Here's a YCH from  earlybird with a story by yours truly!

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JT sheepishly called after Gemie, pausing first to put down his plate. He tried to waddle toward her as she walked out of the buffet, but his pace was slowed by the hundreds of pounds he’d put on in the last two weeks. “Come back! It’s not what it looks like!”

For the millionth time, or at least that’s what it seemed like, Gemie had to jet over to England for a full month, leaving her roommate home alone yet again. JT didn’t really have a problem with it, except for her new house rule.

You see, she’d taken off for a few days about a month ago and left her room unlocked. The leopard’s room, of course, was filled with magic potions and spellbooks, on account of her former job/conscription as a genie. Her wolfish roommate had wandered in while she was gone, and decided to play around with a few potions. When the leopardess returned, she found him completely immobile in the living room, taking up the entire couch and then some. It took her almost two days to finally get him back to normal.

So JT, the red wolf, was stuck at home alone, and this time he didn’t have any magic to play with. This was especially disappointing to him as he and Gemie had started to have fun role-playing with her magic on the weekend, occasionally playing superhero/supervillain or secret agent in a scenario she created. A whole month and all he had was work and videogames to keep him busy? Boring!

It took only two days of extreme cabin fever - his employer had gone fully digital to save money, so he was working and writing from home these days - before the wolf was almost completely insane with boredom. Finally so fed up with Overwatch and writing do-it-yourself articles that he couldn’t take it anymore, he took to the streets, his tail swishing behind him with frustration as he padded a few blocks down the street. Gratefully for him, his anger subsided as he took in some fresh air. By the time he’d made it six blocks away, the wolf was feeling pretty OK - with his boredom replaced by hunger. It had been several hours since he last ate, after all.

JT checked his surroundings. Strange, he hadn’t really ever checked out this part of town before. It’s not that he was a homebody, more that when he needed to clear his head, he’d usually head to the park, in the entirely opposite direction. Now, he appeared to be in the town’s former restaurant alley. Over the last five or so years, a new shopping center downtown had caused most crowds to migrate there, and therefore restaurants increasingly needed to pack up shop and move. Those who didn’t often went out of business.

Today, though, there was a new restaurant, one the wolf had never seen before. “Big Buffet,” its neon sign blazed in the otherwise empty set of former businesses. From what JT could see, it looked like the owners had purchased three adjoining restaurants and combined them into one larger eatery, with a center buffet and tables on the left and right sides. “Grand opening,” a latex banner underneath advertised with a date next to it… hey, that’s today’s date! Excited to try out the new place, JT strode in the front door, taking notice of three or four furs milling around the buffet or chowing down at tables.
A portly black cat in a white button-down shirt, straining at the buttons, and a bow tie greeted him at the hostess’s stand. “Welcome to the Big Buffet, sir!”, the cat excitedly said. “We’re delighted to serve you! Would you like to hear our grand opening special?”

“Sure,” JT replied. He really just wanted to get a bite to eat, but if there was something cool as part of the deal, why not?

“Our first 50 customers - you’re lucky number seven - can buy a month’s worth of unlimited meals for the price of one,” the cat said. “Are you interested?”

JT smiled just a bit. That was a great deal, he thought, one that would spur word of mouth for the buffet. More importantly, it would severely benefit his budget for the month. “Of course!”, the wolf replied. “Where do I sign up?”

It was only two minutes before JT filled out a small form and received a small yellow coupon. The cat flashed him an extremely bright smile and wished him a good meal, leaving him to browse the buffet.

The wolf had only planned to have a small meal - some chicken, rice and carrots, perhaps, or a burger and fries - but as he approached the various holding trays, his mind was almost overtaken by the heavenly scents there. Suddenly, his mouth was watering, his stomach growling in anticipation. To sate both of them, JT quickly piled some fried chicken, pasta and coleslaw onto his plate and sat down at a nearby table. The food wasn’t the best he’d ever had, but there was something about it that made his taste buds sing, a certain quality to it that left him extremely satisfied. And as soon as he finished the plate, expecting to sit back and feel sated, he still felt pangs of hunger. They were fainter than before, but they beckoned the wolf back to the buffet, where he loaded up a double cheeseburger with all the fixings, tossing a healthy portion of tater tots to its side. Again, the meal went quickly and deliciously - not perfect, but good enough that he’d recommend this place to anyone.

It was after he’d finished the second meal that the wolf questioned that he was still hungry. Patting his stomach, he could tell he was starting to get full. But still, his mind wandered after just a few seconds to the root beer floats sitting at the dessert table. They seemed just a bit bigger than usual, but looked fizzy and heavenly. Figuring he could cheat his diet this once, the wolf grabbed one and drank it down over the course of about five minutes.

Its carbonation made the wolf belch, to which he sheepishly closed his muzzle and headed for the door. Now he was stuffed, a food baby pressing slightly against his black t-shirt’s torso, and he headed for the door. Strangely, though, a quick pang of desire struck his brain as he walked back past the cat to leave the restaurant. The black feline was holding a tray of sugar cookies at the hostess table and offered one to JT as he strode. Without thinking, the wolf took it as he opened the door. “I already ate so much and had dessert,” he thought to himself. “Why would I need this cookie?” But just as he finished that thought, the wolf took a bite. Mmmmmm. It was so good. Sure, he ate a lot, but it wasn’t like he was going to be there every day, right? Walking home slowly, nursing his overfull stomach, the wolf finished the cookie, making a mental note to exercise tomorrow.

The next day, after work and a few rounds of Overwatch, the wolf threw on an old t-shirt from high school and his running shorts and shoes. Yesterday wasn’t a huge mistake, he thought, as long as he went for a run today. And he had plenty of time right now. Throwing his wallet and his phone into his pockets, JT grabbed his headphones and set out for a jog.

Three miles in thirty-six minutes. Not his best, the wolf thought, but at least he had gotten out and done it. But now he was parched. Probably dehydrated, even. He grabbed his wallet and went to find a convenience store for some water, when...oh, no. Not only was the wolf out of cash, he was missing his debit card, which he just now remembered leaving on his desk when he bought some loot boxes. All he had on him was his driver’s license and… the yellow card from Big Buffet. Looking up, JT realized he was within a block of the restaurant, too. Well… he’d stop in, but just for a drink of water, he thought.

Walking in, the black cat was there again, and wished the wolf well. “Welcome back, sir! Couldn’t stay away, huh?” JT was a bit taken aback at the comment. “Oh, I wasn’t meaning to, I went for a run, just wanted to stop in here for a drink.” The cat grinned, which JT found a bit strange. “Well, feel free to grab a snack if you want to,” he replied, “you’re welcome to whatever you want.”

The wolf walked over to the buffet’s drink dispensers, intending to pour out a glass of water, and maybe half a glass of Gatorade, to replenish whatever he’d sweated out over the course of his workout. But as he stood and sipped from his first glass, his eyes began to scan the buffet tables, and as he’d worked out on an empty stomach, his willpower began to fizzle. It took only a minute before he shrugged and picked up a plate, figuring that post-workout, it would be OK for him to have a small meal. That logic, of course, forgot he was running to work off yesterday’s meal, which he’d intended to be small then too.

So, thirty minutes and three plates later, the wolf was full of regrets, his stomach full of chicken nuggets and spaghetti and strip steak and turkey sandwich. Rubbing his overstuffed orb of a stomach - now slightly distended, more than the previous day - the wolf had no idea what had come over him. His meal had started slowly, just a few nuggets, but as he ate more, he craved more, and as he craved more, he ate more. Frustrated, the wolf told himself he was going to stay away from the buffet the next day, but still found himself taking another cookie from the cat as he left.

Of course, his newfound resilience against temptation again fell apart. As night fell the next day, the wolf realized he had nothing in the fridge, and the buffet became the path of least resistance. Before he realized, JT had downed five plates, each of which he’d loaded with more food than usual - he wasn’t sure why he was so hungry, nor why it seemed he’d put on a few pounds. Well, that much was obvious - he was eating more every night - but it really didn’t seem like he should be putting weight on that quickly. That night, as he clutched his stuffed stomach on his way out the door, he looked around at the clientele of the buffet. Huh, that was new. Each day had brought a few new faces to the buffet, and today it had more than a dozen clients dining while he was there. Some faces - a laborador and a husky eating together, an eagle, two tigers - were new, but he was starting to recognize other diners from previous nights. And each of them looked… slightly bigger than the past few nights. Much like he did. In particular, a horse and fellow wolf caught his attention - they’d been regulars just like him, and their waistlines were suffering even more than his. They didn’t seem to mind, though.

JT walked over and said hi, couching his suspicion in the buffet’s food as general interest in what they thought about the food. He didn’t get much out of the recon mission, as the two were all too happy to discuss how much they were loving the monthly deal. Walking away, he didn’t even wait for the cat’s offer of the cookie, taking it off the tray and thanking him for his time. The wolf did yet another double-take, this time at the cat’s size. He, too, was bigger than he’d been a few days before, two of the buttons on his shirt having burst off, tufts of black fur seeping through the resulting opening. “Uh… hey, man, your shirt looks like it ripped,” JT offered, trying to be as kind as possible. The cat looked down and smiled the smile that seemed to be his only expression. “Whoops, might have gotten carried away on the salmon tonight,” he laughed. “Oh well, I’ll get a new shirt tomorrow.”

Before he knew it, JT had settled into a routine. All day, he’d work and play, trying his hardest to stay away from the buffet. Every evening, he’d somehow find himself there anyway, whether he took a wrong turn during a run, or had to run to the store, or found himself in want of a quick meal. And every visit extended further and further, willpower evaporating the moment the wolf walked in the door. Each night, it seemed he was spending more time there, trying and failing to stop himself from one more bite.

It took only a week for JT’s belt to burst after an especially long marathon of chowing down. That night, after eight massive plates of pizza, the wolf realized just how much he’d gained. His shirt was absolutely plastered to his belly, with white fur quickly making itself noticeable above his pants. Luckily, they’d become tight enough that they didn’t fall down when the belt snapped, though his red-furred rump was slightly visible at this point.

At this point, it was plainly clear to the wolf that something was extremely wrong with this picture. He wasn’t sure if the buffet was haunted, cursed, magic or something else - it was making everyone who ate there addicted and, it seemed, rapidly fatter. Fellow diners were letting themselves go even worse than he was, and the black cat was getting fluffy at a ridiculous pace. He wasn’t sure if the end of the deal would see them given a huge backcharge for all the food they ate, or if they’d be shamed for their gluttony, or if they’d simply be given a free ride to immobility.

Honestly, he didn’t care. Once the wolf figured out there was a game, and he was in too deep to pull himself out, he just went with the flow. If he was being completely honest, it was nice to have one of these happen to him without Gemie’s involvement, and it’s not like he wasn’t enjoying his massive meals, day after day. Even if the walks were becoming more difficult, or at least awkward, as he had to carry his increased heft back and forth from the house, day after day.

As the month went on, JT did what he could to prevent himself from wandering down to the buffet earlier and earlier each day, because he knew once he was there, he was there until closing time, when he’d make the waddle back home, stomach full to the brim with as much food as he could stomach, then three or four more plates to boot. He’d order a few shirts and a pair or two of stretch pants every third day, knowing he’d have outgrown his current outfits by the time they arrived. The wolf’s white-furred belly took on a rounder shape every day, bulging and swelling as meal after meal, dish after dish disappeared down his chin-laden maw - his muzzle, at this point, was surrounded by a sea of face flab. His thighs, hips, arms, paws, even his face took on pound after pound. But JT didn’t really mind - at this point, he had taken leave from work, knowing that at this point he was about to spend full days at the buffet just to keep his desire for the food at bay.

At this point, JT was actually having fun with the gaining fun. On one day, he tried his hardest to fill himself up, starting immediately when the buffet opened. By the time it was closing time, and the cat - who was barely mobile at this point, and was far past any clothes being able to fit him - ushered the wolf out the door with his signature cookie. JT could barely reach the tray of cookies, climbing up the cat’s belly to reach his arm, and his shirt rode up on his massive red and white fur all over as he opened the door. Even with the cookie in his belly, the feeling never went away, confirming one of the wolf’s suspicions.

At one point, near the end of the month, the wolf realized just how massive he’d gotten. It wasn’t anything close to some of Gemie’s more… extreme experiments on him, but the wolf had clearly thrown several hundred pounds onto his body for a light estimate. Dressing himself took a lot of luck, a lot of guessing and a lot of stretchy clothing, with even the largest shirts not quite covering his double-wide stomach. The wolf had just settled in for his daily dozens of meals when he got a text from his roommate - Gemie was finally back from England. “Got a surprprs for u, come her,” the wolf barely managed to text her, his fat fingers struggling to work the phone. He figured they’d played around with weight play so much that she’d love to see his massive size.

Of course, that wasn’t what happened when she turned up and immediately turned around with a scowl on her face, assuming he’d broken into her magic stores. He had to waddle after her for half a block before he finally got her attention, gasping and clutching his massive sides for breath. It took him 15 long minutes of explanations before she finally understood. She hugged him to apologize… then kept grabbing his huge heft. More than JT was used to. “Hey, it’s the last day of the deal,” he finally said. “It OK if I get my money’s worth?” Fine, Gemie said… but she got to take a picture of him before he kept eating.