Emmett scowled at his reflection in the studio mirror. From the corner of his eye he could see Edan trying to hide a nervous smile.

Edan peeked past the stylist's shoulder as she trimmed the ends of his own hair. "You gonna be alright there, Doll?"

Emmett was too grumpy to meet his gaze. "I'd get over it faster if you stopped teasing me about it."

"A fresh look will help you get noticed by clients." The stylist said with very little sympathy.

Emmett didn't answer, just leaned his chin in his hand as he regarded her handy work. He'd audibly winced when she'd taken the scissors to his bangs. She'd buzzed his entire head down to an even length and continued by slathering him down with boring chestnut hair color.

"It won't take long to grow out." Edan said behind his hand in an obvious whisper.

"Hold still before I'm forced to do the same to you." The stylist slapped Edan before looking back at Emmett. "I'm not even done with you yet so don't you dare even think about changing it back. You've gotta try it out at least for the season."

Emmett continued to pout as she worked on Edan, resenting every extra minute the dark hue was eating into his hair.

"All done." She claimed as she whipped the cape off of Edan with a flourish.

Emmett couldn't possibly hide his annoyance. "You didn't even do anything to him."

Edan gave a lazy shrug. "I have a look, Doll. They know what they're supposed to get when they book me."

"I had a look too but she stole it from me." Emmett passed a glare to the stylist who expertly ignored him.

"It wasn't working for you. Come on, let me scrub you out."

It was a pitifully short wash. When she had him back in the chair she put the razor to his head again, fading out the back and sides. He would've thought it was a fine style, on anyone but himself.

Edan came up behind him as the stylist finished up, running his fingers up those fine hairs still left on his neck. It felt good. That at least made some of the sacrifice worth it. "Don't worry, Doll. I heard the shoot is at least going to be a fun one."

"Is it?"

"No spoilers."

Emmett sighed. "Too bad we have to get all the way out there first."

"That's called living the high life in this business."

Emmett only leaned further into Edan's touch, demanding more attention. The guy gave in for a little while but they were pulled away all too soon. They got into a trailer along with the makeup and wardrobe team and set out into the early dark hours for wherever their destination was meant to be. Emmett didn't care to find out. He pillowed his head against Edan's chest and slept as well as he could despite the noise and the bouncing. Edan kept running his fingertips along Emmett's scalp, and that helped to counter everything else.

He was woken at some point after the sun had risen for the start of makeup. They were still driving, in what looked like the wilderness rather than the city. It was a struggle to stay awake and Emmett found himself apologizing multiple times for nodding off during the process.

When they came to a stop it was in front of some 'old money' mansion and ranch. Emmett dually felt resentfully unimpressed and envious.

"I'd sure love to spend a night here." Edan whispered over, mimicking Emmett's thoughts. "We have to find some time to slip away, yeah?"

"It sounds like you wanna get me in trouble again."

Edan smiled and pressed a quick kiss to Emmett's temple before they unloaded from the trailer. They stepped out into a field around the side of the building. Horses were grazing on the other side of a split log fence. Rustic, and it smelled so too.

"Ah, glad to see you boys again. Come under the tent, get a bite to eat before we get started."

It took a moment to remember her, but Emmett was glad to see the photographer from that swimsuit shoot a couple months back. The way she described the mood and scene she wanted instead of vague and meaningless words made her so easy to work with. And the fact that she'd doubled Emmett and Edan for that last shoot and now they were here with her again.

He really should've remembered her name.

She gave Emmett's head a quick scuffle as she led the way. 'I am sorry about the hair. What you had going was a little too punk rock for what we're doing today. I wanted to shoot you again but the client insisted we had to change you up first."

"I'm getting used to it already,"

Emmett was really trying to go into these things with a better attitude, at least with the people who mattered. Edan looked like he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Awesome, cause we get to do something really fun today."

"No one's told me anything about it." Edan dodged the look of annoyance that Emmett tossed his way. He was busy picking at the catering table laid out for them.

"We're doing an editorial series. Have you ever seen those historical romance novels?"

He certainly had. His aunt had been a fan and they’d ended up piling in a few too many places at the house when he was growing up. Emmett had flipped through one or two when bored but they never really had the most appealing content. "I have."

"Well, we're taking the idea and making it a little more high fashion. I haven't decided yet though, which of you will be playing my nobleman and which one is my alluring stable man."

"Oh, Emmett should be our stable man, definitely." Edan put in between bites of grapes.

Emmett found himself frowning again. "Aren't you the one who looks more like he works for a living?"

"Fashion isn't about portraying reality. Besides, the stable man is the one who gets to be fawned over by the nobles in this situation."

Emmett couldn't deny finding that idea appealing.

"Who did you find to play our lovestruck noblewoman?" Edan asked.

The photographer chimed in again. The makeup team is already getting started on Nyala.”

Well, appealing until that announcement.