[Kitsumi]

Too late, Arrike realized that the woman opposite him was actually thinking about what he said. His usual company would only take to heart the various compliments he paid them, and would ignore pretty much anything else he said. He could speak honestly, drop the facade, and they would think he was just being silly or something of that sort. He'd have to be more careful with what he said around Lucy. He had the reputation of an arrogant, self-centered vampire to uphold after all.

"You want an admiral quality?" He laughed, although it wasn't exactly the happy sort of laugh. "Good luck with that one. Those who tried to find good in me were quickly discouraged. Although I suppose you'd like to be given thanks for your willingness to rise above our first encounter?" He spoke in a tone of voice that was dangerously close to mocking as he said, "I thank you, my lady, for the chance to redeem myself. Although I apologize if I'll be unable to make good on that." He simply shrugged off her comment about parents, trying to keep emotionless and not feel any sort of sorrow or pity for her. She didn't seem the type to want pity, anyways. "People leave, they die, they change. It's a part of life. Just as my parents being overbearing is a part of life. I wasn't saying that I blamed anything on them - I was giving the perspective of those trying to explain why I am the way I am. I guess some people just want to find the good in everything and everyone. They can't believe that anything - even a vampire - can truly just be 'bad' without having had any sort of circumstance to make it that way."

He couldn't help but laugh as she spoke of him driving people away. "Ah, that's where you're wrong. You know, when I first began acting out, I had thought that would be the case. I'd be able to drive people away and live in peace. But apparently chivalry is overrated these days. Women seem to want someone to boss them around, treat them like property, disrespect them. Plus, there's always young adult women who want to get back at daddy dearest for being overly protective by sleeping with a thousand year old heartthrob vampire."

Arrike's eyebrows raised. He certainly had not expected her to say anything like that. "Is that so?" He allowed his eyes to slowly roam over her body, down and then back up to settle at a place that was below eye-level. He was testing the waters, seeing how she would react. She had given him permission to look, but did she really mean it?

For the first time since meeting her, the vampire offered Lucy a genuine smile. "Sounds like a wonderful plan. Maybe I'll actually end up getting some good publicity at the end of all of this after all."

[ToxicShadow]

Lucy's vibrant eyes narrowed as, once again, she witnessed Arrike's change in tone and expression, scrutinizing him, and she shook her head again. How pathetic could this man be with his attempts to remain arrogant and self-centered? Some women probably found that attractive but, to her, it was quite disgusting. "After showing me that ashamed expression of yours, there is no point in wasting your breath in trying to keep your completely arrogant facade up." Her tone came across as even, but with a biting undertone. He could attempt to mock her all he wanted, but the woman had decided that getting upset by that would only mean that she was losing, and she wasn't about to so easily lose a battle with him. "No doubt part of you really is an arrogant bastard," she allowed. "But in just a few minutes, you've already began to show that you do care about some things. You might as well stop flip-flopping, because it's not very attractive in any light."

The same way that he ignored her comment about parents, she did the same when it came to his round about response. She had long accepted parts of life, yes, and she certainly wasn't looking for sympathy. Lucy may have had a rough time when she was younger, but she attributed the past to what made her who she was today. Had she not struggled to take care of herself, she would have never pushed herself to the point where she did, she wouldn't be making her living doing what she had come to love doing.

As his eyes traveled across her, they coming to rest in a very obvious place, Lucy shook her head again in disappointment. "You're really not difficult to read, are you? I'm well aware that I'm rather fortunate, but staring there isn't going to be enough to shake me. You think you're the first man to ogle?" Unfortunately, her petite figure and stature combined with her large breasts made all sorts of people stare, and not just men. Although it had unsettled her over all, it something she had to get used to, even if reluctantly. If they did it right in front of her face, though, she normally had a few words to say about that, but getting a rise out of her was what he wanted. Instead, she practically brushed him off, as if he didn't really matter even if he was being disrespectful. What she couldn't guarantee, however, was that Alexander, her band mate, would let Arrike get off scot-free if he did something like this where he was a witness. Lucy didn't ask for it, but the male of their group was particularly protective of the women, as if they were his younger sisters.

However, there was something he mentioned previously that made her curious, something that she took from it as, again, possibly a flash of how he actually felt about things. "That aside, are you telling me that you began acting out because you initially wanted to be left alone? You thought you'd be able to drive people away and live in peace?" The second part was her repeating, word for word, something he had mentioned before purposefully staring at her.

"Though I will also mention, yes, there are many women that disrespect themselves enough to want to someone to tell them what to do. They like the asshole types. But you won't really find a decent woman that way. Dealing with people that want to agree with you all the time, well, that's just not entertaining."

After a few moments, likely enough for Arrike to make some responses, there was knock on the door into the lounge. Most likely, it was the interviewer announcing their presence instead of just waltzing in, probably afraid that they may end up disrupting something if they did that.

[Kitsumi]

When the woman's eyes narrowed, Arrike knew that he wasn't going to like what she was about to say. He had to mentally restrain himself as she spoke, although his eyes held a new malice in them that hadn't been there before. "Stop telling me how to act," he leaned over near to her, venom in every word. "I've acted like I was better than you, and maybe I am. But have I once asked you to do something or be something you don't want to do or be? Aside from my failed flirtations during our first meeting, I haven't asked anything of you. If you really want to get along during this tour, you're going to have to learn that you can't tell me what to do or be. If I want to 'flip-flop' personalities, as you say, then you can be damned sure I'm going to do it. I don't care if it's attractive or not. I am who I am, and I'm not going to change for a pathetic gothic human."

Arrike forced himself to calm down. He knew he should probably apologize, but he wasn't going to. Who was she to tell him how to act? He was a complicated person, and it was easier to just hide behind his air of superiority. Everyone expected him to be cold and aloof, and it made things simpler if he didn't care about anyone or anything and treated others as objects. He wasn't going to explain this to Lucy though, so she was just going to have to learn to accept that there would be rare moments that whatever 'good' there was within him would show through, and then quickly be covered up. It was self-preservation. It wasn't something he was going to give up.

"I'm not supposed to be difficult to read," he answered, only a hint of bite still in his voice. "I'm a celebrity, remember? Everyone wants to know who I am, what I like, what I do, how to get into my good graces, and so on and so forth. Besides, who says I'm trying to shake you? I'm just enjoying the view." He kept his eyes there for another long moment before turning them back to her face. "You'd make a stunning vampire," he said. "Everyone assumes that all vampires are beautiful and exotic, but a lot of them were simply average before the change and a bit above average afterwords. As ravishing as you look now...you'd make quite the little succubus, I'm sure." At this point, he was simply thinking out loud. He had never actually changed someone, at least as far as he knew. He didn't like dealing with new vampires, it was too much responsibility. It was rare for him to even think about changing someone, but Lucy just seemed like the type who would become strong and powerful with the added benefits of being a vampire.

The vampire quickly regretted his words as he heard them repeated in Lucy's voice, and he realized just how much of the side he usually kept hidden was coming through. "Perhaps that's true. It doesn't matter now, though. A life of privacy is an impossibility at this point." He hoped playing it off would get her to drop the subject.

In the time it took for Arrike to think of the words to say, he had lost his chance to speak. There was a knock on the door, and he knew that the interview would be beginning soon. He shot Lucy a look, hoping that even though their conversation had turned a bit sour towards the end, she would be civil if he did so as well. He called for whoever was behind the door to come in, praying that this wouldn't be a complete disaster.

[ToxicShadow]

Although she wasn't certain as to why it happened, Lucy couldn't stop herself from smiling as Arrike made his responses. There was no way that she could expect him to show his true colors without putting up a fight and, in reality, she didn't expect him to show himself as soon as she mentioned it. Yes, she was essentially telling him what to do, even if she would have emphasized that it was a suggestion that she thought would benefit him. From what she could tell, though,  the way he behaved wasn't necessarily who he was, so was it asking him too much to be honest with himself? She didn't entirely want to tell him who to be, she just wanted him to  be true to his self, not hiding behind the character he made for himself. It would likely take a lot of work, and maybe she wouldn't get him to open up any more than this during their whole tour, but she found herself looking forward to the challenge. It was no easy feat changing oneself, opening up, but perhaps she could facilitate it. She wasn't one of his fans or something that he needed to impress with his arrogant behavior, so she didn't need his illusions.

With the knock on the door and the pointed look from from the vampire, Lucy reacted by wordlessly rising from her position on the sofa. As the door opened, revealing a woman that looked older than they did, though certainly not older than the immortal one of the pair, with perhaps a hint of too much make up, Lucy offered the other woman a polite smile.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" The interviewer started with those words, instead of an introduction. Well, of course she had to be interrupting something, but that was beside the point. Lucy jumped on the chance to reply first. "Oh no, we were just having a wonderful little chat, that's all." As she spoke, she moved, soothing the edges of her dress and then coming to sit on the sofa that the vampire occupied, sitting fairly close beside him. Definitely closer than he likely would have expected of her.

Other staff, made up of men, entered the room as well, beginning to set up the cameras and gear for the interview. The interviewer came to sit in the sofa across from the music artists, the place that previously belonged to Lucy, continuing on the track, although she seemed a bit giddy at facing the two of them. "What were you chatting about?" She ventured to ask, seemingly more curious about the answer than she probably should have been. Without missing a beat, Lucy responded with a bit of a sly smile, "That's a secret."

The woman's expression changed, a hint of surprise showing on her features, but she managed to keep her professionalism and smile, nonetheless. "Well, all right then. I figure it will be best if we get right to it... My name is Liz, and I hope that we'll have a great interview today." These words were, essentially, the cue for the two to prepare themselves.

"And the camera is rolling in three, two, one..." The cameraman counted off, to which Liz jumped right in. "Hello! I am here today, backstage, with Arrike, a well known solo artist, and Lucy, signer and guitarist of The Lethal Fuzzy Bunnies. Now, looking at you two together like this, I must say that you make quite the couple." Her comment seemed genuine, as though she might have already secretly starting shipping the two as lovers in whatever odd fantasies that she might have.

"Can the two of you tell us about your upcoming tour together? I've heard that was something of a last minute decision, is that true? Are you looking forward to it?"

Since it was Lucy that generally had more knowledge revolving around the details of their tour, she took the opportunity to chime in, covering for Arrike since he had been purposefully ill informed up until recent times. "Well, the decision to tour together wasn't really our own; today was my first time meeting Arrike. It was something that was decided between my agency and his manager, but, yes, I'm very much looking forward to it. Each of us had already made plans to tour individually before the decision, so we'll be touring about half of the time together, the latter portion of our tours being solo performances."

[Kitsumi]

The vampire had a feeling that he'd have to tread carefully around Lucy. If he weren't careful, she'd probably try to weaken him by making him recognize the troublesome softness that had always been a part of him, although it was usually dormant and hidden. He had learned long before that some of his more human emotions were something that could only bring him pain, and he had become fairly skilled at denying their very existence. Vampires were supposed to be cold, unfeeling - they were above humans and their vulnerabilities. He'd have to remember this whenever he spoke to Lucy. She wasn't like the other humans who just accepted his facade and adored him for it. She was dangerous, and she probably knew it.

As soon as the door began to open, Arrike had a pleasant smile on his face. He tried to keep the seductive side of him on a minimum for the sake of Lucy and to keep rumors about the two of them from spreading, but it was nearly impossible to turn it completely off. As long as he turned all of his flirting towards the interviewer, he would probably be fine.

Lucy came to sit by him, and Arrike shifted a bit. As he did so, he draped his arm over the top of the couch. Hopefully it would give the appearance that the two were comfortable with each other, without offending Lucy since his arm wasn't actually around her or touching her in the slightest. He picked up where Lucy left off with the interviewer, giving the other singer a look as if they were sharing some sort of inside joke or a secret. "Suffice it to say that the two of us are planning to make the most out of our shared performances."

When the camera started to roll, Arrike kept his eyes focused on Liz. It was unprofessional to ignore her in order to stare at the camera, and the interview would have more chemistry if they all actually interacted. Chemistry was always good. "We haven't known each other for long," Arrike said at the comment about them making a nice couple. "But I look forward to getting to know each other. One can never have too many talented friends." He made sure to use the word 'friends' hoping that it would be enough to discourage whatever gossip would certainly end up circulating.

Arrike was grateful when Lucy spoke about the tour. He probably had been told about the situation, but being his typical ignorant self he had chosen to ignore anything that wasn't what he was in the mood to hear. "It will certainly be different," he added when Lucy was done speaking. "But I'm sure we'll both be able to reap the rewards of touring together."

Liz seemed to focus on him for the moment, firing quite a few questions at him all at once. "You've always been a solo performer, and you've never toured with a band like The Lethal Fuzzy Bunnies. How do you think things will work out? Does the difference in music style worry you? Do you think this will affect the way you perform?"

He maintained his smile, chuckling as he tried to sort out the questions. "It certainly is a change. I feel as though I've been maturing quite a bit lately. I think things will work out just fine, and our difference in music style just adds more diversity to our shows. Who knows, maybe we'll rub off on each other." He glanced at Lucy, before letting his eyes settle on Liz once more. "As I said, I've been changing a bit on my own, but I don't expect my music itself to change. As for my performance, who knows? You'll just have to stick around and find out." He winked.

[ToxicShadow]

Lucy played along flawlessly, the picture of ease beside her interview partner, nodding along in agreement with Arrike's words as he spoke. She was entirely unbothered by the arm that was draped on the sofa behind her. When his eyes shifted to her momentarily, she returned and held his gaze for the moment, smiling, before returning her attention back onto Liz in the same instant as he.

When Arrike winked, Liz visibly smiled in a way of admiration instead of just being polite, but she caught herself and her gaze abruptly turned over to the second guest. "Lucy, same questions to you. I know that you're already familiar in working with others because of your band mates, but do you have any concerns about your performances with Arrike?"

"Hm," Lucy gave a moment, delicately holding a finger to her lips as she seemed to think about it. It was only a moment, but it was broken with a warm chuckle and a genuine smile. "Of course I'm not worried! We may have different styles of music, but I stand by Arrike's words: it only adds more diversity to our shows. Additionally, it gives us each the opportunity to expand to a demographic that may not have otherwise been exposed to our music. I imagine that we both can benefit from working together. It's quite exciting!"

"Besides, he is quite a talented artist," she complimented him, her blue eyes shifting toward him only briefly with the words. Her compliment held her honest opinion, which she hoped he didn't take as too much flattery. She had no interest inflating his ego even more than it already was. "I'm not too sure about his personality, though," she said, and although she meant it, she smiled and laughed again, making it appear as if she was only teasing him in a good natured, friendly way.

Liz laughed alongside Lucy, appearing to fall for it easily. "Well, I'm glad that the two of you are getting along so well. I'm certain that your performances will go over well, if not better than anticipated." With these words, she switched gears to another question that felt pressing. "Lucy, it has often been speculated that the members of The Lethal Fuzzy Bunnies are not human. I'm sure the question on everyone's mind is: is touring with someone famed to be a vampire supposed to be a hint toward your identities?"

"Well," Lucy responded without missing a beat. "I cannot speak on behalf of my band mates, but I can assure that my parents are both human." Purposefully, the woman answered tactfully in order to retain the mysterious identity that had been built up around her, not clarifying just what she was. It had not been the band's intention to be considered other worldly or any such thing when they debuted, but the public began to speculate, so why not run with a little? Besides, there was truth to the speculations, since Lucy was the only human member of the group even though Adalyn and Alexander had no intentions of revealing themselves openly to the public.