Myostatin Treatment

[magicworker]

Part 1

 

"So how does this work again?" Paul asked.

 

"Myostatin is like the brakes that stop your muscles from growing too big on their own. They get big enough for you to move around and function, but then it takes a stimulus like weight training to get them to grow anymore, and then the myostatin brings them back down if you don't keep that stimulus going.

For some people, the myostatin goes out of control and the person doesn't have enough muscle to function even. Now, you're not one of those people, but you have some pretty strong mutations of myostatin that make it unlikely you'll build big muscles whatever you do. We've looked at trying to block the myostatin, but it's very short-term and temporary, like a couple days, and isn't practical for a normal person.

We've tried just destroying the myostatin, but it's painful and it sometimes rebounds stronger afterwards as the body compensates. So now we're trying to alter the myostatin and we think we can actually turn it on and off."

 

"Yeah, so you have ones with nano-switches?"

 

"Yes, a little nano device is embedded in each copy of the myostatin. Your myostatin, actually. It's a strong mutation, but it has the perfect little docking point. With a bit of harmless radiation from us, it bends the myostatin into a non-functional shape that can't bind with the muscle to tell it to stop growing."

 

"But it takes a month?"

 

"You'll have to come in twice a week for an infusion of the new myostatin. At the end of the month, we'll take a muscle biopsy and check that the myostatin has been replaced."

 

---

 

Five weeks later, Paul was back at the lab. The biopsy last week kinda hurt, and he hoped there weren't any more needles or shots.

 

"Looks like a good concentration of the new myostatin in there, Paul. Now we'll just have you lie down in this scanner and I'll be in the next room."

 

"Ok."

 

They had him wear a light robe and he was cold, but he had to stay still.

 

"So, we'll send out the frequency to turn them off and also be able to get a reading on their distribution at the same time."

 

The machine loudly hummed a few different notes.

 

"Ok, that's it, Paul."

 

"I can get up?" he asked as the doctor came back into the room.

 

"Yes. So, I'll let you get dressed. You might feel nauseous or weak, but that's temporary, very temporary. Let me know if anything feels worse than that, and I'll see you downstairs tomorrow morning at 10."

 

The doctor was very excited. "The scan looked even better than expected," he said as Paul left.

 

Paul left feeling groggy and grabbed a cheeseburger on his way home and crashed on his bed.

 

---

 

Paul's roommate Sasha knocked on his door in the morning.

 

"Hey, don't you have that appointment?"

 

Sasha did not have the same myostatin problem, Paul had realized. He had dress pants on and was buttoning his shirt over a well-muscled chest. He came to the city for an advertising internship and Paul was very happy he answered his roommate ad. Paul was also happy Sasha felt comfortable around the apartment shirtless.

 

"Oh, yeah, I'm just so tired." He looked over his own arm and chest and saw no overnight change.

 

He got to the research center at 10:09.

 

"You had me worried a bit, young man."

 

"Sorry, I had trouble getting up this morning. So tired."

 

"Huh, still? What did you have for breakfast?"

 

"Breakfast? Usually just a coffee, but I had to have two today."

 

"If we're going to see if this treatment can build muscle, you'll need calories. I have some protein supplements I was going to add to your diet, but I see you don't really have much of a diet to start with. I'll have to give you a meal plan. The best we can do for now is a shake and I think I have some oatmeal."

 

The food felt good, Paul thought, and he definitely felt more awake.

 

Paul had gone to the gym and followed a workout before, but the doctor was a sadist. He had a few machines that each hit a different muscle group and he had Paul use them all.

 

"So, here we're getting a baseline, but I also want to try and stimulate that growth. We'll focus on working by bodyparts later."

 

"I'm tired again," Paul complained, but all that got him was another protein shake, which did help.

 

When they were done an hour later, Paul was feeling sore already. "Good," the doctor replied. "Drink lots of water or you're gonna really feel sore tomorrow."

 

Paul left with a tub of protein powder, a list of groceries, and the doubt that he would make it home without collapsing. He stopped for a cheesburger again, but ended up eating three. "I hope the doctor doesn't mind some fat with the muscle," he thought.

 

Meanwhile, the doctor rechecked the muscle sample he had collected from Paul last week. "That's odd," he said aloud.

[perados]

Sounds really good... love to read more. Just hope he wount grow too fast or over night.

[arpeejay]

Great start! Looking forward to more!

[magicworker]

Part 2

 

Paul was very sore the next morning.

 

"Doctor's right," Sasha agreed. "You need lots of water. Maybe some green tea, or baking soda in the water."

 

"Good thing I don't have to see him today."

 

"But I have to get to work, so take care of yourself, okay, roommate?"

 

"Yeah, yeah, thanks."

 

Paul had worked for a start-up, but it failed. He made out well, and decided to take some time before the next job. Then he noticed an ad for science research subjects at the center one stop down and all they needed was a cheek swab, so he went in. "Maybe this next experiment will work out better," he thought.

 

He felt like staying still was making it worse, so he went out for a walk. After a couple blocks, he was feeling better already, so he kept going. It was a nice day out and soon he forgot about his soreness, and started to feel hungry.

 

"I'm gonna need to up the food budget to cover all these meals," he thought. As he turned the corner, he noticed a Cheesecake Restaurant. "Perfect," he thought. As he waited for his food, he ordered the grocery items he could remember from the doctor's list, planning to get the rest later.

 

He left with a full stomach, but after a meal that a few days ago would have left him puking. He felt heavier, but not in a post-Thanksgiving way. And after he reached home, he thought, "maybe I'll try mixing up a protein shake."

 

He fell asleep early after putting away the groceries that arrived and ordering the next batch for tomorrow. Sasha sometimes worked late, so it wasn't until the morning that they saw each other.

 

"How ya feeling?" Sasha asked.

 

"Not bad. Soreness is gone. I think I'm hungry."

 

"I recommend having actual food for breakfast this time," Sasha said before he left.

 

He fried up some eggs and made oatmeal. "I'm glad the doctor didn't order me to cook anything fancy," he thought.

 

---

 

The workout was a fair repeat of the first one, except that they just did lower body machines. The doctor also trained him in the squat. "This will be one of the key exercises we'll use to track your strength," the doctor explained.

 

Paul was sweating more today and the doctor kept encouraging him to drink water. "I really want you to be drinking just water, no juice or soda or coffee. Let me know any time you drink something other than water, and if you could keep a total for the day, that'd be great. I also want you to track everything you eat. If you do one of the meals I wrote down, just write that name; otherwise, try to also include any sauces or sides. We want to have a good idea of your intake."

 

The doctor also had Paul breathe into a machine, and even float in a machine. He was sore again after the workout, but he knew what to expect and knew it wouldn't last too long, and as the doctor explained, "it means your muscles want to grow. Going for a walk is good, if that worked last time, do it again."

 

So Paul went for a walk... to an all-you-can-eat buffet place. "They have these in the city?" he asked himself as he sat down.

The staff was surprised that this skinny guy could eat so much.

 

"Are you a competitor?" one of them asked.

 

"A what?" he replied.

 

"Like a food-eating guy. There's that Asian kid who's pretty ripped but eats like a truck-load of hot dogs."

 

"Uh, no. I was just hungry, but thanks, I guess."

 

---

 

Those words nagged at him: "pretty ripped". He'd been called skinny and beanpole and every variation, but never "ripped". Of course, she didn't directly call him ripped, but compared him to someone who was. But he wasn't feeling very skinny. He thought he was just bloated or puffy, part of the soreness, but he felt over his shoulder, and it wasn't as bony. It had some meat to it.

 

He got home, took off his shirt and looked in the mirror in his room. He was ripped.

[magicworker]

Part 3

 

Just then Sasha entered the apartment shouting, "Hey, you here? They let us out early today!"

 

"Sasha!" Paul said as he stepped out of his room. "It works. I'm building muscle!"

 

"Nice. Gains usually come quick at the start, but that's pretty good for a couple of days. You do look a little filled-out."

 

"Well, I was hoping for more enthusiasm than that."

 

"You want a big hug?" And Sasha spread his arms.

 

Paul swallowed. "Uh, no, but I guess you're right, let's see how the next few days go."

 

"Hey, if you can keep going a few weeks, even if you don't grow anymore, I'll be impressed. A lot of guys start, but don't keep with it. Speaking of which, I'm heading to the gym."

 

"I could go with you," Paul said before he even thought the words.

 

"Didn't you just have a workout with the doctor this morning?"

 

"Yeah, but I could go again." Or just watch you, he thought.

 

"Wow, you have got the bug. Clear it with the doctor. I don't want to mess anything up. That attitude is inspiring me a little."

 

After Sasha left, Paul practiced squats in the mirror, following the form that the doctor went over. He had a couple chicken breasts, a pot of rice that was supposed to last for two meals, and then called to order a pizza and got a second one half-off.

 

When Sasha returned, he went towards his room with a bagged dinner. "Of course, they already emailed us info on the next project," he explained. He looked at the two pizza boxes.

 

"You ate both of them?" he asked.

 

Paul just shrugged, not mentioning the other food he had cooked. He even decided to make a protein shake before bed.

 

"Maybe I won't wake up hungry," he hoped as he drank it.

 

---

 

"Paul, did you not hear your alarm? I'm running late, but that doesn't mean you have to," Sasha shouted as he left.

 

Paul did wake up hungry, and heavier. Looking at his arm and chest, he could tell he had more muscle. And he could feel his calves as an extra pocket of weight on his leg. And his leg was not the leg of a beanpole. It actually flexed into a solid mass. As he sat up he could feel his ass and back support him like rocket engines ready to take off. And as he stood, he remembered the squat and could feel all the muscles that were tired and sore yesterday but were thick and alive today.

 

He rushed through the shower, but loved feeling the hardness and thickness of his muscles. Even getting dressed was more fun. He could feel his shorts and t-shirt on him differently. The shorts hugged him a bit, rather than just hang like a skirt. He didn't work his upper body yesterday, but the shirt felt like it fit ... better.

 

He just had time to make a protein shake that he drank on the way to see the doctor.

 

---

 

"Hey, you're responding well, I can tell," the doctor said as Paul walked in.

 

"Well, my roommate says beginners usually do," Paul replied.

 

"That's true when they have better genetics than you. Did you try working out before? And nothing like this happened, right?"

 

"Yeah, that's true. I also didn't eat like a bottomless pit before."

 

The doctor laughed, "Just make sure you write everything down and we'll look at it in a few days at the end of week one."

 

"This is for four months, right?"

 

"Yes, we'll workout four times a week, two upper body, two lower body. That could change if it looks like we're over-training, but the treatment should prevent that, along with getting enough sleep. I could also schedule a massage, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. I want to talk to you about something I noticed in your muscle sample.

Normally, the replacement myostatin would, over time, be replaced by your own myostatin again, so we were planning to infuse you again every other week and use the scanner to deactivate them the following week. It's really about staying ahead of the curve, so you would always have a certain level of the deactivated myostatin."

 

"But...," Paul prompted with dread. Is it not gonna work? he wondered.

 

"But, it looks like, from what I could tell from the sample, that your myostatin is actually incorporating the nano-switch from the replacement myostatin. It's like the muscle is infusing itself."

 

"Oh, so you don't have to infuse me?" Paul was fine with less needles.

 

"Well, that leads to the other thing. The switch stays off. So you might not need an infusion or a trigger."

 

"And that's good, right?"

 

"In a word, 'ideal', but it's hard for me to understand why it's doing this. And of course, just because it's doing this in the sample, doesn't necessarily mean it's happening in your body. I'm not sure why I'm explaining this to you except that it might help me think of something."

 

"Well, it also means I don't need the infusion."

 

"You might not need it, maybe, but it is part of the experiment. And when we do the scan the following week, we'll get a better idea if they are as persistent as in the sample."

 

Paul's stomach grumbled.

 

"Did you skip breakfast again?" the doctor asked. "Let me make you oatmeal and a shake." Paul didn't correct him.

 

---

 

The doctor put him through a grueling workout including several bench exercises and several row exercises. Paul just followed directions, but he could start to feel his muscles working in a way he never did. He could feel the tension, the contraction, and the mass starting to form.

 

Paul went back to the buffet place. He didn't think much about the plate after plate of food he was eating, but found himself feeling his chest and arms which had a real solid pump. He also felt his back against more of the chair. Nobody came up to him this time.

 

When he wasn't hungry anymore, he went home. He thought about the doctor mentioning sleep as a good thing. He wasn't particularly tired, but he thought he'd try a nap and fell asleep easily.

[magicworker]

Part 4

 

The sound of Sasha coming home woke Paul. "Hey, you here? Wanna order food?" he asked as he looked over at Paul lying on the couch.

 

"Hey, sleepyhead. Rough day and I was thinking of ordering something naughty, like Chinese food. You in?"

 

"Sure." Paul yawned and stretched.

 

"Hey, do that again."

 

"What?"

 

"Show me your arm."

 

Paul held out his arm, questioningly.

 

"No, like flex it."

 

Paul realized what he meant. "Really?" And he pulled up his sleeve and flexed his bicep.

 

"Wow," Sasha said. "That is definitely bigger than yesterday. You were right, man. You're building muscle. Where do I sign up?"

 

"I could ask ..." Paul began.

 

"Oh, I was kidding, maybe half-kidding. Show me your other arm." Paul obliged. "Nice."

 

"Show me yours," Paul countered.

 

"Ok, well, yours are pretty ripped but mine are still bigger," Sasha said as he flexed both arms as proof.

 

Paul's stomach grumbled audibly.

 

"Ok, growing boy needs his protein, and it doesn't look like you need to diet," said Sasha as he placed an order.

 

Before he sent it, Paul looked over and said, "Whatever you ordered, double it and I'll treat."

 

"That's a lot of food," Sasha replied.

 

"So, we'll have leftovers."

 

"Chinese makes for horrible leftovers," Sasha said, but he doubled the order anyway.

 

---

 

"And you've been eating like this the past few days? How do you not look like a sumo wrestler?"

 

It had taken Sasha a while to notice how fast Paul was eating, but the fact that Paul had a couple empty containers halfway through Sasha eating his meal triggered questions.

 

"Man, I would love to eat like that and stay as skinny as you."

 

Sasha didn't know that Paul would react negatively to the word "skinny" and Paul was surprised himself, since Sasha had never called him that before. "I never liked being called skinny," he simply said.

 

"Sorry," Sasha apologized, only half-guessing Paul's associations, "but if you can build muscle like that, eat whatever you want and stay lean, I might call you a lucky number of things."

 

And then Sasha did something that again caught Paul off-guard, and again Sasha didn't fully realize Paul's reaction to it. In that moment of wanting to make sure he didn't upset Paul, Sasha leaned over and patted Paul on the shoulder.

 

Did he linger there? Paul asked himself in bed. Because it almost felt like a grab. But of course, there wasn't anything to grab before. They'd bumped into each other, shaken hands, but there was always something condescending about it, something about those physical interactions that made it clear who was the bigger one and who was the smaller one. It was still clear to anyone who looked with any kind of visual acuity, but in that touch, it wasn't as clear.

 

---

 

Paul's alarm went off and he woke with a boner. He wasn't surprised.

 

He was surprised by Sasha wearing a tank top and boxers and making breakfast.

 

"Is it the weekend?" Paul asked.

 

"No, not yet. Office is doing a computer upgrade, so I start late today. Means I'll probably end late, too. But I made breakfast!"

 

"For both of us?"

 

"Well, actually... yes, silly. I made your omelet extra large."

 

But they finished at the same time. Paul burped.

 

"You pig," Sasha said.

 

Paul laughed. "I don't think I've ever been called that."

 

"Day off today?"

 

"Yes, no workout with the doctor."

 

"Well, I could swear you look even bigger than last night. I think I'm bigger," Sasha said as he patted his belly, "but it's all here. Do you know how much you weigh?"

 

"Well, it was about 140, but the doctor's keeping track. I wasn't paying attention."

 

"140 and 6 feet is pretty sk..er, lean. Your weight is basic info you should track. Actually, you look more like 160 now. Wait, that's twenty pounds... of muscle... in a week." 

 

Paul corrected him, "Less than a week, actually."

 

"How long is the program?"

 

"Four months, so about sixteen weeks."

 

"Even if you gained one pound each of those weeks, you'll look good. What am I saying? Who gains one pound of muscle every week? But you just gained about twenty! I guess it's kinda hidden on your frame, but the next twenty will not hide so easily. And you could gain that again by next week?"

 

"Sasha, calm down," Paul said, worried about how he was reacting. "Maybe I didn't gain twenty pounds, or maybe this is just a beginner thing. And even if I did hulk out, I promise I won't eat you."

 

Sasha smiled, but still had a bit of panic in his eyes. Or was that excitement?

[magicworker]

Part 5

 

They cleaned up breakfast in somewhat awkward silence. Paul thought he caught Sasha stealing glances at him but didn't know what that meant.

 

"Well, I guess I'll go in to work," Sasha finally said. "Even if the system's not up, I can work on a couple other things."

 

Paul was glad his underwear had gotten tight, because his dick never quite got soft that morning, and it was threatening to be noticeable under his shorts. As Sasha left, Paul looked down and thought, "Ok, now let's work on you a bit."

 

Later that afternoon, after a big lunch, he spent some time on a side consulting project, but he was feeling restless. He thought about taking a walk, but wanted something more.

 

Am I itching to workout?

 

He knew he was working out with the doctor tomorrow, back to lower body, but maybe it'd be fine if he got a little extra sleep afterwards. Sasha said he'd be at work late, so no dinner with him tonight anyway.

 

Paul didn't even belong to a gym, which most people didn't believe. They believed he had barely touched a weight in his life, but even not eating much doesn't keep you skinny when you turn 30, they thought. Paul knew Sasha's gym and knew it was close. Also, his internship was no big bucks; that's supposed to come later, so he knew it was affordable.

 

Mercury Fitness: to get you from here to there. Paul admitted to himself, as a business model, it probably worked. Basic rates were cheap, but with a menu of extras that weren't. It was a mix of people, but most looked like they had all the accessories, but not much to show for it. There were a handful of trainers, very attractive, in little cubicles, that either looked busy on the phone or stared out at the gym scanning for fresh meat. Paul managed to negotiate two free training sessions. "Classic loss leader," he thought, but he could already see some equipment that was unfamiliar and he didn't remember enough of the doctor's workout to start on his own.

 

"Hi, I'm Marc. Thanks for signing up. You're ready to start today?"

 

Paul had to admit, Marc was hot, like a muscled college jock right out of the steam room. Maybe he should have asked for someone else. Marc's tank-top did extremely little to hide his hard chest and bulging arms with a thick vein over it, and he was constantly scratching his abs giving a peak-a-boo show of his washboard six-pack. His shorts were obviously too small; his thick leg muscles made them ride up with every step. Paul didn't want to think about what he imagined the muscle inside those shorts might be like.

 

"Yeah, I'm trying to build muscle," Paul coughed out.

 

"You're looking pretty good. What's your workout like now?"

 

"Wow, thanks, you, too. I mean, um, how about we just start from scratch?"

 

"Fresh start. Ok, sounds good, but whatever you've been doing seems to work."

 

Paul indicated a preference for the dumbbells, but Marc was surprised at how awkward he started off with them. Marc's job usually involved going through a standard workout and saying lots of encouraging things. Flirting often kept his customers coming back, even tipping. But Paul seemed like the real deal: someone willing to focus and do the work, not chit-chat the whole time. He grabbed heavier weights without Marc prompting and Marc ended up spotting a few times.

 

"Hey, that was a pretty good workout. I mean it. And you look pretty pumped. When are you coming in next?"

 

"How about next week? Same time."

 

"Perfect. We did a pretty basic workout this week, but I can throw in some advanced stuff next time. And you'll probably want to train more than once a week. How does that sound?"

 

"Great. Cya then."

 

"Yeah, we'll have you bigger in no time."

 

---

 

Paul fixed up chicken, veggies, and rice, took a nap, ordered pizzas and finished the day with a protein shake before heading back to bed. Between feedings, he checked himself out in the mirror and he was definitely growing. Biceps, chest, legs, abs, it was like he was wearing a costume. An inflatable costume. Again, he wasn't tired, and his semi-hard dick kept nagging for attention, too, but he didn't remember there being any time between when he lay down and when he fell asleep.

 

---

 

"Paul? You awake?" Sasha knocked on his door the next morning.

 

"Yeah, am I late? Doctor today. I'm getting up."

 

"You're not late. I was wondering if I could see you."

 

"Huh? Want's wrong?"

 

Paul stumbled out of his room with his t-shirt wrapped around him wrong and it felt like he was dragging the weight of his sheets with him.

 

"Oh, my God. This is unreal," Sasha replied.

 

"What? What's wrong?"

 

"You better look at yourself in the mirror."

 

Paul blinked his eyes and just looked down. His t-shirt was stretched across two mounds of chest and wide cliffs of shoulders. His sleeves felt so tight. He flexed his arms and the fabric tore, ripped right off the hard peaks. His legs were big enough to have that muscular shape that Marc had, just not as big, but his shorts had still ridden up over the muscle and then he saw his dick sticking out.

 

He clapped his hand over it and backed into his room. "Sorry," he shouted.

 

"Hey, I know what a dick looks like. Can you come back out?" Sasha replied.

 

Paul noticed that his briefs had torn apart overnight just enough to lose some of their functionality. "Just a minute." He quickly changed, but he didn't have larger sized briefs, so his dick and ass were still barely and uncomfortably contained.

 

"You don't have to be decent, just come out."

 

After Paul stepped out in just fresh briefs, Sasha raised a hand. "Can I touch it?" he asked.

 

"Uh, sure," Paul replied, thinking, Am I still dreaming?

 

Sasha poked his chest. "Feels solid."

 

"Yeah, I did think it was like I was infl-" Paul gasped as Sasha's hands grabbed the meaty pecs and massaged them. "Ow!" Paul cried as his dick went full-mast and popped above his waistband. Sasha didn't seem to notice and followed Paul's bulging contour over to his shoulders.

 

"That feels g-" Paul was interrupted again as Sasha planted his lips on Paul's and slid his tongue in. Paul responded in kind, closed his eyes and wished this dream was real.

 

"You are so hot," Sasha said.

 

It's not over? Paul wondered. He felt a hand around his dick and opened his eyes.

 

And there was Sasha, staring at him, shirtless, his chest heaving, but not looking that much bigger from the one under his own chin. And was he shorter?

[Xyggurat]

I've been enjoying this so far! Thanks for the good work.

 

-X-

[magicworker]

Part 6

 

Sasha latched his mouth onto Paul's nipples, first one then the other, as his hands pushed Paul's briefs down. Paul could feel the waistband catch at the top of his ass, but Sasha pulled harder and Paul could hear them break a little as they protestingly slipped down over Paul's now muscular glutes. Before, well, they would have slipped to the ground, but Paul felt them still clinging above his thick quads. Sasha wasted no time diving onto Paul's cock, sucking hard and grabbing Paul's ass to encourage a rhythm that brought a deep groan from Paul.

 

Paul looked down and saw Sasha's thick shoulders and arms flex and relax. He brought his own hands down on those muscles and massaged them, feeling their warm hardness. This was not the first time Sasha sucked a cock, Paul thought, unless he has some ungodly natural talent. His dick felt huge and throbbing in Sasha's mouth. Kind of like the rest of me, Paul thought. And he looked back at his chest and arms literally tearing his shirt at the seams and mumbled, "I'm getting so big."

 

Sasha paused briefly to reply, "Yeah, and you're gonna keep growing into a fucking monster!"

 

Paul was stunned. Was he? He wasn't sure if he was ready for that, but his dick loved the idea.

 

"Oh, god, I'm gonna cum!" he shouted.

 

Sasha keep sucking and gripping Paul's ass as Paul bucked his seed into Sasha's mouth and throat.

 

"That was fun," Sasha said a minute later. "I'd love to stay for more, but then I would be running late. Cya for dinner? You'll probably be as big as me then, and you're still fucking ripped."

 

"Yeah, sure," Paul replied, still a bit euphoric. He looked over Sasha's shirtless torso and it still looked hot, but not as amazingly built as it once did. "But you're the appetizer."

 

"Deal. I'll let you know when I'm on my way," he said as he returned to his room to change.

 

Paul cooked breakfast and was most of the way through when Sasha, fully dressed, came over to make a quick breakfast shake. He left saying, "You half-naked is a big temptation, buddy, but I don't want to interrupt your eating." Paul hadn't realized he had taken off his shirt at some point and glanced around for it. Did I eat it? he wondered.

 

He found it on the floor, with several holes in it. It looked more like an old dish rag than a tee, he thought.

 

"What am I gonna wear?" he asked aloud.

 

Well, nothing in MY room fits, he thought.

 

---

 

Paul entered the lab gym.

 

"Can I help you?" asked the doctor, before he gasped.

 

"Paul? Goodness! Let's get you on the scale."

 

Paul walked over. He loved walking, feeling his leg muscles brush and flex over each other. He took off his light jacket with a bit of struggling over his shoulders and arms.

 

"209. Wow, let me look at you." Paul was wearing Sasha's tanktop and track pants, so his upper body was easy to see and the pants hung tightly in places to hint at the muscle underneath. Paul even gave the doctor a tentative double bi.

 

"I think this changes things. You're growing too fast."

 

"What?"

 

"Your muscle is growing at an unprecedented rate. Your body can't tolerate much more of this. This is one reason the meat industry wasn't interested. I could give them twice as much meat, but they needed three times as much food, and had shorter life spans and more medical problems. No, I think we need to turn your myostatin back on. Your tendons and bones and connective tissues can't adapt fast enough to handle this."

 

"No, please, I want to grow more."

 

"Well, you'll still grow more for another few days probably, but I really underestimated your response to the treatment. It would be very unhealthy to continue right now."

 

"But we could continue later?"

 

"Well, your genetics are tough to pass up. Maybe if the nano-switches do clear out over time, or if I only deactivated a small portion of them... We'll see, but I need you to get into the scanner today."

 

"Really?"

 

"Paul, your muscles are growing like... tumors. I don't think you have cancer, but it's still a serious, potentially fatal condition. And if you damage your other tissues and joints, it can affect the rest of your life."

 

"Ok, I get it."

 

The doctor had Paul get into the scanner and after a repeat of the last time, but with slightly different sounds from the machine, Paul flexed his muscles to make sure they were still there.

 

"Paul, those nano-switches are nearly everywhere in your body. We might need to do dialysis to get them out of your blood at least. I also want to give an infusion before you go."

 

"I thought you wanted to get them out, not put more in."

 

"I mean an infusion of normal myostatin. Not your normal myostatin, because they'll just hold on to the switches, but more generic stuff."

 

"But I have myostatin. You just reactivated them."

 

"Well, I reactivated the switches, but I'm not sure how many of them were actually attached to myostatin. As I mentioned, a lot of them seemed to be in your bloodstream. The myostatin level in your sample from before also went down, but at the time I thought it might be just because they were non-functional. Hopefully an infusion will help return those levels to normal."

 

"But my myostatin level might stay low?" Paul brightened, holding onto the central concept that less myostatin means more muscle.

 

The doctor paused and replied, "Actually, it might." Then, more to himself, "Maybe I should re-write the protocol."

 

The doctor turned back to the grinning Paul. "For today, I'll take some blood and give you the infusion, but no working out or any physical exertion for the next week. Your body has to stabilize. You still need lots of protein for those connective tissues to catch up. Did you bring the food diary?"

 

Paul had lost his grin and handed over the pad. The doctor flipped though and tore out the pages that Paul had written on. The doctor placed the pages on his clipboard and was turning back to Paul, when his eyes returned to the stack of pages. "You were eating a lot."

 

He looked back more carefully through them. "Well, that's good. It looks like your tissues at least had the resources to compensate, but they grow slower, so keep eating."

 

Paul hated the needles, but he was back home having lunch before too long. He ached to work out, but the doctor had frightened him enough to ignore it.

 

"I guess it's a lazy day for me," he said to himself.

 

---

 

Over dinner, Paul explained why he couldn't have sex, retelling and repeating everything the doctor said against Sasha's objections.

 

Sasha finally relented. "I mean, I guess if you could die, I understand." Well, almost relented. "But how about just flexing for me? No touching."

 

Paul couldn't resist, especially with Sasha's pleading, hungry look.

 

"I think you're about my size even without working out," Sasha commented after having Paul strip down to his briefs and copying his own posing.

 

"Yeah, I do still feel really big."

 

"I wish I could have some of your blood," Sasha blurted.

 

"You should have asked before they got reactivated," Paul replied.

 

Sasha paused. "But you would give me some of your blood?" he asked.

 

"It'd be weird, but I've donated before, just never knew who got it. Actually, it'd be kinda hot having my blood inside you."

 

"Hey, if it made my muscles grow huge, that'd be really hot!"

 

They were both hard, but their conversation ended there and it was another quiet, awkward evening before they both went to bed, in their separate rooms.

[magicworker]

Part 7

 

Paul spent the next few days having more time to work on his side project and Sasha spent more time at work, too. They still saw each other in the mornings and evenings, but it was all small talk.

 

The doctor called to check that the growth had stopped. Paul sadly confirmed, "Yeah."

 

Paul also went shopping and replaced most of his wardrobe, adding some lycra and spandex to the collection. He flexed for himself and jacked off in front of his mirror, but it was disappointing that he couldn't really use his body and feel the pump and growth like the previous week.

 

Marc the trainer called to confirm their session, but Paul said he needed his doctor's permission before returning.

 

"Did you hurt yourself?" Marc asked.

 

"No, he just needs to make sure of something first," Paul replied.

 

A week after the last appointment, Paul returned to the doctor who took another blood sample and infused more active myostatin.

 

"But I stopped growing," Paul protested.

 

"Actually, you're up to 220 now."

 

"Really?" Paul brightened, and realized he really does need to get a scale.

 

"Hopefully some of that is the connective tissue, but you certainly don't look like you lost any muscle. Are you still eating a lot? You haven't been working out at all?"

 

"I'm not eating as much as last week, but it's still more than normal. No working out, honest. I've been wanting to, and it's tough to resist even doing some push ups or something."

 

"You need to resist, but maybe you can go for a walk. No running. The blood flow might help clear things out, too."

 

---

 

So, Paul waked over to the nearby park. There were a decent amount of joggers out on the unseasonably warm day. He exchanged glances with a few of them, but that just frustrated him, so he noticed the trees and the sky more than he usually did.

 

Being outside feels good, Paul thought. I can almost feel my body tingling in the sunlight.

 

After a couple of hours, he got hungry enough to stop somewhere for a cheeseburger. He grabbed another on the way out and ate it by the time he got home.

 

My legs feel kinda pumped, Paul thought, from just walking. And my hunger is back. Maybe that walk wasn't a good idea, even though it does feel good.

 

He spent the rest of the day inside and ordered a big dinner. Sasha noticed the containers after he finished his own dinner and turned wide-eyed to Paul.

 

"Did you get switched on?" he asked.

 

"It works when they get switched off, and that did not happen, but I think I grew a little from a walk in the park."

 

"Are you serious? Maybe they're still working," Sasha offered.

 

"They shouldn't be, but my myostatin level might still be low, except that I just got an infusion today."

 

"Maybe you could try working out?" Sasha asked.

 

"It's so tempting, but the doctor was real serious and it's kinda scary how much I grew already. Everything feels different, and people look at me differently, and I accidentally break stuff."

 

"You've broken stuff?"

 

"Yeah, my doorknob. I guess I didn't mention that."

 

"So do you think those nano-things are still working?" Sasha asked hopefully.

 

"Maybe. I don't feel them, they just cause my muscles to explode into cancer," Paul replied angrily.

 

"Well, could I try?"

 

"What? Try to give me cancer?"

 

"No, could I take your nano-things for a spin? Like try taking some of your blood, workout and see what happens."

 

"I don't think you want to play around with this shit."

 

"Maybe I do, and it'd just be a little bit. Probably nothing will happen, but it's all for science, right?"

 

"Ha. I didn't realize that you wanted to get bigger so bad. So we prick our fingers and become blood brothers? Or do you want to puncture my neck and drink?"

 

"I was thinking something in between those. Let me make a couple calls."

 

"I could call the doctor tomorrow," Paul offered.

 

"I don't think he needs to be part of the plan," Sasha retorted.

 

"He might be into trying it actually, but I'm just gonna see if I can get some helpful info."

 

---

 

Sasha rushed off to work early the next morning, but later sent a message: "I think we can do it tonight. Cya at dinner. I'm bringing someone to help."

 

Paul was really itching to go for a walk again, but he settled for a long lunch at a nearby Italian place. It was another warm day and he sat on the small patio outside, feeling the warmth of the sun. He was cooking a big dinner when Sasha came in with an older but handsome man.

 

"Hi Paul, this is Robert."

 

"Hi Robert, but I already had Italian today." Paul quipped, more bold than usual, or than ever.

 

"Well, then I'll try to be quick," Robert replied with a smile.

 

"No need. Actually, you could stay for dinner."

 

Sasha interrupted, "You two are hitting it off, great, but we have work to do." He turned to Paul. "Robert is a nurse..."

 

"A phlebotomist," Robert interjected.

 

"Oh," Sasha paused. "Mike said you're a nurse."

 

"Yeah, that's what my brother calls me. He's an asshole. That's what I call him. You know, you work with him."

 

Sasha shrugged. "But you can take blood, right?"

 

Paul interrupted this time. "Sasha, that's what they do." He turned to Robert. "Over there is good."

 

Robert started spreading equipment. "I'm also a chef and an accountant and getting my real estate license next year."

 

"Should we call you Jack?" Paul asked.

 

"You're the jacked one," Robert replied with an obvious scan.

 

A few minutes later, after checking on dinner, Paul was about to be subjected to a needle.

 

"This is easy," Robert said as he looked over Paul's thick veins.

 

"Sasha, you should have paid me for this," Paul complained.

 

"I'll buy you food for a week," Sasha replied.

 

"He's paying me plenty," Robert said to Paul. "I don't do this for free."

 

"Actually, a week of food for me - Ow!"

 

Robert switched the syringe for a tube, half filled it and then switched it with another. "How much?"

 

"Can you fill it?" asked Sasha.

 

"The first one was just to get it going. I'll just toss it," Robert explained as he put a tiger-striped band-aid on Paul and cleaned up. "The blood won't clot, but I'd keep it cold until you use it. You're using it this week?"

 

"Yes," Sasha replied as he grabbed the tube. "Thanks, Rob. I can walk you out."

 

Robert turned to Paul and whispered as he walked away, "I hate being called Rob, in case we see each other again. And I really don't think you need a love spell." He winked.

 

When Sasha returned, Paul paused from eating dinner. "Sorry, I couldn't wait to eat. And what did you tell him exactly?"

 

"That we were doing a love spell for you and needed more than just a drop of blood because you're so ugly."

 

"Ha ha. So what do we do now?" Paul asked.

 

"Your part's kinda done. What am I gonna do, is the question. It takes a while for the nano-bots to kick in, right?"

 

"Well, I did call the doctor and asked, hypothetically, if I still had some deactivated myostatin would it interfere with the normal generic myostatin?"

 

"And?"

 

"He said, 'No.'"

 

Sasha groaned.

 

"And then he said, 'Maybe.'" Paul said smiling.

 

"Now, you're just being mean."

 

"Seriously, he said maybe, then something about collisions and probability and that it would take time and be 'an insignificant effect.' But, he's always underestimating these things. He did have me wait a week after the first infusions, so to answer your original question: yes, I think it takes a while to kick in."

 

"Then I guess I'll start tonight," Sasha decided and he went back to the fridge, grabbed the tube and went off to his room.

 

"Do you have a syringe?" Paul asked.

 

"Yeah, got it this morning."

 

"Well, don't let me see it," Paul pleaded. One needle a day was enough.