[ToxicShadow]

With a vaguely annoyed sigh, the woman practically plopped into an openly available seat in the middle of the hotel lobby. Admittedly, it was a very nice hotel, not the best, but it was comfortable and gave off the air of luxury, especially with the various elegant sofas, chairs and tables situated in the lobby for guests to relax in. For a woman like Lucy, whom had donned her more relaxed, casual ensemble, it made her feel somewhat out of place against the pristine white cushions. Not that it really bothered her, she didn't mind if others thought she seemed out of place. She was who she was, and nothing would change that.

Rather than the more elaborate wear that she put on for most of her performances, the blond haired, blue eyed woman was dressed up in black fitting T-shirt with red words scrawled across it, dark, tight fitting jeans, a classic red and black studded belt and appropriately matching knee-high high tops worn over her jeans. With black streaks in her shoulder length, curled hair and side swept bangs, she was easily deemed a little different, but very attractive, in her own right. She was of short stature, reaching five feet, two inches, yet well endowed despite her otherwise petite figure.

The singer and guitarist had arrived at the hotel much earlier than her band mates, since they had other work to tend to while she had finished up all of her own, only to discover that there had been issues when booking their rooms. Really, what was the point of going through the trouble of booking a suite to only later come to find out that it was double booked and that she and her friends would be shoved into more than one room, instead of remaining together? After approaching the staff at the front desk over the matter, they had eventually asked her to step aside and wait for the hotel manager to see to her, while they dealt with other, more minor issues for their guests.

Just how long would she have to wait, though? She didn't have time to waste waiting around, without being in the room she was supposed to have been in. Tonight, within only a few hours, she would have to leave the hotel for the venue where she would be preforming. As it was one of the first performances on their tour, they couldn't afford to be found running late.

[Kitsumi]

As per his usual routine, Arrike had made his arrival in town widely known. He had already picked up a number of women to join him at the hotel. Of course his intentions were made known from the start, and each woman had signed a form of consent so he couldn't be held legally responsible for feeding on them if they decided to complain later. Not many women ended up complaining, anyways. It was always the parents who tried to cause a fuss, and they never won against him.

Pulling up to the hotel, Arrike hopped out of the limo and escorted each lady out by hand - one, two, three of them were soon following him into the lobby. His driver would make the room arrangements, so Arrike really had no obligations at that moment. The women were fawning over him, one touching his chest under the leather vest he wore, another one clasping his arm as if he would disappear the moment she let go. "C'mon, ladies, let's sit down for awhile." Although it was already known which hotel Arrike would be staying in - the occasional midnight guest was never turned away, after all - it couldn't hurt to try to round up some more attention, right?

Seating himself on a nice couch, Arrike pulled out a mirror to check his appearance. Contrary to popular belief, vampires could see themselves in mirrors. At least, those of his bloodline had always been able to. His red-streaked black hair was spiked perfectly as normal, and his white eyes drew even more attention when rimmed with black. He had a dangerous attractive appearance, the type of mystery and risk that drew in many women. He smiled at the mirror, winking at his reflection before putting it away again.

His attention was drawn to a lone woman, sitting by herself. Despite the three women already crowding around him, Arrike couldn't help but give her a long, slow look up and down. Liking what he saw, he decided to add another woman to his little harem. "Hey, gorgeous." He offered her one of his dark smiles. "No point in sitting over there alone. Why don't you come over here and join us? My lap is still free."

[ToxicShadow]

When a man sat across from her, three women disgustingly clinging to him and vying for his attention, Lucy didn't make an effort to pay them any mind. It was these sorts of people that disgusted her, both the man and the women; she wasn't sure which one was worse. She would assume that the man was someone influential, be he someone famous or someone rich, perhaps both, which was reason enough for the lowly women of the world to behave that way. They clinging to him, hoping for the fifteen minutes of fame, they wanted to be somebody with someone that other people cared about, even if only for a brief moment.

She was purposely staring off in a different direction, minding her own business, when she heard the man call out to her. Initially, she didn't react. Slowly, her gaze shifted toward him and that dark smile of his, and she scoffed, her expression giving a look of, "You've got to be fucking kidding me." Did he seriously think he was someone that impressive?

"I'd rather not," she stated, plainly, seeming entirely uninterested in him. "Besides, your little pets would get oh so very jealous if I did that." That said, she broke eye contact with him once more.

[Kitsumi]

For the briefest of moments, Arrike's smile slipped. His face registered confusion, disbelief, and then anger. As quickly as he had lost his composure, he regained it. "I suppose I can forgive you for your impertinence," he said grandly, as if he were granting her pardon for some sort of crime. "You must not have recognized me. See, I'm kind of a celebrity."

As he spoke, he flashed his fangs at her. It was a playful growl, meant to both frighten and arouse. It worked on his companions, even though they weren't the intended recipients, and they jumped a bit in fright before giggling. He had hoped that his appearance would be enough to draw the attention and admiration he rightfully deserved - he did go through all that trouble of dying his hair, and wearing colored contacts to hide the fact that his eyes were actually a normal, green color. He liked a challenge though, and this woman was as much of a challenge as he had faced in the last year or so of touring and performing.

"You don't have to worry about them," he motioned towards the girl. "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind adding one more to the group. Besides, there's plenty of me to go around. Us vampires have quite a bit more stamina than your human men." He put extra emphasis on the word 'vampire' thinking that it would finally click in her head just how special of an invitation this was.

[ToxicShadow]

Lucy mentally sighed when the man didn't let it go, when he couldn't fathom that she had absolutely zero interest in him, closing her eyes briefly in an irritated way and taking in a sharp breath. It took her only a moment to compose herself.

When she turned her body to face the arrogant idiot, her expression was completely different than before, her eyes wide and shining, with a brilliant smile. "Oh my god, really?" Her tone was higher pitched and she actually looked down right ecstatic as she leaned forward to meet his gaze. "That's so amazing! How could I not realize? Of course I'll sit with you!" Genuinely, the woman pulled it off well, looking every bit the grossly pathetic things that were already clinging to him.

In a split second, after just enough time for him to believe her faked change of heart, her smile returned to a frown, and she leaned back against the sofa, scoffing and rolling her eyes. her blond, black streaked curls bounced with each movement. "You seriously think I'd react that way just because you say your famous? What the hell do I care if you're a celebrity or if you're a vampire?" Lucy knew a vampire, so she wouldn't be so easily shocked by the declaration. The only difference was that Anne didn't declare it to the world as if it made her someone important. "That doesn't give you the right to be an asshole."

She chuckled, standing up from her place then, "But it's okay if you don't realize that not all women are as pathetic as those throwing themselves at you. I'll forgive your impertinence, so just set your eyes on someone else, hm?"

[Kitsumi]

The vain rock star had been waiting for the girl to cave, and it seemed as if she had. The change had been so quick and so severe, though, that it obviously wasn't generous. Arrike only saw what Arrike wanted to see, though, so he easily accepted the change.

He had been prepared to answer, when the woman revealed that she had only been messing with him. Arrike's air of superiority faded as he glared at her. "An asshole?" He rolled his eyes. "Look at yourself, miss priss. I objectify women, sure - but only because they want to be objectified. These ladies here? Being with me is going to be the highlight of their week, possibly even of their pathetic life." Either the women were too busy fawning over Arrike to say anything different, or they agreed with him, because none of them said anything different. "Believe it or not, I'm doing them a favor. As pathetic as it is, this is a dream of theirs, a dream which I am granting."

He untangled himself from the three ladies, who made small noises of indignation and disappointment. He smiled at them, and tossed them the key to his hotel room. After giving them orders to meet him in his room and make themselves comfortable while waiting, he turned back to continue his tirade. "It's true that I think I'm superior to most humans. Can you honestly say that I'm not? I'm stronger than you, and faster than you. I will live forever if I wish. I'm talented and charming and obviously attractive. You, however, think that you're better than me because you don't make it obvious how superior you think you are. I can see you over there, judging me. So before you decide to condemn me because I think I'm better than anyone else, you should see how you yourself are doing the exact same thing. Your morals, or self-respect, or whatever it is you think you have doesn't make you better than me."

He was now standing fairly close to her, his gaze locked onto hers. "You think you're any better than those women I'm with? Maybe you're not throwing yourself at me, but everyone throws themselves at something. Whether it's your job, the 'perfect' man you've decided to idolize, or your schooling - everyone has something they completely give themselves up to. You're not any better than I am, and you're certainly not any better than those floozies waiting for me."

[ToxicShadow]

Even though the man was trying to use his words to prove a point, to justify his actions and disclaim that he was, in fact, an "asshole," as she had called him, Lucy chuckled once. As she did so, she delicately held her hand to her mouth, in a feminine fashion that didn't exactly match up with what one would expect from a woman in her causal wear. His vanity and ignorance was laughable. "Never once did I say that those ladies were any better than you," she corrected him. "I couldn't agree more, it seems that they do have a pathetic life if this is truly their highlight. It is quite unfortunate." It was such a shame that some women sunk to such a level, the thought of it alone almost giving her a bad taste in her mouth. It gave a bad name to women everywhere, which was evident in how this man tried to treat her in the same way as them from the get go. "Though it may be a favor by their and your standards, that hardly makes you any better of a person. I wouldn't think of yourself so high and mighty because you can whore yourself around; it's not an accomplishment."

As the three women with him were dismissed after being coddled and promised a treat like helpless dogs, she shook her head at the scene. Yeah, it really was grossly pathetic. Perhaps the women were worse than the man. What was really annoying, though, was this his dismissing them made it evident that he wanted to give her even more unwanted attention. How long would she have to listen to his arrogance? While he went on about the superiority of vampires, she blatantly ignored him initially, checking the time. The manager needed to hurry so that she could get her arrangements settled.

When she finally turned her gaze over to his, even as he closed in on her, she had a hard look in her otherwise pretty blue eyes. By no means was she frightened by him nor would she bend to the air of superiority that he tried to wrap around himself. Lucy was a stronger person than that. "Being a vampire isn't some great merit that you accomplish yourself. Oh, so you're faster than a human, you're stronger, you live longer? That is hardly impressive. You were either born or made that way, it wasn't something that you earned or accomplished. If I wanted to be a vampire and be so preciously 'superior,' it wouldn't be a difficult task." Really, especially for her, it wouldn't be. The musician didn't look down on vampires, of course not, given that she had a few friends that were the varying species. Those that made themselves out to be better just because they were different, though, she could hardly stand. "And of course I am judging you, but not unrightfully. My initial judgement has been made based on your behavior thus far. You obviously judged me, making the gross assumption that I would swoon over you the same as your little pets. Well, aren't you gravely mistaken? If someone is going to pass judgement on me based on nothing, I can certainly pass judgement on them based on something, can't I? I hardly want to hear words of 'everyone is equal,' from someone who tries to pretend that they're better than everyone else."

Shortly after these words, the voice of a man that was significantly older drew her attention away. "Ah, excuse me? You're Lucy, are you not?" The manager kept an air of professionalism, despite having witnessed a portion of their evident dispute. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

With a mental sigh of relief, Lucy stood up, moving right around Arrike, not interested in giving him any more time of day. "No, you're not interrupting anything important at all," she assured him with a polite smile, one that had been entirely unseen by the other man until that point. "You're the manager, yes?" The man nodded to her question, and she continued. "Wonderful. Shall we take our matters to somewhere more private, then?" Not speaking harshly to the vampire, she came off surprisingly sweet natured. "I'm afraid that there appears to be a mistake with the arrangements that my party made."

[Kitsumi]

((Sorry it took me so long to respond. I kept coming back to the roleplay, but for some reason couldn't think up a post. Because of that, this post will probably be kinda short. Sorry))

The fact that this lady would even mock him with her laughter was infuriating. He found his hands balling into fists, and he had to force himself to show restraint. His parents would have several words to say to him if we here to cause a scene. Arrike's constant feeding on his female fans was one thing, and his parents were able to ignore it other than a warning every now and then. But if he were to harm a human, especially a human one...who knows what they might do?

"I consider myself a generous vampire," he said. "At least I'm not out there murdering young women. I've found a way to feed without harm, and to actually bring pleasure to my victims as I do so. Can you really blame me for that?" He hated it that she used the word 'whore' in describing what he did. So what if he liked the limelight? His fans were the one who granted it to him. If anything, they should be the ones to blame. He simply demanded attention - they gave it.

Arrike was thinking of several comebacks to everything she said, but he didn't get the chance to say any of them. It seemed that whenever he opened his mouth, she had something else to say. And by the time she had finally stopped speaking, an official-looking man was drawing her attention.

The vampire watched as she easily brushed him off, treating their conversation as if it were just a roadblock in her otherwise perfect day. Which, in her opinion, it probably was. He stared after her for a while, seething, before finally turning away. With any luck, he'd never have to deal with a woman as intolerable as she again. For now, he'd simply put her out of his mind. He had some far better company awaiting him up in his room...

Yet he paused. He took out his cell phone and made a quick call, and then walked up to the receptionist at the front desk. "I'm sure you noticed that woman I was speaking to, yes?" He asked, but didn't wait for a response. "She wasn't inclined to tell me what room she was in or how I could contact her, so I'd like you to take my message to her." He slapped a flyer for his concert onto the desk. "Let her know that I have an open seat at my concert for her. Maybe if she has the time during whatever dull sort of vacation she's on, she'll be able to come and see why exactly it is I deserve every bit of attention I get."

He didn't wait for a response. Exhausted and angered, he finally headed up towards his hotel room.

[ToxicShadow]

By the time that the evening set in, Lucy had since put the annoying, petty dispute behind her. It certainly wasn't worth her time to worry about it; she had better things to do, such as preparing for the night's performance. Her group had yet to settle on a permanent manager that suited them, so she was essentially in charge of making sure that everything was arranged and went smoothly for them.  She and her band mates arrived at the concert venue as the first performance, Arrike's performance, got underway. Commonly, they did their own hair and make up, something that they had a talent for, so all that was left to do was a short warm up before they would be herded on stage. Any extra time was spent watching the current performance from the sidelines or on one the many monitors broadcasting the show behind the scenes.

When it was their turn to perform, the atmosphere changed, the stage first growing completely pitch black and thick fog rolling out and into the crowd from the various hidden fog machines. Over the speakers, a darker, feminine  chuckle was heard, announcing the arrival of three figures in dark, rabbit eared robes moving onto the stage. When each had taken their places, one front and center, with the other two on either side, the stage was bathed in a purple light. They immediately began their performance, foregoing any introductions.

During the second song, each of the members shed their robes, revealing their faces and elaborate choices of dress. At the end of the song, vocalist Lucy stepped forward to speak. "Hello everyone, how are you all doing tonight?" Her excitement and energetic nature flowed through into her voice as she began their introduction. "I don't want to waste too much time on words, so why don't I make this quick? To my left is the wonderfully mischievous drummer, Alek! Watch out, he might bite. To my right, is the fabulously astonishing bassist, Adalyn! She bites. And my name is Lucy! We are The Lethal Fuzzy Bunnies!"

The rest of their performance went on without sparing any minute, preferring to offer as much as they could in the way of their performance for the audience instead of eating up time by talking. When it was all over, the group thanked the audience and bid them a good night, knowing that there were still two more performances from other groups to go.

Hardly having the time to catch her breath, Lucy, still dawning stage clothes of black rabbit ears, elaborate hair pieces, a dress made of lace and ruffles and everything else, was ushered into a lounge to await the interview that was to follow the performance. The very same room that harbored a familiar face, the very same man that she had argued with, that had invited her as a guest to this very concert certainly with the intention of showing off, and that had performed before her. When she entered, shutting the door behind her, she smiled.

"Thanks for the invitation; I suppose I appreciate the offer, but I already had one of the best seats in the house."

With these words, she gracefully and confidently moved across the room, coming to sit on the sofa, once again, opposite of Arrike. Vaguely, she wondered why all lounges had to be set up with two sofas facing one another. Unless she wanted to squeeze in with his little toys, which she obviously didn't, she had no choice but to face him. This time, however, she didn't have a choice in the matter, since she was told she would be interviewed alongside the other performer that was already waiting inside this very room. She would inevitably have to play nice, whether she liked it or not.

[Kitsumi]

As always, his performance had been flawless. It was easy to play the difficult pieces without making mistakes when he had an immortal lifetime worth of practice. The crowd was filled with a variety of people, but it was the young women who cheered the loudest at the end of his performance. Arrike found himself scanning as many faces as he could to try to figure out whether or not the woman he had invited had actually come. The ticket would have been for one of the front rows, but he could barely set apart a single face from the crowd. The lights were settled on him, both blinding him and leaving the crowd left in the shadows. He eventually gave up, finishing his set with the added flair of flames before heading backstage to wait.

His manager was scurrying around doing all of the necessary things that managers did, probably congratulating the vast members of their crew on the 'great' job that they did. The human liked to make friends with every member of the crew, and it was probably a good thing he did. Arrike wasn't as pleasant, and he could have easily found himself without the necessary workers to set everything up. He knew he should probably treat those who worked to make his shows happen better, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. As his parents had taught him, there were those who deserved the attention and respect of others, and then there was everyone else. These people were included in the second category. While he couldn't just feed off them recklessly or murder them or anything of that sort, it wasn't necessary for him to actually treat them as if they were as talented as he was.

There was still some time before the interview, and Arrike's manager wasn't paying enough attention to usher the rockstar into the lounge awaiting him. So instead of resting on the plush seats that were probably awaiting him, he stayed back to listen to the current band that was playing. He overheard someone mentioning how attractive the lead singer was, and he couldn't resist. He checked the monitor displaying the image of the camera that was trained on the woman in the center of the stage.

For a few moments, he didn't recognize her. She looked different in the midst of the smoke and the purple light. But when he heard her voice and a close-up of her face flashed on the monitor, he knew it was her. "Son of a bitch," he muttered to himself. It was the woman from the hotel, performing right there on the stage! That must have been why she had felt empowered enough to challenge him. She wasn't just another woman looking for the attention of someone famous - she was famous herself!

He wanted to watch more, but his manager finally seemed to take notice of him. Arrike was lead into a lounge where he was told to prepare himself for the coming interview. An interview that he would be sharing with the woman who had been so hostile to him earlier. As if sensing the rising emotions in the vampire, his manager warned him to, "Take it easy. Don't try anything with this woman, Arrike. We want the interview to go smoothly, got it? We can't use any more bad publicity." It was true - Arrike had suffered a bit of bad publicity after getting upset and completely trashing a room. Then there was the female who had claimed to have been nearly killed by him after he drank too much of her blood...but who was she to complain? She had offered, and she was still alive. Just a bit anemic, that was all...

A short while later, Arrike had found a couple of companions to sit with him on the couch. One of them fed him small pieces of fruit while the other leaned close and giggled at everything he said, whispering some rather vulgar things into his ear as often as she dared. Neither of the two women paid any attention as the female from the hotel - Lucy, as Arrike now knew her to be - walked into the room. Arrike noticed, though.

"I apologize," he was already taking heed of his manager's warning. The cameras weren't rolling, not yet anyways, but he might as well start being civil. He needed the woman to realize that anything they had said at the hotel was to be left there. They would have to pretend to like each other for the interview. "Had I known you were performing yourself, I might have been in the audience myself. Your music is quite entertaining."

He knew he owed nothing to this woman, but he had a feeling that she would find it hard to be docile when he had the women fawning over him. In an uncharacteristically thoughtful move, he asked them to leave, promising to find them after the interview.

[ToxicShadow]

As Lucy brought herself to relax, as much as she could in her current environment and within such elaborate clothing, she was vaguely surprised that Arrike seemed to have taken the cue to be civil with her. Of course, the coming interview was evidently vital to both of them, so she was certain that his behavior was only for that reason. Really, though, that was just as well, as it was better than fighting with him again, even if she didn't like him.  She needed to approach this with some professionalism which also meant putting the past behind him. Luckily, she had already done so, for the most part.

She rose a delicate eyebrow in curiosity as the man had dismissed his company and, despite any possible protests, they actually obliged and left the two alone. "And here I thought I was going to have to chase them out myself," she commented, speaking exactly what she was thinking on the matter. Her tone, again, was difficult to read, but at least it wasn't hostile. Oddly, she was a tad bit grateful that she didn't have to act in order to be left in peace.

When her gaze shifted back to him sitting across from her instead of the women leaving the room, she smiled again, "Well, I'm sure that you will have plenty of opportunities to join the audience if you want to watch our performance properly. I'm sure you've heard, haven't you? This wont be the only stage that we'll be sharing." Or maybe he hadn't really heard much about it. It hadn't been Lucy's choice to spend about half of their tour doing joint performances with this guy but it was as it was, so there was little she could do about it.

A part of her worried that being associated with someone that had such bad publicity would tarnish her own band's image, but she also had faith that her fans were loyal and wouldn't misjudge them. If anything, perhaps their more pleasant ways would help raise better publicity for him.  Lucy, Alek, and Adalyn were the type that was well received, treating their fans and others well, putting in so much effort to make their performances interesting for their audience, not just because they could. Lucy suspected that they were being paired together because he was known as a vampire, while her group held a very mysterious air to them, which would likely make people wonder all the more if they were somehow supernatural.

[Kitsumi]

It was odd for Arrike to be sitting in a room without a single admirer. He wasn't always surrounded by fans, but he usually had one or two alongside him. And if it wasn't a fan, it was somebody who worked for him and envied him. But now he was alone with Lucy, who was neither a fan nor was she envious. If anything, she looked down on him. This knowledge made it hard for Arrike to be civil, but he didn't want his manager to chew him out later for having lost his temper. He had to be calm, cool, collected. That was the only way to get through this interview.

"Well, I figured they'd have to be leaving soon anyways." Arrike didn't want to seem weak, like it was her who had influenced him to make them leave. "I doubt they'd want women like that in our interview. Besides, a bit of anticipation makes for a far more...satisfying companion later." There was a smile on his face, almost smug. It was like he was fighting to win an argument that hadn't even begun. What was it about her that put him automatically on the defense, feeling as if he had to fight to maintain his status. It was her indifference to him. It wasn't the feigned actions of those who pretended not to be jealous, or who tried to be cool to keep from looking like starstruck idiots. She really didn't care that he was a vampire, nor that he had talent. It irked him. It made him angry.

He couldn't afford to be angry. He forced a smile, and kept his tone even as they carried on their light, if somewhat strained, conversation. "You're continuing the tour with me?" He tried to keep the surprise out of his voice, and almost succeeded. "I usually do solo shows with just a few local opening acts. I'll admit that I'm not used to sharing the spotlight. I suppose my manager thought it would be good for me." That man was going to be fired if he didn't tread carefully. He knew that Arrike hated sharing a stage with other well-known bands. If the audience wasn't there for him, then they didn't need to be there at all.

His foot began tapping quickly on the ground, causing his whole body to vibrate slightly. It was a motion that he had learned to control long ago, and now only happened when he was deep in thought or highly distressed. At the moment, he was both. How was he going to keep himself calm for an entire tour with this woman? They would be forced to get along, to play nice.

Arrike didn't do well at playing nice.

[ToxicShadow]

The man trying to play off that he had excused the women prematurely for reasons other than her appearance in the room made Lucy shake her head. And here a tiny, itty bitty part of her had believed that he had done so in a good nature. Yet, if it was for her sake, for wanting to be civil, and he tried to deny it, then there was no reason to take anything good from it. "And here I thought that you might have done something admirable," she commented, ignoring his smug expression, not bothering to keep her words quiet. If she had mumbled them to herself, he would have easily heard them, so she might as well show enough respect to say it out right. Thus far, he hadn't shown any reasons to deserve her respect, but she was probably better at playing nice than he was. Over all, she wasn't such a harsh person, unless she was provoked.

Idly, she shifted her sitting position slightly, crossing one leg over the other in a feminine manner as he responded to the bit of news that she had offered him. He certainly tried to keep his surprise hidden, but she managed to catch it. "I've recently become aware of your less than favorable publicity," she stated, expressing that she generally knew the facts of why they were touring together for a time. "My band hasn't suffered in the public's eye, so I'm sure that they're riding on our joint appearances to brush your previous issues under the rug. If you're in with us, whom have received favorable publicity, certainly you must not be all that bad, right? That has to be the logic behind it," she agreed with his statement; that it was supposed to be good for him. "Its actually a clever move, even if you're not suited for sharing." With the business side of things in mind, it really was clever, and she had to give credit to his manager for thinking it up.

It was impossible to miss the tapping of his foot when it abruptly started, she glancing downward briefly, assuming that it was one of his tells toward how he was feeling. "I wouldn't worry much about that precious spotlight of yours. Our performance styles are different enough that there is hardly any concern for either of us really stealing the spotlight from the other person." Surprisingly, she was somewhat trying to reassure him with these words, hopefully making him less possessive of the stage. The key here was getting along, even if she didn't want to. "Our fans and your fans may not be one in the same all that often. And you never know, you may get a few more fans that normally wouldn't have given you the time of day under previous circumstances. There are benefits to it for you, even if you would deny it." With these joint performances, they could usually reap more benefits.

"You should be glad that I told you. Since it was kept from you that we'd be performing together, they were probably going to spring it on you during the interview." Would have he managed to hold up in front of the cameras with something like that revealed so suddenly? At least he now had some time to try to compose himself.

[Kitsumi]

Lucy was shaking her head at him, and Arrike wondered if he was taking things too far. He could have just been nice to her, instead of faking it. It actually would have made things easier for him, not having to fake everything. It wasn't like him to be nice, though. He had no reason to care about her feelings anyways. As long as they could look all cozy and friendly for the cameras, everything would be fine. "Hey, you should know by now that I'm not the admirable type. You can blame it on my parents. They pushed me too hard, they expected too much of me, they caused me to rebel, blah, blah, blah." It was the type of thing that sold in various articles written about him. How he was practically abused and expected to always be the prim and proper son, and now has little to no respect for authority.

The vampire grimaced at the mention of his bad publicity. For once, he actually looked ashamed as he ran his hand through his perfectly mussed hair. "Yeah, I haven't been the smartest guy. It's easy to assume that my fans will always be my fans no matter what, and that I might as well do whatever the hell I want." He shook his head as he suddenly realized how stupid and human he sounded. "That's probably actually true. I'll be young and handsome forever, who wouldn't love me? My manager, on the other hand, has to keep my publicity good or else my parents will fire him." Of course his parents would have had a hand in this. The idea was his manager's, but the push to get their son better standing in the eyes of the public was certainly from his parents. "I guess it's a smart move. And hey, now I have some eye candy backstage when I'm not supposed to bring my fans." He winked lewdly at her, knowing it would probably ruffle her feathers. He was sick of her seeming so...perfect.

He shrugged. "You're probably right. I won't like sharing the stage with you or your band, but it can't hurt I suppose. And maybe you're right, it might help." He couldn't think of any reason to oppose their performing together. Anything he held against her was personal. In her presence, he felt far smaller than he usually did. He hated the feeling of not being in control, and being with her certainly gave him that feeling. He had to act strictly professional when it came to this, though, so he'd just have to suck it up.

"I'm sure they would have loved to see me flip out on camera." He spat the words out bitterly. The attention that interviews and the like used to bring him was all positive. Lately, they were only looking for his downfalls. He wanted to be portrayed as a god, not as an undesirable jerk.

[ToxicShadow]

"Hm." So even this guy would admit that he wasn't an admirable person? The fact that he seemed aware of it, especially after their previous encounter, was surprising. If there was at least one good thing about the two conversing, it was that Lucy was actually listening to him and what he had to say, possibly listening to him and giving him a courtesy that he normally didn't receive. She considerably doubted that any of his little companions and pets held many conversations relevant to anything outside of getting in his pants or simply just fawning over him. Perhaps speaking with her would give him a healthy dose of reality or at least let him get things off of his chest that he may not have said otherwise.

"You know, perhaps I'd rather try to find an admirable quality in you instead of letting your first impression alone completely dictate my whole opinion." Although Arrike may have only thought that she was trying to be nice, a part of the woman actually meant what she said. If she could find a reason not to dislike him entirely, then it would really make this whole process a lot easier to deal with. "Though, seriously, please don't try to feed me the, 'my parents were so horrible to me,' crap for an excuse. At least you have parents to worry about you, in whatever twisted way they go about it. I can't agree with others trying to make people fit into the molds of their expectations, I dislike that just as much, but at least you have parents." Though she didn't say it in so many words, Lucy hinted about some of her private life, certainly saying enough for him to come to the conclusion that she didn't have parents.

As he continued to speak, she listened well to what he had to say. Lucy was surprised for a second time, when he seemed genuinely concerned for his image and ashamed for things that he had done, even though it was shortly followed by another smug statement. This time, though, it didn't appear to irritate her as much as before. "Hey, hey, don't get ahead of yourself. Even if you stay young, if you keep that rebel boy personality forever, you'll likely drive people away."

His attempt to ruffle her feathers definitely didn't go unnoticed, but her reaction was likely not one that he wanted. Instead of seeming upset, she immediately smirked in a devilish way, leaning a little forward as she did so. "Oh, feel free to look as much as you want. I'm quite accustomed to having eyes on me, thank you, so I'll just take your words as a compliment. This time. You already know that you can't do any more than look, after all." It was reasonable to say that Lucy didn't dress the way she did without expecting people to be looking at her, even if it was for not so good reasons. If people had ill opinions of her because of fashion sense, she could hardly care less.

Switching gears once again to a more serious subject, she said, "Yes, I'm sure they'd love to see you flip out, so why don't we make sure it goes so smoothly that it's painful for those that want you to mess up? We'll be working together, so might as well make good use of it."