Play Your Games • •

[Tennessee Rachel Cooper]

Summer in New York made Coop feel as though she was still travelling. Without the stresses of school and the thoughts of her future that she was expecting to be bombarded with the second she returned, it just didn’t feel quite like the city she was used to. A few more weeks when the e-mails about book lists and classes came through would have the young girl feeling settled again. Right now the only constant thing she had was her job at Planet Hollywood, tending the bar there, and with her usual partner in crime benched for most of the year, Cooper’s troublemaking needs were just building and building.

She had other friends to go out with when Jay wasn’t feeling up to it, but it just wasn’t the same and none of them seemed to share that same wild streak. It just meant that Cooper was now more likely to get into trouble on her own and it didn’t exactly take the young English girl long to find herself up to her neck when there was no one to pull her out. For now, things were safe and Cooper had just awoken to another New York morning. It was her day off from work, but that didn’t mean she was at a loss for things to do. After breakfast and the usual morning teasing with Vaughn, the psychologist stepped into the shower and then changed into the clothes for the day ahead. She had no pressing matters to attend to, but there was always something that needed to be done somewhere. Today, Cooper had plans to do a bit of grocery shopping and maybe even lunch in the park; it was a nice enough day for it.

It seemed like a normal, average day for a young person in New York, but with Cooper it was hard to predict anything of the sort. Given half the chance, the tomboy would be causing mischief and laughing about it and it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if Vaughn returned from his shift at work to find the cupboards and the refrigerator just as empty as they had been that morning. She grabbed her usual and slightly odd combination of a caramel and vanilla latte and then headed out towards the park. Grocery shopping would probably be the last thing she did that day and the more she thought about things, the more she felt like she could fit in without the late shift at Planet Hollywood cutting her day short. She needed to get some new lacrosse equipment and a trip to the gym wouldn’t be a bad idea either. Sipping at her coffee, she strolled casually through the park, pushing the short hair from her eyes as she passed by the tourist groups and the family picnics. Central Park never failed to impress her, even when a group of skaters almost took her out when they whizzed by, but Coop was quick to respond with a mouthful of swearing and insults before carrying on her way. Some people probably glared at the language used, but she wasn’t there to impress them or keep them happy and she was certain that they’d hear far worse in some of the bars if they ventured out in New York at night.

Discarding the empty coffee cup, Cooper crossed over towards the Boathouse Café, but her initial plans seemed to be dashed when her dark eyes fell on the crowds already there for the lunchtime rush. Even the waitress there gave her an apologetic smile as she mentioned that there was an half an hour wait before she could be seated. If there was one thing Cooper definitely wasn’t, it was patient. It looked like she’d just have to find someplace else to get lunch, though her heart had been set on one of the chicken wraps from the Boathouse.

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• • •

TAGGED! Travis <3
WORDS! 680
OUTFIT! Casual Mess!
LYRICS! Drink Me - - - Anna Nalick
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Travis Mason Merrick]

Travis woke to the midmorning sun pouring in through the partially opened curtains of his bedroom window. Groaning, he buried his head under the extra pillow he kept, wishing he didn’t have to go to work. A minute later, his head snapped up, taking the pillow with it. He reached for his phone, checking the time and swearing under his breath before he remembered it was one of those rare days off he had now. Since he graduated and started at the hospital, Trav had been pulling in sixteen plus hour shifts, trying to get in all the experience he could. There were some days where he stole a couple hours on the sofa in the staff lounge. And that was all the sleep he got. It was crazy but he had wanted to be a doctor from a young age. Awake now, Travis rolled out of bed, just tossing the sheets and duvet back into place and leaving it that way before strolling out to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. While that brewed, he got food for Fox and fresh water.

He drank two cups and finished off a bowl of cereal before heading back to his room and changing into something to take Fox on a walk in. He figured since he hadn’t woken up early enough to hit the gym before he took his dog for a walk, he would just add an extra mile or two to the walk and that way they were both active. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a v neck tee before grabbing the first pair of shoes he saw. He tossed his wallet in one pocket, phone in another and whistled for Fox as he walked back down the hall to the living room. “Fox, walk?” he called, knowing the hyper but completely lovable Finnish Spitz would grab his leash. It hadn’t taken all that much training, even though he thought it would never work, despite reading up on the breed before adopting him.

Travis took his keys from the table he’d tossed them on the night before and crouched down to attach the leash to the collar around Fox’s neck before hitting the bustling streets of the city. At first, he wasn’t sure where he wanted to go but as he passed an entrance to central park, decided it was better than walking through the streets; at least in the park there were more trees and squirrels for his dog to bark at and pretend to chase after. He was walking past the boathouse, checking his phone for an update on a patient he'd done a procedure on and not paying attention to his surroundings when his shoulder connected with another. He lost his focus on his phone, barely catching it as it slipped from his fingers before looking up at the person he ran into. "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you alright?" he asked, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

Tag || Coop!
Words || 497
Clothes || Close Call
Music || The Ocean - - - Tegan and Sara
Notes || <3

[Tennessee Rachel Cooper]

The whole trip where she had gone to “find herself” had actually left Coop feeling more clueless than ever about her future. Nothing had ever been clear to her and she wasn’t a fan of plans and schedules, but she hadn’t felt like her head was swimming with so many unanswered questions before. Time was still on her side, there was no rush, but whenever Coop felt like this it only increased her chances of getting into trouble and causing some kind of ruckus. The people closest to her were usually aware of when the English girl was feeling a little more troublesome than usual, but it wasn’t so easy to prevent; she had too much fun getting into mischief and toeing along the line of the rules.

Cooper didn’t quite know how Vaughn put up with her most of the time, but then she had never really asked him that question either. She was far too used to hearing the sigh and seeing him shake his head whenever she returned from a night out, or fell from her room asking why she had lost a shoe and had a bistro sign propped up against her wardrobe door. She wouldn’t get to be a student forever, and while most of the movies did completely exaggerate the fun and games, Coop still liked having her fair share of adventures to bring a secretive smirk to her lips whenever her grandparents fussed and bothered about such things. If only they knew what their granddaughter got up to when she was on the other side of the globe.

She was thinking about what she could do for lunch now, running her mind through the possible options as she pushed her hair back out of her dark eyes. Her day wasn’t ruined because she couldn’t get her own way for lunch, but it was one of those little things that Coop liked to sulk about silently for a moment or two before getting on with the rest of her day. She was just over the little hiccup in her plans when someone’s shoulder made contact with her own. It wasn’t enough to knock her entirely off balance, but she did stumble back a step or two before her Converse clad feet securely found the ground again. “I’ll be fine, but mowing the people of New York over isn’t the quickest way to make friends, you know?”

[/color] She looked up at the young man and smirked softly. Hey, it was a hell of a shot better than the string of swear words and insults she had bit back the second she heard his apology; a rare find, in Coop’s opinion, when you lived in a non-stop city like this one.
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• • •

TAGGED! Travis <3
WORDS! 490
OUTFIT! Casual Mess!
LYRICS! Drink Me - - - Anna Nalick
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Travis Mason Merrick]

Travis had been born into a family full of overachievers. Both his parents had their own firms; his mother had PR, his father, Law. He and his sister got the highest grades, added on too many extra-curricular programmes, plus had internships through the summers of their teenage years, though that was more Max than himself. Of the four of them, Travis was the one more laidback. Schoolwork came a little easier to Travis than most of the kids in his class. His nanny had tutored him and his sister since they were small, so they were at least a year ahead of everyone else. She was kinder to them than their parents but Travis had never let that get him down. He also didn’t let that mean he had to do everything in his power to get his parents attention. Of the two Merrick siblings, Travis was the one that did whatever he pleased. His parents didn’t care, they didn’t invest enough attention to notice if their son wasn’t home for the entire weekend.

It helped a lot when there were surf tournaments that he wanted to go to with some friends. They would pack up the jeep he drove and drive. It was none of those trips that had the young Australian man wanting to become a doctor though. That had been so much earlier than that. He’d been six and his nanny had just finished the tutoring that day so she decided to treat him and Max to ice cream in the park. They walked down after tea, he was just starting to skateboard then, so he was suited up for that with his nanny close by in case he took a tumble, Max was on a scooter. Neither fell. They stopped at the light before the park, waiting for it to change and that’s when it happened. A man on a bicycle was signalling his turn when a truck came from nowhere and hit his back tire. At first no one was sure what happened, least of all Travis. Everything in the intersection seemed to stop, time seemed to stand still while the driver of the truck got out and his own nanny told them to stay put and rushed out to help. There was so much blood. Travis still remembered the entire hour like it had just happened a minute ago. He looked up at his sister who had tears in her eyes and asked where all the blood came from. He was fascinated. The ambulance came and went with the man, the police were next, taping everything off and asking everyone questions.

After that day, it had been a toss-up if he would have been a serial killer, a cop or a doctor. Of the three, becoming a doctor seemed the most challenging, and Travis loved a challenge. “Ahh,” Travis said, running his hand over his short cropped hair, sounding embarrassed for running into the girl. “Yeah, the accent usually does that enough for me,” he joked, turning completely awkward. He could explain why he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, but he didn’t know if that would even make a difference or not. There weren’t a lot of people who seemed to give a damn that he wasn’t looking because he was checking for updates on patients. And then there were the ones who wanted him to consult for them, or just started hitting on him because he held the title. He really hated that one in particular. Those girls didn’t know him and were only flirting because he was a doctor. Those were the people that were usually brushed aside and forgotten about immediately after leaving their company. “Yours, too, I’d bet,” he added, nodding towards her as if her own accent were a physical attribute like her mesmerising eyes.

Tag || Coop!
Words || 639
Clothes || Close Call
Music || The Ocean - - - Tegan and Sara
Notes || <3

[Tennessee Rachel Cooper]

Coop didn’t know how her life might have been different had she been raised by her parents instead of her grandparents. Her mother was definitely one of the flakiest people the young psychology student knew and Coop hated needing to explain for her mother’s actions; such as her sudden appearances or disappearances, the names she had chosen for the twins or her free-spirited mantra about life and everything in it. The young English girl didn’t even know her father beyond the photograph and the address she had discovered, but the exaggerated stories told by her mother had to be exaggerated or else Cooper would just have been disappointed in the man who had apparently passed down his nose and chin to the young woman. It had been the maternal grandparents who had pushed and provided for the almost abandoned children and while they had been taught the value of everything they had, Cooper and Vaughn rarely had to ask for anything. Sure, they had strict rules and had to ‘earn’ certain treats, but she had found ways around the rules and had a halo circling her head in the eyes of her grandparents.

She only returned to Alderley Edge now whenever Vaughn pressured her into it and usually confronted her with the flights and tickets already booked and paid for. Inside the old English manor it was the same Q&A about how life was, how the ‘children’ were preparing for their futures and if they had decided on their plans to return to the northern countryside of the land in which they were born. Coop actually had no intention of coming home unless something major and life changing took place and even then there was no guarantee that her feet would remain grounded on the modest estate for very long. She was happy in New York, appreciated the freedom she had out there and had long since grown tired of the nagging and the questions. She loved her grandparents and appreciated everything they had done for her, but it was time to cut the apron strings and let the twins find their own way in the world, at least in Coop’s opinion. The young woman still didn’t know if she’d even put the psychology degree she was working towards to good use; her minor in creative writing was where her heart really belonged. Coop just found the major she had chosen to be one of the most interesting things in the world, but given half the chance she would rather work on her secret novel than put in the hours in on an extra credit assignment. Luckily, she was a smart girl and the hours she spent getting into trouble or frequenting the clubs didn’t affect her grades. She had taken an A-Level in Psychology already, so she had come to college with the basics already drilled into her mind, which really did prove to be an advantage during her freshman year when she watched so many kids switch classes and drop out because it was a difficult class to grasp if parties, drinking and socialising took precedent.

She had noticed his accent, but just like every other transplant in New York, Coop had grown used to hearing the variety of accents from around the globe without instantly questioning it. At first, she had been intrigued by every accent she heard, but as she called New York her home for longer she realised that it was less of a big deal and everyone else was just in the same boat as her. Coop was a girl with little patience and making the same corrections and answering the same questions was a task she found boring very quickly. However, this guy wasn’t interrogating her like some customers liked to do at work or prying like kids at school did whenever she spoke to some of them. Smiling, Coop nodded her head slowly. “Let me guess; they think you’re a good for nothing tourist just getting in their way?”

[/color] Arching her eyebrow, Coop waited for his answer and brushed the short lengths of hair from her face. “They stop that if you yell back.”[/color] She said with a casual shrug and a dark, mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
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• • •

TAGGED! Travis <3
WORDS! 742!
OUTFIT! Casual Mess!
LYRICS! Drink Me - - - Anna Nalick
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Travis Mason Merrick]

Travis missed Australia but not enough to pack up a go back home. It was his childhood home, not his adult home; that was New York for the time being. He liked that he didn’t have his parents calling every day, or whenever they remembered they had a son. Before, when he was back in Australia, a week didn’t go bye when his mother remembered and found a reason to be in the same city as his schooling. She had gotten better when Hadley and Ryan were born but not by much at all. And she down right refused to admit that she was a grandmother, or that she had children old enough to have children. Both were past the age of retirement, not that either of them appeared to be turning away from their careers completely. Of course, both he and Max thought their parents would work until the day they finally kicked the bucket.

So no, Travis wouldn’t be heading back to Australia anytime soon unless Max needed him for something. He actually quite enjoyed New York. There were so many people and so many places to explore. He’d been to all the good spots in Stirling and then in Melbourne so to have new places to check out when he had some free time away from the hospital was nice. It was part of the reason he’d gone to the Park. He could have easily taken Fox around the block by his apartment but he wasn’t running down to the small family owned shops for fresh produce or a carton of milk for a recipe. Fox sat patiently next to his owner, looking up at the two exchange idle chat as his busy tail moved from side to side. It had taken quite a bit of work to have him behave whenever he was around new friends but that was the most difficult training he’d had to do. The rest was pretty easy.

“Occasionally,” He agreed easily, grinning. “But mostly they think I’m a number to try and scratch off a bucket list of some sort,” he continued honestly because that was how he felt when most of the women he met either heard him talk or found out his profession. Despite all that, he liked New York; he wasn’t as different as everyone back home had said he would be. If anything, he was a majority and not a minority; if they were talking transplants in the country, and city and not born and bred Americans. Since he’d moved, he met more people from outside the country than he had people who were actually born on American soil. He didn’t know the reason exactly, but he was amused by it all the same and couldn’t help a chuckle whenever he met another person in New York to get away from home, wherever that may have been. Chuckling, Travis shook his head. “I’ll have to keep that in mind,” he said, switching his dog’s leash from one hand to the other. “I know a great little café a half block down from that entrance over there. They make a decent cup of coffee. Let me apologise properly for running into you,” he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to the entrance he’d just walked through.

Tag || Coop!
Words || 549
Clothes || Close Call
Music || The Ocean - - - Tegan and Sara
Notes || <3

[Tennessee Rachel Cooper]

The last thing Coop wanted was to turn out like her mother. The woman was flaky, shallow and a waste of space as far as the fiery young girl was concerned. The good memories were few and far between and unlike Vaughn she didn’t try to pretend like it was a wonderful time whenever Annabelle just dropped into the city on one of her spur of the moment ideas. The thought of being like that woman in five years was enough to make Coop feel sick to her stomach and yet she constantly found herself wondering if Annabelle’s traits might have been genetic. It had been her idea to move to New York and she had dragged Vaughn along for the ride. She had never really felt comfortable in the country estate and she didn’t miss it all that much now. She had been meant for city life and the quiet rural childhood had only led to scraped knees and scolding every time she ripped another skirt or dress.

In New York there was no one to yell or scold her. Vaughn rolled his eyes and sighed a lot, but he knew better than to challenge his slightly older sister to anything. She had a mean competitive streak made worse by her fiery and stubborn temperament; it turned ugly if someone pissed her off. It was a wonder they let her hold a Lacrosse stick, let alone play the sport for the university! With no real place to be, she had no need to rush out of the park or join the usual frantic pace of the city sidewalks. Sometimes she wondered if she had returned just a few weeks too early, that maybe it would have been better to travel a little longer and come back a little closer to the end of the summer. Still, she was back now, and while the lazy days drove her insane and made her nights more eventful so she could burn some of that extra mischievous energy, she had no intention of leaving the city again.

Arching her eyebrow, Cooper studied him for a short moment and then shook her head. New York had its fair share of the crazy that was for sure. She had seen it herself and chased it away with a sailor’s mouth and a deathly glare. “Well, unless you’re actually one of the seven summits, you’re not on mine.”

[/color] Her bucket list had challenging etched all over it, though a few had already been scribbled off with the closest pen she could find. To be honest, it took a lot for Coop to let on that something interested her. Unless it could cause trouble, she could act like it was no big deal, and for the most part people weren’t a big deal. She had grown up around kids from wealthy families and crazy pressures; none of it could shock her now. Nodding her head, Cooper accepted his offer, but not without a usual little quip. “The apology isn’t necessary, the coffee is, however.”[/color] She already drank too much of it, especially around exam time, but it was habit to grab a cup whenever there wasn’t one already in her hand. Coop often had a need for a caffeine fix, be it a night of studying or a hangover. “I’m Cooper, by the way.”[/color] She said, introducing herself after remembering that this guy was a total stranger.
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• • •

TAGGED! Travis <3
WORDS! 574!
OUTFIT! Casual Mess!
LYRICS! Drink Me - - - Anna Nalick
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Travis Mason Merrick]

Travis hardly thought about his parents unless a message popped on his phone from them or an alert sounded with his calendar informing him one of them had a birthday coming up or their anniversary. Travis didn’t go a week though without talking to his sister and nieces. He was sure Hadley and Ryan wouldn’t remember him whenever they spoke but the four year old was always happy to hear from him and tell him all about her week in preschool and her friends and the two year old, sweet little Ryan was starting to speak full sentences and happily rambled on about her toys whenever she was handed the phone. His sister and her family were everything to Travis. He didn’t have a family of his own and he didn’t know if it would ever happen for him but he was okay with that. His work hours were crazy and at least right now, it was better that he didn’t have a family to come home to after a difficult shift at the hospital.

Travis grinned, shaking his head. “Sadly, I’m pretty sure I’m not tall enough for that,” he joked, with a light chuckle. It was a rare thing for Travis to not be paying attention to what’s going on around him. But that patient was on his mind and Travis wanted to be kept up to date on them. “Necessary or not it was issued.” Trav grinned though he dropped the apology for now. He’d said his piece and now he was done with it. The only thing left was that coffee be promised. “Introductions.” he said, nodding. “Smart. I’m Travis. Pleasure to meet you, Cooper.” He turned, extending his hand towards the entrance to the park. “Shall we then?” He asked, allowing Coop to start their walk down the street.

Travis made small talk, making sure to stop at the corner before crossing the street, more for Fox’s training than anything else. He had trained his Finnish Spitz well and the animal was a caring beast. The café was a little farther than a half block but Travis was still fairly new to New York. He hoped that allowed him a bit of leeway when it came to directions; there was a reason his car had a GPS system. “Here we are.” He said, taking a seat at an empty table in the open patio. Immediately, Travis tied Fox up to the short black wrought iron fence. He smiled at the waitress who appeared with the menus though he already knew what he was going to get for himself. “What’s catching your fancy, Cooper?” He asked, scanning the thin menu because it was there.

Tag || Coop!
Words || 448
Clothes || Close Call
Music || The Ocean - - - Tegan and Sara
Notes || <3

[Tennessee Rachel Cooper]

As terrible as it might sound to some people, the only relative Coop would drop everything for was Vaughn. Her parents didn’t deserve the right to be called mother or father and their grandparents had only ever tried to force Coop into being something that she wasn’t. They had used the twins to try and make amends for whatever they thought they had done wrong with Annabelle. Being the girl, Coop had been the one to hear about it most of all as they tried to control her and transform her into the dainty English Rose she never would be. There was no intention to return to Alderley Edge in the future aside from a few trips her brother would drag her on. She didn’t know much about her future, but she knew that family probably wouldn’t be a big part in it. She had too many issues with the one she already had and she was far too feisty, secretly terrified, and cynical to probably ever find someone to change her mind in the future. Oddly, she was content with that.

“Yeah, I suppose you are a little on the short side for that.”

[/color] Coop smirked slightly with her eyebrow still arched. He was lucky he hadn’t knocked her to the ground or else this conversation would have more screaming, swearing and general anger about it. “And do people often just accept what you say?”[/color] She asked, tilting her head slightly. Any chance for a moment of wit or sarcasm and she took it, however small it may be. It drove some of her friends crazy and led to fights too many times to count. Sometimes she was actually looking to start a fight, but this wasn’t one of them. “I guess we shall.”[/color] She started in the direction he gestured, moving the shorter hair from her face. “So, what brought you to New York? Other than your desire to run into people in Central Park.”[/color] She teased with a slight mischievous twinkle in her dark eyes.

Halfway to the café, Coop figured out the place they were heading to. She had only been there a handful of times while on this side of the city, but she knew it well enough not to have to stumble behind Travis and watch for his lead. She was thankful for that, but kept it to herself. She was not the kind of girl to follow blindly and she never had been; not even if it was only half a block! Sitting down at the table, Coop scanned the menu without picking it up from the table. “Oh, a couple of things.”[/color] She said on a sigh, her dark eyes not leaving the list. Leaning back, she dropped her arms over the sides of the chair and smirked her usual smirk. “But a caramel and vanilla latte seems like a good place to start.”[/color]
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• • •

TAGGED! Travis <3
WORDS! 488!
OUTFIT! Casual Mess!
LYRICS! Drink Me - - - Anna Nalick
NOTES! <3 <3 <3