Glossy [1/?]
Title: Glossy [1/?]
Author: Melly
Rating: Eventual MA/NC-17, kinda just PG-13 for now
Characters/Pairings: Joshua/Neku (main), Shiki/Eri, and Uzuki/Kariya.
Warnings: Language, eventual sexual situations, and alcohol use.
Spoilers: It’s an AU so not really? Except for the appearance of a certain someone you learn about in week 1, that is.
Summary: Model AU. All Neku wanted was a raise, but the so-called promotion from barista to assistant for a snobby, irritating, enigmatic model is one he could do without.
A/N: For measuringlife for the Secret Santa, since she loves AUs even more than I do. This should be fun. Enjoy!
It was the lull in the day when it was too early for the high school students to be out of class, but too late for even the longest sleeper to want their usual jolt of caffeine. Neku used this time to sketch, mostly, but he’d been staring at a blank page for the past half-hour and was close to giving up. Mr. H would be around soon anyway.
It took a lot for Neku to bring up the topic of a raise, since, despite some of the oddities, he’d be hard pressed to find a boss more easygoing than Mr. H, but he felt he deserved a little more cash for holding down the early morning rush all by himself. Thankfully, Mr. H had just clapped him on the back and said, “ ‘course! I’ll see what I can do.” It was a wonder what his boss did when he wasn’t in the café, but Neku wasn’t one to pry, and so long as he could keep his job, he left it alone.
The bell at the front of the shop rang, and Neku glanced up from his sketchbook, a little taken aback when he realized it wasn’t Mr. H. The guy didn’t look like the normal teenager or sleepy college student or odd tourist that normally came through, either. He was dressed in a black pea coat and dark jeans, all designer, something Neku only recognized through osmosis from two of his far more fashion conscious friends. But a customer was a customer.
“Uh. So what can I get you?” Neku slid his sketchbook under the counter and approached the register in an attempt to look like he was at least halfway working.
“Sanae.”
“Huh?”
“Sanae,” the other repeated, less patiently, unwrapping his jade green scarf and tossing it casually over the back of a chair. “He apparently owns this place.”
“Do you mean Mr. H-er, Hanekoma?” Neku leaned one elbow on the countertop, eyebrows furrowing.
“Yes. I need to talk with him-he told me to meet him here, for whatever reason.” Jerkass, as Neku decided to dub him, finally took his sunglasses off and set them aside, tapping a finger to his lips as he peered up at the menu. “And I’d like a caramel macchiato too. You can put it on my tab.”
“Your tab?” Neku stepped back from the register, folding his arms. “Look, I don’t know what the hell you expect from a hole-in-the-wall coffee joint, but there aren’t any tabs.”
“Of course not. That’s why I’m asking you to open one.” Jerkass waved his hand, flippantly. “Since Sanae isn’t here yet, I thought I could have a drink while I wait. I don’t assume you’re paid to sit around, you know.”
“I’m not.” He grit his teeth, thinking that punching customers in the face, no matter how they acted, wasn’t a good idea. “I can’t just open a tab for you, or whatever. This isn’t a bar.” The other made no retort except to stare back at Neku, his head tilted slightly in puzzlement. Neku wasn’t sure how much he liked the scrutiny; Jerkass had distinct, otherworldly violet eyes, making the searching gaze twice as unsettling. But after a moment or two, he shifted his attention to the window and gave off a high and lilting laugh.
“My, you’re difficult. Can’t this be done as a favor, then?”
“No,” Neku said, flatly. “Give me one good reason why.”
“Not even if I say please?” The other’s smile curved into something a little more winning, but Neku wouldn’t-didn’t-fall for it. Did he really think a pretty face would get him anything he wanted?
Luckily, the bell announcing someone else entering the café saved Neku from anymore of the frustrating exchange. Mr. H had arrived, finally, pausing near the doorway.
“Well, hey, you’re both here! That makes things easier.” Laughing, he moved to slip behind the counter.
“Easier?” Neku echoed, a little bewildered. “What-?”
“Sorry I couldn’t meet you for lunch, Josh. I thought this would be better in person.” Mr. H gave a bit of an apologetic shrug, addressing Jerkass-Josh? Joshua?-rather than Neku.
“What would be better in person, Sanae?”
“Meeting your new assistant, ‘course.” He jerked his thumb in Neku’s direction which…had to be a mistake. It had to.
“My…assistant?” Joshua seemed less horrified, but just as perplexed.
“I’m just your agent after all, boss. You can’t keep sending me out on errands for you.” He gestured noncommittally. “And Neku here wanted a promotion so I figured, why not kill two birds with one stone?”
“Whoa, wait, no. I asked for a raise. As in I still worked here. You never said anything about being some assistant.”
“It slipped my mind.” Mr. H rubbed the back of his neck, a little sheepishly. “S’not hard being a model’s assistant-”
“He’s a model?” It explained some things, if Neku thought about it, but at that point, logic didn’t seem to be all that important. “And you said-you’re his agent?”
“Ah, yeah, this café is just kinda a pet project of mine.” Mr. H patted Neku’s shoulder lightly. “Listen, you can think about it, but it does pay way better than the job you got now. If that’s any incentive.”
It was a big one, and Mr. H probably knew that. Heaving a resigned sigh, and feeling like he might as well be signing over his very soul, Neku slowly and minutely nodded. A second later and he heard a quiet giggle, glancing up to see Joshua looking back at him, amusement blatant.
“So,” he said, twisting a bit of hair around his index finger. “About that coffee…”
*****
As much as Neku felt like going straight home and crawling into a hole, he had promised to treat his friends to dinner as celebration over what he anticipated to be a good raise. So much for that.
Shiki let him into the apartment with a smile as usual, the place a bit of a mess from her and Eri working on some new big project, strewn with scraps of fabric and stacks of magazines for reference. Neku did his best to maneuver around it all and find a clean space to sit in the living room.
“Hey, if it isn’t Mr. Grumpy,” Eri greeted. “For someone who just got a raise, you don’t look very happy.” Neku simply grunted in response, staring down at the bits of carpet he could see through the general clutter.
“Unless…oh, no, Neku, you didn’t-”
“No, I did.” He held up his hand and Shiki’s shoulders relaxed in relief. “It’s just…not what I expected. D’you remember how my boss just randomly disappears for most of the day? Well, apparently he’s off being a modeling agent.”
“You’re joking.”
“Does it look like I am?” Neku exhaled sharply, exasperated. “He dumped one of his models on me, even. A total irritating asshole who-”
“Oh my God.” Eri’s eyes widened, standing up so quickly from her chair she disturbed a pile of sketch paper, sending the pieces scattering all over the floor. “You’re a model’s assistant? That’s not fair! You’re not even in the business!”
“I didn’t ask for this!”
“Which model? Which agency?” She carried on as if she didn’t hear a thing, leaning over Neku imperiously, hands on her hips.
“I don’t know!” Neku backed up against the couch, not liking the fact he was suddenly being grilled. “I told you, my boss is apparently the agent. Does Sanae Hanekoma ring any bells?”
“Not really.” Eri frowned, turning briefly to Shiki who gave a shake of her head in response. “Whose assistant are you then? What do they look like?”
“I-uh, I only got a first name, I think. Joshua?” He shifted a bit, trying to think of a good enough description that might satisfy Eri so she’d stop interrogating him. “He’s a little shorter than me, really strange purple eyes, light hair-”
“Wait, wait.” She spun around, moving over to a heap of magazines, peering closely at their spines before pulling one out and flipping through it quickly. Once she found what she was looking for, she dropped the magazine in Neku’s lap, open to the page in question. “Is that him?” Looking down, Neku wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but what he saw nearly caused him to choke on his own spit.
Laid out on wine red silk sheets and wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers, was the same guy from the café. His body was arched slightly, lithe, pale skin and hair in stark contrast with the dark color of the linens, smile light and evocative and a little…off. But his eyes, even hooded and staring at Neku-the camera, he mentally corrected himself-with intense, undisguised enticement and longing, were the same. That unique, unmistakable shade of violet.
“I’ll take that a yes.” Startled, Neku glanced up, mortified to realize he’d been staring at the picture long enough to have Eri start smirking at him knowingly. “But no wonder you didn’t recognize him-even I probably wouldn’t have. He works for this really selective and secretive company called CAT. They don’t do a lot of shoots, and even then it’s almost exclusively for Gatito’s clothing line. I think the ad you’re looking at is one of the only ones he did for Pegaso…”
“Then how do you know so much?” Neku glared at her out of lingering embarrassment. Shiki had made room on the couch, pushing off a sewing kit and pattern book, so she could look at the magazine.
“I make it my business to know everyone that’s good,” Eri replied. “So this isn’t right at all that you get to be his assistant.”
“Oh! This is for that cologne, Decadence. I remember who the model is now.” Shiki looked up at Neku. “We can show you his other ads.”
“What? No! I don’t want-”
“They’re not all like this, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She hid a smile behind her hand. “And, besides, shouldn’t you know more about who you’re working for?”
“Not really. Whatever I need to get by.” Shrugging, Neku set the magazine aside on the coffee table, only to have another one shoved in his face.
“Here. That one has a little blurb about him.” Eri plopped herself down next to Shiki and Neku resigned himself to the fact that he wasn’t getting any food, or even any peace, until he went along with his friends’ whims.
He barely spared attention for the ad itself, something about watches, and went on to read the little square bit of text next to it. Yoshiya Kiryu…goes by Joshua in his modeling career, works exclusively for CAT Agency…20, birthday is November 15th …
“Okay, is this going to tell me he likes long walks on the beach next?”
“Ugh, fine.” Eri rolled her eyes and stood up. “Don’t say we didn’t try and help you when you go through a crash course tomorrow.”
“Don’t remind me about tomorrow.” Neku groaned.
“Then I’ll remind you about treating me and Shiki to dinner. And since you get an opportunity the two of us can only dream of, I’m thinking you can do that for the rest of the week.”
“Hey! That’s-” But Eri was already out of earshot and Shiki was trying to pull him up from the couch by his elbow.
“C’mon. None of it will be that bad, I promise,” she said, reassuringly. But considering how his day had gone, Neku was pretty sure things could get worse than his lowest expectations.
A/N: I have discovered that I am incapable of being in a fandom without writing the characters as models at some point? I don’t know why, but there you go. I often have a lot of fun with AUs like this, so I hope the rest of you do too!
Author: Melly
Rating: Eventual MA/NC-17, kinda just PG-13 for now
Characters/Pairings: Joshua/Neku (main), Shiki/Eri, and Uzuki/Kariya.
Warnings: Language, eventual sexual situations, and alcohol use.
Spoilers: It’s an AU so not really? Except for the appearance of a certain someone you learn about in week 1, that is.
Summary: Model AU. All Neku wanted was a raise, but the so-called promotion from barista to assistant for a snobby, irritating, enigmatic model is one he could do without.
A/N: For measuringlife for the Secret Santa, since she loves AUs even more than I do. This should be fun. Enjoy!
It was the lull in the day when it was too early for the high school students to be out of class, but too late for even the longest sleeper to want their usual jolt of caffeine. Neku used this time to sketch, mostly, but he’d been staring at a blank page for the past half-hour and was close to giving up. Mr. H would be around soon anyway.
It took a lot for Neku to bring up the topic of a raise, since, despite some of the oddities, he’d be hard pressed to find a boss more easygoing than Mr. H, but he felt he deserved a little more cash for holding down the early morning rush all by himself. Thankfully, Mr. H had just clapped him on the back and said, “ ‘course! I’ll see what I can do.” It was a wonder what his boss did when he wasn’t in the café, but Neku wasn’t one to pry, and so long as he could keep his job, he left it alone.
The bell at the front of the shop rang, and Neku glanced up from his sketchbook, a little taken aback when he realized it wasn’t Mr. H. The guy didn’t look like the normal teenager or sleepy college student or odd tourist that normally came through, either. He was dressed in a black pea coat and dark jeans, all designer, something Neku only recognized through osmosis from two of his far more fashion conscious friends. But a customer was a customer.
“Uh. So what can I get you?” Neku slid his sketchbook under the counter and approached the register in an attempt to look like he was at least halfway working.
“Sanae.”
“Huh?”
“Sanae,” the other repeated, less patiently, unwrapping his jade green scarf and tossing it casually over the back of a chair. “He apparently owns this place.”
“Do you mean Mr. H-er, Hanekoma?” Neku leaned one elbow on the countertop, eyebrows furrowing.
“Yes. I need to talk with him-he told me to meet him here, for whatever reason.” Jerkass, as Neku decided to dub him, finally took his sunglasses off and set them aside, tapping a finger to his lips as he peered up at the menu. “And I’d like a caramel macchiato too. You can put it on my tab.”
“Your tab?” Neku stepped back from the register, folding his arms. “Look, I don’t know what the hell you expect from a hole-in-the-wall coffee joint, but there aren’t any tabs.”
“Of course not. That’s why I’m asking you to open one.” Jerkass waved his hand, flippantly. “Since Sanae isn’t here yet, I thought I could have a drink while I wait. I don’t assume you’re paid to sit around, you know.”
“I’m not.” He grit his teeth, thinking that punching customers in the face, no matter how they acted, wasn’t a good idea. “I can’t just open a tab for you, or whatever. This isn’t a bar.” The other made no retort except to stare back at Neku, his head tilted slightly in puzzlement. Neku wasn’t sure how much he liked the scrutiny; Jerkass had distinct, otherworldly violet eyes, making the searching gaze twice as unsettling. But after a moment or two, he shifted his attention to the window and gave off a high and lilting laugh.
“My, you’re difficult. Can’t this be done as a favor, then?”
“No,” Neku said, flatly. “Give me one good reason why.”
“Not even if I say please?” The other’s smile curved into something a little more winning, but Neku wouldn’t-didn’t-fall for it. Did he really think a pretty face would get him anything he wanted?
Luckily, the bell announcing someone else entering the café saved Neku from anymore of the frustrating exchange. Mr. H had arrived, finally, pausing near the doorway.
“Well, hey, you’re both here! That makes things easier.” Laughing, he moved to slip behind the counter.
“Easier?” Neku echoed, a little bewildered. “What-?”
“Sorry I couldn’t meet you for lunch, Josh. I thought this would be better in person.” Mr. H gave a bit of an apologetic shrug, addressing Jerkass-Josh? Joshua?-rather than Neku.
“What would be better in person, Sanae?”
“Meeting your new assistant, ‘course.” He jerked his thumb in Neku’s direction which…had to be a mistake. It had to.
“My…assistant?” Joshua seemed less horrified, but just as perplexed.
“I’m just your agent after all, boss. You can’t keep sending me out on errands for you.” He gestured noncommittally. “And Neku here wanted a promotion so I figured, why not kill two birds with one stone?”
“Whoa, wait, no. I asked for a raise. As in I still worked here. You never said anything about being some assistant.”
“It slipped my mind.” Mr. H rubbed the back of his neck, a little sheepishly. “S’not hard being a model’s assistant-”
“He’s a model?” It explained some things, if Neku thought about it, but at that point, logic didn’t seem to be all that important. “And you said-you’re his agent?”
“Ah, yeah, this café is just kinda a pet project of mine.” Mr. H patted Neku’s shoulder lightly. “Listen, you can think about it, but it does pay way better than the job you got now. If that’s any incentive.”
It was a big one, and Mr. H probably knew that. Heaving a resigned sigh, and feeling like he might as well be signing over his very soul, Neku slowly and minutely nodded. A second later and he heard a quiet giggle, glancing up to see Joshua looking back at him, amusement blatant.
“So,” he said, twisting a bit of hair around his index finger. “About that coffee…”
*****
As much as Neku felt like going straight home and crawling into a hole, he had promised to treat his friends to dinner as celebration over what he anticipated to be a good raise. So much for that.
Shiki let him into the apartment with a smile as usual, the place a bit of a mess from her and Eri working on some new big project, strewn with scraps of fabric and stacks of magazines for reference. Neku did his best to maneuver around it all and find a clean space to sit in the living room.
“Hey, if it isn’t Mr. Grumpy,” Eri greeted. “For someone who just got a raise, you don’t look very happy.” Neku simply grunted in response, staring down at the bits of carpet he could see through the general clutter.
“Unless…oh, no, Neku, you didn’t-”
“No, I did.” He held up his hand and Shiki’s shoulders relaxed in relief. “It’s just…not what I expected. D’you remember how my boss just randomly disappears for most of the day? Well, apparently he’s off being a modeling agent.”
“You’re joking.”
“Does it look like I am?” Neku exhaled sharply, exasperated. “He dumped one of his models on me, even. A total irritating asshole who-”
“Oh my God.” Eri’s eyes widened, standing up so quickly from her chair she disturbed a pile of sketch paper, sending the pieces scattering all over the floor. “You’re a model’s assistant? That’s not fair! You’re not even in the business!”
“I didn’t ask for this!”
“Which model? Which agency?” She carried on as if she didn’t hear a thing, leaning over Neku imperiously, hands on her hips.
“I don’t know!” Neku backed up against the couch, not liking the fact he was suddenly being grilled. “I told you, my boss is apparently the agent. Does Sanae Hanekoma ring any bells?”
“Not really.” Eri frowned, turning briefly to Shiki who gave a shake of her head in response. “Whose assistant are you then? What do they look like?”
“I-uh, I only got a first name, I think. Joshua?” He shifted a bit, trying to think of a good enough description that might satisfy Eri so she’d stop interrogating him. “He’s a little shorter than me, really strange purple eyes, light hair-”
“Wait, wait.” She spun around, moving over to a heap of magazines, peering closely at their spines before pulling one out and flipping through it quickly. Once she found what she was looking for, she dropped the magazine in Neku’s lap, open to the page in question. “Is that him?” Looking down, Neku wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but what he saw nearly caused him to choke on his own spit.
Laid out on wine red silk sheets and wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers, was the same guy from the café. His body was arched slightly, lithe, pale skin and hair in stark contrast with the dark color of the linens, smile light and evocative and a little…off. But his eyes, even hooded and staring at Neku-the camera, he mentally corrected himself-with intense, undisguised enticement and longing, were the same. That unique, unmistakable shade of violet.
“I’ll take that a yes.” Startled, Neku glanced up, mortified to realize he’d been staring at the picture long enough to have Eri start smirking at him knowingly. “But no wonder you didn’t recognize him-even I probably wouldn’t have. He works for this really selective and secretive company called CAT. They don’t do a lot of shoots, and even then it’s almost exclusively for Gatito’s clothing line. I think the ad you’re looking at is one of the only ones he did for Pegaso…”
“Then how do you know so much?” Neku glared at her out of lingering embarrassment. Shiki had made room on the couch, pushing off a sewing kit and pattern book, so she could look at the magazine.
“I make it my business to know everyone that’s good,” Eri replied. “So this isn’t right at all that you get to be his assistant.”
“Oh! This is for that cologne, Decadence. I remember who the model is now.” Shiki looked up at Neku. “We can show you his other ads.”
“What? No! I don’t want-”
“They’re not all like this, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She hid a smile behind her hand. “And, besides, shouldn’t you know more about who you’re working for?”
“Not really. Whatever I need to get by.” Shrugging, Neku set the magazine aside on the coffee table, only to have another one shoved in his face.
“Here. That one has a little blurb about him.” Eri plopped herself down next to Shiki and Neku resigned himself to the fact that he wasn’t getting any food, or even any peace, until he went along with his friends’ whims.
He barely spared attention for the ad itself, something about watches, and went on to read the little square bit of text next to it. Yoshiya Kiryu…goes by Joshua in his modeling career, works exclusively for CAT Agency…20, birthday is November 15th …
“Okay, is this going to tell me he likes long walks on the beach next?”
“Ugh, fine.” Eri rolled her eyes and stood up. “Don’t say we didn’t try and help you when you go through a crash course tomorrow.”
“Don’t remind me about tomorrow.” Neku groaned.
“Then I’ll remind you about treating me and Shiki to dinner. And since you get an opportunity the two of us can only dream of, I’m thinking you can do that for the rest of the week.”
“Hey! That’s-” But Eri was already out of earshot and Shiki was trying to pull him up from the couch by his elbow.
“C’mon. None of it will be that bad, I promise,” she said, reassuringly. But considering how his day had gone, Neku was pretty sure things could get worse than his lowest expectations.
A/N: I have discovered that I am incapable of being in a fandom without writing the characters as models at some point? I don’t know why, but there you go. I often have a lot of fun with AUs like this, so I hope the rest of you do too!