As dawn broke over the horizon, Verity wearily made her way down to the lake to join her best friend in his daily exercise routine. Conventional wisdom stated that endorphins were the key to happiness, and after tossing and turning all of last night in a nervous fit due to hearing about the explosion of the Leaky Cauldron, she figured that maybe working out would prove helpful to soothe her frayed nerves. She took a swig from the incredibly potent espresso in her thermos, and saw the tall, pale frame of Zelig stretching in preparation. What am I getting myself into? Verity wondered to herself, but if it succeeded in getting her mind off of all of the terrible events that had occurred lately then that's what mattered. And due to how strong she brewed her coffee, she even felt alive at such an ungodly hour.

"Zel, go easy on me, yeah?" Verity said when she reached him and started mirroring his stretches, realizing how out of her element she was. The vague recollection of the last time she had dared to exercise with her friend gave her a healthy fear of his version of light cardio.

The brisk morning air bit through her loose t-shirt, and she welcomed the warmth that would come from getting her blood pumping. "Last night was pretty intense, huh? Did you sleep much?"

Zel was an early morning riser-- he always had been, much to the dismay of his mother and his older siblings. He had gotten that trait, clearly, after his father. He was wide awake and brimming with energy, and he hadn't even gotten coffee yet. Tulojow's dietary recommendation had helped with his energy levels, though now he often had too much and found it hard to focus on classes when his body was twitching, asking for a run when he had denied it one earlier in the day.

He had just finished his stretches when Verity appeared. He could faintly smell her coffee-- which smelled delicious, though if he had some now, he would in no way be able to make it easy on her. Zel's legs were long, and therefore his strides were significantly longer than her's. What he considered to be simple jogging would probably give her a heart attack.

"I, yeah, yeah I slept really well, actually." He replied. He had been sleeping well lately, and apparently even an explosion at the Leaky Cauldron couldn't change that. "Emeline wasn't around, she owled me soon as it happened so I could fall asleep. Garrett wouldn't go anywhere near there. Raine's not even in the country." He finished his stretches, "You? You doing okay?"

Verity smiled, relieved that Zel didn't have anyone hurt in the explosion. She didn't even want to think of Emeline being injured, as the older Trumble was something of a sister-figure in her life. "I'm glad to hear that. I'm doing... I'm doing. I heard that Mai was injured."

The counselor had helped Verity more times than she could count over her 6th year, with getting her A-Levels in order and just general life advice. She chewed her lower lip pensively before looking back to Zel and gave him a wan smile. The morning chill was starting to get to her, and she set down her thermos to finish her warm-up stretches.

"But let's put our minds on something else. What do we do first? I need to start moving or I'm going to catch a cold," she chuckled and rubbed the goosebumps on her arms.

Zel rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, loosening his arms up and shifting his legs. "She was, I heard that too." He wondered how long they would go without their head of house, or how badly she was injured. He wasn't worried about whether or not she would die. He had faith in the healers. He remembered how well they had attended to him after he had been bitten. He couldn't help but feel like if the regulations in place for werewolves worked, then it wouldn't spread like it did.

"Well, now we run." He replied. Or rather, Verity sprinted and he barely ran. Today would be an easy day for him, but a difficult day for her.

Zel started off on a light jog, hoping it wasn't too fast for her. How painfully obvious was it that he was going slow?  "Follow me. Do what I do."

When Zel stated that they would be running, Verity mentally prepared herself for him to start off on some intense gallop. But he thankfully didn't go too fast, and she was able to  make up the difference in the length of their strides easily enough. She just had to remember to focus on her breathing.

"Zel, picking up the pace would be tidy, right? I appreciate you holding back, but you don't need to go so slow for yourself, yeah?" Verity assured her friend. While she wasn't the fastest sprinter, she made up for it with stamina. And she didn't want to hold him back.

"Follow me. Do what I do."

"Aye, aye, captain. Where are we heading?" The brunette had the foreboding sense that he would somehow try to sneak in a swim in the lake. Being a nerdy Muggleborn had given her a healthy fear of tentacles, and so she generally gave the waters a wide berth.