Balance the Scales (Patreon)

“Whoa, dude, we’ve talked about this.”  Cole snatched his hand away when Daniel reached for it.  The two friends had just finished dinner and were sitting on a bench in a nearby park overlooking a lazily winding river.  Under other circumstances the evening would have made for a lovely date, but to Daniel’s disappointment Cole had other ideas.  They’d been friends since meeting on the swim team while in college, and back then, they’d been inseparable.  They worked out together, they partied together, they had classes with each other; it got to the point where people started to wonder, themselves included if they were more than just friends.  Years later, they hardly ever spoke.  They did the same dance they did this evening, pretending they were just friends with nothing unsaid between them.  Daniel would always reach out, and Cole would always run.  

The speculation back in their college days had always made Cole uncomfortable.  It never seemed to bother Daniel since, as Cole would later find out, his friend actually did have feelings for him.  It started as a simple crush, but the more time they spent together, the more Daniel felt himself falling for Cole’s charming personality and long, lean body.  It certainly didn’t help that they spent a good chunk of their time around each other either naked in a locker room or in nothing but small speedos.  And though he had a much more difficult time admitting it, Cole felt the same way.  He loved Daniel’s stocky, muscular build and he had a rapport with his friend that he never even came close to with anyone else.  

Their friendship had been flirtatious and intimate.  They were constantly touching each other, either laying in a pile on the couch while watching movies or passing out in each others’ beds after a long night at the bar.  They were already more than familiar with how each of them looked without their clothes on, so all that left was to finally cross the line.  If it had been up to Daniel, they would have made the leap early.  Cole was always secretly jealous, and slightly resentful, of how free his friend was when it came to his sexuality.  Daniel had no problem coming out, which left Cole in an awkward spot.  Once everyone knew about his friend, all eyes turned to him.  The speculation grew even more intense, and Cole constantly found himself deflecting or making excuses.  He started going through girlfriends like a revolving door in an attempt to cover, the whole time wishing he could just let himself be with the person he wanted.  

It was during their last semester of college that they finally sealed the deal.  They were in Cole’s ratty apartment, which was a classic example of “college town” housing.  It was small, dirty, and without air conditioning, but the two were just happy to be around each other.  The night was warm and humid, leaving each of them in nothing but their underwear as they tried to stay cool in the stifling atmosphere.  Cole still didn’t know why he did it.  He was the one who instigated it, and he was the one who freaked out after.  One minute they were watching a movie; the next he was in Daniel’s arms.  

The feeling of his friend’s lips finally making contact with his own was electric.  Years of pent up desire came pouring out as they feverishly devoured each other with their hands.  Before he knew it, he was on his knees with Daniel’s wide, stout cock in his mouth.  It was better than he ever could have imagined.  When Daniel had forced him backwards and dropped down to take a turn at his long, thinner rod, he was actually a little disappointed.  Despite how good his friend’s mouth felt, he’d loved the sensation of Daniel’s strong legs on the sides of his head as he buried his face in his friend’s lap.  

They went at it all night, eventually passing out in each other’s arms.  It was the best night of sleep Cole ever had.  They’d slept in the other’s bed before, but never like this.  Feeling Daniel’s naked body pressed against his back, with his friend’s strong arm draped over him, was perfection.  At least until they woke up.  

At the time, Cole didn’t know why he panicked.  It was only recently that he’d been able to reflect and start to sort out his feelings for his friend.  At the time, he wasn’t anywhere near that.  They quickly grew distant, and as much as it tore Cole up to see his friend hurting, he couldn’t bring himself to fix it.  In his head, he couldn’t let himself be gay.  He was strong and masculine and athletic.  Logically, he knew that Daniel was also all of those things, but he couldn’t bridge that gap in his brain.  With his outgoing personality and blonde, handsome looks, Cole was used to being popular.  He didn’t know how to cope with the thought that people might not like him, or how the guys in the locker room would react if they knew.  It was too much, so he ran.  

They didn’t speak at all for a long time, but eventually they started getting together a few times each year.  They’d both moved on with their lives and had successful careers, and, much to their shared frustration, kept up their athletic builds.  Sometimes when they got together they were each paired up, Daniel with a boyfriend and Cole with a “girlfriend,” but this time they were both single.  The growing tension between them as the night wore on was palpable.  Cole had caught Daniel staring at him multiple times, but if he was being honest, that was only because he was trying to do the same to his friend.  Daniel had beefed up, putting on considerable muscle since he’d seen him last, and it was taking all of his willpower not to reach out and grab the other man’s hand.  

“Sorry, I forgot,” Daniel sighed, leaning back against the bench.  “So you’re still pretending?  Is that what that’s all about?  Trying to look more butch?” he asked, nodding towards the sculpted, hairy pecs that were visible around Cole’s tank top.  

Cole looked down at himself and blushed.   He hated how naturally hairy he was and always kept himself shaved smooth.  Lately he’d been thinking that the smooth chest was too feminine, so he bit down on his disdain and let a manicured dusting of sandy blonde hair grow across his pecs and down his flat stomach.  “What?  I just got tired of shaving,” Cole said defensively, not at all surprised that his friend had been able to see right through him.  

Daniel rolled his eyes and laughed.  “It’s a good look.  I tend to go for hairy guys.”  

Cole reached out and squeezed Daniel’s thick upper arm to change the subject.  “What about you?  Bulking up for a reason?”  

Daniel shook his head and shrugged.  “I’m about to turn thirty, man.  It’s not as easy as it used to be to stay cut.  Figured I might as well lean into it.”  He reached up and ran a hand through his short brown hair as he spoke.  “This is starting to thin out, too.  Fuck getting old,” he laughed again, followed by a long, pregnant pause.  Cole shifted uncomfortably, his heart racing, unable to say what he wanted.  “Look, Cole, can we just cut the shit,” Daniel finally asked, breaking the silence.  “Like I just said...we’re not getting any younger.  How many times are we going to do this?  We’re not confused kids anymore.  I know what I want, and I know you do too.”  

Cole couldn’t bring himself to meet his friend’s piercing gaze.  Everything he wanted was his, if he would just let it happen.  “Daniel...I...I’m sorry.  I can’t.  I’m sorry.”  He said, getting up and hurrying off without looking back.  

In his haste, Cole barely registered the well-dressed man standing behind the bench as he ran off.  Whoever the stranger was, he was standing within earshot, but neither he nor Daniel had noticed the man.  Cole wasn’t surprised about that.  Whenever he and Daniel were together it was hard for them to focus on anything else.  The man appeared to be shaking his head, and Cole felt a stinging wave of embarrassment at the thought that the man had overheard their conversation and had most likely seen Daniel’s attempt at holding hands.  He’d already convinced himself it was the exact kind of disapproval that he feared.  

**********

Cole tossed and turned all night, his stomach twisted into a knot of regret and shame.  He felt horrible for running out on Daniel.  Again.  He just hadn’t been able to take that final step, regardless of how much he wanted to.  He’d tried jerking off, reimagining their night together but with Daniel in his beefier, older body.  It only made him feel worse, adding an extra layer of longing on top of his guilt.  

When he finally crawled out of bed, he felt stiff and disoriented.  He blamed it on his lack of sleep and staggered into the bathroom, pausing in front of the mirror without knowing why at first.  He stood blinking at his reflection while his sleepy eyes adjusted, his brain slow to process what it was seeing.  

“What...what the fuck…?”  Cole stammered as he looked at the dense carpet of fur that spread across his chest and down towards his waist.  His manicured dusting was gone, replaced overnight by what looked like weeks of growth.  Even his face was covered in a thick, scrubby stubble that obscured his high cheekbones and pointed jaw.  Normally he had a slight shadow in the morning, but this looked like he hadn’t shaved in days.  

He shuddered as he ran his fingers through the silky forest, his jaw dropping when he felt the firm muscles underneath.  It was hard to tell through the obscuring layer of hair, but Cole started to notice that in addition to his extra fur, he somehow had extra mass.  He’d had the same toned, swimmers build for years.  He was lean and solid, but not bulky.  Now, he felt pecs that had gone from defined to bulging and watched sizeable biceps flex as he prodded himself.  It was the same for his lower half, his boxer briefs stretching tighter around widened quads.  He still wasn’t bulky, but he was definitely bigger.  

Cole stared at himself in shock until he heard a knocking at his door.  In his dazed state he answered it without thinking, and found himself standing nearly naked in front of a surprised looking Daniel.  He blushed as he watched his friend’s shocked expression take in his new look.  Daniel’s mouth hung open and his eyes were wide as he slowly looked Cole up and down.  Cole squirmed awkwardly, until he finally noticed that his appearance wasn’t the only one to be changed.  Daniel’s t-shirt was stretched like a second skin over a broad, burly torso, and the gym shorts his friend had on weren’t much better.  The other man was also wearing a baseball hat, which Cole wasn’t used to seeing.  

Daniel finally found his voice.  “You too?” he asked.  Cole nodded in response, ushering Daniel inside.  

“What the fuck happened?  Look at me!”  Cole spread his arms, feeling a mixture of humiliation and pride at the hungry look in his friend’s eyes.  

“Dude, it’s not just you.  Look at this.”  Daniel pulled off his hat and peeled out of his shirt, exposing a stocky, beefy torso.  His friend’s meaty pecs had their own coating of fur that spread down a wide, solid stomach, and his strong legs were starting to look like muscular tree trunks.  Cole felt his stomach flutter at the sight, wondering how his friend’s piston-like arms would feel against him.  The changes somehow made Daniel look older, a fact that was emphasized when his friend tilted his head to show him a growing bald spot.  “What the fuck is going on?”  

Cole’s heart was racing.  Through all the fear and confusion he was feeling, all he could think about was how long it had been since they’d seen each other without their clothes on, and how much he missed it.  “Search me...I just woke up a minute ago looking like a fucking sasquatch.”  

“At least your hair’s not all falling out,” Daniel cried.  “I look old!”  

Cole felt his cock twitch as he looked his friend up and down again.  “I mean...you said you wanted to bulk up.”  

Daniel shook his head in frustration.  “No, I said it was happening anyway.  If it was up to me I’d still look like...you…” he trailed off and cocked his head.  “Did you...are you bigger?”  

Cole nodded.  “A little, yeah,” he said, flexing an enlarged arm.  

“You lucky son of a bitch,” Daniel laughed, rubbing his face.  

“Lucky?  How?!  I look like I’m wearing a sweatshirt!”

“You look fuckin’ hot,” Daniel said pointedly.  

“So do you!”  Cole’s face turned crimson even as he blurted out the words.  “I...uh...I mean…” 

“I think I know what you mean.”  Daniel nodded towards the tent in Cole’s boxer briefs and stepped forward, cocking his head to the side.  “That looks about the same.”  

Cole’s larger new pecs rose and fell quickly as Daniel approached and tugged on the elastic of his underwear.  He forced his hands to stay at his sides as his long rod sprang free.  As soon as his friend’s hand made contact, he had a thought.  It was like a separate voice in his head.  “Wait...I think...I think this has to do with us.”  

“I know,” Daniel said, reaching a widened hand up to Cole’s furry chest.  “I had a really weird dream, and when I woke up I knew I had to come find you.”  He told his now-hairy friend about the well-dressed man and the titanic, balanced scales that he’d dreamt of.  On one side of the scales were all the things he wanted, on the other were all the things he feared.  He could walk away and go on with his life, but if he still wanted to go after that which he desired, he risked those things he feared coming to pass more quickly.  “Bigger.  Older.  Bald,” Daniel finished with a sigh.  

“But...but what are we supposed to do…” Cole panted as Daniel’s hand traced down towards his aching rod.  

“I think you’re the one that can stop all this.  The man in my dream said you’ve gotta stop pretending.  We both do.  You always talked about how you hated being hairy, and now look.  You also think it’s random that I just happen to love lean, hairy guys, and you clearly like what I’m sporting,” Daniel gave Cole’s rod a quick bounce as he spoke.  “We just have to let it happen.”  

Cole held his breath.  The intruding voice in his head was telling him all the same information, but he was having a hard time focusing on anything other than his burly friend’s body against him.  This was the excuse he’d been waiting for.  Now he could even blame something else.  He just had to let go.  

“No...no!”  Cole shoved away from his friend.  “I...I just can’t.  I don’t know what’s happening to us but I’m not going to let it, or you, force me into something.”  Cole instantly regretted his words when he saw the hurt look on his friend’s face.  

Daniel’s broadened pecs heaved as he took a deep breath and pulled his shirt back on.  “It’s just going to get worse.  For both of us.”  

Cole gave his friend a guilty, pleading look.  “Why?  Why you?  You’re not the one that’s afraid.”  

Daniel grabbed his hat and opened the door to leave.  “Because I can’t let you go.  Even after all these years, I can’t walk away,” he said without looking back.  

**********

Cole’s horror grew in time with his aching regret over the next few days.  What started as a carpet of hair on his chest and stomach gradually spread over the rest of him.  Now his shoulders, back, arms, ass, and legs all sprouted the same thick forest of hair.  It spilled out through the neck holes of his shirts and burst out through sleeve openings.  He’d tried to shave, but it had grown back within hours, and his face now constantly sported a prominent five o’clock shadow.  The muscle growth had continued as well, inflating his lean body to the point where he was starting to look like a lightweight bodybuilder.  Unlike Daniel, he’d kept his definition.  If anything, the more he grew, the more ripped he looked.  Or at least the parts that could be seen through the ever present fur did.  He was starting to strain against his shirts and pants, but everyone around him was acting as if everything was perfectly normal.  He’d clearly bulked up and sprouted like a chia pet overnight, but no one so much as batted an eye.  

He’d also had the same dream that Daniel mentioned.  For the past two nights, he dreamt of himself growing larger and hairier until he looked like a ripped ape.  Daniel was there, begging him to end it as he aged and inflated like a balloon.  Cole would watch in horror as his friend’s body became so thick with bulky muscle that he could hardly move, his youth fading more and more with each second.  The voice was telling him how he could end it.  In the dream he begged Daniel to just walk away, even though it was the last thing he wanted, all while Daniel begged him to let go of his fear.  They were stuck in the same loop night after night.  

For Cole, worse than the physical changes was the look of hurt he’d seen in Daniel’s eyes the other morning.  By the third day it was festering like a wound.  He’d already run away once after causing his friend pain, and here he was doing it again.  Like he had for years, Cole thought about his fear and his shame.  He thought about losing all of his friends and family and being hated for who he was.  

But then there was Daniel and that look of hurt, and it finally hit him.  He realized that deep down, more than anything, he just wanted to fix it.  No matter what he ended up looking like, or how many people hated him, he couldn’t put his friend through that again.  Daniel was in the same boat because of him, and he needed to set it right.  

He flew across town, unprepared for what awaited him when he made it to Daniel’s house.  He bounded up the front steps and knocked on the door, gasping at the wall of muscle on the other side.  The man was clad only in a pair of baggy gym shorts, leaving his hairy, shelf-like chest and solid muscle gut exposed.  His arms were absolutely massive as one swung the door open.  Looking at the full, middle aged face and bald head, Cole’s first thought was that he’d gone to the wrong house, but there was no mistaking his friend’s eyes looking back at him.  “Da...Daniel?”  

The other man’s voice was a deep rumble as his neck-less head tilted up and down. “Look at you,” Daniel laughed at seeing the copious hair spilling out of Cole’s shirt.  

“Me?  You’re huge!”  the furry blonde gaped as he entered.  

“And a bit older,” Daniel sighed, rubbing his smooth, shiny scalp.  “To think I was dreading thirty…” 

Cole couldn’t stop staring at his friend’s beefy new body.  He didn’t think it was possible for him to be more attracted to Daniel than he already was, but he’d clearly been wrong.  He was already hard.  “How...how are you so calm right now?”  

His now-older friend shrugged his bowling ball shoulders.  “I knew you’d show up sooner or later.”  

“But...even I didn’t know I was going to show up.”  

“I’ve always been able to see through your bullshit,” Daniel grinned.  

Cole stepped forward and put a hand on the other man’s plump chest.  “I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.  For before...for all of this…” he hesitated, his voice shaking.  “I was just so scared...I still am.  I’m not strong like you...” they both laughed at how literal that statement had become.   “You know what I mean..” 

Daniel stroked his thick fingers through Cole’s short blonde hair.  “I told you before that I’d help you be strong...but I can’t force you.”  

There was another long pause as Cole’s heart threatened to beat out of his hairy chest.  He opened his mouth to speak, but instead leaned forward and planted a long, deep kiss.  Cole heard the door slam shut behind him as he raised his arms to let Daniel pull his shirt free, moaning when the other man took two handfuls of the copious new hairy on his chest.  They were a frenzy of motion, simultaneously trying to make up for lost time while exploring each other’s new bodies.  Cole may have loathed his newly acquired carpet, but the look of pure lust it sparked in his friend’s eyes made it worthwhile.  Likewise, though Daniel felt awkward and embarrassed by his lumbering new muscles and shiny, exposed scalp, he radiated such a strong, masculine presence that Cole nearly came on the spot.  

They were naked by the time they reached Daniel’s bedroom, and as soon as they hit the mattress, Cole had his friend’s stout, widened rod in his mouth.  He’d never stopped thinking about it since doing it all those years ago, and it was every bit as blissful as he remembered.  He loved Daniel’s deep, pleasured moans as his brillo pad cheeks scratched at the other man’s widened legs.  This time there was no pulling away or switching positions until he was done.  Cole’s newly acquired muscles kept his friend pinned in place until the thick rod spasmed and sprayed down his throat, and even then Cole made sure to suck out every last drop.  

Daniel didn’t give him long to bask in the sensation.  In a surprising burst of speed given his burly new size, the now-older man had Cole flipped and pinned underneath him.  The lean blonde groaned and squirmed as Daniel’s torturously slow mouth worked its way down his densely hairy frame.  Cole felt like he was about to explode even before his friend’s lips found their way to his long, pulsing rod.  

The two went at it for hours, losing all track of time or place.  All they could focus on in their ecstatic bliss was each other.  They were a squirming pile of hairy, moaning muscle as they writhed on top of and inside each other, finally experiencing themselves as they’d always dreamed of and dreaded before eventually passing out in each other’s arms.  

**********

They both woke the next morning to find that, as their dreams suggested, the changes seemed to have stopped.  Nothing had reversed, leaving Daniel a burly, bald middle aged man, and Cole a built, furry otter.  As they’d experienced already, as impossible as their situation was, no one acted as if anything was out of the ordinary.  Daniel suddenly doubling in size and aging a decade was no more bizarre than Cole beefing up and sprouting hair like a werewolf.  The only reactions they got were happy and supportive when word spread that the two of them were finally together.  

Cole felt a punch of regret in his gut when he found that none of his fears came to pass.  Other than a few slightly awkward conversations, he didn’t lose any friends or family when he came out.  Everyone acted like they already knew and were just waiting for him to catch up.  He tried not to think about all the wasted years, but every time he stood in front of the mirror staring at his furry new muscles, he couldn’t help but be reminded.  

He did his best to make it up to Daniel, but despite undergoing a more dramatic change, his now-burly lover just seemed happy that they were together.  Everywhere they went, the handsome wall of muscle and his young, hairy blonde partner turned heads, especially at the beach or at the gym.  Cole couldn’t hide anymore, even if he’d wanted to.  

Cole never saw the well-dressed man again.  The dreams stopped after their first night together, and he’d almost forgotten about him entirely.  He’d only ever seen him while awake once in passing, and as the months went on and they adjusted to their new lives, it was easy to lose track.  He and Daniel were moving in together and planning a wedding, feeling like they were finally living the life they both should have been for years.   Their situation had gone from terrifying and impossible back to a relatively normal existence.  

Cole thought about all of this as he watched Daniel’s broad, shirtless back flex as the other man lifted another box to start sorting through it.  His lengthy cock twitched at the sight of Daniel’s large, round globes stretching out his tight briefs when he bent to open it.  

“Are you gonna help or just stare at my ass all night,” Daniel laughed, not turning around.  

Cole walked over and slid his hand into the back of his lover’s briefs, giving one of the hairy cheeks a squeeze.  “I can do both.”  

Daniel flexed against Cole’s hand, still loving how it felt whenever the other man touched him, as he tore the box open.  “I’ll be so happy when we’re...done…” he trailed off.  

“What?”  Cole pulled his hand free and looked over one of Daniel’s bowling ball shoulders to see the inside of the box.  He let out a quick gasp and reached for the other man’s hand .  “Is that...a note under it?”  

Daniel reached in a tentative hand and pulled out the small slip of paper, reading the single word aloud.  “Remember,” he said, his voice shaking.  He wrapped an arm around Cole’s furry shoulders and pulled him close as they stood in silence, staring down at a set of  small, familiar looking scales.