Not long after the sun crept above the horizon, Nathan opened his eyes and stared at his ceiling, the hazy dreams of sleep vanishing into the depths of his mind. He blinked twice, before rising from his bed, replacing the covers carefully and using a stroking hand to remove the creases of his presence. He stretched his spine backward until it arched before curving it forward so that he might touch his toes. This is what the old gardener used to do of a morning, while telling Nathan that it was to keep his body supple and flexible rather than let age stiffen his joints and make it harder to continue the job he loved.Once his stretches were complete, he made his way to the bathroom to relieve his bladder, using a bucket of waste water to wash down the results. He then placed a little water into a sink in order to wash his skin. He broke routine to glance at the shower; he did not necessarily miss showering, it was just that he preferred the efficiency of it. But that was something of the past and he was not a person to dwell.
After selecting some clothes that were clean, he left his room to head for the kitchen to make breakfast. All in all, his morning began, continued and ended in much the same way after the apocalypse as it had before. Obviously there were differences; he could no longer use running water nor electricity, he was not able to keep in contact with his parents and the people that looked after the main house had been replaced by some loud men. But there were many things the same; he had his garden and the men, although they were noisy, still brought him things and he still supplied the main house with vegetables in return.
Ren Zexian was also at the main house... but he might have liked it if Ren Zexian stayed in the cottage instead.
He shook his head wondering over his own thoughts, before pausing at the second bedroom door. The second bedroom had been used to grow seedlings, but Nathan was not able to use it for that purpose anymore. Glancing into the room, it"s door wide open, he saw the sprawled out child upon the bed with her guardian curled up at the foot of it. Nathan tapped on the door frame three times and watched as the ma.s.sive, black dog opened his eyes and looked at him as if to acknowledge he was there. Nathan nodded at Aslan, before moving on his way.
In the kitchen, he had another slight change to his old routine, filling water bottles with his summoned water. Ren Zexian had said that a good way to improve the amounts of water he could produce was to either meditate or to use his ability until unable to do more, then after a few hours, do so again. At the moment, Nathan could fill five five hundred millilitre water bottles. Last week, he could fill just over four and a half. It made him a little tired to do this, but afterward, he would use some of the water to fill a kettle for a cup of tea and after drinking it, he would feel much better.
As the water began to boil, Nathan placed a measured amount of water into a saucepan and added some powdered milk, before warming it. Once it was warm, he poured some of the milk into a cup and the rest would remain on the hob with porridge oats added or on other days he might pour the milk on wheat biscuits. The porridge and milk and tea were all brought to the table just as a yawning little girl came into the room, rubbing her eyes. On seeing Nathan, she toddled up to him and raised her arms upward. It had taken an abrupt Tyler to tell him that Lucy wished to be picked up when she did this the first few times.
"Oh," had been his response, to which Tyler had clicked his tongue and walked away.
Nathan lifted Lucy into her chair and the two humans ate breakfast, Aslan was given left overs from Lucy"s bowl, but he did not complain. There was dog food at the main house for later.
After breakfast, Nathan took Lucy to her room and helped her get dressed. Again, the first time he had done this was with Tyler"s "help." Seeing as Lucy had remained in the same t-shirt and shorts for almost three days, the man had spoken some harsh words which had caused Lucy to hug Nathan"s leg as if trying to comfort him and Aslan had simply growled.
"Just get her into some clean clothes!" He had scowled, before later becoming even more irritated as her t-shirt was on backwards. Well, although he was capable of dressing himself, it was different to dressing another in practice.
The trio then made their way into the bathroom, Lucy climbing onto a stool and Aslan guarding the bathroom door. Nathan cleaned his teeth, while Lucy chewed on her toothbrush after trying to copy Nathan a bit. Nathan then took over to ensure her teeth were clean, before helping her to rinse with a bottle of water he left here for that purpose.
Un.o.bstructed by clouds, the sun beamed down upon the garden as Nathan stepped out into it, followed by Lucy who was sitting a top Aslan. Nathan looked at the last of his seedlings upon the patio table, thinking of which seeds ought to be planted next. In the meantime, the occupants at the main house began to stir.
Unlike Nathan"s orderly morning, things were more chaotic and noisy there. Paul would throw a random selection of food in front of the men, this time was left over strawberries and gooseberries, plain nuts and seeds as well as a pot of instant porridge. There were the usual complaints about the fair and reminiscing about bread, bacon and eggs. Ren Zexian would take a small portion, then sit quietly out in the garden in the blissful rays as Nathan came into view with his entourage.
The pair would nod at each other in greeting, perhaps exchange a couple of softly spoken words and then Nathan would begin to weed the plots and Ren Zexian would retire to the flat roof to cultivate while the other men fought for the limited water to wash with in the main bathroom. Then the men would go out, Ren Zexian might go with them, but today, he remained on the roof.
Nathan heard the several regular bangs, to which he automatically covered his ears to block. Lucy slid off of Aslan"s back to stroke her chubby hand on Nathan"s back. The banging noises did not stop, except once when they were punctuated with a loud curse word, so though the noise hurt Nathan"s ear, he stood up and made his way to the front of the house, to where the banging noises softened with distance and to the flower gardens that had been neglected of late.
Nathan stood beside a border of roses, lavender and geraniums, his finger stroking one oddly coloured lavender bush, which seemed to shiver in response. French lavender normally had verdant to silvery green leaves with dark purple flowers nestled on long stalks, but this bush"s leaves were almost white and the flowers were an electric blue. It was not the only plant to look a little different and Nathan became distracted for a while examining these new plants.
Suddenly a shadow was cast over him and a wide brim hat shielded his head and eyes. He glanced up and saw the calming smile of the man with onyx eyes upon him and instantly, he glanced away, before feeling the need to peek once more. "It is hot today," Ren Zexian told him. "You should wear a hat."
Aslan barked as if in agreement, while Lucy clutched the cap provided for her small head while giggling. Nathan felt his face was a little warm, but it wasn"t necessarily caused by the beaming sun.