The Run-Way

[Gabriel Graas S4]

((He ha stop do some work for his fame. If you don’t like the mentions of you, tell me and I’ll edit it out Kellyn. Anyone can post if you wish to, but either way I’m planning to add a post or two more about the show myself.))








Gabriel ducked out of the way of a short woman scurrying past. As she couldn’t see over the pile of clothes tossed in her arms, Gabriel would have been trampled if he hadn’t moved. That was one good thing about being an established model that was renowned for his name. He definitely wasn’t a supermodel. Even if one didn’t consider the point that the title of a supermodel was reserved to women, Gabriel had far more extensive plans for his future after he finished modelling, rather than during his prime years of being a model. But while he wasn’t a supermodel, he was definitely one of the current top models. At least in Europe. And while he was more known in the magical world, Gabriel had enough of a reputation in muggle world too. Only about half of his photos could be safely shown to muggle public, but it would be foolish not to take advantage of being able to earn thanks to muggles. Especially so as the population of muggles in the world was far bigger than that of wizards. And – of course - the company that had been employing him since he was 7 made clothes for muggles as well. It was a win-win situation really. But besides the money, there were other perks to being a top model. He could arrive later to the fashion shows than less appreciate models and he had a far more private corner in the dressing room. Sure, he was being tugged and shoved and twisted in a number of directions in the same time as well, but he was allowed far more privacy than most others at the set.

Gabriel stepped to the side swiftly to avoid a wardrobe being wheeled past her. He wasn’t a fan of run-ways, so he rarely did them. But this was his company, the company’s biggest show during the year, and he was their face. There hadn’t been a chance to weasel out of it. On the good side, he’d work with a couple of friends and it was a show. He’d actually even have to dance at the end of the runway at one point near the end of the show with the two female faces of the company. So it was time to get this show on the road. Taking a deep breath, Gabriel stepped into the huge show-room. Even though it rather felt like diving into pure chaos. With models going crazy, assistants and agents in hysterics, clothes were flying, hair-dressers and make-up artists fighting over modelling time, and glitter and feathers seemingly everywhere. Blowing a strip of something blue off his shoulder, Gabriel weaved his way through the throng towards the corner that he knew had been put aside for him. He had come to check it yesterday, just so he’d know where to head to today. Smiling faintly at a younger model who whispered his name in breathless awe, Gabriel attempted to struggle on. “Gabriel! You’ll give me grey hair!” “You already pulled all your hair out,” Gabriel reminded almost fondly to the overly tall man who grasped his arm and hoisted him forward. Not that he liked being hoisted… dragged…carried… propelled forwards, but as Jacoby towered at least a head over everyone else they moved on fast at least. “Chico, you’ll be on a tighter time-table than usual. Marco broke his ankle last night so there’s a slight shortage of male models. Instead of the original eight, you’ll be doing ten outfits. Time will be scarce between second and third and then between fifth and sixth,” Valeria tapped her pen almost irritably against the edge of her map. Run-ways were nerve-wrecking for agents as well. Perhaps even more so than for models. Models got the physical tension and the emotional strain to look competent, secure and sexy and open, but not too friendly and cuddly. You had to be the edge. Agents had to deal with models nerves, the designers nerves, publicity, and with each other. When given that choice, Gabriel was glad to stick with modelling.

And because Valerie looked so distressed and because Gabriel liked her, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “And I’ll look gorgeous, sell the clothes, and have Anna wrench off my pants when we’re in a hurry. I’ve done this before and I promise to keep all the whining until tomorrow,” he assured his agent calmly, who sent him a stern look. But apparently she took the words as reassuringly as they had been meant and rushed off. The agency had a young model of their own in the show, doing her first run-way. Valerie would be needed to coach and comfort her. Turning to Anna and the make-up artist and hair-stylist with her as Jacoby left to his position at the entrance to the run-way, Gabriel suppressed a sigh as he spread his arms: “I’m all yours, ladies and gentleman.” “You’ll be the first model on stage as you know. The hounds are currently being fed. We have 15 minutes,” Anna rattled off. At least getting him ready would be quick. The wings had already been charmed onto his back to keep any muggles from seeing the process. A touch of some cold crème to keep his skin from appearing pasty and hollow in stage-light. And then a touch of powder to keep his face from shining. His hair wasn’t any harder. Combed and then ruffled up to be messy and windblown and falling on his eye-brows. To Gabriel’s eyes it would have looked the same after rolling down a hill and then slipping his hand through it a couple of times. Together hair and make-up took barely 3 minutes. The outfit took longer. All black – as Gabriel never wore anything but black – it consisted of jeans that were cut upon on the sides up to the base of his knees, the edges and pockets decorated with steel rivets. A silk shirt following the same style with rivets decorating the collar and being used instead of buttons. The rivets were even shaped to depict a picture of fangs over his heart as well as on the two pockets on his behind. The raised collar of the shirt added edge, the opened front down to the middle of his chest freedom and something casual, the long sleeves a sense of classic, and the back covered by two two-finger wide crossing leather straps a shock that made fashion.

“Oh, couldn’t you have found someone else for Marco’s fishnet-pants?” Gabriel groaned, catching sight of the knee-length tights that flared almost like ABBA pants on outer side of the leg to trail behind the wearer on the ground. “Outfit number six. Raise your arms,” Anna commanded without looking over as she started to fit the shackles around his waist. Seeing that Gabriel’s nook was closest to the run-way itself, the models already finished eyed with some interest. Gabriel lazily wondered just what was so interesting about his shackles. They always caught attention when he was putting them on. Sure, they were heavy and authentic, but crazier tricks had been done in modelling history. A wide belt around his waist and wrist thick chains hanging from it as if to weigh him down, handcuffs and chains trailing from his wrists, a cuff around his right foot. And truly, the chains were heavy. Altogether the weight of a good 12 unabridged copies of Hogwarts: A History hanging off him. “5 minutes,” came the call, just as Anna finished attaching the last cuff and scurried off to have the hounds fetched. His eyes slipping over the crowd of models already lined up to get on stage, Gabriel smiled as he stepped towards them to greet a couple of friends. Some of them he had worked for before – mainly those few wizards and witches here and those received greetings, even though neither customary hugs nor cheek-kisses were exchanged. They would most likely be murdered if any of them dared to destroy the make-up or outfit or mess up a strand of hair now anyway. “Sure you can hold us both later with those chains?” Ceri called teasingly and Gabriel laughed. “Well, I’m sure no male would ever blame me if I was feeling slightly faint at having someone as gorgeous as you and Mona throw themselves at me,” Gabriel teased back, earning mirthful laughter from Ceri and a brief nod of acknowledgement from Mona. Mona had been a big cosmetics deal in America at one point so she hadn’t got quite over the fact that Gabriel – a mere boy in her eyes – ousted her as the prominent face of the company. Besides, she was a muggle as opposed to Ceri and Gabriel. But all three were professionals, so the relationships were calm and efficient, if not overly warm when it concerned Mona. Gabriel and Ceri themselves were fast friends.

And even though he could hardly be expected to know all of the 132 models at work here today, each having at least 3 costumes to wear, Gabriel still had a fair share of greetings and wishes to go through. 37 of those to be exact, 4 of those to muggle models. And even a pair he didn’t know that well had him pause for a moment. “The Ellison family,” Gabriel drawled with a too insolent tone to be considered polite, but a deep enough nod to keep it from going rude, “Good to see the company can still see a pretty face, even if you only work with us during these annual shows.” Gabriel had never bothered to get to know Allison Ellison. The circles they moved in when it came to wizard society were different. And on the other hand, they had never posed together, even if Allison occasionally joined the run-way show here. She wasn’t a permanent model of the company, but both she and her daughter were probably here without payment due to getting Kaitlyn into the original in shoot with Gabriel. As that project had been the company’s again and Kaitlyn had been the only model outside the company to be allowed in. The pictures and posters had come out as the shoot took place two months ago and had been a success, earning Gabriel a fair deal of money that was notable even though he had been born a millionaire. “Kaitlyn,” Gabriel murmured while briefly inclining his head, far more lightly than when he was greeting Allison. Allison Ellison was a renowned model, her daughter had had a good picture and had something scheduled for being published as Gabriel faintly recalled, but she wasn’t a model of her own right just yet. “The Original Sin pictures turned out quite fantastic, as you know. Got to say you did a good job,” Gabriel commented. The picture had been good. The one finally chosen a composition of Kaitlyn on her back, one of her hands trailing Gabriel’s lower stomach; Gabriel leaning on his arm to the side of her as he leaned slightly over the girl, drawing the apple down her cheek while the two had their eyes locked. Sensual, edgy, provoking. A very good picture. One more greeting and Gabriel turned around, absently reaching a hand behind to smooth the feathers of his left wing as they got ruffled by the rivets. Reaching his arms wide Gabriel used the movement to fully spread the black wings attached to his shoulders, the span of the wings two and half times that of his own height.

“Did you breed dogs to match you?” a male-model snickered as the three snarling animals were brought over, the models flinching back from the bared fangs. Gabriel simply sent a long-suffering look at his friend: “No. I just spent 8 and half days sitting in different pounds in search of same breed dogs with fur the same colour as my hair.” Taking a long whip in his right hand, Gabriel took his position at the start of the row of models and reached out his left hand. The animal handler arranged the chain-leashes of the hounds into his left palm and then wrapped the chains three times around his wrist and up his arm. It would be bad publicity if the hounds would decide to tear off into the public and press with bared fangs and this hold would give Gabriel some leverage to keep them back. Even if he would initially be sent flying at such a case. But that was what the whip was for – he was under firm orders to use it, if any of the dogs misbehaved. “I still say we should have gotten wolves.” Gabriel groaned audibly as he peeked back over his shoulder. “It was already a tricky decision for the board whether to add the hounds or not. Besides, I’m not ‘Master Wolf’. I wouldn’t have been able to dominate wild wolves before cameras and flashlights.” Valerie snorted and took a disdainful step back as one of the dogs snapped at the other, earning itself a tap on the head with the back end of Gabriel’s whip for it. The dog snarled but mellowed out. “Tame those animals. I do not want you to be lacking a limb or two. And your father - or Master Wolf as you wished - would be able to dominate the whole room with one glare. It still makes me knees wobble when he looks at me straight on while in a good mood and I wouldn’t have made it this far in this business if I were easily cowed. I believe the arrangements fro the dogs to come with you after the show are alright?” Because the company hardly wanted three unfriendly hounds for eternity and there wasn’t anywhere to keep them in the agency. Add the factor that after seeing the heat of cameras, the dogs were hardly regular bound material anymore; Gabriel had offered to put them up. “Yes. They’ll be flown to Italy tomorrow morning. When it comes down to that, it doesn’t truly matter if you have 68 or 71 hounds,” Gabriel responded, earning himself another disdainful sniff from Valerie: “Yes, well, not all of us live in a medieval castle you know.”

“30 seconds!” Gabriel smirked at Valerie and tugging on the chains of the dogs walked forward. To where he could immediately step onto the run-way once the mark was given. When the count reached 10 seconds the audience was left in total darkness and Gabriel and the dogs jumped on the run-way, Gabriel stopping to post right in the centre of the hall-way with the dogs snarling before him. Right as he had settled in position, the lights flashed a burning red as the music started again, a light focusing solely on the stage. The closest people gasped at the sight of the three ferociously snarling dogs but even so Gabriel was the main centre of attention as cheers and clapping rose to the ceiling. A Fallen Angel accompanied with Hounds from Hell. He could already see the picture and head-lines and truly, he wondered if the start wasn’t perhaps a bit too strong. His eyes travelled over the audience as Gabriel kept the pose for five heart-beats before he started walking forward. The dogs pulling at their leashes, the end of the whip drawing patterns of it’s own on the run-way behind him, and he himself with a lazy swing to his hips and an arrogant smirk curling his lips. He didn’t like run-ways, but he did know how to rule the crowd.

[Kellyn Ellison H3]

“Your popularity is rising, sweetheart,” Allison commented fondly as she drew her fingers through her daughter’s hair. Unseen, her face deliberately turned away from the mirror she was sat in front of, Kellyn grimaced and fought the urge to bat her mother’s hands away from her. The times when she wasn’t Kaitlin were slowly decreasing; it made her edgy, almost like she was sensing something that she couldn’t quite put into words yet. “You’re going to rise to the top, be far more popular than I ever could be,” Allison promised, making Kellyn cringe and duck her head so that the blonde hair – fake hair, Kellyn thought viciously; fake, fake, fake – fell in front of her eyes – green eyes, not hazel; not normal – and shielded her. Ever since the death of Rachel, Kellyn’s stepmother and the woman who had replaced Allison in her husband’s affections, Allison had been acting strangely. No, that wasn’t quite right. Slowly, as things started to gain clarity in her mind, Kellyn frowned. Her mother’s odd behaviour had not started directly after Rachel’s death. Allison had actually been torn between sympathy – things had not ended well between her and Robert but there was still some sliver of affection for him – and a sadistic glee. Rachel Weretonne had known that Robert Ellison was married and had a child when she persuaded him to divorce Allison and marry her instead but she had still done it. Neither Kellyn nor Allison had ever really forgiven her for that.

Jamison, red hair mussed as if he had been dragging his hands through it due to unadulterated stress, appeared in front of the two females and jerked his head at Allison roughly. “Go, get ready. The company is threatening to kick you off their list of permanent models unless you make more of an effort. You know that, so why aren’t you in place and ready to please?” Jamison hissed darkly, his voice low but sharp. Obediently, and with not a little hurt hidden, Allison ducked her head and strode off. That was just one more change in her now inconstant life, Kellyn thought with a sigh. The wedding plans had been abandoned completely in favour of anger-filled arguments and shouting matches. It was just like living with her parents before the divorce. “This is the last time you’ll have to take this today,” the agent told her softly, his voice as friendly and paternal as it always had been when directed at her. Obedient as ever, Kellyn tipped her head back and drank the contents of the three vials that Jamison handed to her. It was dangerous – addictions and overdoses didn’t just occur with muggles – and she had already reached her limit of potions today so she would be ill tomorrow but it was worth it. It had to be. The faint strands of brown that had appeared in her hair as the potion wore off disappeared, covered with the shining blonde that continually reminded her of Ashlyn, her cousin. The green eyes became brighter, her skin paler. And Kellyn smiled at the mirror emptily, the burning in her throat a now familiar source of discomfort that had ceased to bother her.

Silently, Jamison left, slipping the three empty vials in his pocket as he went. Kellyn, left to herself, returned to her thoughts. No, the strangeness of her mother had begun a short while after Rachel’s death. It had started when they had been told about where the kids were staying, Kellyn remembered triumphantly. It had surprised her slightly to find that the two Slytherin Ellison’s that she had always denied as being related to her were actually her siblings but it hadn’t really bothered Kellyn. She had always known about her father and Rachel; two more half-siblings, even if they were the same age as her, hardly came as a surprise. A bigger surprise had been discovering who was looking after the three of them – two of them illegitimate, as Allison always reminded her daughter fiercely, and one of them the only boy so there would never be any worries about her father’s inheritance being passed down to the children that should not even exist. Ashlyn Swallow, taking in three younger children? And with her herself being underage? That had warranted further investigation, which her mother had immediately done. The results of that investigation had never been shared with Kellyn, but she had found out a different way although she couldn’t understand why it had been the reason for her mother’s strange behaviour. So Ashlyn was befriended by the Graas’, and rumoured to be romantically involved with one of them – apparently Damon Graas, which really did make the most sense, although Ashlyn and any Graas didn’t really make any sense to Kellyn at all. Well, it wasn’t Rister, who had starred in more than one rumour with a Hufflepuff that Kellyn distantly knew – which also didn’t really make sense to her either. Merry and Rister? They wouldn’t exactly be an orthodox couple, so Kellyn tended to doubt that particular rumour. Gabriel and Ashlyn or Jared and Ashlyn were just laughable ideas. Gabriel would most certainly be murdered and dumped in the lake after a few hours. Therefore, Damon and Ashlyn it had to be. Perhaps it was true, Kellyn admitted flippantly, but she still couldn’t imagine her cousin curled up with Damon Graas.

Allison returned to her daughter’s side, smiling slightly and with a gentle expression that told Kellyn that there would be fewer arguments between her mother and Jamison, only moments before Gabriel appeared to greet them. Almost as though he had a knack for sensing when someone he didn’t like was near the girl who was practically his sister, Kaden slid into place behind Kellyn and regarded Gabriel warily. “It was a good photo shoot,” Kellyn commented lightly, her smile sweet even as she discreetly shifted her foot just enough to hover the thin heel of her shoe above Kaden’s foot warningly. The man was a model himself, although he tended to photograph other models rather than be in photo shoots himself lately, but the photo of Kaitlin and Gabriel that had been chosen had irritated him despite his own experiences of modelling. “I was nervous but I think I did okay,” Kellyn lied smoothly, her expression shy. She hadn’t been nervous at all – it was all but impossible to be nervous when she had grown up around models and photo shoots – but it was normal for new models to be nervous so she had had to pretend to nerves that she hadn’t felt. It had been annoying, but that was fine. It was over now and she could relax into the ease that she always felt on the set of a shoot. “I don’t like you like this,” Kaden dipped his head to whisper in her ear as Gabriel turned away. “You have to have too many potions to look like this and you don’t act like Kellyn at all. You lie and you act and you’re not yourself. It’s not right.” Kellyn turned around slowly, her eyebrow already raised as she gazed at him. “That’s because I’m Kaitlin Ellison,” she reminded him gently. “I’m not Allison’s sweet and playful daughter, I’m Jamison’s new model. Now change the subject, because now is not the time for this conversation,” she hissed pleasantly, her smile faltering when Kaden sent her a dark look and walked away silently.

“Six outfit changes,” Tessa popped up and took Kellyn’s arm, dragging her back over to the hair-stylist and make-up artists. “Not very quick changes – Jamison called in a lot of favours for you this time, you know, darling, so you had better appreciate it – but still quicker than you’re used to so make sure to pay attention. We’re all well aware that it’s your first runway shoot and there are arrangements for replacements if you’re not quick enough so I suggest that you don’t let Jamison down by acting like an idiot and not pulling this off perfectly. You’re with Ez, Karalynn and Serenity for some of the time,” Tessa rattled off, her eyes flicking from the clipboard in her hand to Kellyn as she spoke. “The fourth outfit change has you with Jasper but for the other three you’re by yourself. Sure you can handle it?” Tessa’s tone was openly challenging but Kellyn just smiled lazily, declining to answer. Tessa wasn’t just Jamison’s assistant; she was his cousin and Kellyn’s friend. The woman would make sure that everything ran smoothly simply because it was her job. Ella, the hair-stylist, confirmed that everything was finished for now with a nod and Tessa grinned at her appreciatively. “Good,” the older woman drawled slowly before shoving Kellyn towards the group of three women that she had named earlier. “Now go and play nice with your newest friends. I have work to do.”