The jacket was old, but surprisingly well taken care of, as if it had leapt from its area in time to the present day. An era where the world feared the Axis Powers, and the United States stepped forward and defeated them, ending the tyranny of three dictatorships. Doug whistled a little in appreciation of the condition it was kept in, as it had to have taken a lot of work to maintain this condition in the item, even he had to admit that was impressive. Not like he could ever do anything of a similar level of workmanship.
Taking it up, without really thinking about it, he slipped it on and felt a strange electric charge run up through the vest into his chest and arms. He shivered, gulping as the charge elicited a slightly pleasurable sensation. It felt strange, but he guessed it was some variety of powder used to keep it in this condition.
"Weird..." He cleared his throat, as it sounded like he was coming down with something. Just great.
What he didn't notice was that his arms, chest, and abdomen were slowly increasing in terms of musculature, becoming harder, more toned. The fat on his frame dissipated, leaving him skinny, but not to an unpleasant degree. As his musculature toned, it was more of a svelte look. His abdomen did not quite have abs yet, though it was flat and toned.
He started to show signs of a more handsome look on his face, the structure reforming slightly. Doug gasped and almost fell forward due to this, but he quickly caught himself with newly developing instincts, and brought himself back up. "Yeah, I'm definitely coming down with something."
He walked over to the old lady who had been selling the clothes, and decided he liked this jacket, despite the itch earlier. "I'll take it. How much?"
She seemed to notice something he could not, and smiled a little. He was starting to find something in himself, she decided. Maybe, with time, he could find the optimism and ideals.
"9.99 for that." Doug was rather astounded at the low price for such an item, and nodded, handing over a ten and two quarters without much hesitation.
"Now, how about a photo?" She offered, deciding to take note of how it looked.
"Sure." with that, Doug handed over his mobile, and she took a photo of the young man who would soon be a soldier. She noted the strength starting to show in his chin, slight developments in muscular tone and posture. Give it time...and he would show interesting promise.
With that, she handed the device back over, and Doug then overheard Kate coming back over. He smiled and went over to her to listen to what happened, oblivious to any changes that had occurred.
Kate, for her part, thought Doug was looking a bit healthier than usual, but thought nothing of the change in him. If anything, it'd be a welcome addition if they had some alone time. "Well, I got what I wanted, so how about we go home, soldier?"
"Yes ma'am!" With that, he followed her back to their car. As they got in, Doug squirmed slightly as he got in the passenger side door...