m/m Steve's Army Days (or "The Torture of Man")

[CardiMuscleman]

Chapter Eight

As Steven sat opposite me, back home, he held my hands and said "Is what you are going to tell me part of the fantasy or an honest admission?"

"I will be as honest as I am in the context of the fantasy, if that is alright with you?"

Steven nodded and as I put on my captain's hat, I leaned back in my chair and said "What do you see when you look at me, He-Man? Do you see an example of that noble class of men known as a Captain of the British Army?"

Steven nodded and as he did I took the hat off and sighed "If only I could share your confidence. It all started when I was at boarding school back in the 1940's. It was just after the war and well, it is what most upper class families did in those days. Not that I am complaining mind, after all you show me a person who is more skilled at archery, croquet and presenting themselves to royalty!" and with that I smiled.

"However...?" asked Steven and as he did my face fell.

"It was the winter of 1947" I began, "It wasn't that bad to begin with, after all, who doesn't say not to throwing snowballs at a group of snowmen when you're that age. No, it was half term that did the damage, most of the pupils went home but, well, when your father is a Major General and your mother is a secretary to the War Office I think you get the idea and what happened the next day? It snowed and I am not just talking the titchy snowfalls we get today, I am talking dumps of snow. Being the person who looked after the school's weather station I got to experience it first hand, six inches fell in just that one day. That night the temperature never rose above -11°F so the next day when another four inches fell, well, you can see what happened. We got snowed in and by we I mean, myself and the PT teacher who was my dorm master. Now do not not get me wrong, Mr. Jones was a very nice fellow, but, well, in those days I wasn't exactly the person who liked PT" and with that showed Steven a photograph of myself dressed as an evacuee for a school production a few years previously and he nodded his understanding.

"For the next three days it snowed continuously so that by the Thursday a total of fifteen inches of snow had fallen. The fuel reserves for the school were failing and that meant only one way to keep warm, lots and lots of porridge and PT every hour of the day, a prospect I was not looking forward to and I admitted this to Mr. Jones who for the first time in my life with him as a PT teacher seemed to take a bit of pity on me and said that he would demonstrate why being good at PT was a very good thing and with that grabbed a shovel and left the dorm. Four hours later he came back and...well...see for yourself" and with that showed Steven another photograph, this time one taken from a newspaper I had found a few weeks earlier

"Hubba, Hubba, Hubba!" Steven moaned, "you never told me he was Asian. Oh, man, Asian bodybuilders are magnificent. They are so muscular and so lean, oh, man, when did you say this was?"

"1947" I replied, "he was born in Java to English parents and came here in 1927 where thanks to his physique he enrolled as a PT instructor, but this was the first time I had seen a man with muscles. He was magnificent, he was strong, powerful, he had dug a path from the school to the entrance in less than four hours. As he knelt down he told me that is why PT was so important and then made me an offer. if the school was still snowed in when the normal term resumed, when there would be just him and me, he would personally instruct me on how to become a big strong powerful man. And guess what happened?"

"A thaw?" asked Steven

"A thaw!" I replied, my head bowed, "the night after he made that promise the lowest it got down to was 27°F, by the Saturday evening it was 54°F so on Sunday all the other children came back and as I admitted to him, with all the other children around I just couldn't take up his offer!" and with that I started to whimper and said "I think you can guess which part of that is true and which is made up, but know this, the part that is true is my lifelong regret!"

Steven was the sort of person who was the perfect person to unburden myself onto. He never interjected unless it was needed, he always listened and as he held my hands again he knew just what to say "I do not believe that you are gay, sir, I think you are in fact a sthenolagnian!"

"A what, sorry?" I asked and immediately reached for a nearby dictionary. As I looked it up asking "St, yes?" to which Steven nodded, I found the definition and read it to him.

"Sthenolagnian, noun and adjective, a person who becomes sexually aroused following the demonstration of physical strength or muscular posing. cf muscle worship!"

"And that" replied Steven "is why we have been friends for so long. We are both sthenolagnians. I preform the feats of strength and posing that make me aroused and you, whilst never to this degree before, are the person who generates the feedback that makes me want to do more" and with that he got off his chair and knelt down whispering "Fantasy time again" and said "I have been thinking about your torture device and I think we have both missed the point. Sir, I believe it is not a torture device but...a device for instilling human beings with the strength needed to be Martian slaves"

"So it was an invasion!" I gasped to which Steven nodded replying "But something must have happened to Mars in the between time. Now, as a people from an alien planet several millenia ahead of you in technology and science I believe that I can get it back in working order and, with your permission, enhance it at the same time!" and with that he looked me in the eyes and as he winked said "Sir, do you have a hero? A hero endowed with such strength and power that you would do anything to become him?"

"Porthos!" I declared, immediately, "the strongest of all the Musketeers!"

Standing up and with a smile on his face Steven said "Give me the rest of the day and this evening meet me in that room and I will make your dreams come true!" and with that he chuckled, went back to his quarters, got dressed in the clothes that he had arrived in and a few moments later said "I'm just off to the hardware store, won't be long!"

[CardiMuscleman]

Chapter Nine

"Now remember, if at any point you don't want to carry on, just say so, using that phrase we talked about and we'll stop right there, okay? I know this will be your first time and I want you to be able to enjoy it, so just remember that okay?"

As Steven reassured me that if things went a little too far I could stop it at any time by declaring the word "Montana" I nodded my understanding and with that put my captain's hat on and as I followed Steven upstairs stammered "Have you really done it? Have you made that machine fulfil my dream of becoming as big, as strong and as powerful as the famed Titan, Porthos?"

"And how!" Steven chuckled and with that opened the door and revealed his improvements. The frame hadn't changed, save for the addition of a colander now screwed into the frame, and a mass of cables all with alligator clips attached to it snaking all over the place. As I looked at it he said "Now, remember, this is only for senior officers like yourself. The privates and lower ranks must never find out!"

"Why?" I asked, "in case they get drunk on it?"

"Nah" smiled Steven, "in case they decide to charge each other hundreds of pounds for the privilege!"

As I nodded, Steven placed his hands on my shoulders and said "Now, you remember what I told you?"

"If I want to, I will lay on that machine and like you have trillions of volts surge through me, but unlike that you will stand at the end of the machine and absorb as much of that power as you can to protect me..."

"...and to stimulate you at the same time, Captain, you see, I think the reason that you liked that PT officer so much was just because he was lean and muscular, but because he was so much more powerful than you. I am millions of times more powerful than you therefore I believe that the more power I absorb, the more I am forced to flex and pose, the more stimulated you will become and by association the more likely that Porthos will recognise you as a man!" and with that Steven undressed and attached some of the cables to his nipples and cock moaning as he did so, then said "Captain, your turn" and so with a little reluctance explaining that I had never been naked with anyone before I removed my captain's uniform and stood there.

"You have been making progress" smiled Steven as he rubbed my hair saying "Now, remember, any qualms just say the word and we will stop"

I nodded and lay down gently on the frame.

"First, the helmet to stimulate your mind and make you want to become Porthos"

As he put the colander on my head I nodded my acceptance

"Next, we will need to make your heart pound to the same level as Porthos when he is really demonstrating his strength. Now, this may hurt to start off with but, well..." and with that he very carefully attached the clips to my nipples causing me to gasp but after a moment I nodded to which he added "And then finally, your manhood, the thing that will produce the means to make Porthos arrive in every sense of the word" and with that he attached the clips to my manhood causing me to take a sharp intake of breath but as he continued to reassure me, I nodded. Then with myself attached and him attached he stood in front of me with the remote control and said "In your own time, sir"

Taking several deep breaths, all the time Steven reassuring me, I said "Now!" and with that Steven switched on the fairy lights and immediately grunted as if in pain.

"Oh yeah!" he moaned, bouncing his pecs, "a quadrillion volts , even more than last time. Oh, Captain, this feels incredible!"

"Describe it!"

"It is....almost too incredible for words....my heart....oh, fuck, yeah, my heart, pounding, pounding like a...like a...like a steam hammer" and with that he moaned "Did I ever tell you that I'm a cardiophile? Let me guess, you've never heard of it, eh? Well, it's basically what I am doing now, getting sexual stimulation from imagining my heart pumping at over four thousand beats per minute!" and as I looked at his manhood, I could see it growing.

"Yeah, Hercules, lets show the Captain what a real man looks like!" and as he hit a front double biceps pose he said "I call him Hercules when I am He-Man, more fitting don't you think. Actually that's a good idea, you need to call yours one. What you need is a good British name. Now, what was the name of that film about a butler who saved a family when they were shipwrecked, that's right, The Admirable Crichton. Yes, Crichton, that's a good name. Tell me, sir, is Crichton enjoying the display?"

As he spoke, my manhood twitched and caused Steven to declare "He certainly likes the name, let's him a real display then!" and with that performed a side chest, grunting as he did so which caused me to start to harden.

"Good thing too" grunted Steven, "I'm reaching the end of my limits, you're going to have to take over from me, Captain, we'll do it slowly, like we said!" and with that he shifted to a side tricep pose and moaned "A thousand volts coming to you!"

Nodding, I gritted my teeth and grunted as I pretended to be stimulated and as I did, Steven moaned "Yeah, that's it Captain, feel the power, know what you want to do with it and make it happen!"

"More" I grunted and as Steven changed to an ab and quad pose he moaned "Ten thousand" and I attempted my best quad pose.

"By jingo" declared Steven, slapping his eight inch manhood, "I think he's got it" and with that grunted "A hundred thousand"

For the next ten minutes, we exchanged poses each time the imaginary voltage getting higher and higher until when Steven grunted "There sir, we are both being stimulated by a billion volts each. Can you feel it sir? Can you feel your body flooded with testosterone, begging to be released?"

I grunted and looked down to see my manhood absolutely rock hard for the first time ever.

"Now...now we can do it sir" grunted Steven and as he did he started to pant, "Concentrate, sir, concentrate on what Porthos can do, I will help you as much as I can and become the man called Titan!"

Closing my eyes, I could feel Steven touching my manhood and as he started to rub it he grunted "Yeah, that's right, I'm rubbing Crichton and Hercules in unison, sending as much power as I can to you to help you in your goal. Reach down, sir, reach into what makes a man a man and become whom?"

Gritting my teeth as Steven accelerated the rubbing I started to pant and whispered "Porthos"

"LOUDER" roared Steven

"Porthos!"

"WHO IS THE TITAN?!"

"PORTHOS!" I screamed and at the same time came for the first time ever, sending globs of cum onto my torso just as Steven did and as he switched off the lights he moaned "Fuck, yeah, we're men!" and with that whispered "Porthos, yes?"

As I opened my eyes I blinked and said in as best a French accent as I could manage "Ah, bonjour monsieur, tell me, am I speaking to the hero known as He-Man. I believe he has summoned me for some reason. if you are he, monsieur, then I thank you!"

"Aye" smiled Steven, "I am He-Man" and with that he helped me off the frame and as I staggered towards a mirror he said "And this is the man I wish you to help!" and with that he whispered "Front Lat Spread!"

As I hit the pose I replied "Aye, this man is a good start. I can feel his goodness and his kindness, he would make an excellent Musketeer, but his strength is lacking. Aye, monsieur, I will help you and your friend to become a man!"

[CardiMuscleman]

Chapter Ten

As I entered the gym, I had to hold the front door for support and Steven, always naturally concerned, asked if I was alright

"I am about to..." I said still scarcely believing what I had agreed to, "...enter a gym, do a full blown training session, under your supervision...naked!"

As Steven nodded he said "this will prove what I told you. No, you are not gay, but you are a..."

"..sthenolagnian" I replied, "if I have pronounced that correctly?"

"You have!" smiled Steven and with that gestured me into the changing rooms.

Steven stripped naked within seconds of entering, but seeing that I was a little nervous sat down next to me and said "There is no need to rush, in your own time!" and so feeling reassured, I took off the football top I had worn in the car to expose my torso, then took off my trainers and socks so that I could take off my pants and with Steven saying "It's alright, in your own time", I took them off revealing the football shorts I was wearing.

"You know, if you're feeling nervous, don't" said Steven reassuringly, "whilst it is not normal for people to train naked in a gym, remember what I told you about the ancient Greeks?"

"The word gymnasium means "room of the naked" therefore it is normal" and with that I stood up, took several deep breaths, grabbed hold of my shorts and dropped them to the ground causing Steven to congratulate and declare "Now, Porthos and He-Man can train as they should do!" and with that he led me into the gym.

For the next three hours I was in physical heaven and physical hell. Steven made me do three sets of twenty reps on every machine in the gym starting off with nothing (to get used to the movement) then 25% of my bodyweight and 38% of my bodyweight and when it was clear I was getting excited at what I was doing, Steven loaded the machine with 50% and roared "Come on, Porthos, show your strength" and as a result I set four new personal bests on cable crossovers, overhead press, leg extensions and leg presses and produced pre cum on two of those occasions. As Steven helped me back to the locker room, I could barely stand and was covered in sweat, huffing and puffing from my exertions.

"Now" said Steven, "do you remember what we do on the webcam from time to time? I'd like to that in person!"

As my manhood reached it's maximum I looked at Steven and said "You...want to...have me..."

"Shower me!" he said with a moan, "in order to appreciate what muscle feels like!"

As Steven's own cock reached its maximum, I was in two minds and expressed my concerns to which Steven replied, moaning, "Don't worry. I'll cum miles before you do, so that when you do, I'll have my posing suit on!" and so reassured I followed him into the showers. As soon as we entered, he pressed the button and instantly moaned as he massaged the water into his torso.

"Yeah, now all we need now is the soap!" and so handing him the shower gel bottle, he poured it on his chest, started to lather it up and then moaned "Now, your turn!"

Standing behind him and wrapping his arms around his chest, I started to scrub his chest with the sponge and as I did, he flexed his pecs moaning "Yeah, feel those pecs. Push against them and feel their strength!"

As I felt his pecs push against my hands I moaned and gritted my teeth. This was the closest I had ever been to what most people would describe as "muscle worship" and as much as I wanted to go the whole hog, I felt scared. As I squeezed his biceps, the soap dripping all over, I admitted my fears.

"Never be afraid" he moaned, as he flexed his biceps harder than I had ever felt them before, "we are both men. This is what men do"

"But what if I...?" I asked

"Cum?" he moaned, "Don't worry about that!" and with that he grabbed me by the shoulders, hoisted me into the air so that I was above him, swallowed my manhood and licked it.

As I came I screamed in a combination of terror, ecstasy and unbridled power and as I did, Steven stood on tiptoes, his calves bulging as he did so. We stayed in that position for a good three minutes and as he let me slide to the ground, a combination of bliss and confusion on my face, he moaned "Thanks Porthos, I needed that!" and set about a display of flexed muscle.

As I watched him flex, the soaped up muscles being washed off by the water, I could feel myself starting to well up again. Staggering to my feet I was huffing and puffing and as he hit a front lat spread, Steven roared "CUM, PORTHOS, LET ME ABSORB YOUR ESSENCE!"

The cum hit him right in the pecs and as he massaged it he roared "YES, PORTHOS, GIVE ME YOUR STRENGTH, GIVE ME YOUR POWER, GIVE ME YOUR ESSENCE!" and with that he grabbed hold of his cock, now eleven by seven, and as he started to rub it grunted through gritted teeth "Name your target!"

"The plughole" I said and pointed to a plug hole some two feet away behind him.

"COME ON HERCULES" Steven growled, "LET SHOW THE TITAN WHAT A REAL MAN CAN DO!" and with that threw his head back and roared "BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULL, I HAVE THE POWER!" and came with such force that I watched in amazement as the plug hole filled up with cum that not even the showers at full blast could clear. As Steven subsided, he slumped to his knees moaning "Oh fuck, that was the best cum shot I have ever experienced" and with that added "See, you can be sexually aroused by muscle and not be gay!"

As I nodded my understanding, I knew it would take a lot more time to reassure myself that was the case.

[CardiMuscleman]

Chapter Eleven

The drive back from the gym may only have taken about half an hour but it felt like an eternity to me.

"Oh fuck, yeah, Hercules, you really showed yourself off today. Yeah, I can still feel that you want another chance to shine. Heck, I think even Porthos wants to see you again don't you?"

"May I speak frankly?"

"We're men" moaned Steven, thumping his chest, "we can speak as frankly as we like!"

"I have just, and please excuse the expression, cum, for the first time in my life. As I did I felt powerful, strong, mighty and wanted to wrestle you to the ground. Now, I feel...regret and remorse. Regret as I feel I forced you into making me cum and remorse because...I think I have done something I should not have done!"

As Steven pulled into the garage at my home, he looked at me with a kindly face and said "May I tell you something that I have never told you before? I will tell you what happened the day I first came" and with that we got out and walked back to the house where Steven lay down on the bed frame and as he nodded I switched on the fairy lights

"It was about thirty years ago now, in the heart of the 1960's, when I used to live in a rural part of Illinois. Oh, the woods there went on for miles and miles and miles. Back in those days I was lean but without any muscle, that's what attracted to me to all those muscle magazines and films they produced. I very nearly came during the premiere of the first Hercules movies with Steve Reeves in them" and with that started to moan "Oh, those flared lats, those perfectly square pecs, those deltoids and that look of grim determination" and with that he started to pre cum

"But" he panted, "It was 1964 when I first truly came. I had just bought my first muscle magazine. Actually I had asked a friend to buy it for me, I was so embarrassed that I would cum if I saw the cover and so in those woods was the first time I would see it. I knew that something would happen so I went to the deepest part of the woods, stripped naked and took the magazine out"

"On the cover was Bill Pearl" he said, moaning, "in my eyes an absolute god of a muscleman and even better he was off season. And the main headline "How I gained 50lbs of solid muscle" and I knew what was going to happen. I looked at that picture and started to imagine. There we were, both on stage, him towering over me by a good five inches and weighing a good hundred pounds more than me, having both won our classes. Him, heavyweight, me, lightweight. As we did our mandatory posing routine our side chests were done so that we faced each other and as his pecs bulged, I could feel myself starting to lose control and so I whispered "Bill, can I call you Bill, I...I can't hold it any longer!" to which he replied in a whisper as we did a side tricep pose "Neither can I!" and agreed to meet in his hotel room afterwards. Oh, man, the next ten minutes was a torture, but there I was, in his room and as he stepped out of the shower, I beheld him in all his naked glory, his cock although flaccid was reaching down to his quads. It was all too much for me and in my imagination, as I did in real life, I came and screamed in ecstasy before passing out"

"Were you hurt?" I asked

"No, I was fine, but as I came to, the orgasm hit me and I knew from that moment on I had to be a bodybuilder. Tell me, when you came, what was your first thoughts as you orgasmed?"

"Power" I said and as I did, Steven moaned, "raw, unbridled power. Power to lift anything, do everything and become a hero to all!"

"Now!" he groaned, "now do you see why there is nothing to worry about!" and with that outstretched his arms and said "Come, Porthos needs to return home to the Musketeers but He-Man wishes him to know that he will always have a brother!"

I nodded my understanding and so lay on top of Steven as he moaned and groaned grunting "Porthos, take my essence and let us always be....FRIENDS!" and with that last word he screamed and flexed his pecs so hard that I could feel them under my own chest and stimulated by them and Steven's roar we both came at the same time and as I passed out I moaned "Merci, mon amis, Merci!"

[CardiMuscleman]

Chapter Twelve

The final two days of Steven's holiday was a combination of training at the gym, flexing at home, helping Steve refine his He-Man fantasies and him introducing me to the concept of muscle worship where he, as He-Man, would demand that Porthos, me, worship him, tell him how big, strong, muscular he was and as he did, Steven would rub himself, gritting his teeth, huffing, puffing, grunting, groaning and then finally growling as he came before lifting me into the air and declaring himself as "ULTRAMAN", the next iteration of muscular hero, but the day that I had not been looking forward to eventually arrived and as I admitted my sadness at him having to go home that afternoon, he smiled, "We still have the morning" adding "I think that Dr. Maize should see his patient again, yes?"

***

"Ah, Private Peebles, how nice to see you again. Goodness, have you grown since we last met?"

As Steven entered my room, completely naked, he hit a side chest and moaned "Yeah, I know I have, Doc" and sitting down next to me summarised our week together, about how he managed to control the device and work out what it did, how he became He-Man in order to fulfil the Captain's deepest desires, how the two of them, He-Man and Porthos, pushed each other to the limits of their endurance and how "thanks to the Captain's bravery, courage and sheer Britishness, we discovered that we were more than brothers in arms!" to which I smiled and replied "Well, that's the British army for you! So how can I help you?"

Steven stood up and hitting a front lat spread moaned "Measure me, doc, measure me and tell me that all that power hasn't gone to waste!" and with taking a tape measure out of my pocket I asked Steve to lie down and started measuring.

"Six foot four!" I announced whispering "I've measured from the very tip of your toes, not your heel" and with that helped him onto the scale which stopped at 205lbs and as I told him he beamed "Add inflation" so declared "Well, Well, Well, 206lbs, almost a pound a week, you and the Captain have been busy haven't you?" and with that set about measuring him and recording his actual stats.

"A fifteen and a half inch neck" I reported, "a forty two inch chest, seventeen inch biceps, thirteen inch forearms, twenty eight inch waist, thirty one inch quads, eighteen inch calves..." and seeing Steve take deep breaths smiled "And the last one?"

Steven closed his eyes and started to rub his manhood, taking deeper and deeper breaths and moaning "Yeah, Porthos, look at me, look at what He-Man has made me, he's made me a man, not just any old man, but a mega man, no, a superman, no an ultraman, no..." and with that he opened his eyes and screamed "A MUSCLEMAN!" as he came as he did I measured his manhood at "Ten inches by eight inches!"

"YEAH, PORTHOS!" grunted Steven as he gave it a shake, "You're the man!" and with that relaxed, slumped into the chair and panted "Thanks for that, doc, I needed that!"

***

As Steven stood by the door I shook his hand and whimpered "I don't want you to go Steve, I know I'll speak again when you get back home online, but it's not the same. Your stories of who you were inspired to train, your muscles, your strength, your power, oh, do forgive such a silly question, but I wish you could stay, perhaps even move here, become my coach!"

"There, there!" replied Steve, rubbing my hair, "Look, have I ever made a promise and never kept it?"

As I shook my head he replied "You see, I'll be back soon, and next time, I'll be competing at a contest here in Britain, I'll come to you a week out from the contest, so ripped, so muscular, so full of natural testosterone, you'll have to chain me to that bed just to get a sensible word out of me. You'll see the struggles that being a bodybuilder entails, the leaning down, the physical and mental torture it takes, and then that glorious moment when all that hard work pays off and I lift that trophy and then, the best bit, I'll invite you back to my hotel room and I'll let you worship me all night as I have the customary three tubs of ice cream" and with that he lifted my head and said "That's a solemn promise, Captain, and He-Man never makes a promise he never keeps!" and with that he shook my hand and walked into the street. I followed him down to the bus stop where he turned and waved, as I waved back, got on the bus and as it passed the house hit a single bicep pose under his shirt which I replied to with a front lat spread and with that he was gone.

As I tidied the house up after his visit, I found the place empty and devoid of masculinity, muscularity, strength, power and manliness and taking Steven's words to heart, went next door to return the gym keys when the owner got back and asked a candid question, "Could you help me become muscular please?". it was a question the gym owner was happy to answer and when Steven logged on the following night I told him that I was now a gym member. Steven congratulated me and showed me what power meant by cumming on the suggestion of "He-Man vs the Electricity Monster!"

For the rest of that year, I made slow but steady progress, sending Steven an e-mail every fortnight. He in return sent me replies including a story he had thought up of his newest fantasy, having seen a gay porn movie about Native Americans, where an member of the wagon trains heading west was lost in native American country, became a member of a tribe and to prove his manliness had to prove himself with the test being "the best of the best of toture and muscle worship" he chuckled using an emojii and asked if I could deal with the history bit. I argeed and by the middle of September we had completed it. I sent the first draft to Steven via e-mail saying "If he liked it, I would proof read it and then post it on an online forum" but never heard a reply. Concerned I checked the weather and saw that a winter storm had pummelled Washington state and so knew that the power was probably out so and assumed that Steven would like and started to refine it. By the end of October, I had still not heard any reply and looked on the internet to see how the power supply was coming along. Everything looked fine so I sent him the final version for his approval. By Thanksgiving I had not heard a word and so, now getting extraordinarily concerned, I sent him a Thanksgiving and Christmas letter, wishing him and his family a happy holidays and Merry Christmas and adding that I was concerned at his lack of replies and wanted to make sure he hadn't been hurt in the storm. I got a reply back the week after Christmas which left me shellshocked

"Dear Henry, I would like to thank you for the Thanksgiving letter and Christmas card that you sent to Steven. I am sorry that I didn't tell you earlier, but Steven died at the end of October from an infection brought on by a sudden cold snap after the storm. He was eighty years old when he died, but thank you for the kind words in your letter and card. Steven talked a lot about you and how you liked to keep as healthy as possible like him, but that circumstances prevented you doing so, therefore please find enclosed a video tape that he had made for you before the storm hit. Thank you again, Caroline (Steven's widow)"

As I took the tape out of the box it was labelled "Demonstrations of Fitness for Henry : A guide to good health from Steven" but was in a NTSC format, therefore spending some money I had from Christmas I bought a suitable player and when I was next alone played it. There was Steven, looking so ripped it was impossible, naked and grunting "Yeah, you like this don't you Captain. You like how big and strong and powerful I am. Well, Captain, it's your turn now, so get undressed, stand in front of me and show me what muscles do to you?". Stopping the tape, I did as instructed and restarting the tape spent the next fifteen minutes joining in Steven's moans, groans and grunts until we both came in unison. Panting, I almost didn't hear Steven's last words to me as he moaned "The rest of this tape is pure muscle, muscle, strength and power, watch it well, my friend for when I come next summer, I hope that you will as strong as these men you are about to see. Until then, my friend" and with that he kissed the screen. Stopping the tape, I closed my eyes and whispered "Thank you, Steven" before putting the tape back and writing a letter to Caroline offering my condolences and a small donation to the church that I knew Steven was a pastor at.

This has been a fictionalised retelling of an event that never happened, when my friend from Seattle, Paul Stone, a multi title regional bodybuilding champion died five years ago this month having promised on any number of occasions that he could come and visit and during that visit would flex, pose and help me understand what being a man meant. This story is a tribute to him and to those who have lost people they knew as more than friends but never actually met in person.