Work Text:
“Phil, could you please take the pheal for a swim? Phey are whining at the door and I do not want to clean up a mess today.” Dan’s voice echoed up the stairs to where Phil was bobbing in the kitchen. Shit.
“Yup, sorry!” Phil mumbled back, as loudly as he could around a mouth of barnacle-o’s. The kitchen was a mess. He’d spilled the cereal when pouring and hadn’t put the algae milk away yet either. Well, if he was going to leave Dan with either a Pheal mess or a Phil mess he was pretty sure Dan would pick the Phil mess. He managed to close one of the open cabinet doors on his glide downstairs to the exit.
Pheal was spinning in circles at the door, excited to get out. Phil grabbed the keys and held the door open as phey darted outside and to the aquascaping on the corner for a good long sniff.
At this point he had two options. He could rush the swim around the block to try to make it back and upstairs before Dan found his mess. Or they could take a nice slow paddle, and drag out this peace as long as possible before he got a face full of an angry merman. Considering there was a chance that Dan could have already found the mess, meaning he might get himself all hot and tired on a rushed swim and still get in trouble, he opted for the latter.
The pheal preferred a slow swim regardless. Phey weren’t exactly aerodynamic, and was quite used to Phil’s lackadaisical pace. If anyone asked he was dragging his fins for pheir sake.
When Phil creaked open the door to the house all was quiet. Maybe he had a chance. He inched his way up the stairs, trying to still any currents that could have alerted Dan to his presence. He was so focused on checking for Dan in the lounge that he almost flipped out of his skin seeing him glowering from the kitchen. Still surrounded by Phil’s mess.
“Babe,” Dan said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “You said you had a handle on the chores today. I told you yesterday it had been a long week. I was tired. You’re the one who suggested I finally get back into my airscaping today. So why. Do I. Still have to clean up the mess. In the one specific part of the house I need to be in for airscaping!?”
Phil gave his sweetest smile. “I was going to get right back to it, as soon as we got back! I wasn’t expecting you to clean it up for me.”
Dan glowered. “You’re lying out of your gills.”
Phil pouted and glided up so he could wrap his arms around his boyfriend, hands landing on his ass to give him a friendly grope. “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you. Do you want me to be your little dolphin tonight?”
Dan smacked his hand away. “You can make it up to me by cleaning it up! And trim the house-algae, Wig has been chewing on it and you know that’s going to make him throw up all over the carpets.”
Phil pouted. “Fine. Offer still stands if you change your mind.”