It took a bit of coaxing from a friend to make Sarge come to this buffet. “Grand Surprises” was its name. As he walked through the door, he couldn’t help but notice how quiet the place was. He was certain the green, neon sign out front said, “OPEN”. As he walked up to the front desk, he could smell an array of tantalizing smells. Meats, vegetables, breads, all sorts of desserts…. The place was certainly open. Why else would they cook so much food?

Looking back toward the entrance, Sarge noticed a rather hefty-looking mannequin. The plastic material was gray in color, something Sarge thought was weird… given the mannequin wasn’t wearing any clothes. It just stood there with a big sign plastered to the orb-of-a-belly it had. The sign read, “This could be you!” Scoffing, Sarge place a hand on his belly, comparing his midriff with the mannequin’s. He rubbed it generously, feeling the fur press against the hard wall of muscle he had acquired over the past few years. He’d have to come here every day for an entire year to get that fat.

“Table for one?” a friendly voice asked, shaking Sarge out of his thoughts.

“Huh? Oh! Yeah! One, please.” He turned his head to see a rather slender man. He wore a burgundy, button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The black pants seemed to match the color of his hair, a neatly trimmed and styled structure of onyx.

The man pressed a few buttons on the cash register. “That’ll be twenty-two dollars. Did you want to add the big-guy discount?”

“Big guy discount?” Sarge asked, looking at himself. “Last I checked, I wasn’t very… big.”

The man chuckled as he rested an elbow on the counter. “It’s more of a, ‘if you can eat X amount of food, you get ten dollars off,’ kinda deal. We offer it to all our customers. Of course, if you can’t eat the suggested amount, you’ll pay full price.”

“I don’t see any real downside to that, so sure?” Sarge said, pulling out his wallet to pay the fee. Once the card was accepted, the man held up a stamper. Though a bit confused, Sarge held out his hand. The man quickly pressed the stamper down on Sarge’s hand, staining the fur on the back of his hand a dark blue coloration. He expected to see a smiley face but instead saw a bunch of intricate lines that formed a flower-like pattern. “A lily?” he asked.

“Somethin’ like that. I don’t really know. I pretend it has magical powers that allows people to eat more!” The man chortled again as he walked around the counter. “Charlie, by the way.”

“Sarge,” Sarge gave a nod. He let Charlie take him to a seat at the far end of the buffet. As they walked, Sarge noticed a distinct lack of other customers in the seating area to his left. As far as he knew, he was the only one here. This confused him even more, as he noticed plates upon plates of different cuisines lining the counter tops to his right. He felt his stomach growl again. It was surprisingly loud to him.

“Here’s your seat, Sarge. Feel free to take any food when you’re ready. Seems your receipt is saying… ‘at least four pounds of food’.” The man looked at the receipt before holding it out to Sarge. “Sorry, pal. That’s one of the harder goals to meet. I hope you’ll manage alright, though?”

“Probably not, but it’ll be fun to try, I suppose. Been meaning to treat myself!” Sarge gave a nervous laugh. Four pounds? That was more than he could stomach!

“Well, I’ll come by to check in you in ten minutes, alright? Would you like a drink?” Charlie asked.

“Water, please,” Sarge said with a quick nod. “I’m gonna grab food now.”

“Of course,” Charlie nodded. Seeing as Sarge didn’t take the receipt, he placed it on the table before walking off, leaving Sarge to his own devices.

Taking a deep breath, Sarge cracked his knuckles. He knew exactly where he was going to start – the salad table. One of his favorite foods, and one of the ways he would determine if a buffet was worth it or not was based on their salads. To his enjoyment, this buffet did not seem stingy. Collecting a great amount of salad components, Sarge managed to fully fill the plate he had picked up at the counter. When he made it back to his table, he had no second thoughts and immediately began scarfing down the delicious array of leafy greens, eggs, broccoli, pasta, and ranch he had meticulously put together.

Satisfied with his choice, Sarge patted his stomach, causing a belch to escape from his mouth. He estimated the weight of that salad was only around a half a pound at best. Though he wanted to get more, he knew the salad would fill him up quickly. Hesitating on where to go next, Sarge stepped out of his seat. Letting his nose guide him, Sarge smelled his way to the part of the buffet containing foods from different cultures. Most places he went to would usually only have Chinese and Mexican-styled dishes, but this buffet seemed to contain dishes from almost every continent.

Sure, there were a lot of foods he couldn’t pronounce, but that didn’t stop him from getting a small portion of each food to sample. Different styles of chicken, pastas, pastries, veggies, and… mystery dishes… quickly filled up his plate. Trying to save himself from taking two trips, Sarge grabbed another plate and filled it up with the remainder of the food from across the counter. Satisfied with his pickings, Sarge lifted his plates and walked back to his table, estimating the weight to be around three pounds on its own.

“This should be enough,” Sarge said, immediately sitting down and grabbing a chocolate-filled croissant. He scarfed it down hungrily, feeling his tail wag as he did so. He then grabbed a soft-shelled taco he put together, downing it within moments. His mouth salivated with every bite of this food. Its tantalizing flavors made him excited to eat more and more.

Sarge was half-way through the second plate of food when his bliss of eating was suddenly cut short. He had just scarfed down a deviled egg when he felt his body protest. Taking a shallow breath, Sarge looked down at his belly, realizing it was sticking out a bit. He was bloated. It had been a while since he attained this sensation.

“Urk,” he said, slowly lowering his hands to unbutton his pants so they wouldn’t restrict his midriff. “Too much food… but I didn’t even hit four pounds!” Whining, Sarge began to rub his belly as he looked down at the remaining bits of food on his plate. If he could finish it off, he knew he was a shoe-in to get that discount… but he felt he couldn’t.

“Everything going well, Sarge?” Charlie asked, causing Sarge to jump in surprise. He hadn’t noticed the man walk up next to him.

“Ahhh, yeah! I ate too much, I think. I feel so… bloated,” Sarge said, gesturing to his gut. “See that? It’s distended. I don’t think I quite hit the four pound mark, though.”

“A shame,” Charlie said, looking down to where Sarge had gestured. “I may be able to help, actually. Though, I do need your permission.”

“Permission? Permission for what?” Sarge asked.

“Permission to use a massaging technique I learned. Helps your stomach empty out so you can eat more.” A smile appeared on Charlie’s face. Sarge swore it looked a bit devious.

“I… uh… you’d wanna help me?” Sarge asked. “What do I do? Take off my shirt or somethin’?”

“Oh, no. Just requires you relax. You can hold up your shirt if you’d like. Makes the massage more affective,” Charlie said. “Again, this is up to you. It is a special our buffet offers for those trying to do the ‘fat man’s eating challenge’.”

“You really love using your synonyms for someone being overweight, huh?” Sarge managed to huff out. He held up his shirt, revealing the cream and brown fur of his belly. “So like… what’s the fat man’s challenge?”

“May I have your name for the records? Giving me your name now would upgrade you to the Fat Man’s Eating Challenge,” Charlie asked, seeming to avoid the question.

Sarge wanted to think on it more, but his churning stomach did the talking for him. “Yeah, sure, go ahead… erm. Sorry, my name’s Sarge,” he belted out with eyes closed, followed by a suddenly loud burp.

The moment Sarge finished his burp, he felt a set of hands press against his belly. They were firm and quick as they rubbed up and down on his midriff. It felt good… impossibly good. Sarge found himself only focusing on the belly rub. Being a werewolf, he knew he had a predisposition for enjoying belly rubs, but this belly rub felt abnormally good. He started to zone in and out of consciousness, lulled by the rhythmic motion of Charlie’s hands on his belly.

(Part 1 of 6)

Artwork/Story/Characters ©  pikminpedia Me

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