Euphoria

Participants:

caspian_icon.gif savannah_icon.gif

Scene Title Euphoria
Synopsis Caspian and Savannah meet and discuss an interesting proposal for advertising her new book, Euphoria.
Date March 8, 2018

Doyle Memorial Library


The Eric Doyle library has just had the grand opening a few days prior, and as he had told Gillian after her eloquent speech, he was willing to go over the wiring just to make sure everything was safe and up to code. Or, rather, what codes there are in the safe zone. He’s already found a couple of things that needed to be taken care of, but nothing like he’s seen in some of the more decrepit buildings that he’s been inside. A couple of plugs needed to be replaced and a secondary fuse box needed to be rewired, but it’s nothing that he couldn’t take care of without too much trouble.

Sitting on the floor in front of the puppet stage, the lights around him dark, one of the plugs has been pulled out and is in the process of being replaced, the wires being unscrewed from the plug, making sure it’s grounded before stripping the wires off to replace the plug.

“It’s a lovely library,” comes the voice of Savannah Burton from nearby as she makes her way over towards the puppet stage in the mostly dim lighting of the area. “I couldn’t make it to the opening but I heard great things about it. I heard there was a lovely speech, something about a poem and some gifts.” She stops nearby, doing her best not to interrupt his work.

“Were you there? I’m sorry if I’m interrupting your work.”

Glancing up from where he sits, the light mounted on his headband flashes in Savannah’s eyes, the man quickly moving a hand up to flip if off to keep from blinding her. “I was there, actually. It’s how I knew to come here and do a little work. Miss Gillian thought a good once-over of the wiring of this place, for safety’s sake, would be a good thing to do.”

Glancing down, Caspian finishes attaching the wires securely and screws it down tightly, pushing it into the receptacle and screwing it in - something that takes less than a minute. He speaks as he works, glancing over to make sure Savannah knows that he’s referring to her when he speaks. “There were so many people that Mr. Doyle touched…makes me sad that I wasn’t here to meet him and shake his hand. The gifts were nice, too. Rice and beans and canned goods for the family, and a little stuffed rabbit and books for the kids. It was really nice.”

“Sorry again for the surprise appearance, I thought I’d drop by while I wasn’t busy and that just happened to be now,” Savannah says, glancing over to Caspian’s work with some curiosity. That’s something she knows little about, wiring. She tends to stick to her creative writing rather than something you’d learn at a trade school

“I’m glad that people were touched by him. I can’t say I ever got the chance. I think I would have found him inspiring had I met him. Hopefully his memory can inspire others in the future. I think this library is the perfect way to memorialize someone who touched the lives of children. It’s really beautiful here. I hope children make good use of it.”

Pushing himself to his feet, Caspian tucks the screwdriver he was using into his tool belt and makes his way over to the closet where, with a flick of a breaker, the lights come on on the library. Done. He nods, satisfied, and backs out of the closet, closing the door behind him. “It's something that needs to be here, though. If it's not here, it might as well have been another vacant building.” He looks up at the roof of the building, slapping a column with a grin. “Assuming the council lets me install solar in here, this place is pretty much buttoned up. Whoever did the work did a good job aside from a few little mistakes with old plugs. Probably left over from when this place was whatever it was before.”

Wiping his hands off, he approaches, offering his right to shake. “Caspian Dussalt, ma’am. Owner/proprietor of Outside Electric. A pleasure.”

The hand is taken and with a gentle shake, Savannah speaks up again. “Savannah Burton. And given that I’m on the council, I’m sure it won’t be hard to win over the rest to your side in regards to the solar. I honestly think solar should be put up anywhere and everywhere we can. Those brownouts really lower the quality of life for those in the Safe Zone. We shouldn’t have to be without food, water, and power. Those three basic things are always threatened to be taken from us apparently.”

She glances around the place again. “I’m sure you’ll get your solar. Got a good feeling about it.”

Oh! Well!

Caspian looks pleased that he's lucked into finding someone on the council, and being able to offer solar to the library and other buildings was just the tor hold he’d hoped. The man grins, scratching the back of his head for a second. “It was a gamble on my part. I've got enough to outfit about three buildings fully - all of my savings, basically, and working through the reconstruction and war, and I'm counting one as a giveaway to show what I can do. If only my art was seen in the same vein as solar.”

“I imagine it’ll be an interesting choice as to which buildings get your solar,” Savannah says, giving a tiny nod. “Showing off what you can do has always been a tried and true method for anything. You give someone a sample and they’re liable to buy the full product or service.”

She turns to face him a little. “Same goes for art. Are you having trouble selling people on your art?”

“I suppose that the best thing will be to get with the council and find out where it's going to do the most good for the most people. The market might work. Lots of people use it, lots of people to see it, and gives the council some juice when required.” He turns to nod to Savannah. “When's the next meeting? I'll come and make the offer officially.”

On his art, Caspian chuckles. “In a sense, yes. Some people find it beautiful, while others, like Miss Ryans, find it to be graffiti. I suppose I'll have to get permission from building owners now to keep her from blaming random passerby for the stuff. Here….”. He walks over to his tool bag and pulls out a black sketchbook, opening it and showing a few pages. (His gallery on the wiki). “A few of these have actually lasted two months…I think I'm the only artist in town.”

“I’d have to check my calendar, but if you give me some contact information I can make sure you’re informed in advance as to when the next meeting is,” Savannah says, which is a fancy way of her saying she’d forgotten. “I’m sure the council will love your proposal, though.”

As for the art, she takes the opportunity to study each piece carefully. “I’ve seen some of these. I can’t imagine that you got permission from all of them, but it’s definitely art. I’ve been wondering if I could find the artist of these pieces, actually. I’ve got a project that could use some art of your style.”

“Well….I didn't, actually. The last one I did was the one Miss Ryan's discovered after I finished. This one.” Caspian turns the page to reveal an orange Aztec-looking woman with a green face mask and large dangly earrings, taken a few minutes after sunrise. “Apparently that's the first complaint I've gotten. The rest generally go on abandoned buildings and walls.”

He rummages around in his pouch for a business card, passing it over after scrawling his number on the back. “I've already taken care of the fine that was charged to that boys family.” He chuckles. “She really should have believed me when I said they didn't do it.”

The business card is taken and tucked away in Savannah’s purse. “Well, how would you like a paying art job? You’d have creative freedom, mostly, in a place where your art would be seen and it would be there to send a message. I want it to evoke emotions, I want it to make people think. And you’d have the freedom to change it over the course of about a month and a half.”

The blonde author grins. “How does that sound?”

“I'd say it sounds a little too good to be true. What were you thinking to have on the wall, and where?” Caspian sounds curious, settling back with his arms crossed, watching the people filter into the museum as he and Savannah chat. “The allure of being seen, and of getting a message across is appealing. That's one of my things, making sure there's a message to go along with the beauty. Bare walls and ruins don't really breed any sort of joy or sense of serenity.”

Savannah gives a small nod. “Too good to be true indeed. I was going to get a billboard that’s not really conducive to foot traffic. So I paid for space on a very empty wall on the side of a convenience store. Not really glamorous but it’s very prominent, and in an area that gets lots of foot traffic. I want it to be a promotion for my new book. My name, the title, and your art. Each title of my books has been a single word, idea, or thought. The first three were Revelation, Reaper, and Remnant. The last two have been Epoch and Expanse, and the last is Euphoria.”

“Your job would be to take the title, Euphoria, and create art centered around it. It doesn’t have to be about the book itself, I just want people to take the word Euphoria and think about it and what it means. It would be up for a while and you could change it as you see fit, as frequently as you’d like as long as it still fit the same theme. Think it’s something you can handle?”

As Savannah talks, Caspian flips the page of his notebook to a blank one and quickly sketches a wall - average wall, nothing major, just a box really. But as she talks, he pauses, tapping the page with the tip of his pencil, and begins to draw. In the lower corner is a quick profile sketch of a little girl - probably about nine or ten, sitting or kneeling on the ground, a book open on her lap, her hair blowing in a wind sourced from the book. “Well, I’d like to know what was done before, so I’m sure not to copy anything like that….” He quickly writes ‘Euphoria’ behind her in basic block letters, erasing a little and repositioning it slightly before filling it the rest of the way in with Savannah’s name below it in easier to read fonts. “The basic idea would be this…” He turns the sketch to Savannah to look at. “As long as we keep the main part the same - with the title and your name - I can change the background or the actual format of the wording on a fairly recent basis. It could be under ocean scenes with lots of blues one week, then the next smiling faces, gazing into the background. As long as we get the initial splash down, people will keep coming to see what shows up next time. I mean…” HE goes down a little more and writes Euphoria in different styles - bubbles, tribal, and even wildstyle, which is more artistic, but gorgeous in its own way. “We’ll save the more complicated styles for the end of the run…just have it changing slightly every time.”

“This is the first time I’m doing something like this as an advertisement. I thought it was good so I ran it by my hus—agent. So there will be no copying, you’ve got a clean slate to work with.” Savannah peers over at the sketchpad as he works, nodding a few times in a satisfactory manner. “Yes, I think that will do nicely. You have the right sort of attitude and some great ideas. We can talk compensation once we’re ready to start. I can offer money, find something to trade you, or I can owe you a favor that you can call in.”

“We’ll figure out that once I’ve got the first wall done. See if you like it. I just like having the excuse to write on walls without the possibility of getting yelled at by the watch.” Caspian grins, adding a flourish at the bottom of the sketch before tucking it away inside his backpack. “Is there anything you don’t want on there or that you specifically do? Since this is an advertisement, I can manipulate the image to be kind of what you’re wanting, and the last thing I want to do is make something that doesn’t fit what you’re looking for.” He zips up his backpack. “Just give me the address and I’ll check it out. I may even make a stencil to put up to kind of tease that something’s coming. And let me know when the next meeting is so I can poke my nose in and bring up the solar install.”

“I kind of got the feeling you might like having some free space to do your work. I wanted some advertising but I wasn’t sold on exactly how to do it. This is the perfect marriage of an advertisement and some art. I want people to look at your art and really think. It needs to send a message. The only thing I don’t want is anything too dark. The art should be uplifting, hopeful in a way, so as long as you’re focusing around the title it shouldn’t be too hard to steer away from darker images.” Savannah checks her pocket to make sure she has the business card still there. “I’ll be sure to contact you about the next meeting. And about the compensation. I’m sure everything will work out exactly as we’d like.”

“I prefer free space to do my work.” Caspian replies with a grin, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, his work here in the Library over and done with. “And I prefer no limits or, at least, as few limits as I can manage. You and I, I think we can work together. Giving me the freedom to paint, with permission, and only giving me those two requirements is kind of a dream job for an artist. I may bring in someone to help me, if that’s okay. A friend of mine - a local woman who does art as well. She helps with colors. I won’t charge any more or request extra favors or anything, but I just wanted you to know that she probably will be helping out, too.” He gives Cassandra a smile and a small salute. “If I can get your office hours or your contact information, I’ll get a sketch together of the outline so we’re sure of the beginning, and the address of the wall so I can see how much space I have to work with. And then, just tell me when the art goes up and how long it needs to be there, and we’re golden.”

Savannah fishes around in her purse for her own business card, scrawling on the back her office hours and contact information. “Should be able to contact me here. It’s a landline in my office, so if I don’t pick up Kam probably will. He can take any necessary messages, he’s used to it.” She offers the card over to Caspian. “I’ll need to get the exact dates, but I’d like it as soon as possible, possibly in the next week or two so we can get it up as long as possible. The book comes out the end of April so we’ll probably want it out a week or two after that as well. And as far as your friend helping, that’s not a problem. Hopefully we can get some exposure for her as well.”

Straightening up, Savannah offers a hand forward for a shake. “I look forward to working with you, Caspian.”

“A pleasure to meet you Savannah.” Caspian reaches out to shake her hand, a firm shake, his hand a little rough; a working man’s hands. “I look forward to working with you, too.”


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