Nick woke with the sun. He was usually a pretty early riser, thanks to the weird hours he kept while working Homicide during the week. On the weekends, though, and especially Sundays, he liked to lie in bed and doze in and out until he felt like getting up. There was nothing that needed his attention today. Laundry needed to be done eventually, but he wasn't in much of a rush for that. Maybe he'd work on that dining table.
Nature called, so he threw off the covers of his bed and shuffled himself into the bathroom. After that, he put on his running clothes and went downstairs. It was still early, but the light was quite bright already. He'd better get his run in now before it was too hot. He stretched a little to warm up his muscles and opened the front door.
A loud noise woke Jennifer. She was so startled she nearly fell out of the tree. Thankfully, her wings beat to keep her in place. It took her a moment to check her magic and make sure she was still invisible, once she remembered where she was and why.
She leaned over to looked at Nick's front door. The sound that woke her must have been him closing it, because he was now locking it and placing the key in a hole behind one of the bricks under the window she'd been gazing at the night before. She was curious to see what on earth he was doing. He wore clothes very different than what she'd seen him in before. She'd never seen his knees before. In spite of herself, Jen smiled. He had nice looking legs. Really, he had nice looking everything.
Nick turned and took a deep breath. And then he was off. Running. Why was he running? Was he being chased? Jen didn't see any reason for the running. But there he was. Running.
Well, she was supposed to be watching him, so she might as well follow. Thankfully she did not have to run. With a mighty flap of her wings, she leapt off the tree branch and soared through the air. Nick was going quite fast, but it was not much effort at all to be able to keep pace with him. She had no idea what he was doing or why, but she'd see what happened.
As Nick ran, a comforting breeze seemed to follow him. Kept the sun from feeling too hot, which was nice. And there was something else about that wind, though. He couldn't quite tell, but it felt good, so he didn't question it too much. He was breathing too heavily to notice much, focusing just on keeping his strides and his breaths focused and even.
This was his favorite thing about running. The world would shut off. His mind was clear, and nothing existed except for the running. The road in front of him. The sun and the wind and the trees.
Eventually, however, he needed to take a break. He'd not stretched nearly enough, and he was starting to get a slight cramp in his left thigh. Nick slowed to a stop under the shade of a tree at the end of one of the streets so he could massage his leg and catch his breath for a minute.
That's when he noticed what was strange about that breeze. It wasn't constant. It was blowing in steady beats, like someone had enormous bellows to blow at him. He stood up and looked around, trying to figure out what it could be. But then it suddenly stopped.
Jen landed behind where Nick was resting. He could sense something was wrong. Maybe he knew she was there, or maybe he knew he was being watched, or maybe it was something else entirely. But he was looking for something. He couldn't see her, she knew. She was invisible and quite confident of that fact. That did not stop her from holding her breath and remaining stock still to keep from being noticed.
Nick's heartrate had slowed down enough for him to have caught his breath. His leg was feeling better. That strange wind was gone. A waft of floral scent caught his nose, but he was standing next to someone's flower garden. It smelled nice, and he smiled. And then it was time to continue his run.
He wasn't ready to go back home yet. He could carry on a bit longer. After all, it was Sunday. And as he ran this time, he let his mind drift to that table he'd been building. It would be beautiful, that natural wood sanded and stained. He couldn't remember if he'd gotten the stain yet. He could pop by the hardware supply after work tomorrow if not. But the sanding he'd do today. It was hell on the arms and back, sanding something that big, even with the electric sander. The thing was bloody heavy. But after the run, that would be a good addition to the workout. And when it was said and done, it would be a table he could be proud of. Maybe he could invite his mother and sisters over for a big meal when it was finished. Though he'd have to make sure the walls were all painted first. Mum wouldn't take too kindly to eating in a construction site, as she called it.
When he reached the end of the road, he crossed the street and ran back on the other side. Time head back now. Time to shower and have some breakfast and get to work.
Jen was relieved when Nick started running in the other direction. Hopefully he was going back to his house. This running was bloody stupid, and she was extremely bored flying after him like this. He wasn't doing anything of real interest, nothing she could report back to Sir Terry. All he'd done of note was seemingly sense her presence when he'd stopped running—though she still did not know how or why, which she'd have to figure out before reporting back—and just gone on a disgustingly long run.
Maybe humans were like this sometimes, exercising to keep fit. Fairies had their own sort of exercises. And of course, magic helped. But just running for the sake of running made absolutely no sense to her. She liked walking and preferred it to flying most of the time, but running was bloody awful. But she did like to do flying sprints sometimes or take to wing during her patrols to keep her wings in good condition. Was Nick doing the same for his legs? Seemed an odd thing to need conditioning for. But then again, humans couldn't fly so they had no choice but to walk everywhere. And of course they had cars to get them longer distances. Well, maybe she could ask Nick about the running sometime if she found reason enough to actually speak to him again sometime.
At long last, they reached Nick's street again and he slowed and finally stopped at his front door. Jen fluttered to a stop right behind him, close enough to touch him. She didn't much relish getting back in that tree and watching him from outside, so she thought she'd try to sneak in the door behind him, if she could manage it without getting noticed. For that, she'd have to be close.
Nick reached over to grab the key to unlock the door. He was feeling good, having had a proper good run to start the day. But then his mind was quickly turned.
Honeysuckle and dirt. He smelled honeysuckle and dirt, and he knew that smell. He would never, ever forget that smell.
Jen watched him stiffen upon putting the key back after unlocking the door. He stood up straight and whirled around. He nearly ran right into her, so she backed up. Nick was looking around with wild eyes, up and down and all around. He was trying to find something.
Nick was looking right at her, though he certainly didn't know it. "Jennifer?"
She remained frozen where she was, not even daring to breathe or bat a wing or even an eyelash. He was looking for her.
After a moment, Nick gave up. He shook his head in frustration and went inside, closing the door behind him. Jen stayed where she was. It would have been far too risky to try and follow him, particularly when he was on high alert like this.
Nick could have kicked himself for being so stupid. Why did he think she was there? Why was he so convinced that he could smell her? Was his mind tricking him? Was the curiosity and vague attraction and fierce interest in this woman making him go mad? There was every chance that he was finally losing it, this mysterious woman from the woods mixed with the stress of his job stealing his remaining sanity.
But he couldn't let himself dwell on it. Nick hurried up the stairs to shower. Things would be better after he showered. And they were. He felt refreshed and awake and ready to focus on more important things when he turned off the water and toweled himself off. He threw on an old shirt and jeans, the ones he liked to work in, and went back downstairs. He had every intention of making breakfast and reading the morning paper and then getting to work on that dining table.
Before he could get to the kitchen, however, three sharp knocks in quick succession sounded at his door. Mildly annoyed, he went to answer it. Might be a deliveryman who needed him to sign for something.
It was not a deliveryman. It was the sight he had longed for and dreaded in equal measure. And she stood there in a beautiful pink dress with her golden hair swept over her shoulders, smiling gently at him.
"Hi, Nick," she said softly.
"J-Jennifer?" He was in utter shock.
"I think we should talk. May I come in?"
Nick nodded mutely and moved aside to let her in.