The Art of Unopulence

09 | coquet

It's still dark outside when I drag myself out of the front door. The streetlights lining the road are still on and the faint purple and orange cracks in the sky is still preparing for the sun rays to filter through.

Nathaniel's leaning against the same spot on the railing, where he usually does every time he has to wait for me.

"Good morning Ariya." He smiles enthusiastically, pushing off the railing and standing straight.

Rubbing my eyes, I let out a quiet groan before patting my cheeks repeatedly to wake myself up completely. I squint at him, taking in his appearance with a flat expression.

"Not in the mood to be civil, Nathaniel." I mutter, bending down to lace my running shoes, "Just follow me without a word. We're going to the beach."

"The beach?" he asks, surprised, "Why did you ask me to wear this then?"

"Because we're not going sightseeing, for God's sake!" I reply, my annoyance obvious in my tone, "We're going to work out."

He looks at his outfit with a frown. He's wearing one of Dad's old workout t-shirts and a pair of loose black synthetic shorts.

Honestly, it was my intention to deliberately mess with Nathaniel by forcing him to wake up before six in the morning on a Saturday and put him into clothes that he'd probably never worn before. But it turns out that the joke was on me- Nathaniel is obviously a morning person, judging by his brimming enthusiasm and he doesn't look comical at all in the slightly oversized clothes he was wearing. In fact, I notice that his legs were pretty toned and he is one of those people who could pull off a faded large tee with absolute finesse.

With a quiet huff, I break into a jog and motion for Nathaniel to follow me, on my usual route.

I normally prefer to go for a run in the evening before the high tide sets in, so the beach looks weirdly unfamiliar with everything looking brighter than I'm used to.

"I'm going to run without shoes on the sand." I state, as we reach the edge of the sandy edge of the beach, "You can run with the shoes on if you want but the sand normally gets in."

I kick off my running shoes and shift them on a rocky depression with my foot, where they remain partially hidden.

"I suppose I do not want to dirty your father's spare shoes." He nods, carefully unlacing them and pulling them off before placing them side by side next to mine.

"Right, that reminds me that we need to go shopping for a new wardrobe for you today." I suppress a yawn, "After lunch maybe. I really need to have a nap after breakfast."

"Okay, is there anything else we're doing today?" he asks with a chuckle, "Because I might have to tweak my schedule accordingly then."

"You have a fucking schedule?" I scoff, jumping in my place to warm up, "No wait, you're you so I don't even know why I'm surprised. Also, just because you happen to be a morning person, you do not need to rub it into my face."