The Assistant Librarian
by Randomizer
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The library was quiet, as usual. Fewer and fewer people came in these days, what with most books being online in some form or another. E-readers just made it all worse. The only people who really used the library anymore were those who didn’t have internet at home or those who were simply dedicated to books. Ivan was firmly in the latter category. He loved reading, and while the rest of his family was zoning out in front of the TV, he was curled up in his room with a book. His family, his older brother, Jerry, in particular, thought he was just wasting his time. The interesting thing was that he felt the same about them. They were simply more vocal about it. His older brother didn’t make it easy from him to read either. Jerry would come into Ivan’s room and harass him, trying to force the younger sibling to put the books down. While Jerry insisted he had his little brother’s best interest in mind, Ivan didn’t see it that way.
As such, the library was his refuge. He loved the calm, quiet building where he could sit and read as much as he liked. Nobody bothered him there. In fact, many lauded him for his devotion to the written word. He had gotten to know a few of the regulars quite well in fact, and he regarded them as some of the few friends he really had. But, the books were his main reason for being there above all others.
Well, there was one other reason that he considered just as important. That was the assistant librarian. Her name was Abigail, and to him, she was an angel. She was a shy, meek girl that hid behind thick, baggy clothes regardless of the weather, but he didn’t care about that. In fact, for him it added to her charm. Her face was lovely to behold, and Ivan suspected that many of the younger men that came in did so just to look at her. She had soft, delicate features, like a porcelain doll. Pale skin and subdued red lips caught the attention of not only Ivan, but many others as well. Her hazel eyes shone brightly, even from behind her large, round glasses. Her copper colored hair hung down past her shoulders in elegant waives and had a scent that was uniquely hers, and Ivan loved to breath it in deeply every time she walked past. But the main thing that Ivan was attracted to about her was the fact that she loved books just as much as he did, maybe even more. Whenever she sat behind the desk, she would be nose deep in a book until her services were needed. When she shelved returned books, she would read a few pages of one of them. And yet, she never had any kind of accident while pushing the cart, not only because of her surprising, ballerina like grace, but also because people gave her space to move, since they knew she was paying more attention to the words on the page than anything else.
Every time he saw her, Ivan’s heart raced. Whenever a man would talk to her for any reason, he grew oddly jealous. Whenever she talked to him, he had to struggle to put a coherent sentence together. There was no way around it. He was in love with the shy little librarian. Yet, he could never bring himself to ask her out. Or even talk to her for very long. He was so head over heels for her that simply functioning took all his will power. That is, unless they were speaking about books. That, he had no trouble with. The two could talk about that subject for hours on end. It was a magical time for him. But today was different. Today, he had steeled his nerves and resolve as much as he could. Today, he would finally ask her out.
Once at the library, his eyes went right to where he knew she would be, at the librarian’s desk, reading. He knew exactly what he was going to say. All he had to do was go up to her and say it. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and willed his legs to move. He approached the desk. Abigail looked up at him and smiled warmly.
“Hi Ivan.” She said. Her voice was warm and gentle and made his heart melt just a little more whenever he heard it, regardless of what she said.
“H-hi Abby. “ He said, forcing back the butterflies in his stomach, “I’ve got a book to return.” He said, placing the large hardcover on the desk.
“Ok then.” She looked up the book on the computer, marking it off as returned before commenting, “Oh, hey, how was it? I haven’t gotten the chance to read it yet.”
“Oh, it was fine. Not his best work, but not his worst either.” He said, talking about the author.
“Ah. Ok then, I’ll just get this taken care of. You know what you want to check out next?”
“Not really. I’m going to go look at what’s on the shelves first.”
“Ok then, happy hunting.” She said and turned back to her book. Ivan didn’t move. Abigail sensed that he was still there and looked up at him. “Is there something else?”
“Y-yeah. Umm, Abby, I was wondering if you were doing something later? Maybe over the weekend or something?”
“Hm, no not really. Why?”
“W-well, in that case would you maybe like to go out to dinner with me? Maybe?” He asked. He had to force himself to breath he was so nervous. Abigail turned a deep shade of red and smiled shyly.
“Well, I suppose I could do that. Yes, yes I can do that.” She said. Ivan had to keep himself planted on the ground as he suddenly felt lighter than air.
“Really? Ok then, I guess we can meet up in front of that new poetry cafe. Maybe at seven on Saturday?”
“Ok. That sounds nice. I’ve actually wanted to check that place out.”
“Yeah, me too. Ok then, it’s a date.” Ivan said hopefully
“Sure, it’s a date.” She said. Ivan walked off dreamily to one of the reading chairs and sat down. He picked up a random book that happened to be within arm’s reach and pretended to read. His head was too full of Abigail to do anything else though. He kept sneaking glances over at her. Sometimes he even caught her doing the same thing. Their eyes met and then instantly flew down to their respective reading material. Anyone else in the library would probably have thought they were already a couple with the way they were acting.
Later on in the day, he found himself walking home, lost in a daze. He somehow made it back unharmed and flopped down with a happy, dreamy smile on his face. He wasn’t even aware of what room he was in, and frankly, didn’t care much. “What’s got you so happy?” The voice was that of his older brother, who was looking down over him with an amused smile on his face.
“Oh nothing. I’ve just got a date is all.” Ivan said, not really caring about much else.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, a date? Seriously? You’re not talking about like with a character in a book are you?”
“Nope.”
“Are you sure? Does she actually exist, or is she just in your mind?”
“It’s Abby. You know, the assistant librarian?” Ivan said. Jerry’s mind reeled, trying to fit the name with a face. It had been quite some time since he was in the library, but soon enough he got it.
“Wait a sec, is that the girl that I thought shouldn’t be hiding in a library all day?” He asked. The last time Jerry had been at the library, Abigail was there too. He had tried to pick her up by telling her she was way to good looking to be working as a librarian. It hadn’t worked, even if it was true.
“Yeah, that’s her.” Ivan said wistfully.
“Nice one little bro!” Jerry said, clapping his brother forcefully on the shoulder, “Hey mom, dad, Ivan’s got a date! With a girl! A real one!” He called out to their parents. Both of them rushed out to confirm this news. And just like that, the spell was broken.
“Is it true? Is my boy finally doing something with a real person?” His mom asked excitedly.
“Yes, mom. It is.” Ivan said, very much not wanting to deal with what was inevitably going to happen.
“Yeah, and she’s actually good looking. I’ve seen her before.” Jerry said. As much as Jerry teased his younger brother, he actually did care about Ivan, and was really proud that he was finally doing something that didn’t involve reading.
“Good job, son.” Their dad said, equally proud of Ivan for the giant leap forward. “Now then, let me give you some advice about women.”
“Oh don’t listen to your father.” His mom said, “I’ll tell you how to really win her heart.”
What followed next was nearly an hour of ‘advice’ from all three members of his family. Most of it was not something that Abigail would find appealing, and much of it was contradictory, and even spawned a few minor arguments, mostly between his parents. But, finally, the three had given him all the advice he could handle, and they finally broke off the rapid flow of irrelevant information. By that time, Ivan was more than ready to hit the books again. Maybe they would have something more applicable to his situation.
With the date only a few days away, Ivan spent as much time as he conceivably could getting himself ready. This was more about mental exercises than anything else. Physical stuff could come later should it become necessary. While he wasn’t spectacular, he wasn’t bad looking either. He was thin and of slightly above average height, standing at a modest 5’ 7”. He had potential to become impressively muscular like his brother and dad, but such things didn’t really appeal to him, and he just did enough exercise to not get fat. He figured he might have to tone up a bit, just in case, but with a mere two days till his date, that was not going to be happening. So, he focused on making sure he wouldn’t trip over his own tongue during the date and make a complete fool of himself. This mainly involved talking to himself in the mirror and spending more than a little time in the library around Abigail.
By the time Saturday rolled around, he felt as ready as he ever could hope to be. He knew he had the right location for the date. It was a newly opened cafe with a modest menu and a calm, intellectual motif. Against the far wall was a small stage with a single microphone, made to let people read the poems they had written. It was a place that would appeal to both of them. But, even with the comfortable atmosphere, he still was incredibly nervous. He felt a bit lightheaded, and he wasn’t sure if that was because of giddiness or nerves. That is, until Abigail showed up. Then he knew it was the former. He was practically walking on air as he went up to her. She had dressed in nice, but still baggy clothes, hiding whatever body she might have. He did sometimes wonder about that, but he really didn’t care. She could have rolls of pure fat under those clothes and it wouldn’t matter to him. But, for the time being, he put it out of his mind to focus on the here-and-now.
“H-hi.” He said with a large, goofy grin on his face.
“Hey.” She said, with a somewhat shyer version of his own smile on hers.
“So, umm, you look really nice.” Ivan said.
“Thanks. So do you.” She said. Neither spoke for a bit.
“So, shall we take a seat?” He asked, pulling out a chair from a nearby table for her.
“Oh, thank you.” She said, accepting the offered chair.
After that, it seemed like the date would end in utter disaster. Both were so nervous that neither were saying much of anything. Then, like a blessing from heaven, the stage in the small café opened up and admitted people to come up and read the poems they had written. Once that started, they had something to talk about. They discussed not just the poetry being read, but others as well. They found each other’s likes and dislikes, what they thought of various new and old poems, and much more beyond that. Then, like a tree growing, the conversation branched out and changed to many other topics that had nothing to do with literature. Ivan was amazed at how easy it had become to speak with her. Not once after those first few minutes did his stutter, stumble, or even find a lack of things to say. And all the while, he just kept falling for her more and more. In fact, their date was going so well, that the waitress who was serving them came and told them that they would be closing soon. They had kept going long enough that it was well into the night before they even realized it. Still, Ivan paid the check, and the two left the cafe.
“I had a great time tonight.” Abigail said as they walked.
“Yeah, me too.” Ivan said. He wasn’t sure if they should part ways with that, or if he should walk her home.
“So, where to now?” He asked.
“I’m not really sure. I don’t have work tomorrow, so I guess we can go just about anywhere.”
“I’m fine just walking around. I don’t really go out at night, so I’m not really sure what there is to do.”
“Huh, come to think of it, neither do I. Kinda weird considering how long we’ve both been living around here.”
“I know, right? Well, maybe it’s time to find out.”
“Sounds good to me.”
The two headed off together with no real destination. As they walked they continued to talk, this time mostly pointing out the things they were seeing along their walking route, such as it was. They lived in a reasonably large town, so there were things to see and do, even at night. Still, it wasn’t exactly a bustling city. But, neither seemed to care much. Soon though, Abigail stopped dead, looking at two large guys loitering on the other side of the street.
“Something wrong?” Ivan asked.
“Um, I think we should go someplace else.” She said, looking nervously at the guys. One of them turned and looked back at her. The guy nudged his friend and pointed her out. They immediately crossed the street, heading right for them.
“Yeah, that sounds good.” Ivan said, not wanting a confrontation with the pair. They turned to leave, but it was too late. The other guys were moving quite fast to catch up with them, and soon had cut off the two of them.
“Hey there little lady. Remember us?” One of them said. Abigail didn’t say anything, instead opting to shuffle in behind Ivan a bit.
“Looks like she does, eh?” The other guy said.
“P-please, I don’t want any trouble.” She said, obviously scared of the two.
“Oh really? Is that what you said to my brother? You didn’t want any trouble with him either, did you? And look how that turned out.” The larger of the two said.
“I-I didn’t mean to. I mean, I was only trying to protect myself. If I hadn’t, he would have raped me.” Abigail said. Something clicked in Ivan’s mind. While he had no idea what she might have done, that word set something off in him. Although he did not want to fight the two much larger guys, he also didn’t want to let them get anywhere near Abigail.
“H-hey, guys, I don’t know what happened between you all, but why don’t we all just move along and go our separate ways, ok? I mean, it’s pretty obvious that Abby’s sorry for whatever she did, so that should be good enough, right?”
“And who the hell are you? Her knight in tinfoil armor?” The smaller of the two guys said. Both laughed loudly at the attempt at humor.
“Please, none of us wants any trouble, right?” Ivan said.
“You don’t. The two of us on the other hand...” The bigger guy said. He cracked his knuckles, making the threat clear. Ivan didn’t like it, but it seemed like the two thugs wouldn’t listen to reason. He held up his hands in a weak fighting stance. He tried to put on a brave face, but his shaking hands and knees betrayed him. The two thugs looked at each other and scoffed. The bigger one cocked back his fist, aiming to smash right through Ivan’s meek defenses.
“Wait!” Abigail said. She pushed her way past Ivan and stood before them. “Please, just go. I don’t want to do anything bad, and I’m sure you don’t either, right?” She looked at them hopefully, praying that they would just leave.
“If you think I’m the kinda guy who won’t hit a girl, then you got another thing coming missy.”
“Please, I don’t want to hurt anyone.” She said, her eyes pleading with them. Those words seemed a bit odd to Ivan. How could Abigail, who was at least three inches shorter than he was, talk about hurting two large men that were a good five inches taller than him and much, much bigger?
“Well then, just hold still and let me pound you, and we’ll be good.” The big guy said. Without any further warning, he reared back his fist and slammed it forcefully into her stomach. Ivan cringed at his own helplessness to save her from the beating. But, there was something odd about what was going on. Abigail didn’t seem to react much at all to the blow, save for acting ashamed about something. Her assailant on the other hand, trembled slightly as his eyes widened in panic. He collapsed on the ground, holding a bent and broken hand as tears rolled down his face.
“I told you, I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Abigail said sadly, this time hanging her head in shame.
“You little bitch!” The other thug said. He too rushed in to punch Abigail. This one aimed a bit higher. Whether it was out of poor aim or something else, his fist connected not with her stomach, but her chest. Both looked down at the hand that seemed glued to her body. Abigail’s eyes widened as the attacker’s hand placement really started to sink in. She let out a loud scream that was equal parts embarrassment and horror. Her hand lashed out to slap the guy away. It connected, but instead of simply making him stumble back a few feet, he flew back and impacted a nearby wall. It looked to Ivan like the solid brick had cracked a bit from the impact. He looked wide eyed at Abigail, not sure what had just happened. All he could see was that she was starting to panic herself. His first job was to keep anything else from happening to her. He could find out more later.
“Are you ok?” He asked. She just looked up at him with large, tear filled eyes.
“I-I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” She said. Her voice was choked up and came through stuttering sobs.
“I know, I know.” Ivan said, doing his best to reassure her. “Come on, let’s go. Someone’ll find and take care of these guys. Where do you want to go?”
“Home.” She said. Ivan didn’t comment on that. If she wanted to go home, then he would take her home.
Following her, they made their way to her modest house that was in a fairly friendly area of town. Her hands were still shaking when she unlocked the door. Ivan had to place his hands over hers to steady them. The two made their way inside. Ivan didn’t bother looking around, as he was much too concerned with Abigail’s state of mind. She plopped herself down on a couch while he sat in a simple chair next to her. She leaned forward and buried her face in her hands, saying nothing. Ivan didn’t quite know what to say himself either. After a few minutes, she finally broke the silence.
“You think I’m a freak, don’t you.” She asked, more as a statement than a question.
“What? Why would I think that?”
“Because of what I did.”
“Abby, I don’t even know what happened back there. For all I know you have a steel plate under your shirt and some kind of pole hidden in your sleeve or something. Or maybe the adrenaline was getting to you. But I don’t think you’re a freak.”
“Of course not, how could you. You don’t know what I’m like.”
“Well then tell me. What are you like?”
“I’m. I’m different.”
“Different how?” He asked. Abigail looked around nervously and stood up. She reached for the bottom of her shirt and started to take it off.
“After you see this, I’ll understand if you want nothing more to do with me. No other guy ever seems to.” She said.
She took a deep breath and removed the large, baggy shirt. Ivan’s eyes widened when he saw her. Under the thin, white t-shirt that was left, her entire body was filled with rippling, diamond cut muscle. Her body was the size of a mid weight female body builder, but with mind-blowing amounts of definition.
Her stomach had a full, rock solid 8-pack of abs that seemed like armor plating in its own right. Each segment stood out almost a quarter of an inch from her otherwise flat stomach. Her slender waist was crawling with chiseled lines of muscles that seemed to radiate out from her abs. Her surprisingly large DD breasts seemed even larger when held aloft by the powerful slabs of muscle underneath them. Just above those, her shoulders were broad and powerful, filled out with muscles the size and shape of baseballs that flowed down into her ripped arms. Even while relaxed, he could tell her biceps and triceps were brimming with raw muscle that seemed to pop out with even the slightest movement. It was like her body was a living muscle chart. Each sculpted part showing clearly though her pale skin and shirt.
“Wow.” Ivan said simply. That kind of build was the last thing he had ever expected from someone so gentle and shy.
“You hate it, don’t you? Go ahead, you can tell me. Every guy hates my muscles. It’s why I cover up so much.” She said, clearly ashamed, “I’d like nothing more than to get rid of them, but I can’t. No matter what I try, I can never get any smaller.”
“Why would you want to?” Ivan said, finding his wits once again. She looked up suddenly, very surprised by his words.
“W-what?” She asked.
“Why would you want to get rid of them? I think they…you look amazing.” Ivan said, drinking in every bit of her.
“Really? You mean that? You’re not just saying that because you’re scared, are you? I’ve had a few guys like that before.”
“No, I really mean it. I’ve never seen a girl that looks as good as you do.” He said. He was being completely honest. He had never really considered muscular girls to be attractive, but on Abigail they looked simply divine. A shy smile graced her lips as she fidgeted a bit, causing her muscles to dance slightly with every motion.
“Y-you might not be saying that once you see what I can do though.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m strong. Really strong. A lot stronger than I look actually.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Ivan asked. Considering how strong she looked, that was saying something huge.
“No, I’m not.”
“Give me an example.”
“Well, for instance, my arms. How much would you say I can lift with one arm?”
“Hm, well, it’s kind of hard to say. But a girl you’re size, I’d say you could handle fifty maybe sixty pounds?”
“Not even close. To be honest, I can probably lift several thousand pounds with one hand. At least, I think I can. I’ve never really found out.” She said. Ivan’s jaw dropped.
“No way, that’s impossible.” He said.
“No really, it’s true. See, it has to do with why I can never lose muscle, no matter how hard I try. I don’t know why this happens, but for me, every action is a workout. For me, even lifting a sheet of paper makes me stronger. Obviously, heavier things have a bigger effect, but it works no matter what I do. The only way for me to lose my muscles would be to hold completely still for weeks. So, since everything I do makes me stronger, my strength is, well, difficult to properly measure. I’m just glad my muscles don’t grow at the same speed. It’d be impossible to cover up. Or even move at this point.”
“Whoa.” Ivan said, trying to wrap his head around that idea.
“I know. You think I’m a freak, right? It’s ok. I’m used to it by now. It’s one of the reasons I like reading so much. The books don’t judge me for being like I am.”
“Abby, I don’t think being different makes you a freak. Actually, I think it’s cool. And, if it’s not too much to ask…can you maybe show me some of what you can do?” He asked. Abigail’s face shot up to look at him, her eyes wide with shock.
“Y-you really mean it, don’t you? You really think my muscles and strength are good things?”
“Yes. They make you unique. Different is a good thing in this case”
“Wow. Nobody’s ever told me that before.” She said. She paced around the room thinking of what to do given the new information she had. Ivan watched her move, not taking his eyes off her for a second. He actually wished she would take her large, bulky pants off so he could see the muscles in her legs as well, but that was probably just wishful thinking on his part. Her pacing soon stopped dead and she turned to look at him.
“Well, I guess I could try something. I mean, I’ve never actually done anything like this before, so I don’t know what to do. I think I can make something up though.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Honestly, I’m not really sure what to expect either.” Ivan said.
“That’s good to know. Umm, I think I have something I can use downstairs in the basement. Come on, I’ll show you.” She said. Ivan got up and followed behind her as she went to a door leading to a stairway going down. He couldn’t help but watch the waves of muscle on her back move as he went. The very swinging of her arms made them seem to dance with minds all their own as she walked. He was hardly even paying attention when they were going down the stairs into the basement.
Abby went ahead and pulled something out from the corner. It was a small weight set that had clearly never been used. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and small cobwebs adorned the space between the bench and an unloaded bar that was resting on it, just waiting to be used.
“One of my cousins got this for me years ago. I told her not to bother, but she insisted. She said that every up and coming bodybuilder needed a place to work out at home, and so she got me this. But I never wanted to be, or even look like, a body builder. Besides, it’s not like I actually need it. By the time she got it for me, I was already too strong for the weights. Also, the fact that I have no idea how to actually use them is a bit of a problem.”
“I bet. So what are you gonna do now?”
“Well, I figured I’d lift some stuff, and then see where it goes from there.”
“Ok, that sounds good.” He said. Abigail went and got out a set of plates from a pile in the corner. They were just as dusty as the main part of the set, and she did her best to clean them off by blowing on them. She fiddled with them and the bar, eventually getting a few small plates onto it.
“Ok, I think I got it right. This should be sixty pounds.” She said. Ivan smiled at that one. She took the bar in one hand and hoisted it over her head with a clean, quick motion. “I guess technically you were right, I can lift sixty pounds with one hand. It’s just that it isn’t my limit.” She said as she set the bar back in its place. She smiled awkwardly at her attempt at humor, but Ivan could tell how strained it was.
She proceeded to place more and more plates onto the bar. When she was done, every plate she had was loaded onto the obviously overworked bar. She looked and carefully calculated how much weight was on the bar. “Ok, let’s see. That’s five 45 lbs plates, four 20’s, four 10’s, and three 5’s on each side. Let’s see. That makes 360 lbs on each side, and 720 in total. I think. I guess I should count the bar too, but I have no idea how much that weighs.”
“It’s still a lot. You sure you can handle that? I mean, from what I hear, only Olympic weightlifters can get that kind of weight off the ground, and only with a dead lift.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can. To be honest, I’ve never really tried, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be a problem.” She said. Even so, she still looked a bit daunted by the large amount of iron loaded onto the bar. She took hold of it using both hands. Slowly at first, then with increasing speed, she lifted and pressed it over head. Once it was there, she looked at the heavy barbell, as if she was considering something. Then she took one hand off it.
“Well, I was right. I can handle it. A lot easier that I thought really.” She said. She lowered the bar down to her shoulders and pressed it back up quickly. It looked absolutely trivial for her as she kept pressing the weight, showing no signs of even slowing down.
“That’s amazing!” Ivan said as he watched her press the weight. Her bicep bunched up like a mountain as she pressed the weight, drawing and holding his attention like a magnet.
“Thanks, I guess. I know I can lift a lot more now though, but I’m not really sure what to use.”
“Can you, I don’t know, lift a car? Maybe?”
“A car? I’m not sure actually. It’s not something I’ve really thought about doing. I guess I could give it a try though.” She set the bar down on the bench and led him to her in-home garage. Her car was a small, modest affair and had clearly been gotten secondhand. Abigail moved to the side of the vehicle.
“Ok, I guess I’ll give this a try now.” She said. She knelt down and placed her hands under it and felt around for something that seemed solid enough for her to grip. Her back muscles flexed powerfully once she had a good, solid hold on it and her legs started to straighten out. She was doing it. She was lifting a car. Slowly, she pressed it over head and turned to face Ivan with the vehicle held firmly over her.
“I guess I can lift a car.” She said.
“Looks like.” Ivan said. He was in awe of her at that moment. “Is it hard?”
“A little. I mean, it’s a lot harder than what I was using before, but still not super challenging. Oh wait, hold on. It’s starting to get easier to hold.”
“Wait, that fast? Really?”
“Uh huh. I told you, everything I do makes me stronger and the harder it is, the greater the effect. So just holding my car overhead like this is making me stronger. Yeah, and now it’s just as easy as the barbell from before. I’d take one hand off it to show you, but I’m worried I might damage it.”
“You could try to grip it by the bumper. That’s probably a bit sturdier.”
“I’d have to hold it vertically to do that though. There’s not enough room in here for that. It’d hit the roof and probably break. I can’t really afford to get a new one right now, so I don’t want to do that.”
“Ah, right.” Ivan said. He was actually a little disappointed, but he also couldn’t really argue with what she was saying, since she was right. “So, what next?” He asked instead.
“Hm. Oh, I know!” She said. It seemed like she was warming up to the fact that Ivan actually liked her strength. She set the car down gently and led him back out to the weight set. “Let’s see. I think this should be ok to do, since I’m probably not going to be using this again anytime soon.”
She stripped every plate off the bar and held it out in front of her. Taking both ends in her hands, she began bending the bar. The screams of complaint from the metal filled the room as it yielded to her strong arms. The Ivan noticed something interesting. Even with the size of her muscles, her arms were only flexed and tensed in the smallest amount. The movement of her arms was producing a greater effect on them than bending the bar was! She continued to bend it long after it had been folded in half, twisting it into the shape of a pretzel. Once finished, she presented her work to him. It was clear that she didn’t know if she should be proud of her work, or something else though.
“Wow.” Ivan said, taking the bar from her and looking at it almost reverently, “How difficult was that for you?”
“Not very. Actually, bending metal and such is one of the few things I do use my strength for with any kind of regularity. See, I use my strength so rarely, I sometimes lose track of how strong I am, and things around the house sometimes wind up broken because of it. So, I’ve gotten mostly metal stuff around the house so that if it breaks I can just twist or bend it back together.”
“Ah. That makes sense. So what now?”
“Hm. I’m not really sure. Is there anything else you want to see?” Ivan thought about it for a bit.
“Well, could you maybe show me more of your muscles? I mean, if that’s ok with you.” He said. He didn’t want to upset her by coming on too strongly, but he really wanted to see her flexing. A deep blush came to her face.
“You really want to see them, don’t you?”
“Yes, I really do.”
“W-well, ok. Let’s go back upstairs. The lighting’s better there.” She said. They left the basement and went back to the cozy little living room. “I hope you don’t mind if I stick to upper body stuff. I don’t think I’d be comfortable taking my pants off in front of you, and I don’t really have anything other than sweats to change into.” She said. Ivan understood perfectly. She was shy by nature, which was one of the things that had originally attracted him to her. He was actually surprised that she had revealed as much as she had.
“That’s fine. After all, this is only our first date.” He said. She giggled a bit at that.
“Ok, just bare with me. This is another thing I’ve never done before. Let me think for a bit. Ok, how about this?”
She put one hand on her slender waist and used the other to lift the bottom of her shirt up, exposing her ripped stomach. Then she tensed her stomach. Her already amazing abs jutted out impressively from her stomach. Ivan could swear he would be able to do laundry on her stomach, it was so ripped. She stopped the flex, almost too soon for his taste, and considered what to do next. She took a deep breath in and flair out her back and shoulders. Her lats spread out behind like miniature wings of muscle. Ivan was amazed that the back of her shirt didn’t rip when she flexed.
“I think this is how you do it. I once saw a person in the library look up bodybuilding routines on the computers. The guy didn’t think anyone was watching, so I was able to get a decent look at what was going on. This looks like what some of the guys did.”
“Looks fine to me.” He said. She really did look like an angel with her back as wide as it was.
“Ok then, let’s try this.” She said. She raised her arms and gave a powerful double bicep pose. Mounds of muscle rose from her arms. Deep splits ran the length of her peaked biceps, making them look even more impressive than they already did. Her triceps hung down from the bottoms of her arms with long, smooth curves.
“Ok, now let’s try this one.” He lowered her arms, turned to the side and flexed her horseshoe shaped tricep. The muscle bunched up and out from her arm, looking bigger than most people’s entire arms.
“Maybe this one next?” She turned around and once again spread her wing like back. It looked even more impressive from behind, where the rivers and valleys of muscle on her back could be seen bunching and rippling amazingly with every move she made. She finished the pose by adding a rear bicep pose to the mix, making an impressive statement to the power she held in those amazing muscles.
“Um, sorry, but that’s all I saw, so I don’t really know what else to do.” She said before turning back around.
“No, no. That’s fine. So, do you know how big you’re muscles are?”
“Not a clue. I’ve never cared to measure them.”
“Do you have a tape measure so we can find out?”
“No, sorry. I don’t bother keeping anything like that in the house. Why would I? If something breaks, I’ll just call someone else to fix it who does have all the stuff like that.”
“Oh. Well would you mind if I bring one over next time? I mean, if there is a next time.”
“I suppose so. If you really want to. I mean, I do want there to be a next time, so if you remember and stuff, I guess it would be ok.” She said nervously. Ivan’s face lit up. She had accepted him enough that she was willing to go out with him again. That was a great thing for him.
“I’ll leave myself a note.” He said happily. She smiled shyly in response.
“Well, is there anything else?”
“I don’t know if this is ok or not, but can I touch your muscles?”
“W-well, I uh…”
“How about just your arms?”
“I-I guess that would be ok.” She said. Ivan wasn’t sure if she was uncomfortable with the idea or not. But when she flexed her biceps again, he figured it was ok.
Slowly, he went over to her and placed a hand on one of her peaked biceps. The muscle was hard as steel. He squeezed it, gently at first, but then with increasing force, yet he couldn’t dent it even a tiny amount. He ran his hand over the sloped peak of her bicep and down around to the deep dip of her tricep and then back up around again. He ran his hands reverently over every bit of her powerfully built arm, savoring the power and solidity of the muscles in it.
“So, what do you think?” She asked him.
“My god, Abby, it’s amazing! It’s like you’re made of steel or something. I can almost feel how strong you are.”
“D-do you really like this?” She said, giving her arm and extra squeeze that made her bicep rise up just a little more.
“Yes, very much so.” He said. His hands were practically glued to her arm at that point.
“Ok, then how about this?” She reached down with her other arm and scooped him up, balancing him on top of her arm.
Slowly, she began to flex her powerful bicep. He could feel the steel hard muscle slowly rise up from under him, and felt himself rising with it. The feeling of being supported by nothing but her super powerful bicep was amazing to him, and made him feel lighter than air. She repeatedly flexed and relaxed her arm, making him bob up and down with it. Ivan was in heaven sitting on that arm. Yet, all too soon for him, she stopped and put him down.
“So? How was that?” She asked hopefully.
“That was amazing.” He said, “You are amazing.” He finished. A shy, but happy smile graced her lovely, full lips as she considered his words.
Seeing her as she was, Ivan couldn’t keep himself under control any longer. He brought his arms around her wide, chiseled back and hugged her as hard as he could, never wanting to let her go. Abigail seemed surprised by this, but she soon relaxed into it and brought her strong arms around him. She rested her head on his shoulder with a small smile on her face.
“Thank you Ivan.” She said quietly.
“For what?”
“For accepting me. So far, the only people who have even tried to do that have been related to me. You’re the first person outside my own family that seems to be ok with me. With the way I am.”
“Of course. Abby, you’re amazing, and anyone who tells you otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about.” He said. She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. Her lips seemed so soft and inviting at that moment. He couldn’t keep himself from leaning in to kiss her. But, before he did, she turned her cheek to him, denying him his prize.
“I-I’m sorry. I really do like you Ivan, and I am grateful for all the things you’ve said today. But right now, I can’t. I’ve had some…bad experiences, and I don’t think I’m ready for anything past this right now.” She said. Ivan could hear the sadness in her voice. He planted a gentle kiss on her cheek instead of her lips.
“Alright. I can wait as long as you need, and I’ll always be there for you.” He said. He ran his fingers gently through her copper hair.
“Thank you.” She said. She rested her head on his shoulders and hugged him close to her. He didn’t mind that she wanted to wait longer. He cared about her too much to try and force her into anything she didn’t want to. He knew she was worth the wait, and he liked her as a person, not just because she was an attractive one. And, at that moment, Ivan couldn’t think of anything he’d rather be doing.
