Commissioned by  AuroraThomas and  Skinth
Did you know pooltoy Floatzel make great therapists? They're excellent at helping people adopt a squeakier way of life!

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Float Therapy
By Balloondra


Knock, knock, knock.

The door to the inflatable therapist’s office opened hardly a moment later. Skinth the human looked down at the one who opened it: a pooltoy Floatzel, inexplicably animate, who looked up in turn to give him a warm, wide smile, his little pink tongue playfully sticking out. Though his body was altogether roundish— smooth, bulky shapes from his thick paw-like hands to his wide, pear-like figure— there was a bit of a sharp pattern to his plastic pelt: a diamond-shaped patch of orange on his cream belly, a zig-zagging pattern where his vest-like float ring sharply transitioned from bright yellow to bright blue, and so on.

This was Avery. Skinth’s new therapist.

“You’re right on time, Skinth,” the living toy said, his voice careful and soft. “It’s so good to see you; Won’t you please come in?”

Skinth complied, trying to hide the jerkiness in his gait. To take his mind off things, he looked around the office. It was a cozy place, all dark blues and soft greys. A great big couch faced a coffee table, and a cushy armchair was to its side, tilted partly towards it. The lights overhead were off, leaving the room dimly lit by gentle lamps in all the corners. It felt like a seaside grotto.

Skinth stood awkwardly until Avery smoothly gestured to the couch. “Have a seat, if you like.”

Skinth took a seat.

Avery followed suit, jumping up into that big armchair with a bounce or two. His kind smile never went away as he picked up a clipboard and pen and faced his human client. “Now, then; I’d like to hear a little about yourself, and what brings you here. Whatever you’re comfortable sharing, if you please.”

“Um.” Skinth clutched at a pillow. “Um, my name is Skinth. I’m studying biology at the university here, uhh. And I do my best, and people say I do really good, but, it’s all just… stressful.” He squeezed a little tighter. “I spend all day stressing about the work I’m doing, and then all night stressing about the work I’m not doing. I don’t deserve to take a break, ever.”

“That sounds really exhausting,” Avery replied. “You must be under so much pressure to succeed.”

“And I want to take a break, but I can’t, because every time I try, I think about all the work I still haven’t done yet and what everyone needs from me, and I feel like I haven’t earned it, so I just feel so tired and stressed all the time… Mmn.” He winced, avoiding eye contact. “I started rambling again. Sorry.”

“Oh, no, no, please! First and foremost, I’m here to listen to you, Skinth,” Avery replied, duly taking notes. “Please, tell me anything you like.”

Skinth took a moment, then quietly continued. “I got a recommendation from a friend; they said toys like you really know how to relax. So that’s why I’m here… I wanna learn to relax like a toy can.”

“I see,” Avery replied, taking a few more notes. “So you want to learn some ways us inflatables take time just to enjoy life? Techniques and activities, that kind of thing?”

“Yes, please. Um, if you can…?”

“I think I can, yes!” The Floatzel radiated confidence. “Tell me, Skinth; do you like hugs?”

“Oh, gosh, I… I love hugs, honestly.” The human shrank in his seat, his pillow all but vanished behind his arms. “I love them a lot…”

“Do you want a hug from me?”

Skinth peeked his head up, his expression hopeful.

Avery opened his arms wide.

Skinth stood up, then, carefully, picked up the toy Floatzel and held him in a tight hug.

Avery hugged back, firm but gentle, as he himself was squeezed so tight that air rushed into his extremities. But that only lasted a moment; Skinth’s grasp quickly relaxed, and Avery heard a soft sigh from him.

After a moment, Skinth sat back down with Avery still pressed tight to his chest. He held the inflatable Floatzel, burying his head between Avery’s shoulder and float ring. Neither said anything. Avery could just feel the human’s quickened heartbeat slowly return to normal, and his gentle back-stroking slowed alongside it.

Skinth rocked a bit, holding the living toy. “You’re so soft,” he muttered. “I wish I had a toy like you back home… heh…”

“Do you now?” Avery replied in a soft tone. “Hmm… What would you do with it?”

“This,” Skinth replied. “Lots of hugs. M-maybe, uh, some overinflation too, heheh. It depends on how big it can get, safely.”

Avery’s eyes flashed. “D’you know how big I can get?”

Skinth’s breath caught. “U-u-uhmmm!” His eyes went wide. “T… ten feet tall?”

“Oh, easily!” Avery winked.

That made the human smile wide and giggle shyly. “How big?”

“My record is twenty feet tall! I was practically just a big yellow and orange ball by then, though.”

Grinning from ear to ear, Skinth squeezed Avery tight again. “Gosh… Do you think we can, umm… I don’t want to make you feel like you have to, but…”

“Mhmm?”

He giggled shyly again, ducking his head. “Can we… maybe inflate you a little?”

“Of course!” Avery hugged Skinth again. “I keep some pumps in my office just for that! Should I go and get one?”

Skinth squeaked, then dropped Avery without a word. The Floatzel pat-patted his client’s hand, then stepped over behind his desk. He reached into a corner behind his computer, then returned with a bulky air pump in his arms. He set it down by the couch, fiddled with the valve in his belly ‘til it came free with a pop, and stuffed the end of the hose into it.

Skinth moved to stand, but Avery put a paw on his leg to keep him in place. “No, no, please, sit back and relax.” The Floatzel offered his client the pump. “We’ll keep cuddling as you pump! Unless, would you prefer me to do the pumping?”

“Oh, no, that’s fine! I’d love to help you blow up,” Skinth said, taking the bulky tool. He moved the piston in and out, and with a hollow rushing sound, Avery got just a bit bigger, his belly beginning to round out.

Avery barked, then giggled at the feeling, climbing back onto the couch to lean against Skinth. “I should mention, also— this is an Auroralabs pump! It’ll blow me up much faster than usual. Um. I don’t know how, though.”

“Really?” Skinth worked the pump a few more times, and in just those few moments, Avery got all plumped up— thicker limbs, thicker paws, and quite the full belly— even for a Floatzel! He went from a head shorter to eye-level with the human as well.

“R-really!” Avery confirmed, smiling wide with delight. He pressed himself against the human further, feeling more snuggly than ever.

That made Skinth laugh and lean on the toy therapist in turn, pumping all the while. Avery swelled and grew, gaining height and bulk in equal measure. Six feet tall, seven… his tails easily curled around the whole of the human, then. Skinth squeezed one in his arms, pumping the piston around it.

Eight feet tall, nine… Much of the couch was dominated by a very puffy pooltoy, shiny orange and cream vinyl casting the whole room in warm tones thanks to his weather balloon of a belly. Skinth felt practically smothered against Avery, his side pressed so comfortable against the taut vinyl of Avery’s thigh and side and float ring.

Yet that wasn’t all Avery had up his metaphorical sleeve— with one arm the giant toy easily scooped up his human friend, surrounding him in the soft plastic of his vest, belly, and arms all at once. Skinth yelped from surprise and delight both, flailing as he found his balance again atop the inflatable’s chest. Meanwhile the Floatzel gently stroked his charge with enormous paws, petting the human much like one would a little dog.

Skinth practically melted from the massage, and he dropped the pump. That only made Avery chuckle; though it was a bit tricky to reach and fiddle with his valve again, he managed to tug the hose out and close his nozzle right after.

What followed was a few moments of sheer bliss for them both. The only sounds were the gentle creaking of Avery’s form as he massaged Skinth, who in turn made only the sounds of soft, even breathing. Avery closed his eyes. He could have spent the whole rest of the session just like this, had Skinth not spoken up.

“I wish I could be like this,” he muttered, still in a happy daze.

“Oh?”

Skinth patted Avery’s paws. “A big overblown toy. No one asks a balloon to work really hard and fast. They just have to be cute and adorable!”

Avery nodded once or twice before it hit him. “Oh! That’s it! Why didn’t I think of that sooner?”

“H-huh…?”

“Skinth, is it alright if I go and get something? I think I might be able to help with that!”

“Oh, y-yes, of course!” Skinth wriggled atop the toy, trying to get down; Avery interrupted that with a tight yet soft squeeze and a gentle lift to the floor.

“Slow down, there, dear.” He patted Skinth on the head. “Okay; I’ll be just a minute!” Avery hopped up on his paws again, then half-walked, half-waddled his way to the door. It was a tight squeeze, but with a creaeeaa-SQUIRK he was through, and bouncing down the hallway.

Skinth was left to wait and fantasize about what was to come. But, as promised, it was hardly a few moments before Avery came squeezing back in, something orange and floppy held in his bulky arms.


“Skinth,” the Floatzel said, waddling his way back to the couch. “Did you know that Auroralabs offers permanent inflatable transformations?”

“They… do…?” the human blushed from his cheeks to his ears.

“They do! Which is why I was thinking…” He unfolds that floppy item, revealing it to be a smirking, awfully wide rubber Floatzel suit. It was a little baggy, too; between that and the valve on its belly, it was clearly meant to be blown up. “We could give you a test run!”

Skinth’s blush goes brick red, and he buries his face in his hands. “Ohhh my, um, okay, um! Wh-what do you mean by test run?”

“See, we normally recommend this treatment to chronic perfectionists and workaholics. Becoming a toy kinda makes you more relaxed by default, so it can be beneficial to some patients. But a transformation is a big and pretty irreversible step, so Auroralabs has developed a line of suits as a sort of ‘first step’ clients can take to make sure it works for them.”

Avery shakes out the suit, giving the embarrassed human an even better look at the bulky, colorful, playful… and based on the body type and facial features— feminine Floatzel costume. “So for these… Uhh, I don’t know how they work, really, but like, they do something so that you don’t have to take the suit off for a really long time— weeks at least!”

“Suits like that… actually exist?” Skinth breathed.

His amazement made Avery chuckle. “Of course! Here— would you like to try it on?” He proffered the smirking suit to the human.

Skinth hesitated for just a second before snatching it up, and frantically turned it over in his hands to find the zipper along its back. He pulled it open, then… stopped. “My clothes, um—”

Avery turned around. “I won’t look!”

In that bit of privacy, the human stripped down to his undergarments. Then, one foot stepped into that silky-smooth rubber, pushing down into one wide suit-paw. Right after came the other foot, and then his arms and head as he fit the suit around him. The smooth feeling of his skin gliding against the internal rubber of the suit was so soothing, he couldn’t help but shudder.

He twisted around himself, then awkwardly maneuvered the bulky, paw-like hands of the suit to pull the zipper up. Though he was now fully encased in rubber… strangely, he could breathe just fine. It wasn’t hot or stuffy, just… nice.

“All done?” Avery asked.

“Yep!” Skinth replied— two octaves too high. He yelped, again, rather high-pitched. The timber of the voice was different, too— the suit gave him a high, female voice.

Avery gasped and slapped his forehead. “I got the girl suit, I wasn’t even paying attention. I’m sorry, Skinth, let me—”

“N-n-no, um!” Skinth replied. “I…” It took the suited human a good few moments to continue, which Avery waited through with perfect patience and attention. “I… wouldn’t mind… being a girl toy! For now!”

Avery smiled, then, getting the picture. Even with his client’s face obscured by the grinning head of the suit, Avery was sure how Skinth felt. “Would you like to use different pronouns— for now— as well?”

“Y-y-yes! She-her, yes! If— if that’s okay?”

“Of course it’s okay, Miss!”

That got the human shyly giggling all over again.

“Now,” Avery continued, picking up the pump from earlier. “Shall we get you nice and full?”

“Eee! Yes please!” she excitedly replied.

Avery didn’t waste a moment— the valve came open, the hose went in, and air followed a second later. Skinth could feel pressure building between the inner and outer walls of the inflatable suit, a cushion of air slowly separating her from the outside world. Her “belly” was a step ahead of the rest of the suit, and she rubbed at it curiously with those steadily thickening hand-paws. Air easily squashed and moved around the still-soft suit, but with each moment, there built up more of a layer that resisted her rubbing. She could feel herself blushing beneath her suit’s head— pressing on herself and feeling only air… she felt like a toy already.

The suit gradually grew taut. Rubber stretched and squeaked as it gave Skinth thick, pillowy limbs and a belly to match the overblown therapist’s. Giggling and sighing her delight, Skinth rubbed and squeezed and patted at the drum-like surface of the Floatzel costume, its belly, its vest, its twin tails that wobbled and bounced with each little movement. She let herself relax and, for just a moment, believe that a big, bouncy Floatzel toy was all she ever was and ever has been.

And what a beautiful thought that was.

Avery stopped pumping once Skinth had apparently gained a foot of height and several more of girth. Smiling warmly, he patted his “fellow Floatzel’s” ballooned gut as he removed the hose and closed her valve. “So? How does it feel?”

With a squeal of delight, Skinth threw herself at Avery, the puffy pair squeaking and creaking as they embraced. “It’s amazing! It feels so… s-so good! I wanna be like this forever!”

“I’m… glad to hear that!” Avery replied, still adjusting to the sudden tackle-hug. “Um. In that case, I would like to recommend a treatment for you this week, Skinth!”

“Yeah?”

“I’d like you to wear this suit continuously until our next meeting this time this week. You see, it has a special feature between 8 PM and 6 AM— it’ll cause your suit’s hand-paws to smooth out and lose all dexterity, so you have to take it easy during the night. And then since you won’t exactly be the most mobile during the day either… Can you take a week off for all that? Just to relax as a big toy Floatzel girl?”

“O-oh! Um…” The Floatzel suit squeaked and shimmied as Skinth thought it over. “W-well, if it’s the doctor’s orders…!”

Avery smiled awkwardly at that. “Well, I’m not technically a doctor, but— yes, it’s your therapist’s orders!” Avery squeezed a little tighter for a moment.

“Then, okay! I’ll… I’ll be a big, bulky, girly Floatzel toy for a week, heeheehee!”

“Wonderful, I’m so glad to hear it,” Avery said, smiling as he stepped out of the embrace. “Here, let me help collect your stuff so you can get right on that…!”

———

A few days later, Skinth was at home, having been very productive ever since her appointment with Avery. She did such important things like sleep in every day, play video games very badly with her massive paws, and finally blow up the pooltoys she had gotten months earlier, to enjoy whole afternoons of lazily floating with them in the backyard pool.

On a whim, that rainy evening, she had decided to do some “exercise”— a few dozen jumping jacks— just to appreciate how bulky and puffy her suit was, from the squish of her arms against the thick vest on her shoulders, to the bounce of each step thanks to her wide, puffy paws. “...46, 47, 48, 49, 50! Whew!” She stopped then, her last bounce sending her backwards onto her balloon-like tails. “That was fun! Hmm, what else should I— eep!” She was caught off guard by her suit’s fingers fusing together into a smooth, round approximation of paws.

Skinth giggled at the sight. “I guess the day’s done, oh well!” Without a care in the world, she bounced over to a closet to pull out some old quilts, awkwardly holding them in her useless mitts to drag them over to a wide window facing the rainstorm. With a few minutes of slow, silly, and squeaky maneuvering, the “Floatzel” managed to get herself swathed in warm, heavy blankets.

She sighed, watching the rainstorm in sleepy contentment. And, in that moment, a matter was settled in her heart.

She would return to Avery next week, and ask him to make this her life forever.