Baal
As much as I loved photography, I didn’t think I’d had this much fun on a photo shoot in a long time, even if the subjects weren’t my chosen ones. But that probably had nothing to do with the gods posing for my camera and everything to do with the company I had.
I glanced over to where Chelsea was setting up for our next subject, smiling at the ease with which she was going through the motions. It was a good reminder that I hadn’t just asked her to help me on the shoot because I wanted to spend more time with her, but also because she was the right person for the job, and I was certain her photos were going to prove that.
“Okay, I think I’m all set,” she said. “Please tell me this is the last one for the day?”
I chuckled. “It is. After that, I figured we could go and look through all of the photos from the day if you’re up to it. Though if you’re not, that’s also okay.”
“You mean I get to see them straight away?”
“If you want.”
Her eyes lit up. “Then I want to do that.”
“All right. I’d normally do it at my house...”
“That sounds good.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to think that I’m just trying to get you there.”
She shrugged. “I trust you.”
My chest swelled at her response and I had to admit that it was a good feeling to know that she thought of me that way. And I planned to keep it like that. I wanted her to trust me, and I hoped that I could continue proving it to her.
“So who have we got next?” she asked.
“Denwen, do you know him?”
She shook her head.
“He’s a good guy and a dragon god, or demon, depending on who you ask.”
“As in he can shift into a dragon?” Her eyes widened.
“Yes, though I believe he’s bringing his Komodo dragon with him for the shoot.”
“Can I admit to being a little disappointed?” she asked.
“You can. We might be able to persuade him to get his wings out.”
“I really hope so, that would be cool. I liked the way Raphael’s wings caught the light, I think they’re going to look great on some of the final photographs,” she said.
“I do too. Ah, here he is.” I gestured towards the entrance to the clearing where the dark-haired man strode into view, a Komodo dragon trotting along beside him with surprising speed.
“He hasn’t come naked,” Chelsea said.
“Neither did Raphael or Orion,” I pointed out. “It was only Kua who decided that was the way to go.”
“Thankfully.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So taking photos of them naked is fine, but them walking around naked isn’t?”
“That’s not what I meant,” she said. “It’s just that when I’m shooting photos, I know what I’m supposed to be looking at. It’s all about light and shadow. Catching the right angles, that kind of thing. But when they’re just hanging out naked, I have no idea where to look.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Especially as I one day hoped that I would be the one naked in front of her. Though hopefully, she’d know where to look when that happened.
“I’m just going to go grab a drink,” she said. “Do you want one?”
“I wouldn’t mind a bottle of water,” I responded.
She smiled and headed in the direction of the refreshments station while I went to meet Denwen.
“Baal, it’s been too long,” the dragon god said, leaning in and patting me on the back.
“It has been, hasn’t it?”
“How have you been?”
“Not bad, keeping busy.”
“So I’ve heard,” he responded.
“I was surprised to see your name on Horus’ list, you don’t normally do things like this.”
“You’re right, but Nora here deserves to have her photo taken.” He gestured down to the Komodo dragon.
“That’s fair enough. I do have a request for you to get your wings out during the shoot, if that’s all right?” I asked.
“From Horus?”
“Oh, not from Chelsea, my assistant.” I looked over in her direction, meeting her gaze and smiling.
“She’s pretty. And you think wings will impress her?”
I balled my hands into fists at the suggestion, but bit my tongue to stop myself from saying anything that would insult my friend.
“Do you know what her story is?” Denwen asked, an intrigued expression on his face. “Is she single?”
“I think so,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Ah, perhaps I should spread my wings after all, then ask her out for dinner.”
Chelsea reached us and looked at me with a frown on her face. “You okay, Baal?” She reached out to touch my arm affectionately.
A soft chuckle came from Denwen. “Or not.” He clapped me on the back. “Are you going to introduce me?”
“Chelsea, this is Denwen and Nora, his Komodo dragon,” I said.
“Hi.” Chelsea held out her hand for Denwen to shake. “If you want to change in privacy, there’s a screen just over there.” She gestured to it.
“No need, I can just strip off here, it’s not like you won’t see everything anyway.”
Chelsea averted her eyes and I tried my best not to laugh even as my old friend pulled off his clothing.
“Where do you want me?” he asked.
“I thought with the light, it might be nice to photograph you on the rock overhanging the lake with your wings out,” Chelsea said. “Especially from behind, it would be a powerful silhouette.”
“Well I’m good with anything that makes me look powerful,” Denwen responded. “Come on, Nora, I know they’ll want you in photos once I put my wings away.” He headed over to the rock.
“It didn’t take him much convincing,” Chelsea said as soon as he was out of earshot.
“He thinks it will impress you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And what exactly gave him that impression?” she asked.
“It wasn’t anything I said,” I promised.
“Mmhmm. Come on, let’s get the photograph before the light fades too much.”
I looked over in the direction of the dragon god, seeing what she meant about the light. The way it was falling across the lake could make this photo even more striking than it would be on its own.
Denwen took his position on the rock with his back to us.
“Are you ready?” I asked Chelsea, gesturing to her camera.
She nodded and raised it just as Denwen’s wings erupted from his body. She let out a small gasp, seemingly not as prepared for what she was witnessing as she thought she was. Which was understandable considering she hadn’t seen it before.
I raised my camera and started taking photos, knowing that Chelsea needed a moment before she was ready to continue.
“All right, Denwen, can you turn to face us and curl your wings around you?” I asked.
He did as instructed without protest.
Chelsea cleared her throat. “Can you bring your right arm higher?”
The moment he did, I understood why she’d asked, it increased the power of his pose and made it all that more appealing.
He followed instructions a lot easier than I expected him to, though perhaps that was unfair to Denwen. He’d always been good at playing by other people’s rules.
“Are we sure that a Komodo dragon is the right choice of animal for this?” Chelsea asked. “Wouldn’t kittens or puppies sell better?”
“Maybe, but Horus wanted something more personal that he could really sell as the naked gods.”
“Even if no one knows it’s the real deities in the photos?” she checked.
“Mmmhmm. It’s not the first time we’ve done something like this. They’re surprisingly popular.”
“Aren’t you worried about people recognising you when you pop up in all of these different photos?”
“Not really. Haven’t you seen all of those listicles of doppelgangers throughout time? Humans will believe that most things are a coincidence. How do you think vampires have gotten away with it for so long?”
“I can’t say I’ve ever given it much thought,” Chelsea admitted. “It’s not something that really affects me.”
“Mmm, true. Well that’s basically it. We don’t worry about it because the number of humans who will see our photos in both places is fairly small to begin with, and even if it wasn’t, the leap from these two people look alike to these two people are the same person and must be an immortal god is a little far.”
“I have to admit that does make sense.” She raised her camera and snapped a few more photos. “I think we’ve got all of the shots we need of Denwen.”
“Oh? I thought I was the boss here.”
Her cheeks flushed red. “I’m sorry, I just...”
“I know what you meant,” I assured her. “And you’re right, I think. Are you hungry?”
“Starving, actually.”
“Then we should pack up and get some food on the way back to mine. We can eat and go through the photos, unless you’d rather go home.”
“Oh no, I want to see what we’ve worked so hard on,” she countered. “I didn’t swap several shifts with Anise to miss out on any part of this job.”
“I didn’t realise you had to swap shifts.”
She nodded. “It was either that or call in sick, and I decided that this was the better option.”
“How did you even convince her of that?”
“I told her I was helping you and she couldn’t take them fast enough,” she murmured.
A satisfied grin spread over my face, but I hid it behind my camera, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. I knew we still had a long way to go before we were on a proper date, but moments like this were definitely making me feel as if it was going to be a real possibility. And one that I was happy was on the cards.