"Hey there big guy," Liam said. "How you feeling today?" He'd approached Charlie as he was setting down the weights.
"Huh?" Charlie looked Liam up and down. His eyes narrowed. "Oh, hey there mister officer." He repeated the nickname he'd given Liam the day prior. "Better."
Something inside Liam was telling him the other man was lying. Charlie was always a bit of a showoff. He'd go to the heaviest weights he could possibly lift, then grunt and groan as loudly as he could. It drew everyone's attention in the gym. But now, he was lifting significantly lighter weights. Not to mention how he was sweating profusely. Sweat stained every bit of his sleeveless shirt, clinging it to his body. Which was good, as the shirt didn't seem to cling as tightly to his broad shoulders or chest as well as usual. Liam took a step back, looking over the man. "You sure?" he asked.
"Yeah, man," Charlie answered. It seemed like he was trying to be tough as he puffed out his chest, but there was a weakness straddled to his voice. Even with the two syllables, his voice seemed to shake with a bit of uncertainty. "I'm fine." He goes back to the weights and starts lifting them.
"Must be some hangover if you're all the way down here," Liam bragged.
Charlie scoffed. "Just feeling a bit tired. That's all."
"Big guy like you? Tired? Please... Don't lie to me," Liam mocked the idea. If whatever Charlie was on was starting to get passed around, he'd need to know what it was. And best way to do that is find the source. And seeing the bit of smile poke out of the side of Charlie's mouth was giving him a bit of an in. "I know we got off a bit on the wrong foot. Look, I'm sorry. I was just didn't expect a kiss. That's all."
"Uh-huh..." Charlie nodded. He didn't seem any angrier. But his mind seemed to have wandered off a bit from the work out.
"You know," Liam continued. "I kind of always envied you. I see you in the gym all the time. You're big and strong. Women love you. Well... I kind of want some of that myself. You know? And when you kissed me yesterday, all I could think is, 'There's no way a guy like this is gay. He's so masculine that whatever he's on must really be fucking with him.' Y'know?"
Charlie took a second. He looked like he was mulling it over. "Yeah... I know," he set the weights back down. "See the guy who sold it to me said it'd unleash a beast or some shit within me. I'd seen the results. He'd had two absolute fucking monsters standing over him. Each one easily as big as a fuckin gorilla or something. But then when I got home and took it, I felt funny. Every time I rubbed my body against something it just felt good. And even better against people. And then..." Charlie went quiet. "And then when I woke up this morning, my hair was starting turn a different color. I dyed it back to black, but look." He pulled down his sleeveless shirt. Orange hair was covering his chest. "Like what the fuck man? What is that? I shaved it this morning and it's growing back already."
Liam shook his head. He stared a bit more. It didn't quite look like male body hair. Instead it resembled something more like fur. "Yeah... I don't know..."