The Stronger Vest (Part 15 added 6 Feb 2024)

[citizenies]

A lot of protein intake ~ hope something happens in the morning

[arpeejay]

Here's hoping Cody buys Simon a scale as a thank you present! 

[LukeXL]

Part 12:

Simon awoke with the sun shining in his face. He squinted at the window, wondering why he hadn't closed the curtains. Then he realised he was lying on a bare mattress, totally naked except for his sneakers. Strange. Oh yeah, he put his bedding in the laundry yesterday before left to meet Cody at the gym, and... Oh my god, Cody! The hazy memories from last night started trickling back.

He heard a noise from the bathroom and carefully sat up to see what it was. Cody, stark naked, was systematically going through his bathroom cabinet. Cody carefully closed the cabinet door and turned around, looking at his phone. He walked out of the bathroom, not noticing Simon, and went to the kitchen. Simon heard him opening the fridge and rummaging around. Then the freezer. Now he could hear drawers and cupboards being opened.

He got up and went to see what was going on. "Are you looking for something?" he asked.

Cody jumped and turned around. "Oh, wow, Si! You startled me. I'm just... wow! Looking for some painkillers?"

"There's some Advil in that drawer over there," Simon said, pointing.

"Thanks," Cody said, and opened the drawer. "Oh yeah, here they are. I don't know why I missed those earlier. Let me just take a couple of these." He fumbled with the packaging before getting two pills out and swallowing them with a glass of water.

"Hangover?" Simon asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," Cody said. "That pill must have hit me hard."

"I feel great," Simon said. "I don't even have a hangover. And I had wine and beer and that pill while you were just drinking water."

"Yeah strange. I guess it affects people differently," Cody said. "Listen Si, I've got to go. I've got a lot of stuff to do today."

"You don't want to have a shower or breakfast?" Simon asked.

"No, no, I'm kind of late as it is," said Cody, heading to the bedroom. He came back with his clothes and shoes and hurriedly pulled them them on. His tank top was still lying in a heap next to the dining table, which he scooped up and pulled on. The right strap was torn so that it was hanging loose, and there was a big tear down the side.

"Oh, wow, sorry about that," Simon said. "I guess I got a bit carried away."

"Nah, it's fine," Cody said. "I've got plenty more of these. I'll see you later, Si. At the gym at four?"

"Yeah, definitely!" said Simon.

Cody headed for the door.

"Cody, wait..." said Simon, walking after him. Cody turned around. "Are we good?"

Cody smiled, leant forward and kissed Simon on the forehead. "Yeah, we're good," he said, and left.

Simon tidied away the dishes from the night before, straightened up the furniture, and picked up his discarded cargo shorts and shirt. The brick red vest was ripped almost in two. "Wow, I really did a number on that," he said and threw it in the bin. He tossed his shorts into the laundry basket and then got his freshly laundered bedding out of the dryer and made made his bed. He went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and had a shower, then headed to the bedroom to get dressed. He opened his closet and surveyed the options. "Oh yeah," he said, realizing there was nothing left that would fit him. He turned to retrieve his shorts from the laundry basket when he noticed himself in the mirror.

"Ho. Lee. Fuck!" he said.

He was huge. Yesterday he'd looked like a bodybuilder, today he looked like a freak. Yesterday he could have played Batman or Superman, today he'd be playing Doomsday or The Hulk. Well, a 5-foot-9 Hulk, but still. He posed and flexed his muscles in the mirror, marvelling at how they bulged and rippled. He flexed his biceps and watched a beautiful peak rise up. He did a double-bicep pose and was astonished by the size of his lats as the flared out. His delts were so big the looked like melons. He flexed them, and the three deltoid heads popped out like an animal's claw trying to get through the skin.

He was rock hard now. He absent-mindedly started masturbating as he watched himself flexing in the mirror. He flexed and tightened his glutes and abs, and almost immediately shot a huge load of cum all over the mirror. He was still hard, but he let go of his penis and continued flexing and posing, now trying to flex as hard as inhumanly possible. "Yeah, look at his abs!" he said, then corrected himself, "My abs! Oh god, this is me! I'm a muscle freak! I'm a muscle freak!" He pulled another double bicep pose, flexed his abs as hard as he could, and came again, drenching the mirror and the floor.

He bent over double, panting, and started laughing, then grabbed a towel out of the laundry basket to clean up the mess. It was soaking and sticky, but it did a good enough job. He pulled on his cargo shorts. They were pretty tight around his legs and butt now, but they looked like they'd hold. "Actually, they look pretty hot!" he thought.

Now he had a problem. He had no shirts that would fit him. The polos and vests he'd bought last week were all shredded or too small, and nothing in his closet could possibly be big enough. But the new dress shirts he'd bought yesterday might fit. Where were they? Ah yes, he'd left them in the car.

He pulled his sneakers on and, bare-chested, ventured out of his apartment and down to the parking garage.

As he got around the corner, he saw that Cody's black Jeep was still parked next to his blue VW. He paused and wondered why Cody had left his car here, then noticed that Cody was sitting in the car. He looked like he was using his phone. "I wonder if everything's alright?" Simon wondered, but before he could go over and ask, Cody started his car and drove off.

"Hmmm," Simon thought. "I wonder what that was about?"

---

Cody headed for the door.

"Cody, wait..." said Simon, walking after him. Cody turned around. "Are we good?"

Cody smiled, leant forward and kissed Simon on the forehead. "Yeah, we're good," he said, and walked out of the apartment.

He walked down to the parking garage, got into his car and closed the door. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then called the fourth contact on his favorites list.

"Hey, it's Cody. I did it. I checked his whole apartment. There's nothing. No pills, no needles, no powders, no nothing. He's clean."

"..."

"Yes, I checked everywhere. Bedroom closet, bathroom, kitchen, living room and his desk drawers, even the laundry room. Nothing."

"..."

"No, I didn't think to check his car. But how will I get it open?"

"..."

"Okay, one moment." Cody got out of his car and walked over to Simon's VW Golf. The car unlocked. "Okay, I'm in. I'll call you back." He hung up and got into the car. He looked around, but there was nothing in the center console. He opened the glove compartment and looked inside. There was a small plastic bag with a few coins in it, a pair of sunglasses, a pen and some receipts. Nothing under the seats or in the back. He got out and opened the trunk. There was a Big & Tall shopping bag there with some clothes in it, and a few other odds and ends. He looked under the spare tire, but there was nothing there. He closed the trunk and checked that everything was back where he'd found it, then took his phone out and redialled.

"Okay, clear, you can lock it again," he said. The car locked. Cody got back into his car.

"..."

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad. He took three Alpha Studs, and..."

"..."

"Well, I put one in his wine while he was cooking and it didn't seem to be having much effect, so I put another one in his next glass when he poured himself a refill, but then he started getting really horny, so I took one myself, but he saw me and then he demanded to take one too, and I couldn't tell him he'd already had one and there was one waiting for him in his wine, so..."

"..."

"He slept like a baby. After fucking like a demon."

"..."

"Pretty good, actually! Not the worst fuck I've had this weekend."

"..."

"Yeah, I did. I asked him some questions about his workout and supplements. He insists he's only using protein. And hamburgers and fries. Lots of fries, apparently."

"..."

"Yeah, I know. I have no idea. He's getting huge, though. He's bigger than me now."

"..."

"Right, but how..."

"..."

"Okay, sure. Yeah, I'll think of something. Thanks. Bye."

Cody hung up and took another deep breath. He called the first contact in his favorites.

"Scott, it's Cody. Force says we need the get the Prof to go to Muscle Mike's on Friday."

"..."

"C'mon, it'll be fun! I'm working out with him at four today, you should be there. And get Flex to come too. I think we need to do a bit of a hard sell."

[LukeXL]

Part 13:

Simon arrived at the gym a little before 4pm and changed into his gym clothes. Cody was already there, waiting in the weights area with Scott and Flex.

"Hey Prof!" said Flex, giving him a hug. "Welcome to the Trash Bros!"

"Oh, thanks, but it's just Simon," said Simon.

Scott shook his hand. "I'm Scott. Good to meet you properly."

Simon shook Scott's hand, saying "Nice to meet you too." He turned to Cody. "So, what are we doing today?"

"Easy stuff," said Cody. "Abs, forearms, calves and traps. All the stuff that doesn't get worked as much when you're doing the big lifts. Now that there are four of us, we can split into two groups, too."

"Sounds good," said Simon, stepping towards Cody.

"Oh my god, that's adorable!" said Scott. "You're dressed the same! You're like Cody's little brother!"

"I wouldn't say little," said Flex, laughing.

Simon looked down at himself and Cody. They were both wearing black converse low tops, black shorts and red stringer vests. "Oh, yeah, I guess we are," said Simon. "I just got these," he said pointing to his shoes and his black compression shorts with a gold "BB" logo on the right leg.

"Nice!" said Flex. "I've got a pair of those too, in purple. They're great for leg day."

"Or any day you want to show off your junk," said Scott.

"Which is basically every day," admitted Flex, grinning.

"I needed to exchange some shirts and chinos, so while I was there I asked what else they had that would fit me, and I got all of it," said Simon.

"All of it?" asked Cody.

"All the pants that fitted me. There were only three, though. These, some black formal pants, and those blue shorts I showed you the picture of."

"A Burly Brand shopping spree!" said Flex. "Nice!"

"Expensive, though," said Simon. "I'm not sure my credit card can take much more of this."

"Well, you gotta spend money to make money. Besides, you're a Mr Burly contestant now, you can't be seen wearing anything else," said Flex.

"Oh, Cody told you about that?" asked Simon.

"No, I saw it on X this morning," said Flex. "Burly Brand posted some pictures of you."

"What? I didn't see that," said Simon, taking his phone out. He opened X and saw that he had a notification from Burly Brand. They had posted the picture of him in the blue shorts from yesterday and then another one that William took this morning, with the caption: "Before and after. Mr Burly contestant @simongrandxxl shows off his recent gains, but can you guess how long between the photos? Winner drawn from correct answers wins a $50 Burly Brand gift card." There were already about fifty guesses in the responses, ranging from six weeks to three years.

"Wow!" said Simon. He typed his own reponse: "I know the answer, but I'm keeping quiet!"

"So how much have you grown?" asked Flex.

"I don't know," said Simon, "I should have asked William when he measured me."

"Do you have the Burly app?" asked Flex.

"Yeah?" said Simon.

"Then you can check your measurements in there," said Flex. "I'll show you how." Flex took Simon's phone and opened the Burly app. "Okay, so you go to the menu, and then tap on 'My Measurements'." He looked at the screen. "Wow, you've grown a lot!"

"Really? How much?" asked Simon.

"Well, let's see," said Flex, checking the measurement log. "You're five foot nine tall, that hasn't changed. Your waist is 32 inches, that's up from 31 yesterday and 30 last week. Your chest is now 58 inches. It was 52 yesterday and 42 last week. Your arms are 23 inches and yesterday they were 21, and last week they were only 15 and a half!"

"Holy fuck," said Scott. "You sure can pick 'em, Cody!"

Cody shrugged.

Flex continued: "Your thighs are 32 inches, up from 30 yesterday and 26 last week, and your calves are 20 and a half inches, up from 18 and a half yesterday and 17 and a half last week. Those leg measurements dont seem to have such a big difference as the other ones."

"Oh, yeah, the first time I went in my legs had already grown," said Simon.

"Okay, so what do you weigh?" asked Flex.

"Here we go," said Scott.

"Hush," said Flex. "I'm doing science."

"I don't know, I haven't weighed myself for a while," said Simon. "I was 166 pounds last week, but I forgot to weigh myself since then."

"Well, there's the solution to that," said Flex, pointing to a scale in the corner of the gym.

"Okay, let's see," said Simon. He stepped onto the scale and waited for it to settle. "246 pounds," he said.

"Okay, less let's say two pounds for your clothes and shoes, so 244 pounds," said Flex. "That's a gain of almost 80 pounds in a week!"

"Wow, that sounds like a lot!" said Simon.

"It is a lot!" said Flex. "How much did you eat yesterday?"

"Hmmm, I had oats for breakfast, and we had steak and broccoli for dinner," said Simon. "And some protein shakes. But I forgot to eat lunch."

"We?" asked Scott, looking at Cody.

"It was superb," said Cody. "Simon's a great cook."

"That doesn't sound like enough food to gain 78 pounds in a week," said Flex. "You must have been eating a lot more before that."

"Oh yeah, I've been so hungry!" said Simon. "I almost overloaded my car with all the food I bought this morning."

"What did you buy?" asked Flex.

"More steaks, loads of chicken breasts, some bacon, loads of vegetables, two dozen eggs, rice, potatoes, oats, seeds and nuts and stuff. And sparkling water and some no-alcohol beer," said Simon.

Cody smiled.

"That sounds about right," said Flex, then pointed to the scale. "Your turn now, Cody."

"Do we have to do this every week?" asked Scott.

"Yes, we do," said Flex patiently. "Otherwise, how will we know who's the greatest?"

Cody stepped onto the scale and waited for it to settle. "I'm 261 pounds," he said.

"Okay, great," said Flex, noting it down on his phone. "Now Scott."

Scott got onto the scale. "258," he said.

"And I am..." said Flex as he stepped onto the scale, "248."

"So Cody's the greatest," said Simon.

Scott rolled his eyes and looked at Cody. "You're the greatest, Cody."

"Not so fast," said Flex. "We adjust for height because volume increases cubically, so we need to calculate our six-fews."

"Six fuse?" asked Simon.

"Six foot equivalent weight," said Flex. "It's a way of comparing our weights that takes into account our different heights."

"Why six foot?" asked Simon.

"Because I came up with the system and I'm six feet tall," said Flex. "Inventor's privilege. Okay, so Cody's six-few is 231, Scott's is 238, mine is obviously 248, so I'm in the lead so far. You're five nine, right, Prof?"

"Yeah," said Simon.

Flex adjusted some numbers on his phone. "Wow, so your six-few is 277. I guess you're officially the greatest now."

"The greatest Trash Bro. And only according to 'Math'," said Scott doing air quotes.

"Still pretty impressive," said Cody, putting an arm around Simon's shoulders and kissing him on the forehead.

"But hang on, if someone was just really fat they'd have a really high six-few, right?" asked Simon.

Flex paused for a moment. "Yeah, I guess so. New rule: You can only enter the contest if you have visible abs."

"Good rule!" said Cody and lifted up his vest to show his abs. "I think I'm good." Simon lifted up his vest too, and Cody ran his hand over Simon's abs. "You're good too."

"Can we please get on with the workout now?" asked Scott.

"Sure," said Flex. "Let's split into two groups. Cody and Scott, you can do traps, and the Prof and I will do forearms. Then we'll switch."

"Sounds good," said Cody. "Let's go, Scott."

Simon watched Cody and Scott walk over to the dumbbells and felt a small hollow feeling in his stomach. He shook it off and turned to Flex. "So, what are we doing?"

"Forearms," said Flex. "We'll start with wrist curls. You can use an EZ bar or a straight bar, whichever is more comfortable." Flex picked up a medium weight fixed barbell. "You can do it seated or standing, but I like to do it like this." He straddled a bench and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the seat with his wrists hanging over the edge. "You can do it like this, or you can sit on the bench and rest your forearms on your thighs. It's up to you." Simon took the next lightest barbell and copied Flex's position on another bench. "Okay, so you just curl your wrists up and down. I concentrate on pressing my elbows against the bench to keep the focus on my forearms."

Simon copied Flex's movements. "This is pretty easy," he said. "How many reps should I do?"

"Until you can't do any more," said Flex. "I usually do about 20 reps. When I can't get 15 I drop the weight."

"I think I need a heavier weight, then," said Simon.

"Oh, yeah, wow your forearms are huge!" said Flex. "I guess you've been doing a lot of deadlifts?"

"I did yesterday," said Simon. "I did 515 pounds for 2 reps."

"Oh yeah, Cody sent me the video," said Flex. "That was impressive. I'm not surprised your forearms are so big. You weren't even using straps, were you?"

"No, I just hold on tight," said Simon.

"Well, that'll do it," said Flex. "Okay, let's do another set. I'll stick with this weight for now."

Simon took the barbell heavier than the one Flex was using and did another set. "That's better," he said.

"Great, we'll do a few more sets here and then switch to reverse wrist curls," said Flex. "So Cody tells me you're coming to Muscle Mike's on Friday?"

"Oh, am I?" asked Simon. "I didn't know that."

"Maybe he didn't tell you yet. Typical Cody," said Flex. "But you should come. It's a great party, you'll be a hit."

"It sounds like fun," said Simon.

"It is fun," said Flex. "And you can make a lot of money."

"Money?" asked Simon. "How?"

"Well, a lot of the patrons pay extra for private shows," said Flex. "You know, you show off your muscles, flex, pose, maybe strip down to your underwear or less. They place bids, and you can decide whether to accept or not."

"Like an auction?" asked Simon.

"No, not really," said Flex. "They say what they want and what they're willing to pay, and you can decide whether to accept or not. There's no bidding war or anything. You can accept as many offers as you want, or none at all. It's up to you."

"People pay just to see muscles close up?" asked Simon.

"Yeah they do. Or maybe they want to touch them, or lick them, or more. Entirely up to you what your limits are." said Flex. "It's a lot of fun, and you can make a lot of money."

Flex took their barbells back to the rack and came back with some lighter ones. "Okay, let's do reverse wrist curls now. Same thing, but overhand grip. Rest your forearms on your knees this time, because you can't get your elbows together with an overhand grip." Flex sat sideways on the bench and rested his forearms on his knees. Simon copied him. "Nice, good form," said Flex.

"How much money?" asked Simon.

"Oh, right. Well, have you seen Scott's car?" asked Flex.

"No, I don't think so," said Simon.

"It's a brand new BMW X7," said Flex. "He paid for it with his Muscle Mike's earnings."

"Wow," said Simon. "That's a lot of car."

"Yeah, it is," said Flex. "But Scott's top-tier. He's... well, he's very good at what he does. He's got a lot of fans and regulars."

"And you and Cody?" asked Simon.

"We do okay," said Flex. "I made $700 last time, but I don't go as far as Scott does. I have a good job, so I just keep it fun. Cody got about the same, but he doesn't take it as seriously as Scott does."

"Yeah, about that," said Simon. "You're a professor too, right? So why don't you call me Simon? Or maybe I should call you Prof too?"

"Because I look like a Flex, and you look like a Prof," said Flex. "It's your Trash Bro name."

Simon looked at Flex for a moment and then laughed. "Okay, I guess I can live with that."

After a few more sets of reverse wrist curls, Flex and Simon switched places with Cody and Scott. "Okay, so we're doing traps now," said Flex. "We'll start with shrugs. You can do them with dumbbells or a barbell, whichever you prefer. I like to do them with a barbell, but I'll do them with dumbbells today so you can see how it's done."

"Okay, sure," said Simon, looking over at Cody and Scott. They were deep in conversation, and Simon felt that hollow feeling in his stomach again.

Flex demonstrated the movement. "Really squeeze your shoulders up, imagine you're trying to touch your ears with your shoulders."

Simon took the heaviest dumbbells and copied Flex's movements. "How many reps should I do?"

"Just keep going until you can't do any more," said Flex.

Simon mirrored Flex's movements, squeezing his shoulders as hard as he could. "How did you and Cody meet?" he asked.

"Here, at the gym," said Flex. "About six years ago. Cody and Scott were dating and working out together, and after a few weeks they started asking me for advice. They were both skinny undergrads back then, but they were really dedicated. They were here every day. I was already pretty big, so I guess they thought I knew what I was doing. But they caught up quickly. And that's the origin story of the Trash Bros."

"So that makes you leader of the Trash Bros?" asked Simon.

"No, every Trash Bro thinks he's the leader," laughed Flex. "But we make it work."

Simon looked over at Cody and Scott again. "How long were they dating?"

"About a year," said Flex. "They didn't have a big break up or anything, they just decided they were better as friends. They're still really close."

"I can see that," said Simon. "Did you ever... date either of them?"

A smile slowly spread across Flex's face. "Date? No, I wouldn't say that. But we hooked up a few times."

"Both of them?" asked Simon.

Flex grinned. "Sometimes, yeah!"

Simon felt that hollow feeling in his stomach again. But now he was picturing Cody and Scott and Flex together and he found himself becoming aroused. He shook his head and tried to focus on his shrugs but it was no use. He put the dumbbells down and surreptitiously adjusted his shorts. "Okay, I think I'm done with these," he said.

"Fair enough," said Flex. "Let's switch things up a bit." He whistled and waved at Cody and Scott and yelled "Trash Bros Assemble!"

Cody and Scott walked over to them. "What's up?" asked Cody.

"Let's do calves, Scott and Prof can do abs," said Flex.

"Okay, sure," said Cody. "Let's go." Cody and Flex walked over to the Smith machine and started loading plates onto it.

"So what are we doing?" asked Scott.

"I dunno, I thought you were the leader," said Simon.

"Good point. Let's do crunches." He grabbed a dumbbell and walked over to the mat area and sat down. "You know how to crunch, right?"

"Yeah, I think so," said Simon. He grabbed a dumbbell and sat down next to Scott. "How many reps should I do?"

"Until you can't do any more and then a few more," said Scott. "I usually do about 50." He lay back on the mat and held the dumbbell on his chest. "Okay, let's go."

Simon lay back on the mat next to Scott and held the dumbbell on his chest. He started doing crunches, keeping pace with Scott.

"Try and go a bit higher," said Scott. "Really squeeze your abs. You can lift your lower back off the mat too, a bit like a sit-up."

Simon adjusted his feet and tried crunching higher. "Oh yeah, that feels better," he said.

"Good, keep going," said Scott as he put his dumbbell down and lay back on the mat.

Simon kept going, feeling his abs burning. He kept going until he couldn't do any more, and then he did a few more. He put the dumbbell down and lay back on the mat next to Scott. "Wow, that was intense," he said.

"Just three more sets like that and we can move to something else," said Scott.

"Apparently Cody said I should come to Muscle Mike's on Friday," said Simon.

"Yeah, you should," said Scott. "You can meet your fans."

"What fans?" asked Simon.

"Have you seen how many views your Hulk Out Prof video got?"

"No, how many?"

"I dunno man, have a look on X!"

Simon took his phone out and opened X. He searched for "Hulk Out Prof" and found the video by @muscles_n_memes. It had 960,000 views. He reposted it and added the comment "Thanks for making this!" and showed Scott.

"Almost a million views!" said Scott. "That's crazy!"

"I know, right?" said Simon. "And I'm bigger now than I was in that video."

"Exactly!" said Scott. "You're going to be a huge hit at Muscle Mike's."

They did another set of crunches and then lay on the mat resting.

"Flex said I could make a lot of money," said Simon.

"If you work hard, you can," said Scott. "If you don't work hard you can make the same as Cody."

"What do you mean?" asked Simon.

"Cody doesn't take it seriously," said Scott. "He's got a lot of fans, but he doesn't work hard enough to keep them."

"Really? I thought he was really dedicated," said Simon.

"To working out, sure," said Scott. "But not to Muscle Mike's. He needs to focus his efforts and build his brand."

"Oh, right," said Simon. "How do you do that?"

"You've got to do the social media thing," said Scott. "You've got to post pictures and videos of yourself, interact with fans, but you also need to know what your persona is. You can just be yourself and hope for the best, or you can create a character and play that. Cody just posts pics sometimes, doesn't really interact with his fans, and doesn't have a character worked out. He's just Cody."

"I'm sure some people like that," said Simon.

"Yeah, but it's not that special. There are loads of good looking muscular guys. You need to stand out. Create something people can't get anywhere else."

They did another set of crunches.

"What's your brand persona?" asked Simon.

"Well, there are a number of different scenarios a blonde six-foot-two muscle god can play, so I lean into that. I bleach my hair, even though it's naturally blonde. I wear all-white clothes. Keep my skin looking smooth and golden but not too tanned. In public and on social media I keep it mysterious but serious. Then depending on what the guy's into I can move into that role."

"Like what?" asked Simon.

"Ivan Drago from Rocky 4 is quite popular with the boxing fans. I'm an angel or a god for other guys. But the big money is ... " Scott paused for a moment. "Well, I don't want to say too much, but it's a very specific role that some guys are into."

"Okay," said Simon. "I think I get it."

"Okay, last set of crunches," said Scott. "Then we'll do some leg raises." They did another set of crunches and then Scott got up and headed over to the pull-up bar. He grabbed the bar and demonstrated the movement, lifting his legs up until they were parallel to the floor. After he'd completed his set he dropped down and gesture for Simon to do the same.

"I need one of these to reach the bar," said Simon, getting a step-up box and putting it under the bar. He grabbed the bar and lifted his legs up. "Just like this? It's pretty easy."

"It builds up on you after a few dozen reps. If you want to make it harder, you can hold a dumbbell between your feet," said Scott.

Simon did 30 reps and then dropped down. "I'll get a dumbbell," he said and walked over to the dumbbell rack. He grabbed a ten and a twenty pound dumbbell and brought them back to the pull up bar. He put them on the step-up box, and carefully tried to grab one of them with his feet.

"You hang, and I'll put the weight between your feet," said Scott. Simon grabbed the pull-up bar, and Scott held the ten pound dumbbell out in front of him. "There, take it!" he said. Simon lifted his legs up and grabbed the dumbbell with his feet.

"Yeah, that feels a bit better," said Simon.

"Off you go then," said Scott.

Simon did another thirty reps and then slowly lowered his legs like he'd seen Scott do. "Oh yeah, that burns!" he said.

"So what do you think it is?" asked Scott.

"What what is?" asked Simon.

"The role I play," said Scott.

"Oh yeah, um, I don't know, maybe a cop?" asked Simon.

Scott laughed. "No, not a cop. But you're not far off."

"Okay, I give up," said Simon.

Scott paused. "Okay, but don't judge me because of this, okay?"

"Okay," said Simon.

"It's racism," said Scott. "I play a racist."

"Wow," said Simon. "That's... wow."

"Yeah, I know," said Scott. "But it's a big market. I don't know why, but it is. I don't like it, but it turns out I'm good at it and I'm not going to turn down the money."

"Does Flex know?" asked Simon.

"I told you I'm not really a racist!" said Scott. "But yes, Flex knows. He thinks it's funny. He even helped me understand the role better."

"Wow," said Simon. "What ... does that involve?"

"Well, it's a lot of verbal abuse," said Scott. "I'm not going to say any of it now, but it's pretty bad. And then there's the physical stuff."

"Like beating them up?" asked Simon.

"Yeah, or other torturey stuff, whatever they're into," said Scott. "And obviously fucking them too."

Simon felt a bit queasy. "And guys pay you big money for this?"

"Yeah, I know, it's weird," said Scott. "Who knows how the human mind works. But they always leave satisfied, if you know what I mean."

"Wow," said Simon. "I don't think I could do that."

"You can go as far as you want," said Scott. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. But you can make a lot of money if you do."

"I'm not sure I need the money that badly," said Simon.

"Okay, but you should still come to the party," said Scott. "It's a lot of fun, and you can meet your fans."

"I'll think about it," said Simon.

"Okay, let's do another set of leg raises," said Scott. "Then we'll switch to calves."

Simon used the 20 pound dumbbell for the next set of leg raises. He did 30 again, but he was struggling by the end. He put the dumbbell down and sat on the bench. "Wow, that was tough," he said.

"Yeah, it's a tough one," said Scott. "Okay, let's do some calf raises." They walked over to where Cody was doing calf seated raises on the machine. He walked over to him. "Hey, how's it going over here?" he asked.

"Good, we're just finishing calves," said Cody.

Simon looked at Cody's calves. The sweat was the perfectly highlighting the definition of his smooth-shaven calves. He watched them flex and relax as Cody did his reps. The way they glistened in the light reminded him of honey. He imagined licking them, tasting the sweetness... no, the saltiness of the sweat. "They're looking great!" he said.

"Thanks," said Cody. "Maybe later you can tell me how they taste."

Simon looked shocked for a moment, then grinned as Cody winked at him. "Uhh... Okay, sure!" he said.

"Hot, see you later, Si!" said Cody, as he finished his set and got up.

Simon watched Cody and Flex walk to the mat area, but mainly was watching Cody's calves. He was still thinking about licking them. He shook his head and turned to Scott.

"So, you and Cody..." said Scott.

"I don't know if there is a me and Cody yet, but..." said Simon.

"He's not your boyfriend," said Scott.

"Well, I don't think we're there yet, but..." said Simon.

Scott cut him off. "No, what I mean is, he isn't your boyfriend, and he's not going to be your boyfriend. He's not into that, so don't get your hopes up."

Simon felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. "Oh, okay," he said, his face falling. "I thought you two were over."

"Aw, c'mere!" said Scott, giving Simon a hug. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so blunt. I just don't want you to get hurt. We haven't been an item for years. Cody's a great guy, my best friend, but he just doesn't get the relationship thing."

"What does that mean?" asked Simon.

"He's aromantic," said Scott. "He doesn't do romance or relationships or that stuff. He's just not into it. He just fucks."

"But he's affectionate with me," said Simon, "and he kissed me."

"He's like that with everyone," said Scott. "He's a very physical person. He likes to touch and be touched. He's not a robot, he just doesn't do romance."

"I don't understand," said Simon. "How can he be so affectionate and not want a relationship?"

"Look, he obviously likes you," said Scott. "but as a friend. There, look, see how he is with Flex."

Simon looked over at Cody and Flex. Flex was sitting on a bench and Cody was standing behind him, rubbing his shoulders. Flex was leaning back into Cody's crotch and they were both laughing. Cody leaned down and kissed Flex on the forehead. "See?" said Scott. "He's like that with all his friends."

Simon took a step back and sat down on a leg adductor machine.

"Look, I'm sorry," said Scott. "I didn't mean to upset you. It's difficult to see it at first. It's like a superficial relationship. Everything seems to be there on the surface, but underneath there's nothing happening. It took me ages to figure out when we were dating. After we split up we found out about aromanticism and it all made sense."

Simon looked at Cody and Flex again. Cody patted Flex on the butt and then sat down on the mat.

"Hey, don't be so down about it. As a friend, he's the best. And you'll get a lot of sex out of it," said Scott.

Simon smiled and looked at Scott. "He's very good at that."

"Damn right he is," said Scott. "He's the best I've ever had. And I've had a lot. Now, let's work some calves."

Simon and Scott did a few sets of seated calf raises and then switched to standing calf raises on the Smith machine. Simon didn't feel that the exercises were working his calves very hard. "I think I need a heavier weight," he said.

"Yeah, sure, but this is about as much as I can do," said Scott.

Simon loaded up the machine with the heaviest plates he could find and did a few sets. "That's better," he said.

"Try and get your heels as low as possible, and then lift them as high as possible. You want to get a full range of motion, maximum stretch at the bottom and maximum flex at the top," said Scott.

Simon went slower, stretching his calves at the bottom and flexing them at the top. "Oh yeah, I feel that," he said.

Cody and Flex walked over to them. "Nice calf pump!" said Flex.

"29, 30!" said Simon, and racked the bar.

"Nice, we've got to get you into peak condition before you meet your fans at Muscle Mike's on Friday," said Cody.

"Yeah, about that..." said Simon. "I'm not sure if that's me."

"What do you mean?" asked Cody.

"It's a bit more than I was expecting," said Simon. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that... stuff."

"Oh, you don't have to do that stuff," said Cody. "You can just come and have fun. People there want to meet you."

"To be honest I'm just a bit grossed out by what I've heard goes on there," said Simon.

"Hey, it's not that bad," said Flex. "That stuff is all private and behind closed doors. You won't see anything you don't want to see."

Simon sighed. "Alright, I'll think about it."

"Are we done?" asked Scott.

"Yeah, I think so. Trash Bros, get wet!" said Cody holding up his fist and leading the way to the showers.

Simon followed them to the showers. He was still thinking about what Scott had said, about the party and about Cody. He was still confused about Cody's behaviour. He was affectionate, but not romantic. He was physical, but not sexual. He was a great friend, but not a boyfriend. Simon was still trying to figure it out when he got to the showers. He stripped off his clothes and stepped into a shower cubicle. He turned the water on and let it run over him. He was still thinking about Cody when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Cody standing there, naked, with a big smile on his face. "Hey, Si," he said.

"Hey," said Simon. "What's up?"

"I am," said Cody. Simon looked down and saw that Cody was rock hard. Cody stepped into the cubicle, closed the door behind him and  kissed Simon on the lips. "We didn't get to work out together out there," he said, "so I thought I'd join you in here."

"There's not much space in here," said Simon.

"We'll have to squash ourselves together then," said Cody. He leaned back against the wall. "Come here."

Simon stepped closer to Cody and Cody wrapped his arms around him. "I couldn't stop looking at you while you were working out," said Cody. "You looked so hot showing off your junk in those shorts."

"Oh god, was it obvious?" asked Simon.

Cody reached down and grabbed Simon's stiffening penis. "Oh yeah, it was obvious," he said. "I could see you adjusting yourself every time you looked at me."

"I couldn't help it," said Simon. "You're so hot."

"That makes two of us," said Cody. "I couldn't stop thinking about you either. I was so hard watching you work out. I kept thinking of different things I wanted to do to you."

"Like what?" asked Simon.

"Like this," said Cody, pressing him backwards to the other wall of the cubicle. He kissed Simon again, and then dropped to his knees. He slowly licked Simon's cock from the base to the tip. Simon moaned and put his hands on Cody's huge shoulders. Cody licked Simon's shaft up and down, and then started licking his balls. Simon moaned again and leaned back against the wall. Cody licked his way up to Simon's tip and then took the head in his mouth. He sucked on it for a few seconds and then looked up at Simon. "I want to taste you," he said.

"Okay, umm, sure," said Simon. "What do I taste like?"

"No, I mean I want to swallow your load. I need to taste you," said Cody.

"Jesus, yes!" said Simon. It was literally like his dream was coming true. Cody took Simon's penis in his mouth again and started sucking. Simon moaned and put his hands on Cody's head again. Cody sucked and licked Simon's cock, playing with his balls and squeezing his shaft. Simon moaned again and leaned back against the wall. Cody worked Simon's shaft with his hands while sucking hard and rubbing Simon's cockhead against the roof of his mouth. Simon gasped and felt his balls tighten. "I'm gonna cum!" he said. Cody sucked firmly and with purpose while looking up at Simon. Simon looked down and the sight of Cody's mouth on his throbbing cock while he looked up at him with wide eyes was too much. He came hard, panting and gasping as he shot his load into Cody's mouth. Cody swallowed it all and then licked Simon clean. He stood up and kissed him again. "You taste good, like a Trash Bro should," he said.

Simon laughed. "I'm glad you approve," he said.

"See you out there," said Cody, and stepped out of the cubicle.

Simon stood there for a moment, trying to catch his breath. He rinsed himself down, washed his hair and worked some shampoo around his pubes and penis, then rinsed it off, stepped out of the cubicle and dried himself off. He walked out of the shower area as Cody stepped out of another cubicle. They walked back to the lockers together.

Scott and Flex were already there, dressed and ready to go. "Did you have your protein shakes?" asked Flex with a raised eyebrow.

"I had the protein," said Cody. "Si had the shakes."

"Nice!" said Flex. "Okay, let's go. See you later, Bros!"

Simon and Cody got dressed and walked out to the parking lot together. The sun was just about done setting. "So, what are you doing now?" asked Cody.

"I'm going home," said Simon. "I've got some work to do on a proposal I want to get to the Dean tomorrow. I don't know how much I'll get done, though. You've really tired me out. I'm gonna sleep well tonight!"

"Any time!" said Cody. "I'll see you tomorrow morning? It's chest day!"

"Awesome!" said Simon. "I'll see you then."

"See you tomorrow, Si," said Cody, and gave him a hug. "Thanks for the workout."

Simon hugged him back for a while and then reluctantly let go. "See you tomorrow," he said, and watched Cody get into his Jeep and drive off, before he got into his car and went home.

He made himself a protein shake and put some chicken breasts in the oven. He sat down at his desk and opened his laptop, opened the proposal he'd been working on and started typing. He was making good progress when the oven beeped and he paused to eat supper. Afterwards he made another protein shake and put the finishing touches on his proposal. He emailed it to the Dean and then went to bed.

[LukeXL]

Part 14:

Simon dreamed that he was in a field near the top of a hill on a hot summer's day. There was fragrant heather growing here and there, and in one direction he could see the sea. The hills around him had pine trees growing on them. He could hear voices murmuring around him, but when he looked around he couldn't see anyone else. There was a barbell on the ground in front of him and two large stacks of plates on either side. He decided to do some deadlifts, and loaded a couple of plates onto each side of the bar. He bent down, grabbed the bar and stood up. He did a few reps, and added more weight to the bar, continuing in that fashion until he had five plates on either side. He hauled to bar up and marvelled at how good it felt to lift such a heavy weight. He took a deep breath of the fragrant air and heard a deep voice behind him.

"Melo veero," it said.

He put the bar down and looked around to see an enormous man standing behind him. He must have been eight feet tall at least, with deep bronze skin, and huge muscles. His long black hair was arranged in what looked like braids or dreadlocks. He wore a gold amulet around his neck and nothing else.

"Uh hi..." Simon said.

The giant stepped forward and rubbed the back of his enormous hand against Simon's chest. "Kurta kurpor!" he said.

"My name's Simon," said Simon.

The giant took Simon's whole upper arm between his thumb and forefinger and squeezed gently. "Myee keeka," he said, smiling and nodding.

"Keeka?" Simon said. "Are you Keeka?"

The giant laughed, a deep rumbling sound. "Keeku" he said, pointing at Simon's bicep. "Keeka" he said again, and rubbed his enormous hand across Simon's pecs. "Myee keeka!" he said and pointed at his own enormous bicep.

"Keeka... muscle?" Simon wondered aloud.

The giant nodded and pointed at the barbell on the floor.

The time for talking was over. Simon knew what he had to do, and got back to his deadlifts. He added another plate to the bar, taking it up to six plates, and the bar bent under the weight. He gripped the bar and pulled, and it came off the floor.

"Melo veero!" said the giant, with an approving look on his face.

Simon lifted rep after rep, feeling his muscles straining and swelling and growing, each rep feeling making him feel more and more elated. Eventually he couldn't lift the bar anymore and dropped it to the ground. Panting, he looked down to see his muscles and realized he was also naked. How had he not noticed that until now? He started laughing. He stood up and did a double bicep pose for the giant, flexing as hard as he could.

"Kurta kurpor!" said the giant.

"Keeka!" said Simon, moving to a most muscular pose and flexing his pecs.

The giant laughed pointed at his own pecs. "Keeka," he said. Then he flexed his pecs, which were so huge that they looked like they were made of stone. "Myee keeka!" he said.

Simon held out his arm and pointed to his bicep. "Keeka?" he asked. The giant nodded. He flexed his bicep and said "Myee keeka?" The giant smiled and nodded. "So myee means big, maybe?" said Simon. "Big muscle?" The giant nodded again. "Big muscle!" said Simon, and flexed his bicep again. "Myee keeka! What were those other words you said? Melo veero and kurta kurpor?"

The giant put his hands under Simon's arms and caressed him down to his waist. "Kurpor," he said.

"Kurpor... body! Like corpus, in Latin!" said Simon.

The giant nodded and bent down. He brushed some grass gently with his hand. "Miuda," he said. Then he picked up two stones and hit them together. "Kurta," he said.

"Kurta... stone?" said Simon.

The giant shook his head and stood up. He gently stroked Simon's pecs. "Miuda?" he said. Then he pressed hard against Simon's chest so that Simon had to take a step backwards to stop falling over. "Kurta!" he said.

"Oh, I get it!" said Simon. "Miuda is soft, like grass, and kurta is hard, like stone! So kurta korpor means hard body!"

"Vidri veero," said the giant, smiling and nodding.

"Oh, you said veero again. What does that mean?"

The giant pointed at Simon. "Veero," he said, then grinned and tapped Simon's penis. "Veero!"

"Oh... Man! Veero, like virile!" said Simon. He pointed at himself and said "Veero!", then pointed at the giant. "Veero!"

The giant shook his head. He pointed at Simon. "Veero." Then pointed at himself. "Deevo."

"Deevo..." said Simon, "that sounds like..." He pointed at the giant. "God?" He suddenly felt lightheaded. It was like the sun was shining directly in his eyes wherever he looked. And the giant seemed much bigger now, as if he was growing in size while moving away so that he filled the same amount of Simon's field of view.

"Deevo tuvo echo, veero mene siti," said the god.

The light grew brighter and brighter until Simon had to cover his eyes with his hands. And then as if he didn't even wake up, he realised he was lying in his bed and the sun was shining in his eyes. The last words the god had spoken were still ringing in his ears. He looked at the time on his phone. It was eight minutes before his alarm was due to go off. He turned off the alarm and got out of bed.

He felt incredible. He looked in the mirror and saw that his traps had grown thicker and wider overnight. His forearms and calves looked pumped, with incredible definition and vascularity. He flexed his abs and was amazed at the sight of them. They looked as if they'd been chiseled out of stone, they were so hard and well defined.

But he didn't have time to admire himself, he had to get to the gym. He put on the red stronger vest and his new black shorts and converse, and put his work clothes in his gym bag. He drank a protein shake and ate a big bowl of oats, and then headed out.

At the gym, he dumped his gym bag in a locker and walked out to the weights area. But as he was walking past the resistance machines area he noticed a familiar figure sitting on the seated press machine.

"Ken?" he said. "I didn't know you worked out here."

"Simon!" said Ken. "I didn't know you worked out here either. I joined this morning!"

"Oh, awesome!" said Simon. "Are you planning to bulk up?"

"What can I say, you inspired me!" said Ken. "I dunno if I'll ever be as big as you, but I'm going to try."

"I got lucky," said Simon, "but I'm sure you'll pack on muscle in no time!"

"Thanks!" said Ken. "You'll have to show me your routine sometime."

"I just do what Cody tells me to do," said Simon. "He's a great trainer."

"Cody?" said Ken.

"Yeah, he's a guy I met here. He's really helped me get in shape. There he is over there." Simon pointed at Cody, who was chatting to Scott in the free weights area.

"You know Cody and Scott?" said Ken.

"Yeah, do you know them too?" said Simon.

"You could say that," said Ken. "Scott and I dated for a few months when we were freshmen. Then over the vacation he went to visit his uncle in New York, and when he came back he'd really changed. He dumped me and started dating Cody."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Simon. "If it's any consolation they didn't last long. Cody's not really into relationships."

"It kind of makes it worse, actually? But it's okay. It was years ago. I'm over it. Water under the bridge. But by Grabthar's hammer, I will have my revenge!" said Ken smacking his fist into his palm.

"What?" laughed Simon.

"Kidding!" said Ken. "I'm just going to get big and hot and make Scott regret dumping me. Actually, yes... Revenge is a dish best served swole!"

Simon laughed again. "You're a riot, Ken. Say... do you speak French?"

"Moi? Non, je ne parle pas français," said Ken.

"Wait... did you just say you don't speak French... in French?" said Simon. "Isn't that a paradox?"

"Oui," said Ken. "But that's basically all I know how to say. Why do you ask?"

"I had a dream where you were speaking French."

"Really? What did I say?"

"I don't know. I don't speak French either!"

"Oh my god, that's too funny!" said Ken. "Why would you dream that? What was I doing in the dream?"

"Uh, well, we were here in the locker room, and you were naked, and... uh..." Simon blushed.

"Hmmm, that does sound like something I'd do," said Ken, grinning.

"Anyway, I'd better get to my workout," said Simon. "I'll see you around, Ken."

"See you later, big guy!" said Ken.

Simon headed over to Cody and Scott. "Hey guys!" he said.

"Hey Simon!" said Scott. "How's it going? Was that Ken you were talking to?"

"Yeah, he just joined the gym," said Simon.

"Oh, good for him. He's a nice guy. I used to date him BC." said Scott.

"BC?" asked Simon.

"Before Cody," said Scott.

"I have that effect on people," said Cody, grinning.

"So we're doing chest today?" said Simon.

"Yep," said Cody. "Flex couldn't make it so we're a threesome this morning."

"Sounds good," said Simon. "Let's do it!"

They started with Incline Bench Press. Two of them could change the plates on the bar while the third took a break making it quite efficient. They all started out with a warmup of 135 pounds, and then added more weight. Simon was amazed to find that he could lift 225 pounds easily. "How much did I do last week?" he asked Cody.

"Not much more than 135," said Cody. "You've made some great progress!"

"Let's go up to 275," said Simon.

Cody and Scott looked at each other. "Are you sure?" said Cody.

"Yeah, I feel great!" said Simon.

"Okay, let's do it," said Cody, and he and Scott added another 25 pounds to each side of the bar. Simon grabbed the bar. "Whoah," said Cody, "aren't you going to let us have a turn?"

"Oh yeah, sorry," said Simon. He stood up and Scott took his place.

Scott did a set of eight reps, then Cody did a set of ten, struggling at the end. Simon got back under the bar and did four reps easily. After eight he felt fine. Twelve didn't feel like too bad. Sixteen was somewhat challenging. He kept going until twenty, then racked the bar and sat up. He felt good. He looked down at his chest and saw that it was getting a good pump too. He looked over at Cody and Scott, who were both staring at him with their mouths open.

"More weight?" said Simon.

"I think I'm gonna stick with 275 for now," said Scott.

"Me too," said Cody.

Scott did another set of eight reps, and Cody stopped at seven.

"Okay, now more weight!" said Simon.

"How much?" asked Scott.

"Hmmm," said Simon looking at the plates. "Put another plate on. Let's go for 365."

"Really?" asked Cody. "That's a lot of weight."

"I feel great!" said Simon. "Let's do it!"

Scott and Simon loaded another plate onto the bar. It was now had three full plates and a 25 on each side. The rack creaked a little as they adjusted the weight. Simon lay back on the bench and grabbed the bar. He lifted it off the rack and started doing reps. He did eight, then ten, then twelve. He racked the bar and sat up. He felt amazing. He looked down at his chest and saw that it was pumped up and swollen. He stood up and said to Scott: "Your turn!"

"I think I'll sit this one out," said Scott.

"Me too," said Cody.

"Okay, more weight!" said Simon. "I wanna try for 405!"

"God Simon, that's more than you managed on the flat bench on Saturday!" said Cody.

Simon swung his arms and flexed his pecs. "Yeah! Let's do it!" he said.

Scott and Cody shrugged and replaced the 25s with 45s. They stood at either side of the bar, ready to catch it if Simon couldn't lift it. Simon lay down on the bench and grabbed the bar. He lifted it off the rack and slowly lowered it to his chest, paused for a moment, and pushed it back up. "God that feels good!" he said. He did another rep, and another. He started feeling it on his fourth rep, but he kept going, just focusing on his muscles and the joy he felt from lifting that bar. The world faded into insignificance. He was one with his muscles and the iron. On the eighth rep he felt he was almost at failure. He struggled to push the bar up. Scott and Cody cupped their hands under the ends on the bar, ready for if he failed. But he didn't. He pushed and pushed until his arms were locked out, and let out an involuntary groan of pleasure. He racked the bar and sat up.

"Enjoyed that, did you?" asked Cody, grinning.

"God yes!" said Simon. "I was in meatspace. I feel amazing!"

"Great. We'll put these plates away while you clean up," said Cody, looking at Simon's shorts.

Simon looked down and saw a wet spot growing in his shorts. "Oh god!" he said. "I didn't even notice!"

"We'll do flat bench next, so we'll see you there," said Cody.

"Gotcha," said Simon, and headed to the locker room, nonchalantly keeping a hand in front of his crotch.

After cleaning up as best as he could in a stall in the locker room, Simon headed back into the gym and noticed Toby on an elliptical machine. Toby looked up and Simon waved at him. Toby stopped the machine and rushed over to Simon. "Hey Simon!" he said. "Look at this!" He fumbled with in his pocket to get his phone out, then swiped through some pictures before holding his phone out for Simon to see.

It was a picture of Simon's vest, with the Linear A writing on it with some notes typed on it. "What's this?" said Simon.

"That's what the vest says, to the best of our ability to transliterate it," said Toby. "We've been working on it all weekend. I think we've got it right. It says 'meh-something-wiro katukupo ma-something-kiku'. I'm a little disappointed that it doesn't say 'Just Do It' or something like that, but anyway, that's what it sounds like. A bit of a let down, I guess, but it's still pretty cool."

"Keeku means muscle," said Simon, remembering. "And katukupo might be kurta kurpor, hard body."

"What?" said Toby.

"So that means that meh-something-wiro is melo veero. And the last bit is myee keeka, big muscles. So yes, it says "melo veero, kurta kurpor, myee keeka."

"Wait are you telling me you know the language?" said Toby.

"Not a lot of it, but I know that veero means man, as in virile. And the opposite of kurta is miuda, hard and soft."

"This is incredible!" said Toby. "Let me take some notes. What else do you know?" He opened the notes app on his phone and started typing.

"Hmmm, he also said 'deevo tuvo echo, veero many city'." Simon frowned. "I don't know what that means."

Toby typed furiously, then looked at his phone. "There are some cognates in there," he said. "As you said, veero is like virile, but also like 'were' which is Old English for man. That's what werewolf means. Man-wolf. And kurpor is obviously like corpus in Latin, or körper in German. Or corpse in English, even. So going on that assumption, if we look at 'deevo tuvo echo', tuvo is like Latin tuus, meaning yours. And echo is like ego, meaning I. So it's something like 'I am yours', or 'I am your ... god?'."

Simon's eyes widened and a shiver ran through him. "That sounds ... plausible," he said.

"This is incredible!" said Toby. "I have to show this to Andrew, like right now! He's going to plotz!" Toby rushed off and Simon wandered back to Cody and Scott.

"That took a while. It must have been a big clean up!" said Cody.

Simon blushed. "No, I was chatting to a friend."

"I'm kidding, I saw you," said Cody. "Ready for the bench?"

"Hell yeah!" said Simon.

Simon took his place on the bench. Cody and Scott had the bar loaded with 275 pounds.

"You don't want a warm-up set?" asked Scott.

"This is my warm-up weight," said Simon. He grabbed the bar and lifted it off the rack. He did a set of ten reps, then racked the bar. "More weight!" he said.

"Okay," said Cody. "We'll go up to 315."

Scott and then Cody did a set of eight reps each. Simon did a set of ten, then twelve, then sixteen. He racked the bar and sat up. "More weight!" he said.

Scott rolled his eyes and Cody laughed. "Okay, let's go up to 365," said Cody.

Scott struggled with the weight but managed eight reps. He was red in the face with exertion by the time he was done. Cody needed help with his seventh rep, and Simon and Scott gave him just enough help to get the bar back on the rack. Simon lay down on the bench and grabbed the bar. He did a set of ten reps, then twelve, then fifteen. He racked the bar and sat up. "More weight!" he said.

"How about we just load plates for the muscle machine here?" suggested Scott.

"Yeah!" said Simon.

"What was your max on Saturday?" asked Cody.

"385," said Simon. "Let's go for 405!"

Cody and Scott loaded the bar with 405 pounds. Four plates per side. The bar was bending under the weight. Simon lay down on the bench and grabbed the bar. He lifted it off the rack and slowly lowered it to his chest, paused for a moment, and pushed it back up. This was more like it! This was the most weight he'd ever lifted, and it felt amazing. He did a set of ten reps, then squeezed out two more. He racked the bar and sat up.

"More weight?" asked Scott.

"Yes please!" said Simon.

"425?" suggested Cody.

"455!" said Simon.

"Jesus!" said Scott, and he and Cody added another 25 pounds to each side of the bar. A small group of people had gathered around to watch. Simon laid back and grabbed the bar. He closed his eyes and lifted it off the hooks. The weight was incredible. He lowered it to his chest and paused for a moment. He pushed it back up, and did another rep. And another. And another. He was fully in meatspace now, oblivious to the rest of the world, immersed in the ecstasy of iron. After ten reps he felt he was done. He racked the bar, sat up and noticed the crowd around him. "Does anyone else want a turn?" he asked. There was a bit of nervous laughter, but no one stepped forward.

"Do five plates!" said someone in the crowd, and they started chanting "Five plates! Five plates! Five plates!"

"Okay, five plates it is!" said Simon. "Gotta give the people what they want."

Scot and Cody replaced the 25s with 45s. The bar was now loaded with 495 pounds. Simon lay down on the bench and grabbed the bar.

"Try not to make a mess this time," said Scott.

"Haha," said Simon, and unracked the bar. He could feel that the weight would be a challenge, but he was confident he could do it. He lowered the bar to his chest and pressed it up. "One!" said the crowd. The second rep felt smoother than the first. "Two!" said the crowd. The third rep was a bit of a struggle, but he managed it. "Three!" said the crowd. The fourth rep was a real struggle. He felt like he wasn't going to get it up again, but didn't want to disappoint the crowd. He tensed his whole body and pushed with all his might. The bar moved slightly. He remembered the words from his dream. "Melo ... veero!" he said, and pushed the bar up. "Four!" said the crowd. He racked the bar and sat up. He was breathing heavily, and his chest was pumped up and swollen. He stood up and flexed his pecs. "Five plates!" he said, and the crowd cheered. "What's next?" he asked.

"Let's do some cable crossover and dumbbell pullovers to finish," said Cody.

"Finish?" said Simon. "I'm just getting started!"

"Yeah, unfortunately some of us have work to do," said Scott.

"But we'll be here again this evening with Flex," said Cody.

"Okay great!" said Simon. "I really feel like I'm making a breakthrough today!"

"It looks like it!" said Cody. "You're looking huge!"

Simon looked down at his chest and arms. They were pumped up and swollen, and looking bigger than he'd ever imagined possible. The stronger vest was stretched tight across his chest and shoulders. He flexed his pecs and felt the vest stretch even tighter. His pecs were thick, square and wide, and had that almost-glowing look he'd seen before. He slipped his right hand under the left strap of the vest and massaged his left pec. "Oh god," he said. "I feel so good!"

"Oh yeah? Let me feel," said Cody, and he put his hand on Simon's other pec. "Wow, you're right! You feel amazing!"

"Scott, you wanna feel?" said Simon, taking his hand off his pec.

"Yeah, feel it!" said Cody.

Scott shrugged. "Sure, why not?" he said, and put his hand on Simon's chest. "Oh my god, that's hot!" he said. He rubbed his hand all over Simon's pecs, exploring the deep valley between them, the thick upper surface, then all the way over and under Simon's arm.

Simon stood there watching the two huge, beautiful bodybuilders feeling him up. He started to feel a stirring in his shorts. Scott moved his hand down to Simon's lower pec and started pinching his nipple. Simon gasped. "You like that?" said Scott.

"Oh god yes!" said Simon.

"Good to know," said Scott, removing his hand. "We should do this again somewhere less public."

Cody looked at Simon quizzically. "You up for that, Si?"

Simon nodded. "Oh yeah!"

"Awesome," said Cody. "Let's do our finishers and then we'll head out."

As the three of them walked over to the cable crossover machine, Simon noticed both Cody and Scott surreptitiously adjust their shorts. "Wow, I had that kind of effect on those guys?" he thought. "I'm really getting big!"

They set up a bench for the dumbbell pullovers near the cable crossover machine. "I don't think you've done pullovers before," said Cody. "They're a great exercise for building your chest and lats, but we'll do them with a chest focus. They as much about stretching your chest as they are about lifting the weight." Cody grabbed a light dumbbell and positioned himself with his shoulders across the bench. He held the dumbbell with both hands above his head. "You want to keep your arms straight, and lower the weight behind your head as far as you can. You really want to get that stretch in your chest. So lower it as low as possible. For extra tension, drop your hips at the same time." Cody demonstrated, dropping his butt almost to the ground as he lowered the dumbbell behind his head until it was almost touching the ground. "Then bring the weight back up to the starting position, keeping your arms straight." He raised the weight back up to almost vertical, thrusting his hips up as he did. "And keep the weight behind vertical at the top of the movement. That's it. You want to keep the tension on your chest the whole time. You'll feel it stretching and contracting." Cody stood up. "We'll do supersets to failure. One of us on the pullovers, another on cable crossovers, and the third guy can rest. We switch as soon as one of us fails. Aim for about twenty reps on each set."

"Gotta love a good three-way," said Scott.

They worked out like that, almost in silence except for the grunting and groaning of the men working, the panting of the one resting, and the occassional clanging of weights. Simon adjusted his dumbbell and crossover weight up and down as he went along, but he was never the first to fail. After about fifteen minutes an alarm on Scott's phone went off. "Shower time!" he said. "We've got a meeting in half an hour."

"I'd better get to work too," said Simon.

They showered and Simon got dressed in his new black Burly Brand formal trousers and the dress shirt with cufflinks.

"Now who looks like a waiter?" asked Cody.

"I was going more for the James Bond look," said Simon as he buttoned up his shirt.

"You're too big for Bond now," said Cody. "You're more like... hmmm. I don't know."

"He looks like a mutant trying to pretend he's still a normal human." said Scott. "You know, like Beast in X-Men. He's huge and blue and furry, but he wears a suit and tie and pretends he's normal."

"Well, I'm not blue or furry," said Simon. "But you might be right about the rest." The shirt was tight across his chest and shoulders, and the sleeves were stretched tight across his biceps. He flexed his arms and the sleeves flexed too. "I'm going to have to get some bigger shirts again, but at least Burly Brand ones have a bit of stretch in them."

"Okay, let's get going," said Cody. "I'll see you this evening."

"See you later, big guy!" said Scott and he and Cody left together.

At the department, Simon bumped into the Dean on the way to his office.

"Hey Bill," said Simon.

"Simon, hi!" said the Dean. "I got your proposal for the new course. It looks great! I have a few ideas for sponsorships, I'll make a few calls and hopefully we can have this ready to offer in the next academic year."

"Thanks Bill," said Simon. "I'm really excited about it."

"You'll be really busy. There's been a lot of interest in your video games course too. Loads of pre-registrations. We might have to organise you a bigger lecture hall."

"That's great!" said Simon. "But I was thinking that Ken could take the lead on the new course. He's really into that stuff."

"Ken ... yes! As long as you supervise the course, I think that would be a great idea. Let me organize the funding and then we can make him an offer."

"Wonderful, thanks Bill!" said Simon and headed to his office. He was just sitting down at his desk when his phone rang. It was Toby.

"Simon! Hey, I'm just here with Andrew looking at my notes, and I can't figure out anything that I wrote down. Can you remind me what you said?"

"Sure," said Simon. "What do you want to know?"

"Um, all of it?" said Toby. "I knew I had something exciting to tell Andrew about the writing, but my mind's totally gone blank, and I can't make head or tail of the notes I took."

"Okay, well, it says 'melo veero, kurta kurpor, myee keeka', which means 'something man, hard body, big muscles'"

"Okay, got it," said Toby. "What else?"

"Also 'deevo tuvo echo' means 'I am your god.'"

"Wild!" said Toby. "So what does 'katukupo' mean?"

"Kurta kurpor, hard body," said Simon.

"Okay, and 'meh-something-wiro'?"

"Melo veero. Veero means man."

"Got it, and 'katukupo'?"

"I just said that one. Hard body."

"Did you? Let me write that down. Okay, and 'meh-something-wiro'?"

"Are you okay?" said Simon. "You're repeating yourself."

"Am I? Let me see what I've got here. I can't make sense of this, can you, Andrew? ... This is so weird. I'm sure I had something to tell you, but I can't remember what it was. I'm sorry, Simon, I'll have to call you back."

"Okay, no problem," said Simon. "Talk to you later."

The rest of the morning was uneventful. Simon worked on his lecture notes for the video games course, and did some research on the new course. He didn't want to tell Ken anything until it was confirmed, but he was excited about the prospect of having a new colleague.

By lunch time he was starving. He went to the cafeteria and got a big plate of pasta and a few chicken breasts. He was looking for a free table when someone waved at him. It was Toby and Andrew. He went over to their table and sat down.

"Hey guys," he said. "How's it going?"

"Hey, Simon, long time no see!" said Toby staring at his chest. "You're looking huge!"

"Thanks!" said Simon, and looked down to see what Toby was looking at. His chest was stretching the buttons on his shirt, exposing a sliver of opening between the buttons. He flexed his pecs and the buttons popped open. "Oops!" he said, and quickly buttoned up again.

"Oh my," said Andrew. "You're really getting big, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so," said Simon. "I'm really enjoying it."

"You look like you are!" said Toby. "Did you ever figure out what that writing on your gym vest was?"

Simon laughed. "What? You mean the Linear A writing?"

"Linear A?" asked Andrew. "What Linear A writing?"

"The writing on my vest," said Simon. "It's Linear A."

"Wow, that's incredible!" said Toby. "How did you figure that out?"

"You told me!" said Simon. "You said it was Linear A."

"I did?" said Toby. "I don't remember that."

"And then you and Andrew spent all weekend working out what it said, and you showed me on your phone."

Toby and Andrew looked at each other. "Did we?" asked Andrew.

"Yes, and I told you what it said," said Simon. "It says 'melo veero, kurta kurpor, myee keeka', which I think means 'strong man, hard body, big muscles'."

"You deciphered Linear A?" asked Toby.

"You showed me on your phone," said Simon. "You had a picture of my vest with the writing on it, and you'd written the translation underneath."

Toby took his phone out and started swiping through his pictures. "Oh yeah, here it is," he said. "That's weird, I don't remember adding these notes."

Simon looked at Toby's phone. It was the same picture of his vest, but all the notes had been replaced with gibberish. Someone had scribbled all over the image and typed random letters and emojis all over it. "What the hell?" said Simon. "That's not what it looked like when you showed me last time."

"When was that?

"This morning. In the gym."

Toby kept quiet for a while, then said "I don't remember that."

Simon looked at the two men sitting across from him. "What's going on?" he asked. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah we're fine Simon. Are you?" said Toby.

"I'm great!" said Simon.

"Simon," said Toby gently, "please don't take this the wrong way, but you're acting a little strange. Is it possible you're suffering from steroid psychosis?"

Simon was speechless. At first he'd thought they were playing a prank on him, but now he had to accept the possibility that they had genuinely forgotten everything that had happened since Friday evening. Or that he'd hallucinated it all.

"I... I don't know," he said. "I mean, it's not steroid psychosis because I'm not taking steroids." Toby raised a dubious eyebrow. "Do neither of you remember anything about translating the Linear A script?"

"No," said Andrew. "And I'd remember that because no-one's translated Linear A."

"Transliterating, I mean," said Simon. "You were trying to work out what the sounds were, not what the words meant."

"I don't remember that," said Toby. "I'm sorry, Simon. I think you should see a doctor."

"But how do you explain the scribbles and the nonsense text on the photograph? Someone must have done that." said Simon.

Toby unlocked his phone and looked at the picture again. "I don't know, Simon. Maybe it was a pocket dial or something."

The three sat in silence for a while. Simon was trying to process what was happening. He was sure that he hadn't imagined the whole thing. He remembered it so clearly. But Toby and Andrew were both acting like it had never happened. He looked down at his plate. He started eating the pasta and chicken.

"Simon, I'm sorry," said Toby. "I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sure it's nothing. But if you're worried, you should see a doctor."

"Yeah, I think I'll do that," Simon lied.

"Okay, good," said Toby. "I'm sorry, I have to get back to work. I'll see you later."

"Bye Toby," said Simon. "Bye Andrew."

"Bye Simon," said Andrew.

Simon finished his lunch and headed back to his office. He sat down at his desk and tried to work, but he couldn't concentrate. He kept thinking about what had happened. He was sure that he hadn't imagined it. He remembered it so clearly. But Toby and Andrew were both acting like it had never happened. He looked down at his chest. His pecs were stretching the buttons on his shirt again. He flexed his pecs and the buttons popped open. He buttoned them up again with an annoyed groan and tried to get back to work.

A meeting request popped up on his computer for a 5:30 meeting with the Dean flagged as "Important". "Oh nice, he must have organised the funding for the course already," thought Simon. Thinking about the new course put him in a better mood. He couldn't wait to let Ken know and start work together on the course.

He headed over to the Dean's office at 5:25. The secretary smiled at him as he walked in and waved him through to the Dean's office.

"Simon, come in," said the Dean. "Have a seat." Simon pulled up a chair, sat down and heard someone walk into the office behind him. He turned around to see Louis, one of the campus security guards, standing next to the door.

"Oh, hi Lou," said Simon. "What's up?"

"Hey Prof," said Louis. "I'm just here to make sure you don't get too excited."

Simon looked confused and turned back to look at the Dean. "What's going on, Bill?" he said.

"Simon, I've had a number of disturbing reports and complaints about your behaviour," said the Dean.

"What?" Simon laughed.

"I'm afraid this isn't a laughing matter, Simon. Apparently you've been physically intimidating students, and behaving in a sexually agressive manner towards them. In your lecture on Friday you were displaying your muscles and tearing your clothes off!"

"What? No, that's what happened!" said Simon. "I was just wearing a defective shirt, and it ripped when I flexed. I didn't mean to do it."

"That's not all. Apparently you also violently intimidated the campus gym manager on Saturday before exposing yourself!"

"That ... that's not how it happened!"

"Simon, you posted all the video evidence yourself on the internet! Along with some other highly unprofessional photos." The Dean held up his phone, open on Simon's X account.

"Bill..." said Simon. He tried to stand up, but knocked the chair over backwards as he did.

"Whoa, whoa whoa!" said Louis, drawing his taser and pointing it at Simon. "Calm down big guy! Let's all just stay! Calm!"

Simon's throat was dry and his heart was pounding. He took a breath, put the chair upright again and sat back down. "Bill, I can explain..."

"There will be a time for explanations, Simon. But for now, I'm afraid I have to suspend you from your duties, effective immediately. Our students and staff have a right to feel safe on campus, and you've violated that right. There will be an investigation into your conduct, but I've got to admit it doesn't look good for you. Louis, please escort Simon to his office so he can get any personal belongings, and then out of the building. I'm sorry Simon."

Simon sat quietly for a moment, then looked over at Louis. "You can put the zapper away, Lou," he said, defeated. "I'm not going to cause any trouble." Being careful not to make any sudden moves, he cautiously stood up and walked back to his office. Lou followed behind him.

He stood in his doorway and surveyed his office. He was surpised at how little personal stuff he'd brought to the office. He started collecting his effects. Phone charger. A few PlayStation games. Some books from the shelf. His Kirby coffee mug. He put them all into his gym bag and zipped it closed. He took his mounted poster of Final Fantasy VII off the wall and held it under his arm. "Okay, I'm ready," he said.

Lou escorted him out of the building and to his car. "I'm sorry about this, Prof," said Lou. "I know you're a good guy. I hope you get this sorted out soon."

"Thanks Lou," said Simon. "I hope so too." He got into his car and put his head on the steering wheel. He felt like crying, but he didn't know if it was out of sadness or frustration. What he really needed now was a good workout to clear his head. He started the car and drove to the gym.

He unpacked his office junk into the trunk and headed into the gym. But when he tried to swipe his card to through the turnstiles the light stayed red and made the bad beep sound. He tried again, but it still didn't work. He went to the reception desk.

"Hey my card isn't working," he said.

"Okay, no problem, that happens sometimes. Let me see your card." Simon handed over his card and the receptionist swiped it on the reader behind the desk. "That's strange, it says 'No Access'. Let me try again. Nope, still not working. I haven't seen this before. Let me call the manager .... Hi, it's me. I've got a guy here who's his card isn't working. It says 'No Access' ... Right ... Okay, I'll tell him ... Apparently you're not allowed in the gym anymore, because it's only for students and staff and you've been suspended, and also you're banned from the gym even if you get unsuspended. Sorry!"

Simon stepped back from the desk in shock. Through the plate glass separating reception from the gym he could see Cody and Scott and Flex in the distance. He waved, but they didn't notice him. He looked around and saw the gym manager looking through the window of the office, smirking at him. He sat down on the sofa in the reception area and tried to think what to do. He didn't even know Cody's phone number. In desperation, he sent him a DM on X: "Hey, I'm stuck in reception. Can't get into the gym."

He watched the Trash Bros work out for a while until Cody took his phone out and frowned at it. He looked up and saw Simon sitting in reception. Simon waved and he waved back and left the gym. After a moment he came out of the locker room, through the turnstiles and into reception. He sat down next to him.

"Hey Simon," he said. "What's up?"

"I got suspended," said Simon. "I can't get into the gym anymore."

"Suspended from the gym?"

"Suspended from my job! And banned from the gym!"

"What? That's crazy! Why?"

"Apparently I've been intimidating students and staff and behaving in a sexually aggressive manner towards them."

"You? That's ridiculous! Who said that?"

"I don't know. The Dean said he'd had a number of complaints, but I'm pretty sure..." he nodded towards the manager's office.

"Oh god, because of Saturday? Damn, Si. I'm sorry. Hopefully it'll all blow over soon."

"The Dean said not to hold my breath because I'd posted all the video evidence myself on X."

"Fuck, that sucks. I'm sorry, Si. What are you gonna do now?"

"I have no idea. I guess I'll have to find another gym. And another job." Simon's face started to crumble and he felt tears welling up in his eyes. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

Cody put his arm around Simon's shoulders and pulled him close. "I don't know about a job, but finding a new gym is easy. Since you have time now, why not look around tomorrow and find one that suits us, and we'll work out there from now on."

"We?" said Simon.

"All of us. Trash Bros stick together, right?"

[dredlifter]

Great story!

[HawkShark]

Fascinating how it's all turned around so suddenly for Simon... I wonder if this is something related to the vest, machinations by the Trash Bros to get him to do the muscle night stuff, or just purely co-incidence. 
I'm leaning towards the former personally, maybe it's magic protects itself from translation and cutting him off from the university achieves that. 

[ploder4]

47 minutes ago, HawkShark said:

Fascinating how it's all turned around so suddenly for Simon... I wonder if this is something related to the vest, machinations by the Trash Bros to get him to do the muscle night stuff, or just purely co-incidence. 
I'm leaning towards the former personally, maybe it's magic protects itself from translation and cutting him off from the university achieves that. 

I think Simon is being punished for trying to figure out or make public the secret.  If irreparable he probably might forgo teaching and make his living at Muscle Mike's?  Although I have a feeling things will work out if he apologizes to the god of the Stronger Vest.

[LukeXL]

I might be a bit delayed writing the next chapter because I'm plotting out everything that happens in the final story arc. But hopefully once that's done they should flow a bit quicker.

[Tjdonger]

It’s a great story! Looking forward to next and final chapters. Thank you!