Lunchtime arrived, and Timmy was...well, there was no other word for it - ravenous. Even the usually sour, claggy smell of the overboiled vegetables and grease from the cafeteria set his mouth watering and stomach rumbling as he strode down the corridor, one arm around Mindy's slender waist. So preoccupied was he with the thought of feeding himself that he hadn't even made the connection between his near-painfully intense hunger and the Dragonfire powder he had consumed the previous night.
As they stood in line, his stomach gave an audible growl, so sharp that it sent a twinge through his abdomen, and Mindy giggled.
"Someone's hungry! Had practice this morning, did you?"
"Yeah," he grunted without even glancing at her as he loaded his plate. A mound of mashed potatoes near the size of his head, five sausages, a heaped bowl of stir-fry noodles from the international table and two bread rolls stuffed into his pockets; tucking the bowl into the crook of his arm, he grabbed his water flask in his free hand and hurried for a table, Mindy trailing behind with her own more modest lunch.
The instant he sat down, he was diving into the potatoes, scooping up huge forkfuls and shovelling it into his mouth with barely time to breathe. He picked up two sausages in his other hand and shoved them into his mouth, chewing hard and swallowing them both in moments, washed down with a good half of his water flask before setting into the noodles.
"Timmy!" Mindy sounded shocked. Timmy glanced up, cheeks bulging, a stray noodle trailing from his lips, and mumbled something unintelligible. "Ugh..." she muttered with a roll of her eyes, and returned to her own meal.
The bread rolls were dry, but Timmy helped them down with the rest of his water, and then leaned back in his seat, looking with some disappointment at his empty dishes. There was a tight pressure in his upper abdomen, restricting his breathing, but he hardly noticed, eyes drifting across to Mindy's spare bread roll and unfinished bowl of chips.
"Yeah, you can finish this," Mindy sighed, pushing them towards him. "I've lost my appetite. I take it you want dessert?"
"Mmhm!" Timmy's mouth was already filled with chips, and he nodded enthusiastically. With a sigh, Mindy pushed back her chair and headed for the cafeteria counter, returning just as Timmy finished cramming the bread roll into his mouth. She set down a large bowl of ice-cream and fudge brownie before him, along with another glass of water.
"I'm off to do my makeup," she informed him, although she couldn't be sure he was listening.
By the time Timmy finished, the fullness was beginning to set in, and he felt warm and lethargic. He leaned back again, his hand moving to his abdomen, where there was a taut bulge below his ribcage. All of a sudden, he felt tight and heavy; beneath his hand, he could almost have sworn the bulge was growing, as the bread rolls absorbed the water and expanded. Shooting pains were running through him, and he rubbed his stomach with the flat of his hand to ease it. Slowly, despite the noise of the busy cafeteria, his eyes slid shut and he slipped into a food coma.
"Timmy!" Mindy's voice brought him slowly back to reality, and he stretched his legs out and opened his eyes. He had slipped down in the seat and was now slouching with one hand resting on his stomach - his stomach which, given time for his meal to settle and fill out the rest of his gut, now swelled forward over the waist of his sweat-pants. An inch or so of bare skin, tight as a drum, was visible beneath his shirt, and his fingertips slid down to scratch it lazily, his brain still kicking into gear as he looked up at his girlfriend.