TV Killed the Radio Star (Open to Mansion Folk)

[dolemeck]

He really did not want to, but Dolemeck honestly felt he had no choice but to finally give in and be a part of the reality TV show based on his Father. All he would have to do is act, right? Pretend they were a happy family, that his parents were not addicts, and he was a good son going to a good school in the States. But when the cameras were not filming? It was complete chaos.

The damn thing had not aired, yet. They had only three episodes in full, and needed another nine before the Summer ended. Producers kept trying to tell him to be more "interesting", even trying to set him up with some starlet his age for publicity. He thankfully knew well enough to turn that down, but everything else he did. He performed music for the cameras, ate meals with his folks, then at the end of the day... take a cab back to the mansion.

After the cab dropped him off inside the gates of the mansion, Dolemeck decided to take a bit of a walk before heading inside. It was only dusk, and there was still some light on the grounds to enjoy. Despite it being the Summer, he had on his leather coat, matching pants, and a long sleeved white shirt. If anything, he appeared more ready for winter than anything else.

Comments

[dark_scion]

"So how long do you intend to keep up this charade?" Fred asked from above, casually sitting up in a tree. He had smelled Dolemeck coming before seeing him. He'd noticed familiar signs for awhile now, though at this point given the other man's reluctance to speak, Fred had decided to say something.

[dolemeck]

"What do you mean?" He raised an eyebrow, before adjusting his eyepatch. "You mean the whole "we're a totally normal family" bit? Until the producers tell me they've finished filming I suppose."

He put his hands in his coat pockets rather gingerly from what Fred could see.

"How long do you plan to stay in that tree?"

[dark_scion]

"I find this soothing. I suppose it appeals to my animal nature," Fred mused. He shrugged. "I have not decided."

He glimpsed down at Dolemeck.

"I was referring to the damage you have been continually trying to hide," he said bluntly.

[dolemeck]

"I do not know what you are talking about." There was no way Fred could know. He was bluffing, trying to fish information out of him.

"I am not trying to hide anything, Fred. Well, maybe my smoking habit, but that is about it."

[dark_scion]

"Oh it's relatively simple to hide," Fred conceded. "However I know such things very well from my own..highly questionable upbringing." Fred's tone remained even, though there was a slight hint of edge to it. "You have advantages I did not. You have friends you can turn to. You would be wise to utilize them."

[dolemeck]

"I unfortunately cannot." He ended up muttering. Dolemeck got closer to the tree, and then took his time sitting down under it.

"Me brother may have legal custody of me, but me Da and Mum still hold the purse strings. If anyone finds out about this, me funding for the school goes away. Not just that, I could be sent back across the pond. So you cannot say a thing to anyone, Fred!"

His eye narrowed a bit, right before his head lowered.

"It will just be until the end o' the summer, and then it'll be done with. Then I can go back to studying, classes, and being boring. I will not have to deal with Da anymore after the filming is done."

[dark_scion]

"You needn't worry," Fred replied, nonplussed. "It is not my place, and even if I were to do so I would have done it already."

"So funds is the sole thing keeping this regrettable arrangement in place?"

[dolemeck]

"Aye. Da pays for everything. The clothes on me back, me sewing machine, my tuition at the school... Hell, he even paid for one of me brothers to go to Uni and the other to start his own band." He frowned, one hand going through his hair.

"He doesn't care that me back is screwed up. He's still pissed about how I talked back at him months ago... and how Professor Franklin stopped him from punching me. I mean, aye, that was my fault... I should not have done that..."

His green eyes began looking around, trying not to focus on anything.

"I just have to try better for the stupid show is all. If I try harder, it will not be as bad, aye? Maybe he will finally even be nice to me..."

Dolemeck's Bedroom

[dolemeck]

Dolemeck's Dorm Room was just as somber as the man himself. There was an empty bed and section of the room for a future room mate (he lost another one, as they appear to have left the school). He kept all of his things neat and tidy on his side of the room. Instead of using the closet of the room, he opted to live out of a steamer trunk. Perhaps he always feared having to leave at any minutes notice?

He had a sewing machine set up by the window, a corner computer desk, a set of drawers to put some clothes and trinkets in, and a rather plain looking bed with black sheets. On the computer desk were some DVD's, shots from the TV series he was pretty much forced to be a part of. It appeared as though the teen had been mulling over them as of late, considering how many scratches from being viewed could be seen on the discs.

Re: Dolemeck's Bedroom

[dark_scion]

Fred had lived most of his life underground, many times sewers, so Dolemeck's room didn't stand out as particularly moody. He carefully set the man on the bed. Fred nearly left after than, but after a pang of conscience he put one of the sheets over him.

Re: Dolemeck's Bedroom

[dolemeck]

With a groan, Dolemeck started to come to. Well, only a little. he reached out to grab Fred's arm, only to miss and just grab at air. His medication had a terrible habit of causing him to become loopy. It was why he refrained from taking anything, unless he could not stand the pain he was in.

"Dun' go..." He pretty much slurred.

Re: Dolemeck's Bedroom

[dark_scion]

"You should sleep," Fred objected. "Even if you did not you don't seem disposed to extended conversation."

Re: Dolemeck's Bedroom

[dolemeck]

"Please... jus' stay. Dun' leave me like everyone else." He truly was out of it to say that to Fred, of all people. Some pain medications caused depression as a side effect, or allowed people to easily say things they would not normally say. Dolemeck hit the lottery and suffered both side effects, other than being loopy.

Re: Dolemeck's Bedroom

[dark_scion]

"That's absurd. You have many friends here." Fred then caught signs of the symptoms. "Perhaps I should fetch a doctor."

Re: Dolemeck's Bedroom

[dolemeck]

"I dun need a bloody doctor!" He fussed, but that did not stop the honesty, or him from throwing his leather coat on a chair. "And 'ow do I know they are really me friends? Wot if they are like everyone else... they just want something, and once it's gotten, they take off? That's wot they did back home."

Re: Dolemeck's Bedroom

[dark_scion]

Well, that was certainly more than he was expecting.

"I cannot answer that. I know little about them, or those you've known before. I only have my instincts on which to judge."

The Very Next Day

[dolemeck]

Dolemeck barely remembered what he said to Fred. It did not matter, as he had another day of filming ahead of him to worry about. Again, he acted like the happy and hopeful son. And when it was all over (thankfully it ended earlier than last time), he went out for a soda.

"American drinks are so much sweeter than back home." He muttered, drinking a can of Mountain Dew. It certainly had more caffeine than he was used to, as well. He was just thankful that there were little stores about the city where he could pick up treats and hang out before heading back to the mansion.

Re: The Very Next Day

[apache_banshee]

"Treats" were on Sean's agenda as he went into the store. Granted he now had access to the baked goodness Kayla often made at the institute, sometimes he enjoyed the classics like Kit Kats and Crunch bars. Thanks to his mutation, he didn't have to worry as much about sugar intake. This would probably lead to Rose lecturing him on binge eating junk food, but them's the breaks.

Re: The Very Next Day

[dolemeck]

Dolemeck was at the counter, paying for his soda, and a box of cigarettes. Thankfully, this clerk did not card him, and he looked old enough to smoke. Just as he began to put his box of cigarettes in his jacket pocket, he noticed Sean. Well, he did not know his name yet, but he knew the man from appearance. The guy he saw hanging out with Rose.

" 'oy!" He spoke up to Sean, who appeared to be buying a lot of Candy. "You are a friend of Rose, aye?"

Re: The Very Next Day

[apache_banshee]

Sean turned around at that. he didn't recognize the guy with the eye-patch.

"Yeah..do I know you?" He tried to wrack his mind for anything Rose may have told him.

Re: The Very Next Day

[dolemeck]

"Probably not." Dolemeck admitted. "I am a student at the mansion and a friend of Rose's. I had seen you hanging about her recently, but never seen you in the halls."

He then looked at all the candy that Sean had amassed.

"Are you planning to rot your teeth out? These candies are sweeter than anything across the pond!"

Re: The Very Next Day

[apache_banshee]

Sean relaxed at that. "You're from the school? I go there sometimes, but I don't live on campus."

Sean laughed at that.

"Benefit of my mutation. Body stays naturally in tip-top shape, so I can binge once in awhile. Name's Sean," he said, extending a hand.

Re: The Very Next Day

[dolemeck]

"Dolemeck." He took Sean's hand and gave it a firm shake. Something he's learned to do since coming to this country. "I am supposed to be "Dominick", but me Da was wasted when it came time to name me, thus the weird name."

Was he blushing, yeah he was blushing. Everyone had a cooler mutation than he did. His was just so... common.

"We should not probably talk about our abilities in public. It could cause for some issues." He was secretive about being a mutant, still... but also worried that something like the Purifiers could happen, once more.

Re: The Very Next Day

[apache_banshee]

"Far from the weirdest name I've heard," Sean said with a shrug. "Eh, don't worry about the cashier. She knows me, but I can be hush-hush if it makes ya feel better."

Preview Night

[dolemeck]

Dolemeck was a bit on pins and needles when it came to the preview on the show. Mostly because he had lied to the people he trusted about what it really was about. Maybe the truth was he did not trust anyone completely. Someone would always stab him in the back, at least that was what he had experienced so far.

The show was not some cooky TV show on the life of his Father and his band. It was more or less an intervention to try and get him into rehab. All plotted by his Mother, who happened to have remained sober (It turns out she was just eccentric for the past couple of years).

When the first preview episode aired, it was real. It showed how his father lived, performed, and how it impacted his family. Dolemeck was the only one out of two sons to participate. Perhaps deep down inside, he hoped he could have a normal father out of it.

Instead, it showed a fight between Father and son. It explained why he was so bruised up when he came back to the mansion one night. He refrained from using his powers, and never spoke of being a mutant publicly. Critics said the fight was worse than anything the Gallagher brothers could do.

The show was met with positive reviews for showing the dark side of the music industry, and hopes that the next five episodes show his father getting help. They also applauded Dolemeck for having the heart to care about his family, and for his honesty on the situation.

All he could do was just hope that it all worked out, and things would be better.