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"You know, it's been a while since I last wore this shirt."
It was an uneventful summer day, and Zhongli and Azhdaha were doing some cleaning around the house. At the moment, they were cleaning out and reorganizing their bedroom closet. When Azhdaha spoke, Zhongli turned to see what he had found.
The shirt did look somewhat familiar. Zhongli was pretty sure Azhdaha wore it a few times back when they first started dating. Now that he thought about it though, he couldn't remember the last time Azhdaha wore it. When he saw Azhdaha hold the shirt up to himself, Zhongli couldn't help cracking a grin.
"To think you used to fit comfortably in clothes that size," he teased. "I'm afraid it might be a bit of a tight fit for you now."
The teasing brought a slight frown to Azhdaha's face as he held up the shirt to look at it again, then he looked down at himself. Holding the shirt against his body once more, Azhdaha stared for a few seconds before looking back up at Zhongli with a furrowed brow of confusion.
"What do you mean used to fit?" he asked. "I could still wear this. I haven't changed that much in the past five years..."
Although Zhongli couldn't bring himself to say anything, he wasn't convinced. For a moment he stole a glance at Azhdaha's belly, which had gotten rather plump after years of eating Zhongli's cooking. While Zhongli didn't think his own cooking was that special, Azhdaha certainly enjoyed it, and his noticeable gut was proof of that.
Shaking his head, Zhongli just turned back to the closet. He didn't want to argue about this and risk hurting his dear Azhdaha's feelings by pointing out the truth. "If you say so, my love."
"What, you don't believe me? Fine, I'll prove it to you."
Before Zhongli could say a word, Azhdaha started taking off the shirt he was wearing so he could put the other one on.
A part of Zhongli wanted to say that wasn't necessary, that Azhdaha didn't need to prove anything to him. If he wanted to hang on to the shirt, regardless of whether or not it fit him, that was perfectly fine. But Azhdaha seemed determined to try and prove him wrong, so Zhongli held his tongue as he stood by to watch.
As Azhdaha slipped the shirt on, it seemed to be a decent fit at first. It didn't look uncomfortably tight on his shoulders, and the sleeves went all the way down to his wrists without needing to be tugged on. Unbuttoned, the shirt looked just fine on him. But the real test was yet to come.
"See, it fits me just fine," Azhdaha said, looking a bit smug as he began buttoning the shirt, starting from the top button under the neck.
Each small button slid into its appropriate hole without issue, holding the shirt closed to cover Azhdaha's chest. As he got to the buttons near his belly however, that was where the problems began.
It seemed to take Azhdaha by surprise when he suddenly had to pull the fabric of his shirt a little more tightly to get a button to close. The next button caused even more of a struggle, refusing to meet with the other side of the shirt no matter how hard Azhdaha tugged.
Watching him fight to finish buttoning the shirt up, Zhongli chose to keep his comments to himself for the time being. But a tiny smile of amusement did tug at his lips.
After a few more attempts, the button still wouldn't slide into its hole on the other side of the shirt. Azhdaha bit at his lip, cheeks flushing lightly with embarrassment and frustration, until his expression suddenly brightened. Apparently he had an idea, which Zhongli couldn't wait to see.
Taking in a deep breath, Azhdaha sucked his belly in and held it while he quickly finished connecting the last few buttons. Even while sucking it in though, the shirt still looked snug around his middle.
"There," Azhdaha said, his voice sounding strained from holding in his breath. He looked at Zhongli with triumph. "I knew it...would still fit."
Azhdaha tucked the bottom of the shirt into his pants, then slowly let out the breath he had been holding. This allowed his belly to spill forward and instantly fill out every inch of space behind the confines of his clothes. The heavy strain caused the fabric to creak as it was stretched to its limits. The buttons looked ready to pop open at the slightest provocation, and still Azhdaha insisted it fit him just fine.
"Hmm..." Folding his arms over his chest, Zhongli considered the nicest way to say what he was thinking.
But before he could gently comment on how uncomfortable the shirt looked, it happened.
With the sound of a thread snapping, the button that rested over the center of Azhdaha's belly flung forwards an inch or two into the air before falling to the floor. In the silence that followed, the sound of the plastic button hitting the wood floor was very loud indeed.
Zhongli had to put a hand over his mouth to hold back a chuckle. Even he hadn't expected that to happen. "Oh, my..."
In the face of undeniable evidence that this shirt was, in fact, too small for him, Azhdaha blushed even more than he had only a few moments ago. Zhongli could practically feel the heat of embarrassment coming off him as he stared down at where the button had broken off from.
Avoiding Zhongli's gaze, all Azhdaha could manage to say was a quiet, "Oh..."
The poor guy looked so humiliated, all of his smug confidence completely gone now. This must have been quite a blow to his pride, after feeling so sure his old shirt would still fit him. But the truth was clear to him now: his tummy was just too big for a shirt of this size.
Zhongli hated to see his partner looking this upset, so he took a step forward to offer comfort. His smile became less amused and more affectionate as he looked at Azhdaha tenderly.
"There, there..." Zhongli reached out to undo the remaining buttons struggling over Azhdaha's belly. "You don't need to feel ashamed. It was already a tight-fitting back when you wore it more often, wasn't it? It's no surprise that gaining a few extra pounds would cause it to suddenly fit improperly."
"I guess it is a little smaller than I thought it was." Azhdaha hung his head, looking defeated as he nudged the button on the floor with his toe. Then he put a hand over the top of his stomach and frowned. "Or…maybe my belly is just a little bigger than I realized. How embarrassing…"
This was the first time Zhongli had seen Azhdaha express feelings of discomfort over his weight. But he had to admit, losing a button probably was a pretty embarrassing way to realize your old clothes no longer fit. Even for someone who was usually confident about their body.
Personally, Zhongli thought there was something kind of...sweet about the reason for Azhdaha's weight. Cooking nice meals for his partner was one of Zhongli's ways to express his love, so really, it was like Azhdaha had been getting fat off of Zhongli's love for him over the years.
The idea of Azhdaha slowly growing bigger from how much Zhongli loved him, until his belly was big enough to literally burst out of his old clothes… There was something rather attractive about that to Zhongli.
Even if Azhdaha couldn't see things the same way, Zhongli would always be ready to reassure him that having a bit of extra tummy didn't make him any less of a wonderful person and partner.
With the last button undone, Zhongli's hands went down to Azhdaha's belly. His fingers slipped under the shirt as he pushed the material aside, exposing more soft skin to rub. As he caressed the soft expanse of Azhdaha's belly, Zhongli leaned forward to kiss his forehead.
"Don't worry," he said, giving Azhdaha a gentle little squeeze. "It doesn't matter if you have to wear bigger clothes than what you used to wear. I'll always love you, and your big belly."
Azhdaha looked flustered when Zhongli pulled away, but there was a shy little smile on his lips when he said, "Thanks, Zhongli. That's...really nice of you to say."
After giving Azhdaha's tummy one more loving squeeze, Zhongli let him go before bending down to pick up the fallen button. He put it in his pocket so they wouldn't lose it.
"Leave the shirt on our bed, and I'll mend it after we have lunch," Zhongli said. "You can decide whether you want to hang on to it and maybe just wear it around the house, or give it away."
"Alright." Azhdaha slipped the shirt off, folding it neatly before placing it on the foot of the bed. Then he said quietly, more to himself than to Zhongli, "Maybe it's about time I try on some of my other old clothes, to see if I have anything else that doesn't fit anymore..."
Zhongli nodded at this decision, commenting, "It would certainly help free up some closet space if you find more clothes that don't fit, or that you don't wear very much anymore. I think I will do the same later."
Azhdaha put his other shirt back on, and they both went to the kitchen to take a break for lunch. While they were preparing a simple meal together Zhongli couldn't help thinking, with a small smile tugging at his lips, that after lunch would be an ideal time for Azhdaha to try on his old clothes.
After all, trying on clothes while his belly was nice and full from a meal would help give him a better idea of just how well those clothes really fit him...