Log: Sam and Terry, Thursday morning

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Terry and Sam spend another morning jogging together, talking about relationships and the pitfalls of same while doing so.


Stretching out his left leg, Sam looked over at Terry, smiling over at her. It was great to have someone else to run with and he was lucky to have her company that morning. They were both getting ready to start and he was limbering up before they left, making sure he didn't pull a muscle or worse out there by being unprepared. "So, how's Terry doin' this morning?" Putting his foot up on a nearby fence post, Sam stretched his arms out to touch his toes, loosening his arms up too in the process. The sun wasn't quite up yet but it was still a beautiful morning, perfect weather for running in his mind - not too warm nor too cold, just cool and crisp, the kind of weather that really woke you up.

Terry pulled her elbow over her head and tugged to loosen her upper back muscles. She kept throwing nervous glances back toward the mansion until Sam captured her attention with his question. "Ugh. You do not want to know, Sammie-boy," she answered with a grimace as she bent, flat-backed, to plant her hands on the ground and lift her toes. "Do you ever feel like you know something is going to happen, but you do not know what or where or when?"

Frowning at the question as he switched to stretch out his other leg, since it certainly implied that whatever might be about to happen with Terry wasn't going to be a good thing, he nodded. "Yeah, it ain't the best feeling in the world, that's for sure." No one liked that feeling of impending doom, or the apprehension of something hanging over one's head. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Probably not, since by the sound of it Terry herself didn't know what might be about to happen, but Sam felt like he had to offer regardless.

Terry snorted a laugh that was half true amusement, half wry-ness. "Knowing you, you would be jumping in front of the bus, to be sure. And then I would have to feel guilty about that on top of it all," she teased airily as she moved in the direction of the trail. It wasn't much of a head start, but she knew she would be needing it to compete against the country boy's longer stride.

"If it meant helping a damsel in distress, you bet I would. You'd only have to feel sorry for the bus." He was grinning, because hey, he was kind of invulnerable after all. Well, when he was blasting anyway. Following her towards the trail, Sam continued. "If there is anything I can do though, just let me know." He hated seeing a friend in a bad situation after all, especially a good friend like Terry.

"First bus I see, I'm throwing you under," Terry assured him, a smile tossed over her shoulder before she settled into finding the rhythm of the run and watching the trail ahead for obstacles in the path. "What about you? Got any busses in your life?" she asked once he caught up (it didn't take long).

Sam chuckled at that. "Well, I reckon I kinda asked for that." His longer stride enabled him to catch up with the redhead in short order, and he considered her question. "I suppose we all do, when it comes right down to it, but nothin' too worrisome at the moment, knock on wood." He reached out to tap on a nearby tree as they jogged past it. "It's a carefree bachelor's life for me, yeah?"

"Is it now. Careful, and do not be saying that too loud, or someone is going to take it in their head to upset /that/ little status," Terry cautioned him amid her regular, steady breathing.

"You mean the carefree part or the bachelor part, heh?" He grinned again, keeping up with Terry as they jogged along the trail. "I can't say that I'm too keen on giving up either one of those statuses at the moment, at least unless the right offer came along." Which made no sense with respect to being carefree, of course; Sam kind of sucked at being playful and/or flirty and it showed.

It's okay. Terry had more than enough experience with it. More than was good for her, to be sure. "Both?" she offered, then veered into him, bumping him slightly off stride as she passed, getting ahead of him for a narrowed portion of the trail. "And what kind of offer would it be taking to tempt you?" she snorted back over her shoulder.

He'd been about to reply when she bumped him, which caused him to fall back a bit and have to run behind her through the narrow portion. Sam would've been lying if he'd said he hadn't taken a quick glance downward and enjoyed the view for a second or two, before mentally chastising himself and catching up with Terry. "Oh, y'know, the usual. Smart, funny, witty, likes long walks on the beach, that kinda thing." And not married, his conscious reproachfully reminded him.

"So you are looking for a quippy selkie with a doctorate," Terry mused aloud, slowing long enough to hop along on one foot and shake off a small twig that had gotten caught in her laces.

"Um, yeah, I think that's it." He wasn't quite sure what that meant, to be honest, so he just grinned and agreed. "And don't forget the walks on the beach part." Sam slowed down so he didn't pass Terry, watching her as she shook off the twig and waiting until they were both ready to speed up again. "Way I figure, though, everything happens for a reason and what'll be is what'll be, y'know?"

"That was covered by the Selkie bit," Terry said with a grin and a wink. She was used to people not always following her phrasing. She resumed her stride, settling in while she turned his words over in her head. "So is there room in your philosophy for someone taking what they want?" she asked thoughtfully a few moments later.

"Oh, I'll just have to take your word on that then, heh." Sam chuckled, shaking his head. He made a mental note to try and remember what that meant but chances were he'd forget again in time and would have to be reminded down the road. Keeping pace, he looked over at Terry as she asked him the question. "I suppose so, yeah. Mainly I'm just not gonna force somethin', you know? If it happens, it happens, if not, well." He shrugged.

"Sounds... passive," Terry replies, huffing a little as she sucked in more air. "I mean... not that forcing things is good. I don't know. Just. Sometimes, don't you ever want to go chasing down that bus to get it over with?"

He thought about that for a bit as he caught his breath himself, as talking while running wasn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to do. "Yeah, it's... it's pretty passive. And sometimes, well, yeah." It sometimes got lonely, but having been squirreled away in Muir for so long basically by himself he hadn't noticed it all that much. His return to Xavier's had reminded him of his loneliness a tad, however. "I dunno, I guess more often than I not I just choose to walk. Or jog, heh."

"I guess it is better than running yourself ragged, chasing one thing and then another." Terry looked over at him and pulled a strand of hair out of her face. "Must be that good, old-fashion country upbringing, to be sure. Wholesome living and all that?" she teased.

"Something like that, yeah." Sam grinned. It probably was better than that but he honestly was not that great when it came to relationships and women in general, so that had played a factor in all of that as well. He wasn't about to admit that to one of the fairer sex, however. "Takes the pressure off of ya, just... going with the flow, I guess." It made his life a lot simpler, or at least it felt that way compared to his previous stay at Xavier's.

"Fair warning. That easy flowing going sometimes heads right over a waterfall." Or at least in Terry's case, it invariably seemed to. The redhead flashed a grin and sped up a little, pushing herself to the point that conversation was difficult for a while.

Oh, Sam had been over the falls once or twice in his life, it was true, and he wasn't anxious at all to do it again any time soon. Chuckling at her words, he followed suit and chased after the redhead, focusing on running again and thankful for the fact that he was safe in that regard, for the time being at least.