Bravo Delta Charlie (Patreon)

It was hard to like exercising when there were a million other activities that you could do that didn’t involve so much effort and sweat. But looking good and having the body that you want didn’t come in a cereal box. Since Charlie wanted to maintain the appearance he had, he had to go to the gym somewhat frequently. He hated the crowds of people at the gym, too, especially the creeps who would try and get him to go to the showers with them. He found that there were a lot fewer creeps earlier in the day, so he made a promise to himself to go to the gym at least three mornings a week. 

His cute little mouse feet thumped on the treadmill as the newest song by Alex Marx the Spot played through his earbuds into his big ears. That tigress sure knew how to make songs that were great to work out to. He stared at his own reflection in a distant window and occasionally wiped the sweat off his forehead. The faster the song got, the faster he ran, but when the song slowed down to a stop he still kept going in anticipation of the next song. 

“Huff…” the mouse boy let out huffs and sighs as he increased the speed of the treadmill. He made sure that the magnetic safety puck was close by just in case it became too fast for him to keep up. Despite his rather petite figure, he was very fast, but he would much rather be safe than sorry, especially when there was a risk of flying off the treadmill and across to the other side of the room. If that were to happen, he’d at least hope someone had it on video, maybe he'd become one of those TikTok stars that way. 

He continued his cardio workout for another half-hour before he stopped the treadmill, stepped off it to the side, and pulled bend over to grab a small towel for his face from his bag. He pressed the towel into his face while still bent over and slowly stood back up straight after he pressed his face into it a few times. Music still blasting into his big ears, he began to softly sing along to the song that was playing He slung the towel over his shoulder and took a sip of coconut water that he had brought with him when he made eye contact with a large and buff wolf guy who was doing bench presses without a spotter on the other side of the gym. He was either living dangerously and intentionally showing, incredibly stupid or both. He looked like your typical gym buff, or a gym addict almost. His body was very well-sculpted, he was muscled from head to toe, but not in the “bara” type of way. While Charlie usually did his best to ignore people like that, it was very hard not to look just a little bit here and there. Especially since this particular wolf was shirtless, in just a pair of gym shorts that showed a bunch of things dangling around, and was looking right back at him. 

The eye contact between them was brief but it was enough to make the pink-cream-colored mouse’s cheeks turn a very light shade of red and for him to take one too many gulps of his coconut water and choke on it. He quickly pulled the bottle away from his lips and set it down safely on the floor as he coughed.

The wolf started to chuckle from the other side of the room, put the weights he was lifting back up on the hooks, and pushed himself up onto his feet. He did a few stretches to both relax his muscles after his hefty set and flex in front of the mouse that he was clearly interested in before he walked across the room over to the treadmills. 

Charlie had turned away from the wolf to cough and didn’t realize that he was approaching him. The loud electropop music in his ears didn’t help him either, so he didn’t even hear the thumps from the wolf’s feet as he got closer and closer to him. When the mouse was done coughing, he turned around, just to knock himself to the ground by turning way too hard and bumping right into the taller wolf’s bare naked torso. His earbuds fell out of his ears right after his face smooshed against the canine’s well-defined pecs and he let out a soft squeak as he landed on his ass. Luckily, the gym floor was covered in rubber flooring that cushioned his fall just a tad. Still, he was dazed and confused for a good five or six seconds after falling. 

“Guhhh…” Charlie shook his head and blinked before he looked left and right for his earbuds that he couldn’t feel in his ears anymore. He patted the floor around him almost in a panic. 

The wolf responsible for causing the fall didn’t stay still and was quick to kneel down and pick up the two white earbuds. He then gently grabbed the mouse’s hand and placed them in his palm. “Are you alright? Sorry about that, I didn’t notice you had earbuds in, I thought you would have heard me walking over.” He chuckled and rested his arm over his knee after placing the two loose buds into the cute boy’s hand. 

“Hah, sheesh, I’m such an idiot, this is embarrassing.” He shook his head over and over once he recovered a bit from his fall. He shifted his legs around to sit on his knees and slipped his earbuds into the back pocket of his tight yoga pants. Now that Charlie was on his knees, the bulge in those yoga pants he wore became a lot more noticeable. “Thank you, don’t want to lose these.” 

The canine’s eyes darted down to the mouse’s crotch for just a split second as the bulge there became more prominent, but he was quick to bring his eyes back to meet with the rodent’s just in time for him to thank him. “Eh, no biggie. I’d rather you not lose them as well; I would have had to buy you a new pair and I hear they cost a fortune… What are they called? Airpads?” 

Charlie started to chuckle a bit at the incorrect name the big wolf called his white earbuds, “Airpods, and yeeeeah they’re kind of pricey.” He continued to chuckle for a few more seconds when he heard “Airpads” repeat in his head. He had to know what Airpods were, right? These things were in people’s ears everywhere. Was he intentionally trying to get him to laugh? Was he flirting? Either way, it was working on him and he couldn’t keep his amber eyes off of that shirtless flirty hunk. He started playing with his ponytail to stop his hands from doing anything awkward in front of the handsome canine. His fingers combed through his light brown hair as a smile slowly grew across his face. 

The hunky wolf knew exactly what effect he had on the poor little mouse, but he wasn’t cocky with it. Instead, he radiated charm, the type of charm associated with your typical fictional Prince Charming character, just with a little bit of a bad boy edge, especially when he smiled and showed off those pearly whites of his oh-so smugly. His lips morphed into that smug smile slowly and he glanced down at the mouse’s bulged-out yoga pants again. This time his gaze lingered even after he started talking. 

“So, what’s a pretty girl like you doing here working out all by herself?” he asked as he tilted his head to the side slightly and brought his gaze up to Charlie’s face. 

A soft squeak escaped Charlie when the wolf called him a pretty girl and his cheeks flushed a hot red. While the compliment was flattering, for sure, the mouse didn’t want the wolf going into this little flirting thing with a very BIG misunderstanding about what was between his legs. He continued to twirl his hair in between his fingers but looked away from the wolf for a few seconds to muster up the courage to tell him that he had the very wrong idea here. 

“Oh, haha, I’m not a girl… If you haven’t noticed… Uh…” he looked out the corners of his eyes nervously. The more he talked, the more he played with his hair, and the redder his cheeks became. Shyly, he pointed down to the very obvious bulge in his athleticwear. His tail slid its way over to rest by his right leg, the end of it curling around the area where his knee rested.  Charlie was expecting the wolf to look surprised at the revelation, but there was none of that. The smug smile that started spreading on his face a few moments before was still plastered all over and got even smugger, even. 

“Oh, I know… I can see you’re packing heat… So am I.” The wolf grabbed his crotch with his hand and gave it a squeeze and tug before he winked at him. “I was hoping we could compare, y’know. I’m a bit competitive.” He grinned. 

Charlie couldn’t help himself and looked at the wolf’s crotch when he squeezed it. Wide-eyed like a kid going to the world’s largest candy store with an unlimited budget, he was very ready to do the thing he swore he’d never do; hook up with someone in the gym showers. 

“C-Compare?” he stuttered. 

“Mhmm, see who has the bigger one…” the wolf winked again. He then craned his head down to direct a whisper towards the mouse’s big Starlink dish ears. “Mine comes with a fat knot, too, if you’re into that…” 

Charlie’s face turned as red as a ripe and juicy tomato in the Sicilian tomato fields. He let out a soft squeak before he nodded. “O-Okay, we can do that…” 

The wolf grinned, stood up, and extended one of his large hands out to the mouse to help him up onto his feet. “C’mon, then… I know a spot where we can compare in private.” Charlie looked at his hand in awe for just a moment before he put his hand into the wolf’s and let him pull him to his feet. The wolf was able to do so effortlessly, pulling the mouse to his feet and using that same arm to wrap around his shoulder and pull him close as they began walking towards the gym showers. 

“So, what’s your name?” the wolf asked Charlie. 

“Charlie!” the mouse replied very excitedly. “What about you?”

“I’m Joe. Charlie is a cute name, it suits you.” He gave his shoulder a firm squeeze.

“Thank you!” the mouse squeaked happily. 

Charlie’s tail raised up high and the wolf’s wagged behind him as they disappeared into the showers together.

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Art by Sogolina