"This sure is a lot of food. What do you think Gowland wants to do with all this?" Atticus asks as we walk down past the stalls. The large cardboard boxes of thawing meats weigh heavy in my arms as I wobble towards Gowland flipping burgers.

"He wants to hold a barbecue for the park and its employees." I say, teetering to the side before regaining my balance. Wow this is heavy. My arms are actually starting to ache. Atticus blinks, confused as he mutters 'barbecue' under his breath, thinking hard.

"What's a barbecue?" He asks, giving up on trying to discover it's meaning through his knowledge.

"What? You don't know what one is?" I ask, shocked. Whoa man, then he hasn't lived!

"No. Why? Is it yummy?" He asks, "is it a type of stew?"

"Yes it is yummy and it isn't stew. It's basically slabs of meat with a variety of sides to choose from. There's pork, chicken, beef, steak," I pause, drowning myself in the thought of biting into some steak. Steak~, "rice, corn ... there's a never ending feast!" I excitedly chatter, getting more and more worked up over my hunger. It's going to be so good~

"Steak~," Atticus sings, a dreamy look on his face as his gaze turns distant

"It's da best~," I drool lost in my fantasies with steak. UGH I could devour two pieces if I really wanted to it's so~ good!

"I think fish is better." Boris interrupts, popping in between us and slapping his arms over our shoulders, "a barbeque is incomplete without fish!"

"Yeah. True true." I agree with a distant smile, not really listening to him. Heck I don't care what else is there just fork me over some steak and I'm happy.

"Fish? There's fish at a barbecue?" Atticus asks and Boris shakes his head.

"Not normally, but if I'm involved there will be! Behold! Salmon!" He happily shouts, presenting the both of us a large plastic box filled with live salmon swimming around. Oh man ... he actually bought them alive? Both of us stare at his smiling face for a few moments, speechless before I snicker.

"Well, at least they'll be fresh." I say, continuing towards Gowland already cooking some stuff up.

"Come on, come on! Let's hurry! I'm starved-!" Boris grins, running ahead with the plastic box. Gowland looks up as he hears Boris's shouting, spying me and Atticus struggling with the heavy boxes.

"Please, allow us~," two faceless swoop in, taking the boxes with ease before delivering the meats to their needed locations.

"Hey, Jackie, hello, Atticus! Oh, and Boris." He adds as an afterthought, paying more attention to the fact me and Atticus arrived together.

"Nice to see you too, old man," Boris sarcastically grumbles but soon grins, sneaking off to find his private grill to cook his fish on. I chuckle and stare at the sizzling meat, eyeing up a particularly large steak. So yummy~!

"Now what's this? An strange outdoor stove?" Atticus asks, looking at the large grill the workers had set out.

"Hah? You never seen one of these before?" Gowland asks, startled. Atticus walks closer, staring at the layout of the meat and Gowland's 'Kiss the Cook' apron.

"In my time, we never had something called a 'barbecue'." Atticus said, smiling as he smells the meat.

"What?! Well then boy you are in for a treat!" He shouts, flipping a meat patty on the grill that was separated from the rest. "Barbecue is what separates men from boys!"

"I thought it was strength and skills?" Atticus asks, watching as Gowland flips the burgers.

"Meh, that too, but meat makes you grow big and strong!" He cries, flipping him up a burger. Gowland expertly slides the cooked patty onto a bun, tossing on some extra sides before flipping on the top.

"Meat is good, I can't wait," Atticus smile, nearly drooling as he looks over the burger.

"Here, take a break and eat up! I think you're going to like how it tastes. It's time for you to become a real man!" Gowland laughs in a barking laughter, closely watching Atticus with a calculative spark to his gaze.

"Oh~ lucky!" I playfully pouts. Meh, he needs it. He's so skinny I can actually pin him to the ground without much trouble. It would be nice if he bulks up a little, just for self defense reasons.

"What's this?" He asks as Gowland sets the plate in Atticus's hands.

"It's a burger silly!" I laugh, picking it up. "You eat it like this." I say, making the motions of grabbing it as I take a pretend bite. "They're really good. You'll love it!"

"Of course he will! Boys become men when they eat it." Gowland says, folding his arms as he watches Atticus. He sheepishly looks between us both before settling down on a nearby bench table. Atticus picked up the burger, staring hesitantly at it before gulping.

"Well ... here I go." He lifts the burger up to his lips and takes a hearty bite. Without warning his back and biceps bulge, heavily expanding before falling a good inch bigger than it was before. My jaw drops, backing up as he swallows the bite. What the hell was that?!

"It's so good!" He shouts, not even paying attention to what just happened to him as he takes another big bite. I bulk as the same process takes place, emphasizing his pecks and stomach which tightly press against his now tight shirt. W-W-What is happening to him?! My mouth opens, trying to say something but my throat closes, mortified as I watch his body bulge and shrink, fluctuating with each bite before settling to a bulkier form.

"Our little Foreigner has become a man!" Gowland lets out a hearty laugh, waving the spatula in the air.

"W-What ... ?" I choke out as Atticus eagerly finishes, licking his fingers as he looks up with a innocently happy smile.

"Can I have another?" He excitedly asks, getting up. His large leg, where before it didn't even touch the table, knocks into it as he stands up and eagerly looks to Gowland.

"NO! No more!" I shout, unable to rip my eyes off of his bulky body. What happened?!

"W-why not?" Atticus asks, startled by my vehement denial.

"Haha, loosen up, Jackie, here. Your steak is done," Gowland cheekily grins, holding out a plate with the finished meat.

"Thank you." I mutter and place it aside before whipping around and snatching his shirt. "Now what in the hell did you do to Atticus?!"

"What do you mean?" Atticus innocently asks as he gets up. My eyes widen as I finally sees the full extent of just how muscular he suddenly got. He cringes, gently touching his fingers to his stomach. "Ugh ... my muscles are sore."

"Atticus just look at yourself! How-how did you not notice?!" I shout, pressing my hands against his chest. He doesn't even budge as I fall forward, pressing against his wide chest. H-he's freaking HUGE! I'm still slightly taller but holy crap has he-he got bigger! Atticus pauses before shooting his arms around me and pulls me closer. His arms gently cradle my much smaller body, easily supporting my weight. He blinks, puzzled.

"When did you get so small Jackie?" He asks, staring at me with child like eyes.

"That's what I'm saying! Look at yourself, Atticus!" I cry as Boris snickers, placing his fish on some foil over the grill. I ignore him before Atticus looks down, finally seeing his bigger than before body.

"WAHHH! What happened?! D-does this happen when everyone becomes a man?" He asks, completely thrown for a loop as he backs up and touches himself, feeling his arms and stomach.

"Becomes a man?" I ask, estranged by the choice of words.

"HA!" Mary barks with a wide grin, "looks like the growth hormones did their work~,"

"What!?" I shout, whipping around to see a grinning Gowland flipping patties.

"Well, the boy looked stringy so I decided to add some. I'm glad they worked and didn't have any side effects! Although," Mary smirks before setting the spatula aside, walking up to Atticus as Mary stares at his pants.

"W-what?" Atticus stutters as Gowland's hand swings forwards and cups him. My jaw drops as he squeezes, unable to look away as Atticus's face darkens to the deepest shade of red that I've ever seen.

"M-Mary let go of that-!" I shout, mortified.

"Ha! It looks like his body isn't all that's grown!" He bellows as he folds his arms, clearly satisfied

"What?!" Atticus and I shout at the same time. A frightened expression warps Atticus's face before he zooms into the closest bathroom. I stare at the stall listening as a clear unzipping of the pants sounds.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!" He shouts, clearly startled by the results.

"They grow up so fast," Gowland tearfully adds with a grin, flipping another burger separated from the rest.

"G-Gowland change him back!" I shout. There must have been some sort of side affect. After all people don't bulk up suddenly without some kind of after effect!

"No worries! Everything was taken care of. The only side effect are his pants getting tighter." Gowland snickers, grasping the air as if to show me. A shiver crawls down my spine. Oh. My. Gosh.

" ... F-From his muscles thighs right?" That's what I'm going to believe and I'm going to stick with it through and through.

"Just a little blessing from me to the couple." He sings.

"Haha! Nice one, old man!" Boris roars in laughter, doubling over.

"My gosh-is he going to be alright?" I ask glancing at the now silent bathroom.

"He should be fine! Either he learns to live with it or gets pudgy." He chuckles, pressing down on a few meats.

"Oh gosh ... Mary, do any other burgers have that?" I ask as a horrifying idea occurs to me.

"Of course they do!"

"GET RID OF THEM!"

"Ehhhh? But this is my gift to my precious employees!" He says, heartbroken that I'm not going along with his idea.

"Throw them out! I don't care! Burn them!"

"Fine...," he pouts, picking up the infected boxes and carrying them out with Boris's help. The moment they leave I walk over to the stall, nervously hesitating. Oh man this is bad ...

"H-Hey Atticus, are you alright?" I call, knocking on the door.

"What happened to meee~?" He softly cries in response. Oh man this doesn't sound good ... is it really that bad, uh, down there?

"U-um, is everything alright? As in the uh, downstairs department?" I curiously ask. There's no way something like that can ... grow, right?

"A lady shouldn't know such details!" He shouts as he grunts and metal clicks together, obviously wrestling with his zipper. "No! My pants won't fit! Dang it!"

"O-oh! I-I'll go get you some of the clothes we bought." I say before dashing off to my room. His pants won't fit ... he was a medium before. A blush flashes across my face. Don't think about it don't think about it don't ... think about IT.

...

GAH!

"I'll just get the clothes he picked out from the store the other day," I dive for the closet, pulling out a few articles of clothing. Thank goodness we purchased some larger sizes. I dash back with the larger pants, looking away as he cracks the stall open and hands me his

"J-Jacks ... ," he softly mutters, a deep blush dabbing his cheeks.

"Yeah?" I say, nervously gulping as I keep my head firmly in the opposite direction.

"Hand me the pants, please ... ," he holds out his hand out, his face terribly heated. I reach in a little further blindly holding the pants out for him to take. The fabric slides from my fingers as he shuts the door. A few moments later the door bursts open and he quickly walks past me. I bulk, unable to stop my eyes from darting up and down his figure.

"Hey Atticus are you alright? You're not feeling funny are you?" I ask noticing how awkwardly he's walking. His steps are a little wider and his strides are longer. Oh man ... just what did Gowland to do that part of him?

"Please don't follow me! I'll be back later!" He shouts with his ears as bright as cherries before speeding off.

"Atticus?" I say, watching as he whips around and into my apartment without a pause in beat. I stare at the door, waiting until he comes back out. Is he really alright? I jump as Atticus nervously walks out, wearing an American sergeant first class uniform, green beret, and brown combat boots. He blushes as he steps into view, closing the door behind him and walking over to me. His eyes stare off to the side clearly too embarrassed to look me in the eye.

I stare, inevitably darting my eyes up and down for a quick assessment. I've never been flustered by a soldier before but they do have a nice sense of manliness to them. His shirt presses tightly to his thick chest and slimmer stomach, showing the indents of a six pack. Oh ho~ he's got a nice triangle shape going on. Slimmer waist and broader shoulders.

... I kinda like that~

"Sorry, Jackie," he apologetically says, taking off his hat and held it in front of his chest before softly smiling.

"A-about what?" I ask, glancing off to the side. No, no I must stop staring, "there's nothing for you to apologize for. Mary, however, will face hells wrath after the event."

" ... You're probably right, but I also hope this wears off," Atticus sighs, holding up a hand and clenching it, "it feels weird."

"Yeah?" I numbly say, staring at his arm. His bicep strains and loosens from the slight exertion, catching my attention.

"Flex for me." I command, placing my smaller fingers around his arm. A slight blush crosses his face as I lightly squeeze, "well go on. I want to see how much you grew."

"Well, um ... okay ... ," Atticus nervously flexes, blushing like crazy. My eyes bug out as a grapefruit appears beneath his arm. Oh, my gosh?!

"Holy crap Atticus they're bigger than mine!" I cry, almost mortified. Before they were easily smaller and much softer than this. My hands lightly squeeze the muscle before a disturbing makes my heart stop. If he's stronger than me now then that means the other Atticus has bulked up too. "Arm wrestle me."

"What?! Well, okay?" Atticus agrees, confused as I make him sit at an empty picnic table. I take my seat and nervously eye his bulging muscles. I really hope those are just for show and aren't the real deal here. If he turns and decides to kill me ... I nervously shake off the thought and assume the position. Atticus very gently yet firmly grasps my hand making me bulk from the power and demand for respect his grip alone holds. Oh man I'm just screwed. His hands are much bigger than mine.

"Your hands are smaller, Jacks." He mindlessly notes, giving it a light squeeze as a soft, sheepish smile crosses his face. My cheeks touch with pink. Smaller ... no one's really called me smaller than they are before. It's strangely nice. I return the pressure as he props his elbow up.

"Ready?" I ask, still slightly flushing at his remark. Small ... small? Yeah ... my hands are pretty small compared to his.

"Set." Atticus nods, gently readjusting his hold.

"Go!" Atticus squeezes my fist, tipping it to the right just as I squeeze back, trying to keep my fist from losing any more ground than it already has. I push with all my might unable to budge him an inch. Holy crap why is he this strong?! I let out a startled cry as my arm gives way to his superior strength, slamming my hand into the wooden table.

"Ouch," I hiss under my breath, clutching my bleeding hand. Ow ... freaking splinters!

"Aw, did I hurt the maus' paw?" Atticus chuckles, tightening his grip and holding it up to his lips, "allow me." My immediate reaction is to pull away but his hand remains firm, hardly budging as he sets it by his lips. I cringe as his teeth bite the end of the stick and with exaggerated slowness pulls it out, spitting it back into the table where the larger than expected splinter sticks out of the wood grains. Ow that was a large one.

"Better?" He teases, tightening his grasp so it hurts. I open my mouth to protest but his eyes remain glued to the small dab of blood bubbling to the surface of my skin. Oh he's long gone at this point.

"Y-yeah." I nervously stutter, staring at his broad shoulders as he dips down and lightly sucks on the wound. What is this? It's like he's suddenly become more attractive. No ... I think it's just the way this Atticus carries himself in comparison to the other Atticus. He puts off confidence as the other is much more humble. I like confidence but it's his cocky attitude that's annoying.

"Hm. Not bad." Atticus pulls away, licking his lips as he stares at the wound. He slightly rubs around the wound, giving one final lick before releasing my hand.

"Thanks." I sarcastically mutter, wiping the saliva off my hand.

"I was talking about your blood, maus," Atticus snorts, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a napkin to wipe his lips. I remain silent, at a loss for words. Now what? I know he's stronger than me now and could actually hurt him. I was never really scared of him before because I knew f it came right down to it I could beat him. But now I'm not so sure and that scares the living hell out of me. Atticus wipes the corners of his mouth, glancing up to see me staring at him.

"What the f*** are you looking at?" The Nazi nastily hisses. I take a step forward and wrap my arms around his shoulders, startling the German. I let out a small sigh as my head thumps against his shoulder, enjoying the warmth. His build is just like my brother's before he passed. It's ... comforting. My eyelids close, letting myself fall into the ultimate state of comfort, probably the most at ease that he's ever seen me in when I am with him.

My eyes crack open as he huffs, probably deciding that it isn't worth anything to get up and leave so he instead remained still for me. His eyes study his stained napkin, deep in thought before I close my eyes again. This is very comforting. It's almost ... almost like hugging my twin brother. What is it about men that make me feel comfortable instead of nervous? My arms give his shoulders a light squeeze before letting go, trying to erase the depression in the back of my eyes. Ah~ I miss him. My younger twin brother.

"Thank you, Atticus. I appreciate it. Do you want another burger?" I offer seeing that Gowland already has a small stack all prepared.

"It better not have more of those enhanced strength hormone s*** in there or whatever you advanced people call them. I feel like I cheated," Atticus scowls, doing an experimenting flex as he runs his eyes along the results of the drug.

"I made him throw out the infected burgers." I sourly huff, remembering his stupidity before smiling, "the burgers he's making now are normal."

"Tch. And here everyone says the older, the wiser." Atticus smirks, glancing over to the pouting man.

"Not here so much," I correct, "do you still want one? Or some ribs? Steak, chicken, pork ... we've got tons of meat to choose from."

"Steak." He said after a moment of thinking it over.

"Alright." I grin, more excited to get myself a slice than him. Steak~

ATTICUS'S POV

I huffed, leaning into my palm and look the other way as I try to collect my thoughts once more.

...

...

Verdammt she has big boobs. I could feel them when she hugged me. Which was basically the only reason I let her do it for so long. I slyly glance over to her. Stupid frau.

"Tch. Whatever, there can only be one woman in my life," I grumble, grabbing my dog tags and gently squeeze the locket hidden within them.

JACKIE'S POV

I return a few moments later carrying two plates of steaks. Atticus snaps out of his thoughts, his eyes growing wider than the plate of steak before him.

"Mein Gott, this is huge! What the hell - is this a normal portion?!" He demanded, flabbergasted as he looks mortified. "No wonder Americans are so fat!"

"Hm?" I hum, glancing up to him with a mouth full of steak. My eyes roll back, savoring the piece before swallowing. "Can you not finish it?" I ask, surprised. I would think that he would be able to easily finish it but I guess not.

"Tsk! Of course I can, watch me!" He spits, picking up his fork and knife before hesitantly staring at it. I lean forward and cradle my cheek with my hand, watching him. Oh this is too funny. He looks horrified to eat it. His eyes slide over in my direction, studying my intense stares. His fork stabs the meat while the knife ruthlessly cuts through it. He locks eyes with me and lifts a generous piece of steak to his lips, eating it whole. His eyes widen slightly before he eagerly takes another bite without fully chewing the other piece.

"Hey hey slow down!" I laugh, jumping as he holds out an empty plate. He painfully swallows before grinning, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and casting me a daring look.

"More, frau. This was easy" He commands with an excited grin. I grin and pick up the plate, trotting over and gathered four full sized pieces of steak. I'm going to kill him with food. Hee hee~ then he won't be able to move so much. His eyes grow wide as I approach with a sly smirk, giving him the large plate.

"Think you can finish that?" I taunt with a grin, tilting my head as I stare at him.

"Of course!" He scoffs, cutting into it before a larger plate with a large roasted salmon was placed before him. He jumps, blinking as he stared at the object. "What in Gott's name is th-"

"My present to you." Boris grins, proud about the perfectly cooked fish. I hold back a laugh. His stomach is going to explode if he eats all that.

"Still think you can do it?" I taunt with half lidded eyes, sounding much sexier than I meant to. His eyes flash, studying me before pushing the fish away.

"Everything but the fish!" Atticus protested.

"Not a fan?" I laugh as Boris rips it back.

"Good. I was only flaunting it anyway!" He sourly pouts, taking a bite with his ears down, "foreigners don't even know the goodness of fish ... ," he sulks with his ears down, refusing to look back at us.

"Hmph..!" Grumbling, Atticus cuts another piece and pops it into his mouth. I watch as he eats, taking my precious time eating my own. Well, at least with a bulging stomach he won't be able to run me down.

"Guh! Get that away from me!" Atticus yells, seeing that Boris was pushing a fish head at his direction.

"Hey, I saved you the best part!" He playfully taunts, wiggling it around in the air.

"IT'S NOT!" He shouts, tightly gripping his fork. Uh oh.

"Boris, come on. Oh hey pierce." I say, turning to a random direction. Boris immediately whips around with frenzied eyes, missing the tongs of Atticus's fork by inches. Atticus's eyes narrow, trying to pull it out of the wood to try again.

"Imma gonna eat ya!" He screams blindly dashing into the stalls.

"Heh. Works every time~," I grin, watching as Atticus rips his fork free and continues to eat. I watch as he grumbles, finishing the last steak before wiping his mouth with the napkin from before.

"Hm." He grunts, clearly on the verge of bursting open.

"Done?" I ask, surprised. I'm amazed he's still alive after eating all that. He leans back, clearly bloated as he patted his stomach.

"No more ... ," he groans, "you managed to get away from getting cut up a bit, but next time, don't count on being safe!" His shoulders slouch and his eyes close before opening to a more innocent look. Atticus groans, rubbing his stomach. "Oww ... why am I so full? I don't remember eating that much ... "

"It was probably so good that you forgot." I laugh, gently rubbing his back.

"Y-yeah ... ," Atticus slowly nods before blushing.

"You alright? You're flushed." I ask, touching the back of his neck. I hope he's not getting a fever or something.

"Gah! Hey, I'm f-fine...!" He shouts as his face grows darker, jumping up too fast. He hunches over for a minute, clutching his stomach, "Ow ... ,"

"Here lets lay down for a bit. I'll get you some tums." I say, patting his back as I guide him to my room. Atticus allows me to gently push him into the home, closing the door when he suddenly walks over to the couch and lays down on it, "h-here's fine..."

"You sure? You can have the bed again." I say, gesturing towards the bed.

"N-no, I'm fine, besides, it's your bed, you should sleep on it," Atticus softly says, clutching at his stomach. I gently hand him some tums with a sweet, almost regretful smile.

"Sorry. I thought you could handle some more meat." I apologize, gently rubbing his stomach. He remains still as I very gently run my fingers over his brownie cut abs. How in the heck did he get these?

"You're very good to me Jackie ... I really trust you." Atticus sighs as he slumps into the couch, clearly enjoying the soft treatment. I chuckle as I gently rub his stomach, sweeping my hand around to gently touch the edges of his pants and skin beneath his pecks.

"Is this helping? My brother always did this when I ate too much." I sadly smile at the memory, gently rubbing the skin. Atticus remains silent, probably sensing the slightly tenser atmosphere.

"Here, Jackie." He reaches up to his neck, slowly taking off the dog tag chain and holds it out for me. I glance at the tags and gently take it.

"Your tags?" I ask, confused.

"Look in between them. There's something special." Atticus says, offering a gentle smile. I raised an eyebrow, looking in the middle of the two dog tags and spy a silver sterling locket.

"Oh." I say, gently balancing it in my palm. He's got a locket. I wonder who's in it?

"Go ahead and look inside, it's a picture of my special girl," Atticus gently urges.

"Alright." I say, a little excited. I wonder who it's of?

"Special girl?" I ask, touching the locket so gently. He has a girlfriend maybe? "I see. That's nice, it must be some sort of charm to help you keep on living, right?"

"Yes, my baby sister is what keeps me going a lot during the war. Go ahead, open up." Atticus nods. Oh, so his "special girl" is his baby sister. How cute! I sigh with subconscious relief before popping it open, spying nothing inside. No picture, no engraving, no nothing. My eyes slightly open with horror. Oh no did it fall out? But he doesn't know since he just told me to look at it. What do I do?

"Oh ... Atticus ... ," I begin, heartbroken. What can I say? Should I tell him? Atticus glances over to me and smiles brightly.

"Isn't she cute?" A blush lightly dusts his cheeks, "she looks a little like you."

"Y-yeah?" I nervously say, gently shutting the locket. Maybe it's best to let him think there's a picture inside. He's got enough stress on his plate.

"Yes," he enthusiastically nods, resting his head against the arm rest.

"She adorable." I stiffly say, handing the tags back. Atticus takes it back, clutching it to his chest, as he averts his eyes and softly smiles.

"I think so too. I can't wait for the war to be over so that I can be there for her." He smiles, as if imagining the scene happening. "I'd like everything to be ... normal." He sighs before slumping over. Oh~ he's out like a light already. I lightly pat his cheeks seeing that he really did just fall asleep. Man that was fast! I sadly stare at the boy and his locket. He doesn't even realize that he can't leave until I finish my game. And I can't leave until Alice finishes her game. I sigh before leaving to my room and coming back with a blanket. I place it over him before taking his hat and sighing. "You poor lost boy..."

Awe~ he's so cute! Sorry lol I had to bulk him up somehow and this is what I came up with. Love it? Knew it~ 10 REVIEWS for the next chapter~