Just Do It! (Riiiina The Rhiiiino)

[Anonymous]

Damn phones.

Taunting me with their phony-ness. Hurr Phone ee ness.

Satori was rubbing her temples. Just genius. It was time to go running, a couple days after her coffee with Bart and she wasn't sure what to do. Call him? Not call him? What was she ready for? She felt like it was time to move on.

Please lord in heaven girl.

That was the feminist part of her that told her that. What if she wasn't ready though? That was just ridiculous, she'd had plenty of time. All sorts of things to help her get over it. Plus, this was just a run, who knew if it was actually going anywhere. Sometimes she wished she had skipped parts of the woman gene when she was born. Just pieces of it. Especially the 'we think way too much' part of her brain. It was just useless really.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She was dressed in her normal running attire. The sports bra the pants that buttoned up the side, her tennis shoes. She looked good, she normally felt good when she went to go running. Always thought it was a shame when no one saw her running. She shook her head, her hair moving around. Time to grow up, she didn't use to be like this. She didn't use to over think Every. Single. Little. Thing.

She walked back over to the phone her fingers laying on it. Maybe tomorrow? She shook herself. He was probably wondering why she was being so rude and not calling him. Plus, he was such a damn gentleman, he wouldn't have any plans for anything more unless she did probably. Biting her lip she dialed out his number she'd found in the database. She picked at her cuticles then stopped holding her hands fingers twined together.

[Anonymous]

Bart was working. This wasn't really a surprising state for him. There had been a royal fuck up by someone who would remain nameless, mostly so Bart didn't give into the temptation to throttle them, and Bart got to sort through and try and clean up the mess.

It hadn't been pretty and Bart hadn't really left his desk for about two days. Styrofoam cups were haphazardly set in various places around his desk and a few more were living in a pile in the trash. Not all of them had held coffee. Bart had decided to try tea at one point. And decided tea was for pansies.

His newest cup was rather old and cold, but he sipped it anyway.

You know you've just read that page 3 times. You should take a break.

Probably. But there's still work ta get done.

It will still be here later. But go out and clear your head. You are useless right now.

Well thank ya buttercup. I love ya too.

You also look like shit. Bart felt Nuriel's smug contentment You are lucky I'm not shallow.

That comment just got a laugh from Bart, right before his phone suddenly rang, startling the Royal. He frowned and pulled it out of his pocket, not paying attention to the caller, "Hello?"

Phone call

Well, that was a pleasant surprise. Bart stood, stretching as he moved away from his desk. He did need the break and the work out would wake him up more then the coffee. A quick trip to change into his running clothes and he was jogging out to the track.

[Anonymous]

Yay!

That had been much easier than she had originally anticipated. She checked herself one last time in the mirror. She had to be sure she was presentable. Alright, she was never entirely worried about being presentable, more she was worried about being attractive. She grinned at her reflection. The circles under her eyes were even starting to fade. Life was getting back to normal.

Finally.

She smiled by people as she jogged through the hallways. They smiled back, some of them looking surprised she felt peppy, and it didn't feel forced. She got out to the track before Bart did. She took a moment to inhale the air. They may have lived in a bubble but really...it felt better outside some days. Even though it wasn't really outside. She took one more breath and started stretching.

She went through several stretches finally ending up sitting down on the ground reaching for her feet on one side than the other and repeating it. She sat up for a second and saw Bart far off and grinned waving at him from her spot. She really hoped she could think of enough interesting topics to keep the conversations going. She was hoping he had some too.

[Anonymous]

Bart didn't worry much about what he looked like when he ran. He didn't care about his appearance at the best of times, let alone when he was about to get sweaty and out of breath. He just had on a loose pair of sweats and a simple white tank top.

Bart kept in good shape, always making time to hit the gym, no matter how busy his week was. He gave the girl a small wave as he jogged over, "Hey there little lady." He started to stretch out, loosening his stiff muscles. To much sitting had made him tense.

"How ya doin? Been keepin' busy much?"

[Anonymous]

Satori watched him stretching, the way his muscles moved, his flexibility. She decided it had been way too long since she had gotten laid. Way too long. She let out a slow breath trying to steady her mind. He just exuded so much...peace? It was probably how mellow he was all the time. It just felt good to be around him. The vibes coming off of him were just pleasant. She wasn't really interested in him relationship wise. Sex wise, yes. Especially right now in her life.

Plus the stubble was cute.

"Ah random paper work and things. The normal job stuff. Also finally seeing some friends for the first time...in a long time." She didn't want to address her cutting most people she knew out of her life for a short time. She was finally getting out of The Citadel and out into Haviah again. She was sure he knew of her depression that had recently broken like a storm.

Most people did.

"Just random things really, but not too busy, you? Though that's probably a silly question, all you guys are normally busy." She grinned standing up and preparing herself to take off. She wondered which one of them was faster. Sometimes Satori ran to enjoy it, other times she wanted to feel the wind in her hair blowing fast and hard.

[Anonymous]

Bart took his time stretching, letting his muscles limber up. No reason to push himself too hard, not at his age. Wouldn't gain him anything. And it wasn't unpleasant watching Satori stretch. Bart was a gentleman, but there wasn't anything wrong with enjoying a view.

"Always nice ta get to see friends. Not sure last time I got ta do that, when there wasn't somethin' business related." Sometimes, it made you rethink your lifestyle choices when you realized that the last social outing you had with you friend was when you two went and shot up prisoners who were rioting.

Maybe he should see if Alesku or Roman wanted to just....get dinner sometime or something. Or at least have lunch sometime. Maybe.

Though Bart was actually unaware of her depression. The goings on of most of the Pilots didn't hold much interest for him. Or the people he talked to often. He knew some names and that was about it. He smiled at Satori' straightening up, "Up ta my neck in paperwork. As always. Let's get goin', yeah?"

Bart started off down the track, keeping the pace light for now. He would increase the pace slowly. He wasn't trying to prove anything, just wanted to get a nice warm up going.

[Anonymous]

"Alrighty let's get moving." Satori watched Bart for a couple seconds then followed him keeping the pace light. She kept her arms moving. Damn, it felt good to just go. Sometimes nothing fixed psychological like the physical. A good work out now and then, whether it was under the covers or not. Though the under the covers was sometimes more fun. She smiled over at Bart. It was nice having someone to run with.

"Well you should try and get out more. I know it must be hard." Satori frowned for a moment. "Just get some of us lowbees to move up the ranks!" She grinned. "Then you can get all of us lazy kids to do the work for you." She sped up a smidgen while she chuckled. She could feel the stretch of her muscles. That familiar warmth in her body of exercising. She'd have to talk Lamb into running with her sometime. Though with the way things had gone last time they'd spent time together...well physical activity may have been a bad idea.

"So anything you're interested in besides all this piloty stuff? Hobbies and things like that?"

[Anonymous]

Bart kept pace with Satori easily, slowly getting his muscles going. Deep, even breaths as he jogged. It felt so good, getting out of the office and moving around. He hit the gym with Roman every so often, but his first love was always running. Something zen about it. Plus, he liked knowing that when he needed too, Bart could run. Sometimes away from bad things, sometimes toward them.

And running with a young, pretty Pilot beat the hell out of lifting weights with Roman. Roman didn't bounce delightfully with each step, and while Bart prided himself on being a gentleman, he wasn't dead.

"I get out enough. Promise." He gave her and easy smile, stretching out his stride to keep up with Satori, "'Sides, can't have to much competition ya know. Already got Roman makin' me look bad."

Bart started going a little faster, falling into the pace he liked to keep. He was more for stamina then speed, but it was still good to push himself, "Me? Well, sure. Got some hobbies, just not a lot. Like ta read and work out." He shrugged as he ran. Didn't really have much of a social life. He liked to knit, but it wasn't a fact he liked to spread all over the place.

[Anonymous]

"Roman makin' you look bad! Can't have that." She chuckled at Bart. Satori didn't really known Roman, he was like one of those elusive Pilots, they'd met a couple times. She'd seen him different places, different events. Ever since the sledgehammer incident which will live in infamy she hadn't really wanted to know him. The pilots had been split on it. Though if people like Bart and Gabe could be friends with him he couldn't be all bad right? At least she hoped not.

"I like to read too." She grinned moving her pace to match his. "Marshal kind of beat that into me though. If I hadn't learned to like reading I'd probably be in TRIM right now." She shook her head remembering the piles and piles of books and homework. That reminded her of Lamb, she gave a small smirk to herself. She wanted to see her friend soon, she missed her already.

"I find I like movies though. Books are hard after reading paperwork most of the day." She pushed herself a little faster watching him out of the corner of her eye. It felt so good to have a long stretch of flat ground ahead of her, stretching out in front of her, waiting moving. She smiled to herself. It was peaceful.

[Anonymous]

"I know. Smug bastard." Bart liked Roman quite a bit. They weren't best bosom buddies by any stretch, but they had been through some very tense situations together. Formed a bond and all that. Plus, Bart just liked the guy. He knew the sledgehammer incident had caused some freak out, but Bart was pretty sure he knew why. It had killed a few birds with one stone.

Marshal's training habits on the other hand....Bart chose to remain silent on that one. He had seen what Marshal did with his candidates and didn't really approve. He didn't mind the man, had served with him, would go out drinking with the guy, but he didn't think Marshal should have candidates. But Bart knew Satori had a strong fondness for the man, so he just nodded, "Not into all those games the rest of ya babies seem into? With the...what's it....swordsmen and stuff."

The most advanced game Bart played was when Nuriel had helped him figure out how to play Solitaire on his phone. He liked Solitaire, very relaxing when he was too shot to focus on words. He gave a small smile when Satori's words echoed his own thoughts. Bart kept the pace even, settling into the run. He liked to run long, not fast. Cleared the mind, refreshed the body, "Movies are good for that. But I never seem ta catch the newer ones."

[Anonymous]

"Babies? Oh Lord Bart make me feel so young. Of course all of us are old in a way." She grinned at him. She forget sometimes that all the pilots weren't the same age. They seemed to all have a certain quality that lumped them together. Maybe the things they'd seen, maybe their training. She wasn't sure what it was. He probably was far older than her. She looked at him for a moment instead of in front of her. He was in good shape.

"World of....Warlocks? I think it is, " She laughed at the name. "I only played it a couple times with Wulf." She swallowed and waited for the oncoming wave of feeling but it didn't come. She felt even better actually. She could talk about him without exploding now. She grinned to herself turning her eyes back to the world in front of her.

"Oh yeah new movies I sometimes don't stray into. Lamb normally keeps me updated on what goes on in those. I always just watch bad action movies with cute guys." She grinned and increased her speed just slightly. She always ran at an increasing pace. She always ended her runs with an all out sprint. To feel the muscles burning, to knock the rest of the kinks out, to feel that power.

[Anonymous]

"I'm old in that lived a long time kind of way." Bart chuckled, stretching out his legs, getting into the rhythm of the run. It felt good. The relaxing flow of the movement, getting into the zone.

He nodded at her reply, just running for a bit. Bart wasn't really much of a talker most days, much preferring to listen. He went a half lap before he bothered to reply, "Sounds like a good friend. I just seem ta watch the same old movies over and over. Real classics through. Ya ever seen She Wore a Yellow Scarf?"

As Satori increased her pace, Bart did as well, lengthening his long legs to keep pace. He grinned at her, "Are we racing now?"

[Anonymous]

"I don't think I have...." She tried to comb the memory banks to see if anything stood out about a yellow scarf. Nope, absolutely nothing. "Nope, if I have I can't remember it." She gave him a small smile then a huge smile when he asked if they were racing.

"Maybe a little...doesn't seem fair though, I'm younger...and you smoke right?" While she was talking she was very carefully increasing her pace, ready to take off. Whenever she ran with someone it always seemed to naturally evolve into a race of some kind. She couldn't quite figure out the reasoning behind it. Doctors could probably point to several reason why.

[Anonymous]

"Awww. That's not good. That is a classic. Yer gonna have ta watch that one some time. That's an order. I got it if ya wanna borrow it sometime." Bart shook his head, shocked that such an amazing movie had been overlooked. It had Duke Wayne in it!

Bart kept his pace even. He wasn't planning on racing just yet. He kept his pace steady, his long legs eating up the ground, "Sure sure. Smoke like a damn chimney. Never start. Nasty habit. Probably leave me in the dust." Bart did smoke, but he also worked out almost every day. He was all lean muscle and was fitter then most men half his age.

[Anonymous]

Satori turned around to look at him while running a grin on her face as she saluted.

"Why yes sir. I'll pick up later on." She smiled keeping her pace rather well, though slowing a little as she ran backwards. It was easy to follow the curve of the track from memory rather than sight. She had run it so many times it was cemented in there like her memories were on this track. She spun around though and slowed down when he admitted to being a smoker.

"I never could smoke the things myself. I'm way to crazy about my health." She could feel her heart starting to pound a bit harder, a slight sheen of sweat starting to show on her skin. She still had a ways left in her. Her breath wasn't difficult yet. She always ran till it was.

[Anonymous]

"Good to hear." Bart gave a small whistle as Satori started running backward, "That's impressive. I can't go that fast backward. Ain't got the skill for it I guess." There were some definite perks to jogging with a pretty young lady. Marshal didn't look like that when they ran together.

"Probably should worry 'bout my health more. Just don't bother. Life is too short for all that." Especially when one was a Pilot. But Bart didn't bother voicing that. No need to ruin the mood, "What else you interested in? How are things goin' for ya?"

[Anonymous]

She spun back around to start running forward again, feeling good that she had impressed the other Pilot. She always liked impressing people. He started talking about his health and she felt a little twitch of sadness. She didn't liked hearing people she considered her...friends, maybe? She wasn't sure where Bart fit into the Satori Equation of Life yet. She was guessing friend. She'd have to wait and see.

"Drinking sidetracks me sometimes." She chuckled, obviously raised in Haviah. Anywhere else this might have been a declaration of some sort of problem here the answer just normally goes: 'So what?'.

"After I get sidetracked though I work out like crazy for the next week. Making up for it to myself probably." She shook her head eyes closed for a moment.

"You gotta have fun sometimes though right?" She grinned at him, then nodded as he asked her how things were going.

"Ah, the usual. I'm trying to get out more though. It's difficult." A frown creased her features. "I'm not very partial to the cameras and everything. I think it makes life difficult not better. It's neat sometimes though. That's the little girl in me I think." She really liked this. Bart was mellow, which in turn helped her relax a lot more than she normally could.

[Anonymous]

"Nothin' wrong with a little sidetrack now and then." Bart didn't get drunk much anymore, but he liked a good drink as much as the next man, "Probably the healthiest of my vices. Drink so much coffee I'm pretty sure it's replaced my blood."

Bart grinned at the girl, "Yeah, as ya can see, I try and balance it out a bit. 'Sides, gotta make sure I still look good in my uniform. Can't have all you young ones get all the girls."

It was nice running like this. Easy and relaxed. He was pushing himself hard enough to feel it burn a little, but it was a pace he could keep up for hours. Which sometimes he did, "The cameras ain't so bad. Bet it's harder when yer a pretty lady. Cameras ain't that interested in scruffy old men."

How do you manage to be running with a pretty girl and talk about the most boring things. Other dragons get to live vicariously through their Pilots sex lives. You hardly even masturbate.

Oh hush. That's just crude.

Just saying.

[Anonymous]

Satori chuckled shaking her head. His comment about getting the girl was sort of...interesting. He probably meant all the young guys. She thought back to the blur of the night with Lamb and the awkwardness afterwords. She'd need to call her soon, do something...it was sort of a growing feeling in her. She thought it had been cause she was drunk but something was...there. Something concrete. She shook her head and turned her attention back to Bart.

"You may be scruffy but you're still cute." She grinned sideways at him.

"We should have a drink sometime. Let me test you...what do you like to drink?" Satori always felt that a person's choice of liquor could say a lot about them. For instance, the fact that she liked whiskey made most guys somewhat impressed. She used to sneak vodka when she lived with her parents. Then she went to rum. Whiskey though, oh she hadn't moved on from that in a while. She'd try other things but it never really went anywhere.

"What a person drinks says a lot about them."

[Anonymous]

"Awwww. Well, I ain't so thick as to argue when a pretty lady calls me cute." Bart grinned, "I like ta think it's my boyish charms and chiseled jawline." He rubbed his stubbly chin, "Magazine said that once. Good to see there is still some truth in the media."

Jogging along, Bart nodded, "I agree wholeheartedly. I am a tequila man. Though if we're sippin' drinks, I do like some good gin. None of that cheap shit. The top shelf stuff. Acquired taste, but oh is it a good one."

"And you?" Bart raised an eyebrow, "What's yer drink of choice?"