On a Mission (Trent/Ayla)

[Trent Frey]

Lyric heard that laugh, but didn't say anything about it. He wrote her name, likely with misspellings, then stepped back and took a quick picture of the board. It was easier keeping track of who was who than trying to remember names.

He gave his wand a flick and opened the windows along one wall to let in the sun. "You want to be a model?" he asked, raising his camera. "Do something." It would have been nice of him to give her a direction, but he wasn't feeling nice.

[Ayla Rose Blackwood]

Ayla propped a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought the whole model/photographer thing was a partner effort," she said. She didn't know how, which was part of the reasons he had come to him. Maybe she should just look pissy, how was that? No, in reality she couldn't keep a pissed look for too long, and her lips spread into a half smile. "Please, give me some help?"

[Trent Frey]

Please. He kind of liked hearing that. He took a few pictures of that smile, then gave her direction for basic poses. "When you're standing, one leg supports your weight. You can put your hands on your hips or slowly move them around your face, you can spin your head. Just keep moving." If he saw something he liked, he'd just have her hold still so he could get some different angles.

[Ayla Rose Blackwood]

Ayla nodded and did so, starting with the first option and moving through. She felt a little silly, but she supposed everyone probably did at first. She had to learn some time, didn't she? "I don't think I can do those pouty model faces," she said before attempting one, then she shook her head and laughed lightly. "I don't think that's my style."

[Trent Frey]

Lyric took a few rapid shots of her laugh. Genuine smiles were always better than fakes, even when people's fakes were good. "If you want to pout, make faces in the mirror 'til you get it right. If you try to smile all the time, you'll get tired of it and it'll start looking like crap." Not that he liked the every-emotion-requires-this-pout, but it happened because it was easy.

[Ayla Rose Blackwood]

"Do you ever model yourself?" Ayla asked, turning to a more serious expression. There was very little she knew, and she wasn't sure if photographers dabbled often in it. She knew there were people that were both, but most of what she got was from the odd magazine she could get her hands on.

[Trent Frey]

"No," Lyric said. "I get asked sometimes. Took my own pictures for Cauldron, but that's it." He didn't want anyone dressing him up and trying to get him to do something. He didn't want anyone messing with his hair. He didn't want to risk the kind of exposure it could bring. The best photos were ones where something showed through besides the obvious.

[Ayla Rose Blackwood]

"I bet you'd make great pictures," Ayla said. The serious expression was likely ruined by the teasing, flirty glint in her eyes. There was no denying he was good looking, and she'd never claimed to be subtle. She wondered if all photographers were like him. Somehow, she really doubted they were, even the alternative ones.

[Trent Frey]

"Try reading Cauldron," Lyric said. If she was trying to hit on him, it wasn't going to work. He'd let in more than enough people lately, and still wasn't over the one who'd left, though he refused to say as much. He hated to think he might take Keith back.

He lowered his camera. "I'll take some studio shots now. Come stand in front of the white wall, I'll set up some lights."

[Ayla Rose Blackwood]

Ayla nodded and moved where he told her to go, pausing briefly to run her hand along the cat's back again. "What's his name?" she asked as she found a place against the wall. They had never had a pet at home and she couldn't afford to buy one for herself, so she had to live through other people that owned them.

[Trent Frey]

"Shadow," Lyric said, "'Cause it's his job to follow me around." Shadow had saved him from countless slides toward temptation. The only time the cat really failed was when he was determined to get out, and no amount of sense would stop him. And when he left fully intending to do something different. He had not intended to spend the night on Diagon Alley.

[Ayla Rose Blackwood]

"I thought dogs were the ones that followed people around," Ayla said, though she had little experience with either. The stereotype of a cat was that they did whatever they wanted no matter what the owner said. "Thought cats were the ones that don't give a f~." It was a neat name, though, and it fit the cat's color.

[Trent Frey]

"He's part kneazle," Lyric said. The cat was also a therapy pet, but he didn't need to spread that around. "Straight face, look at the camera," he said, securing Melody on her stand. "If you want to be a model you'll need headshots to pass out. I'll send you an owl when the pictures are developed; you can come down and see if you want to buy any.

"They're cheap," he added. A lot of places charged more, but it wasn't like he had clients beating down his door. Models, however...

[Ayla Rose Blackwood]

"I hope so," Ayla grumbled, though she made sure to keep her face straight for the pictures. She was probably too old to get into it, already, anyway, and she was short and no one wanted short models. Well, with that kind of thinking she definitely wouldn't get anywhere. "Any ideas on where to start?" she asked. He worked for a magazine, he had to have at least some idea on how to get going.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric glanced at the girl over his camera, then looked back into the viewfinder to take a picture. "I can give you the names of a couple agencies," he said. "Find out exactly what pictures they want, and you can get them done here. If they say one headshot and one three-quarters full-body, that's what you give them. Turn to face that picture of Hogwarts."