Nicholas (3 Parts)

Note: This is a story-prompt for Alex.

Prompt Directory

1.

Nicholas Copperscale enjoyed his life as a naga—being half human and half snake.

Of course there were the...physical inconveniences, but Nicholas actually quite enjoyed them.

He liked the way his unusual body often attracted attention. On other occasions, he liked the way it frightened and repelled people. He had the best of both worlds, he supposed.

Nicholas's tail was long and thick. It had black scales and copper stripes. His ears were pointed with black tips, looking almost horn-like in the way they protruded on either side of his head. He had brown hair and blue eyes. His arms were the black color of his scales and his hands were the same copper hue as his stripes, with clawed fingers.

The rest of Nicholas's body was human. His lean arms and chest gave way to a massively swollen belly. Thick lumps rose and rolled along the surface, his inside's churning in a slow rhythm.

Nicholas was hugely pregnant. He stood topless behind his register where his condition was on full display to the customers who passed through the quiet prosthetics and trinkets shop Nicholas owned in South London.

“Sorry about your leg,” Nicholas said with his usual grin, eyes half-lidded. He was wry, which nagas tended to be. “When would you like that fitted, sir?”

The middle-aged customer was too preoccupied to be concerned with Nicholas's sincerity or lack thereof. He was clutching a prosthetic right leg, presumably to replace peg he was currently using. “Yes, well gangrene spares nothing,” said the man, his eyes darting about from Nicholas to the caged man Nicholas had behind the register. “I'm sorry chap, but is that quite legal?”

Nicholas threw a glance at Will who seemed content as ever in his large cage. He was a fit young man around Nicholas's age, dressed in nothing but a loin cloth. He seemed puzzled by the attention being directed his way. Will was always in good spirits but sometimes a bit overly eager, at least in the short time Nicholas had known him. It wasn't as though Nicolas was an expert on the guy.

“Oh, that’s Will. He's my dinner,” Nicholas explained.

The customer looked appalled.

“He consented,” Nicholas added.

“Yeah I did,” said Will happily.

“I'm gonna eat you up.”

“Smashing!”

The customer shook his head. “I’m certain this is illegal.”

“Isn't law just a political construct anyway,” said Nicholas vaguely. “One man's laws is another man's suffering.”

The customer gave them both an odd look before he sauntered off with his purchase. He had forgotten to schedule his fitting but Nicholas didn't much care. Nicholas’ gut lurched and he rubbed it absently. He could feel Will's gaze following his every movement.

“I'm feeling peckish, Will.”

Will’s eyes widened in clear excitement.

Nicholas licked his lips as he slithered towards the caged man. He tinkered with the latch a bit but then lost his will.

He had gotten used to Will over the past few days of having him there. The human had grown on him and Nicholas didn't think he could go through with it. At least not today.

“I think I’d fancy some lamb,” said Nicholas.

“Bollocks,” said Will, snapping his fingers.

Nicholas leaned down and opened the trap door beneath the register. He kept some livestock in the room down there for when he got hungry. He drew out a fuzzy lamb. Will’s eyes went soft. It was a sweet little thing.

Nicholas devoured it, his jaw unlocking and stretching wide to fit the whole thing into his mouth. He was gulping the lamb at rapid speed, enjoying the strain and tension that filled him as it lurched and shifted down his digestive system to hit his stomach so heavily the contents twisted around and his belly bulged out with a shudder. “Nghhhhh...yesss...” he moaned, leaning heavily on the register as Will watched on unblinkingly.

“Sir, can you show me some of your inverted snow globes?” asked a customer. She was a young woman who innocently looked from Nicholas to Will to Nicholas's pulsating abdomen as Nicholas struggled to digest his meal.

"Sure...just—nghhhhh...just give me a moment,” said Nicholas, some sweat pouring down his brow.

The woman smiled politely and wandered off.

Nicholas took a few moments longer to acclimate to his increased load, before finally straightening and slithering out from behind the register and going after her.

The rest of the work day was delightfully mundane. Customers entered one by one and seemed to leave in that order as well.

At closing time, Nicholas turned off the lights and slithered to the door. “Good night, Will,” he called.

“Goodnight Nicholas,” said Will merrily from his cage.

Nicholas left the shop and went home.

2.

The following morning, Nicholas let Will out of his cage before store opening.

Will crawled out and straightened while brushing some dust off his loin cloth. Then he blinked up at Nicholas in confusion.

“Go,” said Nicholas. “Be free or whatever.”

Will continued to stand there. After a moment, he frowned and walked off.

Nicholas tried on a new shirt. Though he didn’t usually opt for clothing, he liked to find new ways to draw attention to his baby-bump.

The top was tiny and only covered his pecs. But barely, because it was very low cut. Truth be told he might as well have been topless.

Nicholas arched as his first two customers strolled in, pushing his belly out to make it look even larger. His young were especially active that morning, large bulges rolling against the surface of his swollen abdomen. As usual, the customers froze and stared. They looked from Nicholas’s belly to his face then back to his belly. Nicholas breathed deeply, allowing his mound to throb up and down. He threw a grin and wink that seemed to snap his patrons out of their reveries. Coughing awkwardly, they shuffled into the aisles. Nicholas leaned back on the counter with a satisfied smile. He could do this all day.

Oh right. He did.

The door chimed as another customer walked in. Disappointingly enough, it was a regular: a young man named Edwin. Edwin walked right up to the register and said, “I’m in desperate need of some pickled bifocals. You’ve got to help me out Nicholas.”

“Sure, I’ve got some in the back,” Nicholas assured. He pushed himself off the counter and slid out from behind the register, allowing his belly to get in Edwin’s personal space so that Edwin had to step several paces back. Nicholas slithered languidly to the back of the store and opened the door there. He enjoyed the sensation of his belly brushing against either side of the door frame. He was just getting massive, his belly wider than the rest of him. Nicholas smiled and found the shelf with the pickled items, which was a little out of his reach. He elevated himself with his tail, rising higher until he easily lifted one of the jars, cradling it in both hands and surveying the contents thoughtfully. Last pair, he mused.

Nicholas lowered himself again so he might exit the door, but just before he could proceed, he felt a lurch deep within him. It wasn’t one of the typical bouts of movement. No, this was different. Nicholas’s free hand cradled his belly as pressure rolled and blossomed, heat filling his abdomen, then his skin shivered.

Nicholas groaned as his midsection pushed outwards, growing in all directions. Inching forward bit by bit as he swelled and grew, and groaned in pure pleasure.

The growth spurt was brief. Nicholas panted as it came to an end. He took just a few more moments to catch his breath, before lurching forward, feeling a bit drunk on the adrenaline. He made his way for the door and was…stopped. By his own body. He tried again, but both of his flanks bumped into the doorframe. He had outgrown it and was now too large to exit.

“Well that’s…something,” he murmured.

-

Edwin called the fire brigade. Nicholas knew he should have felt embarrassed, or even ashamed. Yet he couldn’t help enjoying the dozens of eyes pinned to his body is he shifted and stretched, or paced as he waited, watching them as they watched him, when they all probably should have been working at that moment.

“Sir, what is…what exactly is going on here?” said one fireman, as another swung his hammer and not only missed the nail but missed the wall altogether. “Wh—what is all this?” A thick finger pointed at Nicholas’s throbbing abdomen.

“I’m a naga,” said Nicholas pleasantly. “These are my young. And recent meals.” He licked his lips, his eyes glittering. “Not recent enough.”

“Er…” said the fireman.

“But I’m so full,” Nicholas went on, rubbing his hands along his stomach. “Stretched so tight. I don’t know how much more I can grow. I can’t even fit through the door.” He cupped one of the lumps; his child.

The fireman gulped.

-

They got him out by evening. It wasn’t a productive day.

Just before Nicholas could start to close shop, the door chimed again, and in walked Will, of all people.

“Blimey, what are you doing back?” said Nicholas. “I set you free.”

It was odd to see Will fully clothed in a shirt and trousers. “Free is boring,” Will whined. “I’d rather be here with you.”

Nicholas was stunned. “Really?”

“Assuredly.”

“Well, alright then.”

A broad smile spread over Will’s face.

3.

Nicholas was growing and growing.

He had modified the service counter so that it was held up on four ropes. It could now be wheeled higher, lower, or disappear into the floor entirely. The set-up worked, as Nicholas spent a lot of time lying down lately. He would sprawl across the bed set up on the short platform in the front of the shop. It had a mattress and cradle, but no legs. Nicholas doubted any legs could have supported him anyway.

His belly was massive. He thought it looked as though it had several men packed tightly within it. And perhaps it had once, but right now it was packed with his babies.

The site of it delighted him. It looked like a boulder, sweaty and heaving, frequent bulges pushing out at the surface, rolling across his flesh and making him groan.

“You all right, Nicholas?” Will asked where he was perched on some boxes of new stock, watching on pleasantly.

Nicholas exhaled deeply. “Better than all right,” he assured with a strained grin, his neck arching as another grunt came up his throat.

A small man shuffled over and blinked down at Nicholas. He stared for a moment. “Excuse me, sir? Is there any way I could get this repaired?” He held up a tattered old boot with some taxidermy dove wings attached to the flanks.

Nicholas rose. The fluidity of the motion seemed to startle the customer, who stumbled back and fell on his arse, gazing up at Nicholas in shock.

Nicholas just smiled. He supposed he looked even more massive when he was upright. His belly protruded out several feet in front of him, easily outspanning his arms. Lately, Nicholas had to make creative use of his tail, twisting his body at odd angles to get things done. And he enjoyed every moment of it.

“What seems to be the problem?” Nicholas asked, breathing heavily, a little stunned with how immensely heavy he was. He felt compelled to lie back down, but couldn’t. Not when this customer was drinking in every inch of his massive swell.

Will watched on, munching on some peanuts he had found in a drawer. He looked entirely happy, like a kid in a candy shop. Like he was watching his favorite show, on repeat, perpetually.

The customer unsteadily climbed up to his feet, where he twiddled his thumbs. “Well,” he said. “I think I saw the wings fluttering. That won’t do any good.”

“Understood,” said Nicholas breathily. He lifted the boot, perusing it. “Do you mind if I take this in the back for a moment?”

“Please do.”

Nicholas slid out from behind the register, and started towards the back of the store. Admittedly, it was a slow process. With his increased mass he was getting slower every day, his children weighing more heavily on his body. It became difficult to even move at times. Idly, he slid his hands to his posterior, knowing that he was giving Will and the customer an eyeful of his arse. Like his abdomen, his backside was growing rapidly. Despite being a humanistic feature, it was part of the tail and part of the half of his body that was coated in scales. It has gotten round and plump lately, bulging out behind him, and helping to counterbalance the weight of his massive belly, if just slightly.

Nicholas’s belly brushed against shelves, knocking items over, though Nicholas hardy minded. He proceeded towards the back of the shop, but just before he could reach the extensively widened frame of the back room, he felt a surge of pressure that made him groan and hunch, his hands clutching what they could of his orb. It was too much; too heavy. Nicholas grabbed onto a shelf, causing it to rock, and more items to tumble onto the ground.

“Oh my!” A woman appeared from an adjacent aisle. “Are you alright, sir?”

Nicholas couldn’t even respond. The pleasure was overwhelming, his face flushing as his insights turned with the movement, causing him to shudder deep down in his core. “Nghhhh…” Nicholas groaned as his children lurched, kicked, and grew. He didn’t think he could move, it was just too much, his huge belly pulsating up and down.

“Goodness,” said the woman, looking terrified. “He’s about to burst!”

By then, a small crowd of customers had come to surround Nicholas.
He tried to gather his composure. “Everything is fine,” he assured, biting his bottom lip for a moment as he breathed through another churn of movement. “Can I…can I help you all with anything?” he asked, fighting the growing pressure in his belly, resisting the urge to thrust it out and watch it surge.

“Are you…are you quite sure, sir?” A young man asked as the other customers simply stood back and marveled.

“Indeed I am,” said Nicholas politely, then he sunk to the floor.