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 Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:07 pm
There was a slight chill in the air, but not enough for Sheldon Hobbes to retreat in the warmth of his apartment - he was not the fondest of cold. It was hoodie weather and he was fine with that, leaving his plain black sweater slightly unzipped with a vague Star Wars reference on his t-shirt underneath peeking through.
The cooling weather also meant less people milling about, not like during the summer where people felt inclined to spend their days outside in healthier activities and basking in the sunlight. Well, there were people about of course, this was a park. That good old park that everyone, it seems, went to. But it wasn't as crowded as Sheldon had seen the past few months.
He was enjoying the quieter surrounding, slouching on a bench like usual with a water bottle resting against his side and a cigarette between his lips. A nice day outside before Skyrim came out, a needed break that required going to the outside world - and not just school or work... or his parent's - and not just sitting in his apartment between video games that had come out in the past two months; seriously, what was up with that? Did these companies not realize he had other non-important things to do?
Either way, he had zoned out, letting the world pass by and the sounds of nature be drowned up by the sounds of people be drowned out by his lack of attention and care, taking a long drag from his cigarette and letting the smoke drift from his lips.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:46 am
Micah didn't notice the chill. In fact it seemed like summer heat surrounded her. As she her legs pounded the pavement the shock of the impact made her legs ache. No, she could not stop. Micah was too far out of practice to stop. She hadn't run in nearly three months, enough time to lose a fair amount of endurance. She could feel it in the way her lungs burned, in the way her body begged for her to stop. As much as it pleaded, however, she could not. It was only mental, she reminded herself. Only mental. The more her stomach lurched at the thought of another stride, the more her feet pounded, was just one more lap she had to run. She would run until she could not feel it anymore. Run until she didn't hurt. That was the only way to stop it.
But the flesh is weaker than the mind, and yet so often over powers it. Chest heaving and body near to collapsing, she finally stopped. She shook from exertion, body finally experiencing the full brunt of her exercise. Micah forced herself to stand straight up, back in a line, to avoid passing out. Keep the blood from rushing to your head, she reminded herself. Don't lean over. Her breathing sped up as she gasped for oxygen, closing her eyes. It was then that the air smelt vaguely of nicotine. Who was smoking so close by? Her golden eyes drifted curiously over to the bench to her left, where a boy sat. He didn't look like he cared, and honestly, neither did Micah. She wasn't really one who went around, a soap box under her arm, ready to lecture any innocent on their wrong doings. Still, her eyes lingered on, noting the star wars on his shirt and the odd sea foam tint of his hair.
There was no reason Micah couldn't be friendly. Hand on her hips to keep herself upright, she strolled over, legs like jelly. "Hey," she huffed lightly, unable to put any more force behind her words. "Micah, I'm new here. Mind if I have a seat?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 4:25 pm
Sheldon couldn't help but give the girl a skeptical look as she approached, her heavy breathing and attire were obvious of a runner and possibly someone who took their physical health very seriously.
In short, he was expecting a lecture right off the bat. And as always, he was never in the mood; though, by this day in age he pretty much had responses memorized and they came out without thought.
What he got was a simple introduction and really, with the way she looked it would be terribly mean to deny her a chance to sit down. "It is a public park," he shrugged. Even with the amount of space the bench provided, given it could seat three comfortably, he still scooted closer to the armrest. Defensive mechanism most likely.
"I'm Sheldon," he finally stated after a beat between them, silently watching as she sat down. Sheldon took a puff from his cigarette, directing the smoke away from the exhausted girl as he looked her over. Really, he would never see how people could consider running as a recreation and hobby.
"Are you going to be okay?" He asked, curiosity getting the best of him.
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 6:05 pm
Micah could not have been happier to flop down onto that bench. She spread her legs out in front of her, sighing gratefully, smoothing back her sweaty hair. Micah didn't think she could make it to another bench, in all honestly. She nodded her gratitude, chest still heaving. When Sheldon expressed his concern, Micah only waved a hand dismissively at him, wiping her nose on her wrist. "I'll be fine. I just... haven't run in a while." Another wide grin at the boy. "I'm out of shape and was starting to get a little bit irritable. I needed to get out and jog again." Why did running always make things leak? Micah wiped her eyes and nose again, trying to force her breathing back down to normal. "I lost distance," he lamented. "I only went four miles. I should be able to easily run seven." She spat to her left, a vulgar action, but a necessary one. Running always resulted in a build up of phloem, something she needed to expel.
"You've never met a runner before, have you?" Micah smile, voice growing stronger as her breathing slowed. "Or at least not one personally. No reason to be concerned. We leak and we puff. It's not pretty."
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 10:53 pm
Clearly Sheldon was not the type of person you talked to about being out of shape; being the poster child of drug usage at an early age and chain smoking. So, he really didn't say anything as Micah explained her woes of not being able to go the distance as she used to; expressing such dismay with very unlady-like behavior to boot, not that he was judging or anything.
He simply flicked his cigarette a little while letting his arm rest against the side of the bench, "when you come to the park often you meet a few of them here and there," Sheldon explained in a bored tone, "they like to give their opinions and all." Like he had expected of her, "not very many seem like they're about to collapse though."
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 2:37 pm
Micah shook her head at Sheldon's story. "There's no reason to alienate a while people like that. You made your life choices and I made mine." Finally her breathing was back to normal and Micah was able to take normal breaths. Of course, now that she was still, her body had time to register that she needed to cool off faster and farther. This made her sweat fall in rivulets. She wiped her forehead and lips before she spoke again. "Besides, my grandmother has smoked two packs a day since she was fifteen. Her doctor says that if he didn't know she smoked he wouldn't have guessed. Same for some lung issues, she's the picture of health. Whose to say you aren't the same. That being said, it's not my choice. I already have one addiction." Micah slapped her thighs lightly as she spoke, emphasizing the impact running had on her life. "I don't need another. Well -- " She thought for a moment. "Two -- well... three... four... five?" She began to count of her fingers. "Well, the point is I don't need another one." Another bright smile towards Sheldon.
"Besides," she said brightly, "You are just sitting here, minding your own business. What kind of person just walks up and accosts some innocent without knowing their story?" Well, Micah did... after all that was what she was doing. Talking to some stranger like an old friend when she didn't even know if he wanted to talk to her or not. The thought made her stop and wince lightly. "Oh dear... Am I bothering you? You can tell me to shut up if you want... sorry."
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 11:04 pm
Well, okay. Sheldon hadn't expected a speech, well he had figured it was going to be coming earlier and without a prompt but there it was. And just like his earlier thought it didn't seem to need the proper kind of introduction to get Micah going.
The boy honestly just sat there, taking a few drags from his cigarette here and there and let her rattle on; not even saying a word. It was probably his bored looking expression that prompted her to ask and he simply shook his head, "nah, you're not being a bother," he told her as he reached over to the trash can and put his stick out in the ash. "That was just a whole lot of word vomit within a short span."
"I wasn't offering, for the record," Sheldon then told her as he repositioned himself and let his hands fall to his thighs. She had mentioned life choices, and he wasn't one to force anything on anyone; not like how it had kind of happened to him. Addictions were funny like that really, "that is a quite the number of interests though," he commented with a bemused smile. He himself had, what ... maybe three if anything?
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 12:38 pm
Micah grinned when she was assured that she wasn't being a bother. No reason to alienate everyone she met. Micah had enough enemies already. Besides that, her run had put Micah in a good enough mood that she didn't need to be an irritation to anyone else. She only sighed happily and leaned back, enjoying the feeling of the cool air on her drying skin. She let her head fall back as she savored the sensation of her muscles aching, her heart slowing to it's normal pace.
Sheldon drew her attention back to her when he spoke again, however. There was no offense in his voice nor was there any malice. She hadn't offended him. Good to know. Micah only grinned and tilted her head back, allowing the breeze to cool her neck. "I've been meaning to cut down on my vices. It's just that... nose of them are really all that bad. No reason to stop." And no motivation. She knew that her grades often suffered from her addiction to the internet, but her parents just accepted that she was a C student. And she knew that her mood and her health tanked when she didn't run, but no one else did. No one was there to tell her to stop self destructive habits, so she simply didn't.
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:19 pm
"If they're not doing any harm, I don't see why you should get rid of some." Sure, Sheldon was basically repeating whatever she was saying back at the girl but sometimes hearing it from another person helped get the point across. Aside from him not really knowing what else to say. He probably wasn't the best to ask advice on such matters, as he had his own vice of smoking which... well.
"I think I've only let a habit die because I fell out of interest," he sighed as he scratched his cheek. "It's maybe the easiest way to let them go." Better than cold turkey perhaps, even though it took some time but nowadays it was actually easier since his mind was too lazy to hold onto too many things.
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Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:10 pm
The idea of anthing Micah loved falling out of interest seemed foreign. Then again, maybe that was because she was so in love with her past times. Giving up anything someone loved would be difficult. She had to take a step back and imagine if running ever became more of a chore for her. Would it ever? Even when training for marathons like she used to, she enjoyed it, mainly because she really wanted to run those marathons. What would she do if she couldn't anymore? What would Micah do with herself if she couldn't run? There was just... she couldn't even... oh dear.
Micah's legs began to bounce at the thought of her maybe someday growing tired of running. No way, they seemed to scoff. There's not a chance in hell you'll get tired of running. But then there was the question of what if she could not run anymore. Something kept her from that sport that she loved.
It was enough to send her shooting up to her feet.
"Well, when you put it that way," she grinned, tweaking her nose as she ran in place for a bit, "then I guess I better get the most out of all of my vices while I still can, you know?" She turned a little circle and laughed lightly. "Run as much as possible before I lose interest. But then again, isn't that a fast way to lost interest? Do it so much that you can't stand it? Oh well, I'll just run until I don't feel like it anymore, I guess." Another laugh and she began to jog backwards. "It was nice talkin' to ya, though! Maybe we'll meet up again!"
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Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 4:59 pm
Sheldon watched her, noticing how she seemed to be having an internal debate with herself before she shot up to her feet. He blinked, almost startled by how quickly she had gotten up but didn't much show it. Well, his eye twitched slightly.
"Well, that is one way to get over something," he replied a little unsure. "Overdoing things does tend to bog you done, but in my experience it usually just means you need a break before you can get back into it." It wasn't much experience, usually with video games or some mundane things. But, he found it with the sciences at least; all those years of scorning it, he had come back to it and still found he appreciated them.
"If you really like it, you'll let it go free and it'll come back... isn't that the old cliche saying?" He almost chuckled with how dorky it sounded but smiles all the same even as she announced her intentions to leave.
"Yeah, I'm usually around.. somewhere... sitting. Who knows." Sheldon offered, watching her move. "Nice talking to you also, Micah."
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 8:22 am
Micah grinned brightly as Sheldon accepted her sudden burst of activity. "Yeah! I'd love to see you again next time! Maybe then I won't reak of sweat." She laughed a little, turning fully now, ready to dash away to god knows where. But she had a whole lot of running left to do. Of that much she was sure. "Maybe I'll even be taking a break from running!" Unlikley, but possible, now the Shaldon brought it up.
And then she was off, wind in her hair again, legs pounding the pavement in exhilerating shockwaves of wonder and speed. Maybe Sheldon was right, and she'd one day quit running. Sickness, age, hell, plain old lack of interest. She'd probably end up stationary one day.
Then she'd probably just take a seat next to Sheldon and grin, ready to take the world at his pace, just watching and sitting in silence. Micah could do that. One day. Just not now.
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