It had been a few days since his meeting with the owner of the gallery and since he'd been invited to present some pieces of his work in the art show and Justin still couldn't quite believe it. Sure, he'd done art shows before and sold pieces at them, but it had been awhile since he'd been so busy for the last few years with Black Widow. Now that the show was ending, Justin had been looking for other jobs in the art departments of other TV shows and movies and while he had a few prospects, this art show would really help him get some exposure.
He had attempted to figure out what pieces he was going to display in the show at home, but for one reason or another he'd constantly gotten distracted so he'd decided to go out and find somewhere else to do it and that had led him to Baxter's Bakery where he was currently sitting in a booth, a piece of chocolate cake half eaten on a plate and coffee cup empty as he make a list of the pieces he was going to use in the show, various doodles and sketches adorned the page around his list.
Being mostly one of the bakers and not one of the baristas, Peeta’s shifts started early, but that meant he got to leave early. He’d grabbed his coffee, headed out, then went to open his car only to realize that he’d forgotten his keys. At least he had nowhere to be. He collected his keys with a bit of a laugh, but on his way out this time he got distracted.
“Hey,” Peeta said, leaning over a bit to motion at one of the sketches, “that’s really great. Er - Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Justin looked up at the sound of someone else's voice and smiled at the compliment, "Thanks. That's just a quick sketch, but I'll always take a compliment where it's given." He set down his pen and turned slightly so it was easier to look up at the other guy, "And it's fine. I get it all the time." Whenever Justin was out in public, with his sketch pad, he tended to attract attention. Everyone always wanted to know what he was drawing.
“I’m jealous,” Peeta replied, laughing a bit, “most of my quick sketches don’t look nearly that refined. Maybe my medium-paced ones. But they’re good. Yours, I mean, are good.” He smiled and shrugged.
“Thanks,” Justin enjoyed meeting other artists and talking to them about their own art and now was no exception, “How long have you been at it?” He asked, picking up his coffee cup to find it empty then setting it back down on the table. He’d make a note to get more later.
“Not long,” Peeta admitted. “My paintings are better than my sketches or drawings, and I’ve been painting since maybe around five or six years. I only just took up drawing maybe about a year or so ago.”
"I enjoy painting too. I'm currently working on painting a mural on an old car." The idea had been to work on it with Gaz and Miguel, but unfortunately they had both left town recently. "This might sound strange, but if you're not in a hurry, you can have a seat." He gestured towards the empty bench opposite him, "I always enjoy talking art with people."
“Nah, I don’t really have anywhere to be,” Peeta said, quite happily taking the empty seat opposite. “That sounds like a really great project, actually. Are you going to display it anywhere, or is just one of those just-for-fun things? Oh - I’m Peeta, by the way.”
Justin had thought about that very thing and honestly, he wanted to display it somewhere, he just didn’t know where, “I’d love to display it when it’s done. Just have to find a place that’ll display it.” He said, picking up his pen again and tapping the tip of it on the paper lightly, “I’m Justin. It’s always nice to meet a fellow artist.” He smiled.
“I’m sure it won’t be too hard.” There were all sorts of artist communities around, after all. And, hey, Peeta would love to see it. “I agree. I don’t run into artists as often I’d think I might. Outside of school, I mean.”
“I actually seem to run into other artists at random. I met a girl on the beach a little while back who just happened to be sketching me while I was surfing,” Justin had put Clary’s sketch up on his fridge partly so that he wouldn’t lose it and partly because he wanted to display it, because it was so good. “Did you go to art school or was it just a hobby?”
“Huh, that’s funny, then.” Maybe Peeta just wasn’t spending his time in the right places. “Totally just a hobby. I’m studying studio arts at UCLA, but that’s not really art school either, is it? I thought about it but there’s so much else I want to learn at the same time. Maybe after.”
“What else do you want to learn?” Maybe Justin was a little nosey, but he was curious if the other things that Peeta wanted to study were art related as well as what he wanted to do with art in the long run. Sometimes he thought that maybe he should have become an art teacher himself, because of how interested he was in other people’s art, but there were so many other things Justin wanted to do in the art world and teaching wouldn’t hold his attention long enough.
“I don’t know, everything?” Peeta laughed and shrugged, sipping at his coffee. “I’m doing fashion, too. I love traditional art like painting, but I really want to get into movies. Special effects makeup and all that.”
“That’s pretty cool. I’ve been working in TV for a few years now. I’ve been doing storyboards for Black Widow.” Justin said, picking up his pen and tapping the end against the table, “Have you done that kind of makeup before? Just for fun or anything?”
“Really? That’s amazing. I love that show.” Peeta couldn’t believe how many cool people he was suddenly meeting lately. “Really I’ve only done it for fun. I did some of it in high school, toned down stuff for school plays and all. But I love it.”
Justin nodded, “Yeah, but now that it’s ending, I need to find another job. So, it’s a good thing that I’ve got an art show interested in some of my stuff.” He really was looking forward to this art show, mostly because he was looking forward to bringing Billy and inviting his friends to attend. “I’m hoping to find work on a movie or something like that next. Are you familiar with a message board community called Valarnet? If you’re looking into the whole makeup thing, you might be able to ask around there for help.”
Peeta listened, because, really, he found Justin interesting. But he perked up and nodded, and laughed a bit. “Yeah! A lot of people that work here are on it, so they just recently got me to join. Actually, so far it’s been great. Everyone there is really helpful.”
“I’ve met a lot of people through it since I joined. I actually met my boyfriend through Valarnet,” Justin smirked as he mentioned Billy even if it wasn’t by name, “I think there was a girl recently who said she was a stylist.” Justin couldn’t remember her name, but it had been someone new, he was pretty sure.
“Aw, cute,” Peeta laughed, but he meant it. He was such a people person, the idea of such a welcoming community just seemed great. “Well, I keep my eyes out for stuff like that. And you, too, I guess. Since we’re both on there.” He drank down more of his coffee. “Maybe I’ll let you get back to what you were doing, though. And stop bothering you.”
“Well, it was nice to meet you, Peeta. I’m sure we’ll see each other again,” Justin smirked, getting to his feet with his mug in hand, intending to get a refill on his coffee, “I mean, this place has some of the best coffee I’ve had, so I’ll definitely be back.” It was much better than Starbucks or another chain type coffee shop. “And it was no bother. I like meeting new people.”
“It was good meeting you, too.” Peeta got up as well and gave Justin a smile. “I’ll keep my eyes open for you. Here and on the net,” he added. “Have a good one!” Peeta gave Justin a wave as he turned to head out.