I wanted to create a companion for my paladin Tycho, someone to throw in stories with him who doesn't have his same self-less attitude. The new character is Sollas, a green zebra prone to get-rich-quick schemes that often end with someone expanded. In this case it's himself as a big watermelon :3

Sollas turns himself into a watermelon as part of a money-making scheme, and also to tease his friend Tycho...

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The Zebramelon Scheme
By: Indi

The large space Sollas used as a study looked like it’d been ransacked. Scrolls were scattered atop desks and bulging from overstuffed shelves. Inks were disorganized and leaking. A wide variety of crystals—some glowing and some not—were crammed anywhere they could fit.

Tycho could only shake his head as he looked at the mess. The lion paladin was a friend of Sollas, despite the latter’s increasingly questionable endeavors. While Tycho strived to aid others, Sollas tended to think of himself first and foremost. Somehow they’d managed to make their friendship work. Of course being attracted to each other certainly helped.

As Tycho took a closer look at some scorch marks on the floor, the double doors of the study swung open, and Sollas strolled in. He was a green zebra, with a fairly plump figure his fancy robes seemed designed to emphasize. A little heft was a sign of wealth and status according to Sollas—though Tycho knew the zebra also simply enjoyed eating.

“Alright Sollas, what were you so eager to show me?” Tycho asked, as concerned as he was curious.

“Just one of the oldest treatises on berrification.” Sollas proudly held out the tome he’d been carrying. The cover was worn with age, but the blue circle upon it still had a sheen, as did the other colored circles surrounding it. “Well a copy of it at least. Or maybe a copy of a copy, it’s hard to tell.”

“Still looks old, even if it is a copy. Sounds like the kind of thing you’d only find in a mage college library or a personal collection. An expensive personal collection. So how did you get it?”

Sollas briefly avoided eye contact with Tycho, a habit of his when he was either about to lie or bend the truth so much he might as well have lied. “Sometimes people don’t necessarily know the value of what they have! All I did was call in some favors here and there and made a fair enough trade.”

Tycho knew no good would come from pressing the matter further, and sighed. “Alright. But what could you possibly want with a book on berrification?”

“It’s not just any book on berrification, it’s the book on berrification! The one most others build off of! It’s got everything. Spells for transforming into almost every kind of berry imaginable. Recipes for berry-related potions and schematics for specialized berry equipment. Pages of theories on berry-based magic. Everything!”

“I’ve never seen you show any interest in berrification at all! And there can’t possibly be a market for transcribing berrymancy spells—can there?”

“On the contrary, there is a good deal of profit to be had in berrymancy, especially right now!” the zebra insisted. “Watermelons and watermelon juice have become a bit of a craze amongst the elite recently. One stupidly rich noble starts drinking watermelon potions all the time and suddenly they all are. A passing fad for sure, but all the more reason to jump on it quickly. Growing my own patch of watermelons would take time I don’t have, so the best way to capitalize on this is to become the source of the juice myself!”

He still wasn’t making any sense to Tycho. “You’re going to become a watermelon? All for a bit of coin?”

“All for a mountain of coin! Seriously, these nobles are paying obscenely well for flavored potions. And to get a share of that for myself all I have to do is be round and sloshy for a few weeks and get juiced a bit. It’ll practically be a vacation. Besides, I think it’ll be a fun experience.”

“Sure, I guess. But did you really call me over just to see you turn into a watermelon?”

“I felt I should at least take some precautions and have someone standing by since I’m about to become immobile. I’d rather not accidentally swell into something pointy and end up as a puddle.”

It was an acceptable answer for Tycho. Though he wouldn’t admit it, the lion actually did want to watch his friend swell up.

Sollas opened the tome and quickly skimmed through it, obviously already aware of the page he needed to be on. A ways into the section on berrification rituals was the one for making watermelons. One page was dominated by a description of the ritual—and of course the incantation itself—while the other depicted a massive watermelon hippo relaxing in a pool or lake of some kind.

From the nearby table Sollas grabbed a small, round glass bottle filled with a glowing blue substance. It was liquid mana, a necessity for the zebra as he wasn’t very adept at raw spellcasting himself. He downed it in a single gulp, waiting a moment for the comforting tingle to hit that told him it was working.

The incantation was spoken without any theatrics, just plain and simply. Upon completion the text glowed green—and then so did Sollas.

There was a chill, one that made Sollas smile. Every bit of black on the zebra’s hide began to turn green, from his stripes to the tip of his muzzle. The parts that were always a dark shade of green were, in turn, becoming lighter. With each passing second Sollas’ patterns looked more and more like those of a watermelon.

Sollas snickered as a bubbling sensation tickled his stomach. Muffled sloshes followed, and the zebra’s round belly began to grow rounder.

His expansion proceeded at a steady, modest pace. Just watching himself balloon out was a delight. He gave his belly a wobble to feel the juices within splash about, laughing the whole time. It was impossible to deny how much he adored getting bigger—at least when he was in control. Then again he’d have probably enjoyed his transformation even if it’d been forced on him.

Tycho’s eyes were locked onto his friend’s belly, and Sollas couldn’t help but notice. There was fun to be had.

Sollas started to waddle around Tycho as he swelled, purposely adding a bit more sway to his stride than normal just so his gut would bounce more. “The extra width is kinda nice so far, what do you think Tycho?” He gave the lion a belly-bump from behind, making him blush.

“T-That’s your thing, not mine. You can get as round as you want,” Tycho insisted.

“Well good, because I’m bound to be even more handsome as a big wobbly watermelon~”

Though Sollas’ middle had already inflated considerably, his robes showed no signs of strain or tear. He’d had them enchanted beforehand, unwilling to give up on fashion even as a melon. At this point they were probably more durable than he was.

The zebra was now swelling in all directions, just starting to take on the spherical shape berrification was known for. His limbs were puffing up a little as well, along with his hooves and cheeks. Waddling wasn’t so easy anymore, prompting Sollas to put down the tome so he wouldn’t accidentally drop it.

As Sollas’ limbs ballooned into domes atop his round body his waddling became shuffling. Every sluggish step made the gallons of juice in him swirl and splash. It was like lugging around all the water from a well. Even the gradual worsening of his mobility did nothing to dampen Sollas’ joy at his transformation.

Having a belly was nice, but being a melon made him feel large on a completely different scale. Walking was a challenge. So was fitting through doorways and even some halls he bet. As a living watermelon he’d be constantly reminded of how inconvenient his size was, and the thought alone made him giggle. Yet thanks to a few preparations Sollas would be able to shrug off those issues whenever he wanted to.

He was going to make being a melon look easy.

Sollas slowly shuffled back to the center of the room as he sensed his mobility fading. As the nearly spherical zebra made the journey his belt creaked in protest, having apparently not been as well enchanted as the rest of his outfit. He could feel a slight tingling of pressure as it dug into his hide. Instead of feeling disappointed at the oversight he felt delighted. Outgrowing a belt that stretchy just proved how massive he was getting.

With Sollas essentially immobilized, it was now Tycho’s turn to circle the zebra, and he did so with the curiosity of a child.

Tycho sheepishly poked Sollas’ side, surprised by the tautness. “How does...how does it all feel? Do you feel like you’re about to pop? What’s the pressure like? Does the juice tickle when it sloshes?”

“Well if feels amazing for one! No I don’t feel like I’m gonna blow, and the pressure’s odd, but not in a bad way? It’s like it’s trying to coax my hide into stretching so I can get bigger. And yes the juice tickles a little but the sloshing is pretty heavy—I mainly feel it wobbling me if I move too much.”

Sollas was practically gushing—and then somewhat literally as watermelon juice trickled from the sides of his mouth. The transformation was coming to end, he could feel it.

His belt let out a final creak in protest before snapping apart. The watermelon zebra’s body abruptly blimped up once freed, causing him to moan in joy as the rest of his limbs and neck sunk into his body, leaving only his hooves and head sticking out. As the swelling stopped Sollas’ tail was flicking about, the zebra blushing nonstop—though so was Tycho.

“Oh Tycho, this is even better than I imagined! I just...I just feel so big! Like, bigger than big. As if I couldn’t possibly get any wider at all, it’s amazing!” Sollas rocked back and forth with glee, sloshing about. “You need to try this!”

The frown Tycho gave his friend was hampered by his blushing. “I’m fairly certain being a berry would interfere with my obligations as a paladin. I can’t just have the initiates roll me into battle!”

Sollas snorted at the mental image. “I don’t know, I think a mighty spheradin could flatten many a foe. And you’d be great as mobile cover. Though they’d have to craft a pretty big set of armor to protect your taut hide~”

“That’d be utterly ridiculous!” Tycho insisted, even as his mind brought the scenario to life in far more vivid detail than he’d have liked. The lion as round as Sollas was now, but decked out in full plate. Worse yet, he could imagine it working...occasionally.

“But even if you weren’t being a battle berry there’s still so much fun we could have together.” Sollas shuffled over to Tycho, heavy slorshes and glorps echoing from him. “I could bump you right over so you’d be completely helpless, just shuffle-roll you right against a wall and lean in a bit for extra pressure. Or maybe I’ll just have an oversized juicing press constructed, a slow one. Hours of gentle squeezing, and no clue as to when it’ll end~”

Tycho bit his lip and turned away from Sollas, but the persistent zebra proved more than capable of wobbling back into view. He was rather hard to ignore at that size. Being teased by a watermelon was a whole new level of embarrassment for him. “Shouldn’t I be the one terrorizing you, melon!” He poked Sollas with all the menace he could muster, yet in the end he was somehow the one more flustered.

Sollas laughed and headed back over to his table. “I expected mobility to be more of an issue, but to be honest this isn’t so bad. With enough practice I bet I could even get used to it. A few enchantments here and there to lighten the juices and make my robes slippier so I can squeeze through tight doorways. Would take a bit of work to make this place more suitable for a berry inhabitant but I think it’d be worth it.”

“What, are you planning on becoming a permamelon now?” Tycho asked, genuinely curious.

There wasn’t an immediate answer from Sollas. “Hmm. Well there’d certainly be some challenges involved. Being this big all the time is very appealing, though.” More silence as the zebramelon thought. “For now I feel it’s safe to say I’m now going to be embracing the permamelon life. For now.”

Tycho doubted his friend was joking. He was actually considering becoming a watermelon permanently one day. At the very least he’d be less likely to get into trouble as a watermelon. Hopefully.

“Grabbing things is kind of tricky when you’ve just got your hooves sticking out.” Sollas laughed as he wiggled his, showing off his complete lack of reach. “Would you mind grabbing that small pouch on the shelf behind you and dumping the contents into my mouth? Oh don’t give me that look, it’s just powdered mana. With that much I should turn into a giant mana potion, which’ll make the next few steps easier.”

Tycho dutifully complied, even helping shake Sollas up activate the mixture once he’d eaten it. A faint glow emanated from the melon’s middle, barely visible between the gaps in the buttons on his robe.

“Wonderful! Now I need one of the scrolls that was strapped to my belt. The one with the light-blue handles. Yes, that’s the one, thank you. Just unroll it on my middle.”

“I can’t be your butler the whole time you’re a watermelon, you know that right?” Tycho grumbled.

“That’s what the scroll is for! Not that I wouldn’t mind a pretty paladin waiting on me night and day to make sure I’m the most pampered permamelon in the land~” Sollas teased. A handful of spells were stored within the scroll, and once the proper incantation was repeated a pair of ghostly kobold servants appeared on either side of the zebra.

“Kobolds?”

Sollas grinned. “What, they make me feel even bigger! And with how much more space I’m taking up my help needs to be more compact. Though gosh, being filled with mana-infused juice made casting from that scroll a whole lot smoother than usual! This might actually improve my efficiency.”

Tycho nodded, though the paladin was rather distracted by his friend’s spherical form. It’d been odd at first, but he was already growing accustomed to Sollas’ new look. How his whole body seemed to wobble a little when he moved. How his tail would whip about when the pressure spiked just right. Admittedly he’d also found Sollas even more attractive since becoming a melon.

It was all very confusing and flustering for Tycho.

“Ugh, I can’t believe how nice you make being a watermelon look,” Tycho mumbled a fair bit louder than he’d meant to.

The smug look of satisfaction on Sollas’ face made Tycho regret his words immediately. With a gesture the kobold servants retrieved the berrification treatise and set it on top of the scroll, flipping to a specific page. “Clearly you’re just jealous, and there’s an easy way to solve that problem.”

The incantation was spoken so swiftly and casually Tycho didn’t realize what was happening until it was far too late. He briefly glowed orange, and then a chill spread from his stomach. His brown fur shifted to bright orange in a flash, stunning Tycho with its speed.

Though it was inevitable, Tycho still yelped when his flat middle blimped outward. Of course he was also swelling at a much more rapid rate than Sollas had. Another incantation was read, this time from the scroll, and the lion’s vest and shirt stopped feeling tight.

“Sollas, what did you do!!” Tycho shouted and stumbled, already sporting a sizable ball gut that sloshed as he fumed.

“Enchanted your clothes so you wouldn’t burst out of them in a second or so.”

“Not that! I mean...this!!” Tycho held up his belly with both paws, blushing as he felt it expand in his grip.

A look of exaggerated understanding came upon Sollas’ face, which only frustrated Tycho more. “Well you seemed to be quite taken with my wonderful new watermelon form so I thought I’d give you a taste of berrification. Don’t you like oranges?”

“Y-Yes, but that doesn’t mean I want to be one!” Tycho insisted. The swelling had spread from his belly to his chest and hips, and now the lion was getting to experience being spherical firsthand. Expanding outward all over was different to say the least. “I thought I made it pretty clear before that sloshy spheres don’t make good paladins!”

“Tycho you’re always so obsessed with helping others you neglect yourself—you deserve a vacation! But if it’s really bugging you just know you’ll be performing the incredibly important deed of doubling my juice profits. Which I’ll split seventy/thirty with ya. Just think of all the good you could do with that gold.”

The zebra’s logic was questionable at best, but enough to force Tycho to give up. If Sollas was right about the juice fad then they’d make a tidy sum, which Tycho could use for legitimate causes. And even his superiors had been urging him to take a break.

“Okay, I’ll be an orange for a month, but not a day more, understand?” He sorely wished he was at all capable of being assertive while swelling with juice.

“Sure, sure. Round’s a good look for you, by the way~”

The ballooning paladin tried to growl but instead he ended up gurgling as orange juice dripped from his lips. Just like Sollas his limbs were getting enveloped by his spherical body. The speed of his transformation denied him the chance to gradually adjust to his increased size, yet with effort he was still able to shuffle around some. While Sollas had made it look easy, his own movements were rather awkward, prompting plenty of snickers from the watermelon.

At last Tycho became a near perfect sphere, with just his paws and head sticking out of his body. He waited for the bubbling and blimping to cease, but to his surprise they didn’t. He was only getting bigger.

“Uh, Sollas, why haven’t I stopped inflating!” Tycho groaned as he felt his paws lift off the floor. They were getting sucked into his body as well, just like his limbs had, and he could barely wiggle a finger.

“I tweaked the ritual a tad bit for you, just in case it took longer to convince you that becoming an orange is good for you. You’ll be fine—though we’ll probably have to juice you sooner rather than later~”

By then Tycho’s paws had vanished, leaving him as a well-dressed ball with a sunken head looking straight at the ceiling. The muffled sloshing, the pressure, the sensation of being suspended in juice. It all eased him into a gentle daze that calmed his nerves and dulled his concentration. “Just...just juice...me...mrrrrmph…”

Tycho began to mumble and moan, placated.

Sollas chuckled. Mental commands directed the kobolds over to Tycho. They carefully rolled the orange first onto his back, and then out the doors, though some pushing was required after Tycho became wedged. He’d be brought to a storeroom Sollas had cleared out for him, his new room for the time being.

The berrification rituals had been an astounding success. Sollas could already envision the piles of gold he’d make selling the juice. But he could also envision the day Tycho and him would finally be drained and returned to normal.

Perhaps he’d grow bored of being round after a while, but that was hard for Sollas to believe. There was simply too much to experience, and he doubted he could comfortably go back to being so small in comparison. If anything he still wasn’t big enough, especially after watching Tycho swell so much even his paws got sucked in.

For the next few weeks he’d get to remain a watermelon though. Who knew, maybe at the end of that time he’d realize being a permamelon was ideal for him. And Tycho would too, after enough convincing and teasing. Sollas grinned, already planning for a very round, very juicy future...