Be My Teddy Bear (Patreon)

[inanimate TF]

[writer's note: Somebody told me lately that he thought I was in a relationship because my stories didn't have the dark punch in the end they usually did. This one is me back to my "good guy gets the worst of it all just because he has muscles" roots, just to prove I can still do it.]

Bryan, sweat-soaked and pumped from the gym, strutted down the street, gym bag slung over his shoulder. With 280 pounds packed on his dense 6’4” frame, he attracted attention he didn’t even notice anymore. His mind, however, wasn’t on his physique or even on his upcoming bodybuilding competition. It was on Tomas, his new boyfriend. The thought of Tomas made him smile—a charming, witty guy who had swept him off his feet almost as effortlessly as Bryan could bench press 400 pounds.

But as he turned the corner near Tomas’s apartment, his smile faltered. Standing by Tomas’ front stoop was a man who looked like he had just stepped out of a fashion magazine—deviously handsome but small and scrawny, a stark contrast to Bryan’s own imposing size. The man’s smirk deepened as their eyes met.

“You must be Bryan,” the man said, his voice smooth and confident, despite the disparity in their sizes. “I’m Chet.”

Bryan stopped a few feet away, immediately sensing a dark order from this pretty little guy. He threw back his shoulders and puffed up his chest without even noticing; it was his “defensive stance” and it made him seem even bigger. “Can I help you with something?”

“More than you know,” Chet replied, his smirk never wavering. “I’m here for Tomas.”

Bryan frowned. “Tomas? MY Tomas? How do you even know–”

“He’s my ex,” Chet said nonchalantly, taking a step closer. “And I want him back.”

Bryan’s first instinct was to laugh. This guy, no taller than 5’7”, 150 pounds only if he was holding a kettlebell, thought he could challenge him? Physically, Bryan knew he could squash Chet like a bug. But there was something in Chet’s eyes—a mischievous glint—that made him pause.

“Is it weird that he’s never mentioned you in all the time we’ve been together?” Bryan said, keeping his tone calm but firm. “Since he met me… well, if he wasn’t over you before, I got him there.” He bounced a pec, a smirk appearing on his face. He was ready to push this little man out of his way and stride into the arms of the man he loved.

Chet chuckled, the sound low and menacing. “Oh, I’m not here to fight you, Bryan. I know how that would end.” His eyes flicked over Bryan’s muscular frame, almost admiringly, before meeting Bryan’s gaze again. “But violence isn’t the only way to win, you know.”

Before Bryan could respond, Chet raised a hand and muttered something under his breath—words that Bryan couldn’t quite catch but felt deep in his bones. A strange sensation washed over him, starting in his fingertips and slowly spreading through his body.

Bryan blinked, suddenly feeling light-headed. “What the…?” He looked down at his hands, expecting to see the same powerful, veined hands that could curl 100-pound dumbbells without breaking a sweat. Instead, his fingers appeared softer, pudgier, almost… plush?

His heart began to race. “What’s happening to me?”

Chet’s smirk grew wider. “I told you I had something better planned than violence.”

Bryan watched in horror as his fingers continued to swell as they clumped together into two soft mitts. The calloused skin, hardened from years of lifting, smoothed out until it was velvety to the touch. He tried to flex his hands, but they were no longer capable of such movements. His arms—his veiny, bulging 24-inch biceps—were next. The muscle beneath the skin began to dissolve, not into fat, but into something softer, lighter. His once-hard biceps now looked like overstuffed pillows.

Bryan’s breath quickened as the sensation spread up his arms and across his chest. He watched helplessly as his pecs, once massive slabs of muscle, shrank and softened, becoming rounder and more toy-like. The transformation was slow, agonizingly so, and with each passing moment, Bryan felt lighter as if his mass were evaporating.

“Stop this!” Bryan finally shouted, trying to take a step toward Chet, but his legs—now short and stubby—could barely support his weight. He stumbled, falling to his knees with a dull thud. He looked up at Chet, pleading. “Please, turn me back.”

Chet laughed, the sound cruel and cold. “Oh, Bryan, you don’t get it, do you? This is what you’re going to be now. A big, cuddly teddy bear.”

Bryan’s heart pounded in his chest, but even that sensation began to fade as his torso and legs followed suit. His abs, once chiseled and defined, melted away into a soft, plush belly. His quads, his calves—all the muscle that had taken years to build—vanished, replaced by round, stuffed limbs.

He could feel his face changing too, his strong jawline softening, his features becoming simpler, cuter, in a horrifying way. His nose shrank, his mouth became a simple stitched smile, and his once piercing blue eyes turned into small, beady black buttons. He tried to scream, but there was no longer a mouth to open.

All he could do was stare up at Chet, his now-tiny body barely able to move. He was still aware, still conscious, but utterly powerless.

Chet knelt down, plucking the now fully transformed teddy bear that had once been Bryan, the imposing bodybuilder, from his damp gym clothes. He held Bryan up by one arm, shaking him lightly as if testing his weight.

“Look at you,” Chet said, his voice dripping with mockery. “About a minute ago you were puffing yourself off, showing off your size. How do you feel now?”

Bryan could only wriggle weakly in response, the soft stuffing inside him barely allowing for movement. He could still feel, still hear, but he was trapped—trapped in this small, helpless body, at the mercy of a man who was out to steal everything from him.

Chet hugged the teddy bear close, as if cuddling him. “Don’t worry, Bryan,” he whispered into the plush ear. “Tomas will be back in my arms soon enough. And you? You’ll be a cute little decoration in our new home.”

As Chet turned and walked away, carrying Bryan under his arm like a prize, all Bryan could do was silently scream in his mind, his new existence a nightmarish contrast to the powerful life he’d once led. The world around him faded into the background, his thoughts becoming muddled, soft—just like the stuffing that now filled his body. His vision was locked to wherever he faced; as Chet strode along, his arms swinging, Bryan dangled pendulously, shocked at how massive the skinny little Chet now seemed.

Tomas sat in his living room, sipping a glass of wine as he waited for Bryan to arrive. It had been a long day, and he was looking forward to unwinding with his boyfriend—burying his face in those warm, hard muscles as Bryan wrapped him up in his powerful arms. But his evening was interrupted by a knock at the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to find Chet standing there, a sly grin on his face and a plush teddy bear cradled in his arms.

“Chet? What are you doing here?” Tomas asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Chet smiled, holding up the teddy bear. “I brought you a gift. I know we didn’t end things on the best terms, but I’ve been thinking a lot about you, and I wanted to make amends.”

Tomas looked at the teddy bear—a cute, well-made toy with a soft, round belly and button eyes. It looked oddly familiar, though he couldn’t quite place why. Despite his wariness, Tomas couldn’t help but smile a little. “A teddy bear?”

“Yeah,” Chet said, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. “I saw it in a shop and thought of you. Go on, give it a squeeze.”

Tomas hesitated for a moment before reaching out and taking the bear from Chet’s hands. The plush material was soft under his fingers, and he couldn’t resist giving it a gentle squeeze. The moment he did, something strange happened—Bryan, trapped inside the bear, felt his thoughts begin to blur. It was as if the act of being squeezed was pressing out his human consciousness, replacing it with simple, innocent thoughts of cuddles, warmth, and comfort. He tried to resist, but the sensation was overwhelming, like a fog creeping into his mind.

Tomas, oblivious to the internal struggle going on within the teddy bear, smiled at how soft it was. “It’s really nice, Chet. But you know, Bryan is going to be here any minute, and I don’t think he’ll be too happy to see you.” He held it to his face and casually smelled it. What a unique smell–and so familiar…

Chet’s smile didn’t waver. “Bryan? That’s… kind of why I came tonight. I’m worried about you. See, I ran into your new boyfriend, and… he’s trouble.”

“What do you mean?” Tomas asked, a frown forming on his face.

Chet sat down on the couch, casually leaning back as if he belonged there. Tomas hadn’t even invited him in. “Well, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Bryan isn’t exactly the guy you think he is. I’ve heard some things—things that might change how you feel about him.”

Tomas’ heart sank a little. The last three months had been magical, and the whole time he thought this larger-than-life hunk being madly in love with him seemed too good to be true. But he was reluctant to believe his ex without more information. “What are you talking about? Bryan is great. He’s kind, he’s strong, he’s nuts about me…”

“Yeah, strong as hell,” Chet interrupted, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “At least, that’s what I heard from the guy he smashed through a table at the gym. Bryan’s a real bully, believe me; I’ve seen it. Picks on smaller guys, especially feminine dudes, and guys are too scared to stop him when he gets aggressive–which is often! With the roids going through him, his temper is nuts…”

Bryan, trapped in the teddy bear, wanted to scream, to shout that it wasn’t true, that Chet was lying. But all he could do was wriggle slightly in Tomas’s grip, a futile effort to communicate the truth.

Tomas looked down at the bear in his hands, frowning. “That doesn’t sound like the Bryan I know.”

Chet leaned in, lowering his voice conspiratorially. “Look, I can tell some part of you wants to believe it. It doesn’t mean the time you spent together isn’t real, it’s just that he has another side–a SCARY side. Y’know the guy who beat him in his last competition ended up in a wheelchair?”

“Bryan refuses to squash spiders,” Tomas retorted. “Seriously, he gets a glass and lets them outside. It’s hard to believe he’s out there paralyzing people.” But there was doubt creeping into his voice. He squeezed the teddy bear a little tighter, seeking some comfort as his thoughts swirled. Inside the bear, Bryan felt another wave of those insidious teddy-like thoughts washing over him, dulling his mind further, making it harder to hold on to his sense of self.

Chet noticed the change in Tomas’s expression and pressed on. “It’s not him, babe, it’s the roids! Makes guys into some serious Jekyll and Hyde shit, especially the level he’s on. Trust me, I met a dude who knows Bryan’s dealer. He says when he shoots up, he gets CRAZY horny. Needs to fuck like twelve times a day.”

Finally, something Chet had said started to line up with reality: Bryan was like an eager bunny, insistent about sex nearly constantly. It was fun, trying to satisfy the big guy, struggling to keep up with his insatiable drive, but the idea that he wasn’t Bryan’s one and only…

Tomas’s grip on the teddy bear tightened even more as he looked at Chet, his heart aching at the possibility that Bryan wasn’t who he thought he was. Meanwhile, Bryan was fighting a losing battle within the bear, his thoughts growing simpler, more confused. The lies Chet was spinning, combined with the physical squeezes, were eroding his sense of reality. He could feel himself slipping away, the human part of him becoming less distinct, overshadowed by the softness, the warmth, the desire to simply be held and loved as a teddy bear.

“I don’t know if I can believe that,” Tomas said, though his voice wavered. He squeezed the bear again, harder this time, as if seeking reassurance from the soft toy.

And inside, Bryan’s mind crumbled a little more, the pressure pushing out the last vestiges of his resistance. His thoughts, once sharp and focused, were now slow and dulled, filled with nothing but the desire to be hugged, to be cuddled. He could barely remember why he was struggling in the first place.

Chet watched Tomas closely, noting the confusion and hurt in his eyes. He could see his lies taking root, and he knew it was only a matter of time before Tomas would be his again. “I’m just looking out for you, Tomas,” Chet said, his tone deceptively gentle. “You don’t deserve some drug-swollen animal. Who knows how long until he hurts you?”

Tomas looked down at the teddy bear again, his expression torn. “But Bryan… he’s so sweet to me. So protective…”

“Sweet?” Chet scoffed. “Maybe, but think about it. If he’s hiding this side of himself from you, what else is he hiding? Do you really want to wait until it’s too late to find out?”

Tomas’s eyes filled with uncertainty, and he hugged the teddy bear closer to his chest, seeking comfort as his thoughts churned. And with each squeeze, Bryan’s mind became more teddy-like, more docile, more lost in the simplicity of being a toy.

Bryan wanted to scream, to tell Tomas the truth, that he was right there in his arms, but he was powerless, trapped in this soft, pliable body. The warmth of Tomas’s embrace, once a source of comfort, was now his prison. But worst of all: the fight in him was starting to die out. He was starting to accept his plush, fuzzy existence.

Chet stood up, his expression triumphant as he watched Tomas wrestle with his doubts. “You don’t have to decide right now,” Chet said smoothly. “But think about it, Tomas. Think about what you want in life. Think about what might happen when the ‘honeymoon’ phase of your relationship with this volatile ape ends.”

Tomas looked up at Chet, his grip on the teddy bear still firm. “If Bryan shows up… he’s going to be really angry that you’re here.”

Chet chuckled, a dark sound that sent a chill down Tomas’s spine. “I’m not worried about Bryan, babe,” Chet said, casting a knowing glance at the teddy bear in Tomas’s arms. “What I’m worried is that you’re too smitten with his big muscles to see all the red flags.”

As Chet walked to the door, Tomas stared at the bear in his hands, his heart heavy with doubt and confusion. And within that bear, Bryan could do nothing but feel his thoughts slipping away, the last remnants of his identity dissolving with each gentle squeeze. His once powerful, confident self was being overwritten, replaced by the simple, contented mind of a teddy bear—a mind that desired nothing more than to be hugged and loved, unaware of the life it had once lived.