One of the many reasons that Phil and Dan decided to return to Willow Creek was because, last time they were here, they hadn't really appreciated everything to the fullest extent.
They'd missed out on going to Oasis Springs, they'd taken for granted the beauty of the whole place, and they'd hardly done anything at the spa.
So today, Dan made it his goal to experience all of the tranquil services that the spa had to offer.
Looking about the top floor, Dan contemplated where to head first.
The sauna seemed like a good idea for a few seconds, but then he was forced to remember the time where he fell over in a sauna a few years ago. He still wasn't ready to risk re-living that.
Yoga was out-of-the-question as they were both quite socially awkward and there was nobody else around, so the instructor would be solely focused on watching them, so no mistake would go un-noticed.
Besides, neither he nor Phil were the most flexible people in the world.
Maybe they wouldn't be able to experience all the facilities after all.
The only thing that left were the massage rooms and the baths.
And this was the moment that Dan remembered that there were mud baths.
He snickered, quietly, to himself before suggesting this idea to Phil, who looked back at him, surprised and somewhat anxious.
"I think you're forgetting the fact that there are two of these baths and that they are in the same room, within a short distance of each-other," Phil pointed out, shakily tightening the belt on his robe.
Dan gave a scoff and flicked his wrist,
"Doesn't it sound fun?" He hummed, and heard Phil sigh but begrudgingly agree. Besides, what else was there to do, really? He hated people touching his feet, so he wasn't about to get a foot massage or anything like that.
"Doesn't mud decrease hygiene?" Phil asked, remembering the time that they sent the Howlters here.
"We're not Sims, Phil, I don't think it really has any effect on us. There are always rose petals for after…" Dan reasoned.
Phil rolled his eyes as they stepped into the room containing the baths, but couldn't help but be relaxed by the soft candlelight.
He felt his eyes start to drift closed as he watched his friend admire the decoration and the shelves with candles set about on them.
Phil didn't trust the candles not to set fire to the wooden ledges above them, but he supposed that if something was going to burn down, it would have by now.
He leaned back on the wall, tiredly, and read the description on the back of a reed diffuser as Dan started to run the tap.
It was only after he had filled the whole tub and mixed in the strangely inviting sludge that he realised he was way too tall to fit in it.
"I seem to have discovered a problem," he breathed.
Phil choked on his own laughter as he watched him attempt to fit in the small bath, to no avail.
"What a massive waste of time…" Phil sniggered, closing his eyes, knowing he was wise to wait.
He opened his eyes again and looked across to see that Dan was past his knees in sludge, and even the fringes of his shorts were muddied.
Phil couldn't tell whether his expression was one of annoyance or one of secretly plotting something.
He didn't really have time to react before Dan chucked a handful of mud into his face.
"Oi, oi!" Phil swallowed, flinching and wiping the dirt from around his mouth. He didn't favour the taste of soil, really.
He almost managed to bend out of the way of a second lot of mud, too, but was a second too slow.
"Dan! Stop it – the staff are going to kick us out!" He half laughed and half hissed. He wasn't wholly joking, either. Though, the staff would probably kick them out just seeing Dan's bright green shorts, regardless of muddied floors.
"There aren't any staff about," Dan argued, staring into Phil's wide and genuinely worried eyes.
After a few seconds, though, Phil's gaze softened and he shrugged, ducking past Dan to grab a handful of sludge to toss at his friend.
His main priority was not getting the robe he was wearing all covered in dirt, because he didn't want the spa people getting all mad at him.
"It's on!" Dan grinned, and so ensued a full-on mud fight.
Thankfully, most ended up on Dan and not on the floor or on the windows, but still Phil couldn't help but wonder whether the people in the house across the road were watching and wondering what they were doing.
Not that he minded – he was too busy winning a mud mêlée.
Being thinner, smaller and somewhat more agile, made him a good bit harder to hit, and so he managed to dodge out of the way of most of his friend's shots, though most of the times where he did get hit, it was in his face.
They ended their battle, though, when they heard footsteps walking up the stairs.
Just in time, too, as Dan had covered his arms in sludge and was about to attack with a bear hug where no white fabrics would get out alive.
And after cleaning themselves off and scrubbing the mucky stains off the robes, both Phil and Dan realised that the point of going to a spa was to relax and they hadn't been doing a whole lot of that.
So they headed to the massage rooms where they almost fell asleep on the soft, cushion-y beds, engulfed by the smells of essential oils and completely mud-free.
They couldn't speak to each other during it, but they both secretly smiled as they lay there.
Because this was nothing like February, and they were both immensely glad.