Satisfaction Guaranteed By Darkwulf ------------------- Chapter Five ------------------- Athelind poked at his salad during lunch that day. He simply had no appetite after the morning's news. "I can't believe that I gained THAT much," he mumbled, pushing aside a few lettuce leaves to spear a piece of carrot. "It's just not possible. Even when I messed up and ate fast food yesterday evening, it doesn't account for THAT." Finally, he put the cover back on his salad and pushed it aside. "I just have no appetite after seeing that." The dragon chuckled weakly to himself. "Well, if this keeps up, maybe I'll have lost weight by next week." Grumbling softly, he took another of his vitamin pills and went back to work. ------------------- His mood hadn't improved by the time he met with Lily that evening, either, and she could tell. "Well, I talked with my superiors," she cautiously began. "The wheels are in motion now, so to speak. I have to fill out some paperwork tomorrow. Then, the company will evaluate your...case." She turned away from Athelind, slightly embarrassed, and began working on the meal. "After that, I'll let you know what the decision is." Athelind nodded and left Lily to her cooking, taking the opportunity to straighten up a few rooms. Lillian watched him leave and shook her head. "Poor guy," she sighed. "He seems so upset. I hope I can think of a way to cheer him up." Sighing again, she focused her attention on finishing his dinner. "I hate to see him this way...." ------------------- Athelind didn't have much of an appetite for the next few days. Rather than argue with him the necessity of proper nutrition, Lily gave him some more of the vitamin supplements, as well as some of the nutritional drink he had during the earlier stages of the diet, making him promise to at least use those. They didn't talk much, and when they did, they carefully avoided talking about Monday's events. Lily could tell that the subject was never far from Athelind's mind, and caught him looking down at himself from time to time, as though trying to come to grips with what was happening. The rest of the week came and went with little fanfare, and Athelind soon found himself on Lillian's scale once more. Lily tried to make small talk, but quickly realized that the dragon wasn't feeling very cheerful that day. Instead, she buried her nose in her paperwork, finally finishing up what she was doing. Then, she began the process of weighing Athelind in.... The metal weights slid across the bar, coldly clinking as they moved from notch to notch. Athelind watched her move the large weight over one, two, three, notches, then four, sending the bar clanking down on the rest. "All right," he mused to himself. "Still over three hundred...." He closed his eyes and sighed, unable to watch any more. Lily noticed his reaction and shook her head slightly, still balancing the weights. The dragon heard the soft clink of metal on metal as she shifted them, then the clatter of plastic on his tile floor. Eyes snapping open, he looked down at Lily, who had dropped her clipboard. "What is it?" he began to demand, then trailed off as he noticed the look of astonishment on her face. "What is it?" he asked, more gently this time. "Three fifty-six," she nearly whispered. "Your weight this week is three hundred and fifty-six pounds...." Athelind choked back something between a gasp and a sob, and quietly left the bathroom, closing his bedroom door behind him. After a few moments, Lily picked her clipboard back up and filled in the new statistic. "Twenty-five pounds since last Monday. I wouldn't have thought it possible...." ------------------- Athelind had another dream that night. This time, though, he wasn't trim and svelte. Rather, the opposite was true; he was truly massive. He pictured himself getting out of bed in the morning and putting his bathrobe on. His stomach stretched far in front of him, his violet plates covering the broad curve smoothly. Out of habit, he tried to tie his robe closed, but the edges wouldn't even stretch around his vast girth. Chuckling softly to himself, he waddled towards the bathroom for his morning shower. Later, clad in a nicely tailored suit that flattered his size quite well, he ate a hearty breakfast and left for work, pleasantly full. ------------------- Athelind woke up in the middle of the night, startled. This dream was every bit as real as the last one. Looking down at his plump belly, he decided that it was a bit more likely, as well. Still, in the dream, he wasn't the least bit upset about his size. In fact, it was rather comfortable.... The dragon's stomach growled. "Hmm. Perfect timing," he smirked. After the morning's news, he wasn't much in the mood to eat anything, so he had gone most of the day without. Chuckling wryly, he reached for the telephone. "I think it's time to do something I've gone far too long without." Half an hour later, Athelind's jumbo pizza with the works was delivered. Half an hour after that, stomach bulging tautly and box empty, Athelind curled back up in bed. His gorged haze gave way quickly to a deep and restful sleep. ------------------- When she arrived to fix breakfast, Lily could tell that something had changed with Athelind. She couldn't put her finger on exactly what, though, and he wasn't offering any information, so she set it aside. "You're definitely looking more cheerful today," she commented as she set a bowl of oatmeal and some fruit juice in front of the dragon. Athelind nodded and scooped up a big spoonful of the cereal. "Mmm hmm," he agreed. "I guess I managed to put everything in perspective." Lillian smiled and went to put some finishing touches on Athelind's lunch. "I talked to the company earlier today. They said that they are still considering your case, and aren't quite sure what to do yet." Athelind nodded and mumbled some sort of response around his mouthful of oatmeal. Giving a heavy gulp, he cleared his mouth and repeated, "Just keep asking. Whatever happens, we can get things settled." ------------------- That night, Athelind ordered another jumbo pizza. The next night, Chinese food. The following night, pasta. Every night that week, Athelind ate the meals that Lily provided, then had a midnight snack of sorts delivered to his door. Each and every night he went to sleep thoroughly stuffed. Some nights his belly was merely pleasantly full, others it bulged so broadly that it pushed his plates apart again, but he did this religiously, not even telling HIMSELF the reason why. And it began to show, too. Even his newly-purchased clothing began to fit more tightly than before, showing off the curves of his fattening belly.... ------------------- And so it came to pass that the following Sunday, Athelind found himself putting on his bathrobe yet again. He noted to himself with a slight chuckle that there was so little slack in its belt that he had trouble tying it securely. Grinning like a fool, he gave his stomach a fond pat and went for his weekly weigh-in. And, for the first time, he was not dismayed when he heard Lily's shocked report. "Three ninety," she whispered. "Thirty-four pounds since last time." She looked up at Athelind, nearly in tears, but this time, he just smiled down at her. "You just ask your company what they have to say THIS week," he said softly, patting her shoulder, "and if that doesn't pan out, I'll just have to make a decision for myself." ------------------- The next morning, Athelind relaxed in his easy chair. Lily was sitting on his couch, and they were sharing a morning cup of coffee. "Well, Mr. Stormdancer," Lillian began, "it seems that the company agrees with my assessment of your situation." Athelind nodded and sipped at his coffee. "And what exactly is going to take place now?" Lily looked down at some of the papers she had brought with her. "Well, first of all, there are authorizations for you to sign, of course. We're not allowed to do ANYthing without your consent." The dragon nodded. "Of course." Lily smiled and looked back to her papers. "Then, we would inform your place of business that you will be taking some leave for medical reasons. Following that, one of our employees...myself, if you don't object," the feline blushed. "Ahem. One of us will move in for a time. We will be responsible for monitoring your level of activity, making sure that your meals match that activity, and making certain that you're not getting any outside sources of nutrition...." Athelind drank the last of his coffee, then set the mug aside. "And, after a period of these measures, results should be seen fairly quickly, right?" The cat nodded brightly. "Certainly. After measures like that, it'd be hard NOT to see results." The dragon leaned forward in his seat, struggling a bit with the new girth of his midsection. Elbows on the chair's arms, he placed his hands underneath his chin and made a contemplative sound. "There's just one problem that I can think of with this course of action," he mused. Lily blinked and looked at him quizzically. "Problem? What problem is that?" Athelind smiled gently at her. "The problem would be that you aren't really here on behalf of the Healthy Living Corporation, are you?" Lillian stared at Athelind, mouth agape. "I...have no idea what you mean," she stammered. Athelind chuckled and leaned back in his chair again. "I took those vitamin supplements you gave me to a friend of mine. Didn't tell him what I thought they were, just told him that I'd found them while cleaning, and couldn't remember what they were. As it turns out, they ARE vitamin supplements. Additionally, however, they are a concentrated source of carbohydrates, and a series of chemicals to help the body break them down more readily." Lily, closed her mouth and looked down at the floor, not responding. "I also found one of the containers that fiber came in," the dragon continued. "You remember? The one that expands from moisture, so I get full more quickly? I looked it up. Turns out that it works exactly that way, soaking up water and gaining tremendous bulk. It's hardly low-calorie, though; there's enough carbohydrates per tablespoon to match a small loaf of bread." Lily shifted uncomfortably, still not replying. "That can't account for everything, of course. I'm sure you did little things to most of my meals along the way to help things along." "The pudding," Lily finally murmured. "The pudding was a big part of it. "Pudding mix, with some weight gain powder added in, then made with cream instead of milk." Lily laughed sadly and looked back up at Athelind. "I was going to tell you, eventually. Until just recently, you didn't seem ready to hear it, though, and I still wasn't sure how you'd react. Athelind nodded. "I managed to figure out most of the how. The why completely escapes me, though." Lillian looked away from him, unable to meet his gaze. "I've lived in this neighborhood for a few years, now. I saw you all the time. And, I suppose, you always struck me as handsome." Athelind blinked. "Handsome? Me?" Lily laughed softly and nodded. "Oh, yes. You carried yourself very well, for your weight." The cat blushed softly. "And your weight was a large part of why I found you so attractive, too. You were always so...huggable." She looked up at Athelind again and smiled. "It's no fun to cuddle someone if there's nothing to hold on to," she explained. Athelind blushed himself at that, scales burning reddish. "Finally, a few months ago, I decided that I absolutely HAD to get to know you a bit better. And, I also decided that I'd love to see how you looked...well...bigger. So, I came up with the idea of the company. I made that flyer and planted it in your mail, and you responded just as I hoped. And you know the rest. "I went slowly at first, a pound or two, seeing how you reacted. And you didn't seem too upset, so I went a little more. And a little more. And I was right about how you'd look, too. You carried the extra weight so WELL, and it looked so good on you...." The cat blushed again and looked away. Athelind shook his head, unable to process all of this information. "So, you came just to fatten me up?" "I...I suppose you could put it that way, yes," Lillian agreed, ears drooping. "When you put it that way, it doesn't sound quite like the way I meant it, though...." She began stacking up her paperwork. "I'll just pack up my things. You can keep the scale," she stammered. "I'll just take all of these things out of your way, and you'll never be bothered by me again. Since there's not really a company, you won't receive any bills, of course." Lillian stood up and began to walk towards the door. "Just...just a minute," Athelind rumbled, struggling a bit to rise from his easy chair. "You can't leave just yet." Lily paled and froze in her tracks, waiting for whatever would happen next. Athelind finished climbing from his seat and walked over to the stricken feline, waddling slightly. When he got to her, he gently took the sheaf of papers from her numb fingers and began leafing through them. Finding what he was looking for, he returned the rest of the papers to the cat. "Aha, here we are. As I was saying, you can't leave yet, because.... "Because I haven't signed the contract yet." And with that, Athelind took a pen from his breast pocket and signed his name on the dotted line.... ------------------- THE END?