Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Woohoo! Yeah! I'm so glad we started this back again. smile ))

It was early in the morning, sun was streaming through the windows and birds were chirping outside. This is what ended up waking the young hotel heir from his light sleep. He rolled over, trying to free his limbs from the tangle of sheets on this bed. He managed to free an arm and he reached out blindly to his bedside table and groped for his cell phone. When he found it, he picked it up and pulled it close to his face, barely opening an olive green eye in order to check the time. It was 8:13, Dash would never be awake that early under normal circumstances, however after the previous nights events the seventeen year old was having some trouble sleeping. He sat up slowly, expecting to see his bodyguard sitting in the same chair he had last seen him in before he’d fallen asleep. However, as soon as he had propped himself into a sitting position he noticed that his room was empty. Casper was gone, and Dash couldn’t help but wonder why he’d left.

He lay back down and curled up under the blankets, trying to block out the emptiness in his room. He couldn’t help but feel that it was similar to what he’d felt the night before as he sat alone in that room, waiting to be rescued. He’d remembered asking, no begging Casper to stay, not wanting to be left by himself, and yet the older male was gone. His bodyguard would be getting the silent treatment when he returned. Dash then frowned, he actually didn’t know if Casper would be coming back. This worried the young hotel heir, especially because he didn’t remember Casper saying anything about leaving when they’d talked before Dash had fallen asleep, and he was terrified to have Marshal as his bodyguard any longer. He had just started to trust Casper, and now he was feeling less trusting of the older male.

Deciding that he couldn't just sit around and mope, Dash sat up once more and made an attempt to get out of bed. He planted his feet on the floor and stood up, he still felt a little dizzy, but not nearly as much as he had the night before. Sighing, he walked out of his room and through his house, making his way down stairs to the kitchen, doing his best to be quiet so that he wouldn’t wake his sisters or his parents. He was going to make himself breakfast. He began moving through the kitchen, grabbing the ingredients and equipment that he would need to make omelets and a homemade habañero salsa. It wasn’t too difficult to do, and it was a good comfort food, which is something Dash felt he needed at the moment

He decided to start with the salsa; it would be best for time management. He washed off all of the vegetables he would be using before carefully chopping up the jalapeños and habañeros he would need for the salsa. Cooking had always something that had been relaxing for Dash, this situation proved to be no different. He was feeling a little bit less scared, although he still didn’t like being by himself. He hoped that someone would wake up soon, or that Caper would hurry up and return, because Dash couldn’t help but feel as though someone was going to sneak up behind him and take him away again, despite the fact that he was in his house; the one place where he should feel safe.

Dash narrowly missed cutting his finger when he first heard Casper enter the kitchen. He hadn’t been paying attention to anything outside of chopping peppers, and he was still feeling jumpy from the previous night. He sighed and continued working not bothering to turn and face Casper. Despite his previous bitter thoughts about Casper leaving the previous night, Dash couldn’t help but notice how much safer he felt now that Casper had returned so he decided to let it go. There was no point in holding a meaningless grudge. Dash continued cutting the hot peppers on the cutting board in front of him. He was concentrating on no cutting his fingers off. Normally he wouldn’t have to worry about that too much, because he was skilled enough with working with knives that he rarely cut himself. However the lack of sleep and the stress from the night before were slightly impairing his ability to wield the sharp object in his hands.

“Hmmm, yeah…” Dash said quietly, unsure of what else he could say. He wasn’t feeling particularly talkative at the moment, but at the same time he didn’t want Casper to think he was being rude. “Um…did you go home?” He asked his bodyguard, his flat. Dash really wasn’t used to being awake this early in the morning, and wished he’d been able to sleep for several more hours.

Looking down at the cutting board in front of him, Dash realized that he really didn’t feel like cooking anything. This was incredibly rare for the young hotel heir, as he normally was enthusiastic about cooking. He found that at the moment, however, the just didn’t really care all that much, and he didn’t feel like doing much of anything. He still was hungry though, he sighed and spoke softly, not looking at Casper, “I don’t feel like doing this right now, are you okay with just eating cereal?” He knew it wasn’t exactly a fair trade, omelets beat cold cereal every time, however Dash just wasn’t up to going through the long process of making them. “Or I could wake mom up, and she can make you something, it’s not really a big deal…” He was tired, and it was evident in his voice. He tried not to let it show too much. He had already let Casper see him in an incredible vulnerable state the night before, and he wanted to save himself the embarrassment of letting it happen again.

((Sorry It's so late, and short...It took longer to get it done than I thought it would...I've been kind of busy this week.))

Sighing heavily Dash put the knife down on the cutting board and looked down at his feet. He wanted more than anything than to go back to sleep, but he knew that wasn’t possible. He was happy, however that Casper was there and that he was no longer alone. Since the rest of his family was still sleeping peacefully, he would have felt bad going to wake any of them up just so he wouldn’t be by himself. When Casper asked him a question Dash didn’t look over at him, he simply nodded, and said quietly, “Uh, yeah…” he said, “Mom usually wakes up a around ten on days she doesn’t have work…and my sisters could possibly sleep all day…” He paused for a moment before continuing, “…Dad is probably awake, but he’s most likely in his office and I don’t really want to bother him…” It was something he’d learned as a child, he knew not to disturb his dad when he was working in his office, unless it was an emergency, he wasn’t to be bothered.

Shrugging as Casper explained why he’d left, Dash felt a little better knowing that Casper had at least stayed until he’d fallen asleep. Even though he wished Casper had stayed, he couldn’t really be mad at his bodyguard, it wasn’t Casper’s job to babysit Dash after all. It was just his job to make sure Dash was safe, which he had done when he’d brought Dash home after the incident the previous night. He’d already done way more that was expected of him as a bodyguard that Dash felt that it wouldn’t be fair to be upset at Casper. “It’s whatever, it’s not like you could have known I would be up this early…I just, didn’t sleep very well last night…”

Deciding it would be a good idea to take Casper up on his offer, Dash slowly walked away from the counter, only stopping to wash his hands at the sink before making his way to the table and sitting down. “Oh, no, you don’t have to, I don’t really want that right now anyway.” He said softly, looking down at the table, but could you pour me a glass of milk, if it’s not too much trouble…” He didn’t want to inconvenience Casper in any way, and he normally would get the milk himself, but at the moment he wasn’t feeling very motivated.

((It's okay, I didn't exactly give you much to work with. D: . ))

((Bump!))

"If you say so," Casper said with a sigh, not wanting to insist when Dash was so lifeless. Letting his mind wander as Dash ate, Casper began to think about what it would be like for them on a daily basis now that he was Dash's bodyguard again. Although he hoped it would be different from before, he couldn't be sure.

When Dash questioned his motives, Casper felt offended yet understood where he was coming from. "No, that would be a break of confidence. I mean, if you aren't ready to tell them yourself, what good would it do for me to tell them? Probably not a whole lot." While he wanted to admit that he would tell Dash's parents anything that might be dangerous or seriously important, he didn't want to try and explain what it meant. If he felt Dash's well being was in danger, he would certainly consult the boy's parents, but for simple things there was no reason to get anyone else involved. It was Dash's choice whether he wanted his parents to know or not.

((Sorry it's short. I can't think of anything to get the action going. ;>.>))

Pulling up to Dash's house, Casper checked his watch. Noticing he had returned a tad late, he hurried inside to find Dash. "Good morning," he said, spying him in the kitchen. Seeing him drinking a smoothie, he asked "That isn't your breakfast, is it?" In the time since he had become Dash's bodyguard, the two of them had gotten more comfortable being together. However, they had never settled into any kind of close relationship. While there wasn't too much tension, they were still a bit distanced from one another which bothered Casper. Although he didn't expect Dash to open up to him right away, he was a little disappointed that they hadn't developed any meaningful contact.

"Sorry I'm a bit late...never thought I'd be getting up this early to drive to school again." Leading the way back out to his car, Casper waited for Dash before pulling away from the house and out into the street. Trying to strike up a conversation between the two of them, he said, "Is there anything you're looking forward to in school this year?" Unfortunately, he still didn't know much about Dash's personal life, other than what went on at home. Glancing over at his passenger, he wondered if Dash had already gone back to wishing he didn't have a bodyguard at all like he used to.

When they finally pulled up to the school, Casper said, "Your parents told me you don't have any extracurricular activities, so I'll just pick you up here when school's out. You've got my number if anything happens. Have a nice day." Driving off after Dash had left, Casper decided to park in the school's lot for the day. As a bodyguard his job was to remain close, even when he couldn't be in the same room as Dash. Taking out a book, Casper began to pass the hours until he would see Dash again and return home. As he read, he realized how lucky he'd been in the past when he had worked directly for an esteemed businessman; he'd been able to walk around and follow him to meetings or his private estate all day and stretch his legs. Now he was relegated to just sitting around waiting for most of the day. 'What a waste,' he couldn't help but think.

Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, Casper pulled it out to check. Restraining himself from commenting on Dash's lack of proper English, he responded, [Of course. I didn't know you could leave campus for lunch. Where and what time?] Wondering what Dash's writing was like outside his phone, Casper had to remind himself that he was just there as the boy's bodyguard. While he usually found himself wanting to correct or scold Dash for one thing or another, he knew that it would fall on deaf ears and only push the two of them even farther apart. As a result, he had learned to control those impulses, although only for Dash.

Becoming bored with his book, he checked the time before sending a text to Marshal, asking him how his new assignment was going. The reply came swiftly and before long the two were having a regular conversation over texts. From Casper could tell, Marshal was doing just fine and relieved to be away from Dash. Although he was the tougher of the two, he didn't have the kind of patience necessary to deal with a client like Dash, and Casper had to agree. When his friend finally had to return his full attention to work, Casper was once again left alone with his book and himself.

Remembering his lunch plans with Dash, he began to wonder what the boy girlfriend could be like. In the past they had talked about her very little, just enough for him to get the sense that the two were very close. She must have been a kind and selfless girl to be able to put up with Dash for so long and to win his heart over the way she had. Chuckling to himself at the image he had created of a proper, Victorian girl, Casper forced himself to return to reading his novel, although not without wondering if he would be able to spend every weekday like that for the rest of the year.

((Gah, sorry, but mine's short too. When the two of them aren't together, there really isn't much happening that's important enough to talk about. I mean, my post doesn't even really have anything important happening. ;>.> Anyway....))