"Clients or no clients, Sarge, I still got work with the police on big cases. I just don't have any extra revenue from the private clients." Drew grimaced, rubbing the top of his head from under his hat. "Quarantine'll probably just be a few weeks or so until problems die down."

Drew was dismissive toward the werewolf now. Gently pressing his hand into Sarge's back, Drew ushered the portly fellow out of the door. "And obviously this 'quarantine weight' has hit you hard! Don't think I remembered you being so corpulent!"

Sarge turned around the protest, but Drew slammed the door in the werewolf's face before the werewolf could use the "Puppy dog eyes" on Drew. Sighing, Drew went over to his desk and sat down at it. "You were charismatic enough to fatten me up before, but I am not falling for any of your tricks again, Sergeant Wolf." Casually, Drew opened up the top drawer to his desk. Pulling out a case file called 'Fluffmaster', Drew couldn't help but wonder if this "Quarantine Weight" was a practical joke by the serial fattener known as Fluffmaster.

"If everyone's getting fatter, then the Fluffmaster's on the loose again. Seems I've got my work cut out for me. But that 'quarantine weight'," Drew snarled. "Does that werewolf actually want me to believe that 'Quarantine Weight' is actually a thing?"

~~~~~

An entire year... a FULL year... of quarantining. Businesses opened up here and there, but with cases being so slow, and gyms being closed, Drew found himself lazing around his office now. The detective scratched at his midriff, noticing a bit of white dusting on it from the donut he had just eaten. "Gosh, I gotta request Sarge stop getting me those frosted donuts. The sugar gets all over my shirt!"

Drew had a bit of difficulty getting to his feet. It had been a while since he noticed this difficulty, but he had blamed it on the couch getting older. Now, he wasn't so sure that was the case, especially now that his shirt was getting a bit tight again.

Commonplace at this point, Drew needed to measure his midriff again. He hadn't ever done this before, but with the constant need for custom-made shirts, he was finding it handy to have measuring tape on hand. Gruffly, Drew wrapped the blue tape around his belly. He'd long since stopped recording how big his gut was getting, as it became tedious to make daily notes. "Well, seems my belly is at-"

Drew saw that the tape measure wasn't fully around his belly, yet he was holding both ends as close as he could get them. "Wait... what?! When did this tape measurer get so small? I could fit it exactly to my waist only last week!"

Drew's eyes widened as realization finally hit him. He had gotten fatter. With how soft he had gotten, and the days molding together as one, he had barely noticed the habits he had formed.

A glimpse of a donut box sat on the table. A cartoon-version of Sergeant Wolf's face sat on the top of it, making Drew panic as he remembered the werewolf's words. "Quarantine Weight will hit ya soon. I'd bet you'd be sporting a belly in a year's time!"

"S-seriously? is that my punishment for mocking you, 'Quarantine Weight'?" Drew yelped, his stubborn doubts on the validity of 'quarantine weight' now fading away.

This must be what karma felt like... either that, or he just let himself go.

~~~~~

Commission for  lockjaw-totoknight of their character, Drew, undergoing the before and after of Quarantine Weight!

~~~~~

Drew ©  lockjaw-totoknight

Art/Story ©  pikminpedia Me