A Slice of Life

Are you asking me to go down on my knees?

"I need to go to the gym."

Those were words Aleksei had never expected to come out of his mouth. If he exercised, it was always outdoors. Walking or cycling or whatever. He just wasn't the type to sit in a gym and stare at his own reflection while grunting like a tennis player and flexing. Mostly because there wasn't that much to flex, and rumor had it ribs didn't count as abs.

Aleksei didn't like gyms. Yet, "I need to go to the gym" was exactly what Aleksei told his older brothers Mark and Stepan that morning. They (the real gym addicts) had nearly snorted milk out of their noses laughing and jokingly asked if he knew it was nothing like a Pokemon gym. But thankfully, they agreed to let him tag along.

Aleksei had to hold back from rolling his eyes and telling them to shut up when they explained different gym devices on the way there. Like he was actually planning on using them. He just wanted to go there for one reason: a guy he'd brought pizza to and apparently was obsessed enough with to follow to the gym.

It was purely coincidental— okay, let's not lie. There was nothing coincidental about the fact that Aleksei went to the exact same park every day to play Pokemon Go. It paid off on day three, when Aleksei picked up a tidbit of knowledge about Sam.

Aleksei only liked Pokemon gyms. Sam, however, appeared to prefer the real ones. Yesterday, Aleksei had been too late to run into Sam, but he did spot him cycle through the park and then stop in front of the nearby gym.

And here Aleksei was, on the doorstep of a building he never knew he wanted to enter.

"Hey Aleksei." Mark elbowed him in the ribs. "I just wanted to warn you: there's going to be a lot of nice and sweaty guys in there."

"You can't drool all over them like you do with the athletes on tv, okay? Behave," Stephan added.

"Ugh!" was all Aleksei replied, dragging a hand across his face while his brothers laughed at him.

The things he'd put up with to see Sam again.

Right now, he was just glad his brothers couldn't look into his head. If they knew how desperately and pathetically hard he was crushing on a guy he barely knew, they'd have a field day.

Aleksei wished he was having a field day. Outside. Indoor gym devices were a complete mystery to him.

Aleksei looked around the exercise space in confusion. What was he supposed to do with all these things? And what the hell, why were the leg devices placed opposite each other? They could all awkwardly make eye contact with each other while sitting on it and making a movement where legs go wide, wide open.

Wait, stationary bikes. Finally something he recognised. Aleksei made a beeline for the bike to look busy and then scan the room for Sam.

"Running straight to the cardio? I know you're gay, but you don't have to be that gay," Mark joked.

"Shut up," was Aleksei's stellar comeback, but it was enough to make Mark shrug and walk to the free weights with Stepan. They shared a laugh, undoubtedly at his expense, but Aleksei didn't really care.

Sam was just about to start another set, while Jordy took a seat after his own set, when he heard laughing in the room. Sam didn't really like loud people in the gym. Whenever there were people who made noise, they mostly turned out to be the braggy kind of people. But when he turned around to look, he saw two guys laughing, and walking away from none other than Aleksei.

Surprised at his presence—Sam had never seen him in here before—he dropped a dumbbell on the floor, and Jordy cursed because he didn't expect that to happen. Of course, Jordy instantly turned to see what had caused Sam to drop it in the first place.