When it came to birthdays, the average person would go out and enjoy it with friends and family. The day would be about them, spent relaxing rather than working, and be remembered fondly for weeks after. Cakes topped with candles, presents wrapped nice as could be, more leftovers in food than the refrigerator could handle; these were the things to expect on a birthday. Even for those who don't find it to be a special day, it's a chance for loved ones to get together and simply celebrate; after all, who would pass up an excuse to simply let loose and have fun? Thus, birthdays were a valued time to be with others, times to be cherished for their togetherness.

At least, that was the typical birthday. For all the dozens of pleasant, enjoyable birthdays out there, there's always at least one that doesn't seem to go quite right. For Dan, that seemed to be his luck; rather than waking up to breakfast in bed, the hyena had discovered that the cabinets were rather bare. He could guess who's fault that was, but rather than complain, Dan had just simply shaken his head and gotten ready for the day. A dark brown shirt and simple jeans that hung comfortably on the hyena's pudgy frame contrasted his dust-colored fur while highlighting the chocolate-colored spots across his back and shoulders, while his mane was only absently brushed, left mostly unkempt and messy. It was only a casual excursion to the supermarket to pick up some groceries, so why did he need to bother with looking nice? Besides, it was his birthday; he could afford to be a little lax.

The trip to the supermarket and back was fairly simple, a walk of only four blocks, and the hyena didn't take long picking out the basic groceries that he'd need for the next few days; bread, milk, a couple packages of frozen meat, and a few other essential items that would give him some variety in cooked meals as the week progressed. Aside from the milk, larger items were eschewed in favor of a load that could be more easily carried home; next time, he'd bring his roommate to help carry groceries, allowing him to stock up the kitchen more thoroughly. Between the walk there, shopping, and heading back, Dan was only gone for about an hour and a half, minimizing the time that he spent working in favor of relaxing on his special day.

Of course, he wasn't even sure what he was going to do on his birthday. Sure, he could just sit back and relax, doing nothing of importance, but what a waste that would be. Then again, that was all it really needed to be, wasn't it? A day away from everything, a day about him where he could just sit back and relax. The more Dan thought about it, the more appealing it sounded; a day of snoozing in bed, or relaxing under the covers with a good book. Maybe a simple take-out dinner and a movie to end the day. Yes, that was how his birthday would be spent, assuming all went well, but given the nature of his roommate, he wasn't sure he'd get that opportunity.

Arriving home, the hyena was forced to put down a few of his bags in order to fumble around with his keys, which naturally were a pain to grab as he tried to balance the remainder of the groceries in his other hand. Strangely though, when he put the key in the lock, Dan felt no resistance in turning it; the door was already unlocked. The hyena frowned, but assumed that his roommate was behind this, as the jackal had been conspicuously absent all morning. Perhaps he had gone out at some point and had returned home while Dan had been out, leaving the door unlocked behind him. Shrugging, the hyena just pushed his way inside the house, closing the door behind him with one foot, and made his way to the kitchen.

As he stepped through the threshold, however, Dan's movement was halted in favor of being propelled in a completely different direction, a yellow mass bursting out from around the corner and nearly tackling him to the ground. “Surpriiiiiiiiiise!” The hyena yelped and juggled his groceries, trying not to drop any of the more fragile items even as he was shoved roughly against the cabinets, managing to maintain his balance only by the fact that he was in a corner and was able to support himself with cabinets on either side. The sudden tackle knocked the wind out of him, however, and Dan found himself hastily setting down the bags in his paws before they were knocked over.

“Joe! Joe! Get off!” The hyena yelled as he tried to shove the yellow-furred jackal off of him. Soon, the canine figure was pushed back a few feet, though the grin of almost childish glee refused to leave his face even as he backed off. Dan's “assailant” was none other than his roommate and living companion, Joeseph. The jackal was a shade of yellow almost the same color as butter, offset by black ears and a pattern of gray and lack that ran down from the center of his back to the inside of his legs. k Joeseph had an almost impossibly cartoonish build to his body as well, like an artist's caricature; a wide chest and thick hips would give most a rather broad middle to match, but the jackal had a surprisingly narrow waist, almost like an hourglass figure but not quite as exaggerated. Thin arms and legs led to larger paws that had “socks” that were almost golden in color, and a diamond-shaped tail that was wagging freely as Joeseph grinned widely at his companion.

Dan sighed as he brushed himself off, moving the bags on the counter so that they had less chance of being knocked off before he turned back to Joeseph. “Oof... well hi to you too, Joe. What's got you so excitable?” The hyena noticed that the jackal was hiding something behind his back, both paws holding it, and Dan couldn't help but perk an eyebrow of curiosity. Joeseph was well-known for carrying out a variety of pranks on a daily basis, and most of them were directed at Dan. What was he up to now? “...And what's that you've got there? Hopefully you can give me my birthday off from your shenanigans...”

Another shout of “Surprise!” was the only response that Dan got before the jackal's arms came around suddenly, and Dan reflexively flinched, but all that was revealed was a wrapped square package. It was a little thin to be a box, and it was modestly heavy, though not a burden to hold. The hyena blinked at the package in his paws, his still-confused brain trying to comprehend what it was. “Uh... thanks?”

“Aren't you gonna open your birthday present, silly?” Joeseph smiled broadly, and Dan couldn't help but return a warm grin. Right, it was his birthday, and for all the jackal's silliness, Joeseph had remembered and even taken the time to get Dan a gift. So that's where he had been all morning, out getting this gift together! Chuckling, the hyena unwrapped it carefully, revealing a frame of wood and a glass panel. A picture of some kind, perhaps? When the full image was unveiled, Dan pulled it back to get a better view of the entire thing. It was a picture of Joeseph posing for the camera, likely a shot Dan took himself, though he didn't remember doing so. At the bottom of the picture was a caption: “As close as two friends can be.”

“Uh, Joe?” Dan said with an amused chuckle. “I think you grabbed the wrong picture for this frame. You're the only one in it, and it's supposed to be a picture of the two of us, right?” Joeseph looked confused and grabbed the picture, looking over it and tilting his head before giving Dan a puzzled look. “What are you talking about, Dan? You're right here.” The jackal's paw jabbed down almost directly in the middle of the picture, right where Joeseph himself would be, and Dan gave that same confused look back to his roommate, taking the picture back and looking at the area indicated. Joeseph's finger had pointed at an area around the jackal's chest, but the only thing indicated was a dusty-colored shirt practically painted around the canine's body, a color of black fur or hair framing the shirt's neck. Though something seemed oddly familiar about the coloration... and then Dan groaned, as his mind made the mental connection.

“Oh, this was that day, wasn't it...” Dan sighed, remembering it too well. Joeseph's pranks were unusual compared to most, as the majority involved his ability to alter living matter in any way he chose. Naturally, the most enjoyable thing to change was his roommate, and the hyena suspected that he had found himself as the target of Joeseph's abilities more frequently than anyone else. “That day,” as he called it, had been a cold February morning, and Joeseph had been complaining about how cold the house was. Dan had just told him to stop whining and put a thicker shirt on, which was really his downfall, in hindsight; the jackal had decided to take him literally, and in a moment Joeseph had claimed a new hyena-print t-shirt, making use of his abilities in the cartoonish manner that was so natural to him; Dan's day had been spent draped a cross his roommate's torso, keeping him warm. On the bright side, at least Joeseph had stopped complaining about the cold.

“Yeah, that day! And who can get closer than being worn as a shirt? Besides, you've got some extra insulation, so it was twice as effective!” Joeseph grinned as he poked at Dan's slightly protruding gut, getting a glare of annoyance from the hyena. Rolling his eyes, Dan walked over to the table and set the picture up so that they could both see it. While not particularly amused by the image, the hyena couldn't hep but smile a little, as it was truly indicative of the relationship he had with his roommate. Ever since the two of them had met, Joeseph was often getting him into trouble, though it was never malicious so much as it was often concocted by a mind that seemed almost childish in nature. If it weren't for the fact that the jackal could be so deviously intelligent at the most surprising of times, Dan would have thought his companion was a tad on the simple side. But no, the hyena certainly knew better by now.

Chuckling and shaking his head, Dan went back to putting up the groceries, aware that Joeseph was hovering behind him, likely searching through the bag for his own goodies. Indeed, the jackal piped up a moment later... though there was a singsong twist to his tone that made Dan suspicious. “So, what's for lunch?” Joeseph inquired playfully.

The hyena raised an eyebrow at his companion's tone, wondering what he had planned, but just shrugged. “I dunno. I haven't planned anything yet; I just went to stock up on groceries since someone-” This was said with a pointed look at Joeseph. “-polished off most of our food between last night and this morning.” The golden jackal gave a look of absolute innocence that fooled no one, causing Dan to simply roll his eyes and resume his unpacking. “So if you want lunch, you'll have to either wait 'til I'm done, or make something yourself.”

“Or...” Joeseph grinned. “There's Plan C! How does pizza sound to you?”

Dan paused to give him another flat look. “Joe, I just bought groceries and everything, I don't feel like buying pizza too. Can't you just give me a break?”

“Awww... c'mon!” Joeseph begged, putting his paws on Dan's shoulder and whining right in his ear. “It's your birthday, and it's special, and I even rented out the local pizza place just for youuuuu!”

Dan almost retorted to the birthday comment before the last bit of Joeseph's complaint registered in his mind. “...You rented out a pizza place for me?” He wasn't sure how he felt about that; the jackal didn't exactly work a steady job, and instead did various odds and ends where he felt like it. While it was possible for him to have enough money to do so, Dan just didn't see his companion having the attention span to earn that much. Buying out a whole pizza place was appropriate to his mindset, however, so the hyena just shrugged and accepted the story as true. “Well... I mean, if you did that, then I guess I can't turn it down. We can head over once these groceries are put up.”

Joeseph's face lit up—almost literally, there was a certain sort of shine to his eyes as they expressed how happy he was—before the jackal nearly dove headfirst into the groceries in his rush to help get them put up. Of course, while he had intended to “help,” he actually slowed down the process normally, putting things in all the wrong places in his eagerness. Dan had to go through and literally re-place every item that his roommate had put up, and in the end the whole process took nearly twenty minutes longer than it should have. But once that was done, he stayed true to his word, giving Joeseph enough time to change to something casual before they headed out.

The “local pizza place,” as Dan called it, was actually a rather interesting place. Part of an all-culture restaurant chain starting from a simple sushi stand, “Futotta's Pizzeria” was a rather large building for a simple pizza restaurant. Rather than having a large dining area devoted to numerous tables closely-packed together, it had over two dozen rooms that were each as big as a normal dining room, but with up to three sets of tables for larger parties instead of a greater number. This was done with the trend of restaurant-themed pranks that seemed to occur, their corporate office insisted; a large percentage of growth-based shenanigans seemed to occur at restaurants due to the appropriate environment being such a draw for them, and as a result, the Futotta's chain had adapted to deal with it.

Dan had never seen any such incidents occur, at least not at a restaurant, or to anyone else really; that wasn't to say that he hadn't seen his share of events, however, given the mentality and abilities of his roommate. More than once, Joeseph had been pleased to alter his friend's size in a number of ways. The latest incident had been about three weeks prior, when the jackal had noticed an advertisement for a water bed on television. He had whined and begged and pleaded to get one, as per normal, but Dan's budget didn't allow them to simply go out and get a waterbed on a whim, and so he had refused. Of course, then he had made the mistake of offhandedly suggesting that if Dan wanted a waterbed so badly, the jackal could go make one himself. The night had ended with him as a rounded, water-logged hyena filling a good third of a room while Joeseph curled up atop his sloshing belly, sleeping comfortably atop his new waterbed. Thankfully he got bored of the novelty within a few days, and that phase passed quickly, but it hadn't been the first and most certainly wouldn't be the last.

But given his roommate's propensity for off-the-wall thinking, Dan figured that Futotta's Pizzeria was a good place to eat out; if something did trigger the jackal's zany tendencies, then at least they'd be in a place well-equipped to handle it. Besides, pizza did sound good, especially if they already had a room rented out to them; Dan's mouth was watering as he considered the options available to him. A nice meat-lovers pizza sounded phenomenal, and given that the place was set aside for a birthday function, there would probably be a whole array of food, drinks, and dessert by the end. That was a pleasant turn to an otherwise ordinary day, birthday aside.

Arriving at the Pizzeria, the two of them paused outside the entrance, looking up at the scale of the building. Even for its intended purposes, the place still felt enormous, with an arched door easily twice as tall as either of them and then some. And it was wide enough for several people to enter side-by-side; in a way, it was like walking into some giant's business instead of a normal one. The two mascots, a pair of otters that were said to have run the original restaurant, seemed almost laughably small as they stood to either side of the door, stopping at no higher than five feet tall. Dan wondered at the disproportionate scale of the building sometimes, but the food was good enough that he didn't really care; the corporation could spend their money as they chose.

The interior was just as large on the inside, making Dan feel just a little tiny, but Joeseph didn't seem the slightest bit perturbed as they made their way to the counter and claimed their reservation. In only minutes they were brought to their personal room, the large doors thrown open surprisingly easily, and revealing that their party had already been set up. Two long tables were loaded with fifteen different varieties of pizza, most of which were loaded with different combinations of meats. Dan's jaw dropped open at the spread, and he did his best not to drool at the aromas floating out of the room. It took a shove on the back from his companion to get him moving again, breaking the food-induced trance, and Dan eagerly approached the tables, trying to decide where to begin.

Grabbing a plate and loading it with three slices of the meat-lover's pizza that was immediately nearby, loaded with extra bacon, pepperoni, and sausage, the hyena paused to take a deep whiff of the food before finding himself a place to sit and enjoy his bounty. Joeseph, on the other hand, didn't bother with a plate; he grabbed an entire platter of pepperoni pizza and pulled it over to their table, plopping himself down and taking pieces directly from it. Dan couldn't help but smile at the jackal's antics, but he was too busy enjoying his own food to comment. Once he had downed his first plateful, however, the hyena leaned back to enjoy the warm feeling in his stomach. “So I have to ask, Joe; was it really necessary to get this much pizza?”

The jackal just grinned back at him, finishing a fourth slice at a pace Dan could hardly imagine. “What? I figured I'd make sure we have plenty. I'll just finish off whatever you don't eat.” He said that almost casually, despite the fact that there were fifteen whole pizzas there; even if Dan managed to make it through a second one (and that was unlikely, given that they were Extra-Large), that was still thirteen more for the thin-waisted jackal to devour; Dan wouldn't believe it possible until he saw it, no matter how odd the canine could be at times.

“No way, you'll get full after two, at most. There's no way you can eat most of the pizzas here.” The challenge was laid down, and Joeseph just grinned, surprising his roommate as he grabbed not one, but three slices, stacking them on top of one another and chomping down on all three at once. It required him to stretch his jaw a bit to take a bite, but each bite had the stack diminishing until all three were gone in the time of one. The rest of the pizza he was eating followed quickly, and the jackal licked his lips with a grin before going back for seconds. There wasn't even the slightest roundness to his lean middle, despite the fact that he had eaten a whole pizza himself!

The second pizza was a mixed ham-and-bacon pizza that tempted Dan enough to make the hyena grab two slices off of it, but that was all he got before Joeseph went back to devouring his meal; in less than three minutes, half of the remainder was gone, and the rest was starting to follow behind it. Dan could hardly believe his eyes as Joeseph went through one slice after another, devouring enough pizza to make even the hyena's pudgy paunch look taut and round without so much as a slight curve to his own trim belly. Yet the jackal enjoyed himself, finishing off the last slice and then taking the time to lick sauce off of his lips and fingers.

“You're a glutton.” Dan chuckled as he watched Joeseph go back for a third pizza, bacon-and-sausage this time, and start on it without the slightest pause that suggested he might be getting full. “Anyone else eating like that would have to be several times your size. I don't see where you put it all!” The jackal's eyes rose to meet Dan's, and there was a... look in them. Something mischievous, not sinister but certainly worrying as a slow grin spread across his muzzle. Dan wasn't sure what he had said, but he knew his roommate's triggers when he saw them.

Before he could excuse himself to the restroom (and likely make a run for it once he got out of the room), Joeseph had already slid around the table, bringing his pizza with him, and wrapping one arm around the hyena's shoulders to keep him from fleeing. The jackal was fairly strong for his build, preventing Dan from going anywhere, and the hyena realized that he was doomed to whatever insidious plot that Joeseph had planned for him. “Aw, c'mon Dan, I'm just hungry. My appetite isn't that big.” There was a crooning, reassuring tone to the canine's words as he leaned in with a slice of pizza in one paw. “I could probably down four or five pizzas, maybe, but c'mon, that's just normal, right?” That was most certainly not normal, but Dan found himself unable to argue as the slice was stuffed in his mouth mid-response.

“I thought so! Normal, that's all I am. But look at you,” The jackal said, and his paw went from around Dan's shoulder to squeeze at the hyena's soft middle, that potbelly squishing and wobbling as Joeseph playfully grabbed it in one paw. “You're quite a bit wider than me, aren't you? And hyenas are supposed to be able to eat more than the average, too!” Dan wasn't sure where he had gotten that fact, but he couldn't prove or deny it, either. “If I can hold four or five pizzas, most certainly you can hold the rest, right? Come on, let's test out that capacity of yours for real! We'll eat 'til you're really full, and you'll see; my appetite is as normal as normal gets.”

Dan started to protest again, but a second slice of pizza was crammed in his maw, preventing a response once more. It seemed as though Joeseph was already well into his little feeding game, and Dan had no doubt that by the end of this, he would find the remaining pizza inside of his gut whether he liked it or not. Indeed, the jackal seemed to be enjoying it, hardly giving his roommate enough time to swallow the first piece before another was introduced; Dan quickly had to adjust to breathing through his nose, as his mouth was occupied at all times. But at least the food was good; the hyena couldn't help but enjoy the meat-laden pizza passing his lips constantly, his tail wagging even as he was stuffed by an overzealous jackal eager to prove his point.

Within about ten minutes, another pizza was gone, and Dan's belly was starting to show the results. A patch of dusty brown fur peeked out the bottom of his shirt, the hem pushed up slightly by his swollen middle. The once-soft pad of pudge across his front was replaced by a much firmer one, full to the brim with pizza and starting to become more taut. As another pizza was pulled up, a triple-pepperoni one this time, Dan groaned and tried to lean back, using his free paws to rub at that swollen sphere sticking out from his middle and trying to indicate that he was full. Joeseph caught on to this quickly, however, and put down the place with a grin even as he gave a few quick rubs across that full middle.

“Oh, dear, are we feeling full already? But you've hardly started in on your true capacity! You just need a moment to let some of that digest, let your gut stretch a bit. Okay, moment's up, how are you feeling?” Dan started to reply that digestion wasn't quite that easy, but then he realized something; he didn't feel full anymore. In fact, he was still feeling quite a bit hungry. Confused, the hyena looked down, but he didn't see anything different; his stomach still stuck out, and his shirt was a bit tight around his chest and sides, but he figured having a belly full of food would probably do that. Something nagged at him, telling Dan that there was something odd about this situation, but the hyena couldn't quite place it.

“C'mon now, chubs!” Joeseph teased, grinning as he gave that paunch another hearty rub, causing it to wobble a bit. The jackal was really getting into his feeding, if the teasing was any indication; Dan wasn't uncomfortable with the extra weight he had on him normally, yet he found himself blushing as his middle was sent to jiggling from the motion. “We've only just begun; we've got a bunch more pizzas to go!” And once more protest was blocked by another slice of delicious pizza; at that point, Dan gave up trying to argue, deciding that it would be best to go along with whatever Joeseph had planned. It wasn't like he could ever stop the jackal once he got an idea in his head!

The second pizza lasted almost as long as the first, slice after slice pushed past the hyena's maw without restraint. By the end of it, Dan felt a cool breeze against his belly, and realized that his shirt had slid up a few more inches, just above the navel, exposing more of his pudgy belly to the air conditioning in the building. Blushing, the hyena went to tug his shirt back down, but it wouldn't go any further, the fabric actually being forced to stretch just to accommodate its current position. Dan's blush grew worse as he shifted; now that he was getting self-conscious, his clothing felt tight all over, from his chest to his hips and rear; even his arms and legs felt as though they were crammed into their respective cloth prisons. Sure, he was a little chubby, but he had never really felt as though he were a size too big for his clothing like this before!

Yet Joeseph continued, the pizza flow unceasingly, and Dan was surprised to see that, indeed, he wasn't getting any fuller. There was a hint of something like fullness, a slightly tight feeling, but it never grew more intense; the hyena assumed that it was something like his belly stretching to accommodate the meal as time went by. Maybe he was really predisposed to eat more than he thought! The thought was... interesting, not really exciting but at the same time it was certainly intriguing enough to pursue. It was his birthday, after all; maybe he could afford to let himself go a bit. Relaxing, Dan leaned back in his seat and let Joeseph continue his mischief, no curious to see where this was going.

Before long, another pizza was gone, this time the remainder of the meat-lover's pizza that Dan had started on initially, and his shirt was definitely having trouble containing the gut bulging out of it. Already the fabric had slid up to about the halfway point of his gut, and that large belly was twice as big around as it had started. Now it was nice and thick, round and full-looking, yet as Joeseph's paws kept wobbling and shaking and kneading it between slices, it jiggled like a mass of jello instead of like the firm sphere it appeared to be. To a closer observation, it was actually starting to sag as opposed to remaining taut and round. It was as though fat were being packed onto that hyena's middle in place of pizza!

And, at a closer look, it wasn't just Dan's gut that was packing on the pounds. Thick rolls of flab were starting to form around his sides, framing his belly as his paunch grew outwards, while his shirt grew tighter around his softening chest, thick moobs starting to take the place of a moderately flabby chest. The sleeves of his shirt tightened around widening arms, and even his face was looking a little pudgier than before. At first, Dan didn't notice any of this as he continued to have his face stuffed with pizza, the delicious flavors distracting him from the “stretching” of his belly. He was only alerted to the fact when, out of nowhere, a paw reached down to squeeze at his rear, causing him to yelp in surprise.

Naturally that was Joeseph's wandering paws as always, but the jackal's comment drew Dan's attention. “My, my, getting wide in the rear, Dan. No wonder hyenas are so good at putting it all away; they just store it all as fat!” The hyena, confused, looked down... and his jaw dropped at the change in his frame. He was... huge! Well, okay, not completely enormous, but as the hyena poked at his enlarged belly, he estimated that he was a good fifty pounds heavier. His gut was bulging free of his shirt, the fabric barely making it to the peak of his curving middle as it strained around his body. Worse yet, it wasn't just his belly that had grown; Joeseph's squeeze had indicated that he had quite a lot more junk in the trunk, and a turn to see how wide he was caused Dan's blush to worsen, his thick rear overflowing both sides of his seat by a good amount. His pants were straining, denim stretched between those round globes, and they couldn't quite make it all the way up, showing off those curves slightly.

Even as Dan observed his overblown rump, Joeseph gave it another squeeze, the thick fat squishing around his fingers. The hyena's blush deepened as he felt those paws grope along that swollen rear before giving it one more smack. “Heh, got quite a rump on you now, Dan! Bet you can't squeeze that thing through our front door so easily now, though I'd be happy to give you a push or three through!” One more squeeze came, then those paws moved up to his belly, one on either side as they hefted that doughy ball of fat between them. “And this belly... I think your clothes fit much better now, Dan! You should keep this as an ongoing look!” A bit of shaking had the hyena's whole front wobbling like jello, leaving Dan's face as red as a tomato.

“But we still haven't hit your maximum capacity yet, have we?” A push into the hyena's gut revealed only minor resistance, and that was only from the layer of fat across it. “See? You hardly feel full at all! I guess we'll have to really get into feeding you if we really want to fill you up!” And before Dan could reply, another pizza was slid over, loaded with pepperoni, bacon, and ham, and the feeding resumed. At this point, each slice felt like it was going directly to his waistline; he'd finish one, and his clothing would feel tighter, his belly feeling as though it were bulging over his waistband further. By the end of the pizza there was no doubt that the hyena was growing heavier. His shirt now refused to make it to his belly's peak, leaving that dusty brown gut on display. The shirt was also starting to slide up his back, more of the spotted pattern visible across his widening frame.

Worse yet, a good deal of growth was going to his lower half, giving him something of a pear shape as he continued to grow fatter. The hyena felt his rump growing even more embarrassingly large, and Joeseph even pulled up a second chair lest he fall off of the first. That helped to some extent, but the hyena's blush only deepened as a low, long groan emitted from both seats, the legs unappreciative of the hyena's growing bulk atop them. Much of that pizza had gone to his thighs as well, the thick limbs squishing against one another no matter how he adjusted his posture. A seam had already blown along one side of his pants, and another was aiming to follow shortly, a hint of the hyena's stretched blue boxers visible through the opening.

“Man, you can really put it away, can't you?” Joeseph grinned as he gave the hyena's gut a few more pats, causing Dan's whole frame to jiggle and shake. “Look at you, you're getting so big! I might be able to use you as a bed again!” The hyena blushed and tried to push him away, protesting that enough was enough, but Joeseph somehow wrapped an arm around his wide waist and tugged him in, leaning against his roommate's soft body. “Oh, relax, you. We're not done yet! We have plenty of pizza to go, and then dessert! It's your birthday, and you know how these things go; wild parties that last long into the night, staggering home in nothing but your underwear, collapsing on your bed as it collapses beneath your bulk!” Dan wasn't sure he quite agreed with two out of three of those sentiments, but the hyena didn't have much say in the matter as another slice of pizza was stuffed into his maw. “And I intend to see that all come to fruition, so eat up, chunky! That shirt's only just starting to get tight!”

Dan had no opportunity to speak, as always; the moment Joeseph stopped talking, the pizza effectively silenced him. The hyena found yet more crammed into his maw, and, unable to stop Joeseph's barrage of force-feeding, he had no choice but to acquiesce. And as the pizza slid past his maw, Dan's weight only continued to climb. The hyena's belly continued to swell outwards, spreading across his lap and filling it nicely, the soft layers of fur-covered flab wobbling with every breath he took now. His shirt was growing tighter across his chest as his thick moobs bunched up beneath the fabric, and Dan was forced to actually reach up and tear the fabric around his neck as the collar of fat beneath the budding second chin was starting to get constricted by the tightening cloth.

His pants were faring no better; in truth, they were probably worse off, as the hyena was becoming decidedly bottom-heavy. His belly spilled out across his lap, but he could feel the fabric of his waistband stressed by his bulk; Dan's thick hips were stretching it to the limits, and the button of his jeans were long gone. The zipper fared no better, his gut's weight pushing it down, and by now both legs were missing multiple seams. It got worse as the last slice of the current pizza was downed, a loud rip echoing through the room as the seam across the seat of Dan's pants tore across, having no chance against that burgeoning backside.

“Getting a bit big for your britches, eh? C'mon Dan, don't stop now!” Joeseph started giggling almost madly as he shoved another slice into the hyena's maw, and another; Dan was starting to lose track of how many had passed his lips. Yet he continued to pack on the pounds thanks to his companion's devious ways, and within moments his shirt was gone, no longer able to stretch across both his wide back and around his fattened arms. The fabric tore right down the middle, from the collar and down the back, leaving tattered fragments hanging from his lard-laden arms. He doubted his pants would be far behind it either, given the increasingly loud rips coming from his clothing!

“Mmff... Joe, c'mon...” Dan managed to squeak out as the jackal went back for another slice of pizza.

Joeseph paused, ears perking up as he started to reply. “C'mon? You want more? Don't worry, I'll be right there-”

“No, no! Enough, please... I think that's enough pizza... urf.” Dan's request was a little strained, partially due to the constriction from his remaining clothing. But the hyena's intent was obvious as he sat back, easily an extra hundred and some pounds heavier, his pants barely staying intact and his upper torso bare. The dark chocolate spots across his back and limbs seemed stretched to more ovular shapes, as he had grown wider far faster than his body had grown longer from the mass straining his pelt. Panting heavily, Dan looked like he was ready to burst at any time, though Joeseph would never allow such a thing; a premature end to his fun would be the worst. “Seriously, stop...”

“Alright, alright...” Joeseph huffed, looking for all the world like a pouting child as he put down the slice of pizza in his paw. The jackal's expression was set in a frown, and though he listened, he clearly wasn't pleased. With another huff he gave Dan's belly a firm smack, making it jiggle and wobble, before turning around, back to the hyena, and leaning against that broad belly like a big beanbag. Dan wasn't able to do much about that, shaking his head at Joeseph's sullen attitude, and focused his thoughts on trying to figure out how to get home. After all, he had to somehow get off his wide rump (no easy task, given that he was having a hard time pushing his chair out from under the table thanks to his weight, leaving him stuck), head out the door, and make it home with nothing but shredded clothing left to him. Then there was squeezing through the door, adjusting his wardrobe until he slimmed back down...

“Hey Dan?” Joeseph spoke up suddenly, and though his tone was sulking, there was an unusual tone to it. Dan leaned over as best as he could, trying to adjust himself and his new bulk. “I uh... I wanted to apologize. I may have gone a little too far.” Dan's eyebrows shot up, and somewhere in the back of his head, the “Joeseph's planning mischief” alarm was going off; the jackal never apologized for his actions! Either he had something in mind or... well, Dan wasn't sure what an “or” would be, but he doubted that Joeseph could ever regret any of his actions; he enjoyed them too much.

“Well uh...” Dan started, unsure of how to respond; acting suspicious might just trigger Joeseph to act up again, but playing along would be no better. Before he could get any further though, he was interrupted by the jackal again.

“So let's get you home and we'll figure things out from there. But first, let me get you a drink; I'm sure you could use it to wash down all that grease and cheese.” Joeseph's tone sounded sincere, but Dan was still suspicious. Still, he couldn't deny that a drink sounded good right about now, especially after he had spent the last half hour having pizza stuffed down his throat. So for now he went against his gut instinct and nodded to Joeseph, indicating that it was fine. The jackal quickly scooped up a cup and a bottle of soda that had been lying on one of the tables, pouring a full glass of it. What Dan didn't notice, however, was the clenched paw waved briefly over his cup, a slight fizzing that could be mistaken for carbonation, and a devious look on Joeseph's face.

“Here, let me help you with that...” Joeseph said as he climbed up the hyena's front, his feet easily finding footholds in the rolls of soft flab. It didn't take him but a moment to scale his way up the mountainous belly, settling across Dan's hefty chest. “Open up and say 'whale'!” Dan gave his roommate a glare that would have knocked him unconscious could looks kill, but opened up his mouth as indicated, letting the jackal pour the drink into his maw. It was unusually bubbly, and Dan felt a tickling sensation down his throat as he swallowed it. Well the bottle had just been opened; it was probably just the carbonation tickling at him.

At least, that was what he thought until he saw Joeseph's grin; the jackal was looking particularly malicious this time, tossing the cup over his shoulder and watching his roommate almost hungrily. “Now, then... why don't you lighten up a bit, Danny-boy?” Joeseph gave his roommate's nose a playful tweak, snickering, while the hyena rolled his eyes at the nickname. “I know you've got a lot of... 'weighty matters' on your mind,” He said, getting a large pawful of that hyena gut and wobbling. “But try not to get too down-to-earth about it; let me lift your spirits, and you, a bit!”

Dan's eyes widened at that last comment as the thoughts clicked together in his head, but it was far too late for him to do anything about it. The fizzing feeling in his belly grew more pronounced, and the hyena reached down to rub at his swollen gut as best as he could. As his thick fingers pressed into the doughy rolls of his middle, however, the hyena felt a pressure pushing back against them. In a moment his stomach started to swell outwards again, though this time not with fat; instead, Dan's middle was starting to sag less and taking on more of a rounded look, his muffin-top straining the waistband of his pants all the more as his belly expanded again.

But this time it wasn't just his belly; his entire torso was starting to widen, his sides bulging outwards and his chest growing broader. His body above the waist was starting to round out, and though the fat layers across his chest kept it distinct from his swelling belly, they were mere mounds atop a swelling globe. Dan's shoulders broadened, his neck thickened, yet the latter grew no longer as his torso continued to expand outwards, and before long, the hyena's neck was pressing firmly against his chins, even as the expansion started to continue to his face. The fizzing sensation was stronger, and Dan couldn't help but giggle loudly as it tickled at the inside of his nose and mouth, his cheeks swelling out rounder and even his ears starting to swell broader atop his head.

The fizzy expansion continued downwards as well, and Dan's face grew redder as he felt his already-strained pants start to give way, a loud rip accompanying the demise of his waistband. Pieces of denim fell to the ground around him, leaving the hyena in nothing but a pair of bright blue boxers that left little to the imagination. His wide rump ballooned outwards, growing more rounded by the moment, his short tail slowly getting swallowed by a sea of spotted mass as the twin spheres bulged around the waistband. His legs were starting to grow more puffy, bulging wider around the joints and making them harder to bend, and even his toes were starting to swell thicker, the dull claws on each one starting to sink into the ballooning digits. A similar experience could be found with his arms, which were starting to get pushed up to his sides by his swelling flanks, his bulk only growing by the moment.

“Wow, Dan, talk about letting it all hang out!” Joeseph teased as he walked around the ballooning hyena, still inflating from whatever the jackal had put in his drink. “Quite a bubble-butt you've got there, too!” He grinned, the canine getting a firm squeeze on one of those thick rumpcheeks and causing a muffled mix between a giggle and a yelp to emerge from Dan's mouth.”Careful now, you're gonna pop your shorts if you don't ease up on the blow-up!” The jackal snickered again before moving around to the hyena's front, which was in the process of pushing a pair of tables halfway across the room, the unfortunate objects already flipped from the broad girth pushing them back. It was a wonder that Dan was still bound to the ground, his massive rear outgrowing his chairs and starting to shove them and a few others back towards the far wall.

Though it seemed that such peace would not last for long; even as his limbs started to sink into his swollen torso, the thick masses of his arms and legs bulging out as best as they could, the hyena found himself feeling a little light-headed... and light everywhere else, too! Another fit of giggles punctuated by a shrill yip of surprise announced his lift-off, and Joeseph grinned as he grabbed his friend by one puffy foot, trying to keep him from floating too high. Of course, given how big Dan was getting by now, there wasn't terribly much clearance from the roof, maybe another five feet at most. And his swelling form, growing rounder by the moment, was taking up more of that space with each second that passed!

“Man, you didn't have to... 'blow up' at me, Dan! It was just a little prank with the pizza!” Joeseph cracked, giving the hyena's gut another powerful thwack, a loud thrum sounding from the impact. “At least we know you're not full of yourself; you're just full of hot air, hahaha!” Dan tried to groan, but talking was becoming difficult at this point; his cheeks were so swollen that he couldn't open his mouth, and to add to that, his head and neck were sinking into his ballooned torso, making it difficult to turn his head at all. “But hey, look on the bright side; you're in great shape! A great, round shape that is, hahaha!”

Suddenly a ringing sound interrupted the jackal's teasing, and surprisingly, Dan's growth started to slow down at that time. The hyena let out a muffled sigh of relief as his head stopped sinking into his neck, though his arms were so bloated he could barely wiggle his fingers and toes, leaving him entirely immobile. His swollen form could put a truck to shame, taking up almost two-thirds of the room with his ballooned size. A little clever turning from Joeseph had left Dan facing down towards the rest of the room, while his ballooned rump was bumping against the ceiling, much to his embarrassment. To make things worse, his lack of control allowed the slightest air current to turn him, meaning that he was occasionally facing the corner, his thick rear on display briefly before he came back around.

“Oh, you're here? Great, we're in room five... yeah, see you in a few minutes. We may have to order a few more pizzas though, a certain bottomless hyena went through most of them.” Joeseph shut his phone, which had been ringing only a few moments before, and gave a grin to his inflated companion. “Well, Dan, what's a party without the rest of the guests? Your pals are here, and they're looking forward to the pizza party! And don't worry about the bottomless comment, I was just kidding; we know you have quite a large rear!” With that, the jackal's expression lit up, another idea coming to mind before he dug around in a bag, producing a marker. “And speaking of...”

A tug on Dan's foot had the hyena closer to the ground, and Joeseph climbed atop the hyena to pin him down. Dan squirmed, trying to see what was going on, but there was little he could do in his immobilized state. He let out a loud yeek of surprise, however, as he felt something pressing against his rear; his roommate had started writing across his overstrained boxers! The hyena wouldn't be able to see it, given his size, but Joeseph carefully wrote the words “Wide Load,” one word on each cheek, in block letters to make it particularly visible. Almost as bad, the jackal spun him around and repeated the process across Dan's belly with the same marker, albeit with the words “Birthday Balloon.” When he was done, he shut the cap on the marker and stood back with a wide grin.

“There we go! You're all decorated, the guests are just about here, and it's time to party!” Joeseph grabbed a slice of pizza from one of the pies still remaining, taking a bite out of it as he headed for the door. He opened it just in time for a heavyset wolf to slip past, followed by a striped hyena with a smaller lupine on his arm. More guests streamed in behind, but all paused when they took in the room, particularly Dan. More than a handful of pictures were immediately taken, and a few of the hyena's friends were particularly pleased by his expanded state; one or two of them were even bold enough to whistle loudly when he spun around, his massive rump on display with the words written across it. Dan's face grew redder as he bobbed there, embarrassed by his inflated form in the middle of his own birthday party.

“Hey, y'all, don't worry about the room, crowd on in! Come say hi to the birthday balloon, wish him a good one... and get ready for the Big Birthday Blowup. A party's not the same without a proper balloon, right? Don't worry, stage two is just about to start...” Dan blinked before letting out another stifled giggle as he felt that fizzing sensation grew out of nowhere, his form starting to expand again. He tried to struggle even as his limbs sank further into his ballooned form, his fingers and toes even swelling too big to move, but all he could do was listen to the ominous sound of creaking fabric even as Joeseph raised a glass in a toast, drawing a grin from most of those present.

“Happy birthday to Dan; another year older, another fifty feet wider! Drink up, folks!”