Gym with Dominic and Arthur

“I’m flattered, but I kind of already had another commitment,” you say. “Any chance that we could do this later in the day? Say, over lunch?”

“Oh no, the timing wouldn’t work out… the deadline’s right at noon,” Jeanne says. “But that’s ok, there was somebody else that I met at the Fiji party last night that I think would work out.”

“Hey, I was there, I didn’t catch you then,” you say.

“Yeah, me neither! I would have dragged you over to DJ instead of the lame guy who was up there if I’d seen you! But anyways, got to find this other guy now, so bye,” she says, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

You head over to the gym in a couple of minutes after packing a fresh change of clothes and meeting up with Dominic and Arthur in the lounge.

“So, how much d’you bench?” Arthur asks.

“A reasonable amount,” you reply. “But I was planning to mostly do cardio and core, since I just worked out yesterday.”

“Hah, an interesting approach. We’ll see who comes out of the gym with a girl,” Arthur says, and Dominic shakes his head.

“Can you not conceive of a world where somebody goes to the gym for, you know, fitness reasons?” he asks.

Arthur takes a moment to pause and think, and then shakes his head. “Dude, what’s the point of being fit? There’s literally no benefit. It’s all in the aesthetics.”

You shrug, and are glad to have an excuse to peel off to the track at the side, where you’re planning to do some laps. Dominic waves his goodbye, but to your surprise, Arthur follows alongside you.

“I thought you were going to bench some metal?” you ask, a little confused.

“I was, until I saw those twin hotties,” he replies, pointing at two blonde girls keeping pace with another at the far end of the track. Though it’s a bit hard to make out features at this distance, they look like the twins from the soccer tryouts yesterday. “How much do you bet I make it out with both of them on my arm, and you with none?”

“We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?” you say, finishing up some quick stretches. The two of you jog onto the track, and you set an easy pace, just warming up. The two of you cover a lap without difficulty, and you admit you’re a tiny bit surprised. It’s not a long distance to be running, and it is a relatively slow pace, but from Arthur’s attitude earlier, you would have guessed that he’d be panting by now. As it is, there’s only a little more of a heft to his breath, and that’s about it.

You speed up a little for the second lap, setting a pace that's now barely faster than the one the twins, still on the opposite side of the track, are running. One of them points at the two of you and says something inaudible to her twin, and the two of them exchange a few words.

“Bet they’re talking about my chiselled figure,” Arthur says between breaths. You’ve rounded the second lap, and have closed about a quarter of the gap between you and the girls. Faster, then.

You pick up the pace once more, the length of your stride broadening, and Arthur follows suit, falling into a comfortable rhythm as your feet pound against the ground. It’s a little more than a minute before you round the track for a third time, with only one-third the distance between you and the girls remaining. They’re well within hearing range now, and Arthur seems to take notice of the fact.

“You run like a girl, Alex. Cant you go any faster?” Arthur scoffs, speeding up considerably. You don’t try to match him, and he soon outstrips you, sprinting to catch up to the twins in a matter of seconds.

“What’s up… ladies…” Arthur pants between breaths. Funny how his form has noticeably deteriorated over the last thirty seconds or so, even as he tries to puff out his chest for the girls.

“Hey, do you run much?” one of the twins asks.

“A decent… amount,” Arthur says, “unless I’m… working out… these bad boys…” He lifts up an arm and flexes, showing off a decent amount of muscle.

The twins share a look, before the other responds: “You sure you don’t need a breather? You look like you could use one.”

Katie & Khloe

Arthur shakes his head and presses on, just as you catch up and run abreast of them. You’ve been preparing a line in your head this whole time - now’s your chance to deliver it!

Jeanne -5
Dominic +5
Arthur +1