A Very Graceful Deathclaw

	In a quiet corner of the post-nuclear Midwest, life is about as peaceful, if devoid of people, as it gets. Outposts are far and few between, and that’s what makes trading so profitable for James. He doesn’t even need that many skills beyond moving cargo long distances and shooting the occasional molerat. Raiders are rare, there aren’t enough communities to pillage in the first place to support a constant raider population, especially through the winter.  It’s mostly just a few farming settlements in the plains and tiny hunting or mining colonies in the hills. Those up north needed food for winter, and those down south needed tools and pelts. All he had to do was make his usual routes fast enough the goods wouldn’t spoil, and he made enough to live on.

	James at the moment had a load of crude hand forged farming tools loaded into his backpack and rusting motorcycle he had retrofitted with heavy containers of all kinds at the cost of speed. He knew he could make a mean profit on real tools that far surpassed the fragile scrap ones most used, but his intent was on rest at the moment. He pressed the breaks and gently pulled into a halt at the lovingly polished ruins of a large house some eccentric millionaire built into the wilderness. It was crumbling when he found it, but he had some unexpected, even if clumsy, help restoring it. As he dismounted to stretch his back after a long bumpy off-road ride, the nearby pines shook as something heavy bounded its way towards him.

	He didn’t flinch however, because he knew the fast approaching figure well enough to recognize those heavy steps. The sight of a large imposing deathclaw wasn’t even heard of in these parts, even more so the idea someone wouldn’t immediately run the other way. However, this deathclaw wasn’t like most others, underneath her patchwork dress and dark scaled hide was a surprisingly human intelligence. Something she demonstrated by lifting him off the ground in a tight hug, skillfully positioning her massive claws so she wouldn’t even scratch him. James fought back against the feeling of being squeezed to death to welcome his excited visitor. “It’s good to see you too, Grace.”

	Frankly, James hardly knew to question her unusual qualities. Grace was the only deathclaw James had ever actually seen in person, so in his eyes the stories of rampaging mindless killing machines was an exaggerated legend. She welcomed him in her raspy yet unmistakably feminine voice, “Oh, it’s been nearly a week since you last came back here! I missed you so much!” He lightly patted her on her back, feeling the soft patchwork dress contrasted against her rough exterior underneath. He never expected her to enjoy the gigantic “human clothing” he had stitched her from real dresses, curtains, and even radstag hides, but she rarely took it off.

	He was roused from his early memories of her when she finally loosened her grasp, but still kept him firmly lifted off the ground. “It’s great to be home with you again.” She retained her intense stare even after he said that for a few seconds before continuing in a lower voice just as excitedly. “What’dya get me?” James had to try and hide his dismay as he came to a sudden realization. He forgot to pick up a little gift for her. Every time he hit the usual trade routes he always brought back something, usually edible, for her. James eyes widened as he had a sudden idea. He was hoping to add this trinket he had gotten off a fellow merchant to his collection, but he had amassed an exorbitant amount already, he could spare one. “Oh, uh, I got you something to drink!”

	She gently placed him on the ground before bouncing with glee, an oddly adorable sight from the gigantic reptile. Once he had rummaged out the shining blue object, Grace’s eyes watched curiously. She knew James had a couple crates of the things stowed away, but she figured they were just little decorative lights. That didn’t stop her from looking in awe as he presented the bottle with a flourish. “I normally collect these things, but if you want to try it then you’re welcome to it.” She eyed the drink curiously. Years ago when she was wandering alone, she had learned the hard way that drinking stuff that glows usually wasn’t a good idea. He gingerly placed it in her outstretched hand as she spoke up, “Are you sure? Is it… safe?”

	James answered her with a reassuring rub along the dull end of one of her claws. She loved it when he did that. “Hey, if I can drink this stuff, I’m sure a tough gal like you won’t have any problems.” She couldn’t hide the faint blush that rose through her thick hide. “Well, if you put it that way…” She examined the object quizzically before punching a hole in the bottle cap with the tip of her claw. James hated seeing a piece of currency go to waste like that, but the price was well worth the happiness on her face. She tipped the container’s contents easily in her mouth, swishing the fizzing bright blue concoction around her tongue, feeling carbonation for the first time. With a loud gulp she exhaled loudly, “THIS STUFF IS AMAZING!”

	The young trader responded demurely, “So does that mean you liked it?” She smiled brightly with faintly glowing blue teeth, “I love it! Thank you so much.” Satisfied with her answer, he got to unloading some of his stuff. Most importantly he wanted to get some of his spare caps in his safe. Well, safe wasn’t entirely accurate. More like he put a reinforced metal door over the basement and considered the whole room a safe. He wasn’t a whiz at mechanical stuff, but he had enough skill to keep his motorcycle running, and with some generous guesses he even had installed some security. That might seem redundant with a residential deathclaw, but she spent a lot of the day peacefully walking and sometimes ferociously hunting outside.

	As he opened the wide garage door entrance into the building, Grace followed along behind him. The place was a great find. The old coot who owned this place hundreds of years ago had everything in this bizarre bungalow made unnecessarily large to intimidate his guests. The hallways, the entrances, even the interior doors were extravagantly sized. Now they served as manageable paths for the doting deathclaw to curl up with her favorite guy underneath a solid roof. She skittered her large talons across the floor delicately, it didn’t stop the floor from being permanently marred with tiny scratches, but it prevented her from tearing out the floorboards. She took great pride in her deft movements. It was the reason James had given her the beloved nickname “Grace.” She never cared for the name those cruel people gave her growing up.

	Still following the tired trader, she stopped when he cracked open the heavy metal hatch to the basement. The entryway to the basement was an exception from the unusually grand scale of the building, she could fit if she tried, but it wasn’t easy. Noticing her hesitation he called back to her, “I can handle moving the stuff on my own, don’t trouble yourself.” She tapped her claws together like twiddling her thumbs, “Are you sure?” He smiled, “It’s no problem,” then disappeared below the floor. She couldn’t restrain a small sigh of disappointment. However, she realized there was something she could do to keep herself busy.

	Moving slowly down the hallway, she swished her large tail side to side. She got a surprising amount of joy cleaning the place up. It made her feel “civilized” like James says. It wasn’t long until she ventured into a dusty room crowded with old junk. James had a habit of hoarding curios, broken gadgets, and ammo for weapons he didn’t even own “…in case they needed it.” She had a smile on her jagged mouth for the first time surveying the messy room. He’d be so delighted if she could organize this indoor scrapyard. Angling her hands carefully, she started pushing the different objects on the shelves just the tiniest bit to straighten them out. Although despite her best efforts, it was soon apparent why she didn’t clean very often.

	In only a few minutes her tail had whapped four crates out of place, and she had punctured several metal objects she couldn’t identify.  She doubted James could either, but just to be safe she angled those newest holes away from plain sight. However, when she bent down to put the latest upturned box back into place, she noticed something. A familiar blue glow coming from inside. The sight was strange to her, he always kept his beloved bottles downstairs with his collection. She couldn’t help but wonder, “Did he forget about these?” Her first thought was to bring them down immediately… but she was interrupted by a hungry gurgle from her stomach, and a thick line of drool starting to inch its way down her maw.

	That drink he gave her was so good, it was absolutely divine to her. A sly grin formed on her face as she licked her lips. Maybe he wouldn’t mind her taking one. He had so many surely two wouldn’t matter. If he forgot they were even here, he surely wouldn’t notice three missing. He did say she was welcome to try the drink not that long ago, and they were so small for her. Surely that meant she could try five… or even a dozen to really consider if the beverage was for her. With a mind full of hazy reasonings and excuses, she plucked one of the bottles from the fallen container like it was a shining sapphire. She repeated her trick of lightly poking through the top and inhaled the sugary sweet vapor it released.

	She started to slowly savor the liquid as it bubbled past her tongue, but primal instinct started to kick in as she really tasted it. In seconds she had downed the fizzy drink, and already opened another. In less than a minute any thought of manners had left her, and she instead started cracking open the necks of the bottles with her massive jaws and downing their cloyingly sweet innards like she was catching prey. She didn’t need to justify the next carbonated elixir anymore, she was lost in a blissful feeding frenzy. The sweetest thing she had ever had before was the rare piece of mutated fruit, and that paled in comparison to the wonderous juice she was guzzling.

	Ten minutes later, she was only starting to recover from her delicious fugue. A loud belch erupted from her throat, creating a small cloud of blue mist in front of her face. She put one of her lethal hands to her face daintily as she considered how lucky she was James couldn’t hear that in the basement. Hell, he probably could have heard that from outside, but fortunately the floor was thicker than the walls. For some reason her thoughts lingered on James… Was there something she was trying to remember? She surveyed the room lazily, a fain blue glow dribbling down her chin. She looked at all the massacred glass shards of what was once bottles before she had her realization. “Oh no, no no no no no. Did I really drink them all?”

	Grace frantically wiped her face clean and quickly started gathering all the remnants of her crime. She quickly scampered down the hallway with the evidence in two before stopping at the corner by entrance to the basement. Although she pressed against the wall in attempt to stealthily conceal herself, anyone could have seen her horns before her head peeked out. A quick scan told her James was still below ground moving his things. There was no time to lose! She narrowly avoided gashing the floor as she sprinted out the door and into the surrounding wilderness. She had to hide what she just did, but how?

	Her first thought was to just chuck the box as far as she could, but maybe he’d stumble onto it… No, she had a better plan. She sprinted a little further past a large boulder and clawed at the ground in a panic. Once she had dug her shallow grave, another idea hit her. What if he noticed the box was missing? Maybe she should keep the box, but fill it with something else. Then he might think it never held any of that delectable soda to begin with. Quickly she emptied the box of its contents and shoveled the dirt pile back on top. Once the deed was done she looked around cautiously. Recently dug up earth looked so suspicious, but she lacked the fine articulation to make it look more natural. With a rush of adrenaline, she spotted the boulder she had tried to hide her hole behind. Without thinking she slammed her shoulder into the large rock, pushing it just far enough to cover her hole.

	Wiping away sweat she wasn’t even aware had formed, she admired her handiwork before sprinting back to place the box back in its rightful place. Miraculously James still wasn’t out yet, so her return trip went successfully. She had to catch her breath for a moment as she placed the box in several places, trying to remember which was the right spot. Once she was satisfied with where she put it, she let out a deep exhale. Only she was interrupted by footsteps behind her. In response she bolted upright and shook off any dirt that might have stuck to her dress. She was still in an awkward position when his familiar face came through the doorway.

	James had seen the opened door, and walked over to properly catch up with her after securing his wares. He was too busy thinking about what he wanted to say to notice how out of her element she was. Completely unaware of her anxiety he greeted her casually, “So, anything interesting happen while I was gone?” Grace did her best to ignore the implications of his question and answer normally. “Well uh, not really… I caught a couple molerats and saved some of the meat for you…”

	James thought he was the luckiest man in the world, not only was she a capable hunter, but she was sweet enough to save some for him. He thought he was going to die when he first found her lost in the wilderness, but now he saw the gentle kindness underneath that grizzled exterior. He always told her how much she meant to him, but he never quite revealed how deeply he had grown fond of her. They lived together though, so would it be that weird if he told her? He knew she loved him like her best friend, but what if she didn’t feel that way about him? Could she even view a clawless guy like him in a romantic way? They were entirely different species after all…

	His train of through was lost as he noticed the blue residue on her painfully forced smile. He didn’t notice her poorly contained nervousness, but instead was reminded of the gift he gave her. “Oh I just remembered. I actually moved some of my Quantum collection in here to make more room. I should probably put it back now.” Her façade cracked as she realized what he just said. Her stomach twisted and churned the volatile contents inside her as she tried to defuse the situation. “Oh, you don’t have to do that now. I could even cook some of that meat for you.” Even if James found it cute how she would stab the meat through her claws and hold it over a fire like a marshmallow, he was determined to find his bottles.

	He turned his head past the deathclaw nearly grinding her claws into the wall she was trying to casually lean against. “No worries, that’s it right there behind you.” She had to clench her jaw shut as her nervous produced an ominous rumble from her core. Something that was overlooked by the man behind her. In desperation she attempted to push the box away with her tail, but he nabbed it a second before. “Woah there, I’m glad you’re happy to see me, but you nearly tripped me there.” She shuddered apologetically, “I’m sorry, sometimes it seems like that thing has a mind of it’s own.” A total lie but he didn’t know that. Once he motioned to open the lid she covered her eyes.

	When she finally had the courage to uncover them, she noticed him staring straight at her. She had been caught and the fear had her guts sloshing the ludicrous amount of atomic mixture inside of her to alarming extents. An influx of pressure descended south and she found herself clenching her behind as she awaited judgement. Oh, she had ruined everything she had built with this nice, caring man. He’d never want some binge-drinking monster like her in the same house as him. Perhaps if he showed her pity she would be allowed to stay outside where she belonged, the wild animal she was.

 “We’ve been robbed.” James stated with confidence and an equally disturbed expression.

	The feeling of being off the hook was immediately eclipsed by the urgency on his face. “Have you noticed anything else gone? Did anything seem unusual when you came back to the house?” She managed to sputter out an answer, “No, I’m pretty sure I’ve been the only one here. M-m-maybe it’s just the wrong box? You have a lot more that look like that in the basement.” Her hands unconsciously drifted to comfort her stomach while James thought about what she said. “I’m sorry for flying off the handle like that, but I was so sure I put them in that box.” He swiveled the container around to show her one of the bottom corners, “See, I even scratched a little “Q” in the bottom so I could tell it apart.” Grace could only emit a nervous giggle in response, she didn’t have an excuse for that one. “Though you’re right, I don’t think someone would come in just to take this specifically,” he added.

	The trader sounded exasperated, “I guess I might’ve moved them back to the basement and forgot about it. Gets easy to forget when you spend most of your time moving boxes around.” She clicked her claws together in agreement, “Yeah, I’m sure that’s how it is sometimes…” She winced as she felt the pressure inside her surge in intensity. Nerves always wreaked havoc on her stomach, but she had avoided expressing that particular aspect of herself around him. She especially had no intention of doing it now. Still, that didn’t stop her from trying to calm the concerned man. “You know I appreciate the work you do for the both of us, it only makes sense to be concerned about bandits.” He sighed before his face softened and returned the compliment, “Well, I suppose I shouldn’t worry about thieves when I’ve got someone as great as you around.” She would have wrapped him in a hug right then and there if she wasn’t dealing with a new emergency rippling through her digestive system.

	James waited a moment before leaving down the hallway to continue his search, but Grace chose to stay put. She listened intently for the telltale thud of his makeshift hatch to the basement closing before relaxing her body. As her shoulders slumped she let go of any restraint. A short but powerful shotgun blast of thick nauseating flatulence burst from behind her. The miasma stained the air underneath her dress blue and moved her heavy garment enough to contaminate a good portion of the room. She could even feel the outburst warm the base of her tail and rattle an empty can behind her.

	She breathed a deep sigh of relief, two potential crises averted. The following inhale was a lot less enjoyable however, as she had smelled rotting ghouls better than the foul residue circulating around her. With an embarrassed face she tried to fan the odor away, but even her large hands were no match for the radioactive cloud. She knew that was bad, even for her. While she was thankful to get everything out of her system, she was unaware that nasty expulsion was just a warning of things to come.

	Quietly slipping out of the toxic room, she brainstormed ways to make it up to him. She could surprise him by dragging a wrecked vehicle home. He always needed more parts for his motorcycle. Though, the nearest wrecks she knew of were more than a day’s trip away… Maybe if she caught something nice and big? They’d both be able to relax with a proper feast. The thought of eating more caused her stomach to protest, her interior felt unusually warm and restless. She chalked it up to regular anxiety, not the consequences of chugging radioactive materials. Her musings were interrupted however by a sudden clank of metal. “Hey! Could you help me look down here? Two pairs of eyes are always better than one!”

	She glanced down the hallway to see James poking up from the basement. She couldn’t resist that face he made that expressed so much adoration rather than the usual fear she had grown used to receiving. “Okay, just give me a second. I have trouble fitting down there.” His head popped right back underground while she approached the entrance nervously. She’d have to brace herself to help him look for something that wasn’t even there. “Oh, why did I do that?” repeated in her head while she peered down the hole to see James waving back up at her. She could do this, she just had to put on a brave face.

	Slowly lowering one leg at a time through the hole, she slowly started her descent. James looked up and couldn’t help but blush at the sight. Even if she used to never wear clothes, it was somehow scandalous seeing up her dress like that. He couldn’t believe it, she even had underwear. He didn’t make those for her, so she must have found them somewhere. It looked like she was stretching a pair of XXXL pre-war undergarments to their limits. They even had dainty little frills. It was so tightly stretched against her he could even make out a lot of the detail underneath… He had to shake his mind from the gutter, now wasn’t the time to be thinking that way. He did notice something was off though, she seemed to be having a harder time than usual getting down.

	Grace couldn’t believe it. Her normally tight midsection was noticeably bloated. It was bad enough getting into this makeshift saferoom, now she had to push herself even harder to squeeze through. The extra pressure only served to stir the pockets of unstable gasses brewing inside of her. She had to stifle a groan while wedging herself through. Her last outburst was bad enough, the idea there could be more on the way unsettled her. With one last push, she felt the pressure reduce as she landed squarely on the ground. At her size the ladder wasn’t even necessary. She nervously waited for instructions from a somewhat distracted James. Her thumping landing seemed to get his attention though, “Ummm, why don’t you check this side and I look over here?”

	The imposing reptilian had to walk somewhat crouched in the smaller space of the basement, otherwise she’d go bumping her horns into the ceiling. When she surveyed the cluttered basement, it was apparent she had forgotten how small the space really was. It didn’t help that the amount of stuff he kept down there had exponentially increased as he was able to afford a larger inventory. Pretending to be just as puzzled as James, she started gently moving the merchandise around. Old hunting rifles, ancient medical supplies, and purified water bottles were overturned in her wild goose chase. With her bent over position however, she soon felt that familiar pressure return. Her stomach was churning like a boiling cauldron, but she told herself she could hold it, at least until James was satisfied.

	The previously mentioned man was rummaging on the other side of the room, trying to come up with small talk to break the silence. “How long has it been anyway? Since we started living here?” That caught her attention, “Oh, well the seasons have changed a couple times…” Why was he asking that? James on the other hand was more floored by the realization it had been over half a year. He first met her last winter, and it was late summer now. Now, not all of that time was with her, he still spent a lot of time on the road. However, he had spent much of that winter with her instead of traveling. The weather was too unrelenting for much movement and there were always less interested buyers when things got tight. That’s why he stayed in this building that winter, and the same reason he was even around to meet her that chilly night. Even if it seemed crazy letting a deathclaw inside to warm up, he never regretted how tenderly she snuggled into him by the fire.

	Grace resumed the conversation for him, lingering on the same memories he was. “Remember how you were so awed at the sight of my claws when we first met? You kept wanting to touch them so much I was afraid you’d get hurt.” He chuckled, “You’re just trying to get me to rub them again, aren’t you?” She didn’t respond how she wanted to however, as a gas cramp tore through her with surprising ferocity. Her gaseous payload was expanding a lot quicker than she expected. She instead only softly whimpered, something James mistook as an endearing way to say “please.” He answered her accidental signal with more laughter, “In a minute, I want to make sure half my collection isn’t missing. Probably took me years to stockpile that much.”

	His words only served to shake her from reminiscing and crank up her anxiety to eleven. “Years!” she thought. The maelstrom of fermenting blue sludge inside her was doing flips as she considered the implications. Even if she left now just to find replacements, it’d take her longer than she’d known him! She started to sweat as the pain in her stomach became unbearable between guilt and gas. She didn’t want to arouse his suspicion, and yet if she didn’t relieve some of the pressure soon, she’d explode badly enough to put an atomic bomb to shame. Seeing no other choice, she tried her luck with another devious maneuver.

	While James had his face buried in another container, she slowly bent forward and angled her behind in the opposite direction. She needed this to be as silent as possible, so she gently placed a clawed hand on each meaty cheek through her dress, and spread them wide. With a contrastingly feminine grunt, she pushed just enough to lightly break the restraint she was exercising over her rump. Slowly but surely, the muffled sound of a tire deflating hissed out from behind her. For an agonizingly long time she felt blistering heat course out of her. Despite the sweltering temperature, she found her tongue hanging out in the overwhelming relief while a deep blush crossed her face. It was even better James wasn’t seeing this, because it looked like an industrial steam pipe had sprung a leak underneath her dress, spreading a visible blue smog that pumped it’s way through the fabric and tainted the air like a smoke stack.

	After countless seconds of executing her plan, she had to abruptly cut the stream short as she smelled her own concoction. It was far worse than rotten mirelurk in the summer sun and it had the sickeningly sweet aroma of decay. The aroma was only made so much worse with the formidable heat her body was producing, giving it a smoke-like quality that caused her eyes to water. It was so much worse than anything she’d ever produced, and she’d eaten some nasty things in the past to survive. The worst part was that with a resounding gurgle, she realized the steady outflow hadn’t even put a dent in her bubbling load. With wide eyes she fanned at the lightly glowing cloud behind her with a large crate lid. If she spread it out far enough with her makeshift fan, it would slowly lose visibility. The only upside of being able to see it meant she could guide it away from the room’s other occupant easier.

	This was an absolute emergency. Not looking suspicious dropped in priority as she wanted to prevent fumigating the poor man with his own stolen goods. As she tried to hatch an excuse to bolt out of the room, something unexpected happened. Her vile brew had been wafted into the shoddy electronics James called a security system due to her desperate fanning. The hint of radioactivity and foul properties that came with it was just enough to cause a malfunction. With a loud slam, the hatch above both of them sealed tight. Both turned to the sound in confusion, the ruckus barely covering the short poot that warbled out of the deathclaw’s ass in surprise. “Oh damn it all!” cried James as her realized what happened.

	Nervously clutching her churning stomach packed with something worse than tear gas, she looked to James in dismay. “What happened?” James recognized the tiny sparks coming from his own machine. “The stupid security system went and broke again. It’s meant to keep some thief trapped down here if he ever gets in, but the stupid thing sealed us down here instead.” Pulling out a small flashlight in the abruptly darkened room, he motioned over to grab his tools. The deathclaw looked terrified as she swiveled her head around the room with dawning horror. “You mean we’re stuck here?” James mistook her alarm for fear of being trapped. “No, I put in a safety switch in case I ever got stuck in here. But I made it deliberately tedious to use in case the robber finds it. I’m sorry but we’ll be stuck here at least half an hour.”

	Her breathing accelerated with anxiety so much she had to fight gagging on her own lingering fumes. “Are you sure we can’t get out sooner?” Her stomach rumbled with similar fear as James started flipping open panels. “Uh, maybe if I’m lucky… what’s the rush for?” The darkness concealed her worried swaying as she wrapped her tail down in an attempt to delay the ticking time bomb below it. “N-nothing…” she grunted out.”

...

	It had only been ten minutes, but Grace spent the entire time nervously rocking, swaying, gritting her teeth, and desperately attempting to soothe her infuriated gut. She may have had immense strength in those deathclaw buns of hers, but they were weakening with every bead of sweat that rolled over them. She felt like a volcano ready to erupt, but she couldn’t embarrass herself like that. Not now of all times! Not only would he be disgusted by her, the opaque nature of her gas was more than enough to give away what happened to his collection. Her anxiety only increased as she considered if her own gas was unbearable to her, it’s likely to make him heave on the spot. She scanned the room for any way to help her last a little longer, the pressure was becoming even more intolerable with every passing second.

	James was in an entirely different situation. While he fiddled with removing screws and playing with wires he could only reach back and pray were where he remembered them, his mind was on something else. During those ten minutes he made a few attempts at small talk even with the odd tool clenched in his teeth, but she seemed to be ignoring him. Only giving short answers or none at all. Did she think he was a dumbass for getting them potentially entombed in their own basement? He felt like a buffoon, and it was only made worse by his clumsy attempts at fixing his own damn creation in the dark.

	Meanwhile, the towering deathclaw was unaware of her social blunders. Instead she was wholly engrossed in keeping the discolored radstorm inside her at bay. She knew she couldn’t try the same trick twice. Not only would anything she released be far harder to control under these conditions, but in the lower light the putrid glow it gave off would be far more obvious. Her face brightened as she had an idea. Maybe she could use the darkness to her advantage and try something that would look ridiculous. With her eyes better adapted to lowlight, she focused on a large trunk on the other end of the room. If she remembered what was in there, she might actually have a chance.

	Her imposing nature was severely reduced as she waddled awkwardly to the back of the basement. The best she could manage was a short grunted excuse, “I’ll sit back there while you work on it.” James was too entangled in wires to turn around, so he gave her a similarly short answer. “I’m sorry, I’m sure I’ll have us out of here soon.” She whimpered under her breath, “I hope so…” Quickly she yanked the lid off to reveal it was packed with an assortment of large fluffy winter clothes. The kind she desperately hoped would provide the sound dampening she needed.

	Holding her gut tightly, she released her tail and suppressed a groan of discomfort as her ass shouldered the entire burden of keeping the expanding gasses contained. Not wasting any time, she lifted her dress and lowered her rear into the container. Her imposing posterior had trouble fitting, but the weight alone easily allowed her to sink into the cushiony material. Bracing herself, she pulled her dress tightly around the opening and between her legs, making a tight seal over the cargo. With her hands gripping the sides of the box, both to keep herself steady and keep the makeshift barrier in place, she desperately hoped she could squeeze out a couple short puffs. Just enough that she could hold the rest a little longer and safely empty herself somewhere far, far away.

	With an angry gurgle like a multitude of bubbles jostling through her stomach, she relented and eased her hold. The glowing gas oozed out of her at first, like a fog that rolls across the ground. The ludicrous heat and mind-boggling stench seeped into the clothes. For around ten seconds her release successfully puttered out quietly, all noise being absorbed. However, as she felt the bliss of letting the toxic waste out, her hold weakened. Her eyes rolled up in relief as she failed to notice her steaming ripper pick up place, starting to punch into the box with excessive force. Even with the ungodly warmth being amplified to a hellish sauna of her own emissions from the extra insulation, she didn’t notice the uptick in sweat traveling between her cheeks.

	Twenty seconds in she was losing control, her slick rear adding a noticeably wet tone while the poor trunk started to vibrate underneath her. She was lucky her ecstatic gaze drifted downward, because with a gasp she realized her tightly held dress was actually starting to swell upward with her wretched gas. Quickly realizing she’d be caught if she kept this up any longer, she cut her lengthy outburst of exhaust with a burst of willpower. That didn’t stop her from letting out a deep breathy sigh from the momentary euphoria she was feeling. The problem was, that was what caught the attention of James.

	He kept his flashlight focused on the apparatus in front of him, but he turned into the darkness to talk to her. “Are you okay back there?” She squeaked back in response, “N-never better!” From his perspective, her silhouette looked vaguely like she was just normally sitting on the trunk, so he shrugged his shoulders and got back to work. He’d have to make this up to her somehow, maybe he’d spend a few extra days at home before leaving on his next trip. To be fair though, that felt more like a reward for him than anything.

	Figuring James was none the wiser, she wiped at the sweat accumulating on her forehead. It felt like she was practically sitting in a firepit, searing heat wrapping underneath her. As she thought about it, the rest of her was starting to feel hot too, like a warm wind was coming through… To her dismay she realized her hands were lifted off the lid, allowing her pestilent mixture to escape. In sheer panic, she frantically flapped the hem of her dress to disperse the softly illuminated vapors. What she didn’t realize was that even if it couldn’t be seen, she was blowing something right at the amateur mechanic that could be smelled. Her temporary relief was withered as she heard James begin to cough, and the resulting anxiety increased the expansion of that disgusting steamy mixture inside of her.

	James coughed on the unexpected waft of sweltering fumes. His first though was “Jesus Christ, how broken was this thing it was leaking something like THAT?” However, as he regretfully took in another breath… his opinion started to shift. It may have been heinously strong, but it was sort of like gasoline, where it almost smelled kind of good despite being absolutely wretched. Not wanting to call attention to what he thought was another defect in his own scrapyard device, he fought back the coughs and pretended like nothing had happened. Choosing to work in silence instead.

...

	Another five minutes had passed in awkward silence. James occasionally cursed when he dropped a small bolt, and Grace was starting to crack. Even with her full willpower, she would occasionally loose a short burst into the trunk involuntarily. Every miniature eruption of toxic fumes raising the unbearable temperature higher. The clothes underneath her were starting to feel soggy from a mixture of sweat and pure ass moisture, it would be a long, long time until he could sell them. She couldn’t hold on much longer. Thoughts of just slashing at the heavy metal hatch were starting to appeal to her as she feared the doomsday begging to be released inside of her. Her beloved dress normally draped around her bulky figure, but now it was being pushed out by the bloating of her stomach. There was no way she was going to last much longer.

	With a click, James let out a whoop of delight. Earlier than expected he heard the mechanisms whirl to life. The hatch clicked open and let a shaft of light into the saferoom. James thought about saying, “Ladies first,” Grace always got a kick out of being treated delicately like that, but instead he saw something unexpected when he turned around. Grace was in a full sprint to get to the ladder. Her frantic mind could only process that James must be on to her, and that she needed to leave NOW. Excuses could be made later. Skipping the ladder altogether, she leapt straight upwards and grasped the surrounding rim to pull herself up. Only, she wasn’t coming out. Grace silently pleaded for freedom while she felt her distended gut catch in the hatch. “I’m way too close, I can make it!”

	Underneath James was distracted by a lot of things. Firstly that Grace was running like her life depended on it, only to stop midway through. The second was the distracting sight of underneath her dress. As much as he wanted to look away, he could swear her stretched underwear were somehow even tighter. The result of being heat pressed into her cheeks from sitting like that so long.

	After a couple seconds of staring at her desperate attempts to climb out in his stupor, mesmerized by the sight of her taught muscles shaking her more plush features, his nose picked up on something. That same horrid smell wafted into his nose, but the intensity had grown immensely. His confusion only doubled as he turned around to see a released mushroom cloud of faintly glowing gas rise from the back of the room. Grace had completely forgotten about the sealed miasma in her haste. James’ first thought being it was some kind of terrible, visible gas leak coming in he nervously called up to the stuck deathclaw, “Do you need any help getting out?”

	She groaned in frustration, there he was being so nice again. She didn’t deserve him. With newfound strength she heaved herself upwards as hard as she could, desperately trying to make her escape before she unleashed aromatic hell. Her powerful push only served to wedge her stomach deeper into the entrance, vastly increasing the pressure as the walls tightened around her. Unwittingly, she had provided the final catalyst to the impending nuclear reaction inside of her. Without warning, things were going to get a whole lot more intense for James than a single trunk full of deathclaw gas. He was going to get the full thing.

	Grace felt any restraint break as a massive torrent of gas tore through her with a wickedly loud roar. With the power of an atomic bomb she felt her cheeks parted and an inferno of molten gas explode out of her. Simultaneously her eyelids fluttered in pure primal relief, and her mouth grimaced from feeling the detonation rip its way out of her bowels. Everything she had bottled up was screaming out of her, and she was powerless to stop it, her willpower eroded by the length of time desperately holding it back.

	The abrupt sound directed James’ attention once again to underneath her dress. He watched in disbelief as he saw the tight fabric underneath her push outward as a plume of discolored guttural smog barreled towards him. His eyes stung as heat enveloped him like he was standing outside a blast furnace. He held his breath out of instinct while the raucous wind billowed out her dress strong enough he had to brace himself from staggering back. The first conclusion to reach his mind was they were under attack, with some kind of explosive being thrown above them. That only lasted until he subconsciously breathed in, a familiar scent burning his sinuses.

	It was the same one he smelled earlier when Grace sounded so upset, yet again wafting from the same trunk she was sitting on… She was farting? Could THIS really be just a case of intestinal distress? If he was understanding things correctly, he was relieved to know he wasn’t the one upsetting her so much… But it was frightening to think she was producing the jetstream of noxious fumes buffeting against him and fluttering his jacket so violently. It was so bad he could see the blue steam geyser blast out of her. What could cause something like this? Did she eat a chemical weapon? His mind scanned over his memories for what might have done this while he subconsciously ignored how he was starting to breathe the acrid vapors deeper despite the protests of his lungs.

	All this had only happened in seconds, but between her previously pressurized releases leaking into the air, and her new unrelenting gale threatening to burn a hole straight through her frilly underwear, the basement’s atmosphere was being totally annihilated. The slight radioactive glow the expanding steamy fog emitted was even starting to tint everything the same color. James recognized that glow even through blurry watering eyes, it was just like the Nuka Cola he gave Grace! His mind reeled as he figured he must be responsible. Maybe her digestive system was so different only the one bottle he gave her had this effect. He tried to shout over her thunderously quaking rear, but stopped the second his mouth was filled with the bitter tang of Nuka Cola mixed with pure sulfur and rotting sweets.

	James figured there was only one way he could help the doubtlessly mortified woman now. Grabbing onto the ladder, he fought against the colored storm winds to climb higher. Moving past her now limp and drooping relieved legs he coughed on the rancid aroma raining directly down on top of him. Even if he partially found the revolting mixture… stimulating… it was difficult to handle it at this sheer intensity. Being this close to the blast zone had him huffing nearly 100% deathclaw fumes rather than oxygen. Holding on in the center of the storm, he braced his legs and pushed out his arms, trying to get her out by pushing against her center of mass. That happened to be right on her wide backside, where he could feel her silky undergarments covering the plushest portions of her thick hide underneath.

	Grace gasped as she felt something stir her from the sweet, sweet relief of deflating like an overfilled balloon. Even through her reptilian hide her face turned beet red. Were those hands? James’ hands? On her? If she was being honest she had daydreamed about such a touch before, but not like this. He must have been desperately trying to get out of her accidental gas chamber. She tried to restrain herself, but her strained grunts were drowned out by the continuous eruption underneath her. Her roiling stomach refused to be cut-off from releasing her endless atomic blast, and the anxiety of realizing what she was putting him through only made matters worse. Her frenzied stomach went into overdrive as she felt more of that horrendous matter move downward. And with a loud unabashed moan rising from her throat, she felt the force spewing out of her intensify even further.

	James looked up to see if he was making any progress, only to witness something entirely different. Her rippling ass doubled down on its horrendous outburst, the putrid smog visibly turning a darker shade of blue that glowed twice as bright. The tone somehow grew even louder, and somewhat wet. Her stressed bowels had nearly doubled the density of noxious concoction. The nuclear backdraft was so strong, he watched as her panties pushed out even further before finally tearing apart underneath the vile force. Caught by surprise and an intimate view of his best friend’s currently overloaded anus, he lost his grasp. The fall was short though, and he managed to keep his balance. Catching his breath from the sudden movement, he noticed it hurt to breathe.

	The entire basement was swirling with glowing mist, and the atmosphere felt more like an overheated sauna between the added temperature and humidity. Maybe he was just starting to get lightheaded from lack of air, but he almost found it kind of pretty, the way the colored gasses overtook the area. Even the intensifying aroma was starting to change for him. Underneath all that foulness he could sense the pure sweetness that sugary concoction gave it. That same kind of sweetness the overly eager deathclaw always showered him with when he came home… Breathing in deeper his head started to spin. What was he doing again? Why did something so bad smell so good?

...

	Grace wasn’t sure how long it had been, but with a well deserved exhale, she felt the beast start to hiss to an end. She even felt lighter, like a massive weight had been lifted. It was kind of like when she helped James move… She jerked to attention as she remembered what just happened. “Oh no, oh no…” She quickly pulled herself out, finding her stomach just deflated enough to exit. Wrapping her tail tight around her rear to prevent anymore toxic leaks, she peered over the open hatch to the basement. The sight was horrendous, a thick visible plume wafted out of the dark hole like a pestilent nightmare from the abyss. However that didn’t stop her from diving right back into her own digestive horror, “James! Are you okay?”

	She reached down to find him slumped against the wall, eyes half lidded. With a delicate touch she lifted back to the surface and held him close to her chest. “Oh, please tell me you’re all right, pleaaaaaaase.” James barley managed to raise an arm up before she rejoiced he was simply alive. She pulled him into a tight hug, visibly squeezing a puff a deep dark blue mist from his lungs. He didn’t even get a chance to speak before she was tearfully confessing everything she had done. “It was ME! I did it! I couldn’t help myself, I drank the whole box… And I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sooo sorry. Please, please don’t kick me out. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll even go right now and find more to replace it. Even if it takes me years I’ll find enou- ” She was interrupted however as James delicately put a finger to her mouth. He still sounded a little delirious as his head spun. “You know you’re cute when you worry about me…”

	Liquid courage? Well James seemed to have found a considerably more gaseous equivalent as he laid a reassuring arm against her. “It’s all gooood… You know I’d never hate you for something like… farting!” He laughed a little as he said that, nearly like a drunk. Grace’s face turned the deepest red it had been all day. “No, you’re clearly not feeling well… that doesn’t m-make any s-s-sense…” James threw his arms back in an exaggerated gesture, nearly falling out of her arms, “I’d trade a million of the damn things for someone like you… Not only are you nicer than any women I ever met… but you’re cuter too.” He gave a little wink after that, and as lame as it would be in any other context, Grace’s heart nearly skipped a beat.

	Even with her horns, fangs, and giant claws… he really found her cute? She hardly processed what she was doing before she was peppering him with little smooches. It didn’t matter if he stank worse than an atomic skunk. Her tender nuzzling was more like large sloppy kisses to James, but he didn’t resist as she showered him affection. She would’ve kept going like that until her jaw went numb, but she was interrupted by a sickeningly loud gurgle churning out of her stomach. She could only look down in shame, “I’ll leave you here, I need to… take care of this.” Even as she let go of James, he resisted by grabbing onto her neck to keep attached to her. “No, I want to stay with you. I… might even like it a little.”

	She had to hesitate a moment to even process what he was saying he liked. No, that couldn’t be right, not even a radroach could stomach being by her right now. Watching him almost childishly handing onto her, she relented. He was such a tremendously sweet, nice, caring person, he was obviously just lying to make her feel better. However as her gut’s cries of anguish grew louder, she knew she wouldn’t make it very far. Thinking quickly, she uncoiled her tail and plugged the intensely fuming hatch with her rump. It still leaked out from around her, but it would at least give James a less lethal dose.

	Squatting over the hole, she let James lay in her arms. He looked up at her as she profusely apologized, and an upsettingly gross sound of bubbles rising from toxic goo rang out underneath her. James however, with his faculties starting to return to him, tried his best to comfort her. While she grimaced as the chainsaw ripper popped out of her, he placed a hand against her stomach. Her underbelly was surprisingly soft, and he could feel the powerful discord even through her dress. Pressing down more firmly, he started to rub slow circles around her chaotic tummy, “Does that help any?” Sheepishly she met his gaze, “Welllll…” she was interrupted by a soft grunt and a much less gentle pocket of super-heated spicy air punching out of her. Between the way he was touching her and how good it felt to get everything out of her system, she was in heaven. “Yes, yes, yes! Please don’t stop…” James smiled widely in response before doubling down his efforts.

	He was rewarded with a long rumbling moan, and three raspy farts that thundered out of her in rhythm with the strokes of his hands. The warm air rising over James only encouraging him to work harder for her unique perfume. Grace was having trouble processing all the wonderous things happening to her. To think someone could love her so dearly, especially the one she had hoped so desperately would return her feelings. She mumbled appreciatively between moans, groans, and grunts that followed every cheek flapper. As his massage continued she felt another feeling begin to grow. A new warmth in another spot between her legs. Without her scavenged underwear, she could even feel a trickle of moisture leave her and drip onto the ladder below. She would have been ashamed any other day, but she’d been through too much today to feel that way.

	Feeling her stomach soothed just enough by the lovely man in her arms, she set him down gingerly before leaning into his ear. She spoke in a deep breathy whisper, “Do you love me? Like really love me?” James was only starting to sober up, but he could have answered that question in any mental state. “Yes, of course. With all my heart.” However, it appeared he loved her with more than his heart, Grace glanced down to notice something the man hadn’t even noticed himself. Now in a standing position, it was very apparent he was at full-mast, sporting an obvious tent from so much intimate contact and constant exposure to her endearingly putrid emissions.

	The most primal parts of her brain recognized that bulge before she did, and it trigged an overwhelming flood of one of the most basic instincts inside her for the second time that day. Only this time it wasn’t a gluttonous need for food and drink, it was pure lust. James watched in confusion as she threw off her beloved dress and leapt right at him in seconds. At first James felt terror as she pinned him to the ground and immediately began tearing into his clothes with her teeth. However, that fear was mixed with arousal as he noticed how deftly she worked to only damage his clothes, her tongue only delivered long messy licks to his stomach rather than any the edges of her razor sharp teeth.

	Once his chest was exposed and glistening with her saliva, she moved downward. His pants never stood a chance as the horny deathclaw sliced them to pieces with ease, exposing her prize standing rigid among the leather shreds. Although she drooled hungrily at the sight, she instead leaned forward to feverishly whisper in his ear. “I love you too…” James jerked his head up when he felt a splash of hot viscous fluid drench his member. Even from his vantage point low on the ground, he could see her sex was engorged and enflamed with desire. Hell, it was leaking worse than the drool from her mouth. He couldn’t catch a break to fully take in the situation as her unbridled lust took full control.

	His member was instantly surrounded by her sopping wet lower lips as she slammed her hips down to meet his. Despite her massive size, she was ludicrously tight. While James struggled not to lose it then and there, the deathclaw kept holding him down while whispering in his ear nearly incomprehensibly. “IloveyouILOVEyouIloveyooooouuuuILoVeYoU…” Her rambling only grew in volume as she bared down on him even harder, her extra lubrication helping speed things along with loud lewd squelches. Once he felt his manhood fully pushed inside her tight squeezing walls, she let out a load moan before pulling herself up nearly to the tip, and slammed her pelvis back down into his own. James was nearly seeing stars from the rough treatment, but it was indescribably wonderful on his dick.

	Gritting his teeth to resist releasing everything inside him from such a lusty assault, he thought of something he could do in this one sided affair. Being lovingly pinned to the floor didn’t give him much options, but her hot breath washing over his face in ragged breaths gave him an idea. Twisting his neck, he plugged her panting mouth with a deep kiss. Grace knew little about kissing beyond the old prewar magazines she read late at night with things like, “How to Win Your Man’s Heart!” or “The Best Outfits to Tell Him Exactly What You Want!” written on them. It didn’t help she was lost in a full procreational fugue, so almost immediately James’ mouth was filled with a counterattack, a large slippery deathclaw tongue that overwhelmed his mouth. That didn’t stop her from ravishing every inch of his mouth while James enjoyed the sweet cola taste still lingering on her tongue.

	She kept her fevered wet slapping against his crotch while nearly choking him with her thick tongue, but James was in overwhelmed bliss. Grace was clearly feeling similarly enraptured as she moaned loudly into his mouth, repeatedly increasing in volume every time she brough her hips pounding back into the remnants of his clothing. She jostled her stomach so hard this way, both parties groaned in pleasure as she released a hissing steam-leak of flatulence against his member. The sheen of her lovely nectar mixed with the heat pouring out of her, only further stimulating every inch of his privates. He couldn’t hold on much longer, and with Grace going at it so hard she was rapidly approaching her climax.

	Even if everything below the belt was going to be sore in the morning, James found himself thrusting against her grip on him, now just as desperate for release as her. With both of them exponentially increasing their pace, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Grace left cracks in the hard floor underneath. Feeling the irrepressible urge well up inside him yet again against his tortuously overstimulated body. James couldn’t hold back. With a moan of his own he unloaded inside of her, painting every inch of her pulsing walls white while a jolt of ecstasy shot up his spine. Grace lost it as she could feel the warmth spray into her, letting out a nearly deafening instinctual roar while she orgasmed just as hard. Her greedy cunt eagerly swallowed every ounce of seed James could push inside of her while almost painfully constricting around him.

	Both panting feverishly, Grace nearly collapsed on top of him as her knees went wobbly. Instead, out of an instinctive desire to protect her mate, she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tightly before rolling onto her back. James, still fully hilted inside of her, felt at peace with the world as he sank into her tough yet incredibly welcoming underbelly. The shift of all his weight onto her stomach pushed out a long, deep fluttering breeze that came flowing out of her ass with the crass of a trombone, agonizingly teasing his spent balls. The flurry of emotions he might expect to get from such a sudden confession were suppressed by the overwhelming afterglow covering his body and fogging his mind.

…

	Grace, snapping out of her primal instincts, started to realize what happened. James was already asleep on top of her, with a sticky mess still leaking out from between her legs. This time she wasn’t filled with fear for what she had done, only blissful contentment. Her mind was still at ease from his words, he really found her more important than his precious collection of glowing bottles. She breathed a sigh of joy, but found the air powerfully tainted. The open basement was starting to flood the rest of the building by now, giving it a less concentrated blue haze that drifted about. The egregious smell did give her one idea however.

	Delicately stretching an arm so as not to disturb her human lover, spent by the mating fury of a massive deathclaw, she reached for something. It was an old empty jar that had tumbled onto the floor from their literally ground shaking bout of love making earlier. Once she unscrewed the container, she held pressed it underneath the base of her tail. With a gurgle from her stomach and a face of concentration, she forced out the last of her atomic miasma. The disturbingly wet jettison of concentrated flatus sprayed into it, easily fogging all the glass and nearly vibrating it hard enough to fly out of her grip. She made sure to secure the lid back in place before lifting it to her face.

	It smelled horrendous, but the jar’s gently swirling pocket of heated vapors were glowing brightly. James liked those things for the way they glowed, so she thought maybe this would make him happy. She’d have to ask him later though. Feeling just as tired, she wrapped her arm around the man, who rose and fell with her peaceful breathing. She really needed to open a window to take care of this stench, but it’d have to wait. She drifted off into a deep slumber, holding her lover dearly to her beating heart.

They’d have a lot to talk about when morning came.