Modeling

Dove's second yoga class of the day goes about as well as she could have hoped, after the last one. Only one student actually undresses when invited to do so, but nobody is bothered enough by her or the student's nudity to leave early. The whole class is still very distracted, of course.

After the afternoon class is finished, Dove decides to walk a small lap around to the city's remaining rift hotspots, both to support her friends and to spend some more time outdoors. By now she's starting to enjoy the reactions of onlookers, whether they watch her with a stunned expression or try to ignore her and awkwardly pretend everything is normal. The sun is starting to feel pretty hot against her body, so she does her best to walk through the shade whenever she can. Before long she reaches the rift hotspot near the park, where Heph and Merlin are currently on lookout.

Heph is the first to see Dove approach, and his shock at her lack of clothing causes him to fumble the hammer he's been idly tossing up and down, though he barely manages to recover it before it hits the ground. "What the...Dove, is that you? You look, uh...different!" The blacksmith-turned-artist blushes deeply and covers his face with one arm as he glances back and forth between Dove and Merlin, as if looking for permission from his wife to be looking at Dove right now.

Merlin, for her part, has adopted a concerned expression. "Oh dear...Dove, did you forget something important before you left home today?"

Dove giggles cheerfully at the married couple's reactions; seeing people jump at the sight of her is quickly becoming one of her favorite things about being nude in public. "Heehee, nope! Me being naked is one hundred percent on purpose!"

"I see..." Merlin turns to Heph and gives him a subtle nod, causing him to relax, and then she smiles at Dove. "In that case, may I ask what made you decide to *cast* aside your clothing?"

Dove can't help but giggle again at the witch's pun. "Well, I was getting out of the shower this morning, when I realized I could take some of the fun of showering with me by just staying nude all day. It's been a bit of an adventure, but I have no regrets! How are you two today?"

Merlin nods understandingly. "I can certainly imagine how this decision of yours would lead to many exciting experiences. As for us, we've been getting along just fine, although we've yet to find anyone with a connection to the rifts."

"Ah, well, I'm sure it isn't your fault, Merlin! They must be hiding pretty well, but they can't hide from all of us forever!"
Dove turns to Merlin's husband. "How's your art coming along, Heph?"

"Oh, it's been great! Now that there aren't as many rifts opening around my studio, I've had plenty of time to work on it." Heph's relaxed expression suddenly perks up. "Hold on, I just had an idea! Dove, how would you feel about modeling?"

"Modeling? Me?" Dove's eyes widen in surprise before she starts bouncing with glee. "Why, I'd be honored! Why do you ask?"

Heph smiles as he begins to explain. "Well, I've been wanting to make a sculpture of the human form lately, and it would help a lot if I had somebody to model for it."

Merlin chimes in, looking a bit sheepish. "I tried being Heph's model, but I had trouble standing still for very long...but you do yoga, right Dove? Maybe you would be better for it?"

"It, uh, also doesn't hurt that you're comfortable without any clothes on..." Heph blushes and awkwardly avoids eye contact, with Dove's eyes or any other part of her body.

"True, I do know how to hold a pose..." Dove considers the proposal for a moment before nodding enthusiastically. "If it's for your art, Heph, then I'd be happy to do it! Would tomorrow be a good time? I don't have any classes then."

"Sure, that works for me!" Heph smiles proudly. "The sooner the better, so...let's do it at 9:00 AM. Make sure you're well rested, well fed, and hydrated, but not too hydrated."

"Got it!" Dove lets out a relaxed sigh. "Well, it was lovely seeing you two, but I might be getting a little too much sun, so I should start heading home. I'll see you both tomorrow!"

Merlin waves to Dove as she strolls off. "Bye Dove, have a good night!"

Dove's walk home turns out to be relatively uneventful, and she starts preparing herself a dinner of mushrooms and cooked broccoli when she gets back to her apartment. She gets out her phone and decides to check Harmonie's social media pages to see if any pictures of herself have been posted, and finds there are indeed pictures of Dove in several yoga stretches, completely nude and without any censoring, aside from an "NSFW" warning that has to be cleared before the pictures will show. These posts seem to have a lot more likes and comments than Harmonie's other posts, and not all of the comments are friendly, but then again, Dove has learned by now that the internet isn't exactly a friendly place. She shrugs and smiles slightly; at least she was right to think that some people would be happy to see her naked.

When it starts to get dark outside, Dove grabs a small towel and sits on her couch to watch a TV show and then does a few more stretches to get ready for bed. She goes to sleep naked, of course; as comfortable as her pajamas are, why change what's been working so well for her all day?

~

The next morning, Dove eats a breakfast of toast with butter substitute and grape jam, and hops in the shower again. She's not sure if she'll ever get enough of rubbing soaps, shampoos, and conditioners all over her body while water sprays down on her from above. But of course, water isn't free, and she has somewhere to be today. She gets out of the shower without much hesitation and dries off, using the blow dryer for her hair again, and then remembers to pack a towel today as she sets out for Heph's art studio, still nude.

The cool morning breeze energizes Dove to jog and skip a little along the sidewalk, and it doesn't take her too long to make it across town and reach Heph's art gallery. She pauses on her way to the studio to admire a few of his sculptures; most of them seem to have themes of strength and valor, but there are also a few simple busts and vases. The door to the studio is closed, but Heph opens the door to let her in only a moment after she knocks.

"Ah, good morning, Dove! Ready to model?" Heph is still blushing as he greets Dove, but he doesn't seem too nervous now, though he does seem to be making a rather strong effort to look Dove in the eye.

"Good morning Heph! I'm ready, just show me where to go and how you want me to pose!" Dove smiles and nods eagerly.

"Sure, right this way!" Heph leads Dove through his studio, straight to the opposite end from his metal forge; she can't imagine the artist would let her anywhere near that with her entire body as exposed as it is. He directs her to stand on a round, raised platform. "Now, turn your head a little to the side, with one hand up near your collarbone, and your other hand on your thigh...perfect! Think you can hold that for a couple hours?"

Dove almost nods, but instead only moves her mouth to speak. "I think so, this isn't too difficult."

"Good! Now, this platform rotates slowly so I can look at you from every angle. I'll let you know when I'm about to turn you around, so try to keep your balance. I'll be right back!" Heph walks off to wash his hands and grab a large hunk of moist clay, and then he stands at a workbench a short distance from the platform to get started on his sculpture.

Dove occupies herself by doing some breathing exercises and thinking relaxing thoughts. Staying frozen like this for such a long time isn't exactly comfortable for her, but she commits herself to not moving at all (except to breathe and blink) to make sure Heph's sculpture turns out just right. Every few minutes or so, Heph warns Dove before pressing a button on his workbench that rotates the platform very slowly, which helps keep Dove from getting too bored. It also helps when Merlin stops by about an hour in to say hello to the artist and his model, though she is careful to avoid getting too close to the platform or the workbench and risk damaging the rotation mechanism with her magical aura. Both husband and wife are happy to give Dove a few words of encouragement every so often, and Dove lets herself smile ever so slightly to show her appreciation.

When Dove is turned to be able to see Heph working, she notices how focused and serious he has become. While before he was nervous to look at Dove's body, now he looks deeply into every detail and curve with no hint of shame, but still a great deal of respect. She admires how delicately he molds the clay into her image; it didn't take long for him to make the general shape of her, instead spending the majority of time on the smaller details, such as her toes, her hair, and even her vulva.

Dove finds herself facing away from Heph later on, daydreaming about some squirrels she saw in the park recently, when Heph speaks up loudly and proudly. "Aaaand done! You can move again, Dove!"

"Ah..." Dove lets out a sigh of relief and does some stretching before she steps down from the platform. She approaches the workbench to get a better look at the work of art she helped to create. What she sees is a beige, miniature statue of herself, standing about a foot and a half tall but with remarkably accurate proportions. "Wow, it looks just like me! I bet even King and Queen would have trouble finding anything bad to say about this! Uh, if they're still allowed to look at your art, of course."

Heph grins at Dove's praise. "Thank you! And yeah, I actually do still let them come here, but only when Merlin and I are both there to keep an eye on them. They have some pretty good insight when I'm not a target for them. But anyway, you did a great job modeling, Dove. Here you go!" Heph pulls a hundred dollar bill out of his pocket and hands it to Dove.

Dove stares at the money, hesitating to take it. "Oh, Heph, you don't have to! Having a sculpture made in my image is easily enough of a reward for this!"

Heph chuckles at Dove's generosity. "Nonsense, you earned this! Besides, it's still a lot less than what a professional model would charge."

Dove takes the payment and gives Heph a tight hug. "Thank you, Heph, you're the best!"

Heph awkwardly hugs back with just his elbows, probably because his hands still have clay on them. "If you say so, Dove. I guess this city's lucky to have both of us in it during a time like this, huh?"

As Dove steps aside to store her money in her purse, she hears her phone jingle, signaling that she's received a text. She glances at Heph, who has gone to store the sculpture in a safe place while it dries, and then gets out her phone to read the message.