You took my heart and you held it in your mouth
And with a word all my love came rushing out
And every whisper, it's the worst,
Emptied out by a single word
There is a hollow in me now
Valon had taken to running each morning before breakfast. It was a habit he'd picked up during his detour in Europe after finding plenty of time on his hands. Running, he'd found, gave him time alone with his thoughts; in the time between he'd started from his front door to the time he'd returned for a cool shower, Valon found himself thinking about the last year.
Valon knew that his time away had done him well, but truth be told, he could only vaguely remember why he'd run off to Europe for a few months. Something about getting away and decompressing after leaving his job, but...he had the smallest feeling that there was another reason. Like he knew there was another reason why he'd left his peaceful beach house, and it was somehow connected with his job, but try as he might, Valon could not remember.
He didn't let it get to him, though; far as he was concerned, it didn't matter why he'd left. He'd had his fun and returned, coming back to a city that was not truly his, to a life that was not truly his, but it would all have to do. Maybe it was okay that he didn't have his life figured out at that moment—and who exactly was there to expect that of him, anyway? It wasn't like he'd kept in contact with Allister and Raphael—especially not...
Valon's thoughts came to a pause even though he kept running. Keeping careful not to bump into the other people on the sidewalk, Valon tried to remember who exactly was evading him. He knew he should know the person's name, whoever they were; he could feel the name forming on his lips, but he simply couldn't remember.
Valon exhaled and pressed on, running faster, trying to leave his growing confusion behind when a beautiful blonde stranger entered his field of vision.
An absolutely gorgeous woman stood a few yards ahead of him, tensed, staring at him in surprise, like a startled cat. Odd, Valon thought, but unless something was off with his face, he doubted she was looking at him, so he merely smiled at her as he came closer to passing her. He'd love to say hi, but he was dripping with sweat and would doubtlessly hold a terrible conversation since he was breathing heavily, so he kept on jogging.
However, he came to a stop when the beautiful stranger stuttered his name in disbelief.
That got Valon to stop.
Grinding to a halt, Valon, trying to catch his breath, looked over his shoulder at the woman who was staring at him with widened, alarmed eyes. He turned around and sized the woman up, trying to see if maybe he did know her. He...he didn't think so. "'Scuse me?"
"Valon, I..." the stranger mumbled, gazing at him somewhat nervously. "H-how are you? You look well."
Now Valon was really confused. "Do I..." he said slowly, uncertainly. "Do I...know you?"
AN: Promise to make the next one longer.