Nohtehya was one incensed gryphon. The merchant lord had built up a rather comfortable life in his expansive residence, built upon his successes and amassed wealth. Many servants he’d acquired in one way or another lived to serve him, and also lived on the premises in their own quarters. Life was good! Nohtehya had good food, loyal servants, and a cozy life. But another thorn in his side had cropped up again when he received news that another one of his servants – the lifeblood of the mansion in which he resided – had gone missing. It was no secret among them that Nohtehya liked to entertain himself with the servants, and sometimes they were never seen again.

But when Nohtehya himself lost what amounted to his property… That was unacceptable.

“Blargh! That’s the third one that’s gotten away this week! How are they escaping?” The gryphon prided himself on the lack of escapability of his home, how nothing arrived or left without him knowing it. A dark blue feather withered to the ground from the angrily-flicked tufted tail of the gryphon, Nohtehya staring out a window down at the servant’s quarters. “I’m putting a stop to this. Today.” Nohtehya put the word out: Everyone was to be interviewed that day, so that their lord could discern where the disappearing servants had gotten to.

The interviews proved mostly fruitless. One after another arrived, had nothing useful to share, and were ordered back to their normal duties. Nohtehya knew every being he lorded over by name and was pretty good at telling who was trying to hide something. While some did indeed appear nervous, or skirting around some his questions, he wrote it off as some minor offenses that he couldn’t care less about at that time. He employed servants of all varieties from all kinds of worlds he’d visited: Vixens, avali, reptiles, rodents. If they could work, or if they looked like they’d be entertaining to him, Nohtehya brought them on board, whether they liked it or not.

One stand-out interview was one with a fat purple reptile that Nohtehya knew was called a yoshi. Melonball – having looked completely content and without fear during the interview – answered questions without hesitation. Nohtehya noted not what she relayed, but how she looked. It was no secret that the servants were forced to survive on limited rations, yet the yoshi herself seemed to not only be as plump as she was when first conscripted, but actually seemed to have gained weight. The gryphon didn’t press that matter during the interview, letting Melonball go once everything was wrapped up. He watched the smug yoshi depart, eyes narrowed, a suspicion growing in his mind.

The rest of the interviews that day were nothing but routine now. Nohtehya got responses down but, as he now suspected, he got nothing out of them. Knowing what he knew now, the gryphon made plans for later that night. After a tiny meal, Nohtehya waited for darkness, and left for the servant’s quarters. Being the owner, he knew his way about the much smaller building and, more importantly, how to get in and out without being noticed. “So, nobody’s getting in or out, yet servants are starting to drop like flies,” he mumbled to himself as he perched onto a nondescript rafter in the high-ceiling hall. “Let’s find out where they’re actually ending up...”

Nohtehya wasn’t exactly known for his patience, but the gryphon sat unmoving for the better part of two hours. The occasional servant would come and go, unaware that their lord was observing everything from above. He’d created a plethora of busywork for his staff to do over the course of the evening, to keep at least some of them active instead of having them all squirreled away in their own rooms. He kept his red eyes alert and watchful, noticing every sparse movement as his servants went about their duties.

A quarter past the second hour, Nohtehya’s surveillance paid off. A lone fox servant crept along with a fully-laden tray of something-or-other the gryphon had instructed them to usher to the main building. She appeared rather nervous, with her ears flicking every which way and lengthy tail twitching erratically. Nohtehya’s suspicions grew more confident, knowing that simple escapees wouldn’t put those still sticking around on edge. Something, or someone, was making servants disappear from within the premises.

An ominous wet sound echoed out from a dark passage that branched off from the main hallway. The fox froze in place and gasped, instantly turning to face the alien noise. Then, without warning, a long pink tongue whipped out from the darkness and coiled around the fox’s bare midriff. In the next instant the tongue yanked and the fox was pulled off her feet, all limbs behind her from the force of the pull. Whatever yell she got out was overshadowed by the loud clatter of the tray smashing to the floor. Nohtehya hunched down and stuck his neck out, squinting into the darkened hall and attuning his senses. When the clanging tray sounds died away, they were replaced with just barely audible muffled squeals. Those, in turn, were joined with very audible slurps and chews, gulps and swallows. Nohtehya’s eyes adjusted as the minutes ticked away, and the protesting vixen’s whines were silenced. Gulps and pleased murmurs remained, however, along with heavy steps. Nohtehya was not surprised in the slightest to see a familiar fat purple yoshi waddling out into the light. Melonball’s cheeks were engorged, with various bulges sagging down her neck. A weakly-flicking fox tail protruded from her lips, but vanished as it was greedily slurped up. A loud set of swallows and squelching gulps devoured the rest of the fox servant, with Melonball sighing in satisfaction and licking her lips noisily. The yoshi clearly thought she was alone, admiring her distended, squirming stomach bulging out before her.

Nohtehya seethed, digging his claws into the wood of the rafters and fighting back every instinct to pounce at that moment and teach the waddling-away yoshi a lesson. He watched with narrow eyes as the smug yoshi’s tail swayed back and forth, seeing another one of his property digesting away in the burbling sagging gut. Wood started to creak as his claws dug deeper into the wood, the gryphon flaring his wings silently. But Nohtehya managed to control himself and let Melonball go. The well-fed dinosaur entered her quarters (wide belly getting stuck on the frame a moment) and retired for the evening.

“So,” Nohtehya cursed, “you think you can get away with devouring my servants, eh Melonball? Think you’re so clever, gobbling them down in the middle of the night, thinking your lord wouldn’t pick up on your deeds.” Nohtehya grinned, and swooped down from the rafters, making his way out of the servant’s quarters and flying quietly through the night. “We’ll just see how clever you think you are tomorrow, when you join me for breakfast, my chubby servant.” Nohtehya chuckled to himself, and even let himself lick his red beak once. He made it back into his mansion, and made ready for bed, after putting forth a notice that Melonball the yoshi was to appear in his own private quarters to deliver his breakfast personally, in the morning. He settled down to sleep, imagining the things he was going to do to the thief, smiling.

The next morning arrived and Nohtehya sat patiently to receive the fat yoshi. The gryphon’s resting smug face was as confident as Melonball’s had been the day before. There was no indication that she was aware that her lord knew what she did, or that there was anything out of the ordinary at all: It wasn’t unusual for Nohtehya to request specific servants to do specific tasks, even ones that resulted in them meeting with the merchant lord in private. Melonball herself didn’t even feel nervous as she hauled the tray containing Nohtehya’s prepared breakfast up to the bedroom, knocking appropriately and entering only when she heard the gryphon give permission for her to enter.

Nohtehya’s studying eyes were on the yoshi immediately as she squeezed in through the doorway. He saw the same relaxed expression that she always seemed to carry, even though to him he assumed she would be at least a little suspicious. Oh well, he mused while Melonball set out the small requested meal on the nearby table, tail idly swishing. Servants aren’t exactly known for their intelligence. When the table was set, Nohtehya stood and approached Melonball. The yoshi stood still, knowing she could only leave when her lord allowed it. The gryphon noted the yoshi’s belly was wider than yesterday, though it was completely still and silent. The extra amounts of pudge packed onto her paunch sagged below her knees and out past either side of her head easy. On slowly walking around Melonball, he could even see pockets of fat folding in on themselves under her tail, protruding down near her ankles. The gryphon knew that his breakfast that morning would definitely be an enjoyable one.

Melonball only moved when she heard the door to the bedroom close behind her, the lock clicking into place with a flick of a griffon claw. She looked back to Nohtehya, who maintained the smug smile on his red beak. “So, Melonball,” he opened with, flexing his wings as he meandered back to the yoshi servant. “You’re looking well.” The gryphon stood tall beside the yoshi, running a digit of his paw down from her neck down to her protruding side. The yoshi fidgeted a little, but smiled back confidently.

“Quite. Our lord treats his servants well,” she replied coolly.

“Some more-so than others it would seem,” the gryphon continued, slowly pacing around the yoshi a second time. Melonball did her best not to cringe each time she was poked and prodded, her plump form malleable enough for Nohtehya to sink a paw fairly deep into. He poked at her cheek, her chest, tail, and especially her sagging belly. “It seems your kind thrives on the smallest amounts of food. Why, I feel if I were to serve you the breakfast you just served me, you’d be good for a week.”

“Yoshies are… good at retaining, Lord Nohtehya.” Melonball brought her idle paws together in what seemed and idle show of respect, but the yoshi had started to wring them together. What was Nohtehya up to? “Your breakfast is served, my lord. May I go?”

“It is indeed served, Melonball,” he agreed, ignoring her question (which was as good as any declination). “I’ll have to send my compliments to the chefs as well.” The gryphon paused behind Melonball to lick at his beak, betraying the slightest hints of sound as he did so as he ogled down at the fattened yoshi. Not yet, he promised himself, but soon. He continued to prod and poke as he rounded on Melonball again, standing before her and staring down at her. “Wouldn’t you say?”

The question threw Melonball, as the gryphon was perched between her and the table where his breakfast was getting cold. Any attempts the yoshi made to peek around him were met with the large tufted tail flicking in the way. She settled for miming smelling the breakfast in the air, snout out, nostrils flaring. “I would agree, my lord. Nothing but the best for you.” The gryphon, fur and wings more black than grey, lowered his head to loom over the yoshi. Even seated, he was taller than the plump one. “Sir?” she said confidently, doing her best to hide a growing nagging sensation in her mind.

Nohtehya smirked and idly pecked the top of Melonball’s head. Nothing painful, but causing several clck click clcks to sound out. “Think this big brain of yours is clever, don’t you?” The gryphon’s was soft, quiet, and, to Melonball’s realization, filled with a building malice. The contrasting smile made her shiver some, sending her still sagging stomach jiggling. Nohtehya’s head snapped down to look at the quaking white underbelly, smile growing wider. He then lashed forward with both paws and slapped the fat belly on either side, Melonball letting out an involuntary squeak. He pressed inward, making the stomach push out further. Melonball squirmed a bit but tried to hold still.

“You can’t fool me, you idiotic reptile. I know servants have been disappearing over the past several days. And I know they haven’t been leaving either!” Nohtehya’s smirk grew wider still as he forcefully sloshed Melonball’s gut back and forth, the yoshi nearly losing her balance from the momentum. She thrashed her tail up and back and forth to barely maintain balance, the loud sloshing gut jostling all about.

“L-Lord Nohtehya–” 

“Silence.” Nohtehya never rose his voice, but Melonball shut up all the same. “I know exactly where they all ended up. First here.” He reached up and pressed inward on Melonball’s fat cheeks, forcing the yoshi’s maw open. Melonball’s eyes watered. Her jaws snapped closed when Nohtehya’s claws were removed, but they were quick to smack the top of her belly hard, leaving a pink mark behind. “And ended up here. Nothing but fat on your sorry excuse for a body.”

Melonball cringed. The game was up. He knew, without a doubt, what she’d been snacking on. “Forgive me, my lord. They weren’t worthy to serve you.” The yoshi looked up just in time to see a raised paw, claws brandished, threatening to slam down across her body. She flinched and clenched her eyes shut, but felt nothing come of it. Instead, the claws were gently massaging over her fat body, sinking harmlessly into the fat. When she opened her eyes, Nohtehya’s smug beak was pressed to her bulbous snout, their eyes meeting.

“Of course you would try and say that. Don’t worry, though, Melonball. Useless as they are now, at least they managed to serve me up a delicious breakfast one last time.” The yoshi pulled her face back as a slobbery blue tongue poked from that red beak and noisily licked across it, the beak smacking open a few times as more drool dribbled down to the ground. The quivering yoshi connected the dots, and tried to make a break for it! But Nohtehya had, of course, anticipated her escape, and was ready, snagging onto her fat tail with a secure grip. Melonball yelped as she belly-flopped hard to the ground, legs sticking out behind her, tail in the grasp of the gryphon. “Now now, Melonball, you wouldn’t deprive your lord of his breakfast, would you?”

“P-please, Lord Nohtehya...” Melonball whimpered out, feeling those claws work up her tail, massaging up near the base, hearing the griffon purr in delight as his eyes feasted on her. She let out fitful whimpers when the gryphon casually removed one of her boots, then the other, then dislodged the saddle and tossed it aside. Melonball was completely nude from the snout to tail now, the fat yoshi on full display in the middle of her lord’s bedroom. Nohtehya casually strolled around the prone yoshi and openly licked his lips once more, the noise sending chills down Melonball’s spine. “Please reconsider.”

“I don’t think so,” Nohtehya spat, beak slick with drool as he leaned down to caress over the shaking yoshi’s snout. “You’re going to serve me well… as my breakfast. And, given how bloated you’ve made that pathetic excuse of a body, quite possibly lunch and dinner as well. You sure will do wonders for your lord. Residing as nothing more than leftover fat on my hips.” Melonball’s eyes bulged in terror as Nohtehya let his tongue hang out, and slowly lick up the bridge of her muzzle and between her eyes. “Mmm… Wouldn’t you agree?”

“No!” Melonball squealed. The gryphon snapped forward with his claws and pressed her arms to her doughy sides. Holding tight, he hefted her forward, dragging her head and chest off the ground, leaving her fat belly pancaked to the floor, protruding out her sides and beyond her tail. Her legs were at odd angles, useless to do much more than bend at the knee, and her tail swished about in weak protest. “Please my lord! Don’t eat me!”

At those last words, the gryphon’s belly loudly grumbled. He licked her again, this time under her chin and dragging it over a fat cheek. “Goodness, please keep struggling. You’re making yourself all the more delectable! But I’m afraid it’s time for breakfast, and I can’t let someone as tender and tasty as you spoil.” The babbling Melonball’s protests were ignored, Nohtehya spreading his beak wide open before the fat yoshi. Melonball’s tear-ridden eyes stared dully into the ominous slick maw of the gryphon lord. Teeth lined the inside of the beak, with thick lines of drool bowing outward and ladling over the panicking fat yoshi. Melonball cringed, feeling every heated breath Nohtehya took, seeing the wide black gullet twitching in the back.

“Don’t eat me! Don’t eat meeeee!!!” Melonball squealed when her torso was dragged right up into the eager gryphon maw. Nohtehya’s eyes fluttered closed as he squelched his beak down around the whining chubby yoshi’s shoulders. He could feel every protesting squirm in his powerful grip, the yoshi’s sprawled form too awkwardly-positioned to accomplish much of anything. The yoshi wailed and looked around in the dark environment in terror, the thick active tongue pressing into one cheek, then the other, completely coating her head in hot slimy gryphon saliva. The powerful gullet noisily contracted open, the terrified yoshi hearing eager rumbles from the stomach beyond. Not wasting much time, the pleased gryphon chomped downward and pushed more of Melonball up. “No please no!” she managed before the squelching confines of the throat silenced her. GLLLLK!

Nohtehya’s feathered neck bulged out distinctly with Melonball’s writhing head. Her chest and upper arms vanished into the beak, with drool leaking down her body. The griffon inched his claws down and squeezed against Melonball’s bloated midsection delightfully, bouncing his beak up and down more as he fed himself and enjoyed the supple flavors of yoshi pudge. Melonball shrieked, muffled, when the next GLP ULK GLRPs forced her down the large gryphon’s gullet, her chest lathered up in saliva before bending down into the throat. Her large stomach began to sag in its usual way as more of it was lifted from the floor, her splayed legs and bare feet kicking uselessly with tail flailing. The gryphon purred deeply, the ensuing rumble making the yoshi cry out in muffled panic again, though the tight blue walls coated in drool were her primary concern, the yoshi all but blind at this point.

Melonball flexed her paws into and out of fists when they were loudly slrp’d up into the beak proper, the tongue coiling around them and pressing them into her own fat sides. Rolls of fat bunched up around the beak as, with a few greedy chomp chmp slrp ulk glnk glucks, the fattest part of the yoshi began getting devoured. Melonball’s snout was already picking up dreadful scents, the belly getting louder with every squeezing swallow. Her bulging stomach pressed against Nohtehya’s who was no longer gripping to the fattened-up yoshi, the gryphon now standing on all fours. The white underbelly squeezed against those legs and protruded past some, almost to the point where Melonball could feel her own stomach against the protruding neck and chest bulges she was causing. Nohtehya chomped down further, Melonball feeling teeth dig into her hide but not damaging it, the gryphon’s taste buds screaming in joy every time he scrunched down hard against the soft, malleable yoshi fat. “Help… help!!!” she squealed to no-one as her snout was forced through the stomach sphincter, a loud glorp from inside foretelling her fate.

Nohtehya purred once more, pressing his tongue up into the stomach, reveling in the squeals and protests of his prey. When half of the yoshi’s belly was lodged in his gullet or mouth, he began to lift his head up. To support the weight, he slipped a claw up under Melonball’s belly, pushing hard up against her doughy rear just under the base of her tail and heaving. Melonball cried out a muffled, horrified yell when she felt gravity gradually shift on her, naked feet kicking through the air as she found herself upside down. GLP… ULP… GLRK… URRRRLLLK! More of the fat yoshi’s bulging stomach slowly slipped into the beak and bulged out the feathered gryphon neck. Nohtehya greedily clamped his beak around the edges of Melonball’s stomach, folds of it pushing out under the still-exposed yoshi butt, tail, legs and bare feet. “Hmmmmph! Hllllp!!!”

Nohtehya casually tossed his head up and back, the wide gryphon beak more than capable of devouring the rest of the yoshi with ease. He widened the beak as much as it could go and closed his eyes once again, showing long, thick lines of drool that oozed all over the squealing yoshi being eaten alive. With every subsequent toss of his head, more of the fat yoshi was swallowed, beak still hanging open, making the sounds even louder. GLORK! GLUP! GLURP! SLRRRR-ULK! The kicking legs and tail ended up squeezed together, with just the tip of the tail managing to poke out past Melonball’s toes. Her rear visibly sank into the gullet, wide stomach pushing out Nohtehya’s neck immensely as the whole bulging mass gradually sank downward. The purple yoshi legs and feet disappeared next, beak clamping down and leaving just a few inches of flailing tail remaining. A soft slrp drew it into the beak, and Nohtehya spent a moment coiling his tongue around it and squeezing hard.

A pathetic crying whimper echoed out from the belly, along with a few gurgles, as Nohtehya ate Melonball alive, swallowing her with whole with a definitive squelching GLURRRK! The thick bulges noisily sank down his body and collected into his distended furry stomach with a resounding SLORSH. “Ahhh… Right where you belong,” Nohtehya uttered, following a lick of his lips with a satisfied belch. “Urrrrrp!”

Melonball was beside herself in terror. Her body was squished together at odd angles, the fat yoshi body being sloshed around with loud, churning acids flooding her from all angles. The pitch-black stomach was filled with the sounds of churns and the rapidly-quieting squeals from Melonball. The yoshi tried pressing out with her paws and feet, but had no angles, left as nothing but a series of sagging, squirming bulges along the sated gryphon’s stomach. She squealed when a harsh gryphon paw squeezed up into the belly, then let go, letting the belly sway this way and that. “Now that breakfast is taken care of, and my servant problem, it’s time to relax.”

Nohtehya casually settled onto his expansive bed, resting on his side and letting his stomach splay out before him. He casually stroked and pressed into it, especially to feel the midnight snacker’s protests grow weaker and weaker over the course of the day. Servants came and went, and as usual, they didn’t comment on the current state of their lord, lest they be made his next plaything or dessert. They had taken away the breakfast that the yoshi had brought up, but the gryphon never touched, without questioning anything. Obviously he found something, or someone, else to eat! Melonball whimpered and continued to plea for help whenever she heard Nohtehya speak to someone, but all anyone else could ever hear were muffled, distorted whimpers, the loud chrrrns and gruuuugs of digestion overpowering. Melonball passed out some time later that afternoon, after enduring hours of torment from Nohtehya’s powerful stomach fluids. She heard his teasing words up until the very end, when her body began to get broken down and digest properly. Nohtehya fell asleep some time that afternoon, mumbling about how he had some servants to replace, but not minding the cost. The continued burbles and churns from his belly sifted his stomach about, the many bulges smoothing out into a single, solitary roundness that shrank as the day turned to evening.

The merchant lord awoke well into the evening, stretching all his limbs and wings and licking over his beak. Remnants of the delicious yoshi remained, but not much else did: His hips had rounded out some, and a decent paunch remained hanging off his belly, but that was it. Nohtehya sighed contently, uttering out a slimy belch and clapping his beak one last time. “Ahhh… In hindsight, Melonball, you did the right thing. Thinned out the herd, and made yourself one of the most filling breakfasts a gryphon could ask for.” Seeing no need leave bed, the day having long-since expired, Nohtehya rolled onto his back and patted over the paunch in his belly. He fell asleep soon after, with his belly still sounding out with the occasional glorp. He’d dealt with his servant problem and the discovered thief together in a single meal. It had had been a good day, with time well spent.