Just had an amusing idea involving vore, drinking, and a bad pun, so I had to turn it into a story. Includes a bit of inflation from guzzling beer, and permavore.

Pirate captain Viri tracks down a shark who stole his ale, and plans a very fitting and filling revenge...

---

Fish and Ale
By: Indi

Viri loved taverns. No matter the size or the quality of the booze, the pirate captain always felt relaxed in them. He admittedly favored the dingier establishments if only because they allowed him to perform some less-than-legal business. He didn’t receive any less stares upon entering, though. In part because his reputation tended to precede him, but mainly because he looked like a damn ghost. And as an Echo he basically was one. Sort of.

Death could be a weird and complicated thing, and at times a spiritual copy was left behind. They always resembled their deceased progenitor—at least as closely as a glowing being of energy could. Most retained their skills as well. Memories were rare, though, as rare as they themselves were.

Viri remembered nothing of his past “life”, and the jade green tiger didn’t really care. The new life he’d built from scratch after washing ashore with no memories served him wonderfully. At least when people weren’t foolish enough to cross him.

His arrival at the rundown tavern didn’t halt the shouts and laughter of its drunken patrons, but there was a noticeable drop in volume. Viri was flanked by his first mate Anders—a gator—and a few more members of his crew. He scanned the room until his gaze settled on a shark sitting at a table towards the middle, his back turned.

A scowl flashed across Viri’s face and his glow flared up, but it was quickly replaced by a grin.

As Viri approached the table he was noticed by the others sitting there, who frantically stumbled away once they realized the captain was heading straight for them. The shark was left confused, and by the time he thought to flee a pair of tiger paws gripped his shoulders, pushing him back into his seat.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my lucky day!” Viri said, strolling over to the opposite side of the table to have a seat. Anders remained behind to block any futile escape attempts. “Been a long time, Dederick. Too long.”

Dederick sunk in his chair, already looking completely defeated. “V-V-V-Viri, I’ve been trying to find you, I really have!”

“Odd that you’d think to look for me as far away from my usual haunts as possible on this sea. Then again, I knew that’s where you’d be, so perhaps you’re not as dumb as I thought. Course if that were true you wouldn’t have run off with that hold full of ale I entrusted you to deliver.”

“It was a lapse of judgment, a mistake, I swear! I can repay you, just give me time—I’ll make it right!”

“Don’t worry Dederick, I’m a merciful man. All I want from you is a good drink.” Viri flagged down one of the few overwhelmed servers in the joint. “I need ale—five pitchers of it. Not your cheapest but close enough. My good friend Dederick will be covering the tab for me.”

The server didn’t question the order, and scurried off to the bar without delay. Dederick showed no signs of relaxing, expecting the worse no matter how calm Viri was acting. He was ignored as Viri joked with Anders. Soon enough the pitchers arrived, foam creeping over the sides.

Viri picked up the nearest pitcher and took a deep, long gulp, draining half of it in one go. Afterward he gave his chest a thump, a messy buh-urrrrrrrrrrrrrp escaping his lips. “A lack of taste is a blessing when you want to get drunk for cheap!” the Captain roared. “Which is good because it takes a lot to get me drunk.”

Another gulp finished the rest of the pitcher, which he shoved aside.

“Yes Dederick, Echoes don’t have a sense of taste—or smell for that matter. Touch is a bit iffy.” Viri was already started on the second pitcher. “But don’t feel sorry for us. It’s hard to miss a sense you never remember having to begin with! And you come to appreciate the—uorrrrp—ones ya do have.”

The second pitcher was down, and Viri’s middle had visibly rounded out some. He caught Dederick staring, and quickly drained a third pitcher in one go, swelling further. “Me personally, I’ve got a fondness of being full. Sure I can’t taste how good a meal or a drink was, but I can feel how good it was. But to really get that feel I’ve gotta consume in excess. Can’t just have one plate of food, I’ve gotta have a feast. Instead of mugs I need pitchers, or even kegs. Which reminds me,” he turned to the server again, who’d wandered by. “The swill’s working great so bring me a damned keg of it!”

A fraction of hesitance from the server this time, but they didn’t doddle for long.

Another pitcher was pressing against Viri’s lips. “But yes, that’s why I was eager to have all those kegs of ale you mysteriously absconded with. I’d had a bit of a stressful week, and you ruined my plan to spend a few relaxing nights waddling around like a keg.”

Most of the buttons on Viri’s jacket were already undone, but the few still latched were now straining against the small pot belly he was sporting. The tiger Echo idly tapped on it with a paw, pressing down on occasion just to feel the pressure. Without another word to Dederick Viri proceeded to chug the two remaining pitchers one after the other, until his middle had swelled to the point his buttons were holding on by a thread.

Delighted by the strain, Viri carefully undid the groaning buttons with a claw, laughing as his belly eventually wobbled free. It actually looked even rounder once it was no longer constrained by his jacket.

“Please, Viri, I didn’t know. I...I was suffering from a bout of madness. I—”

“Enourrrrpgh, Dederick!” Viri growled, his belching doing nothing to impede his intimidation. “It wasn’t madness that made you steal the ale, it was greed. Now I’m guilty of plenty of that myself, but at least I choose my targets wisely.”

The keg was rolled up to the table by the server, who nervously awaited instructions. Instead Viri simply dragged the keg onto the table, tore off its tap, and lifted the leaking opening to his lips. The Echo’s belly steadily ballooned outward was it filled with even more ale, spreading across his lap and against the table. Without the need to breathe Viri was able to guzzle the entire thing down at once. His crew cheered while Dederick, the server, and a few bystanders watched in awe.

By the time the keg was shoved back onto the cart, Viri’s gut had become a wide, sloshy ball of green. Moaning in joy, he rubbed and groped his belly with both paws. “I’m sure I look—braaaaaap—ridiculous right now, but it’s so, so worth it Dederick. Just the sensation of all that ale pressing outward, splashing about. The weight of it all. Delightful! But as I said, I can be greedy, and I don’t feel nearly full enough to improve my mood. Another!”

It was an aimless demand, but the server knew it was for him.

“You’re lucky this place is well-stocked, because if I ran out of ale then I’d be forced to find something else to fill that void within me.”

Dederick cowered and shook, the gator claw on his shoulder the only thing preventing him from attempting a doomed escape.

The second keg arrived swifter than the first. This time, though, Viri stood. His booze-filled belly sloshed and bounced as he lifted himself out of his chair. He gripped it in his paws, grinning as he shook it, then dropped it on the table with a heavy thud!

“Heh, didn’t want the chair splintering beneath my bulk—I’ve slain quite a few in the past while binge drinking,” Viri snickered.

Once again Viri snapped off the keg’s tap, but this time he chugged it while standing. Half the tavern witnessed the Echo’s gut swell out as he drank and drank and drank. They knew nothing about his odd display, though none dared ask questions. Pirates were best left to their own affairs.

Buworrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp!! The long, rumbling burp that marked the defeat of the second keg rattled the tavern’s timbers. With the chatter dying down, the sloshing of the ale in Viri’s gut was actually audible at times. His enormous, glowing green middle made him look like a round beacon; he could’ve guided ships to shore with it if he sat on the coast.

Viri looked down at his bloated belly with adoration and glee. “Oh if I could stay this full all the time I probably would. Unfortunately this tank of mine is a bit hard to lug around!”

The Echo hefted his gut off the table and sluggishly waddled around the table towards Dederick, as if to prove what he’d said was true. While he didn’t look the least bit graceful, it was impressive he could move around after guzzling so much ale to begin with. As Viri neared, Dederick tried his hardest to look away.

Slorsh. Step. Glrrrsh. Step. Swish.

The sounds Viri’s belly made as he closed in made him cackle. “Gets noisy, doesn’t it? Kind of makes me feel like I’m carrying around my own personal fish bowl.” He stroked his chin with a paw, looking deep in thought. “Course it isn’t really a fish bowl if it lacks even a single fish, right Dederick?”

“I-I-I guess not, Viri,” Dederick gulped.

“Glad you agree! And I’m sure you wouldn’t mind helping me solve that problem.”

Before Dederick could respond he was pulled out of his chair by Anders, who shoved the terrified shark right into Viri’s gut. Dederick grunted on impact, feeling the green mass beneath him wobble. It felt soft and warm, but more in the way a seal’s hide would than a regular furry feline. He didn’t have the luxury of thinking on it further, though.

“Dederick you could’ve made a lot of gold working for me, far more than that single haul of ale made ya. But I’ll consider all debts forgiven if you take a little plunge.” A toothy grin grew on the Echo’s face, and then his maw opened wide.

Dederick managed a single cry of dismay before his head was swallowed. The shark kicked and writhed, but against Viri’s bulk he had no chance. All Viri wanted was his belly to be fuller—and revenge, of course. He didn’t prolong Dederick’s consumption, didn’t taste or tease him. He just swallowed as swiftly and greedily as he could.

Gulp. Gulp. Wobble.

Dederick was already off the floor and halfway down Viri’s gullet, his legs kicking wildly in the air. As his head pushed into the Echo’s stomach he was greeted by the omnipresent sound of fizzling and the stink of booze. He shouted once, then was dunked into the unseen pool below.

Every swallow caused Viri’s middle to swell a little more as he added Dederick to the kegs of ale. He felt his hide stretch and the pressure grow. For a moment he regretted not dragging the shark back to his ship and fattening him up for a few weeks, or at least just stuffing him until he was twice as big. The fullness he’d have enjoyed then would’ve been sublime.

But patience wasn’t always Viri’s strongest virtue, and his frustrations with Dederick were already subsiding as the shark helped to fill him.

Few in the tavern expressed any remorse for Dederick’s fate, caring far more about the unexpected bit of entertainment they were witness to. Any day they weren’t on the menu was always a good one.

Dederick’s struggles intensified the more he was eaten, but they grew less and less effective as well. His kicking was reduced to a comical flutter as his knees slid pas Viri’s jaws, then the mere wiggling of fins, then the weak wagging of a tail. Viri casually slurped up the last of Dederick’s tail, his enormous gut bouncing as the shark was sealed away for good.

“That really hits the—uorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp—spot!” Viri’s crew cheered his successful meal, a few giving the Echo’s belly a prod or poke. “Who knew being a living fish bowl could feel so good~”

With Dederick in his stomach it was much harder for Viri to remain standing. He carefully bent down until his gut touched the floor, then rolled onto it, moaning as the weight of his body on it added to the already euphoric pressure. He could feel Dederick splashing about within him, small bulges occasionally pushing out from his middle as the shark continued to struggle. Getting out would be close to impossible, especially as he had to swim in place just to keep his head above the sea of ale.

“I do hope you enjoy your stay in there, Dederick,” Viri snickered. “Comes with all the booze you could want and you’re not likely to ever want to leave. I hear it’s a very...transformative experience.”

The Echo and his crew burst into laughter, his massive middle wobbling about. Viri called for a few rounds for his crew, who settled into tables nearby their beached captain. He wouldn’t be able to leave the tavern on his own power for quite a long time, but he didn’t mind having the rest of the day off. He deserved it, his crew deserved it, and—most of all—Dederick deserved it. He’d make another fine example of why Captain Viri wasn’t to be crossed.