The Mind-Body Problem

Chloe set a brisk pace on the way to her bus stop.  She felt nervous, and exposed.  Her tank top didn’t fit right – it was too tight around the shoulders – and the straps of her bra dug in awkwardly.  It also felt like her thighs might burst through these tiny shorts at any moment.  It was a good thing they were a little stretchy.  So far, all this extra muscle was nothing but a hassle.

All the same, it was a nice day out.  The sun was shining, the birds were singing.  It was hard to feel bad on a day like this.  She tried to forget that her physique had just been radically altered by a magic potion, and that this basically flushed everything she knew about modern medicine down the toilet.

She watched the bus drive off while she was still a block away from her stop.  She sighed, and checked the tracking app.  There was another due in ten minutes, and that would easily get her to class on time for her exam.  But campus wasn’t that far, and it really was such a nice day.  If she moved with purpose, she could be there in plenty of time.

She looked up suddenly.  There were a pair of frat boys coming down the sidewalk toward her, laughing and joking about something.  She set her jaw, ready for the inevitable stares.  Her chest was even more prominent than usual, and even at her most daring this was more skin than she was used to showing.

She tensed, as the gazes of both men fell upon her.  And frowned, ever so slightly.

Both men immediately looked away.

She stood as they walked past her, the two of them falling into a polite silence until they were halfway down the block.

Choe smiled.  Maybe Eve knew what she was doing after all.

At school, Chloe settled down at her desk, looking through her notes one last time.

One of her classmates wanted to know if she was wearing a new outfit.  No, she’d had this one for a while.  It looked good, they said – and left it at that.  Someone else wanted to know if she’d been working out.  A little, she admitted.  There was more casual conversation, people getting out their nerves before the test.  At this point in her academic career, most people in her cohort knew her by sight.  She’d been afraid someone would point out how she’d clearly put on ten pounds of muscle over the weekend, and that just wasn’t normal.  People noticed – but if anyone thought it was odd, they kept those opinions to themselves.

Their instructor came down the aisle, passing out papers.  Chloe braced herself.  The Anatomy and Physiology professor was an older man, tenured, not afraid of offending his students.  He often made excuses to speak with the more attractive women in the class, addressing his remarks directly to their chests.  Chloe had been on the receiving end of more than a few of these pectoral monologues.

He paused briefly at her desk.  He had a bird’s eye view of her cleavage, and there was no way for Chloe to hide.  She crossed her arms self-consciously, still getting used to the weight and thickness of her new biceps.  She hadn’t intended to flex, but her muscles seemed to have a mind of their own.  The professor quickly looked away, and handed over her test.

The first question was on the spinal column, and it was easy – humans had 33 vertebrae, which fused to 24 during normal development.  The next question wasn’t any harder.  Nor the third.  She had a double-sided three-by-five card of notes, written in her tiny meticulous handwriting, but she didn’t glance at it once.

It wasn’t that the test was easy.  She could feel the tension in the room without needing to look.  And there were other signs – chairs creaking, people sighing.  Chloe had studied, and knew this material.  But the ease with which she could draw it from her memory was a little amazing.

She had tried Adderall a few times, and other stimulants.  Chloe wasn’t against a little better living through chemistry, and if it helped her learn better, what was wrong with that?  It made her feel too twitchy though, and the increase in blood pressure just wasn’t acceptable.  This feeling was similar.  There was the same smoothness of thought, the increase in focus.  Only instead of her brain feeling like an out-of-control freight train, she felt like a well-oiled machine.

If she knew she could get these benefits from a little weight training, she would’ve started years ago.

She was the first one done, and class wasn’t scheduled to end for another hour.  She walked out into the midday sun, feeling amazing.  Her next class wasn’t until two, and her usual routine was to just grab lunch on campus.  But she happened to know Kayla would be arriving at the gym soon, in between her morning factory shift and her evening barbacking gig.  It would be nice to see her.  And honestly, she was a little nervous about what her girlfriend would think of her new muscle.  Better to get it out of the way.

Lift Legends 24-Hour Gym and Spa was a short walk away.  Chloe had been once or twice, mostly to use the elliptical and give Kayla a little emotional support.  She walked through the glass door, gave the young man at the desk a friendly nod, and made her way toward the weight room.

The door was locked.

“Oh, sorry miss,” the man called after her.  “Did you forget your keycard?”

Chloe covered her mouth in embarrassment.  “Oh gosh, I’m sorry.  I’m not a member!  I’m just here to see my girlfriend.”

“Ah, I understand.  I’m kind of new here myself.  I just assumed you were a regular.”

The door opened, and Kayla stuck out her head.  Her white cotton tee was wet from exertion, and there were little beads of sweat on her brow.  “Hey there sweetie, I thought I heard your voice.  This is a nice surprise, I–”

Kayla abruptly stopped talking.  Her jaw fell open.

“Yeah, I missed you.”  Chloe suppressed a smile, letting Kayla drink her in.

Kayla swallowed.  “Hey Sam.  I’m going to guest Chloe in.  Okay?”

“Sure.”  He started to tap on his keyboard.  “I’ll just need her license, and I’ll get her a liability form….”

“We’ll handle all that on the way out, okay?  I’m mid-workout and I don’t want to lose my pump.”

Sam hesitated.  “I’m not supposed to… oh, I guess it’s okay.  Just this once.”

Kayla grabbed Chloe by the hand, and dragged her into the locker room.  She didn’t speak as she led, past benches and banks of lockers, to the changing area.  There were a series of private stalls, each about the size of a department store changing room.  Chloe had time to think it was a very civilized way to handle getting naked in public, before her girlfriend pushed her inside.

Kayla shut the door behind them.  She took several deep breaths, and looked toward the ceiling, clearly trying to get her thoughts straight.

“Hi,” she said, at last.

Chloe giggled.  “Hi.”

“So.  That really was a magic potion you drank last night?”

“Apparently.”

“Alright.  My current opinion, is that this is the most awesome thing that has ever happened.  But reassure me?  Your heart isn’t racing?  You aren’t flying into sudden fits of rage?”

“Oh for God’s sake, I’m not taking anabolic steroids.  It’s magic!”

Kayla looked unconvinced.  She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully.

Chloe pouted.  “I thought you said this was awesome.”

“It is!  Seriously.  You look amazing.  I’m honestly having trouble not straight up tearing your clothes off.  I’m just, you know.  Worried.  People don’t just grow like this.”

“If you think this is amazing, you should see Abigail.”  Chloe looked down shyly.  “But um.  Tell me more about tearing my clothes off?”

Kayla laughed.  “I mean.  You look really fucking sexy with all this muscle, okay?  Not to mention that skimpy little outfit.  Like.  You know I adore my soft little Klo-cake.  But you basically went from a ten, to a fourteen.  You’re sure you’re feeling okay though?”

She thought about mentioning the ‘side effects’ she was experiencing.  The higher energy levels, the clarity of thought.  The abnormally high sex drive.

“I think I have a way to put your mind at ease,” she said, instead.

“Oh?  And what would that be?”

Without a word, Chloe began to strip.  Her shirt was tight but flimsy, and it came easily.  Her bra was a bit of a challenge – she had less shoulder flexibility now, and the garment was squeezed to its max to accommodate her pectorals.  But soon she stood before her girlfriend, completely unclothed.

“If you’re worried about me,” she said softly.  “Inspect me.  Make sure I’m okay.”

The dressing room was cramped, and wouldn’t have been spacious even for one person.   Chloe was so close to Kayla that she could smell the subtle shift as her girlfriend became excited.  She’d always loved the way Kayla smelled.  Her arousal, of course, but also the natural perfume of her body.  And maybe it was weird, but she even loved the smell of Kayla’s sweat.  It meant exertion, and closeness, and an excuse to rub her poor tired muscles.  It was also an omen of sexy times to come.

Kayla began to look her over.  Checking her carefully.  Her throat, and shoulders.  Her biceps, and forearms, and each individual finger.  Chloe stood dutifully still, moving to accommodate the inspection.  Silently turning, or lifting her arms in response to Kayla’s touch.

“I feel drunk,” Chloe whispered.

Kayla stopped, looking up from her investigation of Chloe’s washboard tummy.  “Are you…?”

“No.”  She smiled reassuringly.  “It’s a good feeling.  I always feel good when you look at me.”

“Is that why you said yes when I asked you out, that first night?  I wasn’t smooth at all.  Staring at you from across the bar.  It felt like I was fourteen again.  I kept dropping things, bumping into customers.  My boss was so mad.”

“I wanted you to keep staring.  I never wanted you to stop.”  She ran her fingers through Kayla’s hair.  And gently pushed the woman’s head lower.  “There’s more of me to inspect, Kayla honey.  I think you should take a good, long look at my thighs.”

Outside, the door to the locker room opened.  Feminine voices echoed, coming closer.  Kayla and Chloe looked at each other in panic.  There was no lock to their changing room, and the bottom of the door was almost knee-high.  If anyone walked by, it would be obvious there were two sets of legs in a single stall.

Kayla pointed toward the bench, and Chloe moved at once.  Climbing up onto the seat, pushing herself as far back as she could, lifting her feet off the floor.  The bench was narrow, not meant for this, and it left her in an extremely awkward position.  Her back pressed against the wall, her head bent forward.  She had to spread her legs as wide as she could to keep her feet off the floor, and she had to flex nearly every muscle in her body to maintain herself like this.  She grasped her ankles, her legs already beginning to shake with the effort.

Her girlfriend peeked over the top of the door, and scowled.  Apparently, the women outside weren’t leaving any time soon.  Kayla turned, her expression apologetic.  But the moment her eyes fell upon Chloe’s predicament, her face broke in an evil grin.

Chloe glared.  “You wouldn’t,” she mouthed.

Kayla put a finger to her lips, smirking.  She moved forward, her motions silky, cat-like.  And gently ran the tip of her finger along the hard edge of Chloe’s inner thigh.

Chloe’s breath came out in a slow, shuddering exhalation.  Her legs shook harder.

“Please.”

“Please what?” Kayla breathed.

Her finger began to draw a long, slow circle around the circumference of Chloe’s groin.  Then another circle, and another, drawing in tighter each time.  Chloe covered her mouth with both hands in anticipation, and just barely managed to stay quiet as Kayla stroked over her clitoris.  A finger slipped inside her.  Thrust.  Then pulled out, and began to roughly massage her clit.

Chloe whimpered from the back of her throat.  Her entire body shook, the tension of holding still and silent almost too much to bear.

And all the while Kayla watched her.  Drinking in every involuntary muscle twitch, every shudder, every furrow of her brow.  Chloe had never felt more on display in her life.  The intensity of Kayla’s attention felt like a drug.  And all she could do was sit there and accept it – even the smallest movement and she might fall off this damn bench, and then she’d receive another kind of attention entirely.

Kayla’s hand was moving faster now, working into that well-practiced rhythm that meant Chloe wouldn’t be able to resist much longer.  Her girlfriend leaned down and kissed her carefully, completely covering Chloe’s mouth with her own.  And increased the pressure of her fingers a tiny, tiny amount.

A moan finally escaped from her lips as she came.  The sound entered Kayla’s mouth, reverberated through her chest.  Through the kiss, she could feel Kayla’s grin.

“Everything okay in there?” someone called.

“I’m fine,” Kayla answered sweetly, her forehead pressed against Chloe’s.  “Just my dumb ass, wearing skinny jeans on leg day.”

The women outside laughed.  They continued chatting for another minute, while Chloe’s head spun with endorphins and afterglow.  Finally, the voices outside began to fade.  The door opened, and when it shut again, all was quiet.

“That,” Kayla growled.  “Was really.  Fucking.  Hot.”

Chloe pushed her girlfriend off of her, and stood.  She wiped sweat off her brow, and glared.  “Yeah.  It was also super rude.  You know how hard loud I usually get.  What if we’d been caught?”

Her girlfriend gave her a demeaning little pat on the top of the head.  “You did a great job, dumpling.  We’re going to have to practice this more.  I’m sure Abby will appreciate the silence.”

Without warning Chloe grabbed her girlfriend by the shoulder, and shoved her against the wall.  Kayla had almost a foot of height on her, and even after her recent growth spurt was far more muscular – yet Chloe met surprisingly little resistance.

Kayla looked down at her incredulously.  “And exactly what do you think you’re doing?”

“Helping you practice, too.  I’m not the only one who’s loud.”

Chloe roughly grabbed the elastic band of Kayla’s workout shorts, and yanked them down to her knees.  Without hesitation she reached out, and shoved her entire hand between the woman’s legs.

“Fuck!” Kayla spat.  “Chloe, slow down!”

“Quiet,” Chloe teased.  “What if someone hears you?”

“I can’t,” she said, from between clenched teeth.  “Not when you go fast like that.  Fuck!”

Her girlfriend was already soaking, her well-toned thighs slick with essence and sweat.  Chloe leaned her weight against Kayla’s chest, breathing in the scent of her.  God she smelled good.

“I’m not going to stop,” Chloe said flatly.  “Not even if someone else comes in.”

Kayla groaned, her body going slack.

“So you better come fast,” she said, raising her voice.  “Got it?”

Kayla moaned, and nodded.

“Hey.  Look at me when I’m talking to you.”  She glared up into her girlfriend’s eyes, her palm flicking lightning-quick between Kayla’s legs.  Stroking her lips and clit beneath her palm.  She pressed harder, grinning.  “Kayla.  Come.  Now.”

Kayla came.

Chloe held her, pinning her with all the strength in her body, never slowing for an instant.  A few seconds later Kayla shuddered, and came again.  The larger woman started to move, trying to pull away, but Chloe grabbed her by the shirt collar, and shoved her back against the wall.

“What’s the matter baby?” she drawled.  “Am I too much for you?  Want me to stop?”

Kayla’s cries grew louder and higher in pitch.  The sound that escaped from the back of her throat when she came a third time was one Chloe had never heard before.  It was an animal shriek.  The sound of something beyond all reason, a sound of pure instinct and need.

Afterward, she eased Kayla onto the bench.  Helped her sit, and rest her head on Chloe’s shoulder.  It was cramped for two people, but cramped was okay.  Chloe held her.  It was many minutes before Kayla’s breathing returned to normal, and the signs of overstimulation began to fade.

“You,” Kayla panted.  “Have got to start coming to the gym more often.”

Chloe took Kayla’s chin in her hand, and kissed her firmly.  “I’m strongly considering it.  Physical fitness certainly has its benefits.”  She cleared her throat.  “Now.  Why don’t you show me the showers?  I think we could both use it after that.”