Arthur always arrived as soon as the pool opens. He had the locker room all to himself. It was quiet and private. Under the noise of the shower, he could even sing.
"Confront your enemies, avoid them when you can, a gentleman will walk but never run..." He trailed off. He could've sworn he heard someone talking to the woman at the front desk. But no one else was ever here this early on a Thursday.
"If manners maketh man, as someone said, then he's the hero of the day," There were footsteps in the locker room. He froze.
"Hey, who's singing in there?" He heard a sound like a bag of crisps being opened. "Not to make you self-conscious, you sound great," crunch, "You could be on a reality TV show or something!"
As the interloper would say, fuck. Before Arthur could run and hide in a bathroom stall or something, Alfred strode into the shower room.
"Oh, it's you, Artie!" Arthur, who did not appreciate being nicknamed, flushed.
"Don't be shy. I like that song." He turned on the shower next to Arthur's. "How does it go... Be yourself, no matter what they say! BE YOURSELF, NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY!"
They can probably hear him in the Omegaverse, Arthur thought, shrinking towards the nearest corner.
"Hey, Artie, could I borrow your shampoo?" Arthur grabbed it and thrust it at him. Their fingers touched. He looked up in surprise to see Alfred smiling at him. Bollocks, it's going to be one of those fanfics, he thought. My perfect morning is utterly ruined.
The bottle of shampoo slipped through Arthur's soapy fingers and landed on Alfred's toe. "FUCKING-" he yelled and kicked the bottle.
It landed on Arthur's foot. "BLOODY -" His eyebrows quivered.
"HELL!" they finished together.
Arthur was mortified.