Coffee and Gym

David woke up to the soft rays of morning light filtering through the curtains, his arm draped over Kaede's warm, sleeping form.

Both of them lay completely bare, as they had come into this world, the remnants of last night's intimacy lingering in the air.

He gently untangled himself from her, trying not to wake her as he slipped out of bed.

The cool air hit his skin as he stretched, feeling the slight ache in his muscles.

He was tired, but not in a bad way.

Walking across the room, he grabbed his boxers but forgot about his shirt as he padded down to the kitchen.

His bare feet felt cold against the tile floor, a sharp contrast to the warmth of the bedroom.

He lazily filled the kettle, the sound of water running a calming backdrop to the quiet morning.

As he waited for his coffee, he caught a glimpse of himself in the reflective surface of the fridge.

David paused, taking in his appearance.

This body… it wasn't anything like the one he had in his old life. Not nearly as toned, not as shaped.

"Right," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Old David didn't go to the gym."

The thought lingered as he frowned slightly at his reflection.

It wasn't like he needed to be a hulking muscle man, he never was , but… it wouldn't hurt to work on it to keep his shape.

With a silent mental note, he added go to the gym to his list of things to start doing.

He turned away, only to stop midway through his motion, then called out to the system.

"System, with this half-Cybertronian body, can I even gain muscle like a normal human? Or is this physique locked in?"

———————

"Muscle shape in the organic form can be altered through traditional physical training. However, your Cybertronian strength remains unaffected by muscle growth. The appearance of muscles is inconsequential to your base power output."

———————

David exhaled, a small chuckle escaping his lips. Right, Of course.

His strength was already way beyond any normal human. It didn't matter how " buff " he looked—he could still punch through steel with ease.

But even knowing that, he couldn't help but feel that old human instinct to want to look a certain way.

"Still might hit the gym," he muttered under his breath as the kettle signaled his coffee being done.

Grabbing a mug, he poured himself some coffee and leaned against the counter, sipping slowly.

As he watched the steam rise from his cup, his thoughts drifted back to the bed upstairs, where Kaede still slept peacefully.

It was too early to wake her up, so he decided to make himself busy elsewhere.

---

David leaned back against the cold steel of the rooftop railing, his thoughts drifting away from the city below and back to the ARG he had been orchestrating.

The whole thing had taken off far better than he expected.

The forums were buzzing, speculation was rampant, and fans were dissecting every frame, every cryptic message. His plan was working.

But now he had to figure out how to end it.

He had two more releases lined up for his part, and Nokotan had three streams ready, which would gradually build up the tension even further.

Her streams were a crucial part of the puzzl.

The viewers were hooked on it. They could sense something wrong, but they couldn't quite put their finger on what.

David smirked. The pacing was just right. The slow descent into horror. The ambiguity. But he needed to nail the conclusion. Something that would leave an impact.

Two options played in his mind. The first, more straightforward ending would be to show the monster dead—vanquished, defeated.

A neat conclusion. It would give viewers the catharsis they were likely craving after all the buildup.

The mystery would have its answer, the threat neutralized. But was that really the most satisfying way to go?

The second option was darker. Leave the viewers with an unsettling sense that the monster still lurked in the shadows.

It would be more ambiguous, more terrifying in its uncertainty. The idea of ending the ARG with a lingering sense of dread, implying that no one was truly safe, had its own appeal.

It would drive the fanbase crazy with theories. They'd wonder if more was coming, and the tension would never quite break.

He liked that idea more. The second option played into the eerie, creeping dread that had made the project so successful so far.

But it also had to be subtle. He couldn't be too heavy-handed. Maybe the final video would show the monster's supposed corpse, only for something to shift ever so slightly in the background. Or maybe a blink-and-you'll-miss-it detail that suggested it wasn't really gone at all.

David nodded to himself. He'd go with the second option.

It fit better with the tone they'd established, and it would leave the viewers haunted, unsure if they'd ever really seen the end of it.

But for now, it was time to keep quiet. The next few releases would slowly ramp up the unease, each video getting creepier, leaving him radio silent to fuel the speculation.

His fans wouldn't hear from him outside the uploads, only Nokotan's increasingly unnerving streams and a growing sense of dread.

That seemed like a good plan.

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Short chapter cause i have a headache and today i am sleeping early.

Stones and Reviews please

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