Plastic Rings • •

[Dawson Trent Naylor]

With the summer came the chance of freedom and exploration. Dawson usually returned to Fairbanks for a little while at some point, but with school officially over for him he wasn’t in the biggest of rushes to head back to Alaska when he knew he could book a few vacation days at any point now to head back down there. Without classes and assignments clogging up his days there seemed to be more time for pretty much everything and even with the few extra shifts he picked up down at Gotham it still seemed like he had a ridiculous amount of time to dedicate to his adventurous hobbies.

He also booked a trip for him and KC after making sure she had the time to accompany him. There was a climbing site in Kentucky that he had visited a few years ago and had every intention of returning to; there was no time like the present. The place seemed perfect for the pair of them, given their hobbies and shared love for such activities. Dawson had gone with some friends the time before, but this trip was something he wanted to treat KC to and a long weekend break would be good for the both of them. There might have been better places to climb, but Dawson enjoyed this site in Kentucky and it was one that fuelled his love for the Via Ferrata, as well as everything else.

The sun was barely beginning to rise over the city when Dawson began loading the cases and camping equipment into his car. There was a ten hour drive ahead of them to reach Torrent Falls and he wanted to have one decent stop for breakfast along the way, though their flasks were already full of coffee and the car held a bag of goodies to keep their stomachs quiet in the meantime. Once everything was secure, he headed back upstairs to get KC from his apartment, locked up, stole a quick kiss from the pretty blonde and then led her outside to where he had parked his car. The radio came to life the second he turned the key in the ignition and he adjusted the dial slightly so that they wouldn’t have to yell at each other to be heard. “If we stop off for breakfast at about nine then we should reach Torrent Falls by lunch. We’ll probably have time to hit the Via Ferrata today before we set up camp for tonight.”

[/color] He told KC as he worked it all out in his head first. They would have to go through the tedious training protocol talk and guide again, but it was a small price to pay for three days of climbing adventures away from the city with no one to disturb or bother them once they were settled.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! KC <3
WORDS! 505
OUTFIT! Goofy Guy!
LYRICS! Endlessly - - - The Cab
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[KC Evania Patterson]

Summer was KC’s favourite time of the year. There was so much that could be done in summer that just wasn’t possible in the winter months. It was especially hard when she got into foul tempered moods and just needed to get out of the city for an adventure. She could do that in Arizona. She had the proper equipment for “winter” climbing in Phoenix, not in New York. Thankfully, she hadn’t had one of those fits in a while. They were something reserved for Phoenix, and her mother. Neither of which were in her life anymore so those bursts were easier to control, and when she did feel an inch, she knew of a couple indoor rock climbing places that had her name in their files.

She was excited about this trip though. She’d never been where they were going and she’d wanted to since she heard about it from a fellow climber in Phoenix. She and a few friends had spent four days in the desert. They’d met up with another group, a guided one while they’d been out there and it had been the guide to tell them about the places he’d seen, he’d climbed and explored. Since then she’d wanted to go but hadn’t been able to. And now Dawson planned out this whole long weekend trip for the two of them and it seemed like Fate; she couldn’t say no. And, thankfully, it hadn’t taken much to talk her boss into letting her take the time off. The summer meant more tourists but less guided tours, with those families preferring to do their own thing.

Spending the night at Dawson’s seemed like the better idea in all aspects since not only would it be easier to get KC up when she needed to be but also because Tabs was having a date of her own and wanted KC out of the house during those hours. The timing worked out well in that case. KC had spent the previous afternoon packing everything she would need and trying to slip her own gear out of the apartment. That part had been pretty easy since Tabs had run out to pick up some things for the night. She’d thrown everything she thought she would need and a couple surprises into a backpack and those bags into an oversized duffle so she could carry it on her back for the drive over. Since the snow melted, she’d taken her bike out of its storage spot for the winter months. That motorcycle was her freedom; she wanted to take damn good care of it.

She drove over, hiding her bike away where Dawson kept his car and the rest of the night was history. The morning came too soon for the blonde girl. She wasn’t the biggest fan of mornings and generally moved about in a zombie state until she’d had a couple gallons of coffee in her to jumpstart her system. She stayed upstairs in Dawson’s apartment nursing her first cup of coffee between stages of getting ready while he packed up the car. She shoved her hair up into a messy bun for the car ride, put on clothes she wouldn’t mind spending hours sitting around in and spent the rest of the short amount of time she had staring out the window, trying to keep her eyes open. If Tabby knew she was up before the sun, and actually waking up not just going to bed, her twin would die of laughter.

She grinned sleepily at the stolen kiss; feeling like she’d spent the night drinking and was just trying to find her bed now. KC and mornings did not mix but at least she was trying. She made it down to the car in one piece so that was worth some sort of reward later, when she was actually awake and not playing the part of someone who was. She curled into the passenger seat, clicked her belt into place and instantly her eyes closed. And flew back open a second later. Her hands flew to her ears, even though the music was hardly loud enough to have the eardrums bleeding. “As long as you have it worked out,” she said sleepily, feeling her eyes get heavy again. To be fair, he had been warned of her issues with the morning hours. As far as KC was concerned any “time” between two a.m. and ten a.m. at the latest did not exist. There was only one five o’clock in a day for KC; even when she pulled all-nighters.

Tag || Dawson!
Words || 762
Clothes || Sleeping Beauty
Music || Romeo-- Dolly Parton
Notes || <3

[Dawson Trent Naylor]

Dawson wouldn’t call himself a morning person, but he would do anything for the sports he loved most of all. It was why he didn’t complain when he heard the alarm buzzing on the bedside table and why he hadn’t dawdled through his morning routine before packing up his car. He was content and happy to sacrifice everything for a chance to climb, free-fall or jump. Plus, he was so excited about heading back to Torrent Falls after his first trip there that he felt like a small child on Christmas morning! There was nothing going to hold him back from this and if KC was so out of sorts with sleepiness that he had to carry her to the car, then Dawson would do it without even needing to think twice about it.

He didn’t mind if KC slept for most of the journey. It was ridiculously early and on any normal day of the week he wouldn’t be crawling out of his bed for another few hours himself. It wasn’t like there was much to see or admire when he was just going to be driving on busy roads for most of the trip. He smiled over at the sleeping girl in the passenger seat and then switched his focus back to the road, keeping the stereo down enough so that it wouldn’t disturb KC. He drove for a few hours straight, snacking on the cola bottles he had stashed on the dashboard. Eventually, the rumbling of his stomach got the better of him and he needed another coffee. Glancing at the time, he realised he wasn’t that far off his original plan anyway since it was coming up to nine in the morning. He found a truck stop with a café a little further along and pulled in, cutting the engine before leaning across to gently wake his girlfriend up. “Hey, doll, time to get some breakfast and coffee.”

[/color] He said in a sing-song voice as he brushed the blonde hair from her face and unclipped the belt for her. They could stop here, grab a decent breakfast and anymore snacks they fancied and still be back on the road in time to make Torrent Falls for lunch. If KC wanted to go back to sleep before then, she could, but Dawson didn’t want her starving in the meantime.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! KC <3
WORDS! 426
OUTFIT! Goofy Guy!
LYRICS! Endlessly - - - The Cab
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[KC Evania Patterson]

KC was excited about her weekend away with Dawson. It was their first trip away together in general, but especially as a couple. She wanted this alone time, away from their friends and usual surroundings. It was the best way to see if they would be able to make it work in the long run. KC secretly hoped so much it was so early in their relationship that she didn’t want to say anything and ruin it all. She’d seen people drop the ‘L’ word and within a week, they’d broken up. And even though she and Dawson had been seeing each other longer than that, she didn’t want to tempt fate. Slow and steady won the race, right? And despite being excited for this trip, she couldn’t bring herself to stay awake through the beginning of their road trip.

It was unfortunate that she’d hardly made it past city limits because that coffee Dawson had prepared was getting cold waiting for her to wake up and drink it. KC had never been the type of person to drink a single cup of coffee and be wired for sixteen hours. She could drink and gallon of the dark, steaming beverage and still fall asleep at her computer working. She felt bad for sleeping through the first couple of hours on the road but she really couldn’t help her sleeping habits. She fell wherever she landed and stayed there until she’d gotten enough sleep to wake up on her own. It took two alarms and her ferret climbing out of his cage to wake her in the mornings when she had early classes!

She was already in that state of wakefulness without actually being awake quite yet when she felt the car slowing down. She was confused at first, wondering if maybe Dawson hadn’t bothered stopping for breakfast and they were already there but then he spoke, rousing her fully from the fog, it all made sense. “You’re supposed to sing me to sleep not sing me awake. Didn’t you ever read fairy tales?” she asked teasing, with her eyes still closed and a smile spreading across her lips. Slowly those blue eyes of hers opened though, to look up into Dawson’s. “Good morning, for real this time,” she said, laughing, leaning up to steal a kiss. After a minute, to make sure she was fully awake, she opened her door and got out, slamming the door behind her before stretching out her back quickly enough. KC didn’t like cars, there was just something about being confined in a steel box that wasn’t comforting to the blonde. Her discomfort was the whole reason she had her motorcycle. But that mode of transportation wasn’t useful in this case and at least with Dawson, and sleeping it would be more bearable for her. She met Dawson around the front of the car, linking her fingers through his as they walked into the roadside café.

Tag || Dawson!
Words || 491
Clothes || Sleeping Beauty
Music || Romeo-- Dolly Parton
Notes || <3

[Dawson Trent Naylor]

Dawson wasn’t the kind of guy to rush into relationships; he never had been. He was more about having fun, enjoying the chase at the start and then just relaxing, taking time and getting to know the person he was dating. He didn’t shy away from the flirtatious games, remarks and gestures, but he wasn’t about to take KC to some elegant restaurant and put all of his cards on the table for her to see either. They were both young, it was summer and it was time for fun and relaxing away from the routine of their lives in New York. He didn’t stick around to waste his time, but he also wasn’t about to plan out the next five years for the couple. This weekend ought to be fun, refreshing and give them a chance to be alone without the worries of school work, family and jobs to call them away from their little adventures.

Luckily for Dawson, early morning road trips weren’t all that uncommon for him. Whenever he went home for the holidays he made a road trip out of it, just to avoid paying for the extra luggage he’d end up hauling down to JFK for flights. It took a couple of days to make the trip, but he had never minded that, or the detours he took with some of his friends to stop early and hit a slope or two along the way.

Grinning down at his sleeping girlfriend, Dawson pressed a quick kiss to the side of her head and then pulled the keys from the ignition. “Judging by past experiences, my singing usually causes a distraction and gets your attention; it’s yet to put you to sleep.”

[/color] His memories were taking him back to the day when he had infiltrated the lecture hall and disturbed KC’s class with the assistance of his guitar and a well-chosen song. He kissed her back, grinning against her lips before sitting up again and swinging his long legs out of the car door. Dawson didn’t mind driving for hours, but his legs usually demanded some time to stretch and work out from the confined space. He pushed his messy, overgrown hair back from his face and then squeezed KC’s hand in his. “What do you fancy for breakfast then?”[/color] He asked, holding the door open for the pretty blonde and allowing his blue eyes to glance over the menu as they stepped up to the serving counter.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! KC <3
WORDS! 447
OUTFIT! Goofy Guy!
LYRICS! Endlessly - - - The Cab
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[KC Evania Patterson]

KC hadn’t been looking for anything serious when she met Dawson; she still wasn’t if she were being honest. She was too young to be falling head first into some long term thing; especially since she didn’t know if in two years she was going to find a job around New York or if she was going to try her hand in Los Angeles. She didn’t want to have some serious thing that had to stay in New York if she did get an offer in LA. This for now was just fun. Dawson was incredible, funny and could bring the overachieving blonde film student out of any bad mood. He brought a spark of adventure that KC just didn’t get in the city and if anything else, she really liked that.

The last time KC went on a trip even similar to this one, a couple old climbing friends from Arizona came up to the city and stole her away for a week just after finals were said and done. It took only a little more than ten hours to get there but it had felt like it took just as long to get there and back as they had time climbing around like monkeys and catching up. Tabby hadn’t put much thought into it because they had spent some time around the house before she went to California and KC went to New York. Tabs hadn’t even really bothered to look up from her movie when KC had been dragged from her bedroom at nine o’clock in the evening for the long drive; though since she had no clue where they were going, she was fortunate enough not to have to drive, which meant she stayed up through the night chatting with whoever was driving and then slept through most of the morning so everyone was refreshed and ready to go when they arrived at the park in Michigan. Those particular friends weren’t very good with the planning portion of the actual plan so they had been unaware of the no camping policy the park had. But the motel they’d stayed at had been just as fun.

This trip however, had been planned by someone who actually knew what they were doing and not just spontaneously thought up on a whim. And she was actually excited about this trip. KC had gotten excited about going off to a new park when Dawson suggested it, and a little bit more every day leading up to their departure. She wasn’t fond of having to leave before the crack of dawn but she could work with it. And the little nap in the car proved that though she did feel bad that she’d crashed on the first leg of the ride out. Luckily for her, her wakeup call was absolutely worth it. Laughter bubbled up from inside as she shook her head. “I’m still getting teased about that, thanks,” she said aiming for sarcasm though even she knew she fell short on it. She couldn’t deny that she’d loved that moment; it had won Dawson a lot of points in her books because it had been so brazen. “Can you order me a BTL on a plain bagel, if possible, please? I need to freshen up after sleeping in the car,” she said, shaking her head, assuming her hair was a mess since she’d had to push some out of her face when she was woken up. “And the biggest coffee they have,” she added, slipping away in search of the bathroom.

In the bathroom, she pulled her hair free and ran her fingers through it after wetting them. Not for the first time she thought about cutting off those long locks of hers and going for something short and edgy. Sighing instead, she fixed her hair up, splashed cold water on her face and went back out to find Dawson whenever he may be. She found him off to the side, waiting on their order from as far as she could tell, though her brain was still a little on the fuzzy side at the moment. The coffee would help with that and the food when she got her hands on it but for now she would settle on Dawson’s company. “Alright, I’m back and really awake now. Please tell me they have a gallon cup of coffee hidden away somewhere with my name on it?” she asked, stopping next to her crazy haired boyfriend.

Tag || Dawson!
Words || 745
Clothes || Sleeping Beauty
Music || Romeo-- Dolly Parton
Notes || <3

[Dawson Trent Naylor]

For Dawson, the future would always be a complete mystery. He didn’t make plans or aspire to have a list of things completed by time he was thirty. Obviously he had dreams and goals, but he was in no real rush to start chasing them down just yet. He might have graduated college, but that didn’t mean that he had to join in with the adult world of suits, real jobs and go out and find himself a mortgage and a family friendly car. He loved his music, his life and his freedom and for now he just wanted to embrace those things and make sure that there were no regrets on the list by the time he did settle down and stop making his mom worry so much about him. Although he was pretty certain that the only way to do that would be to move back to Alaska and affix himself with a tracking anklet. The woman had worried non-stop about Dawson for as long as he could remember, thanks to all the scrapes and coincidental accidentals he had managed to land himself in over the years. None of the damage was permanent, but she still didn’t forget a single one of those times.

While the rest of his life was usually pretty chaotic and unorganised, Dawson liked to make sure these kinds of adventures were perfect. If he was going to put the time and effort into something then he wanted it to be right, to go off without a hitch. No one liked wasting their time and as much as he loved spontaneity, and often joked it was his middle name along with “brazen” and “flirtatious”, he still liked to get the most out of these little trips. Plus, he wanted to really impress KC and take her somewhere she could never forget, even if it was only a road trip from New York and only for a few days.

The main trip Dawson took every couple of months was the one back home and he did that entirely by himself, occasionally meeting up with friends made along the way for a bit of relaxation that could only be found from swinging in the air or flying down snowy slopes during the winter months. For the time cramped in his car though, it was just Dawson and the radio, so he didn’t mind that KC slept now, or if she slept the whole way there. He was used to it after five years of the same travel and even when he had other friends carpooling with him for trips to mountain ranges or conventions, he was usually the one behind the wheel while the rest lay snoring in what had to be uncomfortable positions. He had never been one to sleep while travelling; he was too lanky and cars and plane seats were just too cramped. “I had to leave my legacy somehow.”

[/color] He explained with a cheesy grin as he shrugged his shoulders and let her slip away with a wink and an airborne kiss.

He placed KC’s order and then chose some bacon and sausage with cheese melt. It was probably going to be the greasiest thing on the menu, but the looks of the toasted treat almost had Dawson drooling as he threw his choice of coffee in there, too. At the end of the counter he checked the time and then mentally worked out the rest of their travelling while he waited for both KC and their food. Grinning down at KC’s return, he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and dropped a soft kiss to her jaw. “They’re all out of the gallon cups, but they are sending you the extra-large.”[/color] He joked, smiling as the guy behind the counter slipped both large cups and the plated breakfasts his way and checked the order before Dawson nodded and reluctantly stood up straight again to grab the yummy looking food that had his stomach growling in anticipation. “Let’s sit by the window.”[/color] He sang, hopping over to the small table there so that they could eat their food. They could get another coffee for the ride if they needed one, or just take the one they had back to the car, but Dawson needed to stretch out for a little longer before he could crawl back into the vehicle.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! KC <3
WORDS! 765
OUTFIT! Goofy Guy!
LYRICS! Endlessly - - - The Cab
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[KC Evania Patterson]

KC’s future would always be up in the air. She had a plan until the end of college and then she was basically clueless. There were internships she could get but she also wasn’t about to worry about any of that just yet. She still had another two years in school before she really had to worry about her future. And until then, she was just going to work on being a better filmmaker. Everyone else was just in too much of a hurry to grow up and get an adult life. KC wasn’t about that, not right now, probably not ever. How else was she going to become a great director, bringing all these fantastic films to the world if she didn’t have the time to let loose her imagination? The most she knew about herself and her future was that she wanted to have a house of her own; a bigger place with a spare room turned into a personal movie theatre and a collect of movies to choose from. But none of that meant she had to have a husband, two point four children and a white picket fence. That was what her mother wanted for her and for Tabby.

And KC had never done anything her mother wanted from the time she was five years old and she wanted her daughter to take jazz classes. KC liked her sports and her ballet; even at five these were her interests. And the only change as she got older was how extreme those sports went. Before it was field hockey, volleyball and rock climbing in a gym, and then the gym disappeared, jumping off bridges and out of planes were good ideas and scaling cliffs in the Arizona desert was the next great adventure. When KC had moved across the country to go to school, she hadn’t known when or if in the next four years she would get out of the city and do any of her favourite pastimes. The dancing was easier to do for obvious reasons. She went home twice a year for her father and to catch up with friends. This years’ trip was going to be a little different, since for the last couple trips Tabs had gone, too and now she had Brooke.

“Three people parodied that moment in their final projects,” she told him, for the second time. She’d called him laughing after the class let out and those three pictures were part of the short films shown that day. She had to rush to work after that class so she couldn’t meet up with him but she’d told him over the phone and promised to meet him at the comedy club when she was through with her shift. It was a little difficult when they first started seeing each other to make time with crazy schedules but the pair made it work. She felt better and definitely more awake when she returned to the front of the little roadside stop. She sighed, sounding upset by the news. “I guess that will just have to do,” she said with a small pout.

KC barely stopped herself from snatching the coffee belonging to her up and draining the cup before they even got to the table; mostly because she didn’t know which one was hers in the first place. KC followed Dawson over to the table and took the seat across from him, crossing her legs under her in the way she almost always sat whenever she ate. “Which one of those is mine,” she asked, looking longingly at the coffee cups on the tray. She had grabbed a cup when they were getting ready to leave earlier that morning but she’d missed out on the one in the car and she couldn’t drink cold coffee unless it was purposefully made that way.

Tag || Dawson!
Words || 641
Clothes || Sleeping Beauty
Music || Romeo-- Dolly Parton
Notes || <3

[Dawson Trent Naylor]

Dawson knew his mother might relax a little more if he gave her some idea of a plan for his life. She was forever reminding him about Aaron’s good career as an accountant and how Lia and Rachael were in schools taking classes catered to the dreams they already had planned out for their futures. He couldn’t understand why she worried so much about him, but then he had a bad habit of forgetting about the accident when he was a teenager that had left his mom more rattled than she would ever care to admit. How he could forget was shocking when he had a tattoo dedicated to the whole day inked onto his skin in a pretty visible spot. Still, he wished she could let him enjoy New York and life a little more before she demanded to know how often he would be bringing grandkids to visit and the like. His mom was so used to seeing people in love and married to the kids they had grown up with or fallen for during those turbulent teenage years. Considering Aaron had done just that and Dawson was next in line he ought to have been prepared for it, but the only thing Dawson ever prepared for were trips like this one.

Dawson didn’t even bother to try and hide his grin. He was proud of what he had done that day; it might have embarrassed KC a little bit, but he had gotten her number and a date out of it. If he hadn’t been so bold then they might not be here now, together, and on this little trip. “Like I said, it’s my legacy.”

[/color] He said before leaning down to steal a kiss from her, as though he had to remind her of where they had ended up because of his guitar, a well-chosen song and a professor who hadn’t immediately called security when he had interrupted the class. Dawson was glad that chaos could be his middle name. Without it, surviving the final months of school and balancing his job, his social life and the early stages of his relationship with KC, might not have been as easy as he made it look. It really had been just how it looked to a few of his friends; Dawson had sacrificed sleep for schoolwork and shifts, ate meals on the go most days and lived with so much caffeine in his system that his heart practically wanted to burst from his chest. “I can find other ways to wake you up.”[/color] He said in a teasing whisper just above her ear, before playfully grabbing at her sides and doing his best evil villain laugh.

The messy haired adrenaline junkie was feeling a little more mischievous and playful now that KC was awake and his company wasn’t the guy on the radio anymore. He grinned across at her as they sat down and took a long sip from one of the coffee cups, tasting his personal favourite cross his lips. Instead of just handing hers over though, he leaned closer and pursed his lips dramatically. “You’ll have to have a taste.”[/color] He told her, making sure to pull the other cup to his side of the table out of her reach so that she couldn’t avoid him. It had been a long ride so far and Dawson, even when tired, was far from the calm and sane man he never resembled.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! KC <3
WORDS! 611
OUTFIT! Goofy Guy!
LYRICS! Endlessly - - - The Cab
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[KC Evania Patterson]

KC’s parents weren’t the usual kind. Her mother cared too much about that happy ending of two point four kids, a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence while her father just wanted his girls to be happy. Thankfully, or sadly whichever way people chose to look at it when it somehow came up in conversation, Jennifer didn’t have high hopes for those things in KC’s future. Plus, she’d given up on the eldest twin long ago when she didn’t want to do what her mother expected. She was too much like her father, and apparently none of the good traits, either. After all the years that had past though, KC couldn’t find it anywhere in her to give a damn what that woman wanted. KC was twenty one years old; she still had plenty of time ahead of her to figure life out! She just wanted to enjoy her twenties without the hassle of finding some man crazy enough to marry her and even crazier to have kids with. Right now, the blonde twin was too busy doing everything she could to give the woman who raised her more frown lines.

“Mm, and I’ve told you, I’m in the middle of negotiations with the dean to have a statue set in the courtyard for your antics,” she said seriously. As red as she’d gotten at the attention of the entire class on Dawson serenading her, of all people, she had loved every single second of it just as much. It was ridiculous, probably stupid and completely crazy. What if she hadn’t liked his performance and shot him down. Yet he still strapped on his guitar, picked out a song that couldn’t have been more amusing or more perfect and rocked the moment. If she could go back and do it all again, she would not have changed a single moment of what happened that day. It was already too good of a memory. KC barely bit back the squeal that wanted to rip from her throat as Dawson grabbed at her sides, but she couldn’t stop the little jump out of his reach that accompanied the noise. Laughing, she turned into his side again, wrapping her arms around his waist while she could. “And I bet you’ll get to use a couple of those ways this weekend, right?” she asked, looking up at him with a raised brow, daring him to tell her she was wrong.

Sitting at the table, KC stared daggers at the tray holding their meal like it held the secrets to the universe, and more importantly, which was hers. Right then and there, she couldn’t have cared less about the food if it got up and did a comedy routine in Latin. “Games? And so early in the morning,” she said, leaning across the table. She wasn’t opposed to public displays of anything really, and a little kiss wouldn’t kill anyone who happened to be looking at them. She planted her lips to his tasting the coffee still lingering there. Grinning, she pulled back taking the other cup with her. “Mine,” she said bringing it to her lips and completely forgetting she had food sitting there, waiting to be eaten. “You should have switched the hands when I wasn’t looking,” she said, setting her coffee down again and replacing it with the bagel wrapped up on the tray between them.

Tag || Dawson!
Words || 567
Clothes || Sleeping Beauty
Music || Romeo-- Dolly Parton
Notes || <3

[Dawson Trent Naylor]

Dawson was convinced his mother drained the worry from his father and carried it on her shoulders. The man loved his children, but he never raced around and fussed like his mom did. Dawson could distinctly remember waking up to find a pint of his brother’s blood in his body, his mom fussing and arguing with a nurse and his dad shaking his head and calling him an idiot. Although the man did acknowledge that he had expected this phone call to come after one of Dawson’s trips to jump off buildings and ledges, and not from a daily walk home from the building where all of the Naylor children received their high school education. His father was where Dawson inherited his laidback and casual personality from.

“I expect it to be in marble and worthy of shrine worship. Oh, and I must be striking a pensive pose. I am a creative artist, after all.”

[/color] Dawson said, deadly serious. If music hadn’t beckoned to him he might have found a home in the drama and theatre department, but that was an idea for a parallel universe to consider. He had his degree in music and no regrets about it. No one reached their dreams without taking a few risks here and there and ‘risks’ really ought to be Dawson’s middle name. The chance he had taken during that class had been small compared to others, but it still would’ve resulted in a bruised ego and tarnished dignity. They were just as bad, if not worse, than broken bones and scraped knees. If something was really worth having in life then Dawson believed it always came with a risk to pay; it was the cost of true happiness, in his mind. “Maybe. But a gentleman never reveals all of his secrets.”[/color] He said, looking aghast at the very idea of it. Holding her close, he pressed his lips to her forehead and then dipped her backwards, as far as they could safely go. “But, trust me, this weekend, you’re all mine.”[/color] He added an evil cackle, not caring when curious eyes began to look their way.

“It’s never too early for games.”[/color] Dawson said with a cheeky smirk, running his fingers through his wild hair and slouching down in his seat slightly. He grinned against her lips and then shook his head at her suggestion. “It’s time for games, not murder. I’d rather not breathe my last inside a roadside café. Besides, there are tracks to climb and rocks to jump before I clock out permanently.”[/color] He explained, reaching for his own greasy idea of breakfast. It wouldn’t be too long before they were back on the road and Dawson was hoping to finish the rest of the journey in one sweep now, possibly with a ten minute break if they really needed a bathroom stop or his car engine demanded a rest, although that usually only happened when he was crossing back home and the snow was falling heavy.

While he chewed the final bite of his breakfast baguette, he screwed up the napkin that cleared his fingers of the grease and then glanced over at KC while reaching for his coffee. “Are you ready to hit the road again, doll?”[/color] He asked as he raised the cup back to his lips and winked playfully at the pretty blonde sitting across from him.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! KC <3
WORDS! 602
OUTFIT! Goofy Guy!
LYRICS! Endlessly - - - The Cab
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[KC Evania Patterson]

KC fixed on her best serious face, mentally thanking her guidance counsellor in high school for talking her into taking a few theatre programmes. She had always wanted to be a film maker, even when she was a child. She hadn’t much liked her time in front of the audience but she couldn’t really complain since it gave her more insight into what she wanted to do with her life. It also didn’t hurt that her mother hated the classes and wished she would do something else with her life. But the classes gave her more skills, and the knowledge that she could pull off a believable serious face when she was feeling far from it. “Of course,” she said nodding. “Let me just write that down,” she said, pulling her phone from her pocket but checking the three messages from her co-worker and sister instead. One knew of the real plans for the trip, the other didn’t have the first clue about what her sister was really up to. “Since when?” she asked, mischief in her bright blue eyes. KC couldn’t hold back the laughter at being dipped in the middle of the restaurant. “You’re ridiculous,” she said between the fits of giggles.

“I’m starting to see that,” she said with a laugh. Being with Dawson was never a dull moment and KC loved that. She didn’t want to be with anyone that wanted to sit around with movies or a dull restaurant. She loved excitement, spontaneity; she always had and never wanted to stop that. The surprise of it all was exactly what she wanted for her life. “Such a smart, smart man,” KC said grinning as she took a bit out of her bagel. She was excited about this trip. The blonde film student wanted to see where they were going since she’d never been before. The trips she’d taken with climbing friends had never taken them this way before. So she was excited and more so because she was going with Dawson. They didn’t get time like this together in the city, not everything going on so it was nice to get away from everything the pair was used to.

The food was good and welcome; the coffee was better and needed. It was a miracle KC was even as awake as she was. It normally took two cups of coffee before she even opened her eyes. She practically inhaled the BLT and was left with just her coffee when Dawson spoke up. She finished off the coffee in her cup before setting back on the tray. “Ready and waiting on you, babe,” she said, pushing her bag up onto her shoulder again and stood next to their table. “You going to sit there all day?” she asked with a cheeky grin, starting to walk backwards towards the door.

Tag || Dawson!
Words || 473
Clothes || Sleeping Beauty
Music || Romeo-- Dolly Parton
Notes || <3

[Dawson Trent Naylor]

Dawson probably surprised a few people when he had left for college. He had probably surprised even more when news of him graduating spread around his hometown of Fairbanks. He had never been the academic kind, and spent most of his hours in school playing the class clown or getting into trouble from skating in the hallways or backflipping across the dining hall. He had too much energy to sit in classrooms all day and learn things that never interested him in the slightest. Sure, he made the grades to get into a New York school, but that was really only thanks to his musical talents securing him a top mark. Even his teachers joked that if Dawson couldn’t be heard or seen, then he was tucked away in a practice room and it would be the only time he behaved. “Make sure you get the spelling right. And it’s Trent, not Kent. The college has already been forced to correct that mistake twice.”

[/color] He would admit his handwriting practically qualified him to be a doctor, but it still was a bore to have to track down the right administration office and get his ID card re-done along with his actual registered name. “Since the dawn of time. However, you are not a gentleman and so you would not have been taught such things.”[/color] He adopted a phony British accent for a second and then frowned as his hair slipped into his eyes and he had to blow out some air to try and move it. Anyone would think he was due to get it cut, but Dawson actually preferred it like this, even when it did fall into his eyes and force him to run his fingers through it more times than he cared to count. “I never claimed to be anything but. And besides, you know ridiculous is sexy.”[/color] He wiggled his hips and struck a pose, not caring about the people in the restaurant who all seemed to be sharing the same early morning travel haze.

Seizing a moment, and for no other reason than because he could, Dawson stole a quick kiss from KC and pulled away grinning. He wasn’t even hyperactive, but after a few hours of being stuck behind the steering wheel of a car, he had some energy to burn. He’d be ten times worse by the time they finally arrived at Torrent Falls just after lunch, but at least then he could set up their campsite and run loose on one of the courses before dinner. “Bona fide genius.”[/color] He grinned, tapping his chest proudly as though there was a pin there saying just that. With college out of the way and summer here, Dawson hoped that there would be the chance for more trips like this one before KC had to return to school and Kael reamed him in about vacation time. For most of the year, Dawson didn’t touch his, but he was pretty certain his boss would have something to say if he kept vanishing every few weeks. Still, that’s what shift swaps were for.

Arching his eyebrow at KC, Dawson took her words as a challenge, a dare. A smirk crossed his lips and he surveyed the space that led from the door to the counter. Was there enough room? He’d pulled off stunts in tighter. Besides, they wouldn’t be stopping here again so there was no reason to behave now on the way out. Grinning once more at KC, and with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, Dawson leapt to his feet and used the momentum gained to flip over onto his hands, holding himself there for a second. Then, he proceeded to cross the café on his hands, his t-shirt falling to expose his wiry abs. At the door, he finished with a neat back-flip and up righted himself, grinning all the while. He grabbed the handle, pulled the door open and glanced back at KC, bowing at the waist and waiting for her to catch up.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! KC <3
WORDS! 708!
OUTFIT! Goofy Guy!
LYRICS! Endlessly - - - The Cab
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[KC Evania Patterson]

Anyone who knew the Patterson family weren’t surprised by the news of KC getting into a school on the other side of the country; they all knew she wouldn’t stay in Arizona. The shocking one was Tabitha. No one had thought that after she collected her diploma, she would just pack up and hit the west coast, completely cutting everyone off for a while. KC had always known her sister was having troubles at their high school, but as much as she tried, she couldn’t get people to see things her way. She hated that Tabs had been teased and she couldn’t stop everyone from doing it. But when it came to the blonde twin, there was no doubt in anyone’s minds; given the chance she would change her name and forget where she came from in an instant.

Phone in hand, KC sent her sister a short and sweet reply, keeping her happy that her older twin was alive and well and not doing anything that would kill her. Then she sent another off to her friend and co-worker as she spoke to Dawson. “T-r-e-n-t,” she said, hitting the send button and slipping her phone away. “Unlike the staff at that school who also can't comprehend a name with two letters, I can read your terrible handwriting,” she added, laughing because she had seen his writing and it hadn’t even been the worst she’d ever seen. Of course, hers wasn’t all that great either since her head worked faster than her hand, she ended up with this half handwritten, half printed mess. “And aren’t you glad I’m not? I certainly would not have packed what I did if I were,” she said mischievously. There wasn’t much room to carry out such a surprise but she was damn well going to make it work for her because she wanted to see the look on his face when he saw her surprise for him. KC nodded, trying and failing to hold back her giggles. “That it is,” she said, rolling her eyes at him.

Summer was KC’s time to run. She didn’t have all those classes taking up time that could be spent doing so many other things. She added a couple hours to her work schedule but her Tuesdays were free now with no school programmes running and she had never worked weekends unless someone was out. So she had all sorts of time during the summer months to scratch this and that from her bucket list. “Oh yeah? Your parents have you tested?” she asked, grinning. KC knew Dawson was going to do something the second she saw the spark in his eye, the smirk just sealed it for her. She tried going as fast as she could to the door but she still didn’t make it there before Dawson. She did steal a kiss from him before she stepped through the door. “We’ll never be allowed back in that place again,” KC said through her laughter. It really was never a dull moment with Dawson and the blonde film student could not find a single fault in that.

Tag || Dawson!
Words || 520
Clothes || Sleeping Beauty
Music || Romeo-- Dolly Parton
Notes || <3

[Dawson Trent Naylor]

Dawson moving away from Fairbanks wasn’t really too much of a shock. His mom pretended that it was, only so she had an excuse to worry more, but people who knew Dawson knew that he wanted to see places, meet new people and generally just explore. Obviously, the four years of college had caught people a little off guard, but once they learnt he was in New York they often joked that at least he had found a place that could keep up with him. He had no plans to return to Fairbanks and settle down with a quaint life there. He still didn’t even know what he wanted to do with his life; for now he had his music, charity stunts and Gotham, but that wasn’t a plan for the rest of his life. Though he would still be the old man trying to swing across the monkey bars at any given opportunity, regardless of where life took him.

“I am a musician, I have no need for tidy handwriting.”

[/color] Usually, the reason for the messy scribbles in notebooks and on forms was just because Dawson wanted them done and out of the way. The quicker the wrote, the quicker he achieved that and so long as he could decipher the squiggles and lines that his hand produced, then that was all that mattered. Arching his eyebrow and letting a boyish smirk cross his face, Dawson looked at KC and then grinned. “I am glad of that.”[/color] He joked before leaning across, closer, and swapping his grin for a more mischievous one. “You’re not the only one who’s packed a surprise…”[/color] He teased, though he already knew their surprises were probably going to be very different from each other’s. His was tucked away in one of the many camping bags he had thrown into the back of his small car.

He nodded his head, keeping up a solemn expression as though his every word was truth. In reality, he was just manipulating the facts to fit them neatly into his joke. “Of course. As a child I was testing for many things. How else do you think they found out that I was built backwards?”[/color] He grinned, flicking his warm eyes across to meet hers. He could be an idiot at times, and play the role rather well, but for as long as it kept people laughing, Dawson would continue to do it. He liked to make light of most situations, keep the topics from delving into anything uncomfortably serious for the other person. For him, the dramatic twists and turns in his life were just little tales like in TV shows or movies. He had the memories inked on his skin from the worst one, but until people specifically asked about that tattoo, he just didn’t tell it. He was fine with it, but he knew not everyone else enjoyed hearing the painful pasts. Laughing, Dawson swung his arm over KC’s shoulders as they made their way back towards his car. “Luckily for them, we probably won’t be back.”[/color]

The rest of the journey seemed to pass quickly now that breakfast had been dealt with, caffeine requirements met and most of the early morning cobwebs brushed away from the two of them. They made good time, missing the heavier hour of traffic and an accident that came through from the radio as they crossed state lines and the channel changed automatically. Soon enough, just a little after lunchtime, Dawson saw the familiar entrance road. He paused only to pop in at the reception to register their arrival and get the leaflets that the flustered woman handed to him. Then, he parked the car in the lot and pointed down one of the paths that led off to the left. “Down there is the camp site. Set up first and then we can do whatever takes your fancy before nightfall.”[/color] He stole a quick kiss and then popped the trunk, loading the camping gear onto his back, shoulders and hands, until the car was mostly empty. “Grab the rest for us, doll?”[/color] He asked, already off down the path towards the camp, hoping to find their pitch quickly enough; the things were heavy! Luckily, it was quite close to the entrance of the site and Dawson carefully dropped the bags to the ground before sitting on a rock for a moment to relax before setting about pitching the tent.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! KC <3
WORDS! 780!
OUTFIT! Goofy Guy!
LYRICS! Endlessly - - - The Cab
NOTES! <3 <3 <3