Full Circle | Dakota

[Ashley Bates]

Things had come full circle. Ash really had never put much thought into the phrase before but now he thought he could definitely understand. There was a time a few months ago that he would have thought even something as simple as coming to the stables would never be easy again. Things with Dakota had been very complicated before and when they had been nothing felt the way it should be. It was hard to eat, hard to sleep, hard to really make sense of anything but now things were getting better. Things were closer to right than they had ever been and it felt good.

There were still things to figure out of course but their recent decision to at least try to uncomplicate matters was going a little better for them. At least he could be here in the stables again without fear of an awkward run in. In fact, there was something here that was long overdue and as he rubbed down the pegasus before him he thought it was about time to get back to the basics and maybe give some credit to the thing that had brought him and Dakota together in the first place.

“That’s it. I’ve missed you too girl.” He said softly to Blue Sky. Ash reached into his pocket for the treats that he had brought and pulled out a few sugar cubes holding them out to the pegasus as if they were offerings to one of the gods. Blue Sky whickered happily and began to eat. “Just a few treats for you. Maybe you can put in a few good words for us in the rumor mill this time.” Ash wasn’t sure what exactly Blue Sky and the pegasus grape vine had been saying but he and Dakota had been on a whirlwind ride with the rumors around camp and it was time to reign that in. Maybe starting here would help.


Dakota King

[Dakota King]

After that night in her cabin, Dakota vowed never to drink alcohol ever again and she even got into her siblings if she caught them with it. That hangover was miserable and she never wanted to repeat it again. However, something good came out of that night and his name was Ash. They finally made amends or whatever, but things were finally okay between them for once. And for once, Dakota wasn't feeling miserable or down in the dumps. She was finally feel mentally better enough to go visit Blue Sky after her shift in the infirmary.

She didn't bother changing as she went straight to the stables. However, she paused at the doors as she smiled a bit. Ash and Blue Sky were having a moment and Dakota didn't want to interrupt it quite yet. She waited by one of the stalls for a few moments just watching them before she walked up to him. “Hey you,” she said as she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. “I thought you had your own pegasus to spoil,” she said with a bit of a smirk.

[Ashley Bates]

It wasn't long before he felt the presence of another in the stables. He continued spoiling Blue Sky already having a pretty good idea who it was and sure enough he soon heard Dakota's voice and felt her soft lips against his cheek. He turned to her as he brushed his hand off on his jeans. "I've already taken Rusher out." He nodded back to the pegasus who was eating contentedly in his stall. "And he has been spoiled enough for one day. I didn't want this one to get jealous."

Ash wrapped his arms around Dakota's waist and brought her closer. Hopefully the pegasus grapevine would have a little less to talk about now that things between the two of them had settled down a bit but somehow he still suspected Blue sky would get her two cents in one way of the other. Ash would have gladly taken the rumors however so long as they could keep things like this for a little while longer at least. "How are you? Finally feeling up to doing some riding?"

[Dakota King]

Dakota glanced out of the corner of her eye to see that Rusher had been spoiled for the day and was just happily eating away. She chuckled a bit as she turned back to Ash and cocked an eyebrow at him. "I guess I can let you spoil my pegasus after you have spoiled yours." And to be completely honest and fair, Blue Sky deserved every little bit of spoiling she could get. She did play the part of matchmaker for a little bit, even if things were rocky between her and Ash for a while.

But things were better now. Much better. Ash had wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her in closer while she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. She tilted her head to the side as she looked at him with a content smile on her face. "I'm doing alright. Another shift at the infirmary done." But then she glanced over at Blue Sky and chuckled a bit before looking back at Ash. "I might be a little bit rusty, but I'm up for some riding if you are."

[Ashley Bates]

The pegasus did deserve some spoiling and Ash had been trying to keep an eye on Blue Sky when he could. The past few months had been a walk through Tartarus for both of them no matter how much they denied it. That made it easy to forget the others that were important in their lives. Not so for these two pegasi though. A cowboy's horse was almost as important as his hat and he was sure Dakota would agree with him on that one. "It's a good thing to keep the pegasi happy especially when they are carrying you in the air. Though I'm sure seeing you is probably all Blue Sky needs for that."

He watched as she tilted her head in that cute way that she had and nodded in consideration of her assessment of her riding. "I have a bit more faith in you than that." He said honestly. Ash knew how she rode and knew it wouldn't take much for her to remember what she was doing. It was like riding a bike after all, he didn't think you ever really forgot how. "You'll be fine. The real question is are you sure you want to go up there with me? I may have learned a few new tricks since the last time we rode together." He allowed himself a half smirk just thinking about the prospect of riding with her again. It had been a while and at this point Ash thought it was long overdue.

[Dakota King]

"Happy horse, happy ride," Dakota said as she shrugged her shoulders a bit. And it was true to an extent. She had to make sure her horses liked and trusted her before she even thought about competing with them in any sort of competition. And the same the was true with pegasi, since they could dump you out of the sky at any moment. But she would be very surprised if Blue Sky liked her at the moment since she hadn't been around that much taking care of her.

"A few new tricks?" Dakota repeated as her eyes widened a bit as she looked at Ash. "Please don't tell me that you've learned more death-defying stunts. That one you pulled was enough for me. I do not want to repeat that again." She shook a bit from the memory. She was pretty sure that Ash used it as a tool for her to be closer to him, but she didn't want to repeat the idea of her dying because of a trick.

[Ashley Bates]

“A few tricks.” He confirmed confidently but he didn’t want to scare her. He knew Dakota wasn’t a fan of his stunts even if they did have the added effect of getting her to snuggle into his arms. There were other ways to get close to her now and riding could be one of the more tame ones. "I promise to take it easy on you today but you may have to make it worth my while. It's not often that I have to keep my riding in check after all." It was a shameless attempt to get another kiss but he didn't think Dakota would mind. It would make their ride smoother after all.

Turning to Blue Sky he rested his hand on the pegasus' snout and petted her gently. "I don't think she'll object to having you back. Rusher and I have been keeping her company even when you couldn't." He turned back to look Dakota in the eyes hoping to give her a little confidence that she might be lacking. It had been a while but he had faith that he had been keeping Blue Sky happy. Hopefully she wouldn't hold a grudge at her absence. "She is still your pegasus. Nothing can change that."

[Dakota King]

A few tricks? Dakota didn't like the sound of that in all. Mostly he did have a death-defying stunt to show her, but she wanted an excuse to ride with him and be close to him. Just as he was looking for an excuse to kiss her. She smirked and chuckled a bit. “I don't know if it's the right time to make it worthwhile. We do have a gossipy audience here.”

Dakota glanced over at Blue Sky before looking over at Ash. “She doesn't have that look in her eye, so I don't think she's mad at me. Or, at least, not that mad.” She shrugged her shoulders again before she pulled away from Ash slightly. “So do you want to head out? My pegasus or yours?”

[Ashley Bates]

"If gossip is what you're afraid of I think you're in the wrong camp." Granted he knew that say was playing with him and didn't really mind but if the rumor mill hadn't swallowed them up by this point then it was pretty likely that they would be alright. Still, two could play at this game. "But if you can wait then I can too." After what they had been through he was sure they both had enough patience to last one flight. He didn't think he would need it though unless Dakota really was worried about the rumors.

"No, she's not mad." Ash said as he looked Blue Sky over. He had seen horses and pegasi when they were mad and if that's what Blue Sky was then she would have found a way to show it. More likely she was probably annoyed by the silly demigods who were more interested in talking than riding. "Let's take her out. I think she would like getting out and we might as well have another flight with her. She did bring us together after all."

[Dakota King]

"The wrong camp?" Dakota asked as she feigned being shocked for a moment. "So you're telling me that this isn't the camp that doesn't have gossip running amok?" She giggled to herself at the idea. Sure, they were probably the forefront of the rumor mill while things were more than a little rocky between the two of them. But now, hopefully the gossip would die down. Either way, Dakota leaned in to give Ash a quick peck on the lips before she said, "Hopefully that will suffice until we're somewhere privater."

But Blue Sky wasn't mad at her, which was more than okay. And she was the slight reason that her and Ash gotten together in the first place. "Alright then," she said as she untangled herself from Ash's arms. "Let's take her out for a spin. She probably needs to spread her wings a bit." And once she was out of Ash's arms, she went over to Blue Sky's pen as she opened it and started preparing her pegasus for a trip with the two of them.

[Ashley Bates]

The kiss was quick but it was enough. Ash had gone without them for longer than he would have liked and he wasn’t going to complain after everything they had been through. He smiled as she promised him more later and added. “For you I believe I can make an exception.” It was probably smart to wait but if the pegasi saw them and started spreading the news that he and Dakota were back together Ash didn’t think that would be so bad.

Releasing her from his embrace Ash went to help her make ready for the trip. While he grabbed Blue Sky’s saddle and bridle he glanced over at Dakota and watched her making preparations. It was hard to believe that not that long ago they had hardly been able to be close to each other but he for one was glad that was over. “You look happier than I’ve seen you in a while.” He commented as he began to saddle Blue Sky. He watched the girl admiringly while he worked and then continued. “It’s good to see you smile for real again. I like it.”

[Dakota King]

If the kiss wasn't enough for now, then Dakota knew she would have to resort to somewhat drastic measures, but that only involved kissing Ash further. She didn't think he would mind, but she did want to avoid becoming hot gossip for the rumor mill for a little bit longer. Even though, she did have a hunch that Blue Sky was probably the biggest gossiper of them all. But she tried to push that out of her mind as she continued the preparations.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Ash had grabbed the saddle and started placing it on the pegasus. She moved to the other side to help with the saddle adjustments before she looked up at Ash. She smiled a bit as her face blushed slightly before she looked down at what she was doing. "It's good to have something happy about. That helps a lot," she said as she looked back up at Ash again with a slight smile.

[Ashley Bates]

"Maybe we just liked making things harder for ourselves than is strictly necessary." He said as he worked at securing the riding straps so that they rested snugly against Blue Sky's flank. "At least now we've learned it’s better not to fight good things when we have them.” He paused here to look up at her. "I think it's working out for us better than alternative wouldn't you say?" Honestly he wished that they had never had to go through the pain of the past few months. Maybe he would be able to find some use in it someday but if he had just recognized her uncertainty to begin with he could have saved them a lot of heartache. Fortunately all that was behind them now.

He hoped it was in any case. They had kind of come to terms with everything but he still didn't know how Dakota felt about all this. Sure she was happier but so far he still wasn't sure she had decided on her feelings for him. Things were better though and it would work out eventually one way or the other. In any case he was in no rush to scare her off again. "Hopefully a ride will give you something else to be happy about as well. Have you missed being up there?"

[Dakota King]

"Much better than the alternative," Dakota said as she finished tightening up Blue Sky's saddle from her side before she reached up to stroke her mane. Even though Ash gave his reassurances that Blue Sky didn't hate her, she still had a feeling that there was still some hard feelings there that they needed to sort through one way or another. Maybe this ride would help. If not, it would at least help something else that was right in front of her.

But now she was going to take a ride with Ash, which was well deserved after everything that happened up until that night she got drunk. But she smiled a bit as she looked over at Ash. "I hope so too. I haven't had a good ride in a while. I'm really hoping this one will be a good one considering the company... as long as they don't try to kill me." She shot Ash a wink to let him know she was teasing him just a little bit.

[Ashley Bates]

"I believe you're in good hands." He said as he fitted Blue Sky with her bridle. Ash was already thinking of this as a more peaceful ride. The stunts had their place but this time he just wanted to spend time with Dakota. He didn't need to impress her or get her to snuggle closer, he just need her to be herself and to be happy with him. He could be content with that. "Besides, I think you could probably teach me a thing or two if I started causing trouble."

Ash had no doubt Dakota could take care of herself up there even if he did get a little mischievous. He wouldn't tempt her tonight but the toughness she often displayed was one of the things he liked about her. No frail, defenseless Aphrodite girl this, instead she kind of broke all the molds which was nice.

With the preparations now complete. Ash was ready to get back up in the air with her again. Turning to Dakota, Ash held out his hand to her. "Come on. Let's get up there. I'll help you up?"