Mates of a Human

Part Three. Chapter Two. Alex

I swore to myself, as we exited Eric's car, that I would never, ever play passenger to the man ever again.

Michael had left us with a kiss each, he seemed to peck my lips without thinking, I thought I could still feel them tingling. He'd then turned to kiss Eric, who deepened it, before biting Michael's lips. Michael hadn't even flinched, so I can only assume that this is a regular occurrence. It didn't stop me from turning beet red and slightly aroused. Dammit, I've been reacting worse that felt a teenager surrounded by free porn since I woke up this morning.

Eric took me home first, that was when I first discovered his... driving skills. They were the sort that made you wish you had checked your life insurance before you buckled your seatbelt in his car. I think I exited his car shaking slightly, but the trembling stilled the moment he took my hand in his.

I felt a little shy, letting him into my apartment for the first time, as nice as it was, it differed a great deal from their house.  It's kitchen was modern, but compact which lead into the open plan dining and living room space.  Both the bedrooms were doubles and there was only one bathroom, which was slightly smaller that their ensuite and the bath had a overhead electric shower and just one sink.  Seeing as I couldn't enjoy the colours, mum had designed my home to be more sensory, soft rugs, underfloor heating, a sofa you could sink into and cushions made from fabrics with a mixture of textures.  She was thoughtful in that way, she found it easier to express her care for me in gestures than with hugs or words.

As Eric explored, I quickly went and changed out of the leopard print top and black sweatpants he'd leant me.  They did not match, but don't tell him I said this, I think he was just trying to find something small enough for my frame and apparently the top had shrank in the wash, so didn't fit him.  It didn't fit me that well either, but the sweatpants were much worse.  Despite tightening the drawstring as best I could, my hips could not keep them from sinking lower as I walked. I picked out a top the label said was red and some black jeans and folded his clothes ready to give back to him.

And then, I had to brave Eric's driving once more.  It turned out that I didn't live far from the gym, but I hadn't known it was there.  Let's be honest, I wouldn't have joined even if I had.  Until this week, I had sworn off muscular men.  Funny how things work out.  I wonder if Eric would let me walk home later rather than risk my existence for a third time...

Eric's gym was a large single story building with was lucky enough to be detached with its own car park.  He pulled into a reserved space, there were a handful of them, before coming around the car to open my door for me.  I could tell he was somewhat excited to show me around his territory.  His toothy grin didn't falter once, even when I grimaced about his music choices in the car. Again, he took my hand as he lead me through the front doors of the gym.

The first thing that hit me, was the smell of chlorine, it turned out that there was an Olympic sized pool here.  It wasn't a leisure pool, so there would be no wave machine or rapids, it was specifically for exercise.  There was, however, a hot tub and sauna area leading off to one side of it.  The gym had the expected area of exercise machines and there were plenty of them.  Eric confided that he had to purchase expensive ones meant to be durable enough to cope with supernaturals, ones made standard for humans couldn't take the speed, strength and sometimes build of a supernatural.  There were also a selection built to cater for the dwarven size.

There were two large sport halls, like the sort found in most schools.  Eric hired these out for things such as dance practice, volleyball and other tournaments and occasionally to businesses that wanted to do to 'team building' exercises.  He pointed out the locker rooms, saying each (one for each sex, it wasn't wise to mix sexes when so many brought their mates along... gay relationships were a minority for many supernaturals) had attached showers and bathrooms.  He also pointed out the internal cafe.  It was outsourced to an external company, but they had an agreement to serve healthier options, rather than junk food.  His gym was awesome.