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Tweak says, "Except how to dance."

Stephanie Mariana Clarity Fawcett is quirky. (impermanence) wrote in wished,
@ 2010-08-21 23:04:00

Entry tags:

!2003: 08, !complete, ellie cattermole, stephanie fawcett

Who: Stephanie Fawcett and Ellie Cattermole
What: Ellie discovers Steph’s art and more.
When: August 21, 2003 ; late afternoon.
Where: A random sidewalk in London.
Rating/Warning: TBA.

Summer...the good thing about summer was that there was very little rain and lots of sunshine. This meant Stephanie was out almost every day drawing. She left little reminders of her talent all around London. Sometimes they were small. She’d draw a basketball in the street just to trip someone up. Or she’d begin at one end of the sidewalk and follow it until it ended. Pulling the art out, making it pop to life or pushing it in, making it look like the ground simply disappeared into a waterfall...a canyon...the street below. It didn’t matter what she was drawing as long as she simply was.

That particular day she was working on a very finely detailed piece somewhere between her flat and the rest of the world. Stephanie really didn’t know why, but she’d been captivated by that particular spot. So she just sat down and began...slowly, winged horses had come to life, bursting forth from the ground. They were blue, not quite accurate, but the lighting was spectacular. Pawing into the air, they had broken the concrete around them, pushed it aside, and their hindquarters were mostly veiled by choppy, strong waves...they were being driven upward by the water. It was one of her finer pieces, she thought, although, she tried not to judge herself on any day. Every bit of art, no matter how utterly useless or hideous, had some value.

The young artist was so lost in her own little world that she barely noticed when people stopped to stare...to take pictures and gape openly at what she had brought to life there in an otherwise very ordinary spot in London. Her hair fell into her face, hiding her eyes from onlookers, but providing a bit of shade in the sunlight that was still coming in from the sky. She was detailing wings, and they were such delicate things...she loved drawing wings, though. Especially the huge sweeping ones like the one she was working on now. It was nearly finished, nearly complete, but she had to put in just some touches here or there. She rummaged around in her chalk, looking for a particular color, and brushing her hair back a little, showing her face. She glanced up and for half a second her mind strayed, making her think she’d seen someone familiar, but then her fingers touched the right piece, and she grabbed it, going back to work.

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cattyellie
2010-08-22 03:33 am UTC (link)

The interior designers that Ellie had hired had thrown her out for the day. They stated that they didn’t want her there, stifling their creative energy and flow. Though the nicer one stated that he just wanted it to be a surprise and that they were all positive that she’d love what they did. Ellie couldn’t find it in her to complain though. She’d been spending an awful lot of time at the daycare and she felt like she didn’t have a life any more. Of course that also started her down a guilty path. If she hadn’t been spending enough time just to herself she definitely hadn’t been spending enough time with her siblings or any of her friends. She was really going to have to resolve that.

Not at this moment though. This moment was too perfect and nice to waste of guilty thoughts. The sun was shining and it wasn’t too horribly hot. It was a lovely day and Ellie was determined to make the best of it, even if the best of it was just taking a stroll. And since Ellie had basically grown up in muggle London it didn’t take her long to leave Diagon Alley and make her way into London for her stroll. She didn’t have a particular destination in mind and so she ducked into whatever stores caught her eye. Of course she ended up coming out of a few of them with some bags. She’d picked up some new music she’d been wanting and some new books to read. She’d also bought some more of her favourite fountain pens. She could never have too many of them. And on second thought she bought even more, determined to give some away to said friends and family.

It wasn’t too long before she came across a crowd of people and like most she was drawn into it. After all curiosity was in her nature and the people didn’t seem like they were horrified by what they were witnessing. It was actually the oppositive as most of them seemed enthralled and in awe of what it was they were looking at. It didn’t take much for Ellie to be able to duck and dance her way to the front of the crowd to get a good look and her eyes widened as she did. (She wouldn’t realise until later that her jaw had dropped as well.) She was quite captivated watching the sidewalk artist as she sketched away with her chalk and filled in the intricate details of the winged horses. Ellie had definitely never saw anything like this. And when the young woman looked up into the crowd a niggling sensation that she knew her started and she tried to place the face.

“Oh! Hogw-er... School,” Ellie said, barely managing to correct herself before she blurted out the name of their old school. She was so going to have to hang around now until she was done to talk to her. Now if she could only place a name to go with that realisation.

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impermanence
2010-08-22 04:00 am UTC (link)

There were a lot of people talking in the crowd, and for a moment Stephanie was almost certain that she'd heard the name of her school, but she carefully ignored the statement and figured that if whoever it was that had placed her wanted to talk to her, they would wait until she was finished and the crowd had dispersed. As always, she was going to hang around a while and glance over her work. She wanted to see it as the sun set...and then she would probably return to her little studio flat and have a cup of tea. Perhaps she'd listen to some music or read a book. But she wouldn't waste her evening no matter what, that would be certain.

It took a few minutes for her to maneuver around and finish the wing, the very last piece of the whole. She was only satisfied when it looked believably like feathers. She made sure that if someone reached out to touch them, their senses would be momentarily tricked to believe that it was impossible but real. She wondered if it was anti-climactic for the crowd when she put down the chalk and sat back, or if they were just as captivated as they took in the splendor of the final product. Several people said a few words to her, compliments, and she thanked them quietly. As always, a few people even threw a bit of money her way. She took it on principle. If they wanted her to have it, who was she to say that it wasn't worth it?

Slowly, the crowd began to thin, but she caught the face of the girl that she'd seen before, the one that had struck a familiar chord with her. The girl who had almost said Hogwarts. Stephanie got up from the ground and dusted herself off, taking an idle glance at her work. She felt pride, but she wasn't as awestruck as everyone else. Of course, she'd been contemplating this piece for the better part of the day, had known what it would be, how it would look.

She approached the other girl, thinking it was probably rude not to. While Stephanie might not have been the most social of girls, she was still nice, and she wasn't going to ignore her. She just wished she could place her, "I'm terrible with names, but I know that I know you..." she said, tinging her tone with the right amount of friendliness, "Same boarding school, right?" she said, for the benefit of the muggles that were still lingering closely.

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cattyellie
2010-08-22 04:23 am UTC (link)

Like all the other spectators Ellie stood back and admired the piece of work that the other girl had just finished. Unlike everyone else though Ellie didn’t leave. Instead she simply stood back from those that stepped forward to give the artist their compliments or money. She was patient. It wasn’t like she had anywhere else to go. And it was somewhat gratifying for Ellie to see people giving her compliments and money despite her not asking for them. She thought it was a good sign that people could still enjoy the little things like this and help to brighten her day like she did theirs. She knew that not everyone would.

Eventually the crowd thinned out and started moving again and that left Ellie relatively alone with the artist. Certainly people still stopped for a moment to admire her work before continuing on, but it still afforded her a modicum of privacy to speak with her and that was all Ellie needed. She would be more careful not to mention magic now that she’d nearly already slipped the once. She certainly wasn’t going to be the reason why people thought they were nuts as often happened if muggles overheard too much magical talk. (Which luckily is what happened as long as no actual magic was performed.)

“Can’t blame you there, I am too. Name’s Ellie,” she replied with a smile. “I think we were in different dorms, plus it’s been a number of years. Your name is?” She wasn’t going to beat around the bush with trying to guess it. All that would do would be to waste time and Ellie didn’t want to do that because for all she knew she was already holding the other girl up from some previous engagement. She couldn’t help but talk to her though if only for a few minutes. She could always owl her or message her later.

“I do have to say though that you do some absolutely amazing work,” she stated as she glanced back down at the sidewalk. She could honestly say she’d never seen anything like it before. And Ellie couldn’t help but get ideas about what she could do even if she was trying to not focus on the daycare today. She couldn’t help it, the daycare was going to be a big part of her life for a long time.

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impermanence
2010-08-22 04:48 am UTC (link)

One thing was certain about art, as far as Stephanie was concerned, and that was that people would always be fascinated by it. It would always be created, always be bought and admired and loved because of the way it expressed so many things in different ways. There were many forms of art, and what she did was just one of them. She was pleased to see that people loved what she did as much as she did. It certainly was enough to put a smile on her face.

When the other girl said her name, something clicked in Stephanie’s mind. Cattermole. Ellie Cattermole. Hadn’t they been the same year? She was a twin or something like that. Stephanie thought they might have had a few classes together, but not quite so many. At any rate, Stephanie had always been in her own little world or attached to Stephen’s side despite the fact that he was a year older, “I think you’re right, but we had a few classes together. I was always a bit quiet,” she said almost as meekly as she had been back at Hogwarts when she was the Ravenclaw with her head in the clouds, “It’s Stephanie. Great to re-meet you. I’d shake hands, but then you’d turn blue,” she excused, holding up her hands to show off her blue palms from the chalk.

When Ellie glanced back, Stephanie did too. She wondered how Ellie saw it...whether she took it as being a message or if it was just a picture. Either was fine, as long as she appreciated it equally, “Thanks. Its always been what I’m best at, I guess. All those tests and essays at school look kind of pointless in hindsight when what I had already fallen in love with was my path all along...” she could easily converse about her artwork while she had to feel her way out around other things, “So what did you go on to do?”

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cattyellie
2010-08-22 05:07 am UTC (link)

Thoughts ran through Ellie’s mind at about a mile a minute. She already had Dean doing artwork for her and she was contemplating asking him to do a mural on at least one of the walls. Did Stephanie do walls? If not she thought that she could get some floor open for her to do something. It wouldn’t do much to put down protection over it in the form of clear flooring or charms. For that matter getting her to do some of her chalk drawings on the floor would be absolutely amazing. She could only imagine what the children would think. She was, of course, getting ahead of herself. She’d have to see if Stephanie was willing first and if not try to talk her into it.

She was positive that Stephanie hadn’t been in Slytherin or Gryffindor, especially when she mentioned she was quiet. The longer she thought about it the more she was positive that she’d been in Ravenclaw. She rather liked most of the Ravenclaws, they were pretty nice. Of course that could be because she didn’t like Slytherins really and there were a couple of Gryffindors in their year that she really, really disliked. But she wasn’t going to think about that. After all it was all in the past. “I’m not all that worried about blue hands,” she said with a laugh, imagining that eventually she’d have all manners of things on her hands and clothes.

“I can guess that for you it would have been. Well actually for a number of people it might have been depending on what they got in to.” She couldn’t imagine that Alfie was using a lot fo what he’d learned doing what he was doing right now. “You are quite talented though. It’s great that you’re able to do something you enjoy.” She could only hope that she enjoyed what she’d be doing as much. “As for me, well, I’m in the process of opening a magical daycare center. It’s not quite ready yet though.”

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impermanence
2010-08-22 05:23 am UTC (link)

In all honesty, Stephanie really didn't do a lot of work that could be traced past a few days. She had broken down and done a few murals, but it wasn't something she made a habit of. And it was definitely something that she would not do without consulting her best friend who was usually good at advising her on whether or not she should do something of the sort. Of course, he was a bit biased, but he was also truthful, and his ability in fortune telling did come quite in handy.

She gave a little bit of a laugh, "I don't think you'd call this an actual job, but then again, it is what I do. I wouldn't dream of doing anything that didn't make me happy. There's not time to waste in life, you know?" She wondered how Ellie had taken their sixth year...how she'd come out in the end. Stephanie had honestly been very quiet the following year, more than before even. She caught the flash of a memory...it was still horrifying to think about.

At the mention of magic, Stephanie gave a casual glance around, but no one seemed to be paying attention now. No one had any sort of unusual reaction, "Good for you, then. I hope everything works out for you. I'm not really sure how many of those are around, so parents will surely take the advantage."

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cattyellie
2010-08-22 05:34 am UTC (link)

Ellie didn’t even really think when she’s called the daycare center a magical one. She really didn’t think that anyone would react to it since they could infer their own ideas. After all there were a lot of times when even muggles referred to something as being magical. But still she guessed it was good that no one really reacted to her slip. She found it was often easy to forget where she was when she was talking to someone from that part of her life. Though she was sure that she wasn’t the only one with that particular problem.

“Perhaps not a conventional job, no, but a job nonetheless. You did, after all, make money while doing it,” she replied, gesturing toward the big of money that had been left for her by the appreciative crowd of people. Some people might not consider it a job, but she did. There were probably a lot of people who didn’t consider anything enjoyable a job or anything that didn’t have set hours, days or places a job. To each their own was how she preferred to look at it. “Too bad not everyone looks at it the way you do. Maybe more people would be happy if they did.”

Their sixth year was something Ellie did her absolute best never to think about. She didn’t want to remember being told that her best friend was dead. It was hard her last year without Audrey, but she’d gotten through it with her other friends and the fact she still had Alfie and Maisie. “I’ve actually already had some interest in it, so I’m thinking it is going to go well. Dean Thomas, he was a year ahead of us, he’s going to be doing some art work for me for my ads and flyers. I’m thinking I can talk him into a mural or two as well.” Which so was going to lead to Ellie asking Stephanie about doing something soon.

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impermanence
2010-08-22 05:48 am UTC (link)

"I suppose I can't deny that," she said with a bit of a smile, thinking about the money and how it was basically like getting a tip for doing something she loved. Admission for viewing was free, but the tips were appreciated. The money that she got from the people that crowded around her always went to good use. She made sure that she used it for something important, something that she liked to think those people would like. Often, it went towards buying more chalk...sometimes towards other specialty items, depending on what she needed.

"Happiness is just kind of what you make it, I think. If you decide to be happy and keep an optimistic attitude, you get a lot further than moping around will ever get you. My life is what I make it day-to-day though. I don't actually have a plan, and that's what makes me happy...sorry, it's kind of my soapbox," she gave a bit of an apologetic smile for ranting momentarily. Living her life the way she wanted to live it was something that Stephanie took very seriously.

She nodded a bit when Ellie mentioned Dean Thomas. She thought she recalled him if only because she'd known he was interested in art too. Keeping in touch wasn't her strong suit, but she would perhaps recognize him if she saw him, "He'll do a great job on them, I'm sure. The kids would probably like something like that." She always loved to look at the expressions on the faces of children when they looked at her art. Was there anything quite like the joy of a child? She didn't think so.

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cattyellie
2010-08-23 04:14 am UTC (link)

Ellie knew that there were people who probably looked down on what Stephanie did. A lot of people probably wouldn’t look at it and see it as a job. They’d probably look at it and see it as a hobby. Even more people probably saw it as an absolute waste of time. Ellie could never look at it like that. Stephanie obviously loved it and she was bringing joy to those that stopped to see it as well. It was the perfect type of job and she didn’t really see how anyone could begrudge someone that. There were people in the world that Ellie would never understand.

“I can agree with that. Happiness is going to be different for everyone. For some people it’ll be simple things like seeing their children smile or coming home to a good book. Others it’ll be more materialistic for. But if it makes them happy then that is all that matters.” She grinned at the apology and shrugged it off. “You don’t need to apologise for that. I’m thinking a lot of people have one and sometimes you can’t help where it comes out at.” She was quite certain she’d had a number of soapbox moments throughout the years.

The grin on Ellie’s face widened as she thought about what Dean was going to do for her and what she hoped she could talk him into. Of course she was also starting to hope she could talk Stephanie into doing something artsy for the daycare as well. She was positive the children would absolutely love it if she did. “I’m sure they will. I’m hoping it might inspire some of them to try their own hand at it. And maybe I can talk someone else into doing a wall mural or even something on the ground for the kids...” She trailed off and glanced rather pointedly at Stephanie.

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impermanence
2010-08-24 01:26 am UTC (link)

The way that she was staring at her, Stephanie was almost certain that Ellie expected her to volunteer and start jumping for joy. Unfortunately, this was not her reaction. For a moment, she hesitated to say anything at all. She hadn’t ever really been one to keep her work when she was finished with it. Sure, she had some of the better drawings stowed away. But a lot of the time she left them random places, just like she did now with her sidewalk art. They weren’t permanent things, they just lasted for a while and once the new started to wear off and people got tired of them...well, they were gone, and she could go on and do it all over again.

“...you mean me?” she finally choked out. It really wasn’t so uncommon anymore for someone to ask her to do something, but...did she want to? She had turned down other offers. Many of them. It wasn’t usually her thing to go about and make money purposely off of her gift. And she did see it very much as a gift. She knew not just everyone had the kind of talent she did to bring things to life. The idea of doing something in this daycare though...she didn’t know why but the suddenness of it had her frazzled.

“I don’t...uh...I generally don’t do anything that lasts. Transitory work, things that fade, that’s my scene. I mean, I’ve done a few murals, but...quite honestly I was desperate for money then. And...I dunno, Ellie...” The only thing that Stephanie could clearly think about was the fact that she wasn’t, couldn’t, say yes to this without talking to Stephen first. He would know what to do...

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cattyellie
2010-08-26 04:05 am UTC (link)

There wasn’t really an expectation for Stephanie to volunteer and jump for joy. There was a hope that she might volunteer something, but Ellie was fully prepared to have to talk her into it. And it wasn’t like Ellie was going to ask her to do it for nothing either. She had money for things like this and the work that Stephanie could do for her would be something she’d be more than willing to pay for and give a good amount. Though from the look on Stephanie’s face she was starting to think she’d have to do a lot of begging. It only took a glance down at the work that Stephanie had only recently finished to make her resolve that it was absolutely worth it.

“I do mean you,” Ellie replied, a grin stretching across her face at the somewhat horrified sounding response she’d gotten. Though perhaps it wasn’t really horrified and more shocked. Since Ellie really wasn’t that good at being subtle she could see how she’d shocked the other woman. To her it was easier to be direct though she’d been a little less direct this time then what she’d normally do. Ah well, Stephanie had still gotten her meaning. She just really hoped she was able to convince her, though there wouldn’t be any hard feelings if she couldn’t.

“See, there is the magic word. You don’t generally do things that last.” She couldn’t seem to stop grinning at the other woman and she liked to hear that she had done lasting work which meant there was a greater possibility that she could talk her into doing it. “Well I want you to know that I’d love it if you’d do something for the daycare and I think that the kids would as well, but I can respect the fact that you don’t normally do lasting art. I would, however, ask that you keep it mind and think on it and if you should change your mind I’d love to talk to you about it in more detail and hash out what you’d be willing to do and for how much.”

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impermanence
2010-08-29 03:14 pm UTC (link)

The way that she turned her words made Stephanie think that Ellie had already decided that she was doing this...that no matter what, she'd get Stephanie to do some kind of mural. Of course she would have to be stubborn. Stephanie wasn't good at saying no to people in the first place! But she was going to hold off, she was at least going to talk with her best friend about this. It didn't even matter if Stephen had a vision about it. Normally, just talking it out with him made her see the solution clearer.

"I...I need to talk to my Seer about it," Unaided decisions, when they were as big as this one, didn't really settle well with Stephanie. She second guessed herself all the time. Whenever there was no one there to bounce her ideas off of, she found herself a bit stuck...unsure what to do next. So talking to the one person that seemed to always point her in the right direction seemed like the best idea.

"After I do that, I'll give you my answer," she wasn't certain if that would be the end of this conversation or not. But she needed to go think somewhere...she needed quiet and open spaces. She needed her balcony.

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cattyellie
2010-08-31 06:09 am UTC (link)

Ellie knew she was probably coming off as being pushy. She didn’t mean to, but the whole daycare was really starting to come together and she was trying to push everything into the final stages. She’d wanted to get it finished before school started back up for the Hogwarts students. She’d already had a number of witches and wizards ask her if they could enroll their younger children who couldn’t go yet. If the way things were now she was hoping that she’d have everything up and ready a few weeks after the term started for those kids. She was lucky that the parents were being so patient.

“Of course. And remember that I’ll accept whatever answer you give.” And she did mean it. She’d be disappointed, sure, but she’d accept it. She still had Dean doing work for her and he was an amazing artist as well. Either way she’d have some lovely work done for the kids and that was all that mattered. She just hoped that Stephanie didn’t feel to pressured because that wasn’t what she was trying to do.

“Right then! I’ll stop with the shop talk. I do have to state just how amazing your work is again, just so you realise it.” Not that she didn’t think Stephanie realised it, but she wanted Stephanie to know that she really did love her work just because it was lovely and amazing and one of a kind. “I also probably shouldn’t take up much more of your time. I’m sure you’ve got other things to be doing other than listening to me ramble myself in a circle.”

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impermanence
2010-09-04 06:22 pm UTC (link)

It was a bit of a relief, really, when Ellie said that she should probably be on her way. Even though she didn't really have anything planned for the rest of the afternoon, Stephanie just wanted to be able to consider this possibility, no matter how unlikely it was at the moment. She already had an inkling of what Stephen would say to her...but he was biased. She had no idea what to do.

"Thank you for the compliment..." she said a bit softly, "But yeah...I need to get going. Lots of thinking to do. I'll...get back to you one way or another," She said with a bit of a nod, grabbing up her art supplies and considering the effects that a nice bubble bath might have. That would be relaxing, right? That and then the balcony. She could live with that.

"Good to see you again, Ellie," she said before giving a small wave and heading out on her way to her flat. There was no reason to be rude, after all. But then she got lost in her thoughts, in her own little world all over again, and she went home to sort them all out.

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