Four to the floor, I was sure, never seeing clear

[Aaron Clarke]

((ooc: Let’s say it’s a park somewhere in London near Diagon Alley cos idk where to put this.))

Running shoes pounding rhythmically on the park’s path, largely ignoring the cars on the neighbouring road that appeared rushing by through the gaps in the bushes, Aaron Clarke slowed down into a jog as his iPod beeped suddenly, indicating the end of his run time. He breathed in steadily and deeply through his nose and stretched his arms out to knit his hands behind his head momentarily, opening his airways to start a cool down. After a rather trying day at the law office, most of it tied up in talks involving a stubborn client who refused to help their own case at all, he had no sooner got home and dumped his bag than he was anxiously pulling off his tie and shirt and reaching for his running stuff before that sense of claustrophobia and helplessness overwhelmed him. He’d just known if he hadn’t gotten out of doors and did something active right then, his frustration would have boiled over into one of his sullen moods that would have lasted for days until someone managed to talk him down from it. It was usually Cathy that took that role but she was busy rehearsing all week so there was no way he could have lived with himself if he’d had to admit to her that he could really use her company. Sometimes he thought maybe his close relationship with his younger sister was problematic. Equally problematic was ever allowing this kind of frustration to creep up on him, probably.

In this moment, however, he pushed any thoughts along those lines away and merely concentrated on taking deep controlled breaths so his heart rate returned to normal and his jog slowed entirely to a leisurely walk back through the park in the direction of his and Rose’s flat. He retracted his arms from behind his head and instead pulled the iPod buds from his ears, absent-mindedly flapping the bottom of his t-shirt slightly using his left hand, in the hope of cooling himself down some more, whilst his other distractedly dug around in his jogging bottoms’ pocket to find his iPod and silence the music entirely. He had no desire to listen to any dance track workout playlist for longer than he needed to for the sake of having a good beat rate for his running.

((ooc: Anyone, please?? They can run into him, can verbally abuse him, can try to dodge him but he catches their eye and makes convo. Anyone?))

[Professor Freeman]

Ever since school had let out for the summer, Geoff had been spending an inordinate amount of time at Rose's flat, and on this evening he'd decided it was finally time to get out and explore the area. Quite frankly, he didn't know what else to do with himself. Without daily structure in his life, he was left with nothing but nebulous, free-floating anxiety, and he'd grown desperate enough to actually consider -- shudder -- running.

What Geoff hadn't realized, however, was that running wasn't something one could effortlessly pick up on a whim. After ten wheezy minutes, he decided that his problem was not a lack of aerobic fitness, but rather a lack of music! He'd take a leisurely walk back to the flat, grab his iPod, dip into a music library eternally stuck in 1997, and be reborn as a gangly white Usain Bolt.

Or, alternatively: he'd bump into Aaron Clarke, strike up a conversation, and continue to successfully avoid exercise forever. Who needed running to relieve anxiety, anyway? That's what alcohol was for! "A-Man!" he shouted boisterously to get his attention. Geoff was rather fond of Aaron, even if most of his time was devoted trying to convince the man that he and his fiancee were fond of kinky threesomes and S&M dungeons. "So hey, I know nothing about this neighborhood. How likely are we to get mugged? And can we still be buds if I yell 'go for him, he's a rich lawyer!' and then run off into those trees?" he deadpanned.

[Aaron Clarke]

((ooc: Yay for Geoff face! :) So much extra Krasinksi love since that lip-sync battle.))

“Geoff face!” Aaron replied in an equally jokingly boisterous tone as he looked up and realised Rose’s fiancé was calling his name. He shoved his iPod back in his jogging bottoms’ pocket and dropped his hand from wafting his t-shirt which he decided was not appropriate in company. Never mind that that very morning Geoff had seen him emerge from the bathroom in a towel since the other bloke seemed to be hanging round the flat a lot now that Hogwarts was done for the summer. Not that Aaron found it odd that Geoff spent a lot of time around his fiancée’s flat, in fact he rather enjoyed the other guy’s company, when he wasn’t talking about hypothetical threesomes that is. Rose and Geoff were insanely fun and cute as a couple. Aaron had another person on which to test out some of his culinary experiments. Geoff had seen one too many tipsy karaoke sessions featuring Aaron’s flawless rendition of Taylor Swift. The point is, they’d seen each other in much more casual and personal scenarios but still Aaron didn’t feel like being a sweaty mess around him was appropriate. It was also hard for him to gauge the socially appropriate thing to say when you may or may not have accidentally heard things when returning from a late night trip to the bathroom the previous evening. So he decided to ignore it completely.

“I’m as clueless as you on the neighbourhood, to be honest,” Aaron admitted, “I have jogged here every evening and I have never been mugged. Yet. That’s a ringing endorsement and a half, I know,” he shrugged with a light laugh. Then, halting entirely, his brow furrowed slightly in a show of hurt. “Wait, you would leave me behind? That’s cold, mate, just cold-” he broke off as though choked with emotion, shaking his head in disappointment. He raised a hand then, “If we’re throwing each other under the bus, though, I’d like to point out that I am quick on my feet. All I need to know is how many minute mile you run and then I’ll know whether I could definitely escape muggers or not,” he reasoned good humouredly.

Absently crunching a stone under his foot he looked back at the other guy, “So you got tired of the flat…? And decided that running was the only other option?” Aaron questioned in confusion as Geoff seemed to be wearing running clothes. It was the first time he’d ever seen this so was understandably perplexed, especially given the grimace and alternatives Geoff had provided when Aaron cut their XBox marathon short to head out for his usual evening run one time. “I didn’t realise you jogged, you should’ve said, we can sync up!” he enthused with a friendly grin that resembled something of an overly affectionate puppy trying to make friends. Hey, he liked the guy, okay? “Oh, man. Do excuse the uh sweat situation for a minute,” he requested with an apologetic grimace as he pulled the bottom of his t-shirt up to wipe his face slightly, “Wow. That’s attractive as hell, I know,” he deadpanned as he smoothed it back down.