Running from Corpulence: CHAPTER VI
It's finals month for college, and you know what that means! Everyone must be present to take the most important test of the semester. Meaning, Maz will have to face his fears and reveal himself to the public after months and months of gluttony...
Wonder how that will go...
CHAPTER V <--- PROLOGUE ---> CHAPTER VII
---
Story:
Mazaku © & Artwork:
Cameos:
Attius ©:
Cindermin ©:
Zedra ©:
---
NOVEMBER (Month 6)
Maz let out a long sigh as he shuffled through the doors at the back of the lecture hall, though it did little to calm his nerves.
It had to be answer B, right, no it was C! Augh why’d I change my answer? Oh, wait, no that’s not right either... Maz thought to himself. The drake’s heart raced in his chest even though Geologic Calculus was now officially behind him. Though he had initially been fascinated by the topic when he had signed up for classes earlier in the fall, hoping to knock out a few elective requirements with one class, Geologic Calculus had turned into the bane of his existence especially this past week as he prepared for the final he had just taken.
He had always been good at math but this class had been a different beast, one that had shaken his confidence as he had struggled to keep pace with the rigor that came with college. Though part of Maz knew it just took some time to adjust to the quicker pace and as the semester had gone on he had steadily done better and better, that had meant little for the horror that was finals week. Maz had never spent so much time studying and cramming information that he was convinced he had never seen before into his brain all at once. It didn’t help that all of his class’ exams were on the same day; just his luck.
With one out of the way, he had two more before he could head back home and boy did he want to head home as soon as possible. His bed was at home, as was the couch and his pillows and blankets as all he wanted to do right at that moment was curl up and never venture into the outside world again. He felt stressed, panicked, and above all else, uncomfortable. Though his mind was wandering toward his next exam that was in just a little over an hour, a sharp pang of hunger pierced his stomach.
“No, not now,” Maz muttered under his breath, trying to tug his sweatshirt over the top of his gut just as a loud gurgled erupted from his belly. His face grew hot as he turned side to side seeing if any of his fellow classmates had heard. Even though many were simply walking by him own the hall, a voice in the back of his head was chastising him: of course, they heard! How could they not? Where else would that sound of come from but from the enormous drake standing awkwardly in the hall? It felt like all eyes were on him and that only added to Maz’s stress levels, making his stomach growl even more: a vicious cycle.
A snack, that’s what he needed. Just a little snack to calm his stomach, and his nerves. Even though Maz was aware of the large breakfast he had had just a few hours ago before coming to campus, consisting of nearly a dozen chocolate chip pancakes as well as a bowl of sugar and whip cream covered strawberries, that wasn’t stopping his stomach from growling. He knew he shouldn’t be hungry but he was; he always was when he was stressed recently.
Over the last two weeks, as he had started preparing for his finals exams, he had found himself snacking more and more. When his nerves would start to fray as he worked his way through one chapter of his textbooks after another, he would take a break and eat some leftover pizza in the fridge or finish off an old back of potato chips from the pantry. That taste of sugar, salt, and fat on his tongue gave him just a little moment of relief that he so desperately needed in those moments, though quickly that stress eating became a habit. He chomped through bags up bags of junk food as he set up shop at the dining room table with his books and computer, eating not because he was hungry but to keep him focused; to keep him sane.
Maz knew on a visceral level he shouldn’t have been stuffing his face as the drake had all but given up on maintaining anything close to an exercise regimen, but he couldn’t help himself. It was just so easy to stuff his maw for a quick burst of dopamine, especially because it was proving to be his only relaxing outlet: food. Those endless trays of cookies and their corresponding tubs of cookie dough and all the other junk he shoveled down his gullet quickly found their way across his frame, steadily making the chairs at the dining room table creak louder, the dull thud of his footsteps on the floorboards more apparent on his frequent trips to the fridge, and the soft scrape of his widening tall as he dragged more and more on the ground behind him. He was so focused on his studies that he barely noticed his arms growing heavier and his rear splaying wider in his seats, that was until that morning as he was getting ready to head out for his first exam.
First, he had overslept his alarm and in the mad dash to get dressed he realized that the usual hoodie he wore when venturing outside wouldn’t pull over his head. His plumps hands got stuck in the sleeves and his rounded cheeks squished within the collar; try as he might, he couldn’t get it on. Maz hadn’t known what to do, he was going to be late for the first final of his college career all because he had gotten too fat for even his largest hoodie!
Just as a stress-induced tear welled up in his eye, his brother had knocked on his open door and stepped in. To Maz’s surprise and relief, Vorax was holding up one of his old sweatshirts, one Maz remembered his brother wearing when he was high school. Though normally Maz would have politely rejected his brother’s offer, there was no way he would fit in one of Vorax’s shirts, at that moment, he was desperate. Vorax had tossed him the hoodie and Maz had quickly slipped it on. To his relief, the fabric had pulled easily over his head and his doughy arms had slipped perfectly through the sleeves. The only problem was the bottom of the hoodie, it just barely covered the bottom of his belly as it drooped over the waistband of his tight sweat pants. The moment that Maz took a step forward, the bottom elastic slide up his belly revealing a thick, billowing roll. Though the cool draft against his exposed scales wasn’t ideal, he hadn’t had time to complain or change. He had to scarf down the enormous pancake breakfast Vorax had made for him and bolt out the door!
Now, as Maz stood in the hallway, his hefty breakfast having settled his belly and now likely into his lower intestines, the hoodie was nowhere near able to contain his gut. It let his lower abdominal scales out for all the world to see, including the stretch marks streaking around his sides as the little bumps of cellulite that had recently started accumulating along the bottom of his belly, along with the back of his elbows and knees. The sweatshirt squeezed his moobs and hugged the thick love handles along his sides as making it look like he was wearing shirt meant for a drake three sizes and fifty pounds lighter, though the fabric’s inadequacies were understandable. Fat was hardly the correct word to describe Maz now: he was downright obese!
His belly bulged out of his middle like a beanbag chair and drooped over the tight waistband of his pants, jostling slightly as it bumped up against the top of his tree-trunk thighs. His waist was broad, splaying out nearly three times as wide as it once had, forming a set of wide curves that made his torso look nearly spherical as opposed to the trim frame he had once sported. The fat from his haunches sagged down over his knees compressing them along with his volleyball-sized calves that stretched his socks to their limits while his plump paws filled his shoes nearly to the breaking point. He felt too big for his own body and his clothes, not helped by the fact that just standing with his bulk sagging to the floor was making his paws ache and his knees wobble slightly.
He felt a tap on his side and turned as a bustling student bounced off the side of his rump. As she stumbled forward, the lynx tore her eyes away from her phone and shot Maz a look over her shoulder before continuing on her way. It was at that moment that Maz realized that a stream of people was making a wide berth around him in the hall; he was blocking a wide lane of foot traffic. He took a step back and pressed his rear up against the wall trying to get out of the way, but still, his billowing belly bulged forward into the hall. The drake felt exposed and embarrassed. He nervously clutched his arms over his chest, though he was barely able to do so as he pushed his moobs up and out of the way; it was tough when they were the same size and weight of an offseason watermelon. There was no way to hide his voluminous bulk no matter how hard he tried to merge with the wall behind him.
He could see the bottom of his cheeks in the bottom of his periphery, pressed up as he tried to squeeze his shoulders into the rest of his frame but with little efficacy. He felt big, cumbersome, out of place, and in the way, and yet his belly rumbled again: he was still hungry. He tried to silence it but it growled again and again and again. He needed to get out of there! He needed to find something to eat just to quiet the beast that was starting to rule his life. He’d get something to eat then he could focus for his next exam: Intro to Morals and Ethics.
Maz started wandering down the hall, only after a few steps realizing he had no idea where he was going. This was the first time he had been to campus all semester as he had been taking his courses online; the school had a policy of in-person final exams. Maz didn’t want to pull out his phone and look for a place to grab a snack because that would make it stand out even more that he didn’t belong. Maz held back tears of embarrassment and stress until he spotted a soft glow coming from down the hallway.
Stone Café, that’d work, right? Maz thought as he walked by the backside of fire oven blazing behind a glass barrier, protecting the hallway passersby from the heat. The drake figured he could grab a bagel or something to hold him over until he finished his next exam. Just something small and… As he round the corner, Maz froze as he found himself at the entrance of an enormous cafeteria. Before him were nearly two dozen different eateries, all laid along the edges of a sea of long tables occupied by students. The smell of chocolate donuts filled his nose at the same time the scent of a grease griddle filled his nares and sent a shiver down his spine. His mouth immediately began to salivate as Maz tried to catch himself.
“Just something small, just something small, just something small…” the drake repeated to himself under his breath as he waddled by Common Coffee Grounds, Gideon’s Goods, Gregory’s Grill, and GorGon Pizza.
“Just something small…” Maz tried not to look at the delicious cakes, pastries, sandwiches, burritos, and burgers at the eateries he passed, a nearly impossible task. He spotted The Vegan Yogurt Bar along the far wall and made a beeline for it.
“Just something small, just something small, just something small…!” Maz continued to repeat as his belly rumbled. If he could just make it to the yogurt bar he figured he would be fine, but he never made it there. Before he realized what he was doing, the drake veered into line at Burger Palace. Before he could stop himself he was ordering an extra-large number 3 and trying to ignore the quizzical look on the cashier’s face.
“It’s 9:30, you want a burger?” the red panda confirmed. Maz merely nodded and glanced nervously to the trio of students huddled by the waiting line as they picked up their breakfast sandwiches and coffee. He nervously tugged down on the edges of his sweatshirt; he just felt so hungry… It seemed like he just blinked and he was waddled toward an empty seat at a table, two paper bags in hand. He could barely remember leaving the Burger Palace line and swinging right into the Bob’s Burritotorium and getting a large breakfast burrito, but he could feel the empty tortilla tube stuffed full of sausage and egg bouncing against his sides.
He sat down on the end of a table, his belly pressing into the edge of the plastic tabletop as he slid his splaying rump into place. In a frenzy, he pulled out the burrito, ripped off the wrapping and stuffed a third of it into his maw. Instantly, he felt a sense of relief wash over him as the grease of sausage, the saltiness of the egg, and the crisp flavor of the pico de gallo danced across his tongue. He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh, wiping a tear from his watery eyes as he started to calm down. That was until he opened his eyes again, and happened to glance to his right and saw a bunny wearing headphones ten feet down the table suddenly shift their gaze away. Maz felt his cheeks grow hot.
How had he let himself become this? This feeding machine? This gluttonous bulbous drake? He could barely remember what it was like not having his billowing gut that was crushing his thighs or that sense of deep-seated hunger that always seemed present. It barely felt like his fault that he felt so hungry and felt the urge to just stuff his face while others looked on out of the corners of their eyes. All they saw was a massively obese drake stuffing his face with a burrito and burger at 9:30 in the morning and all Maz wanted to do was tell them that he didn’t use to be like this. He used to be skinny like them, in control of his eating habits like them; able to fit into normal clothes like them. Instead of standing up for himself in fictitious arguments swirling around in his head, he gulped down the rest of the burrito and took out the burger. He sunk his maw into the juicy, greasy bun and tried to push all of those feelings into the back of his mind. He closed his eyes and simply let the flavor of the cheese and sauce wash over him. He let his worries fall away and his stresses fade. He was, for a brief moment, at peace.
Maz didn’t know how long he was sitting there or how long ago he had finished his burger, but he suddenly snapped back to reality when he heard his phone buzzing. He reached into his back pocket, an impressive feat in it of itself that involved compressing layers up layers of fat along his sides as he twisted around, and saw his alarm buzzing: he had ten minutes to make it to his next exam! He had clearly lost himself in his food and time had flown by! He quickly went to stand up from the table but it took him a second to slide his thunderous thighs out from beneath the table. As soon as he stood up, he felt all the grease slosh in his stomach.
Maz could feel his blood pressure rising as he dumped the empty cardboard containers and paper wrapping into the waste bin, the trash having already been dumped down his gullet. He turned to hustle out the door, he could feel all the grease and empty calories sloshing around his stomach. He hustled as quickly as he could but soon felt back to a brisk waddling walk as he felt an ache in his knees; his joints were designed for carrying all this weight so fast! When he eventually burst through the doors of for his next test, his brow and his back were soaked with greasy sweat as his lungs heaved, gasping for air while his legs burned from the relative marathon he had just undertaken; his legs weren’t used to this. He grabbed a copy of the exam from the teaching assistant at the front of the room as he tried to catch his breath and calm his straining heart. He felt exhausted, sweaty, stressed, nervous, and oddly enough, still a little hungry…
~~~~~
*Growl
Quiet! Maz yelled at his own belly. He felt his forehead growing hot as his belly rumbled again. He knew that his neighbors on either side of him could hear his stomach gurgling if the sound of his heavy breaths and the fact that his bulbous sides spilled into their seats weren’t already bothersome enough. He could practically feel their eyes piercing into him. Maz wanted to do nothing else but apologize to them, but he knew that if he even looked in their direction he might be accused of cheating and get kicked out of the exam or worse yet, college itself! Maz felt his heart racing as the nightmare scenario ran through his head before he caught himself and tried to focus again. Still, as he tried to reason through the morality of organ donation, he couldn’t shake the cramped feeling of squeezing into his seat, or the continuous rumbling of his gut, or the pangs of hunger tearing his insides apart.
He was stressed and his body wanted food to compensate. His mind wandered toward what he could eat for lunch after he was done, but yet again he had to catch himself from thinking about thick slices of pizza and enormous bottles of soda and focus again:
Yes, I should…
*GROWL*
…Talk about the role of beneficence…
*RUMBLE*
…And how it relates to…
*GROAN*
…Kidney transplants and…
*GROWL*
*GROWL*
*GROWL*
~~~~~
Maz closed the front door behind him and leaned against it for a second, trying for a second to hold back tears but immediately failing. The drake let out a sob as he pounded his fist into the door frame. That had been without a doubt the worse day of his life! He had never felt so stressed, so embarrassed, felt so fat, so out of place, and felt so dumb. His entire ride home all he could think about was how he had for sure failed all of his exams. Even though he was able to answer all the questions, he just knew that he answered them wrong or the professor would know it was his exam and would dock him for all the ruckus his stomach was making throughout each of his tests. Then he’d fail and maybe be expelled and then he’d…
Maz started hyperventilating, and though he knew he was being loud, he was glad that no else was home; Vorax’s car wasn’t in the driveway. Still, the drake knew he needed to calm down: he needed something to eat, right now! Maz shuffled quickly across the living room and into the kitchen. He flung open the freezer and pulled out a large carton of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and grabbed a larger serving spoon from the utensil drawer. He then made his way to the living room couch, picking up the large bottle of Nutella sitting on the edge of the counter for good measure. His chest heaved as tears continued to drip down his cheeks. He plopped down onto the couch with a heavy thud, causing the frame to creak and groan beneath his weight.
The drake ripped open the lid of the ice cream carton, took a massive scoop of ice cream, and crammed it passed his lips. The sweet and creamy chocolate taste instantly caused a pleasant buzz in the back of his mind, one Maz wanted to consume his entire body and mind. He ate quickly, shoveling one scoop after another into his maw, barely chewing and swallowing in large gulps. He ignored the brain freeze coursing through his head as he ate, and ate, and ate. He could feel a stickiness forming along the corners of his lips and edges of his cheeks from his voracious feasting, but Maz didn’t care: he wanted to forget today ever happened and if that took swallowing a gallon of ice cream in just a few minutes, then so be it. At that moment, he didn’t care, he just wanted that taste of sugar as his tears slowly subsided to mere sniffles.
Vorax stood in the hallway in the shadows, watching as Maz finished his ice cream, got up and grabbed another carton, before going to town on gallon number two. It tugged at his heartstrings that his brother was so upset. That being said, a part of him was glad that Maz’s first response was to go to food for comfort; to find solace in the calories. Vorax remembered a time when his little brother would go on runs to deal with stress, but in Vorax’s eyes, ice cream was a much better option. It signified that all of Vorax’s hard work in getting his brother hooked on sweets and treats again had worked and that maybe he was ready for the next step: full-on gluttony. Vorax knew he shouldn’t push things, getting to this point had taken some time and it was clearly still a soft spot for Maz. Beyond the stresses of school that he knew that Maz was under, Vorax remembered a time long ago when he too had body image issues. It took some personal work to come to terms with his bulk and he knew that was what Maz needed help with now.
Maz stuffed another gulp of ice cream into his maw as he heard the floorboards creak behind him. He turned just as Vorax took a seat on the couch next to him.
“Oh, hey,” Maz said, trying to collect himself and wipe the tears quickly from his eyes. “I didn’t think you were home, your car…” Without saying a word, Vorax leaned over and wrapped his arms around Maz’s shoulders and pulled him in for a hug.
“It’s okay,” Vorax whispered in Maz’s ear. “It’s okay. Everything will be okay.” Vorax pulled back while maintaining his supportive grip on Maz’s shoulders. The two dragons stared face to face. Vorax reached forward and whipped the tears from Maz’s cheeks and eyes.
“You killed it today, Maz,” Vorax said.
“I don’t, *sniff, know…” Maz sputtered.
“Are you kidding me? I’ve seen you studying so hard this whole year and especially these last few weeks. There’s not a doubt in my mind that you slaughtered those exams. I know that you can be hard on yourself, but it’s okay. Everything will be okay.” Vorax leaned in for another tight hug, catching Maz off guard again. He had forgotten just how strong his older brother was at times as his lungs felt like they were collapsing under the girl of his blubbery arms and girthy chest. Still, Maz felt safe in that hug; he felt reassured. Vorax always seemed to know just what to say and what to do to make him feel better.
“*Sniff, thanks…” Maz said, still struggling to find words as his chest spasmed and heaved.
“No problem, bro,” Vorax said. “You’re the biggest, smartest, most badass person I know, you just need to tell yourself that sometimes.” Vorax pulled back again. “You need to start taking pride in yourself and letting yourself be happy with who and what you are. Vorax reached a paw down and slowly began to rub Maz’s stomach. Vorax ran his plump paw along the major crease of Maz’s cascading belly before slowing running his fingers up along the washboard of love handles along his side. He then grabbed a handful of flesh along Maz’s side and kneaded it between his digits. Instinctively, Maz couldn’t help but flex his deeply buried abs, an action that did next to nothing as Vorax continued to massage his flab; moving that soft outer layer that Maz had long since lost control of himself.
Though the motion reminded Maz of just how bulbous and bloated he had become as of late, he couldn’t deny, the jostling and sloshing of his pudge beneath his brother’s paws felt nice; like Vorax was massaging his cares and worries away. He felt comfortable. Safe. Content. Better. As his tears began to dry, Vorax pushed his elbow up, pressing the edge of his ice cream laden spoon to his lips. Before Maz realized what he was doing, opened open and let the mouthful slide into his maw, the sweet sugary taste adding to that dull pleasurable tingle of the massage filling his mind; it felt nice. Maz closed his eyes as he stuffed another spoonful of ice cream into his maw, then another, and another all while Vorax looked on, a subtle satisfied smile plastered on his face.
Wonder how that will go...
CHAPTER V <--- PROLOGUE ---> CHAPTER VII
---
Story:
Mazaku © & Artwork:
Cameos:
Attius ©:
Cindermin ©:
Zedra ©:
---
NOVEMBER (Month 6)
Maz let out a long sigh as he shuffled through the doors at the back of the lecture hall, though it did little to calm his nerves.
It had to be answer B, right, no it was C! Augh why’d I change my answer? Oh, wait, no that’s not right either... Maz thought to himself. The drake’s heart raced in his chest even though Geologic Calculus was now officially behind him. Though he had initially been fascinated by the topic when he had signed up for classes earlier in the fall, hoping to knock out a few elective requirements with one class, Geologic Calculus had turned into the bane of his existence especially this past week as he prepared for the final he had just taken.
He had always been good at math but this class had been a different beast, one that had shaken his confidence as he had struggled to keep pace with the rigor that came with college. Though part of Maz knew it just took some time to adjust to the quicker pace and as the semester had gone on he had steadily done better and better, that had meant little for the horror that was finals week. Maz had never spent so much time studying and cramming information that he was convinced he had never seen before into his brain all at once. It didn’t help that all of his class’ exams were on the same day; just his luck.
With one out of the way, he had two more before he could head back home and boy did he want to head home as soon as possible. His bed was at home, as was the couch and his pillows and blankets as all he wanted to do right at that moment was curl up and never venture into the outside world again. He felt stressed, panicked, and above all else, uncomfortable. Though his mind was wandering toward his next exam that was in just a little over an hour, a sharp pang of hunger pierced his stomach.
“No, not now,” Maz muttered under his breath, trying to tug his sweatshirt over the top of his gut just as a loud gurgled erupted from his belly. His face grew hot as he turned side to side seeing if any of his fellow classmates had heard. Even though many were simply walking by him own the hall, a voice in the back of his head was chastising him: of course, they heard! How could they not? Where else would that sound of come from but from the enormous drake standing awkwardly in the hall? It felt like all eyes were on him and that only added to Maz’s stress levels, making his stomach growl even more: a vicious cycle.
A snack, that’s what he needed. Just a little snack to calm his stomach, and his nerves. Even though Maz was aware of the large breakfast he had had just a few hours ago before coming to campus, consisting of nearly a dozen chocolate chip pancakes as well as a bowl of sugar and whip cream covered strawberries, that wasn’t stopping his stomach from growling. He knew he shouldn’t be hungry but he was; he always was when he was stressed recently.
Over the last two weeks, as he had started preparing for his finals exams, he had found himself snacking more and more. When his nerves would start to fray as he worked his way through one chapter of his textbooks after another, he would take a break and eat some leftover pizza in the fridge or finish off an old back of potato chips from the pantry. That taste of sugar, salt, and fat on his tongue gave him just a little moment of relief that he so desperately needed in those moments, though quickly that stress eating became a habit. He chomped through bags up bags of junk food as he set up shop at the dining room table with his books and computer, eating not because he was hungry but to keep him focused; to keep him sane.
Maz knew on a visceral level he shouldn’t have been stuffing his face as the drake had all but given up on maintaining anything close to an exercise regimen, but he couldn’t help himself. It was just so easy to stuff his maw for a quick burst of dopamine, especially because it was proving to be his only relaxing outlet: food. Those endless trays of cookies and their corresponding tubs of cookie dough and all the other junk he shoveled down his gullet quickly found their way across his frame, steadily making the chairs at the dining room table creak louder, the dull thud of his footsteps on the floorboards more apparent on his frequent trips to the fridge, and the soft scrape of his widening tall as he dragged more and more on the ground behind him. He was so focused on his studies that he barely noticed his arms growing heavier and his rear splaying wider in his seats, that was until that morning as he was getting ready to head out for his first exam.
First, he had overslept his alarm and in the mad dash to get dressed he realized that the usual hoodie he wore when venturing outside wouldn’t pull over his head. His plumps hands got stuck in the sleeves and his rounded cheeks squished within the collar; try as he might, he couldn’t get it on. Maz hadn’t known what to do, he was going to be late for the first final of his college career all because he had gotten too fat for even his largest hoodie!
Just as a stress-induced tear welled up in his eye, his brother had knocked on his open door and stepped in. To Maz’s surprise and relief, Vorax was holding up one of his old sweatshirts, one Maz remembered his brother wearing when he was high school. Though normally Maz would have politely rejected his brother’s offer, there was no way he would fit in one of Vorax’s shirts, at that moment, he was desperate. Vorax had tossed him the hoodie and Maz had quickly slipped it on. To his relief, the fabric had pulled easily over his head and his doughy arms had slipped perfectly through the sleeves. The only problem was the bottom of the hoodie, it just barely covered the bottom of his belly as it drooped over the waistband of his tight sweat pants. The moment that Maz took a step forward, the bottom elastic slide up his belly revealing a thick, billowing roll. Though the cool draft against his exposed scales wasn’t ideal, he hadn’t had time to complain or change. He had to scarf down the enormous pancake breakfast Vorax had made for him and bolt out the door!
Now, as Maz stood in the hallway, his hefty breakfast having settled his belly and now likely into his lower intestines, the hoodie was nowhere near able to contain his gut. It let his lower abdominal scales out for all the world to see, including the stretch marks streaking around his sides as the little bumps of cellulite that had recently started accumulating along the bottom of his belly, along with the back of his elbows and knees. The sweatshirt squeezed his moobs and hugged the thick love handles along his sides as making it look like he was wearing shirt meant for a drake three sizes and fifty pounds lighter, though the fabric’s inadequacies were understandable. Fat was hardly the correct word to describe Maz now: he was downright obese!
His belly bulged out of his middle like a beanbag chair and drooped over the tight waistband of his pants, jostling slightly as it bumped up against the top of his tree-trunk thighs. His waist was broad, splaying out nearly three times as wide as it once had, forming a set of wide curves that made his torso look nearly spherical as opposed to the trim frame he had once sported. The fat from his haunches sagged down over his knees compressing them along with his volleyball-sized calves that stretched his socks to their limits while his plump paws filled his shoes nearly to the breaking point. He felt too big for his own body and his clothes, not helped by the fact that just standing with his bulk sagging to the floor was making his paws ache and his knees wobble slightly.
He felt a tap on his side and turned as a bustling student bounced off the side of his rump. As she stumbled forward, the lynx tore her eyes away from her phone and shot Maz a look over her shoulder before continuing on her way. It was at that moment that Maz realized that a stream of people was making a wide berth around him in the hall; he was blocking a wide lane of foot traffic. He took a step back and pressed his rear up against the wall trying to get out of the way, but still, his billowing belly bulged forward into the hall. The drake felt exposed and embarrassed. He nervously clutched his arms over his chest, though he was barely able to do so as he pushed his moobs up and out of the way; it was tough when they were the same size and weight of an offseason watermelon. There was no way to hide his voluminous bulk no matter how hard he tried to merge with the wall behind him.
He could see the bottom of his cheeks in the bottom of his periphery, pressed up as he tried to squeeze his shoulders into the rest of his frame but with little efficacy. He felt big, cumbersome, out of place, and in the way, and yet his belly rumbled again: he was still hungry. He tried to silence it but it growled again and again and again. He needed to get out of there! He needed to find something to eat just to quiet the beast that was starting to rule his life. He’d get something to eat then he could focus for his next exam: Intro to Morals and Ethics.
Maz started wandering down the hall, only after a few steps realizing he had no idea where he was going. This was the first time he had been to campus all semester as he had been taking his courses online; the school had a policy of in-person final exams. Maz didn’t want to pull out his phone and look for a place to grab a snack because that would make it stand out even more that he didn’t belong. Maz held back tears of embarrassment and stress until he spotted a soft glow coming from down the hallway.
Stone Café, that’d work, right? Maz thought as he walked by the backside of fire oven blazing behind a glass barrier, protecting the hallway passersby from the heat. The drake figured he could grab a bagel or something to hold him over until he finished his next exam. Just something small and… As he round the corner, Maz froze as he found himself at the entrance of an enormous cafeteria. Before him were nearly two dozen different eateries, all laid along the edges of a sea of long tables occupied by students. The smell of chocolate donuts filled his nose at the same time the scent of a grease griddle filled his nares and sent a shiver down his spine. His mouth immediately began to salivate as Maz tried to catch himself.
“Just something small, just something small, just something small…” the drake repeated to himself under his breath as he waddled by Common Coffee Grounds, Gideon’s Goods, Gregory’s Grill, and GorGon Pizza.
“Just something small…” Maz tried not to look at the delicious cakes, pastries, sandwiches, burritos, and burgers at the eateries he passed, a nearly impossible task. He spotted The Vegan Yogurt Bar along the far wall and made a beeline for it.
“Just something small, just something small, just something small…!” Maz continued to repeat as his belly rumbled. If he could just make it to the yogurt bar he figured he would be fine, but he never made it there. Before he realized what he was doing, the drake veered into line at Burger Palace. Before he could stop himself he was ordering an extra-large number 3 and trying to ignore the quizzical look on the cashier’s face.
“It’s 9:30, you want a burger?” the red panda confirmed. Maz merely nodded and glanced nervously to the trio of students huddled by the waiting line as they picked up their breakfast sandwiches and coffee. He nervously tugged down on the edges of his sweatshirt; he just felt so hungry… It seemed like he just blinked and he was waddled toward an empty seat at a table, two paper bags in hand. He could barely remember leaving the Burger Palace line and swinging right into the Bob’s Burritotorium and getting a large breakfast burrito, but he could feel the empty tortilla tube stuffed full of sausage and egg bouncing against his sides.
He sat down on the end of a table, his belly pressing into the edge of the plastic tabletop as he slid his splaying rump into place. In a frenzy, he pulled out the burrito, ripped off the wrapping and stuffed a third of it into his maw. Instantly, he felt a sense of relief wash over him as the grease of sausage, the saltiness of the egg, and the crisp flavor of the pico de gallo danced across his tongue. He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh, wiping a tear from his watery eyes as he started to calm down. That was until he opened his eyes again, and happened to glance to his right and saw a bunny wearing headphones ten feet down the table suddenly shift their gaze away. Maz felt his cheeks grow hot.
How had he let himself become this? This feeding machine? This gluttonous bulbous drake? He could barely remember what it was like not having his billowing gut that was crushing his thighs or that sense of deep-seated hunger that always seemed present. It barely felt like his fault that he felt so hungry and felt the urge to just stuff his face while others looked on out of the corners of their eyes. All they saw was a massively obese drake stuffing his face with a burrito and burger at 9:30 in the morning and all Maz wanted to do was tell them that he didn’t use to be like this. He used to be skinny like them, in control of his eating habits like them; able to fit into normal clothes like them. Instead of standing up for himself in fictitious arguments swirling around in his head, he gulped down the rest of the burrito and took out the burger. He sunk his maw into the juicy, greasy bun and tried to push all of those feelings into the back of his mind. He closed his eyes and simply let the flavor of the cheese and sauce wash over him. He let his worries fall away and his stresses fade. He was, for a brief moment, at peace.
Maz didn’t know how long he was sitting there or how long ago he had finished his burger, but he suddenly snapped back to reality when he heard his phone buzzing. He reached into his back pocket, an impressive feat in it of itself that involved compressing layers up layers of fat along his sides as he twisted around, and saw his alarm buzzing: he had ten minutes to make it to his next exam! He had clearly lost himself in his food and time had flown by! He quickly went to stand up from the table but it took him a second to slide his thunderous thighs out from beneath the table. As soon as he stood up, he felt all the grease slosh in his stomach.
Maz could feel his blood pressure rising as he dumped the empty cardboard containers and paper wrapping into the waste bin, the trash having already been dumped down his gullet. He turned to hustle out the door, he could feel all the grease and empty calories sloshing around his stomach. He hustled as quickly as he could but soon felt back to a brisk waddling walk as he felt an ache in his knees; his joints were designed for carrying all this weight so fast! When he eventually burst through the doors of for his next test, his brow and his back were soaked with greasy sweat as his lungs heaved, gasping for air while his legs burned from the relative marathon he had just undertaken; his legs weren’t used to this. He grabbed a copy of the exam from the teaching assistant at the front of the room as he tried to catch his breath and calm his straining heart. He felt exhausted, sweaty, stressed, nervous, and oddly enough, still a little hungry…
~~~~~
*Growl
Quiet! Maz yelled at his own belly. He felt his forehead growing hot as his belly rumbled again. He knew that his neighbors on either side of him could hear his stomach gurgling if the sound of his heavy breaths and the fact that his bulbous sides spilled into their seats weren’t already bothersome enough. He could practically feel their eyes piercing into him. Maz wanted to do nothing else but apologize to them, but he knew that if he even looked in their direction he might be accused of cheating and get kicked out of the exam or worse yet, college itself! Maz felt his heart racing as the nightmare scenario ran through his head before he caught himself and tried to focus again. Still, as he tried to reason through the morality of organ donation, he couldn’t shake the cramped feeling of squeezing into his seat, or the continuous rumbling of his gut, or the pangs of hunger tearing his insides apart.
He was stressed and his body wanted food to compensate. His mind wandered toward what he could eat for lunch after he was done, but yet again he had to catch himself from thinking about thick slices of pizza and enormous bottles of soda and focus again:
Yes, I should…
*GROWL*
…Talk about the role of beneficence…
*RUMBLE*
…And how it relates to…
*GROAN*
…Kidney transplants and…
*GROWL*
*GROWL*
*GROWL*
~~~~~
Maz closed the front door behind him and leaned against it for a second, trying for a second to hold back tears but immediately failing. The drake let out a sob as he pounded his fist into the door frame. That had been without a doubt the worse day of his life! He had never felt so stressed, so embarrassed, felt so fat, so out of place, and felt so dumb. His entire ride home all he could think about was how he had for sure failed all of his exams. Even though he was able to answer all the questions, he just knew that he answered them wrong or the professor would know it was his exam and would dock him for all the ruckus his stomach was making throughout each of his tests. Then he’d fail and maybe be expelled and then he’d…
Maz started hyperventilating, and though he knew he was being loud, he was glad that no else was home; Vorax’s car wasn’t in the driveway. Still, the drake knew he needed to calm down: he needed something to eat, right now! Maz shuffled quickly across the living room and into the kitchen. He flung open the freezer and pulled out a large carton of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and grabbed a larger serving spoon from the utensil drawer. He then made his way to the living room couch, picking up the large bottle of Nutella sitting on the edge of the counter for good measure. His chest heaved as tears continued to drip down his cheeks. He plopped down onto the couch with a heavy thud, causing the frame to creak and groan beneath his weight.
The drake ripped open the lid of the ice cream carton, took a massive scoop of ice cream, and crammed it passed his lips. The sweet and creamy chocolate taste instantly caused a pleasant buzz in the back of his mind, one Maz wanted to consume his entire body and mind. He ate quickly, shoveling one scoop after another into his maw, barely chewing and swallowing in large gulps. He ignored the brain freeze coursing through his head as he ate, and ate, and ate. He could feel a stickiness forming along the corners of his lips and edges of his cheeks from his voracious feasting, but Maz didn’t care: he wanted to forget today ever happened and if that took swallowing a gallon of ice cream in just a few minutes, then so be it. At that moment, he didn’t care, he just wanted that taste of sugar as his tears slowly subsided to mere sniffles.
Vorax stood in the hallway in the shadows, watching as Maz finished his ice cream, got up and grabbed another carton, before going to town on gallon number two. It tugged at his heartstrings that his brother was so upset. That being said, a part of him was glad that Maz’s first response was to go to food for comfort; to find solace in the calories. Vorax remembered a time when his little brother would go on runs to deal with stress, but in Vorax’s eyes, ice cream was a much better option. It signified that all of Vorax’s hard work in getting his brother hooked on sweets and treats again had worked and that maybe he was ready for the next step: full-on gluttony. Vorax knew he shouldn’t push things, getting to this point had taken some time and it was clearly still a soft spot for Maz. Beyond the stresses of school that he knew that Maz was under, Vorax remembered a time long ago when he too had body image issues. It took some personal work to come to terms with his bulk and he knew that was what Maz needed help with now.
Maz stuffed another gulp of ice cream into his maw as he heard the floorboards creak behind him. He turned just as Vorax took a seat on the couch next to him.
“Oh, hey,” Maz said, trying to collect himself and wipe the tears quickly from his eyes. “I didn’t think you were home, your car…” Without saying a word, Vorax leaned over and wrapped his arms around Maz’s shoulders and pulled him in for a hug.
“It’s okay,” Vorax whispered in Maz’s ear. “It’s okay. Everything will be okay.” Vorax pulled back while maintaining his supportive grip on Maz’s shoulders. The two dragons stared face to face. Vorax reached forward and whipped the tears from Maz’s cheeks and eyes.
“You killed it today, Maz,” Vorax said.
“I don’t, *sniff, know…” Maz sputtered.
“Are you kidding me? I’ve seen you studying so hard this whole year and especially these last few weeks. There’s not a doubt in my mind that you slaughtered those exams. I know that you can be hard on yourself, but it’s okay. Everything will be okay.” Vorax leaned in for another tight hug, catching Maz off guard again. He had forgotten just how strong his older brother was at times as his lungs felt like they were collapsing under the girl of his blubbery arms and girthy chest. Still, Maz felt safe in that hug; he felt reassured. Vorax always seemed to know just what to say and what to do to make him feel better.
“*Sniff, thanks…” Maz said, still struggling to find words as his chest spasmed and heaved.
“No problem, bro,” Vorax said. “You’re the biggest, smartest, most badass person I know, you just need to tell yourself that sometimes.” Vorax pulled back again. “You need to start taking pride in yourself and letting yourself be happy with who and what you are. Vorax reached a paw down and slowly began to rub Maz’s stomach. Vorax ran his plump paw along the major crease of Maz’s cascading belly before slowing running his fingers up along the washboard of love handles along his side. He then grabbed a handful of flesh along Maz’s side and kneaded it between his digits. Instinctively, Maz couldn’t help but flex his deeply buried abs, an action that did next to nothing as Vorax continued to massage his flab; moving that soft outer layer that Maz had long since lost control of himself.
Though the motion reminded Maz of just how bulbous and bloated he had become as of late, he couldn’t deny, the jostling and sloshing of his pudge beneath his brother’s paws felt nice; like Vorax was massaging his cares and worries away. He felt comfortable. Safe. Content. Better. As his tears began to dry, Vorax pushed his elbow up, pressing the edge of his ice cream laden spoon to his lips. Before Maz realized what he was doing, opened open and let the mouthful slide into his maw, the sweet sugary taste adding to that dull pleasurable tingle of the massage filling his mind; it felt nice. Maz closed his eyes as he stuffed another spoonful of ice cream into his maw, then another, and another all while Vorax looked on, a subtle satisfied smile plastered on his face.
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fat Furs
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Multiple characters
Size 1280 x 853px
Even I've gotta reveal my chunky self to the public when I go to school. It makes me nervous.
Omg! He got so huge and sexy! Just show off your pride!
wish i could get my friend to be body positive about his gaining instead of resisting it so much
phenomenal job, thanks for the cameo
phenomenal job, thanks for the cameo
*Hugs and gives you a tissue* It’s OK Maz I know what it’s like to feel out of place you’re not alone. Just remember you got friends and a brother who cares about you and that’s all that matters. No matter what size you are you’re still awesome.
Awesome chapter by the way and I’m looking forward to the next chapter since it comes out a couple days after my birthday.
Awesome chapter by the way and I’m looking forward to the next chapter since it comes out a couple days after my birthday.
Awwww, Thanks Rel. You are such a nice guy~ I hope you enjoy this as a belated birthday present!
Maz could use some big college friends to help him feel more comfortable with his immensively sized body~
Heh, perhaps, but I'd probably influence that body of his to go way beyond in all directions~ :3
Once Maz realizes his size is a strength no one will snicker at him and remain unsmushed.
Not gonna lie, if you keep your fursona fat, this might be the biggest (pardon the pun) spiel someone has made just to announce a fursona Redesign.
I love it.
I love it.
Hahahaha, is that so? I guess I have never seen a story with a sona's redesign so I guess it may be a contender.
And in regards of Maz staying fat. You'll have to keep reading to find out~
And in regards of Maz staying fat. You'll have to keep reading to find out~
Oooh cliffhanger, nice one.
Personally I think I’d be more invested if more people did that but to be honest I like the idea of Maz and his brother becoming kind of like IndigoRho’s Arctic Fox characters Nathan and Noah, a power bro team coming together to fatten themselves and others up.
Personally I think I’d be more invested if more people did that but to be honest I like the idea of Maz and his brother becoming kind of like IndigoRho’s Arctic Fox characters Nathan and Noah, a power bro team coming together to fatten themselves and others up.
I am so glad you like it like that! Such an honor! I am so glad you are a reader of this story. I hope you enjoy the rest~
Well, that’s up to you and how you handle it, I’ll probably leave a comment on the finale if you’d care to read it.
Until then, keep doing what you’re doing.
Until then, keep doing what you’re doing.
well for starters, the way how the story tells in detail how his feeling, how mush he feels so ashamed and humiliated of his over-sized body and his new erg to eat, the story describes his waist ''splaying out'' and that he was ''sagging to the floor'' and the he ''felt too big for his own body and his clothes'' and ''felt big, cumbersome, out of place, and in the way'' . when he was in the cafe, he got a burrito and a burger and then the story seas seas this . ''All they saw was a massively obese drake stuffing his face with a burrito and burger at 9:30 in the morning and all Maz wanted to do was tell them that he didn’t use to be like this. He used to be skinny like them, in control of his eating habits like them; able to fit into normal clothes like them. Instead of standing up for himself in fictitious arguments swirling around in his head, he gulped down the rest of the burrito and took out the burger. He sunk his maw into the juicy, greasy bun and tried to push all of those feelings into the back of his mind''. dame, that's heart braking. then he after his exams he went home and chukd on ice-crime which is really hard to read (i can't write more meed to go to bed)
It'll all come around in the end. With this story (and with plokishmok3's permission) we wanted to add some realism to this as this is not always sunshine and rainbows. This is the journey of finding himself, there will be obstacles he'll hit like this chapter~
Perfect body doesn't exis... Well it is here. Gosh, I hate myself for returning to fat stuff once again... but still I love the art and the story
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