The Giant of Bright Tower, Chapter 10

“You went in the steam room again!?” I berated Bubba who gave a sly if slightly loopy grin back at me. He was sitting legs splayed out in front of him on the floor in the living room leaning against the middle of the couch. To his left was a pole with 4 bags of saline hanging from it, all connected to an IV in his arm and flowing as fast as I dared to set it. Viktor was watching us from an armchair, redressed in his now clean gym cloths, observing our exchange with his hands clasped politely in his lap.

I owed Viktor big time. He was the one who rolled Bubba over and allowed me to examine him. I had brushed my hands across Bubbas lips, the lips I was getting to know so well, when I felt how dry they were. A quick assessment revealed multiple signs of dehydration, so I dashed to my lab, grabbed some saline, stuck an IV in his arm, and waited. After 5 minutes, Bubba opened his eyes and I sighed in relief. Keeping a close eye on his IV, the three of us got Bubba to crawl into the living room.

“It’s part of my post-workout routine,” Bubba replied. On one hand, he seemed to be acting like his old self. On the other, it’s easier to be angry at him now that he’s feeling better. “It’s good for you; I told you to do it when you were done with your workout didn’t I?”

“I’m not the one dosed with an experimental serum!” Now that he was feeling better, I slowed the flow of the saline, “Did you do anything else? Any other part of your post workout routine I should know about?”

“Well…”

The living room was silent for a full ten seconds before I hit myself in the forehead.

“You jerked off again, didn’t you?”

“It’s not routine, ‘cause I don’t feel like it every time, but you know lately-”

I held up my hand to stop him. “How much?”

Bubba shrugged. “Don’t know, it was in the showers so it washed away, but I’d guess my usual amount. Well,” Bubba grinned, “My new usual.”

I paused for several deep breaths. In the meantime, Bubba carefully picked himself up and plopped down on my groaning couch.

“So, to summarize, you had a brutal workout, went into the steam room twice, and have ejaculated three times today?”

“Sounds ‘bout right,” Bubba scratched at his goatee. “Though three’s not my personal best.”

I wanted to hit him, but I found it hard to hit a patient I was treating. So I settled for a modest kick on his shin as I walked past him toward the kitchen. I grabbed a plastic jug and filled it with water. Picking up a glass, I headed back to the living room to join the middle of a conversation.

“Nah, that brand gives me gas.” Viktor was waving his hand, “I found this nice vegan protein powder from brown rice that doesn’t upset my stomach.”

“You gotta have enough fiber with it.” Bubba shook his head, “You gotta supplement enough fiber so that you don’t get that gas. I’ll give you the name of what I’m taking.”

I handed Bubba a glass and topped him off. “Drink.” Bubba drained the glass in one go. I refilled it and set the jug on the side table, and plopped myself down on the couch next to Bubba, who immediately threw his IV-free hand around my shoulders.

“So,” Viktor was relaxed in his chair, “Is this stuff you’re experimenting with that made Bubba this big?”

Going over the conversation we just had in front of Viktor, I mentally slapped myself.

“Well,” I began, not sure where to start, “ It’s…complicated.”

“No it’s not,” Bubba jumped in, giving me a shake with his arm, “Boy wonder here has developed the latest and greatest bodybuilding drug and I’m his guinea pig. We met because he loves huge guys and I love being a huge guy. I was this big before we met, but he has helped me grow two inches taller.”

Viktor took it well. Eyebrows went up a little, a slight nodding of the head, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms. After a long silence, he gave a curt node of his head,“ Ok.”

I blinked. “Ok? That’s it?”

Viktor shrugged. “Yeah, it is.”

I stared at him. “You-“

Bubba squeezed me, “ Knock it off, he said ‘ok.’”

“But,” I pushed Bubba off me and stood up, “But, but this monumental. This is ground-breaking! This is something the-the government could want, or a pharmaceutical company would-would threaten me for!”

“Aaaannnnd we are two guys who have no idea what you’re talking about,” Bubba took another long drink of water, “How does that saying go? Pearls before swine?”

“I-I-I”

Bubba reached up and pulled me back down and under his arm. “Look, I think we get it. It’s like this guy I remember competing against way back in the day. The dude swore that he had a new method to get pumped, jacked beyond anything you’ve seen before. But I think he wanted to take it further, but he couldn’t talk about it with another muscle head because then the secret would be out, and he would lose that edge in competitions.” Bubba carefully refilled his glass. “You’ve made history, but you can’t talk about it with other science people because then everything would change, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, Vik and I can understand that much. You’re working on your new method to get pumped, and you need to figure out more before you’re ready to share, right?”

“Right.”

“Vik?”

Viktor nodded his head again.

“Well that’s settled.” Bubba lifted his IV arm, “Now can you get this out of my arm so I can start dinner? I’m starving. Vik, you’re welcome to stay.”

Viktor turned out to be a very helpful houseguest. From what I’ve learned with Bubba, there seems to be about a dozen foods that comprise 90% of a weight lifters diet; like chicken, beef, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. Not to mention these foods were cooked in large quantities. Viktor was able to jump in right alongside Bubba like they’ve cooked together all their lives. I was stuck with dirty dishes and setting the table. However, this did mean I was bumping and jostling between two huge, beefy guys in my seemingly much smaller kitchen. I found this a rather enjoyable experience, and I found my anger with Bubba disappearing, (especially when Bubba said the kitchen was getting too hot with all these guys in it and took his shirt off).

There wasn’t much talk at dinner; the big guys were busy eating most of the food. After finishing his 8th plate, Bubba stood up and said he was turning in early. Considering the day he had, I whole hardly agreed with his decision.

“Go to the bathroom before you turn in,” I instructed Bubba, “check the color of your urine. If it’s clear or pale yellow, you’re good. If it’s yellow or dark yellow, I want you to drink two cups of water before turning in.”

“Hmm,” he mused, “Not sure if I know what you mean by yellow and pale yellow. Can you check for me? Also, should I worry about the temperature of my piss? Can I pee on you so you can tell me if it’s hot enough?”

Viktor snorted. I slapped Bubba’s ass as he ducked under the kitchen doorway. Viktor and I put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher. I added soap and hit the start button.

“Well,” Viktor rolled his shoulders, “I should probably get going.”

“Oh, god.” I rubbed my eyes, “I’m sure you do. I guess you didn’t expect your day to go quite the way it did, did you?”

“Nah, it’s ok. I didn’t plan on doing too much today besides a workout. Wanted to take it easy, ya know.” Viktor went quiet for a moment. “College...is really hard.”

“In more ways than one, right?”

Vikor nodded, “in more ways than one.”

“Yeah,” I lead him down the hallway to the front door. “So,” I began, turning to look him in the eye. “If college is really hard, then maybe that’s what you should focus on.” I crossed my arms in front of me. “Thank you for promising to not say anything about what I’m working on, you have no idea what that means to me. But you know,” I really didn’t want to think too long about my actions earlier, really wanted to think I was better than that, even with the testosterone pushing me.

“I mean. I’m not going to grade you any differently than I would any other student. But after this semester is over, I can’t-shit.” This was coming out all wrong, or was it? “I mean, nothing is weird about what we did, but it could be or could become? Not, it’s not that,” I balled my fists in my eyes, why was this so hard? “You should,” I began, “You should be figuring out who you are with another classmate, shouldn’t you? That’s what’s best for you, right? Not a professor who sees college as a job and is preoccupied with a super-secret project. People keep saying college is the best four years of their lives, but that’s only half true. I know, I’ve watched countless students come before you all learning and figuring the world and who they are. It’s not just a time for partying, it’s a time when you should be exploring, making mistakes and accomplishments all on your own, with fewer adults telling you what to do. For me, college is just my job, but it can and should be so much more for you. I should be a guide during this period of your life, nothing more.”

Viktor said nothing, but stared at me for a while. Then he stepped up to me, his belly the first thing to touch me. His arms slid over my shoulder and a little down my back as he leaned down to kiss me. It revealed nothing; the kiss was less than our lustful embrace from before, but it was more than a friendship or a kiss goodbye. And before I knew it I was responding to the kiss, my hands wrapping around as much of him as I could reach.

Viktor pulled away. “I’ll see you after break for that test, professor Steve. I promise I’ll get that A.” Viktor winked at me, and walked out the door.