1. Disenchanted

I put a hand on my damn-near bare hip and frowned at the magician across from me. Cute, but annoying. Maddeningly so. Currently, he was grinning at me, brown eyes flashing through a tangle of dark brownish, almost black hair that lay limp across his forehead. He has it volumized on camera. He was panting a little and so was I, but it was probably more embarrassing for me.

I turned to the co-director of the whole thing, Michael. "Why do I have to do it in costume and Criss doesn't?" I whined, indicating my silver taffeta and black crepe silk encased body. Well, somewhat encased. I guess. It was an outfit designed by the guy across from me, who had gone over to a sideline to slug back an entire bottle of water in one go. He smirked at me sadistically.

"Because I said so, Monica." I sighed and tugged the skirt part down a little, hoping to cover up my legs a bit. It could have been a decent outfit; if not for the fact it covered about half my butt and was cut down near my belly button. It was a fairy dress, said Criss, and it did indeed remind me of a fairy. But in Vegas heat, it felt like torture. The stockings were good quality, though, and clung while allowing me to breathe. They were black, like the bodice and overskirt, except for the silver stripes. I had a puffy renaissance-style undershirt made of some sort of silver, silky fabric and a leather corset with a slashed taffeta overskirt. The under part was one part netting, one part taffeta, three parts idiocy. It was comfortable to move in, but Criss kept staring at me at odd moments, making it hard to concentrate.

"Mike, this isn't fair…" He shrugged and Criss grinned. We'd been practicing for about an hour, now, and he'd taken his shirt off as soon as he walked in. He was drenched in sweat, and he poured about half of another bottle of water over himself, shaking his head and moaning softly. I glared. He'd managed to plaster all of his hair flat to his perfect Greek features. The water had been cold, apparently, because his skin tightened up.

"Like what ya see, Nica?" He asked, gesturing to his chest. I sighed and turned around. There was silence for a few seconds, then a sigh from Criss. "Go ahead and get dressed back up in the green room. We should talk. I'll be in in a few." I nodded and headed out to the dressing room.

I'm not quite sure what you're gathering from all of this – what you see between me and Criss. We're friends, but…everyone is friends with Criss. He's a likeable guy. He's overly sweet and easy to talk to and a dork, at least, off set. Onstage, he has an amazing presence and persona, too, and that side of Criss is…hot. But that's the only time I like him like that.

I'm sort of…a stagehand? No…I guess an assistant in his show, Believe. I play an unnamed character, someone who sort of fades in and out of the background. Criss seemed to like me well enough, but I just wasn't the best dancer in the world. He'll do that. Just take a liking to a random person.

I went back to the dressing room and pulled the bodice off, grabbing my bra and tee shirt. I stripped the skirt and stockings off in one motion, hanging them to be dry-cleaned for me and pulled a pair of jeans on, followed seconds later by a black, sleeveless, strapless corset made of black velvet.

After that, I got to the task of wiping off my stage make-up. I hate the crap they plaster all over my face; pancake make-up in shades of grey and silver to make a mask and make me unnoticeable.

I ran my hands back over my hair and glanced in the mirror. Hmm, Criss wasn't here yet…I reached into my pocket and checked my messages. Yup. Four from Eric, just like I'd thought. I checked them, scrolling through slowly. Each was gently loving and more than a bit possessive. I smiled and texted him back, but before I could send, he called me. I grinned and answered.

"Hey, Sexy…"I purred, turning back to the mirror and removing the ridiculous amount of stage-makeup Criss had had put on me.

"Hello, gorgeous. Practice over?"

"Yep. Whatcha up to?" I laughed inwardly, knowing the answer he'd give…

"About seven and a half inches. Damn, I hate not living closer to you…" I giggled and squirmed, shifting my hips in their sheath of denim. I miss Eric. Constantly. But he hates loud noises, big cities, and hot weather…in short, Las Vegas.

"Oh, really…and what if I said I know a very good way to get rid of that problem?" I murmured into the phone, pulling the clips out of my hair so that it fell in a jet black and ultra-violet purple striped wave down to the middle of my back. My hair is interesting, not boring like Criss's.

"Hmmm…If you were here, then it wouldn't be a problem…" I laughed again and shook my hair out, shivering at the sound of his voice…deep, with just the slightest hint of his London accent.

"If I was there…" I began…

"Then you wouldn't be on the phone instead of waiting for me to get back here and brief you." Criss was standing in the doorway, still shirtless, still in jeans. I glared.

"Call you back later, baby," I muttered sullenly and slid the phone shut. I crossed my arms and looked in the mirror at Criss. "Yes?" He glowered at my mutinous tone.

"The show will be starting in about two weeks; I was wondering if you'd be okay as part of the touring troupe or if you want to stay just a part of the regular cast." His voice was flat, disappointed. I blinked. Touring? No one had said anything about that…

"Yeah, I'd like that. A lot. Is there any more you can tell me about it?" He nodded and leaned easily against the counter while I took my make-up off.

"Well, we'd be doing short tours – nothing too far away, just a little ways off and maybe some stuff in New York or something… you'd have more than one role; one for the standard show and one for the troupe. Oh, and it'd be a better role. A named one." I was straightening my hair, watching him curiously.

"Sounds…good. Where would we be going?"

"Like I said, New York, maybe California…I'm not sure. It's only an idea. Actually….why don't you sleep on it? I'll give you my personal cell, and you can let me know what you think in the morning." I blinked. Right. Just an idea. Criss's 'just an ideas' have a way of coming true very quickly. "Of course, if that makes you uncomfortable, I understand..."

I shrugged, straightening my bangs over my forehead. "Actually, I'm not too terribly averse to the idea. In fact, I really think I'd like to." He looked over at me. He'd been fidgeting the whole time, playing with the hole in the knee of his jeans and doodling on the thigh with eyeliner someone had left out. Maybe him. He finished up a tiny drawing of a cat and blinked at me.

"You mean you think you'd actually like…" Mike came back into the room, handing Criss his cell phone. Criss took the call, immediately becoming businessy. I sighed and gathered all of my stuff up, but he made little motions that begged me to stay. I sighed and sat down on one of the chairs to text Eric, who had been texting me and freaking out on an almost minutely basis. I could feel Criss watching me, though he kept on talking to whoever he was talking to about matters that didn't concern me. I shrugged off the feeling and got Eric calmed down, letting him know that I'd just been talking to Criss. He relaxed and we texted back and forth for a while.

Criss snapped his phone shut and I looked up from a description Eric had sent of some lingerie he was trying to get me to buy. Criss was stretching and getting down from the counter, looking like a tired lion. He sighed in an exasperated sort of way. I stood, raising an eyebrow and stowing my phone before he could get the idea of going through my text messages again.

"Just some people from Planet Hollywood, wanting me to make more appearances," he explained. I nodded. Criss has to do a lot of public appearances. I guess it helps his PR or something. His PR is still trying to recover from this beard he grew a while back, and…yeah, it's pretty odd.

"So you think you'd like to?" Criss asked, yanking me roughly out of my reverie. I blinked, trying to remember what he'd asked. He smirked, an eyebrow raising and the corner of his mouth quirking ironically. "The 'on the move' group?"

"Oh. Right. Yeah, I think I'd like that. So what's the plan for it? Is there a specific meeting I need to go to or anything?" He shook his head. That's a lot like Criss. He doesn't like to do a lot of scheduled things when he can get away from it. He barely follows schedules, anyways.

"Oh, okay. So I just…what, call you about it later?" He nodded and handed me his phone.

"Trade me. I'll put my number in yours, and you give me your number too." I nodded, clearing out my message history as I handed it to him. "Oh, I feel trusted…" He muttered. He pressed some buttons and I put my number in his phone, as 'Nica,' Criss's nickname for me. He handed my phone back, patiently watching me put my number in his.

"Here." I handed it back to him and he nodded, snapping it shut. Criss gave me a sweaty hug and a kiss on the cheek, five o'clock shadow brushing against my cheek. I squeaked and headed back to the back of the warehouse as I set off for home.

My house is pretty nice, if small. It's a little apartment, just off the strip, on the lower part of Paradise. I walked into the house, cracking the door, and whistled for Alice, my kitty. She came wandering in lazily, twining around the doorframe.

"C'mere, cutie…" I picked her up, dropping my clothes to the ground next to the door. Alice walked over, tilting her little cream colored head and meowing quietly. A couple of months back; I'd been walking home from a theatre and found a small, meowing box in an alley. There had been two kittens, and my cousin Elena had the other one, Trina. Alice crawled into my lap, licking my thumb and fingers with her little pink tongue. I laughed and stroked a hand over her soft, silky fur. She started to purr like a little tiny motorboat, meowing quietly from time to time. I picked her up with me, carrying her into the kitchen in the crook of my arm, and set her down on the counter. She stretched, nails scraping slightly on the Formica. I grabbed a tin of tuna out of the cupboard, pouring the juice on top of Alice's food and eating the drained tuna out of the can with a fork. Alice wolfed hers down, purring and meowing contently.

My phone buzzed against my hip and I pulled it out of my pocket, checking the text.

Hey nica you there?

I nodded, smiling. Wow, Criss didn't fool around in making sure he had the right number.

Yeah, boss. What's up?

I grabbed a Coke out of the fridge and popped the top, listening for my phone and considering a bath. Alice walked over and delicately stood on her back legs to sniff my hand and placed a tiny paw on my finger. I stroked a hand over her head as my phone buzzed across my counter.

Meeting. Fuck. I hate meetings. They're so fucking boring.

I laughed and set the phone down. He hadn't really given me anything to go off of. I stripped down, regretting putting on my makeup; I always shower when I get home, anyways. I tossed my clothes into the hamper on the way by. On my way into the shower, though, my phone buzzed insistently again. I growled and read the text.

So what are you up to?

I sighed and flipped my hair back.

I'm naked, Criss, and about to shower. Gimme a few minutes between texts, maybe?

Hitting the send button made me giggle. Let's see him interpret that one. I slipped in to the shower, rinsing all of the product off my face and out of my hair, thinking about the last time I'd been in the shower with someone. Damn. This was not a good day for my concentration. I shrugged it off and turned the heat up, letting the heat ease the tension in my shoulders. It was a soft, gratifying sensation.

Over the sound of rushing water, I heard my phone buzz against the counter and growled mentally. Just where the hell did he get off, texting me so damn much? I had to admit, though, it was kind of cute.

I sighed and arched my back, shooting JD a pleading look. He glared momentarily at me and then directed his gaze back to the extremely boring speaker, a thin, half-dead looking guy whose name I didn't remember. God, my memory was going to shit. I glanced down at my phone, which was resting on the upper part of my thigh. I always text a bunch of people in meetings. It keeps me from falling asleep or making an ass out of myself. So far, only my pretty assistant, Nica, and my girl, Veronica, were responding. I had the phone on silent so that…well, so that my brother wouldn't take it, okay? Sometimes being the baby of the family sucks.

Two new text messages.

I grinned inwardly, still looking bored and half-awake on the outside. I usually do, off camera. I've had some very, very upset members of the Loyal ask me what was wrong when I wasn't aware that someone was watching me.

Message from: Nica

I'm naked, Criss, and about to shower. Gimme a few minutes between texts, maybe?

I blinked, trying not to look surprised. I…I've got a tendency to, ah, notice women. It's partially from one of the principles of magic, and partially…me. And if I've noticed one thing about Nica, it's that she'd be very nice to see in a shower. Or a bed. Or against a wall…

I shook my brain out mentally, wrenching it from the gutter, where Veronica had it to begin with. I was having a hard time not having a hard time, if you know what I mean, and Nica wasn't making it any better.

Gawd nica. Give me a boner why don't ya?

Her expression would be awesome. She's very expressive in person, which is something you don't see in most dancers.

Message from: Babygirl

You up for tonight, magic man? I've got some new massage oils I'd LOVE to try on you, and I KNOW how much you like chocolate…

See what I mean? Bitch. She knew I was in a meeting, too. But I love her way too much to mean that…

Up? Yes. For tonight? Probably. Geesus, baby, do you REALLY have to be so sexy?

I sighed and flipped the phone shut silently, staring at the speaker and very carefully breathing a little quicker so I could regulate my blood flow. Might as well practice when there's nothing else to do. Not to mention, it's sort of embarrassing to stand up like that.

I've been practicing self hypnosis since I was about sixteen, and by this point, it's pretty easy to throw myself under. I got myself relaxed, tipping my hat down over my face and hoped people would think I was asleep. They usually did.

I relaxed slowly, letting tension momentarily ease out of my shoulders and legs; I was in a good position, with my ankles crossed and my arms over my chest. I heard JD scoff and realized he knew what I was up to. Sweet. He'd keep people from bugging me too much.

I pushed everything out of my mind, opening up the well of creativity I usually had to shove down and ignore so I could concentrate. It opened a door, making me gasp slightly; effecting me physically. I pushed the door all the way open, stepping through and looking around the world I'd created for myself (was it already here? What if, what if…). The surroundings were…familiar. Hell, of course they were familiar. Beings walked here and there, striding about and offering their thoughts to me as they passed. The ones that spoke murmured soft greetings and the friendlier ones touched me, allowing m y minds to brush with theirs. I was different; my hair brushing the lowest part of my back and my skin smoother, sleeker, my eyes darker. I wasn't so muscular and bulky.

I turned a half-second as a hand brushed across my back and something covered where my chest and shoulders had been bare. A shawl. Illusia's shawl. I turned to embrace her, trading a soft kiss against her neck. She made a soft, displeased purring noise and nipped me, knocking me over onto m back. I laughed and rolled backward with it, pinning her and nuzzling her neck. She missed me. My Amystika creatures missed me. Being missed is an amazing feeling…

We wrestled for a little while before I noticed something odd – we were on a bed of leaves. In Amystika. That made…no sense. Amystika was nearly always in spring or in summer. I brushed a hand over the side of her face lightly, sending the questioning thought through the touch; thoughts could carry over here, in skin to skin touches and over the wind.

I knew, of course. The beings in Amystika – creatures, cyborgs, robots, people, spirits, trees and flowers and the water and clouds – they were all ways for me to talk to myself; ways for my subconscious to let me know about my body and myself and everything. I made them as a sort of medium between myself and I. Amystika itself? My playground, my home court – the place where I test my thoughts about my illusions.

Illusia returned the thought in a flurry of visuals and worried feelings, making my stomach lurch. My fault. It was my fault that things were getting bad in here. Well, naturally it was my fault. My playground, my fault. I glared at the ground, feeling anger building just below the surface. I pulled her up, letting the sensation of how bad I felt pass to her. She became a cat at some point; the lines of her shoulders shifting and changing. It was a large cat, to be sure. More like a tiger with blue stripes instead of orange.

We walked around. I rested my hand between her shoulder blades, allowing thoughts and images to slide back and forth. They were worrying about me, and about the overwork, and about how I never came here anymore. I passed images back and forth about what was going on; about the theater I would be working in. She was pleased about it, though Tronik was a little upset and Usher was flat out displeased. I sighed and asked about the Sorcerer, how he was, and Kayala, and the family. They were all well. It was relaxing, walking here. Even as I wandered for a while, the weather became a sort of an Indian summer; the leaves looking better in the light that shone through the clouds. I noticed, vaguely, that I was still wearing a choker and bracelets. Wow. Work really was affecting me. Things like that were symbolic of baggage that I was carrying around.

We wandered for a long time, going to visit different the different parts of Amystika. I felt a light, ethereal touch on my shoulder and looked back, apologizing to Illusia. She purred, back thrumming under my hand. I let go of her, slowly sliding away from the place in my mind and locking the door tight behind me. I opened my eyes slowly, uncrossing my arms and stretching to look at JD, who was shaking my shoulder gently.

I stood slowly, letting the blood return to where it belonged. I glanced at my phone.

Five new text messages. Two missed calls. One voice mail. Crap…

"What did I miss?" My voice was rougher, deeper than usual. I'd been sleeping, sort of. Good for the body, if not for the mind.

"Just a bunch of crap that's vital to MF5 production. Seminar about the end of the world. Strippers," JD deadpanned, looking amused. I mock-glared at him and feinted a punch to his stomach, smacking him on the shoulder with the flat of my palm. He returned the favor, slapping his hand right on top of my right-side brand. I hissed a breath out through my teeth and stole his cap, tucking it in my pocket and jogging down the hallway on our way out. I felt better; more energized. JD came hauling ass after me and took my hat, stealing it off my head, along with his out of my pocket. I tripped him, catching him as he fell and pulling him into a nelson. Hah. There's an advantage to being bigger than your big brother. He laughed, panting and going limp and dropping my hat.

"Asshole." I laughed and scooped my hat up, tossing it up above his head and catching it. He glared and tripped me so I fell on my face. Just as a horde of photographers came around the corner. Great. I glared at them and picked myself up. This would go over well for my PR. They'd probably play it off as incest or something…

Me and JD got through them, wading and ignoring them. I was headed back to the Luxor, back up to my room, to get ready for a public appearance at LAX. I like going down there; it's a pretty nice place, and I have a lot of fun. Veronica likes it, too...Cathouse is more her thing, though. Sometimes I sort of wonder whether she likes girls or not. Damn, that'd be…nice, sort of.

We got out to the street and hopped in the limo, ditching the paparazzi pretty efficiently. I sighed and tilted my head back, stretching out. I love limousines. So long as they aren't white.

JD glanced over at me, smirking. "What the hell were you dreaming about, Chris?" I laughed. He raised an eyebrow and shook his head. He knows a little about the things I dream of, and that's enough for most people.

I flipped my phone open.

Five new text messages.

Babygirl: Criss? U there?

Babygirl: Meeting going well? What's up, baby?

Nica: Yuck, Criss. Really. YUCK. =P

Babygirl: I'll call you in a while…U r not doing another stunt, r u?

Nica: I was kidding, sort of…don't fire me!!! LOL.

I sighed and texted them both back, letting Veronica know that I'd fallen asleep in a meeting and that I missed her, and yes, we were on for tonight, and what she should wear and whatnot. I let Nica know that no, she wasn't fired, and that I'd just decided that the meeting I was in was the best place ever for napping. JD talked for a while about how well things were going back in East Meadow, and how Monster was doing, and how damn big my niece, Little Dimitra was getting. I flipped the phone shut, planning on checking the voicemails later. They were from Veronica, anyways.

JD looked at me closely. "How much you been sleeping, skinny?" Ah. Childhood nicknames. The bane of my existence.

I shrugged and stretched. "I don't really have all that much time for it….but another board meeting or two like that and I might just become narcoleptic." I grinned at him and yawned, stretching my legs out and crossing them at the ankles. JD smirked.

"Mom would hate that you aren't sleeping if she was here. She'd tell you to sleep more." I sighed and nodded, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "She's fine, Chris…" I nodded again, relaxing a little and slumping forward.

"Thank God." He nodded and touched my knee lightly. I smiled. "I'm just worried, bro."

"Hah. You're worried? Right. Cause, you know, mom's totally the one light herself on fire and getting hit by lightning and shoved down elevator shafts and all that bullshit." I glared.

"I'm not gonna break that promise, JD. You know I wouldn't ever break a promise to mom." I stared him down for a few moments, making sure it was ingrained in his memory. He sighed and sat back, crossing his arms over his chest.

"She still wants you to have kids, you know. At some point. Before you die of old age." I glared. I fucking hate being so damned old, and JD likes to rub it in. Heh. Like he's younger than me…

"Maybe. When I'm not so busy. I wanna be there…actually be there for them, and see them grow up. I don't just wanna be the stereotypical rich asshole father, you know, and like, never see any of their little-league games or miss their dances or try and push them to take over for me when I'm gone…" I trailed off, letting JD put it together. He was nodding at me, so I knew what was on his mind. It's been…about ten years since our father passed, and I was missing him. Terribly. JD took a deep breath and sighed, looking at the floorboards of the car.

"Mister Angel? We've arrived at the Luxor, sir." A polite kid in a valet uniform opened my door and offered a hand. I shook it off and climbed out, stuffing a bill or two into his hand for his policy and stretching my legs out again. My right leg was hurting like a bitch; singing a rather annoying duet with my fucked up ankle. I glared and walked into the hotel (we were at the back entrance) with JD just behind me.

"Your limp is worse."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. Wanna point out the color of the sky? I might forget if you don't fucking remind me."

"You kiss our mother with that mouth, Chris? I remember that time she made you eat soap…" I chuckled. Looking back now, it was pretty funny. At the time, it sucked balls in hell.

"You remember the time dad kicked your ass for locking me in the closet and going off to school and then saying I'd run away to join the circus?"

"Remember the time you tried to join the circus?" I busted up laughing as we got into the elevator. I run into people a lot on the elevator. I can't really help it; there's no real other way that doesn't suck for getting up thirty fucking stories.

I love meeting new people, but tonight, no one got on. I sighed and leaned against one of the mirrored walls of the inclinator* and sighed.

"I miss him too, bro." JD touched my shoulder comfortingly and I nodded, trying not to break down and fuck up my eyeliner. JD gave me a hug, trying to make me feel better. I pushed him away, grinding the heels of my palms into my eyes. Usually I'm a pretty physical person, but not right then, for some reason. JD nodded and pulled back, wiping under his own eyes.

The rest of the ride was pretty quiet, all the way up to my room, where I called Hammy and Minxie over to pet and love on a little bit. Minxie meowed appreciatively and nuzzled the back of my hand while Hammy twined around my leg, purring. It made me smile.

"You and your cats…" I glared at JD, who made a face at me.

"You're supposed to be the older, more mature one, bro."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." I flipped him the bird, disguising it by brushing my hair back off my face.

"Subliminal messages, JD. Notice them much?" He laughed again.

"I have to get going, bro, and you have an appearance to make." I sighed and nodded, brushing my hair out of my face for real this time.

"Want a beer before you go?" JD turned.

"Getting drunk so you can go get drunk, huh?" I nodded, smirking. I like to be a little freer speaking by the time I get to LAX. "Meeting that girl, Veronica, down there?" I nodded again, now grinning. Damn, tonight was gonna be a blast. Actually, I was willing to bet that if I looked in my room, there would be a few special things sitting out already. Thank God for extra room-keys.

"You know…mom really likes her. Think she could be…" I snapped my head up and glared.

"I fucking thought JoAnn was the one, JD. And you know what? She was fucking psychotic. I will get remarried, if I remarry, on my own fucking time, after a long time with her! All right?" Things like this make me really hate being so close to my family. JD gave me an unimpressed look.

"Alright, Chris. I won't bug you about it." I nodded slowly, glancing at the door. JD took the hint and left. I sighed, wishing I hadn't yelled at him. Wishing I could sleep more. Wishing I had some fucking privacy in my life. I glanced down at the tattoo on my ring finger.

I got up and stretched, letting Minxie cling to my legs and Hammy paw at the back of my other calf. They followed me into the little kitchen sort of thing in my suite, where I poured some milk into their bowls and grabbed a beer for myself. I took a moment to sit down on the counter and open it up and watch the kitties drink. They were purring happily, reminding me of Illusia. It made me a little sad, leaving Amystika. I took a long pull from the bottle, ignoring the taste. I don't really like beer very much, but it's pretty smooth on the way down.

I sighed and headed to the bathroom to shower, setting my beer back down on the counter. Warm, cold whatever…it all tastes like piss. I walked through my room and grabbed the vest and jeans someone (probably Toni) had laid out for me, smirking when I saw the little red box next to my pillow. I twitched toward it and then away; why ruin a perfectly good surprise?

I stripped my shirt and pants off, standing for a second in just boxers before wandering into the bathroom. My fucking bathroom is haunted, I swear. It's so damned annoying! I wake up every morning, after closing the door to the bathroom the night before, and there's toilet paper all over my suite, and the door is shut, and there's no fucking pictures on the little camera in the bathroom, and I get really fucking pissed off! (A/N: This is true. He actually does have a camera in his bathroom; it was on a sort of exclusive-ish episode.)

I shut the camera off and stripped off my boxers, climbing into the shower. I love the showers at the Luxor. They're fucking huge, and I swear, designed for…never mind. Basically, the shower looks like rock, it has glass door, and is right across from a mirror. How awesome is that?

Just then, though, I wasn't really thinking about how awesome the shower was. I just got into the shower and washed my hair out, reveling in getting clean. I hate being dirty. It's…gross. I relaxed, leaning against the wall of the shower and just letting the water run over my chest for a few seconds. Ugh. I'd had it waxed a couple of days before, and it was finally starting to not hurt. Chest waxing sucks…wait, no. Waxing sucks.

I washed my face and the rest of my body, letting conditioner sit in my hair for a while. Toni's good with hair stuff; she manages to get me stuff that smells good and works well with my hair.

I shut the shower off and climbed out, wrapping a towel around my hips. I don't shave in the shower. I need a mirror. I leaned over the sink and shaved, getting rid of my wonderful "three day, not quite a beard but way more than shadow" fuzz. Heh. Ever since I grew it out a couple of months ago the crew gets pretty nervous when I skip shaving for a while. I never thought being a celebrity meant being criticized for facial hair.

I got the rest of the way ready, splashing on aftershave and cologne and putting on eyeliner. There was a quiet tapping on the outer door before I got my vest on. Who the hell?

"Criss? You here, baby?" Oh. Veronica. Wow…half an hour early? I smirked and skipped the vest, shutting the bathroom door.

"Just a sec, Veronica…You can come on in." I heard the quiet noise of the door opening and shutting again, and Hammy meowing at Veronica. He's so cute.

"Hey, Criss." Veronica come in, looking absolutely gorgeous in a black dress. Oh…her hair was straight. Wow. I'm used to seeing it curled, or wavy…she looks gorgeous, though, both ways. She was holding Minxie to her chest, which was pretty bare in the low cut dress; it was meant for clubbing.

"Hello, you…" I walked across the room to her and scratched behind Minx's ears, making him purr and nuzzle my hand. She giggled, cradling him on his back. He loves attention, but he's getting old. When I first got him he was almost full grown.

"Mm, you shaved…" Veronica ran a hand gently over the side of my face and I leaned into it, letting her slide a hand through my hair, which was still damp. She stroked her hand gently over my shoulder, tracing the brand on my bicep. I shivered. Her hand was a little cold; I keep my room a good five degrees warmer than the rest of the hotel.

Minxie decided that this was a good time to bat at Veronica's hair, making her laugh again and pull far enough away that I couldn't touch her.

"Tease. Using my own kitty against me," I accused, mock-pouting at her. She laughed and pulled a little farther away. I narrowed my eyes and judged the distance from here to the bed. Hah. Close enough…

I tackled her, making sure that I fell on bottom and Minxie didn't get hurt. The three of us fell lightly onto bed, with Veronica giggling and Minxie meowing indignantly. I smiled and petted him softly, clicking my tongue to get his attention and tapping on the bed to get him to look toward me. He glared and hopped down off the bed, tail in the air. I stuck my tongue out at him. He's adorable, but unforgiving. I waited until he'd turned the corner and then pinned Veronica, nuzzling her neck playfully.

"So now you've got me here…what are you going to do with me?" She laughed, rolling her hips against mine. I groaned. Dammit. We had to be at the club in just a few minutes…

"Nothing. Club." I had my face buried in the pillow, next to the red box. Veronica giggled, shifting a little against me.

"Aww, you're no fun, Criss." She ran her nails down my back slowly, making me shudder and bury my face against the pillow again. My hips jerked forward as she got toward the lower part of my back and she circled her hips against me provocatively. "No fun at all…" I wrapped a hand into her hair and kissed her roughly, sliding a hand up her thigh to the hem of her dress. She shivered and wrapped her legs around my hips, rolling over and mock pinning me.

"Veronica…" She kissed my neck roughly, teasing my collarbones and sliding a hand over my chest, down my abs, to run the tips of her nails on the skin just above my waistband. I rocked my hips against her with a quiet groan. "Tease…" She laughed softly, leaning up to nip at my ear.

"You know it, babe. Want me to quit teasing?" I nodded carefully, not quite sure what she meant. Veronica is surprising sometimes. "Okay." She slipped her hand into my pants, gently touching and feeling. I gritted my teeth.

"You're still teasing," I growled. She laughed and undid the fly, gently tugging them down over my hips. I shuddered, arching up to let her. "Veronica? We've only got about fifteen minutes…" Another laugh. She traced her tongue across the hair that led down past my belt line…

We walked into the club a little late; my hair was sort of half-assed and needed to be re…something-ed. I blame Veronica, who was clinging to my arm with a grin on her face. I strode into the club past Felix, who smiled at us and tapped his wrist questioningly. I smirked in reply and he shook his head exasperatedly. I could have sworn I saw him mouth the words 'kids.' The thought made me laugh.

I led Veronica by the hand to our usual booth, where my friend Tommy was already waiting for me. He was, however, devoid of a certain blonde I was used to seeing him with. "Trouble with Pam?" I asked, sliding into the booth next to him and kissing him on the cheek. We're cool like that.

"Yeah," he growled, turning to give me a quick hug and a kiss on either cheek before brooding over his beer again. Veronica settled down on my lap while some assholes took a few pictures. I buried my face between her shoulder blades and let her do the posing. I love coming out to party, but the whole paparazzi ordeal? Not my thing.

They left eventually and the waitress brought me my usual. "You gonna do any entertaining tonight, Criss?" She asked, leaning close so I'd hear her over the rowdier club-goers and music. I nodded but put my hand up to make the maybe sign. She nodded and went over to tell Felix. I sighed. Bar magic is fun, but it's better when I set up for it.

"What's wrong, baby?" Veronica wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me lightly on the cheek. I smiled.

"Nothin'." She gave me what might have been, on a less appealing face, a glare. I smiled and gave her a gentle kiss. "I might tell ya later, babe." She glared again. I grinned. "Wanna dance?" I slipped and arm around her waist and she helped me out of the booth (fucking leg again) and we got out to the VIP part of the dance floor. It was a good song, something by Timbaland or something, and had a damn good beat.

We danced for a while, but she still seemed sulky, and I felt bad. Eventually, we drifted back over to the table and sort of just sat with Tommy for a while. Veronica was brooding. I sighed. Our relationship had been…rocky for a quite a while; like maybe a few months or so. I gasped as I remembered something.

"Hey, Veronica? You know about Believe, right?" I asked, whispering in her ear.

"Yes, Criss." Yeah. She was in a bad mood. I blanched a little, uncertain about asking her what I wanted to ask. Then again, it wasn't something I really needed to ask for. After all, she was my girl, not my taskmaster. "Yes, Criss?" Definitely snippy.

"We're also doing a traveling show. Like, to New York and Cali and stuff. I needed to let you know." She sighed.

"Alright. How does this affect me?" I glared.

"Just wanted to let you in on stuff, babe." She nodded and rested her chin in her hand. "Wh-what did I do, Veronica?" I asked, sitting a little closer to her and touching her waist gently.

"Nothing, Criss. Just nothing." I sighed.

"Baby, what's on your mind?" I asked, nuzzling the back of her neck. She sighed.

"Can we talk about this up in your suite?" I nodded and took her by the hand, leading her out of the hotel. Was she…? What the hell was this? I can't stand when women get like that for no apparent reason!

We got up to the suite. Veronica hadn't really let me touch her at all on the way up, and I sighed again as we walked through the door.

"What is it, Veronica?" I asked, my tone a little darker than it probably should have been.

"Just... I hate it when you're busy. And you're never there when I want to be with you, and I feel like we don't get enough time together…" I nodded.

"Okay. I've told you before, I'm doing good to get two hours in to sleep, let alone stuff like-"

"That's what I mean! You don't have time! You never have time, you're always busy!" I widened my eyes, making a confused gesture.

"No, really? I had no idea!" Sarcasm. Not the best defense against a pissed off girlfriend. She glowered.

"I think we should take a break, Christopher. A long one." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at me. I blinked. A…break? What did she mean by that? Oh. Fuck. I looked back at her for a few seconds, trying to think of something to say. Maybe she was right. Maybe…we did need a break. I sighed, sinking down onto the couch and staring intently at my boots.

"Is that really what you think, Veronica?" I asked my boots. They're much better to look at than Veronica when she's angry. I always want to hold her when she's angry. My gaze traveled from my boots to my left ring finger. Tattoo. Matching tattoos. We'd gotten them together.

"Yes, Criss. It is." I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder as she headed back to my room to get her stuff out of my room and herself out of my life.

* The 'elevators' at the Luxor Hotel actually move at a slight angle, and are therefore called 'inclinators.' I found this out over the summer when I stayed there, but it was also mentioned in the "Skeptic" episode of MF:S4.

A/N: So, then end of a great first chapter. Sort of. But damn, do I have to do a lot of disclaiming now!

- There is no traveling troupe for Believe. To my knowledge.

- To my knowledge, there are no people dressed like Monica in his show. I could be wrong, I could be having premonitions like I used to, but so far as I know, there are no faerie dresses in the show.

Peace! I hope you loved the release date.

Oh, and I have another myspace for my fanfictions. There *might* be some poetry on there about Criss, too. The URL is ceaseless_homage.

Love you guys!