Raffle Story- Aiden Shore (Patreon)

Leonard groaned softly as he glanced over his course load. The lion ran a paw through his mane, worry setting in as his eyes ran down the list of his classes. He thought there would have been more of a gap, but sadly his university loaded freshman up with numerous fluff courses to pad out the schedules. His weekdays were back to back classes that would have him running all over the campus. “This is ridiculous, how can they expect anybody to manage these kinds of times? Half of these are across campus from each other.”

Resigned, Leonard began trudging toward his first class, unable to hide a frown. The lion was somewhat slim, more thanks to his parents who constantly insisted on healthy meals throughout high school. A pair of baggy shorts and a t-shirt bearing the university’s hornet mascot were loose on his frame; even now, he could still hear his parents ranting about making sure to make proper choices at every meal. It was like living with a PSA going on full blast.

Slumping into a seat near the back of the classroom he grimaced when a syllabus was handed to him. For an introductory course it looked like European History 101 would require a lot more in terms of essays written than he was lead to believe. “Somebody totally lied on the forums, this is insane. I’ve got papers due every other week?” Clenching his eyes he sank back in his seat with a groan.

The rest of the morning seemed to follow a similar vein. Someone had clearly decided to give out bad information about classes because the workload that Leonard seemed to be packing on was downright staggering. 

“Papers every two weeks for history, math test weekly, labs on Friday for chem, an oral report every three weeks for English literature...and I can’t drop any of these, all the 101’s are required!” The desire to slam his head into a wall a few times was most certainly a strong one, only overpowered at that moment by the fact his stomach was growling. “Ugh, at least I can get lunch. Oh...supposed to meet my senior mentor too.” It had been another of his parents’ idea, to have their son sign up for a senior mentor. It had been touted as a program designed to have new students be introduced to campus life by a senior who had been there for four years. Of course the reality he heard was it was a two easy credits and it looked good on your transcripts. Nobody did it out of the kindness of their hearts or anything. “Ugh, let’s see here, they gave the dude my number. Oh, here’s the text…’Yo dude, name’s Rick and welcome to’ yadda yadda…’meet me at the cafeteria around noon.’ Well good timing at least.”
Trundling toward the university’s cafeteria he started glancing around, he didn’t know much about Rick besides the guy was a rat. He probably should have added him on some social media, but that plan had gotten left behind during his moving into the dorm. The place was noisy to boot, so many people talking it wouldn’t be easy to be heard calling out a name.

“Heeeey, you Leonard?” A deep voice rang out nearby, drawing the lion’s attention. The cat’s eyes widened as he spotted the person talking to him. Rick was a big rat, a very big rat, given the size of the belly bouncing as he walked toward Leonard. A t-shirt with way too many X’s on its tag was stretched across the rodent’s belly to the point the hornet mascot looked more like a bumblebee. Even stretching that much the fabric didn’t cover all of that gut, a few inches of gray fur and fat spilling out from under. The rat was taller than the lion by a few inches, a smile on his face, framed by plush chipmunk cheeks and three chins. Thunder thighs had his shorts taut, his rump large enough it lifted up a tail that even looked thick. “You looked! Gotta be my mentee! Cool to meet you, I’m Rick!” The rat wasted no time in grabbing a hand and shaking it. “C’mon, time for lunch. I’ll show ya how to use your meal plan and everything.”

Leonard couldn’t even hope to stop the rat. For somebody so fat he was surprisingly strong as he nearly dragged the lion along. The rat began piling up food on a tray, snatching up slices of pizza, some hot dogs, essentially making a hill of junk food. The lion did he best to keep up, grabbing a salad and some fruit, but some of the other dishes were too tantalizing to pass up. After years of strict meals just grabbing one cheeseburger couldn’t hurt.

Finally finished with plundering the cafeteria, Rick lead Leonard along, showing him where to check out and how to use his meal plan properly. Guiding the lion to a table the rat took a seat, rump spilling off it as he began to munch away. “So, you’re undeclared still? Any ideas at all of what you’re gonna major in?”

“Maybe something like political science? I’m just kinda seeing what I like so far.” Leonard bit into his burger, eyes going wide at the taste of that meat and grease, the carnivore digging into the rest of his food.

Rick chuckled deeply, his heavy chest shaking. “You eat like you’ve never tasted a burger, dude. And good luck with poli-sci, I’m an education major. At least I’ll just wind up dealing with kids. You’ll work with guys who act like kids,” smirking, he sucked down several more slices of pizza. The rat was having no issue cleaning his plate at this rate.

The lion rolled his eyes. “It’s just an idea, might pick something else.” He grunted as he cleared his tray rather quickly. Even he was surprised, but it was made less jarring when Rick let out a belch, every scrap of food gone from in front of the rat. “Oh, wow, that was fast.”

“Gotta eat quick, got class again soon. Listen dude, you have anymore questions you can shoot them to me anytime.” Hefting himself up the rat grunted deeply, belly jostling around he stood. “Catch you later!”

The lion found himself staring as the lard laden rodent lumbered away, finally having to tear himself back to reality. The food here at least tasted good, but he made a mental note to try and have a healthier meal next time.

That note didn’t stick around long, back to back classes leaving him run ragged. Dinner that night was a large serving of heavy pasta and garlic bread. The trend continued for a full month, each day by lunch he’d be too harried to pick out anything healthy, strapped for time as he quick wolfed down his meal while dinners were chosen while tired. He barely even noticed the weight beginning to settle on his frame, the lion’s middle swelling out while his thighs thickened. Shirts he brought with him were growing too tight, but often he didn’t have time to fix the problem. He kept telling himself it wasn’t that bad, especially when frequent meals with Rick just left him saying he wasn’t putting on that much.

That went on until Thanksgiving rolled around and the lion went home. His parents were left astounded by Leonard’s weight, the lion sporting a good fifty pounds after being on campus for just under three months. He wound up in front of a mirror, prodding at the potbelly he’d grown, chest softer and thighs stretching his shorts tightly. Maybe his parents had a point about his weight, but it wasn’t so bad. Besides, when his second semester started he’d have plenty more time freed up, easier to exercise and pick better meals.

The holidays saw Leonard packing away food. Even if the choices were more healthy than normal the portions were far more than enough to counter that. And the pestering and prodding from his parents only made the lion grouchy, distracting him from the muffintop of fat spilling over his waistband when he went back to school with a few larger pieces of clothing.

With finals rolling around Leonard was left even less time outside of meals, the lion frantically stuffing down what he could get between study sessions and writing papers. The lion couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to his meal choices, his larger clothing growing tighter as he tried to cram for his tests.

The only bright side to the promise of winter break was Rick had offered to let Leonard spend the break with him. It seemed like a much better choice than getting sniped at by his parents for three weeks about his weight. Besides, he could totally workout and drop some weight on break.
When break hit Leonard and Rick made a beeline for the vacation house the rat’s parents owned. The ideas of weight loss began to take a backseat as the lion finally got a chance to relax after such a hectic semester. Plans to workout were pushed back in lieu of playing video games with Rick or binge watching shows. Meals were large, the lion unable to help stuffing himself full. With snacks being plentiful it was no small wonder that he began to put more weight on.

Shirts began to slowly rise up over his belly, growing snug on his chest as fat padded it out. Rolls of pudge built up at his waist, spilling over his waistband as his rump filled out his pants. A pair of chins wound up wobbling below his face, cheeks rounding out as he consistently filled them with food day in and day out. Lazing about only causes the situation to spiral out of control as the formerly slim lion ballooned, eventually borrowing some of Rick’s older clothes to wear.

The day before the opening of Spring semester the duo got back to campus, Rick’s car creaking as both got out. Leonard puffed a bit as his weight settled, an inch of tawny fur peeking out from under his shirt as his belly wobbled around. The freshman had eaten himself over 350 pounds since the beginning of his first semester. Even then he kept thinking it wasn’t that bad, Rick was still bigger, even if the rat’s older clothing was starting to get snug. It wasn’t a big deal, he could workout the following day after lunch, or maybe after dinner instead. He had plenty of time, he was just a freshman after all.