Krags eyes creaked open lazily. He yawned as he laid there on his back and stretched out his body, which felt slightly heavier than yesterday. He hauled himself into a sitting position on top of his mound, and scratching his stomach as he peered out the entrance at the morning sun;

“Early…” he said, groggily. And was about to lay back down to resume sleeping, when he was brought back to conciseness by his growling stomach. He tried to ignore it, and force himself into sleep, but his appetite was winning the battle. “FINE.” he grunted, as he pulled himself out of bed. He stretched his arms and hind legs as he slowly approached the entrance, which was a bit more of a squeeze then the previous day. But, this went unnoticed as he tiredly made his way towards Norse .

The rich morning air mixed with the walk seemed to wake him up substantially, but took no pain out of his appetite. By the time he arrived at the town, he was greeted with a few startled looks by some of its inhabitants. The one that caught his attention the most, though, was the amazing Chef Delizioso.

“Krag?” the little man asked, with a cocked head and a confused smile, “A-well, aren’t we uppa bit early dis morning! We-a don’t even have your-a meal ready.”

“Really?” Krag asked, seeming a bit surprised himself. “Maybe I should have stayed in bed then.”

“You-a crazy, man?!” Delizioso took a massive inhale, spreading his long, thick arms outwards, “Aaahh… smell-a dat morning air… she is intoxicating, no? sends a breeze right-a through mah heart.”

Krag took a deep breathe, too, hoping to catch the same sense of pleasure that the chef did. Instead, though, he caught a whiff of cured meat being roasted. Delizioso noticed this when he heard the dragons stomach rumble like an earth-quake.

“Ah…” Delizioso began again, tugging the end of his stubby moustache to a point, “you-a smell your breakfast?”

“My breakfast?” Krag asked subtly, sounding both appreciative and impressed. Delizioso nodded enthusiastically;

“You-a say so yourself, I-a should cook more of your meals, so from-a now on, I will cook-a dem all!” Krag turned wide eyed.

“Seriously?! That’s-that’s fantastic!” Delizioso bore a toothy grin;

“Haha! I-a was just onna mah way to check on it! But it still won’t-a be-a done for a little while.”

“Oh. Alright. Well, no use in going back to sleep, I guess. Maybe I’ll take a little walk, then.” Krag said to himself, as he started aimlessly into town.

“Stay where you can-a hear-a mah shout!” shouted Delizioso with a wave.

Not a lot of people were on the streets. Probably because at this hour they were all still in bed or already at their place of work, but the few who were their gave Krag the usual greets. Krag was smiling lazily as he strolled, and realized that Delizioso was right-the morning air was simply intoxicating. But these emotions were quickly washed away when he realized he had subconsciously led himself to the stables. And what was further odd, Claw, of all people, was out. And not grazing, or sleeping, but walking.

Krag got a little closer, to add more depth to the sight. Claws head was hanging above the ground, a look of tired agony spread across his sweating face, complete with drooped eyes and a hanging tongue, and his mane was stuck against his sweating neck. His arms and legs trembling as he slowly pressed onward. He didn’t notice Krag at first, and what did make him do so was his friend speaking;

“Claw?” Krag couldn’t believe his eyes. Claw sluggishly turned his head towards Krag, not stopping at all (I would have said slowing down, but he was traveling at a snails pace anyway).

“M-morning… Krag…” Claw wheezed.

“What are you doing?!”

“The normal stable keeper is away, *huff* and the stupid substitute has me on this stupid weight loss scheme…”

“I feel for you, man, but you can’t say you couldn’t se this coming.”

“Again! *huff* Not much room to talk!”

“So how bad is it?”

“Terrible! *huff* I have to get up an hour before dawn each day and eat less than half of my normal breakfast, *huff* and then walk all day until dinner! And if I’m caught stopping or grazing at all, I’ll get switched! Not to mention, no treats…”

“So how long is he gone for?”

“THREE-MONTHS.”

“Well, sucks to be you, then.”

“You’d better watch it, *huff* Krag. I can see you in the same picture.”

“Well,” Krag chuckled a bit, “I highly doubt that.”

“Seriously, Krag *huff* , because this is basically a hell on earth…”

Krag was about to say something else, when he was conveniently interrupted by the charming tone of Chef Delizioso calling out his name in a long, harmonic fashion.

“Sorry, Claw,” he began, not even facing his friend anymore, “But I have a meal to catch!”

“Please don’t mention food around me…”

Krag really did feel bad for Claw, and felt a little hypocritical, considering the circumstances. But, at least it’ll be good for him.

Krag plopped himself down on his meaty rump, and rubbed his hands together as he licked his chops at the meal before him. Remember that pig from yesterday? Well, three of those, at least five carts of the chefs pastries, and some roasted beef by the cow. And all of it made by Delizioso, and all of it for Krag.

It was a lot of food, more than he usually ate, which even then was much more than what he needed. And his body knew it, along with just how packed with calories the chefs food was, and sent signals for Crag to stop eating before he was near finished. But the food was all so delicious, he completely disregarded the feeling and force fed himself, shoving bite after bite down his throat.

By the time he was finished, he felt like he was going to burst. And digesting all those calories was going to take some energy, so, feeling ready to fall into a coma, Krag gently rested his head onto his pillow, which had been placed in advance, and draped the blanket loosely over himself, the weight of the load in his stomach puling him into a deep slumber.

What did wake him up, however, was one of the townsmen slapping the side of his face with his palm and calling his name. Krags eyes forced themselves open groggily, and he was able to push a few words through his mouth;

“How long have I been out…?” he said, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

“It’s almost dusk. You probably would’ve spent the night hear, had I not woke you up.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it…” Krag yawned, letting his gut, which seemed a bit larger after digesting his meal, hang out in front of him.

“Call me crazy, but you look a bit wider.”

Krag slumped back into a lazy sitting position, and placed a hand over his belly, and patted it a few times, letting it jiggle.

“Eh. Maybe. Well…” Krag rolled onto all fours, letting his gut wobble underneath him. “I’m gonna head home to reenter my coma.”

“See ya tomorrow, Krag!” the villager said, laughing.

On his way back, he decided to loop through town one more time to see how Claw was holding up.

Krags tubby friend looked about ready to die. His legs shaking violently, almost distracting Krag from a juristic change in appearance. Claws mane had been cut, now only an inch or two long, and his tail was braided in a show horse fashion. And if that’s not enough, a saddle, sizes too small for Claw, was squeezed around his middle, adding insult to injury. And by the looks of it, if it was any tighter, would be adding injury to injury.

Krag had briefly considered approaching Claw, but what would you say to someone in that kind of position? So, he said nothing, and started off, back to his cave.