"Seriously, Jess, are you sure you're okay?" she asked. "You look terrible."
"Thanks," Jess replied, taking a deep swig of her milkshake.
Carol Danvers, more widely known as the mighty Captain Marvel, could always be trusted to be frank and upfront, mostly owing to her background in the Air Force, a former editor for the Daily Bugle, and as an Avenger. It was a quality that one would either deeply appreciate or be irked by, with really no in-between. For Jessica Drew, it was currently a small price to pay for being able to see her best friend again after her three-month stint in space with the Guardians of the Galaxy.
"Sorry," Carol said. "Still, Hydra's no joke, and you usually recover faster."
The two had met for lunch at their favorite burger place within walking distance of their respective apartments.
"The important thing is that I stopped whatever it is they were planning," Jessica said with a shrug. "At least for a while." She hungrily reached for her burger and took a generous, famished bite.
It'd been about three days since Jessica's rough-and-tumble brawl through Viper's facility. She'd spent the intervening time laying low and recovering — which also involved more visits to this particular establishment than she'd perhaps care to admit.
"You think they'll be back?" Carol asked.
*MMF* "Probably," Jessica said through a mouthful of beef. "Viper's in the wind, and she's probably regrouping as we speak." Jessica took another chomp from her and moaned. "I love this burger, it's so delicious..."
Carol gave her friend an incredulous look. "That's your third burger today."
"So?" Jessica said, washing her meal down with a draught of milkshake. "Girl's gotta eat."
A meal like this normally would've left Jessica feeling stuffed to the brim. But, much like she found herself feeling after consuming three large meat lover's pizzas on top of God knows what else, Jessica didn't feel "full" so much as "not as unbearably hungry."
"Well..." Carol suddenly became bashful. "I, uh, didn't want to say anything, but..."
Ever since that night after Hydra, Jessica's appetite had surged to unparalleled heights. At this point, Jessica couldn't actually remember the last time she felt satisfied. As she finished her burger, she strongly considered ordering a fourth, despite the round little food belly bulging from her core.
Which brought up the issue that had been tugging Carol's mind since reuniting with her best friend:
"You're getting kinda... pudgy."
It wasn't as though Jessica had put on a ton of weight. She just seemed a little softer overall, with less muscle tone and a bit more roundness to her overall figure. Carol estimated Jessica had put on about 10 or 15 pounds, with her belly in particular having taken a generous portion of the gain, not quite being contained by Jessica's top. Carol figured it was really only noticeable to her since they hadn't seen each other in so long. What Carol didn't know was that just a few days ago, Jessica had been as fit and built as ever, and eating far less gluttonously than she was right now. Perhaps 10 or 15 pounds gained over three months would be understandable, but three days was a completely different story.
Even still, Jessica was indignant nonetheless.
"My potentially gaining weight has nothing to do with me still being hungry," Jessica said. "Besides..."
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