It's Like Running Away

A delightful squirm rose up in Dodge's stomach as Aiden smiled. Almost immediately he wanted to hit himself. He'd been down this path before; athletes were generally straight, and this one didn't even want to be touched, so a hopeless crush wouldn't help anyone in the situation. So, ignoring the butterflies (couldn't there be a more masculine metaphor) in his stomach, he reset the watch's timer and called out a countdown for Aiden. "3, 2, ....57....now!"

Aiden was ready to try running again, listening to the countdown when suddenly his concentration was completely thrown by the random 57 Dodger had thrown in. Instead of running down the track, Ai just looked at him with a 'wtf' face. "What the heck was that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dodge shrugged, trying hard not to start laughing like an idiot. "Weird sense of humor, I guess? Want me to start over again?" He really hadn't expected Aiden to call him out on this and it made him think there was some hope for him yet. He was definitely more out of his shell now than he had been in the locker room on Thursday.

Aiden appeared to think Dodger's words over for a moment. Then he shrugged. "Weird sense of humor indeed. Since that wasn't actually funny. And I guess you could start it again, although as a fair warning that just about completely destroyed my concentration," Ai said, shrugging again.

"Concentration's highly over-rated," Dodge quipped, looking down to reset his watch's timer once again. The blinking low-battery symbol in the corner reminded him that he needed to buy watch batteries the next time he got a chance. "Alright, get ready," he called, watching the countdown on the digital screen. "Three, two, one!" He successfully managed not to throw in any random numbers this time, thankfully.

Aiden nearly rolled his eyes, but didn't, instead trying to get his mind focused back on running and not falling, which he was still convinced was going to happen at some point, like for instance if he were to start sneezing from his allergies. He readied himself to run and actually did so this time, having not gotten derailed by odd random numbers.

Clocking the time as Aiden ran, Dodge realized he'd shave two seconds off his first run. "You kept your arms down!" he shouted gleefully. "I'm the best teacher ever," he said with a joyful giggle, before looking up at the boy who'd actually been doing the running. "I mean, uh, you're a quick learner...."

Aiden let out a small laugh at Dodger's enthusiastic reaction. "How about a compromise on that one. I'm a quick learner and you're a good teacher. That way we each get half the credit." Then he thought for a moment. "You haven't been telling me how I'm doing."

Dodge blushed slightly. "Sounds like a good idea to me. On the topic of how you're doing, well...." He tapped his watch. "Let's say your first time wasn't so good, but you're clocking under 14 seconds. Reeve's best time was 12.7, so you're getting there. Really excellent for a beginner, actually, The Gen was right about you. Work hard and you'll be winning races in no time." He smiled at Aiden encouragingly.

"Really?" Aiden asked, somewhat disbelieving. He wasn't all that great of runner in his opinion, nor very fast. So, really, he wasn't too sure what to think of that. "I guess that's good considering I tried out on a whim."

Dodge didn't feel the need to mention that "under 14 seconds" meant that Aiden was running a 13.95. It was still fast for a beginner, and he figured it was better to keep things vague until Aiden was actually running at his best with all of the training under his belt. "Really? Just a whim? Why do you think you did it?" Dodge asked. He couldn't imagine not having a clear reason for running, since he and all of his friends on the team did. Even Stevie, who needed it to burn off the energy leftover even after a long volleyball practice.

Aiden just sort of shrugged. "Personal reasons," he answered, not actually wanting to get into things. But, even though it was for the reasons it was, Ai had found it was a good whim to follow, because he had found he really liked to run.

Dodge nodded and pretended like he knew exactly what Aiden meant. "Yeah, I understand," he added, "running's a good way to get your mind off things. Or sometime to get your mind onto things. You know what I'm just going to stop talking now." He knew he wasn't making very much sense. It was extremely unlike him to be having this sort of problem. Normally he was talkative and coherent no matter who he was talking to.

Aiden couldn't help but look amused. But, he did stop himself from laughing. "I'm just going to pretend that last bit made any sort of sense," he said, more so to himself while he nodded slightly. "Although, getting your mind onto things is an interesting concept."

Dodge shook his head, feeling like he'd made a bit of a fool of himself. "I just mean...if you want to concentrate on something, running disconnects you from everyone else. But if you just want to get away, running can do that too. It's part of why I love it so much. Besides the fact that my body can't stay still for more than a minute at a time," he admitted, shifting from one foot to another. "Being out here by the track and not running is making me antsy."

Aiden puzzled it over. There was sense enough to the matter, so he sort of nodded. "So run then. No one's going to stop you," he said. "And if they were to try, I think they would have a heckuva time catching you."

Dodge scratched the back of his neck, bouncing from foot to foot to keep his body occupied. "I'd feel like I wasn't doing my job," he said. "There's no way for me to help you while I'm running. Besides, I can run any time. Clearly your hours are limited by your lazi-....I mean, sleeping habits." He grinned to show that he was joking.

Aiden raised an eyebrow at Dodger. "I can pretty much run anytime, seeing as I'm awake right now and have run some. Besides, if you're worried about not doing your job...well you've already done it. I've practiced and I've learned something. So run." Aiden shrugged slightly. "You clearly want to."

Dodger considered it for a moment before giving in to the restlessness in his body. "You want to run with me? We could just....jog, or something? It'd be nice to get to know a new teammate. We don't get them often, and when we do they're usually little pre-pubescent first years."

Aiden looked just the smallest bit startled by the offer. He had been expecting a chance to slink off for breakfast. "I suppose," Ai answered, "although not for too long...I think my stomach might be on the verge of eating itself. Haven't had breakfast."

"Oh, the wonders of getting up early," Dodge retorted, limbering up again before he went to get out on the track. "You finish all your homework and get those delicious sausages the cafeteria makes!" Feeling his muscles loosen enough for at least a light jog, he hit the track, glad to be doing the thing that he loved.

"I don't like sausages..." Aiden said giving Dodger an odd look, following behind him as he went down the track. "They make me feel sick." He'd had a bad experience with sausages once, and had been sick afterwards, so Ai was forever put off of them.

"That's both strange and unfortunate," Dodge note, feeling a little sad for the poor guy. "Well, there's always pancakes, right? And juice and coffee and waffles and bacon and....." He trailed off, realizing he was rambling. Sometimes, one of the side effects of running was that his mind tried to work as fast as his body. Of course, Dodge wasn't exactly a smart cookie, so it mostly turned into incoherent drivel.

Aiden turned his head to give Dodger an odd look. "If anything is strange it's you, not me," he said. Then he fell silent, not responding to the list of breakfast foods, and not having anything else to say. He actually wasn't usually too talkative, so had been surprised with himself so far that morning. Maybe it was just because for whatever odd reason, Ai felt comfortable around Dodge.

"Hey, I'm....fairly normal," Dodge argued. He didn't have any evidence handy though, so they ran in silence for a while. It seemed like Aiden was not much for smalltalk, which made things a bit awkward. Although his body craved a faster pace and a lot more running, he slowed to a stop. "Want to go get lunch? I think I can hear your stomach planning a mutiny."