Old Valley Road Hotel

The Old Valley Road Hotel

By Wombat. ------------------------- Any constructive comments are appreciated. I'm at 'bungala_wombat@yahoo.com.au'. ------------------------------------

Chapter 5 part 19. ------------------------------------

------------------------------------ Part 54: Weet-Bix and Vegemite. ------------------------------------

Scott drove Derek into Ringtail Springs in his old orange Ford utility. They went down High Street. It was a hot day with a dry north wind blowing. The digital thermometer in front of a service station showed 39 degrees Celsius (102 deg F).

Scott swung his utility into the car park between the post office and the supermarket. He found a park in the shade of a spreading oak tree.

In the post office it was fairly quiet despite it being Christmas Eve. A few people were posting last minute Christmas cards, even though the cards would not arrive until after Christmas.

Derek and Scott joined the short queue. People stared openly at the two huge, tanned, muscular, shirtless and extremely handsome supermen. Scott was a giant. He stood 7.5 centimetres (3 inches) taller than Derek. He was about a head taller than most people around him.

Scott did not know any of the people waiting in the queue around him. He was very conscious of people staring at him and Derek. He squared his shoulders and took it like a man. He did not mind the admiring looks at all. In fact he enjoyed the attention.

Phil Nelson, the postmaster, was patiently explaining to a man that letters posted on Christmas Eve would not get delivered on Christmas Day.

Derek: << I hope this is worthwhile and there is some mail for me. If I'm lucky I might get a few Christmas cards from the family. >>

He telepathically flicked Liz Nelson's mind. She was the post- mistress. She caught his eye and smiled at him. She thought he was beautiful. Young Scott Reeves had turned into a magnificent specimen. Derek sent a quick interrogation. Yes, he did have mail. It was waiting for him. Liz knew where it was.

Soon Liz was free. Derek and Scott went up to her waiting at the counter.

Liz looked at Scott.

"My goodness, Scott!" she exclaimed. "You really have grown. You really are as big as people say you are."

Scott smiled. Liz looked at Derek.

"How's my favourite muscleman?" she asked.

"Pretty good," replied Derek. "How are you?"

"All the better for seeing you two."

"Got any mail for me?"

Derek noticed the smell of Minties on her breath.

"Yep," Liz replied cheerfully.

She retrieved a bundle of letters with a rubber band around them from the counter behind her. She handed it to Derek.

"Haven't seen you for a while," she said. "Been away, I hear."

"That's right," replied Derek. "Been staying with my mate on his property in South Australia. Got back yesterday."

She looked back at Scott.

"Any for me?" asked Scott with a smile.

"Chloe's gone and delivered your mail, Scottie," she replied. "You've got some Christmas cards and they should all be there waiting for you in the letter box at your place."

"Ta."

"My gosh, Scottie!" she went on. "I can't get over how big you are. You're huge. I've never seen such huge muscles. How do you do it?"

"Just quietly growing," replied Scott. He was grateful for the telepathic contact with Derek, who kept supplying him with cues.

Liz winked conspiratorially at them.

"That Long Phat Kok stuff has certainly done wonders for you," she said in a low voice. She giggled.

"I guess it has," replied Scott dryly.

Liz sized up Scott's massive form.

"You know, Scott," she said. "You remind me of your late Uncle Matt. He was a big muscly handsome guy too. And he certainly had the devil in him. Although you also remind me of your father too. Max was the good boy. He was the choirboy while Mattie was the yahoo always up to mischief. Funny, come to think of it, you've got your mother's smile. Oh, I don't know. I'm all confused."

Scott and Derek laughed.

Liz continued with a smile.

"Well, what have you two been up to?" She took note that they were both shirtless and wearing short workman's shorts and work boots. "You look like you've been up to something."

"We've been looking around inside the old hotel on Valley Road," replied Scott. "I'm going to help Derek do it up."

"Good for you, Scott. I thought it was haunted, though."

"My friend Hal did an exorcism," explained Derek. "It's all cleaned up now. No ghosts or anything."

"That's good to hear."

Liz saw that the waiting queue was growing.

"Look, sorry, fellas," she said apologetically. "I'd love to chat with you all day but people are waiting."

"See you later then," said Scott and Derek.

They departed. Back in the car park, Derek opened the letters but not the bills. The first he opened was a newsy Christmas card from his sister Cecilia. He scanned through it. She said that they were expecting a full house for Christmas. Many of her husband's relatives were coming to stay. She was looking forward to it. She hoped that she would see him sometime in the New Year.

The next letter was in an envelope from the Australian Embassy in Washington. Derek opened it. The letter was from his father who was very pleased to get Derek's letter sent many weeks previously. He had been busy. He thanked Derek for congratulating him on his promotion to major general. He would not be arriving back in Australia until later the following year. He had been appointed to a joint intelligence committee with Australia and the United States. This was going to take up a lot of time.

Derek received a Christmas card from his mother also in Washington. He received cards from his maternal grandparents in Adelaide and his widowed paternal grandmother in Sydney. That was it apart from the bills which Derek did not bother opening.

He left the pile of letters in Scott's utility. They crossed the car park to the supermarket.

Inside the supermarket it was crowded with people doing their last minute shopping for Christmas groceries and stuff. Scott recognised few of the people there. Most were weekenders or people who had moved into the town recently.

Scott obtained a shopping trolley.

The people in the supermarket stared at Scott and Derek. They looked with wonder and amazement at the supermen's massively powerful and chiselled physiques bulging with muscle. The two picked up telepathically the thoughts and comments coming from the other people such as "Fuck, look at all that muscle", "They're huge", "What a pair of freaks!", "My God, they're glorious" and "Who are those musclemen?".

Many of the young men and teenagers were shirtless. They were lean and fit and wore shorts with thongs, sandals or joggers but no tops. They were quite over-shadowed by Scott and Derek's massively muscular shirtless bodies.

Many of the young women and teenage girls were wearing short shorts and bikini tops. Quite a lot of flesh was on display.

Over the supermarket speakers came the voice of a man crooning "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas".

Scott smiled wryly.

"You know, it's bloody 39 degrees outside and there's a hot north wind blowing," he remarked. "It's a bloody joke singing about white Christmases and all that. It's never going to snow here in Ringtail in the summer time."

Derek agreed.

In the first aisle Derek picked up couple of Weet-Bix breakfast cereal boxes and tossed them to Scott who put them in the trolley. They progressed down the aisle. Derek tossed Scott jars of Vegemite, peanut paste, marmalade and jam. Scott put them in the trolley.

The narrow aisle was crowded. Scott's shoulders were so broad that people had difficulty getting past him. He took up even more room because the thick masses of muscle of his lats made his huge arms hang out wide in the classic tough guy stance. He took up a lot of space.

"Excuse me," said a large obese woman behind him in a peremptory voice. "I want to get past."

Scott turned sideways to let her past. As she advanced past him, Scott smiled cheekily at Derek.

Scott: << What a fatty boombah! Almost a case of solid fat meeting solid muscle there. >>

He projected mental images of the obese woman bouncing of his powerful muscular body and landing in a pile of blubber on the floor.

Derek suppressed a giggle. The woman looked at him briefly.

Derek: << Stop it! You're making me laugh. >>

He threw a packet of Aeroplane Jelly crystals at Scott who caught it one-handed and dropped it into the trolley.

He continued on down the aisle after the fat woman. Scott walked sideways pushing the trolley along with one hand after Derek.

As he continued walking sideways, Scott sang:

"I'm a little crab, dum-diddle-dee, dum-diddle-dee, Walking sideways, walking sideways, dum-diddle-dee, Under the sea, dum-diddle-dee, dum-diddle-dee."

People stared at Scott.

Derek looked at Scott with a crooked smile and a raised eyebrow.

"If I saw a crab as big as you, mate, I'd be shitting myself," he said.

"I used to sing it when I was six years old in Grade One in primary school," explained Scott. "It was some show we put on then. I was walking sideways on the stage being the crab and singing my song when I bumped into Heidi Williams and she fell over. She was being a jellyfish. Mum and Dad laughed heaps."

"What was the show?" asked Derek.

"Something called 'The Octopus's Garden' I think. One of the teachers at school wrote it."

A few of the children who went to Ringtail Springs Primary School smiled in recognition of the song. The show was still put on by the little children. It was considered an enduring classic in Ringtail Springs. It was not known by the children who went to posh private schools in Canberra, Sydney or Melbourne.

People brushed against Scott and Derek in the crowded aisle. Scott had his back against the shelves with one hand on the trolley. Derek meanwhile was darting about the aisle through the crowd getting stuff to put in the shopping trolley. He moved with the grace of a ballet dancer.

Scott was more of a target because he was moving less. He was a spectacular sight with his naked, tanned, powerfully muscular torso, his colossal arms, his brief shorts and his massive thighs. Many people brushed against him. Some people ran their hands over Scott's bare arms and torso. Scott relished the attention. He enjoyed them appreciating the feel of his huge hard veiny bulging muscles. His cock started to swell.

A man dressed in a black suit and a black shirt with a black tie came up to Scott. He had very pale white skin, black pushed back hair down to his collar, an obsessionally trimmed black moustache and startling pale ice-blue expressionless eyes. He ran his hand over the bulge of Scott's mighty pectorals and down the thick bulging cobblestones of Scott's abdominal muscles. He loved the feel of Scott's smooth silky bare skin over thick hard bulging muscle. Scott rumbled in pleasure. His chest expanded. The man in black moved his hand down to Scott's groin and felt the thickening rod of Scott's penis. He gave the penis a tweak.

"How would you like me to stick that up your arse?" asked Scott quietly in a deep voice.

The man coloured. He looked quickly at Scott. His pale blue eyes met Scott's bright blue eyes. Scott had a half smile. The man in black looked away again immediately and quickly withdrew his hand from Scott's groin. He hurried away, pushing his way through the throng to the front of the supermarket.

Derek smiled at Scott. His eyebrows danced under his mop of hair.

<< You sure frightened him off. I guess you're too much of a handful for him. >>

The two men moved into the next aisle. In the biscuit section Derek was trying to decide how many packets of SAO biscuits to get.

Scott sensed telepathically a man staring at him. The man drank in the sight of Scott's magnificently chiselled and veiny muscular body. He stared at Scott's thick bulging biceps, massive arms, mighty thick rounded pectoral plates and the extraordinary mountain range of Scott's spectacular abdomen. He appreciated the beauty of Scott's handsome head, the thick curly black hair, the bright blue eyes the colour of tropical skies and the thickly muscular neck like that of a champion stallion.

The small thin man was having thoughts like: "What huge muscles! He's absolutely huge! My God! He's magnificent! My God! He's beautiful!"

His thoughts were like those of many other people around Scott and Derek.

Scott looked at the man and recognised Mr Anderson, who used to teach him geography and Australian history in high school.

"Hullo, Mr Anderson," said Scott cheerfully.

Mr Anderson did not recognise Scott straight away. He looked at Scott. He was embarrassed. He had known many students in his time.

"Scott Reeves," said Scott extending a big hand supported by a huge tanned arm bulging with muscles and covered with veins.

Mr Anderson stared at Scott and then smiled weakly. He took Scott's proffered hand and shook it.

He remembered Scott as a big, handsome and muscular teenager who used to disrupt his Australian history classes. Scott had made no secret of the fact that he thought Australian history was dead boring. It sucked, he had said. Scott used to chant "Boring! Boring!" in class. The other students would join in. Scott had even accused Mr Anderson of being a boong lover (lover of Aborigines) in class, much to the loud amusement of the other students.

Scott had been expelled from school in about the middle of the year for punching Cynthia McBride in the face and giving her a black eye.

Mr Anderson was afraid of Scott who even back then was much bigger than he himself was.

Now Scott was much bigger than Mr Anderson remembered him at high school. That was only a few months ago. Scott was now truly awesome. He was huge. He was more massive than any other man Mr Anderson had ever seen.

However, something was different about Scott. Gone was the sullen, aggressive teenager. Scott had now become a huge muscleman with a cheerful, easygoing and confident manner. Somehow he had grown up. Somehow he had been transformed into a man like his father but much bigger.

Scott introduced Mr Anderson to Derek. They made some small talk. Mr Anderson was not game to ask how Scott had been transformed. He suspected that Scott's friend Derek may have had something to do with it.

"My God, Scott, you're huge!" Mr Anderson blurted out. "You've got such enormous muscles."

He gazed at Scott with open admiration. Scott flexed his arm right under the nose of his former teacher. His biceps bulged up like a bowling ball. His tanned arm was a mass of huge hard muscle. Two thick veins ran down each side of the biceps muscle like heavy-duty cables under the skin. His forearm was covered by a network of veins.

"Go on, have a feel of my muscles, Mr Anderson," said Scott cheerfully.

Mr Anderson tentatively felt the thick peaked mass of biceps muscle. He trembled with excitement.

"Go on, have a proper feel," said Scott with a chuckle. "I don't mind."

Mr Anderson felt Scott's huge thick biceps with both hands. He ran his hands over the thick bulging muscle. He revelled in its hot hardness under the silky smooth skin. He continued running his hands over Scott's upper arm feeling both the massive biceps and triceps muscles.

"Oh, it's wonderful, it's wonderful," he kept repeating softly to himself. "I've never seen so much muscle."

Then with a shock he realised that the other people in the aisle were staring at him and Scott. He blushed and put his hands in his pockets. He realised that he had his shopping trolley with his purchases in it. He started pushing his trolley away down the aisle.

"You've grown into a magnificent specimen, Scott," he said.

"Thanks," said Scott with a grin.

"Bye," said Mr Anderson.

"See ya."

Mr Anderson went on his way.

Derek put one packet of SAO biscuits into the shopping trolley. He then added a packet of Tim-Tams, one of Vita-weats and one of assorted cream biscuits. He continued moving about the aisle with the ease and grace of a ballet dancer as he picked up items from the shelves.

Two young men and a young woman were looking at Scott and Derek. Both the men were shirtless. The woman wore a yellow halter-top and brief shorts. They were in their early twenties.

"Shit! Have a dekko at those two muscle freaks over there," said one young man. "They're fucking huge!"

"Bloody nice looking if you ask me," said the young woman. "They're so hot and hunky. God, they're both gorgeous!"

"The shorter guy with the longish brown hair looks like a girl," said the second young man. "He even moves like a poofter, like prancing around like a fucking ballet dancer."

"Actually," replied the woman, "that guy is moving like my Wing Chun master. He's so graceful. I wouldn't mess with him. He's muscly enough to tear you apart, like literally. So, don't go and pick a fight with him."

"I'm not."

"Yeah, just looking," laughed the first young man. "They really do have fantastic muscles, those two. And they're bloody good-looking too."

"You're a bloody poofter, perving on them," sneered the second young man.

"Shut your face," replied the first young man.

The young woman laughed.

Derek and Scott moved on to the next aisle. As they rounded the corner the two telepathic supermen detected hostility towards Derek from someone at the other end. Scott looked at them briefly. He recognised Cynthia McBride with her current best friend Debbie Pearson. Cynthia has short blonde hair while Debbie had long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. Both were tanned and wearing bikini tops and brief shorts.

Cynthia looked at Scott briefly but did not recognise him.

The two men stopped in the chocolate section. They tuned into the two girls. Derek hefted two big chocolate bars, pretending to be trying to decide whether to get Cadbury's or Nestle's chocolate. His huge biceps bulged enticingly.

A small child was looking at Cynthia and Debbie. He sat in a shopping trolley while his mother shopped. Derek tuned into the child's mind as well and watched the two girls through the child's eyes.

"Look, Debbie, there's that arrogant prick Derek Powers," Cynthia was saying. "Looks like he's back in town again."

"He looks really cute," replied Debbie. "He's so hot! What's wrong with him?"

"He's an arrogant prick."

"Why?"

"He was mean to me in the Lion and Unicorn pub a couple of months ago. He treated me like dirt. And he did it in front of Max Reeves and Sergeant Rowling. I was so humiliated!"

"What a shame! He looks so gorgeously yummy! I just love his muscles." Debbie sighed.

"Shit happens. The good-looking guys are often pretty nasty. Either that or they're gay. I wonder who's the big gorilla with him. He's actually really good-looking."

"That's Scott Reeves."

"Can't be. Scott's big but not that big. And not that good-looking either! That guy's huge! And he's tres hunky!"

"Haven't you heard the goss about Scott?" asked Debbie. "Dad was talking to Mr Foreman in the pub on Friday night. Mr Foreman said he saw Scott near the police station and Scott has grown really huge, like his muscles are absolutely gi-normous. I heard Dad telling Mum about it. Scott's been taking that Long Phat Kok stuff that's made his muscles grow really big. Scott's mum went absolutely ape-shit about it when she found out. Like she thought he was on steroids. That's Scott all right."

"What's this Long Fat Cock stuff?" asked Cynthia.

"I looked it up on the Internet and it's a company in Singapore." Debbie dropped her voice. "It makes aphrodisiacs and muscle-building stuff."

"What's an afro-dizzy-ack?"

Scott: << Cynthia's having a blonde moment. >>

Derek smirked at the chocolate.

Debbie explained in a low voice. "It's stuff that makes guys get a stiffy and get horny."

"Oh."

"Yes. So Scott's been taking this Long Phat Kok stuff and it's made his muscles really huge. God! He looks really nice and super hunky."

"What a pair! Derek Powers and Scott Reeves!" exclaimed Cynthia.

"Let's go and say hullo to them. They look really scrumptious. God, they're hot!"

"You kidding? No way! No way am I going to talk to two of my least favourite guys! Come on! Let's go before they see us. Come on! Now!"

Cynthia grabbed Debbie's arm and hustled her into the next aisle.

Derek took both blocks of chocolate. He took a box each of Jaffas and Smarties for good measure.

They progressed down the aisle towards where Cynthia and Debbie had been. Scott still walked sideways as he pushed the trolley along. His massive shoulders were so wide that people would have had difficulty getting past him. He resisted the temptation to sing the little crab song again.

Over the supermarket speakers came the sounds of a choir singing.

"Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen, When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even. Brightly shone the moon that night, though the frost was cruel, ..."

Scott: << Another snow song. How bloody stupid is that in this climate! >>

Derek laughed. << It's Christmas. Of course you're going to get the Christmas carols. >>

<< But over the supermarket loudspeakers? >>

<< I know. You can't get away from them. >>

<< They sound like bloody Mormons! >>

<< Singing with compulsory joy. >>

Scott laughed.

At the other end of the aisle Derek grabbed a loaf of sliced bread.

At the far end of the supermarket ran a wide corridor connecting the aisles. It was a little crowded. In the dairy section Scott and Derek met up with three of Scott's former classmates. They recognised Scott straight away. They were all about the same age as Scott.

"Hey, here's the guy with the Long Phat Kok!" cried Corey. "Jesus, Scott, you're really are a muscleman! You're bloody huge!"

"Wow!" breathed Spider in wide-eyed admiration. "Look at all his muscles."

"Fuck, Scott, you're fucking huge!" exclaimed Trent in wonder. "I never seen a guy so big like you."

The three teenagers were shirtless. They wore loose knee-length shorts and thongs on their feet. Their bare tanned torsos were on display.

Corey had a lean athletic build. He carried very little body fat. His abdominal muscles were a source of pride to him. He had a thick thatch of medium-length yellow-blond hair topped with a white New York Yankees baseball cap. He wore a pair of oversized sunglasses with bright yellow plastic frames. His freckles were barely visible underneath them.

Spider was the tallest of the trio, the same height as Derek. He had a slim, almost thin build and long lean lanky limbs, hence the nickname 'Spider'. He played hockey. He had blue eyes and a thick mop of white-blond hair that strayed fashionably in all directions.

Scott thought that Spider looked like a tanned blond emo. Derek found the oxymoron funny.

Trent had a solid, strong, muscular build that befitted a rugby player. His well-tanned torso and arms bulged with muscle. His tan pectorals formed solid round chunks of muscle. He had short dark brown curly hair and nice dark brown eyes.

Derek looked at Trent and lust roared inside him. Trent was very hunky and very fuckable. Derek almost panted. His chest expanded.

Scott: << Derek, you're hot for Trent? >>

Derek: <+ Assent. Lust! +>

Scott: << You're amazing! You want to fuck Trent? I wouldn't believe it. >>

Derek: << Sure do. >>

Scott: << Down boy! >>

Derek: << Don't worry. He'll keep. I like him! >>

Scott: << You're incredible! >>

Scott was not at all troubled about Derek's attraction to Trent. He had never considered Trent as sexually attractive. He knew that Derek had many sex partners. He had already met two of them, Hal and Lou. He knew about Albert also. Derek was his reincarnation. Scott had two for the price of one.

Derek smiled at Trent, who smiled cheerfully back.

Scott performed the introductions.

"Wow, Scott, that Long Phat Kok stuff has sure stacked the muscle on you," declared Corey. "You're fucking huge!"

"Yup," said Scott.

He did a spectacular double biceps pose that made his former classmates' eyes pop with admiration. His muscles bulged hugely. He grinned as he soaked up their veneration.

Trent looked at Derek hopefully.

"Do you reckon you could give us some of that Long Phat Kok stuff too?" he asked.

Derek smiled and shook his head.

"I'd be going broke quick smart if I had to buy it and give it to you guys," he replied. "It's really expensive."

"Aw," said Corey.

Scott relaxed his pose. His huge muscular and veiny arms hung wide each side of his mighty torso. He looked at Corey with a smile.

"Hey, party man, you got another hangover?" he asked.

"No," replied Corey.

"What's with the sunglasses then?"

"They look cool."

"Yeah, sure," laughed Scott. "I reckon you've got a hangover."

Trent and Spider grinned. They knew that Scott was right. Scott enjoyed being a telepath. He was far too big for Corey to argue with. And Corey did not feel like an argument.

"Hey, Scott, thanks for making a place for me on the school rugby team," said Trent.

"No worries," replied Scott. "I won't say it was a pleasure getting banned from rugby and booted out of school. Though it was a pleasure punching Cynthia McBride in the face."

The others laughed.

"Best thing you ever did," declared Corey.

"What are you doing now?" asked Trent.

"Working for the man," replied Scott.

"Your old man?"

"Yep. Digging ditches and holes and lifting concrete stuff and bending pipes and all that shit."

"Lots of heavy lifting by the looks of it," commented Corey. "Doesn't look like it's done you any harm. Jesus, your muscles are huge."

Spider went over to Scott and ran his hands over Scott's huge veiny arms bulging with muscle.

"Geez, mate, you're absolutely fucking awesome," he breathed in admiration.

Scott relished his worship. Trent went over too and joined Spider in his worship of Scott's magnificent physique.

Scott flexed his huge arms once more. They were networked with veins. His gigantic biceps bulged spectacularly. Spider and Trent ran their hands over his arms excitedly. They revelled in the feel of Scott's mighty rock hard muscles.

Spider ran his hand appreciatively over the massive thick rounded plates of Scott's bulky pectoral muscles. His hand continued down as he felt the mountain range of Scott's cobblestone abdomen. Scott's muscle-packed waist looked small compared to his gargantuan chest bulging with muscle.

"Oh wow! Killer abs," he breathed excitedly.

Trent joined Spider in feeling the magnificent musculature of Scott's torso. They revelled in running their hands over Scott's thin silky smooth skin stretched taut over the huge hard muscles. Scott put his hands on their shoulders and held them both close against his chest. They loved being surrounded by his enormous muscles. They rubbed their bare chests and abdomens against Scott's huge hard muscular body. Their shorts bulged out with their rapidly stiffening erections.

Scott revelled in their attentions. He loved them feeling him up. The power bulge in the front of his brief shorts became even bigger. He stroked their backs.

"Jesus, Scott, I'd sell my arse to get muscles like yours," sighed Spider.

"Argh! You bloody poof," sneered Corey who stood apart watching the muscle worship.

"Fuck off!" snapped Spider.

"No, he's not a poof," said Scott looking Corey directly in the eye. "He's just saying he wants to get really big like me."

"Nah! Only a poof would say something like that."

"Bullshit! You sound like my blond brother Robbie. He's always calling people poofters for no bloody reason at all."

Trent ran his hands over Scott's abdomen. He delighted in feeling the huge hard mounds of muscle that made up Scott's spectacular eight- pack.

"Heard you gave your brother a black eye," he said looking up at Scott's face.

"Yep," answered Scott. "He called me a poofter and took a swing at me as well so I smacked him one in the eye."

"Heard he had to have stitches put in."

"Yeah, like about five."

"Shit! Five!"

"Yeah. My cousin put them in. She's the plastic surgeon. She likes to do a real neat and proper job. You should have seen him after- wards. Five neat small stitches. It's a real lady's job. You won't see a scar though when they come out."

"Wow!"

"He's a bloody loony to pick a fight with you," said Spider.

"No. Just pissed as a newt," replied Scott.

They laughed.

Corey looked at his shopping trolley full of soft drink bottles and packets of chips, Cheezels and nuts, then over at Spider and Trent feeling up Scott.

"Sorry to break up the love-in, guys," he said sarcastically. "But are we going to have this Christmas party or not?"

"You jealous?" asked Trent with a grin.

"Nah! I just want to get to the pub tonight before it closes. We really do need to get some booze. Unless you guys want a dry show. And I would really appreciate some help setting up."

Trent and Spider separated reluctantly from Scott. They felt embarrassed. Their erections tented out the fronts of their loose shorts. They tried unsuccessfully to hide them.

People looked, compounding their embarrassment.

"Try thinking about fucking your grandmother," suggested Derek quietly. "That often stops the pressure."

"God! Look at you two poofs cracking a fat over Scottie," exclaimed Corey loudly.

Scott looked Corey directly in the eye. "For goodness sake, Corey, you sound so bloody boring," he said. "You sound like my brother when he's rabbiting on about poofters."

The accusation stung Corey.

"Get fucked," Spider snarled at Corey.

Trent folded his arms across his chest and glared angrily at Corey.

"If you don't fucking want us around helping you set up for your fucking party, you can fucking well do it on your fucking own," he growled.

Corey looked at Trent. He saw the anger in Trent's eyes. He noted Trent's strong solid muscular frame and the big powerful muscles on his thick strong arms. He started to understand why people were afraid of Trent. Trent was like an angry bear.

Corey looked at Spider. He saw Spider's blue eyes flashing with anger as they glared at him from under Spider's thick blond thatch.

Derek inserted into Corey's mind the telepathic suggestion that Corey was about to lose his two closest friends. The suggestion took hold. Corey became anxious.

"Jesus, guys, I was only joking," said Corey placatingly.

"Not funny," growled Trent.

"No, not funny," echoed Spider.

"Sorry, guys, I didn't mean it," pleaded Corey. "No hard feelings?"

Trent relaxed. "No. No hard feelings."

Spider followed Trent's lead.

Trent's and Spider's erections had disappeared because of their anger towards Corey. Their embarrassment had vanished. Scott's power bulge remained however.

"What? Another party?" Scott asked Corey.

"Yeah!" Corey was defensive.

"Have fun!" said Scott cheerfully. "And Merry Christmas to you all!"

The two groups went their separate ways.

Derek and Scott continued on with their shopping.

Derek: << Trent and Spider were hot for you, Scott. They really loved your muscles. >>

Scott grinned. << They sure were. >>

<< A couple of potential recruits possibly. >>

<< OK. >>

<< Corey might prove a hard nut to crack. >>

<< Well I guess we have to get the easy ones first. >>

Derek: << That's right. >>

Scott: << Neat trick you pulled popping that telepathic suggestion into Corey's mind that he was about to lose his friends. >>

<< Just helping things along. Didn't you catch the anger of Trent and Spider? They were really pissed off with Corey. They didn't like being called poofs, especially Spider. Trent was close to just walking out on Corey and Corey didn't realise it, at least not until I helped Corey to realise it. Spider would have followed Trent and Corey would have been left standing like a shag on a rock. >>

Scott: << Yeah. I did notice. Trent was getting pretty growly back there. But he often is. He's bit of a tough guy. Trent's never bothered me though. I've always been bigger than him. >>

<< Right. >>

<< I think it's funny that you got the hots for him. >>

Derek: << Well, he is very nice. All hunky and muscly. I'm a real muscle fucker. I love muscles. >>

<< OK. Down boy. >>

Derek laughed.

Derek: << You know that Spider is really hot for you, Scott? >>

Scott: << I did notice. He's a bit skinny for my taste. >>

<< I'm sure with plenty of wads of your semen up his arse, he'll muscle up very nicely. You heard him say he'll sell his arse to be as big as you. You never know. You could train him up as a superman. >>

Scott: << Yeah. I suppose. One day. >>

He grinned. The thought of fucking lots of young men around town started to appeal to him. He was hot and full of muscle. He knew it.

They continued on around the supermarket.

Scott: << You know you can eat at my place. I've got tons of food. Mum and Granny must have had some sort of competition to see how much food they could cook before they went away because there's heaps more than I could eat on my own. I reckon you and a couple of others could eat every meal at my place and there'd still be stuff left over. So don't worry. You don't need to stock up for yourself. >>

Derek: << Thanks. You know of course that eating is an optional luxury with supermen. You don't have to eat any more now. Anyhow, I just don't want my place to be bare. I've got some friends coming over in the New Year. >>

<< Who? >>

Derek supplied Scott a mental picture of people who were interested in joining him at Valley Road. People like Fox and his street kid friends, Louis, and possibly Big Dick, Kevin, Peter and Wolf and a few others. Plans were still unformed however. Scott was intrigued how Derek remained connected up telepathically with his network of friends. They were all telepathically aware of Scott. They liked him. Derek assured Scott that Scott would be doing the same sort of thing himself soon. He too would be part of the telepathic network.

Scott: << How long will it be before I can do all the things that you can do? How long before I can have all the super powers that you have? >>

Derek: << As soon as you can learn how. When I've taught you all I can, then you'll learn from the others. >>

<< Right on. >> Scott was impressed. He was eager to learn.

After getting a few more items, Derek decided that he had done enough shopping. He and Scott made their way to the front of the supermarket.

The six checkouts were going at full speed. The line for the express checkout was long. It stretched well back into the body of the supermarket.

Derek joined the queue at one of the normal checkout lanes. There were several people with laden trolleys ahead of them. However, Maree was the checkout operator for this lane. Derek knew that she was quick and efficient. Scott knew her as the fat checkout chick. Derek wanted to get through quickly and he liked Maree.

Scott observed that Jason 'Jake' Walkley had the job of taking the customers' shopping out to their vehicles. Jake was very busy. He was really earning his money as he rushed from one customer to another. He had recently turned fifteen years old and was the youngest of the Walkley family who owned Walkley's Farm. He did not see Scott watching him.

Scott: << Poor bastard. He's flat out like a lizard drinking. >>

Derek: << There are quite a few people waiting for him. >>

<< And there's only one of him. I'll bet he's expected to get the trolleys in from the car park too. >>

Scott and Derek were joined in the queue by Mrs Wright and Mrs Biggs who arrived together. They were two old ladies well known in the town. They were both good ladies of St Aidan's Anglican Church and were friends of Scott's grandmother. Mrs Wright was one of Scott's father's favourite customers. She had the dodgy drains that were frequently getting blocked up. She was a widow whose husband had died years previously.

"Goodness me, Scottie!" exclaimed Mrs Wright. "My, how you have grown! You're absolutely enormous!"

"You have indeed, Scottie!" exclaimed Mrs Biggs. "You seemed to have suddenly sprouted in the past few weeks. I've never seen such big muscles. That Long Phat Kok stuff seems to have worked wonders on you, young man."

She laughed and elbowed Scott in the ribs.

She went on. "I saw Jim Foreman yesterday at church. He said you had grown absolutely huge. He met you near the police station on Friday night."

"Word obviously gets around," laughed Scott.

"And Scottie, who is your devilishly handsome and muscular friend?" asked Mrs Wright.

Scott introduced Derek to the two old ladies. They were interested to meet the young man who lived in the old motor garage next to the old Valley Road Hotel.

"And how is Ronnie Biggs?" Scott asked Mrs Biggs.

"He's very well, thank you. He's up at the church office running off all the pew sheets for the Christmas Day service tomorrow on the new laser printer and microcomputer. He's having such fun playing with it. Will we see you at church tomorrow, Scottie? And what about your handsome friend?"

"Well, maybe," replied Scott.

Both the old ladies looked at Derek admiringly. He smiled back. His glorious looks made their hearts beat faster.

"It would be nice to see you both," said Mrs Wright.

"It's a definite maybe," said Scott.

"Oh, I understand," said Mrs Biggs. "You young fellows always have something better to do than go to church."

"Maybe," said Scott with a smile.

"Ronnie said he saw you a few weeks ago with that man you'd caught trying to break into the old motor garage on Valley Road. You'd tied him tightly up with cable ties and slung him into the back of your ute. He was swearing like a trooper. Such terrible language I hear. Ronnie was with Mrs Hamilton-Forbes at the time and she was quite discombobulated. Must be hard for her to be the country parson's wife. Ronnie and I had a good laugh about it afterwards."

"It's nothing compared to what he yelled at Mrs Myrtle McBride that day," said Scott with a laugh. "It was pretty horrible. She was really putrid over it. She and Mr McBride even went and complained to Dad."

"I do hope he didn't do anything," said Mrs Wright. "I cannot help but wonder whether that woman asks for it."

"I agree. She certainly does ask for it, what with all her airs and graces," declared Mrs Biggs.

"And no, Dad didn't do anything about it," said Scott.

"Good! I'm glad to hear it," stated Mrs Biggs. "Your father is a fair-minded man."

Mrs Wright looked at Scott thoughtfully.

"You know, Scottie," she said. "You really do remind me of your late grandfather Robbie Reeves. He was a big strong muscular man and he was a handsome fellow, just like you. You bear quite a strong resemblance to him these days, particularly now that you're so strongly built yourself."

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that," said Mrs Biggs. "Scottie, I think you look more like your late Uncle Matthew. Now he really was a handsome devil and as strong as a horse. He had big muscles too. He was always up to some sort of mischief. He was a real rascal but I think it was a such a shame he got killed in Vietnam."

"No, I think Scottie looks more like his grandfather," declared Mrs Wright.

Scott smiled as the two old ladies argued.

Mrs Wright looked at Scott.

"Goodness me!" she exclaimed. "Your smile reminds me so much of your other grandfather, the Reverend John Houston. He was such a lovely, warm and friendly man. You have a very similar smile to his. He was such a good priest when he was here at St Aidan's. He was a real human being, one of Nature's gentlemen. We do miss him still."

Scott kept smiling.

"And how is John Houston?" asked Mrs Biggs.

"He's well and living up in Queensland," replied Scott.

"He's retired of course? Is he living with that aunt of yours?"

"Yes, he's still retired and enjoys a game of golf. No, he's not living with Aunt Rosalind and Uncle Graham. He and Grandma live in a house about a kilometre or half a mile from theirs in Noosa."

The queue inched forward as the two old ladies discussed whom Scott resembled more. Derek watched with interest. He gave Scott telepathic cues to stir the conversation along.

"Will you women stop chattering and let us get a move on?" That came from a man standing immediately behind the group.

They all turned and looked at him. He was a thin intense man of average height. He had steel-rimmed glasses, light brown hair going grey and a neatly trimmed light brown and grey beard. He was pushing a shopping trolley full of groceries.

The old ladies were open-mouthed in surprise. Derek immediately turned into the man's mind telepathically.

Scott's bright blue eyes glared at the man from under his thick mass of black curly hair. Deliberately he flexed his mighty arm and let the man see his enormous biceps curling up into a mighty rock-hard mass of muscle.

The man looked fearfully at the huge muscleman.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean you," he said.

"Well just whom did you mean?" demanded Mrs Wright.

"Yes, who did you mean?" asked Mrs Biggs sternly.

The man faltered under the weight of three hostile glares.

"You'd better go easy on him," said Derek amiably. "He's obviously stressed out of his brain."

He looked at the man. "Let me guess," he said. "You've got the in- laws coming to your place for Christmas tomorrow."

The man looked at Derek with surprise.

"How did you know?" he asked weakly.

"It is obvious to me you're highly stressed," replied Derek. "What is the most common cause of stress at Christmas time? The in-laws coming around."

"Yes, well, I guess you're right. They are coming around tomorrow to spend Christmas with us. They're not easy people to get on with."

Derek caught images in the man's mind of the man's wife's parents thinking that he was not really good enough for his daughter. They were wealthy. They were driving up from Melbourne. They considered that the man and his family were rather common.

"What a shame," said Mrs Wright sympathetically. "That never happens in my family. We all gather together in my house for Christmas, all my children, their wives and husbands and all my grandchildren and even my three little great-grandchildren. We all have such a good time together. Everyone gets on famously."

Derek sent Scott a string of telepathic cue cards.

"The reason for that, Mrs Wright," said Scott, "is that you take pains to make everyone in your extended family feel welcome, that they really are members of the family. You make sure that no one is left out."

Mrs Wright blinked in surprise. Scott was showing a most unusual degree of sensitivity, especially for a teenager. She considered that Derek was a very astute and sensitive young man despite his mighty muscles and extraordinary good looks. Some of that must have rubbed off on Scott, which was all to the good.

"That's what Dad and Mum say," continued Scott.

"Yes, well, I suppose you're right," said Mrs Wright thoughtfully.

The man was silent. He wished that his family were like Mrs Wright's family. His in-laws simply did not speak to his parents. They were far too snobbish. His parents lived in Cobar and his father was a retired miner. His wife was an only child. He and his wife were public servants working in Canberra. They had no children.

"Never mind," Derek said to the man cheerfully. "We are moving. Maree is a slick chick and she's going as fast as she can. She's really good. She'll get to us soon enough. We can't hurry things up any more."

Maree heard Derek. She looked up and smiled at him. She thought he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. And there he was. He was not wearing any sort of top, just a pair of shorts. His marvellous muscles were full display. He was awesome. She forced herself to keep her mind on the job. Derek was the next customer after the one she was serving now. Scott Reeves was with him. Scott had turned into a stunning gorgeous super hunk too. Wow! But on with the work.

The customer before Derek and Scott was finished. She departed.

Derek put all the contents of the shopping trolley on the counter. Maree smiled at him and Scott. She admired the two beautiful musclemen who graced her presence. Derek chatted to her happily while she put his purchases through the checkout.

Scott had seen Jason 'Jake' Walkley running from one customer to another taking their trolley loads of shopping out to their vehicles in the car park. Scott offered to take the shopping of Mrs Wright and Mrs Biggs out to their cars. They gratefully accepted.

Scott waited outside the checkout for Derek as he talked to the two old ladies. Jake Walkley saw him and came up to him. He recognised him straight away.

"Shit Scott! You're huge!" he exclaimed. "You're bloody enormous!"

The two old ladies laughed.

Jake stood in front of Scott drinking in his great big muscles. Shyly he came up closer and ran his hand over Scott's mighty arm. Scott obligingly flexed it. Jake revelled in seeing and feeling the huge hard bulge of muscle growing under his hand. Scott's biceps muscle was enormous. It was the size of a bowling ball and as hard. Jake was wonderstruck.

"Wow! You're amazing, Scott," he breathed. "I never seen such big muscles."

He was beside himself with admiration.

"Got any more of that Long Phat Kok stuff?" he asked hopefully. "It must be incredible stuff. You're just so big it's incredible."

"Jake! There are customers waiting." Marilyn's sharp voice cut across his thoughts. She was the chief checkout operator.

"Sorry! Gotta go," muttered Jake.

"No worries," said Scott.

He smiled as Jake scurried off to the next waiting customer.

"Poor kid," he thought. "They're really making him work for his money."

Derek picked it up. He agreed.

He finished at the checkout and took his leave of Maree. She was all smiles.

Derek took his shopping in the trolley out of the supermarket and over to Scott's utility. It was still in the shade. He put the shopping into the back of the utility and refastened the tonneau cover. He put the trolley in the pickup bay. He then joined Scott in helping the two old ladies put their shopping away in their cars.

That done, they returned to Scott's utility and got in. Scott reversed out of the park and drove up High Street back towards Valley Road.

Scott: << It looks like everybody knows about me using the Long Phat Kok muscle building formula. They all keep asking me about it. Word certainly gets around. >>

Derek: << It's a small town. It's a bit like Cave Bear getting fucked up the arse by the Walkleys' jack donkey. It's a good story. >>

<< Thanks a lot, mate. >> <+ Heavy sarcasm and irritation. +>

<< Look, everyone knows about it. People obviously have been talking. You've just got to wear it like poor old Cave Bear has to. But there's nothing poor about you, Scott. You're the envy of heaps of people. They all admire your huge muscles. Lots of people want to cop a feel of you. And you love it. You love people feeling you up with your enormous muscles. I know you do. Shit mate, you're absolutely fucking glorious. You're one great big beautiful gorgeous magnificent super hunk with great big huge glorious magnificent super muscles. The Long Phat Kok stuff provides an excellent explanation of how you got so huge. Let them think that. No one need know that we're superhuman. You're a superman now. And you look like a superman. You've got the biggest muscles anyone in this town has ever seen. You're just fucking fantastic. You're a muscle fucker's wet dream and I fucking love you heaps. >>

Derek grinned at him. He affectionately put his arm on Scott's shoulder. He loved the feel of Scott's massive muscles. He loved Scott.

Scott turned and smiled at him.

By this time they were driving along Valley Road.

"I love you too, Derek," said Scott very deliberately.

He put his hand on Derek's thigh. He appreciated the mass of solid muscle under his hand. Derek put his hand around Scott's thick neck. He massaged it affectionately. Scott put his head back and growled with pleasure. They could feel the love flowing between them.

-------------------------------------- Continued in Part 55. --------------------------------------