Who: Annie Cresta and Portia What: Portia has a proposition for Annie When: 4 March 2015, afternoon Where: Random street fair! Warnings: Low for Panem standards! Status: Log | Complete
Portia loved street fairs, you met the most amazing people there and some of the talent was an untapped resource. Today Portia was after some inspiration, her latest designs weren’t working as well as she had hoped. The studio were happy but Portia herself wasn’t, she needed something more and hoped to find it here. Be it a physical or inspirational find.
So long as Annie focused on making jewellery or working and not about Panem and what would happen in her dreams, she was okay. The trick was to stay focused and pray that nothing else came up that would send her spiraling. So far, so good. As she tended to be, Annie had set up shop at a local street fair and had her display set up.
She had been there for about an hour and had already made a few sales, but things had quieted down for the time and so Annie had started to work on another piece. While she wasn’t using the shell making kit from the dreams, she did find that some of her work was being more influenced by Panem, about what she felt and the madness in her mind from what she had endured. As if it was a way to work through it all. Whatever it was, they seemed to sell, so there was that at least.
Portia noticed Annie as soon as she saw her, recognised the young woman immediately from her dreams. She skirted around the stall for a little while, wondering if it was a good idea to approach her. Portia had no idea how vulnerable the girl would be here but her curiosity and attraction to the jewellery made her approach. She may not even recognise Portia.
Stepping forward she smiled, “Hello” she said, “Your work is beautiful. How long have you been making it?”
Street fairs were one of the few places Annie didn’t jump when someone approached her, mostly because it was expected that people would come up randomly. As such she blinked and looked up and smiled some.
“Thank you.”
There was something about her, though Annie couldn’t quite place it. As if she had seen her in passing somewhere. If that somewhere was Orange County or the dreams, she really didn’t know. The breaking up of her sleep into short intervals had helped some, she wasn’t as exhausted as she had been previously, but she could tell that there were still some side effects. A slight tremor if she wasn’t working but she managed to still her hands even so.
“Most of my life, really. I’ve been selling it for a few years though.”
Portia was glad she didn't jump, and while she seemed shy there was nothing yet to outwardly indicate a delicateness like in the dreams. For that Portia was grateful.
"It's lovely. Very original and that isn't something seen very often nowadays" she complimented, "I wonder do you ever take commissions or would you consider it?" she asked.
The trick was not to sleep long. While Annie was fairly certain things couldn’t get worse than the arena, while she dreaded the day she would feel an earthquake because she knew they were common, she still didn’t want to see what would come next. Nothing good could ever come from Panem and the longer she kept the dreams at bay, she felt the better.
When she was asked about commissions, Annie gave a slight nod.
“I have before, though not often. Did you have something in particular you were looking for?”
Really, Annie just liked being able to use her hands and create. Now more than ever, it was as if she created something that could be seen as beautiful, it made up for the darkness and death of Panem. She hadn’t even killed anyone, yet it hung on her, suffocating her like the water from the flood.
Portia had done the not sleeping thing for a while, but eventually you end up crashing and that was never a pretty sight. The dreams had rushed at her when it had happened. But maybe it would work for others.
“Well that’s the thing. I’m not really sure” Portia said with a smile before reaching into her bag for her sketchbook. “I’m a stylist and I just feel that there’s something missing from a couple of my latest ideas. I think this - you - might be the answer” she smiled holding out the pad for Annie to see.
There was that part of her, deep down, that knew her sleep patterns were going to end up making things worse. She’d gone through it before, but she still refused to sleep for long periods of time. It always seemed safer. Logic wasn’t always present though when it came to the terror of the Games.
Being told she might be the answer to a stylist problem was certainly not what Annie had anticipated when she woke up that morning. Placing the piece she was working on down, she leaned forward to look at the sketches.
“I think I could come up with something for your designs.”
Logic was definitely not always there when it came to the dreams, that was very true for a lot of people. Portia was lucky in a way that hers had ended, even if it was in a horrible way and that she had repeats only very occasionally.
“It would be wonderful if you could” Portia said, “You’d get full credit if I used them of course. It’s for a film you see” she explained, “I’m sure it would no doubt lead to more work for you”
Designing potential pieces for a film? That would certainly be a new experience for Annie, and one that she could use to focus all of her nervous energy, which..was definitely something she needed at the moment. She did light up some though at the idea, simply because it would be an interesting challenge.
“What sort of film?”
Because that was something to take into consideration. She would get most of her inspiration from Portia’s designs and the outfits, but knowing what sort of film it was would give her just that extra bit.
“It’s an action film, set in kind of an egyptian alternate world” Portia explained, “I have some of the storyboards here” she rummaged in her bag and produced some more sketches this time from production design so that Annie could get a better idea of the film.
Action, which meant that whatever she designed would have to be durable. That was good to know, it also gave her an idea on what sort of materials she would need to use. Looking over the sketches for the production design, Annie worried her lower lip in thought before pulling out her own sketchbook to get some very basic ideas out that she could embellish on.
Nodding to herself, Annie looked back up at Portia with a slight smile.
“Yes, I can definitely work with this if you want me to.”
“I would love you to” Portia nodded in response, “I really do love your work. You have a good eye” she complimented before pulling out her business card, “This has all my contact details on it, would it be okay if you worked something up and then give me a call?” she asked.
“Thank you.” Taking the business card, Annie put it in supply box before turning her attention back to Portia, “I can do that.” This would definitely be a new experience but she was looking forward to it.