more puzzling was the half-eaten bowl of take-out pasta from the cafeteria, and the unopened candy bar left beside her books. It was a comfy clothes kind of day, as Aster was cuddled inside of some baggy black sweats and a matching hoodie, her hood pulled half over her head as she slumped, almost in full fetal position, in the library sofa.“What’s wrong?” he finally was bold enough to ask.Aster’s eyes didn’t move from the straight stare, even as she lowered her phone and let out a sigh and drew in another deep breath. “My mom is coming to town in a couple of weeks, and my sister too…”Des studied her for a moment as silence lingered following her apparent reluctance to continue. “You don’t seem too excited, everything not good with you and your family?”“Not exactly, no,” she seemed distant, spacey, but had sat up a little in her chair, reaching for her coffee cup. The reluctance continued.“Well, I don’t want to push you or make you uncomfortable, but if you want a third, neutral party to vent to about anything, I’m here for you,” Des said, turning back to his notes, opening the floor while also trying to make Aster comfortable to just be.“Thanks, Des,” Aster broke her trance to look directly at Des for a moment, flashing a soft smile with sad brows.She began fiddling with her pen while staring vaguely out the window. The two sat in silence for several minutes. Des continued typing out some notes but his mind couldn’t move away from Aster. He had never seen her like this, her aura—if he could call it that—was way off, and he was genuinely a bit worried for her. But he elected not to say anything, not to bother her and to just give her space.The crinkling of wrappers drew his gaze up as he saw Aster finally reach for a peanut butter cup. Their eyes met and she flashed him a quick smile. “I feel like I say it a lot lately but… thanks, Des, really,” she said after swallowing the gooey treat. “I really appreciate just being able to ‘be’ around you, if that makes sense? Like we can often get together like this and we can chat for hours on end… BUT… We also have this ability to just hang in silence, and it’s not awkward at all. Like our presence for each other is calming. Soothing.”Des pushed aside his laptop, looking Aster straight in the eyes and flashing her a small smile back. “Thanks,” he said, reaching out for the other peanut butter cup. “The feeling is mutual. And seriously, though, if you need to chat or vent…”Aster laughed a little, sighing deeply. “Yea. And still, really appreciate it.” He turned back to his laptop again but this time her eyes lingered on him for longer. “Hey, do you want to go grab another coffee?”* * *| Hey, I’m at the corner by the market on SouthgateDes looked around nervously, then back to his watch, then side-to-side again, scanning. He was cutting it real, real close. Thank god for Aster, who had offered to give him a lift downtown for the interview after his roommate left him hanging and had to cancel at the last minute.Barely a moment after he hit send on the text, a familiar blue corolla hatchback came into view driving up the lane. Stopped at the light, Des hurriedly opened the passenger door and hopped in, throwing his laptop bag in the back seat beside what looked like a fresh Krispy Kreme box.“Hey! Thanks again sooooo so much for giving me a lift, you really bailed me out of a tough spot!” Des threw his seatbelt on and Aster demonstrated her lead foot as they began speeding off of campus proper.“No worries! Any excuse to get away from my family for even just a little bit,” she was munching on a glazed donut in one hand while dodging between lanes to get around traffic with the other.“How did it go last night?” Des asked, concerned. Aster had filled him in that night at the library with loose details about her family dynamics, which were complicated, to say the least. Mom was not particularly motherly or helpful, and dad was fairly absent, and her younger sister was an unappreciative and spoiled-princess type who was largely raised by Aster growing up. They also had an older brother who lived abroad in Singapore doing some kind of tech work. Aster and he were very close growing up but he had grown a bit tired and distant from the family as a whole.“Just lots of talking about random, usual stuff. We didn’t get into anything yet really,” she sighed, shoving the last of the glazed treat into her mouth and sucking her thumb dry of the leftover sugar. Aster had also told Des how her mom and dad were going through a rough time and there was some serious talk of a divorce. “I’m sure she’s going to try and weaponize me next, after hooking in Cassie. That’s what she always does…”“I’m so sorry Aster, it’s a no-win kind of situation,” Des tried to be comforting. “Whatever happens, you know I’m here to chat still.”That same night, Des had opened up to Aster a bit about his upbringing too. Mom and dad split when he was 12, and he ended up moving away with mom, visiting Dad for stints over the holidays and other occasions throughout high school. The two had ended up spending another long night chatting, this time bonding over childhood traumas and family dramas, having some similar personalities and behaviors around the household.“Thanks Des, mean it,” Aster said, eyes still glued to road as she kept up her speed-demon routine with her lead foot and DGAF attitude. “Enough about me though, tell me about this new job!?”Des laughed. “Well, this is an interview, I don’t have it yet! Though the guy I was talking to at the rec center the other day made it sound like I’m a leading candidate. It’s a job as a beat writer for the local minor league baseball team!”“Oh, that’s awesome! I used to go to Raven’s games when I was little!” Aster gushed.“Oh crazy, you know a lot about baseball?” Des perked up. Why was he surprised at this point, though.“Haha yea! I used to play softball too when I was younger, before my parents made me choose between volleyball and softball because they couldn’t pay and also take me to both…” Aster trailed off. “Well if all goes well and I get the gig, you’re going to have to come out to see a game this summer!” Des said, his arms and hands waving through the air in the car excitedly.“Yes! That would be amazing!” Aster agreed.The two got to talking about a few other childhood sports and other activities it turned out they also had in common for the rest of the drive… You were in theater too? No way! … High school Year Book Club, we were so cool haha! … Oh, that’s awesome you were so involved! I used to volunteer for this thing called Relay for Life, a cancer fundraiser…“Des, I’m serious, you have to take one! I’m not letting you out until you take one,” Aster had put on her very-serious face, jamming the open donut box into Des’ face as he scrambled to remove his seatbelt as they pulled over at his stop. “You have to save me from at least one more of these. They were supposed to last until I got back, but I’ll probably stress-eat half of them on the way…” He knew by this point she wasn’t joking. Begrudgingly, he grabbed one from her as he scrambled out of the vehicle. As he leaned in to say thanks and goodbye, he caught one last glimpse of her in her tight teal shirt and black puffy winter vest. She had a cute, matching teal beanie on as well. She still looked athletic, and far from outright chubby, but more and more over time he could definitely notice the softening around her edges and little pooch and love handles forming at her sides. He still didn’t know why he was finding it so attractive, but softer Aster was very appealing to him.Who was he kidding though. Aster was very appealing to him. Extremely smart, mix of nerdy and sporty just like he was, thoughtful and deep but witty and good with banter. They had similar experiences growing up and so many shared irks and likes. That physically she was stunningly beautiful in his books was just the cherry on top. She wished him good luck and smiled with her eyes as she looked deep into his before he pushed the door shut and she drove off. Des felt the extra pep in his step as he made his way towards the building, gnawing at the donut in a hurry with every step. That’s it, he had decided—if all went well today, he was going to finally ask her out. Maybe take her down to the pub on campus for drinks to celebrate, and then make his move there.He shoved down the rest of the donut and strode inside, ready to take on the world.

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Description

Too many candies and other snacks during late night study and writing sessions seems to be catching up to Asteria...

Just another fun character concept. I was trying to play around with a few different ideas and got enough goods to turn into a fun little sequence (though only slight weight gain) instead of a mess of images this time. Hope you enjoy!

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If you haven't checked it out yet, Asteria appears in my latest story:

Ashes of Asteria - Ch 1: Like a Moth to a Flame[Author’s Note: This story contains elements of WG, stuffing, and romance. This is a realistic, slow-burn story taking place over multiple parts with a focus on character and relationships, and a lighter focus on fetish subjects. This intro chapter is fairly light on the spicy, fetish-y bits, but there will be more to come in future parts. Read the description below for more details.]“Will that be everything?” Des asked, the girl on the other side of the window endlessly distracted by her phone. She absentmindedly pulled out her card while he rolled his eyes, punching in the total and passing the machine over to her. Grabbing a cloth to wipe the sweat collecting on his face from the oily steam of the kitchen behind him, he let out a sigh as he stared out into the student building lobby and saw the endless line of drunken, hungry freshmen, each of them loud, impatient, and increasingly ornery while waiting for their late-night grub. The main pub on campus operated a side kitchen offering most of their menu up until midnight on weekdays, and Des closed down the house three nights a week. He had been working kitchens since high school and needed the money while trying to pay his way through his degree.The machine beeped its approval, and Des didn’t bother asking if the girl wanted her receipt. Ripping off the paper and grabbing the order chit, he spun back around to the deep friers behind, lowering another basket of fries. His coworker and best friend, Jay, was further back grabbing some buns from the walk-in, and their other coworker, Natalie, was busy pulling a steaming plate of melty, cheesy nachos from the oven. Des had no idea how just the three of them managed this volume night in and night out, but the heavy rock blaring over the kitchen speakers definitely kept them awake and swinging.“Here you go,” Des had returned with the girl’s fries, handing them over the counter window. “Next please—ah, shit…” The crash could be heard even over the thundering drum solo. “Come on man…” Des sighed even louder as he saw a guy struggling to stand back up from the floor, having fallen over and knocked over a table bearing an assortment of condiments, utensils, cups, and other supplies. “Hey Jay, can you look after the counter a sec? Some idiot made a mess in the lobby…”Jay gave him the thumbs up and Des hopped around the door out into the lobby to try and clean up the mess. Fighting through the crowd to the area of the mess was difficult enough, but beholding the full mess caused his shoulders to slump again. Shaking his head, he knelt down and began scooping up a bundle of straws into a garbage bag and started grabbing condiment bottles and throwing them up on to the table after lifting it back up again. As he bent down to grab one of the napkin dispensers, he noticed another pair of hands grabbing at some of the items also. Looking up, he saw a gorgeous girl, brunette with cute bangs, average height, wearing a baggy grey hoodie with rolled-up sleeves and some jeans. She had picked up a couple of trays and placed them back on the table, and knelt down again to collect some more items.“Hey, thanks for that,” Des smiled at her. She smiled back, soft and warm. “No worries,” her voice was soft and warm also. Surprisingly deeper and mature sounding despite her stature. It had a fullness to it unlike the squeakiness of most of the girls he saw come by the kitchen. “You get all kinds of idiots in here this time of night, you’d think they’d have the decency to help too, but…” she trailed off with a bit of a knowing laugh.“No kidding,” Des said. It took a few minutes but, before long, they had gotten most of the items sorted and replaced. He gave the table a quick wipe down before turning back to her again. “Thanks so much for your help! Have a good one!” “You too!” she said with another smile, looking right into his eyes. The interaction was brief, but something about her was magnetic and he found himself a bit smitten as he turned to head back to the kitchen.The trio in the kitchen banged out a couple dozen more orders and before they knew it, they were nearing closing time with just a few stragglers left in line.“I’ll be with you in just a moment!” Des called out to the front while he was turned to the side and quickly pulling out a few different appies out of the oven.“Take your time, I know it’s been a crazy night!” the laugh at the end was what set Des off as his eyes quickly turned in the direction of the familiar voice. Sure enough, the same girl that had helped him earlier was now waiting to order at the window.After plating and passing out the appy orders, Des moved back to the till, grabbing a towel to wipe the sour cream and salsa globs off his fingers.“Hey hey! Fancy seeing you again!” his eyes lit up as he looked into hers. God she was pretty. “And thanks again for earlier, meant a lot and reaaallly helped me out, especially all the little condiment packs.”“It was no problem at all,” she waved him off with a smile. “Honestly, I only recently just started coming over to this building for food and I can’t believe the shit you have to put up with, with these guys,” she gestured behind her to the still-raucous crowd of bordering-on-belligerent students in, on, and around the booths in the main lobby.“Ahhh, they’re not too bad…” Des said as he leaned his elbows onto the counter, trying to look like he was playing it cool. “We’re always this busy round this time. When you’ve got that late night craving, this is the best place on campus for some grub, whether it’s for study energy or to absorb some of that extra alcohol in the system. Know what you want yet? Otherwise, feel free to ask me any questions.”“Hmm…” her brows were still furrowed as she scanned the menu on the wall. “I kind of just wanted some tendies and fries but the pulled pork sandwich looked sooo good too… But I was kinda craving the fries also haha...” that laugh again, followed by flutters.“Why not both?” Des smiled, animatedly shrugging his upper body.“Nooo,” she pouted. “I’ve spent too much money on food lately, I need to watch myself. I’ll get the sandwich, please!”“Coming right up,” Des winked at her as he punched in her order and handed her the machine to pay while he spun back into the kitchen. He quickly dropped down another basket of fries while he set about making the sandwich. Fresh brioche buns. Juicy, saucy, fresh batch of pork and slaw to match. After plating up the sandwich, he also boxed up a small order of fries.“Here you go—oh, and these are on the house, as my way of thanks again for earlier,” he winked at her again as he passed over both items of food.“You didn’t have to do that!” she gasped in delight. “Thank you though! I’ll have to make sure to do an extra 20 on the treadmill in the morning though!” she giggled while playfully rubbing her middle through her baggy hoody.“Well, when you’re done you can swing by again for breakfast!” he called out as she picked up her things and began to turn away. “We open at 7:30 and our bacon breakfast sandwich is verry popular.”“Hmm… what about ‘Second Breakfast’?” she stuck out her tongue as she dragged her eyes down from his gaze towards his shirt, a simple black tee but with a Lord of the Rings meme featuring Sean Bean’s blown-up mug.“One does not simply have one breakfast on a weekend!” He teased back at her. She simply laughed as she turned and left.Des turned his attention to the next customer in line immediately after, but for the remainder of the night his mind couldn’t get off of that girl—the prettiest eyes, cheekbones, long and healthy-looking hair… Nevermind how fun and also considerate she obviously was—a little cheesy with the humor too, but endearingly so. Plus, the nerdy streak was a definite turn-on for him. He only wished he could have seen more of what she was working with underneath the layers of comfort clothes. Given the way her eyes looked over the feast he had handed her, she had no problem with her appetite, and probably had a few curves to match beneath that concealing hoodie. Now that was something he wanted to see. Oh well, what were really the chances that he would run into her again anyway? Still, always nice to have a good daydream.* * *“Alright everyone, welcome to Week Five, it is time to go over your term project,” the professor announced over the class of about eighty. Des groaned, hiding in the back of the lecture room, exhausted already from the grind of his class and work schedule. 8 AM classes were miserable—he still wasn’t sure why he made this life choice. Creative Writing was supposed to be a fun elective for him to try and learn some new skills and develop some motivation for the novel he had been chipping away at but kept shelving on the back burner.The professor droned on. Something about a short story, a few thousand words, some other loose guidelines, and they were being paired up with a classmate to do edits of each other’s drafts, with a whole marking scheme for an editing portion also. Great, Des thought, another group project that was going to suck the life and time out of him. “Destin Ashford?” the professor called out and Des snapped out of his distracted trance, raising his hand. The professor had been announcing pairings but he had gotten lost on one of his mobile gacha games. “And Asteria Williams, you’ll be together.” Des’ heart skipped a beat as he looked around for the other raised hand and he locked onto a familiar face down in the second row. Smiling back at him, he swore it was the same girl he saw a couple of weeks ago closer to the start of term. He waved back down and then they both put down their hands and the roll call continued.Everyone started packing up their bags once the professor finished calling out names as class was coming to an end. “Destin, right?” the girl had come up the steps of the aisle and tapped him on the shoulder as he crouched over his bag, stuffing in his laptop.“Hey, yea! You can call me Des for short, though. Asteria, was it?” he reached out to shake her hand.“Aster is fine also,” she smiled, taking his hand. She had soft skin and a firm, warm grip. “Fancy meeting you here, huh?”“Yea, I thought I remembered you wearing a med school hoodie when we ran into each other that one time, so I wouldn’t have figured to see you here in Creative Writing!” Des couldn’t believe his luck.“Ahah, yea, the hoodie belonged to my mom, actually,” she said. Today she was wearing a puffy winter jacket, not much better for his curious eye. Around 5’5 he reckoned, and from her face and general shape she seemed reasonably fit but not tiny. Possibly a current or former athlete. “I’m still a junior, plan is to get into med school. Biology major, for now anyways,” she laughed a bit nervously. “I’ve always had a bit of a creative streak and needed another elective, so figured I’d give this a shot!”“Oh no way, I’m taking it as an elective too!” Des said as he tried to lean back against the desk row and strike a cooler looking pose. “I’m in Economics right now, also in my junior year. Maybe trying to get into journalism school post grad though. I do some freelance media writing work on the side but creative writing is… different, you know? Scratches a different sort of itch, fulfills a different aspiration.”“Yes, it definitely does!” Aster laughed. “I guess you could say kind of as a hobby I’ve been poking away at this idea for a novel since high school and was hoping this class might give me some extra tips and inspiration to get really back at it.”“Oh that’s amazing!” Des said.. “Wow, I’m nervous already about you taking a look over mine when I’m finished! I’ve got a pro on my hands…”“Oh no, I don’t deserve that kind of flattery haha…” Aster blushed at the compliment. “Besides, you actually do real writing, for real money! I should be taking notes from you!”The two laughed and traded a bit more small-talk as the classroom emptied. They walked together through the corridors and back out into the main campus courtyard.“Well, I gotta head over to microbio now, but it was amazing meeting you!” She reached into her bag for her phone. “Should we exchange numbers to text and plan when to get together and work on our stories? Or email too, whichever!”“Text is fine,” Des said quickly as he also grabbed his phone. “Here, you can put your number in and I’ll shoot you a message to add me.”Aster punched in her name and number and then with a warm smile and short wave she was off.Des’ gaze lingered a bit as she walked away. How crazy was it that he would run into this girl like this again. She was smart, funny, seemed to genuinely care about her school and career goals, and they seemed to have some shared passions and aspirations around writing.Even the stress of having to work the closing shift that night couldn’t wipe the inner grin off his face as he made his way home. This was the most excited he had been for a long time.* * *“I prefer the interpretation of something more like, ‘falling star’, or ‘shooting star,’” Aster was staring out the window of their third floor study room, bathed in the warm sepia of the setting winter sun. The twinkle of starlight was peaking at the edge of night, a curtain slowly calling across the sky.“It’s not common, and it’s a very pretty name,” Des said, leaning back in his chair and looking as deeply at Aster as she was the sky. Their books and pens were splayed across the table, empty cups of coffee and snack wrappers pushed to the sides. What was supposed to be a quick session after their classes that day turned into an impromptu hangout as they lost themselves in conversation.“And yours?” Aster turned now to look at Des, her eyes twinkling like her namesake.“Pretty much exactly what you would think by looking at it,” Des shrugged and chuckled. “Guy’s name for ‘Destiny’, or ‘Fate’, or whatever you want to call it.”He was trying to laugh and play it off as silly, but Aster’s gaze remained serious and as she studied him, eyes locked and attentive. “I really like it,” she smiled. “Seems both of our parents were pretty creative… Maybe that sort of infused us, influenced us to be pursuing this—” she bounced the ball of her pen a few times.“Thanks, and yours too,” Des returned the smile. The two sat in silence for a minute or two, trying to return to their work for the dozenth time but failing, each lost in a cacophony of their own thoughts and distractions.“Tell me more about the novel you’re wanting to write,” Des asked, breaking the tension.Aster considered for a few moments, hesitant at first to respond, fidgeting in her seat while trying to find the words. “Well, it’s this kind of sci-fi thing, but set on this distant moon colony. There’s a major famine and drought taking place and this one metropolitan city is on the brink of an uprising against a megacorporation administering the region.” Des caught her eye briefly and she blushed, visibly nervous. “I know, it sounds trope-y and basic on the surface, but it’s going to be very character driven! I especially have these ideas really ingrained in my head, like specific scenes, that I really need to write down…”“So you’re extremely visual, then? With your imagination” Des asked.“Yes! It’s kind of like a movie in my head,” Aster laughed. “Do you visualize or imagine things like that also? When you write…?”“Yea, I do actually!” he laughed again also. The brief tension that had just moments ago hung in the room had evaporated and they launched into yet another side tangent, with Aster gushing about a few choice scenes. Her favorite character and the protagonist was a rugged pilot, Jarad, and there was plenty of imagery around the ashes and dust that coated the colony in storms. Des’ dreamy eyes were glazed over in awe but he drank in every word of his partner’s enthusiastic exposition.Their project long forgotten, they spoke and bonded about a list of topics like childhood friends catching up on missed lives. At some point, Des had gone out for some hot chocolate and a refill on snacks, and they moved their chat from the study desks over to the lounge seats in the library closer together. Night settled, yet the stars danced as their children shone alight.* * *The two of them simply could not stop talking. Texting before, between, even during classes… And when they weren’t glued to their phones they were usually found together at a café on campus or one of the pubs grabbing a drink to work on their project—which of course kept turning into excuses to just chat. Still, they really were diligent students both and were making some real progress just a couple of weeks since receiving their assignment. They found that later-evening was their peak productivity period and had taken a liking to this one late night coffee shop for when it was time to really get things done.“…And then Jarad makes the jump onto the wing of the fighter!” Aster swung the slice of banana loaf she was holding through the air, miming the action. A dusting of crumbs broke off and sprinkled over Des’ arm, resting on the table, both hands wrapped around his cup of coffee while he listened intently.“Oh, that’s going to be such a good way to end his arc,” Des said, eyes wide, piecing together where she was going.The two of them had been at the little downtown coffee shop for a couple of hours talking nonstop. Similar outings had become a regular occurrence the past several weeks. To Des’ surprise, Aster had actually also been tossing around ideas and notes for a story of her own for years. She was really into steampunk or similar vibes and most kinds of post-apocalyptic sci-fi—she amazed him with how much she also seemed to nerd out of over high-fantasy and sci-fi settings, especially anything lore-heavy. They had traded trivia questions and dove deep on plotlines and twists galore from their favorite books and movies, more than once getting into a playful argument over some ‘controversial’ hot takes. “What do you think you’re going to call it?” Des asked, taking another sip of his dark roast, black.She didn’t even blink. “Ashes of Astra IV” the loaf lingered in the air again for purposely over-dramatic effect and they both giggled. “But seriously, I think I’m going to go with that. I think the image fits well too into multiple themes including Jarad’s brother, what happened at the outpost, and of course the executions and the uprising.”“I like it, personally!” Des agreed.“I just wish I could come up with something iconic for Jarad, like you know when certain characters have these iconic lines during their defining, pivotal…”“...last, fatal, moments…?” Des threw in.“I mean, I think I plan to leave the ending a little open ended, for effect,” Aster finally scarfed down the last bite of the loaf. She had actually managed to plow through several rounds of snacks—mostly sugar loaded—since they had arrived, never mind two huge fraps. She was wearing a cute little leather jacket and simple white tee that hugged a generous chest and a bit of softness around her sides and middle. Her thighs were strong and well rounded if packed into her dark blue jeans. She had mentioned one night how she was a big time volleyball player in high school but mostly stuck to rec leagues through college so far, injuring her knee pretty badly the summer before freshman year. She definitely still showed the tone and strength, but witnessing her unapologetic appetite at each of their gatherings left no wonder for Des that she had to be close to picking up a later version of the freshman fifteen. Still, she carried and dressed it extremely well.“My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean…” Des started to say.“…yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?” Aster finished. “One of my favorite lines! Haha, of course you would know it!” The way her eyes lit up always sent butterflies through Des’ core. As they had been talking over time there seemed to constantly be these little moments of bonding—like some kind of fate. Shared childhood experiences, family vacation destinations, favorites of everything—food, plays, movies, seasons, superpowers—and so many more things. It was constantly surreal how much they had in common.“Cloud Atlas is quite the underrated story!” Des piped up. “Though, I have to admit, I’ve only read the book and never got around to seeing the movie.”“Oh, well you have to see the movie! We should watch it some time!”“Any excuses to enjoy some buttery popcorn!” Des agreed, his heart racing a little at the prospect of a movie date with Aster. He still had not been able to confirm if she was single, and so far had been way too shy to actually ask her out, though every day he felt himself building that confidence. Little comments like this definitely felt like signals, and made him think it would be soon.“Oh my god, yesss, triple layered!” Aster’s eye’s rolled back into her skull as she let out an exaggerated moan for effect. Her hands went to her middle, looking a bit overstuffed from their extended session. It seemed the more she ate, the better she wrote, and the more ideas seemed to come forth. It was truly a sight to behold, and Des found himself… liking it…?“Ohhh, haha, well I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but that’s how I’ve always gotten it as well!” Des laughed, another random similarity, of course. “And it’s the worst because you’d always have to emphasize for the staff like, ‘no, extra extra butter, like the full three layers. Of course they’d always warn you that the butter might start dripping out the bottom there’s so much but… if I don’t need new pants after enjoying a proper bag like that, you’re just doing it wrong.”“oof—you’re telling me!” Des caught Aster subtly reaching down to unbutton her jeans—that was definitely hot to him. Huh…Aster got Des to read over a few more passages, as it was his turn to copy edit and give some feedback. To his surprise, however, the barista suddenly popped by to inform them the café was closing, much to his lament. Why did time seem to fly so fast when the two of them were together? “Ugh.. Where did the time go?” Aster spoke aloud their thoughts—of course she was thinking the same sentiments. “Hey! Want to swing by Mario’s on the way back to campus? I’m kind of craving their margherita…”Of course Des was game. He was not about to pass up an opportunity to spend more time with this wicked smart, passionate, and very attractive girl. Moreso, however, he still didn’t know why he found her appetite and curves so attractive and, academic that he was, both of his ‘heads’ agreed that more ‘research’ was in order.* * *It had snowed the night before, so much so that most of the roads were closed. But that wasn’t the reason she was so down, Des reasoned. She normally liked the snow, and they had even gone on a couple of walks on a trail behind the science building that led into the woods on the hill. Even more puzzling was the half-eaten bowl of take-out pasta from the cafeteria, and the unopened candy bar left beside her books. It was a comfy clothes kind of day, as Aster was cuddled inside of some baggy black sweats and a matching hoodie, her hood pulled half over her head as she slumped, almost in full fetal position, in the library sofa.“What’s wrong?” he finally was bold enough to ask.Aster’s eyes didn’t move from the straight stare, even as she lowered her phone and let out a sigh and drew in another deep breath. “My mom is coming to town in a couple of weeks, and my sister too…”Des studied her for a moment as silence lingered following her apparent reluctance to continue. “You don’t seem too excited, everything not good with you and your family?”“Not exactly, no,” she seemed distant, spacey, but had sat up a little in her chair, reaching for her coffee cup. The reluctance continued.“Well, I don’t want to push you or make you uncomfortable, but if you want a third, neutral party to vent to about anything, I’m here for you,” Des said, turning back to his notes, opening the floor while also trying to make Aster comfortable to just be.“Thanks, Des,” Aster broke her trance to look directly at Des for a moment, flashing a soft smile with sad brows.She began fiddling with her pen while staring vaguely out the window. The two sat in silence for several minutes. Des continued typing out some notes but his mind couldn’t move away from Aster. He had never seen her like this, her aura—if he could call it that—was way off, and he was genuinely a bit worried for her. But he elected not to say anything, not to bother her and to just give her space.The crinkling of wrappers drew his gaze up as he saw Aster finally reach for a peanut butter cup. Their eyes met and she flashed him a quick smile. “I feel like I say it a lot lately but… thanks, Des, really,” she said after swallowing the gooey treat. “I really appreciate just being able to ‘be’ around you, if that makes sense? Like we can often get together like this and we can chat for hours on end… BUT… We also have this ability to just hang in silence, and it’s not awkward at all. Like our presence for each other is calming. Soothing.”Des pushed aside his laptop, looking Aster straight in the eyes and flashing her a small smile back. “Thanks,” he said, reaching out for the other peanut butter cup. “The feeling is mutual. And seriously, though, if you need to chat or vent…”Aster laughed a little, sighing deeply. “Yea. And still, really appreciate it.” He turned back to his laptop again but this time her eyes lingered on him for longer. “Hey, do you want to go grab another coffee?”* * *| Hey, I’m at the corner by the market on SouthgateDes looked around nervously, then back to his watch, then side-to-side again, scanning. He was cutting it real, real close. Thank god for Aster, who had offered to give him a lift downtown for the interview after his roommate left him hanging and had to cancel at the last minute.Barely a moment after he hit send on the text, a familiar blue corolla hatchback came into view driving up the lane. Stopped at the light, Des hurriedly opened the passenger door and hopped in, throwing his laptop bag in the back seat beside what looked like a fresh Krispy Kreme box.“Hey! Thanks again sooooo so much for giving me a lift, you really bailed me out of a tough spot!” Des threw his seatbelt on and Aster demonstrated her lead foot as they began speeding off of campus proper.“No worries! Any excuse to get away from my family for even just a little bit,” she was munching on a glazed donut in one hand while dodging between lanes to get around traffic with the other.“How did it go last night?” Des asked, concerned. Aster had filled him in that night at the library with loose details about her family dynamics, which were complicated, to say the least. Mom was not particularly motherly or helpful, and dad was fairly absent, and her younger sister was an unappreciative and spoiled-princess type who was largely raised by Aster growing up. They also had an older brother who lived abroad in Singapore doing some kind of tech work. Aster and he were very close growing up but he had grown a bit tired and distant from the family as a whole.“Just lots of talking about random, usual stuff. We didn’t get into anything yet really,” she sighed, shoving the last of the glazed treat into her mouth and sucking her thumb dry of the leftover sugar. Aster had also told Des how her mom and dad were going through a rough time and there was some serious talk of a divorce. “I’m sure she’s going to try and weaponize me next, after hooking in Cassie. That’s what she always does…”“I’m so sorry Aster, it’s a no-win kind of situation,” Des tried to be comforting. “Whatever happens, you know I’m here to chat still.”That same night, Des had opened up to Aster a bit about his upbringing too. Mom and dad split when he was 12, and he ended up moving away with mom, visiting Dad for stints over the holidays and other occasions throughout high school. The two had ended up spending another long night chatting, this time bonding over childhood traumas and family dramas, having some similar personalities and behaviors around the household.“Thanks Des, mean it,” Aster said, eyes still glued to road as she kept up her speed-demon routine with her lead foot and DGAF attitude. “Enough about me though, tell me about this new job!?”Des laughed. “Well, this is an interview, I don’t have it yet! Though the guy I was talking to at the rec center the other day made it sound like I’m a leading candidate. It’s a job as a beat writer for the local minor league baseball team!”“Oh, that’s awesome! I used to go to Raven’s games when I was little!” Aster gushed.“Oh crazy, you know a lot about baseball?” Des perked up. Why was he surprised at this point, though.“Haha yea! I used to play softball too when I was younger, before my parents made me choose between volleyball and softball because they couldn’t pay and also take me to both…” Aster trailed off. “Well if all goes well and I get the gig, you’re going to have to come out to see a game this summer!” Des said, his arms and hands waving through the air in the car excitedly.“Yes! That would be amazing!” Aster agreed.The two got to talking about a few other childhood sports and other activities it turned out they also had in common for the rest of the drive… You were in theater too? No way! … High school Year Book Club, we were so cool haha! … Oh, that’s awesome you were so involved! I used to volunteer for this thing called Relay for Life, a cancer fundraiser…“Des, I’m serious, you have to take one! I’m not letting you out until you take one,” Aster had put on her very-serious face, jamming the open donut box into Des’ face as he scrambled to remove his seatbelt as they pulled over at his stop. “You have to save me from at least one more of these. They were supposed to last until I got back, but I’ll probably stress-eat half of them on the way…” He knew by this point she wasn’t joking. Begrudgingly, he grabbed one from her as he scrambled out of the vehicle. As he leaned in to say thanks and goodbye, he caught one last glimpse of her in her tight teal shirt and black puffy winter vest. She had a cute, matching teal beanie on as well. She still looked athletic, and far from outright chubby, but more and more over time he could definitely notice the softening around her edges and little pooch and love handles forming at her sides. He still didn’t know why he was finding it so attractive, but softer Aster was very appealing to him.Who was he kidding though. Aster was very appealing to him. Extremely smart, mix of nerdy and sporty just like he was, thoughtful and deep but witty and good with banter. They had similar experiences growing up and so many shared irks and likes. That physically she was stunningly beautiful in his books was just the cherry on top. She wished him good luck and smiled with her eyes as she looked deep into his before he pushed the door shut and she drove off. Des felt the extra pep in his step as he made his way towards the building, gnawing at the donut in a hurry with every step. That’s it, he had decided—if all went well today, he was going to finally ask her out. Maybe take her down to the pub on campus for drinks to celebrate, and then make his move there.He shoved down the rest of the donut and strode inside, ready to take on the world.

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