Who: Scott & Derek What: First meetings with some minor head injuries on Scott's end. When: Early August Where: Running Trail Rating/Warnings: N/A Status: Complete
Settling into Orange County wasn’t difficult in the least. It wasn’t the same as the college area he’d lived in and it wasn’t just as bustling as Sacramento, but the general vibe of the area was laid back and calm, as far as Derek had experienced so far. The move went exceptionally smoothly, with most of it overseen by a friend of the family and Derek had a few days to get settled before heading into work to figure out the expectations here.
It gave him time to work into a routine, set up a meeting with Blossom and get things moving on working out the best places to go for the necessities in Orange County.
For Derek, one of those necessities was a route for his morning run. Finding a rather well used route through the woods near the college, Derek opting to try that one first before working out how the routes would work for his preferences.
Running always had a calming effect, even following his knee injury, it was a good way to rebuild his muscle endurance and keep fit while clearing his head at the same time. Keeping his pace light, Derek let himself just zone out on the run, heading for the coffee shop at the end of the trail to refresh.
***
Scott ran at least once a day. He needed it to expend energy. He had an absurd amount of energy coming out his ears all the time. Maybe because he wasn't playing sports or fighting crime like his Dream!self, or maybe because he was less of a anxious person here. He didn't know, but he knew he needed activity. So he ran, a lot. And he ran fast.
He always tried to avoid other runners, not wanting to either show off, or cause problems. But sometimes, well, sometimes fate took a hand.
As he came around a trail turn, he realized his zoning out about life had kept him from hearing the person in front of him. And now... there they were. Now he just had to avoid freaking them out. Which meant slowing just a little. Ahead, the trail widened into a four or so person-wide trail, and he could safely pass the person there.
As he started to catch up, and the trail widened, he glanced aside at the other person and saw the face.
Derek?!? A moment of lack of attention to the trail caught up with him in the next step and he tripped over his own feet, and went tumbling into the side brush with a cry. Well... that was embarrassing.
***
The few people Derek had seen were mostly in their own worlds too, which he guessed was half the point in running. He didn’t mind overly keeping to the side so that other runners, more serious runners, could pass him without trouble, easy to keep people at their own pace.
So the kid that passed him and promptly ended up over his own feet and in the brush, it had Derek stopping with a small stumble himself before he pulled his earphones out and moved closer to the edge of the trail, watching out for anyone else approaching from either side.
“Are you okay?” It didn’t look like a serious fall, but it depended on why the fall happened at all.
***
Scott waved a hand out of the top of the bush he was in and nodded, invisibly, or well, blocked by the bushes anyway. “Yeah! I’m alright. Mostly just bruised my ego and possibly my pride!” he hollered the words, then realized he didn’t have to, and sighed.
With a slowly groan, he pulled himself up, standing slowly. He tested his ankles and smiled as they didn’t hurt. “My foot rolled on something, maybe a small stone? I thought for sure for a moment I was going to break it. But it looks like I am okay.”
He shook his head. “Sorry for interrupting your run.”
***
For a small breather, Derek was fine with giving himself a little time to catch his breath. His knee wasn’t quite to the point of stiffening up, just uncomfortable enough that he knew he’d need to be careful of it, ice it later and take care not to overwork the muscles. Honestly, he was a little more worried about the kid that went into the brush, and if he was sure he was okay.
“It’s no problem,” a slow down and stop was probably better for him right now anyway, he’d probably overestimated just how far he could go just yet, despite his rehabilitation going very well, it was still a little uneasy sometimes.
“Take your time, you sure you’re okay?” Sometimes those damn stones could be a problem. Apparently to the point of someone flying off the path into the brush. “You didn’t hit your head or anything?”
***
Scott stretched and moved to make sure he hadn’t messed up his body. Not trusting initial feelings was stressed into him as a vet. Always kepe an eye open also… He smiled at the other man, having a hard time believing this nice man was the brusk and sometime brooding Derek of his dreams.
“I am, truly. And I’m sorry I interrupted. I always run a lot, these days. Trying to keep in shape since going to school and working as a vet means I need to be as healthy as possible.”
He couldn’t afford to miss days, really, ever.
Scott ran a hand over his head and shook it carefully. “Nope. And if I did, it would probably be okay. Hardest part of my body, really.” He knocked on it, grinning.
Then he offered his hand. “Scott McCall, local vet tech.”
***
If he was sure, Derek opted not to push, even if he smirked a little at the hard head comment, he was told that a lot by Laura too. “Suppose that’s a good thing, protected when you go head over heels into some bushes, huh?” It was a little amusing, especially if nothing was dangerously injured.
Taking the offered hand, Derek gave Scott’s hand a firm shake, “Derek Hale, newly relocated junior editor.” It felt a little formal, but nothing out of the ordinary really. He supposed the dive off the trail was a fairly good ice-breaker. “You run this trail a lot? Or just come along for the greenery?”
***
Scott smiled at the other man. “Yup. It doesn’t happen a lot, but working with animals, I end up getting more head knocks than probably I ever did in all my years before, just in this last couple of years.”
He loved his job, but not every animal always wanted their medicine or their surgery, and sedatives were not perfect. Also, some animals liked to play, for a given value of play.
Shaking Derek’s hand, Scott smiled warmly. “Welcome to Orange County. Editor for journalism, or for books?”
Not to pry, but that was cool, either way.
Scott smiled. “I vary my runs so I don’t get bored or too complacent. And to counterbalance my dreams.” He had no doubt Derek would start to dream.
Time to start dropping in small references to the net. Or larger ones.
Maybe he could get Derek on there before the man ran face first into his Dreams. “Say, if you’re new in town, there is a network, Valarnet dot com, great place to talk to locals, both original and newer. “
***
“I’ll bet they’re unpredictable, yeah.” And you heard a lot about animals not really liking their visits to the vet either. He'd never been too crazy about going to the doctors as a kid after all. But the kid seemed to have the enthusiasm for it either way. "At least you've got a hard head then." And didn't seem to take it too personally when injured.
"Books, mostly. But there's some occasions that articles for different journals or magazines come through." It was interesting enough work, considering the reading involved, Derek was one for reading anyway, so it wasn't a hardship at all. He couldn't help but frown a little at the comment about dreams, but didn't judge -some people weren't good sleepers, it happened.
Changing up a running route made some sense too, getting too used to the one trail could make the whole run less of a work out after all, and what was the point in that? "Valarnet?" Usually, Derek wasn't one for social media, but if it was something that might make this relocation thing a little easier, it seemed like it might be a good idea. "Thanks, I'll check that out." It could give him some ideas on things to do when not working. "Might stop me just staring at my walls between work."
***
Scott nodded. “They can be, yeah.” And Scott chuckled. “I do. Its served me well, over the years, keeping me intact when I should rightly not be.”
He nodded again, smiling, remembering many incidents.
“That’s pretty cool. Seems like Orange County is getting a lot more artists, both graphical and literature-wise, lately. I imagine there is a lot of work for you, here.”
“Yeah. It’s kind of an open secret, with only a few people on it, relative to the OC, anyway. A place to make connections.” He nodded, and to hopefully help Derek find his own path through the madness ahead. He felt a little bad for the guy.
“There are also a number of good cafes with excellent wireless and charger stations, the bets of which is Baxter’s Bakery.”
***
For the most part Orange County seemed like a good a place as any, creatively speaking. It was close enough to most things Hollywood too, which meant the more big screen of enthusiasts could likely get some respite before launching into the dog-eat-dog world of entertainment. Thankfully Derek stayed largely removed from that part of the business, not part of the script editing team at all.
“There’s usually plenty that comes in, yeah. And at least it’s a nice scenery to work in.” Not that Sacramento was lacking in scenery.
The forum sounded interesting though, and Derek figured he’d need to look into that, if only to work out the best areas and more frequently favoured businesses. It was a place to start at least, hopefully enough to keep Laura off his back about isolation.
“Baxters, I’ll need to remember that. Thanks.” It had to be something about the California air that meant strangers were more than willing to idly stand in a deserted wooded area talking about cafe’s without worrying about unhinged murderers. Or maybe Derek’s imagination was just a little off from the number of thrillers he’d been forced to read parts of. Not even the whole thing, just parts.
“You feeling up to finishing up the run?”
***
“Absolutely. Want to run on together?” Scott stretched and then nodded, wiggling his arms and legs to shake them out, then grinned at Derek.
“I usually end my runs on this run at the cafe near the end of this run.” He nodded. More converse of dreams and the like would be something for another day.
“Hopefully, you will enjoy this place as you settle in.”
***
“Just don’t go launching into any more bushes, yeah?” If they could avoid injuries, that would be preferable. “I saw there was one, yeah. That was the plan too.”
Because running for the promise of a caffeine fix was usually the most productive thing in the morning. “Well, it’s got plenty to offer.” Not least the potential for him to reconnect with his little sister.
***
“Then let's finish this, and you can get on with your new life.” Scott smiled to the man and started off down the trail toward the end. And maybe toward a new beginning.