Jogging Buddies (Chase)

[Nicholas Kells]

Normally Nick didn’t like running in the evenings. He preferred going out early in the morning, before it had gotten to hot. And before most of the town’s citizens were out and about. It was as close to finding peace as he had found so far in this town. Beside it helped him prepare for the day ahead of him at work. And planning was always an important part of the day.

But this morning when Nick had woken up it had been pouring outside. Usually a little rain, or even a lot of rain, was not enough to deter him from his routine. In fact running in the rain reminded him a little of his basic training. But he had also been running uncharacteristically late that morning. Rachel had called late to ask what to pack for coming over for a visit. And even though it had gotten late and Nick knew he had work to do before going to bed, he had never been one to tell his daughter he needed to cut the conversation short. So that morning he had overslept a little, throwing off his routine.

So after work, he had stopped home for a quick change before headed out to the lake. It was a nice day out and he hoped he wouldn’t run into anyone annoying along the way. Work had been a little stressful so he wasn’t really in the mood to deal with any idiots right now.

[Chase Campbell]

Chase preferred running in the evenings. His morning routine usually involved staying in bed as long as physically possible before resigning himself to the day. No time for running. But often after teaching unruly teenage metas all day, he needed to find some way to de-stress. Usually that involved running. He tried to run before dinner if James didn’t need help, but sometimes he found himself roped into helping and had to go after.

This was one of those days he really needed to de-stress. Several of his students had been awful, and Jessica had been mopey for whatever reason. (He’d chalked it up to boy trouble. It seemed to be the usual thing teenage girls sulked about.) James seemed to just know, so he’d told him not to worry about dinner and to have a good run.

The trainer had changed in record time into his favorite Diamondbacks t-shirt (which, admittedly, was getting a little ratty, but he didn’t care), and a pair of long black shorts. With his iPod secured on his arm, he was ready, and headed down the path that led to the lake.

He really did wish James would go with him more often. He worried about his husband. But they’d tried it, and James hated it. While he wasn’t going to force it on him, he wasn’t going to stop wishing either.

Those thoughts disappeared when he realized someone else was out on the lake paths. For a moment, he wondered if it was the man he’d met in town not long ago. They looked somewhat alike. But he said he went out in the mornings? Then again, it had been wet this morning.

As he got closer, he realized that yes, it was Nick. Well! Company after all. He sped up just a little in order to catch up, and pulled his earbuds out of his ears. “Nick! Good to see you! How have you been?”

[Nicholas Kells]

Nick hadn’t seen Chase at first. Well he had known that someone was running along behind him, but having no idea who it was he had sped up a little hoping to leave them behind. This was his moment of peace in the day and he didn’t want to be interrupted. After all there weren’t many people in this town that he would feel pleasure at seeing on the jogging paths.

He was about to launch into a sprint (it seemed the person trailing him was keen to talk to him) when he recognized the voice saying his name. He slowed down, allowing the other man to catch up to him easily. “Chase,” he said and actually smiled. “Good to see you too. I was hoping I’d run into you out here sometime. I wanted to thank you for your advice the other day.”

Allowing Chase to set the pace, at least for now, Nick smiled at the other man. Why couldn’t there be more people like him in this town. Good, honest, fathers. Which reminded him… “I’m heading to pick up Rachel for the summer soon,” he said, unable to stop from grinning at the idea.

He felt a bit like an idiot, but he daughter had that effect on him sometimes. He knew it was important for her to have a relationship with her mother, but he missed her when she wasn’t with him. He had thought once or twice about fighting for more custody, but he knew it was a losing battle. Courts were usually more keen to place children with their mothers. And although he might not like his ex-wife much, even he could recognize that she was a good mother.

“How have you been?” he asked Chase. “How’s the family?” Although he had been a little uncomfortable with Chase’s family situation when the other man first explained it, Nick had some time now to get used to the idea. It gave him no reason to feel weird around the other man, as long as Chase didn’t feel it was a topic for in-depth conversations.

[Chase Campbell]

Okay, so admittedly ‘stalking’ someone on the lake paths was probably a little creepy. If Chase had been in Nick’s position, he would have done exactly the same thing, so he couldn’t really blame the other man for reacting like he did. Especially after the trials of last summer.

Thankfully, Nick did seem to recognize him, and the trainer was relieved. He dropped back to an easier pace, grinning at the other man. “Yeah, the kids I teach were driving me crazy today, so I had to get out here to blow off some steam. I’m surprised to see you, though. Too wet this morning?”

It had been too wet for anything this morning, in his opinion. Stupid weather.

“Oh? That’s great! Has she been here before? ‘Cause there’s some great things to do in the summer. Sports day for the whole town, the lake, lots of stuff.” He grinned, looking forward to taking Nikki to sports day.

He knew the feeling of feeling like an idiot when talking, or even thinking, about your kids. It was a surefire way to soften him right up, to bring up kids. He was always so proud of Nikki, no matter what his son was doing. Hell, even the kids he taught were important and special to him in their own ways, but Nikki was different. He was his, and he was glad to be able to legally say it now.

“Not bad. Despite wanting to throttle a couple of students today. Family’s good, though. I think my step-daughter’s coming down from university this weekend.” That would be nice, having Ginny around for the weekend. “Things are pretty normal, which is actually refreshing.” Especially considering last year’s events. Not that he was ever going to share those outside the circle that already knew.

[Nicholas Kells]

Dropping into the easier pace alongside the other man, Nick had to admit he actually was glad to see Chase. And it surprised him a little. Not that it was an entirely new concept to actually enjoy another person’s company, but he wasn’t exactly that high on his priority list to go looking for it. He also hadn’t really expected to find it in a town like Pilot Ridge.

“Too wet, running late,” Nick said, frowning a little. “Just wasn’t meant to happen.” Still he had to admit it had worked out. Plus with the rain, the weather was actually cooler than it had been. Which was always welcomed.

“Nah,” Nick answered. “She usually spends most of the summer with me, but last year I had just moved into the area. So this is the first time we’ve really got a chance to spend some quality time since I moved.” Of course Nick had still called and visited whenever he could, but it was always a treat to have her around for an extended time period. He had spent the past week making sure her room was all set up, shopping around for her favorite treats, and other cute fatherly activites.

“Sounds nice,” he continued. For a moment he was lost in his thoughts picturing Rachel in college (preferable an all girls college). “Maybe Rachel gets settled I’ll bring her over to meet you. Since she’s going to be around for a while, I’d like her to know a few trusting faces in town.” He hoped he wasn’t asking too much of the other man, but he couldn’t help but think that having another pair of eyes to watch out for his little angel would be for the best.

[Chase Campbell]

Since moving to Vermont, Chase had found himself with a surprising amount of friends. Most of them were coworkers at Hammel. He was close with Sean, though the difficulties of the past year had probably put a good few dents in that friendship. He was also friends with most of the trainers, and some of the other teachers. Of course, he still kept in contact with friends in Sedona, especially his best friend. But he had a real sense of community and friendship right here in Pilot Ridge.

“Yeah, it was too wet and too early for me this morning. I barely get to work on time on the best of days, let alone when the weather sucks.” Of course, a little bribery and he could ask Nikki to clear the rain for him. But that wouldn’t make him want to go running in the morning any more.

Of course, had he thought about what Nick had said at their first meeting, he would have known that he hadn’t been in the area that long. Whoops. “Right, right. I guess I always figure people have lived here forever. But that’ll be great for you guys to spend time together.” It was always great when they had Ginny around their house too. It led to game nights and movie marathons and trips to the lake. Not that it didn’t happen anyway, but it was always better when Gin was around.

“Yeah? I’d love to meet her. Nikki’s about her age too. You never know, they might get along. Nikki’s pretty friendly with everyone. And I know what you mean about knowing who to trust. Niko’s probably got a list a mile long of safe people.” On that list were people like Sean, and Clarisse. Even Roman. “If you don’t have any plans, and she’s into picnics and games you should think about going to the field day at the end of summer. Tons of kids go, and lots of people from the town. It’s pretty great.” This would be Nikki’s first year going not as their foster son, but their son, and he was looking forward to it.

[Nicholas Kells]

Although normally, Nick might have looked down on Chase for his poor punctuality tendencies, he found himself chuckling at the man’s admission of personal flaws. He was about to make some sort of “sounds like the wife needs to whip you into line” joke, when it occurred to him that this might not be the best situation for that. Nick had never had any homosexual friends, at least not that he was aware of. It wasn’t that he avoided them, although it wasn’t exactly the most comfortable situation for him. He supposed it might have been his initial awkwardness that kept him from having those kinds of friends. Still even if it would be a while before Nick ever felt comfortable joking with Chase in that way, it wasn’t enough to sway him from watching to further the friendship.

“Small town living tends to have that effect,” Nick commented. He had grown-up and lived in small towns for a majority of his life, so he understood. It seemed like the whole world was contained in your small town and you often forgot that live outside of it existed at all. “And yeah, I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks.” That was a bit of an understatement, but Nick wasn’t about to act like a giddy six year old.

“That sounds great actually,” he said, smiling. He had worried a little about Rachel having luck finding friends during the summer. It wasn’t her people skills that he was worried about (she had the sort of adorable charm that everyone seemed to enjoy – at least in her father’s eyes) but instead worrying about finding safe friends for her to spent time with. “She’d love that. She’s a great kid. A really people person. A trait that luckily she’s picked up from her mother.” Although Nick considered himself able to fool get along with just about anyone, it was different with Rachel. Perhaps because she was genuine.

[Chase Campbell]

Chase was a man who didn’t mind poking fun at himself now and again. At least with friends. It was harder to enjoy it at, say, a Campbell family gathering, because James’ sisters seemed experts at doing it for him. He couldn’t keep track of how many times they’d gotten a good jab in. With Nick, though, it wasn’t so bad. Had he thought about Nick’s history with the military, he might have re-thought admitting to being a slowpoke in the mornings. After all, the military was all about punctuality. He wouldn’t have lasted a day.

“Yeah, I guess so. I can’t really get away from it, either. I grew up in a pretty little city, too.” True, Sedona hadn’t been a huge place. But it was still bigger than Pilot Ridge. “That’s good. I’d be excited too.” He honestly couldn’t imagine being separated from Nikki, should anything happen to his and James’ relationship. (Then again, if it hadn’t self-destructed over the past few years, it never was.)

“Yeah?” He’d had to find ways to entertain himself the first year or so in Pilot Ridge, considering that James had still been doing some heavy travelling for recruitment. Summer always had a lot to offer, though. “Aww, I don’t know about that. You’re pretty friendly.” If Nick was any indication, he was sure his daughter would be nice. “It would be nice for Nikki to have some more friends too, even if it’s only for a summer.” His son did pretty well in the friend department, especially now he wasn’t one of the youngest kids at Hammel, but he was sure he’d never get away from that whole ‘oh wow you were nine when you manifested’ thing. “I think I have some information at home about the field day thing, so if you want I can give it to you. I’m sure James has it memorized by now.”

[Nicholas Kells]

Nick didn’t really make a habit out of picking fun at his own self. Sure there were times when he was with friends, or his daughter, when he didn’t mind being the butt of a joke. But those were rare. He had enough of that feeling growing up with his father. And although joking about himself was sometimes a useful tool to look humble and easy-going in front of other’s. It wasn’t one that he was particularly fond of.

“I’m a small-town man myself,” Nick said. “Although I’ve lived all over, most of my travels were spent on an army base of some kind. And those are basically small towns in themselves.” Of course, there was less women and no children.

He continued to grin about the idea of Rachel coming soon. Although he had his worries about her being in Pilot Ridge, with all the freaks running around that town, he had confidence that he could protect her. And so those worries were far outweighed by excitement. It had been hard having his daughter grow up and not being with her all of the time. When she was younger he had felt horrible about all of the little milestones that she had made. Even know, he worried that as she aged she would slowly developed more of a social live and leave even less time for him. But for know she was his princess, so that wasn’t something he should fret over just yet. Or so he felt.

“That would be great,” Nick said after Chase mentioned the field day pamphlet. “Would you mind me swinging by on the way back to my place to pick that up?” Normally Nick wouldn’t have been so forward about his questions. But first off, he was getting more comfortable around his new friend Chase. And in a town like this he figured he would have to hold onto any friend he could manage. Mort importantly this was to do with Rachel. Even if something was out of his normal comfort zone, Rachel was always worth doing it.

[Chase Campbell]

“Yeah, I guess that would do it too.” Chase hadn’t minded growing up in a small town, though even he had to admit that there was an appeal to big city life. Sedona was bigger that Pilot Ridge, yes, but nowhere near the sizes of the big cities. “I grew up in Sedona, Arizona. It’s not huge, and it’s definitely... well... not like Pilot Ridge.” What he meant was that it wasn’t as free thinking as Vermont tended to be. Especially Pilot Ridge, what with its population of meta humans. And, if Sean’s barbeque a while back had been any indication, its gay community was quite vast. It had taken him a while to adapt to the fact that he wasn’t going to be publicly scorned if he was out and about with his then boyfriend.

At least Pilot Ridge was safe. He didn’t have to hide anything out here. (Okay, except the nasty business of last summer.) He could be out with James, he could be proud of the fact he was meta. Not to mention, it really was a safe place for kids. The crime rate was low, and it wasn’t uncommon to see younger kids out and about on their own. Granted, he’d been nervous about letting Nikki go out on his own, and for a while after the summer he’d wanted to accompany him everywhere. But that was because of what had happened with MSAD, not because of Pilot Ridge himself. Overall, it was a safe place for kids and adults, and a good community.

“No, I don’t think that should be a problem. I can text James to let him know about it. He can have it ready.” He didn’t mind giving up their copy. If they needed a new one, they were all over Hammel at the moment. “Our place is kind of out of the way of the town, though. It’s not far from the lake.” The cabin-like house was great for seclusion. And parties. No noise complaints from neighbours. “I know we’re planning to take Nikki, so if you wanted to introduce Rachel to him, it might be a good place for it.” Hopefully she’d be able to make at least a few friends during her stay.

[Nicholas Kells]

Nick nodded his head. Although he’d never spent much time in Arizona, he had passed through once or twice. And he knew that most small towns, no matter when in America they were, all had similarities. Of course Pilot Ridge was a small town itself, but Nick was well aware that it had some major differences. And not all of them please him.

Still Nick felt it best not to bring those up at the moment. Chase seemed to really enjoy his town and Nick didn’t want to crush the start of their friendship by launching into an in-depth discussion of its flaws and his feelings towards certain members of the community. That could wait a while longer.

Still even Nick had to admit that the community did have its pluses. Aside from the freaks, he wasn’t worried about anyone in the community when it came to his daughter’s safety. And it helped to have a good, honest man like Chase on his side to keep an eye on things. Besides this was the place to be for him because of the work he felt he could do here. Although he often had a love/hate relationship with his actual job (mostly hate when it came to his co-workers), he had to admit he was perfectly place to have a chance to really change things.

“That’d be great,” Nick said with a smile. “Well if you don’t want to hike all the way there I can follow you back in my car.” He laughed softly. Of course he would never back down from a challenge but he wasn’t going to issue one. He didn’t have any doubts that he could handle a long-distance jog and he assumed Chase was a man who knew how to handle himself physically. But both of them would definitely feel it the next morning.

“Sounds great,” he said smiling. He had been slightly worried that Rachel might not have anyone her age to spend time with over the summer. Not because she had trouble making friends, but because a lot of them wouldn’t meet her father’s requirements. But if Nikki was anything like his father, Nick didn’t feel he needed to worry in this case.

[Chase Campbell]

Pilot Ridge’s diversity was one thing Chase adored about it over Sedona. It was okay to be out as bisexual, married to another man, and be a meta human. In fact, there seemed to be quite the collection of them in the area, which suited him just fine. It was better than sticking his head in the sand and pretending that he wasn’t attracted to men, and couldn’t control someone’s mind if he wanted to.

Not that he really wanted to most of the time.

Best of all, he felt like it was a safe place for Nikki. Excluding MSAD, there never seemed to be a high level of crime, and they had enough friends in the area to look out for their son.

“Oh, it’s not far. My usual route for running is from our place to the lake, around the lake, and back again.” He smiled at Nick. “We have a sort of ‘cabin in the woods’ place. Just far enough off the beaten track to seem really secluded, but it’s really not far from town either.” The peace was a fantastic bonus.

“I think they’ll like meeting each other. Nikki doesn’t have a lot of close friends yet.” Mostly because he’d been so young when he’d started Hammel. “Though his cousin Jordan started school close by not long ago, so he’s at least got him.” This would be good for Niko, he was sure. “If you wanted to head now, it’s not far.” There wasn’t that much lake to lap around before the path to the cabin met up with it again.

[Nicholas Kells]

“Sounds nice,” Nick said, returning the other man’s smile. In fact he was a tad jealous. When he’d first made the move up to Pilot Ridge he wasn’t too happy about the real estate situation. He would have preferred a place that was more secluded than the place he had in town. He did better on his own. Especially when there was so many freaks running around. Of course he had did his homework, so at least he knew that there weren’t any living right next to him. Still when Rachel came it would probably be better to have a place in town for her to meet other kids her age. Of course he would have to check out those people as well.

“Lead the way,” he continued, stepping into stride beside the other man. Of course Nick was never one to look like he was being beat, but it was hard to win a race when he didn’t know the direction of the finish line. “And I’m sure Rachel will get along with him, she seems to like everybody.” Although it was a quality that Nick wasn’t too sure how he felt about. It worried him sometimes that she was so easily trusting.

((wrap?))

[Chase Campbell]

“It is. James already had the place by the time I came around. It’s miles better than the crappy apartment I had in Arizona.” He didn’t miss that place. It wasn’t that the building was all that run down or anything. The apartment just hadn’t been a home. It had been filled with second hand furniture – things he’d acquired just after he’d moved out, and he’d never really replaced them. An eternal bachelor pad. At least until James had showed up. The cabin was great, and really did feel like a home. Especially with Niko around, and when Ginny visited.

The trainer glanced sideways at Nick and smiled, almost eager to show Nick the place. What was he, a ten year old with a new friend to bring home? The thought amused him. “Sure. Like I said, not far.” He found the path easily enough and veered to the right, down the footpath. “Nikki likes everyone too. I think they’ll get along great.” Their fathers already got along. This was going to be great.

(Wrap, m’dear! Thank you!)