Indigo held out the book to Sarge. He smiled nervously as he looked at the werewolf in front of him. "Happy birthday, Sarge! I got you a book 'cuz I know you like reading!"

Sarge smiled and picked up the book. "Oh cool, thanks, Indigo! I suppose I can give the first chapter a read." Sarge snickered and patted his belly. "Was gonna relax and snack on some cake, anyway."

Indigo looked down at Sarge's abs and felt his heart flutter when he saw the shirtless werewolf tease at both his abs AND eating food. "I suppose I should let you get to reading?"

"You can stay for cake if you'd like, Indigo! I... made a lot of cake but forgot I didn't even plan a party," Sarge said as he looked at the book's cover. "The Cursed Book?"

Indigo nodded. "Yeah! It's a story about a werewolf who's quite adventurous! Dunno what the title's for, but I feel it's later on in the book." Knowing that he was invited to stay, Indigo decided to sit down on Sarge's couch. He watched as Sarge opened up the book and began to read it aloud. It seemed Sarge was already enamored by the book as he couldn't take his eyes off it while he sat down on a chair nearby.
_____

Sarge continued to read the book. He swore he had already gone past chapter two by this point, but the more he read the book, the more it seemed to sync up with his life. It was almost like the book was a biography!

Sarge looked up at Indigo. When the white werewolf noticed his stare, Sarge spoke up. "This book... it sounds almost like a biography of myself."

Indigo squinted his eyes and tilted his head, adjusting his relaxed position to a more attentive one. "Really? Read it aloud! I'm... kinda curious now."

Sarge cleared his throat. "'As a teenager, the werewolf met a witch. A minor altercation ensued. Resulting from this, the werewolf found he was cursed by the witch to be lazy.'"

Indigo snorted. "Ain't that the truth! I mean, maybe it isn't much of a gut, but you've sure kept that small pot belly of yours since you were a teenager!" Indigo pointed at Sarge's midriff.

Rolling his eyes, Sarge patted his belly, feeling the soft layer of fat he had accumulated over a decade ago. It wasn't so bad being lazy... it just made it harder to want to do things -- and this small belly pudge was just a result of that!

Indigo leaned back. "Keep reading!"

Sarge continued. "'I cannot have an annoying creature like you mess with my plans! So a belly you'll have - as you clearly aren't smart enough to stop me!'" Sarge scratched his head. "I beg to differ!" Scoffing, Sarge looked at Indigo. "I feel I'm plenty gooder at being smart!"

"You... wanna word that differently?" Indigo cocked his head to the side. "You never really were much for your grammar, big guy." Teasingly, Indigo stuck his tongue out and gestured to Sarge's belly. "Lazy and trouble with speaking... so far this sounds pretty accurate for you!"

Sarge sighed. Looking down at his belly, he could see it was overlapping his pants right now. He'd needed a new pair but neglected to do so for over a year. Turns out the witch's curse had made him lazy enough to grow a sizeable pot belly. Ignoring the pants problem, Sarge continued. "It only took a month for the witch's curse to show. Because the werewolf wasn't smart to begin with," Sarge felt a jarring yank in his head after reading that sentence, "he never thought to break the curse and became too lazy to adventure."

"Too lazy to adventure? Wow! They're really nailing you, Sarge! And they even got your 'smarts' down, too! Arithmetic wasn't your strong point anyhow!" Indigo said, beginning to giggle.

Sarge ignored the comment. He didn't realize he'd been resting his hands on his belly while reading so he moved his hands further away. His belly certainly was a good resting place for his hands when he wanted to relax or sleep or just be lazy... but right now he was doing his best to read. He couldn't understand why Indigo was desiring for Sarge to read when the guy knew Sarge had difficulties. "It was common knowledge by that point that the werewolf had become a fat, lazy idiot...." Sarge felt another jarring wrench in his mind. The wrench was so prominent that he had trouble thinking now, as his mind was too distracted by the abnormal sensation. He tried to ignore it and continued reading. "Who... who... was... uh... kno- know- known... for not be- being... sma-smart?"

"Ain't that the truth!" Indigo repeated, chortling. "But we still love ya, big guy! Even if you flunked outa elementary school!" Indigo's tail started to wag as he looked at Sarge. "Honestly, though, I think that belly worked wonders for you. Since you couldn't get by on smarts, you obviously got by on looks!"

Sarge grimaced as he scratched his belly. He could feel it pressing into the sides of the chair. It was making him feel uncomfortable. How could he concentrate on trying to read when he felt stuck in a chair? Standing up, Sarge attempted to continue but found the words used were a bit too complex. He gritted his teeth. "Urgh... these words are too big for me to read." Looking over at Indigo, Sarge frowned.

"It's alright, big guy... didja want me to read it for yo-"

"I can do it!" Sarge interrupted childishly. "'On one of his bit... bir.... birth... birthdays, a f-friend gaaaave hiiim a bo... buh... boooook? It waaaas cuuuuursed, but theeee we... were... werewoooolf was toooo laaaazy and stooopiiiiid to notice he... heeeee.... heeee?" Sarge felt yet another jarring drop in his mind. While he stared at the words on the page he realized that none of them were legible. He couldn't make sense of all these similar characters. It was as if he was trying to read another language.

Scratching his belly, Sarge sighed and sat back down in the chair. He felt his belly press into the sides, making his form fit almost like a glove to the seat he had used for over a decade. Ever since the witch cursed him, he'd done nothing but eat and fill up on as much food as he could, finding it gave him comfort now that he couldn't be bothered to lift a finger to do much of anything....

Sarge looked at the book with disgust and held it up. He wasn't much for talking, but he had to convey his dismay somehow. "Um... what? Me sorry, but can no use paper square.... It no have pictures!"
_____

Indigo frowned, realizing his blunder. He stood up and walked over to Sarge, gently taking the book out of the werewolf's hands. "I'm so sorry, big guy! I forgot that your friends told me you can't read." Indigo shook his head in dismay. What he thought would be a great gift for his lazy friend had actually been a mistake. "They told me you were also too lazy to go on their adventures and that you felt a bit lonely." Indigo looked at the book and sighed as he placed his free hand on Sarge's chest. Feeling the softness of the obese werewolf's fur, he began to smile. "I wanted to give you something to help you feel better... but I guess a book is too complicated for you."

Sarge looked down at his belly, seeming to be defeated. "Me... lazy." Looking up at Indigo, Sarge's indigo eyes glistened as he started to cry. "Me not smart to read...."

Indigo frowned as he leaned over and gave Sarge a kiss on the head. "Oh, no one was expecting you to be smart or athletic, Sarge. We all still love you, and that belly of yours really makes you a great cuddler, too!"

Sarge looked down at his belly. His eyes twisted into a confused expression, letting Indigo know that Sarge was working hard to formulate a proper sentence.

Indigo looked back at the book and noticed the title of it. He scoffed. "Oddly enough, I didn't realize the title was 'Sarge, the Fat and Lazy Idiot'... who even WROTE this?" Indigo placed the book on the arm wrest and started to rub Sarge's belly. "Biography or not, I guess that the writer had it out for you... But it doesn't change tha-

"Was me... big like this all... time?" Sarge interrupted Indigo.

Confused, Indigo began to scratch Sarge's belly. That was an odd question to ask. Was that why it took Sarge so long to formulate the right words? "Of course! You've always been rather fat... ever since that witch cursed you. None of us found a way to reverse it so we just thought we'd take care of you until we found a way to fix it...." Indigo sighed. "Though, I guess I shouldn't be surprised you only noticed this now." Taking one last look at the book, then up at Sarge, Indigo smiled. "You weren't ever the sharpest tool in the shed... and that's okay."

~~~~~

This is "Bigger Belly Project -- Reality Warping"! I had a lot of fun thinking of this one. I'm quite fascinated by the concept of reality warping around someone to the point where everything about them has changed -- their memories, their reality, etc. And Sarge COULD reverse it all if he wasn't too lazy to learn how to read... let alone know the book was what caused it in the first place. But why would he question it? He's always been a 'big, lazy idiot'!

Also, this is the first time I'm fully introducing a character I had conceived in the past -- Indigo! This is my "Neutral Woof" who's pretty much a woof that takes part in all the shenanigans Sarge gets into that don't involve friends or cameos. He's named Indigo cuz his eyes are Indigo colored!

~~~~~

Art/Story/Sarge/Indigo ©  pikminpedia Me