Chapter 243: Fake Filters, Real Disgrace
** Eli **
It took Eli the will of steel to keep his feet planted inside the photo booth, instead of scurrying away as fast as he could through the curtains that tempted him with an easy escape.
"Let’s see what we’ve got here ..." Harper, on the other hand, was already tapping excitedly on the machine, browsing through the menu that Eli had no courage to look at. "Oh, this must be an ancient Rome themed booth. See this gladiator outfit? It must look so perfect on you!"
Hmm, gladiator? That sounded just about ten thousand times better than what he was imagining.
Tentatively, Eli let his eyes land on the screen. It turned out that the photo booth worked in a similar way to those beautifying selfie apps, applying filters to modify certain features of a person’s face or clothing. There were easily hundreds of presets on the menu, each one with a different design of costumes and makeup, and to be honest, the one that Harper was considering at the moment ... wasn’t all that bad.
"Are these muscles real or added with a filter?" He leaned in closer, studying the sample picture curiously. Maybe he had actually misinterpreted Harper’s intention. She simply wanted a delicious photo of him with those shiny abs and rippling biceps.
"What, you think someone truly has muscles like this in real life? Of course it’s all edited special effects!" Harper huffed, darting an unimpressed look at the model on the sample. "Especially considering the target market that comes here ... You think a bodybuilder is going to get inside a photo booth at an arcade?"
"... Yeah, if they’ve got a bossy girlfriend." Eli spoke the truth innocently. "And hey, that’s also quite a judgy thought. I can easily prove you wrong. Just give me some body oil and really, really harsh lighting. I’ll make you a poster-quality photo just like that one, without fake filters."
He flexed his arms, meaning the challenge.