fool's gold [zarry]

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"There you are," Niall sighs the sigh that meant that Zain was late when he really shouldn't be. The one that meant he had kept important people waiting.

"Yea," Zain says, taking a sip of his coffee and glowering a bit to remind Niall who was the boss.

Niall ignores him, having perfected it over the years, and pulls at the front of his suit — not one of Zain's, the traitor.

"We've been waiting for ages, you know how uncomfortable it is when you're late?" Niall adds, grabbing Zain by the wrist and pulling him along.

Zain scowls and follows him. "Who's it again?" he asks, following Niall into the warehouse where they've set up today's shoot; a vast expense of industrial structure barely softened by the old-fashioned furniture put everywhere. Zain considers it, not quite sure if he thought it clever or not.

"One Direction," Niall sighs. This sigh indicating that he had told Zain this several times before.

Zain still doesn't remember. "Who?" he asks, watching the four boys the makeup artists and seamstresses are fussing over. They're all rather plain, despite the ease they exude at being fussed about, like they're used to it.

"The boyband?" Niall hisses as they draw closer. "They're like the biggest thing at the moment. So play nice, we got them to agree to wear your designs on the cover of Rolling Stone and I do not want you to mess it up because you think pop music is annoying."

"Why do we want them to wear our clothes?" Zain asks, wrinkling his nose. One of the boys is rather stunning, despite his plain features, even if his hair was unkempt despite the three hair stylists Zain could see rushing about.

"If they wear our clothes," Niall says in a low hiss, "every teenage girl in the world is going to want to wear your designs."

"They're wearing the men's collection," Zain says, drily. "And we're not making clothes for nouveau riche teenage girls."

"We are now," Niall says and smiles at — someone. Probably the manager. Zain nods and turns to watch the boys get sewn into their first outfits. Up close they're older than he had thought, made younger by the boyish hairstyles.

Zain sneers slightly. "Boring," he says, crossing his arms. "Look at it. It's boring."

"Zain," Niall pleads, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Please."

"You think so, too," Zain says, because he knows Niall. "Did you just bring this collection?"

"No," Niall sighs. "But please, Zain, Adam has a concept he discussed with their management and it's good."

"It's boring," Zain repeats, ignoring the from on the managers face. "Which one is that?" he asks, pointing. The boys — men, whatever — have all turned to watch curiously, probably expecting something like the tantrum Zain was apparently known for. "The long-haired one," he clarifies. "He's the only one not completely boring to look at."

"Er," the manager says while Niall aborts a facepalm by running his hand through his hair.

"Zain," he sighs, but beckons. "Harry, would you, please."

The long-haired one — Harry, even their names were boring — hesitates for a second before coming closer.

Zain tugs on the jacket and then tries to see why his hair looked like it had never seen a comb.

"I think something from the Dawn collection," Zain says, turning Harry's head to the side and studying his profile. There was something about him that was intriguing despite how plain he appeared at first glance. "And have someone comb his hair. Thanks, love," he adds, sending the boy towards one of the assistants.

Niall flicks his fingers at them and they hurry off, rushing to obey Zain. Zain loves how he won't have to rush himself anymore, how he won't even have to tell them what to do. If they don't start themselves, Niall will send them running.

He refrains from complaining about the rest of it, mostly for Niall's sake, and watches the shoot.

Niall elbows him a couple of times, which means he probably has a scowl on his face but he can't be bothered.

His hands itch to make the shoot better, to dress the boys better, as they always do. But this time it is worse. He watches the long-haired one — Harry — and thinks about how to dress him to make him shine more brightly, not just this dim light that seems to slumber in him.

Zain wants to dress him in his clothes and make him pose, and then undress him and pose some more. He shakes his head against the thought. He's not completely unprofessional so he forces himself to look back at the scene in front of him and let the boringness of it distract him.

☀️

Trying something new... (or probably not new)
I'm just going for it now 🤷🏻‍♀️