The chubby dragon has some mistakes to resolve and some unfinished business before returning home to his mate. He isn't sure he can fix everything, but as long as his fat middle doesn't get in the way, he's certainly going to try.


This is a SFW chapter with some stuckage and minor swearing.
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Kill, Marry, Fuck
Chapter 3


The light stung as Rangavar’s eyes cracked open. His head felt stuffed with cotton and his stomach churned ominously. He tried to twitch some of his limbs, but they felt heavy and exhausted. He groaned.
“Oh thank Vaugh, you’re awake.”
He winced and pinched his eyes tight at the slight sound.
He felt the surface next to him dip down. He was lying on something soft. A mattress? It was bending because someone sat on it. He started to feel himself waking up a bit more as he became aware of his surroundings.
When he squinted his eyes again, he took in the dimly lit room this time, realizing that it was actually sunny out but the curtains were drawn tight over the windows. Even the tiny slivers of bright light hurt, and he turned his head. A hulking shape was leaning over him, watching with concern.
He jerked a little more alert at that.
“How do you feel?” the figure asked. It slowly came into focus. Arro, it was Arro.
Rangavar tried to answer, but just groaned again. Why was Arro here? For that matter, Rangavar didn’t actually know where he was himself. He tried to move his head around, but could only see more bed and puffy white blanket.
Arro stared down at him intently. “How… how much of last night do you remember?”
“Last night?” Rangavar forced the words through his lips. “Not a fucking thing.” Given his current state, that wasn’t too surprising.
As his senses returned, though, so did some of his memories. “I remember you coming over and annoying me. And we drank. And…” He trailed off. There was nothing beyond that.
Arro leaned back. He seemed relieved for some reason. Maybe he’d drank a bit much himself and done some of his own embarrassing things.
Rangavar wondered if he’d done anything embarrassing. He never got shit-faced. And if he’d wanted to, he definitely wouldn’t have chosen to do it with Jade’s mate who hated him.
He frowned as it occurred to him. “Why are you here?”
“This is my hotel room.” Arro gestured around. “You’re in my room. I’m supposed to be here.”
“Ugh… how’d I get here?”
“You passed out last night at the bar, and I didn’t know where you were staying. And I didn’t want to just leave you there, so I uh…” Arro trailed off.
“Thanks,” said Rangavar flatly. Come to think of it, he was pretty sure he hadn’t even gotten his own hotel. He’d been too busy finding his way to the lab, stumbling his way through the interview, and then it was already night time since the sun set so fast on this world.
He moved his arms and legs a bit, determined to get up. “I’m sorry for inconveniencing you.”
“Oh, it was no trouble,” Arro said, but Rangavar heard he was lying.
He managed to roll himself onto his stomach, and then pulled himself to the edge of the bed. He realized too late that it was too much movement. He clutched the sheets as he retched all over the carpet.
To his credit, Arro didn’t say anything, or even make a sound as he got up and grabbed a trashcan and towel.
“Sorry for ruining your morning,” he said weakly. “This isn’t really how I pictured mine going, either.”
“It’s not morning.” Arro returned with the supplies. He handed over the trashcan. “It’s almost sunset. You were out all night and all through today.”
“What??”
The huge Faerian silently cleaned up the mess.
“How fucking much did I drink last night?” Rangavar put down the trashcan, pretty sure the damage had already been done. “This isn’t like me. I’m so sorry.”
Arro shrugged, but didn’t meet his eyes. “Shit happens.”
He just lay there for a while as the sky grew darker outside, awkwardly recovering while Arro awkwardly pretended he wasn’t there. It was nice of him not to just kick him out now that he was awake. This was the worst hangover of his life.
It had finally gotten dark by the time he started to feel better. “Sorry for wasting your day.” He couldn’t seem to stop apologizing.
“Not really,” Arro shrugged. “I took care of some stuff online. Setting up my interviews and all that.”
“Oh, right.” Rangavar rolled flat on his back, his arms spread apart, staring at the ceiling. “I didn’t know that you had work on Karraden.”
“I actually don’t, yet.” The large Faerian looked away. “This whole thing was sort of, uh, sudden.”
Rangavar raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t ask.
“You know, it’s okay if you just stay here another night,” Arro spoke up after a long pause.
“Really?” The idea of not moving sounded great right now. “I think I’ll take you up on that.”
“Sure.” Arro stood up and stretched. “But no offense, I get to sleep on the bed this time.”
Rangavar craned his neck to look at him. “Huh?”
The Faerian gestured vaguely at it. “It’s not big enough for two people, so…”
“You let me sleep on the bed you’re paying for?”
“Well, I was afraid if you were on the floor, you’d hurt yourself,” he stammered.
Rangavar lay still for a long moment. “Why are you being nice to me?”
Arro snorted. “Is that a crime?”
“It’s a little weird, since you weren’t all that nice to me a few days ago.” What happened after he blacked out? A little heart-to-heart session? More drinks? Karaoke?
Arro’s expression softened. He sat down on the edge of the bed. “Well, I wish you’d told me you were Jade’s mate.” He pressed his lips together. “I thought… I thought that you were there maybe… without the best of intentions.” He stared down at his lap. Well, what he could see of it, anyway, around his thick midsection. “When Jade was crying and demanding you leave, I thought you’d done something.”
“Vaugh, no.” Rangavar rolled over and glared at him. “I love her. I would give my life for her.” He sighed, and flopped back weakly. “And she loves you, and would give up everything else for you. I had to go.”
“Rangavar, I’m sorry.” He eyed him sadly. “I have no idea how this happened. I wish you two had just told me.” He scowled, then. “We could have straightened all of this out. It wouldn’t have gotten this far¬ if I had just known—”
“What wouldn’t have gotten this far?”
Arro flattened his ears and stumbled for a second. “These… hard feelings.”
It sounded off. Rangavar wasn’t entirely convinced that’s what he’d meant.
“Look,” the Faerian stammered. “I’m tired and just want to sleep.” He gestured at the bed. “You’re lying directly in the middle and need to move, if that’s okay.”
“Sure.” Rangavar tried to push himself up. It wasn’t entirely successful, his elbows sinking into the soft mattress and his body still feeling weak. “Where do you want me to go? I can lie on the floor.”
Arro eyed the bed thoughtfully, one paw on his chin. He looked between Rangavar and the rest of the bed. “If you stay on the edge, I might just be able to lie down on this side. It’ll be really tight, though.”
Rangavar stretched, arching his back, trying to alleviate some of the stiffness. “Yeah. Whatever works.”
He curled up on the far side of the bed, facing away from the much larger Faerian. He felt the mattress bend as Arro gingerly lowered himself. He heard him huff a little as he maneuvered his big belly into the bed.
“Uh. I don’t think this is going to work.”
Rangavar turned to see Arro almost up against him, turning a brighter shade of red.
“I can’t get all the way on without bumping into you.”
Rangavar turned back around. “I don’t care if you do.” If it meant he didn’t have to move, Arro could sit on him for all he cared.
“Oh… okay.”
He stayed still as he felt Arro scoot up behind him, until he was finally pressed against his back. Rangavar tucked in his folded wings as tightly as possible to make room, but the other dragon was actually softer than he’d expected, and pleasantly warm. It wasn’t soon before he was once again off to sleep.




Rangavar felt ten times better when he awoke the next morning. It was actually morning this time, right? Faint light wafted in through the windows. He stirred a little and realized there was still a huge warm shape pressed against his back. He was as careful as possible not to wake it as he got up from the bed.
He surveyed the plain hotel room, but there wasn’t much to look at. Aside from the bed, there was a desk, a chair, and a dresser. What looked like a very tiny computer sat on the center of the desk, and the chair had Arro’s hip bag draped over the back, but otherwise, the space was clean.
He decided to go. He didn’t want to wake Arro; the big Faerian had already done enough for him. As he stood from the edge of the bed, he lost his balance for a sec, stumbling forwards a bit, but catching himself on the chair. His leg tangled into the hip bag, pulling the back of the chair over, and as he fell to the ground he dragged the whole thing down with him.
CRASH.
So much for his stealthy exit.
The fat Faerian bolted upright, startled awake.
“Sorry,” Rangavar groaned. He pushed himself up on his elbows. “I was trying to be quiet.”
Arro stretched sleepily. “You didn’t do a good job.” He rolled over to observe him.
Rangavar’s scales turned a darker shade as he blushed. The chair was fine, but the bag had spilled open and its contents were scattered on the floor. “I’m so sorry.” He hastily began grabbing Arro’s belongings and stuffing them back into his bag. His paws paused around a bottle of chalky white pills.
Rangavar felt Arro’s anxiety go from zero to a hundred. “Oh, that’s my medication,” said he quickly
He was lying, so Rangvar was even more intrigued. He flipped it around to look at the label. He couldn’t read it, but he recognized the colors and pattern. He dropped the bottle in shock.
“Rangavar...” Arro was fighting his way out of the sheets. His elbows were sinking heavily into the plush bed and his fat was weighing him down, making it a struggle to get up.
The Darkal stood and backed away. “Why do you have that?”
The Faerian didn’t say anything as he worked his way out of bed, huffing against the exertion, probably cursing himself by now as he realized that Rangavar wouldn’t have thought twice about the bottle if he hadn’t said anything at all.
Rangavar continued to back away. “That’s not medication, it’s poison for killing Darkals.”
“It can be used as medication,” Arro protested, finally freeing himself of the bed and swinging his heavy legs over the side.
Rangavar shook his head. “That’s not what you were going to use it for, were you.” It wasn’t a question. The Faerian was emitting waves of guilt.
Arro reached out for him. “Look, I’m sorry—”
Rangavar’s back finally bumped into the door. He couldn’t back away any farther, he had to leave. He grabbed the doorknob. “I should have known not to trust you. You did all this to trick me into taking them.”
“But you’re fine now.” Arro kept his eyes on the smaller dragon while snatching the bottle off the floor, his ears flat and expression guilty. “When I found out you were Jade’s mate, I changed my mind! I thought you’d hurt her, but—”
“Wait, what do you mean I’m fine ‘now’?” His eyes widened with realization. “You ALREADY tried to poison me? I was never actually sick, was I. It was the poison.” He stared at the other dragon in horror.
Arro approached slowly with his paws out. “Look, I’m sorry. And I don’t want to hurt you. I changed my mind and brought you back here.”
“So what, you want a fucking award?” Rangavar yanked open the door.
Arro reached out to grab him as he burst into the hall, the Faerian’s meaty fingers brushing the edge of one wing as he raced out towards safety. Rangavar considered making a commotion, but wasn’t sure if that anyone would help. It might be best to just disappear.


Arro paced back and forth frantically in the room. He hadn’t just fucked up. He had fucked up BAD.
He had almost gotten away with the Darkal not finding out, too, making it all the more frustrating. All undone by a single, chance mistake. He couldn’t have anticipated it, but still felt stupid. He went to punch the wall, but stopped as he remembered he didn’t want anyone to come check on him; it was bad enough that Rangavar had escaped. Arro knew he should probably pack up and get out before any authorities paid him a visit.
He hurriedly put the bottle back in his bag along with the rest of his things. He’d have to find somewhere to dispose of it quickly, but somewhere that it couldn’t be traced back to him. He was shaking as he left his room. Outside, the sun was shining, and others were happily going about their day, unaware of the tragedy about to unfold in this traveler’s life if he didn’t find that Darkal. He squinted as his eyes adjusted.
Eventually finding a vent in the sidewalk, he looked around and disposed of the pills. He just tossed in the whole bottle, watching to make sure it disappeared from view, where no one would ever find it. He’d rather get in trouble for being seen littering than attempted murder.
He rubbed his face, wandering the streets aimlessly. Originally, he had hoped to be returning to Jade by now, telling her that the job offer had fallen through with some carefully crafted words. But he couldn’t leave like this. He had unfinished business, even if it weren’t exactly the business he’d been planning on.
He brightened as he had an idea. The Glitarian research facitily. Rangavar would presumably still be getting a job there.
Arro hitched a ride on the quickest transportation, hoping his hunch was correct. He had to resolve this before he left, and he wasn’t going to give up until he fixed it.
The research facility was a low-lying, unassuming building nestled into the more rural landscape away from town. The grass gave way to a plot of dirt lined with vehicles, overshadowed by trees encircling the area. It was very quaint. Even so, the building was bright and obviously new.
Arro was stopped at the door by security. The imposing Faerian was as tall as he was, but didn’t at all match his girth. “I’m hoping for an interview.” He figured if anyone followed up on that, he could genuinely get one, even though he didn’t plan on getting a job. He just needed to get inside.
The security guard didn’t ask, just waving him in. He had to step back quite a ways to give Arro the space to enter. The hall inside was much wider than the entrance, stretching out before him.
“The boss’ office is at the end,” said the security guard gruffly. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” Arro glanced around. The hall was empty, lined with tightly shut doors. Maybe snooping would be a bit harder than he’d thought.
When the entrance shut behind him, he slowly approached the first door. He quickly found that it, and most of the other doors, didn’t even have windows. The ones that did were only narrow slivers. Arro couldn’t angle himself to get a good look inside.
“Hello?”
He turned to see a small female Faerian staring curiously.
“Oh, hi.” He shifted his feet a bit. “I’m, uh, here for an interview.”
“Oh.” She pointed towards the end of the hall. “You’ll want to be at that office down there.”
“Thank you so much.” Arro felt her eyes on him his whole way down the hall. He sighed under his breath. There was no getting out of it for now, but he was determined to find that little Darkal soon enough.


“Well, your resume is excellent,” said the dragon at the desk.
Arro squirmed in his seat uncomfortably. He’d had to wedge himself pretty hard into it to sit down, letting gravity do most of the work for him as his rolls refused to enter the armrests’ loving embrace.
“When would you like to begin?”
“Wait, I’m hired?” he asked with genuine surprise.
The interviewer smiled. “We’ve been in operation for less than two months, so we’re still building our team. I think you’d be a wonderful asset.” He slid the paperwork over the desk. “There is a catch, though.”
Arro, who hadn’t really been interested in the job at all, didn’t care, although he already felt really bad about planning to ghost his job on the first shift. “Yeah?”
“We’d start you off as a security guard or maintenance, and you’d have to work your way up. But it’s still high pay,” the dragon promised.
“Oh. That sounds fine.” Whatever.
“Wonderful.” The dragon handed him a pen, and he signed. “You start tomorrow.” The interviewer leaned out to shake paws.
Arro clasped it, noting the dragon’s strong grip. “Wow, really?”
He handed Arro a plastic rectangle, a temporary entry badge. “They’ll have your real nametag all printed up by tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” Arro slid it into his bag. He went to stand up, but his progress was abruptly halted. He suddenly remembered forcing himself into the chair. It now clung tightly to his sides. He twisted a bit to stand up, but found that it didn’t help.
He began to blush furiously. “Sorry.” He leaned forward instead, deciding to shimmy himself up. There wasn’t enough room to put his paws against the armrests and push, since they were buried in his huge lovehandles. He twisted, pushing one paw against the back of the chair. It didn’t budge.
The interviewer hand his hands folded on the desk, his eyebrows raised, although he politely didn’t say anything.
Arro jerked against the chair frantically. Well, he was probably about to be fired, which was fine since he’d never intended to see these dragons ever again. Although now he definitely didn’t want to.
“Do you need some help?” the other dragon offered, after watching him struggle a solid two minutes with the patience of a saint.
Arro sat back, panting a bit. “Yes, please.”
The other dragon came over to help him up.
“Ha, this is so embarrassing,” he said nervously to break the awkward silence.
“Well fortunately, your new job doesn’t require a lot of sitting!” The interviewer’s words were meant to sound friendly. He was obviously trying to lighten the situation, but it didn’t really help.
He tried holding the back of the chair down as Arro strained forwards, hoping to pull himself out by gripping the edge of the desk. When that didn’t work, the interviewer tried grabbing Arro’s arms and just pull his body instead.
“This is going to sound weird,” said the other dragon after a while, a bit out of breath. They’d been going at it for some time now. “But why don’t we tip you face down towards the floor, and try wriggling the chair off your butt in the air.” Even he was starting to look a bit flustered now. “Because, you know, gravity, and your… well, body weight.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” Arro really wanted to sink into the ground right now. This was turning out to be quite the first impression.
They managed to tip him over with somewhat contained crash, by which they actually meant a large crash, but with the office door closed to dampen the sound to passersby outside.
Arro was crouched on all fours, his wedged but in the air with the chair sitting on top like a little hat. He felt mortified.
The much fitter dragon twisted and pulled at the chair. Now that gravity was working for them, and not against them, it actually, slowly budged. Arro wriggled his own ass a bit as the chair finally popped free, suddenly enough to send the other dragon flying backwards.
“Vaugh, I am so sorry about this.” Arro quickly pushed himself up, his belly swishing against the floor, and then helped the other dragon up from under the thrown chair. It had been defeated, cracked a little from the pressure of being stretched to its limit, and succumbing to the strain during its final fling across the room.
The interviewer dusted himself off. “Well, I have to say, Arro, that this has certainly been a most memorable interview!”
“Haha, I’ll bet.” He couldn’t get out of there quickly enough. Arro was a deep shade of red as he left the room.