It took him almost 20 minutes (plus another five if he was honest to get the SD card out from the computer as well, the pressure in his stomach from his knees pressing into it a new and slightly painful feeling) to find something in his wardrobe that could fit.
Eventually, after an endless search, he ended up having to jam himself into the loosest t-shirt he owned (which still showed a large strip of his lower belly) and a pair of jeans that barely fit (they were squeezing so hard he wanted just to tear them back off again) before donning his jacket to cover the rest and attempting to get downstairs.
It was a chore (as he couldn't see his feet anymore), but he managed by the skin of his big toe not to fall head over heels and made it to the bottom having only stepped on his foot once.
Muttering some excuse about Mark wanting him to come in early to test their item for the next video. Pregnancy suits-" He had lied, the idea just appearing on the spot. "Wanted to get all the use out of Amy's idea we could for content, you know?"
Thankfully, Mika seemed to take the excuse in her stride, leaving a kiss on his cheek and his arms laden with containers as he (and Spencer, since Mika had to go to work and he would be a good distraction for both Henry and Chica) somehow made it out the door in one piece.
Despite having to adjust his seat (and wiggle a little during the ride through LA traffic as the baby [yes, he was calling it a baby for now] shifted endlessly during the whole trip), the ride to Mark's was quite smooth, despite being so nerve-racking, the driveway empty of Amy's own car upon him arriving and swinging carefully into place, having managed to get closer to the front door as not to let anyone see him in the way that he was.
If there was any reason to turn him into a science experiment, it was this one.
Taking Spencer's lead in one hand and balancing the containers in the other, Ethan carefully managed the few steps up to the door and pressed the doorbell, hearing it ring out through the house before footsteps signaled the dogs at the door, a much slower, louder set following them soon after, before the door opened a crack and Ethan's jaw dropped.
Mark looked /haggard/, his friend looking like he hadn't slept at all the previous night, dark circles under his eyes and a shaky, pale appearance that was slightly tinged with green.
Blue-green eyes meeting brown, both gave a look over each other that ended where their stomachs seemed to sit. Ethan's, once unnoticeable, was now framed by the jacket, his arms having been in the right position for it to do so, the look on his friend's face shocked before he lunged for the containers, shaky. "Get inside, now."
Ethan didn't have to be told twice, stumbling into the entryway as Mark closed the door on them, groaning as he bent down to unhitch Spencer from his lead and letting him run off with Chica and Henry to play, an arm holding his stomach as he carefully got up to take off his jacket and hang it on the rack nearby, feeling his joints rubbing together as he pressed his hands to his back again like before.
"Jesus Ethan, you're fucking huge."
Turning to Mark, he could help but let out a rather surprised noise, nodding.
As expected, Mark was in the same predicament he was, stomach as round as his own, only his seemed slightly more compact on his body, taking more of an oval shape than a sphere one like his seemed to be. Mark's was barely covered over by a rather taut white shirt, the fabric looking like he had just jammed himself into it. "Yeah, so it seems."
"How in the fuck did this happen?" Mark also seemed panicked, but seemingly less than Ethan had been earlier at home. "Was Mika affected?"
"No, I saw her this morning, she was fine." Ethan shook his head. "What about Amy?"
"Same as usual. Thankfully I pretended to be feeling unwell so I wouldn't have to get out of bed and she would see me like this."
"Fair call." Ethan bit his lip. "Look, I don't know what's happening right now or if this is some...collective fever dream we're having, but I might have told Mika that we were wearing pregnancy suits for our video today, since...well, it doesn't look like we can do much else."
"Huh." Mark frowned for a minute, eyebrows raised. "Shit, I didn't even think of that."
"Yeah, I figured. I just barely had my shit together when I left the house, so I had to come up with something in case Mika asked why the hell I'm like a thousand pounds heavier."
"Well, at least I have something to tell Amy once she gets home, if this doesn't resolve itself by then-ugh!" Mark suddenly doubled over, large hand finding a spot on his stomach as he groaned. "Ow...god, this is getting old fast."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Ethan nodded in sympathy. "I'm starving right now, so mine's been annoying me all morning too. You want something to eat before it gets cold?"
"Nothing would make me happier than eating anything right now." Mark's mouth had been watering at the sight of the containers Ethan had brought. "I can cheat off my normal schedule for one day. This is a pretty good excuse."
About an hour later, after wolfing down /all/ of the containers Ethan brought with him (usually they only ate one or two for themselves and saved the rest, but they both were ravenous), both men were seated at the dining table, swallowing the last bits of food.
"That hit the spot, man." Mark leaned back as best he could in his chair, a hand kneading the lower part of his gut, which now stuck out halfway from the bottom of his shirt like Ethan's had previously that morning. Ethan just groaned back from his seat, shaking his head.
"Looks like I need a bigger shirt again, probably ate too much." He sighed, looking down at where his stomach had overtaken and left his next shirt as another tube top. "You got anything I can wear for the time being?"
"Should do, need to find me something as well." Easing out of his chair, he held a hand out for Ethan, who used it to his advantage to pull himself up, wobbling as his center of gravity had shifted again from such a large meal. "Thanks."
"Better stay on your feet there partner. If you fall, your stomach might eat you."
Ethan laughed humorlessly, shaking his head. "Please don't say that, I'm already having nightmares about what could be inside of us."
Mark just nodded wordlessly, seeing Ethan was still quite shaken up, despite everything that had transpired moments ago. "Think you can handle the stairs?"
"I can try." Was all he responded back, shrugging.
"Actually, no. You know what? I'll go, you sit on the couch." Mark pushed gently, looking at Ethan with more worry for him than himself. "Not to sound bad, bud, but you are /way/ bigger than me and I don't want you hurting yourself."
Ethan wanted to protest that he was fine, but Mark's words were correct. Just looking at him and Mark back to back, you could see that Ethan's newly formed stomach was /far/ larger than his friend's seemed to be and honestly, sitting down again didn't seem like such a bad idea all of a sudden. Sighing, Ethan just nodded, stretching his arms out only to rest them back on the bump again. "Yeah, alright. Give me a yell if you're not okay, alright?"
"Will do." Mark shooed him off as he groaned before braving the stairs, Ethan settling on the couch as he watched him, Mark's arm slung under the heavy part of his gut as he disappeared, loud breathing still slightly hearable from downstairs.
There were a few small muffled thumps from upstairs as Ethan settled himself onto the squishy couch Mark and Amy owned in their home, almost feeling like he could close his eyes again.
He wasn't aware he had till he felt Mark shaking him awake gently, the thing giving a kick of protest to back it up and making him wake instantly, bleary-eyed. "Wha-"
"Hey, sleepy head." Mark just smiled at him tensely, dressed in another white shirt that seemed to hide all of his belly for the moment, still looking quite taut as he spoke. "Sorry to wake you, but I found you a shirt out of mine. Should fit, hopefully."
"Oh, okay, cool." Ethan mumbled, pulling the now strangling t-shirt off himself and taking the black one Mark handed him gratefully, letting him assist in putting it on. While it managed to cover nearly all his belly up, it still left a sliver of skin exposed, Ethan sighing in response to the hem not meeting his jeans. "Well, it's the best we're going to get it seems."
"Yeah, looks like it." Mark agreed, both of them looking at each other as they tried to figure out what to do next, before Ethan chimed in. "Can I use your computer in the office to work on yesterday's video and then, if we're up for it, we can film today's video? I fell asleep and forgot to finish it with the other one."
"Yeah, sure. Actually, I'll come with you and lie on the couch for a bit in there. Might not be the most comfortable thing at the moment with this...problem here-" He gestured to his stomach.
"-but I think it's best we look after each other in case something happens, you know?"
"Yeah, no, I get it." Ethan nodded nervously, going to his jacket in order to pull the SD card from it's pocket and then moving in the direction of Mark's office, Mark slowly overtaking him by a little bit as he flopped (or attempted to flop) onto the small gray couch in there while he sat slowly, one hand on his aching back as he settled into Mark's chair, pressure biting at his hips and making him feel like his lungs or whole torso would explode any moment.
He had to push through it though, for the fans. Whatever had happened to them, they had to carry on like business was as usual and not like they were currently housing what most likely was demons inside them. Maybe.