"You what?” Simon asked his boyfriend in shock.
Emilio calmly repeated himself. “I want to use a magic spell to fatten you up.”
The magic part didn’t phase Simon in the slightest. Emilio had been completely upfront about his unique heritage pretty much since the beginning. At least, he came clean after Simon caught him using a spell to clean the toilet in his apartment. Now that the two lived together, Emilio had a tendency to use his magic a lot around the house, although Simon tried to remind him to maintain his ability to do things the “regular” way.
The fattening up part was more surprising. Simon knew he was the first skinny guy Emilio had dated, and Emilio had outright told him he wished he had a little more meat on his bones. The thing was, Simon had never thought Emilio was very serious about it. After all, Simon had never weighed over 150 pounds, so he figured Emilio knew his size was never likely to change much. And the two had plenty of physical chemistry, so Simon assumed it wasn’t really a big deal. But it had to be a big deal if Emilio was willing to use magic. Magic for chores was one thing, but using magic on a human body was another thing entirely. It could have unexpected consequences, and Emilio wouldn’t think about something like that unless he was very serious about it.
As Simon tried to process all of that, he asked, “So you really don’t like the way I look?”
“No no no no no!” Emilio hurriedly replied. “It’s not like that at all! You look amazing. You are amazing. It’s just… I still love bigger guys. I love the squish when we cuddle, I love the size. And there’s something… unrestrained about a bigger man. You know how I always rub your tummy after you eat a big meal?” Simon nodded. He knew exactly how much Emilio loved watching him let go at the dinner table. “I guess I just assumed that one of these days some of that food would start sticking. I hoped you would show the results of your efforts.”
“You make eating sound like working out.”
“Well, it’s a habit. A big appetite is something cultivated over time. I see a belly as a badge of honor for a man who loves to eat.”
Simon did love to eat. And of course he loved Emilio’s reaction when he was particularly stuffed. He knew he probably wouldn’t really mind a few extra pounds. He’d never tried to stay skinny, he just seemed to default to that size. Still, he felt weird about the whole thing. “Why couldn’t you talk to be about this before? I mean, I know we’ve talked about it a little, but I never once thought you were disappointed by my size.”
Emilio opened his mouth to speak and stopped. He took a deep breath and tried again. “I’m not disappointed by you. Not by anything about you. I guess I just didn’t realize how I really felt about it. It’s a deep desire, something I can’t fully explain. I just thought that with my magic, maybe we could both be happier.”
“Both? And what’s in it for me?”
Emilio hesitated. “Well… you know I’ve been practicing stronger magic lately. I could… I could use reality changing magic. If you put on 20 pounds, you’d have always been that way, so you wouldn’t have to worry about what people think or about buying new clothes.”
Simon still wasn’t convinced. “I’m all for making you happier, but what’s so great about people thinking I’ve always been chubby?”
“You could try on any size and not have to worry about people’s reactions. No passive aggressive comments about how you’re ‘filling out,’ no concerns about having to buy new clothes or or suddenly outgrowing a shirt you’ve always liked.” Simon did get very attached to his clothes. He’d even gotten Emilio to magically repair some old clothes rather than buying something new. “You would just keep being you, but you could experiment with any size you like. I mean, would you mind if you’d put on weight because of your eating habits?”
