Be a Model! (Xing and Ashlynn)

A few days ago Xing had been resting in her room on the Nox Animus's air ship reading a book, and it was during that period of time she met a cyborg member of the guild known as Ashlynn. To make a long story short the two of them had sparked up both a conversation, friendship and mages team. The main point of forming a mages team was so the members, most often friends with each other, could go out and perform missions, so it was no surprise Xing was currently waiting nearby the east forest of Magnolia. It should be obvious at this point but Xing was waiting for her partner Ashlynn to arrive, and no if you where wondering Xing had left Fera behind at the airship, for a good reason. The mission Ashlynn and Xing would be performing was a modelling job for Sorcerer's Magazine and personally Xing didn't feel that a baby animal would be a good idea to bring along, hence why Fera had been left home; luckily the baby Nargacuga had understood that and wasn't upset. Fortunately Xing had arranged to meet up with Ashlynn ten minutes before they had to arrive for the modelling shoot, but that didn't stop Xing from being concerned Ashlynn might be late.

Ashlynn walked to the forest near Magnolia. Xing had been really excited to tell her that she found a job for them to preform and told her the time and place to meet her. However in her excitement, Xing didn't exactly mention what the job was so Ashlynn prepared for everything. She carried a small backpack on her back. In side the backpack there was some camping gear, some snacks and the like. A repair kit if Ashlynn got injured in battle and other first aid stuff. As well as some personal items Ash kept on her if she ended up camping out for a couple days. Ash saw Xing in the distance and ran up to her.

"Hey!" said Ashlynn happily. The wind picked up slightly as she caught up to Xing. Ashlynn took a moment to take in how nice the day was. It was a pretty warm day but the cool breeze kept it manageable. If Ashlynn could saty in the water for any decent amount of time she would probably want to swim. But sadly she couldn't, Although she made a mental not to maybe attempt to waterproof herself.

"So what is this job you so eagerly picked out for us?"

And so Xing waited and waited and waited for her cyborg friend, hoping she hadn't gotten in any danger on the way here, Fiore as great as it was, did indeed have some very dangerous areas to it as well as rather a lot of deadly creatures, but hopefully Ashlynn wasn't in any danger. Xing's concerns where soon laid to rest as running over came the cyborg female, and this brought a warm soft smile to the half wyvern's face. "It is good to see you Ashlynn, I was worried that something had happened to you" Obviously Ashlynn asked about what job Xing had picked out for the two of them, and with good reason as in her haste, Xing failed to inform her friend about what the mission was, yet that could be easily fixed. "Oh well, it is a modelling job for the Sorcerer's Magazine" Call Xing selfish if you will, but she had picked this mission out due to the fact she had no problems with exposing her body, after all the half wyvern was very confident. The question at the moment however, was if Ashlynn felt the same way, this job was a photo shoot to model swimwear in after all. "We will be modelling swimwear and the like, is that alright with you?" Xing wished she had brought this up sooner with her cyborg friend.

"Wait what..." said Ashlynn, the color draining from her face. Modeling? Why did Xing wanted to do that?

"Yeah... umm... it's no problem." said Ashlynn, doing a really bad job at lying. IT wouldn't effect her much hopefully, might hurt her credibility as an assassin down the road. Ashlynn would just have to make sure her photos where never actually used. Cause who would want to hire an assassin who dressed bikinis for extra money?

"Lets just get this over with." said Ashlynn walking into the forest.

"You told them a fake guild right? It didn't actually tell them what guild we are a part of?" said Ashlynn, trying her best to keep her composure. Ashlynn hoped that it was at least a modest modeling job. But due to the content of the shoot that Xing told her she doubted it. As long as they weren't wearing mirco bikinis and skimpy summer wear it should be find. But little di Ashlynn know that this thought process only jinx her on what was able to happen.

Judging by how the colour drained from her partner's face, Xing assumed that the idea of having to go do modelling wasn't really that appealing to Ashlynn, of course the cyborg had said it was fine. Xing wasn't really good at telling when people where lying, so she had little way to know Ashlynn wasn't fully okay with this modeling thing, of course you couldn't blame Xing for not knowing; she had asked her friend if she was alright with it, and was prepared for the answer to be no. At this point Xing had an idea that Ashlynn really didn't want to go through with this mission, but if the cyborg wasn't going to openly say that, then Xing wouldn't give any quarter. The half wyvern was well aware of how insecure her friend seemed, but Xing didn't really get why, she wasn't so good at understanding those who didn't have her confidence. "Is...something the matter Ashlynn?" Despite asking her friend that question, the half wyvern continued to slither on-wards through the forest. "No, I didn't" Of course it mattered little, the two mages guild marks would soon be revealed when they had to model for the clothes.

It was when the two mages arrived at the shoot location, that they would be surprised as to discover a change in the plans. One of the staff for the shoot, a camera operator by the looks of him, walked over quickly to Ashlynn and Xing, then he began to talk. "Hi yes, there has been a change of plans. The boss wants you modeling winter clothing, is tat okay with you?" It was probably a convenient change of plans, as it was pretty obvious Ashlynn didn't take the idea of modeling swim wear well and one that personal Xing was okay with. The half wyvern didn't care what she modeled, she just wanted to model clothes, and it was probably a good thing the two mages wore winter clothes, it would hide their guild marks. While Xing had no fear of being a member of Nox Animus, she was not stupid enough to yell it in the streets, doing that would grant her a one way ticket to prison, and the half wyvern couldn't allow that to happen again. "Speaking for my self, I am fine with that" Xing wasn't sure how Ashlynn would take this change of plans.

"It's nothing Xing, although I wish you would of at least trying giving them another guild name. I am surprised they accepted people from a dark guild anyway." said Ash as they pair traveled into the forest. Ashlynn didn't particularly want to tell Xing why the photo shoot bothered her. Not because she was insecure with her body, no she was perfectly fine with it and had gotten over the hurdle long ago. But rather because of her profession, which Xing didn't yet know. And being a person in power, leaning that her only friend was an assassin could make things sour between the two, even though Xing wasn't one of her contracts and she would never accept a contract against her.

"By the way, you are royalty, how will your family respond to seeing you dressed up like a pin up model." asked Ashlynn curiously. It's not like Xing really wore clothes anyway. After a few moments the two finally arrived to the shoot and Ashlynn heard the first bit of good news all day. She let out a sigh of relief.

"No, that is perfectly fine, thank you." said Ashlynn, sounding a bit happier now. She was still going to get crap from her clients from this job but at least this would be better. Although sortly after that was said someone ran up and whispered someone in the photographers ear.

"Although we just encounter a probably, not one that will affect the shoot much but..." said the Photographer, looking down onto a piece of paper.

"Ah yes, we weren't quite expecting Xing's size when bring the portable changing rooms. So you two will have to change in the same room since we had to put them together? Sorry. Anyway off you two go, get changed and be out in 15 minutes for makeup." said the photographer, pushing the pair in the direction of the changing booth. Once inside Ashlynn picked out an outfit.

"For winter clothes they all looked very uhh... form fitting." said Ashlynn surprised. Honestly even with the two changing rooms together with Xing inside of it, Ashlynn didn't have much room. She took a deep breath in, not used to changing in front of others.

"You think they would of given us a curtain or something huh?" said Ashlynn lightly, taking her shoes off before pulling her pants down to her panties. A lot of the outfits where dress so it wasn't like she could just throw pants on.

"Just a heads up... sorry." said Ashlynn before pulling her shirt up and flashing Xing. As soon as she could she covered her chest with one of her arms while grabbing one of the dresses.

"I wasn't expecting to change and I was in a hurry and thought a few days at max without a bra wouldn't kill me. Well.. on the plus side I won't go days without one now, I can just wear one when we get back." sigh Ashlynn as she dropped her arm down, flashing Xing again. She pulled the dress up. The dress itself was was form fitting, even before Ashlynn zipped it up, which she was having trouble with. The dress only went to about an inch and a half under her butt, something Ashlynn wasn't to found about, but it was better then wearing a skimpy bikini. Giving up on the zipper for a bit she pulled the matching pair of gloves that was set aside with the dress. Like the dress, they where a dark smokey blue color and went all the way up to the middle of her upper arm. Ashlynn put on the heels that came with it as well, which gave her about 2 inches of extra height. Carefully walking close to Xing, not like she had more then a few inches to go before they ran into each other, she turned around.

"Hey Xing, I can't get the zipper up, can you give me a hand?" asked Ashlynn. The zipper was currently at the small of her back.

"This thing feels tight with out being zippered up, this will be fun... And are you sure you'll be ok with wearing winter clothes? It's still pretty warm out."

Xing really didn't get what the problem with mentioning they were from a dark guild was, sure dark guilds didn't conform to the same magic council oversight as light guilds did, and yes they did tend to accept more criminal members, but did that really justify saying every member of a dark mage was evil? No, Xing didn't think that was the case, after all she was in a dark guild but she wasn't a villain. Ashlynn was worried what Xing's family might think about her posing in a magazine, but the half wyvern wasn't and her family probably wouldn't be either, being of royal descent didn't exactly mean you couldn't have some fun every now and then/ Plus, Xing's parents and really her entire family where kind of chill about many things, and this was one of them. "Oh do not worry Ashlynn, my family won't mind, they are pretty chill about these things" Smiling and rather excited to give this modelling thing a try, Xing slithered towards the changing rooms and entered.

Inside the changing rooms there was a varied form of winter clothing, ranging from jackets and scarves, all the way to hats and boots, which sadly Xing wouldn't be able to wear. Xing slithered up and down the length of the changing room a few times before she finally decided upon an item. The clothing the half wyvern picked out was a smart black coloured double breasted woman's jacket, complimented by a fur collar. "Ohhh, this looks nice..." Smiling to herself, Xing slipped into the jacket, grabbed the scarf and gloves that matched, then put those on after. While this had been occurring, Ashlynn had also changed into her clothes, but the half wyvern hadn't see due to the fact she had been changing herself. "I like this jacket, it's comftorble, not a fan of the scarf though" As for the gloves Xing realised they wouldn't fit around her claws, so she hadn't bothered to put them on.

While this had been going on Ashlynn had attempted to fully dress herself, yet the zipper of her dress she had struggled with, hence why she requested Xing to assist her. "Sure" A more witty person might have made some sort of joke about how an upgrade to assist with doing up zippers might be a good idea for an improvement, but jokes weren't the half wyverns forte, so she remained silent. Xing slithered around and behind her friend, grasped the zipper with her claws and pulled it all the way to the top. "That isn't too tight right?" As she was the only one able to adjust the zippers tightness, Xing asked her friend if said zipper was too tight, which it hopefully wouldn't be. Going back to the gloves that matched the jacket she was wearing, Xing kind of wished she could actually wear gloves, but sadly the only gloves the half wyvern could wear, would be ones specially designed for her.

"Then you are from the most chill royal family I have ever meet." joked Ashlynn, not realizing at the time that Xing may wonder how she had experience with royal families to compare Xing's to others. She couldn't help but look at Xing and blush slightly, she looked really nice in the jacket surprisingly for someone who never really wore much. But at least she didn't bring up Ashlynn flashing her, or maybe Ashlynn got lucky and Xing didn't see,

"Well you don't have to wear the scarf, We don't want you to over heat, it's not exactly cold outside." said Ashlynn. She shifted uncomfortably as Xing pulled the zipper up the rest of her way. It wasn't exactly tight but it clung to her body like a second skin.

"No it's fine, the zipper needs to be up all the way for the shoot anyway. It's not exactly tight persay, It feels more like a second skin then anything. I'm just not used to it, that's all. Although I wonder what it's made off, It's not exactly uncomfortable." Ashlynn would follow Xing out of the trailer once she was done. Although Ashlynn couldn't help but look down at her chest as they walked out. Her lack of clothes underneath was rather clear in this dress.

"Hey Xing... wait a moment." said Ashlynn, hurrying back into the trailer. After a few moments she walked out with a black see-through veil-like scarf. She positioned it so that either of the sides laid on her chest.

"The backlash I am going to get from this is going to be bad enough, at least this will hide uh... my bits a bit. And this is one of the reasons i don't like fashion. They put appearance above practicality usually... like this dress. Now lets go get the make up on." said Ashlynn waking over to the make up booth.

She sat in one of the chairs and within moments the lights by them mirrors where lit up brightly and she was approached by the make up Artist.

"Alright, shall we get started?" said the make up artist, not giving Ashlynn time to really respond before she started to cover her face in make up.

"So darlings are you guys looking forward to the shoot?"

"Ehh... not really."

"Ah you got nothing to worry about darling. That's the easy part, the interview part is the annoying part."

"Wait what?"

"Oh you didn't know? We interview the models on occasion. Today being one of those occasions. We just go over what you do, magic you use, ya know, basic stuff like that." Ashlynn shot Xing a slight worry and annoyed glance.

Honestly Xing had little idea how chill her family actually was, she didn't exactly know any other royal families to compare them too, of course that didn't really matter much. If Ashlynn believed Xing's parents and her family where pretty chill, than that is what the cyborg believed, regardless of the lack of comparisons. Oh Ashlynn was concerned about Xing getting too hot due to the scarf? Well that was nice and a good example of how to be a caring friend, but it was unnecessary at the end of the day. Yes Xing was warm bloodied, unlike most wyverns which was thanks to her mammal half, but she wasn't going to melt from the heat; plus if anything was going to make Xing too hot it would be the jacket. Anyway, as the half wyvern was dressed and had assisted Ashlynn with her zipper, Xing would wait for her cyborg friend to actually be finished. Xing slithered outside, and judging from the fact her cyborg half machine friend followed her out, it was apparent that Ashlynn was indeed ready.

Xing had little idea what the modeling job would entail after this point, sure she had the obvious assumption that it would involve posing and having pictures taken of her, but for all Xing knew there may be a couple of surprises in store for her. Despite Xing's plan to actually get into the nitty gritty parts of this, Ashlynn had other ideas as she returned inside the trailer. It sounded like Ashlynn had been asking Xing to wait for her, and while that was utterly true, it didn't really matter if Xing agreed to wait or not, as her partner had already returned inside the trailer. Xing leaned against the trailer and waited for Ashlynn to return, which she did wearing a scarf for some reason or another. "So.......guess you saw a scarf you liked?" Xing smiled followed after her friend, understanding why Ashlynn wasn't much for fashion. "Some people lead easy soft lives and can afford to forsake practicality" When Xing said this it was with disgust in her voice, she hated people who lived soft lives yet refused to toughen up when the going got tough.  

Xing entered the make up artists part of the modeling shoot and stared at the chairs with a grimace on her face, the problem with having a tail instead of legs was that most chairs where impossible for you to sit on, and this was the problem facing Xing. "This is going to be a problem...." Xing then went and spent the next five minutes trying to sit on the chair, but she eventually decided to just stick her tail through the hole in the back, between the bottom and back of the chair. It wasn't the most comfortable way for Xing to sit on a chair, but the make up artist probably wasn't going to wait for the half wyvern, so Xing swallowed her discomfort. Luckily the make up artist had started on Ashlynn first, so that had given time for Xing to sit down but it seemed she would need to wait until the make up was aimed towards her. Speaking of make up, the artists was currently applying lipstick and eyeliner to Ashlynn's face, having asked her questions.

Ah yes, the make up artist's questions, now those could in fact be a problem. The question about looking forward towards the photo shoot was fair enough, so Xing's answer towards that would be the first thing to do. How did the half wyvern feel about the photo shoot? Well she felt neutral mainly, the only reason she had picked this job was because she needed some money. One thing that did in fact worry Xing was how there would be an interview today, of course if the interviewer didn't try to wring out the true guild Xing and Ashlynn where members of, then the pair should be fine right? "Who should go first then Ashlynn?" Turning her attention towards Ashlynn, Xing asked her friend which of them would go first but she had no real preference, the half wyvern was just as happy going first as she was going last. At this point the make up artist had finished decorating Ashlynn's face, and turned her attention to Xing, asking the half wyvern to remain still.

Ashlynn couldn't help but giggle at Xing trying to get in the chair. Ashlynn thought it would be easier just to wrap around the chair but Xing found a way to fix the problem. After the make up they pair waked to the shoot.

"I can go first. I would imagine since they hired both of us that there will be a shoot with both of us in it. The interview will probably be the two of us well." said Ashlynn after thinking a bit. The photographer approached them and pretty much explained everything Ashlynn just guessed in terms of the shoot.

"Even though you two are a team you each are going to have a couple images by yourselves before we take photos of both of you, now if you would come over here please." said the photographer pulling Ashlynn in front of a set that looked a bit more wintery. They had her doing some posing, mostly fashion shots. Although the photographer seemed obsessed in trying to get Ashlynn to do more flirtatious poses. She complied to a point but the moment they took the scarf away that was helping to cover her up, her arms covered her chest and refused to take more unless they gave it back. After her turn was done she stepped back and let Xing take the stage, unable to take her gaze off of Xing and how well she looked.

Other people having Xing's issues sitting down might have been offended by the fact Ashlynn had giggled at their efforts to sit down, but then again other people where not Xing and the half wyvern didn't really care. Xing's tail made using chairs designed for humans rather difficult, that was the fact of the matter and to get angry at how humarous that so happened to be, meant being angry at what you where. Xing saw little reason to follow that chain of logic, hence why Ashlynn giggling at her efforts to sit down didn't bother her. "That is fine by me Ashlynn" The make up artist hadn't exactly finished with Xing yet, so it made more sense for the cyborg to go first. Waving good bye to the cyborg, Xing remained seated and continued to allow the make up artist to perform her art, bringing out the pretty golden colour in Xing's eyes via the addition of eye liner.

By the time Ashlynn had finished having her photos taken, Xing was already ready to go, the make up having been applied. Normally the half wyvern was not one for make up, but for the sake of this job she had lipstick, eyeliner, eye shadow and fake eyelashes attached, all for the sake of making her more attractive. Slithering out to the central stage for the photoshoot, Xing moved through the motions. For the photographer, Xing's scales, tail and the golden colour of her eyes and the gem mounted in her chest where all very wonderful things. They added a certain imhuman quality to the photoshoot, but not in a bad way, it was actually taken advantage of very well by the photographer. After a goods ten minutes of moving through posses and changing accesories, Xing was finished with the photoshoot and slithered back towards her friend. For the time being it seemed like their was little for the pair to do, but this was when a portly man with a dark coloured beard approched them. "Excuse me, but could you two please follow me for an interview?" The man lead the two females to a small office room, and asked them to sit down, which of course Xing did as she had followed the man.

Ashlynn followed behind Xing and the interviewer. Her face a bit red from watching Xing. She knew Xing wasn't interested in her but sheesh why did she have to look so adorable, especially when all dolled up. The pair made there way into an office like area and Ashlynn sat down next to Xing.

"So this is how the interview will work. I will ask a question and then starting with Ashlynn I get your replies. It's quite a simple process. But don't take it as a stuck up environment, relax, have fun and if there is anything you want just let me know. Now lets start so we can get back to the rest of the shoot. So you two are obviously magi for the guild Night Guard, or so it says on the application you sent in. I personally have never heard of this guild, so I imagine it's a newer guild. What did you do before joining the guild?" said the reporter. A secretary brought the three of them bottles of water. Ashlynn took one of the bottles and drank from it.

"Well I make people... happy." said Ashlynn, giving a slightly deform view on what her assassinations where.

"For the longest time I was disabled, unable to walk on my own. After I was finally able to move on my own... well I can just remember the feeling. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. So I guess that what inspired me to help others. It doesn't matter who it is. I have helped those who were less fortunate to even people of royal descent." said Ashlynn. Leaving out that those who can't pay her end up paying up one way or the other. Sometimes through their lives. Ashlynn wondered if Xing would inquire what she actually did.

"Wow! That's amazing, I'm surprised I have never heard of you before!" said the reporter shocked.

"I like to keep on the down low, but those who know me always recommend my services." replied Ashlynn with a smile. The interviewer turned his attention to Xing to get her story.

As the man asked his questions and explained the way this interview would go, Xing simply remained silent and nodded, seeing little reason for her to talk. The first question posed by this portly man was about the guild Xing and Ashlynn where from, the fake one, and it was a question that the half wyvern had been prepared for. The man asking these questions had brought up how he didn't know of the guild Xing pretend to belong too, but that was something that could be easily handled. As it was Ashlynn who was going to answer first, Xing waited paitently for the cyborg to finish her question, then it came to Xing's term to answer.

"Well, before I joined Night Guard I did little worthy of mention, traveling mostly, yet...well. I joined Night's Guard for money mainly" Personally Xing wasn't willing to tell the truth, her past was long and bloody, which was not something she felt comftorable reminding herself of. The man didn't really seem to be that happy with this answer, not because he doubted how true it was, but because he felt Xing's backstory was..boring. "Are you sure that's all you did? There has to be something more interesting?" Pushing the point home, the man tried to get a better answer out of Xing.

The half wyvern stood her ground, being as stubborn as the mountaions where huge. While it was true there was something more interesting in Xing's past beyond traveling, like I stated before she was not willing to discuss that, something Xing would make known. "Regardless if your claim that I have a more interesting past is true or not, I will not be answering any further" The portly man was clearly annoyed at this, he was used to the girls he hired doing as he told them, so it was a surprise for someone to defy him. "I'll dock your payment if you don't tell me" Xing's face turned into a glare, where humans truly so pathetic to use threats when they couldn't get what they wanted? Perhaps Ashlynn would step in at this moment? Not that Xing couldn't handle herself.

"Look, when I found my partner here it wasn't a good time in her life. You can't blame her for not wanting to share." said Ashlynn.

"But it was part of the agreement you you two took the job. You are under contract to tell me." said the interviewer adamantly. It was at this time Ashlynn rose from her seat and got up close and personal to the interviewer. She pressed her body against his, causing him to blush. She leaned into tell him something. She would say it quitely so Xing couldn't hear.

"Look, you want to know how I make people happy? I kill other people that make them unhappy. And currently you are making my friend here quite unhappy. I can kill you and dispose of the body before you could make a peep alright? So lets skip the questions and get on with this embarrassing shoot." whispered Ashlynn with a smile on her face. She began to back away but then remembered something and got back in close.

"Oh and if I get any hint that you told anyone what I just said, you will die. If you write anything hinting about my profession, you will die. If you even look at me or my friend funny, you will die. Do I make myself clear?" asked Ashlynn. The interviewer nodded slowly, trying to hide a fear on his face.

"Good, now make us look good, alright?" whispered Ashlynn returning to her seat.

"It's uh... never mind I have enough to work with." Stammered the Interviewer.

"You two can go back and finish the shoot. Don't worry, I can take care of everything else." He rambled, collecting his things and quickly exiting the tent.

"Well that went well." said Ashlynn, acting like nothing was out of the usual. She stood up and waited for Xing to get up. She would follow behind her when she did. At least Xing didn't learn of her profession yet. Unless her hearing was super human.

Xing glared intensely at the male demanding she speak of her past, while it was true that Xing had kind of agreed to speak up about her past, the half wyvern wasn't actually made aware of that. When Xing had signed herself and Ashlynn up for the modeling job there was no mention of this interview, so what the male was trying to do happened to be illegal. Xing was about to speak up and make her objection known to this question, yet Ashlynn had stepped in at that moment and taken over. The cyborg admitted what she did for a living, which wouldn't bother Xing had she heard it, however it was more than enough to scare away the man. As Xing and Ashlynn walked out of the interview room, the half wyvern wrapped her tail around one of the chairs and crushed it beneath her muscles. It  might have been the wrong thing to do for Xing to crush that chair, but she wished to show that Ashlynn was not the only dangerous one here.

Anyway, now that the pair where back outside in the photo shoot area, they would see that the entire area had been changed. Where before there was just a large white box, now it had been turned into a winter wonderland setting, complete with snowmen and other winter related things. One of the photographers walked over to Xing and Ashlynn, coughed then began to speak up. "Excuse me, could you coil around that snowman over there miss Xing? As for you miss Ashlynn, would you be so kind as to sit on that table and dangle your legs over the edge?" Smiling the photographer walked back over to his camera and got ready to take the photos. Xing had a puzzled expression on her face, worried that the snowman she had been asked to coil around would break. The half wyvern slithered over towards the snowman and coil around it, resting her arms on its head; luckily the snowman was made out of a tougher substance than actual snow, which was good as Xing was quite strong.