Does working out together count as a first date?

Roy, to his credit, went to bed relatively early that night. He was perturbed by all the changes that had occurred around him over the course of the last day, but at the same time, the whole thing was beginning to feel rather exciting to him. And while it was easy enough for him to chalk his excitement up to the fact that he'd gotten laid by the most wonderful girl he'd ever set his eyes on, there was something else tugging at him. Samantha, for all intents and purposes, was still his Sam. She talked like him, obsessed over science like him, and was even socially inept and awkward like him. The only obvious difference, really, was her body. But a change to his/her body didn't really explain her newfound taste in music, or her facial piercing, or the fact that she apparently had a crush on him. Wait... was that even a change at all? Did his old Sam also harbor romantic feelings for him? No, he certainly had memories of Sam awkwardly asking girls out in their senior year; he was never successful, but the intent was there. Of course, he could have simply been deep in the closet; after all, he'd heard stories of guys not coming to terms with that sort of thing until well after their teens. The whole thing sent his brain into a tizzy, and he brushed thoughts of old Sam's sexuality out of his mind for the moment. As he lay himself down into bed, he briefly considered what else, then, had changed.

Then he remembered Katherine, Sam's mother. In all the excitement of getting caught on the sofa, he hadn't had the time to process that she had changed too. Aside from the purple hair, she was a lot curvier than he remembered. Which, he had to admit, made a certain amount of sense. If the device really did futz around with genetics, then those genetics had to come from somewhere, right? So Samantha must've inherited her impressive curves from her mom's side of the family. Her mom wasn't really that tall, though. Was Samantha's dad seven feet tall or something?

Eventually, though, his musings were quieted as he fell asleep. Tomorrow was another day of discovery, after all.

*

Roy was up bright and early the next morning. He had to admit, even though he was up at five AM on a Sunday, he was feeling sunny and energized. As soon as he was dressed, he checked his texts to make sure that his conversation last night wasn't just a weird dream. It felt surreal to question his own memory from the night before, but with everything that'd happened, he couldn't be too sure.

He arrived at the gym only five minutes early. He hadn't really bothered asking Samantha which gym she went to the night before, but a quick text to and from her confirmed it was the same gym Roy used to go to. He hadn't been in there for about a month, so he felt a little guilty as he walked into the doors and saw the people who were already working out. It wasn't a surprise to Roy that all of them looked like "gym people". After all, who else but a dedicated fitness enthusiast would be in a gym at this time? He tried not to notice if anyone was looking at him as he walked in. He knew, having been a regular at one point, that only assholes sized people up like that, but it didn't help him feel less self conscious. He found Samantha pretty easily; she was already stretching by one of the squat racks. Already sitting on it was a pretty hefty looking barbell; he couldn't make out the weight on it, but it looked like a lot more than he could lift.

She saw him walking towards her, and smiled genuinely from ear to ear. "Roy! Glad you could make it."

Roy smiled back at her. Her shoulder length purple hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, but her bangs were still free to droop in front of her face a little. She was wearing a pair of hip-hugging black Lycra shorts over gray leggings, and a white tank top over her gray sports bra; the ensemble, as tight as it was on her frame, combined with her otherworldly figure, made her look incredible. She still had her eyebrow ring in, and it accentuated her beautiful features quite nicely.

"You thought I'd miss it?" Roy asked, a little suspiciously.

"Oh, no, don't get the wrong idea!" she quickly backpedaled. "I'm glad you could be here, but I would understand if you'd prefer to spend your Sunday somewhere more... relaxing."

"If you're here, I'm relaxed, Sam," Roy responded, and stood off to the side to begin his own stretches. "So what's your plan?"

"Well, today's my leg day, so I'm starting off with some squats. After that, I'll probably get some cardio in, and then I think I'll break for a bite to eat."

"Oh, you skipped breakfast?" he asked, surprised.

"Oh no, I just..." she blushed, embarrassed. "Well, you know I... tend to eat a lot, right? I usually run on a little over five thousand calories a day."

Roy's eyebrows stood up in shock. That was... a lot of food. He probably didn't even get near three thousand a day."No, I... didn't know that. The other... umm... you, didn't eat that much. I'm... still kinda figuring out what's... you know, different about you now."

She nodded her head. "Of course, the cascade effect. I should've known. Well, I have a bit of a strange genetic quirk. It's quite easy for me to maintain my current conditioning with a lot of caloric intake, as well as some... well, somewhat minimal exercise," she explained. "I usually only spend around a half hour in the gym a day."

Roy was aghast. He was no athlete, but a body like that should certainly take more than that amount of effort.

"So," she continued, "Once I'm finished, I can give you some pointers. What did you want to work on today?"

*

An hour later, Roy was pretty damn exhausted. Samantha was sweet, but when it came to exercise, she was a harsh taskmistress. She pushed him to really give his all, and took him through a thorough regimen of cardio, upper body, and lower body work. He barely even had a chance to enjoy checking out her backside as she was doing squats, though of course he stole glances every chance he could. He couldn't even take the time to appreciate the way her glutes flexed and stretched inside those tight little leggings and shorts of hers. Why, it was an absolute travesty of justice. What was the point of having a girlfriend (not that he'd be ready to call her that) who looked the way Samantha did, if he couldn't even check out her butt while she worked out?

In any case, their workout was over. Samantha had excused herself to grab her water, which she had left in the dressing room, while Roy waited for her (and recovered from his workout) in the small cafe area inside the gym. He was sitting, or rather slumping, in a plastic chair, when he saw a large, muscular man approaching him from a distance. He didn't recognize him, but the man wore a smile on his face as he raised a hand in greeting to Roy.

"Hey champ," the man greeted him, despite the fact that there was five years at most between him and Roy, "My name's Jake. Sorry to just come up to you like this, but I couldn't help but notice you were hanging out with Sam over there." His voice was deep and manly, he was easily six feet tall, and his clean shaven face revealed a handsome, chiseled jawline. Roy couldn't help but feel a little bit intimidated.

"Uh, hey. Yeah, it's my first time coming here with her. I'm Roy," he replied, awkwardly. What the hell did this guy want? And why did he know Sam?