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."

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...."

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..."

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)))

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.

"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?”

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."

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.

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."

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.)))

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....”







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."





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?”







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.

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!"

"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?"

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?"

(( 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. (: ))

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.





She doesn’t have any tattoos, however she does have her left ear pierced 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.

Her lucky ring 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!))

(((ooc: WLK - Welcome! )))




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. )))