Lucien told himself he was taking a different route. The south path ran parallel to the athletics track and he used it sometimes when the east corridor was congested, which it was on Thursdays, which was why he was here, which had nothing to do with anything else. He told himself that, then he saw Eli and stopped walking. The track was mostly empty at this hour, a few athletes at the far end, a coach with a clipboard, and Eli alone on the straight, just running, like really running. Lucien hadn’t seen Eli run before, this was him without an audience, without the brightness he wore like a second jacket, without any performance. Lucien stood at the edge of the path and watched him, he tried not to think much about the fact that he wasn't walking past like he planned to. Eli ran two lengths before he slowed, hands on his knees, breathing hard. Then he straightened and looked up and found Lucien standing there, they just stared at each other across the distance. Eli didn’t smile, he
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