Now the gnoll understood why Alkali had asked him to take the potion without armor on. But this didn’t feel completely like an Enlarge Person potion. There was more, how to describe it, heft to the increased mass. He set a hand on the side of his gut and watched it wobble in response. It wasn’t exactly what he’d asked Al to make; it stuck to the letter of the request if not the spirit of asking for increased power.

Looming over the alchemist, Snake glowered. “I assume the mass is on purpose? How exactly is that going to help me sneak and steal by making me a bigger target? I just asked for extra strength.”

Al gulped nervously. Well, here goes. He couldn’t stop the explanation now that he'd followed through with making Snake bigger. “You’ve been without a tribe for… a while. I don’t know how long; you don’t talk about it. And you looked uh. Malnourished?” Alkali tried to explain, poorly. “But no one should be alone. Every gnoll needs a friend and a warm meal.”

Snake gripped a palm onto the underside of Alkali’s chin, lifting him off the ground with softer, heavier, but still strong arms.

“Go prepare another potion or three. I’ll be here.”

“…be right back.”

“No more surprises like that though, I have to trust you,” Snake clarified. It’d be better to make sure the alchemist knew exactly what was expected.

---

Writing something as a short story / caption for the set of 3 pictures drawn by Knave. Hope you enjoy it! I really like writing stories to go along with the images, no surprises there.

Art by Knave, and Snake owned by him too! https://twitter.com/Knaveofclubs https://ko-fi.com/knaveofclubs