Chapter 5: Sifting

(Food TF, Absorption, Melting, Breast Expansion, Relationships)

“Do my boobs look bigger?”

Penny stood naked in her room, turning sideways while staring into the full length mirror to ogle her physique. It was admittedly still a thrilling pastime. Observing her female body and watching her own reflection as she laid hands on herself carried every bit of the electricity that it had the first time. Her body still was...new. Exotic and unexplored. And now she had a much better name for it. Penny seemed to fit her much better than Pete did.

And her new body still seemed to be changing.

She held her breasts in her hands, letting out a small shudder as she massaged them. A few weeks ago, when they had been brand new, Penny could have sworn that her bust had been just an A-cup, if that. She was admittedly unfamiliar with bra sizes, and hadn’t had much call to look into the matter until they had started to feel like they were genuinely swaying with newfound heft. At this rate she'd need to do some shopping. The only cause she could imagine was some residual part of the enchantment that had made her body female. Or perhaps it was just all those desserts she’d been enjoying the past month. She experimentally hopped up and down to feel herself bounce.

"Just come back to bed…" Jessie grunted, crawling to the edge of her mattress under the sheets. "I wanna get a close look at 'em before I render any judgement."

Penny looked over her shoulder at her bedmate and felt the pull of temptation. Her classmate-turned-lover was sprawled on her stomach with nothing to cover her but a thin bed sheet that clung to the contours of her body. If the meals that Penny had been sampling were adding some weight to her bust, then Jessie's were definitely going south. Penny bit her lip as her partner wiggled her butt under the sheets, the heft and jiggle of her posterior clear through the fabric.

"Feels like we've spent all weekend on that mattress." Penny scolded. "I'd like to spend a little time studying before our test on Monday."

Jessie sighed and flopped over dramatically. Penny couldn't blame her eagerness. Even now she could feel the flutter of arousal building in her chest and abdomen. It was almost constant these days, and every treat she savoured from her cooking class found some new, interesting way of awakening her lust that took adjusting to.

Penny squirmed into a pair of boyshorts and sat at her computer to go over her notes. While she was no stranger to pastry and baking, the course had gotten complicated, muddling basic cooking practices with the fundamentals of magic and alchemy. Cheffess Evaline had been committing more of the curriculum to theory, clearly focused on ensuring that her students would know what they were doing before they worked with "live" ingredients for the first time. Penny couldn't wait to take that next big step, imagining what it would be like to work with a real, writhing person on her kitchen table, tenderly working them into shortbread, or delicious pie filling or…

Penny blinked to clear her head, letting out a breath to calm that flutter that was building in her again. It was very easy to get carried away in her studies.

"So, are we...witches now, or something?" Jessie pondered. She was staring at the ceiling, hugging the bed sheets to her chest. "You gotta admit this whole class feels really...witchy."

"I don't...think so?" Penny responded. "We aren't casting spells or anything, all the magic is in the ingredients or the machinery. It's kind of like alchemy and...do you know what an artificer is?"

"Got me there" Jessie shrugged.

"Well, you’d know if you read your textbook." Penny chided.

"I can just look at your notes, right?"

Jessie had snuck up behind her paramour and draped her arms around her shoulders, one hand dangling low to caress Penny's exposed breast.

"Come back to bed…" Jessie purred. "I wanna test drive these new tits of yours."

Penny squirmed in delight, as her nipples perked up in anticipation. She was feeling the pull to tear her eyes off of her notes, even though the student in her was desperate to get some much needed review before next evening.

"Oooh." Penny sighed. "Promise to give me a little time to study and I'll make you pancakes for breakfast. Deal?"

Jessie nibbled on Penny's earlobe like a spoiled cat. "Cheater" she playfully accused, before sauntering out of the bedroom and letting the sheet drop away.

Penny indulged in one long look of watching her go before returning to her key paragraph on transmutation theory and the finer points of morphic catalysts.

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Penny reflected on how breezy everyone's wardrobes had become. The entire class had definitely taken the recommendation of light, skimpy clothing to heart, garbing themselves in short shorts, camisoles and tube tops, with a few stripped down to swimwear or even mimicking their teacher's ensemble with nothing but an apron and a pair of bottoms. For her part, Penny was down to a simple white undershirt and pair of cutoffs.The bubby Carol seemed to relish flaunting her body to the rest of the class every time she swapped out her clothes for a two-piece bikini, and Jessie didn’t even bother to look for privacy when she slid on her typical apron and shorts ensemble.

Cheffess Evaline beamed at the class from her usual position at the head of the room as they all changed for class and eagerly discussed what she had in store for them. The teacher had a treat for her class every day, even if it was just watching her black apron valiantly contain her impossible curvature for another week.

The Cheffess leaned on the hood of her large professional-grade mixer, a machine roughly the size of a normal person. Penny had to appreciate how genuinely massive Evaline really was. The captivating swell of her hips and bust distracted from her height, somehow making it a realization when Penny noticed that she looked well over seven feet tall.

"Has she...always been that big?" Penny whispered to Becca, the most statuesque student in her class.

"Last time I checked." The former art student responded. "Or do you mean her height? Yeah..." She raised her thumb as if gauging a life drawing model. "I did hear that the women's basketball team had a baking fundraiser last weekend. Apparently not a lot of them showed up for practice on Monday."

"You don't think…" Penny raised an eyebrow, trying to gage their teacher's growth.

"You are what you eat, I suppose." Becca shrugged. "Is it...is it weird that I think that's kinda-really hot?"

"Not at all…" Penny mused, gazing down at her own amplified chest with new appreciation. She couldn't help but glance past Becca's shoulder at her butt, noticing there was a much more significant curve to it than a few weeks ago.

"I hope you've all been studying hard." Cheffess Evaline beamed at the head of the class. "Because after our first test, I have a special treat for all of you!"

If Penny had to guess the nature of the treat, it was probably the sizable platter of freshly baked pastries at the front of the class near Evaline's workstation. She and the rest of the class knew better than to pass up a snack baked by the Cheffess herself.

Everyone took their seats at the cluster of desks in the center of the room and watched Evaline strut row by row, handing out paper booklets and scanning cards made of stiff, vellumy paper. Penny was just relieved that the test was multiple choice.

An uncharacteristic silence filled the space as the students all focused on their respective tests. Penny cracked the sticker seal of her booklet and began to leaf through the questionnaire. The initial questions were easy enough, just standard baking theory and review of the subtle blend of chemistry and artistry that cooking occupied.

Penny glanced up at her teacher, seated behind her workstation with an amicable grin on her face and the bulk of her impressive bust resting on the cool metal countertop. If eating Cosmagic-prepared food on the regular really did have the potential to fill out someone's figure, then it certainly explained her impressive dimensions.

Penny dragged her eyes off of her teacher and back down to her own work. The test was getting more involved in morphic theorem. The questions about defining a morphic field were easy enough, but Penny had to wrinkle her nose at the laws of Transmutation of Mass. Substances affected by transformative magic never gained or lost any part of themselves, she remembered, even if they got lighter or smaller. It was just that more of their bulk was transmuted into potential energy, or merged with their Actuality. It was part of the phenomenon that made posthuman products so vividly real.

Penny glanced sideways at Jesse, hunched over her own test and bearing a face furrowed with effort. She looked like she was skipping half the questions for later. Penny's gaze drifted forward to Becca's back as the taller girl shifted her weight. Penny flickered her eyes lower to the plump backside Becca was sitting on.

Focus.

Penny returned to her work. The questions revolving around stale mystical theory had given way to practical transmutation. She afforded herself a little confident smile.

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Penny was the third person to finish, just after Esme and an asian-looking student that she didn't know. Evaline offered Penny a wink as she turned in her scanning card and selected an eggy custard tart from the selection available, happily munching it as she returned to her seat. Becca finished shortly after and was halfway through her chocolate croissant when Jesse approached the head table with a cluster of other students. She returned to her seat with a wide-eyed shrug directed towards Penny, seemingly resigned to the thought of a lackluster grade, but compensated by the richly-iced brownie she had grabbed.

Hushed muttering filled the class as everyone finished their respective treats and started to speculate on how they had done. Penny resisted the urge to chide Jessie for not doing her schoolwork as the Cheffess fed their scan cards into a silvery reading machine.

"Now then." Evaline rose to her feet. She had picked up her spoon and several huge metal bowls, tucking them under her arm with ease. She grabbed up the last of the marked scan cards and began to walk the rows again, periodically stopping to place a bowl near some student’s desks as she redistributed everyone's marked tests.

"Some of you passed with flying colours." The teacher grinned. "While others, I have to say, need a little more time in the classroom. Fortunately, everyone gets what they need!. Today you'll all *finally* be making a treat with real, live ingredients!"

There was a bout of hushed whispers throughout the class. Becca looked across from her row at the frizzy-haired girl Esme and wiggled her eyebrows. There was an impressed chuckle near Penny's seat, and she turned to see Jessie with an eager grin on her face. A few of the students glanced towards the classroom door, as if expecting a small parade of supple, undressed ingredients to saunter in.

"Everyone check your marks first." The towering cheffess tutted. "Our program is very rigorous, and we only train the best. Those of you who studied hard and did well will be continuing the program, while a few have proven more suitable for another role in the kitchen.”

Penny’s attention fluttered back down to her test. She took a small amount of pride at the small stamp of “89%” near the top of the marking sheet. A small grunt of dismissive frustration brought her to look over at Jessie, who shot her a look and flashed the “53%” on her test back to Penny. Penny gave an encouraging shrug, a second before she noticed the small brown spot on the tip of Jessie’s nose. It glistened slightly, and was spreading like a blush across her face.

“Oh!” A girl a row behind Jesse exclaimed as her breasts began to swell and press against her loose camisole. Deep red nipples were pressing against the fabric of her shirt and the scarlet colour was creeping across her chest and up her neck.

“Uh...Cheffess?” another girl asked hesitantly. Her skin had grown remarkably pale and moist, and even from her seat, Penny could make out the distinct smell of cheesecake. She looked at the half-dozen or so students who were starting to change. All of them had the same silver bowl placed on their desk. Jessie stared into her own bowl and shot Penny an excited, nervous look as her arm grew a rich brown and began to glisten.

"Everyone pick a bowl and help out your ingredients." Evaline cheerfully instructed. "And ingredients might as well start stripping to make things easier for your cook."

Slowly, awkwardly, students started to get up from their desks and cluster around a transforming colleague. The red-breasted girl had turned a bright scarlet and two other students were helping her out of her shirt. As her now basketball-sized breasts jiggled in the open air, she let out a coo of stimulation and the smell of cherry syrup surrounded her.

Penny stumbled to her feet and joined Jesse by her bowl. The chocolate-scented girl was leaning into her bowl, tracing the inside with her palms and leaving smears of brownie-batter.

"Hey, need some help with the shirt?" Penny asked gamely.

Jesse met her gaze. Penny had been worried that her eyes would be full of panic or accusation, but the look Jesse wore was a familiar one, the kind she had when Penny was crawling into bed with her.

"I wasn't expecting it to be so...tingly." Jesse bit her lip. "Oh wow, I can taste myself…"

Penny let out a chuckle of relief and bent Jesse forward over her desk, reaching to smoothly slide off her shorts and panties. The shifting girl's legs and butt were halfway transformed, deepened to a rich brown and glistening with oily sugars. With every article of clothing she lost, the stronger the aroma of chocolate became.

As Penny guided Jessie's feet off the ground to let her step out of her bottoms, Becca was on the other side of her desk, encouraging her to raise her arms and slip out of her crop top. Finally naked, Jesse slid further into the bowl, her back bending with liquid flexibility as she settled into the curved bottom. As Penny rose to her feet, she resisted the urge to give Jessie a little taste test between her wriggling legs. There would be time for that soon enough.

With the help of Becca and Esme, Penny carried the large silver bowl of Jessie over to her station. As she situated her main ingredient, the others didn't wait to grab supplies and tools of their own. Esme bustled over with extra canola oil, butter and sugar while Becca assembled a smaller mixer and began to assemble what was needed for chocolate icing.

"Ooh, are we thinking chocolate cake or brownies?" Jessie asked. Her body lost definition as she swiveled onto her back so that she could sit in her bowl.

"Brownies" all three students said in unison.

"Your structure is heavy in sugar and oils." Esme explained. She had started to wear her frizzy brown hair back with a broad headband, and Penny couldn't help but notice how much smoother and more lustrous it had become over the last few weeks. "That's gonna make you chewier and less bubbly when we get you into the oven."

Becca grinned in approval of the analysis, and Esme felt a sudden need to occupy herself with measuring powdered sugar as a blush crept across her face.

"You'd know this kind of thing if you studied more." Penny tutted. She picked up a wooden spoon and, after a moment of hesitation, slid it into Jessie's gooey midsection and began to stir.

Jessie moaned in delight at the action, writhing in her bowl and tucking her legs up to her chest, bringing her knees to her shoulders.

"Oooh...totally worth it." She muttered. "You gotta try this."

Penny idly thought of the croissant she had munched on and imagined being folded and rolled as layers of buttery dough. She giggled at the tempting notion.

"Maybe another time. Right now you're the main ingredient."

Penny's stirring had blurred the dimensions of Jessie's torso below her breasts. The half-battered girl helpfully tucked her arms in and began to tease her own dark brown nipples. Some of the glistening batter came away on her fingers, and she licked it off. By the time she was done, a few of her digits had been sucked down to the nub.

Jesse let out a pleased shudder as Penny incorporated her breasts and shoulders into the mix.

"I did join this class to meet girls." She flicked her eyes from Penny, to Becca to Esme. "Nothing better than getting tended to and tasted by three lovely ladies."

Becca playfully rolled her eyes and Esme chuckled to herself.

"Mmm, make me nice and sweet...goddess, I taste good. Can't wait for you to get a sample…I never thought it would feel like this. So soft and warm and...right."

"Maybe you should have flunked out weeks ago." Penny mused.

"Talk like that and I'm gonna go straight to your ass." Jessie teased with a gooey wink.

"You always did." Penny blew her a kiss and folded Jessie's head into the mix.

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The brownie batter came together quickly. With a few additions by Esme, she was poured into a series of deep pans and slotted into the oven. Penny had to note how easy and fun Jessie was to work with. She had kept softly moaning and cooing all throughout the mixing process, all the way up to the oven. The batter was vibrant and seemed to writhe like a lover in bed every time it was churned by Penny's spoon. It slid easily into the pan and didn't leave a scrap in the silver bowl, as if she wanted every ounce of herself to be cooked.

Across the room the blonde girl, Carol, had helped two others reduce their cherry-bosomed companion into a series of fruity jam tarts, and Penny could see another trio carefully lining the first of several cheesecakes they had brought down from the cooling racks.

The oven dinged and Penny pulled out her first tray of rich, indulgent smelling brownies. She drank in the wafting, chocolate-scented steam that emanated from her treat and already felt her mouth water looking at the shiny, crackling surface of the first sheet. She felt that familiar tingling energy, the same faint sense of arousal and temptation that every transformed treat ignited in her. Only this one came with the accomplishment and personal thrill of having made it herself. Esme was practically hanging off of her shoulder, her breath warming Penny's neck and making her squirm at the intimate proximity.

The brownies were cooling quickly, still eager to be consumed. Penny moved alongside Becca to help her finish the icing. While the tall art student had made the base topping out of a rich fudge, Penny assisted with making a small batch of cool, green mint icing, while Esme revealed the thick caramel drizzle she had been working on. Each with a pan to themselves, the three students got to work embellishing their respective treats. Then it was time to slice them up and serve.

There was a small waft of steam when Penny sliced into her tray of brownie that she swore sounded like a faint, satisfied sigh.

By the time the class was finished, Evaline's previously picked clean table was once again loaded with snacks and desserts of all kinds. The brownies that Jessie had become sat on their plates like stacked bricks of gooey, chocolate goodness right next to a long platter of cherry tarts that seemed to quiver slightly when a student got close. Penny thought she remembered her being called Richie. Three rich, resplendent cheesecakes made from a girl called Amber rested on platformed dishes, decorated with varying levels of skill and ever so slightly sweating sugary condensation. They fought for space alongside a trio of angel food cakes, all studded with rosettes of whipped cream and fruit. Penny had no idea who they had been.

Evaline sat behind the veritable banquet with a wide, hungry smile on her face.

"It's very different, isn't it? To work with such live, willing ingredients…"

There was a murmur of reverential agreement from the class. Even from her spot in the room, Penny could pick out individual scents and aromas. The fruity sharpness of the tarts contrasted with the indulgent depths of their brownies, but the smell of chocolate couldn't drown out the light whisper of the angel's food. Penny had spent so long working on her brownies that each other treat on the table felt like some new, exciting flavour to experiment with and try. Her mouth began to water even as her skin tingled and her nipples stiffened against the fabric of her loose shirt. The mingled sensation of hunger and lust wasn't a new experience for her, but the acute intensity of it seemed to grow with each class, especially in the face of such a banquet of transformed food.

"I can safely say that you've all passed the theory and practical parts of your first exam!" Evaline plucked a slice of angel food cake from its roost, squeezing it between her fingers like she was teasing the flesh of a lover. "And I can tell that all our delightful ingredients have excelled in their roles."

She began to nibble on her slice of cake, occasionally licking a stray bit of cream off of her lips.

"Mmm, this batch turned out simply divine. While the bulk of our classes output is sold off at the popup store on campus, every good cheffess should be able to taste her work." She motioned to a stack of foldable cardboard cartons near the table.

"Feel free to take as much as you want, and savour your and your fellow student's work. But try not to overindulge." She added with a coy wink. "Have a lovely weekend everyone. From here on out, things get fun."

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Penny departed the class alongside Esme and Becca, each toting their own respective box of treats. Penny's was full of Amber cheesecake, a few Richie tarts and an impressive stack of Jessie Brownies. She was barely out the door before she was savouring her first square of caramel-drizzled chocolate baked pastry. The flavours of deep, seductive chocolate flowed over her tongue and each bite of the chewy, gooey sweet was better than the last. She felt the warm caress of familiarity when eating the treat her paramour had become. It felt deeper than a passionate kiss and more intimate than a night of lovemaking. Everything that had made Jessie was still there, translated into smooth sweetness. Penny felt her mischievous smile, her playful, loose attitude and her wry boldness with every mouthful. She could feel her body heating up, growing flush and excited as the familiar spots across her skin that Jessie would nibble and lick ignited with new pleasure. Even as food, that girl was still finding new ways to tease and excite her.

"Hey…" Esme muttered as she chewed on her own bit of Jessie. "Are these ones making either of you feel really…"

Becca nodded frantically through a mouthful. She was rubbing her long, dark thighs together with the occasional rattling breath. Esme had begun to lick her lips.

Penny eyeballed Esme's slight form. The way her clearly erect nipples were snagging at the fabric of her shirt, the way her shorts clung to her butt. It felt as though Jessie was hovering by her shoulder, silently whispering temptations and provocative ideas into her ear. Penny could practically feel Jessie's breath on her neck.

"Ooh…" Penny finished her first brownie. "Jessie was an amorous one…" she placed a hand on Becca's waist as Esme moved in to cling to her. The feeling of heat and quivering flesh making contact with her skin made Penny grow flush. "And she loved looking at girls…"

"You are what you eat." Becca chuckled. "Oof...come on you two. My place is right over there…"