Day 77: In Which He Runs

When she thought about it, it hadn't even been that long since they'd first met, but the longer their quarantined days lasted, the less time they seemed to spend apart. Compulsory isolation had sped up a bond that would likely require months—if not years to take shape, yet maintaining a healthy balance in their newly established relationship still seemed to have its challenges. Very early on, it became clear how they each value their independence in their own ways, and, despite Jack's presence keeping her sane more often than not, Elsa was beyond grateful to the little moments she had alone with her thoughts.

That morning, he had gone out for a jog, leaving Elsa to enjoy a tranquil cup of tea in peace. As she sat there thinking about unimportant matters, a sudden craving for a little sweet comfort hit her, and soon enough, she was rummaging the cabinets for ingredients and mixing bowls. Her work was methodical, and by the time her neighbor finally returned, there was a fresh batch of chewy chocolate chip cookies already cooling on the rack.

"Y'know, with the amount of people outside right now, you'd think that the pandemic was already over," she heard Jack grumbling before coming into view, mask precariously hung on one ear, uneven dark splotches of transpiration on his shirt, hair dripping with sweat, and face still rather flush from all his exercising.

"How was the run?" she asked with a smirk.

"Sweaty."

"I can see that." Scrunching up her face, she sprayed disinfectant in his direction as if to intimidate his germs from invading her space. "Gone are the days when you actually cleaned up before coming over…"

"We should do something today."

"How about a shower?" she mocked.

Jack smirked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as his hands laced behind his head. "Not what I had in mind, but that could be fun too."

"I meant you. By yourself. With a lot of soap."

"Yeah, I like my idea better..."

"I have cookies in the oven," she stated, crossing her arms. "Be a good boy and you can have a whole tray to yourself later."

He hummed, looking conflicted between having things done his way and accepting her offer. After a moment of what, from the faces he made, Elsa assumed was serious deliberation, he finally threw his arms in the air exasperatedly.

"You're lucky my best ideas so happen to come in the shower, Elsa..."