The following story is co-written by a friend and I.)
In the world of Furrae few places were as relatively peaceful as the city state of Zinvth. That wasn't to say it didn't have the occasional trouble or crime, but generally run by the demon family with the last name Soulstealer the place served as a generally safe place for beings and creatures alike.
Most of them. Aliph Soulstealer (self declared Dark Pegasus) was a wanted creature by many Adventurer guilds. While he could in theory walk the city streets safe during the day, the more eyes that saw him meant more mouths to tell the annoying adventurers where to find him. So despite hating it, he was forced to go out in the dead of night and dressed in a large cloak.
In this case he was just returning to his hidden home after meeting with his usual 'suppliers' in back-alleys behind shops.
"If Regina gripes about procuring the wrong cereal again..." Aliph began as he walked but cut himself off. Regina was annoying but she was family (however distant) and he he wouldn't kill her. ...Not without a very justifiable cause like she tried to kill him first or something.
Far enough away from the shops, Aliph waved his hand and a door appeared in a once solid brick wall, a quick dug lead to a descending set of stone stairs and after he closed it the door vanished again as he began descending. So many stairs weren't necessary really, the home he had wasn't physically beneath the streets. It was merely an extra dimensional space he transitioned to.
Upon reaching the bottom Aliph passed through a general living area where magazines littered the coffee table and soda cans piled up everywhere else. Again his grumbles about Regina grew as he made for the kitchen.
Not everything in his arms though was groceries. As usual he'd passed by a magic shop to inspect their recently 'imported' trinkets for anything useful. One pendent with a large red stone caught his eye and he could feel some odd magic about it. So he'd snapped it up curious to dissect the spells it had in his lab.
The trinket wasn't anything pretty, to be honest. It had a rusty chain around it, and the ruby was cracked. But the Dark Pegasus could feel magic radiating from it, strong magic, so it wasn't completely worthless.
It just needed some love, and that was exactly what Aliph Soulstealer did, using numerous spells to revert it to its original form. Slowly but surely the rust lifted like ash from a smoldering fire, revealing a gold chain underneath.
He fixed the crack too, and the results of his efforts was a decent looking chain. He could feel that the magic was stronger now....yet, what did this mean? More importantly, what could it do? It was truly a mystery...
Aliph suddenly heard a rumble, and he looked around himself, expecting danger, but then he realized that the rumble was from his stomach. He was hungry...
He tried to ignore it, turn his attention back to the amulet and begin pealing back the layers of magic it had, but his stomach would not be ignored.
"Fine," he grumbled setting the amulet on the bench and returning to the kitchen. His eyes fell on the grocery bags he'd brought back. He'd put away the stuff that needed to be cold or frozen immediately, but the amulet had taken his attention before he could put away the rest.
Carefully he began to unpack and put away the rest as he mused what to make for himself. But then his clawed digits fell across a package of candy bars. He's picked them up as treats for Regina, a reward if she finished her chores on time. Aliph never touched such things usually but for once he was curious. The smell felt enticing as he sniffed at the bag and almost before he realized it he'd cut into the bag and pulled out one of the candy bars to examine it.
They were one of Regina's favorites, chocolate covering little packets of caramel. Both sweets Aliph only knew of but had never indulged himself. And yet now, for the first time, he was curious. He'd often told Regina not to dismiss something out of hand without trying it. And in truth he'd never tried such a sweet. Though logically his mind screamed to make a salad or at least a sandwich, curiosity drove him to unwrap the bar and take a bite.
There's a first time for everything, the saying goes, and it truly was the first time Aliph ate a candy bar, and it showed. He found himself moaning softly in bliss, and before he knew it, he had devoured the whole bar.
Aliph stood there in shock. Had he honestly enjoyed food so much that it was almost orgasmic for him? It was really weird. He could feel something on his mouth, and wiping it with his hand, he saw that it was a chocolate stain.
Yikes! It seems like candy can turn him into quite a messy eater! He shook off the weird occurrence, but he could not shake off the hunger that still bothered him.
He needed to make a proper dinner for himself.
This time he held his breath and put away the remaining back while trying not to look at it at all.
Dinner was normally something he would take pride in. Do something elaborate, marinate some meat, chop some fresh vegetables and so on. But for once the effort seemed a bit too much. He reasoned it was because he wanted to get back to studying the amulet and his nagging stomach wouldn't leave him be. So Aliph was forced to resort to one of the lowest forms of prepared food he knew of.
Frozen dinners.
Regina always had a few stashed away for easy means and flipping through it was hard to determine which disgusted him the least. In the end he settled on a whole frozen pizza, reasoning at least there would be some leftover for Regina when she woke up (it was the middle of the night after all).
Preheating the oven would have taken a while, but a little fire magic got it hot enough in seconds. Still his stomach wouldn't let him wait for twenty or so minutes it took, so Aliph looked about and finally found a snack more civilized as far as he was concerned. A fresh block of cheese and some crackers to enjoy it o. A bottle of wine and it would have been a refined snack.
Aliph tried to busy himself by fiddling with the trinket again, but his hunger was really starting to irritate him now. "What is wrong with me?" he thought, "I've never felt so hungry in my life!"
Luckily, his pizza was done by the time he couldn't stand it anymore, even considering stooping even lower and ordering fast food.
Aliph inhaled the steamy pizza, and found that the scent was not too bad. When he sat down and a few slices, he found that it tasted even better. He would have never guessed that frozen food can taste so good.
Afterwards, he leaned back in his chair, holding a hand before his mouth as he belched politely. His hand moved down to rub his bloated belly, but then he felt something odd.
His belly was...curving? Looking down, he saw that it was indeed bulging ever so slightly.
For just a moment panic rose in his throat then immediately he calmed down. He'd just eaten a whole pizza. Very strange, and unusual, but one meal did not make him a glutton. Or worse fat. He'd simply consumed too much too fast and now his stomach was digesting it all. He could recall times when Kria had eaten whole beings and left her with a round middle like she'd swallowed a beanbag chair.
"It'll be gone by morning," he rationalized as he cleaned up, and, despite his concerns, snuck one more candy bar to take to his room.
Unfortunately the night was growing late and much as he wished to continue examining the amulet it would have to wait until morning. However, Aliph was no fool to leave a magical artifact out and unguarded. He had a special mirror lined case that he put it inside which contained its magical energies. That done he performed his usual nightly rituals and crawled into a big bed liked with silk sheets. One of the few luxuries he could manage in his current 'exile'.
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