Log: Lorna and Sam, Friday morning

[x-cannonball.livejournal.com]

While out on an early morning jog, Lorna runs into Sam who's out having one himself. They catch up and talk about Saturday's festivities and history.


Lorna had tied her shoe and then quickly went down the mansions steps. It was still early out, but the sun was just about to raise and the birds were already singing their morning songs. Coming to the bottom, she made a turn and went towards the little trail that went around the mansion and in the surrounding woods nearby. Normally, Lorna would jog in the evening but her planner was filled and she still wanted to get in some running time - so she changed it around a bit and woke up earlier than normal. She was fifteen minutes into her run, when she made a turn around a tree when -bam! The classic running right into someone. Of course Lorna freaked a bit since she wasn't expecting anyone out here, and she jumped but reached out to grab his arm to keep from falling backwards. "You scared me." She said once she had her bearing. Looking up to see Sam, looking as he was jogging as well. "Sam. What are you doing out here?" Silly question, from the look of him he was out there jogging as well.

It was a well established ritual for Sam, being one of the earlier risers in the mansion in order to get a good jog in. This morning he had been out even earlier than usual, and hadn't expected to run into anyone else, literally or figuratively speaking, so when he collided with Lorna it took him by surprise as well. He reached out, holding onto her arm as she held his, not wanting her to fall. "Whoa, hey, you ok?" When it was clear that she had regained her balance and wasn't going to fall, he let go of her arm. "Just out for my usual mornin' run, that's all. I'm guessin' you were doing the same?"

Lorna nodded that she was okay and put her hands on her hip, trying to control her heart rate a bit. "Yea. I don't usually run in the mornings, mostly at night." She said, "Though the morning run is quite nice, I like the sound of the birds." She pointed up to the trees were the birds were singing somewhere among their branches. "Are you heading back in?"

Sam was still jogging in place a little, though not at a fast pace, trying to ease back down from the pace he'd just been keeping and his own elevated heart rate. "Ahh, yeah, night time jogging is nice too. So wait, you jog a lot?" It'd be great to have someone else to run with occasionally, so he was glad to hear that this might be the case with Lorna. "Yeah, it's nice and peaceful, I really am pretty fond of it." He looked up in the trees, trying to spot some of the songbirds, before looking back over at Lorna. "I was heading back that way but if you'd like some company I can tag along." He'd already gotten a pretty good run in up to that point so he was alright with whatever she wanted to do.

"Yea. I kind of took it up when I was on Muir Island last year. That and I find meditating to be very helpful for dealing with stressful situations." She said. Lorna had make it a habit to take care of her body, she didn't what happened last year to affect her ever again. "I like how it makes me feel." Lorna smiled at him. "I was going to make a run to the lake and back if you are up for it." Reaching up to secure her ponytail more.

"It really is a good way to deal with stress, yeah. Jogging on Muir was something different alright, that cold air would definitely wake me up in the morning, heh." Thankfully it was warmer there, though part of him missed the crispness of the cool air over there, which made for a totally different running experience. "It's good for the mind and the body, definitely." Sam nodded. "Sure, I'm up for that." More exercise was always a good thing and he wasn't that tired from his own run, so he might as well accompany her. "Say, been meaning to ask you, is there anything I can do to help with the tomorrow?"

"That or a nice cup of coffee." Lorna was a coffee addict. She loved the stuff and got territorial when it came to her espresso machine. She smiled at Sam, "Well lets go." She started to jog past him in an study pace. "For the party? I got a lot of help in the kitchen, wanna help decorate? Sharon and I have decided to have it outdoors, so there will be a lot of decorating to do."

Sam chuckled at that. He wasn't what you'd call a coffee addict but it was always a nice thing to have first thing in the morning. He usually saved it for after his jogging was done. "Alright then, thought you'd never ask." Grinning, he kept pace beside the green haired girl, looking over at her intermittently as they talked. "Ok, I can handle decorations. Just show me what you need to have done once we're back there and I'm on it." He wasn't the best at actually designing the decorations or layouts but he could certainly be handy in putting things up where she'd want them to go.

"Sure, I haven't gotten the decorations yet. Going this afternoon to pick them up." She said, as they jogged along. It was nice to have someone to talk to while jogging, she didn't realize that company was a good thing. "If you want to stop by my office later on this afternoon and I can give you the details." Lorna looked ahead, mostly to make sure she wasn't going to collide into a tree or anything. The trail made another slight turn as the lake was slowly coming into view beyond the trees.

"Ok, I can help with that too if you need some, with my truck and all." He kept up the pace beside her, enjoying the conversation as well. Jogging didn't necessarily always need someone with you to enjoy it, sometimes it was nice and peaceful on one's own, but it was great to have someone else to do it with, and the conversation. Even if they didn't talk it was still nice just to have the company, even if it was silent. "I'll pop by later on after lunch, sure, and we can figure out how I can help." He grinned and turned to face the lake as well as it came into view. "Really missed the scenery around here while I was away, I've gotta say."

Lorna could say one thing, she wasn't short on supply of transportation. "Thanks Sam." She said. Might be easier with a truck than a van to go and get things, the thought ran through her head. "Sounds like a plan." Giving him a smile. Lorna had to agree, she did miss it here even though sometimes she felt like pulling out her hair. "Same. Where else can you live that a short jog you are staring at a lake?"

"Any time, Lorna." That's what friends were for, after all. It really was a beautiful view and Sam couldn't think of any other place like it off the top of his head. It was good to be back home. "Not too many other places, I reckon. And when it warms up it's a great place for swimming too." He was looking forward to that, as he didn't get too much swimming back when he first returned before it got too cold.

"Well Spring and Summer are just around the corner. It will warm up really soon and it will be back to swimming in the lake again." Lorna said and she stopped jogging to enjoy the view for a moment - and to catch her breath. She normally didn't talk when jogging. "You teach English here right? How is that going?

"Mmmhmm, they are." He stopped as well, putting his hands on his sides. It really was difficult to have a conversation while jogging, and he'd already been out there for quite some time. "It's a great lake, and no one around, so you can just hop on in and not worry about company for the most part." Which he often did, jogging in, then swimming for awhile before jogging back out. Having no one around meant he didn't really have to worry about having swimming trunks or anything but he stopped before saying anything like that aloud to Lorna. "Oh, it's goin' well enough. I'm more familiar with History but English isn't bad either. How about you, gettin' settled back in alright?"

Lorna laughed, "No company to worry about?" She teased but wasn't going to press it. Nodding, "I am settling back in alright. I don't have to teach which is good, more free time I suppose. But spend most of my days in the kitchen or looking over the weeks menu." Walking to the edge of the lake. "Sometimes I get a student or staff that comes in asking for a one on one lesson on how to cook something. It's fun and I enjoy myself." Which was good considering Lorna's rocky past.

"Yeah, you know, for... yeah." Sam rubbed the back of his head, maybe blushing a bit but thankfully the pink already in his cheeks due to the physical exertion probably covered it up. "That's good, and yeah, I bet that helps out with the free time side of things." He'd relished that first back at Muir but after awhile he was glad to get back to a higher level of activity. A break every now and then was a good thing however. "That's good, I'm glad to hear you're enjoying yourself, Lorna."

She just smiled at him and turned back to the lake, putting her hands on her hips once more. Lorna nodded again, having free time was a good thing sometimes. Sometimes if you have too much free time you could just go stir crazy, She turned away from the lake, "Thanks. And I am glad that English isn't bad either. Though History doesn't sound like a lot of fun."

"Whoa, whoa, hey now. With all due respect, ma'am, you couldn't be more wrong." Sam smirked and playfully wagged a finger in her direction. It was highly probable that Lorna was about to get a lecture on just how awesome history was all the way back to the mansion.

Lorna laughed, "I couldn't be more wrong? I speak the truth I tell ya." She had no idea what kind of can of worms she just opened.

"I'm afraid not, nope." He was still smirking though, shaking his head a little in mock disappointment. "It's hands down the most interesting subject ever. Why, just focusin' on American History alone is fascinating enough. Take the Civil War, for example..."

Raising an eyebrow as she listened to him, "Didn't like the North and South fight each other and it started because Abraham Lincoln was elected into office and he was all for freeing the slaves?" She grinned up at him.

"Ahh, yeah, but there's so much more to it than that." It seemed like she had wound Sam up with the history talk. He realized this before launching into the subject wholeheartedly, thankfully for Lorna's sake. "Heh, sorry, I can get carried away sometimes. But yeah, it's some pretty cool stuff." He grinned sheepishly, zipping his lip on that front, for then at least.

"No worries Sam. It is good to be passionate about something." She said with a nod. "And I did start it by saying history sounded boring." Lorna smiled. "Shall we head back?" Nodding towards the mansion.

"Yeah, but you were just jokin', and I went all professorial on you, heh. Sorry ma'am." Sam grinned and tipped his imaginary hat to her in apology. "Sure thing, I'm about ready to hit the showers I think." He realized he was probably pretty ripe right about then, after having been out for almost a good hour before running into Lorna.

Lorna smiled and looked away, "No need to be sorry. I really don't mind trust me." She took in a deep breath. "Lets do this." Lorna took off on a jog again, now she had a little break in between her run she felt good.