We Found Love In a Hopeless Place, Tag: Xander Corvin

The day was over, and Stella's new life was just beginning. The wedding was wonderful. Small crowd, but it was good enough for Stella. It was quaint, but intimate in it's own way. She was newly married now, and had a pretty handsome husband. That dark hair and deep brown eyes of his. She couldn't resist them. What she wanted to know was what made Xander tick? What does he like? What does he not like? Does he have siblings? So many questions, not enough time. Twenty-four hours in a day wouldn't even come down to enough time to fill in answers to every question she had for him. Stella just wanted to get to know him since she knew so little to nothing about him.

It was afternoon time, the sun was shining, and the temperature was just above cool for spring weather. The drive to their home was a mere blur to Stella. It seemed like minutes were hours in a way. She was anxious to see the place she would be living at. There was no doubt about that. She looked out the passenger side window, houses a motion blur as the car zoomed past them. Eventually, the home in which Stella and Zander would be living in was reached. Stella awed at the sight of it. She was used to just average, but this was definitely something.

It was like a mansion, huge and wide open. A gate and fencing went around the whole property. It made Stella think she needed to save up and buy an Audi or a Maybach just to live in this house. Rarely silly really. When the car finally came to a stop, Stella looked to Xander with a wide smile. "Home sweet home, isn't it?" she said. If she could have one of those jawdrop moments, that would be now.

Xander was quiet during the drive to the house he had bought less than a week ago. He was glad to have the formalities of the wedding over, and to be on his way home to relax. His car purred along the road, the ride smooth even over bumps and the noise of the engine hardly audible within the confines of the vehicle. It would be just as quiet outside as well.

He looked over at his new wife as they entered the Hills. She was gaping like some country bumpkin at the luxurious houses, and he could only hope she would eventually get used to it or at least learn to hide her reactions. It would be rather embarrassing to be at a high-end party with famous and important people with a woman on his arm who stared around like she'd never seen anything remotely expensive in real life before. Sure it was cold and callous of him, perhaps... but Xander had a reputation to maintain.

"Sure is" he replied, flashing a grin at her as he got out of the car. He tossed the keys to a man he had hired to see to the details like taking any baggage to the master bedroom and putting the car in the garage. Whether he kept the man on or not remained to be seen. It would depend on how well he had taken care of things thus far. Xander waited for Stella to get out of the car too before heading into the house.

"Want to look around a bit, or... something else?" he asked. His personal choice was for the latter, and a very specific something else. Naturally she would be impressed with the house even further once she saw the inside of it... whenever that was.

Stella wasn't used to this, and though she tried to hide it, she was a little starstruck. She was from an average family, who had average income. Fancy things like mansions and chateaus, as this, were not common. To be honest, they were never seen. People might think that because she is a model, she should have the finer things in life from the beginning. Not the case. Sure, she had some more expensive possessions, but for the most part the weren't. Maybe it was the way she was raised, or maybe it was the salary she received as a model? She just wasn't used to all of this and sure didn't know if she would get used to it.

She listened to Xander's response, before getting out of the car, carefully of course. She had that white wedding dress on still. "Want to look around a bit, or... something else?" she heard him say next. Something told her he had something else on his mind that he wanted to do, but she couldn't be for sure. Unlucky for him, if it was what she thought, she wasn't interested. She barely knew Xander as it was, and even though they were technically married, she wasn't necessarily in the mood...at least not at the moment anyways. Really though, she was quite interested to see what the rest of the mansion looked like.

"I'd actually kind of like to look around a bit, if that's alright?" she replied. She waited for Xander before walking toward the front door of the house. There were chandeliers everywhere to say the least. She opened the front door, walking in. There were rooms upon rooms. There were rooms for rooms that had rooms. Confusing? Yes, but truthful. The house was adorned with all different kinds of decorations, and was lit very generously with all the lamps, lights, chandeliers, and modern technology only the wealthy could afford. Alas, though, she needed to make some kind of conversation. They hadn't met before the wedding, so obviously there would surely be things to talk about. Learn about one another and whatnot. "What a beautiful house." she began, looking around the various rooms, exploring. She could see herself having her own room for painting. Though no one knew about it, that was truly what she wanted to do rather than modeling. Being creative made her happy. "If it's alright by asking, what is it that you do? Like, what do you do to make a living? I'm purely curious. I work as a model myself." she asked. It wasn't the smoothest transition from a comment about the house to something rather personal like what he does to earn enough money to buy such a splendorous house.

"Yeah, sure. That's fine" Xander replied, hiding his disappointment. He reminded himself they had all night, and it did no harm to indulge his new wife a little. Especially if she was up for naked time after.

He followed her as she looked around, trying his best to hide his boredom. He had seen the house in its entirety already, of course. Since buying the house, he had spent a lot of his time there either overseeing some remodeling like with the master bedroom's water feature, inspecting the progress of the landscaping, or locked away in his studio with his paints and canvas and some classical music.

Some of his work - 'some' being used here to mean a lot of it - decorated the walls of various rooms in the house. Mixed in among it were some more famous pieces. Well, replicas of them, anyway. DaVinci, Van Gogh, Vermeer, Bosch, Dali, Rembrandt, Monet, and others. Not all of their collected works of course... just some of his favorites. It was clear he had spent quite a bit of time on the arrangements, as the mixtures in each room and the positioning of each piece were complimentary and done to achieve a deliberate effect. Warmth and coziness in one room, masculinity in another, openness in another, and so on and so forth. It was also clearly done by a man, as several pieces featured nudity or other such things women didn't typically put up in their own homes.

Xander allowed himself a small smug smile at the compliment. "Thanks" he said, accepting his due. Granted he hadn't built the house himself, but he had chosen all the decorations and the remodeling that had been done. He had done quite well at it, too.

If Stella tried the door of a particular room on the upper level, she would find it was locked. The door led to Xander's studio, and only he had the key. Naturally, he had chosen the best room in the house for it. The ceiling was a skylight that could be opened in nice weather, and had sliding panels for inclement weather to protect the glass that were triggered by the press of a button. The windows on one side were tall and brought in plenty of light during the day - and were on the side opposite the street so he didn't have to deal with nosy neighbors. He also had curtains he could close and lights that mimicked daylight for when he chose to work at night.

Her question pulled his mind back from wondering how much longer this was going to take. He just looked at her in surprise for a moment, wondering if she was for real. Did she really not know who he was? Had she really not recognized him? Or had she in fact recognized him, and was trying to play it off? He wondered too if she actually was a model or not, especially given that she was acting like she didn't recognize him. After a moment, he shook his head. This was seriously twisted.

"I've been modeling since I was twenty. I'm surprised you didn't recognize me" he answered, a little perturbed at the thought. "You've probably seen me around a lot. I've done work for Calvin Klein, Armani, Prada, Gucci, Dolche and Gabanna... you name a major designer, and I've done work for them." It wasn't just bragging... it was the truth. Xander was proud of the work he had done. And why shouldn't he be? "You can crack open pretty much any major magazine and you'll see some of my work."

Immaculate was the only work that could describe this whole house....mansion really. From the almost pool like bedroom to the spacious family room and deck outside on the back of the house, it was all quite impressive. The one thing she did notice was the various artwork among the walls, or what painted the walls. There were paintings by famous people, many she remembered learning about back in school and one or two she couldn't remember right off the bat.

After she had asked her question about what he did for a living, she hadn't really put two and two together. She has read through many magazines in her time, especially ones dealing with her. She didn't really read through too many magazines that had a lot of male models in them. However, when he answered, it came to her. Yes, it was surprising she didn't know who he was through all the magazines and catalogs, advertisements, and more that she's read through. She finally figured it out though. Of course though, she did not read through or even look through as many magazines as she used too since her modeling passion was fading away to a certain extent.

His answer become even more truthful as she was walking through, seeing all the paintings, she noticed some, large prints more so, that looked like Xander himself. All had different poses, some with uniformity when it comes to photoshoot outfits and whatnot. Some were strewn together with paintings, while others off on their own. "You know, actually as I think about it now I do remember seeing you in quite a few magazines." she said, smiling in a friendly manner. What she remembered seeing him as was topless with all those muscles in her face from the photos. Oh, what muscles this man has at that. Of course, that is the typical girly girl reaction, but hey, what do you know, now she's married to him.

She saw stairs to another level, but chose not to go up them. She figured that would be something for another day to explore. All in all though, Xander really had outdone himself with this house.

As it was starting to get late, she was beginning to get tired, though there was still so much she wanted to ask and do. Sometime told her that Xander had other ideas though. Maybe she should give in, just for one night? She wasn't so sure with herself. She told herself she wouldn't deep in her mind, but then again, why shouldn't she? Whatever he wanted to do, perhaps she should do to. Besides, they were trying to get to know each other right?

"So....is there anything you wanna do tonight?" she asked, "I mean, it is our first night together."

Xander was still rather annoyed and offended that Stella hadn't recognized him. What sort of rock did she live under that she was so out of touch with the world? Oh well. Nothing much he could really do about that. He just hoped she didn't embarrass him at an event by asking someone like Tyra Banks who they were. He didn't expect people outside of the modeling world to be able to recognize designers by sight, but some of the other models... well, it would be embarrassing for his wife not to know who they were at least. But that was a worry for another time.

"Yeah? Which ones?" he asked curiously. In part he liked hearing about himself, and in part he wondered if she actually did see him somewhere and forgotten or if she was just trying to placate him.

He arched an eyebrow at her question, and debated on how to answer. Up until a while ago, he had been... ready to go, so to speak... at a moment's notice. Now he wasn't so sure. Her question had been a bit of an insult, and had put him off a little. But he was admittedly still a bit horny. And if she honestly wanted to give him some, who was he to say no? Now though she was going to have to put in a bit of effort if that was what she wanted.

"Well, I'm feeling in need of a shower before anything else. But after that, who knows. You can join me if you want, but I'm not going to force you" he started. As he spoke, Xander slipped out of his jacket and tossed it to a nearby chair. One thing he was not was shy about his body. He had a habit of walking around his own home naked, and would probably go nude in public too if it wasn't illegal. His own self confidence made him unable to understand why anyone was shy about their bodies, and why some people got so hung up about a lack of clothes. It wasn't like people were born with clothes on, after all. Why were so many people bothered by bare skin?

He kicked off his shoes and nudged them to one side near the jacket. "I may be an asshole, but I'm not violent and I'm not a rapist" he continued, undoing his tie and pulling that off too. He wasn't a liar, either. And he was under no delusions. He knew full well he was a dick, and didn't see a point in trying to hide that. Stella would find out soon enough anyway. Might as well be upfront about it. "I'm not going to smack you around. I'm not going to call you a slut or whore. I'm not going to coerce, guilt trip, or otherwise try to force you to do anything against your will." His belt and the top button of his pants were undone but he kept them on for now.

"Two-person activities are always better when both people are equally enthused about doing them. Especially when said activity is sex, and anything less than honest willingness to engage in that is nothing more than rape." He unbuttoned half his shirt and started to head towards the bathroom, half turning away from his wife. Damn, that was an odd thought to have. The word was almost a foreign language to him. Along with words like commitment, girlfriend, fiancee, fidelity, fatherhood, and any number of other related words.

The tux shirt was pulled off over his head and dropped on the floor as he walked. "You know where the bathroom is. Whether you join me or not is your choice" he called back over his shoulder. And in his mind, it was her loss if not. He wouldn't do anything to coerce her into sex with him. It was too much effort to try to convince someone who was unwilling when there were plenty of others who were willing. And in the meantime there was always his hand.

The white tank-style undershirt he wore came off as he rounded the corner to the bathroom, followed by his pants, socks, and as he hit the bathroom his boxers too hit the floor. The trail of clothes wasn't one he was worried about. The cleaning lady would get them if he couldn't get the motivation to pick them up himself. He got a nice hot shower going and stepped in, wondering if Stella would opt to join him or take a pass.

In all honesty, a lot of things were going through Stella's mind at the moment. Maybe Xander thought she was inadequate because she didn't recognize him at first? She didn't know. Or maybe it was the secret she was trying to hide that made her seem like she didn't recognize anything she should know. Though, it was highly true that she was not familiar with a lot of male models in general. She did know some though. Xander was just one she had seen once or twice and that was it. To her, it seemed like he had some curiosity as to what she knew, but she could have been wrong. Perhaps he wanted confirmation of the truth? She had nothing to hide behind that blonde hair and blue eyes of hers. As they say 'The truth is golden'.

Maybe he was just one of those guys that like to be all about themselves, not caring about anyone else? She didn't know. She didn't know him that much as it was. Her bright blue eyes gazed upon Xander as her lips opened to speak. "I saw you in GQ, Vogue, and also in some of the advertisements I've seen for Calvin Klein." she answered, vocals soft and friendly. It was true, as she thought about it now. She had seen him in those. Of course though, the first thing that always came to her mind with Calvin Klein was sexy men with muscles pouring out all over in buffness, while wearing underwear. Maybe that was just what she imagined anyway.

Now, as for her question, she expected several different responses, of course only one being what he said, but none were the answer she expected at all. She watched as he had raised his eyebrow at her question like she was stupid or something. Not exactly what she expected, though she was starting to get a feel for who he was. She expected sex being the first choice, leaving because he wasn't getting anything from her being the second choice, and the 'I'm going to bed now' type of response being the third. None happened to be the answer though. She watched as he started to seemingly strip right in front of her, the jacket being the first to go. It landed on a nearby chair.

In her mind, she was just a little freaked out. First night with a guy she was just starting to get to know, and he strips right in front of her. She kept what she felt from being expressed though. Then again though, she was married to Xander, so this would obviously become a normal thing anyway. Her attention soon came back to Xander as he started to talk. He talked about how he wasn't the type of guy to rape and try and force her into anything of the sort that she didn't want to do. Then, he went on to talk about how two people have to be enthused to get involved in such activities, otherwise it is just simply rape. She watched as he stripped more off, leaving just his pants now. His muscular body was completely exposed. Sure, it attracted her, but it wasn't enough to "enthuse" her for such activities. She then watched as he went off to get in the shower, as he had planned to, and she went off toward the master bedroom. She had no plans to "get it on" so to speak, and honestly, she just wanted to get this dress off.

She had been wearing this dress all afternoon, and now evening. It was time to get this thing off. Once she got to the master bedroom, she got one of her suitcases, opening it and taking some pajamas out, a simple pair of pajama shorts and a t-shirt. Then, Stella began taking off the dress, with some difficulty, but she got it off. Then, she slipped into her pajamas. Then, she took her dress, and went out of the bedroom, heading for the massive closet not far from there. She hung up her dress, then went to a bathroom nearby, taking the flowers out of her hair and putting her hair down. It was wavy, but long as it rest along her back and chest. She then headed back to the bedroom, taking a seat on the bed, laying on her back, staring up at the ceiling as she wondered what she was going to do. This wasn't at all what she thought this would turn out to be, but what was she to do? "What have I gotten myself into?" she said to herself. The ceiling had reflections from the water as light reflected onto it. She watched the changing shapes as she laid there.
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"Yeah, I've been in those a lot" he replied with a shrug. He was somewhat appeased at that if still in shock she hadn't recognized him right off. Oh well. Not everyone could be in the loop, he supposed.

When it was clear Stella wasn't going to join him in the shower, Xander was a little disappointed but far from surprised. He gave himself a quickie with his hand as he washed, his mind conjuring images of the lush redhead he'd had just a couple of nights ago. Too bad she was already engaged to someone. He wouldn't have minded being matched to her. Not one bit.

After the shower, he walked across the bathroom naked and dripping water all over the floor. He grabbed a towel out of the closet and dried himself off. That one was dropped to the floor and another taken out for his hair. He dried that off on his way back to the bedroom, not bothering to put a towel around his waist. He enjoyed being naked and frequently walked around the house like that. Stella better get used to it early on, or there was going to be some trouble.

Xander was rather surprised to see she had opted to sleep in the master bedroom rather than one of the others. Any excitement he might have had over it was dashed when he saw she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt rather than some sexy piece of lingerie as he might have hoped.

He sighed and mentally rolled his eyes a little as he dropped the towel from his hair onto the floor. A pair of boxers was pulled from the dresser and he didn't bother to hide himself as he pulled them on. She'd see the full monty eventually anyway. Better sooner than later. As much as he liked being naked, unless he had just finished having sex he didn't sleep naked. He had learned the hard way that it wasn't always a good idea even when alone. Not if he wanted to keep his bait and tackle intact that is.

Getting into bed, he glanced over at her before rolling half onto his side away from her. It didn't look like he was going to be getting any, so he might as well just get comfortable. "There's a remote on the bedside table that controls the underwater lights if they bother you" he said, closing his eyes. There were some dim lights around the edges that automatically came on and went off at night. It was a safety measure so no one fell into the water in the middle of the night if they had to get up to pee or something.

Maybe it wasn’t exactly what Xander expected? That was his loss. Disappointment is disappointment. Nothing can change that. What he desired wasn’t what he was going to get, and that was that. End of that story, or long story short in this situation.

Don’t get her wrong, the house was beautiful, that Mercedes Benz was beautiful, but really? Is money what it’s all about? There’s more to life than just the money that is earned, or given. She was getting this odd feeling that Xander didn’t care for her that much. Maybe she was too naive for this world she was presented to all of the sudden? That part where money didn’t matter so much and spending was the object of everyone’s obsession. Stella wasn’t that type. She came from a regular middle class background, despite her adoptive parents expensive wants and needs. She didn’t get those benefits from them.

As she laid there, she moved the bed comforter and sheets over briefly to slide under as she laid there. She turned to her left side, looking out across the sparkling water. The reflections of it dancing across the walls and ceiling as the lights dimmed down in the room.

There were always thoughts that crossed her mind about what if she were rematched? Not like that would happen, but if she were, would she be in the same sort of situation or total opposite? For some reason, this little part of her said she would be in the same situation. No guarantees of course though.

She heard Xander come into the room, getting into bed on the opposite side she was on. Stella listened as he spoke. It was about the underwater lights. To be honest, they didn’t really bother her much at all. She was used to having a light on at night when she slept anyway. Not that she was like a nightlight person, because she was not. She just adapted to that sort of thing easily. “Ok. Thanks.” she said in reply. Everything went quiet as she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

The next morning she woke up around 8:30, and quietly got up, making sure not to wake Xander if he was still sleeping. She quietly made her way out of the bedroom, like a ninja in a way, grabbing clothes on the way out as she went for a shower. She went into the bathroom a couple rooms down, closing the door behind her. The sun shone through the house like a museum, quite elegantly at that. She stripped down and got in the shower, turning it on after stepping inside. Stella tried to drain her thoughts a bit, thinking of a few songs in her head as she quietly started to sing a little bit. More like bits and pieces of songs. She did her best to stay quiet as not to disturb Xander. She needed something to take her mind off of things and this is how she chose to do it. Really though, her voice was actually quiet good. Very harmonious and delicate, like a flower.

Xander grunted something unintelligible in reply that might have been 'you're welcome' or 'no problem' or something else entirely. He was already settled in and half asleep. Falling asleep quickly was something he tended to do unless he made a conscious effort not to do so for whatever reason.

His attitude towards Stella wasn't because he outright disliked her. Annoyance at her not knowing who he was and at her unwillingness to put out aside, Xander just didn't tend to think about people other than himself. Not unless it was in 'what can they do for me' terms. His mother was to blame for that, most likely. She had doted on him and spoiled him, constantly telling him he was God's gift to humanity due to his birthday being on Christmas and giving him anything he wanted. Xander's father hadn't been any better, and had essentially taught Xander he had to look out for himself and himself alone because no one else would do it. Basically, what it came down to was that he didn't have the first damn clue how a relationship was supposed to work outside of sex, and he didn't know how to like anyone that wasn't him or doing something for him.

What it was that woke him the following morning he didn't know. He tended to be a pretty heavy sleeper and not much disturbed him. After a moment his groggy brain remembered the day before, and he put it down to some noise or other Stella had made. Xander lifted his head and blinked at the clock, his eyes squinting a little at the display. He couldn't tell what time it was exactly, but it was too damn early. His head dropped back to the pillow for a bit and he drifted somewhere in between waking and sleeping, slowly slipping more and more towards the former.

Swearing softly, he rolled out of bed and moved to the edge of the platform. Laying down on his belly, he reached down and splashed some of the cold water over his face. It revived him a little, but he still needed coffee or copious amounts of sugar or something. Both, maybe.

On his way into the kitchen, Xander heard singing or something as he passed the bathroom. Not bad he supposed, what he could hear of it. Continuing on to the kitchen, Xander started a large pot of coffee. At the last minute, he added extra water and grounds in case Stella wanted some. If not, well... more for him then. He looked at the plastic shell of donuts and debated for a moment. They were tempting. But he really ought not to indulge. He had to keep his figure. Instead, he popped half a bagel in the toaster and started eating a banana while he got the cream cheese out of the fridge. Maybe after he was done with that he'd indulge in a donut or two.

All in all, the shower was a refreshing start to a new day. With a little music on the mind, that made it even better. Singing in the shower isn't an uncommon thing, so why be embarrassed about it. Though really, Stella wasn't the type of people to get embarrassed easily as it was. Stella sang virtually anything, except for rap. Rap wasn't really one of her fortes as she couldn't keep up with the speed and lack of rhythm toward it. Opera was another that she could just simply not do. She didn't have that lung power that opera singers seem to have to carry on those high and low notes, and make it resound through the whole theater....or shower in this situation.

Steam rose from the shower, light shining through the window at the one end of the bathroom, lighting up the room. For some reason, Stella liked morning time. Couldn't tell why, but it was just one of those things she liked a lot, besides holidays and her birthday.

After getting all washed up, she turned off the shower, grabbing a clean towel and wrapping it around her, drying off before putting some clothes on. She brushed her hair out before drying it. Bright blonde it became as she dried her hair. She didn't bother putting any make-up on. It was morning for goodness sake. She could just put it on later. Then again, would Xander judge her for it? It was a thought, but she let it pass over. She didn't consider herself ugly in any way without it. After putting the wet towel on a drying rack beside the shower, and putting things back where they went, and where they needed to go, she walked out of the bathroom, heading down the hallway. It was breakfast time.

The scent of fresh coffee filled the air. It was always something that enticed her. She loved that scent as much as she loved painting. Whoever started the coffee trend was like Zeus in her mind, though that was centuries ago. No big deal. Stella was a simple person when it came to breakfast. Nothing too difficult. As she walked into the kitchen, she saw Xander there. She smiled in that friendly way. "Good morning." she said, polite and friendly as it was. She ran a hand through her hair as she then went over to the refridgerator, opening it up to see some yogurt off to one side. She took one of the Yoplait Lights, strawberry in flavor. Strawberry was one of her favorite flavors. Stella knew better than to tempt herself with anything sugary around, like donuts, Twinkies, etc. To avoid temptation, she simply didn't look at it. After finding where the silverware was and grabbed a spoon, she went over to the kitchen table, taking a seat, opening the yogurt and took a couple bites. Today was a new day, and she was definitely going to make it a good one.

"Mornin'" Xander mumbled around a mouthful of bagel. He had just pulled it from the toaster and put cream cheese on it when Stella came into the kitchen. He had just taken a bite of it when she spoke to him. His response might have been somewhat on the terse side, but he had never been a morning person at the best of times. And his sleep had been interrupted by... something or other. He didn't even know what woke him. "Cups'r there if you need one" he added, pointing to the appropriate cabinet. "Help yourself to coffee or whatever." Because he sure as shit wasn't going to be waiting on her hand and foot. She wasn't disabled or sick, and he wasn't a servant.

The bagel was finished off in short order. He was still hungry though, so he helped himself to a couple of donuts. He worked out often enough that a few extra calories and extra sugar wasn't going to hurt anything. Xander did wonder where the yogurt had come from though. They sure weren't his... he didn't eat yogurt. It just didn't seem like real food to him. He hoped it was something she'd brought into the house on her own. Otherwise... well... let's just say nothing smelled worse than a spoiled dairy product coming back out.

Xander remained silent while he finished off the donuts, along with the mug of coffee he'd poured for himself before his wife made her appearance in the kitchen. "So... uh..." he started, not sure how to have a conversation with someone that didn't involve getting laid at the end of it or something to do with his modeling career. "I guess we should do that talking thing I hear people are supposed to do with their matches" he said, half in jest. What he really wanted to do was spend the day in his studio. But it was probably a good idea to know what sort of woman he was married to. And if he was ever likely to get any from her.

Breakfast is always a very important meal of the day. Variety is the spice of life when it comes to breakfast as well. It can easily get boring if the meal is the same every day. In Stella’s case, however, she did like conformity and not a lot of change. In conclusion to this statement, she really preferred to have yogurt or similar every day rather than variety. Weird? Possibly, but that was just one of those things Stella obsessed over. Change was an adjustment, just like living in this mansion of a place that Xander had. Strawberry was just one of several flavors she liked most. Blueberry and Mango were her two other favorites.

The yogurt itself didn’t have any funky, unusual taste to it. In all honesty it tasted quite normal. It didn’t appear to be spoiled and rotten if you will. Who knows, maybe Stella just had very genetically deformed taste buds that couldn’t sense the same kind of taste that perhaps spoiled or rotten foods had.

Yogurt was Stella’s conformity to her diet for being a model. Sure, she worked out like many other models did of course, but like other models, she was obsessed with the way she looked. But also how other people perceived her. She did her best to keep a good reputation, and appearance with the public eye. Of course, regardless, the negativity still came out in the few tabloids, but she always did her best to push those pure opinions off to the side.

She smiled back in a friendly way as he replied to her greeting. Ears listened carefully to what he said not long after about the coffee, and anything else. “Thanks.” she said in reply. Doing her best to be friendly and polite, it was the thing to know your P’s and Q’s in her mind. Respect is just as important. Coffee did sound quite inviting though. Stella was the girl who never broke out of the norm, but heck, she was already out of it with doing The Vow. As she finished her yogurt, she heard Xander start to speak again. It was ‘Get to know your spouse’ time.

True, she didn’t know much about Xander. She just had to know the right questions to ask. “I suppose we should.” she responded, a gentle smile on her face as her blue eyes gazed upon him. “So....hmmm....is there something you would like to know about me? Something in particular?” she asked, getting up and throwing the yogurt cup away. Walking over to the kitchen sink, she washed the spoon off and sat it down in the sink before coming back to the kitchen table. In a way, she felt like they were getting no where. So, to end that, she said something simple to start this conversation. “I know, in a way, it’s kind of weird, but I do love to paint.” she started with. There was this awkward feeling about this whole thing, but who knows. Maybe it wasn’t as awkward as she thinks it was going to be?

Conformity was - in a word - boring. In three, not for Xander. He was too used to going where he pleased and doing what he pleased. He was a man who craved variety and change, and when he didn't get those things he got bored and restless. That was probably a large part of the reason he had never had anything more than one night stands when it came to women. Well. So far anyway. How this marriage thing would work out remained to be seen. Maybe things would change later, but at the moment Xander wasn't exactly getting the warm fuzzies about it.

Trying not to think about where the yogurt came from or how long it might have been in the fridge, he focused on pouring himself another cup of coffee. And how the hell was she so damn cheerful this freakin' early in the morning? Figures he would be put with a morning person. Or was she high on something? Was she on drugs? Gods he hoped not. It would explain why that smile of hers seemed to be stuck on her face permanently. That would be hell for his image. He could just see it now. America's Sexiest Male Model Married To A Junkie or some other similar headline. But maybe she was just a morning person. That was... annoying, but better than being a drug addict and equally possible.

"I dunno. Whatever you wanna tell me I guess" he said with a shrug. What he really wanted to ask was whether or not she would ever put out. But he didn't have the energy for it this early in the morning. He stayed where he was, leaning against the counter near the coffee pot in just his boxers. He was too used to being in various states of undress in front of complete strangers to be bothered by it - including total nudity. Hell, he was the sort of man who'd walk around naked in public if it wasn't illegal. He was that confident and comfortable with himself.

When she said she liked to paint, his mind went to his own art studio on the third floor - the top level room that was locked. He had the key safely hidden where it wouldn't be found by accident. If he had his way, he'd be up there right now. But he said nothing about it, and continued his half-assed attempt at being all husbandly or whatever. "Believe me, that is not the weirdest thing possible. You want weird? Look up figging on the internet. Do a general search for weird fetishes on google or something. There is some seriously fucked up shit out there" he said, taking a sip of his coffee when he finished talking. Small talk was so not his thing.

Perhaps being unique was a commodity at most. What people craved wasn't exactly desired. Sometimes, that one people who does something different from the rest goes back to the conformity that one person was once in. What happened to the originality people once had? What about the unique qualities people possess? Was just being a copycat all that anyone could be good at, being "normal", rather than different. In a way, Stella was beginning to think this at Xander's response.

Sure, things on the Internet were a world all of their own, but there were a lot of copycats too. Sure, it sounds irrelevant, this thought of originally and conformity. Even though she had seen it before, yesterday to be exact, there was definitely a side that showed he didn't care. It was beginning to make her wonder why he did The Vow. Was it just for a girl on his arm? A precious jewel all to himself, though precious wouldn't be the word to describe it. In a way, something was just irking deep inside as she listened to him speak more and more. In a way, there was something she wanted to say back, but kept that terrible thought back.

Maybe he wasn't trying to be intentionally insulting or arrogant in his ways? Maybe he just wasn't a morning person? Of course, who really was? She wasn't normally, but her whole track of sleep was way off from what it normally is with being in different surroundings. Anyway, painting was something she particularly liked...more than modeling in all honesty. Regardless of her parents wishes, she wished she could rebel. She'd much rather be a painter than a model any day. "I have seen some of it..." she said in response to his comment. Weirdness is as weirdness was. She just considered it weird that she liked to paint in a way, not characteristic for a model, but that's okay. She had her own ideas and thoughts to go along with it. Suddenly, she got a text on her iPhone. A message from her manager wanting to meet. She looked to Xander after texting back her manager. "Well, unfortunately I have to go. I'll see you later today, perhaps when I get back?" she said, a little hesitant at the end. To her, it seemed like he had his own agenda, so oh well in her mind. Afterwards, she said her goodbye and off she went to meet with her manager.


END THREAD.