He had to be quiet, the Coeurl was about to be in it's most vulnerable position, it hadn't noticed him just yet. Leaves on top of his head were in danger of rustling, alerting the dangerous predator to his presence, but he steeled himself, deciding that this shot was worth the trouble and the pain of waiting. He felt the muscles in his arm start to ache about thirty minutes ago, but while his muscles screamed at him for some reprieve, he held. He held his long focus lens up, steadfast and steady in his position. The Coeurl bent downwards, bringing its large menacing head towards the edge of the lake, lapping up slowly at the water before it. He kept himself from gasping at the beauty of the sight, instead bringing his right index finger to the shutter button. He pressed, hoping the sound of the shutter snapping wouldn't alert the predator to his presence. The creatures glossy fur shifted, as if something disturbed it, but nothing came of it. A soft, almost inaudible exhale left his mouth, all he had to do now was wait for the creature to leave so he could celebrate in proper.
Got it.
Prompto walked through downtown Insomnia, holding the bottom of his camera bag at his side, despite it being secured safely around his shoulders. While his pace was slow, the cars and people around him all rushed to get somewhere, lights on buildings flashed advertising useless products, yet he walked onward slowly. Like he was absorbing the chaos of his surroundings with a large smile on his face, not so much as laughing at the people around him, but appreciating them. While in one hand was a camera, the other held a zipped up leather binder, other than his camera it was probably one of his most expensive possessions. But when something housed your life's work, it was justifiable to splurge on it. As he neared his destination, he felt a bubble of apprehension crop up in the core of his chest, the first he'd felt since he applied for this job. But the resolve of a photographer is that of steel, he couldn't turn back, not now. Not even if they threw him out of the door by the lapels of his shirt, Prompto would push onwards. He pushed past the glass double doors of the four story building that housed the Meteor Publishing offices, and strode as confidently as he could to the secretary's desk.
"Hi!" Prompto waved, trying to catch the secretary's attention away from her phone, "My name's Prompto… Argentum! Prompto Argentum! I'm here for my two o'clock with Mister Vyv?" His tone became unsure towards the end as it looked like he failed in rousing her attention, eventually she hummed as if to signal that his words finally got through to her brain. "Take the elevator to the fourth floor and talk to the girl there, I've got nothing to do with them." She fake gagged as if to punctuate her disgust. Prompto blushed softly then swallowed thickly, his embarrassment could easily be seen on his face; before the secretary could say anything else, he took his leave and walked to the elevators, calling one and headed up to the fourth floor as soon as he could.
Stepping out into the offices was a decidedly calm affair, the journalists typed quietly away at their computers, one of the three photographers of the publishing company was busy setting up the body of an upcoming article, while another edited already existing shots to adjust what imperfections existed. A warm feeling rushed over Prompto, immediately calming his earlier bundle of nerves. He walked with renewed confidence to the new secretary, one that was clearly enjoying her job slightly more, even if it looked like she didn't quite belong. He cleared his throat and stepped forward, a renewed vigor taking over his actions. "Hey! Umm, I'm Prompto Argentum, I'm here for my two o'clock with Mister Vyv?" He again questioned instead of stating, as if preparing himself for the secretary brushing him off like the one downstairs did.
"Oh, hello! Ah yes, I had your appointment up here somewhere… I'll go get Vyv for you! Why don't you have a seat just over there!" She gestured to some rather uncomfortable looking plastic chairs. Prompto nodded and smiled at her, "Thanks!" He bounded happily over to the chairs and got himself situated setting his camera on the chair just next to him. He fidgeted with his portfolio binder, picking at a corner where the leather started to bead due to his constant picking of it. He observed the office around him as he waited for Vyv, noticing how very… happy everyone was to be doing their work. The Editor of Photography seemed to actually enjoy blocking out what Prompto could only assume was the main article of this month's edition with the Managing Editor, it was a stark contrast to his previous place of work, and he found himself hoping higher than he usually allowed himself to hope that he'd get this job. He honestly didn't want to deal with job hunting any further than this, and if he was being even further honest with himself, working for Meteor Publishing wasn't the best he could do. Not with his portfolio and resume.
He distanced himself from those thoughts however, as he saw the secretary come back with a rather large and sweaty man. "Mr. Argentum, this is Vyv!" Prompto perked up immediately and sprung up into a stand, jutting his hand out towards the Editor in Chief. "Hello Mister Vyv! I'm excited for the opportunity to show you what I've got!" Vyv let out a heavy laugh, taking Prompto's hand and shaking it heartily, "I'm excited to see what you've got boy! After looking over your resume, I definitely have a few questions for you, hope you're ready for them." Prompto nodded and smiled, but he started to feel that same apprehension within the core of his stomach as he followed Vyv into his office, he felt the eyes of the other journalists, editors, and photographers on him as he followed Vyv, but he was too mortified to actually turn his head to see if they were looking at him (which they weren't, in fact they were largely unaware of the blond's presence in their office). Prompto entered the large office, separated from the regular mish-mosh of the agency, Vyv closed the door behind him gesturing for the blond to sit in the square-ish armchair that sat in front of his desk, while Vyv himself moved to sit in his plush adjustable chair behind the desk.
"So," he started, a smile already playing on his face and a twinkle of amusement in his eyes, "You brought a copy of your resume, right?"
"Of course!" Prompto responded enthusiastically, opening his leather binder and pulled out the aforementioned item. It was printed on both sides, with three pages total, documenting his many exploits into the world of photography. "And I also brought a Cover Letter from my previous agency, as well as my portfolio."
Vyv laughed, clapping his hands together. "Fantastic! You've really come prepared haven't you?" Prompto gave him a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his neck. "We'll get to your portfolio in a second, I'm really interested to see your shots, but first my most important question." Prompto could practically recite the question as Vyv asked him, every single agency he'd gone to so far had asked him the same thing. "Why did you leave Eos Geographical?" There it was. He tried his hardest to not sigh, but a small one escaped his lips anyway. Having to relive the memory every single time he told his story made his skin itch, he absent mindedly scratched at the tattoo underneath his wristband as he prepared to tell his story.
"During the shoot for their article on the behaviour of wild Coeurl, I was taking a shot of a large one taking a drink, it's actually in the portfolio as it's one of my best shots, after I got the shot I must have shifted or made a sound and…" He trailed off, the memory replaying in his head. The blood all around him, bits and pieces of his clothing flying everywhere. "It attacked. I managed to defend myself with my pistols, but I barely escaped with my life let alone my camera. I put in my two weeks the second I got signal. I couldn't…" He trailed off once more after having recounted the harrowing experience, the colour was drained from his face and he felt considerably more bare in the office, despite being bathed in warm light streaming through the windows. "And what about this year long gap? After Eos Geographical it seems like you've dropped off the map."
"I… I wanted to take a break from professional photography, I mostly did it as a freelance thing for the year. As well as for myself. Made a blog and all that. I just think I'm ready to head back into the fray." He punctuated his sentence with a smile, trying to convey to the man that he was in fact ready to embark upon professional photography again. Vyv simply smirked at him and hummed.
"Okay, fair enough. God knows I wouldn't even have been in the field like that. You certainly got guts, kid." Prompto found himself smiling at the compliment, Vyv continued, "Hand over that portfolio, lemme see what you got."
The blond very happily gave the older man his portfolio, flipping to the first page as he did so. He framed it like a story, or at least he'd tried to. The first page and a half or so were comprised of shots of the inner-city, where he had grown up. Clearly taken by an untrained eye, but one that had a talent for composition. The next page consisted mostly of headshots and model shots ("From the time I studied under Roen Modeling Agencies. Madame Costaura is a real tough one, very much a perfectionist.") They looked a little more trained, more complete, but still a total lack of personality or style. It felt more like he was copying his master rather than developing who he was. And as the story went on, more fellowships and freelance jobs, and he could see Prompto start to come into his own the more control he lost over his pictures. When he wasn't setting the lighting or telling people to pose, that's when the photographs seemed the most his own.
Finally Vyv got to the last few pages, his tenure at Eos Geographical was finally on display for Vyv's own eyes to see, and he definitely wasn't disappointed. According to Prompto this showcased when he was finally completely and utterly out of control. Animals can't be directed, the lighting can't be faked, there's often times only once chance to take a shot, and capture the moment with an animal. Nothing can be recreated, at least not with soul. Were someone else in the room, they'd be able to see the astonishment in Vyv's eyes, as well as the trepidation in Prompto's. The evolution from amateur to master was clearly something that blew the older man away, and he couldn't help but laugh as he finished on the last picture, of the Coeurl sipping away at crystalline lake water. The sky just behind the beast was clear and bright blue, the water looked clear and cool, like it would refresh you just to touch it. It's tongue caught the water like a massive ladle, ready to scoop it into it's huge ferocious mouth. It's fur caught the light in such a way that it glowed, it looked pillow soft to the touch. Though Prompto couldn't take a look at that picture anymore, he knew it looked amazing. The look on Vyv's face was enough to tell him he thought the same. He closed the binder, and put it to the side, a wide smile upon his face.
"That was truly an experience, Mr. Argentum." Prompto smiled. "And where's your most recent work?" Prompto was dumbfounded for a second, before he perked up again. "Right! Right, it's just a few pages after that last shot. I couldn't find a place to put any of them into the broader theme of the portfolio, so I…" The older man skipped past the blank pages until he got to the youngers latest. While still impressed it didn't capture that same expression the Coeurl photo did. While the older did seem to enjoy them, it wasn't nearly the same emotion that his last photo for Eos Geo did. After he finished he closed the binder and set it off to the side once more. "You are far too good for this place man," he laughed, patting the portfolio a few times, "And you've got major talent." Prompto couldn't help but steel himself for the rejection, but it hadn't come. "You're hired. You've got stuff, but you've lost it."
"What?" That was all that came out of Prompto's mouth as he was handed back his portfolio.
"You heard me," Vyv laughed, "That Coeurl picture has got to be the most raw, most talented piece of work I've ever seen from a photographer, but the stuff after? Come on now. You've lost it. You lost entirely what makes you special. The soul in your work has just kind of pittered away, there are still parts here and there. You're still talented, and you've got this fierce passion, anyone can see it. So, you're hired." Prompto was practically over the moon, when Vyv dropped another bomb on him, "I want you to find your soul again."
Again, all Prompto could say was, "What?" Vyv laughed once again, he seemed like a very jolly guy. "Again, you heard me! You lost your soul, I want you to get it back. I want you to find the thing that makes your photographs a part of you again."
All Prompto could do was smile, and try and subdue the intense heat creeping up his neck towards his face, he shook hands with Vyv as they agreed he'd come back later in the week to talk contracts and terms and pay and all that good stuff, as well as what his exact position would be, ("You're too talented to just be a regular photographer.") He was also told to go grab some paperwork from the secretary at the entrance. He bounded rather happily out of the office and towards the secretary's desk. "I got the job!" Prompto exclaimed as he approached the desk, the young brown haired girl seemed just as excited as he was. "That's great! I guess I should introduce myself then, my name is Iris!"
"Nice to meet you Iris! Prompto is m'name!" She laughed bringing her hand up to cover her mouth.
"I know that! I'm assuming Vyv wanted me to give you some paperwork right?"
"Yeah! I'm coming by again later this week to talk over all the terms and stuff!" He honestly sounded way too enthusiastic to have gotten the job, but he was more excited that looking for a job wouldn't be occupying so much of his time anymore.
"Then I'll keep an eye out, Mr. Argentum," she said smirking as she readied his paperwork. "Have that all filled out by the time you come back alright? And hand it straight to me, Vyv'd just lose it with the way his head is." Prompto laughed as he took the papers from her and nodded, signaling that he understood as he left the offices. His smiled hadn't left him once, even as he walked past the uninterested secretary downstairs and through the glass doors out into the sun. This was finally his time.