The first couple of models had only just invaded the runway when Neely heard someone speak her name. She tore her gaze away from the glittery streamers, ready to berate whomever dared distract her from monitoring her moving mannequins, but seemed to freeze more surely than the victim of a Body-Bind Curse when she saw him. Perhaps she had unknowingly been impaled by a stampede of stilettos, and the runway was the sparkling entrance to... whatever came after her first fabulous, short-lived life.

Finally, mouth agog, Neely pointed at the heavenly creature leaning against the wall, as if accusing him of a crime she couldn't remember. "You're Arius," she whispered loudly, disbelieving. Her father had mentioned a special guest, one whom was worthy of closing the show no less, but Neely had not expected this. Even Mr. Woolfolk had gone above and beyond proper spoiling of his spoon-fed heir. "You're Arius!" She repeated, more loudly. Her voice seemed to rise well above its normal octave, which was high enough. She was deaf to her own ears.

As the uninformed Potions Master crossed the threshold to return to the designated backstage area after his dazzling strut, one small, Neely-sized arm reached out and attempted to latch on to the man's glitter-flecked being. "Professor, hold me."

But! Ah! What was she doing? Making a puddle of Neely in front of the cover model of her daydreams was not prepossessing. Arius in the Flesh was more cool and composed than she'd ever imagined, and he was asking for Neely's directions. He was her grand finale. This wasn't a silly charm-induced head trip... it was reality!

Taking a sharp, audible breath, Neely rounded her shoulders and held out a hand. "I'm Neely," she confirmed at last. "It's so great to meet you, Mr.... Arius." The lone title was his professional name, wasn't it? Even if Neely knew far too many creepily stalkerish facts for her own good (none of which would appear on a Care of Magical Creatures exam anytime soon, much to her dismay), that was fairly common knowledge. "I love your work." And you. And your hair. And your smile. And--

"We have a look ready for you! You'll be closing." She beamed dreamily at the idol, and gestured with an open arm toward the professional dressers, hair and makeup team, all of whom looked equally dazed and starstruck to see the guest model looming near the stage entrance.

"Where's that girl with the eyes?" Neely looked around for Fauna, whose wobbling disgrace she'd already forgotten to chastise in lieu of their new company. "She'll be going out right before you, Arius. Can we get you anything? Water? Mineral water? Sparkling mineral water? We have some canapé." Elves, call to action!

Isaac’s turn was up before he knew it.  He had watched Nico strut down the walk way, a few cat calls were heard above the music.  He was quite sure that was not proper decorum for a fashion show…not that he was entirely sure how one should behave at a fashion show at all.

He had also watched as some model looking type came back stage insisting he needed no introduction.  From the way Miss Woolfolk reacted to him, he assumed with a female audience he wouldn’t.  It seemed he was today’s special guest…Artis, or Arlo, or whatever his name was.

Ignoring what was going on around him, Isaac took a deep breath and stepped out on stage.  He kept his focus on the end of the runway, taking his steps carefully so as not to slip on the glitter.  He heard a few whistles from the audience, and even someone calling out, “I love you Professor Fraiser!”

He posed, as previously instructed, at the end of the run way before turning and heading back in the direction he came.  It was over in minutes and he was grateful.  Once this was wrapped up he would be heading to Hogsmeade for a traditional and now much needed drink.

Finally falling back into his manly (OK, more gangly than manly) swagger he was accosted by the Lady in Charge. 

"Professor, hold me." 

A touch confused by the request he blinked thrice before the professor obliged, “Err… OK!”  With a smile he wrapped his skinny arms around the lass and picked her up clear off her feet and gave her a good squeeze, like a child picking up a puppy.  For a second he pondered why in the world the girl would ask for such a thing.  Hmm… maybe she needed a hug?  That would be understandable, they were both involved in quite a stressful situation, fun though it was.  “Feel better?” Gunnar asked, paying no mind to the fact that his six feet six frame might have lifted her up far too high for her liking.

Just then there was a resounding – yet oddly familiar – SMACK! as the Make-Up and Hair Extraordinaire’s hand collided with the poor man’s bum for the second time in so many minutes.

With a yelp Nicodemus dropped Neely and immediately grabbed his sore buttocks, “Now, now,” the deep yet effeminate voice chided, “what on earth are you doing trying to hide such a glorious piece of skin?!”  Ricardo’s attention was then drawn away by Miss Woolfolk.  Looking up the artist smirked, “Ah!  Good to see you, Arius.  We’ll chat latter, business to attend to and all that jazz…” he finished the remark by blowing the professional a kiss, dragging the Potion’s Master away by grabbing onto the side of his Speedo.

A few minutes later…

There was a pitter-patter of semi-bare (he was in a fresh set of fishnets) feet running across the floor which soon turned into the stomp of a stampeding elephant as a half nekkid man whizzed by screaming, “BAD TOUCH!  BAD TOUCH!  I NEED AN ADULT!  I NEED AN ADULT!” 

Soon after a giggling mustachioed man with a length of unidentifiable black leather in his arms was seen chasing the unclad amateur model.

A few more minutes later…

Nicodemus stood panting and sweaty in the middle of the line finally all dressed and ready for his second and final run, the tips of his hair now a hellish shade of red.  As he got closer to Neely he asked in between breaths, “I… haven’t… messed up… my make up… have I?”  The last thing he wanted to happen was to be thrown back into a chair by Ricardo.  What in the WORLD was wrong with that man?!  And why does he have to pick on meee…? he whined to himself.

You see, when you’ve spent the majority of your adult life around Lord knows what fumes and being bathed in Lord knows what magical ingredients, it addles your brain a bit.  Apparently the bit of Nico’s head which was addled dealt with identifying when he was being hit on and understanding double entendres.




Outfit
[g-mod approved of by Neely]

He laughed a bit and put a hand to his ear as her voice went to an octave that he could have sworn could only be heard by dogs, he made a mental note to ask Fillin about that later. “I am Arius, very well spotted,” he said to the young girl, basking in the glory of her recognition. She must have been one of his biggest fans, and Arius was happy to be there for her. Anything for the fans and whatnot well, that was what the agent part of his mind was thinking. Charity looked good on his resume was what the business part of his brain said. All in all it was going to be fun if nothing else.

Well, it was fun until she started to swoon and reached out for the next man to come off the runway. He watched the strange display as the man – apparently a professor – picked up the swooning girl. He looked like at any minute he might cut off her circulation and Arius watched calmly with one eyebrow cocked for the girl to turn purple. However, before that could happen, a familiar Latin American came out, who Arius was surprised to see dedicating his talents to this.

He watched the amusing display knowing how Ricardo could be when he wanted and just waiting for his presence to be acknowledged. “Ciao, Ricardo. Didn’t we chat enough during the fashion show in Brazil when you were adjusting my speedo? Try not to torture the professor though, he isn’t one of us after all.” He blew the two obligatory air kisses and couldn’t help but laugh as the helpless man was dragged away by the side of the speedo. Ricardo certainly was… interesting if nothing else.

“My pleasure Miss Woolfolk.” He took her hand to his lips and kissed it in true rakish fashion, though he couldn’t help but wonder at her attempt to call him Mister anything. He was Arius, just Arius, in fact that was the name he was contemplating for a new cologne line he might launch. He was pleased to hear she loved his work, but not surprised. Everyone loves his work. “Thank you, I’ll send over some signed prints to your house if you’d like. I’m sure I’ve got tons of them just lying around.” Not just lying around but in photo albums, yet he didn’t want to seem so conceited as if he kept photo albums of all his shoots. That would just be odd.

He stood awaiting his instructions when suddenly the man who had been dragged off by Ricardo came running back wearing… what the hell was he wearing? Arius truly hoped that whoever had put that together hadn’t chosen his outfit. Then man looked, well, like something out of that one muggle movie Rocky Horror something or other. “Your models are certainly, well, interesting.” He commented, observing the potions master’s actions. Why did he think he would regret this later?

“I’ll take a sparkling mineral water,” he said with a wave. “And before I forget, here is a little gift for you from Paris. I was just there doing a show.” He produced the box that he had previously shrunk and put in his pocket and handed it to the girl. “Nothing big, really muggle designer wear, but your father said you liked fashion.” Leaving her with that he walked towards the dressing are, praying to whatever higher being was out there that he wasn’t going to be sporting anything ridiculous.

It was only after Arius affirmed his own name-- spoken in his own voice!-- that Neely was able to process some of what he'd said. He'd called her well dressed, even. She might have gone so far as to pinch herself, if it weren't for the appearance of Professor Gunnar. Neely hadn't expected the potions master to take her hazy words so seriously... although if he hadn't, she might have argued the opposite. For one blinking, confused moment, she was certain the sheer presence of Arius had caused her to float off the ground, sans Wingardium Leviosa or Levicorpus or whatever that spell was that she couldn't recall at the moment while her brain basked in fluffier thoughts. Once up in the air, Neely flailed for a moment, her eyes widening in realization. She squealed lightly, and was glad to find both of her heels back on the floor a moment later. Except not.

...Rather than being gracefully returned to her feet, Neely dropped out of the professor's arms thanks to the domino effect created by Ricardo's roaming fingers. She sprang to her feet much more quickly and less woe-is-me than she might have in any other situation, if only for the million galleon face still in their vicinity. Laughing nervously, Neely drew her attention back to Arius as he exchanged words with the makeup artist. So enamored was she, that she forgot to compliment poor Professor Fraiser as he returned from the stage. (Both male professors were very lucky Arius had shown up when he had, or Neely would have been pushing them each on to prospective dates. The audience was riddled with eligible candidates.)

The kiss on the hand almost put her six feet under. Neely continued to smile, if almost dazedly so, despite her promise to shape up and take charge. She was sure that Jordyn or Brodie would have been more composed, and felt that she should try to follow their imaginary example. She had to stop herself from asking whether she could have multiples of each print to hand out to her besties. Everyone else in their class would be massively jealous of the three girls-- Neely was determined that her friends would meet the godsend. "You're too kind!" It was the first and only time in Neely's life she had uttered such an absurd sentence and meant it.

“Your models are certainly, well, interesting.”

"Aren't they?" Neely asked, the real meaning going over her head in this moment of extreme eye candy. "Some of them fit the whole models-who-aren't-pretty fad that's going on right now. But, you know, beauty never goes out of style," she was quick to add, eyes widening as she nodded meaningfully at Arius. Snapping her pearly pink manicure at an elf, she was quick to make good on the request of sparkling mineral water. Or at least to make sure the help fulfilled the order. Two of the creatures came running like the participants of a vertically-challenged triathlon, barring a frosty bottle of water, a spotless glass, a bucket of never-melting ice, and a plate of sliced lemon and peppermint garnish on the side. Sparkling and full of minerals as promised, it was the same thing Neely's mother might have requested, and it made her heart skip to know that Arius had such a wonderful pallet... for water.

A gift? For Neely? Ordinarily, the girl would have pounced (gracefully, of course). Gifts were made to be opened, and she was in no short supply of possessions she didn't deserve. She tended to take things from Mummy and Daddy for granted. But this was a gift from someone way more important than either of the people who had created or birthed her. Lowly parents had nothing on universal supermodels. Neely thus accepted the box as it were Midus' touch, and merely stared at the impeccable packaging for a long moment, her head tilted with fondness and her eyes glazed while her mind attempted to guess what fantastical garment might be inside. She decided it would be more mature to open it later and owl a proper card of thanks and similarly lavish gift for the model to the office of Arius' agent or booker. "Thank you!" She chirped after him. She had to restrain herself from opening it; it would make quite the bedtime event.

When Professor Gunnar reappeared to seek advice about his makeup, Neely blinked out of her reverie, and looked up at him. "What?" She asked at first, before her question really registered. "No, no. You look gorgeous as ever, Professor. The red is dangerous," she promised. "In a good way." Neely turned fully to the man, and placed her hands on her hips-- but only after she had entrusted the head elf to delicately deliver the gift box to her dormitory. "Maybe a little more mascara right there at the corner," she suggested. And ten points to Slytherin for the tip? "You and Professor Fraiser should take the catwalk together. You can be the pre-pre-finale." At the final word, she looked over her shoulder to make sure the dressers weren't contaminating Arius' aura with unworthy hands.

Fauna was determined not to miss her cue this time, so she stood shakily at the edge of the backstage and watched the progression of models as the line grew shorter and shorter. Though Neely was downright scary,  she wasn't doing it for her, but to minimize her own embarrassment! If she could just get the timing right and manage not to trip over herself, this whole show would be finished sooner and she could finally go back to painting the mural.

Fauna heard some highly distracting and worrisome antics going on in back, but she tried to ignore Professor Gunnar’s screams about needing an adult, among other things. Neely was also having a conversation with a handsome man who Fauna recognized but couldn’t quite place. Soon, very soon, she’d have to walk the runway again, and rather than worry about someone's conversation she worried about walking straight.

Her concentration was interrupted when a model tapped her on the shoulder.

“You do know that you’re supposed to be at the very back of the line, don’t you?” Even the loud music couldn’t drown out her snotty tone, though the words were harder to make out.

“What?” Fauna said, only hearing ‘know’ and ‘back of the…’.

"Arius is walking right after you, so you better not-“

“Wait, who?”

The model looked scandalized and jabbed her finger towards the end of the line, at a loss for words. Fauna wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but if she could delay the runway for a few more minutes, she didn’t mind the girl’s rude behavior so much. Maybe she could even sneak out to the dressing rooms and change really quickly before anyone noticed…

Spurred on by that thought, Fauna turned abruptly and stepped out of line so she could scurry to the back. And she would have been successful, had she picked a better time to move.

Crash!- She collided with another model who was just finishing her runway walk, and there was a slow, agonizing moment when the two of them both attempted to right themselves, Fauna flailing her arms in the air and the other girl tottering on high heels.

A few of the models in line grabbed her shoulders and steadied her, but even they couldn’t prevent the other model from falling right into Fauna. When she fell backward the models behind her lost their balance too, toppling over one by one...


(Domino effect approved by Neely!)