Picking up the Pace

Posted on Wed Sep 2nd, 2026 @ 11:49am by Crewman Paul Randall & Ensign Hailey Weston

Mission: Retrobandonment
Location: Deck 17
Timeline: Current

Paul arrived just before 05:55 on Deck 17 by the main turbolift in his usual running outfit consisting of a tight-fitting T-shirt, clinging to his toned upper body and lycra shorts that showed off his taught, muscular butt.

He started to do his morning stretching exercises whilst he waited for Hailey.

A couple of minutes later, the turbolift opened again, and the redhead stepped out, glancing back and forth as she did, spotting Paul as she did so, then hesitated for a bare second before moving over toward him, shaking out her legs as she did so. Her legs were on full display, the spots running down them from the running shorts she wore outside before vanishing into her socks. In fact, the vast majority of her spots were visible as she wore a cut-off tank top that exposed her midriff, revealing she was also in excellent shape. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she waved at him as she approached. “You arrived earlier than I expected.”

"Yeah. I woke up earlier than planned, got some minor personal jobs done and then came here. I walked slower to try and not arrive earlier but clearly failed." He studied her amazing physique. Her toned midriff was mesmerising.

She swung her arms around a bit and stretched to either side. “At least the corridor is wide enough for two to run next to each other. I’ve never really liked running behind someone, and I don’t know where I’m going down here.” Her last stretch was straight up, showing the very bottom of the sports bra she also wore before she came back down off her toes. “Ready to go?”

"Yeah. Let's go." The two began to run at a steady pace through the empty corridor.

One of the better-known training techniques in baseball is running, usually laps around the baseball field, but it gave the player some really good stamina. Hailey’s ponytail was bouncing back and forth as they jogged along the deck next to each other, and she kept glancing over at him, then finally asked the question, “So, what is it that you like about running? I know it’s good exercise, but I know I like keeping in shape for baseball, even if I can’t play often outside the Holodeck.”

"I find running not only keeps me physically fit but helps keep my mind centred and focused. Also, I helps wake me up in the morning. I must say, it's really nice having company this time."

"Company is always a good thing, so long as it's not an army's worth of it." Hailey agreed, "One or two extra people is fine; otherwise, I tend to listen to music when doing something like this. It lets time just fly by." She dodged a piece of equipment that was in the hallway; clearly this wasn't used on a constant basis.

Just before he was about to reply, he also had to dodge a minor obstruction in the corridor. "Normally I would have my music on in some earbuds, but I thought it might be rude with company," he replied, slightly slowing down so she moved up ahead just enough so I caught a glance of her nice butt.

“Unless the music is shared, yeah, kind of is.” Hailey glanced to make sure he was going to catch up, catching his own look, and she smiled slightly as she turned to look forward. “God, I need to do more sports; baseball just isn’t cutting it anymore, not enough… I’ve never been a fan of lifting, so I need to learn something new… Any ideas?”

"Hmm, I wouldn't mind doing something new for fitness as well. I mostly do running with some weights when I remember that is. I read once about a form of exercise that was popular on Earth back in the 21st century and is kind of seeing a resurgence in current times. It's known as Jazzercise. It combines high-energy dance cardio, strength training, Pilates, yoga, and kickboxing set to popular music. Fancy that? We could use a holodeck to create the right kind of classroom."

She pursed her lips in thought as they jogged along. "That sounds like it could be decent, at the very least energetic. Dancing can be fun, so long as it isn't any of that fancy stuff; that isn't my sort of thing. I do like exerting myself, giving my all to whatever I'm doing, even if it's dropping my PADDs like yesterday." She laughed at her own expense.

"I have to admit, that was quite a scatter you did there—a PADD equivalent of a fireworks display." He laughed.

Hailey laughed with him, despite the flush of red that crossed her face at the memory; what else was there to do? “Yeah, and you know what? The Lieutenant didn’t even give it a second thought about how late I was.” Hailey looked over at him as she rolled her eyes about it. “There I was, thinking I was going to get yelled at, then nothing!”

"That's good news, but the best part is, you got to meet me. Destiny, maybe; who knows," he smirked with a wink.

She caught enough of the wink to snark in a laugh, “If you’re that much of a good luck charm, maybe I should kidnap you and keep you in my quarters?” She joked, then stiffened as her entire body blushed and her steps faltered for a couple of paces. “I didn’t mean it that-“

"There are a lot worse places I could be held if kidnapped than your quarters, although I haven't seen them, and they are probably similar to mine, minus the belongings. I suggest you work out what the ransom note will say first before you gag and bag me. "

“Oh, fuck me…” Hailey whispered to herself as she picked up her pace to get ahead of him while she settled her nerves, focusing on her breathing, then slowed again as she turned her head to look at him once more, completely missing the slightly elevated deck plate in front of her, catching her toe on it and going sprawling out in front of Paul on the deck.

Paul rushed over to her, sprawled on the floor. He held out both his hands for her so he could lift her off the floor.

Hailey reached up for his hands to haul herself to her feet and sighed, "I'm fine, I'm fine." She said confidently, leaning over to brush her legs down from any dirt that had gotten on them, "This'll just teach me to watch where I'm running, won't it?"

"Well, yes. Do you want a quick breather, or shall we continue?" He asked.

“I’m good,” Hailey flashed him a smile as she cursed herself internally for looking like a complete idiot in front of him… Again. She ran through a brief test of her joints and bounced on her toes twice, and nodded. “Good to go.”

"Good", Paul replied as he set off running.

She followed him to this sign, her head wanting to hang from it, “Can you forget that you saw that?” She asked him from about half a step behind, “Like scrub it completely from your memory?”

"Saw what?" he said with a wink.

"Exactly, nothing happened." Hailey smiled back at him, starting to recognise the corridor coming up. "One more time round the deck?" She asked.

"Absolutely. " He set off. As he picked up pace, he smiled. She was a beautiful woman, funny, kind and quirky. He would have to see where things might go, but one thing he was sure of: he had found a good running partner.

Hailey smiled as she took off after him; it was good to have friends on board. One close to the Captain? That was priceless. He was cute, that was for sure, but who knew?

He did enjoy running by himself, but having Hailey with him for company was so much better. She was definitely cute, beautiful, in fact. He wasn't looking for companionship, but perhaps now he had to rethink that.

The scene fades as we see the pair running along the corridor and veering around the next left bend.

END