10:30 pm (Open.)

[Arlen]

10:30 pm

It was bitterly cold. Usual for this time of year in San Fransico? Arlen didn't know, nor did he really care. He had walked from the school campus, tired of studying. Tired of being alone and having nothing to do.
He had been staring at a picture of himself and Ajax for nearly an hour straight before he threw his fist into the wall. His knuckles still bled and his mind still raged. Such raw emotion was alien to Arlen...he was not used to such preocupations of the mind and it was quite clear it was getting to the young man.
In his rage he had slammed the door to his dorm so hard he was quite sure he heard the wooden frame splintered under the massive amount of pressure.

Arlen shook these thoughts from his head as he stood there in the half light. The waves gently lapped onto the sand, back and forth. Hypnotising almost. Arlen stood there in silence, his massive form casting a sizeable shadow over the pale sand of the shore.
Behind him was an old metal bin, holes had been punctured in it's side, Wood and old paper filled the bin. Arlen had found it in an unlit state. Taking a lighter from his pocket he lit multiple small fires in the bin and watched in silence as a blaze soon crackled to life. Giving Arlen light, and little heat.

At first Arlen thought he had desired solitude. He thought he simply wanted to get out and be alone. Well he was out, he was alone...still that wasn't good enough for him. His hand smarted from punching the wall. His mind was filled with so many rampant thoughts that it was starting to give him a headache.
Arlen needed to do something...anything.
Arlen removed his top, revealing the formidably muscular torso that was only moments ago concealed by the San Fransico 49ers hoody.
Dropping to his knee's he then placed his hands out before him and dropped onto them. Arlen placed his body in a perfect press up posistion and then he began. Each press up was slow, methodical. Simple.
Arlen needed repetition. He needed simplicity. He needed to calm his mind.
For anyone else in San Fransico this probably wasn't normal behaviour. Since losing Ajax, Arlen had not felt normal. His only release these days was via physical means.

[lazy]

I'm still wide awake. Normally, I'd be half asleep by now.

The landscape flashed before him, passing by at a relatively slow pace. The gunmetal S2000 rolled at about twenty miles per hour down the road leading to the beach, the road illuminated only by the HID headlights and street lamps. Even then, Kai felt as though he could not see more than a few yards from his front splitter. Kai sighed, and increased pressure on the gas. The car sped up slightly, eager to unleash the turbocharged four-cylinder terror beneath the hood. Finally, he reached the sign he'd been looking for, the sign telling him which way the beach was.

Up ahead, obviously, Kai thought wryly, and continued on. He looked up at the moon, which seemed to follow only him, as though it were interested in the teenager. I remember when I used to believe that, Kai thought with a slight smile, and coughed. He needed air. What better way than to drop the top? Slowing to a halt by the side of the road, he waited for the ragtop to fold away, and sped away again.

A few minutes later.

Kai was leaned against the front fender of his car, his right foot, clad in a pair of worn AF1's, resting on one of the five spokes of his lightweight rims. He shivered slightly. Not from the cold. He was wearing a red Ecko Hoodie, more than enough for a night out at the beach. It was from restlessness. He jammed his fingers into the pockets of his baggy black jeans and squeezed.

Fwoowf.

A soft sound reached his ears. He turned in the direction from where it came, and saw a flickering light not too far away, on the sandy area. Nothing better to do. This could turn out to be interesting. Another pyro? Kai thought, smiling slightly, and got up off the fender, and began to walk across the parking lot, to the source of the fire. As he neared it, he found someone doing press-ups repetitively, as though it were a way of meditation. Silently and quickly, he walked to the man, and when he was no farther than two yards away, he stopped, waiting for the man to acknowledge his presence.

[Arlen]

'Down past the right angle, make your nose touch the floor...Good...Hold it there for two seconds. Keep your body straight...Don't cheat yourself. Up...keep it slow, smooth controlled. Don't fully extend, it's bad for the joints and you're not getting any rest. Hold for one. Down again.'

Arlen was more machine than man as he smoothly drove himself up and then lowered himself back down. Ajax's words of motivation engraved in his mind. Arlen although he was merely imagining these words could have sworn that he could still hear his elder cousin. At times Ajax would place a foot between the shoulder blades of Arlen and exhurt a gradually increasing downward pressure.
Sweat dripped from the tip of Arlens nose, a small moist patch of sand forming where each sweat droplet landed. Arlens naked upper torso glistened in the flickering light offered by the burning bin. His limbs burned...his mind focused only on the perfect form of each press up. Arlen never counted. He didn't time himself. He only stopped if interupted or when he could do no more.

'You look tired...no pain no gain. You're better than this.'

Arlen heard Ajax's voice again. For some reason this renewed his strength. Fuelled his determination to improve himself, even now he wanted Ajax to be proud of him. Oddly enough Arlen wasn't religious at all, but he still felt as if Ajax was watching over him. It was this reason that Arlen pushed himself to the brink. The realisation that Ajax would never really be with him was something that only fuelled the emptiness he felt building inside of himself. A loneliness Arlen could not handle.
A soft noise behind him caused Arlen to open his eyes. The sand that was illuminated by the fire showed the tale tale signs of company. A dancing shadow leaping across the sand. Arlen stopped his methodical press ups and allowed himself to rest on his knee's. His breath short. He let out a slow breath as he stood up and turned to face the newcomer.

[lazy]

Kai waited for the man to stop and turn around. To his surprise, the stranger had felt his presence, and turned around to greet him just as he slowed to a halt. Kai's eyes automatically began to look this guy up and down. Definately not a guy I'd like to fight, Kai thought, looking at the perspiring muscles. Seems to be foreign too. I heard him whisper to himself a little while ago. Kai shifted his weight onto his left foot, his features heavily shadowed by the dancing flames.

"It's.... a bit late to be working out, isn't it?" Kai began, speaking softly, no sign of malice or sarcasm behind the words. "And to be on the beach.....," he trailed off, suddenly aware of the man's piercing stare. He had a way of looking at Kai. One that made him think he wasn't just a bodybuilder. He seemed to be getting strong for a reason.... just like every other teenager in this city. Maybe I should have travelled a bit more north like Travis suggested, Kai thought, remembering something his friend had told him.

"Go to Colorado," his friend had said over the phone. "Completely unsuspicious, and the chances of a terrorist attack are next to none,"[/i] he'd joked.

Maybe, Travis. The thought ran through his mind as he waited for this guy to answer him.

Maybe.

[Arlen]

There was a bried period of silence between the two individuals as they stood their on the beach on this cold San Fransico night. Perhaps the newcomer thought Arlen would adress him in some manner. Arlen chose to remain silent, wondering what the young man wanted. During this silence Arlen allowed his right hand to come and scratch at the back of his head, perhaps giving the appearance of being deep in thought when in reality he was merely scratching at an itch that had been annoying him for quite some time, but was only able to relieve himself now he had finished his press up routine.

'It's.... a bit late to be working out, isn't it...And to be on the beach...'

Arlen took time to ponder the two statements offered by the young man. He noted they seemed to have cut themselves off mid sentence, Arlen wouldn't pursue the conversation much further. What had been said was quite adequate. Lowering the hand that had been scratching at the back of his head Arlen gave a slow shrug of those powerful shoulders.

"Aye...I guess, Just restless. Needed something to keep me busy for a while."

Arlen broke off for a moment, it was as he finished this sentence that he looked away from the newcomer for the first time and down to the ground in an attempt to locate his top. Noticing he had left it by the fire he took a few steps toward the young man, crouching as he did to retrieve his top from the floor.
Once he had shaken some sand off and placed his top back on Arlen looked toward the young man once more, this time getting a better look at their face as it was previously shrouded in shadow.

"I'm new to town...the beach is the only place I know really...What's your excuse?"

Arlen paused, looking back toward the smaller man. Although Arlen had a thick Irish accent, he always spoke in a clear tone. Arlen had done his best to keep his voice polite and his body language friendly. He was aware that previously he had been in quite a violent mood and he didn't want to subject this newcomer to any underserved anger.

[lazy]

"Same as yours, I guess. I couldn't sleep....," he said, trailing off like he had before. It was odd. He always seemed to do that, rather than end his statements with a conventional period. He's accented, but I can't place my finger on where he might be from. He watched as the man flexed his shoulders, and he could have sworn he heard his muscles bunching together. Kai tried not to cringe.

But Arlen really did look restless. Why, right now, he seemed to be trying hard to control himself, holding himself back from attacking Kai. Hmmm.... I wonder what school he's from? Kai wondered if he should ask, but it slipped out without his consent.

"What school? Hircine?" Kai asked, knowing the answer already. It's odd, but everyone, well, every kid I meet in this city comes from that school.... It annoyed him, really. If he happened to dislike that person, he'd be seeing him/her for the rest of his high school years. His eyes looked at the dancing flames, mesmerized by the motions they produced. Somehow, Kai didn't want to look at Arlen.

It made him feel small.