Just a hungry Hyena

Lugnut couldn’t help the indulgent chuckle that escaped him as he watched his companion Blitzwing storm by with a fiery red face and a scowl that could’ve burned a hole through his helm if the mech had stuck around long enough the center his rage. It was the same thing from every other ‘Con Lugnut had come across so far that day, which he would have chalked up to nothing but happenstance, but this time… Lugnut knew what was really going on.

As if presenting his big, soft belly and stroking a clunky servo over his hefty frame wasn’t bad enough, Lugnut was hogging up the best seat in the mess hall—a bench overlooking the entire room that just so happened to be placed right next to the energon pumps for any mech looking to snag a few extra pounds of energon out of their daily rations—while he savored his umpteenth cube of the hour. He wasn’t usually one to look for anyone’s attention but his leader’s attention. He never was, actually, but today was different, because today, all optics were going to be on him anyways.

He knew that they were jealous of his big frame and growing gut. He didn’t need anything more from them than the disgusted scowls they shot at him in passing or the long, dramatic once-overs they did as they stopped mid-stride to stare at his newest assets. It was to be expected, losing favor with the rest of his team as he grew closer and closer to earning his spot as Megatron’s most favorite and most loyal—though the latter was a position he already happily boasted. Not everyone was going to be his friend in the end when things came down to the nitty gritty, and though Lugnut was still processing that for himself, he had absolutely no qualms about his new reputation.

In a way, he was still speculating on the whole “do they hate me because I’m Megatron’s best Decepticon” spiel, but in his mind, there was just no other explanation for it. There was a recent change in him, from the way his frame softened around the edges to the way he allowed himself to gain a little more, but so far, Lugnut had only aided from it. It was an improvement in his eyes, not a downgrade.

The weight gain itself had started out innocently enough, though had Lugnut known it would result in such positive praise from Megatron, he was sure he would have pushed for it sooner. Instead, it happened slowly, a side effect of snatching up extra energon and being left behind by his fellow ‘Cons on various occasions due to ridiculous and confusing explanations Lugnut could never understand.

Like the rest of them, Lugnut was always just striving to do his best for Megatron in addition to keeping his own self afloat. He was a good Decepticon, and he was an even more loyal member of the team. Thus, he had been nervous about the sudden shift in his size and the extra weight starting to hang from his frame.

Just like his appetite, which grew with every bit of extra fuel he managed to take, the weight on his frame and the belly on his middle grew more and more until he could no longer pretend it wasn’t there. Now, here he was; big, fat, and judged by the rest of the cons for his new size, but proving himself more than normal to Megatron because of it—and for that, he was proud.

Lugnut’s smile was as wide as it could possibly be as he patted his belly and watched the jiggly mesh wobble. The plating that still stuck to his frame was in desperate need of a resize, and the brunt of his armor had already gone through several, each one having offered more and more room for him to grow into… and room that he had quickly filled up and filled in.

He stroked the sides of his frame and pinched the excess fat between his three fingers, his helm resting atop the jutting plating on his chest as he struggled to peer over his massive belly to see the work of his indulgence. He had gotten so big already, even as a big mech to begin with. There was still room to grow and still plating to resize, however, so like the good and loyal mech he was, Lugnut snatched his cube back up and drank down the rest of the energon inside in one go.

He had already drank more than three bots’ worth of rations in one sitting, but his tanks still rumbled for more. It took an effort to push himself up and waddle the short distance to the fuel pumps right next to him, but Lugnut took it all in stride, and he took the opportunity to watch the way his belly lurched with every heavy step, its massive curve already grown big enough that it hid his pedes from view.

Right before he managed to reach his cube out and prepare the pump, a long, skinny arm shot into his view, stopping him in his tracks. Starscream’s angry face was visible somewhere below him, though Lugnut could barely make him out past his own mass blocking his view.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” Starscream hissed as he crossed his arms, shoving Lugnut away with his body blocking the pumps. “Wasting our precious fuel on that big, hungry gut of yours again?”

Lugnut stared down at him with surprise. “Uh… yeah?” he said as he scratched his helm with his free servo. “I just wanted another cube before I go off and finish my duties.”

“Duties?” Starscream all but snorted. “As if you’re planning on doing anything but stuffing your face all afternoon! What would Megatron think if he heard of this, Lugnut? His most loyal Decepticon using up all of our rations and slacking off of work?”

Lugnut shrugged again, painfully confused.

“What’s wrong with it?” he asked. “Megatron doesn’t seem to mind.”

“He doesn’t seem to mind because he doesn’t know about this,” Starscream said as he stabbed a finger into Lugnut’s gut. “If you think Megatron would be happier with you hauling around all of this extra blob—“

“Hey!” Lugnut suddenly snapped, his confusion turning to anger. He hadn’t expected Starscream to be one of the jealous ones, but then again… he supposed it could happen to anyone. “I’ve done great work with this new size! I made a barricade, I crushed an Autobot under my belly, I stopped a big leak with my frame…”

That smug satisfaction slowly crept back onto his face, and finally, Starscream took a step back.

“Megatron will be happy,” Lugnut continued, “because I’ve been doing good! And since I’ve been doing good, I gotta keep this new size up.”

Starscream didn’t have a response for that one, to his surprise. In fact, the only thing he managed to muster was a scowl worse than all of the other ‘Cons and a spitting insult as he slapped a servo against Lugnut’s belly.

“Well, you better see to it that this new size of yours gets taken under control,” he said, spitting venom with every word. “And no more extra fuel on my watch, big guy!”

And just like that, he was gone… stalking off like all the others did, steaming with rage and jealousy.

Lugnut happily shrugged it off. He went right back to filling his cube again and thinking only of Megatron as he waddled back to his seat.

Megatron was happy so far, so obviously, he was doing something right. If gaining had helped him do better for Megatron, too, then well… he oughta keep doing it. And if he oughta keep doing it, the extra weight was no issue.

He knew that the others were only jealous. It was hard not to be when he was the best of them all, but hey, he was the one who was willing to do anything.