For a hefty dragon trying to lose weight, a new, experimental diet pill seems enticing. Eating more than ever, while continuing to drop the pounds? Too good to be true! Of course, being distracted by good results, might make it harder to notice changes being projected onto people around him, perhaps in the opposite direction...



I was going through my backup files recently and found this story. I don't remember why I never uploaded it. It's based on three of my characters, Arro, Rangavar, and Jade. It's not canon to their main story, but was fun to write. Enjoy!

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Arro stared curiously at the pills in his paw. “Two per day?”

“You can either take them both in the morning, or you can save one of them for when you go to bed at night.” The other dragon pushed his glasses farther up his nose, although he remained staring over them with a serious expression. “We recommend taking them both in the morning because it’s easier to avoid forgetting the second, but it doesn’t matter very much as long as you stick to a schedule.”

Slowly, Arro nodded. He watched as the other dragon turned back to his clipboard, scribbling down some information that Arro couldn’t even begin to guess. He’d never been very interested in science during school. He trusted this researcher knew what he was doing, though. Even if the project was experimental.

He cleared his throat. “Does it come with any weird side effects?” He pressed his chubby index fingers together. “Or does it really just start dropping my weight?” It sounded too easy to be possible. He was usually wary of easy fad diets, preferring to work on his health the old fashioned way, but a friend of a friend needed volunteers for his weight-loss experiment, and Arro was, well, an excellent candidate.

He self-consciously clutched his large, quivering belly at the thought. Arro had always been fat, but it was true he’d put on a bit more weight recently. Well, quite a bit more. The lump of lard spread heavily over his thighs, even when he was standing, his widened rear and tail coated with adipose. He had naturally broad, stocky shoulders, and more than a bit of muscle, but even that was mostly hidden beneath more rolls and layers of bad decisions.

“Hmmm.” The other dragon tapped his pencil on his chin. “Well so far, a few of our test subjects have reported being hungrier. However, interestingly enough, even when compelled to eat more, they continue to lose weight. The pills have been wildly successful in that regard.”

Arro wasn’t any stranger to feeling hungry. It was how he’d ended up in this mess. He stared down at the large gut spread over his lap, bloated and heavy enough that he could no longer reach all the way around it. “Alright.”

“If you do experience any other odd side effects, feel free to give us a call at any time,” the researcher assured him, placing his clipboard on the counter behind him and getting ready to direct Arro from the office. “Otherwise, I’ll expect to see you in a week for a progress report.”

Arro gave a brief nod before hopping up to leave. In the metaphorical sense, of course; in reality, the process included some heavy shoving against his seat and a bit of grunting to get into an upright position, allowing his belly to spill off his lap from where it had been pinning him. As nervous as he was about the experiment, a part of him was almost excited to get started.

When he got home, he carefully put the unassuming bottle on the table, staring at the pills for a moment. It was technically still morning, so he figured he was probably supposed to just start now. Despite his reservations, he popped two in his mouth.

“Back already?”

Arro turned towards the owner of the voice, and very dark gray dragon with black horns. He was slender, and significantly shorter than Arro, but grinned a bit as he stared up at him. “Wow, I can’t believe how thin you look! It must have worked.”

Arro rolled his eyes. “They told me to come back in a week to sort of check-in or whatever. I have no idea how much weight I’ll actually lose by then. Or whether or not I’ll lose any,” he also pointed out. It was still experimental, after all. There weren’t any guarantees. “The science-guy actually said it might even make me hungrier.”

“The ‘science-guy’?” the smaller dragon said with air quotes.

Arro playfully pushed against the smaller dragon’s shoulder. It nearly bowled him over, but Arro figured with all the teasing, he deserved it. “Jade’s friend. Whatever. You know what I mean, Rangavar.”

After being shoved, Rangavar smirked and grabbed the front of Arro’s belly, hefting its weight. It made the larger dragon blush. “You know,” Rangavar said in a more serious tone, a moment later. “You’re not obligated to take part in the experiment or anything. Just because some guy took a look at you and said ‘Wow! Perfect!’ Even if it was a ‘science-guy’,” he smirked slightly again.

“Can you stop teasing me for that?” Arro rolled his eyes. “Look, I’ll admit I’m… curious. I’ve never tried losing weight like this before. It feels like cheating.” He grimaced a bit. “And probably isn’t the healthiest way…”

Rangavar stared up at him. He was still holding the sides of Arro’s belly. When he sank his fingers into the soft rolls of pudge, it made him feel huge. “Do you want to back out?”

Arro took a moment to genuinely think it over, but ended up shaking his head. He’d been mulling over it all morning, and had pretty much resolved himself to this. It was why he’d taken the first dose; he was ready.

It was a few hours later that Arro felt any different; or rather, exactly the same, but more… intense. His stomach rumbled fiercely as he put off eating in favor of a videogame he was really into, but eventually, he couldn’t ignore it anymore. He was digging around in the fridge when he remembered the warning about being hungrier; although, he’d also been assured that it was a normal side effect, and even if he ended up eating slightly more, the pills would still work. Supposedly.

He was digging out every available box of pasties he could find beneath the counter when he heard the slight creak of the staircase steps, and a presence joined him in the kitchen. Arro lifted his head to see a lithe dragon with deep green scales staring at him in curiosity.

“Oh hi,” Arro said to his other mate. “I actually didn’t even know you were home.”

Jade shrugged. “I was napping. Then I started feeling really, really hungry, so…” She frowned at the counter where Arro was piling boxes. “Wait… those are your feelings, aren’t they,” she said dryly. It wasn’t really a question. Her species of dragon absorbed the emotions and feelings of others.

Arro’s ears flattened slightly. “Sorry. It’s supposedly a side effect. I took two of those pills earlier.” He straightened, stretching one of his flabby arms over his head to loosen up a little from the cramped position. It made his belly stick out a bit further, lifting the edge of his t-shirt. He self-consciously pulled it back down. “Although even if I eat more because I’m hungrier, I’m supposed to lose weight anyway, or something. Not really sure how it works.”

Jade shrugged and made her way over to the kitchen. “Well, I’m going to have a snack. Pretty sure I’d be naturally-hungry anyway, since I just woke up.”

She ended up joining him on the couch, although without the absurd amount of pastry boxes that Arro had chosen for his own ‘snack’. The smaller amount he normally ate wasn’t too far off, which he didn’t feel good about. But the extra hunger was temporary, right? Until he stopped the pills. Whenever that would be.

“We’re going to have a really, really expensive grocery bill.” Jade eyed the feast from her side of the couch with amusement, popping open her own box of crackers. Usually she went for fruit, but Arro supposed that with the intensity of his own hunger affecting her, she probably wanted something heavier.

“Maybe a little bit,” he muttered.

She playfully kicked his leg from where she was sitting, sending his chub rippling. That was in addition to how deeply her foot sank into his blubber in the first place. “I guess once you start losing weight, we’ll make up for it by saving money on broken furniture and custom-clothes, huh.”

Arro rolled his eyes. “Ha-ha. Funny.”

Still, he’d torn through at least half of the pastries by the time Rangavar came in from outside, his nose twitching at the enticing scent.

“How was your jog?” Jade pushed another cracker into her mouth, seemingly unaware that she’d eaten almost the entire box. Arro wasn’t surprised. He was still hungry, so of course she would be too.

Rangavar frowned at the sight of their coffee table covered in empty, crumb-riddled boxes, but didn’t comment on it. “It was actually great. The weather is really nice right now. I just came inside for a snack because when I got back, I was ravenous all the sudden, but I suppose… now I can see why.”

Of course, not only could Jade’s species of dragon absorb the feelings of others, but also projected them onto anyone else around. The corner of her mouth quirked up and she shook the box of crackers at him. “Guilty.” She frowned at it a moment later to notice there were only a few left inside.

“It’s really my fault, what with that side-effect and all,” Arro chuckled.

Rangavar sighed through his nose, although he went and grabbed some pasta out of the fridge for himself. “Guess I may as well eat too.” He crossed his arms after popping it in the microwave to reheat, waiting. “We should start having family dinners together. Since we’ll all be hungry at the same time, apparently.”

“Guess all we needed was a science experiment to bring this family together all along.” Arro threw an arm around Jade while she rolled her eyes. With his other paw, he pressed a cinnamon bun into his mouth whole, his teeth sinking into the sugary glazed top, some of it sticking to his chubby fingers before he could lick them clean a moment later.

“You’d better not drool on me,” Jade warned.

When the microwave beeped, Rangavar took his own pasta and went over to the couch to join them, his mind working out the logistics of how the three of them would fit at the same time. Arro’s bulk caused most of the difficulty.

Fortunately, at the same time, Jade tossed her empty box onto the coffee table and got up.

“Thanks.” Rangavar nodded at her as they passed each other, and he gratefully took her seat.

She snorted. “Heh. I’m just grabbing another box.” She moved around the counter and opened one of the cabinets, doing just that. “I’m still hungry.”

~

Initially, Arro was a bit frustrated, when his frequent bouts of intense hunger had him scarfing down food almost around the clock. Until the past few days he’d been taking the pills, he hadn’t known it was possible to feel so heavy and bloated, and yet completely starving at the same time.

He was nibbling on some snacks he’s stolen from the kitchen earlier while getting ready for work. He knew that he should probably eat a bit beforehand, just to make the hunger as endurable as possible. Fortunately, his office job allowed him some privacy; it was easy enough to sneak food in his cubicle. Not that the hunger was completely constant, but he never knew when it would crop up at full force.

He was almost too distracted by a mouthful of pretzels to notice that despite the heavy feeling in his belly, his pants slid up more easily than usual. Just slightly, but still enough to make him pause in confusion. It had only been a few days. He wondered if the pills were getting rid of water weight. Either way, he left the house with a small smirk of satisfaction on his muzzle.

As anticipated, the first several hours of work went fairly well, but he later found himself making frequent trips to the vending machine across the hall. Jade really hadn’t been kidding about the amount of money they’d be spending on food. Arro had to pull his shirt down a few times over the constantly increasing bloat throughout the day, until he left at the end with a tight, swollen feeling in his gut, and his pants fitting as tightly as usual. It was a relief to come home and pull off his belt, his gut sagging harder into the waistband of his pants as a result until he pulled some sweats out of a drawer to change. Far more comfortable in pants that could stretch, he finally went downstairs. He was hungry, after all.

A short while after he’d began working on the absurdly large number of sandwiches gathered on his plate, Jade came downstairs to join him. She went to the kitchen also, rummaging around the cupboards. Arro knew that in about half an hour, Rangavar would return from his jog and join them. This was quickly becoming their routine, the other dragons building their schedules around his eating. Arro felt a bit bad about it, but unless he stopped taking the pills, there wasn’t very much he could do.

The idea of stopping the pills had obviously occurred to him; however, other than the munchies, nothing bad had happened. Arro took that as a good sign. He was curious to keep going. After his revelation this morning while sliding up his pants, too, he was really, really curious.

When Rangavar had joined them a while later, Arro glanced around at the other dragons, joking and laughing while sitting nearby to eat. He wholeheartedly joined in, figuring that if being hungry more often had an extended side effect of forcing them all to spend time together, then maybe it was something he could live with.

~

“Hmmm… Well, you’ve definitely lost a little,” the researcher observed, pulling the measuring tape taut around Arro’s belly. It sank into the pudge a little bit, just as it had last time. This time, however, the other dragon was clearly impressed.

Arro pricked his ears. He’d already suspected as much, his pants seeming to loosen day by day. He’d originally suspected it was placebo or something just making him think so, but felt a strange sense of satisfaction to know that he’d been right.

The researcher looked back up at him after reading the number, retracting the measuring tape. There was a lot of it to retract; Arro was still massive. “Any side-effects?” he asked, checking off some things on his clipboard.

Arro finally decided to explain the near-constant hunger, and the small impact it was having on his life. He’d practically emptied out the vending machine at work, much to the building manager’s confusion, although he had no idea how he’d managed to escape being caught. “Is there anything you can give me for that, that I can take in addition to the diet pills?”

Slowly, the other dragon shook his head. “Giving you something along with the pills would potentially interfere with results, disqualifying you from the experiment. At which point we’d have to stop giving you the pills, because they’re for the experiment.”

Arro sighed.

“You can stop if you’d like to, of course,” the researcher reminded him. “You can drop out at any time.”

Arro paused to think. The diet pills, however inconvenient, had genuinely gotten him results. It was pretty much the first time he’d lost weight in… well, ever. It was true he had reservations about the validity of using pills as a form of weight loss, but he had to admit he was impressed. He bit his lip. “I’ll keep going,” he finally decided. If he could quit at any time, then he could quit later.

He left the office with a new bottle of pills in his paw and instructions to return in a week.

~

The fat dragon growled in contentment as Rangavar rubbed the lowest part of Arro’s belly, scritching lightly with his claws. “Soon, you’ll be able to reach for yourself,” he grinned.

Arro arched his back slightly, leaning into the scritching. He knew it made his bare belly spread farther on either side of him across the bed, but was enjoying the feeling of paws rubbing the places he couldn’t reach. “Does that mean if I keep losing weight, the belly-rubs will stop?”

“The belly rubs will never stop,” Rangavar assured him, leaning down for a kiss.

Arro had reached past the two week mark, and according to his check-up, his weight loss results were steadily climbing. He’d even gone down a notch on his belt, and was elated. Then he’d gone down another. He wondered why he’d ever been so reserved about trying the pills in the first place. It was working even despite his constant hunger, although he suspected he’d actually be losing weight faster if he wasn’t constantly stuffing himself.

It was only a short while later that, sure enough, his appetite roared to life. He sighed, clutching at his large paunch, the layers upon layers of padding swishing beneath his paws.

“Someone’s hungry.” Rangavar reached over and gave his overhang a little squeeze.

Arro pushed his paws away. “If all this diet stuff really works, you won’t be able to do that anymore,” he said in amusement. The thought was a bit strange. He’d never in his life not had a bulge of adipose over his middle.

The smaller dragon gave him a thumbs-down. “Sounds like someone doesn’t want belly-rubs.”

Arro rolled his eyes. A moment later he was pushing himself out of bed and slipping his pants on, thrilled by how loose they felt around his hips. “Coming?”

“I’m not hungry.” Rangavar grinned a bit. “Jade’s not here to telepathically push it on me. You get to be hungry alone this time.”

Arro wrinkled his snout. “Fine. I’ll be downstairs.” It was probably his imagination, but even his pawsteps felt slightly lighter to him as he descended, despite his belly sagging over his thighs.

Rangavar lay in bed an extra moment, watching him go. He leaned back into the sheets and sighed. He felt happy for Arro; seeing the excitement on his face every time his pants felt looser or he saw himself in a mirror was wonderful. Rangavar didn’t really care about his size, but was happy to see Arro happy.

However, there was starting to be another problem.

The smaller dragon pulled the sheets aside and grimaced at his own middle, which he’d been constantly stuffing for several weeks, although that was fortunately limited to whenever Arro and Jade were together. At first, a couple of extra snacks hadn’t seemed like a big deal, but as Arro’s ravenous appetite was projected around the house, those ‘couple’ of extra snacks had turned into more snacks… and then more…

Rangavar put his paws over his middle, feeling the way that they sank in slightly. His own species of dragon—different than Arro’s or Jade’s—had an excellent metabolism, but it was no match for Arro’s enhanced appetite being projected onto him. It had taken him a full week to acknowledge that he wasn’t just waking up ‘extremely bloated’ with food anymore, and his swollen tum was definitely becoming a part of him.

Pushing himself into a sitting position, Rangavar gave the bulge a little prod, noting the way his finger sank in and made the area ripple. He groped around his own sides for a moment, looking for the presence of any rolling fat yet, but was distracted by the sound of Jade entering the house. A few moments later, Rangavar felt a hunger pain so intense that he literally almost doubled over. The effects of Jade’s telepathy were always pretty much immediate.

He felt pretty bad for Arro about it. Although, at least the much larger, actually obese dragon was losing weight through it, which he was really excited about. It was his own choice. Rangavar and Jade weren’t really getting one.

When he descended the stairs to meet his and Arro’s mutual mate—as well as duck into the kitchen for a snack, of course—he noticed the way that her own body had begun to change as a result. She was wearing a baggy shirt right now that hid most of her torso, but Rangavar could see the way that her cheeks looked a little softer. Of course, Rangavar was only hungry when Arro and Jade were together, but Jade didn’t need a third party when she was absorbing the feeling herself. She’d be hungry every second around him.

“You two must have slept in, huh?” She threw her keys on the table as she made her own way to the kitchen.

Arro leaned back on the couch, his paw rustling around inside a bag of chips. “It’s our day off. What else are they for?”

“Well normally, getting stuff done, although I suppose it’s hard when you have to stop for lunch every other hour,” Jade teased, grinning at the large dragon a bit.

Arro blushed. “You know I can’t help that.”

Jade filled a pot with water while pulling box mac and cheese from the cabinet overhead. “Well, I suppose it means the pills are working.”

“I already know they’re working, because I’m losing weight.” He lifted his brows in amusement.

She didn’t waste any time lighting the stove next, seeming frustrated that she couldn’t rush boiling water. It would boil when it wanted. “Even better.”

Rangavar grabbed a bread roll off the counter while watching them go back and forth. Projecting her emotions let Rangavar know that she was genuinely happy for Arro, too. Despite any annoying side effects.

While Jade stood in front of the stove, Rangavar could study the way that her own belly bulged a bit against the front of her shirt. It suddenly reminded him that he was not wearing a shirt; he still felt half asleep after cuddling in bed. “Hey, I’ll be right back.” He darted up the stairs, but not before taking another two bread rolls with him, of course. He knew he’d be needing them for the hunger taking over.

~

Another week, and Rangavar was lying flat on his back on their bed, breathing hard. Not for fun reasons, unfortunately.

He couldn’t button his pants.

It was something he’d seen coming, of course, day by day having to strain just a bit harder against the flaps to draw them close together. Today, he was currently alone, still holding them in each paw, ready to suck in and try again. When he felt ready, he yanked to draw them together, wondering if waistbands could tear from being pulled this hard. He also wondered if he’d be able to breathe after getting them closed, or sit up at all, so he let out his breath and sighed. These were a lost cause.

He groaned as he rubbed at the soft flesh, released from the excruciatingly tight pants prison. The beginnings of love handles widened around his sides as he lay flat on the bed, and when he rested his paws over his middle, they were greeted by the curved padding of a developing gut. He was still no rival for Jade’s expanding body, as she took on the brunt of Arro’s side effects, but Rangavar was definitely seeing her results reflected on himself, and wondered if they’d have to start planning a new clothing budget into their already high grocery expenses.

Since it was another boring weekend, he gave up in favor of some stretchy sweats, although he wondered how long those would last if this kept up. Regardless of how stretchy, the waistband of these was getting kind of tight as well.

Having the house to himself for the moment, he went down to the fridge, free to eat at his own pace for once. The cool air brushed across the bare scales of his torso as he grabbed some cheese to snack on, not noticing another dragon coming through the door until she was standing directly behind him. “Oh… what are these?”

She suddenly squeezed his sides, making him yelp. When he spun around, she was smirking. He felt the small paunch on his frontside bounce slightly at the quick movement, and it apparently captured her attention next, because she reached out and squeezed at it, making him jolt again. “And what’s this?”

His face felt warm as he pushed her paws away. “Oh you know, just lunch,” he chuckled awkwardly. “Or two, or five, or ten. Or twenty.” He pushed the fridge door shut behind him with a foot as he began to unwrap his cheese stick. “I’ve been having a lot of lunches lately.”

“You too, then?” Jade grimaced a bit. “I’m running out of increasingly baggy shirts to wear.”

“Want a piece of cheese?” Rangavar held one out to her. She took it. As she began to nibble, he continued, “Arro’s doing really well, though. I wonder if he’s noticed it’s affecting us.”

“If he has, he hasn’t said anything,” she pointed out. She seemed amused. “I guess it’s going easier for him, when he’s eating so much extra and losing weight.”

“He still gets the hunger pangs.” As he unwrapped another cheese stick, Rangavar wondered when Arro would be back from his weekly check-in. If he came home ravenous, then it probably was a bad idea to be snacking, but it was nice to eat something he wanted instead of feeling driven to stuff himself until Arro finally felt full. “He probably just assumes our way faster metabolisms sort of negate the experience.”

“Heh. Our metabolisms aren’t faster than this.” She shrugged. “I should take up jogging, like you.”

Rangavar self-consciously put his paws over his pudge. “In the face of all those calories, it’s not helping very much.”

They both startled as the door opened and Arro finally came in. They’d been so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn’t heard him outside. He looked back and forth between them for a moment, his expression puzzled. “What?”

“Nothing,” they both said quickly, which made it even less convincing.

Arro rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

“How’d your appointment go?” asked Rangavar, trying to change the subject.

Arro brightened. “Oh, it went well, actually. My weight is still steadily dropping.” He suddenly tucked a thumb into his waistband, tugging it outwards a bit to show them how much spare room there was between his waistline and the waistband. He grinned a bit. “At this rate, I think I’m going to need new pants soon.”

Rangavar was tempted to point out he and Jade would too, but for the opposite reason. Still, he wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Or when to bring it up. He knew he and Jade should discuss that first, but they’d just missed an opportunity. Neither of them necessarily wanted to worry the much fatter dragon. He seemed so… happy.

“Yeah,” Jade laughed awkwardly, saving Rangavar the trouble of coming up with his own response.

Arro was still grinning until his stomach let out an intense gurgle, and it became a blush. “Sorry. I’m gonna need to get by you to the fridge.”

~

It was another few weeks later that Rangavar was rubbing his painfully distended middle as he lay in the center of the bed, where he usually ended up after a meal these days. It had taken Arro forever to feel full earlier, causing him and Jade to stuff themselves to oblivion. Fortunately, Arro and Jade had left soon after, although Rangavar didn’t know where. At least if Arro got hungry again, it wouldn’t be around him. He felt really bad for Jade.

Obviously, it had occurred to both of them to make themselves scarce around the time Arro came home from work, but they couldn’t just avoid him indefinitely; aside from hurting his feelings by making him wonder why, they also lived in the house. And if they were already home when the intense hunger started, well, the thought of running into town for some food to sate the feeling seemed too slow when their stomachs demanded to be fed NOW. Essentially, there was nothing really they could do about it. They were effectively trapped.

When Rangavar sat up, his paunch sat on his lap, an odd feeling for the dragon who had only ever been thin. Curious, he pushed his fingers into the soft ball of lard, pinching and squeezing at the soft padding. He shook his head as he rose off the edge of the bed and pulled on his regular sweatpants, the seams looking more ragged as time went on, and fought his way into a sweatshirt next. His oversized hoodies were probably the only thing large enough to sit over the curve of his belly without riding up like a crop top. He’d put off changing out his wardrobe for as long as possible, but it was becoming hard to avoid.

His gut jiggled over the waistband of his creaking sweats as he made his way down the stairs, prepared to go for a jog. He’d been slacking off the past week or so as a bout of rainy weather passed, but was relieved to see the sun today. He already knew that by the time he came back, Arro and Jade would be in the middle of a binge, and he’d end up joining them. He could just jog until they were presumably done, or go somewhere else entirely, but it was around the same time that he genuinely got hungry as well. The alternative would probably be to dip into town for some fast food, and they definitely did not need to add little excursions like that to their already ridiculous budget.

He sighed. There was no easy way out. As long as Arro took the pills, they were probably going to keep gaining weight.

This jog took slightly longer than usual, Rangavar realizing about halfway through that he was already running low on energy. Had one week of constant eating and no exercise changed his stamina? He felt a bit irked at the thought, and forced himself to keep running until he got home, although he slowed to a brisk walk the second his house came into view around the corner. He convinced himself that part didn’t count.

Of course, as soon as he neared, the intense hunger that started up drew him inside.

The first thing he did was pour himself some water after the unexpectedly exhausting run, but he was already rummaging around in the fridge with his other paw while sipping it.

“A ‘hello’ would be nice.” Arro’s voice radiated amusement from where he was sitting on the couch.

Rangavar lifted his head, briefly banging it on the interior of the fridge, although fortunately his horns took the brunt of the hit. He rubbed the back of his head as he let the door swing shut, grimacing. “Sorry. Hi.”

Jade was already sitting next to the large dragon, looking amused as well as she shoved noodles into her mouth. That looked really good right now. Rangavar’s stomach was growling with Arro’s voracious hunger.

“Grab something to eat and come sit with us.” Arro grinned a bit between bites of a monstrously huge sub he was wolfing down. “We should all cuddle and watch TV or something.” He started to blush a bit, his pink scales turning a rosy color. Or, his ‘pale-red’ scales. Rangavar knew the distinction mattered a lot to the pink dragon. “I mean, hey, I’m not filling up the whole couch.”

Sitting next to him, Jade reached over and gave one of his belly rolls a little squeeze, making him jump. “You mean with all this?” It sent ripples through the rest of his mountainous poundage, and only made him blush harder.

He grabbed at her paws with his free paw. “Don’t!”

“I have to do it while it lasts,” Jade said sagely. She couldn’t keep the corner of her mouth from quirking up a bit.

Arro patted his belly self-consciously. “I have a feeling ‘it’ll last’ for a while,” he admitted. It was true; there was an awful lot of lard caked onto his frame from years of bad habits and binging, and he certainly wouldn’t be seeing his toes anytime soon.

Still, his weight-loss was plainly visible right now; true to his word, he wasn’t taking up nearly as much of the couch as he once had.

Rangavar wandered over and flopped down beside them. Not without bringing a meal, of course.

~

The next morning, while Arro was in the shower downstairs, Rangavar glanced down at himself, rubbing the taut belly sitting on his frontside. As it continued to grow, it was turning into a flabby spare tire. His hips and thighs felt a little wider lately, too, and the squishy adipose over his chest was definitely thicker.

Jade was wearing one of Rangavar’s oversized hoodies while watching him try on one of his bigger ones. They stared into the full length mirror in the bedroom together. Neither of them were having much luck with their clothes. Jade was the most affected, and was slowly slipping into genuinely chunky territory. Rangavar was slightly taller, but getting pretty close himself.

In the mirror, Jade pinched at the rolls sitting over her hips, jiggling the chubby belly that had formed. “Think we should talk to Arro about our, uh… concerns?” She gave another experimental tug on the bottom of the sweatshirt, but it was still riding up a bit over last night’s binge. And the binge an hour before that. And the one before that.

Sighing, Rangavar finally nodded. “I just don’t want him to feel bad or anything, you know? Like, guilty, or something.”

They heard the water turn off downstairs. “Guess at least one of us should go down when he gets out.” Jade reached into the pocket of her straining sweatpants. “Wanna flip a coin to find out who?”

A few minutes later, Rangavar walked downstairs, watching Arro come out of the shower room in his boxers. The pile of lard that made up his body shook and jiggled with every step, but it had noticeably shrank, and Rangavar almost wanted to back out for a second. Was it really such a huge deal that Arro’s diet was affecting everyone else in the house, if it made him truly happy?

Rangavar shook his head. Even if they forgot about the huge grocery bill and the massive amount of money they were about to spend on new clothes, there was also the plain fact that they didn’t want their appetites controlled by Arro’s appetite.

“Hey Arro?” Rangavar intercepted him in the living room, his paws in the pockets of his hoodie to weigh it down so it wouldn’t slide up again. “Can I talk to you about something?”

Arro gave a half-grimace. “Uh-oh, that’s your serious tone,” he chuckled. His expression faded a moment later when Rangavar didn’t respond. “Sorry. Guess it’s your actual serious tone.”

Rangavar sighed. “It’s nothing that serious, just…” He tried to think of how to bring it up. He’d been trying to imagine the way the conversation would go for weeks now, but had never really decided on a way that was best. “How’ve you been feeling about the intense hunger, lately?”

The other dragon seemed confused. “I mean, it hasn’t changed since I started.” He hefted his massive gut in his arms a second later, jiggling the soft adipose. The pile of fat still managed to fill his arms; he’d have to be dieting for a loooong time to lose most of it. Which also meant more diet pills, which meant more hunger pangs. Hunger that Jade and Rangavar would be dealing with just as much. “Why?”

“Just…” Rangavar rolled his shoulders in a little shrug. “I don’t know. I mean, I know you’re fine with it, since it’s working,” he said. “But, it’s affecting Jade and I, too.”

“Oh yeah, the way you’ve been stuffing yourselves along with me?” Arro laughed again, until he realized that Rangavar still wasn’t laughing. “Sorry.”

Rangavar sighed. “Look, we’re both really happy that you’re happy, but… uh, we felt the need to bring it up. Y’know?”

“Afraid of gaining a few more pounds?” Arro snorted. At Rangavar’s expression, he went on, “Yeah, I’ve noticed the way your ass fills out your sweatpants a little more lately. It’s cute.”

“It’s more than just… that,” he said in exasperation. “Look, we’re both happy for you—we’re thrilled that you’re happy. But, we can’t just ignore the fact that your diet is affecting everyone else.” He put up his paws to make finger quotes. “And it’s more than ‘a little more’.”

When Rangavar lifted his paws, Arro glanced at the way his hoodie rose up to reveal a band of pudge, and seemed to actually look at it for the first time. “I guess I see what you mean. I didn’t really think it was getting bad.”

“It’s not bad,” Rangavar said quickly. He and Jade were constantly reminding him that being chunky wasn’t bad. “We just don’t like our appetites dictated by your eating schedule.”

Arro nodded and sighed. “Sorry.”

“We know it’s not your fault.”

Arro glanced down at his own sprawling belly. The front-most bulge that dominated his figure, was still a more than sizable mass. With broad shoulders covered in excess pudge, and massive hips caked with lard sitting over his tree-trunk-like thighs, it was clear that Arro still had a long time to go before being done with the pills. Glancing back at Rangavar, he pressed his fingers together anxiously. “Do you want me to… stop?”

Rangavar opened his mouth to reply, but wasn’t sure of an answer. They wanted Arro to keep doing what made him happy, while also avoiding doing things that made themselves unhappy. Like endless eating when their bodies otherwise said no.

“What if you eat somewhere else?”

They turned to see Jade coming out of the bedroom to join the conversation. Rangavar wondered if Arro might finally notice the way that her own paunch sat over her hips now, and her generous potbelly pushed into the front of her shirt and jiggled with her steps. She shrugged at the look he gave her. “Rangavar and I have been trying to come up with ideas for solutions for weeks. But taking the pills when we’re all here causes us to… well…” She grabbed hem of her shirt slightly and lifted it for emphasis, showing the bottom curve of her overhang.

Arro blushed. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner. I didn’t really think about it.”

Rangavar mulled over Jade’s suggestion. “If you were to stop and eat somewhere before coming home, do you think it would curb the hunger?”

“I mean…” If it were possible, Arro blushed harder. “I already do kind of snack all day. There’s a vending machine at work.”

The three dragons were quiet for a moment, looking at each other, thinking. Finally, Rangavar cleared his throat. “There’s an all-you-can-eat buffet between work and our house.” At the other dragons’ confused glances, he continued, “I mean, for Arro to stop at. He could really fill up. It’s far better than a vending machine.”

Jade and Arro glanced at each other. Slowly, Jade nodded. “That sounds like it could work. But what do you think?”

“Stopping on my way home and gorging, so that I’m less hungry around you two?” Arro took a deep breath. “It’s worth a shot.”

~

It was months later that Rangavar and Jade stood before the buffet with Arro. He’d stuck to the plan, and gone after work every day to satisfy the brunt of his hunger before coming home. The other two dragons had never been, but had decided to plan a special night out. It had been a while since they’d all eaten together. The two smaller dragons didn’t really mind indulging.

Not that they hadn’t still been indulging from time to time at home. Used to eating more calories than before, it had taken a while for them to ween themselves off the increased appetite. And Arro couldn’t avoid feeling hungry forever. So, Rangavar and Jade hadn’t really lost any weight, and maybe even gained a pound or two here and there—based on their own eating choices, though, fortunately. For the most part, the plan had worked.

Although the influx of calories had slowed considerably, Rangavar was very firmly in pudgy territory now, with a spare tire on his front that couldn’t be hidden by baggy clothes, and love handles that wrapped around his sides. His paunch hung over his pants when he finally got them buttoned every morning, and was soft and doughy to the touch, giving way easily beneath his pudgy probing fingers.

Jade was a little wider too, her belly rolls sagging off her middle over her chubby thighs, and her heavy tail swung low when she walked. The crescent of her second chin was more prominent when she smiled, creasing her chubby cheeks. “I can smell the food from out here. I’m sure it’ll be delicious.”

“It is,” Arro agreed. He put a paw on his own stomach when it rumbled. He’d continued to lose weight over time, although the buffet idea had definitely helped him cope with the hunger. His chubby paws still hefted the ball of lard, but he hadn’t really talked about losing any more weight lately. Rangavar wondered if he was finally more confident about his size.

Rangavar yelped when Arro turned to him and pushed a pudgy finger into Rangavar’s own soft middle. “No comments from you?”

“Hey!” Scowling, Rangavar pushed his paw away, although he couldn’t keep a small smile off his muzzle.

Suddenly, Jade’s stomach growled too, and Rangavar’s wasn’t far behind. Arro gestured at the entrance. “Let’s go have a good time.”

Inside, with their hunger awakened, all three dragons made a beeline for the buffet. They ended up stacking their plates high. They were so focused that at first, they didn’t realize a stir in the patrons around them.

“Why is everyone raiding the buffet?” Jade asked a few minutes later, once they’d sat down and begun eating. She and Rangavar watched passively as other dragons, some as large as Arro already, and still others looking like tiny twigs in comparison, made their way to the food and began stacking their own plates with towers of calories.

“It’s a buffet,” Rangavar shrugged, stuffing some greens into his mouth. “It’s what they’re for.”

“I…” Arro glanced around. “Is it… me?”

Once he’d pointed it out, it made perfect sense. Some of the larger customers sitting down with absurd amounts of food didn’t stand out, but seeing smaller people ravenously digging into their food was quite a sight, especially when some of them began to out-eat the more regular customers.

Jade was projecting Arro’s hunger onto the entire restaurant.

She chuckled. “Hopefully they don’t find out. I don’t want to be asked to leave.”

“Hopefully they don’t run out of food,” Arro muttered. As if on cue, his stomach gave a loud growl. He blushed, lowering his head slightly.

Rangavar shrugged while watching two hefty dragons fighting over the last half-tray of mashed potatoes. “I don’t know. I kind of like the chaos.”

“Rangavar!” Jade said in exasperation, but Arro hid a small grin with his paw.

Around them, it was clear that a lot of the thinner customers would be waking up from food comas later with some confusion and quite a bit more meat on their frames, as their guts visibly bloated and several of them loosened their pants. Larger, flabbier dragons actually seemed less affected, probably used to overeating, although they were definitely stuffing themselves at a fast pace.

“You have to admit this is more fascinating than staying home watching sportsball on TV.”

Jade gave Rangavar’s arm a playful smack. “That’s not the point!”

“Maybe after this, we should stop,” Arro chuckled. When Rangavar and Jade both looked at him in confusion, he went on, “I mean, stop with the hunger, the dieting, and get back to normal.”

Jade blinked. “Our plan with the hunger already worked. Just, Rangavar and I haven’t really changed out diets.”

“I don’t mean you.” Arro took a deep breath. “I mean me.”

That didn’t wipe the look of confusion off their faces. “Huh?”

Arro shrugged, looking away awkwardly. He seemed distracted briefly by a small dragon at an adjacent table shoving a stack of sandwiches into his maw so tall that it was shocking his jaw didn’t unhinge. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful to have lost the weight that I’ve lost so far. But I think I’m tired of the incessant hunger.” He finally glanced back and Rangavar and Jade, looking earnest. “And I hate having to stay away from you two to make sure it’s not your problem.”

“You’d quit dieting because you miss us?” Jade teased sweetly.

The corner of Arro’s mouth quirked up. “I mean, since having to come to the buffet all the time, my weight’s sort of plateaued anyway—“

“Aha, the real reason emerges,” Jade snickered. “You’d never give up a diet that works.”

Arro parted his jaws. “Not true!”

Rangavar turned away to hide his grin at their bickering. He was briefly fascinated by a small dragon behind them looking down in surprise to see the middle buttons on his shirt pop off with a full plate of food still in front of him to eat. Beyond him, a romantic pair was feeding each other and giving belly rubs at the same time. He wondered if it was scientifically possible to go from thin to fat in one night. At this rate, some of the patrons here seemed likely.

Jade snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Hello? What do you think?”

Rangavar blinked. “About what?”

“About going home, snuggling, watching a movie. Then tomorrow, all three of us can try diet and exercise in a way that’s healthy.” Jade raised her brows at him. “It’s really what we should have been doing all along.”

Yeah. That sounded reasonable. Rangavar opened his mouth to agree, when Arro suddenly reached over and pinched Rangavar’s side, squishing a fair amount of pudge in his fingers. “And you’re gonna have to do a lot of work to get rid of this gut.”

“Hey!” Rangavar scowled. “This is your fault, you know.”

Arro grinned.

Jade smirked. “I mean, you didn’t have to stuff your face every time Arro was around.”

“Don’t forget to take some credit too,” Arro turned to her, eyeing the flab covering every inch of her body.

“I never pretended otherwise.” She poked herself in the belly, seeing how far the finger sank into the pudge. “At least this time, we’re all going to tackle it together.”

They were interrupted by a crashing sound. They turned to see a massively bloated dragon, already quite on the fat side, had just broken his chair while still stuffing his maw.

The three of them looked back at each other. Jade pushed herself to her feet. “Ready to get out of here?”

Rangavar and Arro nodded.

~

Arro stood before the bespectacled researcher in his office. He put the bottle of pills on the desk. “I think I’m done with the experiment.”

“That’s a shame. You were getting some good results.” The other dragon flipped through some papers on his clipboard. “It looks like your weight has stagnated for a few weeks, but that’s nothing to get discouraged about; it actually happens with most diets, even completely natural ones.”

“I like my progress and think I’m ready to go a more natural route, actually,” Arro explained. “Maybe in your research, you can mention that the side effects are pretty extreme.”

“Thanks. We’re always looking for feedback,” the dragon said sincerely as he scribbled a note to himself. “We’re not done tweaking the formula. And perhaps, in the future, by the time it goes on the market the side effects will have been mostly worked out. You could always try again.”

Arro shrugged. He supposed he could, if he ever wanted. But did he? He thought back to his two mates at home, supporting him while also dealing with his consequences. They’d been awfully accommodating, but after talking with them at the buffet, Arro knew it was time to stop. “Okay.”

He left the office feeling a bit lighter, perhaps both emotionally, and physically. He didn’t really mind exercise all that much; he just needed to keep the dieting under control, which should be easier with Rangavar and Jade on his side to keep healthy food in the house while working off their own pudgy weight. By the time he was home, he felt pretty good overall with whatever may lie in their future.

Opening the door, he was greeted by the sight of Rangavar and Jade curled into the couch, stuffing chips into their mouths. They didn’t seem concerned at the look he gave them while stepping inside. Rangavar waved. “Want to join us?”

Arro stifled a sigh. With mates who didn’t see weight as a bad thing, continuing to lose weight still might not be as easy as he hoped. A moment later, he shook his head to clear his thoughts, and started toward the living room. All of that could wait. Right now, snuggling and sharing belly rubs was far more rewarding.