Just Say No to Hunger- Part 1

Daren the Lion (Yes, really) is a former kid actor, famous- or infamous- as the face of a certain government program aimed at drug use. Now in college, he's fighting temptation as best he can- but you can't say no to everything, can you?

This one's a little different, and is actually sharing continuity with our other story this month- check it out soon, and enjoy!

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It was the last night of Hell Week on campus; the final night for every frat house and sorority to stop hazing and finally show mercy to their pledges. Several of the frat houses on campus competed for the biggest and wildest party, but none of them could quite beat the wild nature of Beta Iota Gamma— or the BIG House. Everything they did was the biggest; the biggest house on Fraternity Row, the biggest parties, the biggest names on campus— all of them got poached by BIG. This year, two of the stand-outs amongst the pledges, and the two top names after BIG's intense hazing, were Daren Leon and Jake Long. 

Daren was a Political Science Major, a former kid actor that had been the face of a government program to end drug use, which had earned him no end of teasing once the word about his past got out. It was a pity; the lion had grown into a good-looking, friendly and well-adjusted young man. He had parlayed his connections in Hollywood for some connections in politics, and was looking to really make a difference, instead of only being known for being the face of a maligned national drug awareness campaign. But that didn't stop him being hazed relentlessly, plied with pot at every turn and other drugs of varying degrees of legality. It had been a trial; Daren was a people-pleaser, but he knew his future would hang on keeping a completely whistle-clean record. The last thing he needed was that one time he buckled and did illegal drugs in college pulled out in a future election at the eleventh hour.

Thankfully, he had one friend watching his back— Jake Long. The American Dragon, he called himself— a self-styled magical guardian, if you could believe his stories, and riding an athletics scholarship while pursuing an art history major of all things. He insisted art history was the best way to study the mythical creatures, but Daren wasn't sure how much he bought that. Still, Jake was much more of a natural at winning popularity with their new brothers, and had helped carry Daren across the finish line of Hell Week. He was also a bit of a hunk, with his chiseled features and top-heavy build— which hadn't escaped Daren's notice.

"Hey, Daren, my dude!" Jake draped his red-scaled arm over the lion's shoulders before they walked into the party. "Hold up a minute."

Daren brushed back his thick, full mane. "What's up, Jake?"

"Be on your guard, man— the senior brothers are gonna try to set you up all night. They got like, five different spots in the party where they'll try and get you on the stuff, you know?"

The lion's mouth twisted. "What? You're kidding. I thought hazing was over."

"Yeah, well they got a pot going— first one to get it right when you trip up gets the whole thing, and there's like, a thousand dollars on the line, now," the dragon said.

Daren furrowed his brow. "Wait, how do you know about this?"

"Because I'm in on the pot, dude!" Jake waggled his eyebrows. "But I bet you wouldn't crack, so don't let me down, yeah?" The dragon gave Daren a quick smack on the rear with a cheeky smirk. "I'll split the winnings with you, too— think about what two dudes with that kind of money to burn could do in one night."

"I, uh—!" Daren huffed, his cheeks growing hot as the dragon already swaggered away, charging inside for his big entrance. "R-right, yeah, you can… you can count on me!" The lion's tail swished nervously. The truth was, he had always struggled with peer pressure ever since high school, and he had been willing to do anything— within legal boundaries, of course— that would win him brownie points with his classmates, just to outrun his now notorious role. He had come awfully close to cracking, especially when some of the more handsome fraternity brothers had pushed it on him. But he could make it through one more night, right?

He took a calming breath before pushing into the party, loud bass music washing over him in tremors. To one side he spotted the several kegs the brothers had set up, which he immediately veered away from, and then made a bee line for the buffet table, piled high with pizzas, soda, burgers, chips, and anything the brothers could squeeze on to a barbecue— ribs, chicken, steak, and then a mountain of sugary junk food behind that. 

"Bro! Daren!" The lion froze up— the brothers were sending out the big guns tonight. His face set in a nervous smile, he turned to face Chuck, an absolute tank of a bear. He was the football team's heaviest linebacker, and exactly Daren's type— thick and hefty all over, with a chest he could bounce quarters off of and arms he just wanted to melt right into. When he heard BIG was LGBT friendly, he'd made his preferences known— and the brothers had sent out BIG's biggest studs to fluster him at every turn during hazing week.

"You look tense, little man!" Chuck chuckled, making his thick chest bounce, half of it spilling out of his shirt as he draped that huge arm over the lions shoulders, pulling him against his thick side. "You gotta relax, dude. You're one of us, now! Initiation's tomorrow night and you did it. So… y'know, you can ease up a little." He lifted his varsity jacket, revealing a plastic bag of something Daren knew Chuck would swear up and down to the Dean was oregano. "C'mon. I'll even show you how to roll your own joint."

"Ah! Haha, I, uh, Chuck, that is… super nice." Daren wriggled free of the bear's grip. "But, y'know, I uh…" He glanced over to the buffet table, and his eyes alighted on what he was certain was a trap laid out for him; a plate of unassuming brownies. "I… I… I-I already tried some." 

Chuck narrowed his eyes, almost scowling. "You what?"

"Yeah!" Daren cleared his throat, remembering every bit of advice to get out of situations just like this that he had memorized verbatim. "I had one of the, uhm. Special brownies."

The bear stood up, staring in disbelief. "You're shitting me, bro. You actually cracked?"

"S-sure did. But you know, I, uh… man. I got the munchies real bad, now." Daren rubbed his trim middle meaningfully. "And God, y'know, I just… mmph…" He reached out, immediately reaching out for a piece of pizza. "Guh, this is just… mm… so good." He then reached for some ribs too. "Man, I'm thinking like… rib pizza now too, y'know?" He started piling a plate high with as much random food as he could gather, to really sell the bit.

The gears turned in Chuck's head, and the bear slowly nodded as a broad smile split across his face. "You… actually did. Huh! Y'know what, Daren? That is just fine by me. You enjoy yourself, bro."

Chuck swaggered away as Daren began stuffing his face, to really sell the bit. With a smug look on his face, the bear moved back to the kegs, where Jake was starting to entertain with a few of his party tricks— setting fire to anything tossed up in the air with his breath.

"Dudes!" Chuck held out his thick arms. "I won the pot! Daren had a pot brownie— just told me himself, and now he's stuffing his face from a bad case of the munchies."

Jake spat out his beer. "What?" The dragon grit his teeth as he felt a thousand dollars slip out of his claws. "Hold on, I'm gonna check this out myself."

"You do that, Jake, but trust me man— he is blitzed."

Daren was in the middle of turning two pieces of pizza into a pulled pork sandwich when he felt Jake's claws dig into his shoulder, yanking him to his side. "Dude!" the dragon hissed through clenched teeth. "What the Hell did I tell you about the pot? And you cave in ten minutes?!"

"Mmph!" the lion gulped down his latest treat. "No, Jake— I lied."

The dragon cocked his head. "What?"

"Look, I'll even do a drug test, I'm clean as a whistle, honest." The lion held up his hand. "Right from my old program— sometimes saying no means you gotta tell a little white lie. I'm just playing up the bit right now. You know, munchies and all?"

The dragon slowly nodded. "Okay, okay. Yeah. Sure. That'll work." He grinned, punching Daren in the arm. "Nice, man. I'll, uh… keep Chuck thinking he's won, then we can pull the pot right out from under him. Just keep up the act."

The lion grinned tightly. "Hey, I'm an actor, right? I can do a bit of method acting." Daren then moved to the buffet table, planting himself on a stool right next to the huge spread and began to gorge— whatever damage he did to his waistline, the lion was fairly certain he could work it off while finding a way to spend his half of the bet winnings. Still, the more he committed to the bit as the party wore on, grabbing up pizza slices and throwing on fried chicken, hot sauce, and nacho cheese sauce to make a horrifyingly unhealthy pizza burrito, the lion actually felt himself begin to ease up. Keeping his plate full made him relax— for the first time since coming to college, he felt like, so long as he kept eating, he could finally let his guard down. 

This, however, did not escape the BIG brothers' notice. While Jake was in the middle of using a spell he had saved for a special occasion to show off for his new admirers, Chuck nudged him. "Hey, dude— have you taken a look at your boy scout boyfriend over there? Daren's blowing up like a balloon."

Jake whipped his head around. "What? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Dude can't stop eating! It's crazy!" the bear laughed, patting his thick middle. "He's gonna end up bigger than me before the party's over! We're gonna start a new pot, see what's like, the biggest thing we can get him to eat. You in?"

The dragon bit his lower lip. He had a bad feeling about why Daren was suddenly blowing up. "Uh… I-I'll be right out there, yeah."

There was a part— a very small part— of Daren's mind that was currently screaming, trying to sound the alarm. Something was very, very wrong here; he had never eaten this much in his whole life, and he was vaguely aware of the effect it was having on his body. But this was bloat; half of it would be gone by morning after he had to digest, he told himself even as his trim middle inflated into a butterball gut coated in tawny fur pressing out from under his shirt, and he could feel thickened thighs pressing against the seams of his shorts. It was as if the lion's body was in a frenzied panic, stuffing the sheer mass of food he was gobbling down into any part of his body it could manage. 

But a much louder, more insistent voice was practically ringing in his ears, and it had a very limited vocabulary: MORE. It was not silenced by the reappearance of his new brothers.

"Bro! You're looking like a beast. Hey, Daren, think you could eat this whole rack of ribs?"

"Nah, bro, nah. Saw this on a vid once— this dude could roll up a pizza all by himself, and eat it one go. You could do that, right Daren? You're not gonna let some punk from fucking Sandusky Ohio show you up, right?"

Daren groaned as his stomach roared, a spirit unlike any he had ever experienced fell on him— it was like a dam finally broke, twenty years of holding back and fighting temptation gave way to a tidal wave of greedy hunger washed over him. As he continued to gorge, he practically inhaled the food set upon him, nothing was too much for him. He could feel the sheer weight piling on him, every part of his body beginning to expand— his limbs growing thicker, belly beginning to spill out in hefty reams as his shirt rode up more and more. His chest inflated like water balloons filled with pudding, and he swore he remembered hitting the ground as the stool he had been planted on gave way— but the fall was oddly cushioned, until some part of his mind reminded Daren's butt had to be as big as a pair of sofa cushions. He was chugging back a massive party-size bottle of soda without pausing for breath, last he remembered, and wondered if Jake was still around when he finally felt himself passing out to sleep off a meal that must have been as good as any drug trip he could possibly imagine.

Daren woke up with a grunt, feeling someone tugging— or squeezing— at his middle. With a loud snort, the lion's eyes flipped open as he looked around wildly. He was, at the very least, standing up— but for some reason he couldn't move, and felt like he was lying on his stomach. Who kept squeezing at him…?

"Jake…?" he slurred.

"Nah, man— damn, you're like a pillow!" Chuck rumbled, the bear curled up against him.

The lion gasped as he came to full realization; the massive feast he had engaged him had left him three, four times the lion he was before the party. His enormous belly was the size of a small couch— a gelatinous orb that he had been resting atop of, while Chuck had clearly fallen asleep using him as an erstwhile mattress. Every part of the lion was round and flabby, inflated to ridiculous proportions— he could feel an extra chin and round cheeks pressing against his mane, thighs thick as kegs lying listlessly against the folds of his soft underbelly. 

"O-oh my God! I— I look—"

The bear rumbled deeply as he stood up, pinching and squeezing at the lion's rolls. "Damn, you think you're big, you should see Jake, bro! But hey— we're gonna stop pushing drugs on you. Clearly, you've got an ironclad will, brother." Chuck pat the flabby side of Daren's belly, sending ripples across his orbular body. "But we do got one more job for our newest brother."

"...W-what's that?" Daren asked warily.

"Clean-up crew!" Chuck gestured around the house, the living room looking like a bomb had gone off in it.

"C-clean up? Chuck, I can barely stand!" Daren whined. "I— mmph!"

The bear shoved a cold piece of pizza into the lion's open maw. "Oh, I know! Don't worry." He gestured to the buffet table, and all the scraps left behind. "I'm gonna help you out. Y'know… I actually lost a thousand dollars because of you," the bear said, grabbing a fistful of chips to stuff into the lion's mouth. "But I think we can work something out. Don't you?"

The lion let out a plaintive whine as he gulped down the food— he was wildly wondering where Jake was. And what was that about him getting big, too…?