Of Leaps and Faith

The noises of the city had finally reached their early morning peak, the screams of cars driving by drowning out the serenity of the world. Still, the sky was clear, a brilliant blue filled with peaceful white clouds floating above. Despite the sun shining brightly above, a faint chill was carried along the wind, reminding The Gamer of the first morning he’d had his powers and the long walk he’d been **** to make to school.

’So many things have changed since then,’ he thought, closing his eyes to take in a deep breath of fresh air.

“Relax your hands!” Ela chastised, running alongside John. “The tension will carry up your arms and wear you out.”

The Gamer’s first response was a groan, though he was smiling all the while. He’d thought running was simple. How wrong he’d been. Back straight, elbows bent, hands relaxed, step only mid-stride, lead forward slightly - once he’d finished telling his story, Ela had started to give him all sorts of posture tips to improve his running. While they were all clearly helpful (when he could remember them all at once), re-learning to do something so fundamental was far more difficult than he’d imagined.

John sighed, shaking his hands out to his sides to **** them to unclench. “Right, right… I’m trying. It just feels, I dunno, unnatural.”

“That is because you have made bad habits.”

“I’m doing my best!” He feigned exasperation, giving the blonde an exaggerated eye roll.

She stuck her tongue out at him, he responded with a goofy face back, and they both broke out in laughter as they turned the next corner. The Gamer shook his head, smiling all the while. As Ela’s fit of giggles continued, John took a deep breath, appreciating how different things had come to be for him.

’Never thought I’d be doing a “morning run” this week,’ he mused, thinking back to the day he’d woken up with his powers. ’Let alone that I’d be doing it with someone else.’

He chuckled softly to himself. ’I don’t think I’m doing too terribly, either. I feel pretty good.’

Despite the miles they’d been jogging at this point, The Gamer still wasn’t experiencing any of the fatigue or cramping that he usually dreaded from physical exertion. More than once he’d ended up in the nurse’s office because of overzealous P.E. coaches. He sighed, wondering with hindsight if his fears might have been yet more unfounded anxiety.

Surely his dungeons had been more severe exertion than this was going to be?

’I suppose I leveled up at the end of both dungeons as well, and after the fighting yesterday, so maybe that mitigated things..?’ He reached up and ran a hand through his hair, exhaling with a particularly heavy footfall. ’I’m gonna need like a month of testing to try and iron out the rules around [Gamer’s Body], aren’t I?’

“John? Are you alright?” Ela’s voice interrupted his inner monologue.

He turned, offering a flustered smile back. “Yeah, sorry. Lost in thought.”

“Do be careful,” she replied. “You do not want to step like that if you can help it. You will hurt yourself.”

“It’s weird having to focus on something I do without thinking normally.” John took a second, adjusting himself back into the proper form that the blonde had been trying to teach him.

“You will get the hang of it!” she assured him.

“Will I? This is harder than figuring out my first spell was,” he complained, half-jokingly. “My brain is not wired to think about running like this.”

Calling their pace running at this point was probably inaccurate, if he was being honest. Ela had insisted on sticking to a more casual speed while they worked on making sure he was doing things correctly. John wasn’t going to complain about that though. He supposed that exercise wasn’t so bad anymore, now that his body was able to handle it.

’It’s almost relaxing at this point,’ he thought, his focus turning to the world around him, and, more importantly, the woman next running at his side. ’The company doesn’t hurt, either…’

His stomach started doing flips just thinking about her. Ela Grzmot was right there, talking to him, and he still couldn’t believe it. Ever since Gaia had joked in his mind about asking her out, it hadn’t been far from his thoughts. A strange, almost nauseating pressure flooded his gut when he considered trying it. The more he thought about it, the stronger and more complicated his feelings became.

A dark part of his mind told him that he was just latching on to the first new friend he’d had in years, that he was just losing himself in all the recent chaos. Could that be true?

His heart didn’t want to believe that.

’Love at first mutual near-**** experience..? Nah. Love’s not the right word, not yet at least,’ John thought, faintly smiling as he stole another glance over towards Ela. ’Maybe it’s worth figuring out what it is, though.’

The Bookworm Knight had turned away from him momentarily to look over at a bakery they were passing. He couldn’t see her face, but he was certain that she was all-but-drooling at the fresh pastries displayed in the window. The anxious nerd smiled at that thought, his stomach doing another flip.

The blonde turned back to him, looking him up and down. “See? It seems like you have figured it out.”

The Gamer’s heart skipped a beat as he wondered if he’d been talking out loud. It took him only a second to realize that she was just talking about his running, though the adrenaline was already shooting through his veins. Looking down, he realized that he’d finally managed to settle into a rhythm, incorporating the various tips Ela had given him, while he was thinking about something else.

“Yeah… I think I’m getting the hang of this.” He chuckled to himself. “Just in time, too. We’re almost at the river.”

The pair turned their eyes forward as the edge of Springfield’s residential area gave way to the city proper. A murky blue river cut across in front of them, separating the districts. John and Ela made their way over to the railing in front of the river, pausing to catch their breath for a minute. The Gamer sighed, another wave of nostalgia hitting him.

A small, two-lane bridge crossed this section of the river, leading to the road that he’d taken to Ashcroft on Monday. At the first corner on the far side, just within eyesight now, was the gas station where he’d first seen Ela. The first hint he’d ever gotten about just how far off the deep end he’d been thrown.

’Feels like it’s been way longer than three days,’ he thought, crossing his arms to lean on the metal railing. The cool steel felt amazing in contrast to the last vestiges of adrenaline burning in his veins. ’Mmm… we’ve got a few hours until we have to be ready to go back to the Brightons. Maybe she’d want to get lunch or something…’

A groan accompanied a heavy exhale as Ela leaned back against the railing next to him, stretching her back over the morning-chilled metal. Gripping the bar with her hands, she let herself relax even further backwards, drooping her head over the river. Then, she simply closed her eyes, letting the breeze run through her hair.

“Are you alright?” John asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“I… am fine,” she answered heavily, yawning. “I need to learn how to sleep more.”

“I'm a certified expert on sleeping too much. Wish I could share the extra.”

She smiled. “That would be too convenient.”

“Well,” he said, grinning, “I could go get a big hammer and bonk you over the head really hard. That’ll get you out for a bit.”

“If I thought that would work…” Ela mused, smiling. “Unfortunately, being knocked out is not the same as being asleep.”

The Gamer shrugged. “I’m just trying to help.”

The two laughed at that for a moment before settling into a comfortable silence, letting the noises of the city reign. John exhaled heavily, decompressing. Time melted away as the world passed them by. He smiled. He wasn’t alone in his bubble anymore. Finally, he thought, maybe he understood what it meant to just enjoy a moment with someone.

Suddenly, the wind picked up again, rushing over the river and blowing locks of blonde over into his face. The Gamer sputtered, waving them away and causing Ela to open her eyes. As soon as she saw him fiercely battling her hair, she was sent back into another fit of giggles. The knight let John struggle for a moment before rolling her head back over and pulling her hair back.

He did his best to pretend to frown, sticking his tongue out at her, which only intensified her laughter.

In that moment, his mind stopped and considered all that had happened over the last few days, considered everything they’d been through and everything he felt. The soft sounds of her giggling echoed through his soul.

’I might never get tired of that sound,’ he thought, gazing at the joyous expression on her face.

As quickly as the joy had come, a wave of melancholy followed, dueling with his other conflicting feelings for control. Surely someone so wonderful could do better than him, right? What did he really offer? Maybe… he shouldn’t push his luck.

He thought back to the previous evening, to the words of the goddess in his head.

Gritting his teeth, John balled a fist and hit himself in the leg as hard as he could, his health bar flashing in protest at the sudden shock to himself. With pain came focus, a teardrop of clarity that shone through the haze.

Breathing deep, he found a small spark of courage inside himself.

Ela’s songlike laughter stopped, joy replaced by concern as she heard the thud of his fist and noticed the change in his demeanor. Her voice was sweet and soft. “John..?”

“So… uh, you know,” The Gamer stammered, holding back the reactions to his self-inflicted hit. “I saw you looking at the bakery back there. Is, um, that a place you've been to before?”

Ela tilted her head, confusion replacing concern as she realized that her friend wasn’t injured. “I- No, this is the first time I have noticed it. Their food looks delicious though. Why?”

The Gamer leaned back to the side on the railing, recoiling from the consequences of his actions. All the hairs on his body stood on end as anxiety bled together with fear. He swallowed those nerves and let momentum keep him rolling.

“Well, uh, you know, we've got plenty of time to make it back home before we need to go see the Order again.” John chewed his lip, mulling over the taste of his words. “Maybe… we could stop and get some things to try on the way back? You know… have another… meal… together.”

His voice faded as his nerves faltered. The anxious nerd flushed, turning his gaze back towards the flow of the river. An eon passed as he stared into the murky blue, the thump of his heartbeat overwhelming, until a pale hand reached in from the corner of his vision, waving to catch his attention. Shakily, John turned back to find a sympathetic, but knowing, smile on Ela’s face.

“We already had dinner a couple days ago,” she said, keeping her eyes locked with his own, “so there should be no reason for you to be nervous about asking me to get breakfast…”

The blonde leaned in, the sing-song in her voice growing. “Unless, of course, you are really trying to ask me something else.”

“I-” The Gamer couldn’t find his voice anymore. “I-”

Ela put a hand on his arm, warm and reassuring. Then, she smiled. “If you mean to ask me something else, then do so. I think that you will like my answer.”

John looked over into her eyes, reflexively scared of trying to lay bare his feelings. Her eyes, brilliant emerald-azure orbs, held nothing but sincerity. In that moment, he accepted that he could trust her, even if he didn’t trust himself.

He breathed in deeply one final time, and took a leap of faith. “Ela, um, I was wondering if you’d be interested in stopping to get some pastries on the way back home, so we, uh, could have breakfast, er, brunch, as… more than just friends?”

The blonde’s smile was radiant. “John, that sounds wonderful.”

a/n: Took long enough, eh? Hope you all have been enjoying things!

I have been persuaded by peers and readers to finally create a patreon for myself. This is basically just going to be used to create art for the characters and stuff, but I would greatly appreciate any support you wish to send my way.

https://www.patreon.com/DinoWritesFantasy