Gym Membership, Part 2 (Multi TG RC) (Patreon)

By FoxFaceStories

A Commission for GWW1992

New Life Gym isn’t all that it appears to be, as Jack, Rob, Jenna, and Greg are about to find out. These unrelated persons are all trying to better themselves during the less busy hours, but the changes that slowly occur to their bodies aren’t entirely what they expected, not that they entirely notice what’s happening. As the four of them change gender and appearance, the employees of the gym, once transformed themselves, watch on in amusement, knowing that a New Life awaits the customers this gym has chosen to bless.

First Part

Next Part

Part 2: Return Service

It’s strange, Jack thought. I had such a miserable time the other day. It felt like everyone was watching me, judging me, and knowing what I really wanted for a body. And yet, for the first time, I’m here again.

His posture was a little better: Nari Kim had helped correct that. Jack quite liked her, even if her very appearance made him fume with envy at times. But she was endlessly positive and seemed to really passionately believe in self-improvement, and was always checking in on him, and not in a condescending way either. She helped him get the right arm posture for pushing up weights, and told him the right racking procedure and unspoken gym rules that he wished someone else had told him before. More than that, she seemed genuinely interested in what he wanted out of the gym, even offering to make him a gym plan.

“I mean, you’re a member now, right?” she asked. “It’s part of our offer.”

Jack raised his eyebrows. He was a member, and yet he hadn’t planned on being one. That morning, he’d turned up just to consider finishing his trial and getting out of Dodge, overcome with shame and embarrassment. Instead, he’d lined up behind three other people who had arrived at the same time; a really tall skinny guy, a total body builder, and an older woman who looked to be here for similar reasons to him but was far, far better prepared for it. She had turned to him and smiled.

“I saw you yesterday. Are you a member here?”

“No, I’m just, um, signing up, I guess.”
 “Same!” she said, her voice lightly accented. “I didn’t expect to; I was looking at different gyms, but something about this one just speaks to me.”

“Same here,” the tall man said. “I’m Rob, by the way.”

“Tall, aren’t you?” the woman said.

He looked less than enthused with that response. “So I’m told.”

“I’m Jack,” Jack said.

“I’m Jenna. And who are you, young man?” she said, gesturing to the huge gorilla of a man who was first in line and had just finished signing up his membership.

“I’m Greg. I’ll be doing my own thing,” he said, before walking off.

The woman just scoffed. “No manners, these days. Well, best of luck, Jack and Rob. There’s something about this place. I can’t quite describe it, but I feel it’s the gym for me. I hope you feel the same.”

Jack remembered those words as Nari asked him about making an exercise plan. It was true, there was something about the New Life Gym that he just couldn’t quite put his finger upon. The building was older, less stylised, less modern, and yet there was a quaintness and rustic sense to it. A kind of . . . almost belonging that he’d never felt, despite his own difficulties with being in gyms and having others see his body.

He took a much-needed break, taking the offered towel from Nari’s hand, and surprised himself with his own answer.

“I think . . . I think an exercise regime would be quite good, thanks.”

He wasn’t sure where the courage had come from, but reasons he couldn’t explain, there was an excitement starting to flourish within him. 

“Great! I’ll meet you after your next few sets and we can plan something out.”

Jack thanked her and calmed his breathing. The workout was still taking a lot out of him. He could have sworn his skin was feeling strange, like it had all its goosebumps raised. He ran a hand through his somewhat sweaty hair.

Huh, he thought, I guess I need a haircut sooner than I thought. Since when did it start growing this fast?

***

Rob was also back, and this too was a bit of a surprise, since his original intention had been to take what he liked to call a ‘break day’ and smoke some pot and play videogames. Instead, he found himself drawn back to the New Life Gym, as if it were calling him for further self-improvement.

It’s a good sign, he thought as he worked the leg curler. I need to stop looking like a plank of flat wood. And maybe then Emily will regret dumping me.

It wasn’t the most positive motivation, he knew, but funnily enough he got another motivation that very morning when his roommates complimented him.

“Dude, you been working out!” Harry exclaimed.

“Well, only just started.”

“Started when? I’m seeing some definition there. Seriously.”

“He does look less like a flagpole without the flag,” DeShawn said, chuckling to himself.

Rob was astounded. Surely there couldn’t be any noticeable difference after just a day? But when he looked in the mirror, he could see some minor changes. Just a little more thickness in his shoulders, and his biceps were observable now, too. Nothing major, and he figured it was just a result of muscles being tired and still tensing from the previous day’s workout, but it gave him confidence to at least keep at it.

So now he was here, waiting for the guy with the opposite problem to him - Jack was his name, he remembered - to let him have a guy on the treadmill. It was a good device to go for after an intense workout, to come down from it all while still working some muscles.

“Hey, it’s Jack, right?” he asked the red-headed man on the treadmill.

The larger man looked as if he were about to jump off it from shock. “Oh, um, yes. Sorry, did you want to use this? I - I didn’t even realise! I’ll get off of it right now.”

Rob chuckled, putting up his hands in a placating gesture. “Dude, calm your farm! I was just gonna ask if I could use it in a few minutes. No need to rush your exercise.”

“Oh, thanks. I’m new to all this.”

“Yeah, me too. I’m trying to build up some muscles.”

The other man gave an embarrassed, somewhat sheepish grin. “I’m just trying to, well, lose weight.”

“Hey man, it’s a noble goal, far as I see it. If it’s any consolation, you look better than yesterday, if I can say so.”

Jack paused, still walking slowly on the mill. “Wait, really?”

Rob shrugged. “Yeah, really. I don’t know how to say this because I’m often way too blunt, but you look less . . . big.”

The other man looked down at his still-large belly. “I did think I seemed less big. But I think it was maybe that I’m starting to watch my appetite.”

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea for me, actually. I get the munchies way too often when I smoke pot, so I gotta start being responsible too. You growing a mullet?”

Jack paused. “Um, a mullet?”

“Long hair? I just ask ‘cause my friends are always on my case about having long hair. They call me Shaggy, but I don’t give a fuck. If you’re doing the same, all the more power to you, man.”

Jack gave an odd look that made Rob think he’d overstepped, but then he nodded. “Well, thanks a heap, Rob. And as long as we’re throwing compliments, it’s cool that you dye your hair. I alway wanted to - redhead guys get made fun of a lot - but never had the courage.”

“Ah, sure man. Thanks.”

They changed places, and Rob got up on the treadmill, setting it to a faster mode. Jack went off to take a break, but his words stuck in Rob’s mind. He touched his own hair, noting its appearance in the mirror.

It does look darker than yesterday, doesn’t it? And a bit longer. Did I always have a bit of waviness to it as well?

But though it was strange, it didn’t seem to register as important to him, for reasons he could not interrogate. He sped up the treadmill, and began to run.

Hey, this feels rather good. I might come here tomorrow after my shift.

***

Jenna Garcia felt more energised than she had in years, and it was only her second day coming to the gym! The mid-forties woman had already constructed her exercise regimen, and waved away any attempts by the staff to help her, especially from Miss Kind, who was entirely too bubbly, phone-obsessed, and vapid for Jenna’s tastes. No, she was here purely to work her body into some state of better functionality, then quit the gym once it was achieved. She had always been a goals-oriented woman, of course, but even for her the current dedication she was already displaying was a surprise to her. She hadn’t even expected to get into the bicep curls, preferring instead to working on her core, but something had shifted in her mentally, that much was apparent, because now she had broken up her future schedule to include arm day, leg day, core day, and then a fourth, unexpected general day to work on all aspects of herself and any she’d missed. God, she even had a glute workout organised, and she couldn’t figure out why.

Not like anyone wants to see this culo, she thought to herself.

And yet, the energy was there. The self-possession was there. And it gave her a sense of cheeriness that meant she wasn’t annoyed to occasionally interact with other gym-goers, sometimes even initiating the contact herself!

“I must say, it’s good to see someone else here trying to get in shape,” she said to Jack while he was panting and drinking water during a break.

“Th-thanks,” he said, scratching his hair. She could have sworn it was longer the previous day, but it didn't matter. Obviously just a misinterpretation in her mind. “Just wanting to shed some pounds and all, I guess.”

“Me too,” she mused. “I don’t exactly come at these things to show off, unlike some.”

She gestured to the man called Greg in the far corner, who was making a loud show of grunting heavily as he lifted increasingly heavy weights for his bicep curls routine. He was a massive mountain of a man, and Jenna certainly hoped he wouldn’t be one of those raging bull types she’d heard about in venues like this.

“I think he’s trying to build more muscle,” Jack said.

“Yes,” Jenna said, a smirk on her lips. “I imagine he’s quite lacking in that department. The poor thing. Whatever will he do.”

She and Jack shared a private chuckle before she moved on. Like a lot of women, she was focusing on core exercises and a leg routine before anything else. Today was core day, and so she found a mat for her warm up. Once again, she was surprised by how energised she was, and moreover how much she was able to push herself, especially when it came to repeated sit ups. She even got a little outside of her comfort zone and tried the cable machine in order to do some crunches.

It’s not like I’m trying to have amazing abs or anything. But so long as I’m here, why not try to build them up a bit rather than simply slimming down?

She sipped her water. She thought she’d miss her occasional soft drink or fruit juice, but already she was finding this far more refreshing. Jenna had always been a practical woman, but even she was surprised at how much she was able to push herself towards this particular goal, especially given that she was hardly breaking much of a sweat. Well, at least not compared to what she expected. A few times she even caught herself in the mirror, and this too surprised her.

Did I always have such a glint in my hair? And maybe it’s just my imagination, but I barely see any of those annoying streaks of grey!

At times, she didn’t even mind how her face looked. She had long accepted that she had an ugly, mannish face. She’d been made fun of many times, and had developed quite the thick skin to it. The rubbery lips, the nose that looked like it had been broken and then set wrong, the near-unibrow that kept insistently growing back. The ugly mole on her left cheek that sprouted hairs when she wasn’t looking. But those features seemed dimmed, at least at the New Life Gym.

The mole even looks smaller. And I don’t have a unibrow. Huh, I must have shaved that spot without remembering this morning.

***

Greg smirked a bit at the other patrons of the gym. They weren’t exactly doing it all wrong, but man if he didn’t know the best way to shed unnecessary fat and pack on muscle. At least they weren’t shoving cameras everywhere, though, and were at the gym for the right reasons. Even that tall stick of a guy who looked like a small breeze would wipe him out.

Rob, that’s his name. Seriously, he looks like an absolute rake.

But it wasn’t his business. He was here to build muscle, to make those gains, to get bigger and better and more dominant. He’d always thought of himself as an alpha male. He’d survived and thrived even after the unfortunate passing of his parents, and during his wild phase he’d gone toe to toe at clubs with older guys in greater numbers, managing to solo them all for the most part. They got some good shots in, but the point was that he’d always ended up on top now.

And here’s a place where I can stay on top. Keep perfecting this bodily temple, without any distractions.

Of course, he was then immediately distracted. The woman that entered the gym was beautiful, with an impressively buff figure in her gym tank top and her exercise shorts. She wore dark colours to match her clearly dyed-black hair. It had a purple streak in it, and it was in a loose ponytail to allow for her workout. Her makeup was dark too; smoky eyeshadow and black lipstick. She even had black fingerless gloves on. It was a stark contrast to her pale skin, which was borderline alabaster in tone. She even had a tattoo of a playing card suit spade on her neck, also black, naturally. All in all, she looked like a total hot goth chick. Really hot, in fact. Greg was instantly overcome with interest in this woman’s body, finding it very appealing indeed. There was also another, more underlying emotion, but he couldn’t quite process it just yet. Far easier to deny.

I don’t usually go for goth chicks, but this one is hot as hell. She looks like a damn pint-sized powerhouse; short but fucking stacked, and not just in the muscular way either. Mmm-hmm.

Greg noticed her getting ready to rack some weights. She had a camera set up, and for all that he had been banned from several gyms already, he couldn’t contain his annoyance that another influencer - however hot - was filming their workout.

“Hey there,” he said, approaching her as she started her set.

“Hey yourself,” she replied, grinning for a moment before getting back to it.

Greg scratched the back of his head. Is my hair longer than I thought it was?

“Just thought you should know, the gym doesn’t allow cameras here.”

“It doesn’t allow cameras for purposes other than filming your workout to check your form,” she corrected. “Trust me, dude, I know.”

“Well, in that case, I’ve got a few pointers for your form. I know my way around stuff like this, trust me.”

She racked the weight, and gave him a devilish grin that made the tall mountain of a man feel instantly much smaller.

“Oh, is that the case, huh? Go on then, I’m all ears, big boy. You are a boy, aren’t you?”

“I prefer a big man,” he said, but his voice cracked, rising almost a full octave as he emphasised ‘big man,’ sounding like a young teenager whose balls were still descending. He flushed with embarrassment. “Look, you should be squaring your shoulders more, planting your legs to the side as well when you push up.”

“That works well for your body type, not so much for mine.”

“Look, I’m just saying that if you focused on your form more than filming your figure, you might learn something here. You do realise you could get kicked out for this, right? I could report you.”

Again, the goth woman smirked. Something about it made Greg feel oddly nervous.

“Well, there’s an employee coming now, why don’t you ask her? What do you think, Nari? Should I be kicked out for filming this promo for the gym you asked me to make, as an employee of New Life Gym?”

“No, keep at it, girl! You’re looking fine! Katherine and I are looking forward to editing it together. Hiya Greg!”

Greg gave a weak wave to Nari. His cheeks burned, and humiliation and anger swelled within him as she left, leaving only him and the goth girl remaining.

“You could have told me you were an employee here,” he mumbled, voice still cracking a little.

“And you could have minded your own business and focused on yourself. By the way, you’re neglecting your back muscles and shoulders. Your biceps look too big relative to them.”

Greg mumbled something under his breath and began to move away.

Jesus Christ, that was humiliating as all hell.

“Oh, and by the way, I’m Abigail,” she said, grinning as she sat up. “Just in case we cross paths again.”

“I’m G-Greg - I mean Greg!” he spluttered, before crossing to the other side of the gym.

Goddamn it, he thought to himself. What is wrong with my voice? 

The interaction had been bad enough, but as he examined himself in the mirrors lining the gym wall, he realised Abigail had been right. He had been neglecting his shoulders. They looked . . . smaller than they should have been, and his neck muscles too. 

I got absolutely played, he thought. Remind me never to tangle with her again, even if she is hot as hell.

He checked himself out again.

 Huh. Need to get a haircut.

To Be Continued . . .