maximum occupancy

After eating Ethan, the colossal rat grunted and reached over for a bag of chips, popping it open and munching contentedly. You had missed the main event, but this small moment made your stomach drop, that familar prey-drop feeling that betrayed you again and again. You couldn't help but feel a terrified awe at the ancient hunger within the shaggy grey rodent--after eating a whole person, he still had the munchies?

You had been washing dishes (Dale's, not yours, as you were at his cluttered, dark, low-ceilinged home), and you were so lost in thought that the faucet had been running wastefully for almost a full minute.

"Mmh," the rat started from the other room, gulping a mouthful down... inevitably to where Ethan was, right?, you thought woozily, "I just had an idea--if you liked watching that, are any of your friends free tonight? I could probably hold all three... maybe four, if they're on the skinny side..." The rat crunched another single potato chip before speaking again. "You're a pretty big guy yourshelf, if you wanted to volunteer. I've never eaten shomebody so well-built, I bet you'd be as filling as five of your little twink buddiesh--"

"Hooo, man," you said, face feeling hot as you leaned on the kitchen counter. The anxiety-thrill of the drop; a dark suction drawing you towards that whiskered muzzle. Dale blinked, pausing his mastication to assess you, apparently still waiting for an answer. His small, bright eyes admiring the tree-trunk muscles of your naked thighs and calves, running up to your defined triceps and the lean trim of your abdomen, running back down to your legs, all those hours at the squat-rack..

"Uhh... th-thank you. I could, umm.. I could definitely call up a buddy or two, if you wanted," you manage to mumble.
"Awh, great!" The big rat grinned, and continued chewing, returning his eyes to the TV. You do a little admiring of your own for a moment; you notice how huge his shaggy grey head is, the gravitous swell of his full stomach pulled taut, the noticeable movement from within (an image you try to forbid yourself from seeing: you and Ethan, together in the dark...)

You fumbled a few open invite texts to your groupchats, returned the phone to your pocket with a shaky paw, and got back to the dishes. By the time you did, the whole bag of chips was gone.

figured i'd finally give this guy a name: meet Dale!