The Mantle of the Winter Knight made much of Harryâs days a slight more complicated than they already were all by themselves. It meant a perpetual need for something.... terrible that he staved away through the act of distraction in a wide variety of ways that were probably not altogether healthy on their own. But Harry didnât often listen to THAT part of his brain. Mostly because it wouldnât help it.
He waited for his brotherâs arrival at their usual spot, wearing a fantastic ensemble of sweatpants and ratty ol t-shirt and sneakers, not the perfect outfit for a jog, but the one heâd most often adopted. Sometimes he flew along the shores of the lake by himself, but Thomas was a usual sight by his side as well. There really were no âusualsâ in his life those days.
He spent the time performing stretches, hearing the car pull up shortly into the âreformedâ burpee maneuver. Because who the hell liked burpees? Even a man who probably needed to push his body to its limits and beyond, if only to keep that voice from the back of his mind from pushing dangerous forward.
Thomas climbed out of his vehicle looking every bit like he was about to attend a dinner part of sorts, adjusting the white collar of his shirt and walking to meet Harry on the sand.
âUh.â Harry stood upright, adjusting his own, rattier looking collar. âBailing today?â
âNah, I can still go.â Thomas grinned. âAnd still beat you.âÂ
Harry shook his head, though one corner of his mouth upturned into a grin.Â
Heâd missed out on so much of the brotherly connections in the past - as had Thomas. There was a lot of time to make up for. It was only a shame that so many distractions reared their head and disrupted them.
By the time they got back to the shoreline, they were both breathless and sweaty, Harry leaning his hands down on his knees to try to catch his breath, and Thomas leaning against his car. The body was without a speck of dirt on it, almost like itâd been washed down before he pulled it out of his families lot. That probably wasnât far from the truth. There was little about Thomas that wasnât prim and proper, that wasnât stunning to behold from the outside world. Even then, worn and ragged from their jaunt, he looked appealing in his own way.
Harry, on the other hand, looked just as ratchet as one might imagine.Â
âBreakfast?â Thomas offered.
âYou look like you had somewhere to be.â
âNothing that canât wait.â He tilted his head toward his car. âLetâs go ruin what we just did.â
So they did, hanging outside the fast food restaurant they just destroyed, stuffing their faces and ignoring the world at large for a hot minute or two. Sometimes it was nice to simply exist. Especially because the both of them knew how little time that lasted.