Satisfaction Guaranteed By Darkwulf ------------------- Chapter Two ------------------- The meals over the next few days were much more like Athelind expected. An English muffin with a small amount of fruit preserves, fresh juice, and a grapefruit half for breakfast. A large chef’s salad with lots of vegetables, little to no meat or cheese, and with salt, pepper, and vinegar as the only dressings accompanied him to lunch daily. Nightly his dinner varied, with another salad, smaller than the one for lunch, and a modest amount of a very well-prepared main dish. The same nutritional supplement accompanied every meal, and Lily had given him a small packet of vitamins to cover any other nutritional requirements that may be lacking during the weight-loss diet. And, just as he had expected, he was still hungry after every meal. The next Sunday evening, Lillian once again had Athelind change into a bathrobe for his weighing-in. Again, she nudged the weights around on the scale, and frowned slightly at the results. "Hmm. Two eighty-six," she reported. "What? Then I still weigh exactly the same?" Athelind asked. "Yes," the tabby cat replied. "Though that’s not REALLY unusual. Even though we have you on a low-calorie diet, it’s taking a while for your metabolism to start drawing from your own reserves," she explained, lightly poking at the dragon’s belly, and causing his scales to flush red again. "There are still two weeks left in the program. We’ll see results yet!" Athelind nodded, and put forth a tentative smile. "Well, if you say this isn’t unusual, then I won’t let it bother me." Lily smiled warmly at him and nodded. "Not unusual at all. In fact, given your build, I probably should have expected it. You just sit back, and I’ll take care of the hard part. All you have to do is eat what I give you." With that, she gave an impish wink and began filling out some more of the chart. ------------------- The next evening, Athelind had a bit of a surprise during dinner. Halfway through the casserole Lily served him, it suddenly occurred to him that he was feeling rather full! Lillian noticed his surprise and laughed softly at him. "Weren’t expecting that, were you?" she giggled. "Not at all," the dragon admitted. "What’s going on?" "Well," Lily stated, "I added something special to the casserole. It’s a type of fiber that bulks up in the stomach, adding volume without adding calories. I noticed that you weren’t finding the meals really satisfying, so I decided that if you got full at mealtime, you wouldn’t be as tempted to cheat." Athelind chuckled at this, idly poking at the casserole with his fork. "Well, it’s certainly working," he admitted. "This is definitely more filling than I’ve been getting used to." Truth be told, he wasn’t getting full; he WAS full. After a week of not being satisfied after meals, though, he was finding the idea of finishing the dish hard to resist. Slowly, deliberately, he took another forkful of casserole, chewing it carefully and swallowing. He sat back and relaxed for a moment, fancying that he could almost feel the fiber expanding inside his already-full stomach.. Athelind gave himself a mental shake, and leaned back forward to finish the rest of the casserole before his better judgement could kick in. After a few minutes, he leaned back in his chair and sighed contentedly. Giving his stomach a pat, he barely managed to stifle a groan. He blushed a bit as he realized how foolish it was to stuff himself right in front of the dietician. If she realized just how full he was, though, she didn’t say anything. "I’m glad you enjoyed it, Athelind. Sometimes it’s a little tricky to disguise the flavor of that stuff." When the dragon smiled and nodded, Lily smiled back. "So, did that do the trick, or would you like a little bit of dessert to finish off the meal?" Athelind blinked in surprise. "Dessert?" he asked. Lily flashed another of her warm smiles and nodded. "Vanilla pudding," she explained. "Nothing off-the-shelf. I made it all myself. You can have a small dish if you like, but be honest. If you’re full, it can keep until later." The dragon suffered a brief internal conflict at that, but in the end, the thought of the first sweets offered to him in a week won out over the protests coming from his belly. "I think I’d like some pudding," he declared. ------------------- For the second time in as many weeks, Athelind went to bed uncomfortably full. "You’ve really done it to yourself this time, Athelind," he moaned, massaging his broad, violet-scaled belly, trying to soothe his distress. "It was almost worth it, though. The pudding WAS good.." Settling into an uneasy sleep, Athelind dreamed of eating all of the vanilla pudding he could hold.. ------------------- Athelind secretly hoped that more of the meals he was served would be like Sunday evening’s, but sadly, that didn’t happen. Having a horrendous sweet tooth, he WAS delighted to be offered three more dishes of pudding that week, though. The rest of the week passed with little incident, and before he realized it, the dragon found himself in his bathrobe, standing on the scale a third time. "Hmm," murmured Lily. "Two eighty-seven.." "What?" demanded Athelind. "Not only have I not lost any weight, but I’ve actually GAINED a pound?" "Well, this isn’t wholly unusual," the cat replied. "I mean, of course you should have started to lose weight by now. But a pound’s difference can just be extra water; it’s not that you’re getting fatter. Your metabolism just doesn’t look like it wants to give anything up.." Athelind shook his head. "This is not going well at all," he sighed. "Please, sir, don’t be discouraged," Lillian reassured him in her best professional voice. "There’s still a week to see SOME sort of result, and if it’s not thirty pounds, well, we’re bound by the contract to stay on, free of charge." ------------------- The next morning, Lily gave Athelind another packet of the vitamins, and pressed him to make certain he was drinking his nutritional supplement rather than getting snacks. The dragon swore up and down that he was, and was telling the absolute truth. He really wanted this program to work for him! Athelind got another surprise that week. Four nights out of the remaining six, he was served a dish that reminded him of the casserole he was given the previous Sunday. Each time, he started to feel full halfway through the serving. And, each time, he continued to eat until the entire serving was gone, cramming his stomach to the very limit, and doing his best to conceal his discomfort from Lily. If she knew what was happening, she never said anything about it. On one such night, Athelind found himself waving good bye to Lily from his doorway. After she had left, he closed the door, and suddenly released a huge breath. His stomach immediately bulged out, tugging on his shirt and prompting him to loosen his belt. Not bothering to stifle his moan this time, he staggered to a chair and plunked down in it. "That," he groaned, "Was the most foolish thing you’ve done YET. It’s a wonder I was able to keep my gut sucked in that long, so she wouldn’t notice." Athelind decided not to get up for a while after that. He lounged in the comfy chair, and, after a while, decided that the shirt was a bit uncomfortable. Snug, even. Dreading what he already knew he was going to see, he undid the shirt’s buttons, and let it fall open. Underneath, he saw the expanse of his belly, covered with broad violet plates that interlocked snugly, covering his delicate flesh completely. And, towards the bottom of his torso, his belly rose up into a small but distinct hill, bulging fuller than he could remember seeing before. The dragon gasped at this sight, slumping deeper into the chair. "All right, it was more foolish than I THOUGHT.." he mumbled, giving the swell of his belly an experimental poke, and gasping at the sensation. "And what would have happened if she’d noticed? Would it have broken the contract? Would she have left me alone to deal with my own problems? Would she have laughed at me?" Groaning loudly, Athelind hauled himself back out of the easy chair. He went back to the dining room to take care of the dishes, and noticed with a start that part of a serving of tonight’s casserole remained on the table. "No," he told himself firmly. "You wouldn’t DARE.." He picked up some of the dishes and set them in the kitchen sink, returning to the dining room for more. As he worked, though, his eyes kept settling on the casserole, scarcely a third of a portion left.. Finally, with all of the other dishes taken care of, this was the only one left. He sat down at the table and looked at it again. "It’s a shame to let it go to waste.." he murmured to himself. "And this time, she’s not here for you to embarrass yourself.." Athelind shook his head. "On the other hand, I’m sure stuffing yourself with ANYthing isn’t very good for a diet. Still arguing with himself, the dragon soon found himself reaching for a fork, poking delicately at the leftover casserole. "Well.. maybe just a bite. One more bite couldn’t make a difference." Athelind lifted a forkful of the casserole to his mouth. Chewing it thoroughly, he cautiously swallowed. He immediately was thankful for his caution, as the stuff reached his packed stomach. Moaning softly, he shivered a bit. "Oooooh. All right, stuffing myself in front of Lily was NOT the most foolish thing I’ve done.." Almost of its own volition, the dragon found his hand reaching for the casserole again, though, scooping up another forkful. Again, he carefully chewed, and again he swallowed, letting out a solid groan as he felt the stuff slide into his belly. With a start, he realized that the first bite had begun to expand! Slumping back in the dining room chair, he took deep breaths, trying to relax as he felt himself growing fuller still, crammed with the wonderful, almost magical casserole.. Athelind eyed the remaining casserole, a war being waged in his mind. His rational side told him that he shouldn’t finish the casserole because he was already stuffed. His greedy side told him that he couldn’t remember EVER being this full, and it felt GOOD. In the end, his greed won out.. Taking a few slow, steady breaths, the dragon steeled his resolve. His fork dove into the casserole and shoveled a huge bite of the stuff into his mouth. Scarcely stopping to chew it, he gulped the bite down, just in time to shove another large portion in. This kept up for scarcely thirty seconds before all the casserole was gone. Letting the fork clatter to the table, Athelind GROANED. Gorged beyond belief, he tried again to decide what had possessed him to do this. With no answers coming easily to mind, he decided that it was a good time to go lie down and let himself settle a bit. Hauling himself shakily out of the chair, he staggered to his bedroom. Somehow he managed to remove his shirt and pants before flopping onto his back on his bed. Groaning again, he tried to come to terms with the greedy side of his mind, begging it not to let him do something like this again. After a moment, though, Athelind realized something was amiss. With horror, he realized there was an odd sensation coming from within his stomach. "The fiber!" he gasped. Eyes snapping open, he stared at his bulging midsection. The sense of pressure from inside was immense now, and as he looked on in shock, he could actually see the curve of his overfilled stomach begin to rise! The dragon let out a profound groan and placed both hands on the sides of his belly. The feelings continued, as he felt his stomach being crammed with the strange fiber, and he could feel his belly plates shifting under his fingertips. Fuller and fuller his stomach bulged, until finally, two of his belly plates actually separated! Gasping for breath, Athelind poked a claw between these plates, poking his sensitive, and greatly-stretched flesh beneath. The sensations he was experiencing were indescribable, and this newest one was too much for him; he quietly passed out, slipping into a long, dreamless sleep. ------------------- Breakfast was an interesting ordeal for him; a single night wasn’t enough to completely digest all that he had packed into himself. While he wasn’t visibly swollen any longer, he was still very full, and was hard-pressed to finish breakfast under Lily’s cheerful gaze. "Never again," Athelind told himself. Though deep inside, he knew that if the opportunity presented itself, he would never be able to resist.. -------------------