A/N: Hi, friends! So…? How are we? Yeah? Alright? Not alright? I'm sorry to hear that. Not if you're alright. That's fantastic news. Especially if you've been not alright for a while. You deserve this. You've been through some shit, but congratulations. You came out on the other side. And I love you. Now, how about that highly anticipated photoshoot chapter, yeah? Or at least the beginning of this arc? Ok? Good? Yeah! Let's go!
"You better have my coffee, Quinn," I got out of the passenger seat of Seven's car, my ass still dragging on the floor. Saeran's Red Bull could only do so much. That was enough to open my eyes a little. I needed that sweet slap to the face that a good cup of coffee could give me. And I needed it now. I needed it like I needed air. I was good enough to get out of bed this early for Quinn. For a photoshoot I was equal parts excited for and dreading. I needed something to keep me on the straight and narrow.
"Of course, I do," Quinn, who stood outside the door, all bright and shiny and ready to tackle the day, while I still kind of look like the dredged bottom of a lake, handed me that beautiful paper cup with my name on it. Bless her, "I promised you coffee, MC. Do I not always deliver?"
"God bless you," I took my first drink and reveled in both the warmth and the flavor. Oh, Quinn…You do know me. She got my coffee order just right. And of all days, today would be the one where I could not tolerate a wrong coffee order. It's the only thing I'd ever go full diva over.
"Are you the photographer?" Zen joined us.
And in that moment, Quinn's eyes got all big and she started to hyperventilate, "MC…Sidebar. Now."
"Ok." Quinn grabbed my wrist and made me spill too much of my coffee. I was that level of sleep deprived where there's a good chance I'm about to burst into massive ugly tears and when I have a photoshoot, something tells me crying would not be a good idea, "What the hell, Quinn?"
"You…" Quinn managed to catch her breath, "You…YOU BROUGHT ZEN WITH YOU, MC?!"
"Jesus Christ…" I felt the ringing in my ear particularly strong today. I could've been two countries over and I still could've heard Quinn clear as a bell, "Was that necessary, Quinn?"
"YES!"
"It's not that I asked him," I explained myself, "He's kind of my self-appointed manager for the day. Relax, Quinn. Zen's a sweetheart and he's one of my best friends."
"SERIOUSLY?!" her tirade went on, "YOU'RE BEST FRIENDS?!"
"Those pictures that went out with us?" I reminded her, trying to shake off the memory myself, "They weren't doctored. Those were real. The only thing that wasn't was their portrayal of our relationship. Zen and I are close, yeah. We hang out on a regular basis whenever he's not on location."
"Then," Quinn wondered, "Who was the other guy? The one you allegedly broke Zen's heart over?"
"That was me!" Seven popped up, "Hello!"
"Where in the hell did you come from?" she looked Seven over, assuming Earth was not his home planet. Then again, that's a lot of people's first impressions of Seven. The only scary thing is that I think his caffeine and his meds have kicked in.
"My mommy's tummy," Seven told her, "After that, I don't know. I don't really remember coming out of there."
"Let's try this again," Quinn held her face in her hands, "Who are you? This is a closed shoot."
"And it can't be opened without me," Seven showed off his keyring, "I'm the guy with the keys!"
"Quinn, this is Seven," I introduced him, questioning my life choices, "Seven, this is Quinn. She's the one running the shoot today."
"Pleasure," Seven beamed in the way that only Seven could. I love my little spazzy weirdo.
"Charmed," Quinn wasn't nearly as enthusiastic about it, "And this is your boyfriend, MC?"
"Um…" I bit my lip, "Not anymore…Exactly…"
"Did you break up?" she assumed, throwing her arms around me, "Oh, sweetie. Why didn't you say something? I didn't mean to drag this up again for the sake of my photoshoot. I'm so sorry."
"No, no, no," I settled her, "We didn't break up. Far from it."
"We just got engaged!" Seven chimed in.
"YOU WHAT?" Goddammit, Seven…I just got her to calm down again. If I don't have permanent hearing loss from Quinn screaming six inches from my ear, I'll be amazed, "YOU NEVER TOLD ME YOU TWO GOT ENGAGED, MC!"
"I just found out yesterday," Zen joined us, "Don't feel bad."
"I just found out the other day," Seven added, "And I'm the one that asked her!"
"Seven," I wasn't nearly awake enough to deal with this bullshit yet, "Go open the door…"
"Okie dokie!" And just like that, he ran off to grab the door. Bless his little heart. All six of them that his species probably has. But I wouldn't have him any other way. I know it exhausts the hell out of me, but it's totally worth it.
When we got into the rink, I got flashbacks to the first time Seven took me here. Saeran broke up the first time we were going to have our dance, but he couldn't do that here. And I still wouldn't trade that night for the world. And then, when he played City and Colour for me the last time we were here. I damn near cried because of that. My fiancé was a little shit and he knew it.
"It's Quinn, right?" Zen asked.
"That's me," Quinn's cheeks turned pink quickly, "What is it? What do you need?"
"I just want to know where to set up," he told her.
"Over by the rental booth should be ok," she directed him, "MC, I got wardrobe covered for you. Come on. Locker room."
"Ok," I finished off my coffee and tossed the empty cup into the nearest trash can.
"What about me?" Seven asked with his eager face on, "What can I do?"
"I don't really have any menial running that needs to be done," Quinn thought it over.
"In that case," Seven looked to me, "Can I go skate while you get ready?"
"I'm not going to stop you, Seven," I got a quick kiss before he took off.
"Yay!" Sure enough, Seven went straight to the audio booth to fiddle with the music. I like him. I think I'll marry him one day.
"I'll go back with you," Zen decided, "I know it's the women's locker room, but it's not like there's anyone else here and it's not like I haven't seen MC half naked before anyway."
"Excuse me?" Seven perked up. How he heard any of that will forever baffle me, but color me impressed, "You saw who half naked?"
"We've gone shopping together, Seven," I explained, "We've done spa trips together. Yes, I've seen MC half naked."
"Checks out," Seven let it go and ran back to the booth. Bless his one track mind.
The three of us went into the locker room and Quinn started hanging up options. By the looks of it, she had two ways this shoot could go. Either I'm going to be covered in pastels or in neon. There was no middle ground. Although, they were both really cute options. Short skirts, knee high socks, and roller skates just work together. And I'm in love with both of them.
"Well," Zen looked them over, "We should probably go with the pastel set. It's what she's known for."
"Very true," Quinn agreed, "But all the more reason for her to go down the neon route. It's not going to kill MC to branch out a little. She should. I've seen this girl pull off neon and pull it off well. It's almost criminal that she doesn't play with neon colors more."
"But she shouldn't go with the neon for the sake of branding purposes," Zen argued, "Besides, pastels suit MC more. They're softer, not as in your face as neon."
"For whose branding?" Quinn raised her voice a little.
"For her branding," Zen pointed out, "MC's blog aesthetic is pastels. MC's personal aesthetic is pastels. Why would you go with neon when she already does pastels so well?"
"Because it's my shoot!" she squeaked.
"It's her face!" he fought back.
Awesome. Just what I wanted to deal with. No, thanks. I'm out. I started walking out of the locker room when Quinn called after me, "Where are you going, MC?"
"It's too early for this bullshit," I raised exactly one middle finger in the air, "Let me know when you two decide. I'll be out in the rink."
It was. I wasn't putting up with two of my best friends butting heads like this. I know Zen's used to being the diva and I'm not like that in the least, so he's being the diva for two. But if this was what it was going to be like, I'll let those two slaughter each other while I jump behind the counter, strap on a pair of skates, and clear my head. Fortunately, I wouldn't be skating alone.
"Are you ready, my love?" Seven took my hands and spun me around a little, "Shouldn't you be all cute by now? Not that you're not already adorable, but…You know…Like you're about to do a photoshoot."
"Mom and Dad are fighting," I fell into Seven's shoulder, "I'm not awake enough to deal with it without killing someone. Can we just skate together for a while? Please?"
"Of course, we can," he gave me a little kiss, "Are you ok, MC? If you don't want to do this, you don't have to. You can walk out right now and we can go back to bed if you want. Or I'm sure Florence would open up our booth for us and we can just get breakfast instead."
"It's alright," I let it go, "I just don't feel like dealing today."
"Look on the bright side, 606," Seven pointed out, pulling me into his chest, "At least you still got me."
"Yeah…" And I'm so damn lucky to have Seven. Especially when shit like this happens.
"Hey," he thought, taking his phone out of his pocket, "While we're waiting for Zen and Quinn to finish fighting to the death, do you mind if I take some pictures, too?"
"When I still look like shit?" I wondered, "Why?"
"First of all," Seven gasped, "How dare you? My MC is a queen, no matter what she looks like and she's always cute as a button. And…Well…That's why I want to take those pictures. There really isn't a number two here."
"You know what?" I let him have this, "Ok, Seven. Go ahead. I'm all yours."
"I know you're all mine," he started taking random candid shots, "Go on. Go skate around a little. Try not to fall and bust your ass."
"I'm not going to fall," I giggled…I needed that, "I'll be fine."
Although, shortly after that, I may or may not have fallen and busted my ass. And Seven damn near busted a gut, "What was that you were saying, MC? You'll be fine? You're not going to fall?"
"We sleep in the same bed, Seven," I laughed with him. Because if I'm laughing, I'm not crying. Because damn, that hurt, "Sleep with one eye open."
"I love you," he helped me back onto my feet.
"I love you, too," I regained my balance, "Please tell me you didn't get that."
"Of course, I did," Seven scoffed, "That's going to be my new wallpaper on my phone. I'll do that later, though. Are you ok?"
"Yeah," I stretched a little, "I'm fine."
"Hey, MC?" Quinn and Zen came out of the locker room, "I think we're done arguing."
"Good," I unlaced my skates and slid across the floor on my socks, hoping I didn't yet again, bust my ass, "Did you two decide on anything?"
"It's waiting for you in the locker room," Zen smiled, "I think it's a good compromise."
"Finally," I rolled my eyes and went straight to the locker room. It's about damn time they figured something out. Although, skating around with Seven was nice. And sorely needed. I felt better. I'd take it. I found the outfit Quinn and Zen essentially put together for me. A delightful combination the two Quinn brought. A cute, white crop top and a bright, neon green miniskirt with some minty green and black checkered knee high socks and a pair of white skates. I liked it. I could get on board with this. I just want Quinn and Zen to get along. I didn't even care how this shoot went anymore. As long as those two can play nice, I'll be happy.
When I started walking back out, I got one last look in the mirror at myself. Damn, I'm cute. Seven might be onto something. As I walked back to the rink, I did a little spin for Quinn and Zen, "Well? Thoughts?"
"I like it, MC," Quinn beamed, "It's perfect."
"Sit down, MC," Zen already had a chair for me. Bless him, "I'll finish getting you ready."
"No," I shook my head, "You're not doing it."
"What?" Zen looked at me strange, "MC, you're not nearly ready to be in front of a camera. And I brought everything along for a reason. What do you mean, no?"
"And I appreciate it, Zen," I wrapped my arms around him, "Really, I do. But…You're not getting me ready."
"Ha, ha!" Quinn, with all of her maturity, stuck her tongue out at Zen, "I told you I would be MC's favorite. Alright, MC. Sit down."
"Ok," I sat down just as I was asked, "But I want Seven running the rest."
"Seven?!" Quinn gasped, "Um…How do I put this gently, MC…? Are you out of your goddamn mind?! No way in hell am I letting him finish you off!"
"Did I hear my name?" Seven chimed, running back to me.
"Quinn didn't hire a stylist for me," I told him, "You wouldn't want to finish me off, would you, Seven?"
"It'd be my pleasure!"
"No!" Quinn put her foot down, "Not happening!"
"Would you like to see my credentials?" Seven opened up his cosplay folder on his phone and showed them to Quinn, "See all these?"
"Yeah," she looked them over, "She's really cute. Who is she?"
I could hear Zen giggling behind me. And Seven started blushing, "She's me, Quinn. I like to cosplay in my free time and I do all of my hair and makeup myself, so I don't see why I couldn't do MC, too."
"And he's damn good at it," Zen backed him up, "I've seen it. I still couldn't believe it, but he's good."
"Fine," Quinn let him have it, "Don't screw this up."
"Yay!" Seven's face lit up. Just like I'm sure mine would by the time he's done.