Finley jingled the gold coins in his pocket, leaning down to examine the little row of bottles and assorted trinkets before him.
"Just bought 'em off an adventurer this mornin'. Magical artifacts and the like, real quality stuff." the burly shopkeeper spoke behind him, leaning forward on the counter.
"Did he say where these originated? They look fairly Elven..."
"Nope, di'n't ask none and he a'int talk much neither. Looked like real good stuff, though."
Finley squinted as he examined a large dark bottle, the label nearly too torn to read. 'Instant Serv___. Just add s___.'
"What's this?" the young mage asked, his pink-furred feline ears turning slightly in curiosity.
"That? Some potion or somethin'. Like I said, he wasn't sayin' much."
"Huh... how much?"
"5 gold pieces."
"Fair enough. Here you are."
After dropping the gold in the man's muscular hand, he left the small shop, carefully placing the bottle in the leather pouch at his side.
As he strolled down the dirt road back towards his tower on the mountain overlooking the city, his concave stomach rumbled loudly. He put a hand to it, as if to cover a growling mouth, but it only rumbled again in certain anger at its neglect.
"Well, I suppose I can eat just one..." he muttered to himself, reaching into his bag to retrieve a small recently-purchased paper-wrapped sweet-bun, unaware that the contents of the glass bottle moved up the wall of their confines, following the path of his filled hand before getting stopped at the lid. The goo plopped back down as he recovered the package and unwrapped the sugary snack, taking small bites as he climbed the cobble-paved hill past the sturdy wrought-iron gate that marked the entrance of his property.
With a small wave of the mage's pale hand, the massive portcullis before him moved up and away, slamming back down behind him once he'd stepped beyond the threshold.
Wandering up winding stone steps, he retrieved the freshly-purchased bottle from his bag. It felt warm, like some sort of creature slept within. Stepping forward onto his floor, he paused a moment, holding the bottle up to the torchlight. The thick substance hardly moved as he turned it, like a pile of translucent blue mud.
"Odd... just what are you?..." he whispered to the air, carrying the bottle through a heavy steel door. His footfall echoed through the chamber as he walked to a large stone workbench. Various pieces of arcane equipment and bowls of leftover ingredients cluttered the workspace, forcing him to brush away an area with his arm.
He set the bottle down, retrieving a large metal bowl from the group of other items.
"Let's see what you look like..." he muttered to himself, popping the metal seal off of the top of his newly-acquired container.
Carefully, he lifted the bottle over the bowl, turning the bottle upside down. The thick blue substance within slowly plopped out, landing in a contained blob within the bowl.
Finley eyed the goo, expecting at least a little fizzle or pop, but the warm goo just sat there.
His eyes went from the bowl to the bottle, trying again to make out the label by torchlight.
"Instant serv... servant? Instant servant? Odd... let's see, just add s..."
He held the sound on his tongue, assembling ingredients beginning with same common name before him.
"Salt? Sugar? Salmon roe? No, certainly if it's an organic creature, it requires this..." he thought, his hand already grabbing for several cubes of the granulated sugar. With great care, he dropped them all into the bowl, watching as the blue goo rapidly dissolved them. The goo pulsated, growing up to the rim of the bowl, making odd sucking sounds at the edges.
Finley grabbed the now-heavy bowl just as it pulsated again, growing over the side. He turned to take it to the containment chamber, but dropped it in a panic in the middle of the room as the warm wet goo touched his uncovered hand. It landed with a heavy *tink* of stone against metal, but the goo remained together.
The substance throbbed yet again, tripling in size, the bowl totally consumed beneath the pile of growing blue.
Finley cursed himself for not taking it somewhere else for trial, now stuck with a possibly ever-growing monster in his home. Just as the thought passed his mind, the pulsating stopped, the pile sitting at just three feet high and twice as wide around.
He watched in shock as it slowly rose up, forming itself into a new shape. It lengthened itself, grew tendrils that hung at its side, a misshapen orb-like topping... then it began smoothing these features out. Chubby arms with chubby fingers, a fat belly that sat like a round blue water balloon at its waist, a plush chest to accompany, rounded face and closed eyes, shaggy blue hair made of its own goo down to its forehead; it now looked like a chubby, and rather cute, boy.
Finley just stared a moment, taking in the sight of the rotund slime-person with unease. His fuzzy pink tail curled around his leg beneath his robes as the boy slowly opened his deep blue eyes, their blue much darker than the rest of him. He stayed frozen as the boy slowly glided forward, looking at him curiously.
"D-Don't... h-h-hurt me..." he choked out, his feline ears pressed back against his head.
"Hurt you? Nonsense! You're too cute to hurt! Besides, you helped me out of that bottle, little kitty~" he giggled, smiling happily at him.
"I... who... are you?" he asked, still frightened.
"I'm Belaroth, high lord of Gluttony, spreader of revelry and softener of mortals. You can call me Bel, though, since I like you~" he smiled, gliding over to the stunned mage's workbench.
"Is this sugar over here? Sugar is yummy~"
"What did I... Why were you in that bottle?" he asked, slowly turning around to face his guest.
"Oh, don't worry about it. Some dumb Elven mage didn't want to enjoy the gift I gave him so he locked me up in that bottle. I do wonder if he ever did move again, he was quite the mound of love when I left him... I hope not. Devious boy tried to kill me with salt! Salt, can you believe it? If you had put salt on me, I'd have fizzled up. Me, Belaroth, gone forever! Now, are these really sugar cubes? Come on kittyboy, I'm starving for a treat."
Finley nodded quickly, hurried by the chubby boy's impatient tone. He watched as he dumped the whole bowl into his mouth, the sugar cubes visibly disintegrating through his partly-translucent cheeks.
"Mmm, you don't know how good these taste! So delicious, haven't had sugar in decades! Got any more?"
"N-Not here... I have-"
He stopped as a little ball of slime appeared at Bel's shoulder. It slowly rolled down to his belly before jumping off onto the floor with a wet splat.
"Yes? You have what?"
"I-I... have more... in the b-bakers circle..."
"Baker's circle? You bake often? So you just have a stockpile of sugar... don't bother with directions, I'll find it, thanks in advance Kitten!"
The fat blue goo-boy glided past him and through the door, on a mission Finley was not clear on, leaving the poor mage with the new separated ball of slime.
He didn't dare move as the slime rolled across the floor, pausing every few moments to jiggle hypnotically. It reached his feet in only a few moments, sticky tendrils reaching up for him, begging to be held.
Cautiously, he bent down, cupping his hands for the little ball to roll in to. It jumped in his hands, rolling over as he raised it up to his face to examine it. Instantly, he was met with an extremely sweet smell, like a breath of air from a sweets shop. Before he could get a good look at it, it leapt out of his hands and to his open mouth, pressing its way inside.
"Mph!" he cried in horror as the sweet goo filled his mouth, bulging his cheeks as it expanded slightly, some of it slipping down his throat. He reached his hand up to his mouth, as if he expected to pull it back out, but it quickly forced itself down his throat and to his belly.
Oddly enough, he didn't feel like gagging. The opposite was true, actually: it tasted good, and it felt good in his mouth. Warm and savory, sweet and delicious with a texture he couldn't describe, but enjoyed anyway. Regardless, he was still in shock at having a foreign substance throw itself into his mouth, let alone part of a higher creature he just met.
His belly rumbled loudly, like the goo within him was bubbling around in his stomach. He unlaced his robes, letting them fall to the floor as he pulled up his plain cotton shirt to get a better view of his pale belly. It didn't shock him that there was something wrong with it. No, it shocked him that he now had one.
Where a convex space overhung by ribs once stood, a round paunch protruded. It felt heavier, MUCH heavier, like the tiny goo had grown to ten pounds of gel.
"W-What the hell? Bel!" he cried, letting his shirt fall back over his problem as he ran for the door. He froze as two more, larger slimes rolled down the hall ahead of him, reflecting torchlight off their pristine and shiny exteriors as they approached. The double doors far down the hall were wide open, the smells of sweet baked goods floating out from Finley's private bakery beyond.
The panicking mage ran back into his laboratory, desperately searching for his spellbook, having never had to commit offensive spells to memory.
"Nononono, come on, where is it?!?" he muttered, pushing over bottles of dried herbs and rummaging over carefully stacked books on wild plants and healing mixtures. He glanced back at the door in time to see the two slimes fuse together, now the size of a large wooden barrel, half his height. It rapidly approached, the gelatinous ball clear on its intent.
"S-Stay over there! G-Go away, no, pl-HRGH!"
He fell back as the slime pounced, its weight alone enough to floor him. It already had a thick glob attached to his mouth, the rest of it forcing entrance into his belly by a thick stream of warm sugary goo.
He brought his hands up to his mouth to fend off the creature, but the goo just slipped right through his fingers and across his lips into his mouth.
He could feel himself growing, his shirt tightening and his leather belt pushing down beneath the swelling bubble of flesh that was his belly.
In only a few seconds the slime disappeared within him, leaving a sweet blue residue around his mouth and a belly that made him look nine months pregnant with triplets.
He clenched his eyes and whimpered, falling to his side as his stomach gurgled and bubbled. He could feel his body changing, the pressure in his belly disappearing, his entire body softening and growing wider. It was as if the slime was redistributing itself, or otherwise turning into instant fat on his once slender frame.
His belt, having had enough pressure for one lifetime, popped the buckle right off his pants, making his belly jiggle as it spilled out from under his shirt and onto the cold stone floor. He automatically sat up with a shiver, a tougher feat than he thought. His butt provided him with more than enough cushion beneath him as it continued to plump in his pants, little tears forming along the edges, flawless pale pudge leaking through. His sleeves ripped above and below his baggy arms, the opposite of muscle make them sag and bloat, his fingers stubby and soft like the rest of his appendages.
Just when he thought he'd be trapped in a prison of fat, the growth halted, leaving him as one big pink-haired kitty.
He paused a moment to let everything settle, then slowly pushed himself up the wall, mindful of his new girth.
Nearly defeated, an idea sprung into his mind.
He slowly walked forward, grabbing the bowl of salt in his hands, holding a pinch between his chubby fingers.
A slime appeared in the doorway, but this time he was prepared. He tossed the salt, watching as the slime rapidly fizzled into nothing.
"Take that! Ha!" he yelled, throwing salt on another approaching slime. It sizzled and exploded into mist, disappearing completely.
He slowly approached the opened bakery doors, loud humming from beyond the doors.
He threw salt ahead of himself as he waddled inside, his pink tail wrapped partly around his thick thigh in fright.
"Ah, kitten! I thought for certain you'd left." Bel boomed, his body taking up most of the room. Hundreds of small blue jellies swarmed around him as he consumed the sugary sweets and bags of sugar, more multiplying off of his massive frame.
Finley dropped the bowl, turning to maneuver himself back to the door, but two large slimes blocked his path.
"Kitten, you're so wily! Did you think to destroy me with a little salt?"
"P-Please, no, I-I didn't-"
He stopped as a thick blue tendril slithered off of the pile that was Belaroth, a large slime enveloping the chubby mage's legs to hold him in place.
"Kitten, relax, I'm a lord of gluttony, not death. You'll be safe and warm and always full of food beside me. Actually, beside him."
Finley stared wide-eyed in horror as the giant slime split in two, each half completing itself until two identical Belaroths stared down at him.
The first glided around behind him, out to the hallway.
"You've been a big help, kitten. The sugar you've provided me with has enabled me to return to full power and even give you a little parting gift. I'm sure you'll find that Bel is rather... filling. Enjoy, my little pink cat! I'm off to town to see if the baker will be as generous as you~"
"Wait, n-no! Come ba-mph!"
Finley cried out uselessly as a sugar tendril found itself pouring down his throat, his body expanding once more.
"Quiet, kitten. Enjoy the flow, everything will be alright... just eat, and be the holder of my gel." the giant slime coo'd, petting his fuzzy pink ears with a smooth tendril.
He couldn't help but purr, the warmth spreading across his fattening body. He didn't even mind that he was too heavy to walk, that two slimes supported his two-ton body... he just let himself relax, and slowly fall asleep, fuller and warmer than he'd been in years.
