InsaneJournal

What Fates Impose, That Men Must Needs Abide
Who: Richard and Alexandria
What: Alexandria is out for an early morning swim.  Richard is out for a run.
Where: The Pax beach
When: Saturday, October 8, 2011, around 6 am
Warnings: Language


Richard was awake and in bed.  This was odd, because he had just been...

Oh what the fuck, brain? Dreams about monsters and giants he could handle.  Wandering through the arctic tundra was probably just some sort of misplaced longing for Chicago.  He was actually starting to enjoy the ones about being a bird.  But this? This was not okay.

He had never even ridden a horse!

At least it was done now.  He rolled over to eye the alarm clock. and a red 6:00 stared back at him, digital lines filled with mockery.  So much for his grand plans of sleeping in. He wasn't even drowsy anymore, much less tired enough to get back to sleep (not that he would want to pick up that dream where it had left off).  Burying his face in the nearest pillow, Richard considered his options.  What did people do when they were awake before the sunrise on a weekend?

Well if he was going to put it like that, the answer seemed obvious.  Less appealing than dosing himself with Nyquil and burying himself under the blankets, but obvious nonetheless.  Richard crawled out of bed and threw on the essentials- a t-shirt, some hideous shorts, a pair of sneakers. They weren't anything he would wear in front of people, but they were comfortable enough that he could run through his stretching routine without having them ride up in unusual places.  Jogging, he decided, would keep him from thinking about his dreams, which would keep him from wondering about some severe and immediate need for psychiatric help.  It might even have the added benefit of wearing him out enough to go back to bed.  "And if I'm very very good," he grumbled to himself, filling his pockets with the essentials, "maybe I can even get some normal dreams for a change.  Put in a request for some superheroes and being naked in class."  With a skeptical snort he locked the door and headed down the stairs for the beach.

The view was almost enough to make it worthwhile.  Richard had spent most of his life near Lake Michigan and the light of the sunrise hitting the water made him homesick.  The ocean was a different beast- it smelled and it was huge in a way that Michigan couldn't touch- but that made it worse.  The only thing he could see for miles was that island, and that was what he kept his eyes on as he jogged down towards it.

Except for that thing by the shoreline.  He squinted, picking up the pace a little.  Yeah, definitely a swimmer.  Didn't they have undertows and things like that on ocean beaches?  Swimming alone seemed like a really bad idea, regardless.  He had seen Jaws, after all.  Richard hustled up to the waterline and called out at the figure. "Hey out there!  Hey!  Shouldn't you have a lifeguard or a life preserver or something?"