Oh, Lee liked that grin on Tarin’s face. Liked it very much, especially combined with what he had said. Though apparently her biting her lip like she did when she thought or worried was hot? ”Well, I’ll keep that in mind, both for when we need to get somewhere, and when we don’t…”

Then he’d let go of her with a kiss on her forehead. ”I won’t be long,” she told him with a smile before stepping away and heading to her room to change.

It was definitely getting warmer out now as spring progressed, so she definitely did not want to wear something too heavy. However, even though the bruise on her jaw would be on full display, that didn’t mean she should so obviously show all of her bruises. That meant that tank tops and shorts were out. So she ended up setting on a pair of dark blue athletic leggings that came down just below her knees and a light blue t-shirt.

A few minutes later, Lee was making her way back out to Tarin as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Then she grabbed her phone from the table and stuck it in her pocket. ”Music today, or no?” She asked.

Off Lee headed into her room to get changed and Tarin absolutely considered following her for a minute because who said they had to leave the apartment just because they were alone for the day?

In fact, it seemed like a far better idea just to stay inside. Who knew what was lurking outside anyway? The way things were going, Rachel was probably off in the bushes somewhere with a pair of binoculars.

It didn’t take Lee long to change though and soon enough she was back and pulling her hair up in a ponytail.

Speaking of hot.

”Music is fine.” Tarin said, his headphones were already in his pocket. ”Let’s just go so we can get back.”

He paused for a second, ”You’re sure you’re up for this?” he asked, it really hadn’t been all that long since the sparring match and the bruises were still real dark.

Lee nodded when Tarin said yes, quickly putting her running shoes on. Then she grabbed her headphones and keys out of her purse. Then she grinned over at Tarin. ”A little eager to get home, are you?” Though, if Lee was being honest with herself, she was more than a little eager to get back home after the run herself.

“And yes, I’ll be fine going for a run,” Lee told Tarin as she made her way out of the apartment. ”I went for one yesterday, actually.”

Looking over at Tarin, Lee dropped her voice quieter as they approached the elevator. ”I still had quite a bit of energy from the night before.”

At Lee’s question Tarin had to chuckle, but he kept any retorts to himself. Too much more of this and they would end up staying in.

Lee said she was fine to run and Tarin nodded his head, having not realized she’d gone running the day before. ” Well good. Guess I can stop treating you with kid gloves then. he said as they made their way out of the apartment. ”I take full credit thanks to my excellent injury recovery regimen.”

At the mention that she’d had plenty of energy to run, Tarin couldn’t help the slightly smug little grin that crossed his features, ”I bet you did.” he said, as Lee approached the elevator.

“Meetcha downstairs.” he added, heading for the stairwell.

He could stop treating her with kids glasses? That would be nice, Lee couldn't help but think. ” Well, turns out it isa pretty good regime,” Lee admitted.

But she couldn't help but laugh softly at the look on his face. Though, with the amount of energy she had still had the previous day, and how long her run had been, the smugness was well deserved.

Then, as she was waiting for the elevator doors to open, Tarin said that he'd meet her down stairs. Lee couldn't help but frown slightly at his back. Was he still having issues with his claustrophobia, she wondered.

Before she could question it any further, the elevator opened. In Lee went, and down to the ground floor. Only to see Tarin waiting as the doors opened.

Lee bit back another comment of being eager, but Lee managed. Somehow Lee didn't think that kind of comment right now would help them actually get out for the run.

” Ready?” Lee asked, making her way to the door outside. ” Did you want to run the same route today, or did you want to try somewhere new today?”

Did it feel silly to Tarin to be taking the stairs instead of a simple elevator ride with Lee? Yeah.

Did he do it anyway? Yeah.

Tarin had hoped that the incident in the elevator at the Empire State Building had been a one-off brought on by the stress and panic of the previous day, but it had not. In fact, he thought with a slightly scowl as he jogged down the stairs, it seemed to be getting a bit worse. Maybe it was something he could bring up to Lee…later.

Regardless, the stairs were a good warmup and by the time the elevator doors opened, Tarin had been waiting for a few seconds.

”Lady’s choice,” he said with a shrug when Lee asked what kind of route he wanted to take, ”You lead.”

Lady’s choice? Lee nodded as they walked out onto the street and turned them north rather than heading straight to the park. Giving Tarnin another option in terms of running paths wouldn’t be a bad idea, after all.

”Any preference for what we should grab for lunch?” She asked as they walked. After they’d gone about 6 blocks, Lee finally turned them toward the park. This would put them far enough north of the shop that Lee expected Tarin hadn’t really gone running in the area. And she’d still be able to keep them to safe areas of the park.

”Oh, how long do you want to run today?” Lee asked after a few more moments. ”There’s a few routes we could take up here, depending on distance.”

Lee led and Tarin followed, walking north along the street. Tarin trusted her judgement as he knew how much time she’d spent walking the streets at night when she couldn’t sleep. It still made him a little sad that she had to do that by herself, but it was a problem that didn’t seem to have a good solution.

Lee asked about lunch and Tarin shrugged, ”I’m down for anything, could just grab bodega sandwiches.” one thing about New York was that there was never a shortage of good food, especially on a weekend.

Lee spoke again and Tarin tried to figure out just how far he wanted to run that morning. Weekdays were usually shorter runs and weekends longer, ”Mid range?” he asked, deciding to split the difference, ”Two or three miles? I know you ran yesterday, so let me know if it’s too much?”

Tarin said that they could even just grab bodega sandwiches. Lee hadn’t actually had something like that in quite a while. And it would be nice and simple so they could get home that much quicker after the run. ”That sounds like a great idea, actually,” Lee agreed.

When Tarin said how far he was thinking would be a good run for that day, Lee nodded, her brain already mentally moving through the park thinking about paths and routes they could take. Miles were still difficult for her to visualize, but after a few moments she thought she knew which way she wanted to take them.

”I’m not that low on energy today,” Lee said, looking over at Tarin with a smile. ”Plus, I really only need to leave myself enough to get home, don’t I?”

Sandwiches it was. That decided, Tarin waited while Lee decided where they were going to run.

Apparently energy wasn’t going to be too much of a problem in spite of the run Lee had taken the day before and Tarin returned Lee’s smile with a slightly pained grin of his own, ”Did I say two or three miles? I meant to say two or three feet…do I really need to run at all today?

This really wasn’t fair.

Still. Strong of body, strong of mind and all that.

Taking a deep breath and thinking about flowers and puppies and absolutely not what was waiting later Tarin bounced a little on the balls of his feet, ”Let’s get this over with.” .

”Did I say two or three miles? I meant to say two or three feet…do I really need to run at all today?

They had made it into the park by this point, and Lee looked over at Tarin, an eyebrow raised. ”I mean, we don’t have to run today,” she said, a playful smile on her face. ” But there's not much point in taking a shower once we get home if we don't work up a sweat first.”

Having said that, Lee's smile turned into a grin as she started running down the path further into the park.

They had made it to the park by this point and Tarin took just a second to set up his taskmaster of a watch so that his workout would get recorded and he wouldn’t get yelled at later. While he was fiddling with the screen and the buttons, Lee spoke and he damn near forgot to start the damn thing.

Oh God. There had been so many we’s in that sentence. Tarin just stared for a moment as Lee took off down the park path, then realized if he didn’t follow her they’d be back where the started.

So off he went, cranking up his music and working to catch up until he fell in stride beside Lee, trying not to push his pace too hard in favor of getting done more quickly.

As Lee started running with the grin still on her face, leaving Tarin behind at the moment, she put her headphones in then pulled out her phone to get her music started.

Had Tarin looked more than a little distracted by her words? Most definitely. Did it seem to be taking longer than it should for him to catch up to her because of that? Yes, yes it did. Had she maybe gone a little too far with the suggestive teasing? Well, maybe she had, but Lee was sure that it would pay off later. After all, this was going to be the first opportunity they had even had to be able to take a shower together.

Feeling someone coming up beside her, Lee tucked her phone away as she looked over, smiling at Tarin. Did he still look like his mind wasn’t completely on the run? Sure did. Lee’s smile got a bit wider as she looked in front of her again.

Once he got settled into his pace, it was easier to concentrate. Lee also stopped smiling at him, which helped significantly as well.

The run was fine, and Tarin would absolutely take that considering the circumstances. It did feel like it took forever though, so by the time his watch notified him that they’d hit the 3 mile mark, Tarin was more than ready to slow down to a walk.

”Whew…” Tarin said as they slowed, mild exaggeration clear in his voice as he worked to catch his breath, ”Heck of a run…sure is warm out here.” He added, plucking at his shirt which, to be fair, was sweaty and sticking to him.

Glancing over at Lee with a little grin, Tarin took a deep breath as his heart rate started to slow, ”So…about those sandwiches?”

As they ran, Lee didn’t need to look to know that Tarin was there, running beside her. She could feel him there, his energy at least. But that didn’t stop her from glancing over periodically.

And while Lee was doing better this time than their first run together (she didn’t currently have running levels of energy), Lee was quite glad when Tarin started slowing down.

”It is rather warm, isn’t it?” Lee asked. And it was. That combined with the exertion she actually needs to put out when she didn’t have excessive amounts of energy meant she was also sweating, and a few hairs that had escaped her ponytail had such to the side of her face.

Seeing the grin that Tarin directed at her, Lee smiled back. “What about those sandwiches?” she asked innocently. ” You worked up enough of an appetite that you can't wait to get them?”