Caleb is the cat in the hat (worth_therisk) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-07-11 12:42:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, caleb rivers, rapunzel |
Who: Rapunzel and Caleb Rivers
What: Caleb helps Rapunzel out
Where: On the street
When: Recent
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
Everything was going well so far after her move down to Orange County. It felt a little different than LA area, but she was enjoying it. Rapunzel had managed to find an apartment in a more artsy area, so it had a lot of good mojo about it. She had just run out for some new art supplies to help spur some art projects for the weekend. She left the store with the bag in her arms she made her way down the street to grab something for lunch. Suddenly someone knocked into her and sent the bag tumbling out of her arms and onto the sidewalk. She turned to call out, but the jerk was already walking away, phone pressed to his ear, and completely ignored her. The art supplies were strewn about and she bent down to start gathering them all back into a bag. An unfamiliar hand came into her field of vision holding a paintbrush. She looked up to the stranger, "Thanks."
Caleb’s life was really starting to come together. He had a legitimate job that paid well, and an actual apartment to live in. Granted he was subletting from Tyler, but still it was more than he ever had before. He was beginning to feel like he was actually worth something. It was a nice feeling, one he could get used to.
It was time for his lunch break. He left his office, because shit he had his own office, and made his way to one of the places he usually picked up lunch. However on his way he noticed some asshole practically knock this girl over and not even stop to help her pick up her things. Of course Caleb went to help. It was just the kind of guy he was. He picked up a paint brush handing it over to her. “No problem,” he said with a small smirk on his face. “You okay?”
At least he had a nice face and didn't seem like the type to bump into someone without a word. Rapunzel gave him a nod and a grateful smile, "Yeah, thanks for asking. That guy is just a jerk. Thankfully I didn't have anything breakable in the bag. He will get bit by karma eventually." She took the paintbrush from the man and put it back into the bag with the items that hadn't fallen out. She totally believed in karma and had seen it in work a few times.
"At least there are still nice people like you that still help people out," she pointed out as she reached for a few more items on the ground. Thankfully it was mainly paintbrushes, paint in non-glass containers, and some water colors.
“Gives the rest of us guys a bad name,” he joked before helping her pick up a few more items. Of course he noticed they were all paints and paintbrushes. Once all the items were retrieved from the ground and back in the woman’s bag Caleb stood up fully pushing his hair out of his face.
“So I’m gonna guess you’re some type of artist?”
“Maaaaaaaybe. I mean the paints would definitely give you that idea, but maybe I’m a preschool teacher? Or maybe I am painting some food for photography?” Rapunzel couldn’t help but tease. The guy had picked the most obvious job based on what he saw and while he was right it was fun to still tease some other jobs, “But alas, I am just an artist. Thankfully not starving though.” She finished up gathering everything and stood back up with her bag back in her arms and all her supplies safely inside.
“And painting food isn’t art?” Caleb questioned. Though he could also make the argument that a preschool teacher was an artist in a way too. They did have to do like finger paint or some shit right? He also hadn’t meant that was her career. It could have just been her passion or a hobby. So when she said that she was an artist and not a starving one he was slightly impressed. “Yeah?” he questioned. “What kind of art?”
“It could be in a way, but not really. I don’t anyone can make a true profession of that though,” Rapunzel would find it interesting if someone did travel around to help out various companies by painting food for commercials. They probably had more of a marketing degree to help them out with all the other aspects of food photography. When he questioned her she gave him a nod, “I do some children animation right now, but I just kind of paint whatever strikes me. Definitely more realistic art than weird abstract art.”
“I don’t know much about art,” Caleb replied. He knew way more about technology. But he wasn’t creative enough to do animation or anything like that. He much preferred code. It was very straight forward that way. “Like for TV shows and movies?” That was pretty impressive if you asked him.
“What would classify as weird abstract art?” he questioned a look of amusement on his face. Of course he knew what abstract art was. Or at least vaguely knew. It was shit that didn’t look like anything really. But he was curious as to what her definition of weird abstract art would be.
“That’s totally fine. You don’t really have to know a lot about it to appreciate it. That’s kind of the nice thing. You can basically judge it all in your head on if you like a piece or not. And right now it’s for some children entertainment stuff online, but who knows, it could go into tv shows. I don’t think I’d ever join a big animation studio. I enjoy doing backgrounds more than subjects sometimes,” Rapunzel loved letting her mind wander to fill in a giant white space. She adored grabbing a fresh set of paint with a brand new white canvas and just creating a scene. Sometimes the characters came later.
“Sometimes I think those Jackson Pollock paintings are weird and those ones that are just a giant canvas filled with one color and then maybe a line of another color. The stuff that seems like anyone can do it doesn’t speak to me very well,” she liked art that she could sense a soul in, typically with subjects in the painting, but that was just her, “I also sometimes get creeped out by the really life-like statues that people make as a kind of performance art type thing.”
“Backgrounds is like the location?” Caleb asked. He didn’t know all the terms but that sounded right. The background would be where the subject or character was or whatever. He was trying to fully take in what she was saying and make sure he understood, because well he was sort of interested. It was always nice to learn something new at least. “That’s still cool though. That you make stuff that lots of people see.”
Okay. He had to agree with her there. “Yeah,” he said with a small nod. “I never know what the point of that shit is.” Was he supposed to be calling art shit? Oh well. “Or what I’m supposed to be looking at. Like yeah I can draw a line too.” He shrugged, though a grin slowly formed on his face. “Statues creep me out. I once had one jump out at me on the street.” Clearly that was a real person dressed like a statue. But still, he always got that feeling whenever he saw a statue now.
“Yeah, the landscape for the picture basically. I love painting the sun and stars,” Rapunzel really thought the subjects shined with a good backdrop to set them against. She could get lost figuring out the colors she wanted for a sunset or a nightscape, “And sometimes it great and sometimes the critics are a pain. And by critics I mainly mean my art teachers because they can be so picky.”
Rapunzel couldn’t help but laugh at his comment. She never took herself seriously and lose the ability agree with someone else’s comments like that. It was kind of true though that some art looked terrible. People had different tastes, “Yeah, I don’t understand it either. Definitely not my thing. And you had a statue jump out at you? Oh! Do you mean like those freaky people on the boardwalk? I don’t like them either.” She especially hated those people during Halloween that dressed up and wanted to follow you around.
“But what about when the characters are supposed to be indoors?” Caleb replied with a raised brow. Though he supposed she could probably paint that too, just preferred the outdoors. Which, he certainly couldn’t blame her for.
“Teachers? So you’re still in school?” Or had she meant back from when she was in school? Either way didn’t hurt to clarify. Not that it really mattered to him one way or another.
“Yeah,” Caleb said with a small laugh pushing some hair out of his face. “One of those. Only when I was still a kid. Shit like that leaves an impression you know?”
“I can do some indoor ones, I just really enjoy being outside and taking in the natural beauty of the world,” Rapunzel explained with a small laugh and a smile. He had asked a good question and she was greatly amused by it, “And no, I just graduated, thankfully. Any kind of college can be a bit stressful. I’m glad to be done and able to do my own things.”
“Oh definitely. If I had been scared by certain things then I would do my best to avoid them. It’s probably a good thing to just sidestep them anyway. They’re usually just bugging everyone for some extra money to take photos with them.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Caleb replied with a shrug. He had never gone to college. Hell he hadn’t even finished high school. He did kind of regret the high school thing, but he had done what he needed to do at the time. And it all worked out okay… for the most part. “But congrats on being done.”
He grinned at her next comment. “Glad it’s not just me then.” Not that he had a huge fear of them now or anything, but still he wasn’t a fan of statues.
“I’m Caleb by the way.” He didn’t think he had ever gone this long talking to a stranger without introducing himself.
“Well, it stinks and I’m glad to not have that stress anymore,” Rapunzel didn’t make a big deal out of something like that. People didn’t go to college all the time and still managed to find something they excelled at and just learned on the job. Sometimes it was better to not spend all the money on a formal education, “And thanks, it’s a little weird, but I’ll adapt quickly.”
“Rapunzel, thanks again for helping me out,” she really did appreciate that he had stopped. Most people didn’t and she really didn’t want to lose all her supplies on the street, so she greatly appreciated Caleb’s help.
Her statement did make him feel a little better about not going to college. He didn’t often dwell on everything he missed out on. But there were times he wished he could have had a normal high school and college experience.
“No problem,” Caleb replied giving her another smile. He still thought the asshole that bumped into her should have helped. But hey at least he met someone knew. “It was nice meeting you Rapunzel.”
"It was really nice to meet you too," Rapunzel replied with genuine joy in her voice. Caleb was nice and helpful and she appreciated him coming into her path and helping her out. The alarm on her watch started going off and she frowned, "Ugh, have a meeting to get to. Hopefully I will see you around." She gave him a wave as she started to make her way down the street towards her intended destination.