Troy surveyed the coffee house crowd from the corner of the room, his position on a raised level of tables giving him a clear view of the majority of the shop's other occupants. The faces in the crowd were methodically absorbed and compared with the ideal image he held in his head. Each face was then discarded as inferior and he moved on to contemplate the next, frustrated with the lack of suitable candidates in this city. He'd been to numerous locations over the past two weeks: posh clubs, trendy restaurants and the like, all with the same goal in mind. He was searching for beauty. Not the artificial kind found in air brushed and computer generated images, but true, living beauty.

Troy Vaughan was used to beauty. It surrounded him in his home, at work, at the parties he visited, and in the people he knew. He dealt in it really, made his living from transferring the essence of the beauty of the human form from flesh to canvas. He was famous for it, revered by thousands because of his art. With their reverence came the demand for higher standards, the need to take what he'd produced previously and go beyond it. He needed to find a beauty, either male or female, which surpassed all his previous models. This was not an easy task. No one Troy saw met the image he had in his head. He wanted someone who was more than just a pretty face. Troy wanted to find a new kind of beauty, one that wasn't already plastered across magazine covers and movie screens. He wanted something new, something fresh, something out of the ordinary. But what he wanted wasn't here.

Sighing, Troy drained the last of his café mocha and tossed the plastic cup in the trash as he started to leave. When he walked past the counter he spotted a young man bent over his laptop at a far table, his hunched form partially obscured by the crowd of people waiting in line to order. Troy stopped and studied the man; his interest peaked as he sensed potential. The man was neither too thin nor too thick from what Troy could see above the table. His head was lowered. Hair that was mostly dark brown with what looked like naturally blonde streaks going through it fell down to hide his face. Troy guessed the other man's hair to be about chin length, somewhat spiky in the way it fell. As he watched, a hand reached up to push a few vagrant strands behind his ear, but they fell back to the same position shortly after the hand was removed. The casual jeans and turtleneck marked him as a student as much as the textbooks sitting next to him, the wear evident on the covers giving him the impression of a studious young man. He was in his early twenties from what Troy could tell, though he still retained the look of a teenager in some aspects. A backpack was sprawled at his feet, and an unidentifiable drink was placed farther back on the table to avoid accidental spillage.

Troy moved forward slowly, casually approaching the man he'd set as his new target. He twisted a chair around next to the boy and sank into it with a brief greeting. "Hello."

The young man started at Troy's sudden appearance, Troy's speech jolting him from his single-minded concentration on the computer screen. He looked around hesitantly, as if to verify that Troy wasn't speaking to someone else, and then settled his gaze on Troy's features. Troy smiled as the young man looked at him. The other man had a round face with pale skin that seemed as if it would be incredibly smooth to touch. Eyes the color of melted chocolate stared at him in surprise and Troy knew he was looking at his new model.

"Can I help you?" The man's voice was distant; the question asked more out of general politeness than any real interest.

Troy smiled at the other man, his charm in full force as he gazed at the other man. He knew what the young man would see when he looked at Troy. His golden blonde hair was gathered in a ponytail that fell down to the small of his back. Sparkling blue eyes shined at his target, filled with warmth. He was dressed to kill in a blue silken shirt that highlighted his eyes worn half-open to reveal a clinging white t-shirt underneath. Black pants hugged his thighs, though they were mostly hidden from the man's view under the table.

"I'd like you to be my model."

"I'm not interested." The young man instantly dropped his gaze back to the computer screen, completely ignoring Troy's presence.

Troy was not phased; he'd dealt with resistance before. "My name's Troy Vaughan. I'm an artist. I can make you famous."

"I'm not interested. Please leave me alone." The other man didn't even look up from his laptop as he spoke.

Troy smiled. He liked challenges. If the target played hard to get, then that just made Troy's eventual victory all the more sweet. And he would get what he wanted, guaranteed. Troy Vaughan could be incredibly patient when he wanted to be. He leaned forward to speak softly in the other man's ear, his breath tickling the hair there.

"I really want you to be my new model. I won't take 'no' for an answer."

The other man jerked back quickly and clapped a hand over his ear. A light blush stained the young man's cheeks and Troy realized another potential use for the young man. His smile turned into a smirk as his predatory instincts rose. The other man was quite attractive, a rare beauty. As Troy took another look at the other man he knew he wanted him as more than just a model. He wanted to see the other man's blush repeated many more times, though preferably in situations that had the younger man under him and pressed against some horizontal surface.

They stared at each other for several moments before the younger man burst into action, sweeping his books and laptop into his bag and standing in one swift motion. The other man practically ran out the door, and Troy let him. He'd seen a flicker of emotion cross the man's face and it intrigued him. Perhaps his advances weren't entirely misplaced. Troy's eyes gave the retreating figure a quick scan and stored the image in his memory so that he'd be able to recognize the younger man wherever Troy next saw him.

Troy had found what he'd been searching for: a man of uncommon beauty. He didn't have the type of looks found in normal models, all glam and sparkling beauty. His was a more subtle beauty that needed the right kind of attention to bring it to light. It was internalized, showing only in subtle hints on the outside. He would look ravishing when captured by Troy's paintbrush.

Standing, Troy followed after the younger man, his gaze stuck on the form moving along the street farther ahead of him. He was determined to win the man over; he must in order to satisfy his own need for beauty. It was just a matter of time before he'd convince the young man to be his and only his. Now that he knew what he wanted he could take his time, lure the man right where Troy wanted and then catch him. And when Troy did catch him.... He smiled widely at the thought, already planning what to do to the younger man. He would learn very quickly that Troy Vaughan always got what he wanted.