The Wicked Horse

@ castle.
"I didn't destroy my taste buds by drinking gross alcohol." Sky said casually as she took her drink back and took a few sips. The sweet taste of the chocolate and caramel tasted so good, it instantly put her back into a good mood. Or, it was the sugar doing that to her. Either way, she was fine with the result.

Standing up, Sky rolled her eyes at Damien's teasing words. She's known him long enough that the word cute doesn't affect her anymore. "If I catch you asleep when I come back, I'm going to find a marker and draw on your face," Sky told her fake uncle as she walked away from him and headed up towards her bedroom so that she could get out of her PJ's and into something more suitable for going out in.

A couple of moments later, Sky was dressed and heading down the stairs slowly. Her bright green eyes glanced towards the living room to see if Damien was there. Her newly pierced belly button piercing sparkled a little bit in the light coming towards the stairway. Her eyes narrowed a little bit as she noticed that Damien made no moves as she came down the stairs.

Thinking that the older man was asleep, Sky narrowed her eyes and walked towards him. She didn't think anything of it as she stood between his legs and leaned forward. Reaching out, Rae pinched his nostrils together so that it was hard for him to breath.

"Then you won't get any presents. No clothes, no entertainment supplies, nothing," Damien called after Sky's threat. He rolled his eyes, shuffling around slightly before he got more comfortable on the couch. He had nearly drifted off to sleep when Sky started back down the stairs but he decided to play a little game with her. He wanted to see what sort of antics that she was actually going to get up to. It was sure to be something that would either give him a headache or make him laugh. There was no knowing with Sky.

When her fingers pinched his nose shut, Damien growled as he reached out, knocking her hand from his nose. He huffed, his eyes opening before fixing her with a hard glare. "What're you doing?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. "You know. You kind of need me alive to be able to have a fun day out. Don't you?" Damien teased, his head tilting to the side.

He pushed her back carefully, enough so that he could stand before he turned to her. Damien's eyes narrowed slightly so that he could scrutinize her outfit before coming to a stop on her belly button piercing. He tensed slightly as thoughts rushed throguh his mind, ones that he knew that he should never have about a girl that was practically his niece. Damien swallowed, shaking his head as he looked back up to her.

"Aren't those shorts a bit.. short?" He asked, already starting toward the front door so that they could leave.

@ castle.
An innocent smile appeared on Sky's lips at Damien's words. A small giggle escaping as well. "Was just testing your reflexes." She said as she playfully rolled her eyes at her uncle as she stood up straight and stepped back so that he could stand up. Her arms moving behind her back as she watched the older man stand up before rolling eye eyes once more at his question. This time, annoyance lacing her words.

"It's ninety-something degrees outside, I think the length of my shorts is appropriate," Sky told Damien as she followed after him. She slipped on her flip flops before heading out the door with him. "Besides, don't you date girls with shorter skirts then this?" She asked, recalling that one time he brought a girl over to her dads for a bbq when she was younger. Sky couldn't remember what else happened that night, but she sure did remember the non-approving look her father gave her uncle.

A small hum escaped from Sky as she walked beside her uncle. A small pep in her step, she was excited that Damien finally made some time for her and that she wasn't left alone for another day of playing video games alone. "Do you think we can go to eat somewhere, where we can sit outside? It's hot out but it's also a clear day. Too much of a waste to not be outside as much as possible." Sky mumbled quietly, then she gasped quietly and looked up at Damien with wide eyes. "We should go to the beach later!"

Damien scoffed at Sky's comment about her shorts, shaking his head. He was firmly under the impression that they weren't appropriate because if he was thinking those thoughts... he swallowed thickly, realizing all too quickly what it meant. That others would be as well. Sky was going to stay innocent for as long as possible, Damien was damn sure of it. Because she deserved to be. There were far more important things in life, than losing her virginity and focusing on a physical pleasure. Her future was more than that.

Climbing into his car, Damien was quick to pull away from the parking spot. When she mentioned the beach, he was quick to shake his head. He let out a sigh, reaching out and nudging her. "No. No beach today but.." he trailed off. He was smirking as he waited to see her reaction to his denial before he continued. "But tomorrow we can go. I stayed later at work today so that I could manage to clear tomorrow up."

"You know what that means?" Damien asked, heading toward Sky's favourite restaurant. "That means that you're going to be stuck with me. For two whole days," he said, letting out a sharp laugh. "Doesn't that sound wonderful?" He teased. "Unless you want to be left alone in case someone decides to attack my apartment.."

@ castle.
As her idea of going to the beach was rejected, Sky couldn't help but slouch in her seat. She was finally getting out to do something, and she couldn't even go have fun. Sure, shopping and going out to eat with her uncle was fun, but. She wanted to go surfing, she wanted to people watch, hell she'd even settle for making a sandcastle that'll just crumble before it was finished!

Still sulking, Sky refused to look towards Damien as she listened to him. A look of surprise slowly appearing on her face as she looked towards him once more. "What? Really?" she asked, ignoring his teasing remarks.

"No office stuff? No work calls? Just you hanging out with me?" She asked, her excitement showing as she looked at him with wide eyes. A goofy grin appearing on her lips. An excited squeal escaped from Sky, she loved hanging out with her uncle. This was going to be a fun two days, for sure.

Damien couldn't help but let out a sharp laugh at Sky's words, nodding as he glanced toward her. He grinned, nodding at her excitement. he nudged her with his elbow before relaxing back in his seat. "Nope. None. No office stuff, no calls. Just you and me," Damien promised. He reached out, giving her knee a gentle squeeze before he focusing his attention on the road in front of him.

It wasn't long before Damien pulled up to Sky's favourite restaurant. He climbed out, pausing by the front of the car as he waited for her. Damien wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her inside with a lopsided grin. "Get whatever you want, okay? Just gotta remember that you want to go get dessert after," he reminded her.

Once they were led to a table, Damien breathed a small sigh of relief as he dropped down onto into the booth. He looked up to Sky, raising an eyebrow. "So now that we have a bunch of extra time. What else do you want to do? Can't tell me that going to the beach si all that you want to do."

@ castle.
Having a whole day with Damien was an extremely rare occasion. The man owned business for crying out loud, so him just having an hour was a big deal. Let alone for a whole day! The whole thing made Sky giddy. The thought of bonding with one of her favorite people was exciting to her.

As they got into the restaurant, Sky sat across from Damien and grabbed the menu that was on the table. A small hum then escaped from her as she heard his question. "I don't know what else." She said, glancing at the older man from over the menu. "I wasn't expecting you to have a whole day free. We usually only get like, an hour or two to do something before you're off to work."

Lowering her gaze onto the menu, Sky grinned a little as she saw that the grilled cheese was on the special today. That was one of her favorites at this place. They always made it so good. Whenever she tried to make it at home, she somehow always burned it, even if she cooked it on low heat.
"Did you want to do anything else?" Sky asked as she looked up towards Damien once more.

"I know. That's why I was at work for so long this morning," Damien explained. He knew that being gone for so long had irritated Sky but now that he had managed to surprise her with something so exciting, it seemed like she wasn't mad at him any more. That was all that really mattered to him. He didn't want her to be angry with him. She was his niece, he had all but helped raise her with her dad. He relaxed back in his booth, letting out a sigh. "I saw a chance to have some extra time off and after the hell hole that work was the other day, I needed some time away, too."

Damien eyed the options before opting for a reuben sandwich. When the waitress reappeared to take their order, Damien thanked the girl before turning his attention fully toward Sky the moment that she stepped away.

"We could go to a plant nursery. I've been wanting to get some plants for the apartment because it's so bland right now," Damien said, his face scrunching. "What do you say? Help me decorate a bit more?" He asked. He'd been in his apartment for nearly a year and there was hardly any personalization because he was always working.

@ castle.
The idea of going to a plan nursery peaked Sky's attention and her eyes widened slightly. "A plant nursery?" She asked, making sure that she had heard him correctly. Sky's never been to a place like that before. Her dad wasn't really someone who liked flowers, much less plants. He claims that he's allergic, but Sky sees him buying flowers for girls when he's trying to date.

"Sure, that sounds like fun!" Rae said, looking towards Damien and offering him a small grin. "I'll find you the most obnoxious plant there!" She told him, grinning. Thinking up a few ways that she could possibly annoy him when they go to the plant nursery.

Once the food and their drinks came, Sky thanked the waitress and grabbed her tea. A small smile coming upon her lips. Raspberry tea was one of her favorite things, and it was really cool that the house brews it in this place. "Soo, good!" Sky exclaimed as she set it back down. "It's sweet, like me." She said, closing her eyes and offering Damien a teasing grin before she looked down at her food.

Damien let out a groan as he tilted his head back, shaking his head at Sky's words. "Nope. No, that's just about one of my only rules. No obnoxious plants... not awful ones that make no sense in my space. We can get big ones, yes, but we're not getting the obnoxious ones that are so gross or something..." he trailed off, shaking his head again.

He raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side at her little comment. "I may love you, Sky, but sweet is not the first word that I would use to describe you," he said with a laugh, shaking his head. He smirked at her words. "That's why you like sweet things. Because you need something sweet in you, don't you?"

Damien took a sip of his coke before setting the glass down. "Bratty would be a good word but I don't think you can make bratty food. Do you?" He teased, knowing full well that he was playing with her at this point.

@ castle.
Hearing Damien turns down her idea of finding obnoxious plants, caused a pout to appear on Sky's lips. "Aww, so no venus fly traps all over the place?" She asked, hoping he might change his mind on the obnoxious plant's idea. "You need to have at least one little Succulent in your place!" She defended his words for useless plants.

Then, a small gasp escaped from Sky as she heard Damien turn her words against her. "I am not bratty!" She said, surprised he would call her such a thing. "That's so mean Uncle Damien!" Sky said, making her voice sound whiney and annoying. She allowed a few fake sniffles to follow her words as she looked down at the table.

After a few moments of fake sniffling, Sky grabbed her straw wrapper and rolled it up. Then, she flicked it towards him. Allowing for a small humph to escape from her. "I'm telling daddy that you're a mean jerk and that I never want to see you again." Sky flipped a piece of hair over her shoulder to add to her stuck up act. Her bright green eyes flicking towards Damien as the corners of her lips threatened to crack into a smile.

(If you're having trouble, we can always skip to the mall with Sky trying on dresses?)

"When was the last time you saw a fly in my apartment?" Damien asked, his eyes narrowing playfully. He didn't really react when she threw the straw wrapper at him, other than a smirk that settled on his lips. He let her finish speaking, sipping at his drink again. He cleared his throat only when Sky finally looked back up to him. "And last I checked, throwing a straw wrapper at someone isn't considered very nice. Is it?" He asked lowly.

"And by all means," Damien paused, lifting his hips just enough so that he could pull out his cell phone. He pulled up Sky's father's contact before holding the device out to her. "Go on. Call him and tell him I'm so mean. Maybe he'll pay for your shopping spree today... mean jerks don't," he remarked, wanting to see how long he could push her buttons for. Her little comment earlier about her shorts had gotten under his skin. He didn't really know why but it had him on edge.

Smirking when Sky didn't, Damien dropped his phone onto the table. "That's exactly what I thought. Because I'm the best damn uncle you could ever ask for. Aren't I, princess?" He asked. He glanced up when the waitress appeared with their food. He was quick to thank her, taking a bite from his sandwich before he glanced back up to Sky. "Unless you'd rather have another uncle?"

{you can skip if you want, I'm fine either way!}

@ castle.
Pursing her lips together was really the only thing that Sky could do at the moment. She knew she had lost their playful little argument. There was nothing she could do, or say to get the upper hand in the matter. Damien had won, they were now tied on who was able to annoy each other, but who was really counting.

Shifting in her seat, Sky let out a small sigh as she started to pick up her food. "I think it's to late to ask for a new uncle," Sky mumbled quietly, keeping her gaze down as she started to eat her food. Today was going to be mentally exhausting now that they were able to actually hang out. Sky forgot how much they teased each other.

--

After eating, the duo went to the mall. Sky's bright green eyes shifting around as she looked at all of the store's windows as they walked. She wanted a summer dress, not anything fancy, just a cute dress. "Oh, they have a few." She commented and headed into a store that had a couple of racks of dresses for the summer. "What do you think of this? Or this one?" Sky asked as she showed him two dresses that caught her eye so far in the store.

Damien was following after Sky, his hands shoved into his pockets as he waited for Sky to pick a store to go into. He wasn't paying any attention to where they were going because he wasn't in search of anything so he saw no need to focus. Turning, Damien was quick to follow after Sky as she stepped into one of the stores. He grinned as she lifted up two of the dresses, tilting his head to the side. "Hmm. Show me again?" Damien asked, eyeing her carefully.

"The second one. It's more summery. It'll probably move better," Damien commented with a nod of his head. These were easy things for him to think about because of the work that he did. "Or you could get both if you really wanted to. How about you try them both on before deciding?"

Damien held his hand out to her, smirking as he plucked both of the clothes hangers from her hands. "Is there anything else that oyu want to try on?" He asked, dutifully following her around the store. "How about this one?" He asked, holding up a maxi dress that had a blue, floral print on it.

@ castle.
Raising the two dresses, Sky showed Damien the two dresses that have caught her eye. She let out a small hum as she listened to his advice. The second one was more flowy, it was just a little short in the front and that made her a little nervous. "Yeah, trying them on would probably be best." She agreed with his idea and then handed him the dresses to hold onto while she looked around.

Looking around the store, and thumbing through the racks. Sky wrinkled her nose as she thought about if she needed anything else. "Maybe a new bathing suit? I think I left mine at home." Sky said quietly as she flickered her gaze towards the older man before moving towards the racks that had rows of bikini tops and bottoms on them.

Reaching out, Sky started to thumb through the racks. Eventually pulling out one that she thought was cute. "Oh, I like this one as well." She mumbled quietly.

"You asked to go to the beach and don't even have a bathing suit?" Damien asked, raising an eyebrow. He grinned at the look that it pulled from Sky, shrugging his shoulders as he nodded at the two that she had picked. "I like the black one more," he said, swallowing thickly at the thought of it. He shook his head, trying to remember that he didn't need to worry about this with her. She was his niece - he was her uncle. Anything more... Damien shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Do you need any shorts? Shirts?" Damien asked, looking around the store. He continued to add things to the pile that Sky handed to him. When an employee stepped up, Damien was all too happy to offer the items to her before she went off to start a change room for Sky.

Damien cleared his throat, his face scrunching a bit. "Come to think of it, I honestly can't remember where my trunks are. We'll have to stop somewhere so I can pick up a pair before we head home," he said. He couldn't help but grin, knowing she was going to tease him just like he had done to her.

@ castle.
At the question that Damien threw towards Sky, she couldn't help but flinch. "I just figured you'd buy me a new one anyway." She said innocently. Lying slightly because she was willing to buy a new one with her own money that her father had given her for the summer to spend on things that she wanted.

"Hmm, thinking about it, a few new shorts and tank tops wouldn't hurt," Sky mumbled quietly as she flashed Damen another small grin before looking around and handing him things. Once she had a few good things, Sky followed the employee that offered them help to the dressing room.

"An to think you were teasing me about not having one." Sky shot Damien a look before sticking her tongue out at him and moving to try on the dresses first. Once the dress that Damien liked was on, Sky stepped out to Show Damien and look at herself in the mirror. "I think you were right, this one is quite cute." She mumbled, noticing that it actually made her boobs look a little bit bigger. Although, she still wasn't quite happy with how revealing it was.

Damien frowned slightly at Sky's flinch but decided not to say anything about it. He figured that if there was something that he needed to know, Sky would tell him. He would always protect her and he hoped like hell that she understood that. He would never let any harm come to her. He'd stand in front of her and protect her from just about everything as he could.

Following Sky toward the change rooms, Damien leaned against the wall directly in front of hers. He bit back a sigh, pulling his phone out and scrolling through mindless messages as he waited for Sky to try on something that she liked. He looked up when her door started to open. Damien had to fight back a groan when she appeared in the dress that he had said he looked. He cleared his throat, grinning slightly as he nodded. "It'll be good for after the beach if we decide to go somewhere. You can just slide it on over your bathing suit."

Damien raised an eyebrow when he noticed her hesitation. He knew her better than perhaps either of them even realized. "You know, you wear bikinis. This is nothing compared to those. Plus, I'll be with you. Someone says something stupid or makes you uncomfortable, you know I'll keep you safe, princess."

@ castle.
A small smile slowly played along Sky's lips at Damien's words. It was really nice that he was around, he always seemed to know what to say. "Thanks, Damien." Sky said quietly as she walked over to him. Standing on her tippy toes, she leaned up and pressed a small kiss to his cheek before heading back into the changing room.

Trying on the tank tops and shorts next, Sky didn't waste any time showing Damien. They were just everyday things, and she figured if they weren't comfortable in the dressing room, then she didn't want them. When she got to the bikini that Damien liked, Sky eyed it. She normally wore ones with straps, but this one and the others were more unique. Plus, she didn't want any weird tan lines this year.

"I feel like a supermodel wearing this," Sky mumbled quietly as she opened the door to show Damien. "Do you have any sunglasses on you?" She asked as she looked at herself in the better quality mirror that was in the hall of the dressing room. "If you do, you can act like a bodyguard for me." She joked as she admired how the suit hugged her hips perfectly, and the top pushed her breasts up slightly.

Damien laughed at her comment, nodding as he eyed her for a moment. He pulled the pair of sunglasses off of his shirt, holding his sunglasses out to her. "Here you go. Why don't you model it for me?" He asked, stepping toward the corner of the hallway so that Sky had plenty of space to walk up and down the small hallway.

He grinned as he watched her move, trying to ignore the twitch in his pants. Damien nodded when she reached her changing room again. "Perfect. Do you want to try that other one on or are you good?" He asked as he pushed off of the back wall. Damien nodded at her answer, gatheirng her items in his arms when she was finally finished.

"Anything else you want to do while we're here or do you want to head out?" Damien asked as they stood at the till. When it came time to, Damien was quick to pay. He carried the bag, following after Sky dutifully.