Devon Alec Drake was having a pretty average day, at least for him anyway. He was decked out in Dolce and walking a red carpet with the latest Disney grad gone bad on his arm. He seemed to be going through a lot of those recently. If there was such a thing as Hollywood royalty, then Richard and Lilian Drake were the king and queen. So, it only made sense for the princeling to have a pop princess at his side. It's what was expected of him.
Cameras were a flashin' and the E crowd were doing their interview shtick. The questions the interviewers were asking weren't of the least interest to him and the grin that he gave the photographers certainly never touched his eyes. It was the same thing time and again. He just couldn't wait 'til the whole stupid thing was over and the champagne started flowing. He'd probably end up in a dark corner with whatever her name was to see if they couldn't make the cover of whatever rag managed to get the best picture. He'd feel a little bad about that if the girl wasn't an attention whore herself. Her people had called his people just to get this little thing going in the first place. She needed the boost in her record sales that a good scandal could bring on. What better way to get that done than by having a night out with everyone's favorite bad boy.
He'd lost his love for this whole game though. It was all the same fake people going about their silly lives, with no idea what was really important. He tried not to dwell to much on that....he had no idea what was important either. But at least he didn't go pretending he did. He tried to fill his days with whatever meaningless pursuit could keep his attention for a little while. Whether that meant catching some waves on Maui or pimping himself out for a new fragrance or clothing line. Not that he'd be caught dead wearing any of the stuff that bore his name.
But it was all becoming just a little bit to routine. The parties and clubs didn't have the allure they once had; funny considering he wasn't legally supposed to be allowed into most of them for another two years. Trips to Rio, skiing in the alps, everything just seemed so mundane, so ordinary. And even now, when he looked at the unmistakeably beautiful girl that was clinging to his arm as she posed for the cameras, he found he just wanted to run away. He'd give just about anything to just be able to leave it all behind, disappear from the public eye for a few days at least. He couldn't even hide away in his own place right now, the crew from MTV's Cribs were coming by to shoot in the morning.
He found himself muttering an excuse to his date the moment they were off the carpet and inside. He needed a moment, a little time to himself. He moved down the hall with a quick, confident stride that said to all that he knew exactly where he was going, when in actuality he had no idea. He found himself rounding a corner to a hallway that was blessedly devoid of people. That's all he wanted, a little space, a little time to chill. He stopped in the middle of the hall and leaned comfortably against the wall, his hands tucked away in his pockets. Those chestnut eyes that had melted many a heart closed with the utter exhaustion of life.
The rumble of the couple hundred people just a few halls down faded and was gone in almost an instant. When his eyes reopened he found himself in an alleyway between buildings that looked like they were straight off a set for some fantasy epic or another. He felt dazed and more than a little off. Had he fallen asleep, or was he seriously trippin" When he turned his head, he could see people passing on the street and his feet were carrying him to the entrance to the alley in mere moments.
It took him a minute to process what he was seeing. This was definitely no movie set. It was a bustling marketplace filled with the strangest collection of "people" he had ever seen. A guy with wings, actual honest to god wings, yelled something in a language Devon was pretty sure had never been spoken anywhere on Earth at a creature that seemed to be half man and half tiger. A moment later a fight had broken out between the two of them. And it was a good one too, all claws and swords and whatnot. He watched as people walked on by without giving the two a second glance and a grin started to spread across his face.
And then a stunning beauty that he was fairly certain was an actual angel caught him looking and seemed to give him a very unangel like appraisal of her own. "No freakin' way." He darted after the heavenly creature with a spring in his step, there was no way he was passing up the chance to toss a line at an actual angel. "Excuse me, pretty lady, but tell me, did it hurt?" And for the first time in what seemed like years, the grin that came to his lips was reflected entirely in his eyes.
Cameras were a flashin' and the E crowd were doing their interview shtick. The questions the interviewers were asking weren't of the least interest to him and the grin that he gave the photographers certainly never touched his eyes. It was the same thing time and again. He just couldn't wait 'til the whole stupid thing was over and the champagne started flowing. He'd probably end up in a dark corner with whatever her name was to see if they couldn't make the cover of whatever rag managed to get the best picture. He'd feel a little bad about that if the girl wasn't an attention whore herself. Her people had called his people just to get this little thing going in the first place. She needed the boost in her record sales that a good scandal could bring on. What better way to get that done than by having a night out with everyone's favorite bad boy.
He'd lost his love for this whole game though. It was all the same fake people going about their silly lives, with no idea what was really important. He tried not to dwell to much on that....he had no idea what was important either. But at least he didn't go pretending he did. He tried to fill his days with whatever meaningless pursuit could keep his attention for a little while. Whether that meant catching some waves on Maui or pimping himself out for a new fragrance or clothing line. Not that he'd be caught dead wearing any of the stuff that bore his name.
But it was all becoming just a little bit to routine. The parties and clubs didn't have the allure they once had; funny considering he wasn't legally supposed to be allowed into most of them for another two years. Trips to Rio, skiing in the alps, everything just seemed so mundane, so ordinary. And even now, when he looked at the unmistakeably beautiful girl that was clinging to his arm as she posed for the cameras, he found he just wanted to run away. He'd give just about anything to just be able to leave it all behind, disappear from the public eye for a few days at least. He couldn't even hide away in his own place right now, the crew from MTV's Cribs were coming by to shoot in the morning.
He found himself muttering an excuse to his date the moment they were off the carpet and inside. He needed a moment, a little time to himself. He moved down the hall with a quick, confident stride that said to all that he knew exactly where he was going, when in actuality he had no idea. He found himself rounding a corner to a hallway that was blessedly devoid of people. That's all he wanted, a little space, a little time to chill. He stopped in the middle of the hall and leaned comfortably against the wall, his hands tucked away in his pockets. Those chestnut eyes that had melted many a heart closed with the utter exhaustion of life.
The rumble of the couple hundred people just a few halls down faded and was gone in almost an instant. When his eyes reopened he found himself in an alleyway between buildings that looked like they were straight off a set for some fantasy epic or another. He felt dazed and more than a little off. Had he fallen asleep, or was he seriously trippin" When he turned his head, he could see people passing on the street and his feet were carrying him to the entrance to the alley in mere moments.
It took him a minute to process what he was seeing. This was definitely no movie set. It was a bustling marketplace filled with the strangest collection of "people" he had ever seen. A guy with wings, actual honest to god wings, yelled something in a language Devon was pretty sure had never been spoken anywhere on Earth at a creature that seemed to be half man and half tiger. A moment later a fight had broken out between the two of them. And it was a good one too, all claws and swords and whatnot. He watched as people walked on by without giving the two a second glance and a grin started to spread across his face.
And then a stunning beauty that he was fairly certain was an actual angel caught him looking and seemed to give him a very unangel like appraisal of her own. "No freakin' way." He darted after the heavenly creature with a spring in his step, there was no way he was passing up the chance to toss a line at an actual angel. "Excuse me, pretty lady, but tell me, did it hurt?" And for the first time in what seemed like years, the grin that came to his lips was reflected entirely in his eyes.