River was, in some ways, much more easily entertained than Ari, who couldn’t squeeze much fun out of aimless wanders in the sun, and wasn’t entranced by all the colours and sounds of the outdoors. He didn’t seem to care much for nature, unlike River, who was sort of linked to everything at its most basic by his name, and his family; with siblings named Summer, Rain, Liberty and Joaquin, who had changed his name to ‘Leaf’ to fit the theme, it was difficult to imagine a life where that natural love wasn’t ingrained in them from childhood. Ari had a rich mother but no siblings, and evidently didn’t get out very much. His idea of a fun day was curled up on the couch, on his phone, laptop and tablet at the same time all while watching something trashy on TV. He had a large house, but usually confined himself to two rooms- the kitchen and his own bedroom. Unless, of course, River was round, which was more often than not- in which case, River, still enthralled every time no matter how often he was over by the sheer size of Ari’s house, would wander around constantly, barely stopping to even pay attention to Ari. Unless he wanted something- like today.

Ari was something of a pushover and even River, who didn’t tend to make a habit of taking advantage of people, knew how to get what he wanted from his boyfriend- in this case, cooperation, and even faked enthusiasm about the prospect of heading outside for once in Ari’s life. If he was allowed, River would probably have just headed out on his own- but his mother wasn’t having it. Ari was the natural first choice. So, after about thirty minutes of River sucking up as best he could, he had successfully recruited him along on an adventure, and two more minutes later, they were outside, looking very golden in the sunlight, fingers interlaced as they set off to nowhere in particular. At least, River did. Ari apparently thought River knew where he was going (a foundationless belief; River never really knew where he was going, generally and physically).

Ari, however, was much more organised- but also much more perpetually stressed out, much more akin to complain, much more inclined to lose it if he didn’t know what was going on. River, though useless at anything to do with organising or arranging anything, was much more laid back. He wanted to go with the flow. His entire attitude and aura was simultaneously lazy and flowing, with direction but not purpose, like the running water for which he was named. He didn’t care much for the final result of things and rather found pleasure in the journey, the process; and in this case, the route they were taking and the things they saw were more forefront in his mind than things like [i]i don’t know where we are,[/i] And [i]what time should we leave to get home before it’s dark[/i] and [i]Ew, I’m going to have to ask for directions[/i]. All of these things were for Ari to unnecessarily worry about.

The entire trip, they hadn’t unlinked hands, save to jump fences or something. Only now, when they settled in the middle of a golden-green field, the grass thankfully long and cool against their skin, did they break apart, only to sit close again, making sure to retain contact somehow at all times. Their legs were tangled lazily as they kind of stared up at the clouds, basking in the brilliant sunlight that hadn’t faltered once. River had considered taking his shirt off a few times, but he was too tired from the heat to actually follow through, instead toying with the idea by curling his fingers experimentally around the hem of his shirt. [i]Hey to you.[/i] River smiled slightly, treasuring Ari’s touch for a moment before opening his eyes more and posing a question. [i]You didn’t drag me. I would’ve gone easy.[/i] River scoffed, his head lolling to the side lazily as he raised his eyebrows, as if to say [i]yeah, right.[/i] [b]”I doubt it.”[/b]

[i]I just like it when you do this.[/i] River knew what he was referring to before Ari even demonstrated, and he laughed gently, shrugging one shoulder and nodding his head knowingly. [i]But now I realise this is much better, yeah.[/i] He knew it. River didn’t have it in him to look smug, but felt it anyway, shifting onto his side and reaching out to prod at the very typical stretch of skin between Ari’s shirt and his jeans. It was warm. [i]Was it your plan all along to get lost? I'm feeling very, how you say, kidnapped. We're gonna have to ask a farmer for directions.[/i] River laughed again, louder this time, and just looked a little lordly, propping his elbow up and leaning on his hand while his other arm reached out and tugged on Ari’s shirt, attempting to get him to move a little closer. [b]”Or we could just stay here.”[/b]