“COME ON! LET’S GO!”

“PUSH IT!”

Cheers erupt as a set of weights get racked, a large anthro bear standing and roaring in victory at beating his personal best. Around him are his gym buddies, a canine named Jake, A brightly feathered feline and avian hybrid named Ethan, and the bear himself named Barry. 

Several onlookers applauded as well, “An impressive amount of weight.” A new figure approached. Her fur so white she almost glowed under the artificial lighting of the gym. Her figure tall, her muscles shown through her fur. Her long powerful tail swayed almost hypnotically behind her as she sauntered up to them. She, like most anthros, was bare pawed, her long claws clacking against the hard floor, her hips hugged tightly by her shorts, her chest flat but fluffy was covered by a crop top and she had a single red eye peering out at them from behind her hair. Her left eye was obscured and covered by an intricate eyepatch and above her brows rested a pair of sharp ivory horns. 

Dragons were rare in this part of the world, and even more so are they furred. The group of men ceased their cheering to gaze upon this mythical stranger as she pushed past them to the bench press, examining the weights. 

“Uh, can we help you? We’re still using that.” Ethan said, his feathers ruffling a bit at the audacity and improper gym etiquette.

“Oh my apologies, I was just seeing exactly how much weight this was.” She said before casually adding another 150 pounds in weights, pushing the bar past its limit to 600 pounds. “You boys don't mind if a girl shows off a bit do you?” She said, the iron bar was beginning to bend under the weight.

“We reserved the bench press-” Jake started, but was silenced by Barry.

“Let her make a fool of herself. I'm the strongest one here in this gym and you just added a huge amount of weight. You’re an idiot girl, and you'll just hurt yourself.” he said, flexing his bulging muscles.

“Aw how sweet, so you’ll come save me if I get into trouble then?” She asked, sticking out her tongue playfully as she almost skips around to lay on the bench. The boys get a decent look at her form fitting clothing, showing off her curves and deceptively flat chest.

Barry shakes the image of her tight clothing from his head and decides to be the responsible one, taking up the spotter position. Rokta licked her lips as she saw his bulge swaying above her head as she lay on the bench, but quickly locked in.

“Alright boys, prepare to be impressed!” She shook her arms, stretched her body, planted her feet and tail securely and loosened her wrists and fingers. 

She gripped the bar above her, making small adjustments to her positioning as she tested the resistance. ”Here we go.”

The muscles previously just visible through her fur seemed to bulge, her fur was hiding far more of her muscle mass than they had thought previously. Her arms and chest bulged as she flexed hard, her pretty face turning into a determined snarl as she growled.

The guys could do nothing but stare in slack jawed astonishment as the bar cleared the rack, descended to her chest, then rose back up. Then back down, and back up again. The bar started bending in her grip, the weight too much for it, the bench beneath her groaned as she continued to fight against gravity itself to pump out several reps.

Silence rang out as the bar was racked again, a sizable bend in the bar proof of the insane amount of weight on the damn thing. Rokta let out a few breaths and willed herself to relax, her body shaking slightly as it recovered from the strain.

She sat up slowly, her back and spine popping as it reset and she shook herself. “Well, how was that, boys?”

Barry slaps the back of her head, “It was reckless is what you did, and destroyed the bar!” Rokta blinked in surprise, things were not going how she expected at all.

“Hey man, take it easy,” Ethan said, stepping in, “Everyone agreed to let her show off a bit. Just because you expected her to fail doesn't mean you can be a dick about it now.”

“Yeah man, she just did like, ten reps of 600 pounds, I've never seen anyone even close to that.” Jake said, trying to intervene as well.

Rokta sighed and rubbed the back of her head, a bit embarrassed, “No, he's right, that bar wasn't certified for that amount of weight, I should have checked, I’ll have the gym bill me for a replacement.” She said, then stood and began working to remove the weights from the damaged bar.

Barry, for his part, sighed and started helping her. Together they broke down the bar and put everything away, Jake and Ethan made quick work of the cleanup behind them, wiping down the bench and the weights.

Rokta took the bar, slinging it over her shoulder and extending a hand to Barry, “Thanks, and again sorry I butted in and made a mess of things, was not my plan.”

Barry smirked and shook her hand, “Yeah? And what was your big plan?”

Rokta flashed her teeth in return and flicked her tail, “Impress some cute bois and see how well they could handle me in the locker room, but now I've got to take this all the way up front and pay for it.” She said with a dramatic sigh.

Barry looked her over, “You may be able to bench more but I can certainly take you any time, not just in a locker room.” He said with all the confidence of a guy who wants to be an MMA superstar.

Ethan face palmed, shaking his head as Jake sighed. Rokta quirked an eyebrow, “Well if it's a fight I'm down for that too, I've only done a few bare knuckle fights but I'm two wins to zero.” She said with a flex, “My headlocks and holds are the stuff of legends! At least at the bars.”

With that Rokta nodded to the others and headed to the front desk to repay the gym for the damaged equipment, mildly embarrassed and disappointed that the jock was too much of a gym bro to realize she was flirting. Oh well, there’s always next time. She looked back over her shoulder, eyes settling on Ethan and his colorful plumage and soft fur. ‘Hm, maybe I had the wrong target in mind…’

She spends the next twenty minutes explaining how she damaged the equipment and sharing insurance details with the management when she saw a freshly cleaned Ethan making his way out of the gym. “Hey.” She said, catching his attention and handing him a slip of paper, “Let’s meet up sometime?”

He looked the paper over, smiling to himself when he saw the number. “Hopefully for something thats not bare knuckles fighting?” He said with a chuckle.

Rokta smiled in return, “Wouldn’t be the worst thing. For me. I have a feeling some kind of outdoor activity would suit you better.”

“You just want to see the sun sparkle off my glorious plumage.” He retorted. “But yeah, I’ll think of something and give you a call.”

“Don’t wait too long~!” Rokta said with a smile.

The manager cleared her throat, “Ma’am are you going to keep flirting or should I bill you for wasting my time too?”

“Oh, sorry…” Rokta chuckled and resumed settling things with the staff. Ethan shook his head and exited, wondering what lay ahead of him.