Two months have passed since Maz's injury and all of that fast food is starting to catch up to his waistline! No big deal though, he'll just run it off when he gets his cast off. Right?

CHAPTER II <--- PROLOGUE ---> CHAPTER IV
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Story:

Mazaku © & Artwork:


Cameo:

Dice ©:

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AUGUST (Month 3)

Maz sat for an extra second, letting the water from the showerhead above wash over his frame and take away any remaining suds from the body wash he had slathered his scales with. He had to admit, when he had first gotten his cast on and had to take these awkward sitting showers with his leg half sticking out of the tub while plopped on the specialized waterproof stool he had ordered online, he had been annoyed. After the last few months, however, he had grown to like sitting and relaxing and letting the warm water wash over his scales. Maz closed his eyes and took in a deep breath through his nostrils, letting the stresses of his day wash away with the streams of water cascading down to the tube below. There was a certain sense of peace in those showers, but like all good moments, it had to come to an end eventually. Reluctantly, Maz reached out his paw and shut off the water. He pulled the curtain to the side and reached for his towel resting on the closed toilet seat. He went about slowly patting dry as much of his sopping frame as possible; it was far easier sitting down than when he was trying to balancing on his own two feet.

Though his ankle was almost healed and he was starting to put some weight on it again, the cast still made balancing difficult especially as he naturally tried to keep as much pressure off the foot as possible. After running the towel through his hair once more, Maz grabbed the edge of the wall and the tub and hoisted himself up, taking care not to slip on the wet tiled floor. He leaned against the wall for a second as he got his feet under him, taking care to gingerly place his cast foot on the ground; he wasn’t taking any chance. He then grabbed his towel again and wrapped it around his waist; he’d air dry the rest of his body for now. Besides, he had forgotten his clothes in his room. He was about to shuffle passed the sink and out the door to change but he stopped for a second: why’d his hair feel so gnarly? Figuring he must have been more aggressive drying it than usual, he turned back toward the sink. Even though the only other person that would ever see his hair was his brother, he still liked to keep himself well-kempt; a little combing never hurt anyone. He bent over and began to rummage through the sink drawers, trying to find his comb.

“Where is it?” Maz muttered before ultimately giving up a few seconds later. It was probably sitting in his room with his clothes. Maz sighed and stood back up, a little annoyed with himself. He was about to turn and leave when he paused, noticing his reflection in the mirror. He had meandered long enough such that the steam had finally cleared and the sight that stared back at Maz shocked the dragon.

His eyes went wide as instead of seeing the trim torso he had been sporting for the better part of his adolescent years, he saw his abdomen bloating out of his torso. His stomach bulged forward a few inches before sagging slightly over the top of the towel wrapped around his waist. It puffed to the sides too, forming a set of love handles that stretched and compressed with every slight movement he made at his waist. The apparently soft mound seemed to bulge and curve, droop and sag, jostle and bounce with the natural slight deviations in his posture. It was a sight he was used to seeing with regards to his brother, but on him, it was like he was looking a different person. A different person. A different Maz.

Where did that come from?! Maz thought before his eyes moved up his torso and noticed the soft mounds jutting out of his chest and the creases that had formed between it and the edges of his shoulders. The lithe definition he had once sported on his arms had dulled while even his face was looking a bit rounder, with his jawline hiding between the cloak of softness that Maz could barely bring himself to consider the contents of. Had he gotten chubby? No that wasn’t possible! He was a runner, there was no way he could be chubby! It just wasn’t possible!

In a moment of panic, Maz quickly turned from the mirror and rushed out of the bathroom as fast as his casted leg would allow, making a beeline for his bedroom down the hall. As he moved, he suddenly became aware of the soft jiggling sensation around his middle with each of his plodding steps. He tried to flex his abs to stop the sensation but to no avail. That pudge was beyond his control; his belly was going to jiggle whether he liked it or not!

Maz rushed through his bedroom door and shut it behind him. He leaned against the frame, trying to collect his thoughts. How could he have gotten chubby?! It just didn’t make sense! How as it even possible that…? Maz’s gaze then turned toward the clutter on the floor of his room. Beyond the handful of shirts and shorts, there was a trio of fast food bags, stained with grease and cheese that could never be mistaken for the salads at Burger Palace. A few bags of sour cream and onion potato chips sat half-eaten on the nightstand of his bed while a half-chocolate bar sat along the edge of his dresser right next to the dragon by the door. Maz stared at it as it seemed to call to him, making him salivate. Maz caught himself and shook his head; okay, maybe there was a chance that he could have put on a little weight.

Sure, when he had first broken his leg, he had been gung-ho about maintaining his diet, but after Vorax kept messing up his veggie wrap and salad orders, Maz had to admit, he had gotten a little complacent. He had eaten fast food or take out every day for the last week, well… two weeks… maybe three. While Maz would have liked to say that all of those times were just clerical errors on his older brother’s part, he knew that he had been the one to suggest ordering the pizza the other night; he was complicit. Then again, he had ordered a veggie pizza, and though he had also ordered it with extra cheese and a stuffed crust, it was still a veggie pizza. Vegetables were healthy, that meant he was being at least a little healthy. So that means he couldn’t have possibly put on so much weight. It was probably just a few pounds and it just looked like more in his head. Yeah, that had to be it. It was just an optical illusion of sorts. That had to be the reason! Maz glanced down at his stomach again; yeah, it wasn’t so bad! Sure he had a little more pudge around his middle, but he could come back from this. It was what five or ten pounds at the most? He could drop this no problem! Once he got his cast off, he was going to buckle down and get his act in gear!

Maz stood back up, feeling a renewed sense of confidence and control over his situation, even if he was actively denying the slight tug of his belly as it was pulled forward and down by gravity and the weight of his chest pressing ever so slightly harder down on his lungs. He turned and opened his dresser, pulling out his favorite “Pie” shirt that his math class had sold as a fundraiser last year, featuring the symbol pie raised to the power of Euler's e. The irony of the shirt being lost on Maz for the moment, he pulled it over his head and was dismayed when it merely settled around his chest. Maz grunted as he tried to pull the shirt down over his middle, but struggled to pull it over the dome of his small paunch.

“Five pounds really goes a long way, ha,” Maz chuckled to himself nervously, the forefront of the dragon’s mind playing mental gymnastics with the reality being screamed by his objective subconscious. Maz yanked the shirt back up and over his head. He fished around his drawer and before pulling out a dark grey shirt that he didn’t fully recognize. When he held it up, however, the image of tropical palm trees on a sunny beach jogged his memory.

This had been a gift from one of his Aunts who had gone on a trip to Hawaii last summer. She had brought back a t-shirt for everyone, but of course, she hadn’t asked what size everyone was beforehand. Maz’s shirt had always been a little too big on him and thus had never worn it except when his Aunt had come to town to visit last fall; he had felt like he was going to blow away in the wind like a kite when walking in the park with her! Even Vorax couldn’t squeeze into his curtain-sized vacation tee. Now, however, Maz felt an itch in the back of his mind. Maybe now was the time.

Maybe… just maybe…

Maz pulled the shirt over his head and let it fall over his abdomen. Much to his surprise, the fabric hugged snugly around his frame; not too tight nor too baggy, just right. Looking down, he could only see a slight bump where his little paunch was, creating the illusion that it was virtually nonexistent.

Good, Maz not so much thought but intuitively felt in the back of his mind; a sense of satisfaction that went beyond traditional descriptive verbiage. As Maz twisted his torso to get a better look of the shirt’s fit around his sides and back, he suddenly froze and tilted his head to the side as he heard the front door slam. Not two seconds later he heard a familiar voice bellowing from down the hall.

“Maz, I grabbed some dinner on my way home. Come get it while it’s still hot!” Vorax called. Maz was about to call back, inquiring about what Vorax had picked up for dinner, but already, the smell of warm grease and cheese was permeating in the air. Maz closed his eyes and sniffed, feeling his mouth instantly salivate. He couldn’t quite pin the goodies waiting for him on the other side of the door, but judging by the smell, it was probably burgers and fries again, though there was something else in that aromatic concoction… something sweet and vinegary… was that pulled pork…?

Maz’s eyes suddenly flung open: was that the Pigs in a Blanket Burger from Ben’s Meat Palace?!?! It had to be, it just had to! It was Vorax’s favorite burger in the entire city, complete with a blended pork and beef patty, bacon, pulled pork, and a delicious North Carolina barbeque sauce with of course copious amounts of cheese stuffed between a thick pretzel bun. Maz was getting excited just thinking about it, hoping that Vorax had also gotten the accompanying fries Swine Style.

Maz let his towel drop to the floor and rush to through on his pants, that was until his foot inadvertently kicked one of the empty burger bags on the ground. Maz paused, remembering that he probably shouldn’t be eating burgers… again. If he really wanted to cut back and start losing weight, he was going to have to…

As if on cue, Maz’s belly rumbled, loud enough to echo off the walls of his room. Simultaneously, a pang of hunger tore through his abdomen, causing him to double over slightly. Maz didn’t know why he suddenly felt so hungry, as he had been snacking all afternoon. That smell though, that glorious smell of sauce and grease was taunting him, tempting him… He could eat one more burger. One more wasn’t going to change anything, besides, what else was he supposed to eat tonight? He wasn’t going to starve himself; he needed to stay strong to finish healing his ankle! He could eat the Pigs in a Blanket burger this one last time, then he’d go back to the salads and wraps. He’d put his good foot down and start eating healthy again, even if the thought of a salad made his face ever so subtly, yet seemingly instinctively, grimace as he shuffled out the door and down the hall to a waiting, grinning Vorax with a brown bag in his outstretched hand:

“Hope you’re hungry,” Vorax chuckled…