By the time the two reached the gym, Zeke's shirt was sporting damp patches across the chest and down the back. Not enough to bother him, Jake knew. Those memories of growing up with him were filling in more and more. It was surprising seeing his once father in a new light. He had always been in a sort of awe of him, now.. he knew his flaws but that just made him more likable.
When they stepping inside though, the air was hot and heavy. Not as bad as it was outside, but still not the usual temperature they kept the gym. Fans were on and spinning, and some standing fans dotted the gym along with coolers full of ice. The young woman at the front desk shot them a weak smile past a slightly sweaty face. "Sorry. AC is out. Feel free to help yourself to any of the waters in the coolers, no charge today."
Jake followed Zeke back to the weight room, the two falling into a comfortable routine they had done plenty of times before, one spotting for the other then trading off. After only a few minutes though Zeke's shirt was drenched through and clinging to him, it didn't hide much damp as it was and he kept plucking at it.
"Just take it off, man. You're going to chafe." Jake said, setting the barbell back on the hooks and sitting up. Jake had long since removed his own shirt, proudly displaying his furry, muscular chest.
Zeke looked at his brother for a moment, then sighed, peeling off the sweat-soaked tee. It had been a while since even Jake could remember seeing his brother shirtless, he would go to pools and the beach with a shirt on. Jake had no fucking clue why. Underneath he was a solid mass of cut stone. Jake was actually a bit bigger and bulkier, but not by much. Zeke was cut, though. The curve and outline of every muscle in sharp relief, a slightly lighter dusting of brown hair than Jake sported crossed his chest and stomach. He hunched his heavy delts in on himself in an uncomfortable shrug as he set the shirt aside.
They swapped positions on the bench and Zeke quickly began his reps, though the crimson in his face wasn't just from exertion. He cut short and sat up. "I can't focus like this, let's just go home." Zeke popped to his feet and snagged his shirt, but even he decided it wasn't going to go back on. Not comfortably. Jake sighed and followed his older brother towards the exit so they could start their jog home.
"People keep staring." Zeke said in a bit of a whisper two blocks in, looking like he wanted to curl in on himself.
"Of course they are." Jake added with his own laugh, nudging Zeke with an elbow. "Two hot, shirtless guys, covered in sweat and running down the road. I'd stare." Jake had noticed as well, plenty of women and no few men watched them as they jogged by.
By the time they got home, Zeke was practically running. He burst into the house, Jake a few yards behind. "I'm going to take a shower." Zeke said, quickly heading towards the master bedroom and leaving Jake to think things over. He wondered if there might not be a way to fix Zeke's issue. It had to be something from when they were growing up, but he wasn't sure what he could do. He headed to his own room, not minding his sweat-soaked body as he dropped in the chair and booted up the computer.
Maybe if it was something from when he was younger, giving him a different childhood would fix it? Jake rubbed his chin as he pulled up Zeke's stats. Just one change. Jake would see where that would lead.
Zeke stood in the shower, letting the cold water pour over him. It felt good after the heat of the jog and the gym, and it cooled his nerves. He wished he had even half of Jake's confidence. He knew it was silly, but he still saw himself as the scrawny twig that got teased his first few years of high school. Until a Jake that was already bigger than him stepped in to save him. That's when he decided to start working out, so his little brother wouldn't have to save him again. Not that it mattered.
He didn't even notice the water was washing away years as well as sweat. He had been left ignorant of the change coming over him. His face softened just a little bit, fine lines smoothing out as some of youth's soft curves returned to him., th stubble on his face thinning out a little, retreating from his cheeks to just along his jaw and chin.
His muscles lost only a little bulk. True, it would come back as he got older and his body began to favor mass over litheness again, but he was still rather muscular. His muscles were simply leaner, the lines of his body cleaner. He grabbed the soap and began to lather up, nudging the temperature back to warm now that he had cooled down. He ran the soap over his body with a grin, almost caressing his own muscles. He was proud of the growth he had in the last few years from putting time in at the high school weight room.
His body hair thinned out, leaving not even a light dusting between his pecs and barely a narrow treasure trail that accented the middle of his newly formed abs. He began to hum to himself as he continued to wash.
The sound of humming from the hall bathroom drew Jake's attention to the hallway. With nothing changing about himself he noticed the rooms shifting about a bit more easily. Strangely, his small bedroom quickly grew to almost twice it's size, the bathroom that had once been the hall bath now more spacious and right off his room. Meanwhile the master bedroom had broken into smaller rooms, and the sound of the shower came from behind another door in the hallway. He guess it made sense, he was the older of the two now, and he felt like this was his house. So did that make Zeke his much younger brother then?
The water shut off and the sixteen year old Zeke came out of the bathroom a few minutes later. He looked just as Jake's implanted memories remembered him being at that age. Though there was a cocky swagger to him now, a confidence that wasn't there before, and he came out into the hallway with only a towel wrapped around his narrow waist. Something he had never done. He always got dressed in the bathroom before.
Zeke looked over to Jake watching him with a curious expression. "Something wrong, dad?"
The word dad hit him like a fist in the stomach. Those implanted memories from him getting older were changing again, He could still remember Zeke his brother, but it was fading to the background like his memories from being Zeke's son just this morning. He could remember messing around as a teenager, getting a girl knocked up right after high school. Her family wanted to give the kid up but he wanted to do the right thing. His parents helping him to raise his son until he graduated trade school. Making enough money to support him and his son and moving out to this house. And just starting to help him out as he'd started taking an interest in weight lifting.
Shaking his head to clear it, he looked back at Zeke and felt.. proud? "Nothing. Just wondering when you'd be done. You left your old man some hot water, right?" Not that Jake was any older than he had been. Thirty-five was rather young for having a sixteen year old son, and he had to admit sometimes their relationship felt more like brothers than father and son given their closeness in age, even more so lately, but Zeke always listened when Jake put his foot down. He was a good kid, if a bit cocky.
"Plenty, I needed a colder shower after that heat." Zeke grinned and headed to his room.
Jake just shook his head. That was more change than he expected. He really did need to shower though, he was starting to reek.