“Can we work on my chest next?” said Jared as he drew a hand over his pectorals. Compared to his abs and arms, they had only slightly grown.

It wasn’t that they had been neglected at all. It was just that the exercises so far had focused on other areas of the body.

“Yeah, sure. I think it would round out your upper body quite well,” said Drake.

Conner nodded his agreement. There was a twinkle in his eye. “Besides. A nice pair of muscle tits are sure to go over well with the online audience.”

A tinge of pink touched Jared’s cheeks. “Muscle tits?” He laughed. “I don’t know if I’m quite going to be at that level yet.”

Drake chuckled. “Well, if nothing else we can get you on the way there,” he said. “Luckily we won’t have to go far. Bring a pair of dumbbells. Preferably a set that’s more on the challenging side for you.”

Jared turned to the rack and tried out a couple of sets of dumbbells before settling on a pair that he liked.

“Come over here,” said Drake as he sat down on a nearby inclined bench. He rested his back against the raised part and straddled the level part of the bench with his legs. “Hand ’em over,” he said.

Jared gingerly passed the dumbbells on. It was good that he was careful about it because they were certainly on the heavier side.

“We call this an inclined dumbbell bench press,” said Drake. He did a handful of reps—he wasn’t counting—to demonstrate proper form for Jared. He also gave a couple of tips while he was at it.

When all was said and done, Drake set the dumbbells down on either side of the bench. He stood up and motioned for Jared to take his place. He hadn’t sweated much during the demonstration, but he still wiped the bench down, as a matter of common courtesy.

Jared sat down. He planted his feet firmly on the ground. He leaned first to one side and then the other to grab the dumbbells. With a grunt, he heaved them off the floor. “Ready.”

“Three sets of twenty, yeah?” said Drake.

“Sounds good to me!” Jared flashed a grin before launching headfirst into the exercise.

The execution was impeccable, as always. Drake had seen it enough through the night that he shouldn’t have been shocked but it was still a surprise every single time.

Jared flew through his first set with relative ease. But he was starting to sweat. He was really putting in the effort this time.

Drake was starting to think that it might have been the right call to have Jared choose a more challenging weight, to begin with. He kept a close eye on Jared just in case it proved to be too much, but he didn’t think he had to worry.

Jared powered through the second set and while he was at it, things began to change in the gym. The magic did its thing, seemingly pulsing out of Jared with every puff of breath and finished rep.

Everything around the three of them shimmered. It was as if they’d been plunged into a middle of a mirage. Drake and Conner looked around in wonder but Jared didn’t seem to notice or care.

Conner clutched Drake’s arm. Drake could understand. He was feeling uneasy and queasy. Looking at anywhere but the bench Jared was on gave him vertigo.

As soon as it started, the magic finished whatever it was doing. Drake could hardly believe what he was seeing. The strength training area of their gym had expanded, but not in the sense that it had taken over some of the floor space intended for other types of training. There was just more space, somehow in their gym.

More amazing was all the new equipment that came with the expansion. There were at least six new machines that Drake and Conner had always wanted to get but could never afford. The machines they did have weren’t just repaired or cleaned, they were replaced entirely with newer, more up-to-date versions that would have cost them considerably more than an arm and a leg to upgrade to.

Drake and Conner shared a look. All they’d planned to do if they got the money was clean the gym, replace the parts that needed replacing, and repair the machines that they could.

Whatever was happening went beyond their plans and into the realm of their ambitions for the place. Drake would be lying if he said the thought of getting the gym of their dreams excited him. He could tell, from the sparkle in Conner’s eyes, that his partner was thinking the same thing.

Once he was finished taking in the sights, Drake turned his attention back to Jared. He was well into his third set and all the hard work was beginning to pay off.

Jared’s pecs swelled under his shirt. It had been somewhat loose around his chest at the start, but it didn’t take long before it was form-fitting, sinking in the middle where the slight dip between Jared’s pecs was developing.

The brand logo of Jared’s compression shirt was emblazoned right across his chest. With every rep that he did, it distorted. First, it folded along the middle. Then, it stretched out along the bottom as the fabric molded to the veritable shelf of Jared’s growing pecs.

The fabric grew so tight around Jared’s chest that there were two raised spots where his nipples pressed up against the lycra. By the time he’d finished off the last reps of his set, his shirt was taut across his chest.

The dumbbells hit the ground with a twinned set of thuds. Jared took a moment just to lie there. His chest heaved up and down as he breathed, the logo in the front stretching side to side with every inhale.

“Great job,” said Drake. There wasn’t much he got envious about but Jared getting incredible pecs in just one workout was one of them. There was also more growth than he was expecting—not that he was complaining. “Looked like you were working extra hard there. How are you feeling?”

Jared sat up and wiped the sweat from the sides of his face. He cracked a grin and said, “I feel amazing, man. Fuck. At first I thought I’d picked the wrong dumbbells because it was such an effort but man does it feel fan-fucking-tastic at the end.”

“Well worth it, then,” said Conner. He was visibly eyeing Jared’s chest and making no secret of it.

Not that Drake had anything to say about that. He was impressed, too.

Jared looked down and his grin grew even wider. He reached up and palmed his new pecs, groaning as he gave them an appreciative squeeze. “Fuck. These puppies are great,” he said.

He seemed lost in his own world for a moment as he ran his right hand over his chest, rubbing it in circles over his left pec and then his right. He even tweaked a nipple before he realized Drake and Conner were still there. “Oops,” he said almost bashfully. “Damn. I just… I could play with these all day,” he added.

“Alright, buddy, settle down,” Drake laughed. “You can give those all the attention they need in private. For now, though, you should probably do some leg work. We don’t want you becoming too top-heavy.”

Jared laughed and scratched the back of his head. “I didn’t even think of that! I guess that’s why you’re the expert,” he said.

“Don’t worry about it.” Drake cracked a wry grin. “A lot of people forget to work on their legs.”

“A lot of people also ‘forget’ to work their legs,” said Conner with a laugh. “If you get my meaning.”

“Not… really…?”

Drake gently tapped Conner’s upper arm. “Ignore him,” he said. “Anyway. You’re going to want to pick up those weights. I’m gonna have you do some weighted lunges.”

Without using weights himself, Drake demonstrated the exercise. “The only difference, really, is that you’ll be keeping the dumbbells at your side while you do this. It’s a good way to build strength, mobility, and balance.”

He took a step back to give Jared the space to do the lunges. “Maybe do 4 sets. 16 reps. 8 on each side. That should be a good place to start.”

---

Jared easily burned through the first two sets. His posture was perfect. His eyes were looking straight forward. There was a look of such intense concentration on his face it seemed as if he was off in a world of his own.

Drake had to wonder if Jared was even aware he and Conner were still there. In all likelihood, probably not. Jared was in the flow and he was pretty sure he could put a gorilla in a frilly tutu in front of Jared and the guy wouldn’t even notice.

“Anything?” Conner muttered.

Drake shook his head. He’d been looking around to see if anything else would change about their gym but so far, there wasn’t anything he could pinpoint. It was only when he turned his attention back to Jared that he saw what the magic was working on next.

The navy blue sweatpants Jared had worn to the gym had started to shrink. The heavy fabric thinned out, replaced by the same material as the compression shirt he wore.

The compression pants didn’t end up being skin-tight. Jared’s legs were just too thin for that. If tonight’s trends were anything to go by, though, that wasn’t going to be the case for long.

It was as Jared did his fourth set that he filled the new pants in. His calves bulged. His thighs rippled. The lycra and nylon blend of the compression pants cupped the curves of his muscles as they grew in.

Jared’s ass swelled to fill the seat of his new compression pants. His posterior hadn’t been much to speak of at the start, and even the growth from his earlier squats hadn’t given him a lot. Now, however, there was more than enough meat there to play with and squeeze.

The modest cheeks bubbled out. In a matter of moments, Jared’s ass went from modest and somewhat flat to round and supple. His rump was still missing some of the muscular definition of the rest of his body but the compression shorts made up for that. As he finished the last set, the fabric pulled tight around his ass.

The compression pants cupped each of Jared’s cheeks almost lovingly. The seam sank into the cleft between the round globes, almost as if Jared’s ass cheeks were swallowing the fabric.

Jared had looked pretty cute when he first entered the gym. But in the hour or so since then, he had gone from a slender, waifish twink into a proper jock boy. He could have easily stood in a line-up of college football players and no one would have batted an eye.

Drake couldn’t help but whistle this time. Jared had gotten hot. Undeniably so. Professional ethics aside, he would have loved to have the boy spread out under him. That ass was just asking to be broken in.

“Whew! That was nice!” Jared exclaimed once he’d finished. He set the dumbbells down and flashed a grin at Drake and Conner as he straightened up. “I didn’t miscount, did I?”

Drake shook his head. “Nope.” Truth be told, he hadn’t been paying close enough attention to count.

“Awesome!” said Jared. He looked down. His grin got even wider. He looked up at Drake and Conner and said, “Oh shit! Look! Muscles!” as he rubbed his hands over his thighs.

Jared straightened up, eyes wide. “Wait.” He reached behind him, hands cupping his ass cheeks. “Oh my god! I have an ass!”

Drake laughed. “Must have been hard to find it before,” he said.

“Hard to find what wasn’t there,” said Jared. Without taking his hands off his ass, he darted between the benches and machines to stand in front of the mirror. He turned to the side and craned his neck over his shoulder. “Damn,” he said.

“Damn is right,” said Conner. “I’d tap that.”

“I would tap that,” said Jared.

Conner laughed. “Hey. Want to take another picture?”

Jared nodded. “Yeah! I wanna know what people think of my progress!”

“Give it over, then,” said Conner.

Jared chuckled. “Here,” he said. He removed his phone from the holder strapped to his upper arm and handed it over.

It took Drake a bit by surprise. He’d been staring too intently at Jared’s ass to notice that the phone had migrated. He supposed it made about as much sense as anything else. The compression pants didn’t have pockets, after all.

Conner took the phone and crouched to get a good angle on Jared. “Give us a pose,” he said.

Jared faced the camera and struck another double bicep pose. “This good?” he said.

Conner frowned. “Mm. I mean, it’s not bad. I just think you could be a bit… more.”

Jared’s face scrunched up as he gave it a thought. “Okay. How about this?” he said. He curled one bicep and looked at his fist while he used his free hand to roll up the bottom hem of his compression shirt to show off his rock-hard abs, a nipple, and the bottom half of his pecs.

“That’s more like it,” Conner hissed as he took the picture. “This is going to get you to 10k followers, easily.”

Drake had to laugh at his partner’s enthusiasm. People didn’t just get 10k followers overnight for posting a progress shot and a thirst trap a few minutes later. That kind of following took months of hard work to develop. But almost as soon as Conner handed the phone back to Jared, it started going off like crazy with notifications.

“Woah.” Drake walked closer. “What’s going on?” For a moment, he thought it might be an emergency alert of some description, but as he peered over Jared’s shoulder, he realized it was just a deluge of follow notifications.

“Holy crap. Where are all these people coming from?” said Jared. He flicked his finger across the screen but it didn’t respond. “I can’t even do anything!” he said with an incredulous half-laugh.

Drake and Conner shared a look. There was every chance that it was a coincidence but the fact it had already happened once before made it less likely. The fact that the number settled at 10k once the deluge of new followers subsided all but confirmed it.

An off-handed comment had produced such an effect. They hadn’t even considered that they could influence what was happening.

Drake’s heart hammered in his chest. The possibilities were endless. The potion was changing reality itself, so if they could consciously guide that process…

One look was all it took for him to know that Conner was thinking the same thing. They couldn’t let this opportunity go. Their dream gym was right within their grasp. They had to take advantage.

“This is amazing,” said Jared.

Drake and Conner broke eye contact. Drake laughed awkwardly. “Huh. Yeah. Imagine that. You definitely deserve it, though. You should feel good about it. You’ve worked hard.”

The somewhat uncertain look in Jared’s eyes all but evaporated. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You know what?” he said, looking up to meet Drake’s gaze. “You’re right. I do deserve this.”

“You know… I’ve heard swimming is a good workout. You should do some laps in an Olympic-sized swimming pool next,” said Conner.

Drake blinked. He certainly hadn’t expected that line to come out of Conner. He gave Conner a look. Conner shot a “trust me,” look back.

He could guess why Conner had gone so far out of left field. They had to test the extent of their influence. An Olympic-sized swimming pool suddenly appearing out of the aether would certainly be a visible way to confirm it.

“Oh. Huh. You know, I’d be pretty interested in that,” said Jared. “Do you guys have one of those here?”

“Yeah,” said Conner.

Drake looked around, searching for the familiar ripple of magic through the air. No pool appeared. No door leading to a pool appeared. For whatever reason, it didn’t seem like their influence extended to changes with the gym.

“Oh. Wait. Sorry. No. We don’t have one here,” said Conner. “We’re hoping to get one at some point, though. Though maybe not Olympic-sized… Right, babe?”

Drake fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Yeah. I think a small pool would serve our clients pretty well. That’s pretty expensive, though.”

“I can imagine,” said Jared with a small grin. “Anyway… Thank you guys so much for tonight. It was a blast. I really appreciated everything you did for me. I’m definitely going to get a membership.”

“Yeah?” said Conner. “That’s awesome. I’m glad to hear that. Do you want to take care of that right now? I can get you the paperwork in a jiffy.”

“I do think I should probably be heading back by now, though,” said Jared, glancing at the clock on his phone. “I still have class in the morning. I’ll be back for another session next week!”

Next week.

Drake’s blood ran cold. From the look Conner shot him, it looked like his partner had the same thought. They didn’t know if the potion would still be in effect after a week. They couldn’t risk it.

The opportunity to make all their dreams come true was right in front of them. They couldn’t let it go. “Come on. It’s not that late yet. You don’t really want to sit in a stuffy lecture theater with like a hundred other college kids for three hours, do you?” said Drake.

Jared grimaced. “Ugh. I didn’t need the reminder, but yeah, you’re right. I don’t want to. But it’s important, you know?”

Drake glanced at Conner. Conner had a twinkle in his eye—as if he’d figured something out.

“What did you say you were doing, again?” said Conner.

“Oh. I’m studying to be an engineer,” said Jared. “My dad was one and it’s always been my dream to—”

Conner didn’t let Jared finish before interjecting. “Engineering? Really? I’m pretty sure you said you were studying kinesiology.”

There was a brief look of confusion on Jared’s face. His brow scrunched up as he frowned. There was a subtle shift in his demeanor. The way he held himself became slightly more confident. Even the way he stood got straighter.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, man. I don’t know why I said engineering. Must have been on the head, you know? " said Jared.

Even the way Jared spoke changed. The timbre of his voice took on a more stereotypical jock characteristic.

“Math. Me. Could you imagine?” Jared stuck out his tongue and made a face. “My old man was one. Wanted me to be just like him. Never really thought that was my kind of thing, you know?”

Conner nodded. “Right. Right. I totally get that.”

Drake was a step behind but he was picking up what Conner was putting down. While they had no real influence over the changes that happened to the gym, they had influence over JareD himself.

A small part of him felt a twinge of guilt over what Conner had just done to the poor guy but he pushed it aside. He didn’t want to think about the implications of what Conner had just done.

“Oh. Shit. I really do have to go though. Thanks for tonight, guys. I’m definitely coming back!” said Jared.

“You know, working out would feel much better than wasting your time at a lecture,” said Drake. He wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do, but he and Conner had put off their dreams for long enough.

“Yeah… You’re right… But—”

Conner cut in. “I mean… What could you learn in a kinesiology lecture that you wouldn’t learn better actually moving your body? Think about it.”

Jared frowned. “You know, you’re right…” he said, after a moment.

“Besides, you could always just catch up on schoolwork,” said Drake. “I’m sure your professors would appreciate that you’re getting some practical knowledge.”

Jared nodded along. “Actually, you know what? I think I might stay, after all. You’ve got a point. I’m probably going to learn more working out than just sitting at a desk and listening to one of my professors drone on.”

Drake grinned. “That’s my boy!”

Jared returned the grin as he slipped the gym bag off his shoulder. He rolled his neck and said, “So… What’s next? I’m ready.”

Drake rubbed his chin. “Hmm. Well, what do you think? Anything you might want to focus on right now?”

Jared did a half turn toward the mirror and looked at his reflection. His lips pursed into a thoughtful expression as he considered himself. “I think my back could use a little bit more work,” he said, reaching over his shoulder to feel the muscles of his upper back. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I’m down for some back stuff.”

Drake grinned. “Alright! That sounds good…” He trailed off as he looked around, thinking of what sort of workout he could point Jared to next. “Oh! Come this way. We could get you started with some barbell shrugs.”

He got Jared over to one of the bench press stations and removed the bar from its cradle. Like everything else in the weight training area of the gym, it was brand-new and top of the line. He couldn’t help but marvel at the way the steel felt in his hands.

But Drake was quickly reminded that now was not the time to be admiring the new equipment by an amused look and a raised eyebrow from Conner. He coughed to clear his throat and handed the bar to Jared, instructing the younger man how to stand and how to hold the bar for the exercise.

“Like this?” said Jared.

Drake nodded. “Perfect. Now just pull your shoulders up toward your ears. Keep your arms straight. Just like that. Do that for a couple of sets of twenty.”

Jared took a breath and got to it. “I’m thinking four should work,” he said after a few reps. “Ooh. That’s a nice feeling.”

Conner chuckled. “See? Better than class, isn’t it?”

Jared cast a glance at Conner and laughed. “Yep,” he said without missing a beat. “Nothing beats being able to get up and move your body. So, I can feel it working. But where should I be expecting development for this?”

Drake stepped up behind Conner. “Can I?” he said.

Jared glanced over his shoulder and cracked a grin. “Yeah, bro! Hands-on is the best way to learn.”

Drake had to admit, the prospect was more than a little exciting. He placed his hands on either side of Jared’s neck and used his thumbs to trace the muscles that engaged as Jared continued his reps without missing a beat. “You feel these?”

Jared nodded. “Yeah. Those are my… Traps, right?” he said.

“A+ in anatomy,” said Drake with a laugh. “Yep. This exercise should mostly hit your traps. I’m sure you can feel that.”

“I think so, yeah… No, yeah, I definitely feel it!” said Jared.

Drake kept his hands on Jared’s shoulders while the younger man did his reps. He figured Jared would say something if he wanted Drake to remove them.

In the meantime, Drake observed the way the muscles flexed and relaxed under his fingers. Jared was working hard. That much was clear. But the way his muscles moved was enthralling. There was such perfect, clean efficiency. Every movement was the same as the last. Drake had never seen the like before.

It was exciting to experience first-hand, both from a professional and a personal perspective. Drake had to admit there was a part of him that was subtly turned on by it.

Standing as close as he was had a secondary benefit. Not only could he feel Jared’s muscles under his hands—they were warm to the touch—he could see them working.

The compression shirt was a blessing. It hugged Jared’s body so well that Drake could see how the muscles moved underneath. More to the point, he could see them grow in real time.

Jared had started out with a slender neck but that wasn’t the case for long. Drake traced his thumbs along the upper traps as they swelled with new growth, the back of Jared’s neck growing thick and strong.

The growth didn’t stop there. Throughout the night, Jared’s back had grown more toned but it had stayed somewhat flat. Not anymore.

With every rep that the younger man finished, Jared’s shirt grew tighter. Drake could feel the muscles swell under his fingers. He used the base of his thumb to feel along the ridges and valleys that developed, marveling at how firm and stable the musculature is.

By the time Jared finished his barbell shrugs, the shirt was stuck tight to his body. It resembled cling-film in the way it hugged the new topology of his back—or at least, his traps.

If Drake had to describe it, Jared had definitely taken a step away from the archetypal jock and into the realm of the hunk. The kind of guy that could feature on the cover of a fitness magazine and not look out of place at all.

“Damn, that felt good, man!” said Jared.

Drake pulled his hands back as Jared rolled his shoulders. “You did great,” he said with a grin.

“What’s next?”

Drake was expecting the question by now. He chuckled and said, “You’re not even going to rest for a couple minutes or so?”

Jared shook his head. “No way, man! I’m feeling pumped. I don’t know what it is but I feel like I can just keep going and going.”

Drake gave Conner a pointed look and smiled before turning back to Jared. “Alright then, buddy. Let’s get you doing some side lateral raises this time. Gimme that”—he gestured at the barbell Jared was still holding—“and grab your favorite set of dumbbells. Or actually, one size smaller might work better.”

He took the bar off of Jared and heaved it back onto its rack. “Conner will demonstrate. Just do another 4 sets of 20 once you think you’ve got the hang of it.”

Conner rolled his eyes and grabbed a pair of dumbbells off the rack—a smaller pair just for demonstration purposes—and just held onto them for a moment until Jared had chosen a set that suited him. “Ready, Jared?” he said.

“Was born ready,” said Jared with a wry grin.

Conner looked at Drake and gestured at Jared. “Look at this guy,” he said with a laugh. Turning his attention back to the younger man he added, “This is what being hooked on going to the gym looks like, you know.”

Jared laughed. “You know what I say to that?”

Conner raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Better to be addicted to pumping iron than huffing pot, bro!” said Jared. “Besides. It’s got some perks. Remember, you guys gave me this for free for being here so often?” He pointed at the phone holder strapped to his arm, which then promptly shimmered like a mirage. Drake blinked and suddenly, the phone holder was showing the logo of Conner and Drake’s gym.

The logo wasn’t just haphazardly slapped onto the holder either. It looked like a proper piece of merch. Conner and Drake had only ever made plans to make merch. They’d never managed to see those plans through for one reason or another. It seemed the potion had taken care of that particular hurdle for them.

Conner and Drake shared a look. It had been little more than a throwaway comment, but the effects were undeniable. A small smirk touched Conner’s lips and was reflected on Drake’s.

“Anyway, this exercise is pretty simple,” said Conner. “Just raise your arms out to either side. Make sure your back stays straight. Keep the whole motion controlled.”

“Simple. Like saying your ABCs. I like it,” said Jared, cracking a grin as he launched into the workout without a second thought.

“Amazing,” said Conner under his breath as Drake walked over to stand beside him.

The two of them watched Jared closely. “We’re gonna have to be careful about what we say,” said Drake.

There was a glint in Conner’s eye. “I don’t know if careful is the word I would use,” he said.

Drake quirked an eyebrow.

“I like deliberate more,” said Conner.

Drake shook his head and chuckled. Deliberate was definitely an option. They had a lot of power in their hands. Almost too much.

Part of him wondered whether they were right to be inflicting so much change on Jared. But it didn’t look like Jared was unhappy about what was happening to him. If anything, he was a lot more confident than when he first came to the gym.

“Let’s try not to overdo it, though,” said Drake.

Conner chuckled. “Sure.”

As they turned their attention back to Jared, the gym around them shifted. More changes rippled through the space. The water dispensers they had around the gym disappeared.

Drake wasn’t sad to see the dispensers go. Hydration was important so they had three of the things at different places around the gym. He just had to regularly replace the 5-gallon bottles of water that they used.

In place of the dispensers were high-end water fountains. They were metal, built into the wall, and hooked into a line of clean, drinkable water. Each one also had a sophisticated bottle refill station.

Drake whistled as he looked at the brand-new water fountains. “Damn.”

“Thanks,” said Jared. He’d finished his sets and was placing the dumbbells back on their rack.

Drake hadn’t meant the comment for Jared, but he saw no reason to take it back. After having done his lateral arm raises, Jared’s shoulders looked properly muscular.

Although Jared was wearing a compression shirt, it hadn’t really sat well around his shoulders. Now, the tight fabric hugged the contours of the new muscle.

The last vestige of the skinny kid that had walked into the gym at the start of the evening was gone. The narrow, bony shoulders he’d started with were buried in a heap of muscle, stretching the fabric of the compression shirt taut around his now-broader shoulders.

Jared cracked his neck and grinned. “What’s next? I’m ready,” he said.

Drake jerked his head toward one of the pulldown machines. He walked over, set it to a reasonable weight, and demonstrated the exercise for Jared. “Keep your arms straight. Hinge at the shoulders. Pull the rope down. Hold a bit. Then just raise your arms again.”

“Got it,” said Jared with a grin.

Out of the corner of his eye, Drake could just about make out the pair of vending machines that he and Conner had paid a pretty penny to get installed. They used to have bottled water, energy drinks, protein bars, and healthy snacks available but both machines had been out of order for months.

As Jared worked his way through his sets, the vending machines fixed themselves up. Two became four and each one looked so new it practically sparkled. The machines all had the gym’s branding on them instead of the manufacturer’s—or an advertiser’s for that matter.

Drake gave himself the luxury of admiring the new vending machines for a few seconds longer before turning his attention back to Jared. In that short span of time, Jared’s body had grown even bigger.

It had been a great idea to get Jared to work on his lats next. Jared’s shirt sleeves had gotten shorter. The shirt itself was even tighter.

The contours of his body were on display for all to see. The fabric hugged every ridge and crevice like cling film. It was as if someone had stuck Jared in a machine and vacuum sealed his shirt to his body.

Most impressive was the new definition of his lats. Drake could just about make out the different bundles of muscle fiber. They curved out and up from Jared’s body, giving him the start of that dorito-shaped torso so many guys aimed for.

There was a quiet clang as Jared finished his last rep and carefully released the pulldown rope. He looked down at his body and felt up his lats, first one side, and then the other.

“Fuck yeah, look at these gains, bro!” said Jared as he struck a pose to really highlight his lats. The shirt stretched in response, growing somehow even more taut across his chest.

“Damn,” said Conner with a wicked little grin. “You should take another picture for the fans,” he added.

“Ooh. Great idea, bro! This pose should be good though, right?” said Jared. He handed his phone over to Conner without even a second thought.

Conner, for his part, stepped right into the photographer role with ease. He held up the phone and checked the framing and composition. “Yeah! But stand a bit closer to the machine. Just like that, yeah. Perfect!”

There was a whirr and a click as Conner snapped the picture. He took a step back and whistled as he looked it over. “You’re really looking the part of the fitness influencer now, Jared,” he said.

Conner gave a bit of a start as the phone in his hand transformed into one of the newest, top-of-the-line models. It was enough to even give Drake a bit of a jolt. Jared, on the other hand, didn’t seem to notice.

More changes followed in quick succession. The follower count ticked up, surpassing half a million in a matter of seconds. Jared’s shirt retained the logo of Conner and Drake’s gym, but gained the mark of one of the highest-end fitness apparel brands.

Various posters appeared on the walls with Conner’s face on them. They advertised everything from gear to supplements. The most prominent one was an ad for RedJay, a protein powder that promised better gains than anything else on the market.

Conner and Drake shared a look. They’d never heard of the brand before. It took them a moment to realize that it was a bespoke formulation that Jared had conceived of.

Jared had a bit of a swagger in his movements as he came up to Conner and fished the phone out of his hands without so much as a please. He checked out his picture and whistled. “Damn, bro. If I didn’t know you guys were busy running this place, I’d honestly ask you to manage my socials.”

“He’d be pretty good at it, too,” said Drake. Better than him, in any case.

Conner blushed and waved his hand. “You’re right. It’d be too much. I’m flattered you thought of it, though.”

“Nah, man! Don’t even mention it!” said Jared, as he clapped a hand on Conner’s shoulder. He glanced at Drake and did the same. “If it weren’t for the two of you guys, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

While it was strictly true, Drake deflected a bit, purely out of instinct. “It can’t have been that big of a deal,” he said.

“No, no. I’m serious. You guys were the best thing that happened to me. I didn’t even know this was an option until you suggested I could try and make money off of being a fitness influencer,” said Jared.

“Honestly, I was at my wits end trying to figure out how I was going to get by without interrupting my gym schedule.” Jared grimaced. “I didn’t really want to get a part-time job on top of college, you know?”

“You were the one that did all the hard work,” said Drake. It was mind-boggling to think that the potion’s effects were retroactive.

“How is college going?” said Conner.

Jared shrugged. “It’s going, bro. You know what they say,”—he cracked a grin—“Cs get degrees.”

---

Jared spent the better part of a minute admiring his own reflection in the mirror. He didn’t seem to be getting tired of it, but Drake could hardly blame him. It was a body meant to be admired, and neither him nor Conner had yet to field any objections about it.

It was only another minute or so later before Jared finished by doing a frontal double bicep pose and giving his guns a kiss each. He turned to Drake, hand idly brushing over his taut abs that were fully on display thanks to his skin-tight shirt, as he scratched the back of his head with the other one and said, “So what’s next, bro? I was kinda hoping we could work on my abs next.”

“Yeah?” said Drake. Until this point, it had taken some minor prompting to see how Jared wanted to proceed. Not that he was complaining. It was a positive change as far as he was concerned. “We can definitely do that,” he said.

“Don’t get me wrong, bro, I love my abs,” said Jared, the corner of his mouth curling in a cocky little grin. “But these babies make for such good marketing. I don’t think they could ever be too good, you know?”

Drake couldn’t help but glance at the area in question. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Conner doing the same.

He could tell why Jared said what he did, though. He didn’t think he’d seen a set of abs more cut. Part of him was excited at the thought of seeing them develop even more.

At the same time, more posters cropped up around the gym. They were more ads, more tips. One thing they had in common was that they featured Jared’s abs. And what a beautiful set they were.

“I’ve got something in mind,” said Drake. “It’s going to be a bit more advanced than what you’ve done so far. Think you can do it?”

Jared rolled his shoulders and grinned. “Fuck, yeah, bro! You know me, I’m always up for a challenge!” he said.

Drake and Conner shared a look and a smile before Drake turned back to Jared and said, “Come over here by the pull-up station, then!”

Jared didn’t even need instruction to reach up and grab the crossbar. He pulled himself up, his biceps bulging from the strain of supporting his new bulk. Not that it looked like he was having any difficulty.

Drake walked up to Jared and placed a hand over Jared’s abs. “Engage your core muscles.” He felt them tighten through the fabric of the shirt. “Then pull your legs up.”

Jared swung his legs up halfway so that it looked like they were sticking out 90 degrees from his body. As difficult as it might have been to keep that position, he was perfectly stable. There wasn’t even the slightest twitch or tremble. “Like this?” he said.

“Keep going,” said Drake. “Until you touch your toes to the bar.”

As soon as the exercise was explained, Jared practically lit up. “Oh, that’s brutal, bro! I love it!” he said, swinging his legs up the rest of the way.

Drake had Jared do a few more reps just to check his form, even though there was no doubt that it would be perfect. When he was satisfied, he took a step back to watch, having given Jared a number of reps and sets to do.

Before he started, Jared looked at Conner and Drake and said, “You guys wouldn’t mind if I filmed this, right?”

Drake shook his head. “Not at all,” he said.

When Jared released the bar to grab his phone, Conner interjected and said, “Nope. Get back up there. Let me do it,”

“You don’t mind?” said Jared.

“Look, Jared. I’m not gonna complain about free marketing,” said Conner with a grin as he reached up to take the phone out of the case strapped to Jared’s upper arm. “Any particular way you want me to do this?” he said.

Jared glanced at Drake, seemed to think about it for a moment, and then said, “Nah. I trust you guys! Do what you think is best.”

He looked up at the bar and was about to launch into his first step when he paused, looked again to Conner, and said, “Oh! There should be a tripod in my gym bag over there, if that would help at all.”

Drake watched Conner walk off to grab the piece of equipment in question and shook his head fondly. “Not every workout has to be content, you know,” he said.

“But why not make money off of it if you can?” said Conner as he returned, the phone firmly attached to the end of the tripod. “Not like you lose anything for it.”

“He gets it, bro,” said Jared with a grin.

Drake just fondly rolled his eyes and elbowed Conner lightly in the ribs. “You two,” he said with a laugh. “Alright. Unless you’re waiting to do an introduction for your fans, you should probably get on with it,” he said to Jared.

Jared glanced at Conner.

“This one might be better for something like a candid clip,” said Conner as he looked at the phone and adjusted the settings and position to frame Jared’s workout in the best way he could.

“Sounds good,” said Jared.

The changes started pretty early on for this particular set of exercises, Drake noticed. They were primarily cosmetic, but they were no less significant.

Jared had always looked more like a pretty boy than anything else. Even with his cut, sculpted body, he still managed to pull off the naïve, wide-eyed boy-next-door kind of look. But that was changing.

Every rep seemed to remove just a little bit of the softness that remained in Jared’s face—the only part of his body that didn’t look like it had been cut from a block of granite. Any blemishes he might have had faded away, his skin practically lustrous in the light despite glistening with a faint sheen of sweat.

The angles of his face became harsher, somehow, but not in a bad way. His eyes, which had seemed so large and soulful to start with, took on a more smoldering and determined sort of look.

The roundness of Jared’s face faded as his features matured to something more classically masculine. Even the curve of his jaw tightened into something more angular. More handsome.

Jared’s cheekbones came to prominence. His nose, straight and slender. His lips were full, but not as plump as they were before. All the little imperfections and asymmetries in his face were smoothed over and rectified.

And even though Jared did not grow even the slightest smattering of facial hair throughout the process, there was no mistaking that he was a man’s man. He oozed masculine energy.

If Jared had looked like a male underwear model before, the magic had upgraded his looks well into the realm of a male supermodel.

The transformation was astonishing enough but Jared wasn’t even a third of the way through the workout. Drake had to wonder what else was in store and found his question answered only moments later.

The sleeves of Jared’s shirt retracted. The fabric crept up along Jared’s arm, fully exposing his biceps. The sleeves didn’t stop there, however. They continued up and over his shoulders, stretching around the round, bugling muscles.

The collar did much the same, but from the other side. It pulled away from Jared’s neck, exposing the upper part of his traps and showing off how the muscles engaged while he was doing his reps. The collar dipped lower, too, baring his clavicles.

As if it weren’t tight enough already, Jared’s shirt seemed to suction onto his musculature even more. The fabric became thinner, leaving less to the imagination—if that were possible.

The fit of Jared’s tank top seemed almost indulgent. The thinness made the material almost translucent. It was a shirt designed to show off a body first and foremost, with practical considerations taking a back seat.

Not that Drake was complaining. Nor did he imagine Conner would have any objections. Both of them were taking in the sight with thinly veiled glee.

When he was finished, Jared swung himself off of the pull-up station. He landed on his feet, not even slightly off-balance. He capped it off with a flourish, a bow, and a beaming grin directed at the camera.

Drake had to wonder if this more playful side of Jared had always been there, just waiting for him to have the confidence to bring it out, or if the magic had put it there. The implications of the latter didn’t bear thinking about. Either way, it was good to see. Jared seemed like he was having fun anyway.

This was the first exercise that really had Jared sweating. His brow glistened with moisture. The collar of his tank top was damp and the shoulder straps were pretty much soaked.

“Wow. That was a good one, bro. Really got my heart pumping,” said Jared. He flashed a grin Drake’s way. “I’m fucking soaked.”

Drake chuckled. “It’s definitely one of the tougher ones,” he said.

“You don’t say?” said Jared. Instead of using the hand towel he’d draped over the frame of the pull-up station, he grabbed the bottom hem of his tank top and yanked it up to dab at his face.

Even though Jared wasn’t looking at the camera, it was pretty clear what he was doing. The angle he was standing at, relative to the camera, was nothing short of perfect. Drake could see that from the preview on the phone screen.

Jared was definitely putting on a show. His stomach was flexed, tighter than it had to be if he were just wiping the sweat off his face. It was a thirst trap, if Drake had ever seen one. And if he was being honest, it was working on him, too.

Drake stepped closer to Conner. The lighting in this particular area of the gym was gorgeous. The contrast was excellent, really accentuating the deep-cut definition of Jared’s abs. And the way that the droplets of sweat rolling down over Jared’s washboard stomach caught the light was nothing short of perfection.

The exercise had not been without its benefits for Jared’s physique. He’d had fantastic abs before, but now they were truly great. He’d gone from a six-pack to an eight-pack.

Jared’s abdominal definition was sensational. He could have posed next to a marble sculpture of a Greek god and put it to shame. The ridges and valleys of his abs were so sharp, so prominent, he might as well have been carved from a block of solid marble himself.

His obliques hadn’t been neglected, of course. It would have looked strange if only his abs had gained definition, but the magic had seen to it that such wasn’t the case.

On either side of Jared’s abs were his obliques. They weren’t as sharply defined but they weren’t supposed to be. They rippled and stretched with every movement, like lines of sand dunes flanking his taut, solid core.

Jared’s Adonis lines were even more delectable than before. They were sharper, deeper. The waistband of his compression pants conformed to their contours, leaving very little to the imagination. They were proper cum gutters now, a deep, delicious funnel that drew the gaze exactly where it needed to go.

All of that was on display, and Jared seemed to know just how to show it off. If this clip Conner was filming didn’t end up driving a ton of engagement and sales for Jared, Drake didn’t know what could.

“I think that’s a good place to cut it,” said Conner after a moment more.

“You just read my mind, bro,” said Jared with a laugh.

Conner grinned. “Good to know we’re on the same page, then,” he said. He picked up the tripod and turned so he could show Jared the footage. “Here. Take a look.”

Jared came up behind Conner. He placed a hand on Conner’s lower back—a gesture that didn’t slip Drake’s attention—as he peered over Conner’s shoulder to watch.

Drake came up to the pair. Now, he wasn’t the jealous, possessive kind. And he knew that Jared probably meant nothing by the gesture. But part of him couldn’t help but wonder how hot it would be to watch Conner under Jared.

He dismissed the thought. Even if the prospect were quite hot, it would be unprofessional. But the thought lingered in the back of his mind as he watched the footage with the other two.

Once it was done playing back, Drake clapped a hand on Jared’s shoulder. “Maybe we should reconsider that thing about managing Jared’s socials, babe,” he said, keeping his eye on Jared even though his words had been directed at Conner.

“He’s great, isn’t he?” said Jared, turning to flash a grin at Drake.

Drake laughed. “That, he is,” he said as he moved his hand down from Jared’s shoulder to cop a feel on Conner.

Conner shook his head and chuckled. “He is right here and doesn’t appreciate being talked about as if he weren’t,” he said with mock exasperation.

Drake leaned in and murmured, “Liar,” in Conner’s ear. It earned him a light smack and a laugh.

“Alright, alright, enough,” said Conner, laughing as he stood aside. “You two keep going. I’m going to edit this video.”

Drake chuckled. “Yes, Sir, Mr. Manager!” he said with a little salute.

Jared copied him and laughed. “I was thinking maybe we could do some legs next. Maybe something for the glutes?” he said as he gave one of his firm, muscular ass cheeks a round smack that managed to draw Conner’s attention even as he was fiddling with the footage.

“I bet the fans love those,” said Drake.

Jared winked. “More than you think, bro.”

More posters appeared, plastered on the walls. Jared was still the model but these ones weren’t so singularly focused on his abs anymore. A fair few had Jared facing away from the camera, showing off his assets in gym-branded compression pants.

“So, man. Got anything in mind?” said Jared.

“Actually, yeah. Come over here.” Drake led Jared over to a squat machine. They used to have a pretty rudimentary one but thanks to Jared and the magic he was putting to work through his body, they had one with all the bells and whistles now.

“Hack squats. Just get under the shoulder pads. Back flat against the backrest. Feet shoulder width apart.”—Drake paused for a moment so Jared could have a chance to see the proper form—“And then just do what you would usually do with a squat.”

Jared took Drake’s place as he got off the machine. “This looks pretty simple,” said Jared. “Are you sure you don’t have anything more challenging, bro? You know I’m good for it.”

Drake laughed. “That’s because I haven’t added the weights yet. I’d place you somewhere between intermediate and advanced so let’s go for 400 lbs.”

He grunted as he heaved the plates onto the machine. He had to laugh when the expression on Jared’s face changed when he was finished. “There. You think that will be enough of a workout for you?” he said.

Jared breathed out a puff of air and shook his head with a chuckle. “Fuck, yeah, bro,” he said as he cracked a grin.

Drake laughed and tapped Jared twice on the upper arm as he got out of the way of the machine. “Get to it, then,” he said.

Jared was sweating right from the get-go. It didn’t look like he was struggling—Drake liked to think that he was a good judge of what clients could handle—but the workout was at least posing something of a challenge for him.

The first wave of changes rippled out across the gym soon after. Nothing much happened on the main floor, but a handful of posters appeared on the walls. They were advertising the brand-new steam room and sauna for premium-tier members.

To say Drake was delighted would have been a major understatement. The prospect had never even entered their plans because the space they leased for their gym was too small for those facilities.

Suddenly that Olympic-sized swimming pool wasn’t out of the question anymore. Not that he thought it was strictly necessary for things to go that far.

Turning his attention back to Jared, Drake was just in time to see the tight compression pants shrink. They pulled up past his knees, stopping about halfway up his thighs. It was almost mesmerizing watching the leg holes stretch around the powerful quads as they bulged with every rep.

As Jared was hitting his stride in the last set of reps, his muscles swelled. His ass wasn’t quite as visible from Drake’s perspective, but his quads were. They’d been strong before, but they looked more and more powerful with every rep.

The fabric of the compression shorts stretched taut around the corded muscles. It followed every contour, hugging tightly against Jared’s skin. By the time he was finished, the spandex resembled cling film.

Drake’s breath hitched in anticipation as Jared stepped out of the machine. His hamstrings shook with every step, the impact rippling up along the back of his leg past rock-hard calves.

Jared’s ass, which had already looked deliciously supple before he ever climbed into the hack squat machine bounced as he walked around to stand in the front. Each perfectly sculpted cheek, round and supple in the back but toned and firm on the sides, was framed deliciously by the tight compression shorts.

A sharp smack delivered to the side shook through Jared’s ass. “What do you think?” he said. “That was a fucking great workout and the results, well…”—another smack, this one even louder than the first—“they kind of speak for themselves, don’t you think, bro?”

It was the kind of ass that people would kill for, Drake had to admit. “I think you’re pretty right on the money there,” he said with a grin.

Conner, who seemed to have finished editing the video while Jared was doing his thing, came up and whistled. “Move over, Helen of Troy. Face that launched a thousand ships? Who’s that? Meet the ass that started World War III,” he said with a smirk as he handed over the phone to Jared for final approval.

“Oh, come on, it’s not that good,” said Jared as he looked over the finalized clip. “Yet.”

“Yet,” said Drake. He laughed and reached over, patting Jared on the shoulder. “We’ll get you there.”

“Gonna hold you to that, bro,” said Jared, giving Drake a wink. Turning his attention to Conner, he said, “That was great. I posted it already. Gave you guys a shout-out.”

“Thank you. It was my pleasure,” said Conner.

“You sure you don’t wanna manage my pages?” said Jared.

Conner laughed. “Does that come with free access to your FanServ stuff?” he said.

Drake blinked. He had to wonder if Conner had made that comment without thinking of the implications, or if it had been deliberate. It was too hard to tell because it didn’t sound out of character at all.

Jared turned around so his back was to Conner and hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his compression shorts. He eased them down, exposing a bit of crack before raising his arms above his head. “For you, bro? Free front-row seats.”

Drake felt a tingle pass over him. Sure enough, looking around he noticed a small detail had changed about the posters of Jared that had been put up all over the gym. Each one had a small section with a QR code advertising Jared’s FanServ page.

He licked his lips. “Is that a 2-for-1 kind of deal?” he said, looking at Jared.

“Hell, yeah, bro!” said Jared. He spun around and grabbed Drake’s hand, pulling him in for a chest bump and a shoulder pat. “You didn’t think I’d forget my fucking trainer, did you? Wouldn’t be here without you, man!” he said.

Jared pulled away and cracked a grin. “But maybe he can have the front-row seat for free and you can watch for 50% off,” he said with a laugh.

Conner gave his sweetest shit-eating grin and said, “Well, you have to admit, babe. I’m just that much more adorable than you.”

Drake snorted. “Oh. That right? I see how it is.” He shook his head, laughed, and said, “Got anything in mind for what you want to do next?”

Jared’s playful expression shifted to something more thoughtful at the question. He held his arms down in front of him, turning them over and back. “Honestly, bro, I feel like I’m starting to hit a plateau.”

Drake resisted the urge to quirk an eyebrow. It wasn’t the first time he had to help a client with diminishing returns. It was, however, the very first time he’d had one reach a plateau in the space of a couple of hours.

“So what do you think? Do you want some tips to maintain? Do you want to try and break through?” said Drake.

“I dunno, man,” said Jared. He seemed genuinely conflicted about the matter. “I kind of want to try and break through. But on the other hand, I have a life. I have hobbies. I have friends. If this is near my limit… How much effort would it be?”

Drake pursed his lips. “A lot,” he said, honestly. There was no reason to lie here.

“Right. I’d probably have to come even more often, right? Put in more work? I dunno… Do I really want to come here every day? Stay here for hours just for a pound here, a pound there every couple of months? Maybe this is good. Maybe I’m big enough…”

Drake tilted his head. “Are you?” he said.

“Hm?”

Drake gave Jared a small, sympathetic smile. “Big enough. Do you think you’re big enough? Do you think you’ve reached your goal yet?”

Jared sighed. “No. I guess not…” he said. “Honestly… I think I could stand to be a little bit bigger.”

“You shouldn’t give up,” said Drake. It was genuine enough advice, but part of it was definitely the fact that as soon as Jared stopped, all the good things from the magic would stop, too. And he wasn’t quite ready to let that go just yet.

“But…”

Drake shook his head. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work. A lot of sacrifice. But think about it. Won’t it be worth it once you have the body you’ve always wanted?”

Jared cast a glance at the mirror. “Yeah… I guess you have a point,” he said.

“So you’re going to come here. Every day. You’re going to push yourself. I’m going to work you hard. And we’re going to get you there,” said Drake.

“What about my friends? My hobbies?” said Jared.

“You could always make new friends. Start new hobbies. Do you want this or not?” said Drake. He didn’t want to be so pushy but the stakes were too high. If he let Jared give up now, it was over. And he didn’t want that.

Maybe it was a bit greedy, maybe it was self-serving. It didn’t matter. He and Conner had given so much to the community over the years, anyway. It was time they got something back for all their hard work. Jared was their only chance and he wasn’t willing to let that go.

“I… I do want it, but…” Jared chewed on his lower lip.

“You’re going to have to make a choice,” said Drake. “If you want to reach your goal you’re going to have to focus on this. You’re not gonna have time to waste on D&D or on those friends of yours. You’ll have to dedicate yourself to reaching those goals.”

“I-I suppose that makes sense…” said Jared.

“So do it! You’ve come so far already, right? Do you want to give up now? Your dreams are right there. In reach!” said Drake.

“You’re right.” Jared nodded resolutely. “You’re right. Of course, you’re right. You haven’t led me wrong all this time. I should have trusted you right from the start.”

Drake smiled. It worked. Thank the gods. “100%, buddy. That’s what I need from you. Better yet, 110%.”

Jared nodded. His form shimmered. The pins on the shoulder strap of his gym bag, which came from a variety of games, shows, and other bits of nerd culture, disappeared entirely. He stood up straighter, his muscles more toned and better-defined.

Any lingering awkwardness he might have had about being at the gym was gone. He had the comfortable posture of someone who was at home at the gym, someone that attended it regularly, like church.

“I still feel like the gains are too slow, bro,” said Jared, a marked shift in the timbre of his voice. There was a definite frustration there, but also a desire to get bigger. “I was hoping you could hook me up with something. I think I could honestly stand to get a bit bigger still.”

Drake raised an eyebrow. “How big?” he said.

Jared shrugged. “I dunno, bro. Not too big. I just feel like I haven’t quite reached my goal yet, you know? I was hoping you might know some way to give me the last bit of juice I need to push me over the finish line.”

Drake pursed his lips. He had to admit, he was a bit disappointed that Jared didn’t want to get even bigger. He was hoping that Jared would want to keep going, in part because he wanted to see how far the magic could take things, but also because he knew the more that Jared grew, the better things would be for the gym.

He looked at Conner. His partner was looking at him with the same expectant look that Jared was giving him. The responsible, professional thing to do would have been to accept Jared’s wishes. He did know some tips that he could give to help Jared eke out some more gains to reach his targets.

But Drake wanted more. It went against Jared’s wishes, but he couldn’t help it. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Both for the gym and for him, professionally. If he could push Jared to the limits of what was possible for a human and have that on his record, he would have no trouble finding more clients in the future.

On some level, Drake understood that it was wrong to use the magic for this. But he and Conner had already given so much to the community. It was only fair if they took something for themselves for once, right?

Sure, it meant Drake would be making a life-changing decision for Jared without consent. If he was careful, Jared wouldn’t even notice it. He’d already separated Jared from all his hobbies and friends just to serve the good of the gym. What was a little more manipulation?

Success for Drake, Conner, and their gym would have to come at the cost of Jared’s self-determination, but if they were careful, they could make sure that Jared would still end up pretty happy about the end result.

Drake couldn’t pass this chance up. He had to take it. He would normally be a more principled guy but with so much on the line, fuck principles. Having done it once made it so much easier to do a second time. “Oh yeah, we can do that,” he said. “We can get you some gear. That should help.”

“Really?” said Jared. He perked up, clearly happy about a positive response. “What kind of gear? Maybe, like, wrist and ankle weights I can wear throughout the day? Weighted vest? One of those muscle electro-stimulator things?”

Drake had to fight the urge to laugh. Even though this particular version of Jared—the fitness influencer—was more confident and more experienced, he definitely hadn’t lost the naïve charm of his older self.

He decided not to correct Jared’s misunderstanding. He was making a deliberate misinterpretation of Jared’s use of ‘juice’ to justify what he was doing, anyway. “Wait here. It’s better to show you than try to explain.”

Drake returned a few minutes later with a resealable plastic bag. Inside was a bottle of tablets and another, smaller resealable bag containing two phials and a couple of syringes.

Conner’s eyes widened when he saw Drake. All it took was a single look, however, and they were back on the same page.

Drake walked up to Jared, and held the bag out to him. “Here you go. We’ll start you off slow so we can get a handle on how your body reacts but honestly, I think you’ve got a lot of potential.”

Jared didn’t refuse the bag. He took it and turned it over in his hands, brow furrowing as he looked at the syringes. “I’m sorry, bro… What is this?” he said.

“It’s, you know? Steroids.” Drake returned the blank look that Jared shot him. “Gear. Juice. That’s what you were asking for. This’ll get you where you want to go.”

Jared shook his head and laughed. “Oh, bro, I think there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding. I meant I was looking for, you know, gear that you could wear? I mean… This is for, like, actual bodybuilders,” he said as he tried to hand the bag back to Drake.

“But you are, though,” said Drake.

The air around Jared shimmered ever so faintly. Drake might have missed it if he weren’t expecting something to happen as soon as he said the words.

“Wait. What? I’m what?” said Jared. He stared at the bag and frowned as the shimmering became more intense.

“A bodybuilder.” Conner jumped in. “I mean, not a professional one. Not yet, anyway. That’s why you wanted the gear.”

Jared squinted at the bag in his hands. His whole body seemed to tense. “No, no… I’m not… I just wanted… A bodybuilder?” he looked at Drake, his face scrunched up in confusion. “I’m not… Am I?”

“You said it was always your dream to become one,” Drake pushed on, ignoring the faint pang of guilt that he felt in the back of his head.

Conner nodded. The shimmering was visibly warping the air around Jared now. “It’s why you came to us, remember? You wanted to get really big.”

Drake shot his partner a grateful look. Jared was clearly resisting, but the kernel of truth in Conner’s words seemed to do the trick. The look of confusion and distress in Jared’s eyes began to fade.

“I… I did, didn’t I?” said Jared. He wasn’t eyeing the bag with so much suspicion this time.

“That’s right,” said Drake. “I mean, if you really just wanted some wearable gear, we could give you that. But I figured you already have enough of our branded stuff you wouldn’t be asking for that.”

“No, no… You’re right…” The moment those words left Jared’s lips, the shimmering magic that had been building up around him scattered in every direction. It washed over the entire gym, leaving faint specks of light that lingered over the machines for a moment before fading away.

“You good, buddy?” said Drake.

Jared blinked. He shook his head, looked at the bag he was holding, and said, “Sorry, bro. Don’t know what came over me. That was weird. It was like I suddenly forgot I was a bodybuilder”—he snapped his fingers—“just like that.”

Conner chuckled. “Don’t worry, man. You’ve been pushing yourself hard. It happens.”

Jared smiled at Conner before turning his attention back to Drake. “You sure this will work, man?” he said.

Drake nodded. “Yeah. I’m pretty confident. Honestly, if you feel you’ve hit a plateau, you’re probably right. You’ve likely hit the limit of where you can take your body naturally.”

Jared scowled. “Fuck, man. That sucks,” he said.

Drake reached across and squeezed Jared’s shoulder. “I mean, look at yourself, bro,” he said. “You’re already most of the way there. You pretty much rolled a jackpot on the genetic lottery. Fact is, it’s fucking amazing you got this far without using.”

Jared’s expression brightened. “You think so, bro?” he said.

Conner cut in with a grin and said, “He knows so. We might not be the biggest gym in town, but we’ve had our fair share of clients. Trust me, you’ve gotten a lot further a lot faster than all the people we’ve worked with these past few years.”

Drake nodded. “But! Everyone’s got a limit! You’re not gonna get to be like those guys you see on global competitions unless you get a little help.” He pointed at the bag Jared was holding. “That will help you get there.”

Jared’s eyes got wide. “Fuck, bro. You think I can get to that level?” he said.

Drake chuckled. “I think you’ve got what it takes,” he said. The bigger Jared got, the better things would be for him, Conner, and the gym, so he wasn’t about to discourage the guy from aiming for the top.

“Hell yeah, bro!” said Jared. “How do we know if it works? How long is it going to take?”

“Well, you’re a pretty special case,” said Drake as he looked Jared up and down. “You took your dose already. Right?”

Jared grinned and nodded. “Yeah, bro.”

“Only one way to find out if it works, then,” said Drake.

Jared’s eyes widened. His grin nearly reached his ears. “Oh, fuck yeah, bro!” he said. “What are you thinking? We should do the chest. That’s probably going to be the most visible part, right?”

“I second the motion,” said Conner. He sidled up to Jared and patted him on the upper arm. “Let’s give this guy a big, meaty rack.”

“Alright, alright. This way,” said Drake with a laugh. He walked over to a bench and set it up on an incline. “Oh, grab a moderately challenging dumbbell, why don’t you?”

Jared went past the weight rack and grabbed one of the dumbbells on the higher end of the weight scale before walking over to where Drake was sitting on the bench. He hefted the weight a few times in his hand and said, “This should be good.”

Drake nodded. He leaned back, resting his shoulders against the inclined part of the bench, and said, “This one is pretty self-explanatory but I’ll show you how to do it anyway. This is the single arm inclined dumbbell bench press.”

As Drake was demonstrating the exercise, Jared watched intently and nodded along. “Okay. Yeah. I can see why you said it was self-explanatory. Should be simple,” he said, the corner of his mouth curling in a cocky little smirk.

“Simple but, hopefully, engaging,” said Drake as stood from the bench. “Do a couple of sets. Alternating sides. Shouldn’t be too bad, but don’t push yourself too hard.”

Jared took his place and rolled his eyes fondly at Drake’s words. “Yeah, yeah. I know my limits, bro.”

“It’s never a bad thing to be reminded they exist,” said Drake. He took a step back and stood beside Conner, watching closely as Jared launched into the exercise with all the enthusiasm they’d come to expect of him.

He was watching so intently, eager to catch the first sign that the steroids were working that he nearly missed the first wave of magic. It was subtle, granted, but Conner picked up on it in an instant.

“Holy shit. Even the sound system?” said Conner with a hint of wonder in his voice.

Now that Drake was paying attention, he could definitely hear the difference. They used to have crappy house speakers installed just so they could play some understated music but now the sound quality was so incredibly crisp it was mesmerizing to listen to.

Looking around, he also saw that there were a bunch of TV screens around the gym now, too. They didn’t look cheap, either. They were huge and vivid, so high-resolution the videos playing came to life.

Drake shook his head. “Amazing,” he said, turning his gaze from one of the TVs, which was currently showing a cooking show where the TV chef was making healthy tacos al pastor, back to Jared. His timing couldn’t have been better.

The holes on the sides of Jared’s shirt expanded down his sides. They used to go just below his nipples, but by the time they had extended fully, they were showing off a tantalizing glimpse of the tops of Jared’s obliques.

At the same time, the panel of fabric that had been covering the front of Jared’s chest narrowed. As the two sides shrank toward the middle of Jared’s chest, they exposed his nipples and the sides of his pecs. It gave Conner and Derek a fantastic view of the muscles bunching up and relaxing with every rep. It was also the perfect window to watch the magic at work on Jared’s body.

Jared already had a nice set of pecs. They were sculpted. Meaty. Firm. But with every rep, they bulged larger and heftier. It got to the point that the fabric of his shirt slipped off the mounds of muscle, sinking deeper into the cleft between them.

The best part was saved for last. As Jared was finishing up the last few reps of his workout, veins started to climb up the sides of his pecs. There weren’t many, nor were they particularly prominent, but they were visible enough that they looked sexy.

Drake couldn’t help but lick his lips as Jared set the weight down and got up from the bench. His pecs visibly bounced with every step, too much meat in those firm, muscular mounds to escape the influence of gravity.

“Fuck yeah, bro! Look at these!” said Jared. He slapped his chest with his hands and the muscles rippled at the impact. Afterwards, he grabbed handfuls of his own pecs, squeezing and kneading them with his thick fingers.

Drake certainly appreciated the show. And if the look on Conner’s face was anything to go by, so did he. “I’d say that’s a pretty good indicator that the gear’s working,” he said.

“Oh, man… Can’t believe I was being such a pussy about that stuff,” said Jared with a grin. “This is fucking amazing, bro!”

Jared scratched at the middle of his chest as he was speaking. He looked somewhat uncomfortable, which puzzled Drake.

It didn’t take long to figure out why. Peeking out from just under the tank top was a few coarse chest hairs. The more Jared scratched at his chest, the more hair grew in. There didn’t end up being a whole lot, just a light dusting across his pecs, but it was hard to miss.

Conner grinned. “Amazing is a bit of an understatement,” he said with a laugh.

“Glad you’re having fun,” said Drake. Then, casually putting a hand on Jared’s chest—just to cop a little feel—he added, “But you know what they say, right? Strike while the iron is hot. What’s next on the wish list, buddy?”

“Arms,” said Jared without hesitation. “Definitely fucking arms. I want these babies to pop,” he said as struck a double bicep pose with a grin that near split his face in half.

Drake gave one of Jared’s pecs a little squeeze and laughed when Jared popped it in response. “Alright, big guy. We can definitely do something for that.”

Although he was certain Jared wanted to work his biceps, Drake had other ideas. It simply wouldn’t do to give Jared lopsided arms. Jared’s biceps had already seen plenty of action tonight and it was about time to pay closer attention to his triceps.

Drake walked Jared over to the cable machine and dropped the pulley right to the ground. He clipped the rope extension into the carabiner before handing it off to Jared.

While he moved around to the back of the machine to set the weight, he said, “This one’s called a low cable overhead triceps extension.”

“That’s a mouthful,” said Jared with a laugh. He was holding onto the ends of the rope extension over his shoulder—the correct starting stance, surprisingly enough.

“Self-explanatory, though,” said Conner with a half-grin.

Jared shrugged. “Fair.”

Drake moved the weight selection pin into position. He judged what would be appropriate for Jared and went a little bit higher than he normally would. He didn’t know why, exactly, but there was a part of him that wanted to push Jared as far as he could go.

“When you’re ready, just hold the rope overhead,” said Drake.

Jared nodded, following the instructions as Dave walked him through the exercise. Words were enough, on this occasion. Neither Drake nor Conner had to demonstrate.

Drake supposed this Jared had more experience with working out and was drawing on those skills even though this was his first time with this particular exercise. It didn’t bear thinking too much about, in any case, as long as Jared was doing things properly—which he was.

The changes began shortly after Jared did his first few reps. The “front of house,” which had been largely untouched from the start, was where the magic went this time.

Drake could see the glimmer of excitement in Conner’s eye as their aging front desk took on cleaner, sleeker, more modern look. Not even the computer was spared, the old LCD screen transforming into a curved super-wide right before their eyes.

He and Conner shared a look and he could tell Conner wanted to go play with his new toy. He shooed Conner away with a quick flick of his wrist as he shook his head fondly.

Drake turned his attention back to Jared. The panel of cloth that rested between Jared’s pecs shrank, sinking deeper into the space between the thick mounds of muscle. At the same time, the holes on the sides stretched lower, fully exposing Jared’s rippling obliques.

Finally, the magic reached Jared’s triceps. They bulged with every rep, quickly bloating with muscle to match the bulk of his biceps. When they’d finished growing, it seemed as though Jared’s arms had nearly doubled in size.

Drake couldn’t help but admire the result. Although Jared’s arms had been decently well-defined before, the three “heads” of his triceps had never been so distinct.

Jared was red-faced and puffing as he finished the last of his reps. A small vein had popped at his temple, sweat trickling down the sides of his face. He didn’t look to be truly struggling, but it was clear the weight Drake had chosen had turned out to be a genuine challenge.

A subtle shift overcame Jared’s face. Drake couldn’t tell what it was, at first. But the more he looked, the more it became apparent.

All the blemishes that the magic had wiped out in the first place to give Jared his handsome, supermodel-esque look had returned. Not the exact same ones, but they were there, a sparse smattering of pits and craters on his handsome face.

As if to explain all the little defects that pockmarked Jared’s countenance, pimples sprouted across his face. There weren’t so many that it looked grotesque, but there were enough that they couldn’t be ignored.

It was a shame but not entirely unexpected. Steroids weren’t consequence-free and this was one of the unfortunate side-effects. It was tragic to have such handsome looks suddenly diminished. Even so, Drake didn’t think he would have done anything different.

As Jared lowered the pulley handle to the ground, Drake noticed that the acne problem wasn’t isolated to just his face. It was worse on Jared’s chest and shoulders, especially along near and around his collarbones.

Jared rolled his shoulders and grinned at Drake. “That was great, bro!” he said. “I wanna do more of that stuff.”

Drake eyed the acne on Jared’s chest once more before meeting the big guy’s gaze. “Sure I’m not pushing you too hard?” he said.

Jared laughed. He held his arm in front of him and flexed his triceps to show off. “Bro, the gains are the most important part! No such thing as too hard.”

Those words were all the justification that Drake needed. “Alright, big guy. Let’s work on your back next.”

They didn’t have to go too far. All Drake needed for Jared’s next exercise was a barbell and some weights. Since they were already in the weightlifting area, it was a simple matter to find those.

He had Jared stand in a relatively open space and hold onto the barbell as he affixed weights to either end. This was going to be yet another challenging workout.

“Don’t pussy out on me now, bro,” said Jared as he hefted the bar in his hands. “More weight, more gains, right?” he added with a grin.

Drake wasn’t sure that was a good rule of thumb to stick to, but he didn’t object. He just laughed and said, “As long as there’s not so much it causes damage instead of gains.”

“I can take it, bro!” said Jared. The look in his eye suggested he was pretty sure he could and Drake had no real occasion to doubt him. Maybe he was being a bit cocky, but it was honestly a good look on a guy as big as he had become.

Drake licked his lips. “You upped your dose, right?” he said.

Jared flashed his teeth. “Yeah, bro!” he said. “I wanna get fucking big. These muscles need more juice!”

Drake’s cock twitched in his pants. Getting bigger was quickly becoming an obsession for Jared. Part of him was concerned that it might be unhealthy but at the same time, he understood what it meant for their gym.

“That’s a good boy. Make sure you don’t miss a dose,” said Drake. He felt a little bad for encouraging it but they were so close to the success they had only ever dreamed of. And part of him was more than morbidly curious to see how far they could push the magic.

Jared scoffed. “As if, bro,” he said. “That shit’s like going to mass for me. No way am I going to forget!”

Drake laughed. “That’s good. Still, no harm in giving the occasional reminder. Now, bend over.”

“Geez, take him to dinner first,” said Conner with a laugh as he rejoined the pair.

“I know a great steakhouse,” said Jared. “You’re paying though, right?”

Drake pretended to think about it. “I dunno…” he said.

“Bro. You’ve got the most successful gym this side of the city. Can’t even take us out on a steak dinner?” said Jared as he cast a glance at Conner.

Conner snorted. “Yeah, babe,” he said.

Drake rolled his eyes. “Oh, it’s your money too! Anyway. Let’s get started, yeah?”

“Yes, boss,” said Jared. He bent over as instructed and reversed his grip on the barbell. After a few more pointers from Drake, he was off to the races, form as impeccable as ever.

“Look at him go,” said Conner.

Drake chuckled. “It’s incredible.” Not that reverse-grip bent-over rows were particularly complicated but Jared was attacking the exercise with a gusto he’d never seen in even his most enthusiastic clients. “How was the new equipment?”

“Amazing,” said Conner. “It’s not just the front desk. Even the back office stuff. Pretty sure I could do some pretty intense gaming on any of the rigs back there.”

Drake whistled. “Nice,” he said. “But please don’t.”

Conner laughed and smacked Drake on the upper arm. “I’m not that irresponsible,” he said.

As they were speaking, more magic rippled out across the gym floor. The stretching and mobility area, which had been largely neglected thus far, suddenly doubled in size.

Yoga mats, yoga balls, foam blocks, foam rollers, and whatever else a gym-goer might need to stretch before or after their workout appeared one after the other. It was all quality stuff, too, and branded for their gym specifically. It was an incredible sight to see.

Out of the corner of his eye, Drake noticed another change. The only car in the parking lot—Jared’s—transformed before their very eyes. It went from a pretty economical model that was a few years old to a sleek, convertible sports car that just spoke of extravagance. All that influencer money put to good use.

As usual, Jared himself was the last to be touched by the magic. The back of his top shrank. It was hard to tell if the panel of cloth was getting narrower or if it was getting swallowed between Jared’s shoulder blades. The truth was probably both, but either way it gripped tightly against Jared’s skip, following the contours of his incredible physique.

The fabric shifted, moving along with the muscles as Jared went from one rep to the next, as Jared’s middle traps swelled with new bulk. But the exercise was meant to improve more than just those muscles.

Jared’s deltoids bulged. His lats expanded, pushing out to either side from his spine. His form had been great before, but now the contrast between his broad back and upper body and his relatively narrower waist was incredible. It was as if he’d become the archetype of the inverted triangle body shape.

There was a time when Drake would have grimaced at the clang of a barbell with weights hitting the floor, but he wasn’t worried now. Not with all the changes that had transpired, not with the quality of materials that had gone into their new gym.

Jared grunted loudly as he finished the last rep. He’d been sweating profusely throughout the whole thing. The mat in front of him was wet with what had dripped from his face. His back and shoulders glistened with moisture, the shine somehow accentuating his new muscles even more.

Perhaps the only thing that spoiled the effect was acne. Scars pockmarked his otherwise healthy skin, pimples red and inflamed across his broad shoulders. It wasn’t so bad, but it was visible and part of Drake couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt.

Drake pushed the remorse aside. It was an expected side effect. The important part was pushing Jared to his limits. Maybe even beyond them.

“Ready to keep going, big boy?” he said as he clapped a hand on Jared’s shoulder.

Jared wiped his face down with a towel and grinned. He dropped the sopping wet piece of cloth on the ground and said, “Of course, bro! What’s next?”

Drake chuckled. “That’s the spirit!” he said. He led Jared over to one of the hyperextension benches nearby and had him slip into position.

The bench was inclined at nearly 45° and while he could have had Jared do back extensions with just his body weight—which was considerable what with all the new bulk he’d put on—he still grabbed a plate and handed it to Jared.

“Don’t let go,” said Drake with a grin as he patted the plate.

Jared laughed. “Wouldn’t dream of it, coach.”

Coach. Drake had to admit, he kind of liked the sound of that. He didn’t think Jared was going to make a habit of it, though.

Focusing on the matter at hand, he walked Jared through the exercise. It was simple enough to explain and Jared was at it right away. The veins in his neck bulged as he bent over the edge of the bench and then pulled himself back up, core engaged.

Jared huffed and puffed with every rep. Giving him the extra weight had turned out to be the right decision. Despite the extra effort, it was clear to Drake that Jared was enjoying the endeavor.

Shortly after Jared began, a ripple coursed through the entire gym. Conner and Drake looked around, searching for what might have changed. They didn’t have to look for long.

A full half of the screens around the gym switched onto an advertisement. The ad featured Jared prominently. On the screen, he was bigger than he had been when he first truly became famous as a fitness influencer, but he wasn’t as big as he was now. The ad must have been filmed before Jared really started juicing up.

Jared was showing off a brand-new app. It was fully integrated, had a progress tracker, a diet planner, everything needed to manage a membership to the gym, and a whole bunch of other bells and whistles that Drake could think of a thousand uses for. There was even a smartwatch that could automatically keep track of a bunch of useful statistics, all for a pretty competitive price.

Drake hadn’t really considered what success could mean for the gym. He’d thought making a tidy income while being able to help the community would be it. But what he saw on the TVs around the gym, and on posters instructing members on how to download, sign-up to, and use the app, opened his mind to the possibility that they could take things even further than they had ever hoped to dream.

He and Conner shared a look. It was clear they were thinking the same thing. They turned their attention to Jared, the key to achieving their ambitions for the gym—and more.

Jared was just about done with the exercise. His shirt wasn’t as tight as it used to be, especially below the waist, but it was so soaked with sweat the fabric stuck to his skin anyway.

His lower back now matched his middle and upper. Twin bunches of ridged and knotted muscle marched down either side of his spine like a pair of mountain ranges with a narrow valley between them. Drake didn’t think he’d seen such exquisite spinal erectors in his life.

Jared polished off the rest of his sets and dismounted the bench with a grin. His chest heaved with every deep breath and it was difficult not to notice how much thicker his body hair had gotten.

It hadn’t reached the point where Drake would describe it as a pelt, but there was no ignoring the coarse hairs that peeked out from under the narrow panel of cloth that barely even covered Jared’s pecs now. Even more difficult to miss were the wiry tufts of hair that had sprouted from Jared’s armpits.

Not even Jared’s face was spared the growth. Though he’d been baby-faced and smooth for most of the night, he now had something of a shadow along his jaw. It was nothing more than stubble, but it was more facial hair than he’d had before. It wasn’t a bad look, but it certainly made him appear a lot more rugged than he used to be.

Jared was looking good as far as Drake was concerned, and yet as he took in Jared’s entire physique, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something off about the whole picture. He frowned, gaze searching up and down Jared’s body as he tried to puzzle it out.

Drake’s eyes widened when he realized what it was. The effect was subtle but not invisible. It was there to see if one knew what to look for.

Jared’s pecs were impressive. He’d gone from a twink to a broad-shouldered, barrel-chested bodybuilder in record time. But the two meaty slabs of muscle that were resting on top of his ribcage had lost some of their firmness. Not a lot, but enough to notice. It was as if gravity were exerting its influence, making both beefy mounds sag subtly toward the floor.

Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad had that been all, but there were other signs that Drake noted. Jared’s nipples were somewhat swollen and prominent. The area surrounding them was soft and supple.

There was no denying the evidence that was right before Drake’s eyes. Jared was exhibiting gynecomastia. It was another not-unexpected consequence of encouraging the man to abuse anabolic steroids, one that Drake would have rather done without.

As it was, it wasn’t so bad. It didn’t seem like Jared had noticed, yet. But if it got worse, it was bound to be only a matter of time. Drake would have to keep an eye out. He could only hope that the magic would be able to fix things if they got too bad.

“Let’s do some more leg work, bro! It’s been a while!” said Jared.

Jared’s voice shook Drake out of his thoughts. He schooled his expression, laughed, and said, “Sure, big guy. Let me think… Oh! Got it. Follow me.”

Drake led Jared over to a nearby machine. From there, it was a fairly easy matter to get Jared set up and started with some lying leg curls. Once again, Drake upped the weight beyond what he would typically suggest, knowing that it would only serve to better stimulate the growth of Jared’s muscles.

As he stood back with Conner, he couldn’t help but admire the view of Jared lying on his belly. Jared’s broad back was truly impressive and his plump, muscular ass was a sight to behold, especially as it rippled with every rep.

There were no changes to the gym that Drake noticed, this time. Even Conner was looking but to no avail. The magic, for whatever reason, seemed to be focused entirely on Jared. Not that Drake had any complaints.

Jared’s hamstrings bulged rep after rep, never quite losing the pump they gained in the moments between. They hadn’t been neglected this whole time, but they hadn’t been focused on either, and the extra attention was doing wonders.

The way that the muscles swelled under the influence of the magic never failed to impress Drake. Rep after rep, Jared’s hamstrings became bulkier and more defined. Three individual bundles of muscle bulged and rippled under his skin, straining with incredible strength as he curled his legs against the extra weight that Drake had placed on the machine.

As Jared’s hamstrings grew, they pushed the leg holes of his compression shorts further and further up with their bulk. The hems settled into the crease between his glutes and his hamstrings, stuffed there and trapped between the two mounds of hard muscle.

It was at about that time that the shorts themselves changed. The bunched-up fabric around the bottom of Jared’s ass cheeks smoothed out as the spandex tightened even further around his rock-hard glutes, compressing them into a perfectly supple package.

Jared finished the workout with a grunt and heaved himself out of the machine. His legs wobbled a bit when he stood but he managed to catch himself. He shook first one leg and then the other and grinned, clearly pleased.

Drake noticed that the waistband of Jared’s compression shorts was slung much lower than it used to be. The elastic was practically hanging halfway off Jared’s hips. Just a little lower and it would have exposed the root of Jared’s cock—not that Drake would have complained.

The back was just as bad. The waistband barely covered the top of Jared’s ass. It showed off that delicious little divot just at the base of Jared’s spine, just over his tailbone. The waistband itself dipped slightly into the cleft of Jared’s ass cheeks.

The way those compression shorts looked, Drake was almost certain the only thing holding them up was the bulk of Jared’s ass.

Unfortunately, with the good came the bad. Jared’s gynecomastia had gotten worse. His pecs looked softer, bloated with fat instead of muscle. His nipples, particularly, looked large and sensitive.

Jared’s chest hair had grown even thicker but instead of disguising the problem, it seemed to only make it more apparent. Drake had hoped that it wouldn’t get worse but it was pretty clear they’d have to deal with it before long.

The scraggly stubble that shadowed Jared’s jawline had likewise become thicker. The tufts of hair in his armpits had become longer and messier. There was a dusting of hair on his forearms, now, and the beginnings of a treasure trail visible just over the waistband of his compression shorts.

As Drake trailed his gaze down Jared’s body, he noticed that another symptom of steroid abuse had begun to manifest. He’d hoped to avoid this one, but there was no helping it.

The bulge between Jared’s legs had visibly shrunk. It wasn’t as small as it was at the beginning of the night, but it wasn’t as big as when he’d started on the gear. The magic had given Jared an endowment to be proud of, but now the steroids were taking it away.

“I wanna see how I look now, bro. Gimme a sec!” said Jared. He bounded for the wall with the mirrors before Drake could even stop him, his footsteps so heavy there was no mistaking them.

Drake and Conner shared a look and gave chase. Jared was already posing at the mirror by the time they did and they arrived just to see his face fall.

“Bro…” Jared’s voice was low, his eyes uncertain for the first time through the long evening. “Bro… What’s happening to me? I look great, bro, but… What are these?”

Drake and Conner shared another look before Conner jumped in. “Look, buddy, don’t panic. It’s not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal? Not a big deal?! Bro! I’m growing tits! Not, like, muscle tits. But like, actual tits!” said Jared.

“Unfortunately, this can be one of the side effects of using steroids,” said Drake.

Jared frowned. “You didn’t tell me that!” he said. He turned back to the mirror and scowled, grabbing both pecs as he brushed his thumbs over his oversensitive nipples and hissed through his teeth.

“Maybe… Maybe I should stop. I’m big enough, right?” he said.

The pang of anxiety that hit Drake at those words was something fierce. “That… That’s your prerogative,” he said, not wanting to sound too pushy. “But think about it. Is this enough? Are you really satisfied with where you are?”

“I mean… But if there are side-effects…”

Drake looked at Conner. He needed help on this one. They couldn’t let Jared stop. Not now. Not so soon after they realized just how much further they could take things.

“You said you wanted to get bigger, right?” said Conner. “When you first came to us. You said that was your goal.”

Jared turned and looked at Conner. “Yeah, but…”

“Has that changed?” said Conner.

Jared pursed his lips for a moment and then shook his head. “No, but…”

“So why stop here?” Conner could be forceful if he wanted to be. More forceful than Drake, on any account. The way he kept bowling over Jared’s objections truthfully made Drake feel a little bad but he understood it was necessary. “Do you really want to give up? You’ve gotten so far and you’ve got so much more to go. Do you want to just stop?”

Jared turned his attention back to the mirror. He cupped his pecs and grimaced at how they’d turned out.

“If you want to get big, why not shoot for becoming the biggest? What’s a little sacrifice if it means becoming the best?” said Conner.

Drake hadn’t expected that part if he was being honest. But he wasn’t complaining, either. If they could get Jared obsessed with getting bigger, with becoming the biggest, it would make it so much easier to push him to the limits and past them.

“If you’re concerned about side effects, it’s not like there aren’t strategies to deal with that,” said Drake, finally finding an opportunity to jump in.

Jared’s expression visibly perked up. He looked over his shoulder at Drake and said, “There are?”

Drake nodded and smiled. “Of course. It’s pretty simple. Just a little cosmetic surgery. But it will fix you right up, no problem.”

“Surgery sounds pretty… intense, bro…”

Drake chuckled. “It’s an outpatient procedure,” he said. “You go in. They fix you up. You go home the same day. Quick and simple.”

Jared hesitated. “And you’re sure it’s safe?”

Conner nodded. “Safe and routine. You want to get bigger, right?”

Jared nodded.

“And you don’t want to have boobs?”

Jared nodded again.

Conner smiled. “So trust us. Do this. It’ll be worth the effort.”

Jared turned to face Conner and Drake. He looked between them, his reluctance slowly giving way to determination. “You know what? You’re right. I’ve come too far to give up now. And if I can’t trust you two…”

Drake was pleasantly surprised as Jared walked forward and pulled him and Conner into a tight hug. He patted the big guy on the shoulder and laughed. “For what it’s worth, buddy, I think you’ve made the right choice.”

Jared took a step back and smiled. That was all he did. He smiled. At first, Drake thought the big guy might be looking at him, but he quickly realized Jared was looking past him, eyes focused on a point miles away.

“Jared?” said Drake. He waved a hand in front of Jared’s face but got no response. “Are you alright?”

Just as quickly as the episode had started, it was over. Jared cracked a grin, his gaze refocusing on Drake. “Never better, bro! I’m so fucking glad I listened to you guys. I can keep going without worrying now,” he said.

Drake was about to ask what Jared meant but stopped short when he noticed Jared’s swollen and oversensitive nipples shrink back down to size. His areolas returned to normal. The breast buds practically disappeared. All the softness in Jared’s chest gave way to the muscular firmness he used to have and the only sign that it had ever been there was a tiny scar on each pec.

“You look great, buddy,” said Conner. He walked up to Jared and placed a hand on Jared’s chest, giving one of the big guy’s pecs an appreciative squeeze. “Welcome back, muscle tits.”