Welcome to Gaia! ::

Just as he was getting into the gritty final stretch of his book, Casper heard a tapping at his window and looked up to see Dash with his girlfriend. Smiling, he stuck his bookmark in before dropping the novel lightly into the passenger's seat. Getting out and locking his doors, Casper extended his hand to the young woman Dash had brought along and introduced himself. "Hello. It's nice to finally meet you. Dash always speaks very highly of you, so I've been curious." From a glance, the girl looked to be an average if not popular high school student, despite Dash's glowing review from before.

"So, how have classes been so far?" he asked Dash, although he gave the girl a chance to chime in as well. "Hopefully more exciting than my vigil. I'll have to speak with your father about giving me some errands or something else to do during your school hours. I guess that's what happens when you play these things by ear, though." While it had been a rather dull day despite having brought a book in preparation, Casper wouldn't feel right leaving school grounds without Mr. Welford's word.

Checking his watch, he asked, "How long is your lunch period? Ah, and you mentioned not taking my car," he said, giving a glance to Dash's girlfriend for some direction on where her car was. "So, where are we going for lunch? I suppose you two would know the area better than myself," he said, hoping that he wasn't being too imposing by accompanying them. While it was his job to follow Dash around and ensure his safety, he knew that Dash still had a life of his own and had to spread his wings a bit. Even if his father wouldn't agree, Casper didn't see much wrong with pushing him out of the nest and waiting for him to fly back on his own.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Rylee said, smiling gently at Casper. “Dash has only said good things about you as well, so I really wanted to meet you.” She saw Dash tense up out of the corner of her eye, but ignored him. Judging by his reaction, Dash hadn’t told Casper that they’d talked about him, although she assumed that Casper was smart enough to figure it out. Dash looked down at the ground, suddenly more interested in his shoes, then the conversation going on next to him, It wasn’t until Casper asked him a question that he snapped back to attention.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Dash shoved his hand in his pockets and rolled his eyes. “Classes suck, as usual…” He sighed, doing his best to be a pouty teenager. “I mean, what’s the point, I’m going to culinary school after I graduate, so why should I have to take all of these dumb classes?” He didn’t really think that he was being unreasonable. Dash had never liked school, and he felt there was not reason to hide that from Casper, regardless of what his bodyguard might think about it.

Rylee rolled her eyes at her boyfriend then proceeded to ignore him, she knew when he was just acting a certain way for attention, so she didn’t feel the need to indulge him at all. “Classes have been fine, but it’s gonna be hard getting used to waking up early for school.” She said, smiling at Casper, “But I’m sure you remember what that’s like, you don’t look much older that twenty, am I right?” She was sure that she was close to his age, Casper was young, which to her was a little strange. However he seemed like a perfectly good person, and he was nice to Dash, so that was really all that was important to her.

When asked about their lunch period, Dash looked over at his bodyguard, “We have until One-thirty, so if we want to get anywhere we’d better get going, or else we’ll be late getting back…” He said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and checking the time. It wasn’t as if lunch had been going on for a long time, Dash just wanted to get off campus as soon as possible. He was hungry, and it was a bad idea to come between Dash and food. He pointed towards a gray car at the edge of the parking lot. “That’s your car, right?” He asked, turning to his girlfriend. When she nodded, Dash grinned, “alright, then lets go! I need food!” He said, as he led the way over to Rylee’s car.

((It took entirely too long for me to post this, and I am so sorry. sad I'll try and be better about posting more regularly from now on.))

Getting into the drivers seat of her car, Rylee waited for everyone to get in before starting the car and driving out of the parking lot. She was so glad that she got to see Dash again. She hadn’t seen him for most of the summer, so she worried about him. He’d gotten into a lot of trouble over the summer vacation, more trouble than he normally got into. Dash was sitting in the passengers seat looking out of the window. He was normally much more chatty, but something seemed to bothering him, she figured she’d talk to him about it later.

“Oh, thanks. It was a birthday present, I got it a few months ago.” Rylee said, smiling, but not taking her eyes off of the road. She was older than Dash by a few months, although by the way he acted it seemed like a lot more. She wished that Dash would act a little more mature, and hoped that Casper would be a good influence on him and keep him out of trouble. She normally would do it herself, but she couldn’t be around Dash all of the time.

Sighing, Dash fidgeted in his seat. This subject always made him uncomfortable. He didn’t really like talking about it, but he knew it was best to be polite. “Um, we grew up together….” He started, looking out of the passenger side window as he spoke. “Our Dads are really good friends, so we had play dates a lot.” He sighed and looked down at his lap. He didn’t like talking about his relationship. He liked to keep his private life, private. It was difficult, as both he and Rylee were celebrities to a certain degree; they both did their best to keep things discrete. “I asked her out last year and we’ve been together ever since…It’s nothing too exciting…” He reached out and held one of Rylee’s hands and smiled. “And our one year anniversary is on Saturday…” He said, smiling. It wasn’t something he would forget, only because it was the same day as his birthday, although is wasn’t really something either of really cared about all that much.

They soon pulled into the parking lot of an extremely nice looking sushi restaurant. She pulled into a parking spot in the front and parked the car. “We’re here,” She said, turning around in her seat. “We’d better hurry, we don’t wanna be late getting back to school.” She un-buckled her seat belt and got out of the car. She came to this restaurant a lot, so it wouldn’t be a problem for her to get them in. It also helped that her dad was good friends with the restaurant owner. Dash sighed and got out of the car. He was ready to be back at home. He waited for Rylee to go inside to get them a seat before turning to his bodyguard. “Hey, um…after we leave here can we head back home…?” He asked, sounding tired. He just wasn’t feeling being at school that day, even more than usual. He just hoped that Casper would let him go, he didn’t feel like arguing with his bodyguard.

“Oh, thank you,” Rylee said as she led them into the restaurant. “I just turned eighteen in April,” She thanked whatever deity out there that she was older than Dash, at least then she could attempt to keep him out of trouble. She dreaded the day that he turned twenty-one, he was already hard enough to deal with, and he wasn’t even legally allowed to do most of the things that he got into trouble for. She hoped that Casper would be able to reign him, if only just a little, she just hoped that Dash wouldn’t be too much for Casper to handle.

Rylee quickly greeted the maître d’ and was lead to a table in the upstairs area of the restaurant. There was no one there, but them, which was perfectly fine with Rylee, and she knew Dash wouldn’t mind either. “Well, Saturday is also Dash’s birthday, so we might go to lunch together or something early in the day,” Rylee said as she sat down at the booth, Dash sliding into the seat next to her. “But then again, his party is that night, so I’m sure he’ll be really busy during the day Saturday.” She smiled, “So if I don’t see him until the party, that’s enough for me, we don’t really have any solid plans.” She wasn’t all that concerned about celebrating their anniversary; to them it was just another day. “Dash did tell you about his party right?” She asked Casper, slowly browsing the menu that the waitress had placed in front of her.

Sighing in relief, Dash couldn’t help but crack a small smile. ”Thanks…” he said, genuinely grateful to Casper for letting him leave school early. He spent so much time being pouty and belligerent with people that weren’t his friends, his sisters or his mom that he’d almost forgotten what it was like to be decent to people outside of his immediate group of friends and family. It wasn’t that Dash was a mean person, it was just that he didn’t really like opening up to people. However he figured that since Casper would be around him all of the time, he could at least try to be pleasant.

Feeling an elbow in side, Dash jumped a little. He know what that nudge meant, it was Rylee’s ‘I’m not the only one here so stop being rude and say something,’ nudge. It happened more often than it probably should, and Dash knew it was best to comply with whatever the older girl wanted or else he’d never hear the end of it later. It had been that way since they were children. He looked across the table at his bodyguard, “So, when we get home do you wanna get started on those cooking lessons we talked about, like…ages ago?” He asked, looking happy, for the moment, and his usual bored tone was replaced with one of genuine interest. Cooking was something that the seventeen year old loved, after all. Dash was also partially aware that he’d had almost nothing to do with the decision that was made about cooking lessons. It had been entirely his mother’s doing, he’d only agreed to it to make her happy. However it had seemed like a good time for Dash to bring it up, otherwise they would just be sitting at his house, doing nothing.

Nodding Dash looked a little embarrassed. “Yeah, I’ll be eighteen on Saturday,” He said, biting his lower lip. “You don’t have to get me anything, it’s really not a big deal.” He absentmindedly looked down at the menu on the table. “We’re going clubbing for my birthday, since all of my friends are eighteen now,” Dash said softly, not looking up at Casper, remembering how his bodyguard had told him that he wouldn’t be allowed to go to places where alcohol was readily available. That was the main reason that Dash hadn’t told the older male about his birthday party. He didn’t want there to be any way for anyone to sabotage his birthday. “My parents are going out of town Saturday evening, but you can ask them about it tonight.”

Dash couldn’t help but laugh a little. He had to admit; he thought it was cute that Casper thought he’d be able to teach him anything about cooking. “Oh, you thought you were going to be teaching me something about cooking?” He asked, a cocky smile on his face. Dash didn’t like to brag, but he was a fairly talented cook. He’d learned from his mother, and she –to him at least— was one of the best. He looked into Casper’s eyes, leaning forward a little as he spoke to his bodyguard, as if what he had to say was the most important thing in the world. “Oh, no…you’ll be learning from me, but don’t worry I’ll be nice.” He was, in his own opinion, a pretty good instructor when it came to cooking, and he was sure that Casper would be able to learn something from him.

((s'ok, mine is short too~ D: ))

Rylee smiled at Casper as he talked about Dash’s party. “Oh, don't worry, we’ve all decided that were going to be keeping Dash out of trouble this year…” She said, looking over at Dash who was looking, embarrassed down at his lap. “We’re kind of hoping that this will the first recent birthday that Dash has had where he doesn’t get into some kind of trouble.” She shrugged, “And if you wanted I’m sure you could join us in celebrating, It’ll be boring just sitting around and watching us.” She looked over at Dash, who was still looking down at his lap, fidgeting with his hands underneath the table. She left him alone, knowing that he would be fine once she dropped the conversation. When it came to Dash, Rylee was almost never wrong.

Perking up just a little, Dash grinned at Casper, “Oh, I’m sure you won’t be,” He said, before humbling just little, “Hmm, really, well…maybe after I teach you some things, you could teach me some stuff. I’m always up for learning new recipes,” He was smiling, it was small, but it was better than nothing. Smiles were something he usually only saved for close friends and family, however, Dash was starting to feel more trusting of Casper, something that considering their past relationship. Dash was now beginning to see that Casper wasn’t as terrible as he’d originally made him out to be.

When asked about his hobbies, Dash shrugged. “I do, but nothing that isn’t illegal, so I can’t really tell you anything.” He was joking, and he hoped that Casper would understand that. However, just to be sure, he made sure to clarify, “Uh, obviously joking, of course…” He said, laughing nervously, not because he was lying, but simply because if Casper didn’t believe him, he could get in a lot of trouble. “I like a lot of things…I guess…” He started, wondering which of his many hobbies to begin with. “Um, I like swimming, It helps keep me in shape….and flexible...it also keeps me from having to see my personal trainer once a week.” He sighed, “I also enjoy Pena Coladas and long walks in the rain,” He smiled, being completely genuine, that time, “And I’m not joking about that.”

Dash quietly excused himself from the table, and when he was out of earshot, Rylee leaned in a little and smiled. “I know Dash can be a little difficult sometimes, but he really is a nice person.” She sighed, “And…I know it’s hard to tell sometimes, but he does like you, really…He just has trouble getting close to people, he’s scared of getting hurt…” She sat back, seeing Dash heading back over to the table. “Don’t mention that I told you any of this to Dash, if you do, he’ll probably never trust me again.” When Dash sat back down, he looked suspicious, but decided not to worry about it too much, instead he figured he’d join in the conversation for once. “So, what are your hobbies, Casper?” He asked, with genuine interest, “I’m sure you have things you like to do outside of being a bodyguard.” Dash realized that this was the first time that he and Casper had a legitimate conversation, and he found that he didn’t mind it so much.

“Hmm, yeah…” Rylee said, thinking for a moment, “But, of course, some of our other friends are just as irresponsible as Dash…” She rolled her eyes at the thought of her friends getting drunk and acting stupid, Dash continued to look embarrassed, but knew it would be a bad idea to disagree with Rylee. “And they’re all older than him, which makes it worse…” She smiled, at Casper, despite her annoyance at her friends. She was glad that Casper would be helping her out, it would make everything else so much easier, “…But I’m sure if you’re there, they’ll all behave, or at least I hope they will…You already have enough on your plate, dealing with Dash all day.” Despite how cruel her words might have sounded, Rylee said them with a smile, and it was obvious that she wasn’t trying to be malicious. She laughed, just a little, at Casper, “hmm, well, then don’t go in your suit, wear something more casual, it would help you blend in better.”

Hearing Casper’s offer of self defense lessons, Dash considered it for a moment. He was concerned about looking weak in front of his bodyguard. However, the more he thought about it, he didn’t really care that much. Casper had seen him cry already, something that Dash was still embarrassed about, but he figured that it would be okay to at least give it a try. “Uh, okay, that sounds like it could work…I guess…” Dash said softly, looking down at his lap. He fidgeted in his seat, refusing to look up at Casper. He really didn’t want to think about getting kidnapped again, and as much as he secretly hated the idea of self-defense lessons, he didn’t want to have to get hurt again, and was willing to do anything he could to prevent it.

Dash hadn’t appreciated the disapproving look that he had gotten from his bodyguard. Casper was going to have lighten up a little if they were ever going to get along properly. “Wait, you parkour?” Dash asked, not sure if he believed it, although he knew that Casper didn’t have any reason to lie to him. “Seriously?” The sudden mental image of his bodyguard parkouring in a suit was definitely amusing, but Dash contained his laughter, not wanting to seem rude. It was just really hard for him to “So, how long have you been a parkour…er? …ist? …person?” He asked, unsure of the title of someone who does parkour.

Although he didn’t like the idea that Rylee and Casper might have been talking about him behind his back. However he also didn’t want to bring it up, since he didn’t want Rylee to get mad at him. He sighed, listening to Casper talk about his hobbies. Casper needed to get out more, or at least that’s what Dash thought, as the seventeen year old wasn’t the type to just sit at home and read comics. “That’s cool, I guess…” He said, smiling a little, “…But don’t you ever go out, and do stuff with your friends?” He then thought for a moment, “Parkour is awesome though, you should talk about that more.” Dash would never be willing to try it himself, however there was no denying that it was one of the coolest things ever.

((Sorry this took so long... D: ))

Bump.