#hudsonstarters

He missed running; it was something that he had no qualms grousing about when it suited him, though it only seemed to suit him when he was alone. It was quite the reminder, to sit upon the weight machines, and be forced to look at the all too familiar white lines upon the ground, inviting, enticing, reminding; Luca could still clearly remember the feeling of adrenaline that always accompanied a good run. A sprint up a hill, a momentum-bound near-tumble down it; sand at his heels, wind in his face - running was nothing but pure good for the body and soul when there was nothing but open space before you. Not running toward anything, away from anything, never thinking of anything but the sound of feet slapping on pavement; the loss of his ability to run was a sliver of precious sanity slipped through the sieve of his mind. 

And so he’d settle for weights. He did so almost obsessively, finding himself feeling anxious if he missed a day at the gym. Quite often, he’d find himself walking the track, but never running; when the weight of his limitation was too much, when it was prone to make him angry should he continue walking a moment longer, he’d turn face and trudge to the weights. 

Most often he did so alone, but today - be it a good thing or a bad - there was another restless soul who shared the space with him. Luca could not quite make out just who it was; the gym was rife with dim light this early, for none could muster the strength to look directly into a full glare before seven. Under different circumstances, Luca might have been cross that his precious solitude and silence had been disturbed, but he was in a good spirit today, and couldn’t help but call out. 

“Hey, there!” he called, hoisting himself from the machine on which he’d been working, “Want to give me a spot?”

Schoolwork was as simple for Declan as it had been the first time he’d gone through it all, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed it. He thought he’d left all of this behind him when he’d graduated high school, but it seemed that among kidnapping him from his life, Hudson also decided coursework was in order. The fact that he was being forced to become a spy didn’t change his opinion on the fact that he didn’t want to be doing any of this. 

With a frustrated sigh, he tossed the book he’d been paging through for his newest assignment across the table and leaned back in his chair. Arms stretched over his head, he gazed across the rest of the almost empty library with a flat expression. Tucked away in a back corner, table laden down with books of all different shapes and sizes, Declan was in the perfect place to observe, just as he’d done since he’d been brought here against his will, but he still hadn’t learned anything more than he was stuck, with no way out. Shaking out of his thoughts, he turned back to the table and flipped a book open at random, focusing on reading, so he wouldn’t have to think about everything else on his mind.

     The party was in full swing around him, people dancing and talking and drinking like they didn’t have a care in the world. It was the kind of controlled chaos so many people thrived on, but Noah found himself lingering on the fringes, not quite involved but not quite ignored either. The drink in his hand was supposed to be some sort of punch, but all Noah could taste was the vodka. He’d been looking for a friendly face for a while, some he felt comfortable going up to in his slightly inebriated state and was happy to spot Cole across the room. 

     He made his way through the crowd, only bumping into someone once before coming to a stop in front of the other boy, a too wide smile on his face. “You looked a little lonely over here all by yourself, and rumor has it that I’m great company drunk.”