Hey [closed]

[Evgeny Demidov]

Whenever Evgeny didn't have morning class, he had a very strict morning routine. Cold shower, frosted flakes cereal, jog through the park, full breakfast. This was one of these days, and therefore, he was through his routine, even if the morning was rather colder than usual, making him want to stay home sleeping. There was just something about going through his routine, though, that made him feel naked or sick if he didn't do it, so he just put on a sweatshirt, instead of the usual dri-fit sleeveless he used to jog, and jogged his merry way towards the local park.

Jogging always made him remember boot-camp and miss being a soldier. Being yelled at while jogging, or while doing any other action, though, he didn't quite miss. He also loved the fact that, unlike back then, he could listen to his music while exercising, so he putted his iPhone to good use, even if Lifehouse, 3 Doors Down and Nickelback were the only artists he had in it. I seriously need to increase the number of bands I listen to. He said to himself as he finally entered the park. Truth was, though, that what he needed was increasing his number of friends. Months in Pilot Ridge now and still, pretty much friendless. Well, Yulia was perhaps an exception, but they hadn't been friends that much lately really. It's not like he hadn't been trying to meet new people, but most were apparently scared of his rather too friendly behavior, most guys thinking he's gay, for once, and saying it out loud after he realizes that's the impression he's been giving didn't really help. The thing about Ev, though, was that he is not the kind of guy that stops doing something just because he's been failing terribly all the time. It was all about perseverance.

Maybe the park was a good place to meet people. There were tons of people jogging as well most mornings, and some he could even already recognize as being frequent joggers. As he continued jogging, he wondered what should he do. How do you start conversation with someone you don't know? It seemed hard, didn't it? Maybe he should just be upfront and honest with it. Hey, I need friends. Want to be friends? No, that sounded pathetic even for him. Should he be just cool, chill and macho about it? Hey, what's up dude? Wanna grab some beers and check some chicks? Please, that wasn't him at all, and even if he tried to pretend, it would look as fake and pathetic as the first option. Maybe he should just use the only common word between the two options he thought of.

"Hey." He said, suddenly stopping next to a wooden bench where the first approachable person he saw was and with a smile on his face.

[Andrei McQueen]

It was a cold morning. Every thread of Paul's laziness was strumming a steady tune to keep him in bed, but every fiber in his body was urging him to do otherwise. He peeled away his blanket, changed to some comfy jogging pants, a sweatshirt, and his mud-dried shoes. It didn't matter to him how crappy he looked, he wasn't out to impress anybody, he was having a great day and no one can change that.

Maybe I'll see him today. Paul didn't see the guy often. Sometimes, he'd change his jogging routes hoping to find the guy stepping out of a front door or something and know where he lives; not that Paul was stalking someone. He was just... curious. No, Paul didn't have a plan to bake some pie and act all neighborly when he does find where he lives; what gave you that idea?

Paul was sitting on the bench park, tightening his shoelaces and he remembered the first time he saw the guy. --It was a few weeks past, and was a crappy morning. Paul's shoelaces got loose and he knelt down to tie them. He heard footsteps and, as he turned around to see the passing stranger, he sees this guy in his sweat drenched sleeveless shirt. That day wasn't as crappy as he thought it would be after that incident.

Now, out of nowhere, he sees him again, and his day couldn't get any better. Or so he thought.

Paul heard the guy speak a word. He was expecting it to be more inviting that intimidating. He quickly stood up and apologized. "Ow! I-I'm sorry." It was a public park but maybe Paul was sitting on the guy's seat or something. He shifted his weight to one side and tried to make run for it but he forgot to tie his other shoelace.

He saw that moment, where his shoulder was about to hit the pavement, play in slow motion. The only thought he has while falling was how stupid he looked and messed up his first impression.

[Evgeny Demidov]

"Sorry for wh..." Ev attempted to ask, stopping at the image of the man falling down.

Luckily for the man, Ev had pretty good reflexes and as his mind processed what was happening, his knees immediately bent, his right leg took one quick step forward and his arms extended in an attempt to reach the space below the brunette before he felt to the ground. A small amount of adrenaline was flowing through his veins. A small amount of adrenaline mad everything move in a rather slow motion and activated his power against his will. He could see a couple of joggers some meters away, some birds building a nest above them, ants marching behind the bench and... the naked body of the man he was trying to catch.

Awkward. Evgeny thought, finally having the man in his arm, having successfully stopped from falling flat to the ground, as he compared the image of them in that position to that of when a princess faints and her knight in shining armor catches her midway. He blushed. Thankfully there was no one close enough to see them, the last thing he needed was more people thinking he was gay, even though the other man probably thought that now. Ugh. He felt the need to retire his arms and let the man fall, but his conscience wouldn't let him do it, instead waiting for the man to regain his own balance before taking a step away.

Before his power went back into its relaxed state, he realized the untied shoelaces were the reason the accident happened, or almost happened.

"Are you ok?." He asked with a worried tone before eyeing the man up and down, even if his power had already gave him a better look. "Well, emm, you obviously are." He scratched the back of his head with a smile. "You should be more careful next time."

[Andrei McQueen]

The last few thoughts that ran through Paul's mind moments just when he was caught by the man was how he was being seen. He has this insecurity about people always noticing him when something goes wrong. Just like this one, but this one's a bit different. He just doesn't feel like he was seen, but seen thoroughly. It was an awkward feeling, more awkward than they used to, but he just let it slip; his insecurity just gets a thousand notch higher when he's in front of a guy he likes.

"Uhmm.. Yeah.. thanks.." He was really more than thankful. Paul bruised easily ever since he was young and this guy just saved him from a purple stain on his arm but not from red cheeks due to embarrassment. Working out did improve his physique but not his sensitive skin.

Paul knelt down and tied his shoe lace. Why didn't he kiss me when I was in his arms; just like in those fairy tales. Who am I kidding, I mean, I'm a fairy after all. Wait. this is not time to be thinking this. Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

There were a few things he noticed about the guy - first, how he addressed the 'hey' must mean he doesn't socialize much; second, his tense muscles and the lightning quick reflex suggest he was or is still part of a military division; third, when the guy didn't make a move when he caught him means he's straight. The last one really sucks. Oh well, there's nothing we can do about it. or can we?

Paul stood back up, straightening his back. He took a deep breath and exhaled a smile. He's been screwing everything since he met the guy. (He does like to screw the guy, or the other way around, or both; and he means it in a pleasurable way but that's just our little secret.) "Lets try this again..." He cleared his throat. "... HI! I'm Paul. Thanks for saving my life." He put out his hand.

[Evgeny Demidov]

"It's fine." Evgeny immediately replied at first, keeping his smile in his face.

And it really was. It was very Ev to go about helping people around him. He was almost obsessed with it. If someone asked him a favour, it would be very hard for him to say "no", if he sees a way to help someone without being asked to, he will probably attempt to unless stopped. He was pretty much the definition of a fairy-tale knight in shining armor or prince charming, and if only his meta-ability was something more active and suitable, he would even be the comic book the definition of a superhero.

"Oh no, I... doubt it would have killed you." He laughed a little as he shook Paul's hand. "I'm Ev."

It now was the crucial "what now?" moment. They had introduced each other and well, what now? Ugh. Meeting new people was so much easier when it was with fellow soldiers. You didn't even had to introduce yourself, you had a nametag. Everyone was automatically each other trusted brothers, there were never awkward moments such as this.

"Ehmm..." He hesitated for a fraction of second. "We should keep jogging." He pointed at the road as he started to jog without moving from his spot. "You know, before we get cold." Beckoning Paul to go along with him, Ev started a rather slow jogging pace, not knowing what was the other guy accustomed to. "So, you jog here usually? I've never seen you around. I think."

[Andrei McQueen]

Paul chuckled a little after Ev commented about the fall not being enough to kill him. Ev has such an adorable laugh and such a beautiful smile. This kind of moment would have everyone else have butterflies fluttering in their stomach, but Paul has his wings fluttering within. Well, his wings didn't really flutter, that's just how he describes the sensation tingling up his spine.

They had that silent moment with their hands still holding each other. Paul doesn't want to let go yet but his sweating palms in this cold morning started to become obvious. He gently pulled away, wiped his hands on his jogging pants, and followed Ev's lead. Ev told something about before getting cold and all that registered in Paul's mind was the other things they could do to stay warm. He started trailing from behind, enjoying the view, imagining they were on a flowering field, chasing and giggling. What's with these thoughts?!?!

He picked up his pace until they were beside each other. Ev asked Paul a question. He can't really answer him a 'YES! I DO JOG HERE OFTEN HOPING TO BUMP INTO YOU AGAIN. I NEVER FORGOT HOW YOU LOOK SINCE THE FIRST TIME I SAW YOU!'. He doesn't want to sound stalker-ish. Instead. "I do..." Wedding bells I do? "... jog here often. I mean, I did, until I stopped two weeks ago. Then I stopped and today's my first time." First time what? O.o "--jogging again, I mean." Loser. "Uhmm.. How bout you? Haven't seen you around here before. I think."

[Evgeny Demidov]

"Yeah." Ev noded to Paul's question. "Mondays, Tuesdays, every other Friday and Saturdays." He slowly attempted to increase the jog's pace, noticing Paul was matching his. Should I ask him to go faster? "Oh and why did you stop jogging?"

A smile still dominated Evgeny's face. If he had any other secundary meta-ability, was the power to hold a smile for almost-infinite amount of times. Along with his happy positive helper passive attitude, it was the source of him being constantly bullied and mistaken for gay. It was good, however, that most people quickly liked him enough to believe he was not, or at least believe he believes so, or just plainly stop asking about it just out of respect of the so likable guy.

"I know, do you want to be my partner?" He asked innocently, realizing how that may have sounded. These were the kind of things that didn't help convince people he was not gay. "Jogging. Jogging partner, I meant. Of course, obviously." He scratched the back of his head, still smiling through the awkward situation he along created and jumped into. "I mean, jogging alone can be... I don't know. I've always been used to jogging with..." He hesitated for a moment. He couldn't really say 'squad' since it would lead into him being in the army, which he couldn't say. "friends. I feel kinda awkward doing it alone." Thank god for his iPhone, though, his only companion. "And I've heard most people become more responsible with their exercises routines if they have someone to do them with. If you commit to me," How this one sounded, he totally missed. "you'll be less inclined to fail the jogging session." He looked at Paul while rising his eyebrows for a second. "What do you think?"

[Andrei McQueen]

Where the hell was he jogging? All those days and I only encountered him once? Paul was mentally kicking himself for looking in all the wrong places to find Ev's jogging route.

He jogging a pace behind his partner, er, Ev and gave the question a good alibi. Paul can't just blunt out an "Oh! It's 'cause I lost inspiration when I never got to see you again and fell in a never ending spiral of depression of icecream and soap operas." Instead, he just replied with an --"I got lazy" and a light laugh. Good save, a simple reply that doesn't really need explanation.

Paul steadied his breath. He doesn't want Ev to notice his obvious lack of good condition that even a quickened pace of jogging would lead him to exhaustion, but Ev's smile, that gorgeous smile, was enough to make him run for days long end. If there was something Paul was good at, it would be staring at something for a long time, he knows this about himself, and so he doesn't do it as much; most people find it creepy.

Eve's second question made Paul skip a step. It made him mentally flutter his wings until they were mentally ripped apart when Ev clarified his offer. Paul thought about it, and it is a total win situation. Ev didn't have to supply his offer with facts, Paul already fell for him when he tripped on his shoelace and any offer Ev might ask would make him say yes.

"As long as you don't forget to pick me up every morning." Paul said with a chuckle and a devious thought in his eyes.

Before Paul could give out his address, he noticed they weren't in the park anymore. "Uhmm.. Is this your jogging route?" They still continued to jog.

[Evgeny Demidov]

Getting lazy was not something Evgeny was accustomed to. He did feel the... temptation of being lazy once or twice every couple of months, but it was just something that was not in his blood. He was too active to stop his exercising routines, or sleeping late or staying for too long in the same spot unless being ordered to, and even then it was always hard for him.

"Yeah sure I can pick you up." He nodded with a smile between carefully programmed breaths. "Oh but..." He noticed that he probably got the question wrong. "I don't have a car. I meant like, pick you up jogging." That doesn't make sense, of course he meant in a car... "Or... I don't know, I mean, it's really up to whatever you want."

He felt awkward once again. For a moment there, he felt like the conversation was flowing nicely, but now it seemed that maybe it wasn't. Was this normal? No. Evgeny didn't even consider himself normal. He thought he needed a serious amount of classes to improve his social skills, specially since just plainly practicing wasn't helping for what he could tell.

"Sometimes." He replied to Paul. "I like to diversify it a little, get to know and try a little bit of everything and then see what I like." Ev could feel himself maybe making the conversation flow again. "And I'm still pretty new in town. Or in the country, actually. I'm Russian, but I think that part is obvious." He chuckled a little. "Jogging has been my way to get to know Pilot a little bit more." He turned his face to look at Paul. "What about you? Is this your usual route?"

[Andrei McQueen]

Paul is really a talkative guy once you get to know him. He just shuts his mouth because he knows he'll screw up a lot once he spurs out his life on a total stranger. He used to do that plenty of times before --talk to total strangers. He used to do it to get to know the different kinds of people, understand them, and possibly create characters with great personalities.

Paul liked how Ev was all weird about the whole picking-him-up-in-the-morning thing. He was happy to find someone who was just as awkward as he was. He noticed how Ev was only awkward when he spoke but not when he was silent, which was different from him, Paul was the other way around.

"It's okay. I'll still like you. . . to pick me up, I mean." What just happened? "Or we can go to my house later... so you'll know where to go tomorrow... to pick me up --to go jogging, of course." And Paul couldn't stop a nervous laughter from following. Shoot me now.

"No..." This isn't Paul's usual route, but that fact doesn't matter, he still knows how to get home from any part of Pilot.

Paul had this little revelation, that he has been keeping himself stuck of the usual he knows but even steered away from going to the less usual places he had been to. It saddened him. He caged himself within the bounds of a weekly routine. He was depriving himself from the discovery of details, details that would make his stories a lot more realistic than just a usual fictitious story.

"Maybe...uhmm" He wasn't sure if he could ask but Paul feels he could trust this guy. "Maybe we could 'get to know and try a little bit of everything and then see what you like' together." He might hear it the wrong way, stupid. "I mean, I've been stuck within the park every time I jog and I want to get to know Pilot. The morning here is different from the day." It is, every day is different, as well as every time of day. "I mean, if that's okay with you."