Ladies And The Tramp

Intersection of Santa Monica and North Highland
Santa Monica Boulevard connects here with North Highland towards the south,
offering a side street for parking for those going out on the town. The
buildings in this area carry a bit more graffiti than the main stretches of the
strip, and the neon signs glow with a harsher light. Long lines of club-goers,
groups of people, and swarms of Paparazzi are a constant fixture against the
sidewalks. Rivaled only by Malibu, the latest fashions are just a glance away
as the wealthy, and those pretending to be wealthy, mingle as one.

(You must have IC permission, or request it, to enter the sewers.)

* Exits *
east - Santa Monica Boulevard
south - North Highland Avenue
west - Santa Monica Boulevard
down - Sewers beneath Santa Monica and North Highland

Christine comes walks up North Highland with her bodyguards. She is dress in a knee length skirt that is split up each side to the middle thigh, her chest is covered by a red glittery sleeveless top that is held up only by laces in the back, and is wearing a pair of black heels that is nothing more than a couple of straps. She is laughing with her guards as she walks onto Santa Monica, not yet having attracted the paparazzi.

As is the usual for the smallest paparazzo of the herd, Ella lingers back from the larger gawkers and stays at the rear fringes. Her red Converse Chuck Taylor's beat a silent pattern on the pavement as the diminutive woman paces with reserved energy. Small fingers tap idly against the frame of her expensive camera while her beaten up old messenger bag bags against her bony hip. For a top she wears a simple rust-colored wifebeater with the faded white words 'We Be Illin - Sacred Heart Children's Hospital' on the front, while a pair of black cargo pants encompasses her legs. It doesn't take much for this little keen observer to notice something interesting heading her way, her pale face whipping around to scan the street and finally zoom in on Christine with a wide grin.

Christine turns to look down each street, her laughter stopped as she merely stands there speaking to her two bodyguards, a grin on her face. She nods her head to something they say and points down the street with a questioning look. She brushes some hair back from her face, glancing around a bit, eyeing Ella and the small group of paparazzi. She turns a bit so that their view of her is blocked by the two large men in suits.

Hunching down as if she were a big game hunter out in some exotic locale, Ella begins to raise her camera as she murmurs mostly to herself in a -very- bad imitation of an Australian accent, "Crikey! It looks like what we have here is the rare, but well-known, Great North American Poptart," as she creeps closer, still wearing that wide grin which threatens to devour the entirety of her face. "Shhh, don't let that girl see ya! Ain't she a beaut!" Glancing to her side as if there actually were an accomplice with her, she adds, taking a few more steps, "Nah, we're not gonna try to stick a thumb up her butthole. Just wrassle her til she's flashblind."

Christine's laughter almost seems to ring out as she is conversing, still standing there. She stands on the tip toes occasionally peering at the closest paparazzi group before hiding behind her guards again, obviously not wanting to be spotted, yet not wanting to go inside. She looks over at the occasional person passing by and grins at them .

Tearing his way down the sidewalk on a skateboard, Phelan Wulfric looks across the street and stops short just as he sees a pair of familiar figures. "Bodyguards and cameras. Heh. Looks likes I've stumbled across our old friend at work…" Stomping on the edge of his board to send it into the air the boy catches it in his arm and leans up against a lamppost to watch the spectacle unfold.

With her grey eyes darting from side to side as she stalks closer, nevermind the fact that the bodyguards know she's there, Ella makes sure her movements are slow and non-threatening even if her fingertips seem to tighten around the camera in her hands. "Hey-o, Princess," she calls out, though not loud enough to attract too much attention from the other paparazzi currently camped outside of a well-known club, waiting for a glimpse of whatever celebutard inhabits the institution. "How about.. I either call the rest of the goon squad," she jerks her head over her shoulder towards the lingering cameramen, "Or I send them on a wild goose chase for a few exclusive shots?

Christine peers out from behind the bodyguards as they turn to face Ella. "I can out run them you know." she says quite matter of factly, "Why don't you ask to take my picture rather than bargan, or threaten." She then beams a smile at Ella, "Please and thank you will get you quite far with me.." She steps out from the other side of the guard, still mostly hidden, "And who are you?"

"The one that could catch you," the petite photographer responds with a similar matter-of-fact tone, coupled with a waggle of her dark angular eyebrows. "No one ever sees anything interesting of anything really -of- a person when that person knows their picture is going to be taken. It's all pose, pose, pose, dead eyes, yawn," Ella rambles with a roll of her eyes. "If you want to see someone, truly capture them, you can only do it when they least expect it or don't see it coming. Not to mention," she goes on, barely even taking a breath between words as she pauses in her approach, idling rocking back and forth on her feet, "Any press is good press. Anything to keep people talking and keep your name sticking to those wagging tongues on the television and in blogs. People don't want to see fabricated celebrities, they want to see them being normal."

Christine raises an eyebrow, "So I suppose you are looking for an interview as well? She peers at the photographer, "Let me put it this way to you. We are no longer normal. We get caught doing anything that the public thinks is not healthy, not proper, then we are ostricized for it. They the people don't want fabricated celebrities, but that is what they have made us, afterall. We lost normalcy a long time ago when we couldn't go outside without a camera in our face." The two guards chuckle in a low baritone but stand on each side of her, tall and menacing.

Ella spins around as if she's doing a fancy pirouette, one hand even disengaging from her camera to loop up and point a finger right against the top of her head. "Maybe so, but would you rather be living like some plebian without all of your money and fame and cars and importance?" she asks, a true hint of curiosity to her voice instead of the usual bitter malice such words would be spoken with. "Lindz seems to have done really well with all the attention, and the Parisite, too. Neither of them has a lick of talent, and if it weren't for their antics and our cameras they would have faded into obscurity." It's then that she stops spinning to giggle, her nose crinkling. "Oohhh bad example! It's always better catching the louses and plastering their lying, cheating butts on the front page. Helloooo Balthasar Ghetty! I hope his wife takes him for all he's worth. Not bad for an afternoon's work." She once again latches both hands to the camera while casting a critical eye over Christine and her two guards, "So,in other words, welcome to the limelight, princess! Gotta take the pros and cons with every life, justlike everyone else even if yours is a different sort of pro and con. More to gain, more to lose, more to watch."

Christine crosses her arms looking at Ella for several long moments, "Is it worth loosing all my real freedom, being mobbed everywhere I go, so I can afford nice, pretty things? I don't know, perhaps I shall get back to you once I decide." She then puts on the smile that she gives to everyone, bright, warm, and friendly, showing her perfect teeth, "I don't do drugs, I don't smoke, I am hardly ever in any trouble what so ever, yet the press insist on not just digging as deeply as they can get, but they insist on making things up until my lawyers get a hold of them. The only thing that sets me apart from…" She turns and looks and points at a random person walking down the street, "Is that the press has recognized my talent, rather than hers. Everyone ms paparazzi has talent, it only has to be recognized."

"Kind of you to say, miss!" Phelan calls from across the street, slapping his skateboard down on the pavement and zipping across. Dodging the oncoming traffic fearlessly and ignoring their blaring horns and a few curses the boy joins the two with a smile, kneeling down to pick up the vehicle that carried him without fail to their side. "Am I interrupting something important?"

Laughter, full and loud, bursts from Ella's big mouth after she blinks at Christine for a couple of blessedly silent moments. "Ohmyfuckinggod, that's beautiful," she chirrups, laughter still bubbling up within the nuances of her words. Her attention shifts to Phelan at his approach, her grin still well-situated on her pale face, "No, no, not at all. Just a discourse on the finer points of celebrity and all the trappings it comes with," she explains nonchalantly. "I think she's missing the point that if she actually -did- drink and smoke and shoot up heroin, the press would leave her alone. They'd have her dark secret and gnaw on it like a dog with a bone and she could do more of what she wants, her life would be under less of a microscope for a -short- time. Then she'd have someone like me sneaking into everyplace she goes to catch her using and post those pics around, maybe to get money, maybe to force the chica to see she needs some dire help or go the way of John Belushi, but who knows," she rambles tirelessly, rocking back and forth on her feet all the while.

Christine slips behind her bodyguard as the boy draws a little attention in her direction. As the group of paparazzi look away she steps back out with her hands on her hips, "So your telling me the reason I can't get a moments rest is because I don't break the law, get in trouble, and do horrible things?" She rolls her eyes, "Yeah, but no thanks. I prefer my mind and my voice uninhibited." She smiles brightly at Phelan, "Nice to see you. And no you are interrupting nothing. Only me trying to get through to Ms. Paparazzi here that not all stars are in it for the money and the fame."

Giving a soft chuckle and his usual grin, Phelan holds up his hands in a sort of innocence gesture. "Well, in that case, don't mind me. I was hoping to make a flustering situation even worse." He walks over to a nearby building and leans up against its walls, watching the two ladies once again but keeping most of his focus on Ella.

"Okay, then," Ella goes on, unperturbed, "If you're not in it for the wealth and recognition, give it up," she states simply with her head tilting to the side, her head inclined a bit to peer at Christine around her mobile lumps of beefcake. Bony shoulders lift into a shrug as she continues to smile, her jovial demeanor never breaking, not even to cast a glance at Phelan and give him a wink. "If you really want normalcy, you could have it. Give everything away to charity, stop recording albums, cancel all of your shows, and fade out into obscurity. Get a normal ole blue collar job, work nine to five, come home to your family. Live the American dream. All you need is the true -desire- to be normal, but if you're like any of them," she jerks her chin in the direction of the nearest club and the frenzy of flashes going off, a couple of the girls from a popular television show stumbling out drunk, "You like to say you'd like to live a normal life like everyone else, but know in your heart you'd miss the attention and money."

Christine nods her head slightly, "The money is nice, and attention is nice." She smirks, "I will not say I hate it, but the real true reason I can't give it up, is because it is part of me." She sits there considering a moment, "For me to give up singing, would be like you giving up your eyesight. I can't, every fiber of my body demands for me to sing, to entertain. It's not so much the attention that gets to me, but there is a special feeling that is hard pressed to be described." She sighs also whistfully leaning against one of her guards, "The feeling of being there, singing in front of hundreds, thousands of people, knowing that you are the person they are relying on. You can't mess up… and once it is all over…" her voice trails off growing softer, "You hear it. The cheers, the whistles, the clapping. Your heart is pounding and you feel like you can't breath…." She turns and fixes her gaze on Ella, "You just opened your heart and soul to thousands of people, and were accepted…."

"Not to mention," Phelan shamelessly interrupts, turning his smiling visage more to Christine "if she leaves show business then who's gonna take her place as a positive role model for girls?" He kicks off of the wall, taking a few steps back up to the two. "Or would it be better that they have people like that…" His head cocks toward the young girls stumbling around as the paparazzi continue to swarm like flies "to look up to?"

"Well, they do still have Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Jordin Sparks, Ellen Page, Dakota Fanning, any of those creepy Harry Potter kids, and the Jonas Brothers for starters who are much closer to the age that would be impressionable enough to think barfing in a gutter is a cool idea," Ella peeks over her shoulder at the scene still going on behind her. Turning back around, both of her dark eyebrows lift as she giggles, "Not saying you're old, Princess, because you're not and you don't look it either, by the way, but you're not as young as them. The kiddos can relate to other kids better than they can to any adult. But I digress!" The petite woman finally takes a breath, meandering closer to Phelan this time. "People do what you describe all the time and don't give two shits about the recognition or the money. They turn down offers, play for free at small venues, -living- their art and making it all about their heart and soul and not any corporate bullshit."

Christine crosses her arms, "I am doing just what I was conditioned for years and years for. Yes, it used to be about the fame and fortune. Do you have any idea the amount I DO donate to charity? I bet something you didn't know. Back in New York I worked twice a week at a homeless shelter, and once a week at the soup kitchen, because I wanted to, not because of good publicity. No one knew, just me. Maybe I can at least show people that having money and fame doesn't mean you have to go insane, and do all sorts of stupid crap." She lets out a huff of frustration, "I bet you don't realize that I can't go anywhere without bodyguards anymore, do you? Tell me something, how would you like to find dead animals in your mailbox, just because you are doing what you love to do?"

"Hey, whoa!" The boy suddenly takes quick strides and comes between the two with his gaze shifting back and forth between both. "As entertaining as a catfight would be that would only attract the other buzzards." The final word of his sentence is accentuated by a sharper glance at Ella but without a trace of hostility. "So how about we all chill for a moment, forget the philosophy and let the starlet have her picture taken so this stalker can add it to her little personal shrine?" Phelan's tone and expression remain jovial and light though it's hard to tell whether he is egging the two on or honestly trying to diffuse the oncoming verbal war.

A thoroughly pensive expression crosses Ella's face as she rolls her eyes to peer up at the smog-infested night sky, "Well, not sure if you count the mice left on my windowsill by some kind-hearted owl? Not exactly my mailbox, since I don't think the owl could pick the lock on it and it's a rather small mailbox, but still…" her voice trails off as she shrugs, blinking her intense gaze back upon the songbird. "I've gotten lots of threats for doing what I love, for doing more than a few of the things I love really. I guess I've just come to expect it." To Phelan, she sticks out her tongue playfully before adding, "Respect yer elders, you young whippersnapper, before I break out the walker!" while lifting a fist into the air with mock defiance.

Christine lets out a laugh and peers at Phelan, "Yeah, I've got my walking cane somewhere here!" She grins back at Ella, "Just a few weeks ago, someone left a dead and gutted cat in my mailbox, cause they want to be me…" She shakes her head, "Trust me, this life has it great moments, where you are on top of the world, but it has it's downfalls, and plenty of them."

Laughing together with the two ladies, Phelan throws up his hands to "protect his head" as he slowly backs away. "Have mercy!" he cries out, poking his tongue out at the two. Feeling his part for the moment has been played he goes back to the building and leans up against it.

Walking alongside her Alaskan Klee Kai, Maiyun was on one of her daily walks. She grasps the leash with a sigh. "I don't see why we must use leashes but it's to keep the others "safe", I guess." The pup, named Kayla, seems to have a little bit of a problem with his leash. She always did, ever since Maiyun had bought it and put it on her. She knew better than to wander off, but that didn't satisfy others. The pup whines a little, both ears pinning against her head as she gnaws on the leash. The female looks down at the pup and gives her a weak smile. "I'm sorry you dislike it so much. But it is the law, you know." Kayla looks up at her, in hopes she'll pull off the annoying string.

"That's the thing about the Hollywood life. They put you high so you break more bones when you fall into an unrecognizable heap. Every life's full of'em, every life's got lots to lose, just in hundreds of different ways," Ella philosophizes, attempting to pull the air of a mystic around her with the squint of her eyes and the pursing of her lips. The expression is broken in less than two seconds by a wide grin just as her cell phone starts chittering inanely in her cargo pants pocket. "Ella here," she answers it after pulling it free, pulling a sour face as she listens to the voice on the other line, "Ugh, are you sure this isn't another of those phony leaks, Rick?" Another pause and her face lights up like a Christmas tree, "Essence, you say? Chace and Ed went in through the back? Well holy shit, I'm on it." With that, she snaps the phone closed, her head already turning left and right as she scans the streets around her. "Sorry to chit-chat and run, but I've got to find some Ace Bandages to wrap these little suckers up and weedle my way into a male gay club," she mentions, pressing one arm across her bosom as she does so. To Phelan, she grins almost evilly, "If you see any sparkly purple things, let me know!"

Christine nods her head and smiles at Ella and Phelan, "Yes. I should be going as well. I have meeting early in the morning I have to attend.." She starts to move off, then looks back waving at them. She then moves farther down the block, and climbs into a black limo that is waiting.

Nodding to the two but blinking at Ella, Phelan relents and lets the two go off in their respective directions though as he looks across the street once more he catches a glimpse of yet another familiar face. Tilting his head, he stiffens up against the walls of the building and watches Maiyun's movements carefully.

Maiyun keeps walking along the street until she feels a jerk at the string. She looks back over towards the Alaskan Klee Kai who appears to be staring straight ahead towards Phelan's scent. As soon as she confirmed the scent, she immediately begins to whimper and pull at the leash, trying to get away. The female raises a brow at her sudden behavior and looks around. "What is wrong, Lala?" Not answering, the pup finally runs up to her and begins to jump. Kneeling, Maiyun is immediately jumped onto. She hugs the pup who buries her muzzle into her armpit with pinned ears. "I don't know what's gotten into you, Lala. I mean there's no raccoons out at this time of day.." She looks about once more.

Looking the female over as her Klee Kai suddenly freaks out from being in close proximity to the Claith, Phelan takes a cue and puts his skateboard down on the sidewalk. Getting on it and slowly rolling forward he glances toward Mai and slows himself as he approaches. He says nothing to her, but manages to maintain his typical smile as he turns his body to continue watching her.

Maiyun sighs and shakes her head. "Well… if it's bothering you that much." She turns. "I guess I'll head out of this place." She turns but hears something. Both emerald eyes turn towards the sound and she listens closely. Kayla whimpers, burying her head deeper into her armpit as she moves towards the sound. "Don't tel me you're now afraid of wheels, Lala. They don't do anything as long as you stay out of the way." Confirming the sound, Maiyun looks down at the pup who lifts her gaze to her. She smiles weakly. "Silly pup…"

Phelan finally wheels his way past Maiyun, thankful that the crowd has parted to give him a clear line of sight and to let her see him. He keeps his speed low and, as he looks at Kayla in Maiyun's arms, he stops for a moment. "That;s a cute pup you have there…" he says, casting his gaze up to Maiyun and reaching out to pet Kayla.

Turning to leave once more Maiyun catches something from the corner of her eye and stops. She notices Phelan. Recognizing him immediately, she takes a step back. Looking down at Kayla, she looks back up at him. "Thank you…" She felt uneasy, as Charlotte told her to keep away, but one meeting would be all right. Biting her lip, she looks back down at the pup who refuses to look at Phelan. Sensing a hand moving towards her, Kayla yelps and kicks her legs. Luckily she had her claws groomed just this morning or she'd be scratching Maiyun through her shirt right about now.

Retracting his hand as he watches the puppy in Maiyun's hands kicking and clawing, Phelan smirks to himself and chuckles. "Gotcha…" he whispers, almost to himself, then lets his eyes rest on Maiyun. "Look, Mai, I'm sorry to cut this meeting short but I've got another engagement to set up. If you'll excuse me." Without waiting for her response the boy pushes off and takes off down the street, his hands instantly reaching for the cell phone in the pocket of his swim trunks. He does cast a glance back at Maiyun, however, as he begins to shrink off into the distance.

Maiyun watches him closely but doesn't say a word. She looks down at Kayla and tries to hush her like a mother would to her child, giving her head a light kiss. As odd as it looked, she didn't care what looks people would give her. Her emerald gaze lifts towards Phelan. She raises a brow, finding this meeting quite odd. Watching him leave, she looks down at Kayla who lifts her head also to watch. "Odd. Well let's continue. We have errands to run, girl." The pup quickly cheers up as if something hit her, and her tail wagged as Maiyun took her leave. "Odd you'd be afraid of him, Lala. I thought you loved people."

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