The show must go on (diana)

[maddox makena starr]

It was one of those mornings when Maddox had hardly slept at all. He'd been having too much time for himself the day before and as always when that happened he generally woke up feeling stressed out and with the beginning of a massive headache forming at the back of his head. He let out a sigh as he looked at the clock, trying to figure out if it was the nightmare he'd been having or the alarm clock that had woken him up. Apparently it seemed to be the nightmare as there was another ten minutes before the alarm was supposed to ring, and about an hour and a half since he'd last looked at the time. Ugh this was just going to be one of those days where the goal was simply to get out of bed and get through the day as best as he could muster and hope that would be good enough. He had a photo shoot at one of the firms this morning and another at the same firm later in the day. Finally after only what seemed to be a while but was in fact only a few minutes, he rolled out of bed and padded into the bathroom.

Stretching he undressed and stepped into the hot spray of the shower. The heat and comfort of the water seemed to wash away some pf the unpleasant nausea the nightmare had left him with as well as calm his nerves some, but it did absolutely nothing for the headache which seemed to be getting worse by the moment. Eventually he stepped out of the shower, turning the water off and grabbing a towel to dry himself off. There was no way he was going to go for his normal morning run,which was why he'd showered instead of going straight out for a run. He was still feeling oddly nauseous, and his head was pounding to the point of almost blinding. Letting out a soft groan, he considered calling in and canceling the day, but it was a well paying gig and one that the firm needed now and not in a few days when he was feeling better. No he'd just have to suck it up and go with the flow. Slowly he headed out to the kitchen to get some food, only grabbing an apple, since hunger wasn't really the issue right now. That didn't change the fact that he knew his body needed something to digest though.

Apple in hand he decided just to head over to work, since he was up and going, maybe they'd be able to start a bit ahead of schedule so he would get a chance to rest between the shoots. When he got there he was met by a lady who showed him into the makeup station, because most people preferred adding some makeup to the darker spots of his tattoos, making them appear darker than they were. It did give him a bit of a more haunting look so he couldn't blame them. At this specific shoot the idea was to combine his modern and rather unusual look with the classic old fashioned gentleman, and so he'd be wearing an old fashioned suit. It was honestly a shoot he'd been looking forward to, but he was feeling too shitty right now to be enjoying it much. As they applied the makeup he kept his eyes closed unless instructed otherwise, trying not to let the still overpowering headache affect his mood or the way he talked to the ones who were working with him.

The makeup woman though was in a very chatty mood and her voice just grated on him as she was speaking with great enthusiasm. Finally he was ready for the shoot and was instructed where to stand and what to start off with. Obediently he started striking the poses he was asked for, shifting from one to the next. The light of the shoot was making his headache escalate to new heights and he was getting seriously dizzy from the movement and after a moment he crouched down, placing his palms on his temples, fingers stretched out. For a moment the photographer thought he was striking a pose and actually complimented him on the originality of it all, until he realized Maddox wasn't moving any more and got worried. "Dude? You alright?" the photographer asked as he put down his camera and walked over to see what was going on. "Yeah. I'm fine, just a bit dizzy that's all" was Maddox' reply, but he didn't make a move to get back up at all, and honestly at least if people looked closely it was easy enough to tell that he was a little pale beneath all those tattoos.

"We can take a break if you need it, I have no other shoots until late this afternoon" the photographer said as he crouched down next to Maddox, not even renoteøy sure he was as fine as he said he was. "yeah, just let me go have a smoke and sit down for a moment and we'll finish up" he said and finally managed to, somewhat shakily, gt to his feet, digging around in his pocket to find his cigarettes, walking out of the bright lights. A relieved sigh escaped him as he was beyond the lights and in a slightly darker part of the room, making his way towards a balcony door so he could smoke without offending anyone. Once outside he squeezed his eyes shut, shakily lighting the cigarette and crouching down, leaning against the wall. Fucking hell this wasn't going to work, he'd have to at least try to get his hands on some painkillers. Usually he didn't take any kind of drugs simply because he'd been pretty much an addict for a while when younger, but certain situations just required it.

[diana evelyn mason]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 380px; border-left: 20px solid #C36241; background-image:url(http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt7/Sara_Shadow/PRIVATE/texture-orange.jpg); padding-left: 10px; padding-bottom: 20px;] please , PLEASE, FORGIVE ME, BUT I WON'T BE HOME AGAIN. MAYBE SOMEDAY YOU'LL LOOK UP, AND BARELY CONSCIOUS, YOU'LL SAY TO NO ONE, "ISN'T SOMETHING MISSING?" YOU WON'T CRY FOR MY ABSENCE, I KNOW. YOU FORGOT ME LONG AGO. AM I SO UNIMPORTANT? AM I SO INSIGNIFICANT? ISN'T SOMETHING MISSING...? ISN'T SOMEONE . . .

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missing me?

diana was a lot of things. she was ditsy to the point that it was a miracle she ever learned how to tie her shoes and she was naive the way that any woman over the age of twenty-one should never be. she was a little selfish and maybe a tiny bit conceited, and she had a way of being a follower and not a leader. she was a lot of really bad things - more bad things than she would really like to admit, but one bad thing she had never been was a bad employee. a solid work ethic had been something that her parents had instilled in her and her siblings from a very young age. and it was really no wonder, with one parent in private practice and the other the owner of a private coffee shop through inheritance. the masons were a family that a lot of people could frown upon for their demons but not anyone - anyone at all - could say that they were bad employees. which was why when dia's alarm refused to go off that morning and her biological clock woke her up thirty minutes late, it put her entire schedule out of whack.

she had to rush to get ready which was something that she had never had to do before. rushing caused people to worry and get stressed and diana mason did not do worried and stressed. those sort of emotions caused wrinkles and sleeping problems and a thousand other things that she didn't care to think about. but that morning, she didn't have time to think about such things. her brow was in a constant creased state of tension as she rushed to find an outfit that didn't take too long to accessorize for while thinking of the most simple way to do her makeup and what she would do with her hair. just getting dressed in the morning was a complete challenge sometimes, especially working in the industry she did. her style wasn't usually as casual as it was due to that morning rush; she generally tried to dress herself up a little bit, and it just didn't feel quite like a work day unless her feet were begging for a nice bath by the end of it. in her industry, slacking in any way, especially in appearance, just wasn't looked on. but that day she rushed through her usual routine, even skipping washing and moisturizing her face before applying a minimal amount of makeup. under normal circumstances, she probably would have cared more but she was diana mason damn it - people at the firm owed her family enough that they could deal with makeup that wasn't its usual perfection.

not that she still didn't look good by the time she grabbed her car keys and rushed out her front door, her flats making it easier for her to move quickly even as they clacked against the pavement of her driveway. no, she still looked good, would always look good because it was just in her genes. some people were definitely in the poorer end of the gene pool but honestly, in terms of looks, her family had won the lottery. very rarely did she look bad, even on the rare days when she walked around the house in her sweats with her hair unbrushed. it just wasn't possible in her mind, and no one dared to oppose her. so she wasn't too worried about getting any abashed looks when she walked into the firm. even without effort, she looked fine, and with the minimal (but still slightly extensive by moderate standards) effort she put into her appearance, she was beautiful. she did, however, get a couple of people shaking their heads due to the fact that she walked in five minutes later. not a major infraction but definitely a surprise from a girl who made a show of showing up long before she was due to work just to help make the transition easier for everyone.

she couldn't have picked a worse day to come in late too, it seemed. they were all preparing for a big shoot with a model she was vaguely familiar with. maddox starr, a guy the firm had specifically asked for due to the fact that his body was completely covered with some of the most....interesting for lack of a better term tattoos that they had ever seen. he appealed to an entirely different audience than firms were used to trying to get, a younger generation who embraced unique looks like this and forced their eyes to find something pleasing in it to seem more accepting. not that she found anything wrong with his tattoos - she thought it was a pity to hide such a handsome face, for if someone stared at him and saw his photos enough time (and by and by, she had) he was rather handsome, but she didn't think they were awful. she just didn't see why it was such a big deal. so the guy had tattoos - big whoop. he wasn't supposed to be the central theme of what was happening: the clothes were. but she digressed. the fact of the matter was, no matter how she felt about it, the shoot was rather important and she was generally someone who helped to make sure everything was flowing smoothly.

and they were for a little while. she had to run around to get some more papers moved around and her desk area cleaned up before she could really help, which she normally never had to do, but things weren't really going poorly. they were getting some good shots apparently and everyone was talking animatedly about everything that happened, which made her pout slightly when she realized that she was actually missing the shoot as it was taking place. by the time she actually did get away from going through designs, tacking up boards, and meeting random demands that were tossed her direction as she passed designers, the shoot had stopped for some reason and everyone was conversing lowly as she walked into the room. she scanned the room for the cause of the disturbance and in finding none figured maybe they were done and took a few more tentative steps toward the center of the room. that was her mistake. she didn't notice one of the managers until it was too late and they'd established eye contact. knowing that her tardiness would not have escaped her, dia immediately averted her gaze to no avail.

"diana, darling," came falling out of that woman's mouth no matter what the blonde tried to do and she looked back up with a bright grin as though nothing was wrong. "bev!" she responded brightly but she couldn't get much out before the woman was practically breathing down her neck about how the model was sick or something and the shoot was stalled and none of the proper articles were written and everything was a mess. and even though diana knew for a fact that everything wasn't a mess and in fact the only problem was that the photoshoot was stalled, she didn't question it. she just nodded and pretended to be listening intently until bev patted her lightly on the shoulder and told her, "just be a dear and go wait on him, okay?" and she realized that she had been practically demoted. to model lackey.

she tried not to let her bright demeanor falter, though. she was a master at putting up a masked front and though she was hurt, she couldn't blame bev for what happened. she had, after all, been late and that was inexcusable by mason standards. so she just quietly went in the direction she was steered, out to the balcony where she found maddox smoking and leaning, crouched against the wall. his tattoos were more distracting in person, and it was the first thing she realized. she got the compulsive urge to turn and walk away, to say 'nevermind' and apologize for interrupting what he was doing. but a simple reminder that she was doing her job kept her there, though she did admittedly avert her eyes for a few seconds until she could get herself mentally prepared to look at him again. when she did, she still found herself wincing slightly. it wasn't often she had to look at even makeup that was that extensive in its detail and it took her a few seconds to adjust. "hey," she finally said, restoring her more upbeat demeanor and trying to sound concerned. "i was sent out here because i guess something happened..." she trailed off, realizing too late that of course he knew that. "but. are you okay? is there anything i could get you?" she paused before adding, "sir," as an afterthought.

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LIV/MADDOX, outfit, (:
MISSING by EVANESCENCE
made by ANYA of caution 2.0

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[maddox makena starr]

Holy hell he was feeling shitty, the headache was getting to the point where he felt nauseous every time he moved, and as he sat there for a while the only thing moving was his hand bringing the cigarette to his mouth. His eyes had dropped shut not long after he'd crouched down. At first he had no idea that anyone had even walked out there, his mind had been completely blank as he was trying to just get a grip and get back to work. Clearing his mind was usually something he was pretty good at. He had this thing where he'd imagine a tiny fire and then proceed to feed any disruptive thoughts, feelings and pains into it, leaving only a blank sort of void, and this was what he was trying to do at the moment so he could just get back to at least finish the first photo shoot, then get some proper rest without having to feel guilty for slowing the rest of them down. It wasn't usually something he'd allow for himself, but there really was no choice this morning.

Because of his lack of focus on the world right then and the closed eyes he didn't notice how she wasn't really looking at him at first. In fact he was a little startled when he first heard her speak and the slight startle was visible as he twitched a little. It also took him a moment to get out of his meditative state and manage to process what it was she's actually said. "Yeah I'm sorry about that. I got a bit dizzy, I should be alright in a bit to keep going" he forced himself to smile at her. He didn't really feel very high spirited right then. She asked if he was alright and since he didn't lie he sighed a little. "I've been better to be honest. Got a massive headache. I don't suppose you have any painkillers laying around somewhere?" he asked, despite the smile on his face and the down right perky tone in his voice as he spoke the words were laced with pain as well.

Shifting a little he bit his tongue as to keep himself from letting out a pained groan. Still though he kept the smile firmly in place and he looked, amused? Yeah amused would be the look. "Maddox or Madd is fine, no need for titles" he said, his voice friendly and soft. He was clearly not one of those stuck up models who'd boss someone around. And he had no need to be called sir, sometimes people would guide their kids away from him, whispering at them not to look at him. He was sort of used to not being treated with respect. He preferred getting respect of course but he was pretty thick skinned. Finally he took the last inhale of smoke from his cigarette and put it out, pushing himself to his feet, however still leaning against the wall. Never had he ever really been the kind to like showing obvious weakness in front of people he didn't know. Hell even in front of people he did know. Because of his past, he'd quickly learned that the more he screamed the harder the punishment, so he had become pretty good at hiding his issues.

Quickly he proceeded to finish tossing the rest of his pain and thoughts into the fire he'd still contained in his mind and straightened up pushing himself off the wall. "If you could see if you can find me some painkillers that'd be great, and I'll go finish the shoot and take them once we're done. We didn't have that much left anyway." his voice was still perky but laced with the same pain but he seemed semi steady on his feet at the very least. Sure he was still a bit dizzy but he'd manage. Slowly he started to lead the way back to the shoot, wanting to finish up quickly. "Alright let's finish this, I'm really sorry about the delay" even through the makeup and the tattoos he definitely looked pale by now. "that is if you're ready to finish up" The photographer looked at him and frowned. He could tell that the guy still wasn't feeling very well but he nodded regardless and gabbed his camera. "alright let's finish this then" the photographer agreed as Maddox stepped back under the light to finish up, however the moment he got hit by those lights he was feeling ready to fall over again. Going through a few more poses finally the photographer seemed to have had enough and called it quits. By then it was all Maddox could to to avoid falling over as he stepped out of the lights and sank into a chair someone had placed there. Hell this was just great.

[diana evelyn mason]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 380px; border-left: 20px solid #C36241; background-image:url(http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt7/Sara_Shadow/PRIVATE/texture-orange.jpg); padding-left: 10px; padding-bottom: 20px;] please , PLEASE, FORGIVE ME, BUT I WON'T BE HOME AGAIN. MAYBE SOMEDAY YOU'LL LOOK UP, AND BARELY CONSCIOUS, YOU'LL SAY TO NO ONE, "ISN'T SOMETHING MISSING?" YOU WON'T CRY FOR MY ABSENCE, I KNOW. YOU FORGOT ME LONG AGO. AM I SO UNIMPORTANT? AM I SO INSIGNIFICANT? ISN'T SOMETHING MISSING...? ISN'T SOMEONE . . .

[/size][/div]

missing me?

his pleasant demeanor was a little bit of a surprise. it was typical for people to be nice to her - she'd dealt with flattery her entire life and she always tried to be humble about it. however, when she was working, it wasn't so typical for the models that she worked with to be kind. whether she was working alongside them or working as a lackey, most had the same general air that people expected her to have: rather snooty, ditsy, with an addition of i'm-so-fucking-great conceit that she just didn't very much appreciate. but she kept up her fake smile and played along because she loved what she did and she'd gotten very good at just being business-like and cordial to every model who came her way, even the highly obnoxious ones. his kindness, though, caught her off guard and she was sure it showed in her expression for a split-second before she settled back into a pleasant smile. of course the one model she was tentative about would treat her the nicest. of course that would happen.

she was happy for the excuse to walk away, though. the longer she lingered, the more comfortable she'd get and then she knew that she'd let something slip and somehow offend him. but she couldn't help it - his tattoos were utterly repulsive not just to a fashionista's eye (honestly how did he dress himself having to work with those patterns?) but to the eye of the girl beneath the career. they scared her - worried her even and it made her just slightly uncomfortable to be around. she had no doubt that she'd probably get used to it but for the time being it was nice to be able to turn away on a quest for painkillers. of course, she had some of her own back in her bag at the desk but she had once heard something about never mixing prescriptions and she stuck with that when it came to strangers. so instead of wandering back there, she went around asking for painkillers knowing that someone around there would have something that wasn't taken from their mom's never-ending supply of pills by her brother. it was impossible to work in a place that ran on such high tension without running into someone who kept a supply of various painkillers with them.

and sure enough, she was right. after wandering around for a while, she finally found someone who told her that they had a few things that she could choose from. "bev driving you crazy already?" they asked, amused, as she walked with them back to their desk and she had to let out a laugh at that. it was true that the manager was a thorn in everyone's side and most of the headaches that developed around the firm were because of her. but she had a certain fondness for her manager. she was annoying as hell no doubt but she was a strong woman and that was something that diana herself had never been able to say about herself. "it's for one of the models," she explained. "some kind of massive headache." her co-worker furrowed her brow in concern. "any idea what kind?" this made diana furrow her brow in equal confusion. yes - she'd just told her. a headache. an ache. in his head. "the kind that hurts pretty bad?" she tried with a weak sort of smile and she got a laugh in return but a friendly one, like they thought she was making a joke.

"i'll just give you a few of everything," her co-worker said, pulling out a few small bottles. "tylenol, ibuprofen, excedrin if it's a migraine - it has caffeine in it -, advil...i don't really have anything stronger." diana just grinned and picked up the small plastic containers from the desk. "i'll be right back with these," she told her sincerely. "you're a doll. and do you know where the water bottles are?" her co-worker grinned and nodded and they chatted on the way to grab maddox a water bottle. by the time dia returned to the room where the shoot was, it seemed like everything had actually stopped this time. either that or they were just putting it off until maddox was feeling better which might be possible. she spotted (it was hard not to spot him) the man of the moment settled in a chair and made her way over to him, extending the bottle of water toward him before pulling forward the bag she had put the containers of pills in for easy carrying. "i hope these help," she said sincerely rustling the bag and also holding that out once he'd taken the water bottle. "i didn't know what you needed or if you were allergic to anything so i just took what i was offered. i'm sorry we don't have anything stronger; we're not really big on handing out prescription drugs."

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LIV/MADDOX, outfit, LA LA LA
MISSING by EVANESCENCE
made by ANYA of caution 2.0

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[maddox makena starr]

Holy hell he was feeling about ready to pass out, geez what was with this migraine? Yeah he'd figured by now that that's what it had to be. Sure he didn't sleep much on average and he got headaches quite often but it wasn't that often he got full blown crippling migraines like this one. Leaning back he allowed his eyes to lazily scan the room, even if that didn't really help the dizziness. At least if he did that there was something to look at and focus on. That and he hoped that the woman who'd come to check on him out on the balcony would be back with some sort of painkillers some time soon. And true enough it didn't seem to take too long for her to show up, a smile crossed his lips, which looked a little odd with the tattoos, as he spotted her and the fact that she seemed to be carrying some water and a small bag he was guessing contained some painkillers.

Straightening out of his slouch he smiled a grateful smile as she handed him the bottle and then went about explaining that they didn't have any prescription pills laying around. "I'm sure these will do just fine, thank you" he said as he reached out to take the bag and see what kind of pills were in the bag. "I wouldn't really take prescription meds even if there were any." he continued to say as he found the small bottle of excedrin and helped himself to two of them, putting the small bottle back into the bag and handing it back to her. "Thanks for looking these up for me. I'll be here a while and I didn't really think to stop by and buy some on my way here this morning" his voice was still pained but at least he seemed relieved by the fact that he now had some prospect of at least some improvement. Slowly he uncorked the bottle of water and popped the pills into his mouth, he almost seemed hesitant despite the fact that he'd asked for the pills in the first place. Rinsing them down with the water he then proceeded to finish the rest of the bottle as well, he was more thirsty than he'd thought.

Once finished he got to his feet, somewhat shakily still, and went to place the bottle in a recycling bin that he'd spotted going in before heading back to the chair. Once seated again he let out a soft, somewhat relieved sigh. Walking around right now really just made him feel like the room was spinning but he hoped it'd pass once those painkillers started working. "Again, thanks, I know it's probably not your actual job to have to babysit models" despite the fact that he was clearly being honest with that statement there was a bit of humor in it as well, mostly around the babysitting comment. "I swear I'm usually not such a mess" the smile again seemed sincere. Despite the somewhat scary looking tattoos it was likely becoming quite clear that he didn't have a very scary personality at all. In fact he tended to be fairly laid back and relaxed.

Polite as he was, as long as she was within his company he would keep his attention on her, not really letting himself focus on the fact that his body was screaming for him to find somewhere to sit or lie down for a bit with his eyes closed. He'd had a lot of pain in his life and he'd become a bit of an expert on not letting it show too much. "So is this a busy day or is it just the way things are always around here?" he was referring to the fact that people were bustling about all over the place and things to him seemed pretty chaotic. Sure he was in chaotic places himself quite often, but he was never one of the people who'd be running around all stressed out. Stress wasn't usually in his vocabulary simply because he tended to be a pretty laid back guy. Also he'd had so much mental strain in his life that it took a lot to put stress on him these days. Only the nightmares really managed to stress him out and because he'd not managed to go on his run today some of that slightly panicked feeling still lingered deep inside.

A small wince crossed his face as someone dropped something on the ground making a rather loud noise, clearly the bustle of the room wasn't really doing him much good. His mind drifted to having another cigarette but it generally meant moving around and he wasn't sure he wanted to. Staying here in all that noise wasn't really a good choice either though and he was a bit torn, the indecisiveness was somewhat visible on his face, there was only so much a guy could keep his mask of being fine up before it started cracking. Reaching him he ran a hand over the top of his head, where there would normally have been hair, it was something he had left from the days when he'd actually had hair. A bit of a habit of frustration that he hadn't been able to fully leave despite the fact that there was no longer any hair to run his hand through. The smile was still on his face though as he waited for her to have time to reply to his statements.

[diana evelyn mason]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 380px; border-left: 20px solid #C36241; background-image:url(http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt7/Sara_Shadow/PRIVATE/texture-orange.jpg); padding-left: 10px; padding-bottom: 20px;] please , PLEASE, FORGIVE ME, BUT I WON'T BE HOME AGAIN. MAYBE SOMEDAY YOU'LL LOOK UP, AND BARELY CONSCIOUS, YOU'LL SAY TO NO ONE, "ISN'T SOMETHING MISSING?" YOU WON'T CRY FOR MY ABSENCE, I KNOW. YOU FORGOT ME LONG AGO. AM I SO UNIMPORTANT? AM I SO INSIGNIFICANT? ISN'T SOMETHING MISSING...? ISN'T SOMEONE . . .

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missing me?

she found herself smiling almost fondly at him as he took the medication, distracted momentarily by the thought that it certainly was strange to see him act so...normally. to be honest, no one had really known what to expect from a guy who chose to tattoo his entire body to resemble a skeleton. that action in itself just didn't seem very stable and everyone was prepared for someone who got a little bit rock and roll on them - and they had had people like that before, musicians coming in for shoots who thought they were something big and tough because they got on stage and played their cute little instruments once a night. they all acted exactly the same, swaggering around the place and calling her "sweetheart" and sitting around strumming on their guitars and telling crazy tour tales that star them like everyone was supposed to be impressed by their self-stamped title of 'badass'. that's just what diana had expected walking into work that day. a guy who was probably a little temperamental, maybe a little conceited, who thought he was a badass because he was publicly humiliating himself for money.

but as it turned out, maddox wasn't like that at all. he was quiet from what she could tell, even sweet, and maybe that was just because his head was hurting and he didn't have it in him to act like a spoiled brat but it was a nice change of pace from the people she normally interacted with and definitely far from what she had been expecting. so she couldn't stop the lazy little amused smile from slipping onto her lips as she watched him go through these motions - they were just so normal and so natural that she wasn't really sure what to make of them. the mention that he probably wouldn't have taken prescription drugs if they were offered was also a little surprising. diana had been raised in a family that thought that most of your problems could be solved by a pill, be it a vitamin or sleeping pill or painkiller, and though she didn't like offering up her prescriptions to strangers, it was strange to hear that if she had, they would be declined. she didn't press the issue, though. she'd gotten him wanted he wanted and wondered for a moment if this meant she was now free to go.

but then he continued talking to her and he was offering up words of thanks and speaking to her in tones that could only be described as friendly, and she decided that maybe she wouldn't just walk off after all. though there was a lot she could be doing - there was always so much more to be doing - going back to her desk and actually having to put a little more effort than normal into her work seeing as it was one of those busier days didn't seem like a viable option. they would send someone down to her desk to replace her with the excuse that bev had given her another assignment and though they'd all snicker behind her back, she had a feeling they did that anyway. at least in sticking around with maddox she didn't have to worry about doing anything extra or getting caught up in the photoshoot drama that always took place the day of. so with that in mind, she waved off his apology and said, "no, no it's fine. i mean it's a demotion if anything, but you're an absolute doll compared to most people we get around here." which was true and she could not thank the lord enough that maddox was not one of those bitchy models.

when he pointed out the hustle and bustle of the scene, diana took the time to look around. while she supposed tensions were a little higher today than on most days, to be quite honest, photoshoot days were probably the most organized that the firm ever got. between frantic designers attempting to meet deadlines and last minute meetings being held not to mention all the pinning and sewing and altering and sorting that they had her doing as an intern, di rarely saw a moment that was as slow-paced as what was happening around them. she knew that would change, though, once this editorial was printed and they were off to do another shoot, especially if it was one she would be involved in. it always changed. "it's kinda just the way things are around here," she admitted to him with a small, light laugh. "fashion's not the most laid back career to get into. but you knew that already, right?"

he had to. after all, she'd done some modeling in her time. not a lot of it and she much preferred to be on the other side of a shoot, the side behind the camera or doing makeup or helping models get into those pretty clothes. but she knew what it was like, with the lights and the makeup and though he looked a lot more comfortable than she'd ever been in a shoot, it still wasn't fun. and they had to deal with all the other employees which oftentimes just made things harder. she frowned, though, when someone dropped something and though she'd been able to train herself to ignore other people's fiascos and just focus on the task at hand, she didn't miss the wince that came across maddox's face or the overall aura of his demeanor. he was in pain - it didn't take a genius to figure that out. "you're probably really tired of sitting here," she said with that same frown, leaning down so that she didn't have to speak as loudly. "with the headache and it being so loud." she paused before adding, "do you want to get out of here, go some place quiet? a conference room or my office?" in her usual coo of a voice, she realized too late that the words could have sounded suggestive but she didn't pause long enough to care much. she had said her words out of genuine concern and honestly people would take them how they would. she was just trying to be helpful.

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LIV/MADDOX, outfit, (:
MISSING by EVANESCENCE
made by ANYA of caution 2.0

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[maddox makena starr]

Good fucking god his head hurt so much he didn't know what to do with himself, he forced the smile to stay on his face regardless though, there was no excuse not to be nice to this woman who had obviously been assigned to take care of him. He felt a little guilty for that especially when she said it was more of a demotion than anything. "Well I'm really sorry for being the target of getting you demoted then. Really I'd be alright on my own, I mean I'm sure you have something more important you could be doing right?" he spoke softly and still despite the pleasant smile on his face he sounded pained and tired. Taking a deep breath he let it out in a very slow and heavy sigh. "Ah yeah, I know, it can get pretty busy when it wants to be. I usually just show up and do as I'm told though, it's not really too stressful for me. I never bother making much of a fuss about what I need to do I just show up and do it, you know?" Those words were true and by the way he was acting she could probably see that quite easily.

The moment the frown on her face that she'd caught his wince, he hadn't been able to keep it back though, it had caught him by surprise and when she commented he was probably tired of sitting in the noise he couldn't really do anything other than agree with her, he wanted somewhere a lot more quiet and preferably somewhere dark. Despite his instinct to say he was fine, something that had been forced on him when he was younger and his parents would go harder on him the more pain he let them know he was in, he took a deep breath and nodded weakly. He was far too tired and in pain to pick up the possible innuendo of her comment, it slipped right past him. "Yeah, that'd be great, it really is kinda loud in here" he confessed. Dragging himself to his feet, he almost seemed a little unsteady, but he avoided holding onto anything, again by instinct really.

Slowly he followed her as she started leading him towards a conference room, and as soon as they got in there he started heading for one of the chairs then changed his mind and leaned against the wall, letting himself slide down with his back against it, a little afraid he might have fallen over if he'd tried to sit down any other way. Once on the ground he simply leaned to the side and somehow ended up with his back on the floor, raising his left arm up around his head and his right up to cover his eyes, his legs just sort of haphazardly spread out where they ended up when he laid down. "I hope you don't mind, I'm feeling kinda dizzy." he explained, not wanting to be rude but honestly the room was swimming and he didn't really know how else he was going to deal with it, laying down on the rather cold floor was kinda soothing actually.

"You probably think I'm a total freak now if you didn't already because of the tattoos huh?" The statement wasn't meant as a harsh one, it was a simple statement, something he clearly thought was fact and expected her to have thought in the first place. Most people did, not a lot of people understood his reasons for the tattoos and not many bothered asking him about it really. He met a lot of judgement from people who didn't really bother with getting beneath the cover before judging. There was obviously far more to Maddox than most people ever got to know, and he probably showed that by his current actions. He wasn't some stuck up model who treated everyone like dirt, and despite the fact that she might chuck it up to the headache, wouldn't most asshole models be even worse if they were in pain?

"I know it must seem that way, but really I'm not as bad as you might think" there was a hint of humor in his voice as he said bad, it was a stab at the fact that he looked like a zombie. Even through his headache somehow he managed to find the energy to try to be entertaining. It was just who he was, trying to find a way to make someone's day just that little bit better. One might think, judging by his look that he'd be the kind to make it worse, but really he always tried his best to make people smile and to make them comfortable around him. Because mostly, despite what people might think, his looks was due to wanting to feel comfortable in his own skin, not so he could put on a show for the world, it just so happened that the world wanted to make a show of him, and he had issues getting another job with all the tattoos.

[diana evelyn mason]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 380px; border-left: 20px solid #C36241; background-image:url(http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt7/Sara_Shadow/PRIVATE/texture-orange.jpg); padding-left: 10px; padding-bottom: 20px;] please , PLEASE, FORGIVE ME, BUT I WON'T BE HOME AGAIN. MAYBE SOMEDAY YOU'LL LOOK UP, AND BARELY CONSCIOUS, YOU'LL SAY TO NO ONE, "ISN'T SOMETHING MISSING?" YOU WON'T CRY FOR MY ABSENCE, I KNOW. YOU FORGOT ME LONG AGO. AM I SO UNIMPORTANT? AM I SO INSIGNIFICANT? ISN'T SOMETHING MISSING...? ISN'T SOMEONE . . .

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missing me?

diana just shrugged off his apology about her demotion. if she was being honest, it didn't matter. she didn't have to be working there and she knew it better than anyone. she got enough money from her parents to support herself for the rest of her life without ever lifting a finger, not to mention the fact that she hated following orders from people who tended to not like her because they thought she was some sort of conceited bimbo. but she did her job anyway because she wanted to be involved. if that meant taking a demotion for the day because she was late then she was going to deal with it, but the fact of the matter was that she was one of the most productive members of their faculty. they couldn't hold her down for long. and she wasn't complaining much about having to deal with maddox. it was a lot better than dealing with bev, that much was certain, and she put up with that woman on a day to day basis. and also, caring for maddox didn't require much thought which was a lot better than anything else. she hated when it came to measurements and actually having to calculate things. it always ended up confusing her.

though he certainly was....strange. she felt her brows raise as he sunk down to the ground, completely ignoring any of the chairs, and her shock and secondhand embarrassment just grew when he lay down on the ground. he did look like he was in a lot of pain and she honestly didn't blame him because sometimes you just needed to lie down, but there was a time and a place for that sort of thing and it definitely wasn't while they were at the firm. she made sure the door was shut tight behind them - how embarrassing would it be for someone to walk in on him like that? - before walking into the room, stepping over him to grab a chair and sit down in it, crossing one leg over the other as she turned to face him. immediately she let out a little breath of relief. she couldn't think of the last time she was able to just sit down and talk while at the firm and she'd almost forgotten that their chairs could be so comfortable. situating herself, she turned her attention back to maddox, who was still lying on the ground.

his words sent a jolt of guilt straight into her stomach. because it was true - she did still sort of view him as a freak and though she was doing her job and getting everything done for him, she knew the only reason she wasn't excusing herself to go back to work was because she had spent the last few weeks with everyone else going through all of maddox's past photoshoots trying to accustom her eye to it and figure out how they were going to keep the aesthetic appeal of the general shoot while still working around the fact that these tattoos were not going to be so easily covered up and in fact they wanted to heighten their appearance. if she hadn't spent all that time looking at him, she had a feeling her reaction to actually seeing him in person would be far more violent and she would have said something by then to offend him, as she was apt to do. still in spite of this, being around him and now alone with him did make her feel a little bit uneasy. she still didn't know what kind of guy he was and she'd be lying if she said being alone with strange and potentially dangerous men hadn't gotten her into some serious trouble before.

not that she thought maddox was in any way like the men of her past. it was just that general feeling of uneasiness that was keeping her from being able to completely relax in his presence. "i'm not much a big fan of the word 'freak'," she told him, which was definitely true. she knew the power of name calling and how much it hurt and though she did walk around like the queen bitch, she wasn't actually mean beneath it all. she didn't have the right kind of mind to be able to keep her mean; it was much easier and simpler to just be kind. "or any name-calling really. it's really icky." and that was sure to make her sound intelligent. but she didn't care - she always used her third grade vocabulary to talk and though people looked down on her for it, it got the message across well enough. why complicate matters with larger words? "besides, no matter what you look like, you're kinder to me than any other model i've had to work with. i can put up with some weird tattoos for a good attitude."

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LIV/MADDOX, outfit, (:
MISSING by EVANESCENCE
made by ANYA of caution 2.0

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