Streets of Town, Tuesday Morning

[bitten_notshy]

As promised, Derek had turned up outside Jack's house early and glared until Jack remembered he'd promised to go jogging and came to meet him.

So that's what they were doing. Running. Practicing tracking and shutting out other distractions. Why they were doing it shirtless, Jack wasn't entirely sure -- but it was hardly something to complain about.

He leaned forward into his run, trying to match or exceed Derek's pace. Something about this had his competitive juices flowing.

[OOC: Mostly for justlurkinghere, but open for spectators.]

Comments

[justlurkinghere]

Competition was useful like that! And it was hardly Derek's fault that he had a crippling shirt allergy due to his childhood in Beacon Hills.

It was a serious condition, Jack.

"Pace yourself," Derek grumbled, keeping an eye on their surrounds rather than Jack. Seriously, what the hell was going on lately?

[bitten_notshy]

"I am, but I'm not letting you outrun me," Jack said, trying to sound dignified.

Dignity didn't go well with shirtlessness. Or with trying not to ogle, which is what Jack was combining with his running.

[justlurkinghere]

"Like you could." Boys. Put them away.

[bitten_notshy]

"You've never seen me try," Jack grinned, and doubled down his pace again, until the wind felt like it was cutting against his skin.

He wasn't sure how long he could keep this up, but he was going to try.

[justlurkinghere]

Yes, playing 'chase me!' was a great plan with two werewolves.

Derek's response was a toothy grin as he took the long way around obstacles to catch up in order to prolong the hunt. He couldn't recall having this much fun in a long while. "You'll tire!"

[bitten_notshy]

"Not before you do!" Jack called over his shoulder. He almost ran into a tree, braked just short of it and grabbed hold of a low branch to vault forward. "Want to bet on it?"

[justlurkinghere]

Unnecessary acrobatics! HE WAS LEARNING.

Derek took the route under, pushing himself in order to tap Jack on the back as an incentive to hurry the hell up.

[bitten_notshy]

THEY GROW UP SO FAST.

Jack permitted himself a slight snarl at the tap, then kept running. He was heading toward the beach: Running on sand seemed like an interesting challenge.

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Zeela had woken up with a serious case of the jitters today. So she was also out running, because it was that or pick a fight with someone to let off all this crazy excess energy.

Okay, her brain had some other ideas for working that energy off, but with Sholeh in view most of the time, Zee hadn't met anyone she could slide skins with.

So, instead, running. And giving a cordial nod to Jack as her route met up with theirs. "Professor Priest."

If her brain was working on all cylinders, she might have realized that her casual greeting might seem a little out of place, what with him never having seen her before and all.

[bitten_notshy]

"Hi," Jack said, because this was a pretty young woman and he would have said hi on any day. Then his brain caught up.

"You aren't in my class," he said, slowing his pace a bit so he could talk. "Are you?"

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"Y-no," Zeela said.

Jack would surely need all of his honed detective skills to navigate this conversation.

"I heard about it from a friend?"

This day was not good for thinking on your feet, okay? Especially not when your very pretty teacher was standing there, all shirtless and...glisteny.

[bitten_notshy]

"I didn't know I was that interesting," Jack smiled, in a way that suggested he didn't think that was quite true. He was thoughtful; Zeela smelled familiar, but not in a way he could place. "But if you know a friend of mine, you can call me Jack."

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"Friend of a student," Zeela replied. "But I wouldn't mind calling you Jack anyway?"

Because, hello, shirtless.

[bitten_notshy]

"I think I can allow that," Jack decided. He was missing his shirt and covered in sweat; it wasn't as if they were meeting in an embassy ballroom. "But what should I call you?"

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"You can call me Zee," Zeela said, one corner of her mouth kicking up in a crooked grin. Because flirting with your teacher (even if he didn't know it) was THE BEST IDEA. "And for some reason, I want to follow that up with a cheesy line, but I'll abstain."

Beat.

"From that." Important clarification.

[bitten_notshy]

"Not from anything else?"

JACK. SHE IS A STUDENT. STOP THAT.

[mummyspromdate.livejournal.com]

So Maddie so far hated this whole thing and didn't even really know what to do about it and she thought going for a walk might help to take at least some of the edge off.

And then she saw two hot shirtless teachers running around and if they heard a "Oh, come on," that would be from Maddie. Who was now going to take up permanent residence in a cold shower or something.

[genesishero]

Evan was... still walking his dog. Look, you read a radio broadcast like this morning's with all this pollen in the air and see how much exercise you need in order to wear off that excess... fidgeting.

Lots of fidgeting.

So, when the two men jogged by, shirtless, and Evan had to tug on Ozzy's leash to keep him from giving chase, he was kind of making up his own mind, too. He needed to take up running laps. Laps would be way more useful than dog walking.

... Or maybe really cold showers.

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

He could be more like Zeela! See, Zeela was also running! In a thin tee, to be exact. "Eyes up, Evan!" she said as she approached. "I'm not Sholeh! Hey, Ozzy."

Because messing with Evan was fun.

[genesishero]

Oh. Oh, uh, hi, strange girl who knew his name. And his dog. Evan's eyes did indeed go up, and he found himself blinking.

A lot.

"Um... Of course you're not Sholeh? Sorry... do I know you?"

Really, he would have known if he'd met this girl, but Ozzy's tail was wagging a mile a minute, and he was bounding at the end of his leash, trying to get closer to say hello.

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"Pssht."

Zeela was big on really helpful replies. Especially to important questions, like 'Have we met?'

"If I'm not Sholeh, then you shouldn't be sneaking peeks at my bubbies, should you?"

Someone liked yanking your chain, Evan. And that someone was Zeela.

[genesishero]

Did anyone on the island doubt Evan's ability to turn bright pink? Because the boy was paler than Death, and blushes happened to show up very thoroughly on his cheeks. And his ears. And right down his neck, to under his shirt...

"I- I wasn't!" Okay, now that she'd gone and drawn attention to the fact that they were there, he was-

He was... No! The sky was really interesting today, wasn't it? It was. The sky was awesome.

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"Who's a good boy?" Zeela said, kneeling down to pet Ozzy. "Is it you? Is it you? I bet it is!"

Ozzy was a good boy.

"You're going to hurt your neck if you keep straining it like that," she observed when Ozzy had gotten some of his much-needed attention. "I don't care how bendy you are. You're gonna pull something."

[genesishero]

Ozzy was so happy. He was going to bark proudly and prance in a little circle, because attention!

Evan was going to just stand there and maybe stammer some more. That sounded like a great plan.

"I- I won't, I mean... I'm not going to... I wasn't even!"

Aaaah!

"I'm not looking!"

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"I meant looking up at the sky at that angle," Zeela snorted. "I figured that bringing up Sholeh would be enough to remind you to keep your eyes to yourself. I mean, you wouldn't want her to think you ogle all the girls, would you?"

Zeela was just going to be glad that Sholeh was still asleep and couldn't hear her harassing Evan. She'd pout.

"You didn't forget Ozzy's squeaky pork chop, did you? He looks like he wants to play."