- BLACKOUT BLURS ,

[TRAVIS ROBERT COVINGTON]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #4e7c71; border: 7px solid #a08869; width: 400px; height: 600px; -moz-border-radius: 15px 0px 15px 0px; line-height:85%; align: center] yeah, we took too many shots, think we kissed but i forgot. work was fucking stressful as all hell. back when he was seventeen, back when the band was going somewhere, he pretty much swore to himself he wouldn't ever have a nine to five, because he thought the opportunity to do what he loved would last forever. with the closeness of his friend group, he of course was going to take the hiatus hard, even if he pretty much knew it was coming anyway. a year had passed since his touring life stopped and he moved on from being one of two frontmen to an almost big-shot owner of a record label of his own, and some people wouldn't really have recognized travis from how much he had grown as a person from the experiences. no longer immature and (that much) crazy, it seemed that he had become a new person from the job he held now. just like every other person out there. not to say he wasn't happy wth his life and the way it turned out, because it was far from it. but if anyone knew travis covington, while his seriousness took the forefront in the face of running shit the right way and his way, his heart was in the music and making it happen - once for himself, and now for other people. he sat in his office late this night, spinning around slowly in his high-back swivel chair that made him look super important. he was taking a break from drafting some more contracts, he looked around the room to note the atmosphere of his office, how accomplished the different certified album plaques from the weekend theory and then those from bands on his label made him look. well, at least his career validated everything in high school that made everyone a non-believer in music industry - he was definitely making a bigger salary than his teachers and peers were now, that's for sure. whatever, he should really stop complaining to himself in his head, it made him feel crazy and stupid since really nothing was wrong in his life. at least it was one thing that didn't change about him - his overdramatic thought process. when exactly was it that he had changed? he contemplated and compared himself to the people he knew all the time, especially those close to him. he felt like he had lost his flair in a way, since part of his personality was dedicated and married to his own music, and it kept him on top of his carefreeness. it wasn't actually that he was a completely different person than he was a year ago, it just felt like he supressed himself more in the face of pressure and responsibility, because with this business there was no time for fun or games like you could fuck around on tour. zeppi hadn't changed that much at all, except in his opinion she had toned down and probably got prettier with age. which was weird, because it was zeppi he was talking about. nah, he wasn't gonna go there. emily had remained the same, her own maturity that was beyond the rest of them having its chance to shine out more than before now that she was married to his best friend and mother to his child. and well, ethan... come to think of it, travis was jealous of ethan for still getting to fuck around without much consequence, since he made it a point to be that way with everything and it was easily written off as 'ethan being ethan.' like with the stack of asscheek photocopies that were sitting in the recycling bin across the room - that was chalked up to his best friend being the moron he was. shaking his head, travis bit down on the pen in his hand, his foot continually being the focal point of his body's movement as he toed the floor to continue his chair spinning. he was actually itching to get out, but the responsible voice in his head was telling him to get it done now rather than save it for tomorrow. travis stopped spinning in his chair and took a glance at the clock. ten at night wasn't even close to being late for him in general, but it was late enough to be at the skyshot office. whatever, he could finish it all tomorrow. he checked his iphone sitting on top of a bunch of press kit packages he had yet to open, looking at his new messages. three from ethan, one from his mother, a few from random friends at home, and another from athena. he touchd the screen at athena's name, his eyebrows raising as he remembered that she was in town instead of nashville for her band's break time, and he texted a proposition. a&k? let's get sloppy. she never turned down a chance to get shitty, and while he shut the lights and grabbed his shit and locked the doors to the offices, he knew that regardless of how long it took her to reply to him at all, she'd be there one way or another. after thirty minutes and a stop at home to change, travis was already in a car to the main strip of los angeles and hollywood. he busied himself with back and forth banter through text with athena - she was sassy and unlike a lot of the females he'd met during his tenure as a musician she actually had some real spunk to her that set her apart from everyone else. she was a girl in a guy's world, but she could outdo anyone without really trying, not to mention she actually could go shot for shot with him and shit. and after a string of failed relationships, it was kind of obvious that travis was going to change his m.o. and play the field for a while like he used to. and with athena, to say they were a thing was sort of something both incorrect and an understatement - the label on their relationship was casual if anything, good friends who could be good fucks if they wanted to be, and hey, he was on the market so it was time to get back on the game. it didn't hurt her relationship of being in one of the bands signed to his label, and it didn't hurt his for having some sort of personal interest in her, and in the end it worked out for as long as it would be allowed to. who cared, anyway? the ride to downtown wasn't bad and it was a trip he frequently paid for, so after three years of living in l.a. he already knew the drill and it was effortless. and well, at least he wasn't a fucking idiot who would drink and drive. arriving at the bar he frequented so often, he walked into the darker atmosphere, the place filled with people from the same crowd he was used to seeing that was typical of a friday night just before midnight. luckily there was a spot that he always had reserved for himself on a friday for his usual drink night with whoever it was that was free and texting him that day, and after opening his tab at the bar and getting a shot of belvedere and two strongly mixed whiskey sours for his starters, he meandered over to the bordeaux leather booth in the section closest to the bar. his ears pulsing from the music the dj was running, he downed his shot and put the glass on the table, taking the other drink in hand and focusing his eyes on the door for the familiar asian girl who always indulged him as a drinking partner and a companion. whenever she came in sight, he stood up with the smirk on his face as she came to meet him. putting his free arm around her in greeting, travis looked athena over for a moment before withdrawing it to hand her the other sour. "just cause i know you're a whiskey girl," he said, and once she had taken the drink he found himself re-placing his hand around her once they sat down on the leather seating together."you are always so damn reliable to be the one who makes my night," he said with a coy smile, clinking their glasses together carefully before taking a sip of his drink. "cheers. i've had a long ass day so i hope you're ready to get fucked." yeah, she could take that whatever way she wanted to. kait as athena. 1433 words. this sucked so hard 4give me ily and yes i'm guilty of listening to katy perry w/e.

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[ATHENA ISABEL DAVENPORT]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, BORDER: 10PX SOLID #E6E6E6; width: 400px; padding: 12px; background-color: #f7f7f7; ] in her clever little world maybe it had become this common assumption that being in a band was the easy way out of things. so many people defaulted to thinking that playing music was a way of skipping around the typical nine to five kind of job and that it wasn't a typical choice for a respectable career path. of course the people stuck in mundane jobs who hated their own existence were going to resent those who seemed to have it a lot easier than they did. the thing, though, was that it wasn't easy, and athena davenport would be the first person to make that known. music wasn't a job, it wasn't a choice, it was a lifestyle and once it had pulled someone in, the chances that they surfaced and were completely able to revert back to the way things were 'supposed to be' in the world were slim to none. in a way, it was almost like a drug addiction; it couldn't be just cut out and left behind. it was so easy to look at things from an outside perspective and think the worst of it, simply because there was so much more to it all than just what was visible on the surface. it was exceptionally difficult for athena to communicate that to much of anyone, much less her own parents. it had been attempted several times over and she had exhausted herself, almost to the point of tears (but not quite), but they never seemed to want to understand. it didn't matter what she told them, because they were never going to truly listen. her mother would somehow find a way to point out that this wasn't a job, it was a silly endeavor, and her father would voice his opinion on the fact that she was wasting away some of the best years of her life, that she was a fresh adult and that she had the world in the palm of her hand and she was wasting it away behind a drum kit. though it was definitely a low blow, she never took it sitting down; that was what had caused the last blow out between them that had caused her parents to all but disown her. they said that she made her own choices and that she was going to have to deal with that when everything else fell apart in her palms. what did they know, anyway? surely neither of them grew up dreaming of doing what it was they were doing as adults. maybe she wasn't as old as they were, but she was old enough to know that she was happy with what she had, what she was doing, and the direction her life seemed to be headed in. the decisions she made were hers and hers alone, and that was something she found to be rather comforting at times when she had doubts, or even when she fucked up. at least she had no one else to blame but herself. her brother had his qualms, of course, especially when he was stumbling upon blogs and sites of the same caliber filled with teenagers gossiping about anything and everything going on in the music world, some of which included rumors (which weren't always rumors) of her conquests and the like. she knew it was hard on him, and that he was disappointed in her sometimes, but she also made him realize that just as he was living his own life by going to berkley like their parents had wished for her, she was living hers by following what it was her heart wanted most. of course, this didn't account for her wild behavior and desire to completely lower any standards she might have had left after she graduated high school. it wasn't like she took a dive into this world and all of a sudden became a different person; no, even when she was a teenager, she always climbed out of her window and down the trellace at odd hours of the night to run off to some party or another. the goal once there was to drink as much as possible, bong a couple of beers, do a keg stand or three, and fall into the lap of any boy who would have her. sure, it was never a substantial excuse for a relationship, but there was something about the desperation of sex, the heat of the moment, and the way that she actually felt important for all of ten minutes that kept her coming back for more night after night. even though she had thrown her cap to the sky and moved past the throngs of high school, that small flicker of desire still burned deep within her being. she wanted to be wanted, needed to be needed, even if it was only for small increments of time. the point was that it still happened and now, now she was in the process of making a name for herself, and everyone who had her name on their tongue was jumping at the chance to meet her between the sheets. sure, there was plenty of risk involved there, and she knew that she was only making a different kind of reputation for herself, but the point remained that she didn't really care. people could think what they wanted of her because, chances were, she was never going to brush elbows with them. she knew that the choices she made could have been deemed questionable, but the only person it truly had to make sense to was her, and her alone. it wasn't like she was looking for the approval of anyone else, and the boys knew better than to give her shit for it. after all, it wasn't like they made the purest and holiest decisions in the world, either. as a band, they understood that there was never any pot calling the kettle black. after all, they were all grown adults and completely capable to living their lives, sketchy choices and all. it had occured to her, on the last week of the tour she had been on, that she didn't really want to go back home during break. there was too much going on, family-wise that she didn't feel like dealing with, so instead, she had moved in temporarily with a friend who lived on the northeast side of los angeles. it was a much needed break and she was loving every moment of it thus far. after all, it was a lot easier to spend time with fellow label mates and there was an unlimited selection of cute drunken boys within arm's length and that had her thrilled with a capital t. more so than that, it meant getting to spend more time with people she would otherwise be thousands of miles away from. take travis, for example. the guy was a good time and always kept athena on her toes, something few people were ever capable of. she had been outside by the pool, lying in the sun, when her phone went off by her head. ah, think of the devil and he shall call-- or text, in her case. she grinned and shot a reply back, telling him that that was the best offer she'd had all day, so she was obligated to take him up on it. of course, this was her way of saying she would love to, but in a much less forthcoming way. part of her charm came in her inability to be straightforward, leaving something to be desired. if anything, she had learned that playing a game of cat and mouse usually ended better for her at the close of the night. she quickly showered and rummaged through her closet, not hesitating to pull out a dress that would not only exemplify each and every one of her curves, but also left very little to the imagination. classy, right? some said that she was practically begging for the attention, what with the way she dressed and everything, and she would, nine times out of ten, completely agree with them. she wanted the eyes on her, she wanted to feel like she was the center of attention and it worked every single time. there was proof of this in the fact that the driver of the cab she had called nearly rear ended someone because he was too busy watching her adjust the top of her dress in the back seat to see the person in front of him brake, but looked back just in time. thank god, because the last thing she wanted was to stand up travis just because some creep couldn't keep his eyes on the road. when she made her way into the bar, she couldn't help but find herself smiling at the cat calls and glances she got, but she wasn't here to make friends, not tonight. tonight, she had a much different agenda and he was perched in a booth across the way. she grinned and made her way over to him, embracing him in a friendly hug. her eyes lit up as he held up the glass and she grinned, raising her brows in feigned surprise. "you remembered!" she chirped happily, sliding in the booth next to him so that her side was mere millimeters away from being pressed to his. she grinned at his comment and nodded her head, holding her glass up to his. "it's one of the few things i am reliable for! well, that and one hell of a good time, of course." she took a long pull from the glass and watched him for a moment, licking her lips. "and if you're reliable for anything, i know it's that you've already got a leg up on me. how many shots am i down so far? one? three?" she pressed her lips together and giggled, taking another drink that left the glass two thirds of the way empty. "you know me, travvie. i was born ready." ha. hussy. steph as travvie. 1667 words. baaah this is a mess. next time will be better i hope! i apologize!

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