Valor (Ben, Invite)

[APRYLLE ARWEN]

just tell me how to breath
- - - AND I WILL MAKE IT SO

There weren't words in any language to express just how amazing Aprylle felt at the moment. You know it's something when a song writer is left speechless.

It was nearing midnight in New York City. People were flooding from Citi stadium in all directions, each wearing a happy, energized grin. Why were they all teaming with life and energy? Well, they'd all just witnessed the concert of a lifetime - for free. That's right. For free.

The concert had two parts to it. A battle of the bands, which drew in a large following on its own for both performers and indie seekers alike. The winners got to play on stage and with, and get to know, Overworld - Aprylle's band. That itself drew in more people. And then there was of course the actual concert, which drew in the rest. Their band was told prior to going on stage that there were over 40,000 people in attendance.

SOLD OUT!

Talk about publicity? To top it all off, Aprylle raised nearly 150,000$ for American Caner Society. How? Well. Okay. So the concert wasn't "free" persay. At the door, everyone was asked for a donation of any kind - even a penny would do! Of course, there were the uncouth teenagers who didn't care about the cause, leaving pennies or the occasional button inside. Then, there were the people who did care. So generous were some, leaving bills and even checks. People were truly kind when they were in a good mood.

So everyone left happy that evening. The fans got the show of their lives for the price of their choice. A ton of small local bands were seen by tens of thousands of fans and scouts. And Aprylle got to make another donation towards ending lung cancer. A good night for all.

After the concert and clean up, Aprylle got to do what she loved most about being in her profession - chat it up with the fans. Aprylle loved people. Even more so, the people who came out to support her, to listen to her, to cheer her on. Not to mention donate to her cause. She's never met a single one she didn't like.

But the time had come to part from her new found friends and fans. Aprylle needed to make her way home before the creepy people came out to play on the streets. Maybe it was the clear, beautiful evening, or maybe it was just that she was so pumped up, but whatever it was, Aprylle couldn't feel herself taking a taxi home. The well lit streets would serve her well enough to get her home tonight.

[/blockquote][/justify]

[BENJAMIN KANST]

I'LL JUST NOD, I'VE NEVER BEEN SO GOOD AT SHAKING HANDS

[/size][/font]
i looked up to you, but you just looked the other way[/center]

There was no such thing as a free concert. Sure, the fans didn’t have to play to get in, but that didn’t mean the planning and the advertising went free. There was so much more work that went on behind the scenes. Other than keeping operations at Shiver running smoothly, Ben did have a job that he sometimes had to take care off. Most of the time it was just a glorified title, but occasionally Ben did actually do some work. It was shocking, but he didn’t make an effort to try and convince people he was capable of doing work. Typically the only work he did was when it came to music, especially when it came to concerts. After he was turned, their was only one thing Ben could find pleasure in: music. So when he heard about the concert, naturally, Ben joined in on the planning.

Plus, it gave him a chance to be on stage again. After the role of Valen coven leader had been passed on to him, Ben didn’t have much time to focus on anything other than....well, supporting his lifestyle. Now with Aurelia back in his life, Ben had been taking time to examine the little things in life. It was really just a nice way of saying that now he couldn’t sleep with anybody, he had a lot more time on his hands. So this was why Benjamin found himself at Citi Stadium instead of in the comfort of some girl’s, who’s name he wouldn’t bother to remember, bed. He managed to slip in a small set during the Battle of the Bands, though they didn’t actually compete. There would be no point for try and get their name out there. This was merely for fun.

The natural high that came from being on stage, left Ben in a very good mood. It was probably the most carefree he’d been since Aurelia’s visit. After helping with clean-up and meeting new people, he finally took his leave. He didn’t feel safe walking the streets anymore, so he had the driver wait outside for him. As he stepped outside, he dug out the slightly crushed pack of cigarettes in his pocket and just as he pulled one out, Ben spotted the lead singer from Overworld. Realizing that he had just played at a concert intended to raise money for the fight against lung cancer, he decided against lighting up. Carefully tucking away the cigarette, Ben jammed the pack back in his pocket as she walked past him. Ah damn, what was her name? It started with an A.....”Hey, Aprylle!” He smiled, more proud of himself for remembering her name than anything. “Great show, haven’t seen a concert like that in years,” he took a step towards her and stuck out his hand. “Ben Kanst.”

tag: aprylle
word count: 471
music: 11th dimension - julian casablancas

[APRYLLE ARWEN]

just tell me how to breath
- - - AND I WILL MAKE IT SO

Aprylle paused on her feels at the call of her name. She'd half expected to get stopped on her walk home. In fact, it might have been a small reason why she chose to. Maybe. Bearing a healthy grin, she rounded eagerly to face what she had to assume was an adoring fan.

When her eyes made contact with his face, many thoughts went through Aprylle's mind at once. First, he seemed really familiar. Second, he was pretty attractive for someone so much older than herself. Lastly, why the hell did he smell so good? It really bothered her that she couldn't put any sort of memory to the mans face or name. His face, the tattoo's, even just his grin... Somehow she felt like she'd regret asking, but she was going to have to. Aprylle was a little overwhelmed.

[/font] "W-Why thank you, Ben,"[/font] she spoke slowly. Eyes squinted cautiously, as if straining to see something distant on the horizon as she spoke."I'm really sorry, I feel like I should know you from somewhere, but I'm not sure where..." Aprylle trailed off.

"OH. OHHH!" She shouted, before he could really talk back. "You were on stage for a bit! I recognize you now!"

Somewhat satisfied with herself, she exhaled the pressure off her chest and flashed her grin once more. For a moment, her attention fell on the sidewalk behind her; she had a long way to walk yet. She really didn't want to spend too much time talking to the man without getting a start back home. "Say, you were pretty awesome. Like, you blew us out of the water even. So why didn't you compete, Mr. Ben Kanst?"

Still, something felt right. Yeah, she remembered he was backstage with her not a few hours ago. Yet the name "Kanst" kept burning into her head. Kanst. Kanst... Her brows furrowed in thought. She wanted to think for some reason that he owned a club or something? But that didn't really fit his character. Too young.

That's when her eyes when wide. Aprylle's mouth formed a comical little "o" shape as she realized who she was talking to.

Benjamin Kanst. He owned Talent.

"Oh my god. Oh my god," she whispered, barely audible over the traffic and bustling nightlife. She was cracking jokes with one of the biggest recording hotshots in the area. It would be either a dream come true, or a nightmare about to happen.[/blockquote][/color][/font]

[BENJAMIN KANST]

I'LL JUST NOD, I'VE NEVER BEEN SO GOOD AT SHAKING HANDS

[/size][/font]
i looked up to you, but you just looked the other way[/center]

Ben couldn’t help but return Aprylle’s grin when she turned around. It was so rare to find someone this enthusiastic about meeting fans. Plus, he had to admit she was attractive and that it was part of the reason he had stopped her. Even when he wasn’t aware, his body was already trying to find someone to get into bed. Benjamin Kanst did not deal very well with sexual frustration. In fact, this was probably the first time his entire life - from what he could remember - that he even had to deal with something like this. It was new and it was pissing him off. On one hand, he didn’t want Aurelia maiming and torturing every woman that he slept with, and on the other hand, he just wanted to get laid. At this point, his mind wasn’t doing much thinking anymore.

Now he just had to choose, attempt to sleep with Aprylle and risk losing her talent or....he was starting to forget the other options. His smile almost seem to slowly disappear when she couldn’t recall where he had seen him from. They had just shared the same stage not even a few hours ago and...shouldn’t she at least know where he had seen her face. Well, this was awkward. Ben didn’t want to seem too enthusiastic to remind her from where, but his ego was taking quite the blow. So as she thought about it, Ben tucked his hands into his pockets and glanced around, trying to stop himself from saying anything. His expression seemed almost hopeful when Aprylle seemed to remember where she had seen him before. Though he was a bit disappointed by her answer, Ben still managed a smile and soft chuckle.

“Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve had a proper gig, so I figured why not. It’s not like we had anything to lose,” he grinned. “Thanks, but, we already get enough publicity. Figured we’d give the other bands a chance.” He didn’t mean to sound cocky, but it did come off like that and Ben smiled sheepishly to let her know he was only joking. And at this rate, she was well on her way to mending Ben’s ego. He merely arched an eyebrow and gave her a curious glance when Aprylle just stared at him. Was it something he said? When Ben realized it was because she had finally recognized him, he laughed and shook his head. Attempting to save her from being embarassed, Ben drove the conversation elsewhere. His ride had just pulled up and he pointed towards the road. “You’re not planning on walking home alone are you? Not exactly a safe part of town,” he paused, pretending to think for a second. “You don’t have any plans for tonight, do you?”

tag: aprylle
word count: 467
music: 11th dimension - julian casablancas

[APRYLLE ARWEN]

just tell me how to breath
- - - AND I WILL MAKE IT SO

Aprylle had never really been one to care for celebrities. After all, they were just people, right? And to some, Aprylle herself had been elevated to such a status. She didn't really care for it, but wasn't afraid to accept it either. Regardless, she'd never freaked out before when meeting someone deemed "important". She'd met with the mayor of New York. She'd the Yankees. She'd even met a few other music talents like Linkin Park and Rage Against the Machine. Each time, they remarked how cool Aprylle was for not loosing her mind (unlike her band members who went giddy like school-girls). They were just people. Really cool people, granted. But people.

Such cool was completely forgotten this evening. Aprylle's mouth hung open, her hands suspended in the air in a position of shock. In fact, the only thing that moved for seconds were her eyelids; beating furiously in case the man before her was a visual figment of her imagination. But he didn't disappear, leaving Aprylle looking like nothing less than a fan girl in front of Benjmain.

[/font] "I-I had no idea... You played my concert?... W-Why us? Holy shit it's you! I... You... What?!" Aprylle blurted out before she could even think, possibly for her own sanity more than the search of answers. "You could have been anywhere tonight, literally anywhere. But you were here?" It meant just as much that someone so influential as Benjamin Kanst would take time from what must be a busy schedule to watch her performance, as it did him taking the time to congratulate her after the show.

For someone so important, he sure was being pretty humble about the situation. She had only begun calming herself down when one hell of a limo arrived beside them, and Benjamin issued a request for her to join. Well that wasn't happening now - the calming down part. She looked at the limo, and back at Ben. She was being invited out for the night. By Benjamin Kanst. She, Aprylle Arwen, was being invited into a limo, by Benjamin Kanst, CEO of Talent, wanted to take Aprylle for a ride. Colour had completely drained from her face, and she almost looked like she was going to cry of sheer happiness. "Y-Yeah. Where are w-we going to go?" she asked quietly, trembling a little bit from excitement. Truth be told she didn't care in the slightest about where they were going. She just didn't want to seem completely pathetic in Benjamin's eyes. Despite her jitteryness, Aprylle climbed into the vehicle pretty damn quick, awaiting what she was positive would be the best night of her life.
[/blockquote][/color][/font][/justify]

[BENJAMIN KANST]

I'LL JUST NOD, I'VE NEVER BEEN SO GOOD AT SHAKING HANDS

[/size][/font]
i looked up to you, but you just looked the other way[/center]

And this was exactly how Benjamin Kanst conned women into sleeping with him. In New York City, all it took was a little status. It didn’t matter if he was hated or loved, people knew who he was and in the end, that’s all that mattered. Well, that and a significant amount of alcohol meant Ben could stay the night in their bed and be gone before the sun could rise. He merely smirked when it seemed like Apyrlle recognized who he was. Her reaction was not unlike many of those who knew him, but it still amused him nonetheless. Perhaps there was still hope for this evening after all. Needless to say this was doing wonders for his ego, which hadn’t been doing so well as of late. It was for this reason that Ben decided to keep Aprylle around for longer. Spending time with someone who didn’t want to kill him might actually do some good. “I like concerts,” Ben smiled, lightly shrugging his shoulders as if this was a common fact.

“It’s not everyday someone throws a free concert either. News gets around pretty fast.” When the car pulled up next to them, Ben seriously thought he was going to have to resuscitate Aprylle. For a moment, he was genuinely concerned. Sure, it was nice to have someone get that excited over meeting him, but he didn’t want to have her pass out. Ben managed an awkward smile when she spoke. He honestly didn’t have any plans after the concert and when Aprylle asked where they were going, Ben just stared at her for a second. That wasn’t something he had thought about. “Um...welll, there’s always Shiver. Unless you’re hungry,” he shrugged lightly and motioned towards her. “I didn’t really plan ahead when I called your name. I mean, anywhere you want to go?”

Destination didn’t really seem to be of importance though. She got in the car without another thought and Benjamin merely went along with it. If he was trying to make a meal of her, she was making this far too easy. He only wished everyone who recognized him had the same reaction. Maybe he needed to get out of Shiver more. Grinning to himself, Ben followed after her and sat across from her. When the car started moving, Ben picked up the bottle of wine that had been cooling and popped it open. He grabbed two glasses and poured the wine in both glasses. Ben stuck the bottle back where it was and offered one of the glasses to Apyrlle. She didn’t seem old enough to drink, but hell, he didn’t care. “So, why Overworld?”

tag: aprylle
word count: 443
music: 11th dimension - julian casablancas