Full Circle | Dakota

[Ashley Bates]

Standing there out of breath from their kissing and giving him that sexy look Dakota looked about as hot as Ash felt at the moment. He hated to stop kissing her or caressing her for even a moment but her suggestion that he get the blanket from Blue Sky’s saddle bag gave him hope that he wouldn’t have to stop for long. Dakota wanted to continue just as much as he did so they might as well take advantage of the time they had alone together.

“Wait here.” He said as he placed a soft kiss on her lips and brought a hand up to stroke her cheek. He didn’t have to be asked twice when the prospect of more kisses were on the line and after the quick peck he went to retrieve the blanket returning with it tucked under his arms a few moments later. “It’s a good thing you came prepared.” He said as he picked out a spot and spread it out for them. “Now where were we?”

[Dakota King]

"Okay," Dakota said back softly to Ash before he gave her a few parting touches before he went to retrieve the blanket from the saddle bag. It was always a good thing to be prepared, but she never thought a blanket would prepare her for something like this. And those few moments away from him were almost torture, but she did get a very good view of his backside as he went to grab the blanket before he came back to her to lay it on the ground. She watched it open it up before she looked back up at him. But where were they? Dakota chuckled a bit as she grabbed his hand. "I think I have a pretty good idea," she said as she moved to sit on the blanket and tugged his hand to join him. Once he was able to join her, it wasn't long before her lips found his once more as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

[Ashley Bates]

The blanket was spread and apparently they both had a pretty good idea of how to make use of it. Ash found himself being tugged into the pretty girl’s arms and from that point they got back into the swing of things fairly quickly. That being the case Ash definitely wasn’t going to complain about that. His lips found hers almost as if they had never left and if it was possible for things to be more intense between them they were. Ash wanted her desperately, always had, but now he was like a man wandering in a desert who finally found water, he didn’t want to let her go.

Fortunately from this new position his hands were able to explore her a little more freely which they did enjoy doing. There were so many things he wanted to do with her and share with her and for once those things seemed possible. Here in this grove with nothing inhibiting them, no one to see them and nothing between them save for their clothes they were together at last and he didn't want to waste this time. Slowly he began to push up her shirt. He needed to touch her skin to skin and he did so as his hands glided over her belly with obvious relish.

[Dakota King]

They were able to go back into the swing of things with their kissing. But the sitting down was definitely a lot more comfortable than the standing up and Ash must've thought so too with how his hands were exploring her body. She didn't mind for now as she kept kissing him and pressing up against him. However, she felt a hand slip underneath her shirt and she felt the chills from his touch. However, once she felt her shirt moving upwards, she felt a bit of panic.

She moved one of her hands to gently grip his forearm before she pulled away from his lips. "Do you have protection?" she asked between ragged breaths as she opened her eyes to look at him.

[Ashley Bates]

It was easy to lose himself around Dakota especially when the kisses were so sweet and her skin felt so good. Maybe he did lose himself a little because one of the last things on his mind as he rolled up Dakota’s shirt was whether or not he had a condom. It just wasn’t something that he was that worried about at that moment but as Dakota stopped his progress and pulled away from his lips he realized it might be something that was worrying her.

“No.” He said as he let out a long sigh. Like a bucket of cold water dumped over his head Ash had his fire effectively cooled. She was right. They needed to cool their jets or this was going to get out of hand and quickly. Leaning down to rest his forehead against hers he relaxed and stopped his hand’s explorations. His breath was as ragged as hers and for a moment he laid there beside her letting himself calm down. “Maybe we need to take a rain check on that…particular thing.” He said heavily. “Though I think I deserve some points for chivalry.”

[Dakota King]

He didn't have anything. That made Dakota relieved and disappointed at the same time. It was quite an odd feeling, but she wasn't expecting to make out with Ash in the middle of a clearing and here he was trying to push the boundaries. And she was going to let him to a point. But now there was no point in going further, especially since now she felt a bit conflicted. What did she think was going to happen when the shirt came off?

She took a couple of deep breaths to calm her breathing and her mind as she laid there right beside Ash as he seemed to calm down as well. She nodded her head as he said to take a rain check. "That... that seems to be a safe idea," she said as she moved to prop herself up on her elbow. Her breathing might've been calm, but her mind definitely wasn't. She would have to steal more boxes from the infirmary and stop giving them to Mickey. There was no point in him having them anymore since he already knocked up one girl... but she was quickly pulled out of her thoughts as she laughed slightly. "Yes... I think you at least deserve a few points for chivalry. And Blue Sky gets some points for having more gossip to tell the other pegasi."

[Ashley Bates]

Points were something at least. It never felt good to have your fire so thoroughly put out right when it was burning its hottest but things between them were still a little fresh and new. Maybe they were going too fast here and if so then the time was definitely not right. He pulled his hand out from her shirt and sighed. "The pegasi can have at it but that doesn't mean it wasn't fun." Right now anything that Blue Sky or Rusher or the rumor mill could come up with was a distant concern and he wasn't going to start worrying about it with Dakota by his side.

Kissing her forehead as he finally caught his breath Ash rolled off her and onto his back gently tugging Dakota down into his arms so that they could look at the sky. He didn't have to be kissing her to enjoy her laying in his arms and a blanket in a quiet clearing was a terrible thing to waste. Fortunately Ash didn't intend to do so. "I think we can still make some pretty good memories here. Don't you? Though I have to admit, you're pretty good at driving me crazy. Not that is a bad thing."

[Dakota King]

It was for the better, honestly. Dakota didn't want to make stupid mistakes with Ash in the heat of the moment when she already made quite enough of them to last a while. This wasn't easy at all, but it was for the better. Ash seemed to be taking things better than she expected. Yes, the rumor mill would probably be buzzing once they got back, it was something that they couldn't handle.

So Ash rolled onto his back and pulled Dakota closer, she laid her head on his chest as she looked up at the sky. The sun was setting and some of the stars were peaking out. It was beautiful and being with Ash made it better. She looked up at him and raised her eyebrows as she chucked a bit. “You know, they might admit you if get too crazy.”

[Ashley Bates]

Ash relaxed with Dakota’s head on his chest. It felt good to have her laying with him. Granted, his head was still a little foggy with passion but this was nice too. Hopefully they could make things like this a habit in the future. Just her and him, no one around except Blue Sky or Rusher. Yeah, he thought he was still going to enjoy spending time like this even though the feel of her lips on his was still fresh in his mind.

The son of Apollo huffed a short laugh when she mentioned him being committed. He supposed that there were far worse things to be committed for and if they carted him away for loving this girl then he would just have to deal with the consequences. “So long as they allow me frequent visits I suppose I’ll manage. Otherwise you may be dating an escaped mental patient before too long.” He paused for a moment watching the slowly appearing stars before adding. “Unless I can count on you to break me out. You’d make one good looking felon.”

[Dakota King]

Dakota had to laugh. An escaped mental patient? She really couldn't see him running around in a straight jacket and the image she had in her brain just was hilarious. "I think you'd get frequent visits either way, so there wouldn't be a reason for you to break out." She laughed again as she shook her head. "I don't think we have to worry about you breaking out or me breaking out... besides, I know for a fact that I look horrible in the color orange." She cuddled up close to Ash as she sighed a bit. "I think we should do this more often. Just the two of us. Alone... Well... as alone as you can get with the gossip queen of the stable." She smirked as she adjusted her head on his chest. "But I like it."

[Ashley Bates]

"Dakota," He said in that plain, matter of fact voice that he had. "You would make anything look good." There was little room for argument in his voice. It seemed to suggest that even if she did find something wrong with her appearance he did not. She could travel a thousand dusty trails, she could wake up her tangled and without makeup, he still remembered her trying to drink herself unconscious that night in her cabin and still he thought that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. No, he didn't think that she would look bad in orange and he was prepared to go right back to kissing her if that would prove it.

Ash took a deep breath of the night air catching the scent of Dakota's cinnamon shampoo. He liked this too and he definitely wasn't looking for it to end any time soon. "I was just thinking the same thing." He said as he let out his breath in a long sigh. "I think we should come out here as often as we like. We can't stop Blue Sky from talking but we can we can control what she has to talk about. You and me watching the stars come out, maybe with a campfire next time? I think that's pretty good material."

[Dakota King]

Dakota looked down at Ash as she raised her eyebrows at him. She knew for a fact that she didn't look good in orange, but here was Ash arguing with her. She rolled her eyes a bit before she said, "That's kinda scary that you think that I'd make being a convict look good. I know that's one trend that I probably shouldn't be setting." And she knew that she was going to lose that battle eventually, but she was going to stick to her guns for right now.

But Ash seemed to like the idea that Dakota had. Coming out here with just the two of them plus their ride just seemed like a good idea. Plus, it got them away from the hustle and bustle of camp. "If we do a campfire, we should do s'mores as well," Dakota said with a slight chuckle as she cuddled up closer to Ash. "I haven't made a good s'more in a while. The ones that the camp does is just... way too cheesy and tacky for my liking."

[Ashley Bates]

Dakota didn't seem to believe him which was a shame. Ash did love her and perhaps that made those imperfections that she saw in herself a little less noticeable. In the end it didn't matter. He saw her the way that he did and whether she understood that or not those rose tinted glasses were hard to break. He was willing to give her some time though. He would convince her eventually even if it took more than a few trips out to this spot.

Far more important than that right now though was this idea of a camping trip of sorts. A campfire, a secluded spot with Dakota, maybe a sleeping bag instead of an old riding blanket. Yes, he thought he would enjoy that very much. "I've never tried the s'mores at camp. Usually the sing-a-longs are something I avoid..." He guessed he could understand what she meant about them being cheesy. A lot of the less practical camp activities seemed that way to him, with Dakota though he might be willing to re-evaluate that assumption. "In fact, I don't think I've ever had a s'more at all. Are they really that good?"

[Dakota King]

"Singalongs do get boring after a while," Dakota said with a bit of a shrug. "I mean, it's nice for the younger campers, but I haven't even been here that long and I find them boring. Then again, I have to go because I'm cabin leader. It's kind of bad show if I didn't show up at all. Plus, I really don't trust my siblings or the Hermes cabin around a fire." At least if they tried to do something while she was around, she had the medical experience to fix them up, plus she liked it when they did the s'mores.

But there was one thing that Ash said that caught Dakota completely off guard. She lifted her head off of Ash's chest and propped herself onto her elbow as she looked down at him with raised eyebrows. "You've never had a s'more?" she asked as she rolled her eyes. "I can't believe a cowboy like you hasn't had the greatest desert invention ever. I'll need to fix that, Mr. Bates."

[Ashley Bates]

Ash wasn't sure what Dakota's experience was her siblings, the Hermes cabin and fire but there was probably a story there that he could listen to sometime. Still, he could understand that she had her responsibilities. Responsibilities that meant she was looked to as a leader and probably not one to make out with rough and tumble Apollo boys in the woods no matter how fun it was. Luckily Ash didn't think it would be so bad to play a little loose with the rules sometimes as long as they avoided getting caught.

Dakota seemed surprised though that he hadn't had a s'more. He supposed it hadn't really been for lack of opportunity, he always heard others talking about them he had just never had an interest in them. Now however, maybe that was about to change. "I wasn't aware I needed so much fixing but apparently I've been missing out." Ash leaned down and gave her another kiss on the forehead as he considered that idea. Dakota might have the opportunity to fix a lot of things the longer she was around but this was one at least didn't seem so bad. "How do you suggest we go about fixing that problem? We could head back to camp and see what we could sneak out of the mess hall if you like."