#rusticgrace

It had been a long night at the bar, and Wes had left Casey in charge. She couldn’t remember what bullshit excuse he had given, but it was just that: bullshit. Still, she was flattered that he trusted her enough to leave the bar in her hands. Everyone had left, and she was closing up, having already cleaned most of the place. She liked doing this part alone, and was only slightly annoyed when Wes came in. But he headed straight for the back room, and she figured that he wouldn’t be a distraction. 

His friend on the other hand...She stared at him. “I hope you weren’t expecting to leave any time soon. Once he gets back there he’s gone for hours at a time.”

Another night, another girl, that’s how it had been since he’d gotten out. Anything to keep his mind distracted. Things had been a blur mostly and that’s how he liked it, at least now. It had been some time since that’s the life he wanted to live, but everything was different now. Kaylyn was gone, half his mates were dead, and he’d just spent eight months in jail. Three weeks had passed since then and he still didn’t have the courage to go looking for her. All he knew was that she had left their apartment and her job. He figured it was probably better this way and while it hurt horribly, a part of him wished that maybe she’d gone back home. It would be a better life for her is what he told himself. Not that he was thinking about any of that tonight.

SEND ME A SHIP AND I’LL TELL YOU (TRAVELING EDITION)

Who always gets the window seat on planes: Natalie. David is 54351234 feet tall and needs the extra leg room in the aisle. 

Who is in charge of the radio during road trips: Natalie, but she almost definitely gets a lot of eye rolls and complaints from David. She just has to be good and throw in a song he likes every now and then. 

Who over packs: Neither. She’s good at packing because she travels for her book tours, and David isn’t an extra person in general. And he’s a dude so that automatically brings the amount of stuff he brings down. 

Who initiates car games: David, when he’s falling asleep at the wheel to help him focus. He’d insist on driving everywhere, no matter how long. 

Who, without fail, accidentally leaves something important at home: If either of them, David, but I think they’re both pretty good about making sure they have what they need. They might forget little things but the hotel either has extra or they can share whatever it is. 

Who takes all the free things (shampoo, soap, shower caps) from the hotel: Both of them. But not obsessively, and not every time. 

Who gets searched at the airport for looking ‘suspicious’: David because he’s 543897234 feet tall. Also Natalie sometimes because she’s attractive and semi-famous. David just stands there to glare at whoever is patting her down, even though it’s almost definitely a woman. Fight him. 

Who wakes the other up at 7 AM to go eat the complimentary hotel breakfast: David, but only because I feel like he’s more of a morning person than Natalie is. More likely, they order room service, or he brings whatever she wants back up to the room and then wakes her up. 

Who insists on using a map to guide them around an unknown city: David. He’s muttering something about getting lost too many times as a kid with his parents. 

Who is in charge of keeping up with the passports and other important documents: Also David. Not because Nat isn’t responsible but just because he’s a little more responsible. 

Who buys the most novelty gifts for friends/family back home: Natalie. David just rolls his eyes but he can’t help but smile at her and whatever she picks out. Especially because it’s probably like one of those movie montages where she makes him try on a dumb straw hat and sunglasses. Gross. 

Do they go on more adventure type vacations or somewhere they can relax: I want to say it’s pretty even. If we’re going for the one singular Hawaii one though, definitely one where they can relax. Because that’s the whole point. 

Who takes pictures of every single thing: David. But mostly of Natalie. He’s not in many photos. 

Who is the first to try the local cuisine: They do it together on one of the first two nights that they’re there. Some of it is weird and they make grossed out faces and some of it is really good and they get more and then 

Who forgets to put on sun screen and gets burned to a crisp: I’m leaning towards Natalie but David would remember to ask and then save her from getting super burnt. And he’s always there to help put on aloe later. 

Who uses packing/vacation checklists and who just wings it: David has the checklist. And he still manages to forget things sometimes.