On the way to the fitness center, the couple stopped at Janet's house to pick up her swimsuit, and at the same time, Brad also borrowed a swimsuit from Janet's father. Mr. Laney's build was on the thinner side, so he hoped it would show off his ass better. Brad also picked up one of Mr. Laney's workout shorts just in case he wanted to hit the weights.
Once they arrived, Brad was busy paying for the day passes while Janet was busy searching for something on her phone. Strange, the boyfriend would have asked what she was doing, but she beat him to the punch.
"Oh! What if Vertael is another name for Verstael? Versatilis is the Latin word for changeable."
"So a change demon? I don't think that's a demon in mythology, either. I don't think it tells us much. I guess information is information, and it could be useful later on." Still a change demon? Brad thought. This wasn't like any other demon he had heard of before. What was his end goal?
"Speaking of change. I should get changed. I actually bought a new swimsuit recently, and I can't wait for you to see it." Brad blushed, especially when she gave him a wink before she headed to the changing room. Get it together, Bradley, don't make a fool of yourself in public.
Unlike Janet, Brad already wore his swimsuit to the gym, so all he had to strip and put away the rest of his clothes. As he walked into the pool area, he felt a new wave of confidence had welled up inside of him. While his old body wasn't bad by any means, his new body was actually impressive. So impressive that he wasn't the only one to realize this as he saw a couple of girls ogling him. Not wanting to disappoint them, Brad gave those girls a bit of a show by hitting a couple of poses. That was when he heard someone.
"Hey, nice muscles, but you really need to work on your form." Brad turned around to find a man that seemed even more muscular than either Brad or Doug was now. A man only wearing swim shorts with the gym's branding.
"Oh, sorry, where are my manners? The name's Grayson Lansing, but you can call me Gray. I sometimes help out at Walton High, but I'm mainly a personal trainer here. Although I'm just finishing up filling as a lifeguard." The personal trainer extended a hand, and Bradley did the same and shook it. How strange that there was another Grayson that also happened to be part of another school's Phys Ed department. Small world.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Bradley DiLaurentis, though I go by Brad. Uh, High schooler, but at Amberville High."
"Damn, you're only a high schooler? You got quite the bod for someone so young."
"U-uh, yeah. I worked really hard for these muscles," Brad said flustered at the compliment. In fact, he felt he was a bit more flustered than usual, although Brad wrote that off from having just lied.
"Nice. Well, I'm going to be returning to the weights now. If you want my services, I'd be happy to train you. I'll even throw in some pointers for posing." Gray then hit a lat spread as a demonstration. Although this caused Brad to feel strange. He felt almost the same way as when Janet said she had a new swimsuit. Not only that, but he was suddenly noticing things he didn't before. The way Gray's chest bulged out, the fact that Gray's body was slightly damp, the fact that the personal trainer had dimples, and those wings...
"Think about it." Gray then left to the changing rooms leaving Brad feeling both relieved that the situation had ended and wanting to see Gray pose more. Brad chalked it up to a combination of feeling intimidated by the personal trainer, and aesthetic appreciation of the other's man body.
It was intimidation and appreciation he was feeling... right? Though before he think about this any further another thought reached his mind. He remembered that he was working out, lifting weights in that dreamscape. Maybe if he worked out in the weight room he would remember something else? Now Bradly had to decide if he should meet Gray for a training session later after he had fun with his girlfriend or not.
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"Owww, fuck, my head." Ethan had awoken from getting knocked out by the tape. Brian didn't mention getting knocked out like this. Note to self, make sure to bring a pillow next time.
Oh! That was right! In his pain, Ethan had almost forgotten what had happened. Man, that was a trip, but it was just like his favorite CYOC stories, well, from what he recalled, at least. Hot, buff guys working out, that demon Brad was talking about, plus another name. Ronnie was the name he thought he heard.
Ethan looked down just to see if his body had changed a little, and was shocked to see he could see past a pair of bulging pecs! Holy shit! It worked! He needed a mirror! Brad had a full-length mirror in his bedroom, so Ethan quickly sprinted over there to find that his wildest fantasy had come true, and then some!
"Ohmigod! Yes! Yes!!" Muscle, there was so much muscle on his body now! Big, strong, bulky muscles! Not to mention he was pretty sure he was taller than before. Ethan was always called a pretty boy and hated it, but no one was going to call him that anymore. He was a man now.
Ethan began to flex and pose just like the guys in the story did when they transformed. Oh, but it was one thing to read about it. It was another to experience it. The way his muscles balled up with strength, the hardness he felt when he touched them. It wasn't the only thing to harden either. The teen felt like he had died and gone to CYOC heaven. His body was just so bulky now. In fact, he seemed to be bulkier than his brother was with around the same amount of tone. Hmmm, although now that he looked at himself, his body seemed to be tanner, and his hair might have been thinner. Ethan paused for a moment but decided that he didn't care. He had the body that he always wanted, so why did he need to be concerned about these smaller changes?
"I need to watch that tape again! No, I need to tell all my friends! No! I need to jerk off!" Though while the new gym rat was contemplating what he was going to do next, Ethan had accidentally knocked over the pile of VHS tapes.
"Hey, anyone home!" A familiar voice cried out. Oh shit! It was Ethan's stepdad, Dirk DiLaurentis. Ethan thought he was going to be out until dinner, but it seemed like that wasn't the case. Crap, how was he going to explain this to his stepdad? Ethan was pretty sure there were no reality changes to help him out, so quickly, he hid in his brother's closet. The irony was not lost on him, but he just needed to hide here until his stepfather went away and he could think of an explanation.
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Dirk was supposed to be out of the house all day to work on a project of his, but he returned to his house to pick up some things when he heard a small crashing noise.
"Hey, anyone home!" He shouted, but there was no response. Dirk should have been warier, but he shrugged it off as something just falling over. It was then he saw a VHS on the ground in the hallway. It was one of the VHS on the stack that Ethan had accidentally knocked over. It had slid all the way into the hallway, almost like it was trying to find someone to play it.
The tape must have fallen from the hallway table, and that was the sound he had heard before, Dirk thought. How convenient; he needed a VHS tape.