“He’s even prettier than how you described.”
Jed watched as the photographer circled him, similar to how Vanessa had done when she initially surveyed him at the library. She took his arms, moving them up until he was t-posing, and grabbed the loose fabric of his tank top. She pulled it back until it was tight against him.
The photographer seemed to get excited at the sight. “Are you sure you want to give him all these loose clothes? Underneath it all… his figure is very nice. It would definitely sell.”
Jed looked at her, but she looked past him, only interested in his marketability and not him as a person. Similar to Vanessa’s modifications, he noticed the photographer had large, black, velvety butterfly wings, with blue ovals lining the center of them, and some red specs on the side. Her arms and legs, from what wasn’t covered by her low cut black shirt and flared capri jeans, were a dark, dusty gray, and they faded into her regular skin tone as they neared her face. Her eyes were all black, and much larger than normal—sort of like those old school drawings of aliens. To complete the look, she had two black antennae resting above her brow bone and a shaved head, which was most likely to avoid any hair from damaging her wings.
“For his digitals and his promotional banner picture, I want to keep the clothes on. Just to make sure how we’re branding him is totally solidified” Vanessa reached into her purse and pulled out a pair of hair cutting scissors. “First, I need to cut his hair.”
The photographer looked mortified. “Cut his hair? How short?”
She reached over and touched the stray pieces that had escaped Jed’s ponytail, and stared at them, admiring the color and how bright of a white it got in the sun. “This length… it makes him look wild. Such a good look for such a big man.”
Jed stayed quiet, but he was definitely liking this attention. He looked down at the woman who was messing with his hair, totally not to check her out and reap the benefits of the shirt she was wearing, but to look at the name tag placed precariously onto the left of her chest. It read: Bindi.
“No. We aren’t going for the wild child angle this time. It never works.” Bindi eyed Amon as Vanessa spoke. Then, pointed at him as she interjected.
“We did that angle with him. And he is much smaller, much less attractive.” Amon opened his mouth, SHOCKED. What on earth does that mean??? “If it worked with him, think of how much more it’ll work with,” Bindi held Jed’s hand, interlocking their fingers, and laid her head on his arm. “Him.”
Vanessa separated the two of them, shaking her head. “No, Bindi. Decision is final.” She couldn’t ignore the sudden fit of protectiveness that engulfed her as Bindi fawned over Jed.
She took out her scissors and made the first chop. Everyone watched in horror as the first lock of white hair dropped, slowly, to the bamboo floor below. All things have a silver lining, though, and, as Vanessa kept cutting, Jed’s blue lowlights had more visibility cast on them than ever before. It was quite the sight to behold.
After a few minutes of shearing, Vanessa was finished. She, slowly, turned him around, revealing the new and improved Jed. No longer would he have to worry about getting his hair tangled in knots, or it getting ripped out when he sparred with Amon. His hair was now short and neat, but kept some length in both the front and the back through heavy layers on the crown, essentially thickening it out there and then thinning it out as it got closer to the back of his head and below. She looked to Bindi and Amon for their reactions, which were both positive. Usually, that would be enough for her, but, as Vanessa realized recently, Jed wasn’t just a project, but a living participant, too! So she turned to him and, for the first time out of almost all her clients, asked him: “Do you like it?”
Jed turned to look at one of the many mirrors in the studio, and ran a hand through his fresh cut. “It’s fine.”
That was good enough for her. She signaled for Bindi to take them to the room they’d be shooting in, and the whole group followed her.
“Three outfits. Ninety minutes.” Bindi motioned to the outfits hanging by the back of the room.
The one that immediately caught his eye was his new athletic wear Vanessa had pitched the night before. It was a matching creamy white sweatsuit, with shorts and a sweater. On the sides of the shorts, where most sports attire would typically have their strip of different colored fabric, there was what appeared to be puff paint of Ivy and angels blowing on trumpets. He also had a sort of toga he could wrap around them. The sweater was embellished with a faux rectangle relief in the middle, where the logo would typically be, of a beat from the tale of Icarus. His gloves were a baby blue with a sunny yellow ivy design that circled them, and a creamy white underside. His shoes were the same blue with yellow laces, and had faux columns and other typical Greek mythos imagery “carved” into them with puff paint and embroidery. Finally, to complete the look, he had a blue and yellow sweatband and white socks.
Jed then noticed the other outfit. It was, again, a sweatsuit. This one was two baby blue pieces, with an ivy and cherub pattern that was embroidered all around it. The clothes were oversized, but the extra fabric didn’t go to waste. Instead, they fell in a draping fashion, similar to how the figures’ and statues’ clothing in Greek statues did. Instead of a sweatband, it had a headband that paid homage to the crown of thorns, white socks, and blue slides. He touched both of the sweaters from each outfit, slowly. The textile work on this was really, really nice. And really, really soft.
“I like this. It feels nice.”
Amon moved so fast to revel in that compliment, it was like he appeared next to him. “How nice? Like, on a scale of 1-10?”
“A nine.” Then, he felt the shorts. “A ten.”
Amon seemed pleased with himself. Jed looked around the room, wondering where the third outfit was. Bindi could see his confusion, and took it upon herself to answer without waiting for him to ask.
“The third outfit is your underwear.” Jed looked more bemused than before at that. “For your stats breakdown promo.”
“I have to be naked?”
Bindi shook her head. “Not completely. Unless you want to.”
Jed looked around the room, seemingly for someone to defend him, but no one did. Bindi spoke, once again: “Go get ready. 90 minutes has just become 85.”
The first shoot went fine. Jed was, as most people are, camera shy. Bindi worked with him to conquer this. She posed him, making sure to touch all up on his thighs and biceps as she did so--all in the effort to get the perfect shot, of course. Jed noticed in the mirror’s reflection that Vanessa was shooting daggers as she did so. He wondered if that meant she could possibly, somehow, be jealous?? No. No way. Jed shook his head. Remember, like she said, this is her job.
“First round done. Good job, Jed.” Bindi smiled at him and Jed gave her two thumbs up. She tossed him his sweatsuit, but all the moving parts made it hard to put on correctly. Vanessa moved to get up, but Bindi swerved in front of her, bee lining to aid Jed.
As she made the necessary adjustments to Jed’s clothes, she got close to his ear, whispering a private comment: “After this shoot, we can celebrate its success in a more… intimate setting, if you’d like.”
Jed’s face started heating up. Before he could answer, Vanessa interrupted. “Excuse me, guys!! Let’s start the second round, okay??”
“Okay.” Bindi ran a finger up Jed’s chest. “I agree. I’m always up for round two.”
The following shoot went well, but Bindi seemed to be struggling to really capture Jed’s essence. Eventually, she gave up, calling Vanessa over. “Vanessa. He cannot wear this sweater. He needs to show off.”
Vanessa surveyed the scene. She thought he looked cute with everything on. “Why?”
“Come.”
Vanessa stood next to Bindi, and they looked at the pictures together. She mentioned something about silhouette and some other things Jed didn’t get. That seemed to convince Vanessa, and she turned back to Jed, defeated.
“She’s right, Jed. Take your shirt off—we can use it for your public appearances, like talking at conferences or whatever, but for fighting, you need it off.”
Slowly, without argument, he lifted it up and over his head. Only to find the three of them totally ogling him once he could see again. Awkwardly, Amon looked away once Jed noticed, his scales a bright reddish pink. Vanessa and Bindi didn’t care.
“See? And why would you want to hide … this.” Bindi motioned to Jed’s torso, and moved over to him, patting him gently on his lower stomach, leaving her hand there. She traced the outline of his hips. Jed’s heart jumped. Whoa. He hadn’t been touched there in, like, forever. He hoped his face wasn’t red, but it certainly felt that way.
“This is your money maker. You want to sell to women? Then you must remember — the way to a middle aged mother’s heart is through a twenty year old guy’s abs.” A suggestive smile played on her lips as she spoke.
Jed felt a little embarrassed at that, but not necessarily in a bad way. In a way that came with the realization your almost naked body would be shown to everyone in the world on live television for the sake of you being hot. He had never really thought much of his looks before, good or bad, so this certainly was a giant leap. A strange thought crossed his mind: his parents were still out there, right? His face heated up at the thought of this picture being the first image they see after 23 years.
Once the redo pictures were taken, it was time for the final one. The one with no clothes (besides underwear.) A little uncomfortably, Jed stripped down. Vanessa reached into her bag as he did so, and then handed him a pair of handmade boxers in his colors with an angel and ivy pattern, thankfully without the discomfort of embroidery or puff paint. That would get very uncomfortable very fast. He turned around, taking the ones he was currently wearing off, much to everyone in the room’s shock. There was a changing area to the back, after all.
Then, it was time to pose. The shots felt a little … gratuitous for what was going to be used to show off his stats. Out of pure curiosity, he said:
“What’s this got to do with boxing?”
“Nothing.” Amon answered, and Jed caught the frustrated look he shot Vanessa as he spoke. Vanessa looked back at him, with obvious culpability. But the photographer piped up:
“Amon. Do not complain. Your entire gimmick was not wearing anything.” She turned back to him, disappointed. “You know better than anyone that this sells.”
“Okay, but I’m a chameleon? Which means my whole thing is camouflaging? Obviously I can't wear any clothes, but he can.”
“It’s not about can or cannot. It’s about should, or should not.” She eyed Amon up and down, with a hypercritical gaze, making sure to hold her stare a little longer at where she knew he felt insecure. His eye contact faltered, feeling suddenly self conscious. “And I don’t think you are in any place to make comments about how someone’s public image will affect them. Last I remember, you were the only boxer whose matches were ever under investigation.”
Bindi paused, then, for full clarification, added, “Did you forget how you were embroiled with controversy? Did you forget how everyone called you a cheater?”
Amon, now more than a little embittered, decided to turn this into an argument. He, smug, retorted, “And last I remember, you had to step away from professional athletic photography because you couldn’t stop sleeping with your clients—“
“Excuse me!” Vanessa cut in, hoping to end the fight this was about to become. She forgot how many problems these two had with one another. “Let’s not?”
The two of them looked at each other in silence. But it definitely wasn’t over.
“If our vision frustrates you, perhaps you should step out. We don’t want you to make the client uncomfortable.” Bindi said, lowering her camera. “He’s already nervous enough.”
Jed looked at himself—he didn’t feel nervous. Amon huffed and threw his hands up, shooting the photographer an annoyed shrug. Then, he left.
Vanessa stood there awkwardly, before clearing her throat, signaling for everyone still in the room to move on. “Okay, guys! Let’s keep it moving! I still need to edit these after and turn them into banners, so the faster we finish up the better.”
“Very true, Vanessa. I actually was wondering if I could get a picture of you and Jed.” Bindi winked at them. “If you want, you can match his attire.”
Vanessa waved her hand at that, giving Bindi a hard no. “I’d absolutely love to take a picture with my favorite client, but not naked.”
“My mistake.” As Bindi replied, Vanessa made her way over to Jed. The timing was a bit inconvenient, considering this was his underwear shot, but whatever. If Vanessa could put Jed through looking like this, then she could deal with being next to the monster she had created.
“Get closer to him.” Vanessa scooted closer. She was almost touching him. “No, Vanessa. Closer. I want to bring out his size… make him like a bear. And you are just a little salmon he is going to eat.”
“Um. What?” Vanessa made a face at that analogy. Weird. Regardless, she did as she was told and stood directly in front of Jed, pressed up against him.
“Now, Jed -- place your hands on her shoulders. Like you’re protecting her.”
He did. Vanessa noticed his hands felt strangely light for someone his size, but decided to ignore it. They were warm, almost clammy from moving around so much in the last hour and a half
"Okay! Now, smile!"
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