Lakeside:Theodore/Hugh
With the late sunsets of summer Hugh hadn't yet given up his walks on the lake with Heart, something he'd typically done earlier in the day when he'd been still pretending that he was writing a screenplay as a form of punishment for past bad choices. And with Spamalot completed, his schedule felt positively relaxed even with the daily rehearsals for the show in the Capital which would open later this month. He was no longer running off two evenings a week and on weekends, and tonight was one of those open nights where he was allowing Heart to run without her lead, letting her dart ahead of him and then return.
If it were later in the evening, he'd be more careful, still not entirely at ease with the uncertainty of Repose, or if there were likely to be more people around, but there weren't typically, and they weren't so far from home.
She could roam a little.
Hugh stuck his hands in the pockets of the military green joggers he'd slipped on earlier for rehearsal, as they allowed the coveted status of looking both fashionable, and allowing freedom of movement while he was on stage, and enjoyed the sound of the water lapping gently against the shoreline.
He didn't always seek out solitude, and god only knew he'd had enough of it the past year, but it was easier when he had a reason to be out and to get dressed and to pour himself into creating something that would hopefully provide entertainment. It was less lonely than he'd been at this time last year, when the weight of the year previous had been the shadow over everything he'd done. That didn't mean he wasn't still lonely. He'd been used to living in a city, surrounded by theatre colleagues, and university friends, and clubs and bars, and all the people he'd had the potential to meet along the way. And despite the fact that he found himself unwilling to leave Repose just yet, he still wasn't always certain he and the culture of the town mixed - and that didn't just mean the things that he couldn't quite explain - it was something else that felt even less tangible. But if for nearly a year he'd been hiding, this summer had ended that, and he'd begun to make some other friends - and it felt right to be back on stage. And even with his heart still bruised from everything he'd hoped for with Hannah, he was beginning to feel that he could breathe.
It occurred to him as he stepped over a root that he hadn't heard from the dog for a moment, and so he glanced up, eyes suddenly sharp and wary. It was still light, and he didn't expect things to bother them during the daylight, but it was Repose.
"Heart?" his call threaded through the trees, and he called again, and then the movement caught his eye, down less in the trees and more along the beach itself, and he scrambled in that direction careful to avoid mud on the leather boat shoes as he did so. He reached the beach, stepped onto the sand, and the chocolate lab came bounding towards him and it was then he noticed the man there. "I'm so sorry," he immediately apologized. "I hope she wasn't bothering you."