Satisfaction Guaranteed- Part 2

Theo, unable to control his growth, still needs to find a way to impress and satisfy his latest client- though he may be satisfying a few more than just one picky manticore. Enjoy!

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Theo was trying not to panic— panic showed on his face in the least dignified way— but this was becoming a full blown crisis. In the millennia that he had worked his magic on mortals, he could count the times his magic had failed him on one hand, and those times had usually resulted in the collapse of entire kingdoms. The cheshire cat was pacing while his two apprentices, Nox and Aurele, watched on, standing at attention— it used to be that they were the large ones in the household, each of them sporting musclebound physiques that would shame all but the largest of bodybuilders, both sculpted by a true master's hand, but now the exchanged nervous looks as their patron and master lumbered back and forth, his tail whipping here and there.

"And you're quite certain, Master Bresson, that this isn't a test?" Aurele asked warily, the cheshire's pink fur shifting with swirling, cloud like patterns.

"My dear Aurele, the only thing being tested right now is my patience!" Theo snapped. "This makes no sense! I haven't been bereft of my ability to change my form in a millennia."

The apprentices tried not to stare; their master had become as fine a specimen as any of his vast array of patrons. The zig-zagging stripes over his sea-green fur were warped over swollen mounds of brawn that Nox swore were growing larger before his very eyes, as he was eye-level with the trembling mounds of pectoral muscle that had recently split through Theo's largest shirt.

"And you're quite certain this Mr. Harper isn't one of ours?" Aurele asked cautiously.

"I would've sniffed him out in an instant if that were the case!" the larger cheshire returned, turning to a large, floor-length mirror set in a gold frame— his shoulders and arms weren't quite able to fit in the frame anymore. "Oh, dear me. What do I look like?" He muttered, fretting as he tried brushing back his mane of white hair.

"Well…" Aurele dared to draw closer, poking out from aside Theo's heaving flanks. "You look fantastic, Master Bresson."

"Oh, absolutely," Nox echoed, appearing on Theo's other side, the white dots in his inky blue fur twinkling like stars. "Master Bresson, we've very rarely seen you let it all out, as it were— perhaps we should count our blessings? What if you had designs on Mr. Harper that involved a more… gluttonous and plush approach?"

"You are both missing the point enitrely," Theo scoffed. With one fell swoop, he wrapped his bulging arms around each of the apprentices' waist, Aurele and Nox suddenly pinned on either side by a melon-like bicep larger than their heads and the sheer rock-face of his sprawling lats and chests. "How does this make you feel, hm?" He squeezed tightly, a small fraction of the physical strength he now could bring to bear enough to constrict both of his apprentices in an iron vice. 

"A-ah!" Aurele gasped a bit, his pink tail swishing slightly. "W-well, it's not entirely unpleasant, to be fair, Master Bresson."

"Th-there is a certain thrill to it, sir," Nox added. 

"Think, boys!" Theo let them both drop. "That heady rush of emotions was fuelled by intimidation— regardless how much desire is mixed in, Aurele," he added pointedly. "I can't do anything with intimidation. And since I've used my reserve of power conjuring my most powerful elixirs for Mr. Harper, I'm tapped out!" He lifted his arm, slab-like triceps and swollen balloon of a bicep rippling mightily. Theo concentrated, and for a brief moment, the muscle contracted, but then it was as if the mass of might itself resisted, as it pushed back to its full, meaty size after a few seconds of struggle. 

"You see?" Theo said, his voice rising in pitch out of exasperation. "I am stuck like this. Meanwhile, mysterious Mr. Harper is obviously plotting something."

Aurele stroked his chin. "Then, as you counseled us, sometimes the only way out is through. You must dance to Mr. Harper's tune."

"It does stand to reason, Master Bresson," Nox added. "Mr. Harper clearly wants something. So even if he's tricked you, giving him what he wants should, logically, give you that burst of power to turn the tables on him."

"Hm…" Theo stroked his white goatee, but then nodded. "Well— I'm glad that you both have retained something from my teachings. You both are right— if Mr. Harper wants me like this, then he shall have it, full force." Theo turned on his heel, swaggering towards the door. "I'll return to the beach, then— and return in triumph!"

As the heavy doors to his estate slammed shut behind Theo, Nox and Aurele both breathed deep sighs of relief. "...We have to find a way to trick him back to that size soon." Aurele said.

Nox delivered an admonishing slap on the arm. "Really, dear brother? That's beneath you."

Aurele scoffed airily. "I'll admit it's beneath me when you can tell me with a straight face you weren't thinking the same thing."

"Oh, do shut up."

Back on the beach, Theo was turning heads now more than ever— the hulking green cat seemed to be the largest person on the beach, a juggernaut of power and might— and to his slight dismay, Theo could feel himself growing larger, engorged muscles bristling with power as he stomped across the sands. He spotted Harper at a smoothie bar, and glowered slightly, his smile very nearly disappearing entirely.

"My dear Mr. Harper," Theo said through clenched teeth, bowing in a courtly manner, even as his trunk-thick thighs ground against one another, and his bicep bounced off his chest as he swept his arm inward.

"Ah! Theo," Harper looked back, the manticore looking supremely unsurprised at Theo's change. "I was wondering where you got off to… Been working out?" He asked with a slight smirk.

"Hmph." In much the same manner as he had done with his apprentices, Theo swept the manticore off his seat with one arm, pinning him between his burgeoning bicep and fortified forearm. "I think I do have an inkling of what you actually want, Mr. Harper— though why you had to be so coy about it is beyond me. I hope you know you've caused me a fair deal of distress—" he squeezed tightly enough to make Harper wheeze softly, but the manticore's contented demeanor seemed impenetrable as he smiled back up at Theo. "Though I think that may have been part of what you were looking for."

"Hah—!" Harper gasped, wriggling one hand free to run a finger along the bulging contours of his mammoth arm muscles. "It was a very nice bonus, I'll admit."

"Mmhm," Theo rumbled. "Then allow me to give you what you're after, Mr. Harper." He let Harper drop to the sands, and stood to his full height— his unfurled vista of a back blocking out the sun and casting the manticore entirely in his shadow. The sheer brawn packed on to his frame rippled, and he curled both arms, casting an imperious sneer on his face as both biceps inflated into over-ripe melons, and his buttressed lats jutted out as his torso stretched out to its full width. He cast an eye down at Harper, leaning forward slightly to see the manticore fully past his slowly inflating chest, his heaving pectoral muscles rolling out like the tide coming in.

He lifted both arms over his head, letting his back stretch out further and spread out like a pair of wings, while his head was framed entirely by dense layers of flexed, tensed muscle hard as stone. With each flex and pose, his body filled out inch by inch, every burl of brawn retaining its size— what little power Theo had left, he had used to slow the growth, regulate it before he was flooded with mass— but as he so often told his clients, nothing succeeded like excess. 

Except for now, apparently. Theo looked down past the spreading canyon of his chest, his biceps grinding against his chest while anvil-sized triceps were pressed up and out at angles by his flared-out lats, while his back rippled and spread out like a vast, sprawling valley, his girthy legs and thigh muscles tough and wide as tank treads. Yet Harper was only just politely staring, merely content— and Theo needed much more than that to regain his control over his body.

"What? Mr. Harper, forgive me, but are you not entertained?" Theo scoffed incredulously. "Do you want more of a spectacle? Ought I…" he glanced around the beach, every head focused on the hulking behemoth of a colorful feline. "Ought I bench press the smoothie bar, perhaps? Do curls with dune buggies?"

"Mm, now there's a thought," Harper quipped, his smile taking on an annoyingly familiar, cheshire-like quality. 

Theo was about to respond, but then he glanced behind Harper— that striped rat, the one with the blond coif, was approaching. He stopped instantly as he saw Theo, mouth falling open.

"Oh my God," the rat muttered, and that finally caught Harper's attention.

"Oh! Victor, there you are." Harper sauntered to Theo's side, running a hand over the tensed peak of the cat's mammoth bicep. "I didn't see you there. I was just catching up here with my friend here, Theo."

"What— friend? But I…" the rat sputtered for a moment, looking up at Theo, his eyes boggling slightly. Theo could detect the emotion radiating off of him— Victor was not used to being caught unawares, it seemed— especially not when someone far bigger appeared.

"I-I can see that," Victor muttered tightly.

Harper canted his head. "Mind renting us some dune buggies? Theo was going to curl with them— say, do you know off the top of your head how heavy a dune buggy is? That's got to be at least a ton, a ton and a half? That blows way past your max lift, doesn't it?"

"Well not that much," the rat muttered. He gave Theo an incredulous look. "We'll just— Y'know what, fine, I'll be right back." He stomped off, a bit of frustration rising up from his core.

As soon as the rat was out of ear shot, Harper let out a peal of laughter. "Oh! There it is! Ah," He gave Theo a solid pat on his bloated chest. "I've been looking for some way to knock Victor down a peg all weekend. His head was getting bigger than his biceps, y'know?"

Theo blinked, shifting his gargantuan weight as he watched Victor walk away. "I dare say…" He then felt a sudden rush of power flow through him— giving his body one final burst as every already overgrown muscle jutted out just a bit further. "Ah!" His smile returned, relief setting in. "There it is!" He turned to Harper. "A bit petty— but another satisfied client."

"You know…" Harper leaned in closer, drinking in Theo's enormity with his eyes. "I could get a little more satisfied if I saw all this brawn in some real action… And Victor will be all over you if you play your cards right. That should make for a solid evening all around, don't you think?"

"Hmph," Theo smirked ruefully down at Harper, tensing and curling his arm once more as his bicep eclipsed his head, the sheer bulk mashed against a forearm vambraced tightly with layers upon layers of beef. "I do think I need to know your own origin, Mr. Harper— I can only think of a handful of entities that could so successfully repel my magic like that."

"Mm, well Theo, I'll leave you to guess— I'm pretty sure you know just as well as anyone in your line of work—" Harper laid a kiss atop the peak of Theo's bloated mountain of brawn ringing his arm. "Always leave them wanting more."