Third person point of view
The next day, Nicholas visited Elijah again in the morning. " Here ". He gave a file to Elijah. " What is it ? " " This is the file I am going to give him. Is this enough ? " Elijah checked through it. " Yep. This is enough ". He gave it back to Nicholas. " Will you take it and keep it with you now ? Or should I come by in the evening to give it directly to him ? " Elijah thought for a second.
" Just give it to him. You can drop by when he comes back home ". Nicholas nodded. " Remember to change your outfit ". " Oh yeah right ! I will ". He reminded himself that he shouldn't forget things like that. " I will leave then ". Elijah nodded and Nicholas left to get back to work.
Joshua came back home on time. He entered the house with a smile but didn't find Elijah on the couch. He didn't take a step forward and stood at the door still closing it. He looked around but there was no one in sight. He frowned. " E- " He was about to call, but Elijah walked out of the kitchen sipping chocolate milk. Joshua let out a sigh. Elijah sat on the couch looking at Joshua.
Joshua didn't move for a few seconds. Elijah didn't know what was wrong. " Sit ". Joshua sat down and glanced at Elijah. He looked down to his lap. There was only one thing running in his mind. Why was he so flustered when he didn't find Elijah ? He didn't know how to put his thoughts in order. The way he felt when he didn't Elijah at that moment was not so simple.
He shook his head trying to push it aside. His phone made a ding notifying a message. It was Nicholas asking him if he was home. He replied that he is back and Nicholas told him he will come to give him the file. " Nicholas is going to come ". Elijah nodded. " How was your day ? " Joshua's eyes went wide.
" What is this ? Are you sick ? Did you take something and feeling high ? " Joshua chuckled. Elijah rolled his eyes. " Can you just answer it ? I do ask you from time to time and yet you act like this almost every time ". Joshua smiled. " It is always different coming from you ". Elijah shook his head. " So ? " " It was fine. Like always ". Elijah nodded. He finished the juice and went to throw it in the bin.
Nicholas came after a while. He changed into jeans and t-shirt like he was told. " Hey ". Nicholas sat on the chair. " Hey ". " Here ". He gave the file to Joshua. " Thanks ". Nicholas smiled and turned to Elijah who only nodded. Joshua was looking through the file. " Want something to drink ? " Elijah asked looking at Nicholas.
" Anything will do ". Elijah nodded. He then turned to Joshua and poked his side. Joshua sat up shook at once. Elijah looked nonchalant. Joshua really didn't know how he could put that face in any situation. " You want anything ? " Joshua processed the question and answered. " Same for me too. Anything will do ". Elijah got up to walk to the kitchen.
He brought out the tetra packed chocolate milk that he had a while ago. " Catch it ". He threw it for Nicholas to catch. " Thanks ". He sat down on the couch again. He removed the straw, put it in and gave it to Joshua. " Thank you ". Joshua smiled taking it. Elijah smiled and turned to Nicholas who was glaring at him.
Elijah turned back to Joshua again. Nicholas sneered. Elijah was totally unfazed. Joshua was busy looking at file to notice all that. Once he was done he looked up. He put the tetra pack aside. He has already finished it. " This is fine for now. Thank you once again ". " It is nothing. No need to thank me ". Nicholas smiled. They spoke for a while and Nicholas left.
They next morning, Elijah set an alarm and woke up early. He sat up on the bed and rubbed his eyes. He walked out of his room and went to Joshua's. He knocked on the door. " Joshua ". He got no response. So he knocked and called again, but still no response. He opened the door and saw Joshua totally immersed by the comforter.
He walked closer and called again. " Joshua. Wake up ". Joshua didn't even show any signs of movement. Elijah shook Joshua who was not responding. " Wake up ~~ " Joshua turned and opened his eyes in small slits. " What is it ? Is it not too early ? " " I told you that we will be going to the gym didn't I ? Come on now. Get up ".
Joshua whined and sat up. " Fine. Ugh ! " He walked to the bathroom. Elijah left the room and went to his. Both of them wore comfortable clothing suitable for exercise. They left the house and walked to the place because it wasn't that far anyway. Elijah spoke to the receptionist and they entered the gym.
Joshua gulped looking at the equipment. " It is not that you need to become a weightlifter now, I want to improve your stamina and physical strength. So we will start with some warm up. Want to try thread mill ? " Elijah informed when he saw Joshua's expression. Joshua nodded. He put it at a speed he can last for a while without being totally exhausted.
After a few minutes of that, he got down. " Actually I also want to teach you punches and kicks. Let's try that ". Elijah tied the hand wrap and put on the gloves. Joshua didn't look up and kept looking at their hands. " Done. Let's start ". Elijah said and brought him to a little open area towards a corner.
He told Joshua how he should punch and stood in place. " Start ". Joshua did as he was told. " Try exerting as much force as you can and hit it ". Elijah had the mitt pads on his hands. Joshua swung his hand and punched. It wasn't that bad. " You have good power control. Continue ". Elijah kept giving him pointers on how he should do it.
Elijah let him punch for a while and then told to try on the punching bag and even a few kicks if he was willing. Elijah practiced beside as Joshua continued to do what he was taught. Joshua was breathing heavily and he was sweating like crazy after a while. He sat down on the ground. " I can't do this anymore. I am done ". Elijah stood to the side sweating just as much.
" You can't say no. You should do it. Since it is your first time, do a little more and we will be done for the day ". Joshua gave a pleading look but Elijah titled his head to the side. " Little more ". Elijah said in a much gentler tone. Joshua nodded. He took a deep breath and stood up. He did what he was told for some more time and they left for the day.
They walked out of there and back home. " That is so exhausting. I am so hungry right now ". Elijah chuckled. " Wait till we go back and I will make something for you ". Joshua nodded. " Let's go ". Joshua walked a little faster. Elijah walked slowly behind Joshua.
-MG