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Blazes grunted as the plates clanked on the rack, the phoenix's lower back still burning from the exertion of the deadlifts with which he'd finished his workout for the day. Sweat dripped from the tips of his fire-red feathers as he turned and walked towards the locker room, and he bit back a teasing jab at the smaller cat who'd started taking the plates back from their rack--a significantly lighter load, he noticed, than he'd been using himself.

Instead, as he strode past the mirror-covered wall, he paused. Another idea occurred to him--this one perhaps a bit more devilish. It would be funny, though.

The phoenix turned back stepped before the mirror, making sure the cat could see him as he positioned himself. Then he gazed into his own eyes in the reflection, cocking a smile.

"Hello, handsome," he said, loud enough for the onlooker to hear. "Come here often?"

He glanced over his shoulder to check for any buzzkill staff members and, seeing the coast was clear, peeled the sweat-soaked tank top off his torso, dropping it behind himself. The faint din of the gym with its metallic clanking and hushed conversations washed over him like a blanket as he brought his hands up to his swollen pecs, running his thumbs over the engorged muscles. He watched his reflection as he ran his claws along the muscle fibers and veins, and flexed first the right, then the left, watching them ripple under his skin. He noticed how the skin gathered around his nipples, smoothing as it went farther up his chest, save for the veins that crisscrossed it, and how his eyes could trace them for what felt like days without finding the edge.

His attention drifted to his shoulders and the massive rivers of flesh that twisted and turned over and around one another as they flowed down his arms. He flexed his biceps, staring close as they clenched and writhed, bulging and sliding under the deltoid which clenched as he raised his arms over his head, stretching the triceps. He could almost hear the muscle fibers creaking and a low growl raised from his chest as he stretched the exhausted muscles, the aroma of his own sweat reaching his nose and reminding him of the strain they'd been under that day. Almost individually he could feel each fiber finally release, give in, relax. The soreness and warmth that spread through his torso were a badge of honor.

Blazes cocked an eyebrow as he noticed his traps peeking up over his shoulders, hinting at what was behind. Slowly, he turned around, peering over his shoulder to see his back in the mirror as he shifted his weight, stretching the other arm over his head. It was no small feat, the muscle itself very nearly blocking his line of sight in the mirror. He watched his traps and lats ripple under the load, swollen and looking all the better for it. He could practically taste the power that his form radiated, the low growl intensifying as he placed his hands on the top of his head, smoothing back his burnt orange crest, and he pulled his elbows back. The muscles tightened and trembled as they obeyed him, and the stretch in his chest turned his growl into a soft groan of contentment.

The phoenix ran his hands down his chest as he turned again, this time his fingers finding the lowland hills of his abs. The movement wasn't without effort as he found that he could barely see around his bulging pecs--but for the mirror, he wasn't sure he'd be able to see much of them at all. Still, what he could see of them was brilliantly defined, each seeming ready to burst through his skin at the slightest provocation. His fingertips trailed out over his obliques, grasslands beneath the foothills, but with their own texture, rougher than that on his pecs yet more compact. He fancied he could see each muscle fiber, some of them twitching in protest as he leaned this way and that, watching the sunlight filtered through the gym windows play off the sweat that beaded in the bright red feathers that closely covered the taut skin. He grunted as he trailed his claws through his own plumage.

Before long, his attention slid further down his body. He noted his bulge, outlined as it was in the short gym shorts he was wearing, but it was his thighs that drew his eye. Easily as big around as the average man's waist, Blazes' legs were as cut as his torso. Slowly, he raised one golden-scaled foot and placed it on the nearby bench, talons gripping the padded pleather. He noted the talons were a bit dry and cracked--it was easy to forget to take care of them when he could barely see them around the bulk of his muscle.

His feet, though, weren't the focus of his attention. His quadriceps did not disappoint, flexing and clenching to support him, yet more prominent veins tracing their patterns under his skin, as though the roadmap to another province in the kingdom of his body, co-equal in political dignity with that of his pecs or biceps. He imagined planning a route from one continent to the next, his lips turning up in a smile as he traced one vein with his finger across from his calf up and over his knee, avoiding the hamstring bypass and instead choosing the main thigh thoroughfare. Satisfied with his travels, he dragged his palms along the same path, feeling the tight, taut fibers underneath. He squeezed along the different muscles that made up the group--he'd long since forgotten what each was called, but that didn't make it any less striking to feel in this way, slowly, from his knee to his groin, taking in every bump and valley of the flesh. He felt it give under the gentle pressure he applied, but only just, resisting his advances.

Blazes blinked. He looked up.

The cat that had used the bar after him was long gone, having finished his set and getting some distance between himself and the weirdo showing off to himself in the mirror. Blazes wasn't even sure how much time he had spent admiring his own muscles. Hastily, he returned his foot to the floor and picked up his tank top, finding it was still damp from his sweat, but that the sweat had long since gone cold.

Still, a slight smile flickered over his face as he turned once more for the locker room. It wasn't every day, he thought, that someone stole his attention so.

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_Written by Auroras | FA--habook2 | SoFurry--habook2 | Twitter--@ArcticAur

Characters owned by Blazes | FA--PKRR_