Give It Another Chance

Losing weight's a lot harder than gaining it. Even though Josh had taken up an exercise routine since he got it, his body just refused to let go of it. Over the past several months, all that he'd burned off was about a dozen pounds. Of course, it's hard when you're over 300 pounds. Even worse, the weight came on suddenly, so his body never had time to get used to the heaviness. And worst of all, it was once his friend.

But that was a year ago. He even liked it at first, but the novelty had worn off quickly. Most people didn't care or particularly notice him before or after. To his family he was just able to handwave it away as Freshman 15 (with an extra zero). And yet, still, he was not used to the weight. Always surprised at how full-bodied he was in the mirror. At how hard it was to do things he would do without a thought before. And how every jiggle reminded him of Crew. Of course, it was sort of his own fault he ended up as pudge... It was his fault too. But neither of them deserved this.

Josh finished running, powering down the treadmill and getting off. He sweated like a faucet nowadays, something that he considered pretty up there for annoyances. He was at least thankful he didn’t have fur to get greasy too, though being cold-blooded would've been appreciated at this point. As he dried himself off with a towel, his stomach growled and he slapped it to shut it up. The amount of food he felt he had to eat now was probably also in the top 5 annoyances. He texted his roommate (the one he was on better terms with) that he was on his way home and asked about dinner plans.

A few minutes later, he was walking home. Still no response from Rusty. While his new roommate did have a bad habit of not responding in a timely fashion, he couldn’t help but feel it meant something worse. He just sighed. One way or another, he would know soon. His dorm wasn’t too far of a walk. An uphill one and on a hot day, but he needed to burn the weight anyway. Even if his legs were very upset about the matter.

By the time he got to his place, he was already sweaty again. At least it makes a shower feel better. Even the cool air of the building was enough of a relief. Unfortunately, his feeling of relief was short-lived. As soon as he opened the door, the first person he saw was his other roommate, Elzo. Sitting on the couch and clear as day, that green dragon had a very distinctly person-shaped bulge in his long neck. He was holding a phone awkwardly in front of his face with his mouth open. Josh groaned loudly. He didn’t like that he could easily guess what poor soul was sliding down his throat.

Elzo’s head turned towards him, not with the sudden anxiety of someone being caught doing something bad, but with the amusement of being witnessed. Josh could barely make out that Rusty’s muzzle was laying on Elzo’s tongue, his eyes dimly visible in the darkness of his throat. The edges of Elzo’s mouth curled into a smile and a muffled “Jsh!” came from behind Rusty. Rusty tried to call his name too, but Elzo quickly snapped his mouth shut and swallowed him down with a glurk. He visibly slid down and away, disappearing into Elzo's tubby body. “Josh! I was just trying to message you back. Unfortunately, facial recognition doesn’t work so well when the face is surrounded by a maw...”

Josh just shut the door behind him and buried his face in his hands. When he emerged again, he was just barely holding it together. “Elzo. You CAN’T just keep eating our fucking roommates!”

He grinned as he asked, “Why not? Hey, you know how hard it is to regurgitate someone upright and hold them in your throat? Pretty fucking difficult. Wish he would’ve just told me his PIN... You think if I say I’ll let him out he’ll tell me it?”

Despite living with him primarily for the last year, Josh still (for some reason) found himself surprised by the absolute gall of him. “Oh my god. I can’t-- Aren’t you afraid of being caught?? Surely someone will connect so many students going missing to our room! We don’t even have a fourth because you ‘disappeared’ the last one like a couple weeks ago!”

Elzo patted his belly, thinking about them. Josh could only tell that Rusty was still alive in it because of how it wobbled-- Elzo had a rather ‘friendly’-looking pear shape to him that did a good job of masking all but the largest meals. Almost dreamily he said, “Mmm, yeah... Wish I could have them again.” He focused back on Josh, cocking his head to the side as he smiled more sinisterly. “Besides, not all of the missing students were our roommates.”

Josh bent over, pressing his fists against his head in an attempt to quell the ache that was forming. “That’s not the fucking point, Elzo. God... Why am I even here?”

The dragon put his elbow on the armchair and propped his head on his arms. Then he sang, “Because you loooooove me?”

The amount of emotions that went through Josh’s head all at once rendered him unable to say anything in response. He just let out a cross between a growl and a scream and headed for the bathroom to finally take his shower.

In there, he was able to finally cool off, both physically and emotionally. Elzo wasn’t right, but much to his own self-hate, he wasn’t wrong either. The main reason he didn’t leave as soon as possible was admittedly financial. It was a little late to try and get another room and Elzo didn’t seem to actually pose a threat to him

And then, there was the aspect of blackmail. Elzo didn’t rub it in his face, but during more intense arguments, it would come up. Quite simply, Josh was complicit. Or so he’d say. While he wasn’t eating people himself, he certainly was standing by while it happened, completely aware that it was. He’d lied to maintain the secret too. He should’ve reported the whole thing right after what happened to Crew (and Silas)... Hell, he shouldn’t have let him be digested to begin with. But it happened, and so all of this added up to him sticking around Elzo.

At least there were moments he could forget how predatory he is. Elzo was a friend of a friend, after all... even if that friend was no longer around. He turned off the shower and just leaned against the wall, letting the resigned indifference return to him. He just had to carry on with his day like normal. Which mainly meant getting dinner and then returning to browse his phone or whatever other time-waster came to mind.

Josh dried off once again and put on more casual clothes. He emerged from the bathroom to see Elzo on his phone, seemingly amused by something. He didn’t really want to ask what. He headed for the door and said, “Hey, I’m going to go get dinner. I was going to go with Rusty, but...”

Without looking up from his phone, Elzo said, “Oh, don’t worry, I ordered something for ya.”

Josh stopped at the door, hand on the knob. He knew that this was something bad, even if he couldn’t tell what yet. He sighed before asking, “What did you order?”

“It’s a surpriii~iiise~”

“Look, if you don’t tell me what it is, I’m just going to leave anyway. I don’t want sorry-I-ate-our-roommate pizza, or poison, or--”

“Do you know what day it is?”

He sighed. “Just tell me.”

Elzo finally turned to face Josh with a toothy grin. “You have a phone, don’t you?”

Always with the games. He relented and pulled out his phone, eager to get whatever this charade was over with. “Tuesday? August Ei--” His voice cut out as he read the date. He looked back up at Elzo. His smile had somehow gotten wider.

“August Eighth! You know what that means?” Despite a brief pause, Elzo answered before Josh with, “It’sss voooore daaaaay!”

Josh felt like he should’ve seen this coming. It’s no wonder Elzo would treat this like a holiday. It was what started all of this last year. Just because he saw that stupid trend online and he had to read it out. This time he forgot about it because he wasn’t on that social media anymore. But clearly Elzo was, or had just committed the date to memory. Now Josh had to ask himself what he meant by this. What could he have ordered? The obvious answer came to him quickly and he started to say, “You didn’t--”

Elzo spoke over him. “You remember that guy Rusty was dating? Cute little goldie?”

“Dude, come on--”

Rather matter-of-factly, Elzo responded, “Yes you are. Because if you don’t, I’ll get in trouble, and then you’ll get in trouble. And we don’t want that, do we?”

Josh grabbed a pillow from the couch and screamed into it. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!? It’s bad enough you do it, why are you making me??”

His expression softened a little. “Come on. Don’t you miss the feeling? I remember some of the sounds you made while that cat was just melting away in that tummy of yours.” He poked Josh’s belly through his shirt with a claw, causing him to blush angrily. “Besiiiides, you’re hungry aren’t you?”

This day was turning into a nightmare. He wanted to wake up, but he doubted his mind could ever make Elzo as irritating as he was in reality. He hoped it was a sick prank, but he knew it wasn’t. He hadn’t even burned off the weight from last time! He dragged his fingers down his face and took a deep breath to go in on his roommate again, but then there was a knock at the door.

Elzo’s face perked up. Josh’s dropped. He turned around to the door, quietly looking through the peephole. On the other side, there was clearly a rather happy and excited golden retriever. He said, “Rustyyyyy, it’s meeee!” and then he knocked again. Josh turned around to look at Elzo. He gestured with his eyes towards the doorknob. Josh silently restrained himself and then opened the door.

Max perked up when the door opened, even if it was just Josh at the door. He said “Hey Josh!” as he stepped inside without asking. Josh quietly closed the door behind him. He continued, “Hey Elzo! Where’s Rusty? Getting ready?” Josh locked eyes with Elzo and silently made a pushing gesture. He responded with a shake of his head-- an answer to both questions. “Well... where is he, then?”

Elzo’s eyes shifted up as he thought of the best or worst thing he could possibly say. “Let’s say... He’s a lot closer than you think.” He rested a hand on his belly, though Max didn’t seem to notice. “Yeah... He moved into a much warmer and cozier room.” The gears were starting to turn in his head, but Elzo really wanted to drive the point home. Besides, he liked seeing Josh squirm in the background. He slapped his gut and said, “Isn’t that right, Rusty?” A bulge barely made itself visible from his side in response.

Max took a step back in horror, but Josh was just cringing behind him. He figured Elzo probably didn’t lay it on this thick all the time, but he really didn’t like being right in the action. Especially knowing what was coming next. Max eventually said, “You-- You-- spit him out!!”

The dragon shrugged. “I don’t really want to?”

His face became angry, though it was clearly not an emotion that came to him naturally. “I- I’m going to tell the RA! Or... the dean! Or the police!” He turned around to face the door, but Josh was standing right between him and it. From the look on his face, it seemed like he couldn’t quite tell whether Elzo’s roommate was in on it. He just said, “Please, Josh, move out of the way.”

Once again, Josh and Elzo made eye contact. This time, Elzo was the one to mime, imitating someone grabbing someone’s shoulders and biting their head. Max seemed appalled by the hesitation and followed his gaze back to Elzo. He opened his mouth to say something and then his vision went dark as two hands landed on his shoulders.

Both of them were nearly equally shocked. Even Elzo seemed to have not expected it, though he was more amused. Josh's body had just... Acted on instinct. Or something like that. When he saw Max turn around, some part of him knew it would be his best opportunity. Still, it wasn't used to this. Last time, Crew was the one to force himself down his throat-- this time, he was going to have to do everything himself. Not to mention, Max started to try and pull himself out.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he opened his mouth wider than he once believed possible and engulfed the rest of the dog's head. His jaw ached, but this at least gave him a slightly more secure grip. He did not at all care for the taste of fur, but he needed to take a breath. In and out through his nostrils, and then he continued with his first gulk.

Max found himself being squeezed into a tube that was deceptively crushing despite the softness of the flesh. Not to mention the unbearable warmth and wetness. Despite this, he tried to blindly push Josh off of him, but it was an awkward angle trying to push backwards. Despite this, Josh seemed to be taking his sweet time, several seconds between each arduous swallow. And once his shoulders filled the edges of the human's mouth, his range of motion became too limited to effectively do anything other than flail.

Josh really wished he wouldn’t. Last time it was bad enough when his victim was willingly climbing down his throat. He was glad Max’s hands stopped scraping and pushing against him, and he felt bad for feeling even the slightest relief. But the flailing just made him unbalanced, almost making him feel like he was choking more than he already was. As he swallowed again he had to fall to his knees. Elzo made it look so easy, but then it was probably easier for dragons than humans just in general.

Josh’s stomach was not a good place to be. While it was thankfully empty, it was everything the throat was but worse, since it gave the illusion of open space. In reality, Max was quickly discovering that the stomach walls would only give him as much space as he occupied, and no more. The acrid smell and liquid on the bottom stung too. He could feel his legs lifting off the ground, somehow managing to scare him even more than he already was. Since he could at least open his mouth again, he shouted, “Stop! STOP!!”

Josh couldn’t. Even if he wanted to suddenly stop at this point, more of him was inside than outside. He was actually able to sit back against the door, only weakly kicking legs dangling out of his mouth. Only a little left, he tried to reassure himself. Not that the nightmare would be over once his throat was clear. He resumed swallowing laboriously. Hff hff gulp, thighs gone. Hhh, hhh, glk, knees gone. Mmmglrk, calves gone. Just his hindpaws remained, dangling out of his mouth. One more swallow to get the heel, and a last one for the rest.

As his throat cleared, he gasped deeply. It felt so nice to have unrestricted airflow. The relief only lasted a second before the rest of Max found its way into his stomach proper, bulging it out to its full size. To his own surprise, it didn’t quite jut out as far as it did with Crew. Though he figured it just seemed less because he was so much bigger than before. He groaned as he held his gut, trying to contain all the bulging and struggling parts of Max. “Please, please, please stop moving,” he begged, though he knew he would never listen. He wouldn’t either if the tables were turned.

“Josh, let me out!! You always seemed like a good person, you don’t have to do this!” Max cried back in response.

He wished any of that was true. He sighed and just said, “Look, Max, I’m sorry, but I-- uuurpghh-- can’t. I’ve... tried before.”

“W-Well, call the police or something! An ambulance!”

Looking up at Elzo, he saw him tilt his head to the side with a knowing smile. “I... can’t do that either.”

Max continued to beg and plead, but Elzo spoke up over him. “Well done, Josh!” He stood up and walked over, belly jiggling smoothly with each step to show that Rusty was really gone by now. His neck curved downwards so that his face was just above Josh’s, though he was watching and listening to Max with amusement. “You know, you did pretty well considering last time your meal stuffed himself down your throat. He was smaller too, I think... You’ve really grown, huh?”

Josh just unfolded his legs so he was properly sitting and leaned his head back against the door. “Elzo, please... Can’t you lay off for even a minute? I did what you wanted. I...” He didn’t want to say it. It was already real enough as is.

I found my way into your stomach?” He looked directly into Elzo’s eyes, those sharp green gems. “Tell me the truth. I think I deserve at least that much.”

Elzo sighed. “Well, I was going to say I’m just trying to fatten you up, but in reality, I... think I like you.”

That was not remotely the answer Josh had expected. He opened his mouth to say something in response, and left it there. All this teasing, all the time... He liked him? “You’re fucking kidding me. ‘You like me?’ Really? What about your friends?? I was like... a friend of a friend! We barely talked!”

A look of sympathy and pity flashed across Elzo’s face. “Well... Silas and Crew... I mean, I liked them, but I wasn’t really close to them. But you... I was surprised you were his friend, to be honest. But after we were all in the same room for a few days, I began to realize you and I are... alike.”

It was just absurdity after absurdity today, Josh thought. He couldn’t help but laugh a little, but the pain and groaning from his gut cut it short. “Alike...? What, because we like some of the same games or shows? I don’t think we’re anything alike, even if you get me to do... this. Huuarp.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t mean like that. I meant... solitary. Despite our friends. Sure, you got more social as you came to know us, but you kept to yourself a lot. We never really spoke because we were just both like that. Only really coming out in group situations,” he chuckles, “especially since Crew was such a big talker.”

Josh looked down, those words bouncing around in his mind. He couldn’t deny they were starting to make sense, but it just triggered that emotional turmoil from earlier. It felt repulsive to be compared to him. There were nice times too, but... He laid his head down on his arms atop his own gut to try and decompress, but his stomach made sure he wouldn’t. He could still hear Max in there. Shifting, barely audible, but still alive. Some part of him was glad he wasn’t as feisty as Crew, but... he didn’t want to feel glad about that. He looked back up at Elzo. “Why did you make me do this?”

Elzo rubbed the back of his head, riffling through some spines. “Well... you seemed to enjoy it the first time around... At least towards the end. I thought it might be... Better the second time.”

Josh was not about to confess to those feelings still existing. He continued, “And the first time? I remember you giving Crew the idea to begin with.”

He sighed. “Okay, yeah. See, my first time with this,” he said, patting his belly, “was also with a friend. Before you interrupt me, it was not intentional. It was a lot like the situation you were in, just not... instigated by anyone but ourselves. My friend was about half my size, we were, eh... under the influence. Somehow the conversation got to the point where my friend convinced himself he could fit inside my stomach. Turns out, he could... But neither of us had thought about getting him out. Actually, I don’t even remember him going... I want to say we both passed out. And then later, I woke up with an empty stomach, one less friend, and a feeling of... satisfaction.”

“You made me eat my friend because you ate your friend?” Josh scoffed.

Elzo looked angry from that, but also genuinely hurt. “No, because I thought it would do for you what it did for me. I mean... isn’t it nice? Being so full? Feeling them slowly soften up?”

He bit his lip. He eventually responded with, “I’m too full. It’s-- hiccuurp-- bluh... sickening.” Instead of responding to the second part, he looked down at his stomach. Elzo’s eyes followed. They could still see shifting lumps of the dog inside, barely hearing him too. “I’m... not like you. I can’t just... my stomach doesn’t work that fast. It feels awful. Like the worst indigestion ever. And I don’t want to hear... this. It’d be better if it was faster for his sake, but he shouldn’t be in there at all.”

Elzo stayed silent for a few moments. Just staring at the fleshy dome, and then up at Josh’s face. He looked sorry, even if the actual words didn't come. Instead, he finally softly said, “Alright, Josh. I think it’s... too late to go back on this, and I don’t think you could spit him up anyway, but I can help you out.” He raised his hands, wiggling all of his fingers. “Remember?”

He did. It had felt good. Better than he thought he deserved. Agreeing to end him quicker felt bad, but... they both knew Max wasn’t getting out. Better for both of them to end it sooner, so Josh nodded, looking up at the ceiling. And then the dragon went to work. He almost felt relieved the instant those scaly hands touched his belly. And then even more when Elzo pushed inward. Max became very audible moments before he was pushed into stomach fluids by the dragon’s hands. He found more energy to fight, kicking and pushing out in ways that made Josh want to hurl. But Elzo made sure to quickly quell those struggles, shoving them back in and continuing to knead.

For all the pleasure and relief Josh was feeling, Max was feeling their opposites in equal amounts. Yes, before, he was absolutely miserable. Knowing that he was doomed. Trapped in a horribly sweltering stomach, acidity in the air and underneath him. The way the stomach just kept constantly pushing, no matter how much he pushed back, it was endless from all angles. He’d begun to accept his fate, but feeling it being hastened somehow felt even worse.

While he felt like he was being mashed up, Josh felt like he was getting the best massage in the world. Those hands came up and down, rubbing all around, as if sculpting his gut. Max as his material found himself constantly shoved around, making sure he was thoroughly soaked. His idea of the boundary between himself and the hot, wet flesh around him started to blur-- he couldn’t tell if it was his disoriented senses or something worse.

But Josh could feel him getting softer. Like last time, he let out a quiet moan of pleasure, which he didn’t bother stifling. Instead of making a teasy comment, Elzo just glanced up and smiled before returning to his work. Josh decided to look down this time, growing curious about seeing it in action. While he’d been doughy for a year now, he never saw it get kneaded like dough. It was mesmerizing. He rested a hand on his gut, feeling some part of Max that was still pretty solid. He felt something bubble up his throat, and suddenly he let out a loud, wet, buuuuuuaaaAAAAAARRRRPpp.

Elzo looked at him unamused, stopping the massage to wipe the spittle off his face. “Feeling a bit better now?” He asked dryly.

Josh wiped some spit off the edges of his own mouth, though it also served the purpose of hiding a faint smile that had formed on his face. When he wiped it off too, he responded, “...Yeah.” Looking down at his belly, still lumpy but now unmoving, he once again felt a confusing mix of emotions, but at least they weren’t overwhelming. Relief stood out the most. Both at the worst being over and now having some answers. He just kept staring at his gut that was sagging in his lap, almost to his knees. Putting a hand on it, he gently rocked it back and forth, producing the sound of sloshing sludge within and a satisfied grrrrgle as the rest bubbled away. He finally looked up at Elzo, then to the side. He felt embarrassed as he asked, “Could you... help soften him up some more?”

“Yeah,” Elzo replied with a smile. He moved in again, his hot hands working their magic. He watched attentively, and was surprised at just how gentle he was. Despite some gnarly-looking claws at the end of each finger, he never so much as scratched him. He noticed him watching and said, “Hey, give me your hands. I’ll show you how to do it for yourself. ...Not that you’ll need to, just... you know, in case.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Josh obliged, laying his hands atop that dough. Elzo laid his hands over them, then began to slide them around. He was surprised by how smooth it felt, gliding across his gut. They slid to a bulge, then Elzo pushed his hand in. Josh gasped as he felt something solid give way, becoming mush right under his hands. They repeated this for a while, as well as some general circular motions to ease him. Elzo had been saying verbal instructions that whole time, but Josh tuned it out so thoroughly he was surprised when they were done.

He looked up at Elzo again. “That’s... that’s it?”

His mouth scrunched together for a moment before he answered, “Well, as much as we can do, anyway. I’m sure some of him is actually still solid... but that’s as far as we can reach.” He patted the human’s tummy and added, “Not to mention all this padding in the way.”

Josh gripped the sides of it, looking at the flab already present. “Yeah, and now there’s going to be even more...”

Elzo chuckled, but he followed it with an apology. “Sorry. I didn’t realize just how hard gaining weight was on you humans,” he said. He stood up, extending a hand to help Josh up.

After a moment, he took Elzo’s hand and was pulled up with surprising force. The momentum slung him forward unexpectedly, and Elzo had to catch him and make sure he was steady before letting go. As he stood there, he realized just how much Max must’ve weighed. “God... Why does he feel so much heavier as a liquid?”

The dragon grinned and shrugged. “Equally distributed, I guess. You know, it really isn’t very optimal how your stomach distends out forward either. It’s better at your center, you know?” Elzo picked up and dropped his own doughy gut to emphasize it.

Josh quietly chuckled and shook his head. “Stop criticizing my body and help me walk over to the couch.” Elzo did, making sure he remained steady as he walked over. His stomach growled and glorped from the movement, bringing back that feeling of nausea. But once he laid down on the couch, the contents of his stomach settled and he felt relief once more. “Thanks,” he said with his voice low.

Elzo sat down at the other end and simply replied at the same tone, “You’re welcome.” They both went quiet for a little while, only the sounds of their stomachs breaking down their respective meals filling the space. Elzo spoke first, “Next year... if you’re still here... I won’t make you eat anyone. I promise.”

Josh just stared up at the ceiling. If he did, the third time would probably be much easier than either of these times. Bigger, more experienced, with the knowhow to quickly churn up his victim. He liked the feeling right now, the soupy mess swirling around inside. He just didn’t like what came before, or who the meals were. His lips audibly parted as his mind thought, maybe... “...Maybe if... it’s someone who deserves it.” Elzo’s neck straightened up and he looked over, stunned. Josh made sure to follow up with, “Don’t get too excited. I mean, really deserves it. It’s a lot to... to digest someone. I can’t and don’t want to do it as often as you.” But he did feel that he wanted to feel it again. And feel good about it.

Elzo’s shock turned into a wide grin as he said, “Ooooh I knew you’d come around! I can’t wait to--”

“BUT! There’s one thing I want you to do.” Elzo tilted his head quizzically. Josh then sat up with an intense stare before continuing, “Stop. Eating. Our. Roommates.”

Elzo groaned, rolling his eyes. "You always have to ruin all the fun, you know?" He looked back at Josh, still showing just how serious he was with his gaze. Elzo snapped his head to the side with a growl and said, "Fine. There's plenty of food elsewhere anyway."

Josh laid back down, satisfied with the response. He still didn't like hearing him refer to people as food like that, but it was progress. He was happy to have made some and gotten some answers. He was not looking forward to experiencing how the extra weight would settle on his body, but for now, just laying on the couch... It felt good. He gingerly rubbed his gut, careful not to disturb it, and silently apologized to Max. But the upcoming year was looking up for him. His mouth faintly formed a smile as he closed his eyes, drifting off into a digestive rest.