Chapter Text
- How come I end up where I started
How come I end up where I went wrong -
"It's been an hour, let's stop," Dan panted beside Phil.
"It hasn't even been 30 minutes, come on, Dan."
Dan looked to his left, expecting Phil to look just as much of a sweaty and exhausted mess as Dan currently did, but Phil was jogging along on the treadmill with barely a drop of sweat in sight. Dan let out a strained breath and jabbed at the buttons on his own treadmill until it slowed to a walking pace. "It's been at least 40 and I'm ready for death," he said, taking a swig from his water bottle.
Phil shrugged and kept jogging. "It's because you don't ease in to it, you need to work up the speed slowly, Dan. Not just pound it out immediately."
"That's not what you said last night."
Phil swatted at Dan's arm and looked around the gym. They were alone. He swatted Dan again, anyway. "Shh!"
Dan wiped his arm across his forehead and studied himself in the mirror that took up the wall in front of them. "Have I ever looked like more of a drowned rat?" He turned his head left to right, checking all angles while adjusting his damp curls.
"Have I ever looked like more of a ripe tomato?"
"Can a ripe tomato be purely white?"
They watched each other in the mirror, Phil jogging as Dan strolled, smiling.
"I'm gonna tell Kyle you're not doing it right," Phil said.
Dan rolled his eyes. He pushed more buttons until the treadmill stopped and he gingerly stepped off of the track and immediately laid down on the floor, focusing on his breath and his heartbeat, willing them both to slow down.
"If we get a dog, how are you gonna walk it every day?"
Dan rolled onto his side and propped himself up on one elbow, watching Phil as he continued to jog with ease.
"'If?' I think you mean when."
"Yes, when we get a dog, walking it is a daily thing, you know."
"Phil, there's a difference between taking a dog for a relaxing stroll around the block and jogging for an hour on a treadmill."
"Well, what if the dog wants to run?"
Dan dropped back down onto the floor with a quiet groan, even just watching someone else exercise was exhausting. He closed his eyes. "We'll get it a hamster ball." Dan smiled at the sound of Phil's giggle in response.
"We should get you a hamster ball."
Dan nodded. "That would be a good video." He opened his eyes at the sound of beeping; Phil was lowering his treadmill speed to a leisurely pace. He motioned at Dan to join him.
"10 more minutes of cool down, just walk with me."
Dan pouted. "But I'm doing yoga," he whined.
"Dan, come on."
Dan got up and set his treadmill to the lowest setting and walked alongside Phil. He watched Phil's face in the mirror as he said, "I was thinking we could get in an after-workout workout in the showers. I've been saving my energy."
Phil met his eyes and then looked around the still-empty room. "I don't think this place is going to stay deserted that long."
"Ew, Phil. Hygiene. I meant a home workout."
Phil jabbed at the buttons to stop the treadmill and in a second was at Dan's machine to stop his, too. "That was close enough to 10 minutes, I feel cooled down, you look cooled down, let's go."
Dan had to jog the entire way home to keep up with Phil.