Username: 
Password:    
Remember Me

Search by :  Username E-mail Region Interest AOL IM ICQ Number Yahoo! ID MSN Username Jabber

Ash Ketchum (catchthemall) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-08-11 22:53:00

Are you alright?
Who: Ash and Jenn
Where: Out and about in Irvine
What: Ash and Jen run into each other, almost.
When: Some time before the body swap
Warnings/Rating: PG-13
Status complete


Ash was in that phase of being a teenager when life seemed to make him both smooth and awkward at intervals. He hated being awkward, because it harshed his groovy and he did like to be groovy. Right now, he was very interested in wandering, working out, and staying far away from bad things. He was determined to make it to the next Olympics Team USA, and that meant keeping his nose clean, mostly. But he did like to watch the ladies go by, because wow.

Today was a particularly good day and a couple had caught his eyes, so much so that he almost didn't see the person he almost ran into. At the last moment, motion caught his eyes, and he stumbled back, and onto his butt, before staring up... and staring. Oh.

Jennifer was petite, and she was pretty good at weaving her way through pedestrian traffic, but sometimes you just ran out of wiggle room. She noticed the young man drifting distractedly toward her, his head whipping around at the last moment. She zagged, and he zigged, and the next thing she knew, the guy was on his backside on the ground.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, “Are you alright?”

Ash stared, opened his mouth to speak, tried to form words, failed, closed it. He swallowed, then nodded slowly. “Yes?” He nodded again. “I think so. Just fell on my pride.”

"Not always the most cushy landing," Jen parried, trying to make light of it, and ease the tension of bruised egos. "But no permanent harm, I hope?"

Ash smiled slowly and grinned. “Nah. Mine’s big enough to cushion the way.” He just say that, grinning at her. “I’m sure I’ll be fine, and the view is surely nice.” Had he said that out loud? Oops.

“Get a good look at my nose hairs, did you?” Jennifer asked, holding a hand up to the proud fallen. Her eyes twinkled, and her tone said it was all in fun. So what if he was ogling a little? It’s not like anything would ever come of it, right? Not that Jennifer though she had much to ogle in street clothes, dressed for an ordinary day of unpacking and errand-running, but hey. As far as ogling went, this was about as inoffensive as it could get.

Ash grinned, recovering and glad she wasn’t mad or annoyed. Thank goodness!. “Yep! And mighty fine nose hairs they are as well!” He gripped her hand and pulled himself up, then dusted himself, his movements showing off just how muscled and athletic he was, even at nineteen. He smiled to her.

“Thanks. Normally I don’t fall the first time I meet someone.” A pause. “I try to wait for at least the fifth date.”

Jennifer knew she probably didn't look much older than her victim, but she felt a little weird, noticing how muscular he was for his age. Maybe he was older than he looked, too? Who knew. "I usually try not to steamroller people, outside of the courtroom. I guess I was busy looking for landmarks and forgot to watch where I was going. I'm still learning my way around."

Ash smiled. “Can I help? I’ve got time, and I know this area pretty well.” He waved a hand down one street. “I run and jog in this area, training.” He was an Olympic hopeful, training to be considered for Team USA.

“Maybe you can point me to...” Jennifer glanced down at the address she had scrawled on her hand, and told him the street she was looking for. She’d taken a message on the go and been caught with a pen but no paper. She was normally a lot more organized, but her life--and her brain, it seemed--were still in boxes, and she hated it.

“That? Yeah! Come on.” He led the way, grinning. “It’s not out of the way at all. Whatcha headed there for?”

“I thought I would be nice and pick up some lunch for my new boss,” Jennifer said, “So I cleverly called him to ask where I could get some good takeout while I was making the bank and post office run.” And of course she’d gotten turned around. “You’d think I’d be better at city navigating but no. I’m still a small-town girl at heart.”

“That’s okay. It’s weird navigating somewhere where you are new.” He grinned at her and gestured ahead. “The cafe is just another street over.” He knew it, he thought. “Did he give you an order, too?”

Ash chuckled. “You’re a pretty good .. well what do you do, anyway?”

“He just asked me to bring back a sandwich,” Jen said, “I’ll have to wing it from there.” She smiled. “I’m a legal assistant at Dresden Law. What about you? Training for anything special?”

“Okay!” He grinned. “Triathlon. I want to compete in Team USA, like my father before me.” He grinned. His dad had been a professor and an athlete. Name of Oak. He had been awesome! The train wreck and the destruction and the lack of a body in the burnt mess...all of it swept over Ash and he sighed for a moment, then pushed it away. He would make his dad proud, damn it!

“Sounds like you have a fun job!”

“I’m enjoying it so far,” she said, nodding. “It’s a little bit courtroom drama, a little bit detective work. Not always like the movies, but still satisfying.” She smiled, and extended a hand. “I hope you make the team. That would be exciting. My name is Jennifer, by the way. Jennifer Walters.”

He extended his hand to meet hers and shook. “Nice to meet you, Jennifer. I’m Ash Ketchum.” He waved a hand at the building they were approaching. “And there it is. Any time you need to get a bite, or have someone fall for you, look me up. I don’t want to keep you.”

He would love to keep her, at least for a few hours. That would be fun!

His cheeks heated, but he grinned.

Fall for her? Jennifer smiled, but wasn’t quite sure how to respond, beyond that. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy, though. “Best of luck with your training,” she said, “I’m sure we’ll run into each other again. Hopefully not literally!”

~fin~