The Stronger Vest (Part 15 added 6 Feb 2024)

[LukeXL]

Part 5:

Simon followed Cody to the Incline Bench Press station.

"Incline Bench is maybe even more important for chest development than flat bench," Cody said. "It works the upper chest, which is a weak point for a lot of guys." He set up an empty barbell on the rack. "Let's start with an empty bar just to get your form right."

Simon sat down on the bench and lay back. He gripped the barbell. "How wide should my grip be?"

"About shoulder width," Cody said. "You want to keep your elbows tucked in, and your wrists straight. You don't want to be bending your wrists back, that's a good way to get injured."

Simon nodded. He lifted the barbell off the rack and lowered it to his chest.

"Good," Cody said. "You want to get it all the way down to your chest, a little higher up than on the flat bench. But don't bounce it off your chest. That's another good way to get injured." Cody slipped his hand behind the small of Simon's back. "And you want to keep your back flat against the bench. You're arching it a little bit. Arching your back just makes it a flat bench again."

Simon pressed his lower back against Cody's hand.

"Good," Cody said. "Now push up." Simon did a few slow reps.

"Si, if you could just let go of my hand for a second," Cody said. Simon blushed and arched his back a little to release Cody's hand. Cody pulled his hand away and shook it to get the blood flowing again. He put his hand on Simon's upper chest. "You want to feel it here. That's where you should be feeling it." Simon did a few more reps, and felt his pecs flexing against Cody's hand. "Good. Now let's add some weight."

As Cody increased the weight on each set, Simon found he had no difficulty in lifting the bar. Again it seemed like Cody had reached a weight that was at his limit, but Simon was able to lift it easily. He was found the sets so easy that instead of concentrating on his lifting he started thinking about Scott's reaction. "Is Scott jealous? ... of me?" he wondered. "Does that mean he thinks Cody and I are seeing each other? Does Cody think of me that way?" He thought about how Cody put his hands on his body. He thought about putting his hands on Cody's body.

"You seem to be really enjoying this," Cody said. "You gonna be done any time soon?"

Simon racked the bar and blushed. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"Twenty seven reps is a lot of thinking," Cody said.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Simon said. "I guess I was just distracted."

"That much is obvious" Cody grinned. "Let's move on to the next exercise."

Simon stood up and realised he was getting hard. He tried to hide it by adjusting his shorts. "Oh god, I hope he didn't notice," he thought.

"Dumbbell Flyes are great for really stretching your chest wide and getting a good pump" said Cody

Simon followed Cody to the dumbbell rack. Cody picked up a pair of 40 pound dumbbells and handed them to Simon. "Let's start with these."

"Keep it low and slow," Cody said. "You want to feel the stretch in your chest. Hold it for a while at the bottom to feel that burn. Try to keep your arms as straight as possible, but if it gets too heavy, bending your elbows slightly will help."

Cody lay back on a bench and demonstrated the exercise to Simon. Simon watched entranced as Cody did his reps. His pecs looked incredible under his stringer vest, every contraction causing them to ripple and swell, only to be stretched out wider as Cody lowered the weights again.

"Okay, you try," Cody said. "I'll spot you."

Simon lay back on the bench and got the dumbbells into position like he'd seen Cody do. He lowered them out to the sides slowly, feeling the stretch in his chest. At the bottom, he felt Cody put his hands on the back of his arms.

"Nice" said Cody. "Feel that stretch?"

"Yeah," Simon said. "It feels good."

"Okay, now lift, and really squeeze those pecs together at the top."

Simon raised the barbells, lifting his arms off of Cody's hands and flexed his pecs as hard as possible. It felt like his chest was swelling from sheer willpower. He held the contraction for a few seconds, then lowered his arms again into Cody's waiting hands.

"Excellent, you're getting a great pump," Cody said.

Simon finished ten reps and stood up. He noticed himself in the mirror and couldn't believe waht he saw. His chest was bulging out incredibly, the straps on his vest forming a bridge between his shoulders and his pecs. He looked down at himself. He could see the striations in his pecs, and the veins running across them. He could see the outline of his nipples through his vest. He looked over at Cody, who was watching him with a smile on his face.

"Wow," Simon said. "I can't believe how big my chest looks."

"Your chest is looking great!" Cody said. "A pump suits you. Let's give the 50s a try."

Cody did ten reps with the 50 pound dumbbells, and Simon followed him. Again, Cody held his arms at the bottom of each rep, and each time Simon felt motived to flex even harder than before. His chest felt amazing. The stretches and the contractions felt like a symphony of pleasure. He felt like he could do this forever, but stopped after ten reps.

"Okay, let's do one more set," Cody said. "This time we'll do a drop set. We'll start with the 50s, then drop down to the 40s, then the 30s, then the 20s, and then the 10s. You'll be feeling the burn by the end of it."

"Alright," Simon said. "Do you need me to spot you?"

"No, I'm good," Cody said. "But if you help me switch the weights that would be great."

They collected all the dumbbells they'd need and laid them all out in order. Cody started with 50s, did ten reps and dropped them. Simon grabbed the 40s and put them in Cody's hands. He managed 8 reps with the 40s before dropping them. Simon was ready with the 30s, and immediately passed them to Cody. He managed 8 with the 30s, then 10 with the 20s, and 14 with the 10s. He dropped the 10s and lay back on the bench, panting. His sweaty pecs were pumped up and swollen, with veins now visible all over them. Simon thought he'd never seen anything so beautiful.

"Wow," Cody said. "That was intense. I'm feeling it now." He breathed deeply. "Okay, you ready for a drop set?"

"Yes!" Simon said. "But I want to start with 60s"

"60s?" Cody said. "You sure?"

"Yeah," Simon said. "I'm feeling confident."

Simon grabbed the 60 pound dumbbells from the rack and got into position on the bench. He made sure to keep his reps slow and controlled, And flexed as hard as possible when lifting them up. After 12 reps he dropped the 60s and Cody handed him the 50s. He did another 12 reps with the 50s, 10 with the 40s, 12 with the 30s and 16 with the 20s. After 20 reps with the 10s he laughed and dropped them. "Either I'm done or I'm going the be here all day!"

"Okay," said Cody, hesitantly. "You feeling that burn?"

"Hmmm, I guess so," Simon said. "I'm not sure. I feel like I could do more."

"Well, we've still got back to do," Cody said. "So let's move on." Cody led Simon to the pull up bar. "We'll start with pull ups, then do some rows."

"Pull ups?" Simon said. "I can't do pull ups."

"What?" laughed Cody, "You can bench 225 pounds but you can't do a pull up?"

"I mean... well... I haven't tried recently," Simon said, looking a bit queasy. "I just assumed I couldn't. I couldn't in school, and I've kind of avoided them since then."

"Well, I'm sure you're a lot stronger now," Cody said. "It's time to exercise those demons."

Simon smiled at the pun but Cody gave no indication that he realised he'd made a joke. "Okay, I'll give it a try."

Cody grabbed an aerobics step and placed it under the pullup bar so that Simon could reach it. "Try with an underhand grip first," Cody said. "It's easier."

Simon stood on the step, and had to stand on his toes to reach the bar. He could see himself reflected in the large mirror in front of him, and all he could remember was his repeated humiliation in school. He'd never been able to do a single pull up. Every time he'd end up hanging from the bar, his arms shaking, his face red, his classmates laughing at him. He'd always been the smallest kid in his class, and the weakest. He'd always been the last one picked for sports teams, the one who couldn't do anything. The one who was laughed at and bullied. The pathetic weakling. "Not anymore!" he said to himself. He gripped the bar and pulled himself up, and managed to get his chin over the bar. He lowered himself down again, and tried again. He managed to do three reps before he couldn't pull himself up any more. "Three reps!" he said. "That brings my all-time total to three!"

"Okay, that's a good start," Cody laughed. "We'll work on that over the next few weeks. When you can manage a few more reps you can move to overhand grip." Cody kicked the step away. He reached up and grabbed the bar with an overhand grip. Simon noticed that he didn't have to stand on tip-toes or even stretch to reach it the bar. In fact, Cody had to bend his legs just so that he could hang from the bar. He pulled himself up and did 12 reps. He dropped down and smiled at Simon. "See? It's not so hard."

"Okay, let me try again," Simon said. He pushed the step into place and grabbed the bar with an overhand grip like Cody had done.

"Oh, alright," Cody said. "I can give you a boost if you need it."

Simon pulled himself up and slowly lowered himself down again. "This isn't too bad!" he thought. He did another rep, and another. He managed 5 reps before he couldn't pull himself up any more. Before he had a chance to drop down, Cody grabbed his waist. "You're not done yet, Si. Give me three more." Simon felt like he'd suddenly been given an energy boost. He pulled himself up again, and again, and again. He managed three more reps before Cody let him down. "See? You can do it! You just need a little encouragement. I wasn't even lifting you."

"Wow," Simon said. "I can't believe I did that. I've never been able to do that before. I feel incredible!" He lifted his arms and flexed his biceps. "I feel so strong!"

"Oh, alright then!" laughed Cody. "Let's kick this up a notch. We'll do some wide grip pull ups now."

Cody pushed the step away and grabbed the bar with a wide overhand grip. He pulled himself up from a dead hang and did 12 reps. Simon watched in awe as Cody's lats flared out like wings. He dropped down and smiled at Simon. "Your turn."

Simon climbed the step and watched himself in the mirror as he grabbed the bar in a wide overhand grip. He dropped to a dead hang, and saw his lats flaring out wide. He watched himself in amazement as he pulled himself up smoothly and powerfully, again and again. He felt like he was made to do this, like his body was a machine that had finally found its purpose. He did 12 reps, and dropped down. "More!" he said.

"More?" Cody said. "You want to add some weight now?"

"Yes, how?" Simon said.

Cody handed Simon a weight belt. "Put this on, and I'll add some weight." Simon put the belt on and Cody chained a 25 pound plate to it so it was hanging between his thighs. "Okay, let's see how you do with that."

Simon swung the plate around a bit and did some squat motions. "Put another one on."

Cody added another 25 pound plate to the belt. "Okay, muscle stud, do your thing."

Simon grabbed the bar with a wide grip, and started doing reps. He felt the weight pulling him down, but he was able to pull himself up. "One, Two, this is actually pretty tough," he thought. "Three.... Four.... Maybe I overestimated myself..... Fiiiiiive..... Wait, did Cody call me Muscle Stud? Siiiix! Seven! Eight!" He dropped down a flexed a most muscular pose while grinning at Cody.

"Incredible, man!" Cody said. "You're a beast!"

"What's next?" Simon said.

"Dumbbell rows."

"Bring it!"

What Simon enjoyed about the dumbbell rows was that they didn't need to take turns doing them. Even if they were using the same weight, they could do them at the same time because they only needed one each. They set up on two adjacent benches and did their right side together, then switch to left and did that together. While they were resting between sets they could sit on the benches and chat for a few moments. Cody couldn't beleive Simon had only been working out for a few weeks.

"And never before that?" Cody asked. "I mean, guys who've been in shape before find it a lot easier to get their strength back than guys who are getting strong for the first time."

"Nope," Simon said. "I've never been in shape before. I've never been strong before. I've never been able to do a pull up before today."

Cody looked at Simon's chest, his lats, and then down at his huge legs. Simon realised he really enjoyed being looked at this way. He enjoyed being admired.

"So the obvious question then is, what supplements are you taking?" Cody asked.

"I got some good protein from GNC yesterday," Simon said.

"Protein, riiight!" Cody winked.

"Hey Cody! Hey Prof!" said a voice from beside them.

"Oh, hey Flex, this is Simon," Cody said. "Simon, this is Flex."

Flex was wearing a grey stringer vest and a pair of purple compression shorts. His legs were huge, and his chest was even huger. He had a huge smile on his face, and his compression shorts made it obvious he was huge everywhere else too.

"Hi," Simon said and put his hand out to shake Flex's hand. Flex grabbed it and shook it enthusiastically.

"Damn, Prof, hot outfit!" Flex said.

"Thanks, it's new" said Simon.

"Red's a great colour on you," Flex said. "Really shows off your chest. And your legs are looking huge in those pants!"

"Thanks," Simon said. "I've been working hard. You look great too."

"Yeah, I know," Flex said. "It's what I do."

"Flex is a competitive bodybuilder," Cody said. "He's won a few competitions."

"Wow, that's amazing," Simon said. "I've never met a bodybuilder before."

"Sure you have. If you work out to build your body, you're a bodybuilder," Flex said. "You're a bodybuilder, I'm a bodybuilder, Cody's a bodybuilder. We're all building our bodies. You don't need a trophy to be a bodybuilder. You just need a trophy to be the BEST bodybuilder." He laughed and winked at Cody.

"Flex beat me in my first competition," Cody explained.

"And scared him off for good!" Flex laughed. "He never competed again."

"I'm not scared of you!" Cody said. "I just don't want to compete. I'm happy just working out."

"It's the prep that he's afraid of," Flex said to Simon "The dieting, the dehydration, the posing. The competition itself is easy. You just stand there and look pretty with a big shit-eating grin on your face while you feel the worst you've ever felt."

"Maybe," Cody conceded.

"Cody, man, remember we're doing Mike's party tomorrow night?" Flex said. "You're still coming, right?"

"Of course," Cody said. "Mike's parties are the best."

"Great, well we'll have to leave at 5:30 to get there on time," Flex said. "I'll pick you up at 5:15."

"Sure," Cody said. "I'll see you then."

"See you then," Flex said. "Nice meeting you, Prof. You keep this up and you're gonna be a Trash Bro too! We're gonna have to call you Prof Hotpants now!" Flexed waved and walked away.

"What's a Trash Bro?" Simon asked.

"That's what Flex calls us, Scott me and him," Cody said. "Gym Bro plus Trashy Clothes equals Trash Bro."

"I don't think you look trashy," Simon said, "I think you look amazing."

"Thanks," Cody said. "I think you look amazing too."

Simon's mouth went suddenly dry. He tried to say thanks, but couldn't. He just sat there, looking at Cody, feeling his heart beating faster.

"So I'm not going to be around tomorrow evening," Cody said. "But I'll be here in the morning if you want to work out."

"Yeah! Okay!" Simon said. "Wait, do you work out twice a day?"

"Some days," Cody grinned. "I'm trying to get bigger."

"Me too!" Simon said. "I mean, I'm trying to get bigger too."

"It's working," Cody said. "You're looking huge."

On the way home from the gym Simon stopped off at Target to pick up some food. If last night was anything to go by, his appetite would be enormous tonight. He bought a few steaks, some chicken breasts, some eggs, some milk, some vegetables. Tomorrow was casual Friday, and although he'd never bothered to dress down for it before, he had a feeling his dress shirt wouldn't fit him in the morning, so he bought two new white polo shirts in Large and Extra Large. "Even at my largest I never wore bigger than a Medium shirt!" he thought. "I'm going to be huge!"

He went home to cook supper, hoping that he'd dream of Cody again tonight.

[LukeXL]

Part 6: Three days ago:

"Oh look, Prof Sweatpants is back" said Scott. Cody and Flex looked over to the other side of the weight room. Prof Sweatpants was sitting at the bench press station, wearing the same gray sweatpants and sad t-shirt he'd been wearing every time they'd seen him here for the last few months.

"What a loser" said Flex. "Why does he even bother? He's never gonna get big. He's too old, and he's too weak, and he's wasting gym space that could be used by someone who's actually serious about getting big."

"And he's always wearing those stupid sweatpants" said Scott. "They must stink by now. He's probably never washed them."

"I'm sure he does wash them" said Cody. "He's a professor, he's not a slob."

"Whatever" said Scott. "He's still a loser. Look at how he's benching. What is that? Why is he holding the bar like that? I've heard of narrow grip bench press, but what's this, like Frog Grip Bench Press?"

Flex and Cody laughed.

"Frog grip! Man that's awesome." said Flex. "I'm gonna use that. I might try that!"

All three of them laughed.

"Have you seen how he curls?" asked Flex. "It's like he's either swinging the barbells around, or lifting it like this." Flex demonstrated a curl with his elbows sticking out to the sides. "I mean, what is that? He's not even using his biceps! An Upright Delt Curl, that's what he's doing!"

"Ssssh, he's looking over here" said Scott.

All three acted like they were busy working out.

"He looks over here a lot," said Cody. "I think he's looking at us because he wants to learn from us."

"No, he's looking at us because he wants to remember what we look like while he's jerking off" said Scott.

"Sure, maybe that too" Cody laughed. "But here's the thing. He's dedicated. He's here every day. He's trying. Did you notice how much weight he lost over the last few months? And even with his stupid technique he's still developing some definition. I think he just needs some guidance and some motivation. He needs someone to show him how to do it right."

"Are you volunteering?" asked Flex.

Cody looked at Prof Sweatpants.

"Goddamn it Cody, why waste your time?" sighed Scott.

"You think it can't be done?" asked Cody.

"Of course not. Waste. Of. Time" said Scott.

"Alright, how much do you want to bet?" asked Cody.

"Ooooh, interesting!" said Flex, rubbing his hands.

"Okay, sure, we can do this" said Scott, "but what exactly are we betting on?"

"That he builds some respectable muscle in the next, let's say three months" said Cody.

"Nah, too vague" said Scott, "We need numbers. Bench 225. Squat 315. Deadlift 405."

"Yeah, and he needs to stop wearing those sweatpants. Yeah, shorts and a stringer vest!" said Flex.

"Okay cool" said Cody. "Respectable muscle, 2-3-4 plate lifts, and a new workout wardrobe. Within the next 3 months. If I win ... you pay for all my gear next year."

"And if you don't get all three, you pay for mine!" said Scott.

"Wait, wouldn't that be a tie?" asked Cody.

"No, all or nothing boy!"

"Alright, you're on."

"Wait a minute, I want in on this action!" said Flex.

"So, if I win you'll also fund all my gear for next year?" asked Cody.

"Sure, why not?" said Flex. "I'll pay whatever Scott pays. But if you lose, you pay for all mine too."

"Deal" said Cody.

"Wooo, this is gonna be fun!" said Flex. "I can't wait for all that sweet, sweet free gear! And I specially can't wait to see you in a stringer vest, Prof Sweatpants!"

"Okay, I better get busy!" said Cody. "I've got a lot of work to do." He walked over to the bench press station and stood behind the Prof. "Hey, you're doing that wrong."

[Xyggurat]

I will admit I started chapter 6 expecting to see more growth, only to shake my fist at the sky when I read it. Your writing is top-notch and this story is super enjoyable.

-X-

[Ro20316]

I didnt see that lkast chapter coming at all but im glad we see what happened and that Simon proved them wrong.

[arpeejay]

Great story! More more more, please!

[LukeXL]

Part 7:

At home, Simon took off his work shirt and his outrageously expensive new chinos, and put on his new hunter green vest. Wearing just the vest and his white briefs, he got to work making supper.

He sliced up two potatoes into fries, tossed them in a bit of olive oil and put them in the air fryer, setting the timer for fifteen minutes. He took two chicken breasts, and rubbed them with salt, pepper and garlic flakes, then added them to the already-cooking fries.

While the air fryer hummed away, he checked his email and went over his lecture notes for tomorrow. Nothing important had come through, there was just a reminder of the monthly staff social at The Librarian tomorrow evening, the same bar they always held them at. The name was a pun on the fact that it was in a former library, but since it was popular with so many academics (and, crucially, not students), Simon often joked that it was even more stuffy now than before. He'd been avoiding the socials for a few months, but maybe tomorrow would be a good opportunity to flaunt his new body a bit.

When there were three minutes left on the timer, he got a frying pan hot and added a little oil, and fried up three eggs. It all came together perfectly as the timer went off, and he plated it up and sat down to eat. The balance between the soft eggs, the crispy fries and the juicy chicken was perfect, and he ate it all with a large glass of milk to wash it down.

After that he watched some videos on YouTube, but nothing really held his interest very long. He realized he was still a bit hungry, so he made a protein shake and drank it before going to bed. He was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He dreamt he was getting dressed in front of his mirror. He put on a pair of black formal trousers, the same ones he'd seen in the Big and Tall store, and flexed his chest and biceps. "Looking great, Simon!" he said to himself. He put on a pair of polished black shoes and a white dress shirt that almost didn't fit him. He was trying to tie a black bow tie when the door bell rang. He went to answer it, and found Cody standing there, wearing a black tuxedo and a black bow tie. He was wearing a black suit vest under his jacket, but no shirt under that.

"Wow, Cody, you look great!" said Simon.

"Thanks!" said Cody. "Let me help you with that..." He took the loose bow tie from around Simon's neck and tied it for him. "There you go!" he said,

"Thanks" said Simon, pulling on his tuxedo jacket. "Do I look okay?"

"You look amazing!" said Cody. "Let's go!"

Cody drove them in a red Ferrari to a country club on the outskirts of town. They parked the car, and saw that a large tent, almost like a circus tent had been set up in the grounds. Paper lanterns lit the way from the car park to the entrance. Cody took Simon's hand and led him down the path. "I think you'll love this!" he said, "Mike's parties are the best!"

At the entrance, they posed for a photographer in front of a sign that said "The Time of Our Lives". Cody put his hand around Simon's waist and pulled him close. The photographer took a few pictures, and then they went inside. The tent was huge, and there were hundreds of people there. There was a bar, and a dance floor, and a stage with a band playing. There were tables and chairs, and a buffet table with a huge spread of food.

"Champagne?" asked Cody, holding out a glass.

"Sure!" said Simon, taking the glass and sipping it. The band started playing "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing, and Cody said "Oh my god, this is my jam!" He pulled Simon towards the dance floor. Simon gulped down his champagne and put the empty glass on a passing waiter's tray as he was dragged along. Cody took off his jacket with a flourish, threw it to the side and started dancing. Simon followed his lead and they danced together as if they'd spent months practicing the choreography. As the song was ending and Cody was holding Simon in a low dip, a voice shouted "Cody, you BII-II-IITCH!"

The band fell silent and everyone on the dance floor stopped and stared. It was Scott, dressed in a sequinned vest and shorts, wearing a tiara and a sash. "Why did you bring him here? What about us!? Do I mean nothing to you anymore!?"

"Scott," said Cody "You have to understand, we're over. I'm with Simon now."

"Him? What has he got that I don't?"

Cody looked into Simon's eyes and said "Everything."

Scott screamed an incoherent stream of rage and tried to hit Cody, but Flex, wearing just a sequinned purple thong, sash and tiara grabbed him and held him back saying "Scott, stop, he's not worth your dignity!" Scott collapsed crying on Flex's shoulders.

"Let's move somewhere a little quieter" said Cody to Simon, and led him out the back into a moonlit orchard.

Cody moved to the trunk of a large apple tree and held Simon there. "That's better" he said, and helped Simon out of his jacket. "You look so hot in that tuxedo, Si. I want you so bad right now."

Simon unbottoned Cody's suit vest and ran his hands over his chest. "I want you too, Cody. I want you so much."

Cody kissed Simon, and Simon kissed him back. Cody's hands ran over Simon's back, and he pulled Simon's shirt out of his trousers and ran his hands over Simon's abs. Simon ran his hands over Cody's chest and back. "Oh, Si!" said Cody and Simon's alarm went off.

Simon woke up, hard as a rock and covered in sweat. He turned off the alarm on his phone and saw that it was 6:00. Confused, he was about to go back to sleep before he remembered: "Cody! We're working out this morning!"

He jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. His vest was much tighter this morning than it had been last night. He peeled it off and saw his new chest in the mirror. "Oh my god!" he said. His pecs weren't just pumped, they were huge! Wide, thick and high. He flexed them and they bulged out, and he could see the striations in them. He ran his hands over them, and felt the hard muscle under his skin. He turned around to try and see his back but that was unsuccessful, so he flexed his back and could see his lats flare out. He ran his hands over the hard muscle of his back. He looked down, and even his abs were now visible. He ran a hand over his hairless new washboard belly. He considered jerking off right there, but he was running out of time.

He tugged his briefs off over his huge thighs and rinsed himself off in the shower. "I know I'm going to shower again after my workout, but I don't want Cody to think I smell bad" he thought. He jumped out of the shower, quickly towelled himself off, and stood naked in his kitchen while he gulped down a protein shake and a wolfed down big bowl of instant oatmeal.

He got dressed in his gym clothes. The Stronger Vest was a bit tighter than it had been yesterday. The waistband of his new high-visibility short-shorts seemed a little looser too. He put on his gym shoes, and threw his work clothes into his gym bag. Burly Brand Chinos, fresh underwear, socks, shoes... He looked at the two new polo shirts he'd bought yesterday. He wasn't sure which one would fit better, so he put them both in the bag. He grabbed his keys and his phone, and headed out the door.

At the gym he dumped his bag in a locker and found Cody on the gym floor and bounded over to him. "Hey, Cody!" he said.

"Si, wow, you're in a good mood!" said Cody. "Did you have a good night?"

"Yeah, I did! You could say I had the time of my life!" said Simon.

"Well whatever you did worked!" said Cody. "You're looking huge! Look at that chest!" Cody grabbed Simon's pecs and squeezed them. "You're getting so big!"

Simon gulped. He looked at Cody, wearing a red stringer vest and gray shorts, and remembered his dream just a few minutes earlier. Now he regretted not jerking off earlier because he was getting hard again. "Thanks, Cody!" he said. "Let's get bigger!"

"Let's do it! Arm day today!" said Cody, grabbing a short barbell. "Let's start with barbell bicep curls. You can use an EZ Bar for these, if you want. It's easier on your wrists. But a straight bar gets a little more stretch in the bicep."

"I'll stick with the straight bar for now" said Simon.

"Great!" said Cody. "To save time, we'll do supersets. One bicep exercise and then immediately after that a tricep exercise. We'll keep increasing the weight each time until we can only manage five or so reps. The first tricep exercise is a close grip bench press. We can do it on the bench over there."

Cody loaded up a short barbell with some plates, and put two plates on the bench press bar.

"Wait, how much is that?" asked Simon.

"Well, the short bar is only 30 pounds, and those are 25 pound plates, so that's 80 pounds. And 135 on the bench press." said Cody.

Simon raised an eyebrow.

"I know, you want it heavier, right?" said Cody. "Let's start out light and work our way up. We'll be doing a lot of reps, so it'll get heavy soon enough."

Simon shrugged. "Okay, let's do it!" he said.

Once Cody had made sure that Simon's form was correct on both exercises, they took turns swapping equipment. Simon on bicep curls while Cody did narrow bench press, then Cody on bicep curls while Simon did narrow bench press. Then they'd rest for a moment while they added weight to each bar. After each superset Simon could feel and see his upper arm muscles swell up even more, and he could see the veins in his forearms and biceps bulge out. After a few sets they'd reached a weight that Cody could only do five reps with, although Simon was still managing ten. They took a longer rest, and Cody said "Okay, let's do one more set of this, and then we'll move on to the next superset."

Simon nodded, and they did one more set. Simon noticed that Cody seemed to be struggling with the bench press. He was sweating and breathing heavily. Simon dropped the curling barbell and went over to stand behind Cody. "Come on, Cody, you can do it!" he said. Cody got the bar down to his chest, but couldn't push it back up. Simon put his hands under the bar and helped Cody push it back up to the rack. "Thanks, Si" said Cody.

They swapped places, and Simon did his set of bench presses. It was the same weight as they'd used previously, but it felt much lighter than the last set. Simon did ten reps and racked the bar.

Cody was looking at him with a strange expression on his face. "What?" asked Simon.

"Nothing" said Cody. "Let's move on to the next superset. We'll do hammer curls and skull crushers."

Cody swapped the short barbell for dumbbells, reduced the weight on the bench press bar, and they carried on the same as before. After that it was preacher curls and tricep pushdowns. By the time they'd finished, Simon's arms were so pumped he could hardly bend them anymore. He couldn't believe the sight of them as he looked down at his arms. He flexed a bicep in the mirror and saw not only a beautiful peak on his bicep, but enormous pumped triceps too. He could see the veins in his forearms and biceps bulging out. He looked at Cody, who was watching him. He flexed his arms again, and Cody said "Enjoying the pump?"

"Yeah, I am!" said Simon. "I've never seen my arms like this before! I think my arms are bigger than yours now!"

"Well let's compare them!" said Cody. "Flex your bicep as hard as you can!"

Simon flexed his right bicep, and Cody put his hands around it. "Okay, so you're about yay big" said Cody, holding his hands in a circle with his index fingers not quite touching. "Now you measure mine." Cody flexed his right bicep, and Simon put his hands around it.

"Oh my god he feels even better than I dreamed!" thought Simon. Cody's bicep and triceps were warm, damp with sweat and hard as rock. They felt like they had no fat on them at all. Even his veins felt like steel cables beneath his skin.

"So, what do you think?" asked Cody.

"They're incredible! I can't believe how hard they are!" said Simon.

Cody smiled. "Thanks, but I meant do you think you're bigger than me?"

"Oh, right" said Simon. He carefully took a measurement around Cody's arm with his hands, and then held his hands out to show Cody. His index fingers were about two inches apart. "I think you're a little bigger than me" he said.

Cody put held his hands in a circle over Simon's leaving a little space between his index fingers. "It looks like I have bigger hands, but our arms are about the same size" he said.

Simon nodded. "I guess so" he said "But let's see what happens next week!"

"You've also got a great pump and that's going to go away in a few hours," said Cody. "I don't get such a good pump at the moment because I'm restricting carbs. I'm trying to get my body fat down to 5%."

"Oh, right" said Simon.

"I think we're done with arms for today" said Cody. "Let's do some shoulder work and hit the showers. Arnold presses first."

Cody grabbed a pair of dumbbells and demonstrated the exercise to Simon. "You can do these seated or standing, but seated is better because you can't cheat by using your legs to help you lift the weight" he said. "The key thing is the twist as you lift them. That way they target the front and side delts as well as the rear delts."

Simon did the exercise, and Cody watched him carefully. "This seems pretty easy," said Simon.

"Just wait," said Cody, "they catch up with you quickly."

Just as Cody predicted, at ten reps Simon started struggling. He struggled to get the eleventh rep, and then couldn't get them off his shoulders for twelve.

"Wow, that came out of nowhere!" said Simon.

"Yeah, shoulders are small muscles." said Cody. "They get tired quickly."

Cody took the dumbbells from Simon and sat down on the bench. He managed twelve reps with relative ease and put the dumbbells down. "Okay, you carry on here, I just need to catch up with Scott" he said.

Simon did his Arnold presses slowly and purposefully while he watched Cody walk to the other side of the gym and start chatting to Scott. They were too far away to hear what they were talking about, but they didn't seem to be fighting. Simon realised he'd managed fifteen reps that time without struggling. "Wow, that's a lot better!" he thought. He sat on the bench and rested. Cody and Scott sure seemed to have a lot to talk about. Now Scott was laughing and touching Cody's arm. Simon got a heavier pair of dumbbells and did another set, keeping his eyes on Scott and Cody. Now Scott was gesturing at his crotch and Cody was nodding and smiling. Huh, fifteen reps again! Without waiting to rest, Simon grabbed a much heavier pair of dumbbells and started heaving them up into the air.

"Simon?" asked a voice next to him.

Simon put the weights down and turned his head. "Oh, hi Toby!" he said. "How are you?"

Toby was the husband of one of his department colleagues, and also a professor of History at the university. They knew each other from many departmental social events, and were friendly, but not close. Toby was a short, skinny guy with a beard and glasses. He was wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that was a little too big for him.

"I'm well but what about you? You've exploded since I last saw you! When was that?"

"Wow, it must have been about three months ago," said Simon. "I've been working out a lot since then."

"You don't say!" said Toby. "And not afraid to show it off either, I see!" He gestured at Simon's vest.

"Oh, this?" said Simon. "It's just a stringer vest. I got it because it's cooler to work out in."

"It's interesting... where did you get it?" asked Toby.

"It was an ebay impulse purchase" said Simon.

"Do you mind if I take a closer look?" asked Toby.

"Sure, go ahead" said Simon.

Toby bent down and held them hem of the shirt between his fingers. "It feels like silk" he said. "It's very soft. And this writing on the seams..."

"It's Japanese I think," said Simon. "I don't know what it says."

"It's not Japanese. It looks familiar though. Hang on a moment." Toby took out his phone and started typing. "Ah, I thought so! It looks like it's a script form of Linear A!"

"Oh, what does that mean?" asked Simon.

"It's an ancient language from the island of Crete. It's the precursor to the precursor of Greek. Can I take a picture of it?"

"Sure" said Simon.

Toby took pictures of all the writing on the vest. "This is fascinating!" he said. "Funny that someone would put Linear A on a line of gym wear!"

"It'll be great to know what it means. I've been wondering about it for a while" said Simon.

"Well... I can transliterate it, but if it is the Linear A language no-one will know what it means" said Toby. "It's a mystery that's been puzzling historians for decades. They think they know what sounds the letters make, but they don't know what the words mean. But I'm guessing it's more likely a joke by the designer!"

"Ah, well either way, it's a great vest!" said Simon.

"Indeed!" said Toby. "Well, I'll leave you to your workout. I'll see you at the The Librarian tonight?"

"Yeah, I'm planning on being there" said Simon. "See you later!"

Toby waved and went back to the treadmills. Simon picked up the dumbbells and started doing Arnold presses again. He looked over to see Cody hug Scott and then head back over to Simon. Cody's mouth dropped open as he got closer.

"Christ, Simon! You're a machine!" he said. Simon dropped the dumbbells. "I've never Arnold-pressed weights that heavy before!" he said. "How many reps did you do?"

"Fifteen" said Simon. "What's up with Scott?"

"Oh we were just talking about the party tonight" said Cody. "He's got a new outfit for it, and he's really excited about it."

"Ah, right, that makes sense" said Simon.

"That took longer than I expected, and it's getting pretty late now. I think we should skip the rest of the shoulder work and hit the showers" said Cody.

"Great!" said Simon, more enthusiastically than he meant to.

As they walked to the locker room Simon realised he'd never seen Cody in there. Whenever they'd finished working out he'd either gone back to his friends or left the gym without changing. Cody stripped off his vest and shorts, and Simon saw that he was wearing skimpy white briefs. They were like a jockstrap, but made of cotton and with a full rear. The sides were just waistband.

Cody noticed Simon looking at them. "My workout briefs," he said. "Tanga they call them. Nothing on the sides to constrain my legs." He lifted a leg up to demonstrate and smiled.

Simon gulped. "They look great on you."

"You should see them off me!" said Cody, winking and pulled them off over his muscular thighs. For a moment Cody was totally naked in front of Simon, and Simon could see that he was completely hairless from the neck down. Cody grabbed a towel and headed to the showers, casually wrapping it around his waist as he went. Simon was mesmerised by the sight of his muscular back and butt as he walked away. He shook himself out of his trance, stripped off and went to shower too.

Even though he washed and rinsed himself off as quickly as he could, Cody was already almost fully dressed when Simon got back to his locker. He was wearing a pair of smart black trousers and a button-down shirt. He was putting on a pair of black leather shoes. Simon had never seen Cody wearing anything except gym clothes before, and he looked amazing. His trousers were tight around his thighs and butt, and his shirt was tight around his chest and shoulders. He looked like a model in a magazine.

Simon pulled on his briefs and Burly Brand chinos, and took out the two polo shirts. He put the Extra Large one on, and looked in the mirror. It fit him well, not too tight, but not too loose either. "Hey Cody, which of these shirts do you think looks better?" he asked. Cody looked over. "This one?" He posed for a moment, then stripped it off and put the Large one on. "Or this one?" he asked, posing again. The Large one was loose around his waist, but tight everywhere else.

"Definitely that one!" said Cody. "It shows off your chest and arms better."

Simon looked at himself in the mirror. The shirt was tight enough over his chest that the gap between his pecs and his nipples were visible. His arms were stretching the sleeves out and making them ride up above his biceps. "Yeah, I think you're right. Perfect for casual Friday!" he said.

[arbotimus]

More please

[LukeXL]

10 hours ago, arbotimus said:

More please

I got really busy with work last week so didn't manage to keep up my target writing pace, but rest assured there's more coming. It's all planned, up to the end - and sequels and spinoffs! I just need my typing speed to catch up with my imagination speed.

[Hialmar]

14 hours ago, LukeXL said:

I got really busy with work last week so didn't manage to keep up my target writing pace, but rest assured there's more coming. It's all planned, up to the end - and sequels and spinoffs! I just need my typing speed to catch up with my imagination speed.

Take your time. Avoid stress. We eagerly await next chapter in due season. 

The little detail about Linear A put a wide smile in my face!

[LukeXL]

Part 8:

After stopping by his office to glug a protein shake and drop off his gym bag, Simon headed to his lecture. His course, "Modern Interactive Media Narrative" consisted of just one lecture a week on Friday mornings, so it was seen as an easy credit by students from other departments. As usual, he had about a hundred students waiting for him by the time he got there.

There was a collective gasp as he walked into the room and put his laptop on the desk. He plugged it into the AV system, loaded up his presentation and was about to start speaking when someone said "God DAMN, Prof! You blew up!"

Simon stood up and grinned at the class. "Yeah, I've been working out a bit. I'm trying to get in shape."

"Huge shape! You're like, a bodybuilder now!"

Simon realised that he hadn't seen these students since he started working out with Cody so they hadn't seen his new body. He grinned and flexed his bicep to whoops and whistles from the hall. He laughed. "Okay, well, enough with the gun show, let's get to the work at hand."

Simon started a video playing on the screen, and began his lecture.

"So, last week we were discussing Super Mario Brothers. To recap: its simple yet effective narrative structure not only guides the player through the game's universe but also instills a mindset of perseverance, discovery, and incremental achievement. The straightforward quest narrative employs a linear progression, with each level designed to be more challenging than the last, establishing a clear goal for the player. The constant reminder of the princess’s plight at the end of each level keeps the player engaged and creates a sense of urgency. This engagement is essential in maintaining player interest and fostering a 'just one more try' mindset. SMB’s narrative is more than a backdrop for action; it is integral to the game-play experience and player psychology. Players are not passive consumers of a story; they are active participants whose thought patterns and emotional responses are shaped by the narrative structure of the game."

Simon looked around the lecture hall. Usually the students would either be watching the video as he spoke or playing with their phones, but today a lot of them were staring at him. They seemed to be looking at his arms. He looked down at his biceps, which were bulging out of the sleeves of his polo shirt. He flexed his arms and the sleeves stretched and tightened against his biceps, constricting his blood flow and making the muscles start to swell even more. It was a bit uncomfortable, so he shook his arms and tried to relax them, but the sleeves didn't loosen at all. He tried to ignore it and continued his lecture, switching to the next video.

"The release of Star Fox in 1993 marked a significant technological and narrative achievement in the video game industry. Developed by Nintendo and Argonaut Software, it featured a team of anthropomorphic fighters piloting spacecraft to defeat the evil scientist Andross and save the Lylat system. The game’s use of the Super FX chip allowed for an immersive 3D experience, a novelty for home consoles at that time. And finally, players were able to do a barrel roll!"

Simon paused for a reaction, but there was none.

"A barrel roll!" he repeated. Nothing. He sighed. "Okay, I guess you're all too young to get that reference." His shirt was really uncomfortable against his arms now. He tried to adjust the sleeves to make them looser, but it didn't help.

"Okay, continuing... But perhaps even more revolutionary was the game’s narrative structure, which was designed to be nonlinear and player-driven. Star Fox’s narrative unfolds through a combination of mission briefings, in-game dialogue, and combat scenarios. The storyline is relatively simple: Fox McCloud and his team must traverse various planets and space sectors to reach the final confrontation with Andross. Despite the simplicity, the narrative is compelling due to the urgency of the mission and the personalities of the characters, which are expressed during gameplay."

There were more and more whispers going through the class now. Almost everyone was staring at him now. His arms were so pumped up that they seemed to almost be glowing. He tried again to adjust his sleeves, but it was no use. As he bent his arm, the cuff ripped at the join with a loud tearing sound. Gasps echoed around the hall. He flexed his other arm and the other cuff ripped too. There were a few whistles and cheers.

"Okay, okay, settle down. I'll get a new shirt after class. Let's just finish this lecture... The game employs a branching narrative structure with multiple paths leading to the final boss, depending on the player’s choices and successes. This non-linear progression allows players to experience different storylines and endings, adding to the game's replay value and the player’s agency within the narrative. Star Fox's gameplay is characterized by fast-paced action that demands quick reflexes and strategic decision-making. The game's linear rail-shooter mechanics guide players through levels while allowing some freedom of movement within the 3D space. This design creates a balance between a scripted story and player control, fostering a mindset of focus and strategic planning."

Simon's arms felt like there were electric charges running up and down them. He could feel his biceps and triceps pulsing and swelling, and his forearms were getting thicker too. He didn't want to further damage his new shirt, but every fiber seemed to be crying out to be flexed. He shifted his shoulders and tried gently flexing his triceps to see if it would help, but it didn't. With another loud rip, both sleeves split up to his armpits. The sleeves were now hanging loose over his shoulders, but at least his arms were free. Trying to ignore it and the loud gasps and murmurings from the class, he continued speaking:

"The player's mindset is also affected by the game's real-time system of damage to the spacecraft, necessitating a constant awareness of one's actions and surroundings. The immediacy of the combat and navigation challenges engages the player in a state of flow, where the game's difficulty is matched by the player's skill level, promoting an immersive experience."

Now his shoulders were starting to feel tight. He could feel his delts swelling and tingling. He tried to keep his shoulders relaxed, but it was getting harder and harder to ignore the urge to flex them as hard as he could.

"The inclusion of companions who assist in battle but can also be lost if the player fails to protect them adds emotional stakes to the gameplay. This aspect of the game induces a protective mindset, where players must balance their own survival with that of their team members."

It was too much. He couldn't resist the urge any longer. Simon flexed his delts, and with another loud ripping sound both sleeves separated from the body of the shirt, flopping uselessly against his enormous arms.

The class erupted in applause and cheers.

"You know, I only bought this shirt yesterday. I'm going to have to get a refund! It's obviously defective!" The class laughed. Simon carefully tore the remains of the destroyed sleeves off of the shirt. He realised he was now wearing a sleeveless polo vest. He thought back to Cody telling him to always wear sleeveless shirt. Could all this be Cody's doing?

"Well, I think I've covered most of what I wanted to say... And uncovered more than I planned to! I'll see you all next week. Have a good weekend." He waved to the class and left the hall, the cheers, whoops and laughter echoing behind him as he headed back to his office. The fresh air on his bare arms felt great, but this was hardly suitable academic wear, even for casual Friday. Luckily he had the other shirt, the Extra Large in his gym bag in his office.

The rest of his day passed fairly uneventfully, but he did get a few strange looks from people in the corridors. Word must have spread about his lecture. By the end of the day he was looking forward to having a few beers, so he headed off to The Librarian as soon as his last meeting was over. He was disappointed not to be working out with Cody tonight. It had become the highlight of his day, but he reminded himself they had worked out that morning. And Cody had suggested they do an afternoon workout on weekends. He wondered what sort of party Cody and the Trash Bros were going to tonight. He'd have to ask him about it tomorrow.

There was already a crowd at The Librarian when he arrived. His Media Studies department social seemed to have merged with a few others - he could see the English and the Linguistics crowds here too, as well as a few people from the History department. His teaching assistant Ken was sitting with a crowd of other junior staff members, and by the look of the forest of glasses on their table they'd been there for a while. Toby was sitting at another table with a few other people, and waved to Simon as he walked in. Simon ordered a beer and a burger and fries from the bar, then went over to join Toby.

"Simon, hi!" said Toby. "Have you met Andrew? He's just joined the Ling department. We've just been discussing your vest."

"Oh wait, you're the same guy?" said Andrew.

"Same guy as what?" asked Simon.

"The same guy who had the shirt that ripped in your lecture this morning. That was you, right?"

"Uh, yeah, but how did you know about that?"

"The videos are all over the internet. I've seen them on X, Instagram, TikTok, everywhere. It's gone viral. You're famous!"

"For the next 15 minutes, at least," said Toby. "You're a meme now!"

"Oh god..." groaned Simon.

Toby laughed. "I'm sure it'll blow over soon."

"So, what's the story behind the shirt?" asked Andrew. "Was it a defective shirt, or did you just get too big for it?"

"I don't know," said Simon. "I bought it yesterday, and it fit fine. I guess it must have shrunk while I was wearing it."

Andrew and Toby laughed. A waiter brought Simon's burger, and he tucked in hungrily.

"But speaking of shirts... Have you found out more about the writing on my vest?" asked Simon.

"Oh, yeah, I've been looking into it" said Toby. "It's definitely Linear A, but as I said, no one knows what it means. It's a real mystery. There are a few theories, but there's actually so little remaining Linear A writing that it's hard to know for sure. It's a bit like the Voynich Manuscript. It's a real mystery."

"Voynich! Pah!" said Andrew. "That's just a bunch of gibberish written by Galileo to scam the King of Bohemia. Linear A is a real language, we just don't know what it means."

"Galileo? I thought it was written by Leonardo da Vinci?" said Toby.

"Leonardo? Good Lord man! Even as a child Leonardo could never have drawn such inept illustrations. It's clearly the work of Galileo."

"Who are you talking about?" said Simon.

"The Voynich Manuscript," said Andrew. "It's a medieval manuscript that was discovered in the 19th century. It's written in an unknown language, and it's full of strange illustrations of plants and animals that don't exist. But an analytical analysis of the text shows that it's just gibberish. It's a hoax, probably perpetrated by Galileo."

"Who was...?" said Simon.

"Oh, he was a medieval magician and astrologer. He was a bit of a con artist, always getting into debt and having to flee to another gullible king's court."

"You seem quite an expert on this" said Simon.

"Ha, well I wrote a dissertation on it."

"So, what's your theory about the writing on my vest?" asked Simon.

"Ah, well. It's interesting. Toby was showing me the pictures he took of it. It's not standard Linear A. It's a bit more ornate and script-like. I didn't recognise some of the characters, but I'm not an expert on it, so I'd like to check all the databases and see if I can find any matches. I'll let you know if I find anything. I did notice it's a repeating pattern, though. It's not just random characters. It's three groups of four characters that repeat. If you look here, you can see the pattern."

Toby got his phone out and zoomed in on some of the characters. "Yeah, you're right. It's a repeating pattern. But it's not machine-generated. It looks hand-sewn. You see the first character here, and then when it repeats here it's slightly different. And then it's different again here. It's not a machine repeating the same pattern. It's a person repeating the same pattern."

"That seems like a lot of work for a workout vest," said Simon.

"Heeeeey guys!" said Ken, sitting down at their table. "What are you talking about?"

"Simon's vest," said Toby, showing his phone to Ken. "It's got some mystery writing on it."

"Ooooh, that's cool!" said Ken. He took to phone and zoomed out to show the whole vest. He swiped to the previous picture, of Simon sitting in the gym wearing the vest and his skimpy workout shorts. "Oh fuuuuu..." he said, "that's hot!"

"Oh, thanks Ken" said Simon, blushing.

"You should do an OnlyFans!" said Ken. "You'd make a fortune! You've already got a huge following!"

"But I'm not on any social media..." said Simon.

"Yeah you are! You're the Hulk Out Prof! Look, there are already remixes!"

Ken showed Simon a video of his lecture, with the audio replaced by a techno beat and the video edited to show Simon's skin turning green as his arms grew. When he tore the last bits of sleeve off, it went to slow-motion with a bestial roar overlaid on it. It was pretty funny, and they all laughed.

"Wow, that's pretty good!" said Simon. "I wonder who made that?"

"Oh, you know, probably... a secret admirer meme maker" said Ken sheepishly.

"That reminds me!" said Simon, "I had an idea during my lecture today. Can you chat about it now Ken?"

"Yeah!" said Ken, "Let me get another beer first."

"Good idea," said Simon, "I'll get another one too. Toby, Andrew, do you want another drink?"

"No, I've got to get going," said Andrew. "I've got a date tonight."

"And we've got to get going too," said Toby. "Great seeing you out again, Simon! We'll have to do this again soon."

Simon waved goodbye to them as they left, and he and Ken went to the bar. "What'll it be? I'm paying" said Simon.

"In that case, I'll have a double whisky" said Ken.

"Fair enough!" said Simon. "A double Johnnie Walker Black, one of those craft IPAs and a burger and fries," he said to the bartender. Simon paid and they took their drinks to a table in a quiet corner of the bar.

"Didn't you just have a burger and fries?" said Ken.

"Yeah, but I'm still hungry. I've been eating a lot recently."

"Quelle surprise" said Ken, looking at Simon's arms. "So, what's this idea you had?"

"Well, in the lecture today I said 'do a barrel roll', and no-one got the reference."

"They're too young. They don't know Star Fox, or any of the related memes."

"Exactly! But if memes have become such an important part of our modern culture, shouldn't we be teaching them in our courses? Shouldn't memes be treated the same way as classic literature? I mean, we teach Shakespeare, but we don't teach memes. Why not? They're just as important."

"Are they though?" asked Ken. "I mean, Shakespeare is a classic. It's stood the test of time. Will memes be around in 400 years?"

"No, they definitely won't! Which is why we need to make sure we teach them."

"I'm not sure I see your point," said Ken. "If they're disposable pop culture, why teach them?"

"Because if they're so influential now, people in the future will need to know about them in order to make sense of our culture. We need to teach our students about the memes of yesterday, and make sure that memes of today have proper academic study."

"Right! So, what are you proposing? A new course on memes?"

"Yes, exactly! And I bet we could get a sponsor for it. I mean, memes are a huge part of marketing now. We could get a sponsor from a social media company, or another big influential company," said Simon.

"I like it! The TikTok Chair of Modern Memetic Media!" said Ken.

"Exactly! We could get a big grant for it, and we could get a lot of students signing up for it. It would be a great course. Of course we'd need a lecturer who was an expert in memes. Someone who really knew their stuff."

"Someone who was really into memes," said Ken.

"Exactly!" said Simon. "Someone who was really into memes. And was good at making them. Turning people green, adding sound effects, that kind of stuff."

"Me?" asked Ken.

"A ha!" said Simon, laughing "So you admit it! But yes, you'd be perfect for it. I know you've been looking for a permanent position, this could be it."

"That... sounds amazing!" said Ken. "I'd love to do it."

"Let's do it then!" said Simon. "I'll talk to the Dean on Monday. I'm sure he'll be on board with it. I'll get a proposal together and we can submit it to the board. I'm sure they'll approve it. It'll be great!"

The waiter delivered Simon's second burger and fries. "Can I get you anything else?" he asked.

"I'm still busy with this beer, but Ken?"

"More whisky! I'm celebrating now!" said Ken.

"Another Johnnie Walker Black, double" said Simon.

"A Johnnie Walker Double Black?" asked the waiter.

"Oh a double of that would be great!" said Ken.

"Okay, a a double Double Black" said the waiter, and left.

"A double-double," mused Simon.

"Sounds like your kind of drink," said Ken.

Simon looked at Ken quizzically.

"Because you've been growing so much! You've doubled and doubled again!"

"Oh, right" said Simon. "I have been growing a lot recently."

"I'll say! Burly Brand pants and ripped shirts! You're huge!"

"Well, I think that shirt was faulty or something."

"No, no, it's not the shirt, it's you. Shirts don't just rip like that. You've been growing a lot recently. You're obviously in the middle of some sort of muscle growth scenario. I've seen videos of this kind of thing. I mean, look at your arms! Look, you've torn the sleeves on this shirt too!"

Ken touched the cuff of Simon's sleeve, and Simon looked down to see that it was slightly torn. Ken kept his fingers there, feeling the frayed fabric and gently touching the inside of Simon's bicep. Simon enjoyed this unexpected intrusion into his personal space so decided to not make a big deal of it and just keep Ken talking.

"Tell me about these videos," he said.

"They're all over the internet. There's a whole community of people who are into muscle growth. They're obsessed with it. They make videos of themselves growing."

"Like time lapse videos? A gym progress thing?"

"No, not time lapse. They're real time. Like guys just swell up before your eyes!"

"Oh, an animated thing? Like a photoshop morph?"

"Well, yeah, there are animated ones, and the obvious morph ones, and CGI and AI ones too. But there are other ones that look... real. I thought they were really good AI or CGI, but some of them are just... too convincing. Plus, some of them are decades old. There wasn't the technology to make them so realistic then. I don't know how they do it."

The waiter brought over Ken's whisky, and Ken whipped his hand away from Simon's arm. "Thanks!" said Ken, and took a swig. "Oh, that's good! I need this!" Simon paid the waiter and took a sip of his beer.

"So, Muscle Growth, that's what they call it?" asked Simon.

"Yeah, or MG for short. There's other stuff too. Muscle worship, hypermuscularity, hypermasculinity, muscle theft..."

"Muscle theft?" asked Simon.

"Yeah, that's like where they steal muscle from another person. Like a skinny guy grows huge and a big guy shrinks. It's a bit weird, but it's a thing."

"And there are videos of this too?"

"Yeah, there are videos of everything."

"I don't know how that would work physically. I mean... how could you steal muscle from someone else? Surgically? Like a bicep transplant?"

"No, it's just like one guy grows and other shrinks. Like his muscle power is sucked away by another guy. I know it doesn't make sense... but there are videos, and some of them... I wish I could believe they were fake."

"And what are you into?" asked Simon.

"I just... I like big guys. I like big muscles. Big muscular guys... Like you."

"You like me?"

"Well sure I always thought you were the cool prof, but this last week... you've been getting bigger and bigger, and... oh my god. Is it inappropriate if I ask to feel your biceps?"

Simon looked around the now mostly empty bar. "No, go ahead. Feel them in an appropriate way. But no stealing!"

Simon put out his right arm and Ken put his left palm on it. "Oh my god, it's so hard!" said Ken. "And it's so big! I can't believe it!" He put his other hand on the other side of Simon's arm and squeezed. "I can't even get my hands around it!"

"Wait until I flex it!" Simon said, and flexed his arm. A massive, veiny peak emerged from his arm.

"Oh gaaaaaahd" Ken gurgled. "Wait, let me try something... unflex your arm for a moment." Simon relaxed his arm, and Ken slipped both of his hands up the polo shirt sleeve. "Okay, now flex again." Simon flexed his arm, and Ken's hands were trapped inside the sleeve for a moment. Then, gradually, with a groan and a pop the fabric stretched and tore, and Ken's hands were free. Ken choked. "Uhhnnnn!!!"

"Are you okay?" asked Simon.

"Holy god," panted Ken. "I'm fine. I've just... That was incredible. I've always wanted to do that. Oh my god, you could do anything to me!"

"I could?"

"I mean, I'm not saying you should. I'm just saying you could. You could do anything you wanted to me. I'd let you do anything you wanted to me. I'm sorry, I'm a bit drunk. I'm just a bit overwhelmed. I'm sorry. I've got to go to the bathroom and clean up a bit. I'll be back in a minute."

Simon watched Ken as he stood up and unsteadily made his way to the bathroom. "He'd let me do anything to him?" he thought. "Maybe I should think of something I want to do to him..." He looked at his wrecked sleeve. "I should probably get a new shirt too."

Ken stumbled back from the bathroom, tried to sit down, missed the chair and fell on the floor.

"Ken! Are you okay?" asked Simon, rushing over to him.

"Greeeeat, just great!" said Ken, laughing. "I'm just a bit drunk. No, I'm double-double drunk!" He laughed again.

"I think I'd better give you a lift home," said Simon.

"Saaalright because I walkered here. I'll walk home. I'll be fine. I'll just... I'll just sit here for a bit. I'll be fine."

"Come on Ken, let's get you to bed," said Simon. He grabbed Ken's arm to help him up, but managed to lift him right up off the floor and into the air. "Oh my god!" said Simon. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!"

"Mmmmuscle Hulk Prof!" said Ken, laughing. "Carry me home, mmassive muscle man!"

Simon put an arm around Ken and led him out of The Librarian and to his car. He put him in the passenger seat and buckled him in. "I'll leave the window open so you get some fresh air... and in case you need to throw up."

"I'll be fiiine," said Ken, and passed out.

Simon drove to Ken's apartment block, helped him with his keys, and got him into his bed. He took off Ken's shoes and put a glass of water on the bedside table.

He hadn't been in Ken's apartment before. It wasn't too different to his own. He looked around the living room. There were piles of books, DVDs, Blu-Rays and PlayStation games. He looked at the titles: action movies, superhero movies, anime, some arthouse stuff, a few gay movies. The games were mostly roleplaying ones, except for one wrestling one. He looked at the bookshelves: Science fiction, fantasy, graphic novels, comic books, manga, books about bodybuilding. "He really is quite a nerd," he thought. "But then, so am I."

There was a neat pile of magazines on the coffee table: A complete year's worth of Ultimate Muscle & Bodybuilding. The issue on the top had an inhumanly enormous bodybuilder on it wearing a tiny gold posing thong. Every vein in his body seemed visible though his skin, and his muscles were so huge they seemed to be about to burst out. "Adam Gold, the Cincinnati Sensation!" read the headline. Simon stared at it for a moment. "He's not so big!" he said to himself with a chuckle and let himself out of the apartment.