He walked on the treadmill while listening to Wales report. Looks like whatever they were talking about the previous night was real, just on borrowed time. Once he was done, he switched to a playlist Blane had made then increased the intensity.
"For someone with those marks, I'd thought you'd still be in bed. How large is your appetite?"
"What marks?"
"Are you clueless or just in need of showing off?"
He looked towards the mirror, the sweat dripping, but his torso had obvious nail and bite marks. Was this the reason Blane had let him come out shirtless?
A low whistle made the both of them turn towards the door eyeing Kristoff.
"Out of the 'waiting zone' this soon."
"I thought you two 'd be sleeping!"
"Will do after finishing it off."
"You've been awake all night?"
"Snoozed off for an hour. Woke up then went on. I really want it over with."
This was the first time he said that like a broken record. It seemed he had beef with someone in the music department. The kind that he didn't want to talk about.
"Spot me!"
"Two minutes."
Riley told him while he went on running before coming to a stop. He walked towards the benches where Kristoff was sat.
"You should do stretching exercises first."
"Yes dad!"
"Stop that."
They went through some exercises before he sat, sipping his water.
"When are you going to tell us what's going on?"
"It's nothing, just a kid bothering me. No, I don't need your help, and no it ain't affecting me. I'll deal with it once I am fucking done with that project."
"Is he part of the project?"
"Unfortunately, no which to me is a problem. If he'd been part of it, we'd settle it like grownups."
So a literal kid, now he knew why he wasn't dealing with it but walking around in circles. Problem is, stepping around something wasn't going to help, deal with it and then think about it later on. Or think about it and outright deal with it.
"Hi guys!"
The group turned from whatever they were doing to look at Kaleb who was walking towards one of the treadmills.
"Why are you here?"
Barnard who followed right after was the one that asked.
"Rashid woke up with a cold, it's almost the end of the week so I decided to just skip."
"Rashid is sick?"
"What the hell did you do?"
Kaleb raised his head to look at the group, they seemed to be ready to even throw hands at him.
"I didn't do a thing, I assure you. He went through his routine just like he does every night..."
He was sure all of them knew Rashid's routine but the raised brows got him flinching as he went through it with them.
" ...a glass of milk while masking his face, a ton of face routines before taking a shower and brushing his teeth the getting to bed. I covered him, I assure you."
Before he was done said guy was at the door looking at them.
"What's going on? Have you had breakfast?"
"You didn't get him breakfast?"
"I've had breakfast. What's going on here? You aren't ganging up on him,right?"
"How's your cold?"
"Nothing that concoction he made won't fix. Riley, where's Blane?"
"I left him still asleep."
"Breakfast?"
"Already taken. If you're headed there make sure he doesn't talk you into getting him something flavorful."
For some reason he'd been behaving like a guy with cravings. He recalled a question he'd asked before going to sleep last night...
"Riley, did it break?"
He'd been cleaning up the place while he had Blane on the bed.
"Sorry! I'm clean though, you can check my records tomorrow..."
He'd thought of many things that Blane would have been thinking of but not the one that he asked.
"Will I get pregnant?"
"Baby?"
"I want one like Paula."
Didn't he realize biology had it's limitations? Also, they were too young to think about conception and kids. They were still in school. Yes, he had enough funds to take care of a potential child but now wasn't the time. He turned to talk to him about it only to find him asleep. He'd cleaned the bed fast and helped him settle in.
A child with him wasn't bad, a child who had his traits, looked as cute as him wasn't a bad idea, but not now.
What was he even thinking about, Blane couldn't even get pregnant, he was male. Early morning and Blane had woken him up, if you knew him well, that was an absolute first. Reason for it was that he was craving hotpot. He'd had to accept having plain rice and scrambled eggs....a little mild sauce to entice his taste buds as well.
"Is your bed clean enough for strangers?"
Rashid walked in carrying Taffy who couldn't find a hole to hide his face.
"It is but someone might get whinny about it."
"I don't want to care about that now."
He plopped Taffy who winced.
"Careful, my butt has its own issues right now."
"It always does. How many times have you been around us without a slight limp or a braving the storms face?"
"First time I'd thought he'd gotten into a fight."
Rashid laughed out loud at that. He hadn't known them long but they were cool, they were nice to be around . More of a family than his own family that he was sure didn't even know whether he was alive or dead.
"How is it with Kaleb?"
"It's fine. Though I don't know whether it will remain as so later on."
"Steady steps. You don't have to rush in with him."
He knew that, they were the first people he told about the kid that kept following him around like a puppy. He still had the school card, that was normal as he'd just dropped without going through official procedures until later.
He always went to his lessons and the design students obviously noticed the guy that kept trying to get acquainted with him.
The next person to know about it was Barnard. Maybe it was because he kept finding ways to look at Taffy or because he used his house to stash unfinished portraits of a certain someone that refused to run away from his head.
Kristoff knew out of convenience. Nosy guy kept finding ways to be around and ask the guy questions. He was sure Riley and Quint noticed but didn't want to make him nervous...or shut down unlike Kristoff who used him as a learning tool.
From looking at him from afar to coming close with simple introductions then to not subtly sticking to him. It hadn't taken long. Infact, to him, the process had been nice, he'd liked Kaleb's presence. He knew when to leave and when to stay, though sometimes he just tested boundaries too much.
He didn't want to get hurt because of the one person beside family that had gotten so close. He didn't know the reason behind not wanting that much affection from people, didn't know the reason he liked it that way, but he didn't want Kaleb to leave.
Maybe that was the reason he'd introduced him to his family. It was his stringent plan. If one day he chose to take off, they have something on him that would make him stay.
Anyone would say he was selfish, he felt selfish, but this guy had become his muse in just a semester without prompt, he'd integrated himself in his world. Best way was to make sure he didn't think he had a choice to leave later on.
Watching his change in expressions, Blane decided it was time Rashid stopped thinking about whatever he was thinking of.
"Tell me a nice way to get Riley to let me have a baby."
That would definitely help him think of something to make sure Rashid didn't throw himself into some gutter.