Azar could feel that something was off even before the two dragons were lulled into unconsciousness. But he couldn't quite put a finger on what it was. The music was wonderful, and it felt like he was being carried off to a dream of such beautiful sound. But the nagging voice at the back of his mind kept trying to remind him that he was in someone's house, and shouldn't be drifting off the way he was. Then that same voice told him that music never did this to him before. But by the time he came to that realization it was far too late. All he could manage to get out was a simple "What's going on?" in a mumbled, slurred, and sleepy voice. He slumped against his tubby gray friend, comfortable but completely knocked out.

Aaron continued to manipulate the flute in ethereal motions, producing transient melodies that soon rendered Puella nothing more than a segmented pile of loving arachnid. Callum 'oohed' a bit as his white companion sank into the depths of his belly, but soon found the only notion pervading his mentality to be a longing for sleep. The serpent's music gently lured him into its grasp, and allowed his body to settle into an expansive, bulbous pile of draconic pudge. He made eye contact with Aaron once, allowing the kind, violet gaze to wash over him and then he too, was out.

The coiled serpent finished the song with a gentle descent into soft, lingering notes, before resting the flute on its respective stand and gliding over to the two drakes. With a grin, he settled himself in the squashed crevice they formed, allowing a trill of contentment to emanate through his form, and settled in. While the spirit was far from tired, he would never pass the opportunity to enjoy the comfort of dragon bellies. They were a valuable commodity after all.

Azar was able to get one last, half-awake look at the five-eyed serpent before everything went dark. He saw their host coming closer, but for what purpose he had no idea. He didn't think they were in any danger, though his warrior mind did keep that thought. But it was small and tucked far away, just in case it was needed. No, the two weren't in any danger. More than likely Aaron was going to just enjoy their soft, rounded selves much like his pet was. All this was able to get through the dragon's head before he was completely out for good. His forked tongue lolled out the side of his mouth as he slept now, peacefully staying so until someone or something would wake him later.

Callum enjoyed a deep, rich sleep tinted with dim visions of his form expanding to comfortable proportions by way of a glowing, violet strand of silk. He could guess at the imagery, but was more occupied with ensuring his belly didn't stretch too far. As he continued to fill, the real world impeded in a

piercing, bright gaze grinning a couple inches from his muzzle. With a faint yelp, he jolted, or rather jiggled, awake. Looking up to the friendly serpent with a wide grin, he tilted his head to the serpentine host and said, "Hello there!"

Azar had no idea how long he was out for. It could have been only a minute or two, or maybe hours. Regardless, he was stirred back into consciousness when he heard Callum's rather loud yelp of surprise. With a snort, the white dragon's eyes opened. "Huh? What's going on? Are we under attack?" he said, looking around blearily, not quite grasping the situation of what could possibly be going on. In fact, he still sounded as though he were half-dreaming.

Callum managed to recover from his surprised state quickly enough, and returned the greeting with a pleased, "Well, hello to you too," before turning his head to his companion. As he did so, his neck bunched in voluminous rolls and gently halted the angle with which he addressed his friend. "Just a bit of a surprise is all," he chuckled, using one paw to gently stroke the palpitating arachnid nestled to his doughy form. "Aaron was nice enough to provide a wake-up call for us."

"A wake up? I...I can't even remember falling asleep. The last thing I remember doing or hearing was that music as we enjoyed breakfast," Azar said as he tried to roll onto his feet to stretch out. "It's still daytime right? I'd hate to know we wasted an entire day snoozing. Not that the sleep was bad mind you," the white dragon commented as he struggled to get to his feet. He kept rocking himself from side to side, desperately attempting to get his body to roll forward. All this excess weight was going to take getting used to. And from the sound of things, Aaron, and possibly Callum, weren't going to let him lose a single pound of it. If that were the case, he figured he better start learning to use it until he could find a way to lose the weight later. But he decided he'd keep that bit of information to himself. Otherwise Aaron might try to stuff him to immobility to keep him from losing any pounds.

Callum rocked himself atop a belly that bulged against the ground, and he smiled widely to Aaron. "Apologies, the additional weight isn't something I'm used to first thing in the morning, though it certainly provides a lovely degree of comfort." He noted Azar's similar preoccupation with the extra baggage, initiating his own parallel nuances of experiencing a particularly rounder figure. On his pudgy back, Puella dozed and remained adorably dormant in her adipose nest.

Aaron chuckled softly, and slid over to his guests, patting them both along their expansive waistlines approvingly. "One of my favorite abilities," he murmured, partially to himself, and to the present company, "Is ensuring the comfort of my guests." He jostled their forms knowingly, "And one of the pinnacles of comfort stems from those one naturally provides themselves."

The steel and cerulean colored dragon nodded thoughtfully at his words, finding his own mindset matching closely to his host's words. Running a wing webbing over his arachnid passenger's segmented legs, he wobbled lightly to situate his extensive girth a bit more. "I can agree to those terms," Callum said with a nod, "Though I haven't had the chance to be this heavy in quite awhile. It's a nice change."

"I'm afraid I'm the odd one out in this case," Azar stated once he finally managed to get onto his paws. Though his situation wasn't much improved. His heavy middle pushed against the ground and was only a few inches short of actually lifting him off the ground with its sheer size. Simply walking, or waddling in this case, was going to be very difficult. "I've never been this big, or anything like this before in my life. I think I'm the one that's going to have the hardest time adjusting while this weight is on my figure," he told his friend and host.

Callum nodded understandingly, looking to Aaron with a neutral expression. He could understand the notion of being unfamiliar with the weight and simply decided to let his friend make up their mind. He was content to waddle around a bit, and the extra weight was quite nice.

Aaron tilted his head, eyes flickering between the pair of drakes, and using his coils to manipulate the ample flab. "Well I don't want to force you to endure something," the serpent said gently, "I understand if you don't want to grow any larger. I simply enjoy entertaining my guests and ensuring their comfort."

Azar quickly turned to Aaron as fast as his body would allow. "Oh, it's not anything you did. I think I can accept that I fully did this to myself by losing control on all that food and gorging myself to this size. It's just...difficult to adjust to. I've never been one to put on much, if any, extra weight. And I've never known any dragons personally who have gained much either. With Callum being an exception," he said, giving his friend a smile.

Callum nuzzled his companion warmly, gently comforting him with a soft pat to his pearlescent shoulder. "You can just continue at your own pace, bud," he

reassured the frilled drake, "We can enjoy Aaron's hospitality on our own accord if you want."

The serpent nodded in agreement. "I'm perfectly fine with continuing at your own rate," he reiterated, sealing the point the grey drake made. "If you wish to moderate yourself, that's entirely alright."

Azar took a moment to just sit back on his rear and think about how he was going to handle his current weight situation. He most certainly couldn't go back to the city looking like this. Trying to explain why he new looked like he had gorged himself for the longest winter in history was not something he wanted to do at all. But if he stayed out with Callum and Aaron, chances were high that he'd end up putting on more weight. Thus making the "problem" even worse.

Although....one thought did start to go through his head. A thought he never imagined even having. Not even once. Azar knew he wouldn't be needed back at the city for quite some time. Perhaps a very long time if he was lucky. Everyone who needed to know knew he was on a "vacation" of sorts, but who's to say he couldn't indulge a bit while he was out?

Azar almost couldn't believe he was actually considering not working to get the weight gone as soon as possible. Yet he couldn't really see a bad side to what Aaron and Callum offered. Perhaps...it would allow some more relaxation from him? Lords knew he needed that. "Maybe...maybe I could just adjust to this all at a little slower rate than Callum's used to?" he asked both Aaron and Callum.

Aaron smiled, clasping his paws together in sinuous unification of understanding, stroking his beloved arachnid in the meantime with a coil. "Of course my friend," he agreed, winding his way around the tent to open a flap. A beam of light filtered in to light the place with a suffused contrast to the darker, violet tones of the fabricated atmosphere. "This is a time for revelries and enjoyment after all."

The serpent looked to Callum and tilted his head, curious as to how the silver drake ascertained his plans for comfort, indulgences, and reveries. "And how do you take to the activities proffered by the Scalen Festival? Does your common day life allow for this type of enjoyment?" To the sharp-minded serpent, the cobalt dragon appeared quite eager about all things edible, but he wished to ensure this was the case.

A light blue blush adorned the drake's muzzle as he pushed a paw into the springy adipose of his ground-level belly. "Well the bakery life is a bit more forgiving than knighthood," he murmured, "Though I do tend to venture in a bit of exploring for overtime." Chuckling, he looked back to the serpent with an easy-going gaze, "I usually retain a pleasantly curvy build, so there's a bit more room for expansion than my companion, though Azar makes a strong point in the way of being too big to do anything."

"To be honest, I've never really had an occasion where I could enjoy myself the way that I have here at the festival. Yes, I've put on a lot of weight and it's been very difficult adjusting to in such a short amount of time, but I've also had more fun than I think I've ever had in many years. I'm rather sad that this was only the first time I've ever come to this festival. And that I'll have to wait a year for the next one," He said as he sat down outside, looking back out at the festival from his spot near Aaron's tent once he came outside. "How much more of the festival is left?" he asked both Aaron and Callum.

Aaron looked to the festival goers beyond the tent and then thought back to the last celebration that had taken place, only a year prior. "These festivities usually last about three weeks, and it's been going on for a few days," he said, scritching Puella along her cephalothorax softly, before the spider unleashed a light clicking sound and scurried off the serpent's coils, content with the attention she'd received.

"Th-three weeks?!" Azar sputtered out, astounded that the festivalgoers would be willing to celebrate dragon and anthro unification for so long. Now he was even more shocked and disappointed he had never heard of the place before. Though the white dragon quickly tried to recompose himself. "Ahem, I guess that means we could stay for a while longer? Even if it affects our waistlines?" he asked Callum, the hint of eagerness to stay was all too obvious, but the drake thought he was being a little subtle.

Callum nodded thoughtfully, entirely intrigued by the notion of spending at least a couple weeks in Aaron's hospitality. His tail swished along the carpet beneath him, his industrious build wobbling softly with the movement. "I'd love to stay for a couple of days at the very least," he said, grinning to the serpentine host, "It's quite nice to enjoy being a draconic cushion for a bit."

Aaron chuckled as he slithered from the front of the tent to settle between them, looking to both expectantly. Callum turned to his friend, and then hefted his own girth. "Like I said, I'm more than willing to, it's ultimately up to

each of us. If you want to stay, wonderful!" he nodded to the pleasant company they were in, "Whether you want to or not is your own decision."

Azar looked to Aaron, then to Callum, then back to Aaron once more. "Let's stay," he finally said, feeling as though a bit of weight was lifted off his shoulders. "Like I said, I haven't had this much fun in a long time. Now that I don't feel quite as... embarrassed about our current sizes, I think I can cut loose a bit more. Plus, where else am I going to find a group of people so friendly to dragons like us? Anywhere else I'd probably get laughed out of town for being so corpulent, but here they like us no matter what size," he said with a nod.

Callum laughed in tandem with Aaron, both vocalizing their approval of the knight's perspective. The people of the festival were indeed remarkably reverent of the heavier proportioned drakes, something Callum was quite keen to explore further, along with other aspects of the festival given the wonderful weight strapped to his waist. A murr escaped his muzzle as Aaron extended a coil and kneaded the blue bulging expanse along with Azar's. "So," he said, coiling between them, "Any particular interests either of you wish to explore today?"  

Azar tried his best to hold back the pleased murr that came up from his belly being rubbed by the violet serpent’s coil, but it came out anyways. “Callum knows the festival better than I do, so if there are points of interest he’d be the one to know about them. But, I might be interested in learning a little more about this festival and the people here. Would there be someone at one of the stands over there that might be able to give me a little history?” he asked, hoping his idea for a history lesson wouldn’t bore Callum too much. “If you’d like Callum, I can listen to the history while you find something more fun to do,” he suggested.

Callum smiled and nodded, looking to Aaron as he coiled himself comfortably to settle in. The doughy dragon collected his heavily burdened self before tilting his head to the arachnid settled among Aaron’s coils. Angling his head to the violet serpent, he nodded to Puella. “Would your lovely arachnid like to accompany a rotund reptile over the fairgrounds?”

A warm smile colored the serpent’s visage by the words and he softly chittered to the tarantula, who rose from the squat she’d assumed on her cephalothorax and trilled gently. The arachnid’s sprawling form shuffled softly as she responded, before Aaron gave her a nod and the intelligent

creature promptly sprang from the spirit’s coils and onto the pillowy upper curve of Callum’s midriff, issuing is faint wobbling in the motion.

Grinning to Azar, he nuzzled the tarantula and then began to shuffle out one of the tent entrances. “I’ll leave you to it bud,” he assured the white drake, before murring as Puella spread her segmented appendages over his shoulder and settled against him like a Halloween decoration. “And I appreciate the wonderful company, Aaron,” he called to the violet serpent, “We’ll both have a pleasant time and should return by high noon if I can manage.” The last motion either the drake or the serpent witnessed was the silvery dragon patting his paunch with a chuckle and taking another wide step out into the glow of the festival light.

Azar waved goodbye to Callum and Puella as they went on their way before turning to Aaron. “I suppose I’ll be on my way too. I’ll try to be back at the same time as Callum, and we’ll most likely stay here again for the night,” he said to the violet serpent before heading out himself. It didn’t take him long to get back into the festival, and many of the people seemed quite pleased to see the corpulent white dragon waddling through the paths again. Though the constant looks made the dragon feel a little self-conscious, the smiles he got made him feel better. After asking around a bit, he was pointed in the direction of a storyteller that could give him a bit of history on the festival.

The storyteller was an elder anthro of the reptilian variety. A crocodile anthro if he had to guess. She was currently busy finishing up a story to a group of children and their parents when Azar approached. Some tale about a young crocodile teen learning his lesson after encountering a beast called the “Knucker”. The white dragon waited patiently until the story was finished before introducing himself, though his presence was already well known beforehand. He was, after all, hard to miss. “Excuse me, I was wondering if you could give me a bit of history on the festival and the anthros of this area,” he asked before adding in that he wanted to know why dragons of such heavy weights were enjoyed and encouraged at the festival.

Azar made himself comfortable as he listened to the tale. Apparently, the ancestors of the people that founded the town not far from the festival were once loyal to the draconic empire that once ruled the land long, long ago. But when the empire fell, they found it difficult to cope with the new way of things. It took decades for them to carve out a life that didn’t rely on the gifts they were given for being loyal servants to the dragons. When it was discovered that dragons and anthros had reached a peaceful union among one another, the citizens of this area celebrated, seeing it as a step closer to

having dragons seen as creatures of respect and admiration instead of enemies. So the festival was created to celebrate the union of dragons and anthros, but the people had a very high respect of dragons themselves. Hence the warm welcome Azar and Callum had been receiving. As for why they liked to help the visiting dragons put on considerable weight, the people of the land saw increased weight as a sign of prosperity and power. The bigger one was, the greater they were seen as. And to the festivalgoers, this held very true for dragons.

When the tale was finished, Azar thanked the storyteller for all the information she had shared. And for listening so intently, he was given a few treats to eat before he got up and waddled his way back through the festival to see if he could find Callum, or something else fun to do.

While Azar received a rundown on the festival’s history, Callum was prone to a rundown of the vivid booths and rich cuisines of the stands he’d yet to visit. The sight of a rotund reptilian the size of a tent meandering through the wide, grassy lanes and offering polite smiles to the adults or gentle nuzzles to curious children was becoming increasingly commonplace. In fact, the drake found that the adorable spider secured to his rolling shoulder drew more attention, as Puella regarded each individual with keen interest.

In turn, the festivalgoers seemed to adopt an inherent double take, first grinning to the corpulent drake and then widening their eyes when seeing Puella. The tarantula’s nine-foot spread was recognizable by some who’d crossed paths with her owner in prior years, but the children were often white-faced and moon-eyed at first glance. Luckily, the little lady, at least from the seventy foot slab of dragon’s perspective of little, held no offense and offered a warm trilling to those near her while cuddling against the swaying pudge of Callum’s scaly baggage. She’d curled her legs outwards and snuggle around the drake’s neck to demonstrate profound affection, and the result was an increased sense of curiosity within the ranks of onlookers.

Eventually, Callum grew tired of ambling around with a blubbery mass that pressed against the tendrils of grass beneath him. Sprawling out onto one domed side with a luxurious sigh, he grinned encouragingly to Puella who looked around curiously, her eight eyes flickering over the fairground in tandem with the skittering of her legs. A couple young ones began trickling away from their daily routine, padding over and ascending the drake’s girth. Once atop, Puella began to take delight in skittering towards them as they crested Callum’s peak, causing the young bear cub or ambitious kit to ‘eep’ in fear, and slowly slide down once more.

Callum was sure to catch them with his tail, warming up to the game and chuckling as the kids and tarantula began to playfully mess around. Several older anthros looked on in bemused interest, either from their booths or as a parent. Puella was the spotlight of the activity while the bulging reptile wobbling below her was the stage. As Callum watched, his mind slowly wandered, thinking of what Azar might be getting up too.

Azar himself was finding something he hadn’t expected while wandering through the festival grounds. And what he found was that he was lost. When trying to find his way towards Callum, the white dragon was starting to feel like all the multi-colored tents and stands were starting to look the same. The festival was much larger than Azar realized from the first day. Of course, what pride the dragon still had left kept him from asking for directions. After all, he felt that a dragon such as himself should be able to find another dragon in a place like this! Though the more he searched the more lost in the “streets” of the festival he became.

“How hard can a fat gray dragon be to find?” he quietly asked himself, taking a moment to just sit on the ground and think of which way he had already come, and which way he was still needing to go. Though where the dragon sat, a sweet scent soon drifted by him. Turning his head in the direction of said scent, Azar’s jaw dropped when he saw a massive display of what appeared to be chocolate and peanut butter treats. Looking from side to side, as if still believing someone would judge him, the white feral waddled his way over to the stand.

The owner seemed quite surprised and pleased to see a dragon approaching her stand, and Azar made mention of how interested he was in the treats. And as he got closer, he found himself desiring them more. “I’ll pay you whatever you want for everything,” He said before he even realized he had said it. The woman, a badger-looking anthro, was shocked but soon smiled and nodded. She would figure out what “payment” he could give later. Azar thanked the woman profusely before laying down in front of the stand and starting to eat. Of course, the act of a dragon eating right in the middle of one of the “streets” started to garner quite a bit of attention. Though Azar was far too involved with his new feast to notice at first.

As the pearlescent drake enjoyed his midday meal, Callum continued functioning as a regally curved slide and blubbery trampoline. He relaxed and lounged in the thick, rolling grass near Aaron’s tent and gazed fondly up to the ponderous hillock of his gut while the kits and cubs pattering around with

Puella formed an pseudo-massage. Rippling lightly, he found it quite novel to snake his tail beneath the undercarriage of his plated middle and then suddenly wrap it around the waist of one of the kids, before lifting them up in a flurry of squeaks and squeals. He’d then playfully drop them back on the cushiony support, leaving them wide eyed and partially flustered.

In turn, Puella made use of her low position to the drake’s gut and would skitter around the twenty foot bulk to trip the kids or leap on them in a flurry of chittering and face-hugs. The game continued on for considerable time, and Callum found himself nodding off, his thick-cable of a tail swishing lightly in the grass. It was only the creased pinch to his plates that drew the drake out of his reverie and, blinking the dimmed light out of his eyes, the steel-and-teal drake offered a low angle grin to the coiled being above him.

Aaron had slipped out and coiled himself close to the platinum reptile. Forging an amused expression, the serpent chuckled at the sight of Puella playing ‘terror of the tummy’ with shrieking kids. “Interesting use for a tarantula,” he quipped, folding his scaled arms over his chest. “And for this I might add,” he continued, patting Callum’s ponderous mass with a chuckle.

Aside from the drake, the children had paused for a moment in their play to gaze in wonder at the serpent. None were accustomed to the enigmatic serpent, but after a moment, their short attention spans and the diva of an arachnid managed to steal away any wanton glances. “Thanks, Aaron,” the cobalt drake replied, ‘oofing’ lightly from the continuous bouncing and jostling. “Seemed a shame to not take advantage of the generous addition you made to the waistline.”

“Mmmm, indeed,” the serpent agreed, sliding around the the drake’s head and adopting a wide grin as he watched the kids continue to enjoy themselves. Placing his tail along the drake’s supple gut, Aaron suddenly affixed his mischievous, pentad gaze upon Callum’s and tilted his head. “Shall we make this an even more enjoyable experience?” he inquired, tapping the drake’s gut with a knowing look.

Gulping and grinning, the silver dragon nodded, prepping himself for the inevitable sensation of becoming considerably comfier as a seventy foot blimp. As he felt Aaron’s magic begin to pervade his form, the drake’s gaze flickered down along the lane, wondering if Azar had discovered any additional history about the fair.

Azar continued his feast for almost an hour before the food was finally all gone. Apparently chocolate and peanut butter combined was one of the dragon’s food weaknesses. And he did not go “unscathed” from his meal. Where the dragon had managed to waddle around with his belly just a foot or two above the ground, now when he was on all fours his middle pushed heavily into the ground. He was only lucky that his weight was enough to squish his belly down so that his paws could reach the ground. “Oh dear… this will be tough to work with,” he said as he looked himself over.

It took a great deal of wobbling himself from side to side, but eventually Azar managed to get going by swaying on to one side of his body, pushing forward and off to the other side of his body. It resembled more of a very heavy waddle, but at least he was making progress. “Must… find… Callum… “ he said to himself as he kept going, panting heavily at the effort. The crowd that had gathered near Azar started to follow, and he took note of the children running around his bloated form. “You kids sure do love to just run around,” he said with a chuckle as he watched. He could have sworn one of them was the fox girl that had “tricked” Callum during the chase yesterday.

But the children were also helpful for Azar. Some of them spoke of going to the “dragon trampoline” up along the hill. Knowing there was only one other dragon soft enough to be used as a trampoline, Azar went as fast as he could waddle to follow the children in the direction they had now run off to.

In the time his companion had managed to dispose of the festival stand, Callum’s midsection was exposed to the wondrous effects of Aaron’s soothing, though lipid-rich magic. He’d felt the warmth spread from the serpent’s paw and heat his form to heavenly temperatures, before he realized it never truly faded. Instead, the rolling layers mingled with the present blubber, which shook and jostled heavily as the nine-foot spider atop his domed middle skittered and sank gently into the semi-sensitive exposure of his under flesh.

As he did so, Aaron unfurled his coils and sent an undulating massage over the drake’s accumulating middle, serving as yet another obstacle for the children to engage with. Grunting heavily, Callum watched as the bottom portion of his midsection extend nearly ten feet past his paws, rolling over the grass with the prominence of a adipose-rich glacier.

Deeming this extent of dragon belly as sufficient, Aaron retracted his hand and playfully jiggled Callum’s doughy middle before transforming into a large, feral leopard and pouncing athletically onto the vast apex. The drake could only watch from his low yielding vantage point as the the violet feline worked

their way up a low S curve of flesh and gently began to play around with the two dozen kids and residential arachnid.

Relaxing once more, Callum chuckled as he realized he’d require serious assistance to roll over, much less walk off the heavily distended girth. Perhaps the frenetic movement of the kids would help wear some of the blubber down, though he doubted the notion. An idle squeak drew his attention away from the weighty issue as an adorable lynx kit slid down along his side and came to a halt at his snout. Looking up, the drake grinned to the feline, who appeared to be four or five. Pressing his snout against the kit, the kid squealed and hugged back in delight before turning tail and racing right up once more in periodic bounds as he sank into the voluminous folds. Callum continued watching with a smile, before relaxing once more and murring as he was used as a spherical playground.

When Azar finally did reach the location Callum was resting at, he quickly caught on as to why word of a “dragon trampoline” and “dragon playhouse” were appropriate for describing the gray dragon. In the time Azar had been separated from Callum, the gray and blue dragon had ballooned to even larger sizes! The white drake thought he himself had gained quite a bit from his meal, but it was nothing compared to what Callum was now!

Slowly and with a few grunts, Azar managed to heft his great weight close enough so he could speak with Callum. “What… what happened to you?” he said, still astonished at the massive blimp of a dragon he saw before him. Though a good portion of Callum’s hill of a belly was being taken up by children playing around. And every once in awhile Azar caught site of a very large arachnid skittering about. “I was only gone a couple hours, how did you manage this?” he asked, dumbfounded.

Grinning to the white marshmallow from below his extensive girth, the drake smiled and patted Azar’s heavy middle softly. “Well you haven't fared too badly,” he chuckled, squishing white pudge and murring as his bulging form jiggled from the continuous scurrying of kits and pups alike. “As for myself,” the hillock of a drake continued, pressing his paws against his distended middle, “Well Aaron thought it’d be fun to give the kids a bit more...amplitude to play with.”

The grey bulge of a drake squeaked softly as the leopard from earlier on slid down along his neck, causing Callum to pause and bump him playfully with his snout, and then watch as the feline scurried back up the scuted incline to rejoin the rest. The drake pointed to a gently glowing leopard currently

playing mischievously with three of the children while Puella chartered and sank low to her cephalothorax playfully to pounce on her owner.

Azar blushed a bit when Callum patted his own larger middle. “I may have lost a bit of control again around some really good snacks,” he said as his tail flicked from side to side behind him. “But you seem to be making the most out of being so big! Albeit with a little of Aaron’s help, but still successful nonetheless,” he said as he waddled around Callum to get a better idea of just how huge he was. “You’re already the talk of the festival and more kids were on the way here when I heard about the ‘dragon playground’ from them,” he said with a chuckle as he watched. “You must have been like this for a while for such a nickname to spread throughout the entire festival. You might have more kids than you have room for in a little while, if that can be believed,” he said with a chuckle.

Callum flushed in tangent with his companion, feeling his middle jiggle softly from the abundant amount of shouts and cries of laughter emanating from the apex of his glutted middle. Aaron had taken to shedding off several pulses of light that floated around and chased a couple of kids in rambunctious games of bouncy tag. Others were chased by the energetic arachnid who seemed to have found her calling by pouncing on an unsuspecting kit, wrapping them into an eight-legged cuddle, and then pop off of them in rapid succession. Down below the commotion, Callum felt his neck tremor with the movements, a rumble building up in his throat as the activity functioned as a meta-massage to his blubbery middle.

“Heh, I’m sure Aaron’d be willing to help out with extra kids,” he chuckled, patting his enlarged form. “For the moment, I’m guessing I’ll have to function a residential hillock for them.” He angled his gaze to the ponderous drake above him, smiling softly into the faint outline formed from the sun’s position behind Azar’s back. “What were you up too?”

The white dragon couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched the kids, Aaron, and Puella all playing up on top of Callum. It really was a sight he’d never see back at home in the city, or anywhere else to be honest. He rather appreciated the uniqueness of the festival above all else, finding their appreciation of the dragons more and more comforting as time went on. “Me? I was just coming back to check on you after I heard about how much fun the kids were having with you. I had to see what you did to make them so happy, aside from your usual fun self,” he said as he sat down on his hind legs, his belly sticking out far in front of him. Azar’s conversation with Callum, however, was distracting him from the fact that some of the children now noticed there was a second,

very fat, dragon next to the first one they found so fun. Whispers started up as to whether or not they should “attack” this one the same way they now played and “assaulted” the big gray one.

Callum smiled, laying back and resting as his middle continually jostled and rippled from the ponderous jumping. Looking up, he saw the adventurous lynx from earlier along with a couple of the other children peer down, a drop of about eight feet separating the grey drake from his companion. Three or four of the kits finally decided and jumped in tandem, landing on the new surface while the others stood preoccupied with either the giant tarantula, violet leopard, glowing lights, or a mixture of the three. Wobbling heavily, Callum lifted his tail and managed to reach over his curved middle to gently brush and join in on the fun transpiring atop his scuted middle.

Azar was about to ask what else Callum had done when he and Puella had separated from the white drake, but he was interrupted when he suddenly had a small group of children jump down onto his soft expanse. The action surprised him enough that the white dragon lost his balance and rolled onto his back, turning him into a miniature version of what Callum was already. “O-oh dear,” he said as he looked up and saw kids bouncing and climbing around on his belly.

Callum murred softly, laying back contentedly as he continued to quiver from the use of his supple form as a means of rampant entertainment. The skittering of a certain arachnid's segmented legs afforded especially novel patterns and sensations to dance through his form. With a chuckle, the drake began using his tail as a contender in the festive games by looping it around a cub or kit and lifting them into the air to drop them onto the heavily padded dome beneath. “Such an energetic bunch,” he chuckled, stretching his form out and continuing to play ‘one legged Kraken’ with his tail.

Azar nodded in agreement with Callum’s statement, though he himself looked more confused than comforted and relaxed as his friend did. The truth was that Azar had no idea how to handle such a situation where people were literally crawling all over him and using him as a playground. Much less knowing how to spend time with children! He was a friendly dragon of course, but a busy one too. As such, he hadn’t had much time to be played on or around in such a manner, and he wasn’t quite sure how to react. “Uhh… good children? Nice children? Keep playing like that, I think?” he said, blushing a little at how awkward he knew he must sound. “You look like you have far more practice encountering this sort of situation,” he said as he looked to Callum.

Callum smirked gently at the drake’s faint discomfort, picking up a squealing bear cub and sliding the youthful ursine down the curve of his gut to his shoulder and snout. Growling playfully and tickling the young one, he smiled in return to his companion. “I suppose being a baker in comparison to an inventor would offer more personal contact in itself,” he laughed, nuzzling the cub gently and bouncing them on his chest, “But it also might stem from quite a few...strandings in the square outside the bakery that resulted in my belly becoming an attraction in its own regard.” He grinned to the white knight, before affixing his attention to the bear cub and gently nosing the squeaking entity back up the bulging curvature of his midriff to rejoin the pattering group of kids.

Azar chuckled a little at imagining Callum so fattened outside his own bakery that it attracted the attention of those nearby. “I’m used to lots of people being around me, just none this close. And I never imagined I’d have children playing on me. Actually, there are a lot of things that have happened at this festival that I never dreamed would actually happen to me,” he said as he poked his large belly. Just then another child bounced off of Callum and onto Azar, while some were trying to bounce back and forth between the two tubby drakes. “I get the feeling we’ll be the talk of the festival for quite some time.”

‘Oofing’ gently as another rambunctious cub scaled the sinuous lovehandles along his rounded sides, Callum nodded, waving to the thirty or so adult anthros gazing at the scene. “You’re certainly right about that, bud,” he chuckled, and only laughing harder when he saw more than a few of the onlookers reflect a playful sentiment in their eyes. “I don’t think I ever did something like this my first time here, but it will make a fun tradition for festivals to come.” Wobbling and gripping the voluminous flesh wrapped around his shoulders and upper torso, the steel and cerulean drake nodded to a familiar, violet feline sliding down his girth and coming to a playful stop at his chins.

“Afternoon, you two,” the spirit greeted, nodding to Azar with an energetic grin. Pausing for a moment to catch his breath, Aaron began to shift once more, shedding his leopard form and winding into the air, the serpent stretched. “Aah, that’s better,” he sighed, weaving himself into an encompassing pile of violet cables amid the silvery pudge. Looking to festival’s two newly christened attractions, he chuckled and cast a diagonal glance over his shoulder to the kits and spider. “So how was your day Azar?”

he asked, tilting his head to the white drake. “I’m vaguely familiar with how our silver blimp spent his, but I haven’t seen you for a couple hours.”

Azar smiled and nodded his head in greeting to Aaron when the large violet serpent made his reappearance. “Good to see you again Aaron. It seems you’ve really made a massive attraction out of our gray dragon here,” he said with a chuckle as he looked over to Callum. “As for me, I did get a bit of learning on the history of the festival and the people who organize it. Really fascinating stuff actually. They’re descendants of people who used to worship the dragons during the draconic empire days,” he said to inform both Callum and Aaron. “On my way back I ran into some irresistible treats. Which is where this came from, “he said as he patted his bigger middle. “And when I heard about this attraction, I came to check it out myself. I’d have to say it was well worth it, though I had no idea I would become part of it!” he added with a laugh before laying his head back in the cool grass.

Aaron laughed in return, soon joined by Callum as the three reveled in the festive sentiment. Up atop his belly, the silver drake felt the moments and pattering of the cubs and kids begin to slow. Cocking his head over the violet tendrils coiled atop his chest, the drake saw that, save for the adorable arachnid, most of the kits were beginning to wane with the lowering sun. From Aaron’s point of view, the surrounding booths and anthros were suffused in a low, amber light, attesting to the fluid passage of time only possible by unadulterated fun. Azar and Callum’s novelty had played out for far longer than they’d realized, leading into the early evening and the yawning of many a child.

Lingering parents instinctively began edging forward, holding their arms out as cubs rolled and slid from the ample pudge of both drakes. Several approached the reptiles, inquiring whether the two rotundities would be able to provide additional fun tomorrow. Both Callum and Azar assure they would, patting their respective girths. As the cubs and pups dispersed, Aaron grinned back to his two soft subjects. “So what shall we do from here?”

The white dragon scratched his head at Aaron’s question. “Well, we could always see if there are more festivities going on in the evening? Maybe not a feast like last night, but there could be entertainment worth seeing,” he suggested as he looked between the two. “Unless the festival is closing down for the day completely. If that’s the case, Callum and I still don’t have any other place to stay. Would it be all right if we housed with you again tonight Aaron?” he asked as he looked up at the large violet serpent. “We’d be happy

to do whatever you think would make up for us staying in your home too,” he said with another bow of his head.

Nodding at the drake’s formal request, Aaron gripped a handle of the grey pudge beneath him and laughed. “I have no qualms with that,” he replied, before laughing harder as Puella skittered down Callum’s silver crested middle and hopped into her owner’s arms with an elated trilling, casting her octad gaze over the two mattress drakes. “And as you might’ve guessed, Puella is just as excited.”

Callum loosed another chuckle at the sight of the loving arachnid, before yawning himself as his belly settled in the wake of being jiggled and bounced upon for the last hour or so. The void was quite a novel, welcome change, allowing his mind to be entirely fixated on his companions. “Well, whether we reside in your tent or in a festival lane, I think the result for me would be the same. Sleep is coming soon.” He laughed, “At least I’ll be comfy though.”

“If you’re getting tired Callum, perhaps heading back to Aaron’s would be best. After all, you wouldn’t want me taking all the attention if I went to an event alone now would you?” Azar joked, nudging his friend in his plush side. “Besides, it does look like the festival really is closing down for the day. Unless anyone else knows something going on that we don’t, I think we’re safe to head in for the evening,” he said with a nod to both Callum and Aaron.With that, the white drake started to rock himself from side to side. His entire body shifted and wobbled with the movements. It wasn’t exactly graceful, but eventually Azar got back onto all fours. Though his belly still pressed heavily into the ground. “Alright. Need help getting up Callum?” the knight asked as he stepped closer to his large friend.

Blushing blue at the thought, the drake nodded, feeling his paws clamp gently around his mountainous midriff. “I appreciate that, bud,” he said, before grunting as his supple sides squished and compressed with the white pudge of the knight rolling him. Aaron slipped down from the corpulent reptile’s side, chuckling at the sight a plush reptile rolling a barrel of a lizard. As the industrious knight made considerable headway in the endeavor, Aaron mentally reached out with aiding tendrils of force to help the process along. In turn, Callum’s view of the world began to spiral and, in time, smudge with the tiredness creeping into his mind. As the eccentric squadron passed the humored visages of numerous festivalgoers, the sun settled on the horizon, indicating the end of another long, festive day in Draconic Festivities.