Syrinx Music Festival - New and exciting RP! Players always welcome! Enjoy the launch party!

[Alissa888]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/SyrinxMainBanner.jpg

A sweltering sun is pouring down over a Texas grassland (http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/SyrinxMap.jpg), and the music's been singing in your ears for so long you can't imagine sound without it, the spirits are high and the atmosphere is sublime.
Welcome to the Syrinx Music Festival.

Organized for the first time in 1989, it started out as a small scale one-day event for promising yet not all that big indie bands, with an intended vibe of a more modern Woodstock. The first couple of years, it just barely managed to raise enough money for the organizers to be able to pull it off again the next year. In 1995, however, Pilots of Death, one of the bands that had their first real breakthrough thanks to business connection made at the festival during their second year of performing there, decided to return to cradle of their success, and in doing so brought quite a bit of attention to the festival, with the mainstream audience starting to take notice.

Since then, the festival has expanded greatly in both audience and genres, as well as in length - lasting three days, Thursday through Saturday - and is now one of the bigger festivals in the country, with the record number of visitors being 60.400 in 2007. All kinds of people flock at the annual event, nowadays offering everything from the smallest indie band to the newest hip club DJ, from a "lowly" demo metal band to the bigger pop sensations.



RULES:

* All Forum (http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=338373) and Roleplay (http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=338372) rules apply.

* Characters may be either Male or Female.

* You may apply for two characters maximum.

* No characters under the physical age of sixteen.

* Try and keep separate posts for OOC down to a minimum, and don't spam.

* Cursing is permitted, but please make sure to censor any profanity. We will all know what you mean even if you write S**, F*** or B****.

* If you take on the role as a musician, and want them/their band to perform in-game, contact us for more details.

* You may RP as much as you like (meaning, there is no limit on the number of posts per day) but please keep in mind that some players are in this partly because it's supposed to be slow-paced.

* Be courteous to other members; even if your characters don't get along, the players should still be able to remain civil towards one another. Remember, we're here to have fun!

* If you are unsure of something, ask. Either in the thread, or in PM.

* If you for some reason have/choose to drop out, please finish up, by either RPing an end for your character, or at least telling us that you will be dropping out. Don't leave people hanging.

* When making an RP post, please include the name of your character in the header, and preferrably where they are at and what other character they are with as well. This makes it easier for people to keep up with who is where, and with whom.

* An RP post should be 8 lines minimum. This limit does not include quoted lines from a post you are replying to. While this RP is for fun, it is for roleplayers who take it somewhat seriously.
The occasional exception is, of course, allowed, as long as it doesn't turn into continually posting less than 8 lines.


These are the rules for now. Additions might be made, as we will be ironing out whatever kinks we may come across as we go along.

Applications

1. Name:
2. Age:
3. Type of visitor (artist/groupie/staff etc):
4. Occupation:
5. Bio:
6: Picture:
7. Anything else you'd like to add:

Additional info for artists, just so that the fans have something to work with.

Questionnaire:

Name:
Nickname:
Instrument:
Previous bands:
Siblings:
Food of choice:
Drink of choice:
Weapon of choice:
Accessory of choice:
Movie of choice:
Most inspirational artist (musician or not):
Never goes on stage without:
Lucky charm:
Preferred time of day and why:
If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why:
Personal quote:

Now, on to the characters.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/ArtistsBanner.jpg

1. Dominic "Veritas" de Vere (http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=2829878#post2829878) - Atropa
2. Lavinia "Sanguinette" Sinclair (http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=2831550#post2831550) - Ghanima
3.
4.
5.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/GroupiesBanner.jpg

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/OrganisersBanner.jpg

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/StaffBanner.jpg

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/OtherBanner.jpg

1. Lara Abbott (http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=2829884#post2829884) - Alissa
2. Daniel de Vere (http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=2921910#post2921910) - Atropa
3. Rio Adams (http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=3029860#post3029860) - Atropa
4. Kendra Kingsley (http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=3342893#post3342893) - WLK360
5.

There are three different stages, Apollo, Hathor and Bragi (in descending size order) and the line-up is as follows (please PM either Atropa or myself to put your band on the line-up).

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/SyrinxMap_Thumbnail.jpg (http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/SyrinxMap.jpg)
(Click to enlarge)

Band Line-up

Apollo

1.
2.
3.

Hathor

1.
2.
3.

Bragi

1.
2.
3.

Apps will be running for a week before the RP kicks off. Newcomers are, of course, always welcome.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/Nicky1.jpg

Name: Dominic 'Veritas' de Vere
Age: 21 (turns 22 in November)
Type of visitor: Artist
Occupation: Lead guitarist in Deus Ex Machina
Bio:
In every band, there's usually that one member that ends up becoming the popular one, the one whom the younger girls pine for, the one with both looks and a kind of charisma so prompt and direct that it catches their fancy and makes looking past it seem, to them, redundant. He's the one who plants fantasies and ideas in their heads, that they never really bother looking past to see what he is really like, the one who knows all too well that he's hot, and gets a kick out of working it; out of entertaining those very fantasies, and encouraging them in any way that he can, especially when on stage. The one who loves to bask in the lascivious attention of his female audience.

Most of the time, that member tends to be the singer of the band, for obvious reasons since he or she is the one mostly in the limelight. Yet there are cases when other members of the band end up stealing the title of male sex object, as well as quite a bit of the attention away from the frontman. One such case, is Dominic de Vere.

The youngest member of industrial goth rock band Deus Ex Machina, newly turned twenty-one year old Dominic, with his magnetism and confidence on stage, his inhibited way of rocking out when playing, as well as his outward appearance, has become "the sexy one" in the band. The one that can act like a jerk, and still have girls stand in line to be with him, simply because "he's hot". And act like a jerk he does. Young man that he is, with an abundance of acknowledgement regarding both looks and sensuality, as well as a good dose of growing fame, his ego has started growing too.

Born and raised in the small town of Monroe, Michigan, the oldest of two brothers, both sons of an American father and a Lithuanian immigrant mother, Dominic may not have seemed the most obvious candidate to earn himself a career as a rock star. He was always a fairly bright kid, but never excelled in school. He was restless and didn't have the patience to pay attention for very long, though never expressed his dwindling interest in the form of getting disruptive or rowdy. Instead he occupied himself with drifting off into deep thoughts or possibly thinking up musical compositions for future songs he hoped to write. He had taken up playing guitar at the age of eleven, and had found it to be a big outlet for the impatience and the angst that had begun building inside of him during his early teens; the usual teenage impatience of wanting to accomplish something, to grow up to be a "somebody", and the angst derived from his far less than perfect family life. For years his parents hadn't been getting along, and their two sons, as they got older, tended to end up in the middle more and more frequently, with Dominic usually trying to take on the part of a mediator in his attempt to spare his younger brother as well as his parents from the yelling and the harsh words thrown around, and also in fear that if he didn't, things would worsen and his parents might end up actually physically hurting each other. Soon enough, playing guitar all by himself no longer sufficed to channel the building frustration and anxiety caused by this endless fighting, and the pressure of ending up in the middle over and over again, with both parents badmouthing eachother to him, and both expecting him and his brother to side with them. And so, one night, listening to his parents fighting downstairs and not daring leave home in fear of what might happen if he wasn't around to try and keep things from getting out of hand, he ended up cutting himself for the first time. His eyes locking on the small penknife on his desk, he acted on pure impulse, overcome by the thought that if he could just visualize his pain, making it go away might be easier. And in a way, it actually did work, because it did make the anxiety dissipate. Temporarily, until the next time anxiety started building inside of him, and the only relief was to slit open his skin once more.

However, although cutting himself ended up a repeat occurance, he never did get quite far enough for it to become an addiction, because thankfully, it was right around that same time that he met a girl, Lara, with whom he became infatuated, and who turned out to be equally infatuated with him. But not only that; she was someone he felt comfortable with, and to whom he could vent whenever he needed it, and she was always there to listen, and to share whatever problems she herself might have. Before long, the two had become an item, and they have been ever since. This year, they celebrate their sixth year together.

As far as his musical career goes, all through high school he played in various bands, as well as various constellations of those various bands, until finally during his junior year ending up with three other boys between whom the chemistry seemed to work in the long-run, rather than had been the case with past bands, which had mostly been formed as a spur of the moment kind of thing, based on a sudden and mutual burst of inspiration, with things then falling apart as it turned out the members' inspirations and ambitions were far too different to work. Dissonance, Dominic's last band in high school, however, did click really well, and towards the end of his senior year had become quite known and also fairly appreciated. They were asked to perform a song or two at their senior prom, and turned out to be quite the hit amongst the goths and the rockers.

Sadly, it was also to be their last official gig, for even though they kept rehearsing and playing together over the summer, once it came to an end, they went their seperate way, with half of the band - one of them being Dominic - going off to college. Though in Dominic's case, it turned out to be a blessing and a relief, for not only did it take him away from his fighting parents, but it was also during college, studying music and starting to express himself even further, artistically, that he hit it off with Shane, a drummer/musician two years his senior. Discovering a mutual taste in music, the two had soon started jamming together on a regular basis.
Also a new acquaintance was Lavinia Sinclair, a young woman whom Dominic had kept bumping into at many of the various parties constantly thrown on campus, and with whom he'd ended up getting along quite well also, due to several shared interests. What he didn't learn, however, until one evening when she happened upon him and Shane during one of their jamming sessions and asked to join, was that she too was musically skilled.
And thus begun the tale of the band that would eventually evolve into Deus Ex Machina.

Now, two years after their breakthrough into the goth rock scene, they are just starting to be embraced by the mainstream audience. Although that hasn't stopped some of the members from already having developed quite the rock star ego.


http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/Nicky2.jpg


Anything else you might want to add:

Has two tattoos; a modified yin/yang symbol (http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/Tattoo_YinYang_by_GravityGlitch.jpg) on the inside of his left wrist, and a vine (http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/Tattoo_Vine_by_sadiqueailes.jpg) along his right side,
running from his hip to just below his armpit.

Always wears at least two necklaces; one is a silver key (http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_430xN.76144817.jpg) given to him by his girlfriend Lara (she wears the matching
heart), and one is a dragon pendant (http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/PendantDragon.jpg). Sometimes also wears a third one; a flame symbol (http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/PendantFlame.jpg) in a leather strap.

Silver ring piercing on the left side of his lower lip.

Attended college in Detroit, but dropped out when Deus Ex Machina had their breakthrough.

Recently appeared as a murder victim on a very popular forensics show on TV. The episode started with the body of Jasper Zinone (Dominic), a high school student, being found in a dirty back alley in the bad part of town. Autopsy showed he died of cardiac arrest due to Digoxin poisoning. During the investigation, the forensics team came across a Mrs Wallace; an adolescent rehabilitation therapist, who turned out to have been treating Jasper, as a result of him acting out through various wild and crazy stunts. Eventually the investigation showed that Jasper died at her house, and when confronted about it, Mrs Wallace broke down and confessed that she was the one who dumped the body in the alley. She explained that she was having an affair with Jasper, and that he did die while at her house, but that she had no idea how or why. However, because he was her patient and a high school student, and because they together had shared a bottle of wine that her husband had bought her, she had panicked, gotten rid of the body, and decided to keep her mouth shut.
As it turned out towards the end of the show, Mr Wallace and Jasper had been in cahoots with one another to murder Mrs Wallace in order to share the insurance money. Jasper had put the poison in Mrs Wallace wine glass, but had then gotten an urgent phone call which he had decided to take in another room, thus leaving the glasses with Mrs Wallace. She had accidently spilt his glass, replaced it with her own, and gone to get herself a new one, and so in the end, Jasper ended up accidently poisoning (and killing) himself.*

Band alias is 'Veritas', but is also nicknamed 'Lynx' on a more private level; partly based on his feline-like high cheekbones, but mostly on an inside
joke cracked by Shane, about how Dominic gets the Lynx (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSwyncna1Qg) anti-perspirant (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29HXaYkhOzk) advert effect without using the actual product.

With his ego having grown quite a bit over the past two years, the past few months especially, and with the constant acknowledgement of his sex appeal to the opposite gender, Dominic has begun straying as far as fidelity goes, and gotten intimate with quite a few groupies, in one way or another.

Likes to party, is no stranger to alcohol and drugs - partly as a way of filling the void that still remains within him - and ultimately lived up to the rock star myth when trashing a hotel room in New York a month ago.

Recently joined Lavinia in one of her suggestive photoshoots for fetish wear; something that didn't exactly put a damper on the rumours floating around regarding the nature of their friendship.

A minor rivalry has begun developing between Dominic and Asher (singer), due to Dominic's popularity overshadowing Asher's popularity,
and Asher attempting to upstage Dominic.

Deus Ex Machina lineup:
Asher 'the King' Kingsley; vocals, rhythm guitar
Dominic 'Veritas' de Vere; lead guitar
Lavinia 'Sanguinette' Sinclair; keyboard
Shane Morton; drums
Leon Cuthbert; bass

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/Nicky3.jpg


Questionnaire:

Name: Dominic de Vere
Nickname: Veritas, Nicky, Lynx (inside joke)
Instrument: Guitar, baby
Previous bands: Dissonance, Inverted Slip, Unused and Abused, Venture
Siblings: One younger brother, Daniel
Food of choice: Sushi
Drink of choice: Jack Daniels
Weapon of choice: Athame
Accessory of choice: Sunglasses
Movie of choice: Sin City
Most inspirational artist (musician or not): Lavinia ;)
Never goes on stage without: Jack Daniels!
Lucky charm: Dragon pendant around my neck
Preferred time of day and why: Night; it's when the fun happens!
If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why: My mom, cuz... she's my mom.
Personal quote: "I'm not messy. I'm organizationally challenged!"

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/Nicky5.jpg




(((ooc: * thanks to Alissa for coming up with pretty much the whole plot for the forensics show. :D

Ghani - Let me know if something needs changing. I just went with the flow.)))

[Alissa888]

Name:

Lara Veronica Abbott

Age:

21

Type:

Other

Occupation:

Student (studying Art and History, looking into eventually study Architecture)

Bio:

The middle child of parents who worked together to run their events planning business, Lara was always a rather shy, introverted girl in her childhood. She didn’t have the natural commanding aura of her older brother, Lucas, nor the mischievous nature of her younger sister, Louisa. However, Lara was often dubbed as the heart of the family, for her ability to hold everything together even in the worst of times. Needless to say, she was the favourite of the family.

Growing up, Lara, along with Luke and Louisa, worked in the family business whenever the need for it arose, resulting in a variety of experiences that led to her being the organiser of a lot of the school events. However, Lara’s introverted nature meant that, despite being generally well liked, she had only a few friends, the relationship with whom was often very close and enduring. While calm and understanding most of the time, she is in no way docile or passive, being more tranquilly assertive instead of fiery or aggressive and always manages to get things done or solved regardless of how long it takes. Though, she never did withdraw from her peers, but rather retained a reserved poise about it, never really lending herself excessively to the party circuit or to any truant behaviour.

Despite being a bright girl, in and out of school, Lara never did do well at the science subjects, simply because she was never very interested in them, always more prone to free creativity rather than being pushed to understand what was already there. Hence, she was referred to as the “artsy” one, contributing a lot of student murals to the community, most of which are still displayed around town. As a way to stop herself from failing history at school, she was asked to work with the town’s historical society, a move which did count considerably for the better given that her grade then skyrocketed, eventually resulting in her scholarship to study Art and History at prestigious school near Detroit… which was just as well, given that her long-time love Dominic was also headed to the same city.

Still as shy as ever when puberty hit, Lara, whilst growing into her angelic looks, didn’t have a lot of romantic interaction with the opposite sex, being more prone to just not responding – out of awkwardness more than anything else – when the boys tried to flirt with her. Then there was Dominic, Lara’s first and only love to this day. Though, the first time she set eyes on him, entirely infatuated by his charisma and his statuesque looks, she’d already made up her mind that he was entirely out of her league. Of course, maybe she was entirely wrong about that or maybe she just struck lucky, because not long after, they got together and stayed together for six years and counting because he wasn’t what she thought he’d be; he was instead honest, open, intense and in almost every way, perfect.

With Dominic came so much more, namely his music career. While she was entirely happy for him and proud of his success, Lara always tried to stay out of the limelight herself, because it made her so very uncomfortable. She eventually started getting used to it all, but struggles to draw the line between “getting used to it” and letting it consume her entirely. It seemed that beneath the glitz and glamour was a world that Lara would have been far more comfortable being oblivious to, or at least not being involved in and these days, she finds herself more and more embroiled in the delusions and the backstabbing.

While that was something she could contend with, there were other… possible… aspects of Dominic’s life that she would, under no circumstances accept; the prospect of him cheating. She knew about groupies, she knew how drunk someone could get on fame, she knew about the temptation of it all and she knew how easy it was to give in, and most of all, she knew well that her mistrust was more likely to cause the damage than anything else. However, with the tabloids and with Dominic’s gigs and ever increasing fame, the chances of him cheating also increased and these days she was finding more and more reason to believe the things she was hearing, with no real way to ascertain the truth, because she didn’t want to straight out ask him about it.
As a result, Lara remains secretly insecure about her relationship with Dominic, and somewhat suspicious of his relationship with the women around him, particularly Lavinia Sinclair.

Picture:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraPicture.jpg

Anything else you’d like to add:

Has two tattoos, a rose artwork (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraTattooOne.jpg) on the small of her back, and another, a phoenix (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/Phoenix_by_Saki_BlackWing.jpg), over the right side of her hip.

Has dark red hair, and green eyes.

Almost always wears a heart pendant (http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.76144889.jpg) (matching key is worn by Dominic).

[FurryPanda]

((OOC: So excited this is finally up!
So the character that I'm planning on entering is the manager for her band, so would that be staff or organising? Thanks))

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: Furry - Glad you want to join. :D You'll be most welcome. A manager for a band that's playing at the show I figure would be staff, as she's not one of the organisers of the festival itself. Roadies, makeup people, and vendors etc would be staff also, I think. Will talk it over with Alissa, but in the meantime, feel free to enter your character as "Staff". :) )))

[Ghanima Atreides]

Lavinia Sinclair

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/Lavinia1.jpg

Name: Lavinia Sinclair

Age: recently turned 24

Occupation: keyboardist of Deus Ex Machina, and alternative model

Bio: Lavinia saw the light of day in Detroit, Michigan, the only child of an aging mother, whose pregnancy had been entirely unplanned and unexpected. The father, a man whom Lavinia would never know, left her mother as soon as she revealed the fact that she was pregnant, and gone he was for good. From a financial standpoint, they were fortunate; Lavinia's mother had worked for a reputable insurance company for ten years, during which she'd climbed through the ranks, eventually achieving a cushy managerial position. This ensured Lavinia had a plentiful childhood, albeit often having to spend her days in the company of various baby sitters. It was also during this time that she discovered a talent for music, and attended piano lessons for six years, between her 7th and 13th. She had some skill and her teachers were beginning to suggest a professional career when something intervened to change everything: Lavinia entered her dreaded teens.

Even as a little girl, she'd been outspoken and energetic and often a bit of a handful since her mother lacked both the time and temperament to discipline her, but as a teenager, those characteristics truly took off. Too old for baby sitters and with a mother who relied more and more on her daughter's growing self-reliance, Lavinia took full advantage of her freedom: she sampled drinks aplenty and the occasional drug or two, but more than anything she partied: hard. Each weekend, and sometimes in between, she could be found on various crowded dancefloors, attending concerts, or roaming the city with her group of friends. Her school performance suffered, though not to the point of failing, and as young as fourteen she'd stopped going to her piano lessons. Instead, a year later, she convinced her mother to buy her a keyboard and together with two other girls formed a band called Ladies from Hades,whose performances rarely left the garage. Nonetheless, it was a was a wonderful outlet for Lavinia's creativity, until senior year began looming in the distance and the other girls left the band to focus on school work; as for Lavinia, she wasn't sure she would pass her exams and actually make it to senior year. She found her mother in tears on the couch, berating herself (rather than Lavinia) for not investing enough time in her upbringing, at the end revealing her greatest fear: that she, an older woman, would die and Lavinia would end up on the streets, sooner or later. The way she was going, it seemed likely, and this rattled her: despite her teenage rebelliousness, she was planning some kind of future for herself, she'd just always felt she had years and years to do it. Time had apparently caught up however, since one more year separated her from college, and the chance for a higher education. As a result, Lavina hit the books, passed her exams and gradually improved her performance until time came to graduate.

When this happened, and she was accepted in college, Lavinia was older and more confident, able to strike a better balance between her effervescent personality and responsibility. In fact, as soon as she realized one did not exclude the other, she had less and less trouble focusing on being efficient, when she knew that would give her the time to kick back, relax, and have a good time. Earning it was so much more satisfying, too. Lavinia maintained an active social life throughout college, during which three important things happened. First, she became friends with a fellow student, Deborah "Debbie" Carlisle, an eclectic make up artist who convinced Lavinia to let her use her as a "canvas". Before she knew it, Lavina was asking for tips. Not long before that, she was giving Debbie ideas, and eventually they found someone willing to snap a few pictures. Lavinia enjoyed it so much, she began envisioning photoshoots with an increasing attention to detail, from makeup, to clothing, setting, and posing. As she grew more comfortable before the camera, Lavinia's personalized brand of photography took on darker and more surreal overtones, oozing unabashed sensuality. She even appeared nude a couple of times, or decked out in fetish gear. Eventually, a handpicked collection was publicized online under the alias Sanguinette, though at the time it only drew localized attention.

Another person Lavinia met at around the same time was a young man by the name of Dominic de Vere, a recurring attendance at most of the parties and outings she also frequented. Once they began talking, they discovered they had a bit more in common than just a taste for the same type of music and clothes, setting the foundations for a friendship that culminated with the time when Lavinia interrupted one of Dominic's jamming sessions with a friend. Intrigued and mostly for fun, she'd asked to join them at the spare keyboard, but what she didn't expect was for the trio to click so well, musically, or for it to lead to the conception of Deus ex Machina.

The band was two years old when their long-awaited breakthrough happened, and by that time Lavinia was newly-graduated from college, ready to dedicate herself fully to her music and modelling career, the latter taking off considerably once her face became known by the press, albeit mostly within the alternative scene. Nonetheless, Lavinia remains critical about who she works with and under what conditions, since half of the appeal is being involved in the entire process, for conception to realization: many of her projects are self-funded and independent.

Within the band, Lavinia is one of two members fans and media tend to focus on; in Dominic's case, thanks to his magnetism and shameless sex appeal, in her case due to being the only woman among four men, and one of an expressive, uninhibited nature at that. Her porcelain doll looks and rising notoriety as a risqué model contributed to it, naturally, as did the tangible chemistry existing between her and Dominic, both on stage and off it. Their recent collaboration in Lavinia's fetish cabaret photoshoot, in which they were not only portrayed as master and slave, but also nude from waist up, chained in an embrace -literally-, certainly added fuel to the fire already existing for a while, more and more rumours regarding their true affiliation beginning to emerge.



Anything else you'd like to add:

Has one tattoo depicting two stylized lilies (http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/Lily_Tattoo.jpg) on her right shoulderblade. She often uses elaborate temporary designs for shows and photoshoots.

Her nipples and tongue are pierced. Is considering more.

Her hair is raven black and cropped above the shoulders, but she often uses extensions, both natural and synthetic, incorporating many colours and designs.

Has majored in Medieval Literature in college.

Is currently single, and despite her "bad girl" reputation, she hasn't had many casual flings. She remains a hardened party-girl however.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/Lavinia2.jpg



Questionnaire:

Name: Lavinia Sinclair
Nickname: Lavinny, sometimes Lav, never Lavi. And Sanguinette.
Instrument: keyboard, and the human body.
Previous bands: Ladies from Hades (and we were)
Siblings: none (that I know of)
Food of choice: apple and cinnamon pie, topped with a generous helping of whipped cream.
Drink of choice: wine, red please.
Weapon of choice: steel toed boots, I'd be useless with anything else.
Accessory of choice: do hair extensions count?
Movie of choice: Sweeney Todd.
Most inspirational artist (musician or not): Mark Ryden
Never goes on stage without: underwear; the rest is optional.
Lucky charm: a small silver locket (http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/Roselocket.jpg) which belonged to my great-grandmother; the only picture left of her is inside.
Preferred time of day and why: the small hours of the morning just before sunrise; it's so peaceful.
If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why: Debbie, who's always been there for me.
Personal quote: "Life is a game; play it."

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/Lavinia4.jpg

[FurryPanda]

Name: Julia Walford
Age: 24
Type: Staff
Occupation: Her business cards say manager for Speed, her training is in business communications, and she refers to herself as a logistician

Bio: Julia was always that girl. The one with the big glasses and frizzy hair that everyone made fun of in elementary school. Since she didn't have any friends, she would on a regular basis sit down with a pint of Haagen Daas she stole from her mother's ice cream stash and read. Anything and everything she could get her hands on, and the more she read the more she started thinking about what she would do when she was old enough to be like the amazing people in the books she read.

She figured the perfect time to transition, to apply all of the brilliant and applicable quotes she had memorized was when she got to middle school. She would be calm and confident and assertive and clever and everyone would love her... except that she was a fat girl with zits and frizzy hair that was way too smart to be tolerable to most people. She did get a few friends in middle school, one of whom was David Kemmers.

David was the only guy who ever gave her the time of day, and Julia found herself spending a great deal of time with him and developing something of a crush, though whenever she hinted they could be more than friends he rebuffed her. Even though he was a lot dumber than she was, she considered him to be her best and dearest friend.

As she got ready to go to high school, she decided to stop eating her ice cream. After all, she had friends now. Three months after that decision she had lost thirty pounds and five pants sizes, and been asked out by two almost-strangers. She was shocked and eagerly awaited popularity in high school.

She got it. She was an active participant in the drama club, manning the light and sound boards as a freshman, and pursuing getting equipment donated as an upperclassmen. It was there that she developed her shrewd business sense, and as drama club president her senior year she managed to get the entire auditorium refurbished, from new carpets, to re-finishing the stage, to cushier seating, to a complete new sound and lights system.

In addition to her success in drama, she got into drama for the first time. Now that she was pretty and skinny, people were asking her out, and boys were flirting with her regardless of their relationship status. She turned them all down, not knowing what she wanted in her date, but she didn't want that feature, or that one, or that, or anything. And then sophmore year David asked her out, and much to everyone's surprise, little miss picky said yes.

In a week they had kissed, and a week after that Julia knew she was completely in love. They surfed on happy couplehood for months. Then David and two friends of his, Jay Wilson and Arnold Carcher, decided to start a band. They met in Arnold's garage and when Julia heard about it she laughed herself sick.

A few weeks after that David asked her to manage their band, and Julia agreed to do it for a 20% cut. With her savvy she was able to get them to play prom, able to get them into clubs, able to get them anywhere and everywhere, and by having them play four nights a week all over town, she was able to have them make a name, even though they weren't fantastic.

She was making a huge amount of money at the managing, and the band was doing well, and then they got signed for a contract, which Julia convinced them to accept. At the end of senior year, she and her band went to Houston to record their album and David met a secretary named Yvonne Gundred. He convinced Julia to hire Yvonne on, since the band had the money to spare, and Julia was working herself into the ground between the band and pursuing her degree in communications.

Julia had a bad feeling about it, but she did it, and then before the first show before more than a thousand people, Julia walked in on David and Yvonne. Doing the nasty in her office on the tourbus. She didn't do anything then, just wrote a letter of resignation and handed it to Jay, and without her business sense and the impressive collection of contacts she had acquired over the years, the band floundered.

Two years later Julia was 23 and out of college, when Jay and Arnold approached her about reforming the band. They wanted her permission before asking David, and with two years to cool off and a number of casual flings in college, she cheerfully agreed.

Now she is back to managing Speed, and she and David have a coolly professional relationship, which is at stark odds with the close, strictly platonic relationship she maintains with Arnold and Jay. The band has been back in business for almost a year now, and Julia booked them to the Syrinx music festival to give them a relaxing weekend with far fewer performances then they usually did in a town. Despite their success and the release of their top 40 song "My Heart is Yours If You Can Pay the Price" Julia has kept them performing in close quarters, tightly secured clubs so they can interact with the fans.

Anything Else: Julia feels very strongly that artists need to be grassroots, even if there is greater profit in booking a major venue.

She stopped wearing contact lenses after David broke up with her, still wears her glasses now, though she will wear contacts for a serious date.

She refuses to date anyone she works with, as a matter of principle, but her principles could change if the right guy came along.

((OOC: Hope that's okay? I might tweak it a little more, and should I fill out band information for Speed? Julia isn't a performer, but she is intimitely involved in it, no pun intended))

[Alissa888]

(((OOC:
Ghanima - yay! :D
Furry - so glad you decided to join! And yes, filling out the info for the band would be great :D
And welcome to the RP!)))

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

((I`ve never done anything *quite* like this before, but it sounds interesting, and possibly fun. With your permission, I`d like to lurk here, posting occasional interactions from random throw-away characters, until I get the hang of things, and I don`t really feel I have the right kind of creativity to post the kind of backgrounds I`ve seen in the previous applications. [Impressively done, by the way! Good jobs, applicants!] Yes, I`ve read *both* of the Rules posts you`ve linked to in your opening post. Would this style of "getting my feet wet" be acceptable? I do intend to be co-operative with the other *players*, if not necessarily with their *characters*. ;)))

[Alissa888]

(((GeneralOperationsDirector - you'd be most welcome to join as various crowd characters, and as a more integrated character whenever you feel ready. :D I'm sure you'll be fine, and I hope you'll enjoy it! Welcome to the RP!)))

[AtropaMandragora]

.




It's the evening before the gates of the Syrinx Music Festival open for the annual tribute to music and love, but artists and eager fans are already in town, and ready to begin. The night is young, the spirits are high and the beer tents are open, so let's get the party started!

Although the festival has yet to officially open, and the main festival area is still closed to the public, one part of the smaller areas - the one around the demo stage - is already available to visitors who'd like to kick things off with a bang. Unsigned demo bands are performing throughout the night, and the beer is flowing. Backstage, the VIP lounge is open to the bands and people in the industry, as well as those lucky few fans who have managed to get a hold of a backstage pass, be it through contests, connections, or a pure stroke of good luck. However, should you not happen to be one of them, you might still be able to catch a glimpse of a celebrity or two if you keep your eyes open, because you never know who might feel like checking out the unsigned talents performing on the demo stage.




.

[AtropaMandragora]

D, E... D... No, wait. D, E, C... Yeah. Yeah, that would sound much better.

With not much else to do but to stare out the window, at the scenery swishing past outside the train coach - which frankly had only been amusing for about five minutes, four whole hours ago - Dominic de Vere was trying to keep himself entertained, or at the very least occupied, by scribbling down power chords to new melodies on a wrinkled old newspaper he'd found stuffed into one of the compartments of his black leather guitar case. All the while with Lacuna Coil, Tiamat and Moonspell blasting through the earphones he'd jammed into his ears, for inspiration, as well as in order to dodge being forced to make conversation with the old bat across the aisle. He'd already heard enough about her grandkids for the first thirty miles, thank you very much, and was now careful not to give her another window of opportunity to get started all over again. Pretending to be asleep had done the trick for a while, but had eventually gotten far too boring for the young man, who wasn't really at all tired. Nor was he all that used to trying to keep himself entertained for hours on end. He was used to travelling these days, yes, but the thing was, he was used to travelling with the company of others. With the band, and with the crew, in the fairly comfortable tour bus, or on a plane where even if he had to suffer in coach, his band mates were usually there suffering right along with him, and making the whole experience tolerable by joking around, playing cards, or just plain chatting. About stuff that was actually interesting, as opposed to Peter something or other going off to Yale in the fall, to study something Dominic had already made a successful effort to forget.

But, this time, he was on his own. After Deus Ex Machina's last gig in Las Vegas two days ago, the tour bus had headed towards their next stop on the tour - the Syrinx Music Festival in Texas - carrying with it four fifths of the band, while the last fifth, Dominic, had seized the opportunity to squeeze in a bit of a detour in flying down to Los Angeles for a meeting about a possible Gibson Les Paul sponsorship. He had then been supposed to hop on a flight to Albuquerque, to catch up with the rest of the band there, but had, due to circumstances he had yet to disclose to the others, missed said flight, and thus had to wait for a later one, to Juárez, as per the alternate route that the manager's assistant figured out for him over the phone. From Juárez, he'd had to take the bus, and then - as was his current means of transportation - the train, headed for Fort Worth, after which he'd have to suffer yet another hour or so on a bus, before finally, finally getting to Pemberton Falls; the nearest city to the Syrinx Festival. From there, he'd then get to take a cab to the festival area, where the rest of the band would be waiting. Or, well, the tour bus at least, because with the festival launch party about to start in an hour or so, right around the same time as Dominic would be switching train for bus again, the young guitarist entertained little hope of finding the tour bus anything but empty. Although, he could be wrong of course, because during one of the intense texting sessions he'd had with Lavinia (among others, such as his girlfriend Lara, who always had a sympathetic ear to lend, and a couple of other friends) - exchanging banter, sarcasms and general chit chat - she had hinted at aiming to be back by the bus in time for when Dominic arrived. As long as he gave her proper warning.

It was approximately two hours later, that he would see that particular question - of whether she'd be there or not - answered. Having gotten off the train in Fort Worth as planned, he'd continued onto climbing on a cramped and stuffy old local bus, lugging with him the guitar case as well as the big army bag (http://www.crimson-tale.com/Temp/DominicArmyBag.jpg) of the most personal stuff and "necessities"; most of which he was now wishing he'd just left on the tour bus instead. By now, he was rather sick and tired of it all, and even bit one other passengers' head off for getting in his way. Though after having been left alone for a few minutes - as alone as one could get on a crowded bus, and with a woman behind him whining loudly to her friend about how her husband didn't love her anymore - his temper had once again cooled, and so when asked by the girl across the narrow aisle if he too was headed for the Syrinx Festival, he took to chatting with her and her friends; two other girls, and one guy, all around the same age as Dominic himself. It was clear from the very start that they seemed to have no idea whatsoever about who he was, though whether it was because he was wearing big sunglasses and a black beanie (http://www.crimson-tale.com/Temp/DominicBeanie.jpg), or because they were simply clueless, he didn't know. Nor did he bother to find out. Sure, at first he'd been tempted to enlighten the unenlightened, but then had ultimately decided that it would be more fun not to say anything. Especially since they claimed that Deus Ex Machina was one of the bands they were planning to check out, because they hadn't heard them before, but "apparently they're getting big", and also apparently had a former porn actress on bass; another one of the many mixed facts/misconceptions that seemed to float around about the band. And Dominic didn't bother to correct them, but instead just simply hid an amused grin behind the back of his hand, and stashed that little tidbit away to be used in teasing Lavinia later on.

However, that was all on the bus. Since then, Dominic had parted ways with the misinformed foursome, and been picked up by a cab that the manager's assistant had arranged to wait for him at the bus station in Pemberton Falls. After being informed by the cabbie that it would be about a thirty minute drive, Dominic sent another status update to Lavinia, and then one last one, when finally the cab rolled to a halt outside the gates leading into the combined backstage/tour bus area. Surrounded, of course, by a small army of burly security guards, whom all looked pretty skeptical, to say the least, as they watched the slender youth exit the far from glamorous cab and approach, struggling somewhat with the guitar case over his shoulder, and the big and obviously heavy army bag in his hand. Though neither of them protested, as they saw the performer's pass now hanging around his neck, and so after a brief closer inspection allowed him access. But that was all they did.

"It really won't kill you to give me a hand here, will it?", Dominic thus said, and dropped the army bag in front of the men with a loud thud that sent a small cloud of dust rising from the parched ground underneath. "Thanks."

Not that he was used to being waited on hand and foot, but one could still expect some service around here, right? And so with that, Dominic kept on walking, after seeing out of the corner of his eye that the man actually did pick up the bag, and follow.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where Deus' bus is parked, would you?", he said offhandedly and turned around, walking backwards for a few moments in order to look at the guard, but turned back again with a dry, sarcastic "Great...", when all he got in reply was a headshake.

With the fairly big area, and dozens of busses and equipment scattered all over the place, it could take him forever to find the others. And right now, all he wanted to do was to just drop off his stuff as quickly as possible, kick back, and join the party.
Luckily, however, it seemed that not everyone had yet gone off to the party, as only a minute later, he ran into Rafe Saget, one of the guys from Nocturne, a British symphonic metal band that Deus Ex Machina had opened for a couple of times, whom after a couple of minutes of chatting and catching up, and an agreement to have a beer later on, was able to point Dominic in the right direction.

Thusly, after hours and hours of travelling, Dominic soon finally set eyes on the much longed for silver tour bus with Deus Ex Machina's logo along the side, and, much to his surprise, upon nearing the open front door, actually heard familiar voices from inside.

"Here it is", he said and turned to the guard carrying his bag. "Thanks, you can go now."

Judging by the dark look he received in return, the guard was anything but amused by it all, but that didn't bother Dominic in the least. He just adjusted the guitar case over his shoulder, left the bag outside for now, and instead climbed into the tour bus, announcing to whoever was in there;

"Okay everyone, you can all relax now; the talent of this band has arrived."

[WannabeSith]

1.Name: Elaine Maynard (real name: Madison Carrde)

2. Age: 26

4. Type of visitor: artist/other

3. Occupation: C.I.A. agent, posing as lead singer for the band Borealis

4. Bio: She grew up as Madison Carrde, the precocious only child of a lounge singer from Vegas and a Navy Seal. She inherited a lot of traits from both parents- her mother’s lovely voice and social skills as well as her father’s athleticism and keen intellect. Her home life was good, but it was hard at the same time with her father’s frequent deployments. Over the years, she could see the toll it took on her mother, never knowing if an assignment would turn into the last thing he ever did.

She was often picked on in school for her straight A's. The other students got tired of her 'ruining' the curve. It didn't bother her too much. It did, however, motivate her to start taking martial arts classes about halfway through middle school. She also enjoyed her high school drama club, and displayed a natural flair for acting. Despite some envy on the part of her classmates, she never lacked for friends.

When she was sixteen, the day had arrived that she and her mother were dreading. The principal called her into the office where she found her mother sitting teary eyed in a chair across from the desk. She didn't need to utter a word. Only one thing could put that look on her mother's face- her dad had died in the line of duty. The thing that bothered her the most was that no matter how much she wanted to, since then she'd never been able to shed another tear. It was as if the grief of her father's passing had seared her tear ducts shut.

Up until that point, Madison had been considering a career in theater, but she lost all enthusiasm for following in her mother's artistic footsteps after her father's death. She became quieter, kept to herself a lot. She wanted to be like her dad, she knew, but wasn't sure if the military was quite the thing for her, so while she was in college, she started looking into her options. Shortly after she graduated she found herself picked up by a C.I.A. recruiter. The training was grueling, but she found herself adapting to it with the ease of a natural.

Never truly able to confide in anyone outside of work, she made a few friends within the agency, some of whom share a love of music. Every now and then she, Jerry, Smithe, and Diane have even been known to get together for jam sessions. It is precisely this friendship that made them perfect for her current assignment to the Syrinx Music Festival. Posing as the band Borealis, it is their job to get to the bottom of and prevent a terrorist attack at the nearby Lackland Air Force Base. Their intelligence sources dictate that the terrorist will be at the festival, possibly posing as one of the event staff, in order to meet with their supplier.

5: Picture:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o98/Aenorra/AgentElaine.jpg
6. Anything else you'd like to add: Borealis' music is an unusual combination of rock and Jazz, with Madison's (Elaine's) sultry voice being what melds it together perfectly.

Questionnaire:

Name: Elaine Maynard

Nickname: Fox

Instrument: I'm a singer, but I'll play the piano when I'm in the mood.

Previous bands: None

Siblings: None

Food of choice: Thai

Drink of choice: Water with a squirt of lemon. Alcohol just isn't my thing.

Weapon of choice: My Smith & Wesson .40 cal Baby Eagle.

Accessory of choice: My watch. I can't stand being late for anything when I don't have to be.

Movie of choice: Minority Report

Most inspirational artist (musician or not): Caravaggio

Never goes on stage without: Clothes on. I'm no prude, but I also like to keep things... intimate.

Lucky charm: Wouldn't you like to know?

Preferred time of day and why: Nighttime. Like I said before; I like to keep things intimate.

If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why: No one. I'm an independent woman.

Personal quote: “Oh really? If you’re such a big boy, do you think you can handle me?”

[WannabeSith]

"I don't like this, Jer," Elaine murmured, tucking a lock of chestnut hair behind her ear. The agents comprising the band Borealis sat in the back of a large van, shrouded in darkness with only a dim light illuminating the interior. None of them had thought it made any sense for a new band to have their own tour bus, so they had dispensed with that part of their cover, determining it unnecessary. They were supposed to be up and coming new performers riding the coattails of the more seasoned performers that would be present at this event. It was the perfect cover- one that explained their reason for being there and one that explained why no one knew about them.

"Don't like what, Maddy?" her friend asked, keen blue eyes raking her face with cool concern. "We succeeded in getting in. The staff certainly think we play well enough, and with your voice, you could coax information out of anyone. Failing that... you could always put out a little and any man would be dying to tell you what you want to know." He started laughing, but quickly shut up as the fists of the two females in the group connected with his shoulders.

"Ow," he said, his eyes twinkling at his own jest, uncaring of the dirty looks they were giving him. He'd had his chuckle. "Don't be so uptight- it's just another job."

"Aren't you a little young to be going for the dirty old man schtick?" she asked him, reaching for the open case that lay open on top of a large speaker. She took out a flesh-colored device no bigger than a small button and tucked it behind her ear. "Besides, you get around enough for all of us combined. When was your last physical, anyway? You sound demented enough to have syphilis."

"Were you offering to give me one?" he perversely countered, waggling his dark eyebrows at her.

Elaine just rolled her eyes and smoothed her clothes while Diane muttered, "Perv."

"You're too easily sidetracked by your libido, buddy," said Elaine. "What I was saying is that I don't like this because a stage is something risky for someone in our profession to be around, much less on. It means we have to be that much more careful. No slip ups."

Smithe, the quite one, placed a weathered hand on her shoulder, his thoughtful face crinkling around the eyes as he spoke. "Listen, Madison, we'll be all right. We'll get this guy and his contact. This isn't something we haven't done before, nor is it anything we can't handle. Not saying it will be easy, but think back on all your successes in the past. You can do this. You won't slip up. None of us will."

She smiled softly at him, then reached up and squeezed his hand. Out of all of them, Smithe was the one she felt closest to, though really, there was very little any of them actually knew about each other, and what they did know, they had no way of knowing if it were true. Still, she'd known him a long time and even worked with him on a few past assignments. He was one of those people you could always trust to watch your back and his presence always calmed her.

"Thanks, friend. You always know how to put things in perspective, even if you are an incurable optimist," she told him, turning around to make her way to the back door. "Everybody ready?" After a round of muttered yeses, they closed the lid of the case and stowed it under the seat. Then she opened the door and they filed out one by one.

She was dressed in a simple blouse and jeans that nevertheless achieved a Jessica Rabbit effect as they maximized her curves with a deep neckline and soft flare at the legs. One of her most useful talents in the field was her ability to combine class and sensuality with natural aplomb and it was with ease that she donned the bombshell image necessary for her disguise. Tossing her hair over one shoulder in a silken curtain, she hefted a case full of sound equipment and said to the others, "Let's go find out where they want us to put all of this."

Striding smoothly up to one of the security personnel, she told the man, "We're Borealis, and we're not sure where we're supposed to go from here. Do you know someone that might be willing to help us out?" Of course she knew where they were supposed to go, but using that opening gave them an excuse for talking to the other people there, and also might provide a glimpse into some of the people that knew there way around here.

((approachable))

[Ghanima Atreides]

Accompanied by the constant crunching of earth and pebbles beneath its tyres, the dusty tourbus containing four of Deus Ex Machina's members trudged its way through the gates leading into the sizeable compound that for the following three days would play host to one of the country's largest congregations of performers, bands and their fans. At the end of a long and tedious journey, the four youngsters mustered only enough enthusiasm to shift their position and look outside the windows – having long tired of the view- but despite the exhaustion caused by all which touring the country entailed, everyone was perking up. Finally, they had arrived, and of course no-one was planning on sleeping anytime soon, not with the launch party about to kickstart the event. Everything was in place – except one thing. A certain young and scatterbrained guitarist by the name of Dominic de Vere.

As the bus followed its course to the proper parking area, Lavinia Sinclair recalled when the previous day she and her bandmates had stopped in Albuquerque which was supposed to be a meeting point with Dominic, who'd flown to LA after their gig in Vegas, except there was no Dominic to be found. With a sneaking suspicion already forming in her mind when she detected the unmistakeable beeping sound of an arriving text message, Lavinia had snatched up her cellphone and flipped it open in one single motion, squinting down at the screen: sure enough, it was from Dominic, who was informing them that he'd missed his scheduled flight from LA to Albuquerque. Her first reaction had been to shake her head at the screen, as if he could see her. Now, Dominic was known to be "organizationally challenged" as he liked to call it, but he generally managed to get where he needed to be, so Lavinia could only imagine what had kept him – and she could imagine plenty. He sounded unimpressed when faced with the prospect of making his way solo all the way to Syrinx, and Lavinia felt rather unsympathetic, though later after a thorough texting session she was coaxed into feeling just a little bit sorry for the guy. They were all worn out, but at least they had each other, and the relative comfort and privacy of their tourbus. Dominic was a cool guy, most of the time, but exasperatingly chaotic. They kept swapping messages for the rest of the day, and Lavinia could tell from their increasingly snarky tone that he was getting fed up with his journey. A lesson learned, one could hope...or not.

When the rest of the band was about to park inside the festival perimeter, Lavinia's phone was informing her of having received yet another update on Dominic's status, whose train was approaching Fort Worth, and who was trying to convince her to meet up with him at the bus when he finally made it to Syrinx. Lavinia smirked and scowled at the same time: typical. Eventually she did agree, but only after he promised to text her when he was there, so that she didn't have to sit around the bus doing nothing while she could be enjoying herself at the party – and she didn't trust Dominic's punctuality one bit.

With a final screech, the bus came to a halt which they all greeted with a round of hooting and "all right's". Energy was quickly seeping back into their tired bodies, excitement prickling their skin like an electrical current.

"Oh man, do I need a shower," announced Leon while the rest of his bandmates were crowding near the front doors, eager for some fresh air in their lungs. In the end, everyone had a very brief go under the shower and changed in fresh clothes – Lavinia opting for one of her more comfortable pair of stretch pants, a black top ripped along the sleeves and neckline and two of her favourite accessories: a spiked choker and a pyramid chain belt that encased her narrow hips. Having freshened up, the band grabbed their performers' passes and first converged backstage where their manager's assistant waited already (the manager himself was arriving in the morning), for a debriefing, of sorts. It was indeed brief, since the festival itself had yet to begin – they would discuss logistics the following day, for the moment the most important instructions were given to the handling and placement of their instruments once they were removed from the bus. After that, everyone was free to enjoy the newly-launched party, which meant listening to bands in the demo tent, mingling with other artists and fans, chugging copious quantities of beer and generally having a riotous good time. At least, it was what Lavinia had in mind. She remained close to Shane, Leon and Asher as they eased their way into the gathering crowd, but it didn't take long for each of them to find a reason to part ways: Leon spotted an old buddy from the soundcheck crew of another band they'd toured with before, as for Asher, from the way his chest was thrust forward and his gaze roved around, he was switching to gigolo mode. Lavinia and Shane, who were closer, stayed together for a while, each with a bottle of beer in hand, curious about whatever unsigned band was playing at the time. At one point, a song with a catchy sort of beat commenced, prompting a bit of dedicated dancing from the crowd – Lavinia and Shane included. That drew a bit of attention from those nearest to them, for Lavinia's dance moves were anything but subtle, or demure. She ended up being recognized by a pair of girls with eyes as big as saucers and hands already reaching for their autograph books – she obliged. Later, she met up with a sort-of-friend, the bassist of Exsanguinated, a guy with a lot of spunk and a raunchy sense of humour, and his "catch of the day", a lanky girl with flaming pink hair who was practically glued onto him. Lavinia didn't stay long, because it looked like they had their own, ah, plans, so she went back to mingling until she felt a distinct cellphone vibration in one of her pockets. It was Dominic again, and he was about to enter Syrinx.

As she made her way back to the tourbus parking area, Lavinia swiped two bottles of beer with one hand and, moments later when she spotted him alone at the back of the crowd, Shane's wrist with the other. When he shouted a protest in her ear, her response was to show him Dominic's latest text message, and give him a brilliant grin that spoke for itself. As bribery, she lifted one of the beer bottles under his nose – Shane scowled but accepted it, and followed Lavinia towards the silent parking lot.

Seated across from eachother in the bus, Lavinia and her reluctant waiting companion started doing what people always did when they had time to kill: they spent it chatting and occasionally taking a swig from their bottles. They didn't notice the sound of someone approaching, until footsteps up the stairs were heard and Dominic made his unmistakeable appearance at the front of the bus:

"Okay everyone", he declared. "You can all relax now; the talent of this band has arrived."

Lavinia and Shane, both all too accustomed to Dominic's ways, simply smirked at him across the way. Shane had his chin propped in his hand and Lavinia was crouching forward, arms resting on her legs.

"Gods be praised," Shane enunciated with gusto; Lavinia stifled a chuckle. "I was made to sit in this tin can waiting for your ass to get here, man."

"I twisted his arm into it", Lavinia confessed, though she didn't look particularly repentant.

"As lovely as this reunion may be," Shane continued as he got to his feet, "I'm not sticking around for encores. See you around!" he ended and patted Dominic on the shoulder on his way out. Lavinia got to her feet too and sashayed his way, beer bottle hanging between the index and middle fingers of her right hand, then paused close by to look him over.

"How was the trip?" she asked slyly, despite having already received the "highlights" in text form.

(( Extra: Lavinia's outfit (http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/LaviniaPartyOutfit.jpg)


ooc: I hope it all works, including my brief description of festival organizational matters, of which I know almost nothing, so I went with my imagination xD))

[FurryPanda]

Julia didn't let anything distract her when she was actually checking over the band's accounts. There was more than enough money that she wouldn't notice if a lot of it snuck off, and ever since Arnold had convinced her that playing a major venue every once in a while wasn't a bad idea, there were a lot of people who had enough access to make off with it.

She didn't glance up from her laptop and printed spreadsheet when she heard a knock on the partition of the tourbus that made up her office and bedroom half the time, and when the knocking continued, she grunted, hoping that whoever it was would get the hint.

They didn't, so when she finished checking the totals on one column she shouted across the door, "Working!" The band knew better than to bother her when she was working unless something desperately important came up that they could not handle competently. She didn't let them hire another assistant, and after a disaster in England she wouldn't let them check into a venue either, but there was no way they'd arrived already... She glanced down at the clock on her laptop, swore out loud and marked her place with a highlighter on the hard copy and the screen.

Jay's voice trickled around the partition as she slammed her laptop shut, saying in his calm, absolutely unflappable way, "We got to the festival Jules".

She readjusted her T-shirt and pulled on a blazer so she looked marginally more proffessional as she told him, in a completely condescending tone of voice, that he should have said so. He snorted and flipped her hair, and unlike most other people to whom it would occur to to play with her long hair, she didn't punch him.

"Where's Dave?" she asked, seeing that Arnold was still sleeping in his section of the bus, with the door open. Jay shifted his weight, and Julia repressed a sigh. It had been years since she and Dave dated, and her only interest in his pursuing groupies was making sure that he didn't get something nasty. It hadn't sunk in for Jay and Arnie that she didn't care about him anymore, and she supposed it was reasonable, given that they had been screwing every night in the bus for a while, and had had such a perfect relationship, but by now she was used to Jay's occasional sidelong looks and evasions on the subject.

She told Jay to go have his fun and then straightened her glasses as she tried to find the check in booth. Her opinion of Syrinx was fairly high, given that things always seemed to be nicely organized, but every time she had to find her way around a new festival or club or city she would get fairly crabby if things weren't easy to find.

It was in the same place as last year, which was a pleasure, and she politely told the frazzled looking teenager that Speed had arrived. He gave her a stack of papers, one of which was a performance schedule that almost, almost made her laugh out loud. This was their weekend off, alright, they were only performing once! It was almost as good as those few weeks that they set aside just for rehearsing, and prob. She glanced at the teenager handling the papers and looking like he'd already gotten earfuls from every other band there, so she thanked him sweetly for his help, slipped him a ten dollar bill, and told him that this was a great business.

She smiled as she turned around, glad that she could cheer up some poor grunt. Speed wasn't scheduled to perform tonight at least, thank goodness. A few years ago she wouldn't have thought that hanging around at a festival with nothing pressing for a few hours was a pleasure, but now she was close to thinking of it as bliss.

Her business taken care of, Julia dropped the papers off at the tourbus and saw that Arnold had managed to rouse himself to go somewhere. She glanced at her closed laptop, and for once, decided to go party instead of working. The accounts were so far in perfect condition, and it really wasn't pressing. This was their vacation show after all, and it had been ages since she'd seen any kind of performance from the floor with the fans.

A fairly good group was performing, and Julia slid into the throng to dance slightly more conservatively than anyone else, but a blazer, T-shirt and jeans did not mark her as someone who knew anything, although the fact she was overwhelmed with giggles at occasional technological slip ups would. It was a pleasure to let loose and dance with a stream of attractive guys and girls who were trying way too hard, in time to music she hadn't had to hear rehearsed and recorded ten thousand times.

((Approachable
Edited, good now?))

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: Furry, and pretty much everyone else - I'm not sure if I misunderstood something in your post, but I got the impression that Speed are scheduled for more than one gig at this festival? In my experience, at these kinds of festivals, a band only performs once.)))

[FurryPanda]

((OOC: They are. I'll change it. The only experience I have with music festivals is attending a local one to sell candy, and a slightly larger one frequented by many people in my state is organized by a fellow I know, and all he talks about for many months is "those idiot musicians/fairgrounds/managers/tech people" etc. From his ranting, I gathered that some smaller bands with contacts in larger bands will get them to open for them, and that the small band is acquiring the two and a half hour block, and they get to choose how to fill it however they please, as long as they let people know enough in advance to get the programs printed accurately.

Also, last minute cancellations, at the festival I'm thinking of at least, result in whatever the biggest (in terms of usual crowd sizes, which is gotten either by way over my head math, or arbitrarily, I'm not sure) of the other bands getting that block, or someone on the waiting list, if there is one.

I was thinking of Syrinx being fairly small, but if there would be a policy about openings not being allowed, and if there would have been a waiting list, then I shall assume that it is so, and edit.

ETA- edited ))

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: Furry - Syrinx isn't fairly small. Like the intro says, it's quite the opposite; it's grown to be one of the bigger festivals in the country. And from my experience, which includes three rather major music festivals in Europe as well as some really small ones (and also a familiarity with quite a few other massive festivals around the world due to other circumstances) at these things, bands don't really have opening acts. Depending on how big they are, they get a specific time slot, everything from 45 minutes to two hours. The bigger the band, the later/bigger the time slot. The headlining bands usually close one of the days of the festivals. Each bands is scheduled only once, because there's not enough time for them to play more than once, plus people are there to see many bands, not the same ones over and over. Only at very last minute cancellations, do they try to fill the spot with some other band, like you suggested, which usually ends up being one of the bands at the festival. But such last minute cancellations are very rare.

ETA - About opening acts; it's not as much a policy, as it is... just not a part of the concept. With bands constantly playing, pretty much ALL of them are opening acts, except the headliners that close each day of the festival. One stage is set up, a band plays there, and while that stage is then re-arranged and put in order for the next band to play, it's time for another band to perform on one of the other stages. And more often than not, bands overlap. So when you play at a festival, you don't really have an official opening act, because the slot you have been dealt, is supposed to be filled by you and no one else. If someone else went on stage when fans were expecting a certain band at a festival, odds are they (the fans) would leave to go see another band, because the festival concept is that you don't need to sit through the opening act. You see the bands you want to see when they are scheduled to play. So Speed may very well play before another band, but they wouldn't be their opening act. They'd have their own slot.
Here's an example of a festival playlist (http://www.rockparty.se/hultsfred/festivalhistorik/2009/spelschema.aspx#TORSDAG). You see the stages listed (Hawaii, Pampas, Rookie, etc) as well as the times, and that's basically what it looks like. Each band fills their own slot.)))

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

On the last night before the official opening of the festival, one of the No-Hit Wonders that was lucky enough to score some on-stage time on the smallest stage during the final preperations for the official opening called in with a cancelation, due to car trouble. With NO time to schedule a replacement band in the late-night time slot --the band was supposed to be there already, and due on-stage in five minutes-- the hurried, harried organizers threw the block of time open to all commers for a jam session. Word spread quickly in some directions, not at all in others, and before long a number of artists, both well known and unknown, have taken the stage and are performing. With no advance preperation, they aren`t playing anything recognizable, just jamming, and having fun improvising, though the style is clearly remenicient of most of the popular new LOUD a highly-noisy forms of rock. [Heavy Metal, Techo, Industrial, etc., melded together; "who cares how it sounds, we`re havin` FUN, man!"] Of course a crowd gathers to watch, listen, and dance.

During the performance, a striking young woman with enough alchohol on her breath to peel paint and wearing only four-inch needle-sharp spike-heeled shoes and a hot pink hat with an ostrich plume slips unnoticed[!] past the guard and onstage, where she grabs a microphone and belts out a set of improvised Blues[!] lyrics in perfect time with the music, in a voice even more stunning and beautiful than her figure. The performers are too stunned to do anything but keep playing, and the audience AND guard are so transfixed by the spectacal that at the end of the number, before anyone has time to react, she has slipped away, unnoticed[again!], into the crowd. When the audience and guard recover their wits, chaos ensues.

[AtropaMandragora]

That the young Dominic de Vere was not like most people, all of those who knew him would probably be able to attest to, without doubt or even hesitation. Fun-loving party animal that he was, he was practically always up for just about anything, often regardless of the hour - he was no stranger to midnight swims, roadtrips during the wee hours of morning, or breakfast at three in the afternoon - and regardless of whether he was on drugs or off them, he was usually a minor burst of energy wherever he went. Unless, of course, it was before noon the day after a gig, or the days following the end of a tour, in which case he could usually sleep through an earthquake. For twentyfour hours straight, in case of the latter, which was when due to giving every show his all, his batteries were not just running low, but were complete drained. Some of his friends outside of the band had even been known to claim that there had been coma patients more easily awakened than him when he was like that.

So far, however, the current tour was far from over, and Dominic was just as far from crawling under the covers and staying there until hunger drove him out. The long, somewhat lonesome trip may have taken it's toll on him, and most people in his situation would have probably longed for nothing more than to lay their head down on their own pillow in the bus that was their home away from home, and join the party only after a couple of hours of well deserved rest. Reaching one's intended destination did tend to have that effect, after all, since for most people it went hand in hand with unwinding, and finally being able to give in to fatigue.
But not for Dominic.
He was just as ready to dive head first into the party scene as ever, and stir things up by acting the part of provocateur, in order to get the cocky but friendly banter he so loved going. But darn it if the people most likely to go for the bait and swallow it hook, line and sinker, were the exact ones missing from the tour bus as he made his grand entrance.
Dammit!
The only ones there were Lavinia and Shane, who even though they were the ones Dominic was the closest to, were also the ones who for obvious reasons knew him the best and so knew how to deny him the reaction that he was looking for. Thusly, all he got in response, at first, were two rather unimpressed smirks aimed at him from the main lounge part of the bus, before Shane decided to not submit exactly, but at least play along;

"Gods be praised", he exclaimed, and didn't exactly hold back on the feigned enthusiasm. "I was made to sit in this tin can waiting for your ass to get here, man."

Dominic's reponse to that oh-so-heart-warming welcome, was to just give an innocent little grin and a shrug, though he would have surely had something appropriate to quip back, had Lavinia not interjected with her less than remorseful admittance before he could;

"I twisted his arm into it", she claimed, ending up cementing Dominic's notion that one thing was for sure; Shane so did not put the 'mate' in 'band mate'.

And had she not, Shane himself would go on to do it himself only seconds later, when standing from the comfortable couch in which he'd been seated for the past... well, however long he had been there with Lavinia, waiting for Dominic's "ass to get here", he went on to announce;

"As lovely as this reunion may be, I'm not sticking around for encores. See you around!"

And with that, he squeezed himself past Dominic in the narrow aisle, offering a friendly pat on the shoulder in the process, and earning himself a sarcastically smirking "Good to see you too, man" from the young guitarist, before he was out the door, and said young guitarist turned his attention to the person who despite her rather unsympathetic stance towards his situation throughout the day, was currently still far more deserving of the label "mate", than the rest of the band. Even with that devious glint twinkling in her eye as she too stood from her seat and came over to where he was standing, just in the process of putting down the guitar case in the first available free spot he set eyes on, behind the driver's seat.

"How was the trip?" she inquired, perhaps just teasing, or perhaps with a fragment of actually wanting to know mixed in there as well.

Though regardless of whichever it was, Dominic wasted no time seizing the opportunity to vent, because boy did he need to. And hey, if Lavinia didn't want to know, she shouldn't have asked, right?

"God it was long!", he exhaled dramatically, as he straightened his back and peered at her through the long, jet black tresses always hanging (deliberately) into his eyes. "Had I not been on the train, I would've probably jumped in front of it!"

He motioned toward the beer bottle in Lavinia's hand.

"Can I?", he asked without missing a single beat, and as soon as her hand started moving towards him, indicating her approval, grabbed the bottle from her. "Thanks."

Putting the bottle to his lips, he then tilted his head back to take three large, grateful gulps from it, and even closed his eyes, to fully welcome every last ounce of the rich flavour, before handing it back to Lavinia with a soft, telltale "ah!". Screw sleep, rest and everything in between; there was not a single thing more refreshing after hours of any sort of unpleasantness, or even work, as a nice chilled beer, and Dominic was more than ready to start enjoying them right about now, one after another.

Was he worn? Yes. Dusty? Yes. In need of a shower? Probably. But was he tired? Hell no! Nor was he interested in wasting time taking a shower, because right now, he really didn't have the patience needed to get his black tendrils back to their straight and meticuously sprayed state after a standing beneath the many tiny jets of steaming hot water. He was only interested in joining the party as soon as possible. With only one single exception;

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have found a place to eat, would you?", he said as he ventured over to his top bunk bed, to empty the pockets of his open black leather jacket (http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/Dominic1-2.jpg) on it and free himself of everything he deemed unnecessary to carry with him; a few guitar picks, some ticket stubs from his recent route to the festival, some change, one of two pens, a couple of rings, a keychain, and a paper tissue. "I'm starving."

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: Okay, I couldn't help but to notice that me and Ghani seem to be the only ones interacting, even though there are two characters approachable. It's just a suggestion, because far be it from me to tell you guys what to do, but Wannabe and Furry, maybe you could approach one another somehow? There aren't too many other players right now, sadly, so... Just a suggestion. :)

Also, I edited my post above, to change the picture link. :D

ETA @ post below - Oh, I thought she was. My bad. Though you could PM WannabeSith to check? :) )))

[FurryPanda]

((Elaine wasn't marked as approachable, the thought had occurred to me))

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

(((ooc: Okay, I couldn't help but to notice that me and Ghani seem to be the only ones interacting, even though there are two characters approachable....)))((Elaine wasn't marked as approachable,...))((("marked aproachable"?)))

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

(((Hokay. Consider ALL of my characters "approachable" unless I specify otherwise, `k?)))

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

((OOC: Was a character approachable in your last post? It seemed like the only one who could have been was naked-except-for-shoes-and-hat girl, and presumably she would have been long gone by the time the party started, the evening of the day after your post? Unless I'm missing something here?))((Sorry; she isn`t *immediately* approachable, but she could turn up later; I don`t know, yet. My comment was mostly for any future characters I might post. However, I deliberately allowed for the jam session itself to admit ANY musician to ex-post-facto have appeared on the stage. Feel free to "approach" any of those characters that way. :D Likewise for those in the audience. The Shoes&Hat Girl is certainly open for discussion by those who saw her. I`m sure a hot naked singer of such talent would be the talk of the show for a while. As for timing, my post stated that this occured late on the last night before the official opening. It`s my understanding that this is more-or-less during the events described by the other posters.)))

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

((I saw AtropaMandragora`s post before she deleted it, but I missed FurryPanda`s reply.))

((Edit: Ok. I`ll delete this message after you delete yours, so we know we saw each other`s ooc comments. `K?)

[FurryPanda]

((OOC: In short, I said something to the effect of "okay".
I'll have Julia approach at some point in the next real time week))

[Ghanima Atreides]

Lavinia and Dominic - Returning to the party


As the only female member of Deus Ex Machina, Lavinia has had to adapt in many ways to living and working in closed quarters with four young men who naturally banded together in the ever-so-typical, male way. They were often loud, rowdy, loved making off-colour jokes and were more than lax on privacy, which was okay...because so was Lavinia. For as long as she could remember, she'd gotten along better with guys than fellow women, and the fact that she enjoyed a chilled beer and a rousing tacky story as much as the next guy certainly helped; as for privacy, Lavinia wasn't particularly fussy. Confident and easygoing, the limited privacy of a tourbus didn't bother her, and she would even slip into a different top or pair of pants in front of the guys; after all what was the difference between them seeing her bra and panties and being in a bikini, on the beach? The comfortable sense of familiarity that existed among the bandmates was bracing, something safe to fall back upon when they moved from one place to another, surrounded by strangers that all desired their attention. Not that they'd have it any other way, it came with the territory.

Of course, another consequence of being cooped up with four other people for extended periods of time was that eventually nerves would be stretched to their limit and everyone would begin wishing for a change of scenery, hence Shane's reluctant agreement to join Lavinia as she waited for Dominic to get to Syrinx and his eagerness to return to the party, where the fun was at. Lavinia knew very well that despite his chilly greeting, it was nothing personal to Dominic, the three of them sharing a slightly tighter bond than the rest of the guys, obligatory quips and friendly jabs included.

Alone with Dominic, Lavinia wasted no time in approaching him with a slightly teasing inquiry (knowing full well that his trip had not been enjoyable) but also with an opportunity for him to vent out his frustration and perhaps present her with some interesting snippet of information – such as, the reason for this whole delay, which still held her curiosity. Sure enough, Dominic reiterated the same general idea she'd gotten from his texts all day: that the journey had been a long and tedious one, now with the added benefit of a dramatic sigh and an indicative straightening of his back; Lavinia had to admit, he did look rather...dusty, so, one hand on her hip, she gave him a playfully dubious look: he still managed to retain his allure, in a dishevelled sort of way. Not that she'd tell him that. She waited to see whether he'd go and shower but Dominic had his eyes set on a different sort of pick-me-up, mainly the beer bottle hanging from her hand. With an indulgent smile, Lavinia passed it to him.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have found a place to eat, would you?" he went on to ask as he emptied his pockets of various junk he'd collected. "I'm starving."

Not a bad idea, actually, Lavinia thought. She could do with something to eat herself, and mentally thanked mother nature for granting her a lightning-fast metabolism that enabled her less than healthy eating habits.

"I passed by a couple of food stands on the way here," she told him as they climbed out of the bus; the air was warm and heavy with the smell of gasoline, dust and the distant spattering of music. "There's a queue, but I'm guessing you've done enough sitting down today?"

With the bottle to her lips to stifle a smirk, Lavinia glanced ahead, beyond the parking lot. There was also the restaurant in the VIP lounge, but as far as she was concerned she'd rather be there tapping into the pulse of the starting festival rather than sit around a mostly deserted lounge.

"So, are you ready to tell me what the big mystery is?"

She was referring to Dominic's reason for missing his flight, made even more suspicious by his reluctance to tell what it was.

((ooc: Not my best, but I've had some trouble finding the flow these past few days. Hope it works though.))

[AtropaMandragora]

Dominic wasn't much for keeping secrets. At least not secrets of his own. Things told to him in confidence by others, as well as secrets shared with others, those he would take with him to the grave (well, he'd try anyway), but when it came to himself and himself alone, there wasn't all that much that he would make a concious effort to keep in the dark. Especially not to his friends and band mates. When living so close to four other people, in such small quarters, for months on end - not just when touring, but when recording the albums, promoting them and shooting the videos as well - privacy eventually turned into little more than an illusion. Granted, when he wasn’t on the road, he was still living in a fairly small apartment with his girlfriend Lara, but that arrangement was very, very different from the five people cooped up in a tourbus, or, if they were lucky, in a hotel, where they still had to share rooms. Thus, the way way Dominic saw it, hiding things and being secretive towards his bandmates usully only lead to unnecessary tension. Besides, he didn't mind people knowing what to others might be very private matters. He didn't mind people knowing what kind of underwear he wore, that things between him and his parents were still somewhat strained but slowly improving, that he was rather particular and vain about his hair, or that one of his favorite past times - when not partying or hanging out with other people, for a change - was something as "nerdy" as sudoku. Heck, he was even fairly open about his drug use to those who knew him, and he often didn't do a very good job of hiding his occasional infidelity; more than once he'd gotten into an inofficial "top this!" contest with the other guys in the band, mainly Asher, when it came to sex and groupies, and there had been a picture or two printed in magazines, where it would seem he might have been getting just a little bit too cozy with some random girl at the after party.

So, for Lavinia to be suspicious of Dominic's lack of an explanation for the missed flight from Los Angeles, was more than understandable. As was her curiousity. Dominic had known the subject was bound to come up sooner rather than later upon his reuinion with the band, and also expected that simply failing to give an explanation when Lavinia eased her way into questioning him about it - when asking how the trip had been, despite having had him already whine to her about it through text messages for most of the day - would do him little good. Not that he was truly trying to steer her away from it, but as he himself was far more willing to talk about the umbrage he'd been made to endure, rather than the reason behind it all, that was what he ended up focusing on.
Until Lavinia called him out.

"I passed by a couple of food stands on the way here", she first informed him however, and as they exited the bus apparently couldn't help herself from teasing him just a little bit more; "There's a queue, but I'm guessing you've done enough sitting down today?"

Dominic's only comment to that was a faint groan, as though the thought alone of how much time he'd spent sitting still with nothing to do pained him, and he shot her a look to match, before grabbing both handles of the big, heavy army bag still sitting on the ground outside the bus, and partly lifting, partly shoving it up the few steps into the vehicle. Though bother to move it out of aisle, so that the next person to climb onto the bus wouldn't risk tripping over it, he did not. Instead, he merely straightened up again, after the minor struggle, and turned around to face Lavinia, just in time for part two of her interrogation.

"So, are you ready to tell me what the big mystery is?", she asked as the two of them started towards the public area, Dominic sharing her preference of party scene over the less populated VIP lounge.

However, at this point, the young man was still preoccupied with thoughts of food and of shaking off the whole travelling ordeal with a couple of beers and some good company, and so at first glanced at her with slight confusion in his eyes, before it dawned on him what she was referring to.

"Mystery?", he said. "What myst-... Oh, you mean that."

Having realized what she was asking about, he gave a simple, innocent shrug.

"No mystery", he claimed. "I just missed the flight."

Though after another glance at Lavinia, and the far from impressed and far from convinced look on her face, he finally caved in, with a slightly embarrassed grin forming on his lips, which on it's own was more than enough to let Lavinia know that whatever it was that had happened, Dominic didn't consider it to be one of his proudest moments.

"Alright, alright", he said, even though she hadn't really done or said anything to push him further, and from there went on to start telling her the whole story; "So after the meeting a couple of us decided to go out, right."

Following that opening was then given a rather vivid and colorful description, in true Dominic style, of how he and some of the people from the sponsorship meeting, along with one or two of Dominic's L.A. based friends, had gone out for dinner and drinks at a popular restaurant, followed by even more drinks at an equally popular night club. There, Dominic and what he claimed to be one "insanely hot" cage dancer by the name/alias of Roxy had apparently caught eachother's eye during her routine, and once it ended, had spent the next hour or so getting "friendly" at the bar, as the drinks had kept on coming. As seems to be the case with all good things, however, this too had to come to an end, when at 2 a.m. the club closed and Dominic was supposed to head back to his hotel for a good night's rest before his flight to Albuquerque the next day. But considering how "friendly" he and Roxy had been getting, and how in the mood Dominic had been to get even more friendly, he hadn't been at all tempted to call it a night, despite being well aware of that early flight the next morning, and of how likely he was to oversleep once he went to bed after a night of such partying. Of course, at that point, his plan hadn't been to go to bed at all, but to simply treat himself to some much needed female company throughout the night, and then sleep on the plane and on the tourbus later on. When in such dire need of physical relief as he had been right then, lack of sleep had been a small price to pay, especially considering that Deus Ex Machina's next gig was a couple of days away, and so there was no actual need for him to be in shape for anything important the following day.

The problem was... both he and Roxy had gotten just a little too much to drink, and so the only friendly activity seen between the two of them in the bed in her apartment, was the two of them passing out on it within minutes of eachother. Him still wearing everything but his shirt, and her still wearing everything but her six inch heels. Consequently, after a night of hard partying and no alarm clock to even try to wake him, Dominic hadn't woken up until long after his flight had taken off. When he'd texted Lavinia to let her and the others know he'd missed it, he had just barely managed to crawl out of bed, and had since tried to forget the embarrassing fact that the hours he'd now had to suffer on the train and the busses, had ended up being all for nothing.

"... and if you tell any of the other guys about this", he eventually finished his story with conviction, "I swear I'll... I'll disown you or something. Seriously."

[Ghanima Atreides]

Dominic and Lavinia - At the Party


Lavinia loved a good story, especially if it contained a nice helping of spicy gossip. True, it wasn't one of her virtues, but everyone had their vices, correct? In the entertainment industry, rumours circulated rampantly, and the public practically ate it up, but while some celebrities took offense at the various, more or less outrageous claims spawning around them, Lavinia found them hilarious. One example was her supposed involvement with Dominic, religiously documented within the pages of a popular tabloid; another was a popular rumour started on an Internet forum that she'd once starred in porn movies – someone had even uploaded photoshopped pictures of her head on a pornstar's body, despite the fact that anyone who'd seen Lavinia's true, artistically nude pictures would have known her boobs were several sizes smaller, not to mention silicone-free. Still, she was thoroughly amused by the whole thing, and besides, free advertising never hurt. The key of surviving in this line of work, she always said, was to not take yourself too seriously.

Lavinia also enjoyed keeping up to date with the various amusing tidbits surrounding the lives of her bandmates, such as who'd hooked up with who at so and so party, drunken shenanigans or funny holiday stories – the sort of stuff circulated among friends. She didn't actually pry into anyone's life, and their secrets were theirs to keep, but that didn't mean she wouldn't prod just a little bit, and Dominic's conspicuous avoidance of a certain topic that day had roused her curiosity. Especially since Dominic was a guy who usually liked to share, so she decided to just go ahead and ask.

When Dominic made his unconvincing attempt at appearing oblivious, the look on Lavinia's face changed from curious to unconvinced, one eyebrow pushing towards her short cropped bangs in a thoroughly unimpressed way. "I'm waiting", her expression said, and Dominic seemed to realize it because the false innocence dropped from his face and a slightly embarrassed smile emerged in its place.

"Alright, alright" he conceded, "So after the meeting a couple of us decided to go out, right." , then proceeded to give her a colourful account of his past two nights. It proved to be a classical Dominic scenario: going out, partying, drinking and cosying up to an attractive girl he ended up taking back to his hotel room. When he got to the part where he admitted being too drunk to actually do anything with Roxy other than pass out next to her, Lavinia aimed a covert smirk at the ground: so, the reason for all this avoidance was nothing more than male pride. Typical. In all honesty, Lavinia had included a hookup among her guesses, either that or something involving the drugs Dominic indulged in (neither being things she personally approved of, but hey, it was his life), though she'd more or less assumed it had to be something else. Usually, Dominic wasn't exactly modest about his conquests.

"... and if you tell any of the other guys about this", Dominic ended in defense of his reputation, "I swear I'll... I'll disown you or something. Seriously."

Lavinia couldn't help it; she swung her head back in a short burst of laughter and coiled an arm around his neck, squeezing him a little closer. It wasn't mocking or malicious, just amused and even playfully sympathetic, not only at such a display of classical guy angst but Dominic's choice of words in warning her about sharing the story with the other band members. Which she had no intention to (knowing how to keep a secret was the cardinal rule of friendship, after all), they were going to ask him about it anyway and she was mildly curious how much the story will have changed by the time everyone was brought up to date with the events.

"Don't worry, your little secret's safe with me, " she grinned. He was actually sort of lucky he'd passed out before taking things further, with that much alcohol involved the outcome could have been much more embarrassing. She didn't tell him that though.

"I'm sure you'll rectify the situation in the near future", she said instead, eyes narrowing meaningfully.

They were nearing the actual party area, noise and light increasing in intensity with each step until they were practically engulfed by the riotous throngs of party goers. Lavinia discarded her now empty beer bottle and grabbed a replacement, scanning ahead for any familiar faces. She didn't see any, but the band currently on the stage was playing a cover to one of her favourite songs, so she threw her arms in the air with an eager "Woo!", motioning Dominic closer so that they could dance.



((ooc: I'm not sure if this gives you enough to work with, I didn't know what else to say, and figured to add in a bit of dancing to their interaction...if you need more added though, please do let me know.))

[AtropaMandragora]

Different friendships contain elements of different things. There are friends with whom you'll party and have a good time, but never really have heart-to-heart talks to, and there are friends in whom you'll confide your innermost secrets, but in whose company you'll tend to not really cut loose and go wild. Dominic knew this as well as the next person. He also knew that there were of course exceptions, people with whom you could do both, and while heart-to-heart talks weren't an all too common occurrence between himself and Lavinia, she was still the one person in the band that he would describe as one such exception. She was easy to get along with, terrific party company, and the member of the band that he trusted the most, when it came to not breaking a confidence. Not that the whole failure with Roxy and the flights and everything was in any way something that would ever define a true confidence - let's face it, it would be embarrassing if the truth got out, but it would hardly hurt him, nor his feelings - but nevertheless, Dominic figured that if he was to tell any band mate the whole unaltered truth, it would be her, because he knew it wouldn't go any further, unless he himself decided to tell the other guys about it, in which case he'd probably never hear the end of it. Oh yes, Lavinia was sure to tease him about it too, but never in the form of using it as a low blow, like some of the guys were inclined to do it provoked. And Dominic was so very good at provoking at least a couple of them, when he wanted to, and so figured... why give them something to use against him when he did? Only a fool would voluntarily arm his occasional opponents with more than they needed.

As for Lavinia; yes, Dominic was indeed likely to be teased about it by her, but in her case, it would be teasing in good humour, between friends. Unless, of course, he managed to really piss her off, in which case it didn't really matter what she knew about him, she'd probably manage to still cut him down to size with a lash of her razor sharp tongue anyway. Feisty she was, that one. Though right now, she merely laughed at his story, not the least bit concerned by his, admittedly, less than alarming threat, and even pulled him a little closer momentarily, in friendly affection.

"Don't worry, your little secret's safe with me", she promised him with a smile easing it's way across her painted lips. "I'm sure you'll rectify the situation in the near future."

Those were words that spread a grin across Dominic's face as well, though he chose not to comment. He couldn't, and wouldn't, deny that she had a point, and that this had hardly been the first time he'd found someone other than his girlfriend Lara to get intimate with. But while he had cheated before (and, unlike this time, actually done it "successfully"), and did have a tendency to get into boasting matches with the other guys about such experiences, he usually didn't actively seek out girls and groupies himself. He never did go on the prowl, unlike some, with the intention of getting laid. It was just that... with his good looks and his charisma drawing the girls to him, it was difficult for a young man with a growing ego, not to mention a growing sexual frustration, not to sometimes just... indulge, and enjoy it. And it really wasn't as though he nailed all of them, right? There were other ways. Ways that left him equally freed of frustration, and the girl with something to still brag about to her friends, or whoever she was planning on telling about her "close encounter".

Well, anyway, though he did have plenty of sexual frustration to work off this evening, especially since the other night had proven to be most unhelpful in that regard, he currently had a couple of other priorities to tend to first. He wanted to party and hang out with Lavinia for a bit, as well as whatever other interesting people he might encounter. But, right now, and most all, he wanted to eat.

As a result, when Lavinia finally stopped after leading the way into the gathering of people around the demo stage, expressing her unmistakable appreciation of the band's current song of choice with an enthusiastic "Woo", and then went on to try and coax Dominic into dancing, his lips cracked into another grin.

"Ooooh no", he said, shaking his head, as though she was trying to trick him and he'd seen right through it, and then indicated the beer bottle he'd picked up along the way. "I haven't had nearly enough of these yet, to do that."

Not that he ever really needed alcohol to do anything, except perhaps talk more than usual, but any excuse to drink was a good one. Even if it was made up. And besides, he really was starving, and so instead of joining Lavinia in moving to the music, he raised his hand and curled his index finger at her, to motion her closer, as if about to share a secret with her. Once she was close enough, he leaned in face to face, to make sure not a single letter went unheard.

"Food", he enunciated clearly, and even took to making small weird signals with his hand, actually spelling the word in made up sign language. "I mean it. If we don't get me something to eat soon, I'll starve to death, and it'll be all your fault."

For the last couple of words, an almost childlike, accusing tone seeped into his voice, and was momentarily matched by the look in his eyes (what little one could see of them behind the curtain of raven hair), before a roguish grin shattered the image.

"Or, I just might start gnawing on your bony *ss", he added, and as a way of further illustrating his point, saw fit to bestow a playful slap upon the aforementioned body part.

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

(((Is the stage where the Shoes & Hat Girl sings anywhere near the route from the "demo stage" where Dominic and Lavinia are to the food they`re heading for? Should they be encountering S&H G`s performance en route?)))

[Ghanima Atreides]

((ooc: Well, as far as I know the demo stage is the only stage currently open, so Shoes and Hat Girl would've been on it.))

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

(((Before, after, or during Dominic and Lavinia`s visit to the area? I want SOMEone to have been either on-stage or in the audience during her performance. ;) )))

[Ghanima Atreides]

((ooc: I kind of assume that before they were there, since you've written about it long before they arrived and with no idea of your plans for her, neither Atropa nor I mentioned it, and it's not something that would've gone unnoticed. Lavinia was around earlier and even though I haven't said anything about it then I could refer back to her having caught a glimpse of your girl, then say something to Dominic? She could also still be around. ))

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

(((Possible. Perhaps she`s just getting on-stage as they`re preparing to seek food? I tried to leave things as open and flexable as possible, so people could work her performance into their own stories however they liked: Their characters could, ex-post-facto, have been either on-stage [as a performer] or in the audience [as ANYone], or even the sigular guard. As I recall, I specified the time-of-day rather loosely, as well. [Bleep], she could even turn out to be Lavinia, for all I know right now, even though Lavinia didn`t even exist, as far as I know, when I invented S&H Girl, and those two being one-and-the-same clashes with some of the ideas I had when I sent the PM detailing my idea. Still, it`s possible, but if so, would have to have happened after the more recient posts, after Lavinia had more to drink. Whatever y`all do, I`m anxious to see SOME reaction to her performance. Surprise me! ;) :D )))

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: Okay guys, I realize you're discussing the RP, but the number of ooc's is getting a bit out of hand here...

GeneralOperationsDirector - The girl couldn't have been Lavinia, because Lavinia is Ghani's character, whom she and she alone controls. No one else. That's kind of how these RPs generally work; everyone creates a character, and then only the creator RPs them. If it's a character left for all to use, they're called an NPC; Non-Playable Character. Which might sound like a contradiction, I realize, but what it means is that no player truly controls them, and they can be used by anyone to help their characters' stories along. (As long as they're not being used simultaneously by two players, at different locations, doing different things.)

As for the current situation; I kind of agree with Ghani. I think it would be best if Lavinia had witnessed the performance earlier, and told Dominic about it. That would still give you a reaction, and from two characters too.)))

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: In an attempt to liven things up a little, and offer more characters for people to interact with, I'm adding one of my own. :) )))


Name: Daniel de Vere
Age: 17
Type of visitor: Visitor/other
Occupation: Student
Bio:
The younger brother of Dominic de Vere, Daniel was born and raised under much the same troublesome circumstances, although often found himself shielded and protected from the angry outbursts during his parents' many and loud "disagreements", by his older brother. Whenever arguments would erupt in the de Vere household, Dominic would take Daniel to the room that the two boys shared, and busy him with toys, TV and video games, so that he wouldn't pay attention to what was going on in other parts of the house. However, despite his brother's best efforts, Daniel did still notice the anxiety present in Dominic's eyes at those times, and the way that he would glance nervously at the door, or sometimes just stop mid motion or mid sentence, to listen. Even to a small boy who might not understand what it was all about, such anxiety would rub off, and leave him most aware that something wasn't right, regardless of knowing what that something was. And as he grew older, he did of course eventually realize what was going on at those times, though due to his brother was rarely made to actually witness any of it with his own two eyes. Not even after Dominic went away to college, because although that wasn't an event that turned their mother and father into the perfect couple, it did still see a change in their behaviour. It was as though with Dominic no longer there to act the part of diplomat and mediator, and with Daniel having learned only to distance himself and back away from those situations instead of stepping into Dominic's old shoes, their parents finally realized that it was up to them to solve their problems, not their children. Over the past couple of years, things between them have been somewhat calmer.

As for Daniel, he's grown into what most would probably consider a rather normal young man, with normal teen joys and sorrows. He's a sweet and down-to-earth guy, does fairly well in school, and loves to play basketball on the school team, but doesn't really tend to bring attention to himself, neither through excellent grades, nor by hanging with the in-crowd. Or even with the "freaks", although he did go through a goth phase during his freshman and sophomore years, mostly inspired by the brother he so looked up to, and still does. These days, however, he dresses like most everyone else, surrounds himself with a small group of close friends, and is quite content that way. And while he himself does idolize his older brother - AS his older brother, rather than the guitarist in a known band - it bothers him to know that there are some people who try to befriend him just so that they'll maybe get a chance to meet Dominic, or any of the other members of Deus Ex Machina, or at the very least be able to brag about being buddies with the brother or someone (fairly) famous.


Picture:
http://www.crimson-tale.com/Temp/DanielDeVere1.jpg


Anything else you might want to add:

Turns eighteen years old on day two of the festival (currently the day after tomorrow); the same day that Deus Ex Machina are scheduled to perform. As a birthday present, his parents bought him the ticket and allowed him to go.

Is currently on summer break, after graduating high school. Starting college in the fall.

Regrets to never have had the chance to see Deus Ex Machina perform live before, although has seen them on TV, YouTube, etc. Also has never met Lavinia and Asher, due to various circumstances. Has however met Shane a number of times, and also Leon once or twice.



(((ooc: Open to storylines and plots, etc.)))

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

(((Ghanima Atreides, if you like the idea of Shoes & Hat Girl turning out to be Lavinia later in the evening, you may have her. If not, that`s OK too. If need be, I can delete and repost at a more appropriate location. ;))))

[Alissa888]

(((OOC: GeneralOperationsDirector - I quite like the fact that you're taking initiative and coming up with new ways to make your idea work, but I do have to echo what the others have said and what I and Atropa, as the RP hosts, agreed to when you first pitched us the idea;

1) The characters you play are standalone entities which you create and control and you're free to play them/do with them (and them alone) as you wish for as long as you wish.

2) Others' characters are their own, while there's nothing theoretically forbidding you and Ghanima from agreeing that the Shoes and Hat girl was indeed Lavinia, I'll have to ask you to refrain from creating scenarios that others' characters have acted in and then asking them to carry on from there. If you have an idea for a storyline, pitch it to the player first and work everything out before posting.

I'm sure everyone else has said the same thing, and I'm sure you understand. Thank you :) )))

[FurryPanda]

Julia had danced with the fans of whatever band had been playing for quite a while. She didn't bother to remember their names, even though they were good, they were too gothy to go with Speed's sound very well, or to directly compete with them for fans. She knew that it was terrible practice to only be concerned with her market, but she was on vacation. The detailed perusals of the bands could come afterward.

She ambled away from the crowd, knowing that she should probably get some food, but expecting the usual greasy stand crap that was a staple of festival diet. She hated to admit it, but every time she thought about being as fat as she was when she was younger she could barely eat for days. She wasn't sure if she was able to objectively judge if fat managers were able to get much done, but she didn't want to risk it. Which meant that she did need to find something to eat.

There was a cluster of food stands near one of the stages, and she had to jump around a bit to see over the milling crowd's head what exactly they were selling, but her face lit up with a small grin as she got in line. They had an organic smoothie bar! She tipped the guy more than double what the smoothie was costing, even at inflated festival prices, and was able to talk him out of an apple and strawberries. As she took the neatly napkin wrapped bundle over to a mostly clean picnic table she sat down for a good meal.

She ate the apple first, people watching as she enjoyed the tart, nicely ripe fruit. No one sat next to her, which, a few years ago would have offended her terribly, but now was just an excuse to put her feet up as she alternated between whole strawberries and her smoothie. She was just eavesdropping on conversations, most of them ranging in intelligence from "so-and-so from band X is SO GORGEOUS!" to "Will this band shirt make me look fat?" It always annoyed her how people could be at a music festival and not talk about the music.

Then another little conversational tidbit did catch her attention. "fantastic music for a buck-a** chick". By the time she was able to pick out that it was two guys, they were out of earshot. Which wasn't much of a problem as there were small groups of people coming from one of the stages talking about a naked girl having sang very well during the open stage.

Julia's curiosity was quite awakened* by that, so she finished her strawberries and took her smoothie over to the stage. There was a group playing, sounding kind of flustered, and a huge knot of people talking about "naked girl," "shoes and hat girl" "talented girl," and, in the case of several teenagers still in titshock "Whoaaaaaaaa"

Finally she managed to pick her way to the front, where a security guard stood there. "What happened?" she asked, letting some of her usual imperious tones seep in. The kind that said that she was someone people needed to talk to or risk getting fired. She belatedly remembered that she wasn't in business attire, she was holding a smoothie, and everyone was probably getting up in this guy's face about what had happened.

"I'm the manager for Speed. The boys hate not knowing what's going on," she added as an afterthought.

((OOC: GeneralOperationsDirector, Now that someone (Julia) has approached someone (an NPC) in this case, you post a reply to what she had to say, or if you don't want to use the security guard I made, then you can have someone on stage call to her, or someone in the crowd chime in, or whatever))

((Also, Alissa and Atropa are right. Ghani's character is hers to do with as she wishes. And unless you worked out in PMs in advance that Ghani's character was your character for that space, then it is safe to assume that it is not Ghani's wish to have her character be your character.))

((*took me a minute to come up with a synonym for aroused))

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

((FurryPanda & others: I was just offering, not insisting.))
((FurryPanda: "...or if you don't want to use the security guard I made...": Didn`t *I* place one there? :) ))

The security guard, still somewhat shell-shocked, hems and haws a bit, stuttering occasionaly, as people sometimes do when overwhelmed, blurting out a few choice words in the process, before pulling himself together and giving a straigtforward and reasonably complete report of the incident, not even bothering to whitewash his own lack of involvement. He then loses it again for a minute or two and babbles on about how her style completely missed the style of the music she was singing to, yet managed to accompany in perfect time, and how could anyone so drunk as that even sing at all, much less that well, and how she was stacked, etc., etc., etc., before announcing that he NEEDS a drink and sitting down on the first available seating. ((What is Julia`s reaction to this? ...and anyone care to specify what he sat on?))

[Ghanima Atreides]

Lavinia and Dominic - getting food


Rhythm. It kept the Earth turning, from the tiniest of throbbing hearts to the clashes of giants, and one of the last untamed forces of nature found in the modern world; a raw and primal beat echoing from the very depths of time....there was a difference between hearing it, and feeling it.

That was about as close as Lavinia had ever come to having a life philosophy, and liked to experience music in stages: the underlying beat was the first thing she noticed about a song, which usually meant either a hit or a miss in her book. She could enjoy different pieces of music in different ways for different reasons, yet it took a unique blend of rhythm, melody and lyrics to result into a song she could listen to in any situation and never get tired of it. Such was "Kiss" by London After Midnight, the familiar accords of which reverberated in the dusty air as Lavinia was preparing herself to join the crowd bursting in cheers all around the stage. Her love of dancing only came second to her love of performing, and she did it well. With a sway of her hips she fell into place within an area large enough to unfold herself, the contours of her body undulating along with the rhythm, hinting aplenty at what lay beneath the flimsy fabric of her clothes. It didn't take long for a few pairs of male eyes to begin following the path of Lavinia's sinuous hips, encased as they were in those stretchy pants that hung low enough to offer a tantalizing glimpse of her taut abdomen. At this stage, she usually began to forget the world beyond the edge of the crowd, and she would have if Dominic hadn't remained standing a few feet away in spite of her invitation, shaking his head rather obviously and pointing at his beer bottle. The ruckus was loud enough to muffle some of his words even over that short distance, though Lavinia caught the gist of it.


"...haven't had nearly enough of these yet, to do that." was the last thing she heard, prompting her to reluctantly slow down and shoot Dominic a piercing stare: since when did he need alcohol to party? Not that she got the chance to comment on that fact, because next thing she knew, he was motioning her over with the air of someone about to whisper a secret. With a sigh, Lavinia trotted over, tucked the hair away from her ears and, arms crossed, leaned in closer. The word she both heard and saw spelled out in sign language was "Food", followed by a petulant "I mean it. If we don't get me something to eat soon, I'll starve to death, and it'll be all your fault."

Cocking her head to one side, Lavinia beheld him with a stern look about as sincere as Dominic's childlike whining, and was unable to suppress a giggle-snort when his expression suddenly changed to mischief. Men and their stomachs...only second to their dicks. Then again, she had promised to get some food together...and she was rather hungry too, Lavinia reminded herself, though afterwards she was going to party, with or without Dominic. The imp in him wasn't done, however.

"Or, I just might start gnawing on your bony *ss" the young man remarked and aimed a hand at her behind, where it fell with a loud smack. For a moment Lavinia appeared frozen in mock shock, not as much at the gesture but at what he'd said. The words "My bony ass?!" had already crossed her lips as if preparing a retort along the lines of "pot calling kettle black" when she threw her head back in enthusiastic laughter.

"You know you love it!" she told him instead with a saucy grin and wriggled in closer, bumping hips together. It wasn't unusual for Dominic and Lavinia to engage in this sort of playful "borderline flirting", though never taking it further. Privately, she'd considered the possibility, and she believed the interest wasn't one sided, but hooking up with Dominic, even as a one-time thing, would be a baaaad idea. First, he had a girlfriend and Lavinia didn't do attached dudes but even if she were to bend her principles for that there was the fact that she valued their friendship more. Sex would ruin it. Still, she'd been single for nearly four months and her body disagreed.

About twenty minutes later, laden with two hefty portions of wholly unhealthy food, Dominic and Lavinia sought a quiet(er) place to sit down and eat. Sniffing the hot food had stirred her appetite so she began wolfing her burger down almost as quickly as he did, forgetting even to talk much; it took a couple of minutes before conversation could take root properly once more.

"So," Lavinia began as she licked some ketchup off her thumb, "Who else still needs to get here? Lara, Debbie, ooooh your brother too, right? Can't wait to meet little Danny!" she ended with a grin worthy of a Cheshire Cat. She was going to test just how much of an overprotective big brother Dominic was.


((Atropa: I hope this works.

GeneralOperationsDirector: Thanks for the offer, though in addition to what the others have said, it's not the sort of stunt I can picture Lavinia pulling right now, even if she did manage to get a hat and stilettos from somewhere.

[AtropaMandragora]

When at the tender age of thirteen, Dominic had started playing in his first band, Unused And Abused, he and his band mates had agreed on one cardinal rule pertaining to the band: No girls in the band. Ever. To the pubertal trio, girls were far too soft for their oh-so-hardcore rock band, and would absolutely, definitely rob them completely of their coolness factor, not to mention cry about every little shit detail when they didn't get their way, and throw hissy fits whenever the guys' sense of humour moved to areas below the belt. All girls did. Yeah, sure, chicks were cool for dating and shagging and all - which frankly was something neither of the boys had gotten around to at the time, but which didn't stop them from talking about it like they had - but as band members, they would be an utter catastrophe. They would totally ruin the band, and besides, everyone knew girls couldn't play worth shit anyway, right?

That had been the mentality of Dominic de Vere, thirteen year old singer/songwriter/guitarist and rock star in the making, and while over the years, he had grown to actually appreciate several female musicians, as well as openly acknowledge their talent, it was a mentality that had kind of stuck with him through all the bands that had followed Unused and Abused's rather swift demise. However, unlike before, it hadn't been on a really conscious level, in the way of making it a rule or even discussing it, but rather in the way of not discussing it; it wasn't made a regulation, but it just never surfaced as an option either. In a way, it always seemed unconsciously implied between him and the guys he played with, and if he would have ever been asked about the idea of playing with a girl, he would have been likely to respond with something along the lines of "Hmm, I've never really thought about it". And it would have been God's honest truth. The post-first band era had just never seen the question raised. Which was all probably why in college the subject hadn't come up between himself and Lavinia, until the very evening when she had sat down to join him and Shane, in one of their spur-of-the-moment jamming sessions.

The funny thing was, that by that time, it had felt completely natural to all three of them, to the once anti-girl musicians Dominic as well. Lavinia had had much to offer, as an entirely new element of skill, ideas and insight, and while Dominic would sometimes question them, it was never because she was of the opposite gender. He would question Shane as well, just as Shane and Lavinia would question him, and each other. Sometimes opinions just differed, it was as simple as that.

As it would turn out, however, Dominic hadn't been completely off the mark as a thirteen year old chauvinist. Playing with a female wasn't one hundred percent uncomplicated, although none of the issues that arose had a whole lot in common with the ones he had once expected. There was no crying, no throwing of hissy fits, and there was definitely no bad craftsmanship. What was there, was a certain kind of tension. With a beautiful and sensual young woman around, with whom you were working rather closely at times, there were bound to be times when the guys around her thought of her not in terms of "just" a band mate, but as exactly that beautiful, sensual young woman. Especially while on tour, when they spent more time together than most married couples did, and in spaces far more cramped than a house or an apartment too. Add to that the natural chemistry that existed between Dominic and Lavinia, along with the absence of his girlfriend Lara, and it was no wonder that more than once Dominic had found himself watching Lavinia while all kinds of naughty thoughts and scenarios had been racing through his mind.

To have temptation so close, yet still so very far out of reach, was a source of building frustration if ever there was one, because it kept drawing out Dominic's appreciation for female company, yet at the same time didn't allow him to truly bask in it. Much like Lavinia, he was aware of how things between them might change if they ever decided to further explore their chemistry. Though admittedly, that wasn't usually what held him back on those occasions when he was feeling... inspired, so to speak, because on those occasions, reason and common sense were abstract concepts at best. Instead, what it came down to at those times, was something more akin to intuition, like there was some unseen border that the two of them just shied away from crossing. And whenever that happened, Dominic had four different ways of dealing with it:
1. Calling up Lara, for some "intimate" conversation.
2. Subjecting himself and giving in to the advances made by some fan or groupie.
3. Taking care of business himself.
4. Cold shower, cold shower, cold shower.

This evening, all four options were already on the table, due to the events of the previous evening, which had significantly added to his building frustration but ended up denying him the release he had been, and still was, in need of. And Lavinia slipping closer, after first indicating - and quite fairly too - that he was hardly one to talk when it came to being thin, really didn't help matters much. Even if it was only in their usually friendly flirting manner. Alluring and seductive as ever, if maybe in a currently somewhat unaware way, and with those swaying hips while she had been moving to the music... Nope, it was safe to say that after that tantalizing display, and then finding her body slipping close to his, Dominic was not one inch closer to feeling the urge loosen it's grip of him.

"You know you love it!", she claimed with a grin, while playfully bumping her hip against his.

Though what exactly "it" entailed, she didn't elaborate on; her *ss, or being made to starve. Because in all fairness, while her shapely behind was indeed worthy of loving, Dominic was also known to appreciate the concept of slight masochism... But since the odds were that she was referring to the former, that was the scenario he decided to address, with a simple but expressive;

"Hell yeah."

With his arm then gently around her waist, as to not lose her in the crowd, the two of them started making their somewhat crooked way towards the back of the gathering, since ploughing through it towards the side would probably take them a lot longer than it would take them to go around it. Once emerged, they took a few seconds to locate the nearest gathering of food stands, and then set off to find something to eat that suited both of their tastes. With neither of them being particularly fussy these days - when on the road with a band that had not reached super stardom (yet), you learned to gobble down most anything - especially Dominic who at this point just wanted something, anything, to silence his rumbling stomach, it didn't take them long to find a burger stand. After fifteen minutes, and quite a bit of cussing from Dominic, whose condition didn't exactly improve by standing in line while the mouth-watering aroma of cooked food assaulted his nostrils, they finally got to sit down, and dig in. By then, Dominic was so starved that the first of the two burgers he had ordered vanished in less than two minutes. Only once it was gone, and the rumbling from below subsided, did he take a moment to pause, before starting on his second burger, far more slowly this time. This one, he was set on actually enjoying.

"So," Lavinia said at length, from where she sat across the picnic table from him, "Who else still needs to get here? Lara, Debbie, ooooh your brother too, right? Can't wait to meet little Danny!"

Looking up as she had started speaking, Dominic soon caught the wide and oddly content grin on her lips, and his eyes narrowed briefly in suspicion. What was she up to?
Although... he supposed it could be just plain excitement. Lavinia and Daniel had never had a chance to meet, after all, despite her and Dominic having played together for a couple of years now, and Dominic had talked about his brother quite a bit from time to time. And to be honest, Dominic was quite excited himself, because he hadn't gotten to see neither Daniel nor Lara in weeks, and so was really looking forward to having them show up the day after tomorrow. And on Daniel's eighteenth birthday, no less. Dominic had regretted not being able to make it home for that event, and so had been happily surprised when Danny had told him that he, and Lara, would be coming to the Syrinx Festival for Deus Ex Machina's gig. It was going to be great.

But, back to Lavinia.

"I have a suspicion that feeling might be mutual", Dominic said with a smirk, recalling his little brother's reaction when Dominic had shown him a few of Lavinia's "artistic" pictures; the two brothers differed from one another on many things, but had seemed to be in total agreement regarding Lavinia's... uhhh... assets. "Just go easy on him, okay? Don't give the little shit a heart attack or anything."

[Ghanima Atreides]

Despite being quick to disagree most of the times, Lavinia had to admit that it wasn't always easy being the only female member of Deus Ex Machina, or the long days and nights spent living and working in close quarters with the guys were without certain...incidents. Not when it came to music, no – whenever the group gathered for work, gender lines were blurred and it ceased to matter whether the person next to you was male or female; all that matter was giving it 100 percent and making sure the end result was the best it could be. The issue made itself known at different times, like those long, drawn-out hours spent in the tourbus as it transported them from one location to another, away from friends and loved ones and having only one another as distractions. Sometimes, people ended up getting on eachothers' nerves but other times eyes would wander with a whole different intent, not just on the part of the guys but Lavinia's as well. Just like they aimed furtive glances at her legs and behind whenever she happened to switch to a different pair of pants without retreating to the privacy of the backroom, or glanced appreciatively at her feminine shapes as she lay in her bunk reading a book in nothing but a pair of shorts and a tight-fitting top, she found herself observing them more closely when they happened to be shirtless or wearing clothes that left little to the imagination. The fact that they all managed to overcome this and remain fairly relaxed around one another was just one of the ingredients that made DEM a winning recipe, but it also meant there would always be a certain distinction between Lavinia and the rest of the band. It didn't help that the one guy she felt closest to also happened to be the prime source of temptation, and when their friendly banter took on more flirtatious tones, it was usually a sign that something was fanning those forbidden embers.

Like then. When Lavinia went in party mode, she also tended to become friskier and even less subdued than usual; it was just the way her blood pumped hotly in her veins, mixing with alcohol that suddenly unlocked certain gates that normally kept some of her impulses in check. Secondly, she'd been single for several months, and was really starting to feel the lack of male company in her life, in more ways than one; for someone who made better friends with guys than with other women, Lavinia was notoriously unsuccessful in her romantic relationships. In that, she and Dominic were very different: he was still dating his highschool sweetheart, while Lavinia had acquired an entire collection of failed romances, the latest having ended just before they'd begun promoting DEM's newest album four months ago. It had been an insanely busy time for the band, but a good distraction from the breakup in Lavinia's case, until more recently.

As they ate their burgers and fries and chatted, Lavinia's initial burst of exuberance mellowed down, diverting her thoughts along different paths: she was thinking about those who had yet to get to Syrinx, such as her friend Debbie and Dominic's girlfriend and brother. None of Lavinia's relatives, save for a cousin once, had ever attended her shows (her mother was in her late sixties and her only aunt lived in Canada), so she was looking forward to meeting young Daniel de Vere, whom she knew only from his brother's stories. She was curious whether they were anything alike, and of course the whole thing was a fun opportunity to see just how sensitive Nicky was where his sibling was concerned, if he was a classical older brother or not. After all, it was a side of him Lavinia had yet to experience.

"I have a suspicion that feeling might be mutual" Dominic replied with a smirk right back on his lips, though she hadn't missed the way his eyes had narrowed suspiciously for a few moments. Aw, Danny was a fan? How sweet!

"Just go easy on him, okay? Don't give the little shit a heart attack or anything."

Lavinia (rather unsuccessfully) stifled a laugh behind the rim of her glass; now, what could possibly give him such an idea?

"Why Dominic, you might be overestimating my abilities", she said with false modesty and a devilish glint in her eyes; let him think about that one and wonder whether she was referring to her exuberant personality in general or a far more specific, hands on approach. Retorts that were open for interpretation was one of the games the two of them loved to play...not that she had any plans to actually seduce Dominic's barely 18 year old brother. She was just teasing.

"I'll behave", she added more honestly, though not exactly entirely so; in all truthfulness she planned on showing Danny around and generally get him to enjoy himself, let the kid have a beer or two as long as she kept him from getting wasted.

"Besides, I'm hardly the worst thing that could happen to him; just before you got here, some chick in a pair of stripper heels and a plumed hat -and by that I mean she wore nothing else- hijacked the demo stage, then vanished right under the security guard's nose. Fun times!"

[Alissa888]

A tepid gust of wind and dust blew in through the door as another passer-by made his lethargic exit from the pale blue skies and its specks of white and the golden carpet of the desert, blowing loose strands of baby-fine scarlet hair off the milky skin of her shoulders as her chartreuse eyes brightly drank in the colour contrasts and compliments of the items placed orderly on the shelf behind the counter, her mind taking out the individual things and putting them into where and how she’d put them.

Lara Abbott was not so much of a morning person, quite liking those days she could sleep in to her heart’s content, and being an arts student, thankfully, was no impediment to this glorious practice. These few days, however, with having to finish college work early so that she didn’t have to rush back to school anytime soon after the end of Dominic’s tour, had seen more early mornings – also known as getting out on bed before 8 AM – than she’d have liked to have had. But it was okay, it’d be worth it because for one, she didn’t have to rush to get her work done – well… actually, she had rushed… just a head of schedule – and she could enjoy being at the festival, being with Nicky, without any pressing need to run off and get back to work.
Small sacrifices for big rewards made early mornings easier. Driving around the desert, however, would have probably not been fantastic, because Lara got bored and lethargic, but she’d had Danny around and thought he was pretty much as quiet as her with general people, they’d had a good time so far.
She liked to think so, anyway.
It rolled around to a mid-afternoon pit stop at a gas station to refuel both the car and the human beings in it and while Danny had stayed somewhere within the store, she’d stocked up; drinks, gum, sweets, chips, chocolate… anything.

“That’s $34.45,” the man behind the till announced after pushing a few buttons, craning his neck as Lara heard the small click he’d been looking for, and she’d noticed the way his shoulders sagged soon after, and the small inklings of red in his sclera. Night shift.
She could sympathise; driving to the festival was taking it’s toll, and she couldn’t wait to get there, be in Nicky’s arms again, and eventually not be crammed into a small space for hours at a time. Okay, the last one wasn’t going to happen at a music festival, was it?
A small smile of amusement graced her soft red lips as she slid $40 to him.

“Never seen someone happy to part with money,” he remarked dryly and Lara let out a small laugh in reply. He remained… dry.

“I’m just distracting you while my little brother robs the store,” she jested lightly, and his brown eyes went wide. Okay, he’d been on the nightshift for quite a few hours then. She quickly followed up with an abrupt; “He’s not.”

“Ha!” it clicked and he laughed it off once the haze lifted and she felt daring enough to go for a little more.

“No, I meant he’s not my little brother,” she clarified with a deadpan face and he looked blank again, but this time he caught on sooner, and the thick quietness in the store lifted with the laughter and he packed the items neatly into a bag and handed it over to her and polite byes said, she was ready to go.
Danny.

Danny was… Lara didn’t officially have a little brother, but if anyone came close, it was Danny. In fact, she pretty much saw him in the same stance as Louisa, except Danny probably wouldn’t borrow her make-up and clothes… on a regular basis anyway. His brother, on the other hand…
Nevertheless, Lara, who had a kind heart and soft words for everyone, was even more so with Danny, because in a way, she really could relate to him; looking up to an older brother who seems so cool and just not being of the same temperament yourself. And even if it wasn’t for that, growing up with him as the brother her long-term boyfriend – that seemed something of a kiddish word for the only man she’d loved and was hoping to spend the rest of her life with – had really created some pseudo-familial bond between them, she’d like to think. Either way, she thought of him as her little brother.

So, teenaged boy, gas station and a magazine rack with all sorts and so Lara didn’t have to guess where he’d have gravitated to. To be fair to Danny, he wasn’t one of the laddish boys, but that said, he probably was with the magazines.
And yes… as her gaze narrowed onto the youthful sinewy figure of the darkhaired young man standing at the end of the hallway, she knew she was right.
She didn’t call out to him, but instead quietly, in those kitten heels she was wearing, snuck up behind him, nonchalantly, unassumingly watching him browse through the collections before clearing her throat.
“I never can reach the top shelf ones,” she admitted with a hint of joking regret and a small shake of her head before looking over at him and gesturing to the ones he’d spent longer looking at. “I’ve always had to stick to these. Any goss?”

(((OOC: Hope that works! :)
Oh, and outfit (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraDay1.jpg) )))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


As far as older siblings go, Dominic did suffer a bit from the big brother syndrome; he was rather protective of the four years younger Daniel. He had been protective of him when they were kids, and he was still protective of him to this day, only in a far less obvious manner. And only against other people, not himself. He could personally pound on Daniel and wrestle him whenever they argued, or even just for fun, but God have mercy on whoever else might try it. And despite often referring to Daniel as a "little sh*t", "brat", "pain in the *ss" and sometimes even "Mini-Me" (due to how Daniel looked up to him and would often do things just because Dominic had done them, when they were younger), and also being known to have said things along the lines of "He's sixteen, it's about time he gets plastered" and "One cigarette ain't gonna kill him", when it really came down to it, it had been Dominic himself that had discreetly intervened. It was him that had seen to it that his brother didn't have enough to drink to get intoxicated, and it was him who ended up stealing the cigarette out of Daniel's hand after his first puff, in order to smoke it himself, with the excuse being that he himself was "out of cigarettes".

So naturally, when Lavinia, a young woman practically reeking of raw sensuality, showed an interest in Daniel, in a way totally befitting the minx that she was, of course warning bells went off in Dominic's dyed head. Someone like Lavinia would have someone like Daniel for breakfast.
Although, to be perfectly honest, while there was indeed sincerity behind his suspicion that she might prove too hot to handle for the fairly inexperienced Daniel, that wasn't the whole truth. There was a little more to it than that. Humour, yes, but also the vehement rejection of the idea that Daniel would score where Dominic was unsuccessful. Not that Dominic had ever tried seducing Lavinia, nor did he have any actual plans of doing so (if he could help himself), but if things had been different, he would have tried it in a heartbeat. She was hot as hell, the two of them got along fabulously, and so if she hadn't been off limits...
Therefore, the idea of Daniel of all people hooking up with her, wasn't one that big brother Dominic particularly enjoyed.

However, all this passed through his head so quickly that not even Dominic himself registered it on a conscious level, only on a faintly emotional one, in his gut, before he'd caught the humorous mischief in her tone, and quipped back about not giving Daniel a heart attack.

"Why Dominic", she crooned, trying her best not to chuckle, and failing miserably at it, "you might be overestimating my abilities. I'll behave."

Though that was a statement that only earned her a pair of slightly raised eyebrows, and an utterly disbelieving "uh-huh", which really sounded more like a non-pronounced "yeah right". Lavinia? Behave? On a party night? She really didn't realize how well he knew her, did she? He was quite familiar with her "abilities".
Then again, she did usually get through said party nights with more of her dignity intact than some of the guys tended to, and for Dominic to claim that she was misbehaving would be much like the pot calling the kettle black, again, considering he indulged in some naughty activities that she didn't. But still, she did look like vice on legs, and possessed the mischievous streak to match, and so she didn't really have to try very hard to give guys a heatstroke and revert to the mental capacity of a three year-old. Especially the teenaged ones who had only ever hung out with the "girl next door" type of chicks.

"Besides", Lavinia added before Dominic could put his scepticism into actual words, "I'm hardly the worst thing that could happen to him; just before you got here, some chick in a pair of stripper heels and a plumed hat -and by that I mean she wore nothing else- hijacked the demo stage, then vanished right under the security guard's nose. Fun times!"

And just like that, Dominic had forgotten all about his brother - for the time being - and momentarily froze with the last burger halfway into his mouth, as though he thought he'd heard her wrong and was trying to figure out what she had really said. Then, when it dawned on him that she had said exactly what he thought she had, his eyes grew wide as saucers.

"Whoa, whoa, stop!", he said, as the hand holding the burger sank away from his lips; apparently, naked women was enough to make him forget about more than just his brother. "Are you serious? A naked chick in heels, on the demo stage? And I missed it? Aw, dammit!"

That had to have been one... interesting performance, to say the least. And out of all the hours of this launch party night, she'd had to do it when he wasn't around to see it. Typical!
However, since Dominic never had been one for dwelling on the bad stuff, and the things that he missed out on for one reason or another, that short burst of disappointment was to be only his initial reaction, and was soon replaced by his focusing on the next best thing that he could think of;

"Got pics?", he asked, though with the look he shot Lavinia being more expectant than questioning.

After all, had something similar happened when Dominic was around and Lavinia wasn't, he would have been sure to document the event, like the good comrade that he was, so that he could show it to Lavinia later. (And, like the imp that he was, rub her nose in the fact that she had missed it.)


(((ooc: Ghani - So sorry for the delay. I figured that with this being a fairly slow paced RP, the others would get priority, since I had so many characters that I needed to set into motion. Hopefully won't happen again. :) )))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


If one was to try and describe the state of mind in which this sweltering afternoon in a Texas gas station found young Daniel de Vere, no word would be more fitting than 'excited'. On his way to his first music festival, to see his older brother perform at Deus Ex Machina's biggest venue ever, and practically on his own, too! No parents around him to guard him like a hawk, and embarrass him by treating him like a little kid, or sticking out like two sore thumbs in the crowd of people that would be at the Syrinx Festival. Only Lara, who even though she'd gotten her fair share of admonitions from his mother before they set off on this journey, was cool enough to not get all obsessively maternal on him over everything. He really liked her. Always had. She was sweet and caring, lots of fun, and so very easy to get along with. Despite the age difference. She'd never made him feel unwanted, even at those times in the beginning of her and Dominic's relationship, when as a naive eleven year-old, he'd come knocking on Dominic's door, hungry for some company, wanting to see what his brother was up to, and not realizing he'd intruded on some of that private time that Dominic and Lara would sometimes try and spend together. On those occasions, Dominic had sometimes snapped at him, but never Lara. Of course, these days Daniel understood embarrassingly well why Dominic hadn't been keen on having his little brother around at those times, and even if it hadn't, it wasn't as though it would have been a problem anymore anyway, since Dominic had moved out several years ago, and so he and Lara weren't around nearly as often as they once had been, what with them living together going to college far away from home. At least at first. Dominic had since dropped out because his career had started taking off, and now seemed to spend most of his time on the road.

Truth be told, Daniel missed both of them. A lot. They'd talk on the phone every once in a while, but Dominic often tended to be in the middle of something, or between two important things, with little time to really talk. Lara on the other hand always took the time to talk, but... It still wasn't the same as hanging out with them. And really, it wasn't like Daniel himself was always so easy to reach, what with school, basketball and friends keeping him busy. More than once he and Dominic had ended up playing phone tag for days, before finally they both had a bit of time to spare.

Now, however, the school year was finally over and Daniel was on summer break, which meant no school, and somewhat less basketball. It didn't make Dominic any less busy, of course, but at least with one brother having more time to spare, those games of phone tag were not as frequent. Though while that in itself was good news, it hadn't eased the effect of the biggest downer of all; the fact that since on tour, Dominic wouldn't be around to celebrate Daniel's eighteenth birthday. That really had put a damper on the younger brother's summer. So much so, that his parents had felt so bad for him that unbeknownst to him, they had gotten him a ticket to the Syrinx festival, where his brother's band would be playing on his very birthday, and given it to him as an early birthday present, along with a bit of money to sponsor the trip.

Daniel had been absolutely thrilled back then. And he still was. The ticket had been the perfect present, and when only a few hours later Lara had agreed to go with him (since his parents insisted that he couldn't go alone, and didn't put too much trust in any of his high school friends), it had made his whole summer. He'd gone from having to spend his birthday at home, without Dominic and Lara, to spending it with both of them, at his very first Deus Ex Machina show at his very first music festival. They'd get to hang out backstage, since Dominic had gotten them backstage passes for when they'd be showing up what HE thought was the day after tomorrow, and he'd hopefully get to meet Lavinia, and lots of other famous rock stars. How cool was that for celebrating your birthday?

Needless to say, he was quite eager to get there. Eager, but still enjoying the trip there far too much to get impatient. Since starting on their journey, he hadn't complained once about how it was taking long, or that he was bored. Not once. He and Lara got along perfectly, and had had quite a good time so far. Though that didn't necessarily mean that there was never a moment at all when he felt impatient. There were occasions here and there, when the need for something to happen drove him to act, even if in the smallest way.
Like now, at the gas station. He had kept Lara company at first, but soon decided there were more interesting things to look at while she stood in line, and so had started circling the small station before coming to a halt by the magazine racks, featuring everything from women's magazines to magazines about cars and sports, and from tabloids to music magazines. And, of course, a wide range of men's magazines. Daniel, being a normal teenaged boy, couldn't help but to steal a couple of curious glances at the latter, but since he was also rather shy and self-conscious, he really didn't want to be caught by anyone, gawking at the naked ladies, and so instead focused on what had drawn him there in the first place; the music magazines. Deus Ex Machina were still a fairly small band, but there had been articles and pictures here and there, and the music industry did seem to be starting to take notice of them, so you never knew when something related to them might pop up.

And lo and behold, this time something actually did. Although it was on one of those magazines that posed as a music and entertainment magazine, but was really far more like just any other tabloid. And what it suggested wasn't really anything that Daniel gave too much credit.

Standing there, squinting a little bit to try and read the text that accompanied the small picture at the top right corner of the cover, the young man didn't hear Lara approach, and so her soft "hehem" took him by surprise, and even made him flinch from being startled by the sudden and unexpected close proximity.

"I never can reach the top shelf ones", she claimed innocently as his head whipped around to look at her, the young man seeming slightly horrified that she had apparently seen him looking at those magazines.

And it seemed he was almost about to start stuttering some weak attempt at an excuse to why he'd been looking, but much to his gratitude, Lara was sweet enough to save him from it herself, and even spared him most of the embarrassment of having been caught in the first place, by simply continuing;

"I've always had to stick to these", she said, motioning towards the music magazines. "Any goss?"

Trying to ignore the sudden pinkish hue of his cheeks as best he could, Daniel offered a slight smile, and a shrug.

"Just that Nicky and Lavinia are getting it on", he said and pointed at the cover he had been studying, which featured a small picture of the two of them close together on stage, with Lavinia's arm around Dominic's neck, and his tongue outstretched, the tip of it just barely touching her ear, with some text below it all, mentioning something about listing the ten hottest couples in the music industry. "Again."

Dominic and Lavinia being a couple - or something along those lines - was a rumour that tended to surface every now and then. If it even went away in the first place. And considering Daniel had seen Dominic and Lara together for years, and witnessed first hand the rather balanced couple they made, not to mention that he had a kind of subconscious idea of them staying together forever, he took it all with a grain of salt.
But then again, the three of them no longer saw each other as regularly as they used to, so...

"They're not, right?", he asked, and turned his head to look at Lara.

He had asked Dominic about it before, but Dominic had just laughed it off, and then moved on to shooting him a teasing 'Jealous?'. However, be it because he thought the look on Lara's face said it all, or because he didn't want her to give an answer that might not be what he wanted to hear, he continued before she had a chance to comment;

"Yeah, didn't think so", he said and glanced at the magazine one final time, only to then turn abruptly back to Lara with a smile; "Hey, can I drive?"

[Alissa888]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraBan.jpg

Lara wasn’t possessive. She wasn’t one of those clingy, insecure and needy girlfriends who constantly needed to be reassured and made to feel special. At least, she didn’t think she was, because the only real relationship she’d had was with Dominic, and she really didn’t think she was possessive or clingy, and she didn’t want to be that either.
She didn’t get worked up over not seeing him for a couple of days – she missed him badly, but she didn’t whine about it – she didn’t throw tantrums if he had other female friends and she didn’t expect to know where he was and what he was doing every second of every minute of every day.
She didn’t want to stifle him.

But that all aside, there was the fact that since his career began – and she was so proud of and happy for him – there’d developed this abyss between them of her just not know what was going on in his life at certain times. It initially became more difficult for her to feel truly a part of his life until she’d worked out a way to make it work for her still. She tried to make it to every big gig as moral support, she tried her hardest to keep in touch with him, to support him, and to make sure they had enough “intimate time” together. If she got frustrated over how long they spent apart, she could imagine that – as a robust young man – it was definitely not easy for him, either. And with temptation all around….
She trust him, but she couldn’t help but to worry. What if…? What if he got drunk? What if they’d had a fight and…? What if she lost him?

It wasn’t something she wanted to think of, because she loved him, she always had and she hadn’t really thought about what it’d be like without him because they’d spent so long together, as each other’s that it just felt natural to keep thinking that way. Maybe it was naïve and stupid because most high school romances failed sooner or later. Now more than ever because… well, she didn’t know for sure and she’d bought the test, deciding to take it after talking to him – not that that’d change anything – and it wasn’t planned but it’s difficult to be careful all the time…. She didn’t want it to all fall to pieces, especially not now.
She worried.
But it wasn’t something she discussed often, and certainly not with Danny. She didn’t want to recolour the idolised version he had of his big brother. Lara felt that something was off, but it was just speculation and regardless of what went on between herself and Dominic, it was unfair to drag Danny in the middle.

"Just that Nicky and Lavinia are getting it on,” he said, dragging himself into the middle of it just as she noted her minute amusement at the flush of pink across his cheeks at being caught at looking at the top shelf magazines. Her eyes shot to the picture he referred to, the one of Dominic and the girl from their band, Lavinia, getting somewhat cosy onstage. Lara knew all about the idea of selling an image to the audience, but… it didn’t help, knowing all the other things she’d read and heard about them. Especially Lavinia and her reputation. She was probably a very nice person, but it still didn’t settle easy. "Again."

She could tell Danny saw it as outright ridiculous, but it just drove home a few of the prior insecurities the last year or so had been gathering, the omnipresence “What if…?” that coloured everything that wasn’t certain and plain to see. She wanted to it be just ridiculous speculation.
Well, she’d get to meet Lavinia soon and that’d… sway things one way or another, right?

"They're not, right?" Danny suddenly asked, echoing her own uncertainty and her slightly widened gaze met with his in a moment of insecurity before she let levity at the absurdity sink back in, along with an upturn of her lips.
But he moved on… quickly. Did he have doubts?
"Yeah, didn't think so,” he brushed off before turning back to her with a smile curving his soft lips and a request to go with it; "Hey, can I drive?"

Ah. Boy and cars… naturally, Lara was rather fond and protective of her car; not only did she have to work considerably for it, but also because it was her car… it was her baby. She’d set her heart on it long before she’d gotten it. Added to this, Danny was young, and an inexperienced driver and therefore her reservations doubled. However, though she was also protective of Danny, she was a little bit more fond of him than she was of the car. So…
“Alright,” she conceded with a show of an exasperated sigh, yet the same lightness tinging her lips handing the keys and the shopping over to him. “But shotgun picks the music. It’s a rule.”

[Alissa888]

Name:

Madison Bressant

Age:

22

Type of visitor (artist/groupie/staff etc):

Organiser

Occupation:

Junior Events Co-ordinator

Bio:

Madison hails from an oppressive background. Her family is staunch Presbyterian. Her parents are both successful lawyers – her mother being a judge and her father being a successful defence attorney – and her older brother, Henry, is the Assistant District Attorney of Miami.
There was a lot of pressure on Madison to finish the set.

She couldn’t. Or rather, didn’t want to. Madison always was a bright girl, but confused, because she didn’t have the courage to figure out what she wanted, and so, she never had her heart in everything that she did. Her grades in school, whilst at the upper end, were nothing spectacular and she seemed to never truly shine in anything… she just wasn’t bothered. She partied hard with her friends, but wasn’t the more confident of girls, she had some of her own opinions, but never the valour to truly fight for them. Perhaps that was why she didn’t do anything she wanted to do.

Nevertheless, enough pushing ensured that she got into college, but one semester in, out of sheer dissatisfaction and exhaustion, the then rather demure Madison dropped out, suddenly finding herself under severe scrutiny by the family; they were ashamed, and the sooner she sorted her head out and went back to college to go… fulfil her destiny or whatever and add to the full house of Perry Masons, the better.
It was make or break and Madison realised that she couldn’t do it.

This meant she had to stand on her own feet and being only a high school graduate, things became immensely difficult. She began working odd jobs to make ends meet. Months passed and she started making things work, and her confidence grew and she realised more and more the extent of oppression she was subjected to, and how little she wasn’t allowed to realise herself. She became more outspoken, more sexually infused and far more of a party girl. She rebelled against everything she’d ever been indoctrinated with.

Then came the real opportunity when she’d been charged with the duty of organising a fundraiser at the club she was working at. It was hard work, and pretty intense, not to mention intimidating to work with a few high profile people, but her capability soon caught the eye of a scout from Reimer Services, the well known company in the business of organising music gigs through America and also abroad. She was offered an internship. The internship blossomed into an apprenticeship. This blossomed into a real job and she finally had a career she actually liked.

Madison these days is a vixen very aware of capable of using her own sexuality to get what she wants, however she’s very unsure of herself deep down and often falls into pits of self-guilt when things don’t transpire in the best way possible. She comes across as cold and irreverent, but in fact becomes attached to things very easily, simply masquerading that she does not in order to cause little pain as possible. She constantly feels the need to rebel in order to truly assert to herself that she isn’t simply falling back into the pattern of doing as she has been instructed.

Madison is currently the head Junior Events Co-ordinator at Syrinx. She is the first port of call for the immediate and temporary issues of scheduling and stage props and sequencing and also liaises with security and publicity. She has a casual and open relationship with her boss, and though she’s the primary pusher for this arrangement, she does it out of expectation that if it were anything else, he’d lose interest in her anyway and therefore, she’s better off playing it with no strings.


Picture:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/Madison.jpg

Anything else you'd like to add:

Has long dark brown/black hair and bright blue eyes. Is about 5’ 9” with a slim build. And a tattoo on her upper right shoulder blade documenting the time and date of the most important moments of her life.

Always open to storylines and connections

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/Lavinia_banner.jpg


Being the only child that she was, Lavinia had never experienced the feeling of protectiveness people felt towards their siblings, particularly the younger ones. She imagined that if her 18 year old brother or sister wanted to get smashed or hook up with someone at a party, she wouldn't be too concerned; after all, weren't they all things she herself had done as a teenager? That didn't mean she wasn't aware how actual big brothers and sisters felt about it so if she could help it, Danny would be kept out of trouble...for the most part. With a chain of party nights in sight however, Lavinia wouldn't exactly be the fittest babysitter around, and besides, Danny wasn't a kid anymore. He could be allowed to live a little.

Though Dominic didn't seem to suffer too badly from the older brother syndrome (or was really good at hiding it), Lavinia did notice a certain reticence when it came to her and Danny meeting, even buffered as it was by playful banter. Her buoyant personality and unabashed sensuality could be confronting and therefore intimidating to some, yes, but she was also capable of a disarming sort of frankness that tended to click with people and make them realize that the vixen was also just a fun-loving girl who didn't take herself too seriously. Nah, she and Danny were going to get along like a house on fire, but in the meantime, Lavinia was itching to kickstart that night's party: no longer hungry and bustling with energy, she was impatient to get going, but for the moment much amused by the play of emotions emerging on Dominic's features when she casually mentioned Hat Girl's performance. She snorted to herself as he paused with the burger to his lips, letting it sink to the table as the little cogs and wheels in his brain clicked together: ah, boobies, the patented way of distracting a guy. Apparently, even imaginary boobies worked on Nicky...good to know.

Bad, Lavinia!

"Whoa, whoa, stop!", he interjected, "Are you serious? A naked chick in heels, on the demo stage? And I missed it? Aw, dammit!"

A rascally little giggle issued from Lavinia's throat as she positioned her elbows on the table, gazing at him, eyes narrowed in amusement: she remember thinking of him back then, and how he'll hate missing it on top of having to endure a lonely trip to Syrinx, and since then kept the tidbit to herself to be used as teasing material later, as well as adding it to her collection of funny, outrageous and unexpected footage gathered from all the parties and festivals she'd attended lately. They were always fun to look at later, and reminisce on those times with the rest of the guys.

"Got pics?" Dominic inquired, clearly expecting a positive response. Lavinia tilted her head, one eyebrow arching questioningly at him in a "duh" kind of way; she reached inside one of her pockets, extracting a sleek, black phone from within. Reclining on the edge of the table, one leg swaying lazily on top of the other, Lavinia began thumbing the screen, a little slower than she could have, in search of the short movie she'd recorded of Hat Girl's impromptu show. Having found it, she stood to he feet, leaned forward across the table and, supporting herself on both elbows, held the screen right in front of Dominic's eyes.

"Pics or it didn't happen," she winked.

The movie was a minute in when a strident sound informed Lavinia that a text message had just arrived. She snatched back the phone and began fiddling with it again, her entire face lighting up as she read the message.

"It's Rick, with Arnold, Jim, Lorena and some other people, having a blast apparently! They're in the lounge."

Rick, Jim and Arnold were members of Damage, an industrial rock band DEM had toured with twice before and were quite friendly with. Lorena was Jim's girlfriend.

"I dunnow about you, Nicky," Lavinia said and sprung to her feet, "but I'm gonna go check this out!"

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


As most anyone who knew the brothers de Vere would be able to testify, Daniel and Dominic, despite having their fair share of common denominators, were very different from one another. Especially now that they had gotten a little bit older, more or less on the verge of manhood, and no longer lived under the same roof. Over the years, Dominic had grown into an exuberant and almost numbingly charismatic young man, extroverted and exhibitionistic, with a devilish twinkle always present in his blue eyes. Thrill-seeker and agent provocateur, hell-bent on living life to the fullest. 'It's better to burn out than to fade away', and all that jazz.

Daniel, on the other hand, was in many ways his older brother's very opposite, his antithesis. Somewhat shy and soft-spoken, especially when around people he didn't know, he always came across as calm and down to earth, with no problem whatsoever with not being in the spotlight. In fact, he much preferred things that way, except maybe when he was on the basketball court, in which case he quite enjoyed the thrill of the applause raining down on him for scoring some points during the game, and when a few enthusiastic pats on the back let him know his team mates were happy with him. But, other than that, he was quite content not being the centre of attention. Very much unlike his camera whore of a brother.

With all these differences in their personality, it was bound to happen that they had very different ways of going about things. Dominic, who in a sense seemed to absolutely thrive on chaos, would do a hundred and one things all at the same time, often ending up finishing not a single one of them, whereas if Daniel started on something, he usually focused mainly on that, and saw it through to completion, before starting on the next thing. Dominic often played fast and loose - except when it came to his music, with which he was surprisingly perfectionistic - enjoying the excitement brought by whatever risks he'd be taking, and trying to get where he was going as fast as possible, or at least while having as much fun as possible along the way. His little brother, however, valued safety quite a bit more, and was usually more concerned about getting to where he was going in due time, rather than risk not getting there at all.

A perfect example of this, was each brother's way of operating a car. Dominic would often speed quite a bit, especially if he was alone in the car, round corners with screeching tires, and crank the volume up high enough to almost blow the roof off of the vehicle. Big brother de Vere was all about the thrills, and, while Daniel did idolize him and wanted to be a little more like him, there were ways in which he just wasn't. Daniel kind of valued safety. He stuck to the speed limits, tended to not overtake other vehicles unless it was truly called for, and made good use of both seatbelt and rear-view mirrors. It wasn't that he was in any way insecure behind the wheel, or drove like a senior citizen on a Sunday drive. He didn't go 10 mph with his hands squeezing the wheel so hard they'd turn white. He just simply followed the rules and moved with the general flow of the other traffic.

So, well aware as he was of this, as well as of Dominic's way of driving a car, Daniel knew he was by far a safer driver than his darling brother was. Which was why he dared hope that Lara would let him drive for a little bit, enough to actually ask her about it.
Or well, partly why, anyway. There was also the fact that since he didn't have his own car yet, he didn't get to drive a lot, and so would take any chance he could get to do so. Then there was of course the boyish curiosity in him, about getting to test a new car, as well as the masculinity factor, of being the one in charge, rather than the one sitting in the passenger seat with little else to do than looking pretty. Even if the 'being in charge' part ultimately was just an illusion, considering it was still Lara's car, and she was still the one supposed to be responsible for him.

"Alright", was to be her answer to his request, although it was delivered not without a bit of initial hesitation, and a sigh of joking resignation, almost as though she couldn't resist his angelic smile.

Or as though he'd been systematically wearing her down over time, by nagging. Which he hadn't.

"But shotgun picks the music", she laid down the conditions, while handing him the car keys, as well as the food and drinks she'd just bought. "It's a rule."

A rule that Daniel could most definitely live with. Even if she insisted on blasting Garth Brooks or 50 Cents all the way to the Syrinx festival, he could live with it.

"Yesss!", he beamed as though he'd come out victorious in a battle of some kind, and then, in order to seal the deal before she could change her mind, added; "Deal!"

It wasn't long after that, that the provisions had been stuffed into the car, Lara taken her new place in the passenger seat, and Daniel steered them back onto the road, away from the gas station parking lot. And while barely eighteen years old, he'd had his driver's license only for a little more than a year, and a limited number of opportunities to drive since, it still only did take him a minute or two to get a feel for the car, and get the hang of it's little quirks. The few it had. It was a really new car, and so had yet to develop the true temperament of a vehicle with a little more mileage under it's hood. Like Dominic's first car, which had been bought used, and in which the gas pedal would stick at a certain point if you were trying to accelerate ever so gently. Which might actually help explain why Dominic didn't tend to accelerate ever so gently, but instead would tread on the pedal in a manner that would make you feel as though your stomach left the starting point only several seconds after the car did. Even to this day, despite it now being years ago...

Well, either way, Lara's car donned none such oddities, and ran so very smoothly that the driver - in this case Daniel - would easily end up feeling completely comfortable in manoeuvring it, and so kept doing so until after an hour or so of everything from light-hearted banter to a brief dive into more serious matters, they started nearing the festival area, noticeable if not due to the road signs, then at least due to the massively increased and slowing traffic. It would seem everyone and their mother was on their way to the Syrinx music festival. And with that much traffic - with cars turning off any and everywhere, and others squeezing their way into the line from every side road - it was at that point that the duo in Lara's car decided to switch seats again. Because quirks or no quirks, Lara still knew the car better than Daniel did, and so would have an easier time navigating and manoeuvring at the rather massive, dusty and almost completely packed parking lot.

It wasn't the most pleasant experience, Daniel had to admit. Cars honking and people walking everywhere, dozens of different kinds of music blasting from car stereos, people shouting at one another - some happy and excited, some drunk, and some really p*ssed off - dust filling the air, and all of it happening under a sweltering sun. Talk about chaos...

However, patient and calm young man that he was, and with the equally patient and calm Lara by his side, the two of them made the best of the situation, and simply kept on chatting and drinking in the scenery, commenting on what they saw; on everything from the crazy outfits some people were wearing, to the sometimes downright ridiculous stuff some of them were lugging around on their way to the camp site. All with the intention of standing out in a crowd where... pretty much the majority stood out. Frankly, the ones who stood out the most seemed to be the ones who looked fairly normal, the ones who weren't running around nearly naked, or in thick, long leather coats and spiked boots, or sparkly wings and fairy wands.

"What a crowd...", Daniel commented - probably for the fourth or fifth time in the past half hour - as finally he and Lara had found a parking spot, unloaded the tent and other camping equipment from the car, and were now on their way to the camp site along with the never-ending flow of people.

Looking around himself in slight amazement, he shook his head to himself with an amused and incredibly content smile on his lips - there was no doubt that he was loving every minute of the new experience - before suddenly it turned into a grin, and he turned back to Lara.

"Nicky fits right in, doesn't he?"

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

(((Hmm, "Sweltering sun"? This must have happened much earlier than Hat & Shoes Girl`s stint on stage, which I thought was specified as happening very LATE in the day, probably after dark: "On the last night before the official opening of the festival...". ::shrug:: At least that`s when I thought of it as happening. Whatever. It happened whenever it needs to have happened, I guess... :up: )))

[Alissa888]

(((OOC: GeneralOperationsDirector - timewarps aren't uncommon in RPs :) so it doesn't necessarily affect Hat and Shoe's girl's arc as long as, in the general picture of things, everyone agrees what happened when.)))

[FurryPanda]

((OOC: Guys, I'm going to have to go on hiatus officially. I am so overwhelmed between school and work and its getting hard to keep up in Sweet 16, which, ironically enough, has seemed to be a less cliqueish RP. You know I like all three of you, but I'm uninspired for Julia and ultra busy. I might come back when I'm less stressed))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


When a few minutes earlier, Lavinia had reflected on the order of precedence when it came to a man's need - with the needs of his d*ck ranking just slightly higher than that of his stomach - she'd pretty much had Dominic pegged. At least Dominic the party animal. Dominic the person and artist, that was a different matter, but Dominic de Vere, bona fide party animal, she did indeed have pegged with that particular train of thought. For while fun and thrills might be the generally biggest drive of his, there were other drives that were stronger: If there was one thing that would have him withdraw from a party, whether it was just temporary or for the night, and as long as his frustration had surpassed his level of faithfulness, it was the opportunity to get an own little "party" going in private. He'd been known to slip away for a little while every now and then, along with some random girl that had seemed very interested in his company. Most of those times, he would return within half an hour, other times it took a little longer, and others yet he didn't return at all. All depending on... Well, no one seemed to really know for sure on that one, but if they were to venture a guess, most would probably say something as simple as his mood. Dominic did tend to unapologetically go where his mood took him, after all.

Second on the list of things that might draw him away from partying, or make him postpone it in the first place, was hunger. Partying when hungry kind of sucked, and so if he was starving, he would see to it to find something to eat, even if it meant postponing the partying just a couple of minutes, or downright leaving the party in order to go get something to eat, if there was nothing to be had at the party site itself. In which case he'd usually have a few people tag along, and so still have the party around him anyway, usually resulting in even crazier drunken antics and fonder memories than the original party would have offered. For instance, that time in Kansas City about two weeks ago; if it hadn't been for Dominic and Shane dragging a few members of the crew with them from the show after-party, in search of a burger joint, they would have never ended up having a water fight in that fountain at around 2 in the morning.
Ah, the art of compromise.

However, things like that - leaving a party to go out for food - didn't happen very often, since Dominic had ways of partying that eliminated hunger as a factor in the first place. Those ways being drugs. Cocaine, to be exact. A party drug, and one that tended to wipe away all traces of hunger from his lank frame, and ensure that the only thing to distract him from having a blast with a bunch of friends - regardless of whether they were old or new - was the aforementioned opportunity of having a blast with someone one-on-one. On those occasions when he indulged in the drug, that is. It was still far from a daily habit, although the current tour had seen a bit of an increase, given that pretty much every show the band played was accompanied by an after-party.

This evening, however, Dominic hadn't yet gotten around to even contemplating whether it was one of those 'special' nights or not, and so he'd had nothing to dampen the hunger growing to a rumble in his stomach over the past couple of hours. Except the food on the train, which really hadn't helped much at all, considering the steak had been so tough it had tasted much like meat-flavoured chewing gum, and thus after struggling with his first bite had convinced Dominic not to expose himself to it any further. Consequently, he had arrived at the Syrinx Festival simply famished, and was still making up for it now, even after the first burger he had wolfed down a few minutes ago. He was now halfway through his second one, only this one he had intended to take his time with, and truly enjoy. Which he did get to do, at first. And with dinner entertainment no less!

"Pics or it didn't happen," Lavinia had announced as after retrieving the evidence of the naked performance on the demo stage, she held her cell phone up for Dominic to watch the clip.

And watch it he most certainly did. For roughly a minute, his eyes were practically glued to the small screen in front of his face, with an appreciative smirk curling his lips in between the occasional bite he took from the remaining burger. Though sadly, he didn't get to watch it all the way through to the end, because right in the middle of it all, another short but piercing sound joined that of the movie clip, announcing that a text message had arrived, and without paying any attention whatsoever to Dominic's vehement protests, Lavinia cruelly snatched the phone back, and robbed him of the rest of the clip.

"It's Rick, with Arnold, Jim, Lorena and some other people, having a blast apparently!", she beamed instead, as her eyes skimmed the message, apparently missing the slight but in essence joking glare that Dominic shot her. "They're in the lounge."

And within two second flat, she had stood from the table, and looked as though she was ready to dash on the spot, still eating band mate or not.

"I dunnow about you, Nicky", she said, "but I'm gonna go check this out!"

Just in the process of licking some dressing off his thumb, there first came only a slightly impatient and almost offended semi-grunt from Dominic, before he could speak properly;

"Damn, woman!", he groaned as he started wiping his hands on his paper napkin. "What do you have against letting a guy eat?"

First she'd dragged him off to the demo stage, and in doing so had postponed his much needed meal, and now that he finally was having his meal, she was in such a hurry to leave that he didn't get to finish it in peace.
Women!

However, the young man did still come to his feet as well a few seconds later, while taking one last bite from the burger and then discarding it by tossing it in a nearby trash can. After all, he too was in a mood to party, and he had pretty much been done with the burger anyway. It was just that he enjoyed bickering with Lavinia far too much to resist the temptation when the opportunity presented itself. So, after shooting her a glance filled with mischief, and slinging his arm around her neck, the two of them set off again, this time towards the backstage area, and the VIP lounge on it. Though they hadn't gotten very far, when all of a sudden Dominic halted both himself and Lavinia, and started searching for his cell phone.

"Wait wait", he said as he patted his various pockets, both on his pants and his jacket, before finding and retrieving the phone from one of them.

Quickly thumbing the keys, he then slung his arm around Lavinia's neck again and pulled her closer, while holding out the phone in front of them to take a picture of the two of them with the built in camera.

"Look hot", he told Lavinia, seconds before snapping a picture.

Having done that, he then let her go again, to check and make sure that the picture taken was to his liking; something that was confirmed when a satisfied smirk emerged on his lips, and he snapped the phone shut again.

"Need to update my blog", he explained in passing, and then grabbed Lavinia's hand and dragged her with him past the security guards by the gates that separated the public area from the backstage one, merely waving his backstage pass at them in the process.

They entered the VIP lounge only about a minute later, Lavinia stepping inside before Dominic, as he had decided to play gentleman for once, and hold the door open for her. And while things had seemed to be pretty slow around the lounge the first time the duo had passed by, on their way to get something to eat, things had picked up considerably since then. The place was packed with people in the business; aside from the bar staff, there were artists, managers, roadies, other crew members, friends, and last but not least, the typical bunch of 'new acquaintances' to some of the artists; fans who had somehow managed to get their hands on a backstage pass. Most of whom were only just that, but a few of them, mainly girls and young women, with a very specific and very obvious agenda; groupies. To the trained eye - or hell, even to the untrained one - they weren't particularly difficult to spot, as they were either hovering somewhere near the bar, waiting for their artist of choice to make an appearance, or they had already found their target for the night, and glued themselves to his (or her) side.

"Ahhh", Dominic exhaled with a wide smile on his lips, after having taken a deep breath, as if drawing the very atmosphere of the place into his lungs. "Heaven."

Though just about to weave his way into the crowd, once again with Lavinia's hand in a firm grip, to advance towards one of the tables in the back, where he had just spotted Jim and Rick, he ended up halting himself instead, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure approaching, and turned to face them; Asher, with his arm around what appeared to be a blonde sample of the aforementioned category of girls.

"Well well well", the singer said with a slight smirk as he and his catch of the day came to a halt as well. "Look who finally decided to show up."

Grinning, Dominic shot Lavinia a brief glance, as if to make sure that she was going to stay true to her word regarding the reason to his missed flight, and not sell him out, and then looked back at Asher.

"You've missed me", he stated as though establishing a fact, rather than asking.

"Yeah", Asher snorted back sarcastically, though with that same amused smirk making it clear that it was all in good fun. "Like a hole in the head."

At that, Dominic merely pursed his lips together in a mockery of a kiss, with the sound to match, before a grin split them wide open again, to let out an amused chuckle.



(((GeneralOperationsDirector - The post covers several hours, as you can see, and the upcoming ones with Lara and Daniel will be covering yet another few, so yeah, that did happen earlier in the day, with the intention of eventually landing me and Alissa at the same time as the rest of the characters. We just had to set things up, and agreed that starting roleplaying these two before they got to the festival, would be best. Within the next couple of posts, they will have caught up, time wise.

Furry - I don't believe this RP is particularly "cliqueish" at all. We've welcomed everyone who's been interested in joining, and tried our best to get them involved. But when characters end up in completely different spots, it's kind of difficult to get them to interact. :) Hope we'll see you back though. )))

[Alissa888]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraBan.jpg

Lara had learned quite a while ago that Dominic de Vere was a creature like no other. Everyone was unique, but Dominic was something Lara had never been, or possibly would ever get used to. He had the sort of restless energy and charisma in him that had drawn her in, in the first place, and kept her taken in by his charms. He had his flaws too, but she could overlook them.
However, the reality was, Lara and Dominic were very, very different – in the best way, she figured – as were Dominic and Danny, which in essence made Danny and Lara quite similar. It was like the calm and the storm in certain ways, because while Dominic, extroverted and self-confident, lived in the thrill of the moment, Lara and Danny, introverted and introspective, watched calmly from the sidelines before stepping in.

However, the last part was probably just Lara, for Danny and his idolisation of his older brother did mean that while he was perhaps just a little too shy to jump right into it like Dominic, he surely did want to more often than not. That said, emulation of his brother’s behaviour didn’t seep into all of the young and endearing Daniel de Vere’s behaviour – thankfully – because he managed to drive as if he wasn’t actually being hotly pursued by the police. It was a relief. Though, one drawback about letting Danny drive was that it brought home to Lara how much he’d matured – given that he was 11 when they’d first met, it was a bit of a jump to see him turn 18 and drive – from that rather small seemingly tag-along brother to a handsome young man with his own will of individuality. It really was a bit of a jump. It was harder to notice with Louisa – though, Lara (or anyone in the family, for that matter) hadn’t been best pleased when she started wearing really tacky make-up and for a while had her heart set on getting dreads – because she’d been there all along, but it was most obvious with Danny.
All aside, Lara could breathe easy with Danny behind the wheel.

Differences were differences, and for a few moments, Lara wondered how much Danny’s passion for the rock and roll lifestyle had to do with Dominic and how much of it had to do with himself. To be fair, Danny was perfectly free to be interested in what he wanted, regardless of whether or not Dominic was interested in it, but she did wonder how much of it had to do with being in his brother’s shadow and how much of it was to do with himself. Nevertheless, Danny was a bright boy, he’d figure it out at the best time for himself.

Getting closer to the festival site, they decided to swap back and Lara was being the steering wheel again – after having binged on paprika chips, which she’d never really been partial to before – in order to get them a parking space amidst all the other visitors who were clearly pretty intent on nabbing the best – or in some cases, only – spots there, given that of the two of them, she was the more experienced driver. It took a while of waiting and stealthy moves to get them a parking spot, but they managed – team effort and all – and soon they were out into the real atmosphere of the festival, with their tents and all, and regardless of how many times Lara had been, it always knocked her for six, so she could imagine Danny’s take on it. He’d been commenting on the size of the crowd all along, but it’s pretty different when you’re there, amidst it, rather than watching from inside a car.

She cast a few curious glances at him during their walk over to the campsite, and there it was, the look of wonder, and most importantly, utter glee, for the main thing was that Danny had a good time, what with it being his birthday and all, and a full smile overcame her lips as he turned back to deliver his full opinion:
"Nicky fits right in, doesn't he?"

Ha… in so many ways. Lara was of the opinion that Dominic de Vere was made for the fast life, that he’d get bored otherwise, that he most certainly would have gotten bored and restless if their lives had been limited to their home town. Sometimes, it had her a little concerned because of the fact that for all that she was, Lara wasn’t an element of the fast life, and maybe some would even describe her as boring, and that maybe Dominic found her boring in comparison to some – or many – of the girls who coveted his attentions. She didn’t fret about it overly because firstly, they’d lasted all these years and that stood for something, and secondly, if she had to change herself for it, then neither of them would be happy anyway. But her doubts aside, she agreed in every way with Danny that yes, Nicky fit in without a doubt, and knowing him, he was probably the party leader most the time. A smile lit up her eyes as the image ventured into her mind; yup, that was Nicky.

“Oh, I think your brother’s on cloud nine here,” she quipped back in agreement, the hues of her eyes shifting back to excitement and knowing that though Nicky would look out for Danny, he wouldn’t spare him the party lifestyle; “I don’t know how I’ll manage to keep an eye on both of you!”

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/Lavinia_banner.jpg

"Ahhh...Heaven."

Wasn't that the truth? Sparing a brief glance over her shoulder, Lavinia locked yes with Dominic who was jaunting up to her after having held the door open in one of his rare gentlemany moments, a brilliant grin signalling her agreement. She then turned her attention to the view expanding before them, revelling in the smells and sounds and images assailing her senses, feeling the vibration in her chest. If Lavinia could be said to have an element, apart from the stage itself, this would be it: a well-stocked bar, music and a crowd of people who were only interested in enjoying themselves. This is what she'd been waiting for all day, and if Dominic hadn't decided to join her, she would have gone without him; as it was however, Lavinia was glad they'd made their entrance together, sashaying casually and confidently across the room in search of familiar faces, all the while sparing glances and the occasional wink in return for those received.

Lavinia's hips immediately found the beat of the music, swaying languidly as her gaze searched the room, but it was Dominic who spotted Rick and Jim first and found her hand again, ready to pull her with him, when a different presence imposed itself within their field of vision. None other than Asher "The King" was making his way towards them, hauling his latest acquisition with him, a blonde who seemed immensely pleased with the attention.

"Well well well" DEM's lead singer declared, sizing Dominic up "Look who finally decided to show up."

Lavinia felt a nudge in her side and saw Shane the drummer wiggle his brows at her before handing her a glass of whiskey, which she accepted with a wink, giving Dominic her best innocent look when he probed her with his gaze. Oh no, she had no intention of saying anything, this had the potential of being much more amusing on its own: if being a single female among several guys had its challenges, it was impossible to keep certain...rivalries from erupting between the aforementioned young men. It was natural, but Asher and Dominic were known to lock horns a bit more often than the others, both being stubborn and competitive and always in something of a race as to who had most fans, most women, most media coverage....all in good, friendly fun, but neither enjoyed coming up second.

"You've missed me", Dominic stated, rather than asking, earning himself a snort from Asher.

"Yeah" the singer quipped back, "Like a hole in the head."

Lavinia heard Shane emit a soft snort of his own in reaction to their antics, and watched Dominic purse his lips together in an affected kiss, with the smacking sound to match. Her tongue was itching for a retort, and Lavinia wasn't sure she could keep it contained...in fact, she had little intention to.

"Will you two stop posturing and make out already?" she called out at them, lifting the glass to her lips and taking the briefest of sips.

"I could watch", she purred huskily, eyes narrowed to catlike slits; some of those within earshot chuckled, and more than one eyebrow was raised.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


Daniel was happy for his brother's success. He really was. Ever since he was a child, he had watched how the restless Dominic had seemed to find himself a little piece of pure bliss in playing the guitar, channelling all the emotion raging within him that would otherwise threaten to have him bursting at the seams. Joy as well as sorrow, and above all impatience; they all seemed to receive their outlet whenever Dominic had a guitar in his arms, regardless of whether he was rocking out on stage, completely engulfed by the performance itself and pulling his various stage antics, or sitting by himself in some lonely corner, with his acoustic as his only company, playing to himself and looking as though he was perfectly calm and at peace. Particularly the latter would have it occur to Daniel, and most others who knew Dominic and his intense persona, just how much his music meant to him, since anything that had the bustling young man sitting down in peace for more than five minutes, had to be something extraordinary indeed. And just imagine to get paid for doing it? For doing what you so loved, and to have it as your actual career? To make a living off of it.
Indeed, Daniel was really happy for Dominic, for how he had ended up being one of those lucky few who got to do that. And possibly, not to mention understandably, a little jealous. Though only in a good, admiring way.

The sad part of it all was, that with the career in music came more time spent away from the family, which since Dominic didn't even live with them anymore, made the time that Daniel got to spend with him, little more than minimal. If Dominic wasn't busy writing new material, he was busy rehearsing it, and if he wasn't rehearsing it, he was recording it, and if he wasn't recording it, he was promoting it, and if he wasn't promoting it, he was on the road touring with it. And even when he had some time off, he tended to spend most of it making up for lost time with Lara and the friends he had that weren't in the music business. There was little time left for Daniel, other than those fairly regular but lately increasingly sporadic phone calls.

He missed his big brother. A lot. Which was why it was sort of a comfort that among all of the many things that Dominic kept himself busy with, a blog was one of them. And a frequently updated one at that. Every other day there would be a new entry where through his laptop, Dominic informed the world of what he'd been up to; where he and the band had played, how the show had gone, what people he'd met, what bizarre antics had been going on around the band. Often with pictures or video clips attached to illustrate the stories he shared, many of whom were as funny as they were crazy.

That blog had in some small way become somewhat of a substitute, and a way for Daniel to keep up with what was going on in his madcap brother's life. It was sort of comforting to be able to do that. And at the same time, it was also so very... odd. It was such a strange feeling, to be a spectator of how someone he had known his entire life, was now leading one that was worlds apart from the one they had once shared, and in which for the most part, Daniel still remained. There were times when he nearly didn't recognize his own brother in the stories told on that site; not because Dominic was acting out of character, because if anything, he was acting just like his usual dynamic self (even though that part of him had escalated quite a bit over the past couple of years), but because the situations he appeared in where kind of difficult for Daniel - as Dominic's brother - to imagine. It was all just so... crazy and strange. Surreal even. He often had a hard time grasping that it was a life that Dominic was actually leading, simply because he had yet to wrap his head around the fact that Dominic was - or at least was becoming - a celebrity; one of those people who you kept seeing on magazines and on TV, yet rarely had you relating to them, and thinking they were real, actual people. Most of the time, they just became objects representing a part of life with which you would never be familiar, a part of life that in many ways didn't actually seem to be a part of life at all.

However, there was one aspect that permeated pretty much everything that Dominic shared on his blog, and that was his focus on having a good time, on enjoying himself wherever he went. That part, Daniel was very well familiar with. Which was also why he could easily imagine Dominic's take on their current surroundings; something which Lara, who had also known Dominic for a really long time, seemed to be in total agreement of.

"Oh, I think your brother's on cloud nine here", she confirmed as her face lit up with that radiant smile of hers that Daniel had always found to be so very contagious; there was no way that anyone could not smile, when she did. "I don't know how I'll manage to keep an eye on both of you!"

Heh. If anyone could manage, it'd certainly be her. And not because Daniel wasn't likely to give her a headache by running around like a kid on speed and get himself into trouble - because he wasn't; that was Dominic's department - but because... When it came to Dominic, Lara had a way with him like no other. Yes, he was a rascal and an instigator, and yes, he tended to be the life of the party and the one to make sure that there wasn't a dull moment. But Lara, she had always had a bit of a calming effect on him. Perhaps not noticeable straight away, but the effect was definitely there. She had a way of gently reeling him back in when he was getting himself into too deep waters, or too high up in the sky, simply by being there. Dominic enjoyed her company immensely, and so despite the various shenanigans that he would get up to at parties, he tended to eventually end up on some sofa somewhere, with his arms around her and hers around him, resting his head against her shoulder and just enjoying having her close. It was as though her smile wasn't the only thing contagious about her, but her calm as well.
Although, the operative word in all this was still "eventually". Dominic would eventually end up with his arms around her. There tended to be room for many an antic before that happened.
So, in the spirit of all this, Daniel made his proposal;

"How about we both just keep an eye on Nicky?", he suggested, as he and Lara followed the flow of people headed for the nearest entrance to the camp site. "He's the one who gets everyone else into trouble."

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


Dominic didn't back away from a challenge. Thrill-seeker that he was, he had once announced to everyone within earshot that he would try anything at least once, and even if it turned out to be an unpleasant experience, he just might try it again at a different time and place and with different company, since those were all factors that might have rendered the unpleasant result in the first place. Different circumstances = different results. It was only once he'd tried the same challenge a second time around, under at least slightly new circumstances, that he would be willing to accept the possibility that the experience itself simply wasn't for him. Though there were no guarantees.

Consequently, considering the company he kept, he had received his fair share of challenges and dares over the years, and hadn't backed away from a single one (unless, of course, they were downright disgusting or along the fatal lines of "Jump off the Empire State building!", in which case they weren't as much challenges as they were the result of someone being a smart*ss). Among other things, he'd stage dived for the first time, streaked, yelled various things in various public places, dyed his hair dark purple, sung karaoke, done the Macarena on top of a bar, played strip poker, gone 24 hours without talking (which, since this was Dominic, had nearly killed him), gone up to a complete stranger and hugged him, and tried various less than tasty foods and drinks. All on dares, and neither of them being any of all the things he'd been dared to do when actually playing the game Truth or Dare, or the many crazy stunts he himself had instigated, or gotten himself dragged into by others. To list those would take a lifetime.

Though there was one thing, falling into the latter category, that had first happened on one of Asher's whims, but from there had then gone on to actually become somewhat of a reoccurring and much appreciated stage antic between him and Dominic. With the two of them often but subtly competing for the crowd's attention, and Dominic having a tendency to get them going just a little more than Asher did, there had been a point during on of their shows a couple of months ago, where Asher rather than trying to steal the limelight off of Dominic, had decided to simply make himself a part of it instead. 'If you can't beat them, join them', as the saying goes.
Without warning, he's slipped up close behind Dominic during one of his guitar solo's, grabbed him by the hair and yanked his head back, to crush his own darkly painted lips against Dominic's, much to the surprise of the rest of the band, but most of all the loud, frenzied appreciation of the crowd. Though Dominic himself, despite his own initial surprise, had needed only moments to melt into the kiss, and enjoy the reaction they'd gotten from the crowd just as much as Asher had.

Needless to say, with the two of them both being self-confessed attention whores, and with the stunt turning out to be such an earth-shattering crowd pleaser - bringing down a thunder of applause and cheers from the audience - it had since that first time that it'd happened become somewhat of a regular feature during Deus Ex Machina's shows. So naturally, when Lavinia made her sly suggestion, about how Asher and Dominic should just "stop posturing and make out already", most everyone familiar with the band knew what was coming.
And those who weren't, would soon learn.

"I could watch", Lavinia added softly, with an unmistakably mischievous glint in her narrowed eyes, and in doing so managed to only further fan the flames of curiosity burning in those standing close enough to have heard the brief banter session.

Of course, those weren't the only flames she fanned with such a statement, which was probably a fact of which she was most certainly aware. A crowd, their attention, and a challenge... It could all only end one way.

A brief look was exchanged between singer and guitarist, a pair of eyebrows wiggled suggestively in silent invitation, and then before anyone knew it, Asher had shoved his hand into Dominic's raven hair and gripped it in a firm fist, yanking him closer with such force that their bodies practically slammed together, while Dominic's arms quickly slipped around the somewhat taller singer's torso. Their bodies pressed together tightly, their lips locked in what seemed to be a violently ravenous kiss that just wouldn't end, as though the two young men suddenly just couldn't get enough of eachother. The hand that Asher hadn't used to seize Dominic by the hair slowly ventured down along his spine instead, following the slight vale to the gentle curve at the small of his back. Though it didn't stop there, but daringly slipped even further down instead, to Dominic's *ss, gripping it firmly and tugging the smaller frame even closer his own, hips rubbing and grinding against one another, bodies writhing together as though in an attempt to become one. In response, Dominic's arm snaked it's way back from Asher's shoulders, for his hand to caress it's way up the singer's chest, his palm rubbing briefly over the nipple felt through the fabric, before his fingers finally clenched around a fistful of it at the collar. All the while with soft, pleasure-filled moans spilling forth from their tangled frames.

Though not that anyone except the ones standing right next to them heard it through the various cheers and appreciative whistles that the display brought down in the crowded lounge, even as the two young men's lips finally parted and their bodies disentangled themselves in order to withdraw.

With the kiss then over, as suddenly as it had begun, Asher wasted little time breaking the spell that had seemed to keep it's fair share of the audience mesmerized.

"You need to brush your teeth", he commented dryly, with a smirk curling the corner of his mouth as he put a hand against Dominic's chest and firmly pushed him away.

Apparently, he was no big fan of the taste of burger dressing on a man's lips. Though as always, Dominic was never stumped for a comeback.

"Well yeah, I do now", he quipped back with a grin, before turning his attention to Lavinia. "So what's the verdict?", he desired to know. "Was the show to Madame's satisfaction?"

[Alissa888]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraBan.jpg


People were meant to change, weren’t they? No-one ever really remained just the same over years and years and definitely not when they’ve had huge changes made to their lives. Like Danny – Lara sometimes still remembered him as that eleven year old kid brother of the boyfriend she was worried she wouldn’t be good enough for and would eventually end up boring off, but that was only when she compared him to the shy, but charming young man he’d become. She’d been there all through that time and therefore, the change had been significant in total, but gradual as it went along and therefore more… unnoticeable.

It was glaring with Dominic sometimes. They’d meet after quite some time apart and through the separation and brief times spent together to make up for that separation – career or not, she had to admit that he’d always wanted to spend time with her and she’d never felt as if he’d made her last on the list of anything, despite his tendency to be caught up in whatever came along – Lara had begun to notice more and more changes in him and more and more that she’d had to quickly assimilate into her idea of Dominic, rather than it being a gradual change. Sometimes it was thrilling, these new fads and drastic flights of fancy, because of course it was like Dominic to thrill, excite and stimulate his company. At other times, it just felt like he was going further and further away.
But of course, people change, and Lara didn’t want it to be her own insecurities impeding his personal growth – she didn’t want to stifle him and he deserved better than to be stifled.

Hence, she was a little cautious about where and when she played the girlfriend card. She didn’t want to see him in trouble, she’d hate to see him get mixed up in something dangerous and it distressed her to go over the dangers of his lifestyle – not everyone at a party is there to just have a good time and not every fan is capable of just harmless adoration – and where it could lead him. She didn’t want to lose him because she smothered him, but she didn’t want to lose him because… because she hadn’t done enough to keep from losing him. She wanted him to have his fun, but she wanted him to be careful. She wanted him to spread his wings and fly, but selfishly, she didn’t want him to fly away. If he had to fly away, she wanted him to take him with her, but she was cautious about where it’d lead to.
It was tightrope walking.
Lara didn’t mind, doing it but it did worry her to imagine what would happen should she not be able to do it properly, either by doing it too much, or doing it too little. But she was trusting her instincts to tell her when and where she was going wrong so that she could fix it before it got too far.
And it wasn’t like Dominic would be sparing in giving her opportunities to test her skills anyway!

"How about we both just keep an eye on Nicky?" Daniel wisely suggested. He’d always been an astute boy and maybe it stemmed from his reserved nature, watching calmly before taking any action, but Lara figured it also was born of that sharp intelligence he harboured, being able to understand fully those around him as they were. "He's the one who gets everyone else into trouble."

Oh, so very true. At the end of a night out, there was no doubt that there would be at least a handful of incidents that everyone had plastered either willingly or unwillingly to their memory – incidents which had the rather demure and shy Lara doing an excellent impression of a beetroot – and the most likely instigator of this? Dominic! And unashamedly so. She loved him for his daring – everyone who loved Dominic had to have at least some appreciation of his audacious nature. And so, she was with Danny in concurring that yes, Dominic would probably need both their eyes kept onto him, if he already didn’t make sure of that.

Though the idea of Danny keeping a watch over Dominic amused her ever so slightly. Not because it was stupid to consider the idea of the little brother making sure that he kept his older brother from getting up to all sorts of trouble, but because it was true. Changed though he had, Dominic was ever the playful eternal child and Danny… somewhere along the line, he’d managed to overtake his brother in the lane for being a responsible, dependable adult and though she had no real place to be, she was rather proud of him.

“It’s a deal,” she nodded firmly before giving a small laugh as they approached a good enough site to set up camp for their stay during the festival. She gave a slight laugh as a realisation came to her, putting down the materials they’d brought along with them. “In fact, I think your brother would welcome it; he’d love the attention.”
She looked around for a moment, in final decisiveness, but open to Danny’s wishes too.
“…So, how about here? In the atmosphere, but not too much?”
She knew how Danny, like her, eventually preferred some quiet and peace and therefore, she’d picked a spot not too far from the inner circles of the campsite, but still far enough from party central for it to not be too much.

[TheAppleNinja]

((OOC: If we are submitting an application for an artist, and their stage name is something that would sound really strange in conversation, should we put their other name in the application? Also can we put a sim picture in our application?))

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: TheAppleNinja - The apps should feature mainly the real name, since that's what the person is actually named. If you want to include a stage name/alias, I suggest doing what I did for Dominic; I put "Dominic 'Veritas' de Vere", Veritas being his stage name. :) Then, depending on whether the person interacting with your character knows their real name or just the stagename, they can be called both. Like a fan would probably call Dominic "Veritas", whereas someone that knows him, like Lara, Danny and Lavinia, call him "Dominic".
And yes, a sim picture is fine.
Hope this helps, I'm glad you're interested in joining! :D )))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/Lavinia_banner.jpg


The world of showbiz existed to dazzle, making shameless use of every trick in the book in order to ensnare the hearts and minds of the millions who were its lifeblood: the audience, the fans. The goal -to entertain. The means – any that were necessary, and every good entertainer knew that illusion played a vital part in it all. The trick was doing it right. From their public images to stage gimmicks and countless publicity stunts, an aspiring rockstar strived to offer something unique to the public, something they hadn't seen before and would associate with them in the future, thus granting them that much-craved moment in the limelight.

Everyone wanted to make a statement, to shout out their name for the world to hear.

Dominic, Lavinia, and the rest of DEM had gone with the flow at first, each bringing their own unique contribution to the band as a whole through their specific talents and personalities, which, as they fine-tuned the art of performing, grew and expanded into more elaborate gimmicks, things the audience expected and welcomed riotously every time. Most of these had been born on the stage itself, sometimes the result of a spur of the moment act that was greeted with enthusiasm and later adopted into the band's repertoire, such as Dominic and Asher's infamous little stunt. It was provocative, it was daring, it challenged social taboos but most of all, it was shameless fanservice.

Those who had witnessed Asher and Dominic kiss on stage before could attest to the fact that it had always felt spontaneous and convincing, part of the reason the crowd loved it so; a stunt that screamed "fake" never did go down well with the fans. It perpetuated the fantasy that at the bottom of the act was a grain of truth, and the chemistry they portrayed so well was not just an act. That impression was not at all lost then in the lounge as the two young men stood grinding against one another in what looked like erotic bliss, oblivious to the hooting and cheering breaking out all around them. Just like she'd said she would, Lavinia watched over the rim of her glass, tracing the path of Asher's hand as it travelled over Dominic's backside as his own chest was being explored tentatively before the guitarist's fingers gripped his collar, pulling him, if possible, even deeper into their passionate kiss. At length, Lavinia passed her tongue over her lips, moistening them: mm, to be the meat in that sandwich! In reality, it would be a disaster of course, but seeing the two of them together certainly fanned the fires of that particular fantasy, and not just her own. All around them those who were not busy cheering and clapping or exchanging opinions stood vaguely transfixed, not quite daring to admit how much they were enjoying the show.

Then, like a thunderclap breaking the silence, the spell was shattered; the two young men disentangled themselves from around each other, Asher giving Dominic a firm shove in the process.

"You need to brush your teeth" he claimed, a comment which drew a couple of guffaws from their captive audience. Dominic, never lacking a retort of his own, aimed a grin and a jibe at the singer.

"Well yeah, I do now" , he said amidst more laughter, then turned to Lavinia, who simply watched in amusement.

"So what's the verdict?", he desired to know. "Was the show to Madame's satisfaction?"

With a contented little snicker, "Madame" drained the last bit of whiskey from her glass, rolling it inside her mouth for a few moments before letting it slide down her throat along with a low and clearly satisfied "Mmmmmm...."

"Absolutely," she admitted coyly, but enjoying this far too much to pass up an opportunity for a little more banter with the two of them. Therefore, she let her gaze travel all the way down to the young men's waists and below, an eyebrow arching suggestively as it settled there. She knew she wasn't the only one venturing a glimpse to see whether it “confirmed” anything – but unlike them she made no secret as to the intention.

“Though don't pretend you didn't love it too,” Lavinia teased, knowing her comment would be interpreted differently by those present, which was part of the fun. Dominic and Asher however knew she was right, because regardless of the sensual appeal present or not, and despite them being right back at swapping barbs, what they really got off on, was attention.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


To the observant outsider, it would probably seem quite ironic how between the brothers de Vere, it was Dominic who was the one who was out and about, living life to the fullest, without much protest from his parents, and how it was Daniel who, when he wanted to go off on his own to just one music festival - compared to all the dozens Dominic had been to - ended up being the target of several serious talks and much admonishing from the same parents, before being allowed to go, as well as the receiver of quite a few check-up phone calls, the first happening only hours after having left home. It was ironic, because of the two of them, it was obvious who the calm and responsible one was, the one who was likely to do the right thing and not get out of control. The one most likely to get home safely, with everything he had brought with him, and probably with quite a bit of money left in his pocket too. As was it equally obvious who the wild and devil-may-care one was, the one most likely to end up broke and having to hitch a ride all the way home, or have to contact the parents to transfer money onto his account, just so he could get there: Dominic; the one who wasn't constantly checked up on, but who'd probably need it a lot more than his little brother.

However, there were still people who, unlike their parents, both knew and recognized this fact. Among which was Lara. Though perhaps in her case it was all made easier by the fact that she didn't see Daniel on a daily basis, like his parents did, and so the change he had undergone in recent years - changing from a curious and somewhat nosey kid that wanted to be just like his older brother, to a sensible and responsible young man with a judgement most parents could only dream of their kids having - was more obvious to her, whereas those who saw it happen gradually over time, might find it harder to notice and thus would see no need to adjust to.

Either way, Lara was one of the people who did recognize Daniel's calm and responsible nature, and so when he made his suggestion - somewhat half-jokingly, but not without a good point - about the two of them teaming up to keep an eye on Dominic together, rather than her keeping an eye on the two brothers, she saw fit to concur.

"It's a deal", she agreed as they came to a halt near a free spot that seemed fairly even, and decent enough for putting up a tent on, and then gave a soft laugh as they set the gear down on the dry, brittle grass. "In fact", she added with a smile, "I think your brother would welcome it; he’d love the attention."

At that, Daniel's lips parted in a grin as well. He could but agree. Dominic just loooved being the centre of attention, and getting to play the part of mischievous imp that had others running around trying to keep him under control. For some reason, things just seemed even more fun to him when people were trying to keep him from doing them. Not that he'd usually refrain from pulling some crazy stunt if there wasn't someone there trying to convince him not to, or just plain physically trying to hold him back, but it just did add to the thrill, to be naughty when someone was actively trying to make him be good. So, while any efforts to try and keep his wild side contained was likely to just encourage his mischievous streak instead, at least together they would have the numbers.

"So", Lara then continued, looking around in assessment of the spot they'd just found, "how about here? In the atmosphere, but not too much?"

Daniel followed her example and looked around, noting that things did indeed seem a little less busy here than it did further down the path, but still not anywhere near desolate. There were plenty of tents set up around them already, but with a fair amount of space in between them, and the people lounging about outside seemed like the slightly more mellow type, as opposed to some of the loudmouths already heard from other parts of the camp site.

It was yet another reason why Daniel really appreciated that he had gotten to come here with Lara, as well as camp out with her; that like him, she wasn't all about seeing who could party the hardest and the longest, she wasn't here just to get drunk and get up to no good. That like him, she too had a grasp of how there really was such a thing as "too much of a good thing", and that not everything needed to be done to the extreme. Heck, she was even likely to let him actually sleep when he needed to, rather than keeping him up with various antics, or waking him up every five minutes by shouting and laughing hysterically outside, or tripping over him on her way in and out of the tent.
Indeed; compared to many of his classmates during the last class camping trip a few months ago - not to mention Dominic, with whom he might not have gone camping lately, but with whom he didn't really need to in order to know what it'd be like - Lara was pure bliss for him to camp with.

"Yeah", he thus agreed with a decisive nod. "Seems like a good spot."

With that, the next hour or so was then spent setting up the tent and getting the rest of the gear into place and organised; all of which was accompanied by much laughter and banter, as it was proving to be quite the classical challenge of getting the tent to look like it wasn't about to crumble over them any minute. Though in their defence, that wasn't the only reason why it took them so long; the sun was still doing it's best to make the outdoors feel like the Sahara, and breaks to recover in the shade of a nearby tree, along with a few sips of water, had to be frequently made. However, Daniel did perhaps have it a little easier than Lara, since as he had the advantage of being a guy, he could strip off his sweat-soaked shirt without drawing too much lewd attention, and continue with the task bare-chested. Though unlike most guys, he did so while remaining completely oblivious to the glances it did still earn him - the rapaciously hungry ones from the girl in the neighbouring tent to the right, who seemed to be several years his senior, as well as the far more innocently longing ones from the blond duo by one of the tents to the left - simply going about his business of getting the tent up, perfectly unaware of their attention, and the apparent appeal of his toned abs, glistening with a thin layer of sweat in the sun.

"There", he said, when at long last the tent was looking fairly safe to live in, the sleeping bags had been rolled out, and everything had been put in place, and he turned to Lara with a grin. "We could do this for a living."

Having set everything up, all that then remained was to wait. They knew Dominic hadn't yet arrived at the festival, because just like he had badgered Lavinia and Shane and various other friends during the day, with text messages and phone calls whining about how he was stuck on a train and bored out of his mind, he'd also texted both his brother and his girlfriend, and even called the latter at one point. Though it didn't seem like he had any clue whatsoever that they were both on their way to see him, for even though he had heard that Lara was in a car, with music playing in the background, she had easily deceived him by telling him she was on her way to the beach with a couple of friends.
Now, they were just waiting to hear from him again, hoping that he'd see fit to shoot either or both of them a message when he arrived. And if not, Lara would just text him in a few hours and ask, "sympathetic" of his hardships as ever. In the meantime, all there was to do was to lounge about, or possibly check out the market place, but since they were supposed to be here for a few days, and had been on the road since early this morning, they decided to save the market place for later, and just kick back and unwind for a while, Lara equipping herself with her sketch pad and pencils and plopping down outside the tent, and Daniel crashing on his sleeping bag, figuring that if he was to try and keep up with Dominic later, he could use a little more sleep first. Otherwise he'd never hear the end of how he was a wuss and a quitter.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


To kiss a guy, in itself, wasn't anything special to Dominic. At least no more so than kissing a girl.
To kiss Asher 'the King' Kingston, was pretty much the same. And at the same time, it really, really wasn't. There might not be any truly romantic or desirous feelings between the two young men - to Dominic's knowledge anyway, but who knew; maybe Asher's bickering was his way of expressing an interest, much like how when boys in kindergarten pulled the girls' pigtails because they liked 'em - but there most definitely was chemistry, and tension, born of that ever so potent rivalry growing and thriving between them, and to both of them, making out with the other was a definite turn-on.
Why, you might ask. Why, if there were no romantic feelings to feed the excitement of doing it?

The answer; because they were both egomaniacs, who got off on having people stare at them, talk about them, and be affected by them. Regardless of what feelings they conjured - whether it was joy, entertainment, sadness, anger, disgust, or best of all; arousal - they simply loved it, and were not above going out of their way to achieve it. The kiss they had just shared, as well as all the previous kisses happening on stage over the past couple of months, was a perfect example, because it illustrated it all quite well. It wasn't the kissing itself that was the purpose, it wasn't the closeness and the intimacy, it wasn't a sign of affection. In fact, to both of them, the whole thing had very little to do with the other young man involved; he was just the means to an end, a prop in their own personal show, a way for them to be the centre of everyone's attention for a while, and be talked about for a long time to come after the moment had passed. If they got turned on, it had nothing to do with the other party involved in the stunt, and everything to do with being watched by others, with knowing that in that instant, they occupied the minds of a whole room, or, as was usually the case, a whole crowd. That all eyes were on them, and that to the audience, everyone else faded into nothingness, became shadows whose existence drifted entirely into oblivion.

Man, what a rush that was! And the best part was, that just like parts of the crowd would venture a glance cast slightly downwards, hoping for some kind of evidence to support that what they had just seen was for real, and thus further fuel the fantasies that the two boys might have just planted in their heads, Dominic and Asher could do the exact same thing with them. They would let their gazes drift over the many faces surrounding them, drinking in the sight of their expressions in various states of shock or glee, and bask in the satisfaction of seeing those occasional waves of lust and eagerness flitting across some of them, the hunger roaring in their eyes, knowing that it was all because of them, that it was all their doing, and that currently, they were the subjects of quite a few naughty ideas.
And so consequently, as Lavinia, and quite a few others with her, went on to inspect the aftermath of the young men's kiss, their gazes wandering below the belts around their narrow hips, Dominic's and Asher's eyes smugly drank in the same, only from a different view.

"Mmmmmm....", came a pleasured purr from Lavinia, voicing with that one simple sound the relish of several people in the crowded lounge. "Absolutely."

And then, with her eyes playfully scouring that very specific part of her two band mates' appearances, cocking an eyebrow as perhaps she did note a slight difference - though imaginary or otherwise, only she and the two boys would know - she went on to add;

"Though don't pretend you didn't love it too."

Words of ambiguity, ensuring a few more and increasingly eager glances among some of the bystanders, as well a couple of stretched necks, in attempts to catch a glimpse of what they figured had to have prompted such a comment. Dominic even noted a young woman pushing her way through the crowd to the front of the small circle surrounding him and the other three, to greedily follow the same path as Lavinia's gaze had travelled. Though only at first, because while Lavinia's eyes had darted from Dominic's crotch to Asher's, this young lady's eyes lingered fixedly at Dominic's, before venturing back up to his face, finding much to her own delight that not only was he looking at her, having noted her apparent interest in his physique, but that he also seemed rather amused by it, and downright welcoming it, judging by the slight smirk curving those kissable lips of his.

However, currently the target of roving eyes or not, far be it from Dominic to not keep the show going, now that they had gotten the crowd's attention, and Lavinia was practically asking for an encore. And to be made part of it.

"Oh, admit it", he thus shot back at her with an impish grin. "You just wanted an excuse to check out my package. Again!"

Though before she could answer, Asher, who wasn't about to retreat back into the shadows, seized the opportunity to use Dominic's comment as a stepping stone;

"We've all already seen it enough times, thank you very much", he stated dryly, familiar as he and the others were with how unfazed Dominic was with running around in various states of undress around them; partly as well as completely, though the latter tended to only happen when he was changing or getting dressed after a shower.

What he really should have realized, however, was that Dominic wasn't at all likely to let such a thing - or anything coming from Asher, really - just slide, and so within mere moments had quipped right back;

"Says the guy who just felt me up!"

[Alissa888]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraBan.jpg

In a way, maybe it made sense.

Lara and Dominic were as different from each other as Danny and Dominic were, and yet the same way Lara and Danny were both in awe of Dominic, he really would go pretty crazy without them. It wasn’t just that he needed an adoring audience, because it felt like he needed them most of the time, and that aside, hero-worship had little to do with how protective Dominic was bound to be. Hence, Lara had fewer worries regarding Danny’s wellbeing on the trip; Dominic would be keeping an eye on him (initially, at least), and therefore, Danny could totally keep an eye on Dominic later on.

But it made sense that people closest to Dominic, who were the ones most different from him, were rather similar to each other. It was pretty elementary, in fact, what with opposites and all. But nevertheless, it all worked out because while Dominic was electrifying to be around, Lara wasn’t capable of non-stop partying, in fact, she wasn’t even capable of that much. She needed to stop and recharge, often. She was hardworking and it wasn’t that she got tired per se, but all in all something about the enrichment of social atmosphere tended to have something of a draining effect on her, and she needed time away from it before she was ready for it again.

All a bit paradoxical really, given that she’d worked with her parents and siblings so long in events organisation of all things – which, funnily enough, involved brining lots of people together and letting them party – but Lara was never the one who was right on the scene, sorting everything out. She worked behind the scenes, she helped have it all planned to detail – allowing for mistakes to happen, of course – so that they didn’t have to run around like headless chickens at the eleventh hour. Adrenaline junkies and Lara Abbott were from different planets.
Well, given that men were from Mars and women were from Venus… it explained her and Dominic, then.

Nevertheless, she really needed to recharge and she’d been to music festivals before and if she’d learned anything, it was not to be in the core of all of it. Hence, her choice in spot for camping, and thankfully – wisely, rather, because the intelligent young man saw the advantages in it too – Danny agreed and it was… a while before they’d set up the tent. During which Lara was subjected yet again to the amusing realisation of how grown up Danny had become, what with him attracting both innocent and lascivious attention from the women (and some men) around him, and more so, not even aware of it. And again, she had to laugh slightly at the realisation that Dominic would have seen it and put on a show, just for them.

After the tent was put up however, Danny decided it was best for a nap and Lara, having been confined in a car for far too long anyway, didn’t want to trade it for a tent, and figured she’d do some drawing instead, sitting out by the tent, her eyes grazing over the moving figures, fingers skilfully sketching a snapshot of the scene before her, all of it in a blurring sense as if to emphasise the transient, ephemeral nature of it all, all of it going well until she felt that queasy feeling rise up at the back of her throat and she had to rush to somewhere appropriate to throw up, losing the binge she’d treated herself up during the drive from the gas station.
For some reason, it suddenly made it real again, and a little scary as tinges of alarm scratched at her heart, because it was getting less and less like a stupid concoction of her head. She was late, she was throwing up, she was craving really weird stuff; what if she was pregnant?
…What were they going to do?

She dispelled the thoughts from whence they came; it was better to address this all when she was sure and that’d… they’d cross that bridge when they came to it. They… oh, wait, she’d have to tell Dominic before they were sure. This’d happened before, and… it’d be fine.
She checked her watch, and hey, it’d be a crime to spare Danny the opening party and after all, what a place to surprise Dominic, right? But she supposed she had a few reservations about waking him up while he was there looking adorably peaceful, resting after the long and taxing journey and so she figured she’d go back to her sketching/food binging.
Then he woke up, looking refreshed despite the sleep that clung to his eyes.

“Nicky will never live it down if you last longer than he does,” she declared with a bit of playfulness, in encouragement of him partying it up; Lara wasn’t his parent, and though she would most definitely keep a watch on his welfare, he was entitled to have his fun, right?

(((OOC: Bleh, but let me know if it doesn't work.)))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/Lavinia_banner.jpg


Among the talents of a true entertainer, alongside their uncanny ability to connect with the public and put on a good show, was the knack for improvisation. Indeed, an impromptu performance had the potential of being more compelling than the best-rehearsed show if it managed to tap right into the crowd's desires and expectations, while maintaining that elusive touch of spontaneity. An artist's public image and their true personality were often different faces of the same coin, but those that overlapped made for a true winning combination. Fans like to believe their idols were no different off stage than they were on it, and that the characteristics they loved were a genuine part of their personality, so those who could pull it off earned faith and appreciation.

When it came to improvisation, no-one did it better than Dominic; his hunger for attention drove him to seek it, and if the opportunity wasn't there, he created it. He had a knack for pinpointing the crowd's mood, engineering it to suit his purposes, and he wasn't afraid to toe the forbidden lines if it meant getting a reaction. The torrid makeout session with Asher was a perfect example of that, and the supremely smug look on Dominic's face in the aftermath showed just how much he enjoyed watching the effect it had on those present.

He wasn't the only one, either; Asher savoured his own time in the spotlight, as for Lavinia, she was thoroughly enjoying it from the sidelines. No stranger to daring stunts either, she wasn't above similar acts of shameless self-promotion, but unlike the two young men before her, she could also be content to let someone else hog the limelight for once. Being only a spectator had an appeal of its own, but that did not mean Lavinia would hesitate to become part of the show if the invitation was there. Or rather the challenge, since few words that spilled off Dominic's lips lacked that trademark impishness of his, and he knew very well she wasn't about to turn it down.

"Oh, admit it" was his reply of choice, "You just wanted an excuse to check out my package. Again!"


A playfully dubious pucker drew Lavinia's lips together in reaction to his comment, but the retort she was preparing was staved off by none other than Asher, who proved quicker:

"We've all already seen it enough times, thank you very much" he commented, drawing the briefest of chuckles from Lavinia in the process: oh yes, that was true. Dominic was notoriously uninhibited, and that included nudity, whether his own or that of others. Lavinia was the same way, and while she tended to at least wear underwear around the guys, they were all familiar with her risqué photographs, some of which displayed her fully nude. At the time, they'd been the subject of much banter and innuendos, and speaking of which, Dominic's comeback did not hesitate to arrive:

"Says the guy who just felt me up!" he immediately quipped back; they still had the attention of several people, but the height of the moment had passed, and the rest were starting to regroup with their own friends, resuming whatever they were doing before Dominic and Asher's little stunt got their attention. Among those who remained figured a young woman whose eyes were practically glued to Dominic and her bodylanguage spoke volumes regarding her intentions, making damn sure he noticed it. In the meantime, Jim and Arnold, two of the guys who'd invited them to the lounge in the first place, had left their table and made their way towards Lavinia, who greeted them with her usual exuberance. As she hugged them, she caught the tangy scent of weed off their hair and clothes, and as soon as they parted, Jim extended the offer to buy the first round of drinks. That sealed the deal for Lavinia.

“When you two are done bickering like an old married couple,” she shot over her shoulder at Dominic and Asher, “feel free to join us for a drink.”

One by one, the members of DEM gathered at their friends' table, and thus began a riotous reunion as they caught up with one another's stories and reminisced on past times spent together, or got to know the new faces present within the group. Drinks kept coming and joints were passed around freely, the group growing louder and less restrained with each glass drained: their voices mingled with the surrounding clamour, while bouts of impetuous laughter occasionally rose above it. After a while, Lavinia left the table to dance, at one time ending up among the three girls on top of a central table, amongst the cheers of a raving crowd. In the meantime, Dominic's eager fan from earlier took the opportunity to approach him, and when Lavinia returned to catch her breath and relieve her thirst, the two of them were looking very cosy together.


((ooc: Still not fully back on track, but hope it works!))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


If there was one thing Daniel and Dominic had in common, except their bloodline, it was their ability to sleep under pretty much any outer circumstances. If they were agitated or worried, then yes, sleeping might prove difficult even for the de Vere duo, but more often than not, they had no trouble whatsoever falling asleep, regardless of whether they were surrounded by a rowdy party (however unusual it might be in Daniel's case, since he hadn't made a habit of attending them), or the perfect stillness of their bedrooms. If tired, they slept, it was as simple as that.

Though frankly speaking, even in this sense Dominic was still a little bit more extreme than his brother, because Dominic usually didn't fall asleep until he was downright exhausted, and thus could sleep through an earthquake, but when Daniel fell asleep, it was because he was either tired and needing his rest, or simply bored, and there were still things that would easily wake him up, such as sudden loud noises and people grabbing his shoulder and shaking him. He usually didn't need for a marching band to invade his bedroom before he would most reluctantly awake. That was Dominic; exuberant and sprightly, energetic to the core, except when he had just woken up. It would often take him several minutes to shake off the sleepiness, and in the meantime he'd usually be groggy and disoriented, and had even been known to hold an entire, nonsensical and incoherent conversation with someone, before realizing he - along with everyone else present - had no idea what he was talking about.

Daniel on the other hand, because he didn't go to bed only when he was exhausted, usually woke up well rested and ready to start his day. Or, as was the case here, continue it. He'd drifted off to sleep quite easily in the tent here at the Syrinx Music Festival camp site, since despite the constant clamour around him, the sounds had all soon merged together into soft, steady hum, a background noise that due to it's even volume soon offered no sudden and unexpected explosions of sound, and thus allowed him to fall asleep. Despite the partying nearby, despite the unfamiliar surroundings, despite the unusual hardness of his "bed", and despite the heat thickening the air. He was sweaty, and excited both to be here and to get to surprise Dominic, but gosh darn it, he still managed to doze off. And not just for a little while, but for three whole hours, waking up only when a perky sound from his cell phone nearby announced an incoming text message. By then, the tent was somewhat cooler - though far from being actually cool - not to mention darker, and he squinted at the lit up screen of the phone to try and catch the time.

"Christ...", he mumbled to himself when he realized how long he'd slept, and within seconds had started crawling out of the tent, grabbing the cell and a fresh T-shirt (http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DanielTShirt1.jpg) from his bag in the process.

Stumbling out into the fresh air, he found Lara sitting outside the tent with her sketch pad and a candy bar, right where he'd left her.

"Nicky will never live it down if you last longer than he does", she announced with a smile as he pulled on the shirt, and then shot her a grin at her comment while straightening it and running his fingers through his hair.

Amen to that. Dominic had never been able to accept being outdone by his little brother - or anyone, for that matter - in anything. Except maybe sports, where it was plain to see that Dominic didn't stand a chance if competing against Daniel. Daniel was both faster and stronger, and had a far better aim, and while Dominic would probably claim otherwise, he hadn't been able to take Daniel in a brotherly wrestling match since Daniel was fourteen years old.
Then again, in Dominic's defence - or so Dominic himself would make sure to point out - he'd never been all that interested in sports, and so naturally hadn't developed a talent for it either. Though that of course only applied to the matters where Dominic was inferior. Where he was superior, it was a matter of just being better, plain and simple.
So indeed, with partying being one of the things he did better than most anyone, to Dominic, crashing before Daniel did was so not an option. It would be a blow to his self esteem that, much like Lara said, he might not be able to take. Which would only make it all the more fun if Daniel really did last longer. Though realist that he was, and knowing from experience the first-class party animal that Dominic was, he doubted it.

"God knows his ego could use the experience", he grinned however, while flipping his cell phone open to see who the text message he'd received was from, though not before adding in a somewhat more serious tone; "Why didn't you wake me? I didn't mean to sleep this long..."

Though Lara didn't get much of a chance to reply, because in the next moment, Daniel's eyes landed on the name of the person who'd sent the text, and his face lit up in another smile as he read the message it contained.

"Dominic's here", he proclaimed. "Finally."

As it turned out, Lara had gotten a similar text message only a couple of minutes earlier, in which Dominic had declared that he now intended to party until he dropped - and knowing him, he meant it, literally - and so since that was all that his girlfriend and brother had been waiting for, it was only minutes until they had equipped themselves with what they might come to need during the evening - money, identification, cell phones, and clothes - and were off to try and locate one of the entrances to the backstage area. With the vastness of the area, as well as the unfamiliarity of it, it took them a little while to catch their bearings, despite the festival area map that Daniel had printed from the Internet before leaving. But eventually, they found a good starting point at the makeshift police headquarters, and from there on, the rest proved a piece of cake. The backstage area itself - sealed off from the curious masses by a tall fence covered by plastic screens in order to provide the artists with some privacy - was easily spotted from there, and the walk to the nearest entrance, heavily guarded by burly security guards, wasn't a very long one. All they had to do was follow along the main road, and voilá, there it was.

It was actually getting through, that would turn out to be the tricky part. Without backstage passes, the guards barely even glanced at them - though still somehow managed quite successfully to block their paths, as though thinking Lara and Daniel would suddenly decide to try and force their way through - and so it took a few minutes before they were able to explain that they were the guests of one of the performers, and that backstage passes would have been set aside for them and left with the security staff, for them to collect on arrival. That was followed by a minor debate among the guards, some of whom claimed they'd heard nothing about it, and some claiming they had, but didn't know who had the guest list. Eventually, one of their superiors was summoned over the radio, and arrived upon the scene about fifteen minutes after Lara and Daniel, carrying with him - lo and behold - a copy of the guest list. Lara's and Daniel's names then found on the list, and their ID's checked, they were finally allowed to pass through the gate.

"Geez", Daniel said as he and Lara were beginning to distance themselves from the whole debacle. "One would hope they'll be better organised when the festival really kicks off!"

Though only a second later, he was ready to shake it all off, and so started looking around himself, both in order to take in these new and rather exclusive surroundings, with Lord knows what celebrities waiting around the corner, but also in search of some clue as to where his brother might be found.

"Now how do we find Nicky?"


(((ooc: Alissa - If you feel it's not much to go on, feel free to wait until I've gotten Dominic into position in my next post, which will have him ready for her. Otherwise, just ignore this message. :D )))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


As any artist who had ever been on the road would have been able to tell you, touring wasn't always just fun and games, an endless line of parties and good times. It often included a lot of waiting, either on the bus or the airplane, as well as the airport, and sometimes even the venues themselves while things were being set up and the sound check run. There were constantly people around you, with little chance of privacy for more than an hour or so, maximum. People that you lived with pretty much twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and all of them with their own traits and quirks that you'd have to accept and adapt to. It got crowded, it got intense, people got irritable and mentally worn, and as the tour progressed, the number of daily fights tended to increase, as everyone was starting to get on everyone else's nerves. Eating and sleeping habits would deteriorate, and almost every night you would find yourself at a different hotel, and you'd wake up in the morning not knowing just where the h*ll you were. Cities got confused, days got mixed up, and to top it all off, it was hard to find the time to stay in touch with the people back home.
And that took it's toll on relationships, particularly between lovers.

So far, Dominic and Lara, as a couple, had survived all of Deus Ex Machina's tours and basically Dominic's whole career - with recordings and promotions and lord knows what else in between tours - because they had done their best to do so. Lara, as the ever supportive and nurturing girlfriend, had sacrificed quite a lot to fly out to wherever the band were playing whenever she could, and there had been occasions when she and Dominic had met halfway, in some town at some hotel, just to get to spend a few hours together.

Still, despite their best efforts, there were times when it just wasn't possible, when both their schedules were too packed or they were too far away from one another to be able to make it, and roughly, they only got to see each other once or twice a month. And to a virile young man like Dominic, with his exuberant sensuality, and the stress he was under often channelling into sexual frustration, not to mention every show leaving him feeling exhilarated, turned on even, the need for outlets would grow strong. Outlets were essential, or he would go crazy. Often he tried to take care of it himself somehow - be it through an intimate phone conversation with Lara, or by simply taking matters completely into his own hands - but with beautiful and enticingly naughty young women throwing themselves at him, the temptation of having a real, warm body close to him, instead of an imaginary one, sometimes got to be too much for him.

Tonight, partying it up with the rest of the band and a bunch of friends in the VIP lounge, was starting to look much like one such occasion. It had been almost two weeks now since he'd seen Lara, and he'd been brimming with pent up frustration for the past couple of days. And last night sure hadn't helped, nor the ordeal he'd had to suffer through earlier today. He needed to blow off steam in a major way. Which was why when he found himself in the crosshairs of that vixen that had made her interest in him blatantly obvious - a darkhaired gothic beauty with blood red lips and an outfit consisting of a mesh top with a black bra underneath it, and a black latex mini skirt, and whose intentions were flashing like neon signs in her hungry eyes - a naughty smirk had emerged on his lips, and even naughtier thoughts in his head.
His mind never did need much incentive to wind up in the gutter.

Though he didn't act on it right away. He'd been complaining all day about being bored, and had harassed pretty much everyone he knew through phone calls and text messages in his desire for some good company, even if it was just electronically, and now that he was finally surrounded by a partying crowd, with plenty of people that he knew, he would make sure to enjoy it. It was as though once he knew release was within reach, he found the peace of mind take his time getting around to it. Sort of. In the case of Lara, she was mostly attacked on sight, but that had as much to do with how horny Dominic was, as it did with how much he'd missed her. Not just sex, but her. And, of course, sex with her.

But, with almost two weeks since he'd last seen her, and a couple of days left to go before he'd get to see her, not to mention his sexual frustration running dangerously high in him already... He was more than a little susceptible to the interest of others, and so when after a while - two drinks and one quick trip to the bathroom to do a starting line of cocaine, to be exact (which, frankly, didn't make it any easier for him to keep it in his pants, since it only made his urge to get laid shoot through the roof) - the person seated next to him in the large booth rose to head for the bar, and the young lady seized the opportunity to slip gracefully in to fill the void, her hand landing on Dominic's thigh before he'd even had time to notice her presence, protesting or rejecting the gesture was the last thing on Dominic's mind. It may be quite the cheap move on her part, but it did tap directly into the flaming river of sexual tension and need for release coursing through his veins, and so it wasn't long before her hands had started freely exploring both this and that of his physique, fingertips running across his chest, nails digging into his thigh and brushing against his groin, lips grazing his neck and ear. The young lady was determined to keep her claws firmly buried in him, and to not let him forget that she was there.

Though it didn't stop Dominic from fully enjoying the party experience as well, joining in the banter and the laughter of the increasingly rowdy gathering around the tables Deus Ex Machina and their friends occupied.

"Oh, that reminds me", Dominic said suddenly during a newly started conversation about song writing, as Lavinia's return to the table - after a much appreciated performance on top of another - got him thinking of the melody he had been working on while on the train, trying to keep his sanity, and that he'd wanted to share with the others; Lavinia and Shane in particular, since along with Dominic, they made up the trio that wrote 99% of the music for the band's songs. "There's something I wanna run by you guys. Hey, Jim, can I?"

Arm outstretched towards Jim, who was standing across the table from him, Dominic flicked his fingers in apparent request for the acoustic guitar Jim had been carrying around, and upon receiving it set it down on his knee and gripped the neck loosely, while he looked around the table to make sure he had the other band member's attention (as well as everyone else's of course, but that was mostly just a bonus).

"I was just messing around on the train, and, you know how we said we need a darker vibe for 'The Dying of the Light'? What if I went something like this, for the bridge?"

While he spoke, his fingers had found their way to the first chord - after so many years of playing, Dominic could play guitar blindfolded and upside down if he had to, and another stage antic of his was to even put the guitar behind his head and play a few notes, just to show off - and with the majority's attention now aimed at him, started practically dancing along the neck of the guitar, while his other hand picked at the strings over the sound hole, calling forth a short but intricately ominous melody.

"Yeah", Shane confirmed once he was done, and gave a slight but enthusiastic nod. "That's perfect."

Dominic grinned contentedly, and lifted the guitar to hand it back to Jim.

"I agree", Asher said, though a little more thoughtfully than Shane. "Though wouldn't it sound better if we both played it?"

The lead guitarist glanced up at him, as he reclined in his seat and placed his arm back around Lori, the young lady who seemed hell-bent on bedding him, and thus kept herself glued to him.

"Yeah", he said. "But don't worry, we'll work out something similar for you, something more basic."

Asher quirked a brow.

"Why?"

"Cuz you can't play this", Dominic stated calmly.

At that, Asher first blinked with surprise, and then gave an indignant scoff;

"The hell I can't!"

"Asher", Dominic said, his voice still calm and casual, with a hint of dismissal, as though he was trying to explain to someone who just wouldn't understand their limitations... which was exactly what he figured he was doing; "You're not good enough. Stick to your power chords, and I'll handle the rest, okay? I'm the better guitarist."

Across the table, Asher's eyes darkened with anger and offense, and it seemed as though had looks been able to kill, Dominic's time on this earth would have been up.

"You're such an *sshole", the singer spat, and then reached for his almost empty drink and left the table in a huff, heading towards the bar.

Dominic on the other hand, merely looked at the others and gave a lopsided smirk and a carefree shrug at the whole thing, as though he was completely innocent and had no idea why Asher had gotten so pissed off.


(((ooc: Sorry for the possibly cheesy title, but... I just needed a random title. I blame Alissa and Dylan Thomas. *nod*)))

[Alissa888]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraBan.jpg

Making Dominic de Vere eat his ego was a truly amusing sight, anyone whose seen it happen would tell you. And it’s truly remarkable, because it happened to rarely. Maybe it was because Dominic just tried so hard to win at what he considered his territory, but mostly, Lara figured it was because he just wouldn’t admit defeat even if that was the situation at hand; he’d just brush it off claiming he just hadn’t been trying hard enough.
It was sort of adorable, really.
But still as funny as hell, and so, she teased the matter a little in instigating Danny to give his brother a run for his money. Or rather try, given that Danny was new to it all, and Dominic had... pretty much garnered enough experience to write a book on how to party hard. Then again, Danny was sensible in pacing himself properly; Dominic was anything but.
This was going to be interesting, that was for sure. Who knew, maybe Danny was a dark horse and the partying thing ran in the family?

"God knows his ego could use the experience,” Danny grinned in spirit of their jovial sibling rivalry and Lara responded with a small laugh, the potential image of Dominic’s reaction to losing flashing in her head, while Danny’s eyes scanned his cellphone. "Why didn't you wake me? I didn't mean to sleep this long..."

Oh. Well... she hadn’t really been sure how long he’d meant to sleep, but really, sleep was good for him, especially since he wasn’t used to it all, and it wasn’t wise to wear himself out on his first night at the festival.

"Dominic's here,” he suddenly announced before Lara could explain, his face bright with enthusiasm that Lara figured had at least a little to do with how much he’d missed his big brother, as well as how much he was looking forward to the festival kicking off. "Finally."

Yeah, he’d texted her too, but she hadn’t brought it up just yet, deciding not rush Danny out of rest following the long journey, but she shared his enthusiasm; she couldn’t wait to see him. More, she couldn’t wait to see what he’d get up to, because especially with his own little brother in the audience, it was just incentive for Dominic to up his tricks to really put on a show. More than usual, that is. She got worried, she made sure she kept an eye on him to stop him going too far and actually do something harmful to himself or someone else – most likely himself – but Lara had to admit that she was a fan of the antics he put on, just as she was a fan of his.

So they wasted no time in getting all the things they needed – including identification given that Lara looked even younger than she already was, and Danny was on the verge of being of acceptable age – and setting off to the entrances to the backstage area in search of the launch party that they could be sure that Dominic was at, even if he hadn’t specified in his text. Thanks to Danny having been organised over it all – again, stark contrast between brothers because not only have Dominic winged it, he’d have flat out refused to stop and ask for directions – they had a map to navigate with and soon enough, found their way to the backstage centre.
There the problems began, and Lara could understand because the guards surely had masses of people to work with, while the performers leaving the guestpasses only did it for a small group of people at most, so she kept patient while they sorted through the situation, knowing that Danny was getting frustrated about it, what with his excitement and enthusiasm slowly turning to frustration as the guards didn’t cooperate, but Lara, as ever kept cool and calm and understanding over it all, and soon enough, it was all sorted. However, and understandably, not soon enough for Danny;

"Geez," he exclaimed as they passed through the double doors leading into the launch party and Lara’s eyes were already scanning the crowd for Dominic’s familiar, fetching and much missed visage. "One would hope they'll be better organised when the festival really kicks off!"
To that, the already preoccupied Lara simply responded with a “mm-hmm”, knowing that she was really here more for the company than the festival itself.
"Now how do we find Nicky?"

“Follow the crowd?” she quipped back with a laugh that lit up her eyes as she locked her gaze onto the person she’d been looking for, only to have it drain painfully and almost instantaneously as she grasped the situation around him, particularly the pretty, young girl that was blanketed around him, her hands and lips invading onto territories that Lara had always claimed as private for herself and Dominic. Her heart slowly sank into her stomach as she watched him make no move to stop it, instead looking like he was used to it all, and the corners of her lush lips dropped down as her breath hitched, eyes fixated and unable to look away, unable to really process or accept her first idea as to what was going on, because she knew it, she’d been thinking it all along and then figuring she was stupid for thinking it, but here it was.
She snapped out of it, drawing too sharp a breath, her delicate hands rubbing roughly against the back of her neck as she looked down, away, pretending it hadn’t happened and she hadn’t seen it, and therefore didn’t have to think about it.

“Maybe you should call him?” she stupidly suggested to Danny – then realising the cellphone wouldn’t be heard anyway, if he bothered to answer – but more worried about how shaky her voice came out sounding, and how the sound scraped against her suddenly dry throat. "I mean... text him...?"

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioAdams1.jpg

Name: Rio Adams, alias Rio Vance
Age: 19
Type of visitor: Visitor/other
Occupation: College student, model/actor for adult gay oriented website.

Bio:
Army brat. Loser. Fag. Freak. Those are just some of the labels Rio Adams has been called over the years, and not a single one of them has managed to define him a single bit better than any the rest have. For while they all contain a grain of truth, there's still so much more to Rio than that, and he would never define himself through terms so simple. Or cheap, for that matter.

Let's start with the "army brat", shall we?
Indeed, that would perhaps be one of the slightly more extensive ones, because while he might be far more than that, he is also just that; a so-called army brat. With his part American, part Italian father working as a training officer in the US Army, Rio grew up on various military bases around the country, him and his mother following his father to live with him wherever he happened to be stationed. East coast, west coast, north, south, he's seen them all. Although many of them remain a blur in his memory, because to a child, it's really not all that important where you live, just that you have your parents with you, and friends to play with. As a child, Rio always did. Having had to go through the process of making new friends all over again as soon as they arrived at a new base, he'd soon grown to become a fairly confident and outgoing boy, and it never took him more than a day or two to find someone to play with. And someone to get up to nothing good with. Despite his parents' strict discipline and high morals - or rather, his father's, as he was the man of the house, and his mother was more of a demure and submissive housewife - Rio just loved causing mischief and go on adventures. Never really anything truly bad or dangerous, but just the usual children's games. Sure, whenever caught it tended to result in lenghty lectures, punishments such as being grounded, and also the occasional spanking or belting, and while especially the latter might have a rather dampening effect on his spirits, it never lasted more than a few days.

Next in line; "loser"?
Well, that one would be among the more debatable ones. It isn't that Rio is in any way dense or unintelligent. That has nothing whatsoever to do with the average (at best) grades he got in school. He was a bright boy, who over the years grew up to be a bright young man. But with the constant moving around and the school hopping that came with it, it was always difficult for him to achieve anything even resembling a consistency in his education. Every teacher had their own way of doing things, every class had their own pace, which in the long-run meant that Rio kept going back and forth between being far ahead of everyone, and being far behind everyone. Only rarely did he manage to fall into the same place of learning as the rest of his class. Though granted, with the rest of the kids in the class also being army brats, sometimes there really wasn't any place to fall into, since the majority were having the same problem.
So, Rio's bad, barely passing grades were never a reflection of his intelligence, but rather a reflection of his outward circumstances, and the resignation and disinterest that eventually came with it; after all, if all his hard work to keep up was only going to turn out to be for nothing the next time they moved, why bother with it?

That brings us to "fag".
Now that one, is true. There's no denying that. Although Rio himself would prefer simply "gay", since "fag" tends to bring with it this huge pile of preconceived notions that he's feminine and acts like a girl, and that when speaking, he sounds like a grade A bimbo on speed. He may be slender and somewhat delicate, but he is still most definitely a guy. A guy that just happens to be attracted to other guys. It's as simple as that.
At least, it is these days. It wasn't always.
By the age of fourteen, he'd had a couple of encounters with girls. Fairly innocent encounters, but no less of a romantic kind because of it. Sort of. At the time he'd thought it'd been romance. There had been a kiss or two exchanged between himself and a couple of girls since the age of twelve, and he'd even "gone steady" with one of them for a few weeks. And all the while, he'd been thinking that even though the feeling of pressing his lips carefully against a girl's was nice, it was just that; nice. Nothing more. The fireworks and all the other hoopla everyone was talking about, just wasn't there for him. Instead, he found himself far more intrigued by the idea of kissing another boy, wondering to himself what'd it be like, and trying to picture himself doing it. There was this boy down the street at the time, Cale, whom Rio hung out with quite a bit, and who had the most inviting pair of lips Rio had ever seen. Though he never acted on it. Boys who kissed other boys just weren't "right in the head", as he'd heard his father say once, and so Rio tried his best to ignore those urges. But, on his fifteenth birthday, it all became painfully clear to him that wrong or not, he didn't like girls. As a birthday present, Vicki, the sixteen year old girl from next door, had dragged him away from his own party and up to his room, and started asking him all kinds of questions about whether he'd ever done this or ever done that to a girl, only to then announce that she wanted to be his first. "Awkward" didn't even begin to describe the situation when despite her best efforts to turn him on, nothing really happened, and Rio eventually managed to escape, his cheeks flushing red in embarrassment, and humiliation.
Six months later, he announced to his parents that he was gay. Shortly after his birthday, with the memories of how flustered and distressed he'd felt with Vicki still haunting him, he'd ventured off the base, and caught the bus into town, and there sought out this club he'd heard of, notorious on the base for the "perversion" that went on in there. Although far too young to enter, he'd hung around outside, watching the people who came and went, and putting himself in the middle of it. It hadn't been long before he'd caught the interest of a young man, and eventually ended up in the alley around the corner, making out. And, with the fireworks and the excitement he'd never felt with girls now surging through him, that's when he knew. He was most definitely gay.
It took him another few months to work up the courage to come out, but despite his mother's crying and wailing, and his father's fit of anger - later to cool to a simmering resentment as soon as the subject came up - he's never regretted it.

And as for "freak"?
Well, that one started occurring right after "fag", and so had more to do with that, than with Rio himself; people so hopped up on prejudice that anything that made you different from them, made you an alien. A freak. Rio's used to it by now, and tries to not let it get to him. And with the fairly recent change of enviroment, that came with starting college a year ago, he's now surrounded by people who are generally a bit more openminded, and less judgemental.


Picture:
http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioAdams2.jpg


Anything else you'd like to add:

Is a photography major.

Is friends with Lara Abbott. They met as a result of her being made his mentor when he first started college.

A few months into his first year at college, he was approached about doing a bit of modelling/acting for a gay oriented porn site specializing on young emo guys and ad-lib pictures/videos. He eventually accepted, more out of curiousity than anything, but turned out to quite enjoy it. By now, he's one of the site's main features, going by the alias Rio Vance. However, his family doesn't know, nor do most of his friends.

Knows he has an older half-sister somewhere, from one of his father's earlier relationships. He knows her name is Lavinia, and has for various reasons (partly because of the things he's been told by his father, and partly because of his own research) come to suspect that it might be none other than Lavinia Sinclair, of Deus Ex Machina.

His current boyfriend is Brad Dreyer, the 24 y/o bassist in Tears of Andromeda; a somewhat known emo band, who are making their first appearance at the Syrinx Music Festival this year. However, their relationship has yet to make it into the media, since as "just" the bass player of a small band, Brad's lovelife yet isn't of very much interest to the press.


- - - - - - - - - -


Questionnaire:

Name: Rio Adams
Nickname: none
Instrument: Eh... myself? And others? ;-)
Previous bands: none
Siblings: Remains to be seen
Food of choice: Mexican
Drink of choice: Chai latte. If alcoholic, Long Island Iced Tea
Weapon of choice: I'm part Italian, so I figure I'm expected to say Beretta here?
Accessory of choice: Belts and belt chains. And my camera.
Movie of choice: Memento. And Fight Club. I like movies that mess with my head.
Most inspirational artist (musician or not): Anton Corbijn
Never goes on stage without: I don't go on stage, but if I did, I'd never do it without a crowd!
Lucky charm: Thin leather strap bracelet on my left wrist.
Preferred time of day and why: Every time of day has it's charm, though I tend to like the evening; no classes!
If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why: Depends on the situation,
but either my boyfriend or my dad. We're not all that close, but he's good in crisis situations.
Personal quote: "Wait, is that my ass?" (Don't ask!)


(((ooc: Open to plots and storylines, and the part of his boyfriend is up for grabs. :) )))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/Lavinia_banner.jpg


Sooner or later, parties for Lavinia tended to blur into a dizzying swirl of alcohol-soaked memories, leaving her halfway unsure how she'd managed to find her way to the spot where she'd eventually crashed into a stupor-like sleep, or precisely how the party had ended. Sometimes she was guided by whoever was most sober among her fellow revellers, other times she just stumbled along on her own, but she usually managed to find a good, relatively safe spot to sleep it off...usually. Accidents happened, of course. That, however, only happened towards the end of a night's partying, after she'd imbued enough alcohol to fell a horse. Until then, Lavinia maintained an enviable level of self-control, which didn't actually say much considering how few inhibitions she had, but it did allow her to record the event into her memories to later reminisce upon. More than once she'd used it to taunt to other guys who often ended up not knowing what they'd done and with whom, leading to plenty of hilarious banter.

As the hours pressed on and the gathering grew more and more rowdy, Lavinia was beginning to cross the line from sober to pleasantly buzzed, but her energy was still very much intact. In fact, one could say she had too much of it, for she could scarcely keep herself in one place more than fifteen minutes before dashing off to join the dancing crowd. The others came and went too, so it was a while before all of DEM's members were once again congregated around the table, Dominic and his newest “acquisition” included. Lavinia observed them briefly, a lazy smirk tingeing her lips, for she could see very well where this was going. During a couple of dances, she herself had been getting rather frisky with Arnold, who looked just as sexy as she remembered , and was currently contemplating getting to know him even better, in an up-close and personal kind of way. A girl had her needs, and Dominic wasn't the only one feeling the strain of pent-up sexual frustration.

When the conversation turned to the topic of song composition, minds were temporarily dragged out of the gutter by Dominic's mention of a new piece he'd apparently been working on, and wanted to pass it by the rest of the band. No-one argued, and Lavinia in particular straightened in her seat, leaning in closer as to better hear each note, considering the lounge wasn't entirely silent, her expression changing from interested to approving as he skilfully strummed the guitar's chords to produce a haunting melody. That...could definitely work.

"Yeah" Shane declared, much to Dominic's satisfaction, "That's perfect."

Clapping loudly and ostentatiously as to prove her point, Lavinia chimed in. Asher on the other hand seemed thoughtful, and his comment turned out to be somewhat more guarded:

"I agree", he said. "Though wouldn't it sound better if we both played it?"


Lavinia's eyes darted from the singer to Nicky and back, vaguely anticipating some sort of drama, because the two were known to disagree on several things when it came to music, and Asher didn't like the fact that he had little contribution to the band's repertoire. As it turned out, she wasn't wrong:

"Yeah", Dominic said. "But don't worry, we'll work out something similar for you, something more basic."

Uh-oh.

From there, it all went downhill very fast, and before long Asher was storming off in the general direction of the bar, leaving the rest in the first moment of awkward silence since the night began, somewhere between feeling amused and sorry for the guy. That was certainly how Lavinia felt, so when Dominic shrugged it off with a smirk, she couldn't help but remark:

"Dude, that was about as subtle as a bulldozer on steroids."

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


"Follow the crowd?"

Having had quite a bit of experience in the arts of locating her party animal of a boyfriend, Lara's suggested method of finding him this time around was delivered almost back-to-back to Daniel's question, as though it was an answer that she didn't have to spend even a second to think about. Almost like a reflex of sorts. And a sensible reflex/suggestion it was, too, because with Dominic finally on site after a much tedious (or, as Dominic himself had put it in one of his text messages, "'Just-kill-me-now' boring") journey by himself, he was bound to be bursting at the seams with a need for attention. He'd be craving it like others would crave water after a long trip through the blistering desert, and so was bound to be found acting the life of the party.

Scanning the backstage area, it wasn't hard to see where that was likely to be; in front of them laid a building from which people were drifting in and out in a steady flow of moving bodies, music and laughter spilling out from inside along with the departees, and making it clear that this was the hot spot of the backstage area; the VIP lounge. If he was not out and about somewhere on the public party area, pulling his antics to keep his audience of adoring fans enthralled, this would definitely be where they'd find Dominic. Most likely pulling his antics to keep his audience of friends and aquaintances enthralled. Or at the very least entertained.

With backstage passes now hanging around their necks to show that they belonged, Daniel and Lara had no trouble whatsoever getting in, apart from maybe having to find the right opportunity to work themselves physically through the crowded doorway. The bouncers outside merely glanced at their passes and then were done with them, and when only seconds later a big, burly man - by the looks of it a roadie - pushed his way out of the lounge, Danny and Lara, who even together were smaller than his imposing frame, used the trail of space he'd left as he'd plowed through, to slip inside, into the crowd, and the music and the faintly smokey air surrounding it.

That, however, was where their attentions briefly parted ways. To Lara, the experience wasn't an entirely new one, since she'd flown out to quite a few of Dominic's shows already, and thus had been around backstage areas before, with all the partying celebrities that came with it. But to young Daniel, it was an entirely new experience, and so while Lara remained focused on finding Dominic, Daniel couldn't help but to start looking around himself in gleeful wonderment, drinking in the atmosphere, but trying not to appear like too much of a greenhorn. As a result, when Lara soon spotted Dominic, Daniel was nowhere near doing the same, since for a brief moment, he'd completely forgotten all about his brother. He didn't even register the way that her mood took a sudden nosedive, from excited and humorous, to quiet and almost shrinking.
Though he did still hear what she said:

"Maybe you should call him? I mean... text him...?"

What?
Daniel's dark brows furrowed slightly in confusion, as he tore his gaze away from the rock'n'roll themed interior of the lounge to look at her. Text Nicky? And get him to reveal his position how exactly? Daniel and Lara being here was supposed to be a surprise, and Daniel wasn't going to ruin the blast it would be to see Dominic's face when he saw them, by asking for details on where Dominic was hanging out, and give him cause to grown suspicious.

"We can't do that", he pointed out, and with Lara's face at an angle that he couldn't properly see it, still didn't pick up on her sudden mood swing. "He'll figure it o-... Wait, I think I see him!"

While he was speaking, he had started scanning the crowd much like Lara had just a little while ago, and just like her, it didn't take him many seconds to spot Dominic. Though unlike her, he didn't notice the young woman clinging to him.

"Yeah, there he is!", he added excitedly when a longer glimpse had confirmed that it was indeed Dominic, pointing with one hand, and grabbing Lara's wrist with the other. "C'mon!"

Thus began their journey across the crowded floor of the lounge, Daniel dragging Lara with him and slipping in between people wherever a temporary pathway opened up. And with people constantly blocking a clear view, it wasn't until he pushed himself and Lara through the last human barrier separating the two of them from the table where Dominic, the band, and their friends were sitting, that his eyes finally locked on the darkhaired vixen who had her hands all over Dominic, and his arm around her shoulder.

"Hey N-...", he started, but his voice died at the very same moment, while a shadow of confusion flitted across his features, closely followed by shock as it dawned on him what he was seeing.

What?!!


(((ooc: Dominic coming tomorrow, hopefully, to tie it all together and give something to actually reply to. I have most of his post written up, but I just don't have it in me to finish it tonight. :( )))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


Confidence, people tend to say, is a good thing to have.
Too much confidence, they also tend to say, is not.
The line between self-assurance and arrogance is a fine one, and is quite easily crossed by those who do not watch their step when exploring and recognizing the fabulousness and the splendour of their own being. Confidence should always be seasoned with a good dose of modesty to make for a favourable mix, or otherwise will risk leaving quite the bitter aftertaste in those who get to sample it. No one likes a pompous know-it-all, or a self-serving narcissist, whose biggest interests include only themselves, and counting the ways in which they are better than everyone else. And everyone knows it, including the pompous know-it-alls and the self-serving narcissists.
Consequently, there are two types of overly confident people; the ones who take heed, and try their best to pace themselves and their blossoming egos. And then there are the ones who don't.

Dominic de Vere didn't.

While his confidence had never exactly been lacking, the past couple of months of more and more media attention, photo-shoots, TV offers, sponsorship deals, bigger venues and bigger crowds, not to mention a rapidly growing fan base and even a cult of his own, Dominic did sometimes tend to sport the ego of someone who thought himself to be the best thing to happen on this earth since sliced bread. He knew he was talented, and he knew he was hot, and he simply loved to keep others reminded of these facts. But not only that. With his gradually growing rivalry with Asher, and, after living so closely for so long, knowing how to hit him where he hurt, there were times when he would flaunt his superiority - particularly in the areas where he really was superior - and rub it in Asher's face if he could, knowing perfectly well that Asher would do the same to Dominic whenever he got the chance. Now, it didn't usually cross the border of playful and teasing banter, like in the brief session they'd had earlier this evening, but there were still times, usually during song writing sessions or performance planning or, like now, with Dominic somewhat high on coke - the effects of which included an additionally boost of confidence - that it did all venture beyond that, and take on a more arrogant tone. Never intentionally mean exactly, just... recklessly obnoxious.
At least that's how it would seem to be considered, by other people's standards.

"Dude", came Lavinia's rather dry voice, following in the wake of the slightly awkward - though not for Dominic - silence that Asher's departure had caused around the table, "that was about as subtle as a bulldozer on steroids."

And apparently, she wasn't the only one feeling that way, because while there were those who were clearly finding it all simply amusing - among whom was Lori, judging by the soft, throaty chuckle washing against Dominic's neck - there were quite a few pointed glances and nods of agreement as well.
Though that didn't bother Dominic, who instead just gave a somewhat regretful grimace.

"Yeah...", he said in a tone of voice suggesting that he'd felt he'd had to be that blunt, in order for Asher to get the message. "He's really not the brightest one of the bunch, is he?"

Okay, so maybe that one was kind of mean, for Dominic to make jokes on Asher's expense, especially when knowing he'd gotten to him, but... He was kind of on a roll here. Dominic never did have a problem just going with the flow, and never really needed more than a moment or two to seize the reins of a conversation, and steer it to wherever he wanted it to go. For better or for worse. Sometimes, he didn't even know where he wanted it to go in the first place, but just simply went with the flow, period, and let his impulses guide him. More than usual, that is. With him, you never really could be certain just where you'd end up.

Though this time, as it would turn out, the destination was to remain unknown, even to Dominic himself, because next thing he knew, a familiar but much out of place voice was heard through the general buzz around the table, drawing his eyes to lock on first one and then two equally out of place faces.

"Hey N-..."

Dominic's eyes widened in utter disbelief, and shock. Danny?! And Lara too?!! What were they doing here?!! Lara wasn't supposed to show up until the day after tomorrow, and Danny was... supposed to be at home, last Dominic had heard!

Instantly, and above all guiltily, Dominic's arm vanished from around Lori's voluptuous frame, the motion itself pushing her slightly away from him, as though it would somehow magically erase what he already knew that both brother and girlfriend had witnessed. The look on both their faces alone spoke volumes of how they had seen it, and caught on to the clear implications thereof. Daniel looked as though he couldn't believe his eyes, and Lara... As soon as Dominic's gaze flicked over to her - after the split second "sh*t!" that initially went through his head - there was an instant stab to his chest, of guilt, and of distress. He'd been caught red-handed, he knew that, and even though he'd done what he'd done knowingly and willingly, his intention hadn't been to hurt her. He hadn't meant for her to ever find out, because... what he'd done with others, he'd done only because he wasn't able to do it with her. Whoever he had been with, and whatever they'd done, it had all just been a substitute for Lara.

However, the thing about initial reactions, is that they are rarely the most clever and thought through ones, far more likely to first take the route of denial, or trying to smooth things over and pretend that what had just happened, hadn't actually happened at all, as though that would somehow make it so. And as much as Dominic liked to think of himself as unique and intelligent, this was a trap that he, like so many before him, first waltzed right into.

"Danny!", he exclaimed in surprised delight. "Lara! Hey!"

And, having (honestly, yet conveniently) forgotten all about Lori, it was as though he couldn't slip past her quick enough, to stand from the booth and greet the newly arrived duo with a big, enthusiastic hug each. Lara first, along with a quick kiss, and then Daniel.

"What are you guys doing here?!", Dominic then continued, still sounding just as thrilled as he pulled back to look at the two of them, despite not missing the way that Lara hadn't responded to his kiss, like she usually would, but instead simply just stood there as though frozen in time.

And to make matters worse, she wasn't the only one who seemed to be taken aback by what she had seen, because as excited and happy as Daniel was to finally get to see his beloved brother, his first reaction was an utterly confused;

"Dude, what the hell?"

Never in a lifetime would he have thought that Dominic would ever cheat on Lara, not even by "just" getting cosy with someone else, like had seemed to be the case with that gothic girl who'd just had her hands all over him. To him, Dominic and Lara had seemed like the perfect couple - not the kind that never argued, but rather the kind that argued but always made up - and he had always figured that they'd manage to stay together all these years for a reason. Staying together while literally growing up together was a challenge not many relationships would have survived.
So to see Dominic pretty much be felt up by someone else and looking as though he didn't mind it in the least... It was a hard blow to Daniel's idea of Dominic's and Lara's relationship. Not to mention his rather rose-tinted idea of his adored big brother.

However, despite the candid question, Dominic managed to dodge it, by squeezing himself in between Daniel and Lara, put an arm around their shoulders and, turning to the rest of the band - the ones who were still there - and their friends, announce with a beaming smile;

"Everyone, this is Danny, my kid brother. And to those of you who haven't already met her, this beauty here is my girlfriend Lara."

Though that said, not much time was left for greetings, because following that introduction, Dominic gave Daniel a pat on the back, and urged him gently to claim one of the few empty seats around the table.

"It's good to see you, bro", he said, and gave Daniel's hair an affectionately playful ruffle. "We'll talk in a minute, there's something I gotta do first. Here, take a load off, and get to know the others for a bit. I'll be right back."

Then, after shooting Lavinia a meaningful look and a "Be nice", he went on to turn to Lara, and gently grasped her hand while seeking her gaze.

"Can we talk?", he asked in a voice low enough for only her to hear.

[Alissa888]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraBan.jpg

She was just stunned.

Whenever something like this happened to someone else, like a friend or an acquaintance, you always think that you’ll react badly and you’ll feel all these things and you’ll make a scene. You find your boyfriend getting close to another woman, and there’s this set stock of things that you feel.
Lara wasn’t feeling any of them. What she felt was eerily void, stunned, numb, having caught the sight of Dominic with his arm around that girl and all that raced through her head was a multitude of reasons as to why it was perfectly legitimate and she was just jumping the gun and getting to conclusions that really didn’t apply because there’s no reason why he’d have to resort to another woman’s company, is there? Was there? Did they have a fight and she just hadn’t realised it, or had she not been enough...?
How many times? How long for?
They were just thoughts that swam vacantly in her head.

She didn’t really hear it when Danny protested against her idea, and she didn’t really catch the exclamation in his voice as his eyes caught the visage of his big brother, but she snapped out of it when Danny grabbed her wrist, gently tugging her towards Dominic – and the woman – and Lara’s senses seized in panic of what she’d say to him or to her or... how he’d react. What if he just expected her to be okay with it, because it was some new part of his lifestyle and... she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t share him.
Oh, God. What if she was pregnant and that was the final straw?
No, Dominic wouldn’t do that. But then, Dominic wouldn’t cheat either.

She stayed within the mercurial storm of her emotions as Danny led her to what she really didn’t want to face right now and it suddenly occurred to her that it was something that she didn’t want Danny to face either; he hero worshipped his brother and it was his birthday soon. It was the worst timing ever for him to have to deal with this, and though whatever lack in their relationship had caused this was clearly caused by Lara and Dominic, she knew Danny would be affected by it and she really didn’t want that.
She really didn’t want any of this right now.

"Hey N-...," his voice was stolen by the slight shock and she knew it was too late. He saw it too. And it wasn’t just her being paranoid, there was something to be upset about.
She shut her eyes momentarily, taking a tight breath as her eyes locked onto Dominic and drank in the look of guilt and she wasn’t sure whether it made her feel better or worse because knowing he was sorry made her want to forgive him. He made a mistake, he was sorry, it was okay.
Was it just one mistake, though?

"Danny!" Dominic rose to his feet and suddenly, all that was gone and he was just barefaced about it and she couldn’t keep that look of expectation hiding betrayal off her face. "Lara! Hey!"
His arms enveloped her and she was a little too sluggish to react, feeling his soft lips press against hers, the familiar taste of him seeping into her senses and a part of him wanted to hold him in, kiss him properly, claim him back from that girl and everyone else. A part of her wanted to just leave and pretend this wasn’t happening. She just stood there and her lips barely parted to take his in.
"What are you guys doing here?!"

"Dude, what the hell?" she heard Danny’s confused voice cut though and she really thought she should say something, like... “It’s okay” or “Let him explain” or “We probably have it wrong”.
She didn’t get to, because the next moment, she found herself in his embrace again, and she tensed up because in a way, it felt like such a lie. It felt like everything, the past six years, was a lie because it didn’t mean as much to him as it did to her. She loved him so much that there’d never really been anyone else that she wanted, or that she sought out, but for him....

"Everyone, this is Danny, my kid brother,” he introduced them and she felt the weight of the stares turn onto her and Danny. “And to those of you who haven't already met her, this beauty here is my girlfriend Lara."

Lara, whilst not exactly a social recluse, wasn’t the most outgoing of people. She didn’t go up to others and strike up conversations, she didn’t direct it anywhere; she played passive. She was so very introverted and Dominic was so very extroverted. So, whenever Dominic exuberantly introduced her to his friends, Lara had always given a shy smile and sort of awkwardly receded close to him. She was lovely to them when they talked to her, yes, but at an abrupt introduction, she grew quite shy and self-conscious.
That was when Lara was feeling like herself; she was open and friendly, but diffidently. Now, it was all ajar and she wasn’t sure what to react to and so, as all of their faces – including the striking Lavinia – turned to her at the mention of her name, she just looked down at the floor and pursed her lips before looking up again to flash them a tight smile and then looking away again.
Oh, God. She didn’t want to come across as the standoffish accessory of a girlfriend.

"It's good to see you, bro,” Dominic showed Danny towards the table, whilst keeping her at his side and she figured they were going to talk soon. "We'll talk in a minute, there's something I gotta do first. Here, take a load off, and get to know the others for a bit. I'll be right back."

"Can we talk?" There. And yes. They had to talk, right.

She merely nodded and soon, he led her away from the crowd and the party, away from the scene they’d stumbled upon and dispelled and away just to leave the two of them alone and together again in the relative quietness. Alone with him as she’d been looking forward to for the length of the week, and the blankness washed away and she leaned up, her lips stroking open his in gentle affection as her hands softly pressed against his chest. That image came back to haunt her and she pulled away, looking at him straight in the eye pointedly, her dark emerald orbs carrying a potency laying out her hurt heart for him to see.

“I missed you...,” the words came out as half of a soft confession and half of an accusation and she wasn’t sure which one she’d rather have it be.

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/Lavinia_banner.jpg


Lavinia liked Dominic. There was no dullness with him around, he was an engaging musician and (most of the times) a good friend to have. Sure, he could also get on her last nerve especially during those times when everyone was beginning to feel the strain of seemingly endless tours and concerts with barely any respite or privacy in between, and he certainly had his share of faults, but Lavinia did like Dominic. Most of the time.

She also happened to disagree with certain things that he did, and even told him so, but Lavinia was far from a busybody; she was a firm believer in the idea that everyone is responsible for their own actions, and as an adult, one made their own choices. She didn't like it whenever others criticized her habits, so why should she do it to others? Therefore, she didn't shove her views on Nicky, even when she disagreed: live and let live, and all that jazz.

Among Dominic's most notable faults, was the fact that his ego sometimes got a little too big for him. He just didn't always grasp the fine line between being snarky and being an asshole, nor was he known for giving up while he was on a roll. Like then; if Asher's peeved departure wasn't proof enough that he'd managed to push a very sensitive button, then Lavinia's pointed remark followed by a couple of approving nods around the table should definitely have tipped him off; Dominic was anything but dim. He was however particularly skilled at cherry-picking the things he acknowledged, especially at times when – and Lavinia suspected this was one of those times – other substances besides alcohol were at work in his system. So, instead of acknowledging that perhaps he'd gone a little too far with Asher, he instead painted a regretful look on his face and with the air of someone who claimed he was mean in order to be kind, remarked:

"Yeah...He's really not the brightest one of the bunch, is he?"

Lavinia's brows flew upwards at this, the silent warning that he should probably quit while he was ahead materializing therein, for around the table those who knew Asher were beginning to lose taste for the joke. As fate would have it though, the matter was soon to be put out of everyone's mind by the sudden and most unexpected arrival of a young woman joined by an even younger man. By the time Dominic's gaze – along with most of the others' – landed upon them, the look of confusion and disbelief they donned was plain to see. This was going to be bad, Lavinia knew the moment she saw the pair, for she recognized them from Nicky's pictures and descriptions: these were none other than Lara, his girlfriend, and Danny, his younger brother, and Dominic was in the process of having his body mapped out by that groupie's hands when they landed in.

It was like watching a train wreck: unable to look away, and wanting to open your mouth in that split-second before collision and utter some sort of warning though you knew it was far, far too late. Swifter than Lavinia had seen him move all night, Dominic retracted his arm from around the groupie's form, an expression of inappropriate delight soon replacing that of momentary shock at being caught red-handed, and he exclaimed:


"Danny! Lara! Hey!"

He then extracted himself from the booth and went to greet them more personally, though neither quite returned his enthusiasm. Lara, especially, stood there as through rooted to the floor, a frozen expression on her face and, Lavinia suspected, a similar sluggishness filling her stunned mind. Dominic's cheating was possibly the thing she disagreed with most, because it was such a shitty thing to do to someone, but, again, she couldn't force him to be faithful, nor was her business to try. It was between him and Lara and she'd warned him that sooner or later shit would hit the fan, these things had a way of exposing themselves. Lavinia looked at Lara and felt some incipient pity for the girl, because she knew what it felt like; she'd walked in on an ex-boyfriend's makeout session with someone else once too, though the guy in question had found himself out on his ass sooner than he could say "I can explain!" She'd been positively seething with rage then, deaf to any explanations, because as far as she was concerned there were none. Being caught red-handed tended to do that. She certainly wouldn't have been able to maintain Lara's outward calm, especially in the face of Dominic's denial.

"What are you guys doing here?!" he went on to ask, and his bandmates knew all too well this was a surprise; Lara wasn't supposed to have been there for another day and he'd never mentioned his brother joining her at all. Though it seemed there was one de Vere who felt like cutting to the chase and addressing the matter at hand:

"Dude, what the hell?" Danny uttered in genuine confusion, but Dominic proved faster, lodging himself between the two of them as he turned to the booth full of observers.

"Everyone, this is Danny, my kid brother." he announced brightly. "And to those of you who haven't already met her, this beauty here is my girlfriend Lara."

Lavinia almost sighed; she didn't know Lara and from what she'd heard she was the the embodiment of all the mellow levelheadedness Dominic lacked, but she expected her to tear him a new one over that attitude. She would, in any case. He did manage to do the first smart thing ever since the whole thing began and took Lara aside to talk, while leaving Danny with the rest of the group. Being closest to the edge, Lavinia scooted aside a bit to allow him to sit, remaining silent while greetings and introductions were exchanged around her. The poor kid still looked rather preoccupied with what he'd just witnessed and probably wouldn't have liked being put on the spot by everyone else as well. Fortunately, those not directly involved retreated back into a party mood, and the atmosphere gradually livened around the table.

"Hey," Lavinia said in a tone that she hoped sounded approachable and grabbing a fresh beer from nearby, she placed it in front of Danny. "I'm Lavinia. You ok?"

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner_ByAlissa.jpg


"Henry said he picked you up at '42'?"

"Yeah. He did."

"So... how'd he know you're gay? He didn't just waltz up to you and ask, right?"

"Nah. He told me he'd seen me at 'Tricks' the week before."

"Ah, okay."

Chilling out in the grass outside the small trailer that was to be their home base for the next couple of days, Rio and Enrico - another young man in the service of Henry Grant, manager and co-founder of emotwinks.com - were taking the opportunity to get a little better acquainted with one another before tomorrow's photo shoot, in order to dispel whatever awkwardness there might have otherwise been between two boys being brought together and expected to get all hot and heavy in front of the camera, without having first had a chance to get a grasp of whatever chemistry there was between them. It was their first real chance to talk, since while Enrico had gotten here just earlier today with Henry and Brendan, the photographer, Rio had been here since the previous evening, having arrived along with Brad and the rest of Tears of Andromeda, in the tour bus they shared with the guys of Black Water, the band they were currently touring with. He'd gotten a call from Henry about an hour ago, telling him that the rest of the "crew" - meaning Henry himself, Brendan and Enrico - had arrived, and so had made his way to the camp site to meet up with them. Greetings and introductions done and over with, Henry and Brendan had then left the two youths to get acquainted, and become comfortable with one another.

They had started out talking about the usual stuff, covering the standard "where are you from?" and "what do you do?", but had then soon glided over to the subject that was bound to arise between them; their experience in the field, and how they had gotten there. Enrico had just told Rio how about two months ago, he had come across the website, and after some consideration, had contacted the people in charge of it to maybe work for them - something they had decided to take him up on - after which it had been Rio's turn to tell his story, of how the manager, Henry, had apparently seen Rio at the Detroit gay club 'Tricks' last October, and then a week later at the campus café '42'. There, he had approached him, and made him the offer that Rio had eventually accepted; for him to appear in "adult situations", as Henry had put it, with other young men, in both photos and videos, for others to enjoy. To be perfectly honest, it was something that Rio had chosen to do mostly because he was curious, to test his own limits, and that he didn't imagine that he'd keep on doing. But as it had turned out, despite being extremely nervous the first time, he'd ended up getting a kick out of it, done it again, and again, and had by now grown to be perfectly comfortable in front of the camera.
And as for the part regarding what he was doing in front of the camera... Having hot sex with cute guys, and getting paid for it? Hey, there were a lot worse ways to make money, and friends. As far as Rio was concerned, it was as close to a dream job he could have; he had fun, he got laid, the hours were short and the money good. What more could a guy ask for?

Still, there were of course downsides - although they tended to be easily overcome - and he wasn't planning on making a long-term career out of it. But for now, he was having a blast, and so was going to just enjoy the ride.
All of them.

"So...", Enrico started again, and Rio, who was laying on his back in the grass, comfortably propped up on his elbows, and momentarily surveying the surroundings, turned his gaze back to him. "I was thinking, maybe we should go over what we're gonna do tomorrow?"

Ah, yes, the photo shoot; the reason why they were all here. Henry had gotten the idea for the concept when a couple of weeks earlier, he'd wanted to schedule a shoot between Rio and Enrico this weekend, and Rio had declined due to already having made arrangements to come to the festival with Brad, whom he already didn't get to see as often as he'd like. So, opportunist that he was, Henry had found a way for Rio to kill two birds with one stone, and gotten in touch with the organizers of the festival to come to an agreement that would allow the crew to hold the photo shoot there.

"We're doing the shoot backstage, right?", Enrico asked, to which Rio gave a nod.

"Yeah, that's the plan."

How on earth Henry had managed that, Rio didn't know, but he was glad that he had. The backstage area would offer a bit more privacy than would the rest of the festival site, and thus spare the two boys the distraction of having people gawk at them and getting disruptive while they were making out - which was all they were going to do, at least in public. Because really, while Rio was no stranger to getting intimate in front of the camera, there had never been more than four other people present, at the most, when he'd been shooting; his co-star, the director/manager, the photographer/camera man, and possibly someone in charge of the lighting. The website aimed for a sense of realism, as opposed to the cheesy and would-be-glamorous porn flicks of the past, with ridiculous scripts and dialogue. Here, things were kept simple; the basics of a scene were given by the director, the boys ad-libbed it, and it was all shot from start to finish, with one or two cameras only, and without interruptions.

"Where, exactly? And what's the concept?"

Rio gave a light, carefree shrug of his shoulders.

"Don't know where", he said, "I just heard it was backstage somewhere, and that it was going to be some rock star/groupie type thing."

Then, catching the slight shadow of concern flitting across Enrico's handsome features at the uncertainty of not having something more elaborate to go on, Rio flashed him a calming smile.

"Relax", he soothed, and gave the other young man a friendly pat on his jeans-clad knee as he sat up. "We'll just go with the flow. You'll be fine."

Those were words that, although simple, still did seem to be enough to make Enrico's features soften into a smile in return, and he studied Rio for a few moments.

"So...", he said, in a voice that then took on a rather more playfully suggestive tone. "You wanna, like... practice, or something...?"

At that, Rio couldn't help a contentedly flattered grin from spreading on his inviting (clearly) lips, and he gave a soft, light laugh.

"Tempting, tempting", he admitted, and pursued his lips together for a moment. "But I don't think my boyfriend would be too thrilled about it."

"Oh, you have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah. Brad. He's okay with what I do on camera, but would probably mind it a lot if I practiced on someone other than him."

Enrico nodded in understanding.

"I can imagine", he said with a faint smile, and then gave a shrug, as if to say 'Well, it was worth a shot'.

"Speaking of which...", Rio said after glancing down at his watch. "I gotta get going. I was supposed to meet up with him ten minutes ago."

Pushing himself up off the ground, he came to his feet and straightened himself out, while brushing grass and dirt from the palms of his hands, and then from his pants. Though as for obvious reasons, he didn't have as good a view of his backside as Enrico did, he missed a spot just below the curve of his buttocks, presenting Enrico with an opportunity that he didn't hesitate to seize. And, reaching up to brush of the small pieces of dirt from there, it wasn't the only thing he seized. Seeing his chance to get at least a little hands-on experience, he grabbed it. And Rio's ass with it.

"Whoa, hey!", Rio laughed as he jumped at the unexpected groping, and thus twisted away from it in pure reflex.

Enrico flashed him a smile that managed to look perfectly innocent, at first, but after a second or two turned far more mischievous, and smugly satisfied.

"Not bad", was his verdict. "Not bad at all."

"No, but I can be", Rio grinned and gave a quick, playful wink, and in doing so drew a grin from Enrico as well. "You'll see."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Dito. So, see you tomorrow then?"

"Yup. Say hi to the boyfriend from me."

"Will do", Rio promised with a smile, and then gave a small, sloppy salute in parting. "Bye."

Already being late, and knowing that Brad was waiting for him, he then wasted no time making his way back to the same backstage gates that he had passed through earlier that afternoon, only in the opposite direction, when on his way to meet up with Enrico, Henry and Brendan. In that time, there appeared to have been a change in shifts or something among the security guards, judging by how all the faces there were new to Rio. Still stern, serious and generally "I'm badass, don't mess with me" though. Still, it didn't matter, because with a backstage pass hanging visibly around his neck, all they did was to wave him past them and into the backstage area, where even though it was only a couple of hours since he'd last been there, things had changed quite a bit. A new large tent had been raised near the fences separating the backstage area from the public festival area, and a couple of more tour busses had been parked with the rest, wherever there had been room for them. Added to that was a somewhat busier crowd, with people milling about in every direction, some hurrying forward with purpose in their step - staff people - and others roaming seemingly aimlessly - performers and other visitors with backstage access - just for the sake of walking, or possibly in search of someone or something. Probably their tour busses, Rio figured, considering the total disarray of vehicles there.

He, however, was not one to roam aimlessly, nor was he searching for anything. He knew exactly where he was going; the VIP lounge, where Brad and the rest of the guys had been heading for a beer and to get into the spirit of the festival, when Rio had parted company with them. Although once inside, he did have to stop to catch his bearings, and stretch his neck in order to try and spot the set of familiar, shaggy black and blonde hair among... all the other sets of black hair... It would seem most of the various types of rockers the festival attracted had gathered here, and while there was the odd blonde and brunette, and the occasional redhead, the most common hair color (not to mention color of clothing) - was black. It took Rio a good couple of minutes before finally spotting Brad near the back corner of the lounge. But once he did, he headed straight for him, his small, slim frame slipping easily between the moving bodies, and eventually landing right behind Brad.

"Hey handsome", he purred playfully in his ear, while slipping his arms tightly around his waist. "Sorry I'm late. I got held up."

Literally.

"Hey", Brad said, turning his head to glance at Rio over his shoulder with a smile, and then turning fully to greet him with a quick kiss.

Then, he tilted his head to Rio's right, indicating the crowded booth in the corner.

"They're here."

Rio's gaze immediately flicked over to the somewhat rowdy group there, his eyes searching for one face in particular, and he stretched his neck again to try and catch a glimpse of those sitting down, as his view was being blocked by those standing in front of the table. Then, just as one guy - who Rio discovered to be none other than Dominic, Lara’s boyfriend - slipped out of the booth, the bodies in front of him shifted slightly, and Rio's eyes finally locked on the face he had been searching for; the face of a gorgeous young woman, whose appearance for a split second stole the very air from his lungs, and made his heart skip a beat.
That was her.
That was Lavinia Sinclair.


http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner_ByGhanima.jpg



(((ooc: Thanks to Alissa for helping me out with the beginning. Also, I added the questionnaire to his bio, because... while he's not a performer at the festival, he is an artist of sorts, and he does have fans. :p And I couldn't decide what banner to start off with, so I went with both. *nod*)))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner_ByAlissa.jpg


A nod. A simple dip of her delicate chin to indicate her agreement. That was all Lara gave in response to his request to talk to her in private, and Dominic didn't know if that was a good thing, or a bad one. He didn't know whether it meant that she thought she was overreacting to what she had just been made to witness between him and... what's-her-name... right, Lori... and was doing her best not to let it affect her, or if she just didn't want to make a scene. He knew how shy she usually was around other people, especially those whom she didn't know, and here he'd just made her and Danny the center of attention to a big group of strangers. All eyes had been on her in a situation where she was probably already feeling less than confident, and... yeah, maybe that hadn't been the smartest move for Dominic to make. He realized that now, although his reaction - both the guilt and the excitement at seeing Lara and Daniel - had been genuine, and unstoppable at the time. And he was quick to try and correct his mistake, gripping Lara's hand more firmly in his own, and leading the way towards the exit in search of a quieter place to talk, ploughing his way firmly through the crowded lounge with surprising unyieldingness, considering his lean build, and the occasionally far broader and bigger one of the people he pushed aside on his way out, earning himself an annoyed shove and several "watch it!" in the process, but ignoring them all. For once, he actually wasn't at all interested in causing commotion, or a scene worthy of the attention of everyone around. He just wanted a chance to talk to Lara, and clear the air before it all got infected.

The best place to do that, would seem to him to be outside, away from the crowd and the music, with all the noise and nosiness and just general lack of privacy that came with it. If Lara's lack of a response was due to her not wanting to cause a scene, him pushing her by addressing the matter in front of strangers - regardless of whether they were listening or not - would hardly make things any better, or easier for either of them.

It took a minute or two, along with some swerving here and there, for him to get them to the exit, but once there, he lead her out of the VIP lounge without hesitation or further delay, into the cooling night air outside, and put just a little bit of distance between them and the lounge, before finally stopping at a fairly private spot. People were still milling about all around them, the lounge was still nearby, and the music from inside was still heard as a steady and somewhat muffled thumping, but at least they wouldn't have to raise their voices in order to talk.
Not for the sake of hearing one another, anyway...

Coming to a halt, Dominic turned to Lara, his mind still hard at work to figure out how to address the matter, and his eyes latching onto her darling features in search of something that might tip him off how to go about it. Imagine his surprise then, when instead of finding her looking at him expectantly in waiting for him to try and explain himself, he felt the warmth of her body as it slipped close to his, fitting so perfectly into his embrace in the way that sometimes would make him think it must have been designed especially for her, and her lips brushing against his in a gentle kiss. Though whether unexpected or not, it was completely irrelevant to Dominic's own body. It reacted immediately to her closeness, his lips pressing greedily back against hers in instantly flaring hunger, and his arms slipped around her narrow waist to bring her even closer to him, as the realization that apparently, he wasn't completely in the doghouse passed through his mind.

Nor was he completely out of it either; that much was made clear to him when she withdrew from him before the fire within him grew all too consuming, and looked at him with those soulful eyes that in this instant made all words seem redundant, their pale green depths providing a silent answer to the question he hadn't asked. Seeing the expression in them, there was no longer any doubt whatsoever in Dominic's mind about what'd had her acting so reserved upon being greeted by him, and what she was feeling. She truly was hurt by what she had seen, and was figuring she had good reason to be. She had realized where things between him and Lori had been heading, and overreacting was not what she thought she was doing.

"I missed you...", she said softly, and in earnest, but with an undertone of accusation that just couldn't be missed, even if her eyes had not already sent him the message.

Christ, how did he explain this to her? How did he explain that he'd cheated on her a number of times, but never for the sake of not loving her as much as he always had? Because he knew that was what had to be going through her head; that for him to do something like this, his feelings for her must have cooled. But really, it was just sex, it had nothing to do with him loving her any less. On the contrary. It was the thought of having her, but not having her when he needed it, that drove him up the wall.

At the same time... He couldn't deny the rush that it was, to have girls pining for him, and knowing he could have his pick among quite a few of them... knowing that they wanted him, that they were lusting after him, that they were there for him to take, with no greater effort than simply feeling like it. It was so easy, such a kick to have girls competing to get to pleasure him without him really having to offer anything in return. And it was so very, very tempting to indulge them, just because he could. Especially when energies were running high in him, and every show left him hopped up on sexual tension and his loins crying out for release.

Then, there was of course also the part of him that thrived on experience, and on trying new things. The part of him that was acutely aware that he hadn't really been with that many girls; he'd only had a couple of girlfriends before Lara - only one of whom he'd slept with, and only a couple times - and like so many guys his age, had this idea in his head about "sowing his wild oats" before settling down properly.
The problem with that was, he was nowhere near wanting to end things with Lara, and didn't want to give her up just to be able to fulfil that desire, which was probably mostly fuelled by the expectations of society and guys in general anyway; an idea of what he was supposed to want, so ingrained that it did become part of what he thought he might want, yet clashing with something else that he knew he wanted; Lara.

"I've missed you too", he said, giving a faint but undoubtedly affectionate smile as his knuckles brushed gently against her cheek.

Though it was a smile that soon faded, and his chest heaved with a sigh, that was to be the start of delving into what he had never wanted her to find out about, and coming clean about it;

"Baby, look...", he started somewhat reluctantly. "I've done some things lately that I'm not too proud of."

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


Daniel de Vere, because of his mellow temperament, usually tended to not be easily rattled. He didn't get angry or upset without quite a bit of provocation, and for him to curse or raise his voice was a rare occurrence indeed. His general approach towards people, things and happenings alike, was one practiced with an inner calm and never without a certain amount of contemplation, as he would rather try to understand a situation before reacting to it, than to react instantly and possibly in a way that he wouldn't have, had he just taken a moment to think. He'd seen a lot of anger and hurt be born from words spoken too rashly, and only do more damage to an already volatile situation, and he didn't wish to be part of something like that, let alone instigate it.

Yet, even a mellow temperament can only withstand so much without buckling under the pressure, and so there would of course be times when Daniel's temper flared, or something affected him to the point of rendering him stunned and speechless, struggling to comprehend what was going on.
Having reached the table where the majority of his brother's band was sitting with their friends, and finding Dominic with his arm resting perfectly comfortably around the shoulders of some random girl, and her hands unashamedly exploring his body, this was to be one such time. Young Daniel just couldn't believe his eyes when he saw it. Even when Dominic spotted him and Lara, and his arms retracted from the girl in the bat of an eye, thus confirming that what they had seen was nowhere near innocent, Daniel had a hard time wrapping his head around what he'd been witnessing.

Dominic getting cosy with a girl other than Lara? Truly, genuinely cosy, and not just in a joking or affectionately friendly way? He'd never thought he'd see the day... Dominic adored Lara, Daniel knew he did. He followed his brothers frequently updated blog almost religiously, and so was well familiar with how Dominic would often end his entries by mentioning how he missed his girlfriend. He'd even joked once that much like Cato would always end his speeches in the Roman senate, regardless of the topic, with saying "Moreover, I advise that Carthage must be destroyed", Dominic himself would always end his blog entries with a few words to or about Lara. Well, really, there were obviously times when he didn't, when he was too caught up in what was happening around him, but the more thoughtful and contemplative entries all carried his signature greeting to her.
Furthermore, Daniel had seen the two of them together, he'd seen the way that Lara always seemed to bring Dominic gently back down to earth, and infuse him with a bit of calm that he otherwise seemed to lack. He'd seen the way that Dominic just seemed to be soothed by having Lara around, and the way that he would have a difficult time keeping his hands off her. Not always with the intention of groping or getting her aroused, but also just to have her near and feel her there, by holding her hand, or wrapping his arm around her shoulders or her waist as they stood talking to friends.

Yup, Dominic really did love Lara. There were no two ways about it. Which was why finding him seemingly enjoying the intimate and brazen touch of another girl confused the hell out of Daniel. Not to mention shocked him. It was a serious blow to his idea of his adored big brother.

"Dude, what the hell?", he questioned, having not even really registered Dominic's greeting in all the bewilderment, but simply uttered the first few word to make it to the tip of his tongue.

Not that he was made any the wiser for it, because Dominic easily smoothed it all over, by landing an arm around his shoulders, and the other around Lara's, while turning to the rather crowded booth with a bright smile.

"Everyone, this is Danny, my kid brother", he introduced Daniel, before moving on to introduce Lara as well, leaving the rather shaken duo feeling even more awkward as they suddenly found themselves the targets of quite a few stares, some of recognition and others of curiosity and acknowledgement.

And they both seemed equally flustered by it, because while Lara managed only a faint, reserved smile, Daniel himself accomplished little more than for his gaze to sweep across all the faces turned towards him, and give a small distracted nod in greeting, while he tried to register who they were. All the band members he recognized - except for Asher, who was no longer there - even though he had only ever met Leon, but he was too preoccupied with the thoughts whirling around in his head, to take them all in.
What was going to happen with Dominic and Lara now? Were they breaking up? Were they having problems that Daniel hadn't known about? He wasn't actually in the relationship with them, after all, so he wouldn't know, but he'd just assumed that everything was fine, and had had this possibly naive idea of how they just belonged together. He'd never thought of the possibility of the two of them not being together.

"It's good to see you, bro", Dominic's voice cut through his bewilderment, but in the next moment only went on to add to it, by nudging the stunned boy towards the table, while ruffling his hair in a way that Daniel only automatically tried to dodge. "We'll talk in a minute, there's something I gotta do first. Here, take a load off, and get to know the others for a bit. I'll be right back."

And with that he was gone, vanished in the crowd along with Lara, leaving the shy youth whipping his head around from one side to the other as he realized they had left, and then stare at the people around the table, much like a deer caught in the headlights. Though much to his relief, they either didn't notice, or at least were nice enough to pretend they didn't, and instead just invited him to join them. There was even made room for him to sit. By and next to none other than Lavinia herself...

The realization made him snap out of it - although it did nothing whatsoever to lift the growing feeling of being quite flustered, because... well... it was Lavinia; the vixen on that master/slave poster with Dominic, that Daniel had on his bedroom wall at home - and he managed to ease past two guys, and sink down onto the seat offered to him, while several of the people around him took the opportunity to introduce themselves. Leon greeted him with a simple nod and a "hey", Shane with a firm handshake to go with his name, and the rest with a couple of variations in between, even though they all noticed that Daniel was clearly distracted, having yet to fully digest what he'd seen happening between his brother, and the girl who still remained around the table, but now wasn't looking nearly as content about it as before.
And it ended up once again being Lavinia that finally brought him out of it.

"Hey", she said as she placed an opened bottle of beer in front of him, and in doing so brought his gaze to snap away from the crowd, to the bottle, and then to her face. "I'm Lavinia. You ok?"

At that, Daniel first only stared at her as though he hadn't really understood what she'd said, before a couple of moments later, a clearly shy smile seized hold of his lips, and painted his cheeks in a faint shade of flushing embarrassment as his gaze dropped momentarily to the surface of the table.

"Yeah... I know who you are", he admitted, and then his gaze found it's way back to her, still with that shy smile on his lips. "Hi... And yeah, I'm okay, I'm just..."

His voice trailed off, but only for the briefest of moments as his eyes flicked over to the part of the crowd where Dominic had last been seen, and back again, as only a split second after falling silent, he continued;

"Has he done that before?", he asked, but then immediately changed his mind. "Actually, nevermind, it's none of my business."

It really wasn't. Just because he had an opinion on the matter, and just because he too adored Lara, that didn't mean it was up to him to get involved with whatever happened between her and Dominic. Especially not while they themselves were obviously trying to sort it out.
Thus, he instead tried to push it all out of his mind, for now, and turned to face Lavinia a little better, trying to think of something to say. But, as he wasn't quite as socially adept as his older brother was, it ended up just;

"So, uhm.... yeah... Hi."

However, more socially verdant than Dominic or not, he still had managed to be somewhat influenced by him: His gaze fell on the opened beer bottle in front of him, registering it for the first time, and after a moment of hesitation, he shook his head, and gave Lavinia an apologetic smile.

"Thanks, but I can't accept it. Nicky's strictly forbidden me to drink anything that's been out of my sight, and that was opened when I wasn't watching."

It probably made him sound like a total geek, and in front of Lavinia and the others, too, but he still remembered the way that Dominic had made him swear never to drink from a glass or a bottle that had been left unattended, even before he'd explained why to his then fourteen year old little brother. It had made quite an impression on Daniel, for Dominic to be so deadly serious about something as he'd been about this, and so it was an advice he'd always made sure to follow.

[Alissa888]

Soft breathing slithered through the still air as intertwined bodies shifted, a woman gasping at the prickle in her muscles as her slender leg slowly slid up, the soft soles of her feet trailing against the cheap cotton of the sofa as her toe pointedly dug in, against the body locked onto her own. Her breasts heaved with a sigh as she felt the weight on top of her move, her hands slowly trailing up the arms, her muscles flexing as she arched back and her body writhed momentarily to let the tension seep out of her and relief in as her dark chestnut locks fell away from her high cheekbones, caressing the smoothness of her skin and ground against the armrest of the sofa, fluid against the roughness that seared the back of her elegant neck as she craned back, lips parting in a groan that weaved through the air, baby blue eyes opening to the harsh light of day.
Her head felt it’d had had cat howling in it all night – which she figured could be said for some of the groupies – and she had the beginnings of a hangover.

Madison had had another late night... or early morning. Minefield – the band – had arrived a day too early, and she’d had to immediately go salvage the situation and at one point, the selfish f*cks almost pulled out of playing at Syrinx altogether, and Madison had had to play nice with the tripped out folk to see things her way. So, of course she’d been lenient with the party, of course she hadn’t questioned the ages of the tight top, short skirts clad groupies that ventured in, and of course she’d dabbled a bit herself; all to build good relations. That wasn’t why she’d stayed, though, and that wasn’t why she’d spent her time with the drummer, Evan Michaels; that was because the man was a good kisser, and he could work wonders with his hands.
But he passed out before anything more could happen, and Madison wasn’t sure whether that was good thing or not. She wasn’t entirely sure whether she wanted it or not.
It wouldn’t really mean anything anyway, and partly, she was fine with that; to get laid, have a good time and not care much more beyond that. But not forever, though.... maybe.

Damn. Her eyes focused onto the clock on the table and... damn. She was going to be late. She shifted, only to groan heavily at the feel of her brain seeming to crash against her skull and she felt it all sink, and partly for the body on top of her that weighed down like a log. Her eyes glanced down and question and turned to a frown;
Who the hell is this chick? What the f*ck is she doing on my boobs?
Madison scowled with exasperation and annoyance as to how she always ended up with other people on top of her, with their sluggish log of a body liberally crushing, and pushed slightly, only to have the other girl slide off onto the floor with a small thud and she mere grimaced in her sleep. Oh, and uh, she wasn’t a she; she was a he who looked like a she and he’d spent the entire night groping her boobs with his mouth. Perv.
She swung her legs over down to the ground again, her feet grazing against the carpet and what she was sure was someone’s arm and she almost tripped in trying to regain her balance, her eyes catching Evan still passed out near the couch. Nice.

It took her a couple more minutes to find her shoes – buried somewhere in the rubble of bodies – and she decided against wearing them on her trek back to the office. She needed a shower, and the office had an en suite – organisers worked day and night, and had to be presentable all the time – and she kept a spare set of clothes there, for emergencies, because a lot of the time, it was the case that Madison didn’t have time to get a change of clothes; she lived on a rush and she made no apologies for it.

Right now, though, with this being the big day, she had to rush anyway, getting to the office rather sneakily and then shot into the bathroom to strip off the clothes from the previous night, her naked form soon surrendered to the cascade of heated water flickering down over her skin and she took all of five minutes, stepping out to wrap herself in a towel, using the built in hairdryer to relieve just enough of the dampness in her hair – she didn’t have time for a full blow dry – slipping into a black bra that plumply held up her bosom and a pair of lacy black panties – you never know, what comes your way – underneath a rather flimsy white shirt coupled to a black miniskirt, finished off with her dominatrix boots, some make-up, and she was dressed ( http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/Madison1.jpg) and ready.
And Christ... it was like they were out to screw her over. The bands started arriving and bickering over the allocated spots, the props weren’t getting to the right stages, the schedules had to be revised again, random advertising companies decided they had an axe to grind over time allocations and for cryin’ out loud, she thought she’d stick them all in a ditch somewhere. She was pretty pissed off about all of it; what, couldn’t the morons maybe just try to make things a little easier for her? She was supposed to organise things, and she was supposed to be able to count of them to act like something more than a bunch of trained apes, but noooo.... Mostly, she just didn’t want to screw up. Finally it all came together, and the launch party was a go. Finally.
But Madison hung around in the office, finalising details for tomorrow, her long legs resting against the wooden table as she reclined in the office chair, a cigarette nestling in the crevice of her plump lips and she inhaled deep, eyes shutting as the stress drained out of her body, the letting the smoke seep out, her tapering fingers momentarily playing with it before she set it down on the ashtray, taking a moment out.

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg


Lavinia didn't currently envy any of the parties involved in this sudden debacle: not Dominic, caught with his hand in the cookie jar, literally, not Lara, who had to endure the public revelation that her boyfriend was cheating on her, and not Danny, left on his own with a bunch of rowdy strangers and very little time to take it all in. On some level, she'd always held the vague assumption that Lara had some idea of what Dominic was up to – women had a way of knowing those things, and the two of them had been together longer than all of Lavinia's relationships put together – but the blank shock painted upon her face a few moments earlier told otherwise. As for Danny, he looked like someone had just taken his whole image of his brother and trampled it into the dust in front of him – which was precisely what had happened.

In light of all this, Lavinia's first thought was that he could probably use a drink. It tended to have a grounding effect on her when she was rattled or irritated, like a long, steadying gulp of air. A cigarette went nicely with it, but for Danny, she figured a beer would do. She had no idea how used he was to alcohol, so beer first; now that he was there, Lavina's curiosity regarding Nicky's younger brother returned, and this was a good opportunity to get to know him a bit; she'd just have wished to do so in a less awkward situation.

"Yeah... I know who you are", the young man began shyly, "Hi... And yeah, I'm okay, I'm just..."

"Has he done that before?"

Ah....Lavinia hesitated there, for she really didn't want to be the one to rat Dominic out to his brother, and she wasn't sure she had the heart to lie to him. He seemed so...beat up about it, in a self-conscious sort of way, so unlike Dominic, though as it turned out, Lavinia was spared the need to give an answer, for almost immediately, Danny added:

"Actually, nevermind, it's none of my business."

Adorably shy and level-headed; definitely skipped a generation there. Not one generally lost for words, this one time Lavinia couldn't think of much to say and instead offered a sympathetic smile; the kid deserved an explanation, that was for sure, but it had to come from Dominic. In the meantime, she resolved to play nice, and hopefully get him to relax a little, maybe take his mind off things for a while.


"So, uhm.... yeah... Hi." Danny continued rather awkwardly, clearly a bit intimidated by the situation, his gaze then dropping to the bottle of beer Lavinia had placed in front of him.

"Thanks, but I can't accept it." he apologized. "Nicky's strictly forbidden me to drink anything that's been out of my sight, and that was opened when I wasn't watching."

Lavinia's brows shot upwards with concealed amusement – oh, had he now? So much for Nicky pretending he wasn't an overprotective big brother, and ironic considering he tended to drink whatever he could get his hands on. It was also safe to say Danny very much looked up to his brother, which made his trip back down to Earth all the more violent, no doubt.

"I think I'll dare a little sip though", Lavinia answered with a playful wink and took a swig from the bottle, then signaled Josh, the guy sitting across the table from them and nearest to the edge.

"Hey Josh, will you do me a favor and get us some beers? Unopened this time", treating him to a coy look when he peered at her reluctantly, a brilliant grin lighting up her face when Josh started to get to his feet with a deep sigh.

"You're a gem!" she called after him, then turned her attention back to Danny as she reclined sideways on the table surface, supported by one elbow, her oval face framed by black and red tresses.

"Better not give Nicky the impression I was trying to corrupt you, eh?" she added jokingly, but in a silky tone that was every so slightly stirring of a man's imagination.

[Alissa888]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraBan.jpg

Honestly, Lara didn’t know whether it was an accusation or a confession.
It was true, every syllable; she had missed him, so much. She’d missed hearing his voice around the place, she missed the way he’d get instantly enthusiastic about things in a way she could only really watch, she missed his witticisms and his energy, she missed the intimacy they shared, she’d missed waking up to him, her arms entwined with his, even how he’d leave his clothes all splayed across the floor when unpacking.
She missed the way he was all hers. When they were alone, when it was just them.

Lara knew well of Dominic’s need for attention, she knew well of his tendencies to put on a show when around others, and how there were certain things that she could tease him about in private that wouldn’t be okay in public (which could be said about any relationship, she guessed) and she knew when something was wrong, and when and how to talk to him about it. Over the years, he’d become an open book to her and she she’d memorised every word, every phrase. She knew him well and to her, he was hers as much as she was his.
It wasn’t that Lara insisted that he ditched all of his friends and engagements to devote time to her and it wasn’t as if she was like any of those women who two people became one in a relationship. Dominic and she had she knew his need to social interaction. But when that was over, it was them.

She’d always figured that was real. Not that that was the real Dominic lying against her as the warmth of their forms congregated in the silence, because she knew that he didn’t fake. That Dominic was just another part of Dominic as a whole and while she adored him at every minute, those alone moments were when she was in her element were when she really felt close to him. So that was hers, it was her territory, it was her he chose to come home to, and her he chose to share his bed with.
That wasn’t real anymore.
Granted, yes, she just seen that girl fondling him in the party, but Lara had arrived at that point of wondering whether giving Dominic the benefit of the doubt was naive or just stupid.
Mostly, she just wanted it to not be true. She wanted him to come up with some perfectly understandable explanation as to why she’d seen what she’d seen and she’d feel a little sheepish about it, and they’d laugh about it for a while and somehow it’d affirm her insecurities over it. That was what she wanted, because a part of her was still reluctant to believe the implications.
What if it was true and it didn’t matter? What did that make her?

"I've missed you too,” he said, the curve of his lips speaking of the tenderness between them as his warm knuckles gently caressed her cheek, her eyes drifting momentarily to close as she inclined her small face towards his hands, her lips softly brushing against the very corner of it before she straightened up as his posture sank with a sigh into the depths of regret and she knew, undeniably. She knew it was exactly what it seemed, and she knew that she wasn’t going to like what she was about to hear, and she knew it was as difficult for him.
She didn’t know what it was. She didn’t know whether it was him letting her go, but still feeling the melancholy because they’d been together for so long, because she was a part of his life even if she was no longer given the importance of being the one to share his life. She wasn’t sure whether he wanted to be “just friends” and she wasn’t sure whether she could do that.
She wasn’t sure whether she could smile and be platonic with him while she watched others take up the place she had with him, the one she’d never really seen herself no longer having.
She didn’t know what to expect, and even if she did, she had no idea what she was going to do about it, if there was anything to be done about it.
"Baby, look...,” he began with hesitation staining his voice and she swallowed slightly, preparing herself, and yet, she was sure that look of dreaded anticipation coloured her angelic face with her hopeful, yet resignedly raised brows and the small part of her lips, as she looked up at him, knowing she wasn’t really ready to handle anything he was about to tell her, but telling herself that she had to. With every syllable, her heart welled just a little bit more and she just wished she could forward this conversation to it’s and, or that someone would come and tell her it’d turn out okay. Or not. "I've done some things lately that I'm not too proud of."

At first she just gave a small nod as her eyes tore themselves away from the face that’d stolen thousands of girls’ hearts along with her own and dropped to the ground momentarily as her shallow breath pushed out of her lips in a moment of taking it in. “Some things”. How many times?
Why?
Lavinia, that was all real, then? And others, probably. Why wasn’t she enough for him?
She kept herself from crying as she felt her insides sink within her.
She was better off knowing, she was sure of it.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


If it hadn't registered in Daniel's mind before, now, sitting by the table with a bunch of people he didn't really know, under circumstances that he really wasn't used to - counting not only the discovery made about Dominic, but everything - it was fast becoming more and more obvious to him how new he was to this kind of scene. Yes, he'd been in similar club environments before when watching Dominic's various bands perform, and while he was rather shy, he wasn't a complete social recluse, and so could be around crowds of people without wanting to run away screaming. But as Daniel himself did prefer smaller and calmer gatherings, whenever he'd been in environments similar to this one, it had been because of Dominic and, more importantly with Dominic. Dominic had always been around, and so Daniel had always been dealt the part of Dominic's kid brother. Now all of a sudden, he found himself alone with all these people, with Dominic off somewhere to talk to Lara, and it was as though that somehow made all the difference in the world. As though all of a sudden, Daniel was made his own person, rather than being just Dominic's little brother. A young man, like so many others around the table, albeit quite a bit younger than them too. He'd even been offered a beer, as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
Not that he'd never had it before - he'd just graduated high school, so of course he'd both had beer and been drunk - but around his brother's crowd, he'd always felt as though they'd seen him as some kind of an innocent kid. But, as it was turning out, with Dominic no longer around, that was no longer the case. Or maybe it was the fact that he was actually about to turn eighteen, and also hadn't met most of these people before? Maybe since they hadn't met him while he WAS still just a kid, and Dominic wasn't here to treat him like one, they actually didn't see him as one either?

In a way, that made him feel really good. Validated somehow, as himself. And in another, it made him feel so very, very awkward, and self-conscious, without Dominic or even Lara there for him to lean on, because it meant he was on his own, in a situation that, truth be told, he wasn't entirely comfortable with.
Thankfully, the others seemed to realize that, and were kind enough to not make it worse, but rather seemed to try to want to make him feel at ease, and relax. Lavinia especially.

Noting how her eyebrows quirked upwards in apparent surprise at his comment about Dominic warning him about drinks and opened bottles - yeah, with Dominic hardly practicing the same caution himself, Daniel could see what she must be thinking - he couldn't help but to smile in amusement himself, glad to find that she took that approach, instead of looking at him as though he was some kind of a prude.

"I think I'll dare a little sip though", she said and shot him a wink while bringing the bottle to her plump, painted lips and sampling it's contents, before turning her attention to some guy across the table, and by doing so, hopefully not noticing the way that the wink, despite being just a playful gesture, sent another wave of a pinkish hue to wash over Daniel's cheeks.

He wasn't really one to get all starstruck, and he'd seen Lavinia plenty of times before, in various pictures, and on TV on occasion, along with some of the many video clips around the web. But none of that had completely captured her allure, and the raw sensuality just oozing from her in a way that hit even a guy like Daniel - or maybe especially a guy like him, considering his lack of experience with girls like her - right in the gut. Real, and not blatantly in your face, like with some girls who just tried too hard to be enticing. No, this was a kind of relaxed and sort of only semi-aware sensuality that, at least to Daniel, felt genuine, and thus so much more potent for it.
Then again, considering he was new to the type, what did he really have to compare with? But even so, she was making quite the impression on the young man, who just watched in slight awe as she worked that female magic of hers by wrapping that guy across the table - Josh - around her little finger with a look of coquetry and a radiant smile, prompting him to just get up and go off to fetch her the unopened beers she had requested.

"You're a gem!", she called out as he left, and then turned back to face Daniel again, whose eyes had now settled back on her, after having flicked back and forth between her and Josh. "Better not give Nicky the impression I was trying to corrupt you, eh?"

Her voice was playful and filled with jest, but even so, there was still that velvety undertone to it, that would have any man thinking she was making insinuations. Or, if nothing else, hoping she was. And frankly, it left Daniel feeling tongue-tied at first, at an initial loss for something to say. He wasn't entirely alien to being flirted with, even if just for fun, nor was he a stranger to flirting back, but this was all a whole different ball game than he was used to, and so it took him a moment or two to dismiss all the utterly uncool replies that popped into his head, that would make him sound like a complete dork. Though the hesitation didn't stop another smile from forming on his lips, and soon enough, he managed an actual reply;

"And here I was thinking he'd handed over the reins to someone more capable", he said with a slight grin. "Considering he's been trying, and failing, for years."

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner3_ByGhanima.jpg


How easy it would have been to lie. To just flat out lie, and tell Lara that what she had seen back there in the lounge was nothing, that it was just Dominic indulging a fan a little, playing his part of celebrity with a pinch of generosity, and making just a little part of the girl's dreams come true. Just because he was a nice guy, who cared about his fans, and nothing more. Just because as an artist, he delivered, and not because he really had any intimate intentions with having his arm around the girl's shoulder and was letting her map out his chest and thighs with her hands. It would have been so easy, to just lie and make everything okay with Lara. Especially when he saw the look in her eyes as they met with his, the hope therein, the wish for him to soothe her worries and just laugh it off. And the hurt and the dread when his sigh had told her that there was nothing whatsoever to laugh about, and her gaze sank away from his in fearful anticipation of hearing what exactly he'd done, that he claimed to not be too proud of.

But he couldn't lie. A part of him wanted to, because he really didn't want to hurt her and, in all honesty, he didn't want to suffer the consequences of it either. He wanted to be with her and make up for lost time, not argue or spend this time together feeling rotten and possibly being yelled at.
At the same time, the bigger part of him didn't want to lie. It didn't want to, and even if it had, it couldn't. He wouldn't insult her by doing that to her, or even by lying by omission. No matter how much easier it would have made things if he had, and no matter how much he would have preferred it that she'd never found out about what he'd been up to. He wouldn't treat her with such disrespect.

Though it wasn't easy, to find the right words. Especially not when Lara herself just lowered her head, and said nothing. Dominic didn't want to make it worse than it had to be, by going into details or telling her the how's, the when's, the where's and with how many. If he could just be honest without providing her imagination with too much fuel, or her mind with too many mental pictures of him doing the dirty with someone else, he would. If she asked, he would of course tell her. He'd do it most reluctantly, but he would tell her. But if she didn't... it might be for the better. For the both of them. Maybe.

Or maybe not. Dominic couldn't help but to want to explain that they hadn't been that many. At least not the ones that he'd actually banged. There had been a few, yeah, but... most of the encounters he had with groupies had been limited to other types of sexual activities. So to speak. And he couldn't help but to feel that he wanted to mention that, so that Lara wouldn't think it was something he did every day. He just did it when it all got to be too much for him, and those girls were there, and it felt as though a while on his own or on the phone with Lara wouldn't be enough to give him the release he needed. And besides... Being treated to oral sex wasn't as bad as actual intercourse, right? Technically, it was even in the grey area between cheating and not cheating, because it wasn't like he actually did anything. Well, minus the kissing that lead up to it, but that still wasn't as bad as taking things all the way.
Though that was of course Dominic's view of his own part in what he'd done with those groupies. He was still sensible enough to realize that Lara might not fully agree. But even so, she still ought to be able to see the difference. Right?

"Look...", he started again, and ran a hand through his hair that made it stand on end, before it slowly sank back down to once again get in his face, and he reached out to gingerly touch Lara's upper arm with his hand, while seeking her gaze again through the ebony curtain hanging into his eyes. "It's only happened a few times, and... almost all of them just blew me, and that was it. And it didn't mean anything, it was just sex. It didn't mean anything. I mean... I still love you, so much. I do."

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg

Every line of work came with a specific kind of territory attached, and a usual crowd that you inevitably bumped into time and time again. In Lavinia's case, this included members of various other bands, the crew, and on a smaller scale, the organizers, agents and, of course, the fans. As for her personal social circle, excluding her bandmates, it tended to vary wildly, and encounters depended much on shared tour or show schedules, when the various bands and their members came into contact and had the chance to catch up. The gregarious young woman that she was, Lavinia had never found it difficult to get along with people on a shallow level, and being surrounded by different faces every day was very much part of her lifestyle. Most of these were acquaintances, fellow party-goers, rather than close friends, but the hedonist in Lavinia didn't mind: she had her friends too, after all, and there was nothing wrong with simply enjoying herself in the company of others, even if they weren't particularly tight.

The general atmosphere tended to be a light-hearted, riotous one, with plenty of alcohol to feed the spirit and few inhibitions; other substances weren't uncommon either, and the three main things on everyone's minds tended to be: fun, booze and sex. It wasn't a scene for the faint-hearted and newcomers either shed their reserve and went with the flow or risked ending up on the sidelines, as outsiders looking in. This wasn't necessarily due to arrogance or malicious intent, but rather the tendency of the loudest voices to drown out the rest.

Dominic belonged to the loud group, no doubt about it, his antics having earned him something of an infamous status among the regulars, and Lavinia, bona fide party girl, was not far behind. She didn't lack male attention, which during these parties tended to be the brash, forward kind, sometimes even bordering on rudeness, and so, so very unlike Danny's demure approach. She'd been observing him closely for signs of discomfort, because, well, she could tell he was far from at ease with the current arrangement, for more than one reason. Lavinia couldn't erase what he'd seen from his mind, but she could at least ensure he wasn't overwhelmed by the rest of the group. At the moment, most of the others seemed to find what Rick was saying quite interesting, and highly amusing judging by the frequent snorts or laughter that rose above Rick's hoarse voice, so if anyone noticed Danny's slight discomfort, they kept it to themselves.

Accustomed to dealing with Dominic and the like, Lavinia's impish disposition was easily stirred, and most of the times she felt more at ease around confident people who could take some banter without retreating back into their shell. In Danny's case it was quite endearing though, maybe because he didn't cling to it too much, and indeed he seemed to be relaxing a bit. She took the opportunity to give him a closer look, finding it interesting how his features bore a resemblance to Dominic, but carried a completely different vibe. He was somewhere between being a boy and a man, and cute as hell, so Lavinia was sorely tempted to take the game a little further, because it was obvious he wasn't exactly indifferent to her. All in good fun, and not outrageously teasing like she was known to be towards certain young and starstruck fans, for she had promised to play nice, and even if she hadn't, she wanted Danny to unwind and have fun. Most women her age might have felt awkward about flirting with an 18 year old, but not Lavinia; what mattered more was the fact that he was Dominic's kid brother. Then again, it wasn't like she intended to get him into bed, so...just harmless fun, right?

At first, Danny took her comment with some of the same timidity that seemed to characterize him, but Lavinia waited, one elbow on the table and her arms crossed lightly on her chest, and a look of coy amusement on her face. Guys were so much cuter than girls when they got all tongue-tied, she thought, though Danny recovered quite swiftly and a reply soon followed:


"And here I was thinking he'd handed over the reins to someone more capable" he said with a grin that Lavinia thought was somewhat reminiscent of Nicky's, "Considering he's been trying, and failing, for years."

She chuckled openly at this, her eyes narrowing, catlike, beneath rows of mascaraed lashes: so, not quite so bashful, after all, was he? Maybe what he needed was a helping hand in further lowering some of those inhibitions, and speaking of which, Josh had just made his way back to the table, carrying four beers: two for himself and his catch of the day, and two for Danny and Lavinia, left unopened as per her request. He placed those before them with a bored glance, though when Lavinia raised her gaze, a smile lurked at the corners of his mouth: Josh like to posturize, but he was really a nice guy.

Grabbing Danny's bottle first, Lavinia propped the top end against the edge of the table and gave it a decisive pull, which sent the cap popping right off. Some foam spilled on her fingers and trickled down her arm, which she wiped with a chuckle before handing it back to Danny.

"Obviously, he's been using the wrong approach" she told him as she scooted a bit closer and lowered her head to speak into his ear.

"I won't tell if you don't." she then added playfully, with a the air of someone suggesting a minor conspiracy.

And having said that, Lavinia bumped bottles with Danny in the universal invitation to drink up, and took a long, satisfying gulp of cold, bitter goodness.


((ooc: Been struggling with this one, let me know if you need more to work with.))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


It felt almost unreal. After having spent the past couple of months fishing for information from his father, the Internet, various magazines, and even probing Lara ever so slightly and inconspicuously to find out what she might know about her boyfriend's female band mate, all Rio's efforts were boiling down to this moment in time, when he for the first time saw Lavinia Sinclair in the flesh. He still wasn't one hundred percent sure that she was the one, the one he was looking for, because he hadn't dared tell his father that he had tracked down who he believed to be his father's ex-fiancé, nor had he dared to contact her to ask her about Lavinia, so neither of them had been able to in any way confirm or deny that Rio was on the right track. But, judging by what information he had managed to acquire, the indications were strong that it really was her that was the sister his father had once mentioned. Her background fit, her statements in the media about her family - although often kept fairly generic - fit, and... well... from what Rio had seen of her, she really appealed to him, as did the thought of having her as a sister. Not that such a feeling really proved anything, but hope did sometimes tend to lend it's strength to conviction, and make people feel certain of things they didn't really know enough about to be certain of. Though Rio, despite his young age, was one of the people sensible enough to realize this, and so wasn't letting his imagination run away with him just yet.

Not that it stopped his heart from skipping a beat when his eyes fell on Lavinia, and then sticking there, as the sight of her rendered him unable to tear his gaze away. For several seconds he just looked at her, studying her, drinking in what she really looked like - photos and TV had a tendency to make people look different somehow - until finally Brad gave him a playful nudge.

"Hey", he said with a soft smile, as if to gently stir his boyfriend from his thoughts. "Rio, don't stare."

Rio's eyes instantly flicked over to Brad's face, then back to Lavinia's, only to return to Brad's a split second later, and his lips cracked apart in a somewhat embarrassed smile, as Brad's words registered in his mind.

"I didn't mean to", he excused himself. "It's just..."

"I know", Brad smiled, knowing all too well how excited Rio had been about the chances of finally getting to meet the beautiful keyboard player of Deus Ex Machina here at the festival, and currently finding his distraction too adorable to resist. "C'mere."

Lightly grabbing Rio's chin with his index finger and thumb, he tilted his young boyfriend's face up towards his own, in order to claim his lips in a soft, enticing kiss, not entirely without an ulterior motive. Just like he knew how excited Rio had been about possibly meeting Lavinia, Brad also knew just what a sucker Rio was for kisses like that, how willingly he gave into them, and how easy they made him. Not that Brad was currently aiming to drag Rio away from the lounge to be alone - that was a plan for later - but the two of them hadn't gotten to see each other very much over the last couple of weeks, and Brad wanted to make up for lost time. Plus, the taste of Rio on his lips always left him wanting more. Thus, as Brad's arm wrapped tightly around Rio's waist and pulled him closer, that first kiss ended up turning into a second one, and then a third, the seconds soon melding together into a full minute or so, before the two young men's lips finally parted, and Rio peered up at Brad with mock suspicion in his eyes.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to distract me."

Brad grinned widely at him.

"Guilty as charged", he admitted, but then let go of Rio's slender frame while adding: "Nah, I wouldn't do that. Not now. I know how important this is to you."

Rio glanced over at Lavinia again, this time finding her engaged in a conversation with the brown-haired young man that had arrived about the same time as Dominic and Lara had left - he'd noticed it was Lara only once she and Dominic were on their way towards the exit, and hadn't wanted to bother them, since the very air about them had spelled private matters - and who, by the looks of it, seemed rather timid, almost intimidated even, when one saw the look in his eyes. Though, who could blame him? Lavinia did have that sexual predator look about her, that would have any young man thinking she had guys like them for breakfast. Rio himself was unsure of how to approach her, although in his case the intentions of doing so would be rather different from the norm...

He didn't want to just go up to her and blurt out "Hiya, sis!". Not when not knowing for sure that she really was his sister, and especially not when knowing how delicate a matter such as this was likely to be, and what a shock it might end up being for her. Rio himself had had plenty of time to get used to the idea, but Lavinia... While he kind of didn't have any other option than to spring it all on her from out of the blue, there was a better time and place to do it than in a loud and rowdy lounge, with people all around, and the alcohol flowing freely. It wouldn't be fair of him to bring it up under the current circumstances. And even if it had been, Rio still felt that he'd kind of need to work up the nerve, because once he took the plunge, there'd be no turning back. Once he said those words, he couldn't take them back, and undo whatever reaction they would cause. So, he wanted to prepare, to get an idea of what she was like by watching her for a little bit at first, and maybe get some clue as to how to best approach her about it all.

The only problem was; how? He and Brad couldn't exactly just plop themselves down around the table from out of nowhere, and watching from a distance was impossible, since people would get in the way and also drown out everything that was said at the table, leaving Rio with only the occasional glimpse. He needed something more solid.

As it would turn out, however, luck was on his side tonight, because only seconds after he'd started to ponder a possible way in, one was handed to him on a silver platter, and through Brad no less, when suddenly one of the guys near the other end of the long table leaned back in his chair and gave a shout and a wave, to get his attention.

"'Ey!", he called out, and upon having both Rio's and Brad's gazes - among others - landing on him, continued; "Aren't you that guy from that band, Andromeda or something?"

A look of flattered surprise claimed Brad's features; the band wasn't all that known, and so he wasn't used to being recognized.

"Tears of Andromeda, yeah", he said while grabbing Rio's hand and pulling him with him to draw closer.

"I saw you guys play in Chicago a couple of weeks ago", the other guy, a black-haired one with a pair of sunglasses pushed on top of his head, said, and gave a look of approval. "Not bad."

"Thanks!", Brad beamed, and drew a grin from Rio as well, since as a friend of Brad's, he of course also enjoyed hearing the guys of the band get some acknowledgement for their work.

"Why don't you two join us?"

The black-haired man gestured towards the barely available spot near his own, at the short end of the table.

"Take a seat."

"Sure, thanks", Brad said, after exchanging the briefest of smiles with Rio, both at the invitation itself, and the unexpected helping hand it offered.

Rio's hand still in his at first, he then pushed himself past two random guys, and eased himself into the barely there open spot on the leather cushioned bench. He did not, however, intend for Rio to go without a seat and remain standing, and so while he let his hand go, he wrapped his arm around Rio's waist instead, and pulled him down onto his lap, causing Rio's initial sounds of protest at being robbed of his balance to turn into a soft laugh emitting from his throat instead.

"Ah, here I was thinking I wouldn't get a seat at all", he said with a grin, "and I end up with the best one in the house! Lucky me."

At that, Brad just laughed, and gave him a light, teasing poke in the side that made him flinch, before turning his head to face the guy that had invited them to the table in the first place, and in doing so finding that both he and Rio were being studied with a faintly amused smile.

"Arnold", the guy then said and reached to shake hands with the both of them; Brad first, and then Rio. "Arnold Freidman. Damage."

"Brad Dreyer, 'Andromeda something'", said Brad with a smile, and then motioned his head towards Rio. "Rio Adams, my boyfriend."

The introduction was one that had both him and Rio watching Arnold's face for a reaction, as they were both fairly used to seeing apprehension, aversion and sometimes even disgust fill the eyes of whoever had been presented with it. The world had grown a lot more open minded in general over the past couple of decades, but homophobia was still going strong in quite a few people, and so you never knew when it would rear it's ugly head.

Thankfully, Arnold didn't seem to react at all, perhaps already tipped off by their seating arrangements and comments thereof, but just simply gave a casual smile and a nod of acknowledgement. After that, it wasn't long before the two somewhat older guys had become engulfed by a conversation about their main common field of interest, namely music, while the younger one, Rio, followed in it only half-heartedly, going back to paying more attention to the young woman at the other end of the table instead, through frequent glances, as well as the occasional longer peek, whenever Brad wasn't sneaking him a kiss or a caress along his back or his thigh, almost like silent apologies for leaving him feeling left out. Which frankly he didn't. He welcomed the chance to observe Lavinia, though he was careful not to blatantly stare at her for long periods of time, but instead kept his gaze roaming the crowd around the table, only touching on Lavinia far more frequently than on the rest.


(((ooc: Rio's outfit (http://www.myemohairstyles.com/gallery/files/0/1_563953.jpg), since I haven't been able to fit it into his posts.)))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


'He's been trying, and failing, for years'. Perhaps it hadn't been the most truthful statement of the decade, but really, that all depended on how one looked at it. Daniel was maybe a little naive and inexperienced, but he wasn't dim-witted. He knew Dominic liked to put on a show of how he was teaching his little brother the arts of being a man - consisting mainly of handling women, booze, and various other vices - what with having offered him drinks and cigarettes and whatnot over the past couple of years, whenever Daniel had been around for a party where Dominic was also on the guest list. But he was also aware of how those drinks and cigarettes tended to eventually end up in Dominic's own hand rather than in Daniel's, and so he knew it was mostly just that; a show. He knew that deep down Dominic was the same protective big brother he'd always been, ever since they were kids. What he didn't know, was if these acts of protectiveness were conscious and intentional, or just an ingrained behaviour; if they were of genuine protectiveness, or "accidental" and circumstantial. But either way, the statement was still at least partly true, because regardless of whether Dominic had really tried to corrupt his kid brother, or just tried to make it seem like he was, the end result was the same; Daniel still wasn't anywhere near as depraved as Dominic was, and frankly, he doubted he ever would be. Most people who knew the two brothers probably did. Daniel just didn't seem to have a single obnoxious bone in his body. His brother had apparently gotten them all. Though that didn't mean that Daniel couldn't play along in big brother Dominic's games, or that he didn't enjoy them. Especially not in the current company, which seemed to appreciate them just as much as Dominic did, and was mostly the reason why Daniel was currently engaging in them. 'When in Rome', and all that jazz. He didn't want to be seen as boring by being as withdrawn as he usually might be in places such as this. Lavinia was kindly making an effort to make him feel welcome and at ease, he realized that, and he didn't want to come across as being impolite or dull or difficult, and so he was making a conscious effort to venture out of the shell that usually surrounded him at least initially in new situations. Not that he had to try too hard, because Lavinia really made it quite easy for him, being open and engaging in herself, the type of person that was easy to be around because she seemed so undemanding of her company, like she had no real expectations and wasn't trying to force something out of them just for the sake of it, whether reactions or words. Talking to her was... not undramatic exactly, considering it was far from the usual rigid and cold small talk about the weather, and also considering she was having quite the effect on him, but it was still so very... liberating, in a way? Light-hearted, even.

The only thing that made it slightly awkward here and there, were Daniel's momentary bouts of hesitation, when he got tongue-tied and couldn't think of something to say. Though thankfully, there weren't too many of them. So far, anyway. There'd only been a couple of initial ones, the first following the introduction, and then just now, when Lavinia got somewhat flirty with him, and he at first didn't know what to say. But as she didn't tease him about it, nor did anyone else, or even point it out, it was as though it had gone by unnoticed. She simply laughed at what he said and, as it was just then that Josh guy returned from the bar to hand them their beers, went on to open them both against the edge of the table, with almost every bit the expertise of a practised party animal, save for the few droplets that spilled onto her skin in the process.

"Obviously, he's been using the wrong approach", she then purred in Daniel's ear, after having handed him the bottle and slipped closer to him in a - to him - bold move that had the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he felt the humid warmth her breath wash against his skin, and her scent trickle into his nostrils.

For a split second, he felt his lungs seize, and he could have sworn his heart skipped a beat. At that moment, he felt almost like a little kid who'd been trying to fill his father's all too big shoes. Or rather, his brother's. Daniel just wasn't at all on par with Dominic's propensity for playful and flirtatious banter, and so in that instant felt completely out of his depth. Like he'd just jumped into the water only to discover that it was far too deep, and he couldn't touch the bottom.

Thankfully, he was given a free and much needed chance to hide his initial reaction, when after mischievously adding a "I won't tell if you don't", Lavinia gently knocked her bottle against his and then brought it to her lips for a long first swig of it's contents. Feeling very much that he needed a few moments to adjust to the thought of having her that close, and to regain his ability to speak without having it come out as complete nonsense, Daniel was quick to do the same, welcoming the taste of the smooth, bitter alcohol on his tongue. He even knocked back a second sip immediately after the first, though that time it was mostly for the actual taste, rather than the time it bought him.

Little good it did him, however, since just as he was lowering the bottle from his lips to put it down on the table, his eyes locked on something that for a moment stunned him, because of the sheer unexpectedness of it. On the other side of the table, two guys had just slipped into a passionate embrace, sharing a kiss so intimate that at first, Daniel could but stare, until hastily looking away a second later, in embarrassment and discomfort. Not because the act itself disgusted him - he'd seen guys kiss before, especially his brother and Asher, and he'd had no real problem with it, though in the case of Dominic and Asher he'd known it was just for fun anyway - but simply because, as naive as it was, it was perhaps the last thing he had expected to see, and because... well, for some reason, two guys kissing felt to him so much more private than a straight couple doing it, and so he made a conscious effort not to look over there again.

"Uh...", he started hesitantly, as he tried to find his mental way back to the conversation he had going with Lavinia; an endeavour that much to his relief turned out to be a successful one, and that grin from before slowly returned to his lips as he glanced up at her. "I'd be seriously worried if he'd used the same approach as you..."

Dominic might be sex on legs, as some girls online tended to put it in their comments on the guitarist's blog - though as a straight guy, and his little brother no less, Daniel didn't see it - but for him to get seductive and coy in his attempt to try and lure Daniel into the sea of vices that he himself enjoyed? Uh, NO. It was a scenario that was likely to end up giving both brothers de Vere nightmares.

"But who knows", Daniel then added innocently, fighting the sly twinkle in his eyes, "maybe he's just afraid of what I'll spill if I really get drunk."

Not that there were very many anecdotes about him that the exhibitionistic Dominic wouldn't gladly share himself - 'I don't care what you think, as long as it is about me' seeming to be his motto and all - but as his brother, Daniel was sitting on a goldmine, as far as Dominic's antics throughout the years was concerned.

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg


Flirting was a game to Lavinia Sinclair. Like so many other things, she took a half-joking, lighthearted approach to it, peppered with a bit of wit and provocation, and she indulged in it quite shamelessly. More often than not, the purpose was the game itself, the exchange of reactions that passed between the two (or more!) people involved which could reveal such delicious snipets of insight and surprise by their ability to keep her entertained. Buttons were there to be pushed, and sexuality an undeniable part of being human – why shouldn't she combine the two? Despite this, she managed not to come across as one of those outrageous flirts, girls who couldn't hold a conversation without flashing their tits and making bedroom eyes at the guy, of which she did neither. Lavinia did have an unmistakeable aura of sensuality about her, and had been known to be forward and direct, though never taking herself, or the little games she played, too seriously. What she did felt natural and unforced, because it was an extension of her naturally buoyant personality than anything else, and mostly for fun.

With Danny however, Lavinia had to ask herself what she was doing: flirting with an 18 year old? She felt she should have been embarrassed, but all that brought about was a smirk which she disguised by lifting the bottle to her lips and sipping more of its contents. A giddy disposition was beginning to rise up within her as the beer was starting to mix with the whiskey she'd had earlier, giving her head a bit of a buzz and bringing a cheeky grin to her lips. Nah, she was being a good girl, Lavinia reminded herself, just minimal banter and zero grabbery.. She resisted the impulse to wrap an arm around Danny's shoulders to give them a fond squeeze when she saw him seize up, and for a few moments ended up looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Then, a different kind of expression filled his eyes, one of utter surprise as he noticed something towards their right, then brusquely looked away in embarrassment. Curiosity piqued, Lavinia's gaze followed the same path and landed upon the entwined forms of two scene kids playing tonsil hockey a few seats away on the opposite side of the table. Unlike Danny however, she felt no trace of embarrassment, or anything else really, apart from a vague interest in finding out who the two guys were, for she didn't remember seeing either of them before. One for later, she decided and turned back to her companion, who appeared to have found his voice:

"Uh..." he said with some uncertainty, "I'd be seriously worried if he'd used the same approach as you..."

Ha! By pure instinct Lavinia threw her head back and let out a ring of laughter that fully mirrored the bout of amusement that comment had prompted: it...wasn't exactly what she'd meant, but it sure cracked her up! Funny yet wrong, oh so very wrong....She soon recovered, snickering under her breath, and during the brief moments her gaze roamed the table, she saw the dark-haired boy previously locking lips with his companion looking straight at her.

"But who knows", she heard Danny add and returned her focus back to him "maybe he's just afraid of what I'll spill if I really get drunk."

Lavinia perked up immediately, eyes narrowing with impish intent: ohhh, was he now? Dominic, bona fide attention whore, afraid what others thought of him? This was worth investigating, she grinned to herself and as she did so, peered along the length of the table, just about catching Emo Boy avert his gaze. Hum. Interesting...

"Oooh you mean to say you're in the possession of some particularly juicy Dominic-related gossip," Lavinia crooned, her eyes twinkling like two stars, "that I might be able to persuade you to divulge?"

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


Growing up with an ever evolving madcap like Dominic, at times life for Daniel had been... interesting, to say the least. Dominic's increasingly exhibitionistic side may have only started to truly flourish around his early or mid teens, but he'd always been a fun-loving and charismatic person, around whom life was rarely dull. Hence part of the reason why Daniel had always looked up to him, since even though he himself was comfortable taking things easy, and sometimes even valued solitude over the company of others, he saw the impact Dominic had on other people, and couldn't help but to be amazed at how bold and carefree he seemed to be, how he just tended to draw people in, and how he appeared to be perfectly unconcerned with what people (meaning, those who didn't know him) thought of him. He was who he was, he didn't apologize for it, and he was generous with himself. These days sometimes even too generous with himself, according to some. He often made himself the center of attention, and thus there weren't all too many things about him that remained secret. Except perhaps the really private stuff, that concerned not only Dominic, but those he cared for as well. Those things, he usually kept to himself, because he realized others may not be as comfortable as him with sharing things, and he respected it and, as he tended to be protective of those he cared about, even preferred it.

However, nowadays often sharing matters pertaining to himself or not, the past still harboured quite a few anecdotes that had yet to make it out of the circle of family and old, close friends. Daniel, having spent his entire life observing his older brother, had plenty of stories to share, about the many ways in which Dominic had managed to keep the people around him entertained, in one way or another. Or interested. Or downright horrified. Dominic never did lack a talent for drama, and for causing reactions. Like the time when aged seven, after a fight with their mother, he'd announced to their parents that he was running away from home, and then had dragged his three year old brother with him in the boys' play cart, to sit together at the corner down the street from their house for about half an hour, before Daniel's whining about wanting to go home had gotten on Dominic's nerves enough for him to give in. Though upon their return to the house, the official and rather haughtily delivered story had been that Dominic had simply felt sorry for their parents, since they must have been devastated, and thus had found it in his heart to forgive their mother for her wrongdoing.
Or the time when during the beginning of his freshman year in high school, Dominic had come home drunk for the first time, in the middle of the night, and scared their mother out of her wits, by tripping over his own feet at the bottom of the stairs, and ending up waking up the whole house with his racket, yelping out in surprise as he fell, then announcing to no one in particular that the stairs had moved when he was trying to go up then, and last but not least, bursting out laughing at it all.
He'd been grounded for a month.
Though unbeknownst to their parents, even to this day, he'd managed to sneak out of the house several times during those few weeks. Daniel was the only one besides Dominic's friends at the time, who knew about that. And he'd been paid handsomely back then to keep it that way; to a ten year-old, ten bucks had been a small fortune, and to have Dominic make his bed for a week... It had been so worth it.

Nowadays, these were the kinds of stories that Daniel knew people would have loved to hear about Dominic, and so he usually kind of held on to them even tighter. He hated it when people probed him about Dominic, knowing that their only interest in him, Daniel, was because of his famous brother, and that more often than not, it wasn't even because it was Dominic, but because it was someone famous, period. They just wanted something to gossip about, some little tidbit of information that they could then offer to the rest of the world, and feel special.

Therefore, had he been having this current conversation with someone else, he would have taken things in an entirely different direction. But, with Lavinia it was different, because unlike so many of those people dogging him for information, she actually knew Dominic and to a point, one could even say she lived with him. She herself was equally famous, and so Daniel knew that her interest in whatever gossip he might have to share about Dominic, it was not because of the fame, but because of Dominic, for Dominic's sake. So, when he saw the look on her face, of how his words pricked her ears, her interest clearly being piqued by his insinuation, he simply smirked, because it was honest, and the amusement of it all was mutual.

"Oooh you mean to say you're in the possession of some particularly juicy Dominic-related gossip that I might be able to persuade you to divulge?", she relished in her melodic voice, and there was no mistaking the mischief dancing in her eyes at the thought.

Which in turn left the young man next to her briefly wondering what exactly that "persuasion" might consist of. The term itself was innocent enough, and the light in her eyes did seem to be more about the prospect of getting something to tease Dominic about - and rightly so, if Dominic acted as cocky with her as he did with everyone else - than about her options when it came to Daniel. But she was still the kind of woman that could say one thing, and no matter how innocent it might be, it would still have men thinking along lines that were less than chaste. Even young, innocent men like Daniel, whose mind didn't tend to venture down these paths as easily, but which in the current company was undeniably feeling the sensuality of her being.

But no. He didn't ponder things any further than that, because as appealing and alluring as she was, the idea of actually doing anything with her was... far too odd and awkward for Daniel to take seriously. They were very different people, and while she was kind of flirting with him, he figured it was all just in good fun, because he was no more her type, than she was his. She was stunning, and sensual, and the kind of girl any young man would fantasize about, but from a realistic point of view, she was far too intense for someone like him. And to her, he was probably just a kid. So, he didn't read too much into it, but instead went with the angle he himself had presented her with.

"I grew up with him", he pointed out with a faint smirk. "I've got lots."

Then, his eyes narrowed slightly in mock suspicion.

"Though does that mean you intend to get me drunk?"

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

At about this time, a police cruiser pulls up at the front gate and the driver [an older officer] asks the people manning the gate ((there IS someone guarding the gate, right?)) to be put in touch with the local head of security. [There is also a younger officer in the "shotgun" seat, both officers male.]

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg

Everyone had their guilty pleasures; for some, that entailed a secret stash of Britney Spears albums, others religiously watched soaps; in Lavinia's case, what she couldn't resist was a good story, especially when it featured someone she knew. She thrived on the outrageous and the amusing, delighting in little snippets of informations that offered something new, something unexpected; a rarer and rarer found those days. Essentially, it was gossip, but Lavinia mostly did it for the laughs, and though she wasn't above using it for teasing purposes, schadenfreude rarely came into play. Lavinia lived a too intense life to have time for catty rumours and the like, as for who was sleeping with who and the like, she could care less.

Where Dominic was concerned, unearthing any gossip about him was easier said than done, because he didn't exactly shy away from being the centre of attention, as for shame, he didn't have much. What most people would have wanted to keep private, he willingly shared with the world (even a bit too willingly at times, hence why his bandmates would often find themselves using the phrase "Too much information!"), but even he hadn't been born a confident exhibitionist, and if there was someone who would be able to share some insight into the pre-Lynx era of Nicky's life, it would be a relative. Who better than his own brother? Braces, embarrassing Granny-knitted sweaters, bad photos...everyone had them, Lavinia included. Her own highschool yearbook photo lacked most of her present glamour, depicting a somewhat sulky girl with bad hair and too much eyeliner, a source for much teasing from Dominic's part when he'd managed to talk her into showing it to him, so his dues were up.

"I grew up with him", Danny pointed out with a promising smirk, "I've got lots."

If Lavinia had been a comicbook villain, she would have been cackling with glee; as it was however, her grin became, if possible, even wider, causing two little wrinkles to appear on the bridge of her nose. Oh, she could just imagine! It was the awkwardly funny stuff she was after, not the really embarrassing moments, but she figured Danny was aware of that since he'd been the first to bring up the subject. In any case, she was glad he'd followed her train of thought as well as he did, and speaking of following...since first catching Emo Boy repeatedly glancing her way, Lavinia found herself distracted. It was like something you only started noticing after glimpsing it the first time, except the sense of awareness kept increasing. She began wondering what it was that he wanted, and yet didn't dare say. He was obviously into guys, so that eliminated one likely reason, and he was no groupie, either. Those looking to catch the attention of someone from a band like Deus Ex Machina, tended to dress more the part, and make themselves as available as possible (as in, without a clear love interest at hand). Unless he was looking for something involving a three way, but...nah. Not the right approach for that, so that only left one thing: whatever it was, it probably didn't have to do with Lavinia as a public figure.

"Though does that mean you intend to get me drunk?" Danny asked in the meantime, and for a while Lavinia put her inner musings regarding Emo Boy aside to assume a contemplating look about as serious as Daniel's suspicion, sipping her beer at length as though pondering it.

"Mmmm, I don't know" she said with a shrug and a casual toss of her hair, though her eyes were narrowed mischievously as they peered sideways at Danny "I think I'd rather have you sober. It's more fun that way."

There was a reason Dominic and Lavinia got along so well; they shared quite a few similarities, including a tendency to keep going when they were on a roll. Right now, Lavinia was rather enjoying her play on words and saying two things in one and, timidity or not, she thought Danny wasn't entirely opposed to it either. Though her words did contain a grain of truth as well, she was planning to keep him from getting piss-drunk, if she could help it. However, Emo Boy and his apparent focus on her kept intruding, returning to occupy her mind when once again she found his eyes wavering in their general direction, which was when Lavinia decided she would just take matters in her own hands. Instead of looking away, she held his gaze and, placing her elbows on the table, leaned forward in order to make herself perfectly audible:

"You know, I really can't read minds," she said and gave him an indicative lift of her brows, "I'm better with words, so...a little help here?"

Lavinia's tone, though direct and to the point, wasn't aggressive, and the expectant look which settled on her face in the wake of that comment did not lack a certain curiosity.

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

((Someone please tell the officers where to go...?))

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: GeneralsOperationDirector - As we've mentioned before, your way of roleplaying and our way of roleplaying are not the same. I'm sure you have noticed by now that we roleplay actual characters, whereas you seem to roleplay general situations, and none of the current players are playing the head of security, nor any security staff members. No one is playing a character available to tell the officers where to go.
We've pointed this out to you before.

Furthermore, as stated by the rules in the very first post of this thread, the minimum length of an RP post is 8 lines. Your latest post is 2 lines long, and 50-60% of it isn't even a post, but comments made about the contents of the post.

We're not trying to exclude you from the RP, but you do have to realize that when you do join an RP, it might be a good idea to follow the actual setup of the game. Right now, no one can RP with you, because your way of RPing is (by your choice) entirely different from ours, and they're not compatible with one another. The way in which you try to roleplay with us is entirely your choice, but as long as you do it in a way that we cannot respond to, well, then we simply cannot respond. It's as simple as that. :) )))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


Sometimes when your mind gets caught up with something, whether it's a matter of inner reasoning, or something you're witnessing, there are times when self awareness tends to shrink away from you, and you end up staring at an object, or even a person. If whatever is keeping your mind prisoner, is of the former category, of inner reasoning, the staring will most likely be of the unseeing kind, where your gaze turns unfocused since what you're looking at is something in an altogether different dimension, visible only to your mind's eye. Other times, when in the case of the latter, of witnessing something playing out in front of you, you get so caught up watching it, eagerly drinking in every last detail that you're able to register, that you don't realize that you're staring.

Such was the case of young Rio Adams this evening, placed at the short end of a table where sat also the young lady he'd been hoping to meet, but now was hesitant about approaching. He'd gone over a million times in his head, what he might say upon meeting her - a sea of possibilities for various scenarios - but now, when finally having the chance, all of it sounded lame, or downright creepy. The last thing he wanted was to come across as some star struck fan, who'd most likely loose her interest within two seconds flat, and he most certainly didn't want to come across as some stalkerish weirdo, talking about how he thought they had things in common, even though they'd never even talked before, ever. Neither would be particularly helpful in giving her the first impression that he was hoping for, of a young man she might actually enjoy talking to.

He was overthinking things. He realized that. He realized that at this point, before even uttering a single word to her, he was already trying too hard, and that the best way to go about it, was to just relax, and let it happen naturally. Though that presented the problem of what if allowing it to happen naturally, ended up having it not happen at all? She already had company, and she seemed to enjoy it too, judging by the smiles that kept emerging on her face, filled with amusement and mischief, so it wasn't as though she was likely to want to strike up a conversation with just any random person. Least of all one who looked like Rio. Perhaps a little presumptuous, but goths and emos generally didn't tend to be drawn towards one another. At all. And while Rio most certainly didn't define himself as being emo - he was far too carefree and enjoying life too much - he did still look the part, so...

What he didn't realize, was that with all his inner debating, what was meant to be just the odd casual peek in her direction, ended up being frequent and sometimes rather long glances instead. And this time, Brad was too occupied with the conversation he himself was having with Arnold, to notice, and issue another gentle warning like before. He did offer distraction every now and then, with the frequent squeezing of Rio's thigh, or the occasional hook meant to reel him into the conversation, but before long, Rio's focus would always waver, and return to the matter claiming most of his thoughts, and the object at which they were aimed: Lavinia Sinclair.

Thus, it wasn't until Lavinia's gaze met with his, and actually stayed on him, that Rio suddenly caught himself having probably looked at her a lot more than he had meant to, and far more conspicuously than intended. Now wasn't that smooth...

He was just about to guilty look away, when... uh-oh... She was starting to lean forward, towards him, gaze still on him, and the intent to call him out clearly in her eyes.
Oh, shit. He wasn't prepared for this.

"You know", Lavinia said from across the table, causing the young man next to her to turn his head and look at Rio as well, with a smile that slowly faded as whatever amusing conversation they'd been having died down, "I really can't read minds. I'm better with words, so... a little help here?"

Having feared that, like most people who got fed up with having others stare at them for no apparent reason, she would get snide or snippy, Rio was relieved to find that while she was indeed frank about it, her voice carried no such undertones. And when added to that, he glanced down at Brad, and found him looking at him and giving an encouraging smile, Rio relaxed into a smile of his own, and turned his gaze back to Lavinia.

"I'm sorry", he said. "I didn't mean to stare, or intrude on anything. It's just..."

For only a second he paused, at this potential moment of truth, but then soon continued, once again feeling assured that no, this really wasn't the right time to bring up their possible family ties;

"... You're stunning", he thus finished, because sister or not, and Rio being gay or not, she really was a beautiful creature. "And", he then added, "this is probably going to sound really lame, but... I was just thinking I'd really like to talk to you sometime."

After all, a little flattery never hurt anyone, right? Especially not when it was perfectly sincere.

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg


The phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover" was a well known warning against jumping to conclusions based on appearances, but the actual truth remained that most people did it in one way or another. It was impossible to leave behind all of one's expectations and the sort of preconceptions so deeply-set, one barely realized they had them, even for those who claimed to possess an open mind. Lavinia was no exception, and in her line of work, appearances did go hand in hand with certain stereotypes, sometimes purposely so.

At first glance, Emo Boy didn't look the part of a groupie for several reasons, and most casual fans would probably just have waited for the show the next day. He could have been in the business as well, something Lavinia considered afterwards, or, his interest had to do with something else entirely. Still, she wasn't the sort to overthink matters when she could just as easily ask him, which she did. The answer however wasn't precisely what she'd anticipated:

"I'm sorry" the young man said, and Lavinia thought he handled his initial embarrassment quite well, though she didn't miss the way lover boy there offered his silent support in a gaze, "I didn't mean to stare, or intrude on anything. It's just..."

Lavinia held the silence, raising a brow as well in encouragement.

"... You're stunning. "And this is probably going to sound really lame, but... I was just thinking I'd really like to talk to you sometime."

Settling back into her chair, a look of subtle comprehension settled onto Lavinia's features, as though his answer suddenly dispelled the mystery, which she figured it had. It wasn't the first time she'd been the recipient of such words, in fact she'd heard several variations of them quite a few times from fans eager to get their idol to themselves even for a brief time. Offering to talk was a favourite way to do it, because a conversation was about the simplest and safest way to hold someone's attention without seeming too presumptuous. Lavinia did spend time with her fans, and it would have been a lie to say she didn't enjoy being the target of compliments and general admiration, even when it came from unlikely sources. Perhaps even more so then, because Lavinia relished the idea of reaching many different people, instead of just one target group: that's why she had joined a band, to express herself, and she took satisfaction in the idea that it was becoming known outside the strictest borders of the goth scene. Like Emo Boy there, whose approach had him pegged as a fan after all, though she wasn't exactly shocked by the revelation. Clothes were a useful guideline, but beyond that, it was the music that Lavinia tended to focus on (and she did not lack opinions regarding the various genres, some of them quite critical), rather than the stereotypes associated strictly with a way of dressing. After all, with her bon vivant outlook on life, she hardly embodied the goth stereotype.

"Aw, thank you, you're sweet" she replied with a brilliant grin, "and, well, we're talking now, aren't we?"

One of Lavinia's arms rested upon the backrest of the booth, her hand hanging casually over Danny's shoulder and she aimed a playful wink at him during a brief moment that their eyes met. Though she wasn't opposed to new acquaintances, or chatting to Emo Boy for a bit, since his strategy had been to approach her while she was partying with her friends (not to mention she had Daniel more or less to look after), he'd have to share her attentions. She didn't want Danny to feel left out, nor had she forgotten about their pending conversation.

"Though I do think introductions are in order," Lavinia continued, her gaze now encompassing both guys sitting across the table. "I'm Lavinia" -he probably knew that, but she wasn't quite arrogant enough to use it as her default approach-"this is Daniel."

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


As far as not coming across like some star-struck fan went, eager to meet his idol and finding himself tongue-tied when made the object of her attention, Rio figured he'd blown it first thing, despite his resolve not to. He'd heard his own words as they'd been coming out of his mouth, and realized that while they did indeed carry flattery, they probably carried zilch where originality was concerned. After all, what kind of phrases did fans generally use when approaching their idols? "You're so cool!", "I love you!", "wow, you're even more gorgeous/handsome/whatever up close!", that's what. "You're stunning" hardly stood out. Nor did he figure his request to get to talk to her for a bit was something new to her. In her line of work, she probably got it all the time.
So, the plan of catching her interest by seeming like something at least a little out of the ordinary, had gone down the crapper the moment he'd opened his mouth.

But that was okay. Ready or not, he'd gotten her attention, she knew that he existed, and that was definitely something to work with. He had time yet to pique her curiosity. Furthermore, even if he did come across like your typical fan, Lavinia obviously wasn't the type of celebrity that had started taking the adoring masses for granted, or gotten completely fed up with them. She didn't roll her eyes at him, and she didn't turn away in a show of being bored with him already. On the contrary. Instead of looking like someone who'd lost interest in two seconds flat, she leaned back in acceptance and recognition of his words, and her face lit up with a most vibrant, contagious smile.

"Aw, thank you, you're sweet", she beamed at him, "and, well, we're talking now, aren't we?"

Rio returned her smile, with a somewhat more mellow one of his own. That much was true, they were indeed talking. But even so, it wasn't quite what he'd meant. He had no intention of bringing up what he thought was their mutual father here in front of everyone, with loud music blasting in the background, bouts of laughter occasionally soaring above it, and a room full of people who had no business hearing about something that private. He wanted to get Lavinia on her own, away from everyone, so that they could talk without risking the interference of others; the endeavour would be delicate and volatile enough on it's own, without others getting involved, cracking jokes or other remarks, or simply stumbling upon the scene and disrupting it. It wouldn't be fair on either of them.

It did not, however, change the fact that she had a point. They were talking, and that meant that Rio had ever chance to try and manoeuvre things so that eventually he and Lavinia would get a chance to talk one on one. And besides, Lavinia was in the same band as Dominic de Vere, who was the boyfriend of Lara, who in turn was a friend of Rio's, and present at the festival. Worst case scenario, if a chance to talk to Lavinia in private didn't arise this evening and she got away from him, he'd just ask Lara to help put him in touch with her again somehow. He wasn't particularly interested in having Lavinia think he was being persistent to the point of being clingy, but if that was what he'd have to resort to, in order to get to present his real business, then he was willing to do it.

But, that was all to be a later matter. Currently, he was looking to make the most of the opportunity at hand.

"Though I do think introductions are in order", Lavinia said, after briefly glancing over at the boy next to her, and giving a wink as if to say that while her focus might currently be on Rio, he was still her main companion, and in doing so earning herself a shy smile in return, before she continued with her part of said introductions; "I'm Lavinia, this is Daniel."

At the mention of his name, Daniel shot her a sideways glance, sort of glad that she called him by his actual name, rather than "Danny". Though he generally tended to prefer the latter, as it was more casual, "Daniel" sort of made him feel more... adult. Like he was being taken seriously, and seen as a person of his own, rather than the notorious Dominic de Vere's little brother. It was only semantics, and probably not even a conscious decision on Lavinia's part, but the effect was there nonetheless.

From across the table, Rio gave them both a nod, and, as he'd noticed that not only had Brad and Arnold turned their attention to the conversation as well, but that Lavinia had also recognized their presence by letting her gaze shift briefly to Brad as she spoke, went on to play his part in the process of introductions;

"Rio Vance", he said - he didn't know whether or nor Lavinia knew her father's name, and while it was a fairly common one, he didn't want her to make the connection by using his real last name, no matter how far fetched the idea that she would might be - and then tilted his head towards Brad's. "Brad Dreyer. He's with Tears of Andromeda."

Not that he was certain that Lavinia had heard about the band, but Rio figured that was just all the more reason to mention them; to introduce their existence to the world. It didn't much matter to him that by doing it, he probably had the others thinking that he'd "groupied" Brad, when ironically, it had been the other way around. He didn't much enjoy the label, but had gotten fairly used to it since he'd started dating Brad, and just figured that people were entitled to think what they wanted, because it wasn't like they weren't going to do so anyway. Besides, his and Brad's relationship was between himself and Brad, and therefore none of anyone else's business. Rio didn't need to explain the mechanics or the history of it to anyone. Not even when asked. And boy, had he been asked. As soon as people found out what business he was in, and that he had a boyfriend, you could bet your bottom dollar the next question on their lips would be "Doesn't he mind?".

But anyway, in the current conversation, that was all far beside the point. Although, unbeknownst to Rio, it was just about to skirt along those very lines for a bit, when at the mention of his own name, Arnold's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Wait", he interjected. "Didn't you say your last name was something else before?"

Blinking with surprise at the realization - he'd completely forgotten about Brad introducing him as Rio Adams earlier - Rio turned his gaze to Arnold.

"Uhh...", he started, somewhat bewildered, before managing his explanation: "Yeah, that was my real name. I go by 'Vance' too. For work."

At that, Arnold arched his eyebrows ever so slightly at first, but then seemed to accept his words as sounding reasonable, given the current location, and nodded.

"What do you do?", he inquired, since Rio had mentioned Brad being in a band, but not being in one himself.

"I... model... sort of", Rio replied, glanced down at Brad, and then turned his attention back to Lavinia (and Daniel), in order to change the subject; "You're in Deus Ex Machina, right? I'm a friend of Lara, Dominic's girlfriend?"

[Alissa888]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraBan.jpg

The worst of it was that she could imagine it. Not the sordid details, but she could imagine how he... how many times? How far did he go with them? How soon after he’d been with her?
It hurt to think about it, any of it, but Lara couldn’t help the questions piercing and insidiously drifting into her mind and rooting themselves in against her will. Because she had to know. She didn’t want to know, but she had to – it was all out in the open now, and she couldn’t keep running from it. She had to know.
She couldn’t bring herself to ask, though. She suddenly didn’t want to hear him say it, because that made it too real. If someone else said it, then it was hearsay, and it was... less tangible, less painful than hearing him admit it.
Because he wouldn’t lie to her, would he?
Not now, right?

She couldn’t help but go over all the times that he’d seemed unreachable, all those late mornings that she’d thought Dominic had spent in bed with a hangover, or just exhaustion after a night out. All those vague explanations and excuses and fanciful tales. What if even half of them had been born because he hadn’t wanted to tell her he was with another woman? And there she’d been, being the dutiful girlfriend and just such an idiot! How did she not see this coming?
How did she persuade herself to ignore it for so long?!

"Look...," he started and she couldn’t bring herself to look at him, her melancholic eyes absently looking over the earth beneath their feet, the slight yet burning touch of his skin against hers involuntarily making her gaze snap onto the azure orbs that she’d lost time in again and again. Her and so many others. "It's only happened a few times.”
God.
Her shoulders stiffened and she tore her gaze away from him again, her breath caught in her throat as her heart froze once more. Few times. He’d done it again and again.
“And... almost all of them just blew me, and that was it. And it didn't mean anything, it was just sex.”
What do you say to a man to whom sharing yourself with another person when you’re with someone means nothing at all?
“It didn't mean anything. I mean... I still love you, so much. I do.”

She hated how much those words still meant to her, how sharply they penetrated though the feelings of betrayal, shock and inadequacy that tainted her wavering heart. How true it was for her, that regardless of all of what he said and how hollow it made her feel, she still loved him. How the most frightening thing right now was losing him.
But that was her, wasn’t it? She loved him, body and soul. And she couldn’t forgive herself for doing what he’d done. But to him, it was just nothing.

Her eyes drifted slowly back up to his, studying the depths of those oceanic pools for a new meaning before the question tentatively ventured out with her vulnerability;
“You love me. What does that mean?”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner3_ByGhanima.jpg


Dominic knew his girlfriend well. After so many years of being together, sharing their darkest moments as well as their happiest ones, and even living together for the past two or three years - more or less, considering Dominic's work sometimes took him away for long periods of time - Dominic and Lara had grown very close and intimate as a couple. Not just physically, but also, and mostly even, mentally. She knew of his often unstructured nature, she knew how he thrived on attention and, to a point, chaos. She knew how loving and affectionate he would be when with her, and how he appreciated how she would be able to soothe him and make him unwind, when he himself knew it was time, but was incapable of doing so himself. She knew about his inner demons and of his cutting himself in the past - the scars on his arms had of course tipped her off, when first they had started dating, but she had let him take his time to open up to her about it, rather than freaked out about it and caused him to withdraw from her - and she knew about his fears as a child, that his parents were going to hurt one another during their many fights, and what those fears had sometimes driven him to do: How after making sure that Daniel was in another part of the house, Dominic had tried to go between his fighting parents, to keep them from attacking one another, which, even though an exchange of a few slaps had been the most serious violence he'd ever witnessed between them, had still always seemed to be hanging in the air whenever they fought. She knew about how he'd stayed awake in his bed until their voices had died down and the house had gone quiet, and then snuck out of his room to go put his ear against the doors of the bedroom and the guest room where his father usually slept after a fight, just to make sure they were still there, and that they were still breathing. The young victim of an over-active imagination perhaps, but with the things that his mother and father would sometimes yell at one another, he'd been afraid that there would come a day when they would act on their various threats.

Likewise, Dominic knew about many of the hard times Lara had been through in her life. Like the time back when her little sister Louisa was diagnosed with diabetes, and all the weeks and months of various changes, worries and complications that had both preceded and succeeded it. He knew how Louisa's sudden weight loss and change of temperament had weighed heavily on Lara's mind and shoulders before they had found out what was wrong, and the emotional turmoil that had followed for them all when finally the cause of it all had been discovered. He knew how concerned Lara had been while Louisa had been in the hospital, and how her and the rest of her family had all struggled to adjust to all the changes that'd had to be made to their lifestyle as a result of Louisa's illness. He knew how it had all taken it's toll on the family, and how like the nurturing person that she was, Lara had been the glue that had held them all together, not rarely at the expense of her own needs and wants. For as long as he had known her, she had been unselfish, and prone to put others before herself. Including him, not to say particularly him. He knew how hard she worked with her assignments for school, in order to get ahead a little, so that she could take the time to travel back and forth between campus and whatever city he and the others were playing in - sometimes taking hours and hours - to be with him, and support him, when she could have just stayed at home and taken her time with the school work instead.

Indeed, the two of them knew each other so very well, and it didn't limit itself to their past, and their experiences. More often than not, they would look at each other, and be able to see what the other was thinking and feeling, or at the very least catch a little hint thereof. Sometimes, mere looks was all it would take for them to communicate what others would have needed both time and words to express.

Although right now, Dominic wasn't quite sure what to think. He kept seeking to make eye contact with Lara, and while she did offer the occasional glance up at him, she kept trying to avoid it, and the few glances he did get, were too quick and too scarce for him to be able to tell what was going through her head. She was hurt, and upset, that much he of course realized with no great effort, but how badly, he couldn't tell. He didn't know whether she was on the verge of tears or just about to take his head off. Whenever they argued, she always was more prone to tears than violence and harsh words - which frankly always had him feeling ten times worse than if she had been yelling at him, because he just could never stand to see her cry - but on the other hand, as far as him hurting her went, he figured this one had to be rather epic...

Dammit! He hadn't meant for her to find out like this. In fact, he hadn't meant for her to find out at all. Those other girls had meant nothing, the sex with them had been just a way for him to get off when he'd needed it. It hadn't been because he was missing something in his relationship with Lara, it had been because he missed Lara. A substitute warm, human body to have close to him for a little while, because for all her devotion and sacrifices, Lara too had a life, with responsibilities and commitments, and couldn't possibly follow him around everywhere, to be there as soon as he got horny. She tried, as did he, but... sometimes it just wasn't enough to get intimate over the phone, or try to picture her in his head. Sometimes, he just craved more than that, and it had nothing to do with him loving Lara any less.

But, he just didn't know how to make her see that, or even if he could make her see it. Especially not when finally, after having her gaze drift away from him repeatedly, and staring down at the ground despite his efforts to seek for their eyes to meet, she looked up at him, and straight into his eyes, with an expression in hers that looked to him like she wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

"You love me", she said, and Dominic almost cringed with guilt when he heard the frailty in her voice. "What does that mean?"

Though at the last part, he blinked with surprise, and then merely looked at her in confusion, dark brows furrowing over his blue eyes, as though he didn't understand the question. And honestly, in a way, he didn't. What did it mean, that he loved her? What kind of a question was that? How did one even begin to answer it? What did one say, when some of the most powerful words one could say, were no longer strong enough to speak for themselves, but had to be analyzed, and explained? And worse yet, when the question itself was actually perfectly justified, and understandable? For no matter how confounded it left him, deep down he did understand why she would ask.
And so he tried;

"What it means...?", he started, and now it was his time to cast his gaze towards the ground, though in his case it was in bewildered and uncertain contemplation, before moments later it returned to lock with Lara's once more. "It means... the same as it's always meant? It means that I love you, as much as I always have. That I want to be with you, that I can't imagine my life without you. That... I'm really, really sorry. I've just..."

Trying to find the right words, his voice briefly faded into silence, but he soon continued, while letting his hand glide from her upper arm, over her shoulder, and up to her face to gently cup her cheek;

"You know what playing does to me", he said. "Right? There's all this raw, exhilarating energy raging inside of me, and it's just so hard to act like there isn't. You know? And I need an outlet for it. I'm a guy, I need sex, and... Lara, I'm sorry. I really am. I won't do it again. Okay?"

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg


Cornered by a fan while you were trying to unwind with some friends...in the eyes of many, a downright nuisance, a reason to be annoyed even. Lavinia, though, took a somewhat different approach to the whole thing: to her, there wasn't a world of difference between a fan and a new acquaintance, just like her "rockstar" persona blended casually into that of Lavinia Sinclair, the private person. She considered herself fairly adept at telling the "fad" fans, the ones fawning over this or that celebrity because they happened to be popular, apart from those who had more substance to them, though she appreciated all of them, in their ways. There was a sense of pride and accomplishment at seeing the crowd get bigger and bigger with each performance, and at such times all that mattered was giving people a good show. Who could say they were unaffected by the sight of an entire mass of people chanting along to their every word, cheering with abandon? Not Lavinia, for sure.

Even though time spent with friends was considered private time, free of most standards and expectations imposed by her status as a public person, she was well used to making new acquaintances, since everyone tended to bring along a girlfriend or boyfriend or a friend of a friend and so on, who needed to be integrated into the group. Lavinia tended to go with the flow, switching her attention back and forth until a conversation struck, and whether the person in question might also have been a fan or not, no longer made much difference. It helped weed out those with nothing interesting to say quite effortlessly. As far as Emo Boy was concerned, she'd yet to form a definite opinion, so she didn't dismiss him yet.

"Rio Vance", he introduced himself, then indicated his companion, "Brad Dreyer. He's with Tears of Andromeda."

Lavinia's brows arched in contemplation, nodding: she'd never heard of the band, and made a mental note to check it out; she liked to keep herself in the know.

"Wait", Arnold interrupted, causing a few brows to furrow in confusion, including Rio's own "Didn't you say your last name was something else before?"

Lavinia, too, aimed an expectant look his way, somewhat curious to see what his explanation would be. Aliases were quite common in their line of work, and fans were just as fond of them as their idols.

"Uhh...", Rio hesitated, "Yeah, that was my real name. I go by 'Vance' too. For work."

Work, huh? Lavinia thought. She wondered what exactly that work entailed; he'd indicated Brad was in a band, but said nothing about himself being in one. Apparently on the same wavelength, Arnold countered with: "What do you do?"

"I... model... sort of" the young man replied with some reluctance, causing Lavinia to lean back in her chair, a sly sort of grin emerging on her face: that comment had piqued her interest. Rio, however, didn't elaborate, and instead turned to her:

"You're in Deus Ex Machina, right? I'm a friend of Lara, Dominic's girlfriend?" he asked.


Ah, so his presence there wasn't quite so random after all. Lavinia's eyes widened slightly, a flash of surprise mingling with another thought: oh shit, Nicky! He'd been gone for a while, she couldn't help but wonder how the talk with Lara was going, and if he was missing any vital bodyparts yet.

"Small world," she commented. "Yep, I'm the keyboardist and resident female member of Deus Ex Machina."

She paused a moment, thought about it, then leaned with her elbows upon the table as she let her inquisitive gaze sweep over him:

"So, what kind of modelling do you do? I've done a bit of it myself, it's a sort of hobby of mine."

Several chuckles erupted around the table at the sound of that comment, and knowing glances were exchanged.

"I love the dominatrix one," Arnold commented at her side, smirking openly. "Meow!"

Lavinia quirked a brow, challenged him with it, then punched him playfully in the side.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


When it came to the line of business he was in, to help put himself through college, Rio wasn't ashamed. Not in the least. It was good money, he didn't have to do anything he didn't want to do, and what he did do, he had a lot of fun doing. In more ways than one. Yes, there were of course times when even a teenaged guy wasn't in the mood for sex - although they did tend to be rare - or when he wasn't feeling particularly sexy, but that was usually fairly easily solved, since there didn't exactly tend to be a lack of willingness to help once he was on the set. Heck, Rio himself had done it with others when they'd been either nervous or having a bit of a bad day, the former having even resulted in what was supposed to be one guy's solo shoot, turning into an impromptu duo shoot instead. And boy, what a rush that one had been. It had been even more real than the other shoots, because there hadn't been a given scenario or anything, and so rather than the 95% genuine shoots they usually did, had been a perfect 100% genuine, and frankly, one of the shoots that Rio had enjoyed the most, so far.

So, no indeed, Rio himself wasn't ashamed of what he did to put himself through college. It was just that most others, when they found out, tended to seem to think that he should be. Unsurprisingly, the adult business wasn't one people looked upon favourably, and it still wasn't socially, politically nor morally acceptable for someone, especially a young man still in his teens, to partake in "lewd acts" for money. And with people of his own gender at that. For shame!

Though none of this was why he'd first hesitated when Arnold had asked about his profession, or why he'd kind of sugar-coated his initial reply. That, he'd done because while there might be a little exhibitionist hiding within him, he wasn't one to just shove his career in people's faces. He had no need for going around and announcing it first chance he got, just to provoke or shock people. The fact that he got intimate with other young men for the enjoyment of others - and, obviously, both himself and his partner as well - didn't concern everyone he met. In fact, there might even be those who'd prefer not to know, and Rio respected that, because at least it was honest and, in a way, even admirable. There were plenty of haters, judgemental hypocrites, and chaste goody two-shoes who couldn't wait to get up on their soapbox as soon as they came face to face with something they didn't like or approve of, and that rather than focusing on the good in their life, or at least accomplishing something through positive effort, preferred to attack, accuse and condemn.

Furthermore, in this particular case, one of the people present was his half sister. At least that's what all his research had lead him to believe. Lavinia herself didn't know it yet, and so Rio wanted to play his cards right here, in order to get off to a good start with her. He hadn't at all been planning to tell her about his career, for that very reason. But, now that it had sort of almost come up anyway, he had to wonder... Maybe it was better for her to find out about his career before she found out about him being her brother? That way, whatever reaction it caused, would be as objective as it could be, without it being affected by something as likely to make things far more subjective, as knowing that it was your brother. He'd get to see what her actual unbiased (whether good bias or bad) reaction would be. For yes, even though he'd dodged the subject, and done it in a rather blatant way, Rio didn't expect his change of topic to last eternally. He was very well aware that sooner or later, it was likely to come back around again. If for no other reason, than because with a table full of musicians that had been made to model themselves in photoshoots for articles and interviews written about them in magazines, there was the chance that what Rio had just said, would lead to the sharing of these experiences, and that sooner or later, a question might be aimed his way.

And what do you know; after having confirmed that she was indeed "the keyboardist and resident female member of Deus Ex Machina", Lavinia then leaned a little closer on the table, with curiosity in her eyes as she looked at him.

"So, what kind of modelling do you do?", she asked. "I've done a bit of it myself, it's a sort of hobby of mine."

Ah, yeah, having spent quite some time looking her up on the internet, in his attempt to try and find some piece of evidence or useful information in establishing whether or not she could really be his half sister, Rio had come across quite a few images of her. Some clearly just from the aforementioned interviews and articles about her or the band, but also some that... had clearly not been meant for the mainstream media. Suggestive ones, nudes even, but nudes of the artistic kind. As opposed to the rather salacious kind that Rio himself did. And judging by the reactions that her comment got from the others around the table, he wasn't the only one to have seen them.

"I love the dominatrix one", Arnold leered mischievously at her. "Meow!"

The comment earned him a few more chuckles from around the table, along with an amused smile from Rio, a somewhat more coy one from Daniel, and, after a challenging look from Lavinia, a quick playful jab to the ribs to top it all off. Though that in turn set off a brief session of a few of the other guys chiming in to voice their appreciation for Lavinia's art, and so it was only a couple of seconds later, when Lavinia's attention returned to Rio in wait for his response, that he gave another faint, casual smile, along with his reply;

"Adult", he said. "I do adult modelling."

A beat. A split second of surprised silence among the few that had heard him, as though they thought they might have heard him wrong. He even saw Daniel's eyes widen in unexpected shock.

"Wait, what?", Arnold then said. "You mean porn?"

Rio's lips parted in a grin of amusement at his reaction, which was one of the two he'd come to expect these days.

"I guess that's one word for it, yeah", he confirmed, and turned his gaze back to Lavinia, since it was mainly her reaction he was interested in. Yet, since he at the same time wanted to give her an easy out, should she feel she wanted or needed one, he went on to add; "And yeah, I think I've seen a couple of shots. Really nice work. I read somewhere that the concepts were your own ideas?"


(((ooc: Hope it works?)))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg


There wasn't much that could shock Lavinia Sinclair. Between her, the guys, and the rest of the people they've come across over the years they'd played together as a band, they'd explored taboos, indulged in vices and revelled in what many would consider outrageous excesses. It came with the territory, and if you were the type of person who could handle the lifestyle you weren't particularly prudish to begin with.

For Lavinia, it all dated back before her rockstar days, in her wild teen years, when she was comparatively even less inhibited than nowadays. Now she didn't need to get completely wasted every night to enjoy herself, a comfortable buzz was often enough, nor did she absolutely need to bed every guy she had a chance with – if it felt right and things lead that way, sure; if not, flirting and dancing were also great fun on their own. Back then however, it had been about making a statement, proving a point: that she was on par with the baddest boys in the group and pretending she didn't give a fuck about what others thought of her when, in fact, it was precisely what she did. One of the things which used to rile her up most was the "daddy issues" jibe sometimes aimed her way, and she would have argued against it to death. In hindsight, Lavinia didn't think her father's complete absence from her life affected her most, it was the pity she got from others and the expectation that she should be devastated because of it. What they didn't get was that she'd never even met the guy, nor seen as much as a picture – there had always been a kind of mutual understanding between Lavinia and her mother, that he was topic best left dead and buried, though there used to be some anger over the principle of abandoning your daughter before she was even born. The rejection stung. Lately, there was mostly indifference.

Lavinia was glad to have outgrown that period of her life. She was glad she had enough confidence and self-esteem to be who she was, this time without trying to prove anything to anyone, even if that meant doing things mainstream society frowned upon. It was liberating, and she felt respect for those who followed the same principle, even when it entailed something she'd do herself. She also knew that being entirely open about it before a bunch of strangers could sometimes be intimidating, so when Rio just straight-out admitted it was adult modelling he did, without the attitude of someone looking to provoke, he earned himself a brownie point from her. Not to say she was unsurprised – on the contrary, because it wasn't the answer she'd expected and even in her circle people doing Rio's line of work were rare. No, it was a surprise alright, obvious in the way her eyes widened slightly and her brows shot upwards, but it wasn't followed by a look of rejection or distaste. Instead, she gave a slow nod of acknowledgement, much like she would've done if he'd told her he was a door-to-door salesman. She studied him in this new light, because once again he proved himself to be not what she'd expected, the tiniest of smirks touching her lips as she was unable to keep certain naughty thoughts from entering her mind – hey, he was cute!

"Wait, what?", Arnold cut in. "You mean porn?"

Lavinia chuckled; trust Arnold to be blunt about it. Rio however didn't shrink back in embarrassment, nor did he flare up in indignation – another point, because it suggested he was comfortable with it, and instead admitted:

"I guess that's one word for it, yeah", then turned back to her: "And yeah, I think I've seen a couple of shots. Really nice work. I read somewhere that the concepts were your own ideas?"

Lavinia leaned back and gazed at him with interest: he'd done his homework alright. Not unusual if he was a fan, but she was starting to suspect that was only part of the story – after all, being friends with Lara as well and just happening to come across her table...too many coincidences. Though soon, her lips pulled apart into a wide grin: Lavinia loved discussing her modelling, especially the concepts.

"Thanks", she said brightly, "Yeah, most of them are my own concepts actually. Because of that I've had to fund quite a few myself but the freedom of expression and creativity were worth it. That's really the reason why I do it, to try and convey a certain vision, or inspire a certain feeling...and because it's great fun."

That was certainly true; it was her pet project, her hobby, not a primary moneymaker. As for the fact that most of the people at that table had technically seen her naked, it didn't bother Lavinia; to her, the human body wasn't inherently sexual, and while there was certainly allure to those particular photos, she actually didn't consider them to be her most provocative ones. Yes, she was nude, and they were meant to be seductive, but delicate and ethereal rather than blatantly erotic. She had others where she thought were more suggestive though she wore clothes, and that was the idea: provocative without being pornographic. That, however, was simply what she wanted to do. Rio doing something different was ok with her, and as it turned out everyone else at the table as well, judging by the way the flow of conversation was soon restored following that momentary pause, and nobody seemed fazed. Just to make sure Danny wasn't feeling overwhelmed or ignored, Lavinia extended her arm over the backrest and technically his shoulders, giving him a quick, but encouraging grin.

"It amuses me to read some of the comments on my message board though– nudity and implied sado-masochism, I must be a pervert! But I guess you must get that a lot too, huh?"

[Alissa888]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraBan.jpg


“I love you.”

Some people hear it all the time, and others are unfortunate enough to never really have it said to them. Lara was glad she wasn’t in the second group, because the thing about love is that it made you a better person to give it and to receive it. Familial love, for Lara, was always there. It was unconditional, and yes, like everyone, there were times she took it for granted, but she’d learned to treasure and appreciate it even at a young age. Regardless of what happened, they were her family, she’d shared her entire life with them, and she loved them with all her heart, just how they loved her.

But Lara wasn’t of the belief that love made everything better, because she knew Dominic’s family, and despite the love and waxing and waning affection between the four of them, she knew love didn’t fix all the problems and seal all the cracks once they’d been made. As much as she wished that it did solve everything, it just didn’t.
So, she didn’t believe in the miracle powers of love, but it didn’t stop her from sincerely giving it.

Like to Dominic. It was a foolish ideal to assume that a high school romance would last forever, and that he’d be the only one for her. Lara might not have accepted that, but she did know it, because everyone said it, time and again. The spiteful girls at school had said it, Luke had said it, her college friends had said it... she’d heard it over and over again. And she saw the logic behind it; at 22, you’re not the same person you were when you were 16, and neither is the other person. That is the point in your life that you change the most and so, it was natural to grow up and grow apart. Especially if you lead as different lives as she and Dominic did. It made sense.
But it felt wrong to believe in that, to buy into that cynical logic. Because it felt right when she was with him, it felt like they belonged, it felt like home. Down beneath all the fire and energy of Dominic’s presence, there was peace for her share with him. Of course she’d grown to believe that yes, they’d grown, but they’d grown together.
She was wrong.

Lara knew better than to accept that love excused everything. Yes, she was shy and retiring and probably a little too nice for her own good, but she was level-headed enough underneath her own romantic idealism. Him saying he loved her didn’t fix all of it, it didn’t excuse any of it, and it didn’t make it hurt any less. He cheated. He betrayed her trust and God, it hurt so bad that it felt like someone’s icy hand was slowly crushing her heart from the inside.
Him telling her he loved her didn’t make it do away.
It made it worse. Because it’d have made sense if he just didn’t love her or want her anymore, that he just didn’t care.

"What it means...?" he began, the abstractness of the question throwing him as much as his revelation had thrown her. "It means... the same as it's always meant?”
That he’d never let her down? That she was the only one for him?
No.
“It means that I love you, as much as I always have. That I want to be with you, that I can't imagine my life without you. That... I'm really, really sorry. I've just..."

Hot tears shut her eyes involuntarily and it was her turn to look away, teeth gently digging into the soft flesh of her lower lip as she held back the threatening sob that lingered in her throat, her resolve wavering as his touch slid so tenderly up her arm to hold her cheek and she hated that she’d forgive him almost anything.

"You know what playing does to me,” he spoke again, and she didn’t dare look back up at him. "Right? There's all this raw, exhiLarating energy raging inside of me, and it's just so hard to act like there isn't. You know? And I need an outlet for it. I'm a guy, I need sex, and....”
And she didn’t? He didn’t know how much she wanted him? She knew of Dominic’s appetite, and she knew how hers paled in comparison, but she wanted him, in every way.
“Lara, I'm sorry. I really am. I won't do it again. Okay?"
She was sorry. She was sorry at how much she wanted to believe him, and how much she already did, and how stupid she felt for it, but... how do you say no when almost every fibre of your being, when your wounded heart screams yes?
You can’t.
She didn’t even think about it when she tiptoed slightly, her lips gently and fleetingly pushing against his before pulling away, eyes intently baring into his.

“I need to trust you again,” she spoke slowly, her dry throat moistening as she swallowed to make her stance. “For us. Tell me how I can do that... because I want to.”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner_ByAlissa.jpg


Despite the controversy surrounding his line of work, and such controversy usually being enough for any target to make the matter a huge part of their life, Rio didn't consider himself mainly an adult model/actor. That was only secondary, if even that. First and foremost, he considered himself a college student, and he found it both amusing and sad, how when other people found out about his studies first, and then his work, the student part of him often vanished from their minds, and the work part of him started dominating their idea of him. All of a sudden, he was no longer a fairly carefree, easy-going young man in his late teens, with a good sense of humour and a knack for photography. Oh no, all of a sudden he was perverted and immoral, sick even, and had most likely been sexually abused as a child. He had to be an addict who only did what he did for money to support his habit. There was no end to their flow of absurd theories. Rio had literally seen the U-turn their minds had made, when they'd found out. The few people that had. Most still knew him only as one or the other; friend and student, or online adult model. Rarely had the two been combined, though it had of course happened. And when it did, that was usually the reaction he got, and those who'd found out ended up either condemning him, or pitying him.

Though by now, he'd gotten used to it, and he didn't let it hamper him when getting to know new people. He wouldn't let them pigeonhole him, but instead would go about the conversation as the person that he was, rather than the one they thought him to be, or were trying to make him into, in order to fit their preconceived notions. Hence his interest in and knowledge of Lavinia's own work as a model; as an aspiring photographer, he'd of course paid extra attention to the photoshoot pictures he'd seen of her, and had been excited when coming across the more artistic ones, and the tidbit mentioning how many of them were her own ideas, concepts and creations. It piqued his curiosity with her even more, and gladdened him, because that meant they had a big interest in common, and thus something to talk about and explore, should all go well. Like her, he enjoyed talking about the subject of photography and everything it entailed, and he absolutely loved to discuss it with others who shared his passion for it, and exchange tips and experiences.

Thus, it was with enthusiasm coming alive in his dark eyes, that he listened to her reply to his question, having registered with great relief that her reaction to his revelation didn't seem to be in any way bad, but instead that of calm albeit thoughtful acceptance, following an initial moment of surprise. (As opposed to the young gentleman next to her, who looked mostly like a kid who'd just walked in on his parents in the bedroom or something; traumatized.)

"Thanks", Lavinia said as her face lit up with a grin. "Yeah, most of them are my own concepts actually. Because that I've had to fund quite a few myself but the freedom of expression and creativity were worth it. That's really the reason why I do it, to try and convey a certain vision, or inspire a certain feeling...and because it's great fun."

Oh, how he could relate to that. It was exactly why he himself had fallen in love with photography; because it was such a versatile way of expressing oneself, by portraying your own feelings, or those of others, or even invoking them yourself. You could tell a story, whether truth or fantasy, with a series of pictures, or just a single one. The possibilities were endless.
And, in a way, what she'd just said about it all could also be said about the kind of shoots that Rio himself did. Kind of. Although in his case, the concepts weren't really his own (not until he made them so, anyway), and the feelings and visions they were meant to inspire were very, very different from what he assumed Lavinia meant.
But still, he understood perfectly what she was talking about, because he could relate.

"It amuses me to read some of the comments on my message board though", Lavinia added, after shooting her young companion a smile as if to say she hadn't forgotten about him, "... – nudity and implied sado-masochism, I must be a pervert! But I guess you must get that a lot too, huh?"

At that, a soft laugh emitted from Rio's slender frame. Ah yes, the aforementioned crowd of bigots, and their precious dogmas and prejudice. Yup, he'd had to witness his fair share of their reactions, and much like Lavinia had indicated, it could be amusing at times.
Yet, even so, when came time for his reply moments later, it was delivered with a light shaking of his head;

"Not as much as you'd think", he said with a smile. "At least not online. Face to face, that's another matter, but the site I work for requires paid memberships, and as zealous as the right-wingers and Bible-thumpers are, most of them just won't cough up the doe to get access. Though I'll admit, we all do still get our fair share of hate mail, both because it's adult, and because it's gay-oriented;" - his eyes widened slightly in mock amazement - "there's so much debauchery and sin to condemn!"

Around the table, those who were listening in on the conversation chuckled as well, since as members of rock bands or their crews, they too were familiar with people who seemed to have no bigger hobby in life, than criticizing others, sometimes even going so far as to claim that they were sinners and would burn in Hell for playing "the Devil's music", or some such.

"Speaking of sado-masochism though", Rio then continued, with the hint of a naughtily intrigued grin reflected in his eyes. "You did a shoot like that with Nicky, right? That must've been... interesting."

And despite the rather innocent choice of phrasing, there was no mistaking the innuendo in his voice and eyes. After all, before knowing Dominic was Lara's boyfriend, Rio had labelled the young man most 'do-able', and while his tendencies to try his luck had changed the moment he had learned that Dominic and Lara were together, not to mention even more so after getting together with Brad, it didn't change the fact that Dominic was still hot as Hell.
However, harmless though his curiosity might be in essence, it apparently wasn't seen as such by all;

"Hey!", came Brad's offended protest at his boyfriend's apparent interest in Dominic, though not without a grin, and he jabbed his finger into Rio's side.

Flinching and laughing, Rio turned his attention to him.

"Sorry", he grinned, but as he saw the look on Brad's face, he tilted his head slightly in curiosity. "Wait, are you jealous?"

"A little, yeah", Brad admitted, even though the amused smile never left his lips.

"Aww, I didn't mean it like that", Rio assured him as he slipped a hand lovingly into Brad's hair from behind.

"Yeah you did."

Rio grinned.

"Yeah, okay, maybe I did", he said, and then went on to assume the proper guiltily repentant expression. "I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

Brad peered up at him in playful contemplation, as though he was considering whether he should believe his darling boyfriend or not, and forgive him, or take the opportunity to demand that he'd make up for his somewhat wandering eye. He knew Rio had been eagerly anticipating a chance to talk to Lavinia, but he figured that with the first contact now made, a second one wouldn't be all too difficult to arrange, and that he thus was entitled to some private time with the boyfriend he'd been away from quite a lot lately.

"Buy me a beer, and I'll think about it", he thus eventually decided.

"Deal", Rio announced.

As he then stood from Brad's lap, slipping his hand into Brad's in the process, to pull him with him as he prepared to depart for the bar, he turned his attention back to Lavinia.

"Hey, it was really nice meeting you. All of you. I'll see you around?"


(((ooc: Hope it works. Feel free to just have him leave with Brad.)))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg

There were no limits to the general population's compulsion to fit everything and everyone into neat little boxes. Anything different, anything that couldn't be defined by just one generic label seemed to scare them, and they tried to find a suitable stamp anyway, leading to unfair generalizations and prejudice. Lavinia had seen it plenty of times in her life, perhaps more often than others as a consequences of her profession. Was she a skilled musician, or was she just another emerging "rockstar", as if the two were somehow mutually exclusive? Was her photography art, or shameless self-promotion? Were her performances real, or just an act? There was no end to that sort of questions, valid on their own she supposed, except that in general people tended to be rather dismissive in forming an opinion, choosing the explanation that fit their existing theories without trying to look at what actually lay beneath the surface. The amount of black vs white reasoning she'd observed over the years kind of saddened Lavinia, but like so many other things, it came with the territory.

While her image and musical skills had been the object of quite a few debates by that point, them being was she was best known for, the fact that Lavinia also dabbled in modelling was not exactly common knowledge yet. Finding people wanting to talk about her music and band was engaging if not uncommon, but finding those who not only knew about her photography but could also relate through personal experience was a different kind of treat. It was no wonder, then, that she welcomed the discussion with Rio, regardless of the fairly major differences in the type of photography they did, and at the same time referring to what she believed to be a shared experience.

Rio's knowing laughter seemed to confirm that he had, indeed, been faced with his own share of prejudice from various sources, though when he did reply, it was with a slight shaking of his head:

"Not as much as you'd think", he explained "At least not online. Face to face, that's another matter, but the site I work for requires paid memberships, and as zealous as the right-wingers and Bible-thumpers are, most of them just won't cough up the doe to get access."

Lavinia nodded, thinking it made sense, at the same time finding it interesting how matters were pretty much reversed in her case. The most flak she'd gotten from the "zealous right-wingers and Bible-thumpers" Rio mentioned had been online, where she chose to display her photos, whereas in real life, as previously mentioned, receiving comments on her modelling was rather less common, particularly from prudes like that. In fact, Lavinia couldn't even recall such an instance, because the people she associated with tended to be relatively open minded, and frankly one of the quickest ways to lose her interest was to play the "immoral" card. Morality was such a cherry picked concept she wouldn't even know where to begin.

"Though I'll admit,", Rio continued, "we all do still get our fair share of hate mail, both because it's adult, and because it's gay-oriented; there's so much debauchery and sin to condemn!"

Lavinia chuckled openly along with the others: oh, he was a fun one! She'd once considered putting up a "Wall of Shame" type page on her site where she could display some of the funniest hate mail she'd received, and was ready to bet Rio's version would be just as entertaining, if not more. Gay porn done by barely legal guys was probably as close to Hell as you could get without getting fried according to some.

"Speaking of sado-masochism though" Rio then added in a slight change of subject and a mischievous glint in his eyes Lavinia knew so well, "You did a shoot like that with Nicky, right? That must've been... interesting."

She didn't bother conceal her grin; interesting, that was...one way to describe it, yes. Nicky's personal brand of magnetism combined with a few rounds of the most outrageous banter they'd ever exchanged had made for an incredibly fun, if challenging experience...and not just in the artistic sense. They had been tied together, half naked, posed suggestively, practically required to tap into that chemistry that existed between them, and, well...the temptation had been there, closer to the surface than usual. Remembering it, Lavinia glanced at Rio in realization that she wasn't the only one of the two tempted by Nicky in that way. Nicky...they were on "Nicky" terms, too, huh? She couldn't wait to probe him for details and tease him a bit, wondering how it was he'd never mentioned Rio before. If Lara left him in once piece of course...and they had been gone a while, hadn't they?

Lavinia didn't get to answer however, because almost immediately Brad reacted to his boyfriend's interest in Dominic with a half-joking protest and a playful jab in his side. She watched the exchange between them with a slightly wistful expression: aw, they were cute. It actually made her a bit jealous, emphasising her current, manless status: casual sex was good and all, but what Lavinia actually wanted was a committed relationship. Reconciling it with her career and lifestyle was the tough part; Rio was a lucky guy and so was that brat, Nicky.

One thing leading to another, it was soon made obvious that the conversation had come to an end, at least for the moment, Brad successfully claiming his boyfriend for himself.

"Buy me a beer, and I'll think about it", he told him, Rio's agreement following shortly.

"Hey, it was really nice meeting you." he ended as he got to his feet "All of you. I'll see you around?"

"Absolutely", said Lavinia with a parting smile and a lift of her brows. "Have fun, kids!"

She waited until they were lost into the crowd, and catching no sign of either Nicky or Lara, she was finally free to devote her attention entirely to Danny.

"Well, that was interesting. Are you OK? I hope you weren't put off or anything."

She studied him for a few moments, wanting to see how he was recovering from the minor trauma of being faced with a guy of about his age who did gay porn. Lavinia had seen him shyly avert his eyes from the sight or Rio and Brad kissing, an telling predecessor of his reaction to the whole "adult modelling" conversation. She really didn't want him to feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable. As it turned out, her intentions weren't lost on a few of their companions, specifically Arnold who gave a long, suggestive whistle followed by a brief chuckle:

"Listen to her sweet talking" he teased, glancing sideways at them, "Not sure if she's going maternal on you man, " he told Danny, "or if you're tonight's lucky guy."

Along with Lavinia's, he was immediately made the target of a few curious glances, though unlike the rest, hers did not sparkle with the same brand of amusement. Instead, her gaze silently cautioned him, an unspoken request to go easy on Danny. While she recognized it as a sign he was getting integrated into the group, she suspected he wasn't up for their level of banter, especially at that moment and...although she lacked even a single maternal bone in her body and she wasn't planning on getting Danny into bed, she discovered that she did feel a bit protective of him.

"Do I detect a hint of bitterness?" questioned another voice from right across the table: Rick, whose lips were also curled into a smirk. Some laughter ensued, Arnold brushing it off with "It's all in your head, man." Rick didn't look convinced though, and Lavinia thought about it, remembering that she and Arnold had been getting quite cozy earlier. Nicky getting caught red-handed by Lara then having Danny more or less left in her charge had meant she'd placed that particular plan aside for the timebeing; she couldn't just leave him there and hook up with Arnold, plus with everything going on, the right mood had been lost. Maybe some other time, the half-tempting, mysterious smile she aimed at him may or may not have suggested, before turning back to Danny for the second time:

"Ignore them, they're idiots" she told him and laughed briefly. "The cardinal rule around here is don't take anything too seriously."

"I thought it was 'what happens backstage, stays backstage'?", Jim chimed in amidst a few more chuckles and a couple of affirmative grunts. Lavinia said nothing, giving Danny only a "see what I mean?" kind of look and a crooked smile to match.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


For once in his life, Dominic felt as though he was at a total loss. He didn't know what to do, and he didn't know what to say, to explain himself to Lara and try to make her understand. To make things right with her. He didn't even know if he could. The revelation of his infidelity had hit her hard, that much he could tell just by looking at her, just by knowing her, but he didn't know if the damage done would end up proving too much for the two of them to work through. She was so very hurt, on the verge of tears, because she loved him so much. He knew she did, there had never been any doubt in his mind about it. What he didn't know, was whether it was a good thing or a bad one that she loved him like she did, because he didn't know if it meant she would be willing to eventually forgive him and work through it, or if he had hurt her too badly for her to be able to do so.

He'd never really thought of it before, when he'd been with those other girls, he'd just found excuses and a damper on his guilty conscience, by telling himself she wouldn't ever find out. For some stupid reason, that had made him feel like it was far less of a big deal for him, and would be one for her as well, and so he'd never really reflected on how she truly would feel about it, and the consequences it would have on their relationship if she did end up finding out. And now here they were, with her having found out and gotten hurt and upset, and him not knowing if there was any way of ever making things right. But he'd try, dammit. The look in her eyes and the way that they welled up with tears, the way that she looked away from him, as though she didn't want him to see it, or perhaps felt that if she kept looking at him, she wouldn't be able to hold back the tears... She even bit her lip, like you do when you know that if you don't, you're going to cry. And it all hit Dominic right in the gut. He felt so bad, so rotten, knowing he was the cause of her torment. Just like he always did whenever he'd upset her and made her cry, only this time it was ten times worse. He almost wished she would have just slapped him instead, or yelled at him, because it wouldn't have made him feel so cruel.

However, none of this was about making him feel better. This was about Lara, about getting through to her and make her understand that what he had done, he hadn't done because he didn't care about her, or didn't respect her, or was taking her for granted. Although... in all honesty, maybe he did a little - take her for granted, that is - because really, would he have done what he'd done, had he thought of the possibility of losing her? No.
God, what a mess...

He really didn't know what he'd do if it turned out that he had screwed things up beyond repair. He couldn't imagine his life without Lara, just like he'd said. It felt like it had always been the two of them, and that it always would be. They'd had their rough times, sure, but there was a reason why they were still together after all this time. And it wasn't simply because it was convenient. Dominic wasn't one to cling to something from which the passion had faded, just because it was comfortable. On the contrary. Once the passion had gone, he tended to move on. And the passion had far from gone, where his feelings for Lara were concerned.
As would it seem that her feelings for him still remained, at least partly, when suddenly, in response to his attempt to explain what his "I love you" meant to him, she reached for her lips to brush against his again in a fleeting kiss, much like the first one she had given him, before she had learned the truth of what he had been up to.

At first, it sparked a heart-tightening fear in him that it was to be the prelude of her goodbye
, a gentle and loving way for her to say that she just couldn't stay with him after this, but that only a split-second later, before she had fully withdrawn, had a wave of relief washing over him, when he realized that it wasn't. It was, if not the opposite, then at least the closest thing to it. Thank God.
Still, make no mistake; it in no way meant that the matter had been resolved, and that everything was once again fine between them: A fact that Lara went on to establish, even if she did so in that soft voice of hers. It still carried the weight of her heavy heart in her serious but hopeful tone:

"I need to trust you again", she said, uttering the words slowly as though she was feeling her way. "For us. Tell me how I can do that... because I want to."

Having followed ever so slightly in the motion when she'd pulled back, enticed by the kiss and reluctant to let her withdraw, Dominic's eyes flew open and he blinked with surprise at her request. Not because he didn't understand the need to earn her trust again, but... He tell her how she should do it? What did she mean by that? It was her trust in him that had been lost, only she would know what he could do to rebuild it. Yet again she had posed him with a question that threw him, and rendered him at a loss for what to say, how to respond.

"Me...?", he questioned slowly, as his hand and the arm he had begun to coil around her waist during the all too brief kiss sank away from her in confusion.

Bewildered, he kept turning the question over in his mind, kept trying to find an answer, despite not understanding why she was asking him, when she would be the one to know better than him what would earn him her trust again. Most women in her position, if they hadn't dumped him, would have been more likely to make demands for him to follow. Like not hanging out with other women and not partying and stuff. Although, now that he thought about it, that did seem to have very little to do with earning trust, and more to do with submitting to being controlled, whereas Lara's request really did deal a lot more with actual trust.
And that's when it hit him.

"Marry me."

It simply slipped out of him, like the instant, spontaneous utterance of a split-second idea, before you had time to think it through, or even think at all. And for the second that followed, pure shock claimed his youthful features. He looked almost like a deer caught in the headlights, as though his words had come as a complete surprise even to himself.
But then, as a couple of more seconds followed, and he slowly began to digest the idea, the thought started to slowly root itself in him.

"No, no...", he said, nodding several times - slowly at first, but ending with a few rapid ones - as much to himself as for her, as if to affirm that he really did mean what he'd said, and his intense blue eyes locked firmly on her. "I mean it: Marry me."

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


If before, Daniel had felt somewhat out of place in the group of pepole that Dominic and Lara had left him with, the arrival of Rio Vance and his boyfriend to the gathering around the table hadn't done much to alleviate that feeling. Most of the others, while baffled by Rio's revelations at first, had seemed to think it was no big deal, and had kept talking as though none of it was the least bit out of the ordinary for them. But to Daniel, finding himself in the company of a guy around his own age, who just unceremoniously divulged that he did gay porn for some online site, was... surreal, to say the least. It felt almost as though he'd run head first into a brick wall of reality. Only, it wasn't his own reality, but some alternate reality that you, on a logical level, always knew existed, but that still had never seemed real. Imagining a life where you had sex with strangers in front of a camera, was just... mind-boggling to Daniel. And as openminded as he wished that he was, it all just made him feel uncomfortable. To him, sex was something very private, not something you flaunted for the enjoyment of others, or something you did for money, and while he was far from homophobic, he still had that idea of sex and general TLC between homosexual couples - men and women alike - was just more private. Which, as he thought about it, he had to admit probably had to do with the fact that heterosexual relationships were seen everywhere, whereas homosexual ones might be on the rise, but were still not seen as often.

Then again, it wasn't really even the gay thing that was the bigger issue to him, the thing that affected him the most about it all. He would have probably reacted much the same way, had Rio claimed to be a straight porn actor. He would have still felt awkward and uncomfortable, and as though he was taking part of something that really wasn't his business. Even though Rio himself pretty much invited the whole gang to make it their business (sort of... to a point), Daniel simply felt the matter was too private, and thus ended up feeling intrusive.

Thankfully, however, the conversation only briefly touched on that very specific topic, ending up focusing more on the issues surrounding it, and so Daniel was granted a chance to digest it all, as best he could, even before Rio and his boyfriend took their leave. Though once they did, he couldn't help but to feel a little relieved. Especially since the last topic to have been discussed, was Rio's apparent interest in Dominic, which Daniel didn't really know how to react to. Part of him felt slightly weirded out about it, while another felt incredibly amused by it. Just like most of the others around the table seemed to do. Except, of course, Rio's boyfriend, who after objecting to Rio's fascination with another guy, eventually prompted their departure.

"Well, that was interesting", was apparently Lavinia's verdict of the encounter, once Rio and Brad had disappeared off towards the bar, and she turned to Daniel. "Are you OK? I hope you weren't put off or anything."

However, Daniel, who was just in the process of taking another sip from his beer, as though the gulp of golden liquid would help wash away the awkwardness that the encounter had left him with, didn't get much of a chance to respond. For which he was actually somewhat grateful.

"Listen to her sweet talking", came Arnold's teasing voice from next to them. "Not sure if she's going maternal on you man, or if you're tonight's lucky guy."

And it was right about there that Daniel's gratitude ran dry, since both scenarios carried with them their fair share of embarrassment for him. Indicated to being viewed by Lavinia as either a little kid, or a potential partner in the sack... Two vastly different possibilities, and neither of which he was comfortable with. He'd been glad to discover that he hadn't been treated like someone's little brother up until now, and so wasn't particularly eager to be put in that box. And as for the other scenario... It was one he doubted very much to hold a grain of truth, and even if it did, it so wasn't something he wanted discussed among the guys here. The thought alone, of her being interested in him like that, made him blush.

But no, he realized that was not it. If for no other reason than his common sense, not to mention the look he saw exchanged between Arnold and Lavinia following Rick's comment, and the smile that she shot him. The two of them had something going on then?
Great. Just great. Not only was he probably holding Lavinia back from partying the way she wanted to, free of responsibility for anyone but herself - for even though Daniel insisted that he could take care of himself, he knew Dominic hadn't left him with this lot, without knowing they'd keep an eye on him - he was apparently getting in the way of other pursuits as well. Splendid...
Damn Dominic.

"Ignore them, they're idiots", Lavinia told him however, being a surprisingly good sport about it all, never lacking a smile to offer, and managing to draw a small one from Daniel in the process. "The cardinal rule around here is don't take anything too seriously."

Though again her comment didn't pass without the others having something to interject;

"I thought it was 'what happens backstage, stays backstage'?", quipped the guy that upon Daniel's arrival earlier had introduced himself as Jim, and a couple of chuckles of both agreement and amusement could be heard from the others.

Lavinia, however, in light of her latest statement, didn't dignify his comment with an answer, but instead only shot Daniel a telltale look, indicating that Jim had just done an excellent job in proving her point. Thus, the reply that did come, was delivered by Daniel instead, partly as a way for him to shift the topic away from himself and whatever intentions the others thought he and Lavinia had towards one another, and partly as a way of getting back at Dominic for doing this to him (and to Lavinia, too), even though he wasn't there;

"If that's a rule", he said, "someone better tell Dominic, cuz with him, there's no end to all the backstage anecdotes he tells."

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg


Subtlety had never been a virtue among Lavinia's usual crowd. With a more than significant majority of guys (not counting girlfriends and groupies), conversations ended up in the gutter fairly quickly, touching the sort of topics which many women (and quite a few men) would find uncomfortable, even offensive: open discussion of sexual pursuits, imagined or otherwise, direct remarks regarding the attractiveness of females present, even when those females happened to be in the company of their own boyfriends, and all manner of coarse, sometimes even rude jokes were the norm. It was no wonder that Rio Vance's revelation had barely caused a stir around the table; most of those present weren't easily shocked.

Danny was different. He was young, somewhat demure, but most of all he lacked familiarity with the group he was currently part of, whether he liked it or not. And the group made sure he knew it, perhaps forgetting that Dominic's brother wasn't Dominic himself, and blurring the subtle line between reality and jest. Arnold's comment had been fairly light compared to some of the banter exchanged between them in the past, and Lavinia recognized the humour in it, but there had been a grain of truth there as well: Arnold wasn't thrilled by this turn of events as far as his and Lavinia's possible hook-up went, that was plain to see. Initially, Lavinia had shared that feeling, though being interrupted early on had made for a quick recovery. Since then, plenty of other distractions had cropped up, and she was quite content with postponing the whole thing for another day, which of course she didn't outright indicate to Arnold. Let him simmer a little, it wasn't bad for the male ego, she smirked to herself.

As far as Danny was concerned, he had seemed a little put off at first, but as Lavinia smoothly brushed off the teasing comments made by the other guys, she was glad to see a smile, albeit a tiny one, back on his lips. Then, much to her amusement, he delivered a prompt comeback worthy of a de Vere:

"If that's a rule, someone better tell Dominic, cuz with him, there's no end to all the backstage anecdotes he tells."

A few knowing grunts sounded around the table, Lavinia included: as if Dominic could ever resist! It did, however, bring a different matter back to the front of her awareness, so with a sly grin she slid closer to Danny and placed her right elbow upon the table , supporting her chin in the palm of her hand:

“Why am I not surprised?” she chuckled, “Two can play that game though, right?” she ended with a suggestive wiggle of her brows.

[Alissa888]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Alissa888/LaraBan.jpg
There are a few things you see coming in life, and you prepare and you know how to respond and your mind has had the time to adapt to the idea, all of which prevent you from not really dealing with it entirely. As a family, Louisa’s condition was one of them. Well, rather dealing with Louisa’s condition, in case she had an attack of hyperglycaemia or hypoglycaemia or something, because an active, vibrant girl like her... it was a little tougher to keep tabs on her. But, knowing that it could happen, and knowing what to do if it did happen made it all the better. Yet they say anticipation is worse than death.
There are other things you certainly don’t see coming. Like Dominic cheating. Lara had never really departed from the idea that he was out of her league. He was a rock star, for God’s sake, and even before that, he’d had that magic to him, even when he’d been in his depths as a teenager. She knew that of the two of them, she was the lucky one, because while he had all that glitz and glamour for her and everyone to be infatuated with, all she had was herself, and he fell in love with that. It was a perk of being somewhat ordinary, attainable; when someone falls for you, you know they’ve fallen for you. And she believed he had. And so did he. But that wasn’t the be all and end all of things.
She hadn’t seen that one coming. She’d always thought that was the most important thing, somehow. And now... now, the most important thing was trust, it was to figure out where to go from now, because being here was horrible. She didn’t want this hanging in the air, thick and suffocating, and she wanted him to find that way out. Rather, she needed him to.

"Me...?" his voice drifted away in bewilderment as he withdrew from her slightly, leaving the cool breeze to fill the void that his waning warmth left around her, and she stood her ground, eyes imploring and form as still as stone.

"Marry me."
...Okay. She hadn’t seen that coming.
What?!
He didn’t mean it. ...Did he? Her widened eyes caught the look of utter shock upon his features, mirroring her own feelings and no... he didn’t mean it.
...What if he had? What would she have said? Yes? Yes. Yes, she wanted to be with him for as long as they were still in love, but... no. Not for this reason. She didn’t want it for this.
Just as well, then.

"No, no...,” he said, his head nodding in affirmation and her heart stood still in the vacant moments of trying to decipher what was going on in his head, her breath hitching as those ocean blue orbs locked her in place. "I mean it: Marry me."
She wasn’t sure how many seconds passed while she simply stared in shock and surprise, and she wasn’t sure she’d kept track of all the thoughts that whispered and hollered through her mind in response and contemplation.
“Yes,” she breathed it out, her thundering heart speaking before her mind did, though soon her shoulders sank in rationality, delivering the rest of her reply; “...But no.”
A small hand caressed the side of his cheek before cupping his jaw gently, almost solemnly.
“I don’t want our marriage to be based on guilt, Nicky.... It’s not fair to either of us.”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


Thank God, it worked. His strategy worked. Say what you want about Dominic de Vere, but... Yes, that was the thing; there was always something to say about him. Conversation tended to never run dry when it was about him, and even less so when he was one of the participants. In which case the conversation didn't have to be about him (although knowing him, he probably preferred it when it was), since being charismatic and engaging, he had a talent for keeping it going, and going, and going regardless. Whether the topic was jokes or anecdotes from one's life, or something of a more serious nature, the conversation never really ground to a halt when Dominic was somehow concerned. He was perfect in that regard. Had Daniel not been certain of that before, he'd been made a believer just now, when the effect of his bringing up Dominic in order to aim the attention away from himself, turned out to be most successful; chuckles and some humming confirmed that the group around the table knew exactly what he was talking about, and just like that, most of them seemed to have forgotten about Daniel as a target for teasing, and turned their attention to other matters.

But not Lavinia.
Judging by the devilish look on her face, and the way that she slipped a little bit closer to him, all conspiratorial-like, what he'd said had given her ideas.

"Why am I not surprised?", she said with a light laugh, resting her chin in her hand as she looked at him. "Two can play that game though, right?"

Somewhat caught off-guard by suddenly having her that close again - was he ever going to get used to it? - with her warmth and the smell of her perfume imposing themselves on his senses, it took Daniel a moment to register what she'd said, and for that moment, he hesitated.

Wait, did she mean him, or herself? Did she have something she was tempted to share in order to get back at Dominic, for all he'd shared about her and the others (although it was almost always in a story that he himself was involved in; Nicky was an egomaniac, so apparently, if it didn't concern him, it just wasn't worth telling).
A mere hour ago, Daniel wouldn't have thought that there was much going on backstage that Dominic didn't spill in his blog, or over the phone - like Daniel had told his present company; there usually was no end to all the stories Dominic would tell, and of course most of them included himself in one way or another - but after what he'd seen as he and Lara had been approaching the table... Obviously, there were still things going on backstage that not even Dominic would openly share with the world, and everyone in it.

However, just as all this was passing through his head, he caught the way that her eyebrows danced ever so slightly in indication of what she meant, and the true implications of her words dawned on him.
Ooooh, she meant that!
An amused smile emerged on his lips.

"He'll kill me", he said, though didn't seem all to worried when the next moment, he shrugged and cheerily announced; "Okay."

From there, he then adopted a tone much reminiscent of a salesman;

"So, what do you want? I've got childhood stories, I've got teenage stories, I've got early songs, I've got pics of him in a dress. You name it, I've got it."

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


If Dominic had taken himself by surprise with what he'd said, it had shocked Lara even more. He saw her eyes widen at his words, as though mirroring his own, but unlike his, they remained wide as saucers even after he'd realized what he'd said, and that he'd meant it. From the very depth of his heart, he meant it. Yes, he was known for acting on impulse, for taking the plunge before thinking things through - Dominic de Vere was all about the fun and the thrill, and where was the thrill in doing something that had been planned or even thought through? - but when he did, he often acted on what was in his heart. Often. Not always. Sometimes, it was his loins doing the talking, as proven by the reason why he and Lara were having this conversation in the first place. But, while his libido was the cause of the discussion, his heart had since taken over, and he'd blurted out the two words for what was in it; 'marry me'.

For a moment, time itself seemed as though it had been suspended in the air. Lara simply stared at him, rendered speechless by his hasty and, for the both of them, unexpected proposal, and Dominic could feel his chest being hammered at from the inside by his pounding heart, and a small gulp worked it's way down his dry throat, in dreading anticipation of her reply. Usually, he confidence personified, but right now, he was more nervous than he'd ever been before. At least that's what it felt like. He'd bared his heart and soul to Lara time and time again in the past, but never like this. Never with her being so angry or disappointed with him, never when she'd had every right to slap him silly for something he'd done to her. He'd never felt so vulnerable and exposed to her. On the contrary, she had always been the one who'd offered the warmth and the comfort whenever he'd felt that way, she'd been the one to shelter him from it, and from all his inner demons.
This, this was different. So very different. While it was still in her power to soothe his anxiety, this time, soothing him had very little to do with the matter at hand. This wasn't about her being there for him when he needed it. It was part of it, in the long-run, but it was far from all of it. It was about her feelings for him, after he'd hurt her, it was about whether or not she still felt the same way about him as he did about her. And that scared him. It was almost enough to make him, the heedless Dominic de Vere, loose his nerve, and go 'Just kidding!', just to dispel the tension, and have them both laugh it off, and continue on as though it had been just a joke, just another one of his antics.
But he didn't.
And at long last, came her answer;

"Yes", she said in an exhale, as though she, like him, had been holding her breath.

At the sound of that, the air pressing in Dominic's lungs burst from his lips as well in a sigh of relief, mirrored in the expression that washed over his face. But only for a second. His joy was to short-lived indeed, because in the next moment, he saw Lara's shoulders sag in dejection, and froze.
What now...?

"...But no", Lara added.

Dominic blinked.
What?!
In a split second, fear, horror, hurt and confusion all clashed together on the canvas of his features, where before relief and delight had been. What did she mean?! Her reply left him so bewildered, that he didn't even feel her touch at first, until her fingers came to rest against his jaw, as though meant to keep him looking at her as she explained;

"I don't want our marriage to be based on guilt, Nicky...", she said, with as much sadness in her voice as there was gravity. "It's not fair to either of us."

For the few seconds that then followed, Dominic simply looked at her, his mind churning with the effort of trying to process what she'd just said, and what it meant. For a moment, he almost even withdrew from her touch, in confusion and the sting of her rejection, but ultimately ended up not moving more than a fragment of an inch.

"But...", he started, helplessly at first, sounding almost lost, but with ever growing conviction as he then continued; "But baby... It wouldn't be like that. It wouldn't. It's not guilt. It's my commitment to you. It's how serious I am about the two of us. It's how badly I want you in my life. Don't you see that?"


(((ooc: Sorry, was rushed.)))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg


Having known Dominic since college, Lavinia could have spent hours talking about all the funny, weird and downright outrageous things they'd gotten up to over the years. Little mystery could survive between people who practically lived together for weeks on end, to the point where going home felt more like visiting those days, not to mention the fact that Dominic thrived on attention, ever attempting to make himself the center of it.

Yes, Lavinia sat on a veritable treasure cove of Dominic-related trivia, but there was a period of his life she knew less about, his pre-DEM years. She knew there had to have been a time Nicky was less of the charismatic smart-ass he was today, and if anyone was able to tell her more about it, it had to be his brother. Before Lavinia's eyes flashed images of herself as a child of four or five, wearing a frilly pink lace dress and pigtails, and had to suppress a snort at the thought. Dominic would have such a field day with that picture, a realization which instantly evaporated any hint of guilt she might have felt towards probing Danny for information while Nicky wasn't there. Not that Lavinia meant harm, and was fairly certain Danny knew it; she just wanted to satisfy her curiosity and be entertained in the process. Did she intend to tease Nicky about it later? Oh yes, although it depended a bit on the outcome of his talk with Lara, which Lavinia genuinely hope was going all right; having had it coming or not, it would crush Dominic if his girlfriend left him. One could only hope it was a wake-up call for him.

Watching Danny intently to see whether he got her drift or not, Lavinia immediately caught the amused smile emerging on his lips and matched it, half-suppressing a devilish giggle.

"He'll kill me" the young man commented without showing much concern, before adding: “Okay.”

Rubbing her hands together with glee, Lavinia settled in comfortable as gave her attention to Danny's sales pitch:

"So, what do you want? I've got childhood stories, I've got teenage stories, I've got early songs, I've got pics of him in a dress. You name it, I've got it."

Wow, she really hit the motherlode, hadn't she? Lavinia mused, growing contemplative for a couple of moments. Soon enough however the choice seemed obvious.

“Nicky in a dress?” she snickered. “This I gotta see, let's start with that one!”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


Daniel wasn't one to kiss and tell, he wasn't one to sell out his friends and loved ones. Nor did he sell out his enemies, for that matter (not that he had any... though it was the principle of the matter that counted, no?). He respected people's privacy to the point where even if he knew they themselves would be okay with sharing a particular story with others, he often left it for them to do so themselves, rather than having him do it for them. And while he was sometimes probed for information and stories about his increasingly famous big brother, he would remain tight-lipped on the matter, and was more likely to just change the subject, or downright explain that he didn't want to talk about it, than he was likely to give the people probing him what they wanted. He would never, ever share any personal stories about Dominic with just anyone, just to get attention and appear to "be somebody" for a couple of measly minutes, like some other people did the minute they had something to share that they hoped would make them special.

However, as every other rule in existence on this earth, this too of course had exceptions, and one such exception went by the name of Lavinia Sinclair. With her, and with the others in the band, things were different. Although it would probably be a bit of a lie to say that Daniel made no difference between her and the guys, because... well... They were guys, not dark-haired vixens featured half naked on the wall of Daniel's room, and so needless to say, they didn't have quite the same effect on him as Lavinia did. If the young man was to be perfectly honest with himself, he'd even have to admit that maybe, just maybe, he wanted to share stuff with her. Not in order to be the center of attention, but to have her attention. He wasn't some star-struck fan, desperately craving a few minutes of her time no matter what the cost, but he was still rather taken by her, and did enjoy her company, not to mention the fact that talking to her was in a way a little liberating; she was a friend of Dominic's and so Daniel didn't have to keep his guard up the same way he usually did with people, strangers especially. She knew Dominic already, and, Daniel suspected, had been the target of quite a bit of teasing from him a well over the years. It was just Dominic's way of getting along with people, a part of his (sometimes) irresistible charm. And part of what made it so irresistible and enigmatic in the first place, was the fact that unlike some, he could take it as good as he himself dished it out. Which was why, when Lavinia tempted Daniel to share what usually he kept to himself, his initial hesitation was mostly just for show, before he practically served up the various goodies on a silver platter, for her to pick and choose from.
Though despite the buffet of possibilities, it took her only a moment or two to decide;

"Nicky in a dress?", she said with a mischievous giggle at the thought, before enthusiastically announcing; "This I gotta see, let's start with that one!"

Daniel shot her a toothy grin.

"An excellent choice, Madame", he declared, as though had he been a waiter, and she his guest, completely unaware that just an hour or so earlier, Dominic had used the exact same title for her.

And it really was a great choice, at least in Daniel's mind, because what he was about to show her, as he reached into his pocket for his cell phone, and started thumbing away to find the right file, was one of his own very favorite Dominic moments, ever; a video shot years ago, while Dominic had been a senior in high school, and he and his band at the time - Dissonance, with Nicky on lead vocals and guitar - had performed at the Halloween ball in school. Not only had Dominic come on stage wearing a girly, white dress (http://www.crimson-tale.com/Temp/DominicDress.jpg), presumably Lara's, black fishnets and black, untied army boots, with the front of his then natural, dark brown hair gathered into a small tuft (http://www.crimson-tale.com/Temp/DominicTuft.jpg) on his head, but the song that the band had kicked off with, was none other than a noisy hard rock cover of No Doubt's "Just a Girl".
Oh, the sight... It was one that anyone who'd seen it, wouldn't soon forget.

"Enjoy", Daniel grinned at Lavinia, once he'd found the right file, and handed her his cell phone for her to watch.

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg


She wasn’t sure what exactly did it: whether it was the exceptionally girly white dress, with its lacy ruffles and the halter top, obviously meant to accommodate a pair of breasts, but in this case stretched to the extreme over Dominic’s wider male torso, or the comical way that silly tuft of hair kept bouncing up and down the front of his head, or maybe the fact that Nicky was rocking out to a “Just a Girl” cover…but a series of chuckles began sounding from Lavinia’s direction mere seconds into the clip, slowly but surely mounting into increasingly loud giggling that had her shoulders bouncing up and down with the effort it took to keep it in check. It was only at the very end that Lavinia allowed herself a moment of unrestrained laughter, swinging her head backwards as one hand caught the single tear drawn from the corner of one eye by all this amusement.

That was…brilliant!

Sighing deeply as she recollected herself, Lavinia couldn’t resist glancing back at the screen where a teenaged Dominic stood frozen in a particularly hilarious pose, so fierce in his Gwen Stefani impersonation that the chuckles began once more, but this time Lavinia was quicker in silencing them. Dominic de Vere, goth rock god, if only your fans could see you now, she thought, grinning widely to herself…Danny wasn’t kidding when he’d called it “an excellent choice.” This was one to cherish…and use to tease mercilessly.

“Thanks, that was freakin' hysterical!” Lavinia began fervently, her hand beginning the motion of handing the phone back to its owner, but stopping halfway in order for her to have one last look, a curiously attentive expression suddenly on her face: “You know, it’s just not fair. Nicky manages to look hot even in a dress!”

Though the joking overtones were loud and clear, Lavinia’s comment did not go entirely unnoticed, particularly by Arnold at her right, who’d been sneaking a couple of glimpses at the screen as well.

“Is it true about you two, then?” he probed slyly, keeping his own tone light and not all too serious. Promptly, Lavinia aimed a coy pout his way:

“Do I look like the kind of girl who likes to kiss and tell?” she quipped back, enjoying the irony because she knew she totally did, which was the interesting thing: despite her reputation as a “bad girl”, Lavinia wasn’t known for detailing her romantic exploits for anyone who’d listen. In turn, that only made people assume the most outrageous things, something she found amusing. That was also part of the reason she and Dominic had yet to debunk the myth of their often suggested fling, allowing the rumours to persist for their own entertainment and of course the publicity it brought them. Only the other band members were in on the joke, and other close friends – Debbie, Lavinia’s best female friend, certainly knew. In light what had happened however, Lavinia suddenly had to wonder: did Lara know the truth? For that matter…did Danny? And with that thought in mind she turned to him, uncertainty gathering in her eyes: she didn’t care what most people believed, but Danny had seemed close to Lara, and was Dominic’s brother.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


No matter how many times over the years Daniel had watched that clip of Dominic and Dissonance at the Halloween dance in high school, he never tired of it. Ever. Nor did he think that he ever would. It was just such a pure moment of classic Dominic, a perfect merger of everything that he was, in equal amounts; crazy, wild, charming, attention-seeking, talented, and funny as all hell. He was so vain, even at that age - though perhaps back then, it'd had more to do with his awakening awareness of his actual charisma, than these days - yet had no qualms whatsoever about pulling off a semi-transvestite act like that, and let people laugh at him. Vain or not, he didn't take himself too seriously, and even when the reason for people laughing at him wasn't as orchestrated as in the clip, but instead something embarrassing that he hadn't planned, Dominic was almost always the first person to laugh at himself.
Daniel would have never shown Lavinia that clip, had he not known that. Nor would he have shown it to her, had he not known that odds were that she'd get a real kick out of seeing it.

Yet even so, it was with a widening grin on his face that he watched her watch the clip, and try to keep her amusement limited to just giggles, before finally surrendering to her amusement and bursting out laughing, with the wiping of a tear there for even further emphasis. Daniel couldn't even help but to laugh a little himself as well, partly because he'd seen the clip so many times he knew it's details by heart, and partly because not being infected by Lavinia's melodic and hearty laughter, was darned near impossible.

"Thanks, that was freakin' hysterical!", she said enthusiastically once the video had played all the way through to the end, and started handing the phone back to Daniel, but momentarily paused in the middle of the motion, to cast one last glance at the screen as something seemed to hit her; "You know", she added, "it’s just not fair. Nicky manages to look hot even in a dress!"

Ah, yeah. Hot. Daniel didn't quite see it, for obvious reasons, but "hot" had apparently been the general consensus among the rock chicks that had attended the ball back then, if he recalled correctly. He remembered having stood next to these two girls during the performance, and while he'd been focused on filming it with his cell phone, bits and pieces of their conversation had ended up being heard his way. Some of it had even ended up on the video itself - "Who's that guy, the singer?", "That's Nicky de Vere. Gorgeous, right?", muffled sound of agreement, "... girlfriend though" - which had made Dominic's day, when a few hours after the performance, Daniel had shown him the clip.

"Is it true about you two, then?", came Arnold's voice from Lavinia's other side, and Daniel, who was in the process of stuffing the cell phone back into his pocket, glanced up, just in time to catch the suggestive expression on the guy's face.

Had he not, the equally suggestive tone in Arnold's voice, and the implications thereof, might have passed him by, but as it were, together they paved way for realization to strike in the young man.
Right... The rumours about her and Nicky... For some reason, despite having asked Lara about it only a few hours earlier, not to mention having caught Dominic in the act of being far more friendly than he was supposed to be with another girl, the rumours concerning him and Lavinia had slipped Daniel's mind. Until now.
For a moment his movements slowed, as his gaze shot over to Lavinia to catch her reaction.

"Do I look like the kind of girl who likes to kiss and tell?", she told Arnold with a coquettish look on her face.

A second later, however, it seemed as though it suddenly occurred to her what Daniel must be thinking - she'd seen his reaction to the discovery, after all, and had been there to witness the deep impact it'd had on him - and the smile slowly melted away from her face, as she turned back to look at him, and apprehension took the stage in her eyes instead.

At first, Daniel merely looked back at her, not knowing what to say, at once uncomfortable with the unexpected turn of the conversation. He did have to admit that he was wondering the same thing as Arnold, now that the subject had been brought back to his mind, but he couldn't ask. He wasn't even sure he'd want to know. He liked Lavinia, and knowing that she and Dominic had fooled around wasn't something he was sure he could bear, and still remain perfectly and genuinely friendly with her. Between her and Lara, his loyalties lay a hundred percent with Lara, and so even though it essentially wasn't up to Lavinia to see to it that nothing happened between her and Dominic, it would still make her a rival if it had, or at the very least a painful and constant reminder to Lara. And as such, Daniel just wouldn't be able to bring himself to hang out with her. As unfair as it might be of him, he wasn't sure he himself wouldn't feel any kind of resentment towards her, for being part of messing up what to him had been a perfect relationship between two people he loved and looked up to, and that was meant to last forever.
He didn't want that. Nor did he want to pry.

"So... uh...", he thus started, trying frantically to think of something to say that would steer them away from a possible confession, even though he wasn't quite sure why he thought she might end up telling him when she clearly wasn't telling others, who in addition seemed closer to her than him. "Don't tell Nicky you said that. You'll never hear the end of it."

Attempting a smile as the last words left his lips, and having it come out a fairly successful one, if a little pale, Daniel then indicated the beer bottle he'd been sipping from for the few minutes Lavinia had been busy with his cell phone, and that thus was now nearly empty.

"I think I'm gonna go get another beer", he said, and scooted a little to the side, so that he'd be able to stand up. "You want one?"

[Alissa888]

For once, Lara was stopping herself from following her heart. It wasn’t so much that she was the wild type, to live life fast and with a fiery soul; she was just someone who listened to her heart in making her decisions, in a way that wasn’t even deliberate. She didn’t quite understand the people who objectively – coldly – peeled the situation and circumstances apart to it’s basics, she felt that it robbed it of its complexity, it’s depth and it’s wholeness. Like Keats once said; deciphering the rainbow robbed it of its beauty. Furthermore, it just seemed entirely insensitive to discount feelings.
Right now, however, that way of thinking seemed to be a luxury because it wasn’t just about her. It was about Nicky too, and it was about the unborn child she could be carrying, and it was about any other children they may have. And it suddenly seemed irresponsible to think with her heart.

She had no doubt that Dominic would still be involved in their child’s life, she knew he wouldn’t just walk away; she knew him well enough to give him the benefit of that doubt. Fidelity was the one called into question, and she no longer had that previous certainty that he was hers and hers alone. And she couldn’t introduce someone vulnerable and entirely naive to that life, where his or her parents’ relationship was on shaky grounds anyway, because Lara knew she would leave him if his infidelity continued, but she wasn’t sure she could if there was another person involved. She’d had a happy family, she’d had both her parents and so, she couldn’t bring herself to put her own child in a position where that could be taken away. She didn’t want to trap herself in an unhappy marriage either.
The only solution was to be honest about that, and hope she was wrong.

She simply watched him, eyes awash with hope strangling in vines of desolation, as the thoughts flitted across the features that had stolen her young heart and kept it captive through all these years, only to then break it.
"But...,” he started as if at a loss for words, mirroring her loss for options, a way to do what she both wanted to do and had to do. She almost dropped her gaze away in defeat, heart heavy with the oncoming loss.
"But baby... It wouldn't be like that,” he promised with mounting faith and Lara could but look at him with growing breathlessness that inched into her chest. “It wouldn't. It's not guilt. It's my commitment to you.”
At that, she did look away, but with her glossy eyes filling with salty tears as the slight smile blossomed tersely at hearing him say what she needed him to say.
“It's how serious I am about the two of us. It's how badly I want you in my life,” he assured and she found herself giving a small nod in agreement. “Don't you see that?"

“I know,” she nodded again, watery eyes meeting him with unsteady certainty before she leaned forward, their lips locking with saturated affection before she pulled back a little, breath barely a whisper. “I just wasn’t sure what to think....”


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner_ByAlissa.jpg


Dominic de Vere had never made himself known for his eloquence, or for his sensitive approach to delicate matters. Granted, he was hardly known for being a simpleton or a bumbling fool either, but he did have a tendency to be blunt to the point of being rude, and had probably left a trail of hurt feelings and bruised egos behind him over the past couple of years. If nothing else, his conversation with Asher earlier this evening was proof of that. And even though it was rarely truly intentional, he often didn't care to repair the damage done either. Mostly because five minutes later, he'd forgotten all about it. It wasn't that he was in any way callous or cold-hearted - anyone who was truly close to him knew that he could be both sensitive and vulnerable, that he did indeed have inner demons haunting him - he was just so focused on the present and the next big thrill that he sometimes forgot about the past, even if "the past" was just five minutes ago, and he was simply too impulsive to always think before he spoke. Hence why his proposal to Lara came as unexpected to him as it did to her, and why when he tried to explain his reasons, what came shooting out of him was the exact same thing that shot through his head at the time, so fast and jumbled that he almost tripped over the words. Though while it probably wasn't the world's most eloquent explanation, it was heartfelt, and Lara knew her boyfriend well enough to understand that for every sentence that he did manage to produce, there were probably two more that he just couldn't get out.
If not evident before, it became that way, when her eyes welled up with tears as a tiny smile crept over her lips at the sound of his words, and she gave a nod in understanding.

"I know", she said softly as those eyes locked with his blue ones, pleading for her to realize how much she truly meant to him, and how desperate he was to keep her.

And when she leaned forward to plant yet another gentle kiss on his lips, his arms tightened around her, as though he wanted to reassure himself that she was still there, and not about to walk away, and reassure her as well, of everything he hadn't been able to say, leaving it to his actions to speak for him. And what that firm and slightly alarmed grip around her waist had to say, was that he wasn't ready to accept the idea of a life without her. Her "no" just now had not only woken him up to that fact, but driven the point all the way home, and beyond. Though while his embrace was tight, it wasn't the embrace of someone clinging to her for dear life, and so he did still loosen his grip when a few seconds later, she pulled back from him ever so slightly, to look at him again.

"I just wasn't sure what to think..."

For the second time in less than a minute, a gust of air filtered out of Dominic's lungs in a big sigh of relief, mirrored in the expression that washed over his face as the tension seeped out of his body.

"Jesus, woman!", he exclaimed, and hugged her tight for another few moments, before looking down at her, with the hint of a relaxed smile almost breaking through on his lips. "You scared me to death! Don't ever do that again!"

However, while his relief had been instant, the situation still remained too serious even for him to lose sight of that fact, and so only a moment later, gravity claimed his features once more, and the intensity of his eyes bore into her.

"So... You will marry me then?", he asked, as though he wasn't a hundred percent sure where her latest statement left them. "Right?"

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg


In addition to the publicity and amusement, Lavinia had a rather more personal reason for allowing the various rumours concerning her and Nicky to persist. Amusing though it was to hear about every new twist and interpretation, it was also disappointing to see how quickly people in general jumped to conclusions. About everything: not only appearances but also behaviour. It was as though she and Dominic were almost expected to hook up at one time or another, because of who they were: young, reasonably famous and filled to the brim with sexual energy. For many, that constituted proof enough. All that gossip, the insinuations, existed because people had an appetite for drama, and to that end furnished reality to reflect their own wishes and expectations. No reporter had ever caught Lavinia and Dominic being anything more than friendly (although perhaps stretching the term in its strictest traditional sense, but this was the 21st century, right?) and having a grand ol' time doing it, but of course, it had to mean something more, didn't it? A more mundane explanation simply wasn't enough, oh no: there had to be a secret liaison, betrayals, all that stuff tabloids knew the populace lapped up. So, in general, Lavinia was utterly unapologetic about it: keep them guessing, give them a show, and laugh at their prejudices. It was good fun.

That wasn't to say however there were none whose opinion mattered to her. There were a few, such as close friends, whom she simply preferred to be honest with, out of principle. Not that Lavinia had ever found herself in the position to really enlighten someone; her friends knew her well enough to at least suspect the gossip was just that: gossip. The eventual confirmation tended to produce a variation of “Ah...thought as much”; in fact, Debbie had said those exact same words back when her presumed fling with Nicky first made it into the press.

Surely Dominic would've done the same? Lavinia chewed on this as she studied Danny, but the rapidly spreading discomfort he showed told a different story altogether. He hadn't. Damn.


"So... uh..." he began awkwardly, "Don't tell Nicky you said that. You'll never hear the end of it."

The fizz was gone from his voice however, and Lavinia wasn't fooled. He was trying to change the subject, a fact made even more obvious a moment later when he prepared to stand, claiming to want another beer.

Lavinia was unsure what to do; if she let him go, the moment would have passed and she knew how these things went: the suspicion would linger and fester and lead to more awkwardness, or worse. She didn't want that; Danny wasn't part of the game, or at least shouldn't be. Dominic should've told him, though granted, perhaps the topic never came up between them. Now it had, but it was Lavinia who had to deal with it, and technically it wasn't her responsibility. At the same time, Danny was different: he was Nicky's family and she was becoming fond of the kid: there was no need to play the game with him.

That whole thought spanned mere heartbeats; Lavinia was quick in her decision making process: once a decision was reached, execution followed. So, just as Danny was about to get up, she, too scooted closer to the edge of the booth.

“Yeah, hold on, I'll come with. I need to stretch my legs a little. Anyone else want anything?”

Since the rest shook their heads and waved her away, Lavinia turned followed Danny out of the booth, then towards the bar. When they were sufficiently far from the table and she caught sight of an opening in the crowd milling about, she placed a steadying hand on the young man's shoulder, bending forward to speak in his ear:

“Wait, Danny. I need to tell you something.”

When she'd gotten his attention, Lavinia steered them both to one side where there was more room and stopped in front of him, arms folded and a rather serious expression on her face:

“Look...the stuff about me and Nicky...it isn't true. We're just friends, always have been. The gossip's for the papers, and we sometimes fuel it a bit for fun, but that's all it is. I wanted you to know that.”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


He knew he was being rather obvious, when claiming to want another beer and preparing to head off to the bar, even though it wasn't a complete lie. He did want one, but it wasn't something that couldn't have waited a few minutes, had the conversation not taken a nosedive into a territory he wasn't comfortable exploring. Not as used as Dominic and the others to having to handle himself in big gatherings and under scrutiny of people so very unlike him, Daniel knew he didn't have the same ability to roll with the punches and maintain an outward cool when he really wasn't feeling it, and so also knew that right now, he was being really transparent. But really, what else could he do? He really did feel like he needed a little breather in order to distance himself from the subject that he supposed had been bound to come up, especially in light of the compromising postion he and Lara had found Dominic in earlier, but that he really wasn't too keen on being a part of, because it just made things all kinds of complicated; he liked Lavinia and wanted to keep on doing so, Lara was his friend and the big sister he never had, and Dominic was his brother. He was an asshole at times, especially now, but he was his brother, and Daniel wouldn't have been able to neither support nor reproach him or his actions in front of these people. Or anyone not involved in the situation, for that matter.
So, he fled the field. So to speak. Only, he sort of misjudged Lavinia's character on that one, because while he thought she would have been as relieved to have him go as he would have been to get out of there - she didn't seem too willing to talk about herself and Dominic, and had Daniel stayed, the look on his face would have made it most awkward if she didn't - she decided to follow him instead.

"Yeah, hold on", she said as she too scooted towards the edge of the booth in order to stand, "I'll come with. I want to stretch my legs a little. Anyone else want anything?"

Though while she waited for the others to reply, Daniel merely gave them a glance before heading off towards the bar, knowing that with Lavinia having decided to join him, there was a chance she would actually bring up the subject of her and Dominic - hey, he had already misjudged her once, so there was nothing to suggest he hadn't been wrong in assuming she'd want to keep the truth to herself too - and that thus, he'd better try and brace himself first, and prepare for the worst, rather than risk having every single emotion show on his face, should she end up telling him that she and Dominic were indeed having an affair.
Then again, would she really be eager enough to follow him, just to tell him that? If they were having an affair, shouldn't she be more interested in letting him go, without following, whereas if they weren't, she'd be more prone to wanting the truth to come out? So, maybe they weren't fooling around after all? Maybe it was just rumours? Or maybe she really just did want to stretch her legs, and her following him had nothing whatsoever to do with things between her and Dominic?
Whichever it was, it would seem that much like he had part expected, part dreaded, he was about to find out, because as he started nearing the bar, he felt a hand on his shoulder, silently asking him to stop.

"Wait, Danny", Lavinia's voice joined the request by his ear. "I need to tell you something."

Slowly turning around to face her, Daniel most of all wanted to just intercept her by telling her that she didn't have to, that it wasn't any of his business. Because it wasn't. But when he saw the earnest and serious look on her face, he couldn't deny her the right to say what she wanted to say, and so instead just let himself be guided over to a temporary opening in the crowd, while his gut filled with mixed emotions. He both did want to know, and didn't want to know, both at the same time, and dread of having the rumours confirmed mingled with the anticipation of having her say they were nothing more than just that; rumours.

"Look...", she started once they stood face to face, and she folded her arms across her chest, the look in her eyes making him shift ever so slightly in discomfort, "... the stuff about me and Nicky... it isn't true. We're just friends, always have been. The gossip's for the papers, and we sometimes fuel it a bit for fun, but that's all it is. I wanted you to know that."

Though while her words were exactly what Daniel wanted to hear, the young man still took a moment to guardedly observe her, making an extra effort to make sure that she did indeed seem genuine, rather than letting his good faith in people turn him blind or naive, and easily fooled.
But no. No, she did seem to be perfectly sincere, the gravity of her whole demeanour too strong for it to be anything less, like a joke, or a little white lie. She meant what she said. She and Dominic may have quite a bit of sizzling chemistry between them, and Dominic may have been cheating on Lara for God knows how long, but not with her.

What a relief...

"Thanks...", Daniel said at length, and a tiny smile made it's way onto his lips as he started to relax. "I appreciate it."

Because he did, in both senses of the word; he appreciated that Lavinia apparently cared enough about what he thought to tell him what she had just refused to tell one of her friends, and he appreciated that desite their chemistry and how tight they were, she hadn't messed around with his big brother. He would have really hated it if she had, because as far as he was concerned, Dominic and Lara belonged together, and while him apparently fooling around with other girls was in no way a small matter, him fooling around with a girl he spent so much of his time with - sometimes even more than he spent with Lara and the rest of his family combined, like now, when on tour - would have been far, far worse.

Though speaking of Dominic and Lara...

"They've been gone for quite a while...", Daniel said, casting a glance towards the exit as though it might reveal where they'd gone off to, or what had happened between them. "I think I'm gonna go look for them, see if they're okay."


(((ooc: Also added Dominic's post to the reserve one (http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=3223307#post3223307) we made for him and Lara above, in order to be able to catch up. :) )))

[lanawinst]

Application

1. Name: Harper Richardson
2. Age:19
4. Type of visitor (artist/groupie/staff etc):Artist (A Taste Of Vice)
3. Occupation:Procrastinating (college student)
4. Bio: Harper Richardson, named after Ben Harper because as her mother love to narrate to everyone, she'd been conceived during a Ben Harper concert, has got quite an unusual life.

Harper is the 7th daughter of a big and boisterous family of 12 people ran loosely by her mother, Lydia, an energetic woman in her forties, featuring seven kids (in order of birth: Devon, Myra, Roy, Blaze, Jonah, Phoenix and last but not least Harper), and 4 fathers. The coolest was without contest Myra and Phoenix's father, Angelo, a biker who let them ride his bike, and bring them to road trips. Roman, Roy's father, is an environmental lawyer who settled down in the suburbs with Karl and loves to bicker about the lack of rules. Kenneth, Blaze's father, is a painter and is really whimsical and things can get really wild with him. Jonah's and Phoenix's father, Gary, is the actual life companion of their mother. He's a lovable and down-to-earth guy, like a big teddy bear, always ready to hug everyone and loves everyone. Since Devon his the result of high school parties, he's got no real father but several probable ones. And finally, Harper's father, Arman, is a roadie that her mother met while she was on her 25th break up with Gary.

Despite what the self-righteous people thought about the fact that growing up in such a “unethical” environment would be an incentive for becoming a troubled child, her childhood had been golden and cushioned from the outside world. Home-schooled until she was 12, Harper grew into a healthful, passionate, uncompromising young teenager who speaks her mind whether you like it or not. Used to be the youngest member of the family and as such, the one wrapped with everyone else's loving care and surrounded by her protective brothers, sisters and fathers, she can be sometimes capricious.

It had been quite a shock when she'd finally joined school and modern and consumerist society with all its rules while she'd been raised to free herself from societal restrictions, to choose your own ways, to go where the flow takes you, freely. That open-mindedness had drove her during her teenage years to experience male and female relationships before settling on the fact that she must be straight. Occasional user of recreational drugs she's also spiritual but not religious, she tried almost every religion and spirituality and kept several elements from these various experiences that she felt to be hers. If her family hadn't been enough to grant her a room with the other outcasts, her strong nature would have done it. She could be blunt, brutally honest and spoke and acted her mind even if it could shock, not for the sake of creating an outrage, just because at that time it was what she was thinking and what she felt like doing.

Everyone knows that when you come from a big family, each one develop his thing, to stand out, get your own identity and Harper chose music. Although, despite her name, she didn't turned to guitar but to violin, an instrument that seemed to fit perfectly her heightened sensibility. Her love of music grew from all these hours that she shared with her father when he'd let her access backstage of some artists he was working for and the hours they spent jamming with him on the guitar and Phoenix, her closest brother, with body drums, playing Russian folk song that her father cared to transmit as a cultural inheritance of his Russian origins.

She joined an high-school band, Mad Raw as the singer's girlfriend and an occasional violin player first but she gained in importance little by little, becoming the song writer of the band and finally even the co-singer but it's only with college that she started to think seriously of doing something into the music department. She met Faith , lead guitarist of the indie rock band A Taste Of Vice while they were looking for a singer and musical harmony had been immediate. After a few gigs, Harper had been scouted by a major label but turned down their offer, not only because it meant letting down the rest of the band but also because she didn't agreed about the musical and commercial aspect that they wanted her to bind to. They still managed to get a breakthrough by signing with an indie record label that allowed them to keep their musical integrity and their recent hit, Rise and sink, had recently granted them a wider recognizance and led them to join the Syrinx Music Festival.

5: Picture:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5PjE9cxZUSc/TDneq1N3NRI/AAAAAAAAAH8/YQhGFzIHGqI/s320/alexisriviste2066ky8.jpg
Questionnaire:

Name:Harper
Nickname: Sveta (russian family nickname), Harpy
Instrument: Voice, Violin.
Previous bands: Mad Raw
Siblings: Devon, Myra, Roy, Blaze, Jonah and Phoenix.
Food of choice: Organic food
Drink of choice: Tea
Weapon of choice: Someone else.
Accessory of choice: None.
Movie of choice: Volver
Most inspirational artist (musician or not): Björk
Never goes on stage without: Her lucky charm.
Lucky charm: Her grandmother's ring.
Preferred time of day and why: Morning, nothing beats the excitement of a new day.
If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why: Mum and if unavailable, one of my siblings. Family is the most important thing in my life and I would be lost without them.
Personal quote: Never take anything for granted.

(((OOC: I'll eventually add more info and correct it. As usual, open to storylines and plotting happily :D )))

[Alissa888]

Lara watched as the tension in the moment drained away with the breath of relief that escaped Dominic’s soft lips, and she was caught in a meridian. The air filtered out of her with the tightness in her chest, but the cast around her gut tightened just a little more in a flurry of shock and excitement. Did she just say yes?
What was she going to be? Mrs de Vere? Ms Abbott? Lara Abbott-de Vere? De Vere-Abbott? No, the double barrelling made it sound silly. Lara de Vere?
Oh, God.
She was getting married. To Dominic. She was getting married to Dominic. She didn’t care what she was going to be called; she was getting married to Dominic!

"Jesus, woman!" Dominic spoke of his own relief as his arms enveloped her to him, her smaller form surrendering to his as her head drank the information in again, or for the first time. She wasn’t sure whether it seemed real yet; it was just so... much. She found herself captive to those Caribbean ocean eyes again, and the flooding of her thoughts suddenly slipped away. "You scared me to death! Don't ever do that again!"

A small laugh escaped her as she found the humour of the situation, realising that she’d been a little all over the place. Hormonal, in fact. Oh, God... there was that... how was she going to bring that up? “Great, we’re getting married! How about we start a family? Immediately.”
Oh, God! What if she was a terrible wife? Or a terrible mother? Or a terrible both?!

"So... You will marry me then?" he asked tentatively as his eyes burned into the depths of her being. "Right?"

A moment passed as Lara wasn’t sure how to express the zeal that set her heartbeat free to it’s wild rhythm, feeling something in her give way against the flood of doubts and hesitations.
“Yes!” the exclamation bore out before she’d had a chance to take in another breath to voice herself. “Yes. Yes, of course I’ll marry you. I’d marry you right now, with those poles as witness and that... can ring. Of course I’ll marry you....,” the last words brought with them a sense of calm, a descent from the high rush of excitement and fervour as she moved closer into his warmth, eyes locking sincerely, before a hint of suggestiveness crept in; “And if we do that... we can consummate right away....”

(((OOC: Welcome, Lana! :D)))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg


Lavinia Sinclair wasn't exactly the noblest person around. She didn't always set out to do the right thing, and sometimes even did if not the opposite, then close enough to be considered questionable. Sometimes it was just more convenient to lie, or pretend it wasn't her business. She made mistakes -she was human.

What she wasn't in the habit of doing however was purposely hurt those she cared about, or look the other way when something obviously uncomfortable was taking place and she was in the position to set things straight. She didn't get her kicks out of other people's discomfort, unless they had it coming. In the end, Lavinia didn't only choose to follow Danny for Danny's sake, but Dominic's as well; he was no saint, and certainly not without reproach when it came to affairs, but at least their affair was only a rumour: if there was any good moment to debunk it, it was then. At least for the people who mattered.

That particular decision was cemented the moment Danny turned around and Lavinia noticed his expression: cautious, yet not unwilling, and to her relief he allowed himself to be guided towards a less congested area of the lounge. The young man's expression changed to a more guarded one as she explained matters, the tension in his body a sign that he wasn't about to immediately take her word for it. Which, Lavinia thought, was fair enough: anyone with half a brain would be asking themselves questions, starting with why she was telling him this when she could just as easily let it slide. She could only hope he eventually understood it was as simple as clearing the air between them.

Then, after several moments of suspended silence, Daniel seemed to relax, and cracked a smile.

"Thanks...", he said thoughtfully. "I appreciate it."

Lavinia returned the smile, feeling herself relax as well. He believed her, as far as she could tell the reaction seemed genuine, and it was a relief; it would have left a rather bitter taste in her mouth to have her attempt at being open and honest thrown back in her face which, she realized, could have happened. She was just about to slip back into her usual carefree mode and suggest they did go get themselves those beers, when Danny changed his mind:

"They've been gone for quite a while...", he pointed out, shooting a glance towards the exit, "I think I'm gonna go look for them, see if they're okay."

Ah, yes...Nicky and Lara. They had been gone a while indeed, probably more than an hour. She figured Dominic and his girlfriend had a lot to talk about, and she took it as a good sign that they were taking their time. It meant she was hadn't just dumped his ass. For a moment, Lavinia considered going with Danny, but quickly decided against it: if Nicky and Lara were immersed in some deep and meaningful conversation regarding their relationship, her presence would probably not help, and if Danny wanted a private word with them, she'd still get in the way. So, no.

“All right, you go ahead”, she told him with a light nod of her head, “And we'll have that beer together when you get back, yeah?”

Once Danny had departed, Lavinia went and procured herself a beer regardless, but when time came to return to the table, she veered abruptly in the opposite direction, seized by the sudden desire for some fresh air and a cigarette. Making her way out of the lounge, Lavinia followed the path along the outer wall until she had sufficiently distanced herself from the noisy groups loitering around the entrance, shadows gathering in her wake. There she stopped, and began rummaging inside her pockets for her pack of Malboros and the lighter she always carried, lighting one and inhaling deeply. Silence, for once, made for a welcome change.


((Lana - welcome aboard! :D ))

[Alissa888]

Due to a lack of action/interest in this RP, this character is now withdrawn. Sorry.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner3_ByGhanima.jpg


Had someone told Dominic last night that he would spend his life with his Lara, his girlfriend and high school sweetheart, he probably wouldn't have objected to the idea in any way. It wasn't a future he himself thought much about, but when he did think about the future, he always pictured Lara in it, sometimes even downright subconsciously.
Had someone told him last night however, that within twentyfour hours, he would be actually proposing marriage to her, he would have simply laughed and called them crazy. If the future was something he rarely thought much about, on a domestic level anyway, a future as a married man hadn't ever really been on the map. He was still young, and fickle, and regardless of picturing himself with Lara, he hadn't imagined himself getting married and starting a family until he was well into his thirties, or at the very least nearing them. Settling down with wife and kids was just such a big, responsible, grown up undertaking, and quite frankly, Dominic was far from feeling like a grown-up. Adult, yes, but grown-up; no.

Yet, as unexpected and impulsive as his proposal was, now that he'd made it, it felt right. It had felt right the very second he uttered it. Natural even. He had screwed up, royally, and although he hadn't actually admitted his crime even to himself until just half an hour or so ago, when seeing the shocked and hurt look on Lara's face, now that he had started seeing it for what it was, he wanted to make things right again. He wanted to assure Lara of how much he loved her, and of how badly he wanted her around. He wanted some way of proving his love for her, and of not only assuring her that he wasn't going anywhere, but ensuring that she wouldn't go anywhere either. That it was going to be the two of them.

Knowing Dominic, however, the vehemence and the intensity of his passion and his conviction, as always, stood a fair chance of being fleeting. It had happened before; there had been times when he'd been so utterly consumed by an idea one minute, willing to give his all to see it through to completion, no matter what the cost, only to have his interest waver as soon as some time had passed, and other things that tickled his fancy had come along. His fire always burned the brightest when it had just been lit, and so had others witnessed what had just happened, there were those that would have been sceptical at best, and claimed that he would forget his conviction soon enough, and revert back to his cheating ways as soon as he'd been away from Lara long enough for his libido to drown out his common sense, along with his memories of the intensity he currently felt. The moment the intensity faded, so would the conviction, they would say. Dominic was fickle. Not dishonest, just fickle, and should never be expected to be anything less. They would say.
Dominic himself would beg to differ. Especially after an eye-opener such as the one he'd experienced tonight. It wouldn't have felt so very right, and he wouldn't have been so very relieved when Lara indicated her agreement, had he not meant all of it for the long-run. And he most certainly wouldn't have been worried that he'd misunderstood that indication, enough to ask for confirmation the way he did, nor lit up like he did, when came Lara's reply;

"Yes!", she burst out ardently at first, as though she just couldn't hold back her eagerness, but then gradually calmed herself, though still intoned her answer a couple of times more; "Yes. Yes, of course I'll marry you. I'd marry you right now, with those poles as witness and that... can ring. Of course I'll marry you..."

That said, and with Dominic grinning widely at her from the crest of his own wave of relief and excitement, she slipped back further into his embrace, with an impish glint in her eyes;

"And if we do that... we can consummate right away..."

Needless to say, Dominic hardly missed the invitation in that rather obvious hint, and to him, there had probably never been more ample reason for an impromptu wedding. With raw, sexual tension having been building in him over the past couple of days, and not exactly been thwarted by having Lara, the person he'd yarned for the most, in his arms, his playing along was immediate;

"Well...", he started slowly, while another grin spread on his lips, with enough mischief to match the look in Lara's eyes, as he seemed to ponder a solution. "You do deserve better than a can ring, and mom would literally kill us both if we didn't invite her. But... There's always like a rehearsal dinner, right? So, who's to say we can't rehearse the consummation too?"

Wrapping his arm more tightly around her waist, he pulled her closer for a quick yet undeniably hungry kiss, before taking her by the hand, and setting off towards the tour bus parking lot.

"Come on", he said. "I think the bus is empty. Everyone else is in the lounge."

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


"Rio, for God's sake, relax. Stop obsessing."

Over by the bar in the VIP lounge, Brad just took a firm hold of his young boyfriend's chin with one hand, to force eye contact and stress his words. Ever since leaving the table where had sat Lavinia, the young woman whom Rio had reason to believe himself to be related to, the darkhaired youth had peppered Brad with questions about how he thought it had gone: Had he been too obvious? Should he really have mentioned what kind of modelling he did? Should he even have mentioned modelling at all? Did she seem like a really sweet person to Brad as well? How did he think she would react if Rio told her of his suspicions? Should he tell her now or should he try to get to know her a little better first? When did Brad think Rio might get the chance to talk to her again? Should he go for it now, or should he wait and see if an opportunity presented itself? What if the band left before he got a chance?

Needless to say, after having waited months for the chance to come face to face with the person he believed to be his sister, the encounter had ruffled quite a few nerves in Rio, and stirred both ponderings, hopes and fears, to the point where he was now unable to let it go, even for a minute, and unwind enough for his mind, not to mention Brad, to catch up. Rio usually wasn't the most excitable person, he usually managed to keep a certain calm, but this was all simply too big a deal for him, for that calm to prevail; he might have just met his sister, for the very first time. He could feel his heart racing in his chest, in the immediate aftermath of coming face to face with her, and when he looked down at his hands, he could swear they were shaking. It felt pathetic, but it was a very human reaction, the result of months of anticipation slowly building, and then being poured into only a few minutes of conversation, that hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of what he wished to address with her.

"I can't!", he claimed in response to Brad's attempt to calm him and make him slow down, yet did still manage a deep, cleansing breath when the other young man's gaze held his still.

"You'll get your chance", Brad intoned. "They're not playing until the day after tomorrow, right? So they'll be around until then, don't worry."

That was true. To be perfectly honest, with his nerves currently in such an uproar, Rio had almost forgotten about the show Deus Ex Machina were scheduled to play at the festival, and so the reminder did manage to calm him a little, and he gave a slight nod - as best he could in Brad's firm grip - before his lips parted slightly in a smile when from there, Brad went on to give him a quick kiss, before finally letting him go.

"You're right", Rio said with another nod, and curled his fingers around the neck of one of the two beer bottles he actually had still managed to order for himself and Brad upon arriving at the bar, despite the distracted state he'd been in.

"'Course I'm right", Brad grinned. "Always am."

At that, Rio simply stuck out his tongue at him, before giving a light laugh. Brad always had been good at helping him unwind whenever he needed it, like when he was drowning in assignments and school work and freaking out about it - which, up until now, had been pretty much the only times that would see him in this state of distress - regardless of whether it was in person or just over the phone. And the best thing was that it was a mutual ability, since Rio had always been able to offer comfort and a shoulder to lean on as well, when things like touring or playing a bad show or getting bad reviews were getting tough on Brad. It was one of the reasons why despite all the issues that came with both their lines of work, they still managed an actual, functional relationship; it was one of equal giving and taking, with neither one demanding more attention and reassurance than the other. Whatever tension there was between them usually wasn't in any way of the detrimental, damaging sort, and the tension caused by sources outside of the relationship tended to be addressed and given an outlet through talking, or just being close to one another.
Such as now.
By being understanding and reasonably indulgent, until he figured Rio really wasn't making matters better on himself by obsessing, and put a mild but firm end to it, Brad successfully made the most pressing tension seep out of his boyfriend's frame, and got him to finally relax a little. Before long, they were immersed in conversation regarding other matters, along with the occasional burst of laughter at some funny story or a joke, to the point where Rio didn't even notice that Lavinia got up from the table she and the others had been occupying and started heading towards the bar. It was Brad that had to bring his attention to the fact, by giving him an indicative glance and a nod in Lavinia's general direction. Only then, when Rio turned his head to look, did his eyes latch onto Lavinia's apparently single frame, and his voice slowly faded mid-sentence, as his focus instantly snapped away from the current subject matter.

"Now might be your chance?", Brad suggested.

"Yeah...", Rio said distractedly, but then turned back to him, with a somewhat uncertain look on his face. "You wouldn't mind?"

Brad offered a calm, rueful smile.

"No, of course I don't mind. Go ahead. And good luck."

"Thanks", Rio shot back a quick smile, and then slipped down from the bar stool, grabbing his beer in the process.

Weaving through the crowd, and being a head shorter than the taller people in there, he had to stop every now and then to stretch and catch his bearings, as well as make sure he didn't loose sight of Lavinia; something that proved more difficult than he'd hoped, when he saw her suddenly change her course and head towards the exit instead, away from him.

"Crap", Rio cursed to himself, yet at the same time felt even more determined to catch up with her; his chances of talking to her privately and without being interrupted were greater outside, than in a lounge filled with friends and other people in party mode.

Though her change of route did still leaving him falling behind, and so while he did manage to ever so slightly narrow the distance separating them, by the time he pushed himself through the door, he was afraid she'd had time to vanish from sight. Thankfully, as he stood there searching for her, his head whipping around to look in all directions, he caught sight of her curvy frame to the left, moving along the wall of the lounge towards a dark spot away from the busiest parts of the backstage area. Tentatively, he started following her, wanting to watch and see whether she intended to stop, or if she was heading someplace else, though halted when he realized that she was indeed stopping to have a smoke. And since he didn't want it to be bleeding obvious that he'd followed her, rather than leave room for the possibility that he came across her simply through coincidence, he lingered where he was for almost a minute, taking a couple of deep breaths to battle the butterflies in his stomach at the thought of what he was just about to do.
Then; here goes nothing...

Taking a swig of the beer in his hand, he turned his gaze back to her, and started slowly towards her, almost hesitantly, since he wasn't oblivious to the fact that she might have decided to come out here to be alone, and thus might not be too eager to have him disturb the peace.

"Hey", he said once he was within earshot without having to shout. "Mind some company?"

Much to his relief, the look in her eyes when she looked up at him was neither defensive nor annoyed, and the answer she gave was a casual;

"Yeah, why the hell not?"

At that, Rio eliminated the last couple of yards that remained between them to come stand next to her, and gave her a quick glance as he tried to decide on the best way to go about all this. Since he figured that despite his attempt to be subtle, both here and back at the table when he'd first been watching her, she had to suspect that he was up to something, he finally went with the perfectly honest approach;

"Alright," he said and turned to her, "I guess you're on to me by now, aren't you?"

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg

Lavinia exhaled at length, watching the smoke weave strange patterns in midair, before fading away. Her shoulders were pressed against the wall and her arms sat folded loosely on her chest, the burning tip of her cigarette a moving pinpoint of red light in the semi-darkness. A vague sort of irritation grated somewhere deep, though the calming effect of the nicotine was gradually taking hold. Lavinia was caught in one of those indescribable moods that sometimes crept up on her without warning, and seemingly out of nowhere. Not this time though. That conversation with Danny had left her in a rather confused state of mind; it wasn't her fault, it wasn't even her responsibility what Nicky told his family, but the look on that kid's face as he prepared himself for the worst...it sort of took the fun out of the joke.

Well, the nastier side of her suggested, Danny had good reason to expect the worst, considering his brother wasn't exactly the most faithful man in the world. And that wasn't her responsibility either, she reminded herself. Or her business, hence why she'd never intervened before and she was not about to start now, just how she didn't intend to spend more time brooding while she could be with the rest of the gang having a good time. With that thought materializing in her head, Lavinia instantly perked up, and was about to drop the nearly-finished cigarette into the dirt, when she became aware of footsteps, the unmistakable sound of gravel being crushed beneath someone's weight. And they were headed in her direction.

Thinking it was just another person looking for a quiet spot to have a smoke, like her, Lavinia barely registered their appearance until she caught sight of something which triggered a hint of recognition: hey, she knew that shirt...and with that in mind, she glanced at the owner's face, which to her surprise turned out to be none other than Rio Vance, “Emo Boy” from earlier. Hmmm...Rio, who'd just shown up at her table, Rio who kept shooting her long looks when he thought she wasn't looking, and now, Rio who just happened to be wondering down the same side path as she was. Right.

"Hey" she heard him say, as she took another puff of her cigarette, watching him, "Mind some company?"

Other people may have been annoyed at the interruption, or the possibility of having been secretly trailed for some time, but Lavinia was merely intrigued; he didn't give off that "stalkerish fan" vibe. Clearly, there was something going on here, and she saw as well as Rio did that this was a perfect opportunity to get to the bottom of it. Her reply was therefore a breezy “Yeah, why the hell not?”, noting the way Rio gave her an appraising glance before deciding to go straight for the mark:

"Alright," he admitted, "I guess you're on to me by now, aren't you?"

This earned him a bit of an appreciative smirk: at least he was honest about it. Lavinia's curiosity was well and fully piqued by now, so she did not hesitate to follow his lead:

“To the fact that I got my very own stalker? Yeah”, she began in a casual tone, then quickly added along with a laugh: “I'm just kidding! Whatever it is, I assume there's a reason you couldn't just tell me at the table, so...I'm listening.”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


It's funny, how you can spend days, weeks and even months preparing for something you've been looking forward to with anticipation, planning in great detail what exactly you are going to do and say once the right moment rolls around, yet when it does and you suddenly find yourself right in the middle of it, you're only drawing blanks. All of your plans seem to have simply vanished from your mind, and you're left standing there, trying to piece together what little fragments you do still remember, frantically racking your brain to find someplace to start, something that just might eventually lead you onto the right path, and have it all come back to you.

That situation, was the one that Rio was currently finding himself in. Despite having just gone over it all in his head, as he'd been following Lavinia out of the VIP lounge, and despite the calming breath he'd treated himself to just seconds ago, before finally approaching her, now that he stood there beside her after having just pushed himself past the point of no return, he couldn't remember a single one of all the things that had filled his head only seconds ago. Yes, he'd decided on taking the direct approach, and he'd done just that. Though now he couldn't quite remember what he had planned to say next. Had there even been a plan?
Probably not a detailed one, no. He'd decided to be straightforward, and at that moment, being straightforward had meant admitting there was something going on that he hadn't yet told her about. But he hadn't actually thought it through any better than that; being straightforward had, beyond that particular point, not taken the step out of elusive concept, into an actual plan.
So... now what? Where did he go from here?

He didn't actually expect Lavinia's reply to his confession to be much more than a confirmation that she had indeed smelled a rat by now, and so was hard at work to try and figure out what to say next, when lo and behold, Lavinia, unwittingly or not, ended up giving him a little nudge in the right direction after all, when offering a slight smile, and a bit of humor;

"To the fact that I got my very own stalker? Yeah", she jokingly confirmed, sounding almost serious at first but then giving a chuckle to go with the start of her next comment; "I'm just kidding! Whatever it is, I assume there's a reason you couldn't just tell me at the table, so... I'm listening."

Her tone was still jovial towards the end, but still carried enough indication that she recognized the matter to maybe be a somewhat serious one, for Rio to feel encouraged to continue, rather than awkwardly try to laugh it all off because of the impression that she wasn't taking him seriously, or that she wasn't all too interested in what he had to say.
Though the encouragement did little to solve his temporary case of being at a loss for words, and so it was only after a couple of seconds of uncertainty - following the slightly embarrassed and self-conscious grin brought on by her first comment, about having gotten her own stalker - that he finally managed a tentative;

"Okay... so... Ahh..."

It might not sound like much of an explanation, nor was it, but it was a start; with the first couple of words there to finally loosen his tongue, the rest came a little easier, and an actual if maybe a bit rambly and hesitant explanation did follow;

"This is probably gonna sound really weird, and creepy, and you'll probably think I'm crazy, and I can't blame you if you do, but... uhm... I think we might be kind of related...?"

He peered carefully up at her, almost as though he feared her reaction.

"As in... I think you might be my sister."

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/Velvet_Velour/RPGs/lavinia_banner2.jpg

Lavinia hadn't really known what to expect, when she prompted Rio to reveal the true reason for his apparent interest in her. She figured it could be practically anything, but remained fairly blasé about it: after all, they were strangers. Whatever it was, it couldn't be that serious, could it? At best, she anticipated some amusement, at worst, for the whole thing to turn awkward, but for the moment she kept her expectations conveniently blank, allowing Rio to speak. Which, at first, he seemed to be struggling with.

"Okay... so... Ahh..." was his initial delivery, drawing an expectantly raised brow from Lavinia, who could see then that regardless of what this mysterious matter entailed, it was a rather important one for him. As to what it actually was, she was none the wiser, but Rio looked about to enlighten her so she waited without interruption.

"This is probably gonna sound really weird, and creepy, and you'll probably think I'm crazy, and I can't blame you if you do, but... uhm...” he elaborated in quick succession, at the sound of which a tiny crease began forming on Lavinia's brow. Uh-oh, she thought, having heard such openings before and they were usually followed by embarrassing revelations such as “I think I'm in love with you” or “I have your pictures on every wall” etcetera. In short, creepy fans. Had she misjudged him after all?

She had, in fact. But not in the way she thought, a fact made obvious when Rio finally delivered his momentous revelation:

“I think we might be kind of related...?" he carefully added, then gave her a skittish look. "As in... I think you might be my sister."

Silence fell like a curtain. Every bit of humour drained from Lavinia's expression as she stared blankly at the young man before her, not quite sure she'd heard him correctly: what? No, seriously: WHAT? Her eyes narrowing with mounting suspicion, she scoured his appearance for a sign, any sign, that this was some kind of bad joke, because that's what it felt like. Rio didn't appear to be kidding, judging by the almost frightened look he sported, not that it made Lavinia feel any more eager to accept his words as truth. If anything, her foremost instinctive reaction was to scoff dismissively: he might be her brother? Yeah, right! At the same time however, she couldn't escape the nagging sensation of doubt, which told her it was, technically, possible, and it sent a sudden chill down her spine. If this was true, and not some f***ing joke, then it involved him: her father, the man who'd abandoned her even before she was born, the man Lavinia wanted nothing whatsoever to do with. But no, oh no: she wasn't even going there unless Rio came up with some damn good explanation for all this, now that the bomb had been so unceremoniously dropped.

“You think?” she queried in a tone full of suspicion, and took several pointed steps in his direction. She dropped the cigarette and flattened it with her heel, not once taking her eyes off Rio. “And why would you think something like that, hm?”

The message was clear: he could either explain himself or go away and quit wasting her time.

[Alissa888]

Everything was okay now, right?

It was a nagging feeling at the pit of Lara's stomach, that though she felt everything was okay, that they were past Dominic's indiscretions, that she could trust him again, that the last half an hour or so hadn't happened at all, it wasn't. That it was just the lull before the storm, that her own reaction over something that she knew was so serious enough for her to question the relationship she'd subconsciously cemented, just wasn't... enough.

It felt empty somehow that she'd be so tolerant of something that rocked the core of a significant part of her life.
But then, she figured there wasn't any point in making herself angry because she thought she should be angry, so she went with the flow. Sort of. She knew she wanted him, especially in the midst of the surge of insecurity, and that was all that took centrestage.

"Well...," he trailed off with the mischief in his mind shining in his eyes. "You do deserve better than a can ring, and mom would literally kill us both if we didn't invite her."

Lara laughed slightly at that, both the affirmation of his respect for her - something that she was surprised to discover filled an internal need of some sort - and the mental image of Mrs de Vere's fury at not being present at her darling son's wedding. Yeah, not a good move. "But... There's always like a rehearsal dinner, right? So, who's to say we can't rehearse the consummation too?"
Following that was a hungry claim of her lips, to which Lara yielded gladly, the aftertaste haze of which left her blind to the moments where he led her towards the tour bus.
"Come on," he started off, with her following. "I think the bus is empty. Everyone else is in the lounge."

She stopped him at various points for quick bursts of her affection, her lips locking yearningly, playfully onto his, soon taking the lead in getting to the tourbus and yet her enthusiasm faltered sslightly at the sight of it and that gnawing feeling burned again within her at the sight of where he'd lived during those months away from her.
The site of his indiscretions.

She swallowed, forcing herself to dispel the sudden wave that gripped her, turning to him as the hestitations slowly began to disperse.

"Key," she indicate, with tempting impatience in her eyes, her lips gently nibbling at his. "It's rude to keep your girlfriend waiting...."

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


When Rio's investigations had first lead him to believe that the half-sister he was searching for might be none other than the semi-famous rock/goth vixen Lavinia Sinclair, he couldn't believe it. It seemed so very far-fetched and unlikely that he had figured it had to have been an unknown inner wish for her to be his sister that had lead him to maybe subconsciously overlook clues or evidence that would have taken him in a different direction, the right direction. So, he had doubled checked everything - the name he'd found on that envelope, the return address, the yearbooks, everything - over and over again, and when realizing he hadn't missed anything and that the clues all still pointed in the same direction as before, he started from the opposite end of the matter; he'd switched from backtracking things from his father's side, to backtracking things from Lavinia's side, which, as it would turn out, was no easy task. He'd scoured magazines and the Internet for interviews, articles and other random tidbits about her in search of something about her family or background, hoping that she at some point would have spoken about it, but the young woman seemed to have always remained more focused on the music and her work, than on her private sphere. All that he'd found, was this tiny little blurb in passing, about how she was apparently an only child. That was it.

In short, despite all his research, and despite having even gotten hold of a couple of old school year book pictures of her to compare to the baby picture he'd found in that envelope, he still couldn't feel one hundred percent certain that it really was her - hence his "I think" - nor did he have any indication whatsoever what her reaction might be, to being presented with the possibility. Though frankly, even if he had found something solid, there were still no guarantees that it would have given any clear hint of how she'd react. Theory and reality didn't always match, so while the evidence might have pointed in one direction, fact remained that he didn't know her well enough to be able to tell what other factors would play a part in her reaction. As it were, he didn't have a clue what to expect, and so he was tentative, to say the least, and tried his best to be tactful, without beating around the bush, and then brace himself for her reaction, sticking to the cliché of hoping for the best, and preparing for the worst. Which, it would turn out, was a good call to make, even though nothing could have truly prepared him for what happened when after simply staring at him for a couple of seconds, shock finally eased up on it's grasp of Lavinia. Carefully watching her, trying hard to gauge what might be going through her head, Rio didn't miss the way that in the bat of an eye, something ominous crept into the look on her face, and the intensity of the eyes that flashed with wry agitation had his chest tightening with a sudden bout of fear.

"You think?", she questioned sharply, and drew closer in a way so sudden and almost threatening that it had Rio taking a few quick steps back himself, as though fearing she'd actually attack him; the way that she crushed that cigarette under her boot had him feeling she was making a point. "And why would you think something like that, hm?"

Sh*t. That did not go down well with her. Not that he'd expected her to fling open her arms and exclaim "my baby brother!" or some such, but he hadn't expected her to get quite that... antagonistic and on the offense either.

"Wait!", he blurted hastily, as his hand flew up to halt her advancement, and at the same time attempt to calm her enough to listen to his explanation. "Just hear me out."

Not that it seemed like she was actually about to tear into him physically, but in her current mood, she was rather intimidating, and he didn't want what he had to say to risk getting lost in the flames of her flaring temper.
Thankfully, she did seem willing to actually listen, and so after running a hand nervously through his dark hair, Rio launched himself into explaining just what had lead him to this point;

"A couple of months ago I was digging around in the attic for some stuff for a school assignment", he started, "and I came across this box with old photos and stuff. There was this letter in there, addressed to my dad, from some lady in Detroit. An Eloise Sinclair. I got curious, so I read it, and... Actually wait, I have it here. I think it's better if you read it yourself."

Quickly digging into his back pocket, he soon produced a folded piece of white paper; a photocopy he'd made of the letter he'd found. With fingers quivering ever so slightly from the tension and the nervousness, he unfolded it and handed it over to Lavinia, along with the original photo that had accompanied the letter.

"There was also this picture in there, of a little girl", he said, as he studied her studying the "evidence", and in lack of knowing what to do with himself while he waited, shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "It kind of looks like you...", he added carefully, almost as though he was attempting to fill the silence that once again threatened to become deafening if he didn't, while at the same time trying not to disturb her, "... and it has your name on the back, so... I figured... you know..."

[lanawinst]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5PjE9cxZUSc/TF7e0IPVd7I/AAAAAAAAAIM/qpLvmsKEXmE/s1600/Harper_banner2.jpg

Harper was standing unsteadily, all by herself, in front of the door of the bus, her delicate features displaying a frowning wonder as she peered up at the door, staring at it intently, trying to find out what was wrong.

It all started a few hours ago, in the very same place, in the enclosed area where their tourbus were parked. While Faith was taking care of all the annoying stuff with their manager, the rest of the band had had time to freshin'up and were chillin' on the bus waiting for her return to join the fun on the VIP lounge. Or to be more precise, everyone but Harper, who as usual was the last one to get ready, and was still under the shower while everyone else was already starting the 2nd round of beers. Once done, she grabbed a towel and wrapped herself in it before joining back the rest of the band plopping on the couch between Jessica and Vincenzo, under a flurry of protest that raised from her left side as a generous lock of wet hair landed on Jess's face.

"Aww, sorry Jess"

Harper apologized, squeezing her affectionately in a wet hug that successfully impregnated the other girl's clothes with darker stains, launching another protest soon followed by another shout that came from her other side, as Vincenzo, drummer and only boy of the band, decided to join the protest:"Hey, why don't I get any apologies?" that effectively turned Harper attention back to him as she loosened her embrace and turned her gaze to him, an amused grin growing over her features but inevitably earned him a remark from his big sister, Angela, former bassist of the band:

"Jeez, Vin, could you get more obvious?" at which he retorted immediately,"I can" before asking Harper, his dark sight considering her mischievously: "Hart, since you're already wet, wanna go all the way ?"

Harper's lips elasticated into a smug little smile as her eyes peered into his own before deflecting the question:

"Why don't you ask your number one fan? I'm sure she must be here"

She was referring to their last gig and the afterward of it where his most fervent fan, a buttugly woman, who was at every concert they gave had ambushed him as they were leaving backstage and asked him to sign his autograph on her flabby breast. Vincenzo scowled in disgust at that idea : "God, I hope not" while Harper reached for his beer, another one of her habit, that they've grown so used to it that it drew no objection from him and he just raised himself to get another one as Jessica teased him:

"C'mon Vin, you know how it is important to reach out to our die-hard fan base. If she wants to hug you, you're gonna have to cope with it", soon joined by the rest of the girls throwing various remarks about how nice it will feel considering the fact that she probably didn't showered since last time to keep his mark on her body intact.

After exhausting this subject, they had chatted a while about the tedious trip, and of course, about their expectations on the festival since it was their first big festival and everyone was really wired about it when Faith finally came back and she shook her head, amused at the scene that was before her eyes. Harper was still wearing her towel and was comfortably lying on the couch, her head resting on Jessica's lap, a spliff in the extension of her hand, reaching out to Vincenzo who was slumped on the floor, leaned back against the couch while Angela was cleaning the mess.

A few minutes later, she had managed to get Harper dressed up and everyone ready to go and the cheerful group had made an appearance on the VIP lounge. There, they soon split out in different directions. Vincenzo were the first to part from them, distracted by some hottie on the dancefloor. Harper and the girls chatted a bit before deciding to hit the dancefloor, and they didn't go unnoticed as Harper decided to put up quite a show with Jessica. A few song after, she noticed a former acquaintance, Nick something, of the band Worn Disaster that was peering at her. They had played the opening act of their concert a month ago and even if they only crossed path for a short time as they had to go straight back to their bus for another gig as soon as this one was over, the chemistry had been immediate. He was outgoing, he was fun. And he was hot. It was more than enough to make her leave the girls to join their table. Harper was impetuous, she acted on impulse, and the beers and the spliff that she just took increased effectively her disposition to do so.

A handful of drinks later, Nick was bringing back a loud and inebriated Harper seeking for the privacy of his bus to get even better acquainted. But unfortunately, his girlfriend had decided to surprise him. And surprised he was, as upon opening the door he came face to face with her. Caught red-handed, he tried to deny with the "it's not what you think" line but found little help from Harper who burst into an uncontrolled laughter as the dubious girlfriend had asked if he had his hand under her panties because he slipped and that was the only spot he could grab hold of. She tried to control it and delivered an apologetic line before blurting another chuckle and finally managed an escape under rafts of colorful name-callings.

The floor was slipping and her head was spinning once again with unnecessary tidbits of information as her thoughts kept slipping away before she could hold on to those, and she decided to go back to the bus.

And that's how she was now standing in front of the door, confusingly. She had tried to open it but realized that it was closed. She knocked, called, but received no answer. So, she had taken the key out of her pocket, inserted the key, twisted it. But still nothing. She tried again to open the door but it stayed closed, and her thumps on the door were of no avail.

She frowned, and discouraged of any further attempt, she just sat there, slumped on the floor turning down the corners of her mouth in a childish pout of her lips, like a kid who just got his favorite toy taken before shaking her head trying to wear off the compact fog that was gathering around her, lost in her thoughts.

(((OOC: Sorry, didn't have time to make it better, but at least it's out :P)))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner1_ByAtropa.jpg


Usually, with the prospect of a session of hot, passionate sex looming ahead of him in the near future, there would have been few things on Dominic's mind, other than getting to where he was going as fast as possible, for the amorous activities to begin. Typical young male that he was, and in essence a highly sensual creature, his mind tended to be a fairly uncomplicated and in a sense even primal one on that one. The thought of sex or something sex-related, was often enough to distract him from things of a more serious nature. Hence part of the reason for his repeated infidelity. With the prospect of sex entering his mind, most other things tended to exit it.

However, whereas sex had been known to block out the concept of infidelity in his mind, in favor of the concept of getting laid, this time, there (amazingly) was still a myriad of things going through his head as he and Lara slipped off towards the tour bus for some much needed alone time. This time, there were things that just would not retreat to the dark corners of the back of his mind in order to be temporarily forgotten, but instead kept on spinning and even interfering a little with his focus. The main one, was of course his minute-old proposal. Naturally. It had taken them both by such surprise that it would have been a miracle if it hadn't been on his mind, despite the competition. Then, there was the slightly nagging feeling that Lara had taken the whole revelation of his indiscretions unsettlingly well. She'd been hurt, and really sad, but she hadn't made a fuss, she hadn't even seemed angry with him. Not that she usually yelled at him or anything, because even when angry she tended to keep a certain composure, but... Now that he thought about it, he would have never in a million years expected such a revelation to need only five or ten minutes to turn into something like this, with the two of them hurrying off to be alone, for reasons far different than talking things out, and stopping briefly every fifty yards or so for yet another hungry kiss to be exchanged. Though Dominic being Dominic, he decided not to delve far too deep into his ponderings, but instead decided to count his blessings, relieved and happy that they had gotten past it all so quickly; a decision that was helped along nicely by the way that Lara lavished him with affection. Their brief pauses did little but to feed Dominic's desire and yearning even more, and for every time they stopped, his hands got yet a little bolder in their exploration - or rather, refamiliarization - of the slender female form they had ventured over so many times before.

Despite all these brief stops along the way, they did nevertheless reach the tourbus eventually, almost as though Dominic's cravings for his girlfriend made him better at finding his way around the bus parking lot than he would have been, had the purpose of going there been a different, less potent one.

"Key", Lara behested in a heated breath against his lips as they stopped by the door, and with eyes alight with seduction. "It's rude to keep your girlfriend waiting...."

Oh, she didn't have to tell him twice! Grinning against her lips, Dominic managed to temporarily withdraw one of his hands from it's journey underneath her top, in order to slip it into one of his pockets and produce the key that would grant them access to the bus and, more importantly, Dominic's bunk in it. Or the couches in the back, whichever would turn out to suit them the best.

"Like I was ever well-behaved in the first place?", he couldn't help but to ask however, though didn't wait for a reply before slipping the key into the lock that only a few moments later had the door opening with a soft hiss.

Taking Lara by the hand, he then bounded up the few steps, his eagerness clearly mounting with each passing second, now that what he had so craved for the past couple of days was finally within tangible reach. His advance would be momentarily halted however, when with a slight yelp and a curse, he tripped over the large army bag that he himself had carelessly left in the middle of the aisle just beyond the door a couple of hours earlier, and made him nearly lose his balance.

"Damn bag", he muttered as he straightened himself and then helped Lara over it, since even though it was his own and he had placed it there, after lugging it around the entire day, he currently harboured no particular warm and fuzzy feelings for it.

Though the dip in his mood was to be no longer than that, because the next moment, the mischievous and excited smile was back on his lips, and he pulled Lara closer to him.

"Now, where were we?", he mumbled with his lips close to hers, before gently cupping her face with both hands, to give her a long, slow kiss that burned with his yearning for her, and that then gradually turned into several more kisses, each one growing with eagerness, until finally he was lavishing her lips and neck with heated attention, while his hands started greedily groping her frame and slipping underneath her clothes in a beginning effort to free her of them.

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/9529/laviniabanner3.jpg



Lavinia could still place the memory of her first talk regarding her absent father quite clearly in her mind. The one she considered the first real talk in any case; she'd been merely five years old when the first confused questions had popped up, when she had noticed that other kids had a mother and a father long enough for it to make an impression. With each passing year, that difference grew larger, and with it came social stigma which in turn fostered a growing bitterness towards the father who had never been there. Therefore, when Eloise Sinclair revealed to her twelve year old daughter the circumstances of her abandonment, the deal was sealed for Lavinia. By then, she'd encountered other people whose parents had split up for some reason or another, but to know her father had never wanted her in the first place, that he ran out on her pregnant mother and never looked back, somehow felt much worse: it made her feel utterly insignificant to one of the people who was supposed to love her. It was a feeling her mother seemed to share, and did not try to force more details on Lavinia, who from that moment on decided she did not want to know anything else about that man, not even his name. She'd written him out of her life just like he had done to her.

Unbeknownst to him, Rio's attempt to contact his potential half-sister ended up confronting Lavinia with that very same decision and a lifetime of anger, sadness and confusion which she'd buried throughout her teens and early 20s burst to the surface in one, standoffish reaction. Despite her intimidating poise, Lavinia felt suddenly vulnerable and seized by an impulse to walk away. Rio, apparently, realized as much considering he wasted no time in putting up a halting hand and blurting out his intention to explain:

"Wait! Just hear me out."

Lavinia did, eventually, come to a reluctant halt just before him and folded her arms with a resigned sigh. She so did not want to hear any of it, just in case it turned out to be true, but she wasn't one to run away with her tail between her legs either. She wasn't like her father.

"A couple of months ago I was digging around in the attic for some stuff for a school assignment" Rio began explaining, "and I came across this box with old photos and stuff. There was this letter in there, addressed to my dad, from some lady in Detroit. An Eloise Sinclair. I got curious, so I read it, and... Actually wait, I have it here. I think it's better if you read it yourself."

He then produced a folded piece of paper which he held out for Lavinia to take. She lowered her gaze sharply to it, as though it was about to explode. Her heart pumped adrenaline in her veins, and a voice repeated “No, no, no!” over and over again at the back of her mind. All hope had vanished at the sound of her mother's name. With effort, Lavinia snatched the paper from Rio's slightly trembling hand, her jaws set tightly, and felt her stomach lurch at the sight of the picture enclosed within.

"There was also this picture in there, of a little girl. It kind of looks like you..." Rio explained quite pointlessly at that point, but Lavinia was only peripherally aware of his voice in the background "... and it has your name on the back, so... I figured... you know..."

There was no doubt about it. It took Lavinia but a moment's glance to confirm it, recognizing one of the earliest pictures of herself in her childhood home not to mention her mother's handwriting. It was all there, all real, and she felt...numb. Oddly detached she began reading the letter, in which her mother was telling one James Adams that he had a daughter called Lavinia, and she thought he should know. It wasn't until she had read it the third time that emotion returned in a flash and she felt the hot burn of anger: so, he had known. He had always known: her name, what she looked like, where he could find her...and he had done nothing whatsoever about it. He'd stuffed the letter and the only image of his newborn daughter in some attic box where it would remain for the next 24 years while he went on with his life... together with his real family. Lavinia clenched her fingers around the letter; it felt like being abandoned a second time. She glanced up at Rio, her so-called half brother, the one who did have a father, the one who hadn't been left behind. How fan-fu**ing-tastic for him!

“Do you want to know what this really is?” Lavinia stated bitterly, brandishing the letter. “Another thing he dumped off somewhere just like he dumped his unborn daughter.”

And with that, she pressed the papers back into his arms, drawing in a sharp breath to steady her temper.


((ooc: Gah, I hope it works! I really didn't mean to make her so antagonistic but there's a lot of anger and bitterness there and...yeah.))

[Alissa888]

"Like I was ever well-behaved in the first place?" he joked back, and though amused, she couldn’t help but take it in the other way, the connotation that she knew that both of them didn’t want her to revisit. Yet there it was again, weaving into her mind. Why would he go to someone else? Was there something that she couldn’t give him that he went to others for? Had he gotten bored of her? Was...
She couldn’t help the way that she suddenly felt inadequate. Dominic had been the only man Lara had ever been with, and for him to give her this implicit rejection... she didn’t feel good enough anymore.
But the thoughts didn’t take much time to fester as he’d opened the door in the absence of her attention, his hand grasping hers as they both ascended the stairs into the enclosed warmth of the bus, her hesitation ajar and unwanted in comparison to the enthusiasm that laced Dominic’s movements and she felt worse for her budding inability to reciprocate his fervour.
Maybe the other girls had wanted him more? The girl that Lara had seen had certainly been open about the level of her interest in Dominic, and maybe Lara was too... reserved, too vanilla, too boring.
He cut through her thoughts again as he almost tripped over the army bag that she recognised, and knew that Dominic had left lounging around in everyone’s path through the tour bus. Though the initial concern had her reaching out for him, therein came the sudden and unpleasant feeling that he just deserved it, and worst of all, it wasn’t just a light, jovial reprimand; it was something far more real, like a release. God it felt wrong.

Guilt joined the myriad of feelings that swept in an out of her as Dominic’s lips burned against hers with the intensity and passion she’d so craved as their forms pushed against one another, the heat from their bodies seeping in through the unwanted clothes. Lips parted and tongues entwined, exploring each other and she found herself tugging to get his clothes off, warm fingers stroking against his naked skin as she yielded to the kisses her showered her with, to the feeling of his hands claiming her body, pushing her senses to the edge, as they’d done so many times.
To so many others.

Her eyes snapped open at the harshness of that thought, striking into the heat of the moment like a stab by an icy blade and she caught her breath again, fingers weaving into Dominic’s silky tresses to cup his head as his lips worked electric shivers over her necks, sending them dancing down her body. She willed herself to forget the hesitations. There was no point mulling over it.
She took the lead, pushing him down onto the small bed, straddling him as she undid his belt with one hand and undoing his jeans, pulling them down, the other groping on the mattress to give her balance, only to come into contact with a cool metallic object that she only knew too well about.
A naughty smile lit up her features as she produced it, dangling it before Dominic before cuffing him to the bed amidst hot kisses.
It just didn’t feel right.
Trust.
It’d always been a sign of trust with Lara, that they could do that with each other. It’d been trust when she’d first slept with him, and it’d endured all these years and suddenly... she knew she it’d been shaken far more than she was willing to accept.
It wasn’t right.
She pulled away from him, scrambling off the bed as her hands raked through the soft auburn locks, eyes pooling with the betrayal that she’d tried in vain to convince herself was trivial. It wasn’t, and if she continued to pretend, it’d become far worse, and she still loved him enough for that to scare her.
“I’m sorry, I just... I can’t,” she breathed out as the lump in her throat threatened to break out with the hot tears that streaked down her milky skin. Suddenly, her eyes caught onto him with intent and inescapable demand; “Were they better than me?”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


James Adams was an intimidating guy. Military man and training officer, with every bit the posture and unyielding mindset thereof, he was known and respected among his peers, feared by his subordinates, and had earned himself a reputation for weeding out the weak and lily livered within mere hours of getting a new batch of cadettes under his command. If you were a man, you acted like it. You were strong, mentally and physically, you carried yourself with pride, and you made damn sure you had good reason to do so. You did what had to be done, and you didn't cry to your mommy about it. You minded your own business, and did as you were told by your superiors. If you didn't, you had no business in the United States' army. Or in James Adams' household.

Rio had spent all of his life with the man, he'd grown up around him, and even though he wasn't one of the many young men who'd been trained by Colonel Adams, like them, he was still afraid of him. To a point. A point where he actually hadn't dared to question him about the letter he'd found. Growing up, Rio had learned that there were certain things you just didn't talk about with James Adams, subjects that even his family did their best to avoid. One such subject was their son's homosexuality. Or, as James would have it if ever the subject did arise, supposed homosexuality. Never in his life had Rio seen the man so angry, as when he had told him and his mother that he was gay. He'd seen that one vein on his father's temple bulge and pulse more furiously than ever before, and for a moment, he'd almost thought he was in for a serious whooping, like when he was a kid, regardless of the fact that he'd been fifteen at the time. Because of that reaction, and James' perpetual stubborn rejection of even the idea of talking about it, Rio suspected that if he was ever to find out what his son really did to put himself through college, he'd disown him in a heartbeat. James Adams wasn't a tolerant man, nor was he a very forgiving one. Personal faults and flaws were there to be corrected, not accepted, and neither were such perversions as having sex with someone of the same gender.

Needless to say, with a father with such a strict and severe attitude towards deviation, his sexuality was just one of the many things Rio didn't bring up with his family. He'd never told either of his parents that he'd tried smoking when he was thirteen, or that for the past couple of years, he'd had a cigarette every once in a while during parties. He hadn't told them that the first weekend in college, he'd gotten drunk off his *ss for the first time, or why he'd gotten beaten up that one time in school a couple of years ago, and how lousy he'd felt because of it. In fact, he never told them how he felt about anything really, because he knew his father would never welcome it: A man didn't talk about feelings, and he didn't get sad. If he had a problem, he toughened up, and he dealt with it, end of story.

And as for the letter Rio had found in the attic... Well, it wasn't exactly a deviation - at least not on his part - and he really had no clue what to feel on the matter, but he still knew instinctively that it was just one of those subjects he was better off not bringing up with his father. At least not at that point. Not until it became inevitable.
Thus, he didn't know what had happened with that Eloise Sinclair woman, and he didn't know any of his father's thoughts and feelings on the matter. All he knew was what he'd gathered from the letter, and that wasn't much to go on at all. What he did reckon however, based on the fact that not once during his life had James mentioned that he had a daughter and Rio a sister, was that for some reason, he didn't want Rio to know. And imaginative young man that he was, ever since the discovery, there had been a hundred and one theories as to why going through his head. Everything from Eloise being some nutcase with an imaginary relationship with his father, to his father leading some kind of double life, with two separate families that didn't know about one another. One idea more crazy and far-fetched than the other.

What he hadn't thought about, was what Lavinia's feelings on the matter might be. As he watched her reaction now - the way that shocked surprise overtook her features, only for her eyes to flash with anger a moment later, and the forceful approach that left her practically looming over him - it occurred to him that while he had tried to anticipate it, he hadn't actually thought about what her stance on her father situation might be. He hadn't considered the fact that maybe she didn't know, and that she might not want to know. He hadn't actually considered the impact it might have on her and her life, because he'd been so engulfed by his own desire to know, by his own excitement at the prospect of having a sister, that he'd neglected to consider her side, let alone that it might not be a very positive one. Because it was becoming increasingly clear to him now that she didn't exactly welcome the news.

"Do you want to know what this really is?", she lashed out with vehemence, while waving the letter that she'd partly crumpled in her hand - another gesture that felt a bit like a message to Rio - in front of him. "Another thing he dumped off somewhere just like he dumped his unborn daughter."

That said, the next thing Rio knew, she shoved the letter and the photo back at him, as if rejecting it all the same way it seemed she felt their father had rejected her, and Rio stumbled back ever so slightly, in surprise as well as a sign of backing off. Seeing her reaction, and the way that he'd practically hit a raw nerve with a sledgehammer, he felt so guilty. Man, he'd been selfish, not to mention naive, to not have taken Lavinia and her situation more into consideration.

"I-I'm sorry...", he stuttered in an less than eloquent attempt to explain himself, and take back what damage he could hope to undo. "I didn't mean to upset you, or piss you off, I honestly didn't. I just... I just really wanted to meet you. I mean... you're my sister. I wanted to meet you, so bad."

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner4_ByGhanima.jpg


Together with Lara at last, with her warm body held tightly to his own, and her arms wrapped around his neck while his lips trailed greedily, enticingly along the length of hers, searing her pale skin with his hunger. A minute ago, Dominic's mind had been battling the thoughts churning therein, about how thing were going just a little too smoothly, about how Lara's reaction, despite her tears and her hurt, had seemed far too mellow for it to be real. Now, those thoughts had all vanished, they had all gone away, dispersed when the air in the tour bus grew thick with wanton desire. The flames of yearning flared higher and higher in Dominic, shielding off his senses from the outside world, leaving only his and Lara's bodies in his awareness, wrapped together tightly, lips locking in one searing kiss after another. Caught in the heat of the moment, Dominic had forgotten all else, the questions in his mind drowned out by the roar of the blood in his veins. In his loins.

Clothes were being shed by nimble fingers, hands were everywhere, his shirt and her dress pooling on the floor by his bunk bed as firmness crept into Lara's actions, and she pushed him back and down, onto the covers, still crumpled from the last time he'd slept there. And even though Dominic had grown accustomed to being the one who took the initiative in most things bad and naughty, regardless of what they were, he welcomed Lara's lead with a grin. He simply loved it when she took charge, and wasn't the least bit unwilling to be on the bottom, and being dominated. On the contrary. He eagerly complied when she went on to pull off his pants, and then when a few seconds later, she produced a mischievous grin of her own, along with a pair of handcuffs - the same ones that Dominic usually wore as an accessory in his belt, but that had been put to other uses as well - it was a sight that sent an electrical jolt scurrying all the way from his toes to his groin. This was one of his favorite games. This one, he really enjoyed. And considering how much he enjoyed just your standard roll in the hay, that was saying something. Thus, when Lara brought his wrists up over his head, to cuff him to the bed, he struggled only slightly, just enough to act his part, and not more than she could easily handle, and overpower. The soft clicks of the cuffs that cut through their heavy breathing as they closed around his wrists, had him practically purring against her lips, and his body shifted under hers in lecherous anticipation.

So into the bed play was he, that he didn't notice the way that her passion suddenly waned, and that how when she climbed off the bed, it was in a hurry to get out of it, rather than just another part of the game. Turned on and with little blood reaching his brain, he first didn't register her trembling voice, or the words it spoke. Only when suddenly it turned harder, and firmer, did he process that something was off.

"Were they better than me?"

However, as lust still clung heavily to his senses, he wouldn't even have realized that she was upset, if it hadn't been for the telltale tears trickling down her cheeks catching his attention, when casting a curious glance at her to see what she was up to. Seeing them, his brain seemed to come to complete, screeching halt, and he blinked in sudden, ice cold bewilderment.

"W-what?", he stuttered, in the split second that realization hit him that this was not the way the game was supposed to go, and he struggled to understand what was going on.

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/9529/laviniabanner3.jpg

“You could just walk away, you know. Turn around and leave; right now.”

Those words which kept bouncing around inside her head had such a reasonable ring to them, Lavinia couldn't decide why it was she still stood there in front of Rio Adams, arms wrapped around her tense frame and constantly shuffling her feet in agitation.

Of course, she knew why, and could only avoid facing it for so long. Out there, in that dark, secluded corner of the VIP area, still in the grip of aftershock, cold hard truth slammed up against her like a wave breaking against rock: she couldn't walk away. Not really, not ever. For her whole life, Lavinia had avoided putting a face to the shadowed entity of her father, reducing him always to a cardboard cutout, a dark silhouette with no discernible features whatsoever. No name, no face; it was easier keeping her distance, emotionally, that way. But now, thanks to Rio, she knew the man's name, and all of a sudden that vague father-presence wore his likeness as he was being revealed before her eyes. Lavinia tried to blink it away.

She was aching for an excuse to vent her anger, and unleash the countless accusations hanging on the tip of her tongue. Oh, how she would have liked to pin Rio to the wall with the very force of her exploding rage, demand what gave him the idea it was OK to barge into someone's life and turn it upside down! She was doing just fine, being oblivious to the fact that she was related to a man called James Adams, why did he have to go and ruin that?! Exhaling abruptly with the effort of keeping her mouth shut, Lavinia closed her eyes, as though to staunch that emotional torrent welling inside her.

"I-I'm sorry..." she heard Rio stutter, "I didn't mean to upset you, or piss you off, I honestly didn't. I just... I just really wanted to meet you. I mean... you're my sister. I wanted to meet you, so bad."

Lavinia sighed again, deeply and with an inch more calm this time, and opened her eyes to look at him, long and hard. He seemed almost to have shrunk before her, and looked all but ready to bolt. He also looked mortified, and as furious as she was, Lavinia didn't find it in her to tear into a cowering kid. Slowly, the flare of her anger began to ebb away, and she could bring herself to look at things from his perspective. To him, she was an exciting, maybe-sister and he'd had time to get accustomed to the idea.Lavinia, on the other hand, was still recovering from the hefty shock of his double revelation. Knowing he was her brother didn't automatically make it so: he was a stranger, she didn't know him. They had a lot of catching up to do before they could, one day, be brother and sister, and Lavinia needed to assimilate the recent news before she could even begin. She wondered how much he knew, which didn't seem a lot, considering how blithely he'd blundered in. Well, she was fed up with secrets – for her part, Lavinia was going to tell it to him straight.

“You know, I sometimes wondered whether he was a coward, or just didn't give a damn”, she told him in a calmer, if no less bitter voice, “but now I know: he didn't give a damn. That man has never been part of my life, until now I didn't even know his name. He found out my mother was pregnant, bailed, and never looked back: end of story. He is not my father, Rio, he has never been. I don't have a father.”

Lavinia couldn't think of a more straightforward way to get her point across, but as she finished she realized Rio might think her utter rejection included him as well. And...as confused as her feelings towards him were at the moment, that was not true: she was the living proof that one was not one's parents.

“Look...it's not you”, she added. “It's just...a lot to take in for me. I need time.”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


Trying to gauge Lavinia's reaction, was not an easy thing for Rio to do. He'd been trying all along, even though he didn't have much of a leg to stand on, since he didn't know her, and thus wasn't familiar with her temper or her way of thinking. That hadn't stopped him, because while he may not have thought too extensively about the effect all this might have on her, he had been aware that there would be a reaction, and so had been trying to read the expressions flitting past on her features. It hadn't been easy when he'd first initiated this conversation, and it had hardly gotten easier since. Every time he saw a glimpse of something that looked like a feeling he could identify, it vanished just as quickly, swept away by what was probably, and understandably, an inner torrent of emotion surging through her. He saw fury, he saw reluctance, rejection, distress and agitation, all mingling with what seemed like attempts to calm herself, if the sighs and deep breaths she expelled were anything to go by. It was like watching a battle so even it was impossible to tell until the last blow was struck, which side stood victorious. And all Rio could do in the meantime, was to brace himself and keep his distance, lest she'd end up taking his head clean off, which at one point, she seemed just about ready to do.

He watched with skittish anticipation how she closed her eyes, as if trying to hear her own thoughts over the roar of emotions, and how ever so slowly, a bit of rigidity seeped out of her tensed-up frame. Though her eyes when she opened them to look at him, were still dark and able to nail him to the wall without her even touching him.

"You know", she started bitterly, "I sometimes wondered whether he was a coward, or just didn't give a damn, but now I know: he didn't give a damn. That man has never been part of my life, until now I didn't even know his name. He found out my mother was pregnant, bailed, and never looked back: end of story. He is not my father, Rio, he has never been. I don't have a father."

Rio bit his lip, and gave a small nod. As disheartening as it was, he could understand where she was coming from, and figured it was probably best to not say anything. The instinct to defend his father was there. Even though he didn't know what had happened, he had a hard time imagining his dad just walked away and never cared, like Lavinia claimed. He still had the letter, right? Sure, it had been buried with old photos and other things, but he still had it. He hadn't thrown it away. That had to mean something. James Adams really wasn't the type to save stuff like that for no reason, especially not if he wanted nothing to do with it.

However, it was obvious to him that Lavinia wasn't ready to hear his take on it, and for all he knew, her mother had told her about it all, whereas Rio's dad had said nothing whatsoever, and so he figured that this was probably a time where silence really was golden. At least as far as defending his father went. The last thing he wanted to do was to p*ss off Lavinia even more. Though at the same time, he wanted her to know that James wouldn't intrude on her life just because she talked to Rio, just because Rio... intruded on her life...
Crap...

The young man's shoulders sagged in dejection. That's what she was thinking, wasn't it? That he'd just waltzed in and dropped a bomb on her, and all she wanted to do was to have it be undone and for him to go away? That she wanted a brother no more than she wanted a father? As stupid as it was, Rio's focus had been the two of them, him and her. Not her and his dad, and not him, her and his dad. Just the two of them, brother and sister. That's where his focus had been, and that's where he'd tried to put it now, so that she would realize that regardless of what she thought of James Adams, there was a Rio Adams that was just dying to get to know her. But it didn't seem like she'd registered that. Or she had, and really did not want to have anything more to do with him, than with James.

Then again, even if either of those two was the case, could he really blame her? It was her father that had been the person lacking in her life, the person that any young girl would miss, because he was supposed to be there, because all kids were supposed to have them. Siblings were another matter, because some had them and some didn't, and having the existence of one be revealed probably didn't come anywhere the impact of having a father's existence be revealed.

"Look...", Lavinia said, and the sudden sound of her voice brought Rio out of his own inner jumble of thoughts, "it's not you. It's just... a lot to take in for me. I need time."

At those words, Rio peered carefully up at her, and felt himself relax ever so slightly against the wall behind him, as he saw the still firm but now far calmer look on her face.
'It's not you'. That didn't sound like something you'd say when you were about to tell someone to take a hike and never come back.
And as for the rest...

"Okay, I get that", he said, nodding hastily. "I just... I'm not trying to force him into your life, or force you to accept him as your... anything, really. Honestly, I kind of didn't even think that far, I was so focused on me, and you, and on meeting you. I was really anxious, and excited, and... I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone."

That usually what 'I need time' meant, anyway, right? That the person in question wanted to be alone to think, and maybe talk things over with a friend. And that wasn't Rio. Though he couldn't go without making sure of one thing;

"Just... If you do want to talk, Lara has my number. And Brad, and the other guys in the band. Tears of Andromeda."

Realizing he was on the verge of rambling, he cut himself of right there, after the reminder of what Brad's band was called, since he didn't expect her to remember it. Especially not in light of the past couple of minutes, that had surely given her other things to think about.
Still, there was one more thing he wanted her to know, and so rambling or not, as he straightened up and prepared to leave, he added;

"He doesn't know I'm here, or that I know, so... Dad, I mean. He doesn't know any of this."

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/9529/laviniabanner3.jpg


Now that the worst of her anger had passed, and faced with Rio's visible dejection, Lavinia was beginning to feel the tug of her conscience. What she said earlier, that her visceral reaction to the whole thing had mostly to do with the person of her father and not Rio himself (regardless of how furious she'd been with him for a while there), was true. He hadn't known, that much was fairly obvious, about the unpleasant circumstances driving a firm wedge between her side of the family and his, and in his confessed excitement, had not thought to dig deeper. Lavinia also began to see her panic attack at the very mention of James Adams a tad unfounded; so, she knew his name. That didn't change a thing; it was still her decision whether she wanted to do anything with that information, and nobody would be able to force the man on her. If Rio wanted anything to do with his half-sister, he just had to accept that.

"Okay, I get that" he rushed to establish, "I just... I'm not trying to force him into your life, or force you to accept him as your... anything, really. Honestly, I kind of didn't even think that far, I was so focused on me, and you, and on meeting you. I was really anxious, and excited, and... I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone."

That more or less confirmed what Lavinia had already suspected – that he'd been blinded by a case of tunnel vision – but regardless of the shortcomings that particular strategy, there had been no malicious intent there. Hearing him admit as much, as well as declare beyond shadow of doubt that his interest included only the two of them, and not their father, was an extra incentive for Lavinia to lay down her arms, so to say. There was no point in making things worse, especially when, now that her head had cleared enough to allow for the realization, she wasn't opposed to getting to know Rio. She simply needed time to mull things over, sort them out of the veritable jumble they were in, and give them a proper place.

"Just... If you do want to talk, Lara has my number. And Brad, and the other guys in the band. Tears of Andromeda." the young man continued, Lavinia finding her thoughts suddenly derailed at the mention of Lara's name: oh shit, Nicky! She wondered how the talk with his girlfriend had gone, and indeed if he still had a girlfriend.

"He doesn't know I'm here, or that I know, so... Dad, I mean.” Rio added following a brief pause. “He doesn't know any of this."

Lavinia nodded and even managed a slight smile, somehow reassured by that comment. It felt less...confronting, in a way, to know there was no chance James Adams might decide to follow in his son's footsteps. Not that she really expected him to, but it was one less worry plaguing her mind.

“Thanks...for that”, she told Rio, “and sorry if I came across too strongly. It's kind of a difficult topic for me, as you've probably guessed. But I would...like for us to talk again some time.”

It wasn't often that Lavinia struggled for words; however, finding the right thing to say at that moment proved more difficult than expected. Still, she hoped Rio would understand, so after a final word of goodbye, they went their separate ways, Lavinia in the direction of the Lounge to see whether either Dominic or Danny were back or at the very least get her hands on a drink.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


There were people everywhere. Left, right and center there were people, either on their way somewhere - with or without lugging around some sort of equipment to be used in the final stages of getting the festival area up and ready for all the visitors that would pour in over the next couple of days - or simply milling about, hanging out and socializing with friends, old or new. There were musicians, managers, security guards, fans, roadies and a varied bunch of other staff moving in all directions. And in the midst of it all, there was Daniel de Vere; teenaged first-timer, on a mission to find his brother and/or his brother's girlfriend, and without a single clue where to look. To be perfectly honest, he didn't even know where to start looking. Aside from the VIP lounge, from which he had just come and from which the thumping of the music inside was gradually growing fainter as he ventured further and further away from it, Dominic and Lara could be practically anywhere. With or without one another. For all Daniel knew, they might've had a terrible fight, and gone their separate ways to cool off, in which case he really didn't know where to start, even though it was a case in which he figured he kind of knew where to look; if they had fought, Lara would be most likely to head back to the camping area and the tent she and Daniel were sharing, and Dominic... Actually, knowing him, he could still be practically anywhere. Daniel's first thought had been the tour bus, but yeah, knowing Dominic, there were no guarantees he would have gone there. But even if he had been likely to go there, Daniel still wouldn't have known where to go first; to the bus, or to the tent. He wanted to see Dominic, and get to talk to him, but it was Lara that had been hurt, and that was far more entitled to a shoulder to cry on, should she need it.

The best, most logical thing to do would have probably been to just call either or both of the two and just flat out ask them, but frankly, Daniel was a little hesitant to do that. Regardless of whether they were talking, fighting, or... errr... "making up", he didn't want to interrupt them. Calling them might most certainly do that, whereas going looking for them meant he might spot them, and thus be able to tell from a distance, without the risk of interrupting anything, whether his presence would be a welcome one, or an unwelcome one. But of course, in order to be able to do that, he had to actually find them first; something that he seemed to be no closer to doing now, than when having left Lavinia some fifteen minutes ago.

Thus, finally, after roaming the backstage area for a bit, he decided to just seek out Deus Ex Machina's tour bus, since that was one of the specific places he knew to look, whereas the general festival area was just... huge. Finding anyone he knew there, would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, so he figured he was better off trying the few specific locations he could think of first. Which presented him with problem number two; he had absolutely no idea where the band's tour bus was. He found his way to the bus parking area alright, with a little bit of guidance from a security guard he'd asked for directions, but once there, what he saw would perhaps be best described as a total disarray of buses of various sizes, with no apparent system or order of parking whatsoever. So much for avoiding having to try and find a needle in a haystack...

Consequently, he was now left wandering aimlessly through the bus parking area, in search of the bus that, given the late hour, would be growing only more and more difficult for him to find in the darkening surroundings, since it seemed this part of the area wasn't yet enjoying the luxury of lighting arrangements, nor did it seem like it was ever going to be. He tried asking people he passed once or twice, but after getting responses only consisting of a shaking of the head, or a shrugged "No clue", he soon gave up hope, and simply trudged on on his own. At least for a little while. The longer he looked, the more obvious it became that he wasn't going to find the bus on his own, and so finally, he simply gave up altogether, and started heading back towards the VIP lounge, figuring that Dominic and Lara, or at least one of them, might have returned there by now, or that if Lavinia was still there, he could ask her how to find the bus, or if she'd seen or heard from Nicky.

By the time he'd found his way out of the bus parking lot and back to the VIP lounge - which was only slightly easier than finding his way to the bus parking lot - it had been over an hour since he'd left, and all that had changed, was that he was now frustrated, and quite a bit worried, too. Not hearing from Dominic was to be expected, since he had the attention span of a two-year-old, especially when there was sex involved, which might very well be the case here. But Lara was usually the responsible one, that kept in touch, and so the fact that Daniel hadn't heard from her by now, was slightly worrying. The way he saw it, there were only two possible explanations; either the two of them were really making up, or they had gone their separate ways, and Lara was sad and alone. The worst part was that those two scenarios were so completely different, with one likely to have Daniel interfering be a most unwelcome element, whereas in the other it might actually be a much needed one. He really didn't want to disturb them, if they really were getting intimate, but a heartbroken Lara all on her own was a thought that really bothered him.

The sum total: he needed help. He needed to find the tour bus, because if they were being intimate, that's where they'd be most likely to be, and there, Daniel could at least knock on the door, and be told to go away. Calling was no use, because he might interrupt, which he really didn't want to do, or he might not get an answer, which would only worry him even more. Granted, there was of course also the chance that they were just talking, or had gone their separate ways, and that thus, he would get an answer, but the risks of interfering with something were too high for him to dare take that chance. So, the bus it was. And since he couldn't find it himself, he needed help, and the only place he knew where to find it, was the VIP lounge.

"Please let Lavinia still be here", he muttered to himself, as he slipped through the doors once more, and started zigzagging his way towards the nearest spot where it seemed he might get a fairly decent overview of the place.

That spot turned out to be end of the bar closest to the exit, because not only did it allow him to see everyone lined up along it, instead of just the two people right in front of him, he could also step on the foot rail and raise himself a few inches above everyone else and look out over the sea of bobbing heads. He even saw all the way to the table they had been sitting at, but much to his disappointment, Lavinia wasn't there. And neither was Arnold, the guy she'd been flirting with. Damn... It would seem they too had slipped off to be alone somewhere.

Or... No, wait. That looked Lavinia right there, the girl at the bar, only a few feet away. Squinting and stretching even more, to try and see just a little bit better through the occasionally dim lighting and flashes of color from the spotlights, a second later he was sure of it. It was Lavinia alright, appearing to be on her own, save for the company of the drink in her hand.

"Lavinia!", he called out, and tried to get her attention by waving his arm, but with little luck, as her face was angled away from him, and the music drowned out his voice.

He had no choice but to try and get to her; something that proved easier said than done, as people kept flocking to the bar, some of whom weren't all too keen on having some little underaged punk get in the way by hurriedly forcing himself past them, even though he did his best not to piss anyone off, by issuing a never ceasing stream of sorry's and excuse me's.

He did, eventually, get to Lavinia in one piece, but as she was wedged in between what to Daniel looked like two rather intimidating metal heads, he didn't even try to slip up next to her, but instead just tapped her on the shoulder.

"Lavinia?", he said, and shot her a quick smile, once she turned around. "Hi. I can't find them. I tried looking for the bus, but I couldn't find it either. Do you know where it is? Have you heard from them?"


(((ooc: Hope it works.)))

[Alissa888]

Were they better than me?

It was such a pointed question that Lara couldn’t envisage anything other than an equally pointed, hurtful answer. Yes, they were better. Yes, you weren’t good enough. ...No, I’m just an idiot. It just... it made no sense, not really. Yes, he’d explained, he’d given some sort of elaboration of what’d been going through his head when he did what he’d done, but... it just made no sense.

God, what? Did he really think she didn’t have urges? Did he not think that she had people to tempt her too? They say the average woman finds it far, far easier than the average man to get someone to sleep with them. But no, Lara didn’t want anyone else, because she loved Dominic. There just wasn’t that intensity with anyone else, she just didn’t want it.
But for him, anyone could stand in for her. Do you really love someone when just anyone would do?

According to Dominic, that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t that anyone could stand in for her, it was that he’d just settled for second best. It wasn’t alright. He could have spoken to her about it, but he didn’t, and so Lara couldn’t help but wonder whether he’d chosen to do it anyway, regardless of whether she was coming or not. It wasn’t like there was nothing they could do about it. But he chose not to talk about it, and he chose to continue to do as he pleased.
And why?

"W-what?" he stuttered out, with confusion clinging to his eyes in the haze left behind by his waning expectations, and she’d already opened the can of worms; too late to go back, and she knew she didn’t want to.

“Didn’t you feel guilty at all after the first time?” she asked bluntly, hope and heartbreak setting into the words with weight that made her voice collapse in her throat. “Why did you keep doing it?”
She pursed her lips, the tears cascading down her cheeks with fervour as she caught her breath again, ready to put him back on trial for how he’d let her down, and hollowed out the faith she’d placed in him. In them. For so long that it formed some integral part of who she was, where she came from and where she saw herself going. Suddenly, all of it was gone, and there was just this frightening void, the precious memories which had been within thrown away on what seemed like a whim.

“Were they better than me? Is that why? Were they more experienced? Were they more attractive? What?!”
The words fell again and she took a moment’s breath into the tightness of her chest, breaking through the restraints that had her wanting to stop, eyes glistening still with the moistness of her tears, tearing into his gaze in a painful quest for answers that she knew would most likely bring more destruction than had already transpired.
But it was too late.
“Everyone makes a mistake once, Dominic, but I just can’t understand why you kept doing it! So tell me! Because I really, really need to know....”



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http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


Talk about getting a cold shower. A veritable bucket of icy water dumped over your head.

That was pretty much how Dominic felt, when caught in the moment of lust and carnal yearning for his girlfriend, knowing that the tension and the frustration that had been building in him for days were finally about to get their release, he looked up to see her... crying? Through the heated fog in his mind, he saw the way tears were rolling down her cheeks, and the forlorn, hurt look in the eyes that shed them, though it had taken him a few moments to register them. At first, the longing burning hotly in his veins didn't mix with the image of her sorrow, it didn't compute in his young, wanton mind, so lost in what he'd thought was about to happen, that it took him several seconds to realize it wasn't. Though once he did, it was as if someone had just shoved him headlong into an ice cold lake, and the carefully beginning signs of his desire instantly plummeted to their death. Yet it still took his brain a few seconds more to wrap itself around what was going on, and so even as Lara launched herself into a tirade about what was upsetting her, Dominic was still struggling to comprehend.

"Didn't you feel guilty at all after the first time?", she demanded, yet in a voice so fragile it felt to him like a violent stab in the heart. "Why did you keep doing it?"

His eyes locked on the grief that kept spilling forth on her features in the form of an endless flow of tears, Dominic was rendered unable to look away, even if he'd wanted to, and pain seeped into his blue eyes as well at seeing her cry and knowing he was the cause of her sorrow. He'd never meant to hurt her, ever, and while the guilt of what he'd been doing had been lost along with his common sense when he'd been sexually frustrated to the point of cheating on her, the word didn't even begin to describe what he felt now, when faced with the utter betrayal she felt.

"Were they better than me?", she asked again, desperately searching for some kind of reason that would help explain it to her. "Is that why? Were they more experienced? Were they more attractive? What?!"

Her voice almost cracked, in a burst of what sounded like a mix of hurt, confused sorrow and anger, followed by the attempt to draw a deep breath to put her back in control of her temper and her uneven breathing, and the look in her eyes boring into him and nailing him so firmly to the bed that he would have been unable to get up even if he hadn't had the cuffs restraining him.

"Everyone makes a mistake once, Dominic, but I just can't understand why you kept doing it! So tell me! Because I really, really need to know..."

Still staring at her with eyes overflowing with regret, and wanting nothing more than to get up and take her into his arms to try and comfort her, like he had before, Dominic gave the cuffs a desperate tug. When it (of course) failed to set him free, he tilted his head back to look up at them, and then back down at Lara again, all the while struggling for something to say.

"I don't know!", came his initial though no less genuine answer, marred by the frustration of being as unable to think straight as he was to get out of that bed. "It just happened! I-... I was horny, and exhilarated, and on such a high from playing! It's not like I didn't try other things! I did! I have! But sometimes it's just not enough, and then when all these girls are throwing themselves at me... I just loose my head!"

He glanced up at the cuffs again, as he made another attempt to free himself of them, but as it still was in utter vain, he once again turned his pleading gaze back to his girlfriend.

"Lara, please... Let me go. Let's talk about this."



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It was beginning to feel like nothing was ever going to make it alright. Lara didn’t want to fight, or discuss this matter in full depth so that she could fully fathom the extent to which he’d lied to her and let her down. She didn’t want to know the sordid details, she didn’t want to know names, or places or.... the one thing she desperately craved the knowledge and understanding of was why. Because it underpinned everything, it told her whether or not he really loved her, or whether they were simply deluding themselves for the sake of the lost passion and devotion of the past.
If that had ever been there.

She hated the confusion over everything, how one change or revelation threw her whole life into a question, and how pathetic it made her feel that she’d made Dominic a golden thread that weaved into and shone in her past, present and future with subconscious dedication. She felt clingy, naive and stupid, and yet it didn’t feel wrong. It’d felt natural at the time, and now, despite how it was all turning out, it still didn’t feel wrong. She wanted him, and there was no doubting the love and attachment she felt to him still... the question was whether she should be with him.

"I don't know!" he cried with frustration at both the handcuffs that held him anchored, and the pit she’d thrown him into... Lara almost moved to release him, but... having him there made it somewhat more reassuring that it wouldn’t just all spontaneously disintegrate further. "It just happened!”
How the hell does it just happen? What, he was dancing with someone, and both their clothes fell off and hey, he accidentally screwed her in the middle of the dancefloor or something?! No, they probably went somewhere more private, and everyone knows its not exactly so that everyone could sit and talk about their feelings. Somewhere private like a tourbus. This tourbus. Oh, God! He had sex with other women where he had sex with her?! In their bed?!

"I-... I was horny, and exhilarated, and on such a high from playing! It's not like I didn't try other things! I did! I have! But sometimes it's just not enough, and then when all these girls are throwing themselves at me... I just loose my head! Lara, please... Let me go. Let's talk about this."

The pleading in his voice almost made her want to forgive him despite her inability to, but no. She knew it, that if she forgave him now, he’d do it again, and again and slowly she’d grow to resent him and they’d both descend into an oblivion of living a lie. So, no, she wasn’t letting him go... but they had to talk about it.

“It’s not just your head you were losing, Nicky,” she said quietly, eyes bearing into the guilt that plagued the oceanic pools of his eyes. “Did you think about me at all? What did you think I’d do?”



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http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


Why had he cheated on Lara? In the small space of Deus Ex Machina's tourbus, that was the question so vast and pressing that it seemed it might burst through the walls any moment. It filled the vehicle to the brim, to the point where it felt like it was about to blow, and made the air so thick with tension and confused desperation that even drawing a single breath was like a struggle.

Had he cheated on her because he didn't love her? Because she didn't please him in bed? Was it because he found her to be too meek between the sheets, and was looking for something wilder, someone more adventurous and uninhibited, like him? Was he looking for a way out of the relationship, and figured cheating would be a shortcut, like burying it before it was truly dead?

No. Despite his rock solid conviction that he loved her more than words could possibly say, Dominic tried asking himself those questions through the muddled state of his mind - he owed her to - and no. No, none of them were the reason why he'd done what he'd done. He did love her, and he was happy with their sex life. She might not be as daring as him, and she might not want to do it every single time that he did, but that didn't change the fact that as far as he was concerned, they were still a great match, as much on a carnal level as on a spiritual one. They complemented one another, it was as simple as that, and it ran deep in both of them. And as for Dominic maybe wanting out of the relationship? He'd just asked her to spend the rest of her life with him! He'd just asked her for a commitment that would ensure as far as it was possible, that she would be by his side, always. He hadn't been planning to, but the moment that the words had made it out of his mouth, he'd known that they were sincere as could be. He didn't want out. He didn't want to lose her.
And yet, it seemed as though he might;

"It's not just your head you were losing, Nicky", she said in a voice hushed by the sorrow and the despondency he could so clearly see in her eyes as they locked with his. "Did you think about me at all? What did you think I'd do?"

Though seeing her like that, so crestfallen and hurt, only added to Dominic's frustration, since he remained unable to reach out for her to try and comfort and soothe her the way he yearned to do, and in the end, it only muddled his mind even further and left him unable to not only hold her tight, but to think straight as well.

"I didn't think that far!", he exclaimed, with every bit of his frustration and his distress heard in his tone. "I didn't think you'd find out, and... I didn't think!"

As upset as he was, it was the truth. When lust went in, his common sense went out, and rational thought was reduced to obscurity at best. With someone there to add fuel a fire that was already roaring within him, and feeding a yearning for someone who wasn't there, someone he longed for so badly that he'd take any substitute... he'd caved. And while it wasn't the most eloquent or considerate explanation, to tell Lara that he hadn't thought she would found out, it was still a perfectly sincere one. No one without the express intention of getting caught cheating, ever really considered the possibility. If they had, most of them wouldn't have gone through with it. In a way, it was the very crux of the matter; people's ability to tell themselves 'it won't happen to me'.

Though Lara saw it differently. Looking at her in pleading for her to understand, Dominic clearly saw the way she flinched at his words, as though he'd just struck a five inch nail into one of her sorest spots, and so in an attempt to calm down and think straight, and above all find a way to make her understand how much he really did love her, he took a deep breath to try and clear his head. When next he spoke, his voice still carried the mark of frustration and deep distress, but also hints of desperate persuasion;

"Lara, I'm sorry", he reiterated. "I know I'm an *sshole, and I don't deserve you. But I love you. You know that. I love you so much it drives me up the wall when you're not around."

As he spoke, he could see the emotions tumble over one another on the pale canvas that was her darling features, one unleashing itself before the other had vanished, to the rhythm of the thoughts going through her head. For a tiny, hopeful moment, it seemed as though the willingness to believe him would prevail, but in the end, the look slipped away, and left a far less encouraging one.

"No", she said, shaking her head as she started backing away from him. "I can't. I'm sorry, I just... can't!"

Her voice almost cracked all over again, under the weight of the inner turmoil raging through her, and she spun around. And it didn't matter, Dominic's desperate "No, Lara, wait!"; she still bolted for the door, and was gone.

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/9529/laviniabanner3.jpg

“Another”, Lavinia slammed the empty shot glass on the surface of the bar, looking expectantly at the bartender and ignoring the increasingly frequent glances the metalhead on her right was aiming her way. The man, however, chose this moment to lean on a heavily tattooed arm as he twisted his muscled frame towards Lavinia and flashed her a lopsided grin:

“Whoa there, slow down! What's the matter, had a fight with your boyfriend or something? Cuz I could try to make you feel better.”

Lavinia scowled as she lifted the recently deposited glass to her lips; couldn't a girl have a drink in that place without some d**khead trying to be funny?

“Wrong on all counts” she sneered. “Anything else?”

The remark saw the metalead's roguish grin waver then vanish altogether at the realization that she was being serious, followed by a somewhat peeved retreat to his own slice of the bar. With no further comment, Lavinia proceeded to drain her fourth vodka shot, too tired, mentally, to try and wade through the veritable mess of jumbled feelings left behind by Rio. She could do that in the morning – for the timebeing she just wanted to get drunk, since neither Nicky, nor Danny or even Arnold were anywhere to be found. Some party this turned out to be.

Lavinia was just about to order another drink when she felt a tap on her shoulder; anticipating yet another opponent to her heroic efforts to get herself properly boozed up, she turned around sharply with an incipient glare ready to be aimed at whoever it was, but which soon turned to surprise at the sight of Daniel.

"Lavinia?", he began "Hi. I can't find them. I tried looking for the bus, but I couldn't find it either. Do you know where it is? Have you heard from them?"

For a couple of moments, she stared at him, nonplussed and with her brows furrowing ever so slightly in the alcohol-induced haze which was settling around her brain, then, eventually, the words began making sense.

“Um, no”, she muttered absently, rubbing two fingers against her forehead in a further attempt to clear her mind, then more eloquently added: “I haven't heard anything from them, no; I thought they were with you.”

Tossing some money on the bar, Lavinia slid off her stool as she turned to face Danny, attracting in the process the metalhead's attention, who glanced at them over his shoulder and prepared to try his luck one final time.

“Your little brother?” he asked with a knowing smirk.

“No, my boyfriend”, Lavinia replied without a hint of jest and coiled an arm around Danny's shoulders while trying not to laugh at the look on the guy's face, then pulled him away through the crowd. She was feeling better already.

“Okay, let's check the bus first.” she offered once they'd reached a less compacted area of the lounge.


((ooc: I hope this is enough to go on, I didn't want to move them too far in one post. If something doesn't work though, you know the drill.))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


Interrupting Lavinia in her party night pursuits seemed to be fast becoming a trend to young Daniel de Vere. That, he realized the moment Lavinia turned around, away from the bar, to look at him with eyes that had glazed over ever so slightly with the sort of unfocused glassiness that came with inebriation. First she'd had Daniel unexpectedly dumped on her by Dominic, while she'd apparently been flirting with the idea of hooking up with someone, and now here he was again, apparently interrupting her efforts to get back into the spirit of partying. And boy did it seem she'd moved fast, judging by the looks of her... Only, unlike before, she now didn't seem to be in a good mood. At all. The look in her eyes when she first turned around was a dark one that would've had anyone instantly backing off, though what stopped Daniel from taking it personally, was the way surprise overtook her features upon laying eyes on him, and recognizing him. She did indeed seem to be in a really bad mood, but it didn't seem to be because of his untimely appearance... again.

"Um, no", she mumbled after a few moments of simply looking at him, as though the alcohol she'd just consumed had slowed the meaning of his words and left her temporarily confused. "I haven't heard anything from them, no; I thought they were with you."

Damn. Daniel had really hoped she would have heard from Dominic somehow. He was getting kind of worried by now, and just running around searching for Dominic didn't exactly help. It only made him frustrated, and quite frankly, a little angry, too. Regardless of what they were doing, it wouldn't kill Dominic to call, or at the very least send a text, would it? Daniel had kept his cell phone handy the whole time, just in case it would start ringing, or vibrating from an incoming text message. He'd even checked it a dozen or so times despite it's perpetual silence. But; nothing. And that kind of hurt. He was here too. He was Dominic's little brother, and he was here to see him. Daniel loved and missed him too, and unlike Lara, he hadn't seen Dominic for months. This just wasn't fair.

"Your little brother?"

Just as Lavinia prepared to depart from the bar, by standing and leaving some money on the counter to cover the drinks she'd had, a deep voice rumbled from Daniel's right and drew his eyes to the tattooed guy occupying the seat next to the one Lavinia had claimed; one of the metalheads Daniel had deemed too intimidating in looks and size to even risk provoking. Though before he truly registered what was going on, Lavinia had her arm possessively around his shoulders and was retorting;

"No, my boyfriend."

Errr... what?
Bewildered at first, Daniel turned his head and looked at her, and then at the guy, before the penny finally dropped and he caught on. Oh! She was trying to... well, nevermind. Before he had a chance to really do anything, Lavinia had dragged him off, away from the guy and the crowded bar, towards a spot less congested, where they could more easily talk.

"Okay, let's check the bus first", Lavinia said, now in a tone more focused and cheerful than she had seemed before; apparently, she'd gotten a much needed kick out of putting that guy in his place back there.

Daniel, on the other hand, was still trying to conquer the faint blush of embarrassment he could feel painting his cheeks a shade of pink, both from Lavinia's stunt itself, but mostly because he felt a little dense, since he hadn't caught on until it was too late, and thus hadn't had the presence of mind to play along.

"Okay, great", he nodded. "I tried to look for it before, but I couldn't find it. It's total parking anarchy back there."

Together, they then left the VIP lounge, with Lavinia leading the way to the tour bus, which even she had a little trouble finding, since buses had kept arriving since she had left hours earlier, and thus along with the darkness created a whole different landscape than what she'd seen back then. She was, however, still a hundred percent more successful than Daniel had been, because after only a slight detour - at least, that's what they thought it was; with the total disarray that reigned the tour bus parking lot, it was hard to tell - they finally spotted the one Deus Ex Machina called their home on the road.

"There it is!", Daniel sighed with relief, after which they soon arrived by the closed front door, and he peered in through the window. "Looks empty though... No, wait, I think there's a light on?"

That, of course, didn't mean that someone was actually in there, and even if they were, it didn't mean they didn't want some privacy. And Daniel really didn't want to intrude, especially not if it turned out it was one of the other guys in the band and their company for the night. So, while Lavinia produced the key and got the door open, Daniel knocked on the side of the bus, next to the door, and carefully peered inside when they heard something or someone stir further in.

"Nicky?", he called tentatively. "You there?"

For a moment, the stirring ceased.

"Danny?", they then heard Dominic's voice from inside. "Uh, yeah, I'm here. I-... I need a little help."

At that, Daniel's brows knit together, and he gave Lavinia a somewhat puzzled, concerned look, before he quickly climbed onto the bus. And stopped.

"What's the m-... Holy sh*t!"

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/9529/laviniabanner3.jpg

The parking lot was much like Danny had described it: in a state of total parking anarchy. Vehicles of varying sizes had claimed whatever room was available, surrounded by a random accumulation of various bits and pieces of gear and luggage, and scattered individuals milling about, some raucously drunk, others in search for a quiet spot to be alone judging by the little, tell-tale noises carried on the night breeze. Lavinia paid no mind; this was hardly new territory for her, though had Danny not sounded so anxious back there in the lounge, she wouldn't have been there at all. She knew Dominic, and what tended to happen when he was out to enjoy himself at a party – what was proper and responsible, such as contacting his little brother – would be discarded from his mind in favour of something more fun and probably more reckless too; that was how Nicky rolled. Personally, Lavinia would only have started worrying if he still failed to turn up in the morning, but for Danny's sake they would begin the search earlier. That, and the fact that she had nothing better to do, a rarity for her, considering.

Finding Deus' tourbus proved easier said than done: in that dark maze of vehicles and detritus where every bus looked very much like the next finding the right spot again was a bit of a challenge especially considering how Lavinia still felt a bit groggy, affecting her spatial perception: for a while she was reduced to simply wandering around in search of a familiar landmark to guide them and trying to avoid walking in circles, while at the same time striving to advance in the direction she knew must be the correct one. Eventually, the strategy paid off and, at last, the tourbus belonging to Deus Ex Machina emerged within sight.

"There it is!", Daniel exclaimed with relief, heading straight for the door to peer in "Looks empty though... No, wait, I think there's a light on?"

Lavinia, who stood nearby with her hands planted on her hips in expectation, skipped over to have a look as well. Danny was right, there seemed to be a bit of light coming from within, what she recognized as being one of the small lamps attached to each bunk bed. And, as silence otherwise ruled supreme, a few explanations stood out from the rest, the foremost being that whoever was in there, on that bed, would probably not appreciate an interruption. Still, life on the road lowered privacy standards and Lavinia would have no problem checking to see who it was, then making a swift exit should it turn out that there was indeed a couple looking for some private time. She'd been there before, on either side of the fence. Therefore, she produced the key and handed it to Danny, mildly amused by the possibility of him suddenly barging in, not realizing what he was walking in on. Then again, he'd probably figured it out already.

"Nicky?", he called out, after tapping the door. "You there?"

Poking her head through the door and listening intently, Lavinia could hear some noises coming from inside, something like sheets being crumpled together, but they weren't followed by the anticipated “Get outta here, we're busy!”. Instead, it was Dominic who answered, which in turn had his brother and Lavinia exchanging a puzzled look:

"Danny? Uh, yeah, I'm here. I-... I need a little help."

Daniel, who bounded up the stairs immediately, was soon followed by Lavinia who also halted abruptly as soon as her gaze fell on the sight opening up before her: that of Dominic, naked save for a sheet wrapped around his lower half, with both wrists cuffed to the bedpost above his head and conspicuously alone.

"What's the m-... Holy sh*t!" Daniel cried out, followed almost instantly by a booming “Hah!” from Lavinia, who appeared from behind to stare at Dominic with a look of impish amusement in her rapidly narrowing eyes. Soon, a grin began peeling her lips away from two rows of brilliant, white teeth. She sashayed closer to the bunk, arms wrapped loosely on her chest and never letting Nicky out of sight, before halting at the foot of his bed and leaning casually against the wall. From there she surveyed his frame for a few moments, in silence, the direction of her gaze describing a series of curves beginning with his face and ending with the area where the crumpled sheet barely succeeded in maintaining Dominic's modesty. She smirked.

“Re-enacting my fantasies?” she purred at him, affecting an almost coy disposition, then laughed. “Why Dominic, you shouldn't have!”

Lara. As wildly entertaining as she found the sight of Nicky helplessly cuffed to the bunk like that (not to mention secretly erotic, the way he looked all disheveled, like a bishounen sex slave wanting more), Lavinia couldn't help but wonder where his girlfriend was. Obviously, not around, or he'd not have asked for help. So, what had gone wrong? Change of mind, argument, what?

“What happened?” she therefore asked, her gaze drawn to the loops of metal encasing his wrists. “You do have a key for that, right?”

It would have been just like Nicky to forget all about caution in the heat of things; and, judging by every appearance, at one point things had gotten very hot indeed.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner3b_ByPsyche.jpg


"Lara?"

Dominic's voice rang out in the silence of the deserted tour bus, for the fourth or fifth time, and with a growing amount of distress in his tone.

"Lara, I get the point! It's not funny anymore!"

Despite his girlfriend’s rather tellingly unwavering departure minutes earlier, he was hoping against hope that her aim was only to tease him, to scare him by making him think she'd actually leave him like this; both hands cuffed over his head, completely naked, and unable to do a single thing about it. He was praying she was still there, just outside the bus, waiting until she figured she'd let him sweat enough, and that soon she'd return to release him, and they would talk. She had to be out there. She was hurt, and angry, but surely she wouldn't just leave him here? Not like this.

As the minutes kept ticking past, it became increasingly clear that yes, yes she actually would. She wasn't out there, and she wasn't coming back any time soon.

"Sh*t!", Dominic cursed to himself, when the realization would no longer be refused, and he began tugging at his restraints.

He'd of course tested them a number of times already, to see if maybe they weren't fastened tightly enough around his wrists to keep him from sliding them off, but as they were indeed too tight for him to slip out of, he now put a little more strength into it, in the hopes that if he just pulled hard enough, he'd still manage to get free.
He didn't.

Despite his narrow guitar player's hands, they just weren't narrow enough, and while the headboard wasn't made of the strongest kind of wood, it was still far too sturdy for him to break. Especially since he was laying flat on his back, with both hands over his head, with nothing to use for leverage or support. All he managed to do was to pull his own body further up the bed, and that sure as h*ll didn't help any. The only thing that accomplished, was crumpling the sheets, and leaving the one that had been around his waist, slipping down his thighs.

"Sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t!", he hissed to himself as he squirmed and wiggled, both at the restraints and the involuntary exposure, and finished it all with an even more eloquent "F*ck!".

Not that he was a stranger to having his band mates and the other crew catch a glimpse here and there, willingly or no, but this really wasn't the kind of situation he'd be comfortable with having, say, Asher enter the bus and find him in. Being cuffed to the bed was embarrassing enough, thank you very much! He didn't need for Asher to see him in the buff without his consent!

Luckily, even though his arms and hands were currently of little use to him, he was still free to move his legs, and so after yet a little more worming and writhing, Dominic was once again sufficiently covered from the waist down. And from then on, he was careful not to toss around too much, lest he'd have to do it all over again and with no guarantee that he would manage the same thing a second time around. Though that didn't stop him from continuing his efforts to break free. Tilting his head back to look up at the handcuffs, he started trying all kind of possible and impossible solutions, everything from testing the chain against every part of the wooden bar he was cuffed to, to grabbing it with both hands and trying to break it off that way. For a minute, he even contemplated trying to search the floor by the bunk with his foot, to maybe find his cell phone and manage to get it within reach of his hands, but realized that not only would it leave him exposed all over again, it just couldn't be done. He was flexible, but he wasn't a circus freak. There was no way he'd ever manage such a stunt.

He'd just about given up, when all of a sudden, he heard the faint hiss of the bus door as it opened, followed by a most familiar and most tentative voice;

"Nicky? You there?"

Having first thought that it was someone from the band or the crew, Dominic had been momentarily seized by a mild panic, and as such, had made one last, frantic attempt to get free. But when he heard his little brother's voice, he became still, and listened, as if making sure it really was him.

"Danny?", he then answered. "Uh, yeah, I'm here. I-..."

For a split second, he hesitated. He wasn't all too keen on the idea of being laughed at - because he would be, there was no doubt in his mind about that - but at the same time, if he was going to be laughed at, he'd much rather have it be by Daniel, than Asher or the others.

"I need a little help", he thus finished, and raised his head a little, too peer towards the door.

Not two moments later, Daniel shot up the few steps of the entrance stairs, apparently alarmed by his older brother's unexpectedly distressed tone of voice. Though while at first he moved as though shot out of a cannon, while starting to ask what was the matter, he stopped dead in his tracks as soon as his eyes landed on Dominic, as though he'd just hit a wall, and just stared.

"Holy sh*t!", was what slipped out of him at the sight.

"Hah!", came another voice from just behind him, just as Dominic realized that while he'd thought (perhaps mostly because he'd hoped) that Daniel was alone, that was not the case.

Lavinia just appeared behind him, and unlike Daniel, her first reaction wasn't shock. It was amusement. And while he really hadn't wanted to have to be found like this by anyone - least of all the other band members, knowing they all would consider him having had it coming, for one reason or another - Lavinia was by far the lesser evil, and Dominic was still Dominic, and so couldn't help but to see the humor in it all as well. Seeing the look on her face, he couldn't stop a slightly sheepish grin from forming on his lips, and he could just imagine what must going through her head as she drew closer, unabashedly examining her and Daniel's find with her gaze. He could even feel a slight electrical tingle shoot through his loins at the way her eyes roamed their way down along his chest and stomach, towards what he'd made so sure to keep concealed for once. He never did have the purest of minds, and so circumstances notwithstanding, he couldn't help but to have quite a few naughty thoughts dart through his head, regarding the many possibilities of this scenario, had things been different. Such as, say, being found like this and taken advantage of. There was, after all, a reason why he'd allowed himself to be handcuffed to the bed in the first place.

"Re-enacting my fantasies?", Lavinia smirked at him, and in doing so proved once and for all that Dominic wasn't the only one with his mind currently in the gutter. Although the suggestiveness in her voice was then somewhat dispelled by a light laugh; "Why Dominic, you shouldn't have!"

At that, Dominic merely grinned and gave a slight shrug, as though playing along with a silent, carefree 'oh well, it was worth a shot'. However, as prone to joking and playing around as they both were, there was no denying that what had lead up to the current situation was far from funny, and so soon enough, Lavinia grew somewhat more serious.

"What happened?", she asked, and from there then went on to inquire about what was probably the most salient part of it all; "You do have a key for that, right?"

Oh yeah, that...

"Uhm... Kind of...", Dominic answered, with the smile fading from his lips as well, although that didn't mean his sense of humour had completely jumped ship, as he went on to ironically add; "I haven't got it on me."

However, that said, he then motioned his head towards the half-dozen more or less empty beer and champagne bottles on the counter of the minimal kitchen nook.

"I think it's in one of those. She was really upset and I didn't get to-... Oh, no you don't!"

Not even halfway into his intended explanation of how he'd ended up in this situation, Dominic cut himself off in sudden vehement warning;

"Danny, I'll kill you, I swear to God!"

Having stood almost frozen in surprise at first seeing his older brother pretty much in the buff and cuffed to the bed, Daniel had since started snickering to himself as Lavinia had advanced on Dominic with her playful jeering, and was now merrily in the process of readying his cell phone for snapping a picture of the scene.

"Oh yeah?", he grinned teasingly at his brother, and a soft shutter noise sounded from the cell phone. "How do you plan on doing that? You look pretty tied up to me."

Dominic jerked, and slammed the chain of the cuffs against the wooden bar that was keeping him prisoner, in another useless attempt to break free, mostly fuelled by his objection to having this particular scene immortalized and preserved for the future. Though when he felt how the sheet around his waist started to slide down, he quickly fell still before it slipped too far, and simply shot Daniel a glare, along with a threatening;

"When I get out of these..."

"Oh, and that's gonna convince us to help you out, is it?", Daniel kept taunting him, although in obvious good humour. "How about we just leave you there, until you're too exhausted to do anything? Or maybe we should go get that Rio guy?"

He shot Lavinia an amused look, since he knew she too had heard the comment Rio had made back at the lounge, about Dominic and those titillating pictures he and Lavinia had posed for a while back.

"What do you think, Lavinia? Didn't he seem interested in getting a chance to wear Nicky out?"

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


Well. That was... intense. Alone again after having just parted ways with Lavinia - now confirmed to be the sister that he had sought and researched for the last couple of months - and no longer focusing all of his attention on trying to read her expressions, anticipate her actions and trying to put himself in her shoes, Rio could feel his heart pounding wildly in his chest as he slowly wandered away from the VIP lounge, a bit unsure of where exactly to go. Lavinia had headed back towards the entrance of the lounge, and so even though Brad and the others were in there, Rio didn't want to go there too. Not right now. Lavinia had wanted time to think and take it all in, and so Rio figured it was best to give her space, by not being around for her to spot and be reminded of. And frankly, Rio could use a little space himself as well. He too had been given quite a bit to think about. So much so, that for the first couple of minutes following the goodbyes that'd been said, he simply wandered aimlessly around the backstage area, too immersed in deep thought to really look where he was going.

It hadn't gone at all like he had expected it to. Granted, going into it, he hadn't actually known what he'd expected - though hopes, he'd had plenty - but what had actually happened sure hadn't been it. He'd been naive not to ponder her situation more than he had, and try to imagine the impact it would all have on her and her life. Since he wasn't a complete idiot, he'd figured it would be a big one, but he'd kind of left it at that, never really pondering the fact that it might not be an altogether good thing, or even predominantly so. Now, he felt kind of stupid and really, really selfish because of it. But, sensible young man that he was (or fairly so, at least) he realized there was little to do about it now. What was done was done, Lavinia had gotten upset but eventually calmed down, and she had said she would like to talk some more. 'Some time'. What that meant, Rio didn't know. It was the vague kind of term people tended to use when they didn't want to commit to anything, or were even intending for said 'some time' to never roll around. Not that he thought Lavinia would have minced her words, had that been what she'd thought - she sure as h*ll hadn't done it the rest of the time, so why would she start then? - but it was still a vague phrase, and so Rio was indeed a little bewildered about where that left them. Personally, he was dying to get to know Lavinia, but he figured that it would be best to let her decide when and if she was ready, rather than pester her by acting the part of the stalker she had joked about, before she'd learned of his true purpose of following her outside. He'd let her decide if and when she wanted to contact him. That, he figured, would be the best option, as it would leave the power of it all in her hands, after she must have felt like she had none at all.

Okay, so, now what? With the VIP lounge not being an option, where did he go? Tears of Andromeda's tour bus, to wait there for Brad? Maybe send him a text, to let him know, so that they could meet up?
Nah... As eager as Rio was to spend some much needed time with his boyfriend, he knew he still had too much on his mind to really be present, and that wouldn't be fair to Brad. He'd already been put aside quite a bit tonight, in favour of Lavinia, and despite his patience and understanding, was no doubt getting a little frustrated. And who could blame him? Rio had practically talked his ear off about the possibility of finally getting to meet Lavinia. Even Rio would have been sick and tired of himself, had he not been so excited. So no, he wouldn't drag Brad away from the others. Not yet anyway. He'd do that only once he was ready to devote his full attention to him, so that Brad wouldn't have to feel like he was competing with Lavinia anymore. And the best way to do that, was to go for a walk.

However, while he had decided not to ask Brad to meet up just yet, he did still want to send him a text, to let him know what was going on, and so after stopping for a couple of seconds to catch his bearings, Rio fished out his cell phone from his pocket, and quickly wrote a short message that let Brad know that things with Lavinia had gone okay, but that he was going for a walk to mull things over. He would shoot Brad another text, when he was on his way back.

Message sent, Rio then flipped his cell phone shut again, slipped it back into his pocket, and slowly started towards the public festival area, and the camp site, figuring he might as well kill two birds with one stone: He needed some time to think, and he needed to pick up the clothes he'd forgotten in Henry's van, for tomorrow's photo shoot. Now was as good a time as any to do it. He highly doubted that any of the guys had gone to bed yet, or that they were even at the van in the first place, and if he got the clothes now, he could spend all the time up until the shoot with Brad tomorrow, rather than having to leave early to go get his stuff.

For a brief moment, he'd contemplated calling Lara. Having seen her earlier, with Dominic in the VIP lounge, he knew that she was around, and he would have loved to get a chance to talk to her. Sensible and reliable person that she was, she might have had some wisdom to offer on his current situation, to help him sort out the jumble of thoughts in his head. Or at the very least, he would have liked to say hi. Though he'd stopped himself before he'd even started thumbing through the contact list in search of her number: She'd been with Dominic when last he saw her, and he knew how much she'd missed her boyfriend. The odds that she'd have an ear to lend tonight were slim to none, and Rio really didn't want to interrupt anything. It was bad enough he'd already gotten in the way of Lavinia's good mood, and that Brad was kept waiting for the chance to have some alone-time with him. He didn't need to put a damper on Lara's night too.

Though as if by an ironic twist of fate, it wasn't long after that, just as he was walking along, slowly following the main path that slithered through the camping grounds, that he suddenly caught sight of her. Lara. She came from the right, on the paved path crossing the one he was on, and passing only a couple of yards in front of him. He might not have recognized her, had it not been for the fact that she passed under the light of one of the lamp posts, and was still wearing the same clothes as earlier. But as it were, it took him only a second to realize it was her. And alone too, as far as he could tell.

"Lara!", he called out over the general buzz of the other people milling about. "Lara, hey!"

Hearing her name called out, the young woman stopped and turned to see who was calling for her, and Rio waved an arm to catch her attention, while hurrying over, quickly slipping in a zigzag pattern between the bodies of the people crowding the space that separated them.

"Hey", he said again upon arrival, with a wide smile on his lips, and arms ready to hug her.

But, as it was right about then that he saw the look on her face, his smile vanished just as quickly, and his hands came to rest on her upper arms, while a small crease of concern wedged itself in between his eyebrows.

"What happened?"

[WLK360]

(( :D this looks like an awesome rp!! Im loving the posts so far, but i dont think ill put up a character ap, untill i catch up in the posts, so far im on page 4, so ill join in probably 3 days max. I love all your characters, you're all doing an amazing job!! Ill admit this didnt look at all like an rp id be interested in joining when it first went up, but with the addition of all these awesome characters, it looks like fun. (: ))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/9529/laviniabanner3.jpg


Lavinia has never been the most subtle of people, nor the most tactful, particularly around people she knew well. While she did maintain a concept of not consciously hurting their feelings, she never did tiptoe around anyone, too careful to even breathe the wrong way, and instead rolled with the punches. It worked out; she was rarely malicious, and those who knew her could tell the difference. More often than not, it even helped lighten the mood.

The present situation with Dominic was no different. Although Lara's conspicuous absence was a strong sign that something was not at all how it should be, and leaving her boyfriend naked and tied up to his bunk before vanishing suggested vindictive tendencies on her part, it was difficult for Lavinia not to see the other side of it: the funny one, and the downright sexy one . Nicky, too, appeared to share in the same mindset, considering the playful grin coming alive on his lips and the carefree shrug which accompanied it. Naturally, this only egged her on as well.

As for giving an answer to Lavinia's more serious question...

"Uhm... Kind of...I haven't got it on me."

At this, Lavinia shot him a bit of a “well, duh”, kind of look, though internally she was amused once again. It was a good thing he didn't have the key on him, as he'd put it, considering he had little else on to begin with, and should the task of retrieving said key fallen into her hands, what remained of Nicky's modesty would have suffered a very quick demise.

"I think it's in one of those." Dominic explained, motioning to the collection of bottles gathered on the counter "She was really upset and I didn't get to-... Oh, no you don't!"

One of Lavinia's brows was arching ever so slightly upwards, when Nicky's sudden warning sidetracked current thoughts and her head snapped around to look at whatever had him in such a stir: Danny, lifting his phone and positioning it for a snapshot, completely ignoring his brother's vehement protests. Lavinia grinned: atta boy!

"Oh yeah?", she heard Danny tease as the soft sound of his camera sealed the deal "How do you plan on doing that? You look pretty tied up to me."

"When I get out of these..." Nicky threatened after another futile struggle to break free, though it seemed to have little effect on his younger brother. Standing at the foot of the bed, Lavinia watched them and laughed with gusto.

"Oh, and that's gonna convince us to help you out, is it?" Danny countered "How about we just leave you there, until you're too exhausted to do anything? Or maybe we should go get that Rio guy? What do you think, Lavinia? Didn't he seem interested in getting a chance to wear Nicky out?"

Although the grin stretched upon her lips faltered slightly at the mention of Rio's name, Lavinia recovered quickly and adopted a mischievously pensive look as she contemplated Dominic at length, softly stroking her chin with one hand:

“Excellent point”, she agreed. “And hey, you should've seen Nicky earlier in the lounge with Asher, he definitely didn't seem opposed to some hot guy-on-guy lovin'”

While she let Danny chew on that, Lavinia crossed over to the minimal kitchen and began investigating the six or so bottles in there, making a show of it as well by lifting herself on her toes and gazing inside each of them over the tip of her nose. Then, at length, she fished out the key but did not immediately go over to release Dominic. Instead she stopped next to the headboard which held him prisoner, leaned over with the key balanced teasingly on one finger, and motioned Danny to snap another picture.



((WLK - Would be great to have you on board! :up:

Atropa - I hope it works, feel free to say Lavinia released him after the pic or if you want to do/add anything before she does, that works too.))

[WLK360]

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/8131/spl132774003blakelively.jpg
Name: Kendra Kingsley
Age: 17
Type of visitor (artist/groupie/staff etc):

Other or possibly staff? Sister of Asher “the king” Kingsley, could also be considered an artist, because she designs band stuffs (posters, shirts, hats, etc.), and is a hairstylist at the festival.

Occupation:

Currently works as an intern at a local Salon (more the hairdressing aspect) who has agreed to pay for her stay at Syrinx as long as she does good work and advertizes the salon, Makes most of her extra money off of working with bands to design merchandise.

Bio:


Kendra comes from a large family, with six kids constantly competing for attention. She has 3 older brothers, and 2 younger, in order by age: Michael, Asher, Oliver, Kendra, Harrison, and Brenner. Michael stood out because of his strength, he trained to be a boxer. Asher, had the broad shoulders of his brother and father, but he could never build as much muscle as them, he never could be as strong as them. And when his next brother began to gain strength just as easily as Michel, Asher began to search for other ways to stand out. Fueled by his anger at himself, and his longing to feel like part of the family, Asher turned to music, heavy metal, and screamo.

He never though much of his little sister, every once in a while he would envy her, she was a part of the family, she fit in, but since she was female she wasn’t held to the same standards. Asher hated that. As small children (Asher was 7, Kendra 4) Asher would constantly ‘beat up’ on his little sister, using every and any excuse to hurt her, or make her feel miserable. It wasn’t until 6 years later, at a family reunion when Asher stumbled upon Kendra crying under a table, that Asher actually stopped to think logically about his little sister. Truth be told she felt like as much of an outcast as he did. After stopping to talk to Kendra and discovering that they both shared the fear of, at one point or another, being unloved, and the anger at being an outcast in their own family, Asher completely changed his relationship with his sister. From then on Asher became one of Kendra’s best friends, despite the few years age difference, they would share every aspect of their lives together.

During Kendra’s preteen years she would constantly mimic Asher, if he obsessed over a band, it was soon her new favorite as well, she would copy the way he dressed and acted, adding a slightly more feminine touch. Once Kendra and Asher were both a way into their teens Asher seemed more and more self-concious. Asher's self esteem was minuscule, so he tried to 'improve his image by useing alcohol and recreational drugs. As if to prove he was cooler and tougher just because he drank and smoked. Kendra’s Heart was broken, how could she allow her brother to ruin himself like this? Yet, she could do nothing to affect Asher’s state of mind. She was disgusted by his drinking and smoking so she soon decided that it was time she lived her own life. She began listening to music she actually liked, and dressing in a more sophisticated and comfortable way, she started taking art, and guitar classes in high school. She became her own person rather than just Asher’s mini-me.

Asher soon began to see the toll of his new life on his friends and family, when Kendra was the last person to turn her back, something clicked in Asher. He began to play music & sing again and he worked to overcome his addictions. Soon his music career and life in general, began to improve. Up until, a few months ago, Asher and Kendra have let their friendship deteriorate, but their sibling bond is still completely intact and they hope that that will be enough to rekindle their deep friendship.

Kendra is extremely intellectual, she makes straight A’s, and is well known for her kindness. She’s extremely shy around strangers, however once she’s comfortable, she becomes hard to quiet. She has a particularly optimistic personality, and her happiness tends to rub off on others. She rarely experiences sadness, but rather she is far more easily angered, somewhat similar to Asher in that sense.

Picture: http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/8967/blakelivelyonnewyorkeat.jpg


Anything else you'd like to add:

She doesn’t have any tattoos, however she does have her left ear pierced (http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9699/earp.jpg) multiple times, and her right earlobe pierced twice. She’s pretty careful not to put her hair behind her ears, so that no one sees her piercings. She doesn’t remember getting most of them, only waking up with her ear hurting like hell.

She’s one of those people that get a buzz from a single sip of alcohol, so she easily gets roaring drunk and ends up doing crazy dares, only to wake up the next morning without a clue.

She is currently single. She’s sharing a tent with her best friend Victoria (they are the two blondes a few tents down from Danny & Laura.) Victoria is a cosmetologist and is working with the make-up aspect for the festival. Victoria is 20 & also works at the salon Kendra’s internship is with.

Kendra is 17, however she is constantly mistaken for a 20 year-old, possibly because of her height, she’s pretty tall, and is quite mature for her age.

Kendra lives in a city relatively near the festival, with her parents and 2 younger brothers, and she’s spent most of high school in Texas, however Asher refused to move to Texas, and eventually moved in with a friend in order to stay in Michigan.

She has extremely blue eyes, she generally has contacts, but occasionally still uses her glasses. (http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/4829/pr011.jpg)

Her lucky ring (http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/6426/rings.png) is something she never leaves without, it was a gift from Asher. It is in the shape of a leaf to have symbolized ‘their growing friendship’.

Kendra, is currently not part of a band, but does have a great singing voice like her brother, only few people know about it though.

Questionnaire:

Name: Kendra Kingsley

Nickname: Kay, Asher’s nickname for me, I think it’s too preppy and really annoying, most likely precisely what Asher wanted.

Instrument: Voice, some guitar ability.

Previous bands: none

Siblings: (older) Michael, Asher, Oliver, (younger) Harrison, and Brenner

Food of choice: Fruit

Drink of choice: Orange Juice

Weapon of choice: self (attended mixed martial arts classes with brothers)

Accessory of choice: Leafy Ring

Movie of choice: Way too many to choose ;)

Most inspirational artist (musician or not): Asher, the rest of the band, and Enya

Never goes on stage without: The thing Asher forgot, and asked her to bring onstage for him. :P

Lucky charm: Leaf Ring.

Preferred time of day and why: Sunrise, it’s usually peaceful, and sunrises in Texas are stunning.

If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why: Victoria, or someone in my immediate family, the people I trust.

Personal quote: “Don’t just accept a glass as 'half full', when you know you can work for a completely full one.”

((Character interactions open, * feel free to message me if theres a problem with any part of this application :) cant wait to start rping with you!))

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: WLK - Welcome! :D )))


http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DannyBanner_byAlissa.jpg


Way to go, Lara!

Much like Dominic had suspected, there was at least one among the two people that had just happened upon him, helplessly cuffed to the bed, that thought he'd had it coming; his little brother, Daniel. Adoring Lara almost as much as he adored Dominic, the youngest brother de Vere couldn't help but to not just be amused, but take quite a bit of malicious pleasure in finding Dominic like this as well, considering what had apparently been going on in the VIP lounge just as Daniel and Lara had arrived. This sooo served him right, for not keeping his hands off of where they didn't belong. No matter how much Daniel loved Dominic, and no matter how loyal he usually was to him, he was completely with Lara on this one, and had just now decided that she officially ruled for apparently deciding to teach Nicky a lesson, for getting all cozy with that other girl.

Granted, cuffing him to the bed, thinking he was about to get lucky, and then leaving him there to be found by God knows who, and in rather awkward position too (mildly put!), did all seem a quite harsh. If one settled for thinking that what they had seen in the lounge was all that Dominic was guilty of, that is. But, Daniel was not quite that gullible and blinded by Dominic; he realized that if Dominic had had no problem getting cosy with that particular girl, he might have gotten cosy with others too in the past. And if that was the case, then truly, in the words of Lavinia: HAH!
Oh, and furthermore; after all the teasing he'd put Daniel through over the years, Daniel was well within his right to milk this one for everything that it was worth, in order to get back at his darling big brother. Hence the picture he'd just taken with his cell phone, as well as the mischievous comment to Lavinia, about fetching Rio.

"Excellent point", was her verdict on that particular suggestion, as her fingers followed the smooth skin of her chin in mock contemplation. "And hey, you should've seen Nicky earlier in the lounge with Asher, he definitely didn't seem opposed to some hot guy-on-guy lovin'."

However, as much fun as the two of them were having at his expense, Dominic wouldn't have been Dominic, had he simply taken it all laying down, and suffered their teasing in passive silence. He was nothing, if not always in the possession of something to say to either turn the jabs back onto whoever was having a go at him, or to defuse the bite of whatever remark they made.

"Well, then at least I'd finally get laid", he muttered, mostly in good humor, but not entirely without a hint of bitterness to his voice; Lara's stunt hadn't exactly thwarted his mounting desire for some intimacy, nor the frustration that came with it.

That said, however, it then seemed to dawn on him that Daniel had mentioned an actual name of his "would-be aid", and his brows furrowed together ever so slightly.

"Wait", he said, "what Rio guy?"

Daniel gave a breezy shrug.

"Dunno. Said he's a friend of Lara's."

Dominic's eyebrows sank even further together, in a look of confused scepticism. Rio wasn't an all too common name, and as far as he knew, there was only one that could title himself a friend of Lara's;

"What, the queer?"

Dominic had only met him a few times, and never really talked to him all that much, but he did know Lara was or at least had been the guy's mentor at some point, that they apparently got along really well, and that before knowing Lara and Dominic were together, Rio had made some kind of comment to Lara, about wanting to "do" Dominic.

Oh wait. Ohh! That totally made sense then!

Though before he had a chance to really finish that train of thought, and comment on it, Daniel had already quirked an unimpressed brow at him.

"Wasn't that obvious?", he questioned dryly, in light of the whole conversation, and how it ought to have left little doubt that regardless of who Rio was, he clearly was attracted to the same gender and thus was, as Dominic had chosen to put it, queer.

"Oh, shut up", Dominic just snapped at his wise guy little brother in reply, after shooting him a sarcastic, feigned smile.

Usually, his comeback wouldn't have stopped at just something that simple, but this time, whatever else he had to say was left unspoken, since when after finding and fishing out the key to the handcuffs from one of the bottles on the counter, Lavinia sashayed back over to him, and in doing so caught his attention. For obvious reasons: At this point, he was rather eager to be set free.

Though as it would turn out, much like Daniel, Lavinia too was apparently finding it to be just too entertaining to have Dominic naked and restrained, to not have yet a little more fun with it. Leaning over him, with the key balanced teasingly on her finger, she prompted Daniel to take yet another picture. And true to the nature now brought forth by the circumstances, Daniel didn't hesitate to comply. Within mere moments, he'd once again lifted the cell phone and was aiming it at Dominic and Lavinia, this time immortalizing not just Dominic's captivity, but also Lavinia's power position.

This time, Dominic didn't struggle. Determined to maintain at least a little bit of his dignity, he decided to play along instead, which, considering there was a camera around, by now was practically second nature to him. Tilting his chin ever so slightly upwards, he shot Daniel a brazen kind of "come hither" look, with his lips forming a playful, pseudo-sexy pout. Then, once the picture was taken and Daniel lowered the cell phone to review the result, Dominic glanced up at Lavinia with a smirk.

"I'll get you for this, you know that, right?", he pointed out, though didn't wait for her to answer.

Instead, he gave the cuffs a small yet highly indicative tug, meant to prompt his release, while at the same time, possibly without really thinking very far, added what might very well end up halting it instead:

"Now get your t*ts out of my face. I don't know where they've been."


(((ooc: Sorry, I would've had her release him, but since that last line just came to me as I was writing it, I wasn't too sure she'd actually let him go after that. :p )))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/9529/laviniabanner3.jpg


"Now get your t*ts out of my face. I don't know where they've been."


Brow quirked accordingly, Lavinia seemed to study Dominic for a few moments, as though awaiting the decision of some private deliberation.

Okay, maybe she deserved that.

All members of the band often took potshots at one another, sometimes testing the borders of good taste, but mostly in good fun. If something ended up sounding insulting, it was usually the result of someone's mouth being quicker than their brain, or, in the case of Dominic and Asher, the fact that they'd both rather croak than let the other have the last word. With those two in the same room, testosterone could reach critical levels.

Between Lavinia and Dominic things tended to be more relaxed and light-hearted, and the current situation was a fairly good example of that. In spite of the jabs aimed at the helplessly tied up Dominic, his would-be rescuers had steered clear of truly uncomfortable or hurtful remarks regarding the circumstances which had landed him in that predicament to begin with, which would easily have degenerated into some really cheap shots being taken. It was becoming clear though that Dominic was getting fed up with the situation to the point where he no longer shared their amusement or appreciated the taunts – understandable, not that he wouldn't have done the same thing, had the tables been turned – so Lavinia could, in turn, consider letting that particular comment slide. Mostly, anyway.

Winding her way forward, she sat down on the edge of the bunk and, balanced precariously on the extremely narrow available surface, locked eyes with Dominic as she idly turned the key between her thumb and index finger.

“Someone less magnanimous than I”, she began conversationally “might be tempted to see how long it would take you to get free with this stuck up a certain place where the sun don't shine.”

Lavinia straightened herself, rose fluidly and, as she began fiddling with the cuffs, added:

“Good thing I'm not one of those, huh?”

Click! At long last, Dominic was free. Slumping unceremoniously into a nearby chair, Lavinia leaned back and rested her head against the fake wood-paneled wall.

“Go and make yourself decent, we'll wait. When you're done, who's up for getting a drink and something to eat?”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://s562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner2_ByPsyche.jpg


Uppity little wiseguy. That's what Dominic's and Daniel's father had once called his oldest son, when he'd tried to make a point about how "the early bird catches the worm", to which Dominic had mouthed off by telling him that while that might very well be the case, "it's the second mouse that gets the cheese". He'd been thirteen at the time.

Since then, not much had changed on that front, except maybe the trait itself growing stronger and stronger over the years, to the point where Dominic would now often have his mouth run away with him, consequences be damned. As long as it was a good ride, he wasn't all too concerned about the destination. The discussion with Asher earlier this evening, regarding the singer's talent (or, if Dominic was to be believed, lack thereof) for playing guitar, had been a perfect example of that, and his comment to Lavinia just now was yet another; while the first had ended up bruising Asher's ego, neither of them had been specifically designed to hurt anyone's feelings. Dominic could be an arrogant jerk, but he rarely set out to be downright mean. He simply just loved to banter, and what he loved even more, was getting the last word. Hence his comment to Lavinia just now, about getting her bosom out of his face, and the remark that had followed; as ill-advised as it was for someone in his position, to pretty much flat out encourage the person that was holding the key to his release, literally, to drag things out and let him stay cuffed to the bed, his partiality to bantering with Lavinia won over his better judgement, hands down.

Lavinia, however, quite surprised him, by turning out to be a little bit more perceptive, understanding and forgiving than he had expected her to be. Having just dished out a comment that only a moment after having said it, had him almost biting his tongue, he pretty much expected her to just leave him restrained on the bed for a while longer. Instead, she gave him a scrutinizing look that let him know that she'd actually picked up on the hint of bitterness and waning patience in his voice, and then proceeded to actually reach to undo the cuffs.
Though, of course, not entirely without commenting;

"Someone less magnanimous than I might be tempted to see how long it would take you to get free with this stuck up a certain place where the sun don't shine", she pointed out to him, having ever so briefly placed herself next to him on the bunk in order to establish eye contact and thus further drive home her point. That said, she then rose again, to get to work on the cuffs, while she added; "Good thing I'm not one of those, huh?"

Dominic simply smirked, and decided to keep his mouth shut for once, lest he'd really get the key "stuck up a certain place where the sun don't shine". Though it was obvious from the mischievous look in his eyes as they were watching Lavinia, that his mind had plenty of replies to offer, and not all of them were protests. Because hey, Lavinia's hands in that region of his body? A guy could have it worse. Way, way worse.

Now, as comfortable as Dominic's mind had made itself in the gutter, and as difficult as it might be to get it to budge from there, there were a few things that did manage. One - Lara and the uncertainty left by her departure - was already a current factor in his awareness. Another came only seconds after Lavinia's comment, when a soft click announced that Dominic was now finally a free man again. Wasting no time, he immediately sat up, while rubbing first one wrist, and then the other, as if to make them come alive again, after their imprisoned, inflexible and slightly bruised state, while his "rescuer" plopped herself down in a nearby chair.

"Go and make yourself decent", she told him, "we'll wait. When you're done, who's up for getting a drink and something to eat?”

"Me", Daniel said, as he ventured over to one of the nearby tables, and slid into the booth, with his back resting against the wall, and his legs stretched out in front of him along the seat cushion. "Definitely me. I'm starving, and thanks to my genius brother here, I haven't gotten a chance to eat anything."

Dominic, who at this point had stood from the bed, after first reaching for his underwear on the floor and pulling them on, and also having shot Lavinia another smirk in the process - him, decent? - pulled a face in Daniel's direction.

"Shut up", he snapped, though still not entirely without an obvious sense of humor.

Next up to be retrieved from the pile of clothes on the floor were his black jeans, which his lean frame slid into with the same ease as always. He buttoned them up, and then went on to start fastening the belt around his narrow hips. However, that's when the process of him dressing himself was suddenly halted, as it was at that moment that Daniel's lips cracked into a wicked grin, and he started singing teasingly to himself, a Guns N' Roses song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFbujpjmTzs) that he'd decided was perfect for the occasion;

"Pretty tied up, hangin' upside down...", he hummed.

A split second later, he cut himself off and ducked behind his arms with a laugh, as Dominic, who'd obviously gotten the gibe, grabbed the first best thing he could get his hands on - a half empty but luckily sealed water bottle - and hurled it at him as hard as he could.

"Shut up or I'll wring your neck", the older brother threatened, yet couldn't help but to grin himself.

He was, after all, not one of those people who took himself too seriously, but could poke fun at himself. Though as tends to be the thing between siblings, it was always a little bit harder for him to accept, when that brat of a little brother of his was trying to do it for him. And Daniel knew it. But after years of bickering and fighting like brothers do - sometimes in a friendly and good humored manner, sometimes not so much - and of being teased by Dominic, Daniel took what he could get, in the means of ammunition. And Dominic had just provided him with more.

"Oh yeah?", he grinned, as he scooted back out of the booth and stood, almost as tall as his brother, and far more athletic, compared to Dominic's slender build. "Well, come on then", he challenged, and flicked his fingers at Dominic in a way to match his words. "Bring it, don't sing it."

After quite a few wrestling matches with Dominic over the past couple of years, he was aware that Dominic knew as well as he did, that he hadn't managed to take Daniel in a fight for years.
Not that Dominic let that stop him.

Fast as lightening, the older brother's arm shot out to swat Daniel across the top of his head. But Daniel was prepared, and managed to parry the blow, only to discover that it had been an evasive manoeuver: A split second later, Dominic had flung his arm around Daniel's neck and was trying to pull him down in order to bestow upon him the thing that seemed the most popular gift from an older sibling to a younger one; a noogie.

Needless to say, Daniel didn't much appreciate the gesture, and so in an attempt to get free, swung one foot behind Dominic's and pulled his leg out from under him, which in turn sent them both crashing down onto the floor of the narrow bus aisle. There, an ardent struggle for control ensued, with arms and legs waving around in a flurry of tangled limbs, until finally, Daniel had Dominic mercilessly pinned down. Dominic put up a good fight, there was no doubt about that, but Daniel was without a doubt the stronger one.


(((ooc: So sorry for the wait. Hope it works.)))

[Alissa888]

It was all a lie, it all felt like a lie. She knew that wasn’t true; she knew Dominic loved her, that times between them had held genuine affection, genuine attachments, genuine need to be with each other. A relationship never exists with just one person putting in all the effort, and she knew that wasn’t the case with him. When they’d been together, living in the same town, everything had been perfect, so good that she’d feared that it’d all fall apart once they moved apart. It hadn’t. The first few faltering steps aside, the separation, for Lara, had only moved to intensify what they shared. Because he hadn’t just given up, he’d put in his share, he’d made as much effort as they needed, and more, and it’d just gone to prove that he wanted them as much as she did.
That kind of reassurance was everything.
And now it was all nothing.

It was irrational to doubt everything. But it just felt that, because it hadn’t mattered to him the betrayal he wreaked on her every time he got off with one of his groupies, it hadn’t been important enough to stop him. It wasn’t like he thought about how her heart would crush into itself, or the look on her face should she ever find out and he’d simply just carried on because he didn’t care; it simply just didn’t occur to him. It was the age old question; is it better to have someone hate you, or just have them not bother in any way?
Because it wasn’t just her, was it?

It was just so, so, so stupid. How could she have let this happen? How the hell did she end up here; in college, knocked-up, and now with a broken relationship. The worst thing was how her mind absently drifted to the look on her parents’ face; not one of anger, not one of flat acceptance, but one of pity. One of knowing that they’d expected better and it’d just gone, and it was all her fault. After all, there were so many relationships where the men don’t cheat; why her? It always took two to make or break things, didn’t it?

"Lara!" a familiar voice cut through the path of her absent wanderings, stopping her in her tracks as her hazed mind sifted through to ensure it was her who was being called for. She didn’t want it to be Nicky. Not now, not yet. "Lara, hey!”
It wasn’t him. And it wasn’t anyone she wanted to speak to, because she wanted no-one to see her right now, like this, in the lowest point she’d been in years with her whole life thrown in and out of perspective. “Hey.”
Rio. As happy as a part of her was to see his handsome, welcoming face, part of her shrunk back in apprehension at being unable to reciprocate the joy in his greeting, his cheerfulness somehow making her heart sink further down her chest, pulling the lump in her throat hollowly down with it.
She barely managed a weak smile.
He saw through it like glass, her form and features yielding to honesty of her misery as his arms rested against hers. "What happened?"

She just looked at him to begin with, lips trembling as they pursed slightly, eyes welling up beyond her control at the chance of being able to be entirely, and unabashedly honest about her feelings, hopes, dreams, fears and pain.

“Everything,” she finally spluttered out, eyes closing momentarily as teardrops rolled hotly down the paleness of her cheeks. “Everything. I’m pregnant. And he cheated on me. Everything’s just... I don’t know what to do anymore.”

[WLK360]

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9404/blakelivelybanner4.jpg


Kendra sighed as she zipped up the tent. She had gotten here at a reasonable time and managed to get a good spot to camp. She had texted asher for about 30 minitues, and after that he hasn't comunicated. Kendra figured that Asher probably went to one of the vip lounges to see how much of an audience he had. She hadn't expected to find him, but she had to admit, she was a bit dissapointed not to have bumped into him. However Kendra had learned long ago, not to hinge her mood on Asher, so she enjoyed the party, danced and chatted to people. She had admired the beautiful sunset with a few other artists. Dozens of colors melded and combined on the beautiful palette that was the big blue Texas sky. She continued to party untill after dark. Kendra decided to return to her tent, and then hunt down Asher. Once she reached her tent she swiched out her tight miniskirt for a frilly black skirt, and grabbed a thin jacket. Outside the air was quickly cooling, however the ground still had retained alot of the day's heat, this heat was still seeping out of the ground and keeping everything warm; but when the retained heat ran out the air would become crisp. And a little cool for Kendra's taste. Kendra picked at her hair, meticulously brushing out the knots, untill her hair was smooth and wavy again. Her golden hair glinted in the strange light and she smiled. She loved her hair, people constantly complemented her on it and she simply loved it. Once her hair was cascading perfectly down her back and over one shoulder, kendra flicked off the little battery-powered light. She carefully zipped up the tent.

Kendra straightened up and took a deep breath of the warm texas air. Now where should I look first, Kendra wondered. She hadn't seen Asher at the Lounge she visited and everyone she asked hadn't seen him either. He wasn't replying to her texts either, hmm. Kendra thought a while longer and finally decided to go find the bus, maybe he was chillin with his bandmates? Kendra walked first towards the lights and then along until she reached the tourbus area. After asking a few of the security she had a general idea of where the bus might be. Kendra fingered her golden locks as she wandered through the haphazard "rows" of busses. Luckily the light was on inside the Deus Ex Machina bus, or else Kendra would have walked right by. She stood and listened for a minute, ahe head muffled voices bantering, she concluded that three people were on the bus. Maybe one of them is Asher?

Kendra knocked on the bus, to the right of the door, and then let herself in. As she turned to look at the contense of the bus, her eyes fell upon a mass of flying limbs. Two guys were wrestleing in the middle of the bus, one of them Kendra recognized from pictures as Dominic de Vere, the other she had no idea about. Kendra instantly felt heat rising to her face as a voice in her head sang 'awkaarrddd'. Her cheeks turned pink, and she instinctivly wrapped her arms protectively around her middle. Kendra spotted Lavinia Sinclairseated nearby, watching the two guys with a smirk. Kendra cleared her throat loudly and Lavinia looked up, the unknown boy got Dominic pinned down and then they both looked at Kendra as well.

"Um excuse me," Kendra began in a small voice. "Do you have any idea where Asher might be-uh.. is?" Kendra's left pointer finger came to rest on her bottom lip as she finished. "He hasn't been replying to my texts and I figured, that of anybody you guys might know. Where he is."


((So, so, so, so sorry for the wait! Hope this works for everyone, I'm happy to be joining this awesome rp :) oh and outfit. (http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/106/outfit1.jpg) ))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/9529/laviniabanner3.jpg


Watching the two brothers aim playful jibes at one another, which soon degenerated into a veritable wrestling match, proved highly entertaining, well worth unchaining Dominic from the bedpost. They had a fun dynamic and Danny certainly gave as good as he got, his earlier bashfulness a lifetime away. At least where his brother was concerned. Lavinia, who had no siblings of her own (the recently discovered one notwithstanding) had never quite experienced the same type of bond, but knew from hearsay that certain rules were different in relationships between brothers and sisters.

One of these, it seemed, was Dominic accepting defeat and surrendering to Daniel's superior strength, which for him was a rare thing indeed. Then again, Lavinia mused with a smirk, perhaps he had no choice: Danny may have been younger, but it was obvious his brother was no match for him at the end of the day and after much tussling about on the floor, Nicky found his scrawny self firmly pinned down. With his back towards her, Danny's expression was hidden from Lavinia who nonetheless could very well picture the triumphant grin he must be sporting, and laughed:

“Boys, boys”, she commented in the indulgent tone of someone chiding a small child, “Do I need to put you in time-out?”

Too busy enjoying the “show”, Lavinia missed the moment someone knocked on the door, as well as tell-tale patter of hurried footsteps which followed it, and only noticed their unexpected visitor when she halted nearby and cleared her throat. She looked up then, surprise seeping into her expression as she took in the girl's appearance, scanning for anything that might look familiar and tip her off as to who she might be – a girlfriend of one of the guys, perhaps? Nicky was the only one in a steady relationship as far as Lavinia knew – but no such luck. Still, for her to just barge into Deus' tourbus like that, she'd better have a good reason.

"Um excuse me," the girl began awkwardly, with an expression to match, then pressed a finger to her lips "Do you have any idea where Asher might be-uh.. is? He hasn't been replying to my texts and I figured, that of anybody you guys might know. Where he is."

Asher? Lavinia had last spotted him leaving the lounge with that leggy blonde in a sinfully short leather skirt he'd been pawing all evening. Welp, she wasn't going to get involved in any of Asher's romantic mishaps, that was for sure. Her assumption being that this girl was someone who was about to have her hopes crushed, a tinge of sympathy tugged at Lavinia's conscience. Not enough to deter her mischief, though.

"Knock louder next time, will you, we could have been having sex in here or something.", she commented offhandedly, but with obvious humour. However, sensing the girl was perhaps not quite prepared for her jibes, Lavinia straightened herself in her chair and adopted a more serious tone:

"Sorry, no idea, last time I saw him he was leaving the VIP lounge. That was, uhh, about an hour ago. By the way, I'm Lavinia, and those two jokers down there are Dominic and Danny."


------------------------------------------

((Hope this works for everyone, I went with the assumption the rest of the band (or at least Lavinia and Dominic) don't know who Kendra is))

[WLK360]

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/6850/blakelivelybannercompre.jpg

"Knock louder next time, will you, we could have been having sex in here or something." Lavinia said jokingly. Kendra's eyebrow instantly raised and Lavinia realized that maybe Kendra wasn't the kind of person you joked around with like that. Lavinia straightened herself in her chair and continued a little more seriously.

"Sorry, no idea, last time I saw him he was leaving the VIP lounge. That was, uhh, about an hour ago. By the way, I'm Lavinia, and those two jokers down there are Dominic and Danny."

"First off ya'll ain't rowdy enough to be a threesome, if your looking for that kind of thing you might want to go three busses to the left." Kendra smirked, laughing at herself in her head, because she knew her southern accent usually sounded ridiculous to people from out of state. And telling from Lavinia's accent, she wasn't from around here.
"God Asher, so d*mn narcissistic he won't even tell me anything." Kendra laughed lightly. "Well at least I know he hasn't changed much. Im Kendra by they way. I thought I recognized you two Dominic and Lavinia. I've heard all about you from Asher." Kendra jokingly rolled her eyes. "More then I wanted to know actually. Anyway it's nice to meet ya'll." Kendra said turning to look at Dominic and Danny.

[Ghanima Atreides]

((Note: All the previous posts concerning Lara remain part of the story and should be considered such; I'm just picking things up where they were left off with my version of Lara. :)))

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http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3849/lara01.jpg

1.Name: Lara Abbott

2.Age: 21

3.Type of visitor: Other (Dominic de Vere's girlfriend)

4.Occupation: College student (majoring in English Literature) working part-time at an animal rescue centre

5.Bio: Many have been those who remarked on Lara's maturity, her calm, responsible nature. Even as a child she was generally a quiet, well-behaved girl who grew into an even-tempered, down-to-earth young woman, the kind her friends would turn to for advice and in whose hands her family would be most likely to entrust various responsibilities. As it turned out, it was a role Lara would fill from a fairly young age: her brother Jake, two years younger than her, was afflicted with certain mental limitations that meant he required quite a bit more care and attention than the average child, and getting through to him could pose a challenge at times. He formed a very close bond with his sister, who gradually took on the mantle of caretaker, able to communicate with him better than anyone else. To this day, they remain very close, even though Lara no longer lives at home; she is extremely fond of Jake.

Growing up, Lara was never the kind of girl who stood out in a crowd; generally-well liked by her peers, she formed several lasting friendships and made a few, brief forays into the world of dating, preferring to stick to her own social circle rather than seek popularity. Although often referred to as "the quiet one", Lara wasn't a complete introvert either, and before long she began joining her peers on outings to various clubs, where she had her first encounters with alcohol and, more importantly, the man who would eventually become the love of her life: Dominic de Vere.

What began as fatal attraction soon evolved into an actual relationship, the first serious one in Lara's life, their differences completing, instead of dividing them. Where her exuberance lacked, Dominic made up for it in abundance, and when he found himself spinning out of control it was Lara who gently brought him to a halt. He also had a knack for bringing her out of her shell, teasing out that inner streak of mischief she usually kept locked away; yet at the end of the night, after even Dominic had exhausted his famous energy, they would always retreat to a quiet spot together.

Nobody imagined that a romance began at the tender age of fifteen would ever survive the test of time, but six years later Lara and Dominic's has surpassed all expectations. There is no other person she knows more intimately or feels more comfortable around, something she holds on dearly over the weeks and sometimes months Dominic's budding career takes him away from their home. These are not easy times for Lara, who fortunately has her studies and part-time job to occupy her in the meantime. She loves animals of all sorts, which inspired her to help out at a local animal rescue centre; she is contemplating getting a dog, a chocolate labrador. Sometimes, she can hardly believe she is dating an actual rockstar, Deus Ex Machina's success being both a source of pride and the emerging fear that it would end up intervening between her and Dominic...especially in the form of other women.


6.Anything else you'd like to add:

Around the time she started dating Dominic, Lara's dressing style began adopting a few gothic elements, some of which persist to this day: she remains fond of leather and corsets, although her usual clothing involves simple, tight-fitting tops and pants or skirts, usually in black or dark, rich shades, adorned with many different kinds of accessories and silver jewelery. One she hardly ever takes off is a silver heart pendant (http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/2802/laraheartpendant.jpg), the matching key being worn by Dominic.

Lara has a climbing rose tattoo (http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/4674/lararosetattoo.jpg) on her left leg, starting from her ankle and ending just beneath her knee.

Her ears are pierced in several places and her navel is also pierced.

She is close friends with Danny, Dominic's younger brother and Rio Adams.

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/5999/lara02.jpg

[AtropaMandragora]

http://s562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner2_ByPsyche.jpg


Growing up, the number of times that the brothers de Vere had found themselves on the ground, each of them fighting for control over the other, were plentiful. For years, Dominic's superior strength as a big brother had made Daniel easy for him to take and keep pinned down for as long as he'd wanted to. Or at least until one of their parents or some other adult had come along to separate them, drawn there by young Daniel's wailing or, as he'd gotten a little older, his angry yelling. Though by that time, Dominic had usually managed to tease him relentlessly already, and also, whenever the fighting wasn't of the fairly friendly kind, delivered a punch or two.

Thus, while the fighting had since started occurring less and less, and while when it did occur, Daniel nowadays often was the one to come out on top, he saw to it to enjoy it in full. He had a lot of defeats to make up for, and even more teasing, and so whenever he got the chance to pin Dominic down and keep him there, he took it. He grabbed it firmly with both hands. And the best part was that Dominic, despite knowing he didn't stand a chance these days, was far too cocky to ever admit it, and so often provided Daniel with the opportunities himself, by shooting his mouth off. Like now. Within just a minute or two of having threatened to wring his little brother's neck, egomaniac Dominic de Vere had been introduced to the floor of the tour bus by the very same, who then even went on to try and get him intimately acquainted with it as well, by not only pinning him down, but firmly keeping him there. And had it not been for what was about to happen, Daniel would have probably demanded a actual acknowledgement of defeat from his brother, before letting him go.

"Boys, boys", Lavinia said in the kind of motherly tone generally used when you wanted to make someone feel like they were a misbehaving kid. "Do I need to put you in time-out?"

Though the humor with which she said it didn't pass either of the boys by, and so Daniel turned his head and shot her a grin over his shoulder. And had he been able to, Dominic probably would have done the same, but as it were, being flattened against the floor made it impossible, and he was rather more focused on contemplating his next move. Therefore, neither of the three seemed to notice that a fourth person had joined, until the sound of that fourth person clearing their throat was heard from the front of the bus, as a way of getting their attention. In unison, all three of them looked up to find the darkly clad frame of a young woman standing before them, rich golden locks cascading over her shoulders, and a pinkish hue spread over her cheeks from obvious discomfort at the scene she was witnessing.

"Um excuse me," she started quietly, as if with the mere volume of her voice apologizing for interrupting. "Do you have any idea where Asher might be-uh.. is? He hasn't been replying to my texts and I figured, that of anybody you guys might know. Where he is."

On the floor, Dominic attempted a glance back at Lavinia, to figure out if she, unlike him, might know who the girl was - clearly she knew Asher, but if he indeed wasn't answering her text messages like she said, it might be a sign that for whatever reason, he wished she didn't - but thanks to Daniel it ended up a most unsuccessful endeavour, since he was pinning Dominic down in a position that made it impossible to turn his head that way, and even if that hadn't been the case, Daniel's body was still in the way.
Well, that is, it ended up a most unsuccessful endeavour, until Lavinia opened her mouth with a reply that, eventually, did answer Dominic's question.

"Knock louder next time, will you", she said nonchalantly, "we could have been having sex in here or something."

To some, it would have probably sounded mostly like an attempt to embarrass or provoke, but the fact of the matter was that it was God's honest truth. In this business, it wasn't a very rare occurrence at all for people too hook up pretty much anywhere, and while on the road, the tour bus was the closest thing to a hotel room you could come, and so consequently, it saw a lot of action. Deus Ex Machina, although not sporting the biggest, newest or most lavish tour bus, were no exception. Their little home away from home had seen it's fair share of groupies achieving their goal of bedding their idol, as well as conjugal visits from girlfriends, and since the bus wasn't just one person's home, but home to the entire band, complete privacy wasn't always a luxury they could afford. Nor was it always something they cared to safeguard. With alcohol in the picture, sometimes the focus would be on getting over to the bed as soon as possible, rather than closing the door, or keeping their voiced down.
So, it was a fair point for Lavinia to make, said with humor or not.

However, being somewhat nicer and more well-behaved than, say, Dominic would have been - knowing him, he wouldn't have stopped quite yet in making his point - Lavinia then smoothed it all over a bit, by actually and sincerely answering the question;

"Sorry, no idea", she said, "last time I saw him he was leaving the VIP lounge. That was, uhh, about an hour ago."

'So', Dominic thought to himself, 'he's stopped being such a baby then, and quit his sulking over what's just simple fact. Sure took him long enough.'

"By the way", Lavinia continued from behind him, "I'm Lavinia, and those two jokers down there are Dominic and Danny."

And there came the answer to Dominic's unspoken question. Lavinia didn't know who the girl was either. Studying her from where he was, on the floor, shooting her a bit of a grin and a "hi" in unison with Danny, it was Dominic's impression that she didn't look like Asher's type as far as girls and women went, but on the other hand, that only fit the theory of an importunate fan even more, or of someone else that Asher might not be interested in talking to. Not that she wasn't cute, because she was. She was just too... classy, for Asher's tastes. Too clothed, and too... chaste-looking. Although appearances could of course be deceiving, and underneath that innocent southern belle exterior laid a nympho dominatrix or something. An impression that gained a little more ground, come the girl's reply;

"First off ya'll ain't rowdy enough to be a threesome", she said in a southern accent that sounded like it just kept getting richer by the second, "if your looking for that kind of thing you might want to go three busses to the left."

Not rowdy enough, huh? That was one Dominic had never heard before. Usually being the life of the party, and the center of attention, he was used to being called a lot of things, but never "not rowdy enough". In a way, it was almost an insult. But, on the other hand, while he figured he and Daniel must have made quite a bit of noise wrestling, had Dominic been in a threesome, it probably would have been far louder indeed. So, fair enough.

"God Asher", the girl continued dramatically, "so d*mn narcissistic he won't even tell me anything. Well at least I know he hasn't changed much."

Heh. Importunate fan or not, Dominic was liking her already.

"Im Kendra by they way", she then went on to introduce herself, just as Daniel finally decided to let go of Dominic, and stand up. "I thought I recognized you two Dominic and Lavinia. I've heard all about you from Asher. More then I wanted to know actually. Anyway it's nice to meet ya'll."

Now that was a statement that earned her another, more scrutinizing look from Dominic, as he was being helped up off the floor by Daniel, who despite being the reason he was down there in the first place (or perhaps because of it) held out a hand in order to pull him up. She recognized him and Lavinia? Well, that pretty much ruled out her being a fan, because frankly, a fan wouldn't have said such a thing. No, what was implied here, was a personal relationship of some sort, especially given the comment about having had Asher tell her more about them than she'd wanted to know. So, what the h*ll was she? Friend, ex, f*** buddy, secret girlfriend, what?

"Funny", Dominic said as he looked her up and down, only to then let his wandering gaze settle on her face. "I can't recall him telling us anything about you."

Unlike Lavinia, he'd make no effort to avoid possibly damaging Asher's love life. Not because he was truly malicious or filled with glee at the prospect of Asher being caught cheating as well, but because he saw no reason to lie or sugar-coat things to protect him. Especially not since he honestly had no clue who this Kendra really was.

"What do you want him for though?", he couldn't help but to add, and leaned his naked shoulder casually against the wall, while his thumbs hooked into the front loops of his pants. "We're the fun bunch."

He turned his head, and shot Lavinia a smirk.

"Right, Lav?", he said.

He didn't often use nicknames for her, but when he did, "Lav" was among the more common ones. Mostly for the lulz, since it sounded so very much like "luv", and there was so often the innuendo of something more than friendship between them, that the two of them just loved to toy with.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


The moment he saw the look on Lara's face, Rio knew something was wrong. Of course he did. It was plain to see, in the shadows of sorrow and turmoil that danced in her eyes, along with the moisture of tears that had already reddened the edges around them as she'd cried. Something was very, very wrong, and like anyone faced with a friend in obvious distress, Rio instantly forgot all about his own worries, and his concern had spilled right out of him without a moment's thought. To some, who wished to keep their sadness to themselves, whether it be because they thought of it as a weakness or simply weren't ready to talk about it, it would probably have been the most unwelcome of questions, intruding on territory upon which they didn't want anyone to tread. But for as long as Rio had known her, Lara had always been open and honest, about where she stood and about who she was, and so as the initial reluctance of seeing him began to fade from her features, with the slight quivering of her lips to tell the tale of a failing attempt to keep it all under wraps, complete abandonment to her troubles washed over them instead, and she burst into tears, for what was obviously at least the second time this evening.

"Everything", she blurted out, and from there it all just seemed to pour out of her, as though a dam had suddenly burst within her and couldn't be stopped, and Rio found himself gripping her arms a little tighter, in an instinctual attempt to show her that he was there for her, willing to listen, and that he was holding on to her, not just in the literal sense. "Everything. I'm pregnant. And he cheated on me. Everything's just... I don't know what to do anymore."

For a split second, all Rio could do was to blink with surprise. He hadn't seen either of those coming. Least of all the pregnancy. That whatever it was had been related to Dominic, that much he'd guessed, since he'd seen them together earlier, and now she was on her own, but the first idea to come to mind was that they'd had a simple fight. He didn't know Dominic very well at all, they'd met but barely spoken, but he knew from what he'd heard from Lara as well as from others, that the guy could be both reckless and insensitive at times, and so figured this evening might have seen one such occasion. But as it turned out, it was far worse than a mere fight.

"Oh honey, I'm sorry", he said with complete empathy, and pulled her into his arms for a tight hug, to try and offer at least a little bit of comfort, useless though it may be.

To be perfectly honest, he actually hadn't thought Dominic would cheat on his girlfriend. He'd seen the two of them together, and while the guy did seem to have an ego the size of Texas, his devotion to Lara had always seemed genuine and heartfelt. It had been plain to see for anyone who bothered to watch the two of them together for a few minutes, that they truly and deeply cared for one another. And as for the constant and persistent rumours about Dominic and Lavinia, which Rio of course hadn't been able to miss in his search for information on her; to him, it had all seemed too obvious. If you were cheating on your partner and didn't want them to find out, you wouldn't be so open about things that were sure to raise suspicion.

Though regardless of how unexpected the revelation of the cheating had been, the rest of what Lara had said had taken Rio even more by surprise. And so after holding her close for a handful of seconds, he pulled back ever so slightly with his arms still around her, and looked at her.

"You're pregnant?"

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/9529/laviniabanner3.jpg


"Funny", Dominic commented as he gave Kendra the once-over "I can't recall him telling us anything about you."

Welp, the cat was out of the bag, Lavinia thought not without amusement. Trust Nicky to be the one to do it, though he'd made a perfectly valid point. No matter how much she studied this girl, or racked her brain for clues as to her identity, she came out empty. It occurred to her then how little she actually knew about Asher's personal life, his past, despite having been in the same band together for years now. Quite the opposite of Dominic, and Shane to a point as well....as for Leon, though they weren't as close, they'd still swapped the obligatory life story anecdotes. Not Asher, though, and it felt suddenly odd to realize it. Odd to have never really thought about it either.

In the brief pause which followed, Lavinia mulled over Kendra's last comments, which implied some serious familiarity with Asher, beyond what you'd expect from a groupie or even f***buddy. No, she sounded more like a girlfriend than anything, or maybe even a relative of some sort (for all Lavinia knew), and again it struck her as odd that apparently Asher had told Kendra "all about them" but not the other way around. What's the big mystery, she couldn't help but wonder, less than innocent scenarios darting through her head at the thought.


"What do you want him for though? We're the fun bunch." , she heard Dominic comment, then saw the saucy smirk aimed at her, "Right, Lav?"

Lavinia returned the smirk then shot Kendra a Look that seemed to suggest she'd best prepare herself for plenty of shenanigans. She walked over and, wedging herself in between Dominic and his brother, slipped one arm around each of their shoulders as she turned to look at Kendra once more:

"Also the ravenous bunch", she told her. "We were just on our way to grab a bite to eat; you can come along if you want to."

She then proceeded to voice the thing which was currently going through all their minds:

"On the way, you can tell us about you and Asher; you've got us all curious now."

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1351/larabanner.jpg


"You're pregnant?"

It was as though hearing someone else say those words truly and finally drove the point home, and all of her previous fretting, the doubts and makeshift explanations, up until the moment the confession pushed itself past her quivering lips, dissolved into stark certainty. Up until then, Lara had been able to cling to the possibility that she was just late, no matter how regular her cycle tented to be, and the pangs of nausea which had been the highlight of several weeks' worth of mornings were related to stress, or something she'd ate. But she could deceive herself no longer. With the world currently threatening to shatter to a million pieces around her, Lara no longer found the strength to maintain the illusion, just like she could never go back to the safe, cosy bubble she'd been living in for so long, confident that Dominic would never cheat on her. She felt suddenly very exposed, alone and angry; both with Dominic and with herself, for being so naïve, for still loving him even then.

“Yeah,” she replied lamely, sniffling tears away. “I mean...I'm pretty sure I am. I didn't take a test yet, but I'm late, Rio...really late, that never happens...and I've been feeling sick in the morning too, plus the timeframe fits so...yeah...”

A fresh wave of despondency rose up within her then and Lara stifled a sob as she wrapped her arms around Rio once more, clinging to him for comfort and support against the overwhelming onslaught of her emotions:

“What am I going to do?!” she sobbed into Rio's shirt, “I can't have this baby on my own, Rio! Oh God...”

Gradually, and with considerable effort, Lara marshalled some semblance of calm and slowly pulled herself away from Rio, resting her teary gaze just below his jawline:

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dump this on you”, she said very quietly, “It's just...I needed to tell someone. Thanks for being here.”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


For obvious reasons, such as his sexuality but also his youth, Rio had never thought much about pregnancies, and what they entailed. With all the roadblocks standing in his way towards parenthood, he had never thought of himself as a future father, and even if he was to be one some day, it wasn't likely to happen by him knocking up a girl, and especially not doing it by accident. If it happened, it would be the result of a conscious decision, as well as a lengthy and possibly trying process, and so it wasn't something that would be neither planned nor particularly unexpected. Parenthood wasn't a concept or a decision that would be sprung on him from out of the blue, before he was ready and willing to take on all the massive responsibility that came with it. Therefore, he'd never thought he would come across the issue of an unexpected pregnancy. Somehow, despite his female friends, it had never occurred to him that he might get to face the problem... no, no, the matter - "a problem" was not the right way to view a possible child - from a different angle. From the sidelines. And now that he was, he didn't really know what to say. What could he say? He'd feel like a complete hypocrite to even imply that he knew what Lara was going through, and telling her the standard phrase people tended to over-use - "it's going to be okay" - would be pure and utter bullsh*t too. Holding her was pretty much the only thing he could think of, to try and somehow give her at least a little support; someone to talk to, and a shoulder to cry on. Because boy, did she seem to need it. Especially with what she'd said about Dominic cheating on her, which really couldn't have come at a worse time.

"Yeah", she sniffled slowly in reply to his question, but then elaborated: "I mean... I'm pretty sure I am. I didn't take a test yet, but I'm late, Rio... really late, that never happens... and I've been feeling sick in the morning too, plus the timeframe fits so... yeah..."

Yeah indeed... Rio might not know all too much about Lara's cycle, and frankly, like any young man, he kind of preferred it that way, since hearing about it would make him feel a little awkward. But he did know Lara, and knew that she wasn't a drama queen, nor was she a worrywart. She was rational, and didn't tend to get herself worked up without some sort of evidence that she had good reason to. If she suspected she was pregnant, judging by how well she knew her own body, than yeah, it would seem she was indeed pregnant. Unless, of course, she had been under a lot of stress, which could very well be the case too, considering how she struggled with keeping a balance between doing well in school, and darting off to see Dominic every chance she got, along with worrying about him. And for good reason, as it turned out. That kind of thing could also mess with a girl's cycle, right?

"What am I going to do?!", Lara burst out crying again, only this time in a way far more marred by despair than the last. "I can't have this baby on my own, Rio! Oh God..."

Helplessly, and with his chest squeezed tightly by sympathy, all that Rio could do was to hug her tighter as he felt her tears bleed through the fabric of his shirt, wishing there was some way he could soothe her aching heart. Stroking her hair and her back, as a way of encouraging her to let it all out, and telling her that she was safe to do so with him, he rocked her ever so gently, while shooting dark and defensive killer glares over her shoulder, at anyone who looked their way a few seconds too long. He wanted badly to say something that might calm her and possibly cheer her up, but he knew that sometimes all people needed in order to then be able to step back, take a deep breath, and deal with the situation, was to be allowed to be angry and sad. To be allowed to cry. And so he simply let her. Though he never stopped letting her feel him there by stroking her back, and within a minute or so, he felt her trying yet again to pull herself together.

"I'm sorry", she said at last while drawing back, out of his arms, though her voice was still thick and unsteady from crying, and tears were still in her eyes, "I didn't mean to dump this on you. It's just... I needed to tell someone. Thanks for being here."

At first, Rio just smiled faintly, affectionately, and shook his head in refusal of her apology and for thanking him. Not because he rejected her apology nor her gratitude, but because he didn't think she had anything to apologize or thank him for. He was her friend; of course he was there for her. Just like she had always been there for him whenever he'd ranted about what few problems he and Brad had had, or about his own parents. He would have been, even if he'd never needed to rant to her in the first place. That was how friendship worked; you didn't listen to a friend's upset raving just because you were friends and you felt obligated to. You listened to it because you genuinely cared, and wanted to help.

"Listen", he then said softly, while cupping her face in his hands, and wiping away a lone tear trickling down her cheek with his thumb. "You're going to think about it. Okay? First let it all out; cry, be angry, vent. When you've calmed down, think about it. You don't have to decide anything right now, right? It's still early, you have plenty of time to think things through. About the baby and Dominic both. Give yourself that time."

[WLK360]

(( ahh! Super sorry,I'm going to be away this weekend, and all next week I have alot of big presentations, essays, finals, ect! I'm really sorry If I take forever to post! I'm pretty sure by monday I'll fell so guilty that ill write up a post when Im supposed to be working :P Again super sorry.))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1351/larabanner.jpg

They said that venting one's feelings and emotions was the better way of dealing with them than taking the repression route, a sentiment Lara found herself in agreement with. It felt good to vent all right, to finally acknowledge things she'd spent so much time avoiding, and had more recently caught up with her in such an earth-shattering way. To have a friend near, willing to lend a compassionate ear and a shoulder to cry on felt like an immense relief, yet it also brought on a touch of guilt. First of all, because she'd essentially unloaded her problems on Rio without giving him any choice in the matter, and secondly because of the way her one-time calm, rational self had dissolved in a puddle of tears at the drop of a hat...which, Lara supposed, only lent more proof to the theory that there was something seriously messing with her hormones.

Sheepishly, Lara glanced at Rio as though half-expecting to see some shadow of disapproval or at the very least forced patience lurking in his expression, and could not deny the relief she felt at the sight of the affectionate smile he offered instead, devoid of any sort of judgement.

"Listen", he told her as he gently cupped her face in his hands and wiped away a stray tear, "You're going to think about it. Okay? First let it all out; cry, be angry, vent. When you've calmed down, think about it. You don't have to decide anything right now, right? It's still early, you have plenty of time to think things through. About the baby and Dominic both. Give yourself that time."

He was right, of course. Ever since she'd come across Dominic and that girl in the lounge, Lara's mind had been spinning wildly out of control, ever doubting, ever fretting, until all doubt had been laid to rest by Dominic's confession that he had indeed been cheating on her for God knew how long. That, combined with the near-certain pregnancy, made for a toxic combination, infecting Lara's mind with the pressing need to reach a decision about it all and at the same time rendering her incapable of doing so. Rio was right on the money with his advice; what she needed was time to think things over, and reach a decision with a cool head and based on common sense.

“You're right”, Lara said quietly, but resolutely, and nodded. “You're right; I do need time, my head's all over the place right now. First thing is finding out for sure if I am pregnant, then I'll go from there. I'll tell Dominic either way, and regardless of what happens between us - he has the right to know.”

She felt considerably more calm, in control even, outlining her intentions to Rio; they had a sensible ring to them which helped. Likewise, his calm, understanding presence had a soothing effect on her frayed nerves, the feeling of his palms around her cheeks wonderfully warm. Their faces were a mere few inches apart, closer than Lara could ever remember them being, close enough to feel his breath on her skin. A furtive thought winked into being then: what if? It called out to her from deep within, a sudden and insidious impulse that was partly the want to get back at Dominic, see what it was like, partly because her state of mind was currently blurring a few lines. He was there for her when nobody else had been, and yes she wanted to, just once...Abandoning herself to that impulse, Lara gently leaned forward and pressed her lips against Rio's.


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((Sorry if it's messy, I struggled a bit))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner1_ByAtropa.jpg


If Dominic could be said to have a partner in crime, when with the band, it would most definitely be the ever lovely Lavinia Sinclair. The dynamics at work between those two... Having hit it off from the first time they'd met, even before they knew of each other's musical talents, with their own unique brand of sensually platonic chemistry and flirtatious, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, the two of them had come to star in numerous antics together over the years, many of which now made for quite entertaining memories, and equally entertaining stories to tell around the camp fire. They often matched each other perfectly, feeding off of each other's vibes and ideas, creatively as well as personally. Even in simple every day situations. They just clicked so very well together, on so many levels, and there were times when all they had to do was to look at each other, to know what the other one was thinking. On stage and off. When in a playful mood, they often needed only to glance at each other to convey some mischievous intent. One of them would start down a chosen path, and without needing an explanation beyond that one look, the other would catch on, and follow.

Such was the case right now, when with a light but for Dominic customary gibe at Asher, currently non-present, Deus Ex Machina's lead guitarist shot a smirk Lavinia's way, and she aimed one right back at him. However, while she knew most well what must be going through his black-dyed head, she ultimately - after sending their visitor a tell-tale look, promising exactly what Dominic's words had implied - decided to once again play nice, and let Kendra off the hook. For now, at least.

"Also the ravenous bunch", she said as she slipped in between the two brothers - one of whom was busy posing just ever so slightly, casually showing off his lean, semi-nude frame, and the other busy straightening his clothes after the wrestling match on the floor - and put her arms around each set of shoulders. "We were just on our way to grab a bite to eat; you can come along if you want to. On the way, you can tell us about you and Asher; you've got us all curious now."

Perhaps it was the mention of going somewhere, or perhaps it was his senses incidently kicking in all by themselves, but that comment was one to bring Dominic right out of his moment of mild narcissism, and smack him square in the face with the thought that had really been there all along, ever since Lavinia had freed him from the cuffs, but that for a moment had been pushed aside by that whole debacle, and all the messing about that had ensued: Lara. In an instant, the smirk vanished from his lips, and he forgot all about acting cool.

"Sh*t", he said, and started patting his pants in search of his cell phone. "I gotta find Lara."

Unsuccessful in finding the phone, he then turned to scour the floor around him and over by his bunk, and even started picking up some of his own clothes from it and tossing them somewhere - anywhere - else, to see if maybe the precious device was hiding under there.

"Have you guys seen m-... Wait, here it is!"

Relief and just the tiniest sliver of triumph filled his voice as he straightened himself, phone in hand, and he shot his companions a glance as he started thumbing through the numbers in search of his girlfriend's.

"You guys go, I really need to talk to Lara", he said just as he hit the dial button and eagerly brought the phone to his ear, but before they had a chance to reply or even react, he quickly added with gradually mounting distress; "Sh*t. Lavinia, can I bum a smoke off you? I can't find mine."

[WLK360]

"What do you want him for though? We're the fun bunch." Dominic replied, and Kendra couldn't help but see his bare chest. The difference in build between the two brothers was obvious. Dominic had obvious sex appeal, however Danny seemed to be alot more of a stable, good relationship type guy. "Right, Lav?" Dominic finished, smirking at Lavinia. Ooh boy! Kendra thought, Ashers bandmates were going to be more troubble then she even imagined.

Lavinia returned the smirk then shot Kendra a warning glance. I miss my brother, I miss my brother Kendra keept telling herself. Lavina walked over to the two boys and put her arms around their shoulders. "Also the ravenous bunch", Lavina added. "We were just on our way to grab a bite to eat; you can come along if you want to. On the way, you can tell us about you and Asher; you've got us all curious now."

Dominic proceded to search for his phone in order to contact his girlfriend, providing a running commentary as he did so. "You guys go, I really need to talk to Lara", he fiddled with the phone a bit, but quickly followed up with, "Sh*t. Lavinia, can I bum a smoke off you? I can't find mine."

Kendra smirked, and had to admit she always found it amuseing when guys had to grovel for a women's attention, ect. When they realized that they weren't the only guy on the planet.

Anyway, Kendra continued. "I know an awesome cafe that has a stand up somewhere here. The always have a trailor or something, when it come to local events. Their Chicken fried Steak is amazing." Kendra smirked at Lavinia. "I would ask you to guess how I know Asher, but I really don't want to know after your previous comments!" Kendra looked at everyone and then turned stood just ountside of the bus door, as she waited for everyone to follow.

_________
I know that sucked but im just getting into rping again! I cant tell you how sorry I am for holding you guys up.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


Despite his part-time profession and his familiarity with on-camera nudity - as much thanks to his major in school as to his "extra-curricular" activities; he had done various art assignments that dealt with the naked human form in one way or another by now - there were areas within the romantic field where Rio would be uncertain, awkward and sometimes downright clueless. The main one being - you guessed it - girls. As their friend, there would be no problem. He would hang out and talk, listen to their troubles, guy related or otherwise, he would be supportive and offer advice when he could, and be much like any other friend in general. But, as the object of a girl's affection... Now that was one that tended to freak him out quite a bit. Ever since the day he'd turned fifteen, and Vicki had tried to seduce him, Rio had a tendency to be weirded out whenever a girl showed an interest in him, and might even end up scared of her, simply because he didn't know how to handle it, and because it just felt so wrong to him. One might even compare it to how a heterosexual young man might feel when being hit on by a homosexual one; the feelings just did not compute, and brought with them an acute sense of something alien. Rio just never viewed girls in that light, neither as possible objects of sexual interest for him personally, nor the other way around. He wasn't in tune with any such possible intentions towards him, and thus never saw it coming. This evening, and from Lara, least of all. He was so caught up in the mixed feelings he had about apparently learning before Dominic himself that Lara might be pregnant, that he didn't quite perceive the same shift in chemistry between himself and Lara, that Lara did, and so when the next thing he knew, Lara pressed her lips against his, it took him by complete surprise. It downright stunned him for a moment or two, before he realized what was happening.

Yet when he did, as much of a jolt as it was to body and mind alike, he didn't jump back or pull away in the same kind of panic that had seized him years ago, when Vicki had put the moves on him. It did all freak him out, yes, and he did pull away, but what he also realized at that very moment, was not only what was happening, but why, and so the manner in which he pulled away from Lara was not in rejection, repulsion or panic. It was by dropping his hands to her shoulders, and gently easing her back, as if silently asking her to stop.

"Lara...", he said, with just the tiniest hint of discomfort in his voice, yet the faint smile from before still remained on his lips as he looked at her in understanding of what had driven her to such a drastic action, and his knuckles brushed against her cheek in affection. "Don't. It's for all the wrong reasons. You know it as well as I do."

Seeking her gaze, he tried to let the look in his eyes drive home his point, as he could see realization and silent admittance in hers, but as he didn't want her to feel rejected or embarrassed, he then went on to add, with a smile widening ever so slightly with irony;

"And besides, you know I love you and all, but... I am so gay."

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/9529/laviniabanner3.jpg

Lavinia had been wondering how long it would take Dominic to sober up from their mischief and remember Lara, but like the others, the flow caught her before she could dwell on it much. Most people might have been surprised by Dominic's almost uncaring attitude considering his longtime girlfriend had essentially walked out on him after cuffing him to a bed – not a good sign – but not someone as familiar with him as Lavinia was. She knew he cared alright, and she suspected this temporary relapse into his usual laid-back persona was just that: temporary, brought about by habit and circumstances (for it was so unlike Dominic not to rise to the situation). She did not, however, expect him to forget about Lara. Therefore, when the smile vanished right off his face with the suddenness of a switch, and anxiety pooled into his eyes as he began to search for his phone, what Lavinia saw were the actions of a man bent on getting hold of the woman he loved and nothing else. Well, almost nothing:

"Sh*t. Lavinia, can I bum a smoke off you? I can't find mine." Dominic said after practically turning his bunk upside down in his quest for the phone he eventually snatched free from the depths of a clothes pile. Bearing an expression of indulgent amusement, Lavinia's gaze flicked first to Danny and Kendra, then back at him.

“What a surprise”, Lavinia quipped and raised a brow to indicate the utter mess surrounding him, while she reached inside a pocket for the pack of Malboros she never went anywhere without. She extruded several cigarettes which she held out for Dominic to take.

"I know an awesome cafe that has a stand up somewhere here.” Kendra suddenly intervened. “They always have a trailer or something, when it comes to local events. Their Chicken fried Steak is amazing."

Chicken fried steak? Lavinia gave her a dubious glance, but at that point she was hungry enough to try anything. She noticed the smirk tugging at the corners of Kendra's mouth, foreshadowing a quip of her own:

"I would ask you to guess how I know Asher, but I really don't want to know after your previous comments!"

She then promptly turned around and left the bus, Lavinia shooting Daniel a tell-tale glance in the wake of her departure. To her, “I'd ask you to guess, but-” type of comments always took the form of an implied challenge, a safe way of hinting at something without outright saying it. As for the comments Kendra mentioned...she'd actually tried to keep them fairly light, compared to the banter she and Nicky regularly swapped.

“All right, we might as well go check this 'awesome cafe' out”, Lavinia told Daniel and patted Dominic's back on her way out. “Good luck, yeah? See you later.”

They found Kendra standing outside the bus; as soon as she cleared the final step, Lavinia began taking wide strides towards her, arms wrapped loosely on her chest, one hand gesturing in tandem with her steps:

“You're his sister, right?” she commented, having decided to go with what she saw as the least likely possibility for s*its and giggles. She didn't expect to be right, but it would be hilarious if she was. “Friend with benefits is too obvious, and secret girlfriend too much of a cliché, sooo...that leaves the sister theory. Or cousin, or something along those lines.”

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((Sorry for the lateness and general crappiness. I hope it works.))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1351/larabanner.jpg

Lara was a realist. She knew very well that being in a relationship didn't suddenly turn a person blind, or made them oblivious to the attractiveness of other people. Which was fine: one could acknowledge another person's appeal without necessarily wanting to act on it: there was a distinct difference between the two. It also made for a healthy relationship to be able to express it, and be honest about it with your partner, which was how Lara had always tried to behave towards Dominic. Although deep down jealousy never failed to stir whenever she noticed him taking an interest in another woman, she hadn't begrudged it to him just like she hoped he would not begrudge her the occasional glance. The trust she'd always believed they shared made such a thing possible, and her confident that both she and Nicky were perfectly capable of looking without touching because they found everything they needed in each other. It was part of the reason his betrayal hurt her so.

Kissing Rio was in many ways Lara's way of getting back at Dominic, but also a means to understand what it was that he looked for in other women, the reason he'd chosen to pursue them in spite of being with her. It was hardly the most sensible or rational thing she'd ever done but for those first few moments of her kissing Rio she was filled with the need to know, a burrowing urge that almost immediately gave way to...

...Wrongness. It invaded her with its clammy touch, setting off a series of alarm bells inside her head which blared the same thing over and over again: this was wrong, wrong wrong. Lara recognized it as the mistake it was, a kiss that was not a kiss but an experiment, a vengeful little gesture that Rio, her good friend, did not deserve to be made part of. He felt it too and took hold of her shoulders, gently but firmly pushing her away in a wordless plea for her to stop: Lara did not resist, her gaze dropping guiltily as they parted.

"Lara..." Rio began a little uncomfortably and ran his knuckles against her cheek, "Don't. It's for all the wrong reasons. You know it as well as I do."

He was so sweet, so understanding...Lara felt even more embarrassed than she would have, had Rio chosen to confront her about it. And, once again, he provided the voice of reason by pointing out that which she'd also felt on a deep and pervasive level: that it was done for all the wrong reasons. She couldn't turn off her love for Dominic anymore than she could pretend she harboured secret feelings for Rio: she cared about him, a lot even, but not in that way. Vice-versa too and for obvious reasons, as Rio himself soon pointed out:

"And besides, you know I love you and all, but... I am so gay."

Seeing his mouth curve into a smile, Lara couldn't resist matching it, albeit sheepishly, and her heart lifted a little. She felt grateful for a friend like Rio, who didn't judge her where others surely would have, and remained honest both with himself and with her.

“Brad is a lucky guy”, she therefore told him with a wink, before adopting a more serious expression befitting what she had to add:

“You're a good friend Rio, and I'm sorry, it wasn't fair of me to put you in that position. You or Brad. Also, regardless of what Dominic did, me doing it as well is in no way better. I know that.”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DanielBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


As known by those who knew him, and soon to be known by those who met him for the first time, Daniel de Vere was a rather reserved young man. Not in the sense that he came across as aloof and wanting to keep people at bay, but in the sense that he would often be labelled quiet and sometimes downright shy. When in the company of new people, or when finding himself in a situation not familiar to him, he had a tendency to quietly observe and establish a feel for the people and the circumstances at work first, before diving in. He watched dynamics and behaviour, personalities and affiliations, as a way of gradually trying to make himself a little bit more comfortable in his new surroundings, and it happened at the expense of his own interaction with others, since that all became secondary to his desire to watch and learn before doing. So much unlike his brother, who was usually far too busy making an impression, rather than carefully gathering them.

In this sense, Lavinia was a bit of a rarity. Although technically a perfect stranger, despite everything that Dominic had told his little brother about her over the years, she had somehow managed to draw him out of his shell, and with good measure, too. Despite the rather awkward circumstances during which he had landed in her company, she had soon had him joking and bantering as though they'd known each other far longer than just a few minutes, albeit with a few scattered moments here and there of him being embarrassed or tongue-tied. He was relaxed and comfortable in her company, most of the time, and had opened up in a way that would usually require two, three or more encounters for him to do so.

The addition of Kendra, however, had shifted the dynamics for the young man, since he once again found himself in the company of someone he didn't know, and who even though she didn't seem to know neither Lavinia nor Dominic, still shared some common ground with them, in the form of Asher. Somehow, she knew the singer of the band , which made for an easy first topic between herself and the others, except Daniel, who was the only one there who didn't know Asher, and thus would have had little to contribute even if he hadn't been so withdrawn. Though he didn't mind, really. At the moment, he was back to being the observer, the shy bystander who didn't say all that much, if anything at all, but since it was a role he was comfortable with, it didn't bother him. Furthermore, and truth be told, he was also a bit distracted by Dominic who, as always, seemed incapable of doing anything without practically demanding everyone's attention with his vibrant ways, involving all three of them in his search for his cell phone, willingly or not, only to find it himself a few seconds later.

'Good', Daniel thought to himself then; he was concerned about Lara, and was glad to see that not only did Dominic finally acknowledge her existence - though deep down, Daniel knew she had never been far from his brother's mind... or at least he thought he knew it - but he seemed both anxious and agitated. Worried. Exactly what he ought to be, considering what he had done to her. Thankfully, Lavinia and Kendra had just provided an excuse for the rest of them to leave Dominic to it, by bringing up the matter of food. Usually, plans involving finding a place to eat wouldn't have seen Dominic part company with them, but this time he didn't seem too interested in the idea of food, which could only mean that he really was fully focused on Lara, and getting a hold of her.

"I would ask you to guess how I know Asher", Kendra said as she exited the bus after shooting Lavinia a smirk, and Lavinia and Daniel followed her only moments later, "but I really don't want to know after your previous comments!"

Figuring she meant the first thing out of Lavinia's mouth when Kendra had first appeared in the bus, Daniel couldn't really blame her. Along with Dominic's comments, as well as his antics, 'innocence' seemed to be a concept long lost to the duo, and he could only imagine what possibilities Kendra must think were going through Lavinia's head. But, as it would turn out, Lavinia's guess - which, due to Kendra's choice of words was bound to come - was a rather clean one;

"You're his sister, right?", she said as she joined Kendra near the door of the bus, with Daniel following a few steps behind. "Friend with benefits is too obvious", she elaborated, "and secret girlfriend too much of a cliché, sooo...that leaves the sister theory. Or cousin, or something along those lines."

Personally, Daniel would have guessed she was just a friend, although probably a good one, judging by the joking way in which she spoke of Asher. But again, Daniel didn't know the singer like Lavinia did, and so she might have picked up on something that made the possibility of Kendra being family of Asher's make more sense. Yet even so, there was one thing that Daniel couldn't help but to notice, and so when Kendra didn't immediately reply, he squeezed in a careful:

"Is he from the south?"

He might have never met Asher personally, but he had seen plenty of interviews and live clips that had included him on TV and on the Internet, and so he knew Asher didn't speak with the same thick southern drawl as did Kendra, and so for them to be siblings, with accents that suggested different backgrounds... Well, it wasn't impossible, since there was about a dozen circumstances that could have rendered such a result, but still, it did make him wonder.


(((ooc: WLK - Sorry, I know I said you should feel free to go ahead and post, but since it's been quite a while, and you haven't, I felt we needed to keep things moving. Ghani - Hope it works.)))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


Rio hadn't been in very many of them, but there was one thing he knew about relationships for sure; they required a lot of time and effort to work. If two people were to live as close as a relationship took them, there couldn't be just two individuals and nothing more. There had to be affection, of course, but also a lot of understanding and tolerance of each other's shortcomings. Nobody was perfect, and it would be impossible in the long run, to live with someone who thought they were faultless. Or that you were, for that matter. The couple needed to invest time in one another, there needed to be understanding and also forgiveness at times. They would both have to be willing to adapt to match each other's personalities and wishes - within reason, of course - and a willingness to compromise was downright vital: When in a relationship, you had to be aware and accept the fact that you wouldn't always get your way. You had to function as a team, where communication and honesty paved the way to harmony. It was a constant give and take. And heck, even friendships took a lot of the same kind of effort to stay healthy.

Rio had an overall good relationship with his boyfriend - there was love, understanding, and if maybe not exactly as much time as was ideal, there was at least the yearning for it, and constant attempts to achieve it - and most of the friendships he had were equally sound. The one with Lara was definitely one of them. Disregarding the fact that Rio had told her a little white lie about what he did to put himself through college, he believed they were always honest with each other, no matter if it was on a personal level or an artistic one, and he loved her for her sensitivity and her open-mindedness. She had never judged him - which frankly made the aforementioned white lie have everything to do with Rio, and little to do with Lara - and he never judged her either. Least of all now, when driven by her distress over her beloved boyfriend's apparent cheating, to act out and kiss Rio on what they both knew to be a vengeful and perhaps somewhat desperate impulse. Taken a little aback, yes, that he was, but to say that he didn't understand, would be a complete lie. He did understand, and he didn't blame her in the least for what had just happened, and could only hope that she would see the look in his eyes, and take his attempt to lighten the mood ever so slightly the right way.

Much to his relief, she did. He saw it in the way that a tiny small tugged at the corners of her mouth, even before she opened her mouth. Though when she did, she made Rio's own smile widen:

"Brad is a lucky guy", she said, and even gave him a wink.

Had the basic circumstances of the situation not been so unfortunate, Rio would have laughed, and replied how that was exactly what he himself kept telling Brad, but as it were, he didn't think it was the right time for further jokes, and judging by the way that Lara's smile faded to be replaced by an expression that mirrored the gravity that remained, she felt much the same way.

"You're a good friend Rio", she continued, "and I'm sorry, it wasn't fair of me to put you in that position. You or Brad. Also, regardless of what Dominic did, me doing it as well is in no way better. I know that."

At the first part, Rio simply waved a dismissive hand, as if to say not to worry about it. It wasn't as if what she had done had been entirely deliberate or selfish. Sure, it might perhaps look like it, if one didn't bother to scratch the surface at all, her using him just to get back at Dominic like that, but Rio understood that it wasn't quite that simple. An impulse was an impulse, a split second decision to do something you might never ever do if giving the matter just a single second's more thought. He didn't hold it against her, and he seriously doubted that Brad would either, if told about it.

"It's okay", he said, "we all do rash things when we're emotional. It's human nature. And Dominic does deserve to get a taste of his own medicine."

Pausing only for a second, Rio then looked at Lara with another softly affectionate smile curving his lips.

"But you're better than that", he added. "You're sweet and caring, and you don't have an evil bone in your body. And he's a complete *ss for doing this to you. But, that said, I do still think he loves you. I've seen him with you, and you with him. You guys love each other, for real."

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1351/larabanner.jpg


"You're sweet and caring, and you don't have an evil bone in your body. And he's a complete *ss for doing this to you. But, that said, I do still think he loves you. I've seen him with you, and you with him. You guys love each other, for real."


“...I do still think he loves you...”


“...You guys love each other, for real...”



Having ventured another tiny but heartfelt smile in the wake of Rio's initial reply, Lara's eyes glazed over with inner thought as he elaborated further, his words echoing inside her mind for moments to come. It could have been mistaken for common platitudes, but she knew her friend was being honest when he claimed he still believed in the love between Lara and Dominic, the same love she had come to doubt. There was no point in denying one side of that claim: she loved Dominic, plain and simple. And...as fearful she felt to admit it, even within the privacy of her own thoughts, Lara thought he loved her too. She had only to summon up one of the countless memories she had of them being together, either entwined between the sheets or cuddling at the end of a night's partying or simply the look on his face when he told her he loved her. She couldn't believe all that was faked, nor could she imagine someone as exuberant as Dominic staying in a six year relationship with a woman he did not care for. After all, it wasn't as though he couldn't get someone else; if anything, his affairs proved as much. Had he simply settled then, because it was safe and convenient? It pained Lara to think that but once more, she was reminded of the fact that their relationship had never lost its spark, its intensity...their chemistry was intact. So, what was there to do? Lara felt torn, but at the same time she was reaching a conclusion.

For once, she would not settle. She would not become one of those women resigned to their partners' infidelity because “he always comes home to them”. It wouldn't be fair to anyone, least of all if a child was on the way. But...she also didn't want to give up on her relationship with Nicky, not after all they'd been through over the years, all the predictions they'd proven wrong and the effort it had taken them both to keep in touch while Dominic was on tour...and now if the pregnancy was confirmed, they would be facing something greater than all of them: a baby. Lara could scarcely imagine it, she and Nicky as parents, but there it was. She couldn't turn her back on all of that, not without trying again. They undoubtedly had issues, and nothing could erase what Dominic had done but as human beings, they had the ability to change, realize their mistakes and do things better the second time around. Lara believed in it.

Realizing she had been quiet for a long time as she pondered everything, Lara glanced at Rio with a mixture of apprehension, hope and underlying decisiveness:

“Thank you, Rio”, she told him and squeezed his hand. “It matters more than you know, putting up with my wacky self and helping me through all of this. I think...I know what to do. Yes. I will talk to Dominic, and if it turns out we both still want the same thing out of this relationship...I'm willing to work on it.”

Having said that, Lara fished out her phone, which she'd turned off after leaving DEM's tourbus, and reached for the On button.

[WLK360]

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9404/blakelivelybanner4.jpg

“You're his sister, right? Friend with benefits is too obvious, and secret girlfriend too much of a cliché, sooo...that leaves the sister theory. Or cousin, or something along those lines.”

Kendra goggled at Lavinia. “Wow, I knew ya’ll were good musicians, but good actors too? That’s crazy!” She said. “I could’ve sworn you had no idea who I was.” She couldn’t help but wonder how Lavinia and Dominic had acted like they had no idea. Figures Asher told them something right? But what exactly did he tell them…? As siblings Asher and Kendra did love each other, and they were closest to each other when compared to their brothers. But simply because of the distance, and the fact that they both had busy lives, they had let their friendship dissolve. Nothing bad had happened, there were no hard feelings between them but Kendra figured it would be a little awkward to talk to him in person again. He must have told them at least a little about his family.

Kendra nodded enthusiastically. “Yup! I’m Asher’s little sister. Kendra Kingsley.” She smiled at the both of them, then remembered Daniel’s question.

She was surprised when he asked a question, and realized by his tone of voice that he must be nervous or something. He had been quietly watching them and she had almost forgot he was there. Daniel was definitely the guy a few tents down from her and Victoria and she hoped maybe he hadn’t recognized her. She was embarrassed that she had practically stared at him for minutes on end. Well, he was Hot. Really hot.

She answered his question with a sweet smile. “He sure is! We were all born here, Asher, me, and our brothers. Asher wanted to live up north to be with his friends though. He’s probably lost the accent by now, right?” She asked, looking at Lavinia since she seemed closer to her band mates then Danny.

((Atropa, thats fine, so sorry I've been so busy lately, hope this works for all or you. I haven't RPed Kendra in a while, so its taken me a bit to get back into swing.))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner1_ByAtropa.jpg


With Lavinia, Daniel and Kendra having left the tour bus, there was only one thing left to occupy Dominic's mind; he had to find Lara. Hitting "call" on the number he'd just thumbed his way through his contact list to find, he pressed the cell phone to his ear, and listened intently in the hopes that the signals would start sounding in his ear, followed by Lara's voice. He got to hear neither. Not a single tone went through; instead, it cut directly to Lara's voice mail, informing him that the number couldn't be reached at the moment, and that he was welcome to leave a message.

Cursing to himself, but loudly, Dominic hung up, and paced a few steps through the narrow aisle of the bus, but ended up hitting re-dial only seconds later, partly in the hopes that the previous failure would just be a temporary thing, and that the signals would now go through, and partly with the intention of leaving a message. As it turned out, of the two, it was to be the latter, since it went directly to Lara's voice mail this time as well.

"Lara... Baby, please pick up", he started desperately at the tone, as though thinking he was leaving a message on an answering machine, and she was somehow screening her calls. "I love you, you know that. Don't do this. Please talk to me. Please? You can't just... I love you. I'm a jerk, but I love you, so much. Please come back."

It wasn't to be the only message. Ten minutes straight of incessantly calling her yielded two more, of a nature much like the first, before he temporarily gave up on reaching her over the phone, and left the tour bus with the determined intention of plain finding her in person instead. He had no idea whatsoever where she might have gone, and with everything that had happened, he had forgotten completely to ask Danny if he and Lara had been planning on camping with the other visitors - and if so; where, more exactly - or if they had made other arrangements or something. All such things considered, the fact was that Dominic stood very little chance of ever finding his beloved girlfriend among the many thousand people milling about the various area of the festival. For all he knew, she could have even headed home! But he didn't care. He had to find her, and talk things out with her. With the manner in which she had left him, he didn't know whether she just needed some time to herself, or if she had downright broken up with him. After cuffing him to the bed, she hadn't exactly stuck around to explain where she stood, and her "I can't!" could have meant practically anything! That she couldn't have sex with him then and there, that she couldn't talk about it then and there, or that despite accepting his proposal a few minutes earlier, she couldn't marry him. Dominic didn't know which it was, and it drove him up the wall. It drove him into wandering aimlessly around the backstage area, and a part of the open general area as well, in hopeless search of her.

Ultimately, he was forced to give up. Despite his level of desperation, his common sense eventually did manage to catch up with him, and make him realize that he didn't stand a chance of finding Lara like this. That his best bet of getting in touch with her, was to return to the tour bus, and wait for her to hopefully return as well, or at the very least return the calls that he was still making every ten minutes or so, to no avail. Though for Dominic de Vere, simply waiting, with little else to do, was far easier said than done. Especially when he was worried and restless, far too agitated to find something to help him pass the time for more than five minutes. He watched TV, he texted a friend, he played a video game, he strummed a bit on his guitar, he watched some more TV, and he did what was probably one of the worst things he could do, when already agitated and on edge; he did another line of cocaine. Not because he was in party mode, which was usually the case when he took a hit, but simply because he had it and needed to keep himself occupied doing something, no matter what it was. Although, to be perfectly honest, there probably was a part of him, and a large one too, that hoped that it would make him feel better. Cocaine didn't just make him alert and energetic, it usually also put him in a good, carefree mood. Usually. Tonight was different, because all that happened was that he got even more restless, to the point where he finally just gave up trying to do something to keep himself occupied, and instead dropped himself down onto his bunk bed again, to wait for the high to wear off.

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/9529/laviniabanner3.jpg


"Is he from the south?"

Hearing Danny's question, Lavinia chuckled briefly under her breath. Yes, one couldn't have told simply by looking at him, or listening to his deep, haunting vocals, but ol' Asher was a regular cornfed Southern boy. Which, of course, had partly been behind Lavinia's question in the first place, finding the actual possibility that Kendra could be his sister amusing, if unlikely. Or so Lavinia thought. Her accent may have placed her in the same area Asher had his roots, but the similarities stopped there.

Before she could deliver an answer though, Kendra turned to her wearing an expression of wide, almost child-like amazement and proceeded to exclaim:

“Wow, I knew ya’ll were good musicians, but good actors too? That’s crazy! I could’ve sworn you had no idea who I was.”

Rendered momentarily nonplussed, Lavinia curved a brow at the blonde: did she sense sarcasm? There wasn't even a trace of it on Kendra's features however, who nodded with genuine enthusiasm and added:

“Yup! I’m Asher’s little sister. Kendra Kingsley.”

Lavinia stared her with cheerful disbelief: talk about wild guesses and crazy odds! She resolved to have a heart-to-heart with Asher one of those days, because it was becoming painfully obvious she hardly knew him at all! Meanwhile, Kendra was speaking to Danny:

“He sure is! We were all born here, Asher, me, and our brothers. Asher wanted to live up north to be with his friends though. He’s probably lost the accent by now, right?”

He had brothers too? Damn. It was a strange feeling, to have known someone for years, worked and lived in close quarters with them a good portion of that time only to later realize there was much about them you didn't know at all. Even more, to not have paid particular mind to it either; in hindsight, Lavinia had always assumed Asher didn't talk about his past because there wasn't much to talk about, but now she wondered whether he had additional reasons for not telling them about his family, at least. All the others had exchanged the obligatory childhood anecdotes and background stories...She didn't dwell on it too much at the moment, and instead aimed a crooked grin at Kendra:

“Yeah, though the more he drinks, the more it comes back. It's funny to see.”

A faraway look came briefly in Lavinia's eyes at the memory of the number of times the rest of the band – Dominic especially – had teased Asher about it.

“And believe or not, it totally was a wild guess; I had no idea he had a sister. Or brothers for that matter. Weird, huh? I wonder what other deep dark secrets he's keeping from us.”


-------------------------------------------------------------
((Hope it works for everyone involved!))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


It really wasn't any of Rio's business, to involve himself in Lara's and Dominic's relationship, and possibly sway her in any direction, no matter how close he and Lara were as friends, and no matter how honest he was about his opinion. He knew that. In an ideal situation, Lara should be allowed to reach a decision by herself, without anyone interfering and tainting her perception with their own, but he just couldn't help himself. He did think Dominic was a grade A bastard for cheating on her, and she had every right to dump his *ss without another moment's thought. He doubted that he himself would have stayed with Brad, should he ever find out that Brad had been with someone else behind his back. But, much like he'd told Lara, he had seen her and Dominic together. He had witnessed first hand the way they interacted with one another, seeming so close and intimate on so many levels, and he had seen how Dominic would so often appear downright unable to keep his hands off her. Not just in the sexual sense, as a way of copping a feel whenever he got the chance, but first and foremost in the affectionate one, of holding hands, of nuzzling her neck to draw in her scent, or sharing the occasional simple and brief kiss in a candid and genuine display of tenderness. Whatever his reasons for cheating on her, Rio did believe that Dominic still loved Lara, and he did believe that she needed to hear it. For her own sake, not for the sake of her and Dominic getting back together. Right now, she was doubting their six years together, Rio could see it in her eyes, and she needed to know that what she had seen in that relationship wasn't just all in her head; that others had seen it too. That she was neither blind nor stupid for believing in the love she had for her high school sweetheart. Rio truly didn't want to interfere, but when he saw that doubt and confusion in her eyes, he couldn't help but to do just that.

It would seem it was the right thing to do. For a moment, Lara's eyes glazed over, as though she'd drifted off into deep thought to contemplate and weigh her options in her mind, before her gaze once again gained focus. And even though her pretty features were still laced with a bit of disquiet as she looked at him, there was no denying the determination and conviction he saw therein as well, of someone who had just decided what course of action they would take, but were uncertain and hesitant in the face of the possible outcome.

"Thank you, Rio", she said as she gave his hand a quick squeeze to further signal her gratitude for what she then went on to elaborate on; "It matters more than you know, putting up with my wacky self and helping me through all of this. I think... I know what to do. Yes. I will talk to Dominic, and if it turns out we both still want the same thing out of this relationship... I'm willing to work on it."

That was all a statement that saw Rio draw an inward sigh of relief: Good. She was upset and emotional still, but she had taken what he had said with sound reason and rationality, rather than either rejecting all that he had said, or doing the opposite, and grabbing onto it like a drowning person would a lifeline, to close her eyes to the problems, pretend they didn't exist, and hope that they were solved all by themselves. From being rash enough to kiss him on an impulse just a minute ago, she had now gone to being sensible, level-headed, and mature. She didn't abruptly and dramatically sever all ties to the person she loved, nor did she stick her head in the sand either. She was taking the bull by the horns, and Rio admired her for that. She was looking at the situation soberly and with open eyes, and didn't seem like she would be willing to just look the other way. Because she shouldn't. Some girls would have done it in a heartbeat, to stay with someone like Dominic - a young, sexy rock star on the rise - but Lara was far from that shallow, she had far more integrity, and she was far more than just some groupie. She was the girl who had stood by Dominic's side long before he was ever famous, and the one that had sacrificed so much to support him and be there for him when his career had started taking off, and taken him long distances away from her. If anyone should be clinging to anyone, it was Dominic to Lara.

Ironically, that seemed to be the very same moment that fate decided to prove that Dominic realized it as well, because when Lara then reached for her cell phone and turned it back on, it wasn't many seconds before they heard the endless stream of beeps as messages kept pouring in, informing her of missed calls and voice messages received. Looking down at the device, and then glancing up at her face, Rio couldn't help but to give a faint, lopsided smile.

"Seems he's pretty desperate to talk to you", he said, assuming that most if not all of the messages were from Dominic.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DanielBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


"Wow, I knew ya'll were good musicians, but good actors too? That's crazy! I could've sworn you had no idea who I was. Yup! I'm Asher's little sister. Kendra Kingsley."

'Oh boy...'. Following Kendra's minor but pretty darned enthusiastic monologue, that was the first thing to go through Daniel's head, as he stood simply looking at her, almost as though something had just swooshed by him at lightening speed and he stood wondering just what had happened. Talk about a veritable whirlwind. And talk about doing a 180! When first Kendra had opened her mouth in the tour bus a few minutes ago, she had seemed rather shy, only to then turn sassy and confident in a heartbeat, matching the provocative boldness with which she had been greeted, and then followed it all up with the hearty and vigorous harangue just now. Now there was someone that just might give Dominic a run for his money, should they ever compete over who was the most exuberant one.

Not that Daniel minded the vivacity - as Dominic's younger brother, he'd grown quite used to such behaviour by now - it was just that it had come a bit unexpected to him, and taken him by surprise. In fact, despite his own calm and withdrawn self, he found it rather envigorating, and downright entertaining. In a nice way. And it didn't exactly hurt that the one making herself the center of attention was a vibrantly pretty girl either, even though it didn't do much to cure the young man's shyness, and draw him out of his shell. On the contrary; he could feel his timidity paint his cheeks a faint shade of red at the amiable smile she shot him when turning to him to answer his question;

"He sure is!", she said. "We were all born here, Asher, me, and our brothers. Asher wanted to live up north to be with his friends though. He's probably lost the accent by now, right?"

Thankfully, she ended up turning her attention to Lavinia, who for obvious reasons would be the one to ask, and thus spared Daniel from having to try and think of an answer that consisted of more than an awkward "uhm...".

"Yeah", the dark-haired vixen replied, "though the more he drinks, the more it comes back. It's funny to see. And believe or not, it totally was a wild guess; I had no idea he had a sister. Or brothers for that matter. Weird, huh? I wonder what other deep dark secrets he's keeping from us."

Well, Daniel would hardly call Kendra dark - at least not judging by what little he had seen so far - but he did have to agree; it was rather odd for members of a band that worked so closely together for such long periods of time, to not know more about each other's background than was apparently the case here. But then again, as still remained a very vital fact, was that Daniel didn't know Asher, or any of the others except Dominic really, and so what did he know about how tight they were, really?

However, unfamiliar with the band's dynamics on a personal level or not, it didn't stop Lavinia's comment from partly tapping back into Daniel's somewhat more mischievous side and lure it back out, and so it was with a bit of a smirk that he couldn't help but to comment himself, and give his darling brother yet another gibe;

"Knowing how big Nicky's mouth is", he said, "who can blame him?"

[sparky4424]

1. Name: Softia Diomante
2. Age: 21
3. Type of visitor (artist/groupie/staff etc): groupie
4. Occupation: A current Graphic designer
5. Bio: Sofia, the girl of a single father, Never really had much of a childhood. she grew up quick, maturity wise, and just never seemed to really want to be a little girl. in her line of life, her father raised her a bit more of a friend then a daughter. meaning, the relationship never really bloomed between the two. Like her father, She grew up with a mellow personality. Sarcastic and a bit of an odd ball, she was armed with the power to piss others off and she never let the power leave her side. Day in and Day out, she'd be sent home from school for, 'talking back'. she found it interesting how the littlest words could anger a person. She mastered the talent, widening her abilities of social destruction even more.

Her Mature mind wasnt ALL because her father didnt know how to take care of a child. Her mind was much faster in learning then most other kids. while they were getting into fights, or whining about how they cant have something, She was already developing the much needed 'reasoning' part of her brain. Most doctors thought she was mentally ill due to her lack in childlike actions and she was held back in school a bit before the real reason of her actions unfolded. She had Dexlexia and ADHA. With the two together, it created the illusion that she didnt know the answer to most questions, when infact, she just didnt want to be made fun of for her mistakes, so she didnt try.
when she actually applied herself, she was able to get most of it right, meaning she wasnt mentally lacking in anything. if anything, she was a genius that simply could not tell the difference betweeen a D and B.

Later in life, around the age 14, she Had gained much knowledge and had decided in her own mind that she was ready to tackle the next challange. Love. her first attempt, her best friend, was a failure if not worse. while he wanted to get serious, Sofia Simply didnt have the feelings to alow the relationship to continue. So, she ended it the moment she felt she was getting in it too deep.

Then, hope came along for her dream of the normal teenage life. Rachel, a close friend of hers, introduced her to a young man, only 8 days younger. dustin Aaron Henderson was his name. Though she could not totally see his face among the moon light, she hed decided that he was greatly attractive, and funny as well. he had brown ear length hair and a lip ring that matched hers from back in the day. the months past and seem they had become a couple. the more days past, the harder she fall for him. then they became serious and decided it was time for the next step in the relationship. though her mind was more advanced then others, even she fell victem to teenage love. and after giving up herself to dustin, she also fell victem to a possessive and controling relationship.

Though she doesnt like to talke about it now, he was hurtful. day in and day out, she was scared. she avoided eye contect with her friends and tired not to be caught laughing with them by the demon she had created. Then finally, the day came where he actually laid a hand on her. the one thing Sofia DID NOT alow. She teamed up with his mother and permitted him to a mental hospital to take care of his issues. but that didnt help. the moment he was out, the same thing happened. She, lost of hope, gave up. and decided she loved Dustin to much to let him go.

After a year of the horror, he left her. Letting her sulk and suffer in the pain of her losses. using logical reasoning, she was able to encourage herself to try love again, but it wasnt the same. As a result of Dustin, she became more harsh, and a hater towards the L word.

Though she became harsh, shes actually a very understanding young women now who actually does listen, just doesn't want anyone KNOWING she does. She can bring the mood of another up, while also insulting them, and Be mellow while also partying. As a non-social female of a hard workers class, she takes the cake in Odd behaviors. Shes a Tomboy, plain and simple. she never lets words of a simply man get the best of her. from playing in the mud, to daring stunts, as a child, she only followed what the big boys did to prove she was more then a simply girl. but now that shes matured, she only plays in the mud when shes in a good mood. While her personality may be rather dull, Her mind and body seemed to really light up with the mention of Art. just one word of it, and her mouth explodes with intellect on the matter and with inspiration she clearly has taken from it. Unlike most growing up, she was an artist. A horrible one back then, but she improved her skills a great deal by doing nothing of interest besides doodles and little color pictures. Now she works with digital pads, making works of art from her computer in minutes at a time. Some simply, others more complexed, she had earned her job. In her line of work, she has made logo's for many bands and such. which is why she travels to many concerts and festival's alike the one shes currently on her way too now. She hopes of scoring a deal that could possibly open a new door in her career.

((hope this small edit is okay! my friend read it and said she needed some conflict with herself so i decided to give her more of a backstory.))

6: Picture:
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s171/lexie_ladybug_94/sofia.jpg?t=1295965365
7. Anything else you'd like to add: she has layered long black hair and hazel eyes and enjoys music, another reason shes always traveling. Both ears contain about 3 holes, along with one in her noes and a healing hold in her top lip which she decided she no longer wanted. Ironically, dustin is now a Guitar player. but thats all she knows about him.

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: Registered him at the new board, but figured I'll add him here as well.)))

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/Reese1.jpg

1. Name: Reese Lovera

2. Age: 26

3. Type of visitor: Artist

4. Occupation: Lead singer/guitarist in Icarus.

5. Biography:

For the past couple of years, Reese has spent a lot of time soul searching, to try and figure out why things happened the way they did. He didn't have a particularly bad upbringing, he wasn't at war with the world or with his parents any more than the average kid, nor were his parents at war with each other, and aside from the occasional and pretty much mandatory siblings tiff, he didn't hate his sister. They were all a normal family, living an ordinary suburban life in the outskirts of New York City. So why then did things all of a sudden take a turn for the worse, leading Reese down a path of drug addiction, promiscuity and general assholery? That is what he has spent a lot of the past couple of years trying to understand. He's tried to figure out why by the age seventeen, he was almost kicked out of school, why by the age of twenty, he was mercilessly hooked on heroin, and why by the age of twenty two, he was suddenly married to a young woman whom he only later discovered he barely even knew. He's delved into the dark issues surrounding the loss of some really good friends, and the making of some really, really bad ones, as well as the alienation between him and his family, which when he was at his worst was rather far gone, but now is in recession.

The answer isn't an easy one to find. No matter the variety of angles he's tried to take, there is no clear-cut explanation, no one exact moment in time that he can point at and say "this is where it all went wrong". Factors and circumstances, and many of them, in one great mix; that's the reason he has found, for why his life's turned out the way it has. Just like with everyone else. A couple of factors were how as a teenager, he was much like his peers, struggling with his image, his confidence and his self-perception, and how he didn't feel like there was anything that he was truly good at. Like so many other teenagers, he wanted to stand out, at least a little bit, and be an individual. He just didn't know how. Added to that, and working only to intensify that feeling, was the fact that he felt that his sister managed to excel at a few things, and thus was better than him. Which, as a brother who truly loved his sister, he didn't exactly begrudge her, but which didn't exactly work wonders for his confidence.

Enter circumstance. It might have all continued down that road, and Reese might have grown up to be just like the average Joe, had it not been for circumstance, and how it placed Robbie in his path, to click with the already existing factors. Robbie, the cool kid moved from downtown New York to Reese's school, where he befriended Reese, and came to be what many would label "a bad influence" on the young man. The two started hanging out together, and it wasn't long before Robbie introduced Reese to his old friends in New York, and they became Reese's friends as well. It was in their company that he soon found two things that he was fairly good at; music, and being bad.

The first came about when in their mutual desire to be somebody, the boys decided to start a rock band, with Robbie on vocals and Reese on guitar. He had taken a couple of lessons in school, but it wasn't until now that the interest awoke. Once that happened, he turned out to be a fast learner, and before long, the quartet calling themselves Weak Anarchy had their first couple of noisy excuses for songs penned.

As for being bad; it kind of came with the territory. Rock stars weren't mama's boys and they knew how to party hard. Everyone knew that. And it wasn't as though Reese didn't already have a little bit of a head start since having befriended Robbie, with cutting classes, smoking behind the school and mouthing off to teachers being frequent elements in his teenaged everyday life, not to mention the occasional testing of drugs. Although at that point, it was far from a daily or even weekly occurence, but rather something they did for special occasions.

However, the thing with special occasions, is that they are so very easy to find, especially if you're looking for them. Thus, the downward spiral slowly began. Weak Anarchy didn't last too long of course, and Reese soon went on to play with other people in other bands, always hoping to make it big, while struggling to hold down the various jobs he tried his hand at, and often was fired from due to his unreliability and bad attitude. The only thing that seemed to remain a constant in that everchanging world, was the penchant for drugs. Heroin especially, which eventually came to be his main drug.

Somewhere along the way, he met the guys with whom he formed his current band, Icarus. James and Brody he came to know through acquaintances in the music scene, and Sebastian was chosen to be their drummer after they'd put up ads all over the clubs they frequented, and held auditions for the handful of hopefuls that called. The four of them just clicked really well, with them having several major influences in common, and enjoying playing the same kind of music. They were all going in the same creative direction, and thus, after a few jamming sessions, Icarus was born. The material started pouring out of them, and while a record deal was conspicuous by it's absence, they did land frequent gigs at local clubs, and even went on a small tour covering the east coast, during which they discovered that although unsigned and labelled C-list at best, they had a small gathering of faithful fans. And groupies.

Once again, factors and circumstances that on their own were fairly harmless, together made for a toxic mix. Deep down, Reese was always a decent guy, who strived to be considerate and nice to the people whose paths he crossed. But, as was still the case, he wasn't one-of-a-kind. The treacherous nature of drugs has been known to corrupt the considerate and the nice quite easily, and Reese was no exception. As the addict that he was, Reese Lovera cared only about Reese Lovera, and many were the ones who found that out the hard way. Family, friends, lovers; they were all burned by the roaring flames of his self-indulgence. The only reason why the band still functioned, was because the other guys had their vices too, and the only reason why Reese's marriage to Alannah lasted for just over two years, and even happened at all in the first place, was because they shared not love, not affection, not even friendship, but addiction.

The turning point came when Robbie, with whom Reese was still close friends despite no longer playing together, died of an overdose. It was a fistful of reality punching Reese in the face, that he couldn't ignore, and although he went on a serious binge up until the funeral, and was still high when attending it, the haze of the heroin didn't protect him from seeing the grief of Robbie's family and loved ones, nor the glares they sent Reese's way. It didn't block out the shame he felt under their scrutinizing and judgemental eyes, or the way that it made him into a coward that slunk away as soon as the ceremony was over.

Aged twenty four, Reese decided to quit, and become clean. He tried to do it on his own at first, but after a couple of relapses, he finally took the bull by the horns, and admitted to himself that he needed professional help, in the form of rehab. That was almost two years ago, and he has been clean since. He and Alannah are now divorced, since getting clean woke him up to the fact that the only thing the two of them ever had in common was the heroin, and he has instead focused on his career for real. Icarus were finally signed to a record label, much thanks to Reese's appearance on a popular TV show (see Additional Info), and released their first album about a year ago.


6. Picture:

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/Reese2.jpg


7. Additional info:

Has several piercings; ring in his left nostril, ring in his bottom lip (centered), studs through both nipples, and several rings in his right ear.

Also has many, many tattoos; full sleeve on both his left (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1280/1095074704_357bd2d648.jpg) and right (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2184/2097446251_a2e70b9ce5_b.jpg) arm, consisting mostly of skulls, angels and demons. The one on the right arm spreads onto the upper right part of his chest in the form of tangled thorns. Also has a Vargas style Bettie Page portrait (http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/5300000/Bettie-pin-up-girls-5378357-334-450.jpg) and a piece of H.R. Giger's work (http://i2.squidoocdn.com/resize/squidoo_images/-1/draft_lens1298488module13225592photo_1230586949giger_futurekill.jpg) on his left lower arm. After rehab, he got "Ad Vitem" (latin phrase, means "For life") tattooed across his abdomen.
All tattoos are done in black and white.

Got involved with Emily Moore at one point during his addict days, and who ended up being one of the many people whom he treated badly.

Due to his inability to hold down a regular job, he's had about a dozen of them. Among other things, he's worked as a busboy, a gas station attendant, a roadie, dishwasher, meat packer, in a record store, at a car wash, as an assembly line worker, and as an order clerk.

Shortly after leaving rehab, Reese applied for the TV show "Suvivor", and was chosen to participate. He had only been clean on his own for a couple of months, and saw this as the perfect way of ensuring that he stayed that way, since it would be impossible to score drugs on a desert island, and also figured it would be a good way of finding himself and his strengths. It was a way for him to challenge himself and grow as a person, without the risk of relapsing, even if he got the craving for drugs. It was catharsis, in a way. Once on the show, he was first perceived as a bad boy and wannabe tough guy, due to his appearance, but eventually turned out to be the huggy bear of the group, that got along with most everyone. He ended up being among the final 4 or 5, and didn't play the mind games others did, but got as far as he did because he was well liked among the others, and known for being honest and upfront, even about his sordid past.

His appearance on "Survivor" ended up paving way for his band Icarus to finally be signed by a record label, as it turned out that one of the show's viewers was a producer in the music industry, who liked what he heard when on the show, Reese played one of the band's songs to his team mates. Thus, about a year ago, after that episode had airead, Reese and his band mates were contacted by the label, signed, and now have their first album out, which, again due to Reese's appearance on the TV show, has gotten quite a bit of publicity.

Icarus' first single and first hit was a rock cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", which, although a bit softer and slower than their regular material, still reflected their rock-with-just-a-pinch-of-sleaze roots.


Icarus lineup:
Reese Lovera - lead vocals, guitar
James Bartel - guitar
Brody Conrad - bass
Sebastian Decker - drums


Questionnaire:

Name: Reese Lovera
Nickname: Butter cup (As in Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Yeah, someday, I'll kill James for that one...)
Instrument: Guitar and vocals.
Previous bands: Weak Anarchy, among others.
Siblings: A sister.
Food of choice: Rattle snake. No, seriously. There's this cajun place in New Orleans that has it on the menu, and I just had to try it.
Drink of choice: Beer, or Evian.
Weapon of choice: Sling shot.
Accessory of choice: Piercings. Can't you tell?
Movie of choice: I love the easy-going action movies of the 80's, like Raiders of the Lost Ark, or at least with the 80's action movie feel, like The Mummy.
Most inspirational artist (musician or not): Bettie Page.
Never goes on stage without: I'd feel kinda naked without my guitar.
Lucky charm: Don't really have one.
Preferred time of day and why: The morning, probably (or rather, whatever time it is shortly after I wake up :p )
If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why: My buddy Chris. He always has my back.
Personal quote: Me, quotable? Ha! Can I plead the fifth?


(((ooc: The roles as Reese's ex-wife Alannah, his sister, and all of his band mates are available, should anyone like to roleplay a character with already partly existing connections and backstory.)))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1351/larabanner.jpg


"Seems he's pretty desperate to talk to you" , Rio said.

Holding the phone tightly to one ear, Lara smiled briefly, distractedly, as she tried to make sense of the jumble of messages that burst forth from her voicemail the moment she accessed it. Time and time again, Nicky's familiar voice echoed inside her head, laced with frustration, even desperation, pleading for her return:

“I love you...I need to see you...” he basically said, over and over. “Come back.”

By the time she had listened to all of them and read the rest, Lara lost count of how many messages Dominic had sent, but the final one had ended with the invitation to come find him at the tourbus, if she decided she wanted to talk. Slowly, she lowered her arm, that faraway look from before welling into her eyes once more as she immersed herself in thought: someone must have found him and released him, if he was able to call and text her, which could only mean another DEM member. Briefly, very briefly, Lara's inner vision summoned up the image of Lavinia Sinclair and her heart twitched with fear and jealousy. Though, even if the rumours were true...what difference did it make, considering? No...Lara couldn't deny there was a difference, when the woman in question saw more of Dominic than she did, lived and worked with him, and on top of it all was undeniably more like him than she was. Lara inhaled deeply, summoning up her calm, forcing her mind out of that vicious cycle and back onto the path of decisiveness. She would first talk to Dominic just like she'd said she would; there was no point agonizing about it until she did.

“Yeah...seems that way,” she said at length and pocketed her phone, then leaned forward to give Rio a quick peck, on the cheek this time. “Well...wish me luck! G'night, Rio, see you tomorrow. And thanks again!”

With a parting wave, Lara was off. It took her a while to retrace her steps back to the VIP parking area, pass in hand, then pick her way through the maze of vehicles and various luggage scattered around the place, but at last with an exhalation of triumph, her gaze fell on Deus Ex Machina's tourbus.

“Nicky?” Lara called out as she opened the door and gave it a knock. “Nicky, it's me.”

There was no answer, but a light shone at the end of the bus where the bunks were located so Lara made a beeline for it, hoping that he was there, and sure enough she could spot a familiar pair of legs dangling off the lowest bunk. Lara surged towards it.

“Nicky, I...”

Like her voice, she halted abruptly as her eyes fell on Dominic's sprawled frame and realized the reason she hadn't reacted to her calls was that he'd fallen asleep. Since her boyfriend could sleep through a bombardment, Lara crouched down to nudge him awake, when suddenly a beam of light bounced off a small, rectangular surface half-wedged underneath the bunk and caught in her eye: a mirror. Lara picked it up, and as she did so she noticed the traces of fine white powder on it, leaving no doubt as to what Nicky had used it for. Lara knew about the cocaine...and had believed him when he'd assured her it was only occasionally, for fun. She set it aside, turned her attention back to her boyfriend who lay absolutely still in his bunk, and this time gave his shoulder a light shake.

“Dominic...Dominic, wake up.”

Nothing, not even a flinch. With a vague sense of unease she could not quite place, Lara shook him again, more forcefully this time, scanning his appearance for the source of her rising disquiet. There was something...and then, she saw it. Her arm went slack, her eyes round and unblinking, focused on Dominic's chest. It didn't seem to be moving. In sudden alarm she fell to her knees to inspect him: she first brought her ear close to his face to listen for signs of breathing, then held a palm under his nose, without finding any indication that air was going in or out of his lungs. He wasn't breathing; oh god he wasn't breathing!! Lara felt as though the contents of her stomach had suddenly vanished, leaving behind an icy pit that matched the cold creeping into her throbbing heart, drowning out her consciousness.

“Dominic!” Lara shrieked, taking hold of both of Dominic's shoulders and shaking him with all her strength. “Wake up! Please, Nicky, please, wake up!!”

[WLK360]

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9404/blakelivelybanner4.jpg

“Yeah, though the more he drinks, the more it comes back. It's funny to see.”

Lavinia said with a twisted smile. Kendra was kind of relieved that Lavinia was taking this so well. In all honesty she didn't know what she had expected, but it definitely wasn't this cheerful of a reaction. Kendra wasn't about to do anything to change that though so she just gave a nervous smile. To her it was funny that Lavinia would point that out. Kendra imagined it would be a funny sight, but it also reminded herself of her own problem. She also went pretty crazy when she drank and quickly too. Some of her best, and worst, memories of time spent with her brother where when one or both of them were drunk. Lavina looked like she was thinking of some good memories just like Kendra, but she continued.

“And believe or not, it totally was a wild guess; I had no idea he had a sister. Or brothers for that matter. Weird, huh? I wonder what other deep dark secrets he's keeping from us.”

Kendra had been genuinely surprised that Asher hadn't told them anything. She felt a chill go down her spine. Does he ha-dislike us so much that he wouldn't even tell them about me? She was disappointed that Asher was probably ashamed about his family...or well something similar. She couldn't help but feel like it was her fault. She was a terrible sister, especially for losing contact with him these last years. Her heart ached to see him again and for the first time in a long time she realized that she really missed him. Kendra was sure her thoughts were showing on her face so she decided to just give a small smile, even though it wasn't really sincere any more. She laughed on the inside at Daniel's blush, it was unfair that one person could be so cute! At an event full of people trying to stand out, it was nice to see some one being them self. Even if they were ridiculously shy. However Daniel's face soon split in an unforeseen smirk.

"Knowing how big Nicky's mouth is", he said, "who can blame him?"

Kendra couldn't hep but honestly smile at Daniels enthusiasm. She hoped he was just trying to match her previous mood, that would be a good sign. She chuckled. "So you call Dominic 'Nicky'? That's pretty funny." She could see the clump of people around the food stands in the distance now. Finally, she was getting seriously hungry. "Apparently Asher may have more 'deep, dark secrets' then I thought, If he didn't even tell you about me." She gave a small smirk. "So what has he told you then?"

[sparky4424]

((forgive my lack in knowledge here, but i'm not exactly sure out to start this out. lol)

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: sparky - Basically, you just jump right in. When people post, they will often add an ooc at the end of their posts, saying "Approachable" or "not approachable". However, when already interacting when someone else, they usually will not add that kind of ooc, but that doesn't mean they're not open to having someone else join in. It is, however, considered good form to ask either in the thread or through PMs first, if it'd be alright to have one's character join two or more that are already interacting. Right now, the only active characters are Dominic, Lara, Lavinia, Daniel, Kendra and Rio, and of all those, the only one who's on their own, is Rio. All the others are already interacting with one another. Dominic and Lara in Deus Ex Machina's tour bus (which me and Ghani are aiming to keep a private talk between the two of them), and Lavinia, Kendra and Daniel near a food stand. I don't think we have a specific plan for those, so they are probably open to a fourth part (correct me if I'm wrong though, guys). And then, like I said, there's also Rio, who just parted ways with Lara on the camping grounds, and who thus is available. Do keep in mind though that we will be progressing to the next in-game day in a couple of weeks, probably, and so it might be a bad time to get into anything all too deep or extensive. :) )))

[WLK360]

((ooc: I have no problem with someone else joining in.))

[sparky4424]

((Alright i think i get the most part :) i believe i'm going to have Sofia approach Rio due to the fact she'd JUST be arriving and may be a bit confused on the different structure of the place then what shes use to.. hope thats okay! would you mind pming me with an explanation about the whole 'occ' thing? that sorta confuses me a bit..))

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: Registered this one too at the new board, so figured I'd add him here as well.)))

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/Asher1.jpg

1. Name: Asher 'the King' Kingsley

2. Age: 24

3. Type of visitor: Artist

4. Occupation: Lead singer/rhythm guitarist in Deus Ex Machina.

5. Biography:

In many ways, Asher Nathaniel Kingsley is a bit of a paradox. A loner, that craves the attention and approval of others. A young man who simply loves to talk about himself, but not of his family or of his past.

Born the second child of six, Asher suffered the middle child syndrome. Never the oldest, and only ever so briefly the youngest, while still far too young to even grasp the concept, Asher tended to get a little lost among his siblings. He wasn't the leader, the one to do things first, and push the boundaries, and never was he the one that needed to be looked after and protected by his big brother. Consequently, he grew up feeling left out, and like many other children battling the feeling of alienation and not being seen, ended up acting out. As the causes of his perceived alienation and neglect, his anger turned towards his siblings, his younger sister Kendra in particular, for being the family's gem, since she was the only girl, the one who was always protected and, as seen by Asher's subjective eyes, favored above the rest. It wasn't until years later that he understood that for her own reasons, Kendra felt the same way he did, and they finally ended up not only reconciling, but actually bonding.

One of the outlets for his feelings, and also a way for him to process them, came to be music and writing lyrics, which over the years grew to be his main way of expressing himself creatively as well. He finally found a place where he felt like he belonged, mattered, and had something to offer, and so as soon as came time for college, he relocated to the northern part of the country - Detroit to be exact - to join up with a couple of friends he'd gotten to know and also worked with musically, over the Internet. By that time, however, Asher had long since gotten over his lack of self-esteem - on the surface - and adopted more of a confident and cool bad boy attitude, with an ego that just kept growing. Mostly because it kept craving to be fed. For a brief period of his late teens, smoking, drinking and doing drugs thus became part of his everyday life - all the cool kids did it, so of course Asher did too; not to become cool, but because he was cool - until about a year down the road, he woke up to the realization of how it had made his family withdraw from him. Even Kendra, who up until then had always seemed to adore him, once he'd stopped bullying her. Thankfully, he never developed an actual drug habit, he was always more of a recreational user, and so stopping required no greater effort on his part. He does, however, still smoke pot every now and then, and he does still drink when there's a party going on, but only rarely does he get drunk off his ass.

As for his move to Detroit; much to his satisfaction, it landed him in a scene with quite a few people he could consider working with, musically. One of them was a guy by the name of Leon Cuthbert, who back then played bass in a band called Crutch. Asher was originally recruited as their rhythm guitarist, but when the singer left the band to pursue other projects, Asher took over that position as well. Though only a few months later, lingering rifts within the band split them up to send them off into various directions. The last Asher heard, the former singer was a computer engineer and had moved to Ohio, and the drummer and the lead guitarist had bought a bar in Los Angeles together, and were playing in an amature 80's rock tribute band. Asher and Leon stuck together as well, and went on to join the band Debbie Does Dallas, though ironically, in a manner of history repeating itself, soon left when a friend of Leon's, Shane Morton, approached the two of them with an offer of teaming up with him and a couple of others, to form a band influenced far more by the goth/rock scene both Asher and Leon were into, than the rest of the members of Debbie Does Dallas. The offer was too tempting to be turned down, and the final constallation of Deus Ex Machina had been formed.


6. Picture:

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/Asher3.jpg


7. Additional info:

Has a star tattoo (http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/AsherTattooStar.jpg) on his lower abdomen, near his left hip, which usually (partially) shows when he's performing, due to his tendency to perform the last part of the shows barechested and wearing low-cut pants.

Also has a bull tattoo with a taurus symbol (http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/AsherTattooTaurus.jpg) on his right shoulder.

Reads a lot, especially while on the road. When not bantering with the other band members, he will spend most travel time on a plane, train or the bus with a book in hand.

Is currently single, although has had a string of flirts and one-night stands, and quite enjoys the attention and company of groupies. Him and Dominic have had an inofficial contest of topping one another where stories of sexual conquests and experience is concerned.


Deus Ex Machina lineup:
Asher 'the King' Kingsley; vocals, rhythm guitar
Dominic 'Veritas' de Vere; lead guitar
Lavinia 'Sanguinette' Sinclair; keyboard
Shane Morton; drums
Leon Cuthbert; bass


Questionnaire:

Name: Asher Kingsley
Nickname: the King, Ash
Instrument: Guitar and vocals.
Previous bands: Visual of Loathing, Crutch, Debbie Does Dallas
Siblings: No thank you.
Food of choice: A spicy, grilled T-bone steak with barbeque sauce.
Drink of choice: Beer
Weapon of choice: Sniper gun. Or butcher knife, for something more intimate.
Accessory of choice: Girls
Movie of choice: Cape Fear, L.A. Confidential
Most inspirational artist (musician or not): David Bowie, and Ronnie James Dio.
Never goes on stage without: Getting paid.
Lucky charm: Silver poison ring on my right hand, in the shape of a black widow spider.
Preferred time of day and why: Night time. I'm slightly insomniac, and tend to do my best writing at such times.
If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why: Depends on the emergency. 911 strikes me as a good idea.
Personal quote: "Hey, I didn't plan on sleeping on the floor. It just happened to be the most comfortable-looking place within a three foot radius."

[sparky4424]

Sofia, with her head hung low in the direction of the colorful paper in her grasp, walked aimlessly though the camping grounds. She had to confess that this was the first BIG thing she had actually applied herself to going to. But that being said, she was Extremely confused and unsure of the whole place and was starting to think coming wasn't such a good idea. Possible lifetime chance for her art, or not. It was proving to be too much of an awkward experience for her to handle.

Gritting her teeth, she chunked the useless paper into a nearby trash can. The only thing it helped her with was finding the camp grounds to set her tent up. She knew all the well, however, to wait and ask around for any certain rules for setting up her area. Since she had been to MANY music event before, she had come to situations where she'd have to pay a fee just to have a ground to sleep on. That said, she was going to have to hawk around and ask for some help. Something she wasnt to good at.

Jumping right to the line, she tapped a male on the shoulder. he had raven hair and seemingly stiff shoulders; meaning he was in thought of something important. She took note of this and continued her question with his back still towards her. "uh- I'm sorta' in the need of some help.." she stuttered. She had always been socially awkward so its no surprise that she'd hate asking for help. It made her feel out of place.

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/9529/laviniabanner3.jpg


One of consequences of being part of a band was a loss of privacy, forcing several people with different personalities and needs to share the same, cramped living quarters sometimes for weeks on end with little relief from each other's company. As convenient and comfortable a tourbus was, compared to being stuck in an airplane seat with nowhere to move to, five people were still going to step on each other's toes sooner or later. Both literally and figuratively. Certain rules of thumb applied to keep the arrangement working in the long run, and one of them was knowing when to back off, and give someone space: few things sparked an argument faster than harassing a person who already felt cagey when the cabin fever was running high, and so it was much wiser to let them be. The members of Deus Ex Machina were no different; over the years they'd studied one another's boundaries, and therefore knew when to push them and when to steer clear.

Subconsciously in his bandmates' minds, Asher Kingsley's past had been established as such a boundary through his repeated avoidance of the topic, and it wasn't until that moment that Lavinia realized why it had never struck her as terribly odd. Had Asher been an all-around withdrawn and secretive guy, she and the others might have started to wonder, dissecting the facts they did know about him and drawing assumptions from his silence, but he was not. Asher had no problem whatsoever talking about himself, as long as it was part of the present and recent past, and people tended to focus on what he did say, rather than what he didn't. Especially people living in the moment and focusing on the future like five young aspiring rockstars did.

Judging by the way Kendra's enthusiasm seemed to wilt right before her eyes, Lavinia guessed the whole thing had come as a bit of an unpleasant surprise. Clearly, Asher had one or more reasons to keep his past under lock and key like that, and in a way Lavinia could relate. There were topics she also avoided if she could help it, one of them being her father. She didn't like thinking about him, she didn't like talking about him, and she definitely didn't like to be made the target of all kinds of sympathetic comments along the lines of “how hard it must be to not have known her father”. No, it really wasn't; her mother had been a strong provider and despite their rather chilly relationship, she'd done a decent job raising her. Then there was the delicate issue of her recently-discovered half-brother which Lavinia was also not particularly eager to shout out to the world.

Then, just as the mood was in serious danger of taking a nosedive, Danny intervened with a light-hearted comment that drew an approving snort from Lavinia:

"Knowing how big Nicky's mouth is, who can blame him?"

Now wasn't that the truth? Lavinia could get her point across that some of the things she shared with Dominic expected him to keep to himself, but she could imagine why especially Asher would be rather more reserved. Still, there had to be more to it than that. Fortunately, Danny's humour seemed to have had an effect on Kendra, who smiled more genuinely this time and even chuckled.

"So you call Dominic 'Nicky'? That's pretty funny." she said, "Apparently Asher may have more 'deep, dark secrets' then I thought, If he didn't even tell you about me. So what has he told you then?"

Lavinia pondered this as they joined a queue leading to one of the food stands; Kendra seemed like a sweet kid, and pretty attached to her big brother, so indeed, why the secrecy?

“Well, we know where he's from obviously, where he went to college, what bands he's been in, stuff like that...Ash isn't exactly the heart-to-heart kinda guy, so beyond that I sort of assumed there wasn't a lot to talk about. My childhood is disappointingly mundane, so I don't bore the guys with it much. Maybe” Lavinia added with a conspiratorial wink “he wanted to be keep up the mysterious stranger act, y'know? Fangirls love that s***.”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner1_ByAtropa.jpg


That it wasn't a very bright idea to do a line of cocaine while restless, was a realization that had dawned on young Dominic de Vere mere minutes after having done it. Although not a regular so-called cokehead, he had used the drug quite a few times, and more and more frequently over the past months of touring and all the partying it entailed, and so he knew perfectly well what it did to him; it wound him up, made him energetic and itching for something to do. And with nothing to do, it only made matters worse. Thankfully, the high never lasted very long, but tonight, it'd felt like forever and a day as he'd tried to keep himself occupied, with no one to talk to, no party to make himself the life of, and nothing to do that would keep him distract from what he wanted to do most of all, but couldn't as long as Lara didn't return his calls. So, finally, as he'd laid there on the bed, he'd decided to just try and go to sleep. When in such a worried state, and rendered pretty much helpless until Lara decided to get in touch, the best way to make time go by as painlessly as possible, was to sleep.

The thing was, that like any young hedonist, he enjoyed the pleasant effects of the drug, and remained somewhat ignorant of the less than pleasant effects it might have. He knew there was a risk of getting hooked, and so he tried to not do it too often, and he knew that coming down from the high was a bit of a b*tch, with depression and unease, and evne worse restlessness, and so he usually did what he could to avoid it; if the party was still going, he'd do another line, and if the party was over, he'd make sure to crash so that he would sleep through the worst of it. He never really considered the actual physical effects it might have on him. Not even tonight, when he had already been feeling like crap, and thus had decided to just try and go to sleep before he came down and hit rock bottom.
Consequently, fate decided to teach him a lesson.

He awoke with a start, brusquely shaken out of his dreamless sleep by a shriek that cut viciously into his ears, and an iron grip of his shoulders that shook him so violently that it felt like his brain vaulted within the walls of his skull. In pure reflex, in that first split-second instinct to break away from whatever was attacking him, before he even knew what it was, he flailed his arms to free himself, only to end up staring at Lara a moment later, wide-eyed with the scare of such a harsh awakening.

"The hell you yelling for?!", he exclaimed, not entirely without peeved agitation.



(((ooc: Sorry so short, but there's only so much to write about waking up. :p )))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


Boy, what a night it had been. Rio couldn't help but to feel a bit like he'd been sucked into a wildly spinning carousel for a few rounds, only to then be thrown off again, and rendered just standing there, slightly dizzy and disoriented, with a jumble of feelings he wasn't quite sure what to do with. Even to a sensible and fairly down-to-earth kind of guy like him, the last couple of hours had been an emotional rollercoaster, to say the least. On their own, the last two things to mess with his head a bit - Lara revealing that Dominic had cheated on her, which as a friend, Rio of course reacted strongly to, and then Lara kissing him out of the blue - probably weren't all that emotionally tumultous, and he probably would have handled them with far more inner calm, had it not been for the fact that he had already been in a visceral uproar from having come face to face with Lavinia Sinclair, now pretty much confirmed to be his sister. That whole encounter had left him rather off balance, and so everything that had happened afterwards, pretty much had yet to be digested. Not reacted to - he'd already done that, and with his usual calm too - but processed, and mulled over. As did he have quite a lot left to ponder where Lavinia was concerned. Only now he felt that he really needed to talk to someone about it, rather than being alone to think about it. Lara would have been a good shoulder to lean on, but she had her own problems, obviously. She was focused on addressing them, and so had taken off in order to just that. Which, even though he completely understood her, and knew that by saying nothing about his own troubles, he had given her no chance to react otherwise, still left him feeling a little disappointed. God knows he had already talked Brad's ear off about Lavinia, and while his boyfriend was the understanding type, Rio wasn't sure how much more he'd have the patience to listen to. Then again, knowing how big of a deal this all was to Rio, Brad was probably just waiting for him to come find him, and unload.

Just as he was standing there, on the verge of deciding to just turn back and go look for Brad, Rio felt a timid tap on his shoulder, and turned to see a young woman with a bone structure some girls would kill for standing there, looking at him.

"uh-", she started rather awkwardly, "I'm sorta' in the need of some help.."

Why, of all the people milling about the area, she had chosen to approach him Rio didn't know, and she didn't say, but never one to be snotty or rude, Rio offered a smile to indicate that whatever she seemed to think, he wasn't about to bite her head off.

"Shoot", he said. "Not sure I can be of service, but I'm willing to try."

[sparky4424]

A breath excapped Sofia's mouth. She couldn't really explain it, but she felt as if a ton had been removed from the tip of her spinal cord. She tried to offer the most NON-awkward smile as she could possibly form, but it ended up being a half smile filled with embarrassment and nervousness.

"eh- yeah.. I'm uh.." She couldn't believe what she was saying. Was her Nerves really that horrible? She didnt think she was THAT socially awkward.

"Ugh. i'm sorry i'm not the social type. excuse my awkward speech.. As i was saying, i seem to be having trouble figuring out where to set up camp.. i know, i know.. a bit stupid. i'm clearly on the camping grounds.. but do i have to.. do anything to gain the permission to do so?" [B]Sofia mentally patted herself on the back. "good first steps, So-so. Now try doing that all the time and maybe people wont think your a total weirdo."

She took the time to study the male. he seemed a little older then she, maybe around 25 or so. He had the structure of a man, and a stunningly handsome man at that. She kept her heart pace at bay. She knew all too well that men weren't as trustworthy as she use to think.

She frowned slightly as her mind slowly drifted to thoughts of the past. Why things happened the way they did, she'll never know. but she did know that now was not the time to be thinking of such things. At least not when she was both lost, confused, nervous, and in front of a stranger.

[AtropaMandragora]

(((ooc: sparky - Don't know if you intentionally had Sofia be mistaken about Rio's age, in which case it's perfectly alright. But if you were aiming for her to be correct, Rio is only 19, and as seen in his banner as well as his application, doesn't look all that much like a man. But again, if that's what you want Sofia's guess/opinion to be, it's perfectly alright. I just thought you might have gotten him confused with Asher, or Reese. :) )))

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1351/larabanner.jpg


Lara felt very, very empty. Hollow, as if her insides had been gouged out and replaced with an overwhelming emptiness that rose up to engulf her. Beyond the scope of reason, the only thoughts that reached through the terror were disjointed scraps mostly blotted out by the continuous blaring of an inner voice that filled her head with the same words, unstopping: “Oh God no, oh God no, oh God no!”

Digging two trembling hands in her hair, Lara tried desperately to think coherently. Her gaze was momentarily diverted to the mirror she'd found, prompting another painful quiver of her heart as the word “overdose” began taking shape inside her head. What to do, what to do? She had zero experience with resuscitation. Phone, her phone, she had to call for help... Drawing in quick, ragged breaths Lara fumbled with the keypad but to her dismay, the sleek phone slipped right out of her sweaty hand and to the floor, disappearing underneath the bunk. Overwhelmed by a fresh wave of helplessness and despair, Lara threw herself at Dominic with all her strength, shaking him anew and shrieking his name so loud it made her throat ache, but she didn't care. Caught in the grip of such powerful panic, Lara didn't see Dominic's eyes open wide and only when he jerked away from her in fear and confusion did she realize he was awake. For a few moments she could only stare in disbelief, speechless, frozen mid-flail.

"The hell you yelling for?!" came Dominic's peeved demand, though the tone was lost on his girlfriend who, following that horrible, choking panic of having found him not breathing was flooded by the strongest and purest relief she'd ever felt and lunged at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

“You weren't breathing! You weren't breathing, and I thought...Thank God. Thank God you're OK!” she croaked, struggling to calm her frantic breathing as she sniffed away a few tears of pure emotional overload, then suddenly retreated and stared, wide-eyed, straight at Dominic “I love you. I...I kissed Rio and I'm also pregnant, and I'm sorry but I love you and I will marry you if you still want to.”

[sparky4424]

((ooc: No worries :) its completely Sofia's opinion. shes a bit tired from the trip so shes a bit off on her sight at the moment. i forgot to mention that in the reply. crap! i'll edit it once i finish my house chores. thanks for pointing that out to me or i would not have spotted my mistake! :) ))

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


"eh- yeah.. I'm uh.."

Despite Rio's attempt to offer a smile reassuring enough to indicate his amiability, and let the young woman know that he didn't bite - well, unless he was paid to of course, but that was a very different story - it seemed to have little effect, since the grip of the nervousness that had her struggling with her words clearly remained. It would seem she was quite the awkward and socially insecure type of person. And then some.

Well, perhaps that wasn't the nicest thing to think about her. He had only been talking to her for a few seconds, and so really shouldn't jump to any conclusions. Though she did move directly on to pretty much confirm it herself, only a few moments later;

"Ugh", she said, in what to Rio sounded like a small burst of frustration aimed at herself, "i'm sorry i'm not the social type. excuse my awkward speech.. As i was saying, i seem to be having trouble figuring out where to set up camp.. i know, i know.. a bit stupid. i'm clearly on the camping grounds.. but do i have to.. do anything to gain the permission to do so?"

Again, Rio had to wonder briefly to himself why out of all the people around, she had decided to ask him, although ended up deciding that it probably was simply a matter of conveniece, and that he had been the nearest person whom she could approach, once she'd decided she needed to ask for help.

"Well...", he thus started, and took a moment to look around, as if searching for something that would offer some kind of indication.

Because truth be told, while he suspected one did have to pay for a camping spot, he didn't know for sure. He'd arrived along with Brad and the other guys of Tears of Andromeda, as well as the members of Black Water, and had only met up with Henry and the others once they had already set up camp, and the camping procedure hadn't exactly come up in conversation.

"I'm not really sure", he continued, and turned his gaze back to the young lady. "I think so. I'm not camping here myself, but from my experience, camping this close to the main area usually costs a pretty penny."

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner1_ByAtropa.jpg


Dominic was used to rude awakenings. Known for being able to sleep through an earthquake, the methods to wake him throughout the years had been many, and of varying degrees of cruelty, usually depending on who was trying to wake him. He'd been subjected to anything from being violently shaken, to having loud music burst from speakers placed not all too far from his ears. He'd been hit in the head with a pillow, had someone pinch his nose to stop his peaceful snoozing, and back when he was still living with his parents and his little brother, said little brother had come marching into Dominic's bedroom while banging two metal pot lids together. Over and over and over again. But, out of all the brusque awakenings he'd suffered, none had ever scared the daylights out of him like this one.

With Lara screaming in his ear, and shaking him more frantically than he had ever been shook before, one of the first coherent thoughts to go through his head - which happened only seconds after finding himself staring and yelling back at her - was that something terrible had happened, for her to sound that desperate and downright panic-stricken. Something truly horrible, like someone having died, or the bus having turned into a burning inferno.

Imagine his complete surprise, when the next moment, Lara went on to also make it one of the best awakenings he'd had, ever, considering the circumstances, by throwing herself around his neck and hugging him tightly, like there was no tomorrow. Despite him having just yelled at her.

"You weren't breathing!", she gasped in his ear, in a voice weakened and unsteady with emotional torrent. "You weren't breathing, and I thought... Thank God. Thank God you're OK!"

Wait, what...?

The meaning of her words barely had time to pass through his tousled head, let alone sink in, because just as he was about to instinctively pull back and look at her in confusion, she beat him to it, just as suddenly as she'd flung her arms around his neck. Staring at him with her big, brown doe eyes, she blurted out what only a moment later had Dominic forgetting all about what she'd said before;

"I love you. I... I kissed Rio and I'm also pregnant, and I'm sorry but I love you and I will marry you if you still want to."

Heck, he didn't even register all of what she'd said just now either, in her avalanche of confessions. There were two things that had immediately just blotted out everything else; she wasn't leaving him, thank God, she wasn't leaving him, and... she was pregnant?!

"What?!"

His reaction was instant, his voice almost the sound of a high-pitched squawk.

"You're pregnant?!"

[WLK360]

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9404/blakelivelybanner4.jpg

“Well, we know where he's from obviously, where he went to college, what bands he's been in, stuff like that..." Lavina began. Kendra nodded, they knew the basics...minus family. "Ash isn't exactly the heart-to-heart kinda guy, so beyond that I sort of assumed there wasn't a lot to talk about." Kendra couldnt help but have the corners of her mouth twitch upward a tad. She knew exactly how hard it was to get to Asher when he didnt want you there. It had taken her years and alot of trusting first on her part to get him to finally open up. And she just threw it away. Every time she thought about it she felt more and more guilty, she would be depressed by the end of the night if she kept at it this way, however Lavinia wasn't quite finished. "My childhood is disappointingly mundane, so I don't bore the guys with it much. Maybe he wanted to be keep up the mysterious stranger act, y'know? Fangirls love that s***.” She gave a broad wink and Kendra knew she was trying to lighten the mood after it has just taken a turn for the worst. She tried to ignore the guilt tugging on the back of her mind and instead decided to focus on trying to match Lavinia's positive attitude.

All this talk of family had started to make Kendra think a bit more about Danny. What is he doing here? How does he know the band? She wondered. Since he was so quiet she decided to ask, to keep him active in the conversation. After all she did want to know more about him.

"So um, whats your family like?" She asked Danny with a small smile hoping Lavinia wouldn't mind her changing the topic.

-----------

Sorry this is so short, Im just not really inspired lately.

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DanielBanner_ByGhanima.jpg


It was kind of funny, Daniel couldn't help but to think, how even when he wasn't around to dominate it himself with his various antics and big-mouthed comments, Dominic could still affect a conversation. He was one of those kinds of people towards whom you just couldn't stay indifferent, once you met them. Regardless of loving them or hating them, they were sure to make you feel something, and give you plenty to talk about. As such, Dominic de Vere was a grateful target of private jokes and humorous comments, such as the one Daniel had just dropped, and thus served as an excellent way of lightening the mood when needed. And considering the look on Kendra's face when Lavinia told her Asher hadn't shared anything about his siblings with his band mates, this was such a time.

The comment did the trick, at least on the surface. The somewhat disheartened look slowly lifted from Kendra's face - although it would seem it wasn't entirely complete, because there remained a certain touch of despondency in her eyes, as though there was something still plaguing her mind - and she went on to give what looked like a genuine smile.

"So you call Dominic 'Nicky'?", she said with a light laugh. "That's pretty funny."

Why exactly that was, Daniel was a little unsure of, since it was a rather common nickname. But Kendra didn't explain, and Daniel didn't ask, but instead merely let her and Lavinia continue, as the topic shifted onto what Asher had seen fit to share with his band mates, and the trio joined the queue of people lined up for one of the food stands.

"Well", Lavinia said after a moment's thought, "we know where he's from obviously, where he went to college, what bands he's been in, stuff like that... Ash isn't exactly the heart-to-heart kinda guy, so beyond that I sort of assumed there wasn't a lot to talk about. My childhood is disappointingly mundane, so I don't bore the guys with it much. Maybe he wanted to be keep up the mysterious stranger act, y'know? Fangirls love that s***."

At that, Daniel couldn't help but to smirk to himself. Fangirls loved mysterious guys? Well, Dominic mustn't have gotten that memo, seeing as how he just loooved to talk, and talk, and talk, and rarely left anything a mystery. He had a mysterious look that he would sometimes pull, but that was about it.

Although, now that he thought about it, Dominic didn't tend to mention his family and friends too much in interviews and on his blog, or wherever else he shared himself with the world. At least not the more personal stuff, such as the violent fights his and Daniel's parents used to have when the brothers had been growing up, or any stories about family members or friends at all, really. He had mentioned them a few times, but when he did, it had always been in messages such as "Miss you guys", or it had been in stories where he himself played the leading part, and often a humours one. He never did expose anyone but himself. To the world, that is. Who knew what he might have told his band mates?

"So um", came a voice from beside him just then, and brought him out of his brief ponderings as Kendra had now turned to him, "whats your family like?"

A little unprepared for such a question, despite the topic - he hadn't really participated in the conversation, since he hadn't had much to contribute on the matter of Asher, but had left it to the girls instead, and thus found himself a little thrown by the unexpected inquiry - Daniel hesitated. But only for a second.

"Well...", he then started, while flashing Kendra a quick smile. "You've pretty much met half of it already. Dominic's my brother, and you've clearly seen, and heard, what he's like. And as for our parents..."

He gave a slight shrug.

"They're pretty much like any other parents, I'spose. My dad works as an engineer, and mom's an interpreter. Nothing exciting. They're really overprotective though. Wouldn't even have let me come here, if I hadn't gone with Lara. Nicky's girlfriend."

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1351/larabanner.jpg



They said that people never truly appreciated the things they had, until they found themselves in danger of losing them. Finding Dominic collapsed and not breathing in his bunk had not only been one of the scariest moments of Lara's life, it made her realize beyond a shadow of doubt how badly she needed him. For a few dizzyingly breathless moments, the relief at finding him alive and well had been so overwhelming, so complete, it eclipsed all else. Compared with the thought of him dead, gone forever, even the knowledge of his betrayal felt somehow remote, unimportant almost, tempting Lara to throw it all to the wind and begin anew. The impulse was, fortunately, shortly-lived, for a reason perhaps even more important than the two of them alone, and it was Dominic himself who reminded her of it:

"What?!" he squawked "You're pregnant?!"

Lara couldn't help but smirk ever so briefly at the way her boyfriend's voice had gone up an octave, his turn to go through a minor panic at the thought of imminent parenthood. As for her, she realized some of the original dread had receded – she was still very much bewildered, but as the notion sunk in, the initial fear was gradually being replaced with exhilaration. A baby of hers and Nicky's! Naturally, it was something Lara had given some thought to many times before, having agreed with Dominic that they were not yet ready to make the step, and should at least wait until they were both older, wiser, and richer, but it wasn't something never before considered, or entirely implausible. Now that the prospect felt a hell of a lot closer, she couldn't help but think...that it could be something wonderful.

“Yeah”, Lara began softly and placed a hand on her still flat abdomen. “I mean, I still need to take a test to confirm it, but all the signs are there: three weeks late, hormonal as hell, morning sickness...the works.”

The smile which had tentatively emerged on her lips as she spoke wavered, and a calmly serious expression settled on Lara's features instead:

“That's one of the things that I came to talk to you about. I want to raise this child with you, but I need to know that we're on the same page when it comes to this relationship. It was rash, immature of me to tie you up and leave, then kiss Rio, but I was upset, confused.. I still am. But I do love you, and if you want the same thing, I want to give this...us...another chance. Just be honest with me, ok? I need you to be honest.”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner3b_ByPsyche.jpg


Talk about the shock of a lifetime. To first be shaken awake in a manner that made it feel like your brain was about to come flying out of your skull, and be faced with the raging desperation of the person you loved, only to then have them throw themselves around your neck before you even knew which side was up, and ranting in your ear about love and someone not breathing, before dropping a veritable bomb, by telling you they were pregnant. Sitting there on the bunk bed, with wave upon wave of staggering information crashing over him, all Dominic could feel for a few dizzying seconds, was his head spinning out of control, and himself grasping for something, some loose end of the complete jumble he'd just been dealt, that would lead him back to the start, where he could begin to try and sort everything out. But what Lara had just said, the newest of the line of confessions she'd made, thwarted all such attempts. Out of everything she had just told him, that one thing ruled supreme.
She was pregnant.

"Yeah", Lara said, the mildness of her voice a rich contrast to his overwhelmed yelp. "I mean, I still need to take a test to confirm it, but all the signs are there: three weeks late, hormonal as hell, morning sickness... the works."

Oh God...
Like his girlfriend, Dominic too had thought about it over the years, and toyed with the idea of what it would be like. But what he had imagined, had always been years into the future. In fact, the older he'd gotten, the further into the future it had become. At seventeen, he'd figured "Maybe when we're in our twenties", but now that they were into their twenties, he hadn't imagined it happening until their late twenties, or even into their early thirties. With his career taking off, there was so much that he felt he had left to do, before settling down with a family, the way he had imagined he would. And while he was impulsive and very much lived in the moment, he wasn't oblivious to that fact. He knew that he had a lot of growing up to do, before he'd be able to be a good and responsible parent.
So yes, indeed, talk about the shock of a lifetime.

"That's one of the things that I came to talk to you about", Lara continued with determination. "I want to raise this child with you, but I need to know that we're on the same page when it comes to this relationship. It was rash, immature of me to tie you up and leave, then kiss Rio, but I was upset, confused.. I still am. But I do love you, and if you want the same thing, I want to give this... us... another chance. Just be honest with me, ok? I need you to be honest."

Though for all the weight of those last two sentences, it was still to be just then that another one of her confessions, one that Dominic had previously missed for the most part, suddenly sunk in, and he waved his hands at her, as if to get her to stop talking;

"Waitwaitwait", he said, and stared at her. "You kissed Rio? The fag? Why? I mean..."

There he interrupted himself, and looked at her as though he was struggling to comprehend, his thin dark brows furrowing together with the effort. Then, only moments later, they parted again in sudden dejection, and the agitation drained from his features.

"I don't know what I mean...", he sighed and shook his head, then paused, only to shake his head again, this time in disbelief. "Christ...", he mumbled, mostly to himself. "A baby.... Oh boy..."

Completely overwhelmed with it all, everything, he lowered his head into his hands, as if to stop it from spinning.

[sparky4424]

((ooc: sorry i havent replied in so long! had a out of the blue trip to take but i'm offically back :) lol.))
"I think so. I'm not camping here myself, but from my experience, camping this close to the main area usually costs a pretty penny." was the last thing she needed to hear.

"sh*t..."

The first thing out of Sofia's mouth was a blunt curse that was suppose to stay within her thoughts, meaning she clearly didnt want to have to pay. Her boss, head of ArtMasters Graphic Designing company, paid for the whole trip in hopes of gaining some costomers to expand on. His exact words were, "No matter what, try to spend as little as possible. we're already in the hole. if you go there and end up not finding a single talented soul to represent us, then we're screwed."

By the looks of it, Larry may have more on his hand then he hoped.

Pulling herself from her stressing and rather annoying thoughts, Sofia shook them away and looked back at the male she had been speaking to. "eh- excuse that color word.." she muttered. "hm. you know what? Screw it. I’m just gonna set up camp until someone stops me.. then i suppose i'll pay if thats what i have to do. this requires too much social action then i'm comfortable with." she hissed.

It was offical. The trip was a horrible idea. Why Larry picked her to go was beyond her knowledge, but she had a hunch that he was trying to Solve her 'social disorder'. Rather that was the case or not, she was sure that now she was going to have to do alot of talking to get though the trip. And that DID NOT make her happy.

Frowning, Sofia turned to walk away, but mentally kicked herself and turned back around. Socially awkward, or not, she was not going to let herself be rude to someone who had helped her. "oh. sorry. thanks for the information. Call me Sofia." she extended her hand awkwardly, her face twisted up in slight horror of her action to 'shake' hands. She had always had troubles figuring out how tight her grip should be and how many shakes to include; something a girl should NOT be thinking about went shaking an attractive guys hand.

[Ghanima Atreides]

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1351/larabanner.jpg


Up until very recently, if anyone were to ask Lara Abbott if she felt ready to become a parent, the answer would have been a resounding “No!”. Although unanimously thought of as the responsible one of the two, she was still only twenty-one years old, a college student taking her first steps into the world of independent adulthood, and while she knew she wanted kids one day, she wasn't desperate for them either. Like Dominic, she had some growing up to do first and besides, she was planning to make the best of her twenties and leave family planning for later. That had been the plan, in any case; a plan turned upside down by the realization that she was pregnant: it was real, and it was happening. There was no hiding from it, not anymore.

Lara felt a rise in her trepidation as she watched Dominic fumble with his thoughts, struggling to take in the confession which his girlfriend had unloaded on him. He had yet to react to the Rio incident, and for that reason she'd repeated it: if they were to start anew, there could be no secrets between them. He had to know about the kiss, and the reason why she'd done it; a reason which apparently had not quite registered yet:

"Waitwaitwait", Dominic prompted and flapped his hands at her. "You kissed Rio? The fag? Why? I mean..."

Taken slightly aback by the reaction, as well as the appellative, Lara opened her mouth to restate the reason, feeling the first stirrings of defensiveness: it was a mistake and she freely admitted it, but if Dominic decided to make more of it than it was, considering...Fortunately, she was spared from having to delve further into that unpleasant theory when moments later Dominic's consternation disappeared, giving way to dejection:

"I don't know what I mean..." he confessed with a sigh, in a tone full of disbelief, "Christ...A baby.... Oh boy..."

When she'd first begun to suspect she was pregnant, Lara had been afraid. Once it became apparent that was the case, the fear had turned to panic: they were too young, unprepared, not ready for the monumental responsibility of parenthood, and more recently their very relationship hung by a thread. How could she possibly bring a child into the world? Then, later, as the notion began to sink in, Lara could not help but feel a soft rosy glow bathing her as she pictured herself holding hers and Nicky's baby for the first time, seeing him or her grow up, playing together, taking them to their first playdate, the first day of school...But not alone. She wanted this, but not without the man she loved.

“Yeah...” she breathed with the awe she still felt whenever she thought about it, “I know it's not what we wanted right now, and I'm afraid too but it's happening, Nicky and...I want to do this with you. Start fresh, with no more secrets between us and raise this baby together. You...do want that as well, don't you...?”

[WLK360]

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/6850/blakelivelybannercompre.jpg

“So um, what’s your family like?"

From the expression on Daniel’s face at that moment she realized that she had just jarred him from his thoughts. Uggh I hate when people do that to me! She thought the second she saw his face. Kendra was a pretty quiet person, choosing to usually think before she spoke, and generally not getting very active in conversations. At school she was a part of the ‘popular’ clique but she wasn’t shallow and never talked behind people’s backs. She was mostly there because she looked good and was smart enough to help everyone else with their homework. More often than not she would be thinking pretty deeply about something when someone would shatter her thoughts with a shallow comment or a “Omigosh! Is my hair okay?” type question. Her nature was to generally snap at said person before remembering her place and cooling off. Luckily Daniel didn’t seem to mind as much as Kendra did, which made her feel even more hypocritical, so naturally a little color came to her cheeks.


"Well...You've pretty much met half of it already. Dominic's my brother, and you've clearly seen, and heard, what he's like.”

Daniel gave Kendra a reassuring smile, and she felt her heart melt. How could one person have such a perfect smile? Kendra mentally noted that Dominic and Daniel were related. There was resemblance now that she thought about it, but she definitely wouldn’t have guessed based on personality, they were polar opposites.

“And as for our parents..." He shrugged and Kendra knew that there was some tension behind that subject. She noted not to really press that topic. "They're pretty much like any other parents, I'spose. My dad works as an engineer, and mom's an interpreter. Nothing exciting.” And your brother’s most likely a crazy rock star. You don’t seem like the kind of person who would want much more excitement. She thought to herself. “They're really overprotective though. Wouldn't even have let me come here, if I hadn't gone with Lara.” Kendra was about to ask who Lara was when Daniel added. “Nicky's girlfriend." Oh okay! Kendra relaxed a bit. She couldn’t really relate to the strict parents thing, with so many siblings her parents weren’t really able to enforce strict rules; once a sibling got away with something the others simply said ‘But if he could do it why can’t I?’ So while they did enforce a few rules it was mostly like ‘These are some suggestions. Take ‘em or leave ‘em, your choice.’ She was pretty careful by nature and by seeing some of her parents insight ring true in Asher’s actions.

Kendra smiled and decided that no matter how dorky it sounded she should just say it, since it was honest. “Ah, I'm glad you got to come then.” She put her hand up to push her hair behind her ear, before she remembered her piercings and let her hand drop again. “I got to come as a part of my internship. It’s a pretty cool deal actually. I wonder if Ill be working with Deus Ex Machina.” She smiled at Lavinia. “Your hair is so nice!”

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/RioBanner2_ByGhanima.jpg


Although having been labelled quite a few things during his childhood and even more so during his teens, "the shy type" really wasn't one of them. With the frequent moving around the country that came with his father's job in the military, Rio would have never made any friends, had he been the quiet and withdrawn kind of guy. Granted, he was far from a loudmouth, nor was he a leader, but he had no trouble being open and friendly with others, of being generous with himself. Brought up to show respect and good manners, he rarely struggled with other people, and he didn't tend to shy away from making first contact. Not unless it was some guy that he was insanely attracted to (or a person named Lavinia Sinclair), in which case he would usually be just as self-conscious as the next person. Like pretty much anyone, he had his issues, some of which were gnawing away at his confidence and his self-esteem, but his straightforwardness where socializing was concerned, was so deeply rooted in him that when dealing with most others, it had yet to budge. For that, he was grateful. It was a greatly relieving quality to have, and had allowed him to get along quite well with so many of the great number of people he met, through his moving around in younger years, and through school, work and Brad's career. He could get along just as well with those who were confidence personified, as he could with those who were far more timid and withdrawn. Though while he was no stranger to people who were considerably more shy than he was, and that struggled a bit with their social skills, he couldn't remember ever having come across anyone quite as awkward and obviously uncomfortable, as the young lady who had just approached him. Seemingly with a gun of some kind to her head, since judging by the look on her face and her whole body language, she would have rather not talked to him. Had it not been so before, it was a fact that turned obvious when after declaring that she would just take her chances and set up camp without paying, she just abruptly turned, as if about to simply walk away. Though only a moment later, she turned back. Whether it was because she felt bad about treating Rio that way - he had only tried to help after all, and only after she approached him - or simply a lapse in the very social skills she claimed to lack, she didn't say. But she did apologize;

"Oh. sorry", she said. "thanks for the information. Call me Sofia."

With that, she sort-of-kind-of extended her hand for the customary handshake, as though it was a gesture most unfamiliar to her, and with a look on her face as though she had just offered it to a shark rather than another human being who'd been nothing but nice. Seeing that expression on her chiselled features, it was only natural that Rio hesitated as well, before carefully accepting her outstretched hand, and giving it a single fairly firm shake.

"Rio", he introduced himself, and then shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, feeling as though Sofia's awkwardness was actually starting to rub off a bit on him. "So...", he thus added, mostly to prevent that well-known uneasy silence from settling between them, "I take it you're not here to party then...?"

[AtropaMandragora]

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/mandragoratropa/DominicBanner3b_ByPsyche.jpg


It felt like an enormous abyss had split open in the ground by his feet, and he stood teetering on the very edge of it, desperately flapping his arms to keep his balance and not plunge head first into it. His stomach felt hollow and as though it had lurched into his throat only to plummet down to his knees a split second later, and it was as though someone had knocked the wind out of his lungs. So grave was the shock of going from the possible loss of the girl with whom he'd spent the past six years, to the realization that she was expecting a baby. It was a gigantic leap, from one extreme to the exact opposite one, during the course of no more than a minute, and it felt as though every single part of him that was struggling to catch up, was doing it at a pace different from the rest. His head felt all over the place, and lowering it into his hands as an attempt to bring it together.

A baby... Jesus Christ, a baby. Not an imaginary one, far into the future and well planned for, but a baby in actual existence, right now, this very second. With him as it's father.
Hello face, meet brick wall.

"Yeah...", came Lara's voice from beside him, in little more than a whisper, though grew with an odd mix of conviction and trepidation as she went on; "I know it's not what we wanted right now, and I'm afraid too but it's happening, Nicky and... I want to do this with you. Start fresh, with no more secrets between us and raise this baby together. You... do want that as well, don't you...?"

For the first few seconds that followed, Dominic didn't move. Nor did he reply. He just sat there, almost as though he hadn't heard her, with his head buried in his hands, struggling to try and figure out just what he was thinking, and feeling, trying to determine where he truly stood, once the shock of it all started to recede. Which, to be honest, it really didn't. No matter how many seconds that passed, it all still felt completely overwhelming to him, and he knew he'd need far longer to get used to the idea. But still, he had to try, if for no other reason than for Lara's sake.

Did he want the child? He honestly didn't know, perhaps mostly because the feeling in his gut had grown clouded with the fear of losing Lara, should he say no. Or even yes, only for her to discover somewhere along the road that it hadn't been a genuine, heartfelt one, or even for him to change his mind. He didn't know if, after everything that had happened tonight, they'd be able to make it through something like that. And more importantly, would they be able to make it through the alternative; parenthood?

The more he thought about it, the more panicked he felt. At first. His head was spinning out of control with all the if's, but's and maybe's of the entire thing, and his heart trembled so at the prospect of losing Lara, that it wasn't until his thoughts suddenly touched on one memory from earlier this very night, that clarity struck: He had proposed to her. Only hours ago, he had asked Lara to marry him, and spend the rest of her life with him, and he'd done it with the conviction that it was what he truly wanted. And with everything that had then followed - their almost-tryst, Lara disappearing, him desperately trying to get a hold of her, and her finally returning to him - that conviction had only intensified.

A child was a very different thing, there was no escaping that, but the conviction of wanting to marry Lara had been born out of a willingness to take that step, to make that commitment. A feeling that he was ready. And even though his knees shook at the very idea of becoming someone's father, and he had his doubts that he was mature enough for it, the feeling in his gut, emerging through the fear of loss, was that... he did want to do it. He really did. He may not be entirely ready for it, but it was how he felt, and... well... he did still have nine months to get there, or at least closer to it, right?

Ever so slowly, his slender frame finally came alive where he sat, running both hands through his already tousled hair before looking up at Lara with complete gravity in his eyes, and daring that one giant step of confirmation;

"Yeah...", he said slowly, and equally slowly straightened his back. "Yeah, I do.

For a moment his gaze dropped from hers, venturing down to land on her hand, and he reached to take it into his. Giving it a soft squeeze, he then looked up again, and this time it was with the beginning of a tiny lopsided smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Holy crap...", he said, the awe of the notion now having spread to encompass him as well. "I'm gonna be a dad..."

[sparky4424]

Never one to really speak, Sofia usually played the part of 'the smart and mean one' in her career. She was considered 'a real b*tch to work with.' or 'the girl that hates everyone.' when in reality, none of that was true. Fact of the matter was, she was just scared she'd be betrayed or would be tricked into something she never agreed to. After all, she had experienced first hand before. When meeting or speaking to a stranger, she'd usually try to make it as obvious as possible she didnt like them so she wouldnt have to deal with taking chances. The only other man besides her father she trust was Larry; her elderly boss who made it clear that if she wasnt going to really apply herself to the job, he could always replace her. That instantly made her attached to the rotten old man. She looked up to him due to the fact that she saw alot of herself in him. Mean, Genius, To the point... He was the future her that she was already taking form off. In a way, she hated that idea, so she mentally used him as an example of 'what not to be'.

She shook herself from her thoughts as the young man's mouth formed his name. "Rio." the name was unusual. that was usually a good sign to her. Following his name, he stuffed his hands back into his pockets, making her smirk ever so slightly and softly chuckle. She was getting to him. That was usually how her awkwardness fed onto others. It seemed his once kind and outgoing structure was slowly leaving him. "so,.." he began. She was glade he decided to speak up, otherwise the deathly silence would fall over them, and truth be told, she thought she might explode from it. "I take it you're not here to party then...?" Rio's question once again brought her out of her thoughts. "Hell no. i'd rather have my limbs scattered across the camping grounds." she joked.

"i'm here to simply hear some good music and to hopefully gain a sponsor for my designs. i'm a graphic designer and unfortunately.. work hasn't had much to look at. My boss sent me out here, of all people, to mingle and socialize to gain some work." she found herself growing comfortable with him. To a normal person who didn't have a fear to every possible thing in the world, that would be good. but to Sofia, that was a horrible thing. This meant she'd most likely feel comfortable sharing information with him like she had already done. that meant trouble to her. Crossing her arms over her chest boldly, she went into a more comfortable stance to hold a more open conversation.

[AtropaMandragora]

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Alright everyone, the time has now come to officially move over to the new Syrinx Festival RPG board (http://syrinxrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?). All those who might happen across this thread in the future, interested in joining the roleplay, feel free to follow us there! We thank MTS for the time that this has been the home of this RPG.

Since what we have roleplayed so far is the launch party on the night before the festival, and since we'll start off on Day 1 of the festival on the new board, if there is any ongoing interaction that you would like to wrap up here, you are of course free to do so.



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