Entry tags:

!complete, mike lane, minato namikaze

Who: Minato Namikaze and Mike Lane
What: Going to see an old friend
When: Sometime before this log
Where: Mike's Showroom
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Closed/Complete Upon Posting

He'd been in the market for a few new pieces for his home since he'd moved to Orange County. Minato, however, hadn't found anything that really suited his needs, or suited the look of his home at present. Modern furniture wasn't hard to come by, no, but he wanted something more personalized.

Minato had been given Mike's card from a girl he'd had a little fling with not too long after arriving in the OC. She'd told him that he'd done work for their office, and that he should check him out. Minato had been meaning to get by Mike's place, but time was not on his side, and life in the OC sorta took him away for a bit.

He'd shown up around midday, a smile on his face as he walked through the doors and asked to speak to the boss man. It didn't surprise Minato to see that Mike still looked the same as he had the last time he saw him, and a bright smile broke out across his face. "Well, well, well. Lookie who I found." He laughed, moving over to Mike to shake his hand. "Man, it's been awhile."

~*~

Mike shook Minato's hand with a grin, "Too long. What can I help you with? I'm sure I can make you a good deal on anything I have ready to go as-is or if you're looking for custom work? I do furnishing art these days."

They had been friends for a while in the scene. Friendship was a strange thing where the scene was concerned because being friends? That was its own fad. It was possible to be someone's friend only for the sake of keeping in trend. Mike had gotten schooled by 'friends' in the past on how it worked. Minato was the solid kind who didn't believe in following trend where friendship was concerned.

"Sounds fancy, right? It just means I can charge more for my found-art furniture. I've gotten some really interesting things donated to the cause, too. You'd be amazed what people send me to try to get me to make something out of their contribution so I'll tag them on Twitter and Instagram and every other social media fad out there now."

~*~

"Nah man, I wouldn't be. People are social media whores these days." Of course, Minato could be found on all social media platforms and he did post regularly. "Like I'm one to talk about that." He rolled his eyes, and then chuckled softly.

Minato wasn't one to dump friends, if he could help it that was. He and Mike had just fallen out of touch, that was all, and he'd never meant to do that actually but life had taken him back to New York and he'd gotten busy.

That was life for you.

He glanced around, "Maybe you can show me what you've got in stock right now, and see if there's anything that I think will work." He pulled out his cell phone from his pocket, and quickly went through his pictures until he landed onto a shot of his living room. It was modern, sleek and light due to all of the windows that faced the beach.

"This is what I'm working with. I'd like to look at shelving, because I'm obviously lacking in that department in the living room." He looked over at Mike, "You think you got anything that'll work?"

~*~

"I've got some things I think might work. You have always struck me as someone who was a part of their natural world order. Always. I call these pieces Found Fallen. I've got the shelving units which were branches, obviously, the table is the same. I covered them in black lacquer after sanding them down a lot. I have kept their original shapes. I just made them functional."

Mike shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He wore jeans and a button-down shirt with a tank underneath. Most people didn't pick him as the owner of his space. Some people dressed up great, but Mike felt he only managed to look as if he were dressing up, playing at being something he definitely was not. As a result, Mike wore what he liked best and felt most comfortable in.

He figured if he was paying the overhead, who was there to complain about his wardrobe choices?

It had been a long time since Mike had shown his work to someone he really cared about. Some of the pieces he had sold were close to him. He'd worked hard to give people things they really loved which spoke to them. Mike hoped Minato could see what he saw when he looked at his art. Some of it was more literal than others. These pieces were the most literal he'd done in ages, but Mike loved them. He could see them as a part of his friend's home.

~*~

"I try to be." Minato believed in balance at any rate. One of the first things he did in the morning after putting on a pot of coffee was meditating, and living on the beach? Well, that'd helped him ten fold. It was nice to be able to clear his head and focus on nothing except the sound of the waves. His eyes went to the piece. It was breathtakingly beautiful in a simple yet complex way. Minato couldn't really find the words to describe it as he moved closer to where the piece was hung.

His hand ran over the curve of one branch. It was something he could definitely see in his home, and there was a part of him that was reminded of his home in his dreams. The Leaf. Konoha. Not only would it be a good conversation piece when people came over, but it did speak to Minato personally. He pulled his hand back, and gave a nod.

"I love it. I think it'll work very well in my home." He glanced over at Mike with a rather bright smile. "Do you have anymore like this? Or anything else that looks natural?" He asked, curious more than anything else about what Mike might have that he might also want to purchase for his new place.

~*~

Selling was something Mike could do better than most. He was accustomed to offering something in the most attractive way possible to the person he was trying to bait, but Minato had been his friend too long for him to feel fully comfortable playing the game with him. Mike hesitated a moment while he considered what he had in stock. There were some tall standing lamps which he hadn't completed which he'd wanted to sell with the shelves and table. They were made of saplings which had been torn from the ground by one of the freak storms which came through Orange County.

Cut down before their prime.

"I have some lamps I wanted to sell with the shelves and the main table. They're made of full saplings. We get crazy storms. Crazy everything here really. These were torn up whole from the ground and I collected them, sanded them, and I need to add lacquer to make them match. The wiring for the lamp fixtures will be quick. I could have them ready to go with these by the end of the week if you wanted some extra lighting?"

Mike shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't do more for Minato without really adding to the costs. All the other pieces he had ready which were in the same style or medium were significantly higher in cost. He had to price some things higher in order to recoup the time he'd invested in making the pieces. In the beginning, Mike had sold pieces for what he'd want to pay himself, figuring out too late he was short-changing himself in the process when he was struggling to pay the bills with what his 'furnishing art' was bringing in.

"If you're looking for more pieces? I've only got big items and they come with the same kind of price tags. I'd offer to cut you a deal except I gotta keep the lease paid on this place."

He chuckled, the sound almost entirely devoid of mirth.

Life wasn't nearly as much fun being a business owner as Mike had thought it would be.

~*~

"And you deserve to get paid for your hard work, so I understand." Minato considered the shelving again, and then thought about his own space. He had the room for it, and the possible need for it as well since he only had a small lamp in one corner of his living room. Of course, Minato didn't spend a lot of time in that room but it would be nice to have in the event that he ever did want to spend more time in front of the television, or more time in his living room in general.

Minato looked back over at Mike, "I'll take those too. I don't care how long it takes for you to finish them. I'm not in any hurry." He wasn't in any hurry for any of the pieces, and he knew that Mike was a man of his word.

"I am looking for a new bed frame too. I'd prefer something metal for that, though." His bedframe at home was nice enough, although it was heavy and wooden. Minato wanted something more slick than that, and something lighter come to that.

~*~

"Take my time, the price is right as it comes, and order some more besides? If you're trying to win the award for favorite customer, you're on the right track."

Mike went through the metal work he'd done in the past. He liked found items which did include the occasional bit of metal. Some of his pieces had been made from shipwrecks or dive expeditions long forgotten. The types of metal which washed up on beaches weren't modern enough to remind him of his friend. Minato was an original rather than a resurfaced memory. It seemed wrong to offer him something found when he was something wholly new.

Thinking through the options available to him, there was inventory in his workshop which had not been purposed for anything. Mike found things to use all the time. He had some rebar which could be stripped down, covered in chrome maybe? There were other colors than black and white. Mike could put something with a black light reflection on the frame. Black light didn't have to be cheap or hipster in nature.

Anything could be seen in a new light if someone found a new light to shine on the subject.

"I think I have an idea. If it isn't for you? I figure I can still sell it to some Hollywood type. You better not laugh if you don't like it though. I have a fragile ego. All starving artists do. We get that in exchange for all the torture we endure for our art."

~*~

"I'm everyone's favorite." Minato replied with a teasing grin and wink in Mike's direction. Of course, that wasn't the truth, but Minato couldn't help himself. "But seriously, I trust you and your work. I know that you'll give me only the best." As long as he'd known Mike he'd never known the man to work half ass at something. He gave it his all or nothing, and Minato could appreciate that.

He stood there waiting to see his reply on the bed frame, his eyes wandering back over to the shelving for a brief moment before Mike spoke again.

Turning his head to look at him, a brow rose slightly. Minato scoffed, "Oh please. You honestly think that I would do that?" Minato would be honest if he didn't think that the piece was for him, however, he'd never outright laugh at someone's art.

Art was something he understood, and he knew that every artist poured a piece of themselves into it. That was one of the many reasons why he wouldn't laugh, and besides, he didn't have a true mean bone in his body.

"I look forward to seeing what you come up with." He smiled, and gave a small nod of his head. "I'm ready to pay you for what I'm getting today, or well, the work I'm paying for. So how about we get the paperwork done and catch up a little more?"

~*~

"Catching up sounds great. We need to hit a club sometime or I'd settle for drinks as long as you warn me in advance if I need to bring a plus one."

Mike chuckled while making his way to the open office at the front of the store. It served a multitude of purposes as it showcased his work in use while being fully functional for his own needs at the same time. He wasn't pulling in enough to cover having two people on site at the same time so it made sense to have everything out in the open. There would never be a chance he'd miss a customer because he was trapped in an office doing the dreaded paperwork Minato was asking to get going.

All the business trappings could go hang themselves as far as Mike Lane was concerned.

He wanted to make art, not money.

Unfortunately, the two went hand-in-hand in the real world; he literally couldn't do one without doing the other.
"You know you never have a problem finding someone to come with since you're right: everyone loves you. I'm the guy who has to ask in advance. My plus one might be busy and I don't have a little black book anymore."

He'd tossed it when things had gotten serious with him in his last relationship. Mike had believed he would get forever with her. He'd been wrong. This time? With Sam? Mike was working on the 'happily' part right now instead of worrying about the 'ever after' finish to the old saying.

Settling at his desk, he gestured to one of the chairs on the other side for Minato to join him, "Make yourself comfortable. I set it up for it since I'm still working out the whole paperwork part of things. It takes me more time than it should. That? That you can laugh about. I do. It's pretty hilarious."

Mike hoped he could get things wrapped in a decent amount of time. They might go out for a coffee or something. He could close up quick. There were no more appointments coming in; Mike didn't get buyers too randomly. It tended to come in spurts for him. He figured that was the way of things with a new place. People had to warm up to him before they were ready to open their wallets in his shop. That made sense, right?

He hoped he was right.

He really couldn't afford to be wrong.