Private Finished With The Wind In My Hair

Eve was still embarrassed and Jake laughing at him didn't help. But Eve considered the ice broken now and he felt braver than before.
"I get really focused when I sketch. You are actually lucky I haven't already stopped multiple times during this run."
Eve wanted to laugh when Jake mentioned imaginary birds. He put the sketchbook back into his belt and followed after him, amused.
"Let's just agree that the bird was imaginary then."
Eve said and chuckled a bit as he picked up the conversation from before.
"You being a werewolf explains why you seem to belong in the forest."
Eve said absently as he noticed the bird from earlier, almost pointing it out to Jake in order to make him believe that the bird wasn't imaginary. Although Eve knew he had been joking. Then he turned to look at Jake, tilting his head slightly.
"I have always been a bit jealous of empaths, actually. I know it sounds stupid and thoughtless to say but as you have noticed, I'm not very expressive. I wish I could have such a power to help me."
Eve gestured a bit to his face, expressionless.
"I would much rather be something simple like a werewolf, or just a human. Forgive me if I insult you in any way."
Eve added the last part quickly.
"As you could see the other day I can be pretty nosy."

Eve could completely understand where Jake was coming from. It was strange from Eve that he actually wanted people to feel what he was feeling. It was also lazy from him, and Eve was a bit ashamed of that.
When Jake mentioned being able to read body language and hormones Eve chuckled a bit.
"Please let me know if I have either."
Eve said and noticed another sketch worthy bird from the corner of his eye. But he let it go, not wanting to bother Jake.

"Yes, I can fly, but only for a couple of hours at a time. If I do it longer I'll die."
Eve said and shrugged. His phoenix-ifrit form was not that practical, if you thought about it. He was just a huge flaming bird and if the flames he was made of died down he'd die slowly. Not that tempting.
"So I do it rarely."
Eve enjoyed listening to people talk so Jake talking a lot didn't bother him. But he appreciated that he was willing to let Eve get a word in too by asking a question.
"I came here when I was 13. On my 13th birthday, actually. And I've been here ever since. I turn 21 in July."
Eve took a few deep breaths to calm down some emotions that lifted their heads slightly when he mentioned his past. Then Eve turned to look at Jake.
"How about you?"

Eve felt bad about ruining the normal mood they had had going on. Why couldn't he just say things lightly? No, he just had to bring the word 'die' into the conversation.
"On one hand it is impractical. But on the other hand flying really is nice. You can see everything from up there."
Eve glanced up to the sky and remembered how just last week he had gone flying for 30 minutes. And afterwards he had sketched the scenery he had seen. Yes, from that perspective it was quite handy.
Somehow Jake seemed excited when he talked about when he got on the island and Eve felt kind of happy too. He liked the island too, and was proud that someone else liked it too.
"For me it feels like such a short time. But at the same time it feels like an eternity."
Eve chuckled a bit, that sounded confusing. Eve wondered if it was because he was immortal. Though he heard the sense of time only started to fade away after couple of thousands of years. Just the thought of living that long was kind of scary for Eve.
When Jake asked his question Eve flinched just a bit but relaxed right after. It was a topic Eve could talk of.
"No, you can ask. Since I have asked questions as well."
Eve sent Jake a tiny smile before looking forward.
"I didn't come here with anyone. As far as I know, I have never had a family."
Eve turned to look at Jake with reassuring eyes.
"But it's okay. You can't miss what you never had, right?"
Eve started jogging, looking at Jake over his shoulder. If you looked close enough you could see a playful glint in his eyes.
"Shall we pick up the pace? Since it looks like I can keep up with you."

Eve was glad that his plan had worked. Him "challenging" Jake had obviously lifted his spirits. Jake was a nice person and Eve had already depressed him enough. So when Jake subtly started increasing his speed Eve increased his in turn until he was running again. Eve wasn't competitive but answering to someone's playful challenge wasn't beyond him.

Something was weird. Eve was talkative enough in the right company or when he had something to say. But Jake had a weird influence on people, on Eve. He felt like following his impulses. But when Eve suddenly felt like running, really running, instead of just speeding up he slowed his pace a bit until he was running beside Jake.
"Can I ask what is your maximum speed?"

30 miles per hour. Little slower than what Eve could run. Eve could run around 50 miles per hour on a good day. Today he bet he could go around 40 miles per hour.
Eve just nodded at Jake and smiled a bit.
"In that case, try to keep up."
After saying that Eve started running faster, a lot faster. He didn't accelerate to 30 miles per hour immediately, he wanted Jake to keep up with him. Besides, Eve was kind of busy dodging branches and such to actually go as fast as he wanted. But he felt the speed affect him.

Eve felt his face slowly relax when the wind caressed his hair and a genuine, unusually wide smile lit up his face. This smile was kind of a secret, since Eve himself didn't know how widely he was smiling as he ran. He saw many beautiful things while running but somewhere at the back of his mind he still remembered Jake and didn't stop. But he didn't check if Jake was keeping up either. He was too busy enjoying the running.