When you could puff yourself up like an statuesque looking olympic weight lifter if you wanted to, going to the gym might seem like a fools affair. When those physical changes were just for looks it became apparent that one might want to do some strength training to at least be able to pass off as strong.

So, Ash-Lee was at the gym. It was a masculine feels day, so they were sporting a tall, lean muscular male frame with soft red skin and short horns that curved upward ever so slightly. As they toweled off a bit of sweat from their brow, a devilish smile formed as a pair of eyes found their form. Eyes that liked what they saw. There we go, the real reason they were here. 

They were taking someone fit home tonight. A tongue glided across slightly pointy pearly whites as they found the eyes staring at them. A woman who was running on a treadmill looked away quickly, turning beet red. Ash smiled again. Shame, she liked to look, but not be looked at back. Oh well, better to ignore her, and give her a show; some people liked to oogle and fantasize, and that made making their day a little easier. 

Ash removed their white shirt, and stretched a bit, hopping on the pull up bar with their back to the treadmill lady so they could see a muscular back as they did their workout. Ahh, there it was, gratification once more. What was better than an easy route to making someone else's day better? 

Oh, right, making your own day better. They hopped down, and grabbed up their shirt, putting it back on as they moved toward the next machine, eye out for anyone that looked interesting. Fun. Sexy. All of the above, or just one. A good time was a good time, after all.

The gym. One of Rhia’s favorite places to go. Had a bad day, lift it out. Had a breakup, lift it out. Need to wake up after a cram session, lift it out. Most life ills could be fixed by a trip to the gym. And if all was well, it just made her feel amazing. It was a great place to clear her mind. Most of all though, it was where she could feel powerful. Nothing makes you feel stronger and more in control of things than lifting things one and a half times your weight above your head.

Rhia stood in the freeweight section of the gym a bar loaded up in front of her. The plates holding it up off the ground for her. If her bright purple workout crop top wasn’t already enough to draw attention to herself, her pre lift warmup was. She danced, jumping and shifting her weight from one leg to the other and then straight up and down to loosen herself up like Michelle Jenneke. It helped get her heart rate up without tiring the muscles she was about to exhaust.

The pre lift warm up done, Rhia took up her stance on the bar. It totalled 215 pounds. While not her max it was close. She breathed in, out, in, took hold of the bar, and as she exhaled she lifted. The bar went up and she flipped it around to rest on her hands and shoulders before driving it up into the air with a clean and jerk. She held the weight above her head a few beats before reversing to bring the weight down to the ground.

Rhia repeated the lift a few more times before she set the weight down and stepped back, breathing heavily. One set down. She picked up her bottle of water and took a drink of water. She took the chance to look around the gym. There were the usual collection of people. Some beginners misusing equipment, some regulars toiling away on treadmills, and… the devil himself? A muscular red man with horns and a tail. That was a new one.

Rhia watched as he took his shirt off. And bit her lip at the sight of a body that looked like it had been chiseled out of red marble. A moment later she caught herself staring and snapped her head back to her bar. She had more sets to do.

What was that? The hint of a feeling, among the sea of discomforts and appreciations that said. 'ohhh, I like that devilman's body.' Their eyes perked up a bit, and swept around. it lingered, it lingered, and then as eyes swept past a certain figure just as they were getting back to their business. Oh? She was younger, but not too young. and... 

Wow. She was fit! Eyes traced the compact form of a woman that clearly loved to lift; they could tell that before the feeling worked its way into their mind. This woman was in her element, and that... That was beautiful. As were thighs that could slay mere mortals with minimal effort. A tooth found a lip for Ash as well. Yellow orbs took in details. Details like she could lift more than they could, which opened up a world of possibilities in their mind. Yes. This was the one for the night.

How to approach, though. Ash was a master at the approach, but those ill-conceived guides that swindled people out of their money with promise of a catch-all approach were garbage. Every single person on this planet was unique, and needed to be interacted with in a unique way to ensure their own interests were piqued.

In this case, Ash waited until she was mid-set, and walked past, water bottle in hand, pausing to watch her for a moment until she'd completed the set. "Bravo... Excellent form." They spoke with a smoky-smooth voice, throwing on a well practiced light Russian accent. light enough to know if she liked the sound of it well enough to tuck it back to unnoticeable if she didn't.  "I could learn a thing or two from you, I think."

Now, to judge the reaction. It was tough to approach someone in a Gym. Often times that was their happy place. They knew well enough not to speak while she was in  the act of lifting, as distractions could be, well, bad to say the least. They also kept a fair distance, placing themselves so that they didn't cut off any realms of retreat. In a world like this, women noticed those things, especially in the presence of large men they didn't know. In short, Ash was going for neutral and nonthreatening.

"Pardon if I am interrupting. My name is Vlad, and I wondered if you might want a spotter? I have just finished for the day, and I have time."

The bar moved. Up to her shoulders than above her head. Then back down. She repeated the motion again and again. The strain evident on her face as she gave her all with every lift. While she was focused on her lifting, she did notice the devilman stop in front of her while she lifted. When she dropped the weight for the last time and stepped back from it she heard the devil say,

"Bravo... Excellent form. I could learn a thing or two from you, I think."

The voice was smooth, with the hint of an accent that Rhia couldn’t quite place. Rhia wiped sweat from her brow with her arm before in a she answered while breathing heavily, ”Thanks.” She hadn’t expected the red marble devil to stop and talk to her. She masked a blush by going for a drink. She hoped the red from lifting would hide the reaction. ”You look like you’ve managed pretty well yourself until now.” Rhia said. She had a muted accent, as was common among those growing up in the Greater Austin area, but the Texan was there enough to let anyone listening know she was not a local.

"Pardon if I am interrupting. My name is Vlad, and I wondered if you might want a spotter? I have just finished for the day, and I have time."

Asking if she needed a spotter? Mr. Devil was fishing for an excuse to hang around her. He looked strong, but sometimes men were all size with no actual strength.

”Oh. That sounds wonderful. I wasn’t doing a few exercises today since I didn’t have one… You look strong enough to spot for me.” Rhia winked at him.

She checked her watch and then started her jump and dance warmup. She could feel the tightness in her muscles wanting to set in. The almost dance of the movements kept her limber. ”Ready to catch it, just in case?” Rhia asked before taking position in front of the bar and starting her set.

Experienced eyes caught her blush, and a pleased feeling associated with it. A good start. Normally they would have watched for a while, pieced together a bit of a profile for what this person would want most, and then make it happen, but tonight was about the thrill of going in blind. After all, it was only for a throwaway good time. They bowed their head a little bit from the compliment, and replied, "There is always room for improvement, no?" 

Her dialect had a bit of a southern twinge to it. They liked that; a little southern comfort took the edge off of things these day. The wink was met with a smirk and a nod. 

This was an Olympic lift, which meant they weren't going to be doing a typical spot. It was more hands off, guide the weight if it fell out of the other end sort of thing. While they knew they couldn't lift this weight, they felt pretty confident guiding it, provided she didn't lug the damn thing behind her. The smirk became an amused smile in reaction to her warm up shakes as eyes wandered a moment. 

What a treat. 

"Ready when you are, Miss." They got into a location behind, about a step back, so they could move in if needed, but so that a dropped weight did not fall on them.

There was always room for improvement. Though Mr. Devil looked like he would be seeing some diminishing returns. ”That’s why I’m here on what could have been a day off.”

Rhia caught Mr. Devil’s eyes wandering as she warmed up. That was alright though, it felt good to have her looks be appreciated by someone who looked like they understood the work it took. Besides, she shouldn’t not be able to express herself just because some people might like to let their eyes wander. Her warmup made her feel good and that’s what mattered. If a little bit of that came from knowing she was attracting the eyes, that was just icing on the cake.

Mr. Devil took up a position behind her, hands in position to guide the bar. The worst he would have to do is slow down or divert the bar if she lost control. Keep it from dropping down onto her thighs like she had seen happen to too many crossfit athletes. It was a terrible way to break both legs.

”You can call me, Rhia.” She said. If Mr. Devil was going to be spotting her the least she could do was give him her name.

Rhia grabbed the weight and lifted. It was not her maximum by any stretch but at the weight she was doing it never stopped being heavy it just got more doable. Up to her shoulders and then over the head. Her entire body moving through movements in the lift. SHe then brought the weight down. She did not drop the weight, she worked to lower the bar slowly. Following the lift roughly in reverse. The eccentric phase of the lift was the most important for innroading.

Repeating the lift several more times Rhia worked her way through an entire set. She was only a little self conscious at the noises she was making as she lifted more than her own body weight above her head. They were far from ladylike and there was an attractive man immediately behind her. Hell, he was so immediately behind her she could likely touch him with her behind if she tried.

When she let the weight down for the last time she staggered backwards into Mr. Devil. Her legs felt like wet noodles and wet noodles were not great leg substitutes. ”Oh, sorry.” she apologized. ”Only one more set.” she waved her arms that felt even noodlier than her legs. ”Then… What should I do next?... You’re here to spot so I guess I can bench press.”

As predicted, she knew exactly what she was doing. She got into position, and gave her name. They did not reply just yet, allowing the woman to crank out the set. They read her the whole time she lifted. She liked the pain, a bit. The feeling of pushing ones self. The limits. Security. She liked the security of it. Odd. Something about being in shape maybe made her feel safe? That made sense. Ash could always just bulk up for a walk in the street at night. 

They stayed close to push the bar away or slow if they needed to, but there was no need. There was, however, a little bit of a surprised chuckle as she collapsed back into them after the set. "Heh heh, Nice to meet you, Rhia." There was a sort of satisfaction that came with how one felt at the end of a set that was at the perfect weight; if your body didn't feel like jello you were doing it wrong. 

The giant gently righted her, careful not to overstep their bounds. She turned, announcing there was one more set. The masculine Vlad thought for a moment, and then smiled out a sly. "How about coffee?" There it was, the hail mary pass, acted out perfectly to seem like a stretch, when in actuality it was a well practiced maneuver. It was the 'I'm not aware i'm insanely attractive and thus i'll act like i'm asking out someone who is a bit out of my league when the truth is I was super careful to match my level of attractiveness perfectly to yours to increase the odds of success.' tactic.

Usually it worked like a charm.

Mr. Devil caught Rhia as she stumbled back into him. She let him support her with his arms for a moment as she let her legs rest. She let out a small giggle at his pleasantry after she had literally fallen into his arms. She took a moment before she put her legs back under herself. Mr. Devil helped her up and then took her completely by surprise.

Rhia’s mind was occupied by considering what exercises she could add to the current workout now that Vlad was there to spot her. The gears in her brain stopped spinning at his question. Coffee? How about coffee? Rhia looked at Vlad, her eyes a little wide. ”I... uh…” Mr. Devil was cute. Well...More than just cute. She could always come back to work out later. Her surprised face gave way to a smile, ”I would love some coffee.” Getting coffee while all sweaty wasn’t her preference, but he was asking then and there.

A look at the weight on the ground. Rhia tucked some hair behind her ear. ”Now...or… after a... “ One more set? Putting the weights up? ”Should I change first?” She asked. It was brisk outside and she was dressed for being her own heater in a climate controlled building. She had left a change of clothes in the women’s locker room.

There was that beautiful moment. A mix of realization and lingering doubt. The fond look on Ash's face was genuine as they let that little knot of attraction and the fear of rejection rolled up into one. She agreed to go, and the smile on the masculine figure's face widened. "Excellent." It was this that they lived for; these little special interactions that they saved in their mental thief's vault... and then there was that awkward hesitation. Working out the details, the complications past the moment. It was all gold.

"Sure, I'll meet you out here. I have to change as well?" They'd come here to pick someone up, so they'd be foolish not to have brought something to change into as well. This was where sizing was a little more difficult often times, but Ash'd had a pretty good feeling about being in a more Masculine form tonight. They'd chosen well.

They pointed to the weights on the ground. "I can help clean up." They got to removing the clip at the end of one side of the weight... Soon, after a little bit of effort, the weights were put away, and locker rooms attended. Ash, or Vlad they were calling themselves, would be waiting out front in a crisp business casual getup that looked clean and somewhat pricey to a prying eye.

They were looking at their phone... Coffee shops within walking distance. It was nice to stretch the legs after leg day.

Mr. Devil would meet her outside, he had to change too. That made sense. People normally didn’t just stroll around in their gym clothes… Not in February anyway. And brownie points to him, he was going to help her clean up before changing.

”Oh. Thank you.” Rhia said as Mr. Devil removed a clip from the bar. Rhia took the opposite side and with them each removing weights from one side and moving them back to their homes it wasn’t long before they were done and Rhia was making her way to the changing room.

Rhia hadn’t come to the gym with the purpose of leaving to go get coffee with a good looking man. If she had… She might not have worked up as much of a sweat for one. That and she would have brought cuter clothes. She threw on a pair of light grey joggers, black long sleeve, and a printed scarf. She tossed her tennis shoes in a bag and put on a black pair of ankle boots. Changed, she pulled her hair out of a ponytail before using her hands in the mirror to give it some semblance of a cute shape. Then, bag in hand (not a gym bag, it could double as a cute shoplifting bag if she just wanted to go out with it), Rhia left the gym.

Her coffee date had changed into a nice and pricey looking outfit. Someone who either had money or wanted her to think they had money had asked her out. That was a bonus! He was looking at his phone so Rhia walked up, her legs still wobbly from lifting, and slid an arm through his. ”Where to, handsome?” Rhia asked with a smile. Coffee was its own food group. To Rhia it could replace grain as the base of the pyramid.

The big red devil looked to the woman as she walked out. "Ah, you look beautiful!" Placing the phone in their inside pocket, they took her arm and stared toward their destination. When Ash saw it on the app they'd wondered why it hadn't come to the top of their head in an instant! The locally famous dueling coffee shops were nearby. One was an old french mah and pah that had been around since the dawn of time, the other a more trendy hang out that was more popular with the hipster sort of crowd. They were right across the street from each other, and people argued endlessly over which was better. 

That's right, they were headed toward 'Les Amoureux' and 'The Spot'. The masculine figure replied with a grin. "Oh, I know a hole in the wall..." Ash could tell... That adorable little pique of excitement when coffee was brought up. She was an avid coffee drinker, wasn't she? You know... Ash had the distinct impression that she was an avid participator in anything she chose to do.

That was good. So was Ash.

"You like coffee. Then you know of the dueling coffee shops, I would guess?" It was a local thing, but anyone who had been here a while would have heard of them in passing a little. They often put out sandwich boards low key insulting each other while encouraging patronage at their own respective shops. The subtle dispute was Picturegram famous because of it.

"Which of the two do you prefer?" You had to ask first, so that you could judge the other person for their answer. It was almost a rule.

”Hey now, flattery will get you everywhere.” Rhia said with a wink and a laugh. Her day was taking a decidedly fantastic turn. Mr. Devil knew of somewhere and Rhia let him lead the way. She was excited to see where Mr. Devil would lead her.

Mr. Devil led them toward an intersection Rhia knew well. Where Les Amoureux and the Spot battled it out for coffee supremacy. A duel where no matter what happened, the drinker won. ”Oh. I know of them.” Rhia looked at Mr. Devil. Good looks and even better taste in coffee. Rhia’s eyes went up when Mr. Devil asked the hardest question. Which did she prefer?

Rhia pursed her lips for a moment. She enjoyed both, but each of them had their own crowd and reputation. One could tell a lot about a person by their preference at this intersection. As much as she enjoyed going out, partying, and being a hellion… She enjoyed the traditional and quaint. ”Les Amoureux.” Rhia said, her decisiveness surprising herself. Normally she waffled on which to go to before patronizing the one with the best sign.

A step toward her coffeehouse of choice. She could already taste her favorite order. It was happiness in a cup.