#cigarfetish

It was a busy night at The Bear’s Den; the bar was full of bears and cubs who were chatting, drinking and smoking. The brutish bartender was busy, but constantly had a large cigar clenched in his bearded jaw.

Jay stood in the street and watched from the window. He wanted to go inside, he has been wanting to for a while now, but was hesitant to. He always admired big bellied, muscular and hairy men. He wanted to be one himself, but could not grow a proper beard and had a high metabolism which prevented him from gaining any real weight. He always wanted to enter The Bear’s Den, but never felt like he would fit in himself.

Jay was working up the courage to walk in, when he heard a deep voice behind him.

“You lost, bud? Or you going in?”

Jay quickly turned around and saw a large man, both muscular and fat, who was smoking a large cigar.

“Oh, umm…yeah. I’m going in,” Jay stammered.

The large man walked past him and opened the door. He held it open. “After you,” he said.

Jay’s heart was beating quickly as he entered the bar. Was he going to get any strange looks because he wasn’t bear enough? Was everyone going to ignore him? These were the questions that ran through his mind.

Jay tried to hold his coughs as the cigar smoke lingered; many of the men were smoking large cigars. He looked around for an open table, but they were all full. He was tempted to walk out, but figured he would never return again after that. So he took a seat at the bar with a nervous smile.

The man who held the door for him took a seat next to Jay. He place his cigar in an ashtray and motioned four fingers to the bartender, who then acknowledged with a nod.

“Never seen you before here. First time?” the man spoke in his deep voice.

“Umm, yeah. Didn’t know if I fit in here. Was kind of nervous,” Jay replied.

The man chuckled that was a little raspy. “Now why would you think that?”

“I’m not bear-like. Or cub-like for that matter. Always wanted to come in here. Be like the men here. But as you can see, I can’t even grow a proper beard,” Jay said, a little embarrassed for admitting this to a stranger.

The bartender, still with his lit cigar in his jaw, dropped off four shots of whiskey in front of the man.

“What’s your name?” the man asked.

“Jay.”

“I’m Dan,” the man added as he handed Jay two of the shots, “and I say, we should change that. He raised one of the shots and Jay followed suit, “To new beginnings.” They both clinked the small glass together and shot them down.

Jay tried not to cough as it stung, but Dan took notice. “They get easier as the night goes on, son.”

Jay liked being called son by this bear of a man. Dan was large, muscular, hairy and smelled of cigar smoke. His beard was brown and massive; it made up for the fact he was bald. Jay assumed he was in his mid-forties.

“You come here often?” Jay asked Dan.

Dan let out a deep laugh as he exhaled his thick cigar smoke. “You could say that. Time for the other shot,” Dan said as he picked up the other shot and Jay copied. Both men took the shot. Jay coughed again from the sting and from the smoke. Dan slapped Jay’s back and said “You’ll get use to it. Hell, you’ll love it.”

Jay didn’t drink much, but he wanted to keep up with his new friend. He wanted to impress him.

“So you want to be a bear? Like myself?” Dan asked with a grin.

Jay was opening up to Dan, “I always fantasied it. Just don’t know if it is really me.”

“Sure it is you,” Dan quickly assured Jay.

“I tried putting on some muscle and weight, but I either give up or it just doesn’t stick.”

“Son, all you need is a few beers a night. Hey, Max - could we get two of the Bear Brew? The special ones.” Jay noticed Dan wink to the bartender named Max, but didn’t think anything of it.

“Sure you need a Bear Brew, Dan?” Max laughed and asked.

“Not for me, for my new friend Jay here,” Dan laid his beefy, hairy arm across Jay’s shoulders, “I’ll just have any IPA you have on tap.”

“You got it,” Max called back from across the bar. Max went to a door from behind the bar. Dan returned his smoldering cigar back to his jaw and grabbed a fresh one out of his shirt pocket and pointed it to Jay.

“Want one?” Dan asked clearly, despite having a huge cigar in his mouth.

“Oh, no thank you. I don’t smoke,” Jay politely declined.

“Suit yourself, but I’ll just leave it here on the bar just in case you change your mind,” Dan said with a wink.

Max returned from the back room with two pints of the beer called Bear Brew, “Two is a big change for a new guy. Sure he’ll handle it?”

“It’s what he wants. Ain’t that right, son?” Dan looked at Jay.

Jay, almost feeling a little pressure, nodded and said, “Yes.”

“Good, now chug,” Dan smiled and handed one of the pints to Jay.

“Chug? All at once? I don’t really even like beer,” Jay said, not knowing if he even could chug a whole beer.

“This will go down alright, the next one even better,” Dan assured him as he puffed on his cigar.

Jay grabbed the pint and started to chug. Some of the beer ran down the sides of his mouth, which we caused Dan to smile a bit, but he managed to finish it.

Jay gave a loud burp on accident, but Dan just laughed and patted him on the back. “Now that’s what we want to hear. Good job, son.”

Jay felt proud. Little did he know though, his clothes were getting a little tighter and his face rounder.

“Think you can do it again, son?” Dan asked.

“I know I can, dad…I mean Dan,” Jay replied. Feeling a bit more confident than before. He eagerly grabbed the other pint and chugged it once again. It was easier than the first one as Jay drink every last drop.

Dan liked what he saw. He saw Jay growing larger in size. Jay was becoming the bear he always dreamt of, but he just didn’t know it yet.

“Shall we keep the party going,” Dan suggested.

Jay let out another belch and nodded in agreement. The cigar caught his eye, but he didn’t want it. He wasn’t a smoker.

“Max, two of the Hair of the Bears drinks, please,” Dan requested.

“That’ll look good,” Max replied. Jay didn’t know what he meant. He was noticing a tightness around his body, but didn’t identify it was because he was out growing his medium sized clothes.

Max was mixing together a drink. “What is Hair of the Bear?” Jay asked.

“Max’s special concoction. They say it’ll put hair on your chest,” Dan laughed as Max set down two double shots.

Jay grabbed one, “I wish.”

As he took the shot, Dan added, “As they say, be careful what you wish for.”

The shot didn’t sting going down, but Jay noticed his face getting itchy. Jay scratched, but didn’t notice the thicker beard growing in.

“Like it, son?” Dan asked.

“Yes, dad,” Jay replied, not catching he was calling Dan “dad” now.

“Good, cause you got another,” Dan said as he handed him the other shot.

Jay wasn’t feeling himself, but he wasn’t feeling that drunk. He was feeling good. He was feeling like he was belonging. He took the shot.

His face wasn’t itchy anymore, but maybe just warmer and a little heavier. He thought maybe it was just all the alcohol, but it wasn’t. His beard had grown larger, making his face look even bigger.

“Son, you don’t look so well. Let’s go to the bathroom,” Dan suggested.

“I don’t?” Jay asked. He was feeling a bit heavy and tight around the body. His breathing was a little bit heavier than normal, but it must have been all the cigar smoke around him even though he was starting to enjoy it.

“Come with me,” Dan got up, grabbed a barstool and motioned him to the bathroom. Jay obediently followed.

They both walked into the bathroom, Dan set the barstool down and then locked the door.

“Take a seat. You look warm,” Dan said.

“I do feel pretty warm,” Jay agreed.

“Let me fix that,” Dan said has he opened up the mirror in the bathroom, which was also a medicine cabinet, and grabbed an electric shaver. He started buzzing down Jay’s hair, all the way to the scalp. The alcohol was kicking in because Jay didn’t think anything of it. He also trusted Dan.

When he was done, Dan spun Jay to face the mirror. Jay at first was shocked, but then he smiled. “What happened to me?”

“You became who you always wanted to be,” Dan assured him.

It was like the first time he was seeing his authentic self. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Anytime, son,” Dan said, “But these changes won’t be permanent unless we make them permanent. Do you want to be like this from now on?

“Yes Dad. How do we do that?”

“That cigar I offered you, the one sitting on the bar still, was a special one. You smoke that, and you’ll stay a bear. Only smoke it if you want to, because there is no turning back after. Understood, son?”

“Yes, Dad.”

The two of them emerged from the bathroom and sat back down at the bar.

Jay looked at the cigar, wondering if he will take the chance and smoke it. He wondered how this life will be for him. If he actually wanted it.

Dan knew he was going to smoke it; Jay’s fate was pretty much sealed. Most of the men here at The Bear’s Den were once in Jay’s shoes: timid, skinny, non-smoking boys. That was Dan’s goal when he decided to open this bar. As owner, he had made many men into bears and he knew Jay would seal his fate as one of the regulars here at the bar. He would be just another hairy, large, cigar smoking bear.

After a couple of minutes, Jay gave into temptation. He reached for the already cut cigar and placed it in his jaw. Dan grabbed a match, struck it against the bar and held the flame to the end of the cigar.

Jay puffed and puffed until the cigar was lit and alive. Jay eagerly puffed and greedily inhaled the thick smoke. He was now forever a cigar smoking bear.

“Welcome to The Bear’s Den, son.”