Ellie (bluecapped) wrote in darkcarnivale, @ 2011-11-15 17:37:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | arkady von wulf, ellette fairfellow |
WHO: Ellie and Arkady
WHAT: It's a slow day for face paint and a certain ringmaster happens by
WHERE: The Midway, Ellie's booth
WHEN: During carnival hours, evening
RATING: Low
STATUS Complete
It was quite a rare occurrence to see Ellie without a smile on her face. Anyone who knew her well enough knew that fact very well. So why exactly was she sitting at her booth, chin propped up in her hands with a big pout on her lips? Well, that was easily enough explained. It was a slow day! Her job was always such fun to do, but there wasn't any fun to be had if no one came around to get their face painted. Sure, she'd painted a couple of performer's faces at their request, but she'd only gotten three or so customers that came up to her otherwise. No fun. No fun at all! As it was, she was just sitting there in her chosen costume for the night with her wings slowly and lazily fluttering open and closed. She'd glamoured them to look more like butterfly wings to match the detail on her dress and changed their color a bit. Black veins on light blue to match both her dress and the striped tights she wore. Her feet kicked back and forth as she waited to see if someone would stop and get their face painted. Who didn't love getting their face painted? Really?
Arkady was walking along the midway, surveying his kingdom of sorts; dressed in black jeans and a Ministry shirt he was a far cry from the top hat and tails of his ringmaster ensemble, his dreadlocks tied neatly back into a ponytail down his upper back. He spotted the face painting booth and Ellie's inactivity, the pout on her full lips, and a smile touched his own as he headed over. "Slow evening, Ellette?" he asked kindly, his hands in his hip pockets, casual. Surprisingly not authoritative.
Bright blue eyes had been following the paths of different people as they passed her by. None of them stopped, and so that pout stayed right at home on her lips. It was such a bummer when nobody came by! There was only so much she could do. Painting her own face came to mind. For once she'd come out to work without any sort of design on her face. She was pondering what she could do (perhaps a butterfly mask?) when someone talking to her brought her out of her reverie. The voice was familiar, of course. It was the boss-man, after all. And even if he was standing there casually, Ellie couldn't quite help the sudden way she straightened up. She actually almost lost her balance and fell off the high stool she was sitting on behind the booth...thankfully she didn't, though. "Um...yes. There's not a lot of kids and I guess this crowd in particular just isn't all that into it?"
"Perhaps advertising," he suggested, a little smile touching his lips, only the tiniest peek of fangs. "We could have a big sign made, maybe some sort of vouchers for the rousties to hand out on the midway for a discount on face painting. It won't do to have our lovely little artist bored," he said, studying the rows and pots of skin-safe paint on the table.
"Maybe. All the signs I've had on the booth so far I made myself...but I sort of have this problem where I get bored of them and then start working on a new one because I find fun things to put on it...and then sometimes I don't finish because I get distracted by something else..." Her hands had come up to play with the ends of her hair idly as she realized she was rambling a little. Slightly embarrassing. She kind of couldn't help it, though. Whenever she found a person intimidating, she tended to ramble. Arkady was definitely nice, but the residual intimidation was still there, at least a bit. "But um, if you wouldn't mind the advertising, that'd be nice."
"Of course," he said with a tilt of his head. "Not a worry. We'll look into it for sure." He folded his arms over his chest slowly, then gave her a small smile. "If only I was a bit younger, and perhaps without the beard, you could paint me quite fearsomely. I might be good advertising as well." He gestured to the chair usually reserved for a client. "May I? Do you mind the company?"
"I don't mind at all," she said, smiling a little bit herself. "And I dunno. There's always the face paint designs that go around the eyes. Those are always nice as an alternative to the full face, I find." That was the type of design she normally did on herself to match her costumes. "But I agree, you would be good advertising."
He sat down, his legs long enough that the boots were still planted firmly on the sawdust of the midway walkway. "I had an idea that involves you, and I thought I might pitch it to you while you're not too busy," he began, a little smile on his lips. "I'm thinking of ways to promote us... ways to generate revenue. Merchandise. Perhaps a calendar, a professional photoshoot of each carnival member..."
An idea. Just mention of an idea was more than enough to get her to perk up a little. Wings fluttering a little faster. She was clearly interested in what he had to say, and she listened intently as he went on about promoting the carnival and ways to do that. "Oh...a calendar? That sounds like it'd be fun! I don't think anyone would say no to that." Including herself, of course.
"I thought perhaps you could help me come up with ideas for it, since you're such an artist," he continued with a gentle smile. "You know, decide the elements of makeup and costuming... help our costumier come up with some ideas for trademark looks for each person. Maybe some face or body paint..."
If she hadn't already seemed excited to begin with, it was clearly apparent when he mentioned helping with ideas for a calendar. Her eyes widened a little bit in surprise, but right after she was smiling in a way that could rival the sun. "Really?" She didn't really think she was that spectacular as compared to the other artistically inclined members of the carnival. "I mean...I'd love to! Really, I would. It sounds like it'd be a lot of fun!"
"Good," he said with a nod of his head. "I'm very glad to hear that. I think you can really bring a lot of energy and life to it." He shrugged his thin shoulders. "Perhaps you can collaborate with... what's her name... the costume girl. Charlene?" he asked with a tiny wince of guilt. He'd only met her once very briefly in passing, and wasn't entirely sure of her identity here. "Perhaps the two of you can go around speaking to various employees to see what they'd like to do, if they have ideas for their sessions. I'd like to have it completed very soon in time to sell them before January."
"Yes, Charlene works with the costumes. She seems really nice." To be honest, she was much the kind of person that Ellie got along with rather easily. They were similar, at least a little bit. Enough to perhaps become friends. "I can ask her about it. I know she's looking to get to know more people here, since she's new and all. That'd be a good way to do it." It would kill two birds with one stone, actually. "Was there any kind of overarching theme you were looking to do?"
"It's 2012... would it be the most cliche thing in the world to have a post-apocalyptic theme?" he asked honestly, seeking her opinion. He was a little out of touch with things that were 'cool' or 'hip'; most of it just felt a little bit dated when he said it, though the gods knew he tried his best.
"Hm...well, I feel like enough people buy into the whole 'the world's gonna end' thing for it to not be cliche. And if you style it well, it'd look pretty cool. Like...barren land in the background for the world that's come to an end and then the costumed carnival members in the foreground." She tapped her chin, taking a second to think. "They could look like survivors of the apocalypse, or they could contrast by being dressed extravagantly against the "destroyed world" in the background..." She was just giving ideas off the top of her head, to be honest.
"Yeah, I like it," he said with a nod. "Having them truly extravagant and elegant in front of a desolate background... perhaps we can shoot it after the carnival closes, when the lights go out, using a long exposure." He pursed his lips a bit. "I'll approach Silas about the photographic aspects, since he'll be handling that part of it. But you and Charlene can head over the styling coordination if you like."
"That sounds like it would work." Not that she really knew all that much about photography. Even living with Silas didn't help with that. She just wasn't good with cameras. "This is so exciting! I can't wait to get started." Just thinking about it had her mind going to quite a few places all at once. And the work hadn't even begun! "Are you going to just do the main acts, though? I mean, there's only twelve months in a year. I imagine you might have to group some of them together?"
"I thought we'd group some, like the burlesque girls would be one month, the game operators one month perhaps..." he said, shrugging. "Or we could pair them up in a different way, do groups based on something else entirely. I'll leave that up to you and Charlene to decide."
"I think grouping them that way would make sense. But I guess there's other ways to do it. I can brainstorm with Charlene and we can figure it out." Even as she talked about it she was smiling. There was something to be said for little projects getting this particular fae excited. "Maybe we can put you on the front. The ringmaster is really important. Without you, none of us would be here."
"Oh, no, not the front," he laughed. "Not me. Find someone a bit prettier, yes?" he suggested with a wide grin, his fangs gleaming and pale in his perfect smile. "I am not one to sell it. Perhaps something truly spectacular on the front, or someone very beautiful."
"But you're the ringmaster! What's a circus or a carnival without the ringmaster? It wouldn't have to be just you. Maybe you and some others...like a couple of the burlesque girls or something." She shrugged a little bit. "It's just an idea. It just seems like the ringmaster's a really important person."
"We flaunt who we are because there's no reason to hide," he said philosophically, quietly. "We are who we are, and the humans accept it, they know it. They realize that we are unusual and beautiful, and that is why they are drawn here. The photos will only make us look more unobtainable, more desirable. It will keep us in their minds long after we've left their city."
"It's a good statement to make. A good impression to leave." She was trying to put the vision together in her head already. "This really is a great idea. And I'm sure everyone else will agree. Or at least...most everyone else will."
"If they don't want to be photographed then of course we can't force them," he said with a nod. "I'll let you break the news to the others, while you two are coordinating the shoots. I couldn't think of someone more perfect," Arkady smiled.
She grinned, considerably happier than she had been. "Okay, sounds good." This was just so exciting! "I really can't wait. This is going to be such a fun project."
"I'm glad," he said, folding his arms over his knees. "It'll be fun, I think. I'm very pleased that you're so excited about the idea." He glanced at her pots again, eyeing the paint, then smiled at her. "Anything else exciting going on?"
"Exciting...well, I'm glad to have a trailermate. It's nice getting to know Silas." They were both different, obviously, but they got along. Sharing a space wasn't a hardship by any means. "And I just found my two hundred and fiftieth ring the other day. It was quite off-putting to have a collection that only had two hundred and forty-nine."
"Oh, very interesting. I'm glad you have a nice round number now," he said with a nod of his head, a little smile on his lips. "Two hundred and fifty is quite a sum. Very impressive. And I'm glad you're getting along with Silas.. it's astonishing how few reassignments we've had to have."
"Well, I've been looking for these things for fifty years or so now, so I feel like two hundred and fifty is a good number. Though I know better bluecaps that would be far past that by now." She was not the best. Not by any means. Not that anyone else would know that. "It's a good kind of astonishing, though, right? People getting along is the goal and all."
"What's your magic number?" he asked her curiously. "What're you trying to get to? Three hundred? Four? Five?" he teased a bit, smiled at her with a little tilt of his head.
"I don't really have a magic number. I just keep looking for things because I can't help myself. So if it gets to three hundred or four or five, it's just all the more treasures to count!" Which was entirely true. "Finding shiny things is hard-wired for me. The more shinies I have, the better."
He nodded and tightened his grip on his own torso with that self-hug. "I may have a few that I can give you in payment for this job. Some that you'd enjoy."
Of course there was automatic intrigue when he mentioned offering her shiny things. She wanted to know what they looked like and what they were made of. But on the other hand, she knew that they were his possessions. "You don't have to if you don't want to..."
"I want to. You do a very good job here, Ellette, and I owe you for your loyalty." He nodded slowly and touched her forearm with his fingertips, the lacquered black nails. "I won't keep you for long, my dear. I just wanted to ask you that."
"Thank you. I try and do a good job because this is such a wonderful place. Can't help but be loyal." She smiled a bit, blue eyes shining all the while. "It was nice talking to you, though. If the mood ever strikes and you want me to paint your face, you can always come back."
"I certainly will," he assured her with a smile, then stood up gracefully, his body moving fluid and lithe. He leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek, his lips cool and professional, and then leaned away again, moving toward the main midway. "You keep me posted on your progress, Ellie. I'm very interested to hear what you come up with," he said over his shoulder.
The kiss to her cheek had her smiling and she gave a little wave as he started back onto the midway. "I will, definitely. There's already a bunch of ideas bouncing around in my head." She chuckled some. "Bye, Arkady." Her mind was still turning over idea after idea. This was going to be such fun.