Arro is still adjusting their current living arrangements, and spending some time with Jade. Things seem to be going well, although everyone is treading carefully.
Meanwhile, Rangavar is worried that the world might be literally ending, but can't run away from all of his problems entirely.

I've been meaning to post this all week but have had pretty much 0 attention span </3
Dayum does shit hit the fan tho lol

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Chapter 21


When Rangavar finally awoke, it was the next morning, although slightly before dawn. He didn’t realize he’d been drained enough to sleep the afternoon away, and then into the night slightly, too.

He crept quietly down the stairs into the kitchen, feeling hungry for once after having used so much magic. There were some leftovers on the counter, but he went for the fruit cupboard instead, grabbing something and leaning on the counter to dig in while he thought. He knew that he needed to do something about what he’d learned yesterday. He couldn’t believe he’d wasted time sleeping all afternoon that he should have spent planning and figuring out what to do. All he knew right now was that he had to stop that Darkal before she seized control of Karraden’s imports, moved to cut it off from other worlds, and slowly expanded her control from there. If any of that was even possible.

He took another bite, chewing thoughtfully. The worst part was that he wasn’t sure how to explain it to anyone. Not actually. So he was completely on his own.

After he finished eating, he headed to the shower room, figuring he might as well get ready for the day now that he was already up. He was definitely too awake to go back to sleep. And he’d been skipping his morning runs now that it had gotten so incredibly freezing cold outside, so he really had nothing else to do.

As he turned on the water, he paused in front of the mirror while waiting for it to heat up, suddenly remembering his revelation from yesterday. When he pressed his fingers against his stomach, he could feel the thin layer of fat beginning to form on his midsection. It was strangely soft compared to the firm, lean flesh that he was used to, now hidden beneath the slight coating of adipose. He couldn’t quite pinch at it, until he realized that if he bent over, it pushed his belly out just enough to get his fingers around and squeeze.

He felt a bit torn. Part of him wanted to mention it to Arro, so that the Faerian could finally see how little it mattered to gain a bit of extra weight. On the other paw, Rangavar didn’t want the fat dragon ragging on him for actually having gained weight. Arro was usually teasing him for being thin, so Rangavar had no doubts that he would do the same if he developed any fat.

And lastly, he didn’t want to encourage Arro to continue forcing him to eat. Pinning him down and stuffing him was fun for the other dragon, but Rangavar still hadn’t figured out how to convince him that the feeling wasn’t mutual. He shook his head at his reflection as he tried deciding what was best, but the mirror was soon too clouded with fog, and he turned towards the shower.

He supposed he’d be forced to tell Arro eventually, though, if it became too noticeable to keep hidden otherwise.

If he happened to become any fatter.

~

Jade got to ride on the back of the hovercycle. She stood over Arro, leaning her paws on his shoulders like Rangavar usually did. Even though she was slightly smaller than Rangavar, there just wasn’t enough room for her to sit on the seat either. Arro’s gut was dangerously close to pressing into the control panel as it was, as he tried bending over the massive curve his protruding belly to reach. The last thing they needed was some sort of unfortunate, weight-related mishap.

At least when she pressed into his back, she kept his wings warm, and his huge, blubbery body kept her front side warm, until they eventually ended up at a shop advertising winter coats. Well, they advertised pants, too, of course, but Arro figured it might be best to get something like that custom-sized for him instead. Rather than risk destroying a pair again. He wouldn’t mention that little incident to Jade.

The door hit a small bell hanging over it when it opened, Jade being the first to push inside, and Arro following closely behind. The door was narrow, which immediately gave him a sinking feeling as to the nature of the clothes here, but at least the city was full of options. He’d suck it up and go somewhere else if he didn’t find anything.

Right now, he had to ‘suck it up’ literally for a moment as he squeezed through the entrance, his love handles grazing the sides, although when he turned slightly, he still found his pudge brushing a bit to push himself into the room. It was stupid. The door was stupid. Stupid door.

When he got through, Jade had already disappeared somewhere inside, towards the much smaller section of clothing. Arro took that as his cue to turn the opposite direction, hoping against all odds they had something in his size.

What he found was disappointing. All of the coats looked sort of small to him, and of course, the biggest ones were in ugly colors. He sighed. How come nice clothes were never made for fat people? It was like companies saved up all the extra fabric they made from products no one bought.

He found a bright red coat on the rack. He wasn’t sure it would look good with his pale-red scales, so he pushed it aside and happened to find a light blue one behind it. That was better. He pulled that one out instead. It looked the same size, but thicker and sturdier, with a wider zipper, too. As far as luck went, he was pretty sure it was as good as it was going to get. At this store, at least.

“Find something?”

“I don’t know,” he answered Jade absentmindedly as she came up behind him. “Stand back a bit while I try it on?”

“How about I go pay for mine while I wait, and meet you at the door?”

He nodded as he looked over the coat. He started to pull the zipper. “Sounds good.”

His scales slid smoothly along the fabric as he pushed his arms into the sleeves, silently praying that his shoulders wouldn’t be too broad. As the sleeves tightened around his chubby biceps, he rolled his shoulders a couple of times to loosen the fit, and to his pleasant surprise, it helped. He felt good about that. He’d been needing a win lately.

Now came the hard part, though.

He pulled the sides of the coat around to his front, already not liking how far apart they were when he tried to bring them towards each other. They weren’t SUPER far, and he hadn’t expected it to be a perfect fit, but it would be a bit tight. He sucked in, trying to bring the zipper together at the front of his gut, and was upset the bottom curve of his belly would still be hanging out the coat a bit. He’d need a longer one. He sighed.

“Can I help you with something?” a nearby employee asked. The red Gemian looked up at him with a friendly smile.

“Uh.” Arro felt his cheeks flush. “Do… do you have this in a bigger size?”

She gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m afraid not.” Still, she inspected the coat thoughtfully, a paw on her chin. “You know, if you wore high-waisted pants, you’d be completely covered.

Usually, pants only came up to his waist just by default. It was hard enough to find pants big enough to pull over his chubby hips, let alone over his overhanging gut. He wasn’t really sure how to describe that, though, other than by stating the obvious: He was too fat.

“You know, we make great custom pants,” she said with another warm smile.

Shit. Of course she could tell what he was thinking. He supposed his emotions weren’t uncommon for someone his size. “You, uh… you do?”

“Sure. I’ll go grab a tape measure. See if that coat fits in the meantime, so I can help you choose another if you want.”

Arro nodded, unsure what to say since he was still a bit flustered. She was being very professional and nice, though. He was grateful for that.

When she turned away, he went back to zipping up the coat, straining the edges towards each other. He’d already anticipated forgoing the pants right now if he had to, but didn’t want to wait for a custom coat. He wanted one today. He sucked in as hard as he could, just about getting the ends together, although a roll of pudge poked out between the teeth of the zipper when he finally connected the bottom. When he let out his breath in relief, the bulge of lard pushed out farther, widening the space between the zipper teeth, but the connected sides on the bottom held. He hoped the hard part was over.

He physically used his palm to try and flatten the overhanging pudge out of the way to pull the zipper closed. The layer of fat bulged around his fingers as they sank in, although slowly, the teeth were jammed together as the zipper slider went up.

“Oh, good,” said the other dragon as she returned.

He startled. He’d been so focused on his task that he hadn’t noticed her. “Yeah, it fits,” he said, trying not to let his voice sound too strained. “Well, almost,” he chuckled awkwardly.

“If it doesn’t ‘break in’ and loosen up a little, you can bring it back,” she promised. She then whipped out the tape measure. ‘Stand up straight, please?”

She needed him to hold one end to his front, since he was too big around for her to just reach with her arms. She physically walked around him to make sure that the measurement was in the correct place. Arro felt self-conscious as the small, light strand of measurement tape pulled taut around his bulging belly, the soft flesh indenting beneath the light pressure.

“Alright. You’re all set. Any preference on color?”

“Black,” he said quickly. That was supposed to be slimming, right? And it would look good with the light blue coat he’d somehow managed to squeeze into.

“You got it. Anything else I can help you with?”

Arro was grateful he’d decided to get the coat as he and Jade left, instantly reminded about the cold the moment they stepped out the door.

“I’m glad you found something.”

“Heh. Me too.” The zipper on the coat hadn’t burst apart or anything, so Arro took it as a good sign. Everything about the coat seemed pretty sturdy, even if the tightness did make part of his gut bulge out slightly farther from underneath as it tried to escape.

Now, all he had to do was try not to outgrow it any further. Easy, right?

When they arrived back home, Jade’s slender form slid easily out of her own dark pants and puffy white coat. She made her way over to the couch and sat, rubbing her paws together to warm them.

Arro’s legs were cold, but he needed a break from the compressing confines of his coat, so he sucked in as hard as he could and yanked the zipper down until his gut finally spilled free. Looking down at himself, it was hard to believe that he’d squeezed into the coat at all.

“It looks good on you.”

“Huh?”

“The blue coat.”

“Oh. Uh, thanks.” He made his way over to the couch next, rubbing his own paws together. Maybe he could make food or something. It might feel nice to hold a warm bowl.

Jade leaned back on the couch. “My new job is letting me start my first shift tonight. What are you planning to do with your day off?”

Arro thought for a moment. He looked down at the open coat, and the huge pile of lard pressing the sides of it apart. “I might go to the gym,” he finally said. He nodded to himself. He hadn’t been in a while.

“We’ll probably miss seeing each other tonight, then.”

“Yeah.” Arro looked towards the door. “If that’s okay, I mean.”

“What? Of course.” Jade snorted. “Please don’t tell me you really just asked permission to go to the gym.”

Arro blushed. “I just…”

“There doesn’t have to be a ‘just’, Arro.” She grinned. “I don’t need a babysitter. Go have fun.”

Nodding again, the much fatter dragon began to tug his coat back on. He regretted immediately taking it off when practically walking through the door. “Alright.” He huffed as he pulled the zipper back up, but at least this time, he was ready for the struggle. Squeeze his arms through, suck in his gut, press his bulging pudge between the zipper teeth until the slider went up. After, he let out his breath, allowing the swell of fat to surge against the front of the coat again. If nothing else, the coat was strong enough to withstand it. “I will.”

~

Kraz threw up his paws. “My companion was in some sort of mood last night. I swear, all I did was ask him to go to the gym with me, and he just blew up at me!”

Rangavar tried to nod along. It was hard to focus on Kraz’s problems, though, when the rest of the world was on the brink of ending.

“I know it sounds like I’m being pushy, but he’s not taking care of himself at all! He’s even getting fatter. I could help him out if he’d just TRUST me and at least try.”

Rangavar sighed. “Is the real reason you’re pressuring him for his sake, or yours?” he pointed out.

Kraz was quiet a moment. Rangavar realized he might be onto something. “Kraz?”

The muscular, pale-gray Faerian looked away guiltily. “Maybe… both?” He was quiet another moment. “I do genuinely care about his health, you know.”

They turned a corner in the hallway. Rangavar couldn’t get over how calm and normal everything looked. Nobody remembered going into lockdown the other day, since Glitarian Darkals had handled it this time. No one probably even noticed the blank spot in their memory. Their powers were discreet that way. “Maybe if you back off, he’ll get out of his weird funk on his own. Maybe you’re stressing him out.”

Kraz snorted. “Working out is a great way to relieve stress.”

Rangavar sighed. It was hopeless.

“No, look— I’m just trying to make a point.” Kraz shook his head. “Sorry.”

“Don’t you have any other hobbies? Any?”

Kraz wrinkled his snout as he looked down at the shorter dragon. “Of course I do! When I’m really tired at the end of the day, sometimes I just, go home and game all night.” Rangavar sensed him start to feel a bit awkward all of a sudden, and Kraz looked back and forth to see who was around, lowering his voice. “I just—I know it’s kind of embarrassing. Being a gamer. Heh.”

“What’s embarrassing about that?” Rangavar snorted. “I game sometimes.”

“You do?”

“Sometimes.” Rangavar had to put an emphasis on that. “I’m not very good at it,” he admitted.

“I just feel like I do it too much.” Kraz gave him a wry smile. “Like, when I’m sitting on my ass, I’m wasting time or something.”

Rangavar rolled his eyes. “Resting your body isn’t a waste of time, Kraz.”

“We should play together.”

“Heh. Didn’t I just tell you I’m not very good? My companion crushes me every time.” Rangavar didn’t feel like he was exaggerating, either. Sometimes when he won, he got suspicious that it was only because Arro let him.

“Come on,” Kraz grinned. “Hey. It would be something fun to do together that isn’t the gym.”

Rangavar thought about that. It was true.

“How about this.” Kraz paused to lean against the wall for a second, stretching out his wings. They’d already patrolled from one end of the building to the other. Now it was time to make their way back. “How about you come to the gym with me after work, and then we can go play video games afterwards at one of our places?”

“That’s not a trade, that’s just two things I just said I didn’t want to do.”

“Come onnnn,” Kraz pleaded. “My companion is driving me crazy.”

“So you’re just using me?”

Kraz started to look upset and flustered again before noticing that the corner of Rangavar’s mouth quirked up, trying to suppress a teasing grin.

Kraz crossed his arms and scowled. “Not funny. I wouldn’t do that.”

“How about THIS.” Rangavar thought back on the past several days, where his boss had threatened the entire world, he’d fought a wraith, and he’d made a pact with one of his nemeses. He started to form an idea. “I’ll go with you, and do the stuff that you just said. BUT,” he held up a finger at Kraz’s hopeful expression. “You have to pick up three of my shifts.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “One for dragging me to the gym, one for crushing me at videogames all night, and one for that time you dropped a weight on me.” It seemed fair.

Kraz’s face fell. “I’m genuinely sorry about that, you know.”

“I know.”

Slowly, Kraz nodded. “I’ll pick up three of your shifts. And we’ll hang out tonight?”

Rangavar nodded back. “Is it a deal?” Three shifts. He wasn’t sure about Kraz’s schedule, but if he could get some extra time to himself the next few days, while he scrambled to prepare for whatever the Glitarian Darkals were planning…

Radiating excitement, Kraz grinned. “It’s a deal.”

~

Rangavar leaned heavily on the table, his elbows resting on the surface and his head resting on his palms.

“You did like, one sit-up.”

Rangavar rolled his eyes. “Is making fun of me really the way you’re going to convince me to come back?”

“Sorry! Sorry.” Kraz wiped sweat off his forehead on the back of his arm. “I wish you could just find something here that you liked.”

“I did more than ‘one sit-up’.” Rangavar made a face. “Has it occurred to you that just not everyone likes to work out?” At Kraz’s unhappy expression, he added, “I’m more looking forward to playing videogames after this. That’ll probably be fun for both of us.”

The Faerian looked a bit more relieved about that. “Okay.”

Rangavar wasn’t just sitting around to waste time, either. He was taking a break from some of the weight exercises that Kraz had briefly showed him. With much smaller weight plates than last time, of course. “I’ll come back out in a second, okay? Maybe I’ll drink some water or something.”

Kraz nodded. “Okay. I’m gonna keep going then.”

Rangavar gave him a thumbs up as the buff Faerian set out to start his next set.

Water seemed like a good idea. Rangavar glanced around to see if he could recall where the vending machine was. He was certain he’d seen one on the way in.

In reality he felt like he WAS wasting time, but in a different way. Sure, he was wasting time at the table while Kraz tired himself out, but wasn’t being at the gym in general wasting time? And spending a night trying to relax, also wasting time? With so much at stake in real life—the world feeling like it was potentially, literally ending—watching everyone else calmly go about theirs seemed almost surreal.

A heavy palm slapping the top of the table made Rangavar jump. He’d been completely absorbed in his thoughts. He twisted around.

Arro leaned across the table on his elbows. Rangavar could sense how thrilled and surprised he was to find the Darkal at the gym, and suppressed a sigh. Arro would surely spend the next eternity insisting that Rangavar ‘owed’ him again.

Arro’s belly folded over the top of the table as he leaned over it without sitting down. “Who’s this cute new guy at the gym?” he teased. “Want to go out with me sometime?”

Rangavar played along, half hiding his smile behind a paw as he rested his chin on it. “I’m flattered, but aren’t you a bit out of my league?”

Arro grinned. “How about we go back to my place and find out?”

“Hey!”

Rangavar felt someone flash with anger behind him and turned towards the shout. It was Kraz. Rangavar frowned to see the Faerian storming over, but the angry dragon was glaring at Arro. “Leave him alone!”

Arro wrinkled his snout, taken aback. “How about you mind your own—”

“Isn’t it bad enough you bother everyone everywhere you go? You’re NOT going to start harassing my friends,” Kraz growled.

Arro furrowed his brow in confusion. “Your friends? What are you—”

“Kraz,” Rangavar quickly interjected, “What’s the matter?”

Kraz ignored him. He bared his teeth at Arro and growled. “Are you really trying to flirt with him? You really think you’re good enough for him? Or anyone, for that matter?” He scoffed and crossed his arms. “Lay a paw on him and I’ll end you.”

Arro flared his wings, making his large, imposing frame, somehow even larger. “Who, Rangavar?” He gestured at the very confused Darkal. “He’s—”

This time it was Rangavar’s turn to interrupt. He glanced back and forth between them. “What’s going on?”

Arro glowered at the other dragon. “This is the dragon that constantly makes fun of—”

“This bucket of lard with legs follows me around everywhere I go,” Kraz talked over him, “and gets in the way at work CONSTANTLY. He’s annoying, and lazy, pathet—”

“All I do is leave you alone!” Arro threw up his paws. “What more do you want from me?”

“Why don’t you leave now, before I make you?” Kraz growled even louder.

“Oh, is that a threat?” Arro took several steps towards him, paws clenching.

Rangavar pricked his ears in alarm. While still very confused, of course. “Hey, I don’t know what this is about, but—”

Kraz took a few steps closer himself and jabbed a finger at Arro’s chest. “This is about tubby here acting like he can just stroll up and bother—”

Arro swatted his paw away. “Don’t touch me.”

Kraz parted his jaws slightly in surprise. Rangavar didn’t imagine many dragons ever bothered fighting with him over, well, anything. Kraz’s tall, muscular form was a bit intimidating. For obvious reasons.

Now, his eyes flashing with pent up rage Rangavar had never noticed from him before, Kraz threw a fist towards Arro’s snout.

Arro’s gene mutation saved him. He moved to the side faster than Kraz expected, causing Kraz to miss. Without Arro’s body in the way, there was also no barrier between the shorter Faerian and Rangavar, who’d been standing slightly back from the ordeal. Kraz’s fist collided with Rangavar instead.

One moment he was standing slightly behind Arro’s left side, and the next he was on his back. He picked his head back up in time to see Arro snarl and rush the slightly shorter dragon, throwing his weight into tackling him. The two Faerians fell to the floor together.

First Arro was on top, his chubby body rippling with the impact. The entirety of his body weight pinned Kraz down as his gut settled heavily onto his torso. But Kraz’s strength seemed to be a pretty good match for Arro’s, and the fatter Faerian was unable to keep him down by sheer body weight alone as Kraz shoved him off and swiped his claws across Arro’s snout.

Rangavar struggled upright to see that his own nose was bleeding profusely, despite his bones being unable to break. He glanced back over at the two Faerians trying to beat the life out of each other. He knew he needed to stop them, and what immediately came to mind as the most effective way was magic—but he hesitated, wondering how to avoid hurting them with his very low ability to use it properly.

During his hesitation, Kraz had gotten on top, and Arro was struggling to roll back over, his own body weight making him slower moving than the more fit, lean dragon. Rangavar saw Kraz put his paws around Arro’s throat.

Rangavar was no longer worried. He put out his paw towards the gray Faerian, feeling the magic in his body stir, gathering energy into his palm, then—

Kraz got tazed.

Startled, the energy Rangavar had dredged up dissipated, and he watched in confusion as the flustered employees that surrounded the fight finally closed in. He’d been so focused on the two Faerians that he hadn’t even noticed the dragon behind the service desk tearing through the drawers for a security weapon, while other staff cautiously approached to keep the fighting contained.

Arro shoved Kraz’s limp body off and rolled over with his fist raised over the gray Faerian’s face—and got tazed too.

Rangavar was struggling to his feet when he felt paws under his arm helping him up. He could immediately tell it was a Gemian by the way soothing magic washed over his injury at the touch. He looked down to see there was black blood still very noticeably running from his nose.

“Come with me. There are showers in the back of the gym where you can clean up,” she said helpfully, not letting go and instead steering him towards the locker rooms.

He dug his heels in and cast a glance back at Arro. “Hey, that’s my companion, he… I need to…” He struggled to figure out what to say. He didn’t know what he could do. Or what he was supposed to do. Why had they started fighting?

“He’ll be taken care of when the authorities arrive.”

“Authorities?”

She continued to pull him away, his steps reluctant. He couldn’t get the image of Kraz wrapping his paws around Arro’s throat out of his mind. “He’s… He’s hurt.”

“He’ll be taken care of.”

“But… What’ll happen to him?”

“It’s okay, he’ll be taken care of,” the Gemian repeated.

“Ugh. Can you just tell me what’s going on?” He couldn’t tell if she thought he was dazed, or if she thought he was stupid.

“Okay, honestly, I’m not sure what’ll happen to your friends,” she admitted, keeping her voice gentle. “They’ll definitely be taken in by police, but I’m certain they’ll receive medical attention. You have nothing to worry about.”

Rangavar didn’t feel very reassured. Honestly, he still wasn’t very sure what had happened. He didn’t think that was just because he’d been hit in the head.