[PRP] Starving Artists

[TawnyAngel]

Anything was worth a try at this point.

He'd dropped his resume into more shops than he could remember, applied to countless jobs online, and so far nobody showed even the tiniest bit of interest in hiring him. He should have finished school. He shouldn't have left his job in Hoenn; that had been his dream job and he'd left it to come here and for what?... Well for good reasons, or at least what he thought were good reasons and... and....

Well that wasn't the point, the point was that right now he was pretty well stone cold broke and he needed to make some money somehow or he wasn't going to be able to pay his rent or do things that he liked doing such as eating. So it was that, without a whisper of a job, he'd taken a risk and paid out for half a stall at a craft and produce market in Sandalwood City. Having been highly anxious since arriving here in Kodo had meant that he was extra fidgety, which at least meant that he'd carved quite a large number of sculptures. These were now all packed up carefully in his huge backpack, surrounded by as much newspaper as possible so that they wouldn't get damaged in transit.

Taavi chewed nervously on his lower lip as he walked along the row of stalls that were currently being set up. His was number twenty two, or at least it was half of twenty two. He was sharing with an artist called Dominic and that was all he knew. He hoped Dominic was friendly.... Was this it? Taavi paused in front of a stall and referred to the plan of the market he was gripping in one hand like a security blanket. Well there was already somebody behind it.... He could ask? "Um... hello? Is this stall twenty two?"  

[Elusive Paradise]

"H-Huh?" The young man quickly stood up from behind the stall holding two of his paintings. His fingers were bandaged and some paint was on his shirt. He looked absolutely drained.

"Oh.... Hey." He whispered before setting the pictures down. "You're the-" He suddenly was interrupted by a long yawn. "Excuse me... You're the artist I'm gonna share this place with?" He asked while leaning on the counter. His head seemed to nod a bit before jerking up in an attempt to stay awake.

Dominic had only a little shut eye over the past week. He was mainly working on his drawings and paintings at the last minute. He had thought he had plenty of time to complete it when actually the date was sooner than he expected. Thank goodness he had signed out part of this booth before it could be taken from someone else.

After a few more moments he finally blinked awake once again before leaning his head on his hand. "I-I'm Dominic." He mumbled, forcing a sleepy smile onto his lips.  

[TawnyAngel]

Wow, somebody who looked even more tired than he felt? It was almost reassuring to know he wasn't the only one being harried by life but he felt bad for the stranger at the same time. "Um, yes that's me but I don't know if I could really claim to be an artist," he said with a smile. "My name's Taavetti but call me Taavi, nice to meet you Dominic. This is your stuff?" he asked, gesturing at the paintings that were already on display. "They're really good." Humm, what had happened to Dominic's fingers? He never could help wondering when he saw people with bandages and plasters and things but it would be seriously rude to ask and so he didn't.  

[Elusive Paradise]

He blinked a few times and wiped his eyes slightly. "Thanks." His voice was nothing but a whisper at that moment. The young man tried his best to hold his head up, but the weight of the hours he didn't sleep made his head feel like a thousand pounds. "To be honest... I kinda rushed through them." He simply shrugged before pulling up a chair and finally sitting down.

Dominic watched as other booths were being set up and couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the painter who was not to far away. He currently had the whole stall to himself filled with a bunch of his art, which seemed to be much more detailed and creative then his own. Great. More competition... He thought as he felt a small nudge on his leg. A small cyndaquil, who was covered in a bit of paint as well, stared up at his trainer curiously. He gently picked him up and set him on his lap quietly. The Pokémon gave a few joyful squeaks before turning his head to the human that was beside him. "By the way this is Vincent." Dominic said as the fire type stared up at the other.  

[TawnyAngel]

Modest? Taavi liked modest, not 'oh not it's awful please compliment me now' modest but... modest modest like that. It made him feel a bit more comfortable, like he was talking to somebody who probably wasn't going to go domineering and horrible and-

Oh, a pokemon?

Suddenly beaming Taavi carefully shrugged his bag off his shoulders, set it on the ground, and knelt so as to be on eye level with the lap-Cyndaquil. Now on a level playing field in terms of height he extended a hand out for the little fire type to smell, blinking slowly and turning his head slightly away in case it was a nervous sort. "Hello Vincent, nice to meet you as well!" Still smiling broadly Taavi looked back up at Dominic. "He looks very healthy... and... err... you look pretty tired, sorry, I hope you don't mind me saying. Would you like coffee? I brought a big flask along with me."  

[Elusive Paradise]

Vincent tilted his head before sniffing at his hand curiously. The Pokémon smiled a bit, feeling comfortable with Taavi already. Meanwhile Dominic was slumped against the counter still trying to keep his eyes open. But he looked back over to the fellow artist before nodding a bit. "Yeah... That would be..."

His eyes finally closed and his head dropped onto the counter with a small thud. "Cynda?" Vincent squeaked a bit worried. The small Pokémon then took it upon himself to wake him up by nudging his arm. He didn't respond. The Pokémon huffed a bit before crawling out of his lap and onto the counter where Dominic's head laid.

"Quil!" He squeaked before nudging his face. With that the young artist quickly sat up. "Yes! C-Coffee would be... nice." He coughed a bit before scratching the back of his head. The poor guy was pretty embarrassed about falling asleep on the spot. He blew some of his hair up and out of his face before looking down apologetically. "I'm sorry." He mumbled looking away.  

[TawnyAngel]

This was going to need more coffee than he had by the looks of it! Taavi smiled at Dominic again and shook his head. "Heh, you don't have to apologise for being tired! You've been working hard lately?" Dominic had said the paintings were rushed, were the two related? Well maybe he'd find out through further conversation but right now, coffee.

Taavi opened his pack and dug out the large flask of coffee he'd brought along with a water bottle with some milk in it and some little packets of sugar - the sort you get in coffee chain stores - and placed all the items on a spare bit of table. "Here!" he unscrewed the lid of the flask, which doubled as a cup, and gestured. "Um, I've only got one cup but if you pour a cup out into the lid I can add milk straight into the flask and drink from there."

With coffee provided he reached into his pack to start getting out the sculptures he'd brought along but ended up pausing with the first one in his hands. "Um, so how would you like to split the table space?" Taavi asked as he unwrapped the sculpture; it was a proud looking Ninetails in a sitting position made of pale wood. "I've... never actually done a faire like this before to be honest, I'm not used to setting up a proper stall."  

[Elusive Paradise]

Dominic blinked and stared down at the beautifully made sculpture. The wood gave it an interesting texture and the shape was very accurate. He was close to just buying it himself! "Wow... That looks- Wow." He mumbled scratching the back of his head.

It wasn't that often that Dominic would run into 3D artist such as this one. He couldn't help but be amazed at detail they put into the work. Add that to the fact that its three dimensional and he couldn't help but admire him. Due to being a painter he was mainly working with a flat surface most of the time. There were ways he could make his paintings look like you and reach out and touch them but in reality... They were still just pictures.

Vincent nudged his trainer once again just to bring him back to Earth. "Oh- I'll help you set them up around-" he moved a few of his paintings out of the way and pointed to the area. "Here. That should give you a little more room." Even though he saved some space for Taavi he felt as if he needed to give him a bit more room. He does have sculptures after all. "Also feel free to use most of the counter to display them too." He shrugged before sitting back down.

As the young man sat there he started at a couple other stands being put together. Some had to do with food... Other jewelry. He closed his eyes and sighed. There were quite a bunch of people around here and they seemed to be experienced here. He was hoping that he would get a good amount of money to pay for a little bit more furniture and food. But there was no guarantee for that.  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi beamed at the apparent approval and ducked his head slightly. "Um, thanks, I was quite pleased with how this one came out. Oh! Thanks!" As Dominic made some space for him Taavi started setting the pieces out. The bulk of them were smaller than the Ninetails - one or two inches tall and less detailed, pick up items that you could sell more of - but a good third were more like the first piece he'd got out, somewhere between three and six inches tall by and large and more intricate.

Once things were arranged to his satisfaction or at least he couldn't think of any way to improve things Taavi came around behind the stall, poured that cup of coffee for Dominic and held it out to him. "Um, don't know if you like milk and sugar," he said, sounding almost apologetic for his lack of knowledge about a stranger's beverage preferences. "There's a lot of different stuff around here isn't there?" he asked rhetorically as he looked about at the other stalls. "Um, heh, it's going to be hard not to go spending any money I make at them. I've just moved into a new place and I didn't bring a lot with me, um, so it's a bit bare."  

[Elusive Paradise]

The artist reached out his bandaged hand and took the coffee gratefully. "It's fine. Thanks." He whispered taking a small sip. Dominic perked up a bit when the other talked about his home. He was a bit surprised really... This guy reminded him so much like himself. The shyness as well as his passion. They weren't exactly alike but they had a great amount of similar qualities.

"Heh ... Just moved to this island. Not sure if I mentioned it already. So.. y-yeah. Kinda running low on cash." A soft sigh escaped his lips before drinking more of the caffeinated drink. It seems as if he was beginning to wake up a bit. His posture was a lot straighter plus his eyes could actually stay open. Besides his slightly disheveled appearance and yawning, he could actually function. Dominic would have probably fell asleep on a customer if Taavi wasn't there.

"Also thanks for the, uh, pick me up..." A gentle smile tugged at his mouth before swallowing the last drop. Wow... This guy was pretty cool. He made a mental note to repay him for the favor he has done for him today. Maybe once he gets some furniture and cleans up his place then he could bring him over. Then again... When was this guy organized. Right now his house mainly consisted of the necessities: a bed, an oven, a stove, a sink, a toilet, and a shower. This was actually one of the most cheapest places he could find here yet it still was a bit over his budget. Luckily his family gave him a bit more just to take care of his first month there. But now it was running dry. He's barely making it by with the paintings he sells on occasions.

Dominic's thoughts finally came to a halt when he heard the other begin to speak again. "Yeah... Hopefully I'll resist-" His brown orbs land onto a small place where a couple was selling some sandwiches. They were laying down the menu and prices for the food. "...The... temptation." He finally added as he watched the man begin to take out different ingredients. Vincent even kept his eyes on the other stall, sniffing the aroma. Even though Dominic was planning on getting something during noon he was starting to rethink it. His hunger was stronger than before.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah, you're welcome, and you too?" Taavi topped up the cup - he'd brought quite a lot of coffee - and then took a sip from the flask; he liked his coffee with milk and sugar really but Dominic seemed to like it black and so seen as he was sharing it would be a bit rude to pollute the source of caffeine with unwanted sweetness and whiteness.

"I moved here about a month ago from Hoenn," Taavi continued by way of explaining the 'you too?'. "I've been looking for a job but, eh, no luck yet. This is a bit of a, um, last ditch attempt to make some money so that I can buy food and also pay rent next week not one or the other! Paying for space here is a bit of a gamble I guess but I've not got a lot of other options right now...." Taavi too found himself looking at the sandwich stall, the options on the menu sounded a lot better than what he'd brought along. Oh well! You couldn't have everything in life he guessed. Still, they sounded like really good sandwiches and somebody over there was doing pulled pork rolls. "Lots of temptation."