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Part two of my collab with Taurus111! Kevin starts to notice things are a bit off today, but he's got some chores to distract him!

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When Kevin woke up he felt like he hadn't moved in ages. His legs felt stiff, and his back seemed sore all over. He looked over to the clock on his bedside table.

"Ugh, it's only seven o'clock?" he groaned. He closed his eyes again, wishing to fall back to sleep, but, unfortunately, he was wide awake. "Well, I guess it's as good a time as any to start the day." He rolled over, tossing the sheets aside, blinked, and reached for his glasses. He paused for a moment before slipping them on.

Everything seemed... clear. Kevin put on his glasses, finding that instead of relieving the strain of trying to focus on things, it made things blurry and hurt to look through. He frowned and placed them back on the table. Maybe all those fruits and vegetables his parents were having him eat had made his eyesight better, or at least lowered his prescription... Either way, it was probably a good idea to keep his glasses handy, in case it wore off.

He yawned and shuffled out of bed, lazily dragging himself to the bathroom, still only wearing his boxers. Something about this morning left him more confident, since he never would have thought about leaving his room without pants even when he was the only one there, at least not before. He used the restroom and brushed his teeth in a matter of minutes, then splashed some water onto his face, waking him up from his half-consciousness. Looking up at the mirror, he paused for just a second to admire how well the bathroom light showed off what muscles he had. It was as if they looked better here than they did anywhere else.

Kevin dried off his face and walked back to his room. He dressed quickly in a white shirt and some shorts, and trotted down the stairs to find Joseph still asleep on the floor. He prodded Joseph with his foot until his friend began to stir from his sleep.

"Hey, buddy, rise and shine," Kevin chimed.

"Huh? Wha- Oh, hey, Kev. Sleep well?"

"Fine, you?"

"Not bad," Joseph turned to face him, and raised an eyebrow.

"You hungry?" Kevin asked. "I can cook some eggs for the two of us."

"Sure, I can help if you want."

"Nah, it's okay. I got it."

Joseph watched Kevin as he left the room. He frowned, unsure if Kevin seemed any different. Joseph hadn't heard any unusual sounds from Kevin's bedroom last night, despite him listening for them, sounds that would indicate his little scheme had worked. The absence of those and Kevin's apparently normal appearance this morning seemed to suggest that after all the trouble, it hadn't worked after all.

He quickly ran into the restroom to wash up and then strolled into the kitchen. Kevin was already getting ready to fry some eggs, and the bread and toaster were out to make some toast. His friend seemed to be more spry today, but that might've been because he had just woken up.

"You seem pretty energetic today," Joseph said.

Kevin shrugged. "Slept well, I guess. My legs are a bit sore, though."

Joseph half grinned. "Yeah, running around like you did yesterday can do that, especially if you aren't used to it..."

Kevin found the eggs in the fridge and straightened up, thumping his head on the fridge's door.

"You okay?"

Kevin rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, fine. Just a bit...clumsy this morning."

Joseph frowned. Did Kevin seem a bit taller?

"Do you mind if your eggs are well done? I...haven't gotten the hang of them just yet," Kevin said as he walked to the stove.

"No," Joseph said, still eyeing up his friend. Kevin didn't really seem taller, now that he looked. Maybe it wasn't going to happen after all. Joseph took a seat at the dining table. He'd have to try again another time; he was adamant to make his plan work. But right now, the smell of frying eggs and toasting bread was enough to tear him from his thoughts and cause his stomach to growl. For now, he would just enjoy his breakfast.

* * * *

Kevin shut the dishwasher and put the frying pan in the sink to clean.

"Thanks for breakfast, Kev."

"Sure. It's fun when you can hang out here."

"Listen, I gotta run," Joseph said glancing at his watch. "I've got a meeting for the soccer stuff later today, and I should get home and change before then. I'll call you later and we can hang out if you want. Maybe play that game some more."

"Sure! I've got some chores to do today, but that's pretty much it. If you have to go, I can clean up myself."

"Thanks, Kev." Joseph grinned. He stood, and walked towards the door. "See you later!"

From the kitchen, Kevin heard the door close as his friend left. He cleaned up the other dishes from their quick breakfast before consulting the list of chores his mother had left for him on the fridge. It looked like he had a full day ahead of him.

* * * *

And, indeed, Kevin had been right. He had been tasked with vacuuming and dusting all of the rooms, mopping the kitchen floor, and washing all of the dirty laundry, a feat that he previously wouldn't have been able to accomplish. He had spent the entire day working on the long list his parents had apparently left to keep him occupied instead of playing video games the entire week. However, to Kevin's amazement, he was able to finish all the chores during this first day. Granted, he still had some chores and yardwork to do outside, but he could finish that tomorrow.

It was now nine o'clock in the evening, and he was sitting at the dining table eating a bowl of cereal, waiting for the last load of laundry to finish drying, and thinking about how quickly he had gotten through his list of chores.

"I guess Joseph was right about me being energetic today," Kevin thought to himself. His legs and back were still feeling a bit sore, and the feeling had somehow spread across his body. He was only noticing this now as he rested and so he attributed the feeling to the hard work he had done that day.

He had thought about asking Joseph to come over again, but he decided that it would probably be rude to bother him this late in the evening. So, instead, he decided to watch television and play some video games, until his eyelids were too heavy to keep open.

Kevin yawned as he turned off the gaming console and, then, walked upstairs to start getting ready for bed. He went into the bathroom, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and then went to his room.

He took off his shirt and shorts and put them into the hamper by his desk. Walking past the full length mirror in his room on the way to his bed, he did a double-take and turned to face his reflection, once again noticing a slight difference in the contouring of his muscles.

A sudden yawn broke him from his thoughts, and he quickly dismissed what he had seen as his eyes just playing tricks on him because of how tired he was. He gave no second thought about sleeping in only his boxers for the second night, as he climbed into bed, closed his eyes, and quickly drifted off to dreamland.

* * * *

Kevin slowly opened his eyes. A sound outside his window woke him; some kind of odd scratching and an occasional fluttering. Morning sunlight was filtering into his room through the blinds in the window beside him. He sat up and shifted in bed so he could peer between the blinds. A small bird was hopping around in the tree outside his window, which he could hear scratching against the bark and flitting from branch to branch. He watched it, oddly enthralled, until it swooped away. He yawned, stood up, and then walked to the bathroom down the hall. Scratching an itch on his head, he paused when his hand brushed against his ear. He felt around and found a tender spot on the top of his ear, where it felt a bit swollen and sore. He must've slept on it funny or something.

Kevin turned on the faucet and splashed some water onto his face, the coarse stubble on his chin rough against his hands. He blinked blearily at the mirror, noting that he could probably do with a shave. An oddly dark 5-o'clock shadow extended up from his chin, rounded his upper lip, and ran along his jawline, meeting up with his short sideburns. He turned his head, looking at his ear and frowned. Somehow, his ear looked slightly pointed where it was a little bit red and puffed up. He sighed, hoping that the swelling would go away as the day went on.

Kevin fumbled around, feeling for the drawer where he kept his toothpaste. He finally glanced down and saw that the knob was well below where he was used to reaching, which, in his half-consciousness just slightly annoyed him. He grabbed his toothbrush, squeezed out a glob of the minty paste, and began brushing his teeth as he mentally went over the list of chores he had to do. The lawn needed to be cut, and it was probably better to do that first before it got too hot outside. He spit out the toothpaste, gargled some mouthwash, and then dried his mouth before grabbing his electric razor from the shelf.

He continued his mental list of chores as he moved his razor along his chin. He also had to water the lawn, wash the windows, and clean out the gutters before the day was over, which didn't seem like such tough tasks. He turned the razor off and wiped away any remaining hairs off his face before he rubbed his hand across the now smooth skin. He washed the hair in the sink down the drain before leaving the bathroom and going back to his room to get changed.

Kevin stared at the clothes in his closet for a few minutes before picking out a grey and blue striped tank top and some cargo shorts and putting them on. He slipped his socks and sneakers on before ruffling his bed head into something more manageable and glancing at his reflection in mirror.

The shirt and shorts Kevin was wearing seemed to look a bit small on him, so he made a mental note that he'd have to go shopping for some new school clothes soon. He checked his ear again, which was still swollen and pointed, but the redness from before had gone away.

He quickly forgot about it and made his way downstairs to eat some breakfast before getting started with his work. His stomach growled loudly at the slight thought of food, and he suddenly realized he was extremely hungry. In no time at all, he had three scrambled eggs, a few strips of bacon, and two slices of toast ready on a plate at the table. He sat down and licked his lips as he breathed in the intoxicating aroma coming from the food in front of him.

Kevin made quick work of the eggs and toast, but left the bacon for last, as it seemed much more appetizing to him than ever before. He savored each bite thoroughly, until he finally reached the last strip of bacon, which he stuffed into his mouth without reservation. Something shifted in his mouth unexpectedly, and he chomped down on his lip.

"GAAAHH!" He grabbed hold of a napkin and brought it up to his bottom lip, which he had just bitten. He pulled it away for a second and saw that it was now stained red with blood. The blood in his mouth was hot and metallic, yet, oddly enough, he didn't seem to mind the taste quite so much. He swallowed the rest of his breakfast and pressed a hand to his lip to try and help the bleeding stop. In the meantime, he cleaned up the dishes from his hasty breakfast.

After a few minutes, he touched his lip with a finger, and to his surprise it came away bloodless. He ran the finger over his teeth, finding one near the wound to be a bit sharper and more pointed than usual. Maybe he had chipped it yesterday? He'd mention it to the dentist next time, if he remembered. Right now though, he was looking forward to getting outside.

It was another sunny, almost cloudless day. After getting the lawn mower out of the garage, Kevin started it up and ran it over the grass, enjoying the feeling of the sun on his skin and the slow, lazy wind blowing through the yard. Before he knew it, the backyard was done. He finished the front with similar haste and put the mower away. The next item on his list was to wash the outside windows - there weren't too many of them around the house anyway. He mixed up a bucket of water and the window cleaner and retrieved the squeegee from the garage. He started with the front living room windows, the largest pair on the house.

Kevin's thoughts wandered as he scrubbed down all the windows. Thinking back to the tryouts, he wondered if he would actually enjoy playing a sport like that. Once he got started, it wasn't too bad, after all... and being outside more would be nice. He idly scratched his face, the stubble making his chin itch. Kevin worked around the whole house before he knew it, squeegeeing off the last window to avoid streaks and spots from drying. He sighed, dumping the rest of the window detergent out over the rocks under the back porch before going back into the house to put the bucket and squeegee away. He paused in the kitchen, seeing that it was well after noon now, and he suddenly felt hungry for some lunch. He scratched his chin again, frowning as he felt some longer stubble there.

He wandered back up to the bathroom, thinking that he'd missed a spot that morning. Having a couple longer hairs there was going to bug him, so he'd just take care of them now. When he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he was surprised to find that it wasn't just a small spot. His whole jawline was covered in the dark stubble, unusually long considering he'd just shaved a couple of hours ago. He frowned, pulled out his razor again, and quickly, yet precisely ran the blades through the coarse hair on his face, making sure that his skin was as smooth as he could make it.

After checking his face in the mirror multiple times for any spots that might have missed the razor's blades, he put the machine away and cleaned up the hair shavings. He brushed the fallen pieces of hair off his tank top and chest, but paused when his chest didn't come clean. He pulled at one of the short hairs and was surprised when it pinched and tugged at his skin.

He wasn't particularly hairy to begin with, but now for some reason the spot in the middle of his sternum had a couple of dark hairs. He looked down at his forearms, which seemed to have suddenly been dusted with the same sort of thin, but still dark, hair. Curious, he pulled off his tank top and checked himself out in the mirror.

He was still scrawny overall, but there was definitely some extra definition and just the slightest bit of extra bulk in his muscles. The fine, dark hair that started above the top of his tank top continued down, fuzzing over his pecs a little before coming to an end above his solar plexus. His stomach had received a similar growth, and it lead upwards before petering out, leaving a hairless gap of several inches over his just visible abs. He stared at himself for a minute or two, running his hands over his toned body, wondering if he was somehow imagining it, but everything felt real enough.

Kevin was confused for a bit about how he'd grown the muscle, but then thought about all the manual labor he'd been doing over the last two days, much of which he would have rarely done if his parents were around. He was content with that answer, and, although the new growth of hair was a bit strange, he attributed the accelerated growth to his hormones that were probably finally ramping up now that he had turned eighteen. He put his tank top back on, glanced at his reflection in the mirror one last time, and went down to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat.

Kevin quickly gathered the ingredients to make himself a turkey sandwich, put it together, and ate it in a hurry. It was as if the scent of the freshly mowed lawn and the heat of the sun's rays were calling him back outside, because he couldn't wait to finish his chores.

The gutters were the last large item on his list to do, along with watering the grass, which could be done at the same time. He got the hose out and set up the sprinkler in the back yard, setting an alarm on his watch when it was time to move the sprinkler to another spot on the lawn. His dad kept their longer ladders in the garage, and after a couple awkward turns with the extendable aluminum ladder, he was propping it up against the house. The house was mostly single floor, except for parts in the back and above the garage, where his bedroom and his parent's bedroom were. He got some heavy gloves out of the garage and slipped them on before climbing up the ladder. Their other neighbours had some large pine trees, so in the fall and winter they would shed their old needles, and half of them would end up in their gutters. Kevin started at the downspout, where the pileup of needles and other debris was worst.

The afternoon sun was hot, and the task seemed to take longer than Kevin expected, especially the gutters on the second floor. He was uncomfortable working on the end of the ladder and so far above the ground. It was slow going, and occasionally some of the pine needles would poke through a hole in the glove and stab into his fingers. After moving the sprinkler eight times, he was finally done. With the ladder collapsed and stowed, he shut off the sprinkler and went back inside.

His tank top clung to him, damp with sweat, and he figured he could probably do with a shower.He lumbered up the stairs pulling his sticky tank top off and dropped it on the floor of the bathroom. Kevin turned the water on, and waited for the water to warm up. In the meantime, he undid his shorts and let them slip down his legs, stepped out with one foot and with the other tossed them to lie in a heap by the discarded shirt.

Steam began to fill the room, and with it came a curious, invigorating smell. He sniffed, wondering where it was coming from. He checked the water, but it was clear and didn't smell off. He yawned, and stretched out, feeling his muscles relax from the day. Stretching his arms above his head, he caught another whiff of the smell. He paused, and tilted his head so his nose was closer to his right armpit. A tentative sniff confirmed his suspicion - the odd smell was him. At first, he was disgusted by the smell, but it was quickly supplanted by another thought - it was his scent, why should it gross him out? Another thought followed: he was alone this weekend, and he wasn't actually dirty, so why not let it all hang out? A quick thrill went through his body. He was going to do it.

He shut the water off, put his shorts back on, and, bare-chested, tossed his tank top into the laundry hamper after taking one last, longing sniff of the cotton garment. He didn't really smell that bad, now that he thought about it - the smell was musky and somehow spicy, but it was all him and all good. He found himself grinning as he strutted through the house, shirtless, and went to the kitchen to get himself some dinner.

He made himself some macaroni noodles, heated up some of the sauce his mother had left in the freezer, ate quickly, and cleaned up. It was late in the evening, but the sun was stubbornly hanging above the horizon. Kevin fired up his game and played for about a half hour before he found he couldn't concentrate any longer. He needed to do something else. He wanted to be...outside again. He shut the console off and wandered onto the back porch, the evening air cool against his skin. The sun had set, and the sky was turning a dark, bruised purple. He stood there, leaning on the porch railing for a few minutes before trotting down the couple steps to the cool grass. The ground was slightly damp, but he didn't mind. He sat down in the grass, away from the bright windows of his home, and stared up at the sky, watching the stars slowly emerge from the dark velvet of the night sky.

* * * *

A few minutes later, Joseph got home, having gone with his summer soccer league to a game a couple hours down the road. He'd just dropped his stuff off in the laundry room and gone upstairs to his room to change when he noticed a shape in Kevin's backyard. He paused by his window and took another look.

Kevin was lying there, in the grass. There was just enough light cast from inside his friend's house to see. Joseph frowned in thought. It wasn't like Kevin to spend time outside like this. He decided to go down and see what Kevin was up to, and, if anything, he'd at least get to say hi. Still in his soccer uniform, he walked towards Kevin's house, and wandered over to where Kevin was lying.

"Hey, Kev, what's going on?"

"Oh, hey Joseph," he replied. "Just relaxing. Did a bunch of yardwork today...really took it out of me."

Joseph nodded, and noticed that Kevin didn't have a shirt on. "No shirt day?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I figured, no one else was at home, so why bother."

Joseph sat down in the grass near his friend. It was hard to say for sure, but Kevin did look more buff. "Suits you."

Kevin chuckled in a low voice. "Shut up. That's the second time you've said that - if I didn't know better, I'd say you wanted to see me without any clothes on."

Joseph snorted. "That's not what I meant." He looked up at the sky. "Mind if I join you?"

"You already have."

Joseph kicked out his legs, leaned back, and let the cool grass embrace him.

* * * *

They stared up at the summer night sky for what seemed like hours. The last traces of sunset fled the sky at last. As they lay there, another, somehow familiar, scent reached Kevin's nose. It was like his, musky, spicy... but somehow stronger. It reminded him of Joseph - on an instinctual level, he somehow knew it was the way Joseph smelled. Kevin was content, relaxing there, with his friend beside him. That was until he felt the first few bug bites on his arms and legs. With the night came the mosquitos, and Kevin was their main course.

"I think I better get inside before these bugs drain me dry," Kevin said, sitting up and trying not to scratch at the bumps appearing on his arms. "It was nice just spending some time together."

"Yeah," Joseph replied, happy that he had decided to come down and see his friend. "So, I guess I'll see you later, then."

"Sure. Whenever you want, just come around and we can hang out."

"Cool! Well, goodnight! Hopefully I can come over tomorrow."

"Cool! Sounds great! Goodnight!" Kevin waved for a few seconds, until Joseph was out of view, and then walked back inside away from the swarm of bugs.

He lugged his tired body back upstairs and went to the bathroom to clean up before bed. He washed his face and wasn't surprised to see the dark stubble, that he had already shaved twice that day, once again adorning his jawline. He was actually starting to like the way it looked on him. Maybe he should follow his own advice about "letting everything hang out" and let it grow a bit while he had the house to himself. He nodded in agreement with his thoughts. He ran his hands across the hair and noticed that his fingernails were all slightly darker but figured they had probably been stained by the dirty work gloves he had used to clean the gutters. He quickly brushed his teeth and then headed back to his room.

He slipped his shorts off, threw them into the hamper, and jumped into bed. He placed his left arm above his head and turned towards it as he lay his head down, catching another whiff of his scent from the armpit beside his face. He smiled as he sunk into the covers and let sleep come over his exhausted body.