Kora the blue jay was starting her first day at a bakery known as Blimpie’s Diner. She had a crimson waitress gown on, and a dark green apron, both of which were part of the uniform she was required to wear. Kora had a bushy light blue tail, along with light blue feathers on her upper legs, groin, sides, breasts, arms, neck, and face. Lighter, beige feathers were on her stomach, while she had a gray beak and gray talons.
Kora had heard of this diner before, and had learned it was known for its strange way of “tipping”. When a customer tipped a waitress, the consumers were given any means they wished to inflate their waitress to a size depending on how much they tip. Oftentimes, this ended up popping the waitress, meaning another one would have to take their place for an hour or two while the popped one reformed.
When the bird entered the restaurant, it was morning, and there weren’t many customers in the building. A couple waitresses were working behind the counter, preparing orders for their customers, but one employee was waiting idly. Kora assumed this was the one who would be her trainer, named Drako.
Drako had crimson scales much like the color of Kora’s dress, said scales covering her breasts, shoulders, parts of her tail, arms, and legs, and most of her face. Her snout was a mossy green, as were her sides. The inner sides of her arms, legs, tail, as well as the dragon’s chest between her breasts, and her stomach and chin, were all a dark beige color. She had hair flowing from her head down to around her shoulders, of which faded from dark blonde to dark green, and the tip of her tail had similar hair on it, with the addition of starting at a crimson color, fading to blonde, and then to green.
Drako was on her phone, scrolling idly and not yet noticing Kora’s presence. The bird, nervously, approached the counter and spoke up. “Uhh, hello… I’m Kora, would you be Drako?”
Drako looked up from her phone with a grin, seeming to be happy to have something happen to her in the restaurant. She nodded to the bird and spoke with a more confident tone. “Mhm, that’s me. I assume you’ve done some research on this place’s, well, strange traditions?”
Kora nodded, fully understanding what the dragon meant. The dragon smiled and spoke again. “Good. You’ll probably see a waitress or two pop during your training, its normal here. Come back here with me, let me show you around the place.”
Kora smiled slightly and followed the dragon to the back area of the restaurant, being led through the kitchen and shown the various tools of her new trade. While she was being taught the basics, an occasional bursting noise could be heard coming from the dining area. Each pop made her slightly more nervous of her fate in this restaurant; while popping wasn’t the worst thing for her, it certainly would be annoying to lose a couple hours in her shift because of having to reform.
Within due time, Kora knew her way around the kitchen. She was shown the small break room, which included a few snacks and drinks for the waitresses who didn’t have anyone to serve at the time. Drako showed Kora one specific cabinet that held some pills and supplements meant to increase the user’s elasticity, which were there to help the waitresses be inflated to larger sizes without popping, thus granting them larger tips.
When the tour was over, Drako led Kora to the dining area of the restaurant. A few more tables were taken by customers than were taken when Kora first entered the restaurant at this point, and a couple waitresses could be seen getting inflated at tables, their customers showing varying degrees of interest. Draco showed Kora which tables she would be serving during her shifts, and the blue jay noticed, partially with excitement and partially with nervousness, that one of her tables had two wolves sitting at it.
Drako, however, took the wheel for Kora. “I’ll show you how it’s done. Besides, these dudes are high tippers, we’ve never had a waitress go through them without popping, so it’d be a good chance to show you the safe word.”
Kora’s eyes widened at what the dragon had said. “S-safe word?”
Drako chuckled, nodding. “Yeah, it’s just a word we use to signal another waitress to get ready to take our place when we pop. Nothing too important. Besides, if we forget to say it, someone’s bound to notice the loud bang.”
The pair approached the table, Drako greeting the customers and taking their orders. The customers ate their meal, of which was cooked by Kora, and seemed satisfied with things. However, when Drako came back with their check, Kora saw a smile on each of the wolves’ faces. One of them held $30 in their hand, and they handed it to Drako as a tip when she came along. Drako blushed, knowing what the tip meant, and she used the moment to teach Kora how to activate the various pumps under the tables, as well as how to set their limits based on the tips that were given.
When all was ready to go, one of the wolves grabbed a hose attached to an air pump and handed it to Drako, telling her to gulp it down. Kora’s trainer obediently did so, swallowing the hose enough for it to reach into the dragon’s stomach.
Grinning, the wolf turned the pump on and sat back, watching with his friend as air flowed into the dragon’s belly, causing it to round out into a dome. However, they didn’t stop with a simple dome, and kept inflating Drako further. Drako smiled at the sensation of being pumped full of air, seeming to enjoy it as her belly grew and grew, her hands moving to rub it and even squeeze it here and there.
As more air went into her body, her chest started expanding as well, soon becoming one with her stomach as her entire middle began to inflate. Her arms and legs began to fill with air too, starting to become bigger as the gas looked for anywhere it could fill into. Drako seemed to be in a state of pure bliss at this point, looking to have forgotten all about being a trainer for Kora.
Soon, Drako’s limbs had become domes atop a spherical middle, creaks emanating from her hide as the bulges started sucking in her hands and feet, as well as her head to a point. However, the wolves showed no signs of stopping her inflation, and when Drako was near her bursting point, she finally remembered that she was supposed to be training Kora, and made her best effort to speak despite there being a hose in her mouth. “Mmph, Kora, phe saphe word i-”
Before she could finish her sentence, a loud bang rang through the restaurant as the dragon exploded, soon leaving behind nothing but a pile of scaly scraps. The wolves seemed thoroughly satisfied with the display as the hose retracted, the pump shutting itself off as they got up to leave. However, before they left, one wolf turned to Kora and spoke.
“By the way, she was going to say ‘next’.”