Project Miscellany

[Victoria Foster]

"Yeah, yeah, like that. Hold that face." Tori took a few shots of James as he modelled for her. She was working on a personal project of hers that was meant to capture the differences between people and body types. James could be checked off as a white man who was, admittedly, quite attractive, and who had an admirable physique. He wasn't the first model in the series, but he was the only one so far she knew personally.

James and her went back to her college days. Tori had taken up photography way before her manifestation. But going to Bellefonte actually allowed her to get good at her hobby. She discovered the photography club and met the majority of her friends there. That's where she met James. They hit it off relatively well from day one and had been friends since. It wasn't uncommon for them to get together to talk about their recent projects, show each other their pictures, and just all around shoot the shit.

Tori suddenly laughed, pulling the lens of her camera up into the air as she appraised James. "Alright, that was good. How would you feel taking off your shirt? If you don't want a bare chest I have scarves and other stuff your can cover yourself with."

Tag: James Baxter

[James Baxter]

James was probably not going to be a model for his career, nor did he think he'd been a model in a past life, but when Victoria needed someone to fill a spot for one of her projects, he did the best he could. Just as she did when he was in the same position. He knew he was fit, had a decent bone structure for shadow and highlights to play off of and could look far off into the distance with some intent behind his eyes. He also knew how his body movements would affect lighting and how it created different forms and shapes that would help compositionally.

And ya know, it was fun sometimes. He could be a person that he wasn't, give himself some kind of motive like he was an actor or a professional. He'd smize and flex for the camera the way he knew most males did when they got their picture taken. It seemed to be working because she had him holding his poses. Once she had him relax, he ran his hand through his hair and offered a small smile that was also a little scared because she laughed suddenly and without any context.

Her request was both shocking and not, but even so, he could feel heat rising to his cheeks. James was not a preening peacock, he didn't show off his naked torso for the hell of it, but he was also an artist. And as an artist...well, he just hoped he could do this. "N-no, it's fine. I mean, it's not like you told me to take my pants off," That might have been a line he would have to draw with a friend from school. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat before pulling his shirt up and over his head, tossing it to the side and out of the frame. "G-good?"

[Victoria Foster]

Tori's face went from entertained and happy, to nervous and embarrassed. Her own face started to turn red, just like James', and she felt as if her voice wasn't going to cooperate when she needed to use it. Her eyes dropped to the ground. She rose her hand up and brushed the newly formed sweat off her head with the back of her free hand. "S-sorry, James. Yeah... it's, uh, it's good. Please, put on your shirt if you want. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

His feelings about the situation was infectious. Damn her empathy. Seriously. It made it hard to stay true to herself and know how she was truly feeling with everyone else's emotions swimming through her head. It made her think about shooting up, that always helped to dull her ability... but Tori wanted to stay sober long enough to do this shoot and hang out with her friend. Despite being in denial she had a drug problem, she hid it well to make sure no one would figure it out and interfere. 

She walked quickly to a trunk that was rested against the wall. After rummaging through the various costume-like items, Tori finally pulled out a large, white feather boa. She offered it to James with quick motions, still not looking him in the eye as the embarrassment ran through her. 

"Er, put this on. Cover as much of yourself as you like. Or put on your shirt. Sorry." Tori fiddled with her camera as James adjusted himself for the next shot.

[James Baxter]

James waved her away when she apologized. He already had it off, no need to make a big fuss about it further. Besides, for him to be embarrassed was silly. It had just been the abrupt bluntness that he hadn't been expecting and in turn it had made him uncomfortable. Having his shirt off wasn't entirely bad, he wasn't out of shape, he wasn't insecure, he was just him. He was a professional, and he could act professional for the sake of the shoot. It would be no different than if he'd asked her to remove an article of clothing, at least, in his mind it would have been the same despite their anatomical differences.

As she frantically kept trying to find something to make him comfortable, he found himself at a loss for what to do or say. He wasn't embarrassed anymore, it had been a momentary lapse in his otherwise emotionless make-up. Now that he was over it, he figured she should be too. It didn't make sense to him the way she became so frazzled, but then, he didn't understand her ability anymore than she probably understood his disassociation with things. He only felt things briefly, they didn't stay for longer than a moment.

Offering him a boa, he looked at it extremely puzzled. What in the hell was he supposed to do with a thing like this? He took it though, and for a moment just stared while it lay in his hand. Lacking much of a sense of humor, he wasn't even sure he could muster up something that would be funny for the shoot. He threw it over his shoulder and shoved his hands in his pockets as it hung past his waist. James had a sense of uncertainty surrounding him because he'd always just given her the dark, broody looks she'd wanted. He perhaps wasn't the most expressive model for her to work with. "Uh, like this then?"

[Victoria Foster]

Tori scratched her neck, still looking nervous, but she gave herself a small, reaffirming nod. She had to convince herself that James was okay with this. Hell, he told her he was. But if that was the case, why did he get that nervous attack? Maybe Tori shouldn’t have been so blunt. But that was easier said than done. She was not only an increasingly daring girl, but she was living with a dangerous man who needed her to speak in sharp answers and demands. Anything less would get her either in trouble or ignored.

Tori couldn’t help but laugh as the boa was draped lifelessly on his shoulder. The pink, fluffy feathers were a hard contrast to what James was normally exposed to. But Tori loved to play with gender roles and the expression of masculinity. James was certainly going to get a lovely sum of cash after this shoot, Tori was going to make sure of that. She rubbed her hands together and walked toward him.

She reached out to adjust the boa. “Do you mind if I just…?” Hardly giving him time to answer, she took the boa lightly in her hands and wrapped it around his neck once before letting it drape down like he had it before, only this time it dropped just shy of his waist. The hot pink highly contrasted with James’ usual broody look. Tori was thrilled with how he was rocking it. “Oh yeah, just like that. Give me your best face, Jamie-boy.”

Practically skipping back to her place, she whipped around with a devilish smile on her face. She raised her camera to her eye and gave a tester shot, allowing the shutter to flash a few times before lowering it again. "You're lookin' so good."

James Baxter