kore_logs | She runs through the streets with eyes painted red

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She runs through the streets with eyes painted red

WHO: Riley and Balthazar
WHAT: Going for a run
WHERE: Around the town/possibly partially into the woods
WHEN: Day 65
WARNINGS: None. I'll be certain to update if required.

They hadn't set up a time, but she'd pinged Balthazar on the network, asking him if he could meet up with her outside her place. They could either run down to the lighthouse and along the beach, or they could go up towards the woods, though she wasn't sure how far she'd feel comfortable going into them.

She waited for him to show up, doing a few stretching warm up exercises. Accelerated healing or not, it didn't hurt to avoid having to deal with a charlie horse or any other kind of painful cramp. She hummed a tune to herself as she stretched, keeping her ears and nose open for her companion.

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He goes on imitating her, having no better idea how to go about this. He's never had a leg cramp, of course, or any other kind of cramp. Occasionally his vessel's joints go snap, but he doesn't much feel it.

"You're going to have to be my instructor, I think. I haven't done this in a while." Or...ever.

"It's a wonder you haven't gone and gotten a pot belly." She gives him a teasing smile as she jogs in place slowly. "Just try to get your body used to moving, then we'll head out. You in the mood for a woodsy view or something a little more waterside?"

"I have amazing genes." He winks and straightens, stretching his arms up over his head. "High alcohol tolerance, too. Comes in very handy."

Relaxing again, he tilts his head at her jogging in place, then gamely joins in for about two seconds before dissolving into jumping in place repeatedly, like an excited child. He gets some impressive height, too. "Woods. Definitely woods."

Not a good idea to get too close to the lighthouse.

"Woods it is." Watching him jump around like an overlarge Tigger, she shakes her head with a smile before setting off. "Think you can keep up?"

She doesn't wait for him, not at first. She's seeing how well he can run and if he feels like a bit of a chase. What can she say, it's part of her nature.

He grins and takes off after her. "We'll find out!"

If it were a matter of getting to a destination, he'd get there first, no question. Actually using his vessel to run around is less familiar. He won't tire, but he may have trouble matching her speed.

She laughs lightly as they run, setting an easy pace for him. She wasn't trying to outrace him or use her extra speed for any reason. She was just a normal human out jogging with another normal human, right?

He runs alongside her, able to match that pace, and occasionally swerving to one side or another like a child distracted by a butterfly off the path. Something sparks in his eyes; he seems to get caught up in the feel of motion. He should have done this before!

...yeah, just two normal humans out jogging. Totally.

Riley looks over to see him head off to the left again, shaking her head and grinning at him. "You're going to trip over something, Balthazar. Hey, do you have a nickname or something. Balty? Bal-bal? Zar?"

"I only trip on things when I'm drunk, and I haven't even had a drop today." He protests, bounding a few paces ahead of her happily, then resuming the steadier pace.

"Well, I've gone by Balth, Bal, and Balthy. I had someone call me Ballzy for a bit but I tried to discourage it. If you call me Bal-Bal I'm nicknaming you Whiskers."

Yeah, that's a threat.

"Then I'll make a note to make sure not to take you running when you've been drinking." He's like a kid in a candy store, leaping all over the place and excitable. It's kind of cute to watch.

She gave him a look, a sound of mock outrage coming free. "Whiskers? That's just ridiculous. It was the one time." That he knew of. She was hoping no other incidents occurred that might have her having to shift again.

He pauses to pluck a dandelion blossom and blows the seeds loose as they go on. "Early mornings are the best time to catch me, in that case."

"Only if you give me a ridiculous nickname," he replies, pretending to sound defensive. "It's better than Spot or Freckles, isn't it?"

"Hey, at least I'm not calling you Chomper." She stuck her tongue out at him in answer to his Spot or Freckles question, then pushed herself to run a little faster, passing him and heading up towards the tree line.

He picks up his pace in response, discarding the dandelion stem. "Oof. No, not Chomper, either. Wouldn't want to upset the people I chomped. Go a little to the left, there's a deer path or something about 100 yards down."

"Oh my god, Balthazar! Did you actually bite people? You're terrible!" She looked over at him, tsking softly. But she did swerve to the left as he'd directed, stretching her strides out.

He grimaces a little. It's a sensitive topic. But he started it, so he answers gamely, "I did, but I promise you, it wasn't for lack of trying not to. You're lucky you caught me in a peaceful moment."

"You wouldn't have wanted to eat me. I was all furry and probably tasted like eww." She knew from her own experience that she preferred to eat animals that weren't meat eaters. But then, she hadn't had her head turn into a mouth before.

"Oh, love. I wanted to eat everything. And anything I didn't want to eat, I wanted to tear apart. I hope I never feel like that again." He grimaces again, then shakes his head, dismissing the thought.

"Now, though, I'd just as soon have a nice slice of strawberry cheesecake."

She scrunched up her nose at the thought, glad that whatever weird thing that had happened hadn't turned her into the same thing.

"Oh, man. Why'd you have to go and say that? Now I want some damn cheesecake." She shot Balthazar a dirty look, then punched him in the arm as she ran past him. "Keep up, slowpoke."

"You think I don't? If we had some way of--Here now!" He gives her a mock-indignant look at the punch. "No need to be violent!"

He scoops up a handful of dry leaves and picks up his pace to chase after her, with the obvious intent of dumping them in her hair.

She's laughing as she picks up her pace. "You'll have to catch me first."

Running through the deer trail, she hops over a fallen branch, enjoying this brief moment where she can almost forget she's a veritable prisoner.

He's noticing her athletic skill, now, and her savvy in the woods. While he's not in the least tired or out of breath, he can't quite match her for grace. He'd be annoyed, except he's fascinated.

To compensate for the agility he lacks, he circles around, seeking smoother ground. If she gets too far ahead, he'll just cheat.

She can hear him moving off and she smiles, wondering what his plan is. He's not in bad shape for someone his age, but he wasn't in shifter shape, which gave her an advantage.

Or so she thought.

He's in amazing shape for a 500-million-year-old! Regardless, a human body can't match her for athleticism. He's clever, though, keeping pace from a distance and taking the flatter ground, places where trees are spaced wider, looking for any advantage in the terrain.

Somehow it's become an informal game of tag.

She's almost enjoying herself, running through the trees with someone chasing her. It's familiar enough to almost make her feel less horribly alone. She just wishes it was one of her brothers or her parents chasing her instead of a man she doesn't know much about.

Unfortunately, taking the longer route around means no matter what he does, he begins to lag. In fact, before long she may think she's left him utterly behind, the sound of his running fading into silence.

Except, when she comes over the lip of a dell, there he is on the other side, leaning against a tree and grinning like...well, the cat that's swallowed the canary.

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