The Diego Diaries: Home (dd8 446)
=0=Silverbow and Rain
They sat together on the living room floor of Silverbow's house arranging things in the new boxes that Trailbreaker had made for them. They were partners in a venture that both loved, creating art and showing it.
"This is so pretty. How about here?" Silverbow asked as she held up a beautiful broach that both of them had designed, then made with the help of Appa Tie and Amma Ravel. After they'd practiced bending wires and learning to solder things neatly, they went with their fathers and brother to the Foundry Exchange and registered their company.
Rain-Bow Gems.
The big mechs there helped them set things up, get tool kits and a supply of the lovely things they needed to make the designs that flowed like a river out of their combined processors/heads. The family room in Silverbow's house had a corner for their work station. They would design on a professional craft workers data pad, then work the elements into some very beautiful yet simple jewelry.
They had gathered it now for the show that would be tomorrow. Several hundred buyers were going to be there and they would have their table in the Central Labor Hall's giant convention center. It would be one of several hundred encompassing all the different types of crafts, art and other inventive things for the buyers from stores all over the Earth.
They'd already gone there and set up their table, covering it with a sparkly table cloth, added their signs and prepped for staying there a long time to allow the buyers to see their things. At no point in the long journey to this moment had their confidence in their product flagged.
:That looks good, Silverbow: Rain had said as they worked diligently to put the different items in the velvet lined boxes that were made by Trailbreaker.
Sitting with them watching with interest, Rebel was entranced. "What you doing, Silverbow?"
"We're going to a show tomorrow and sell our stuff," Silverbow said.
"Why?" Rebel asked.
"Because its great and because all the money is going to the Primal Foundation for Earth. Its going to be used to help people who live there," Silverbow said. "Rain's people."
Rebel glanced at Rain who was grinning at the cute little mech. "You need help?"
:We all do, Reb. Silverbow and I are going to do something great. Then we're going to do it again and again. Maybe we can get some of them to take our stuff on consignment: Rain said as Silverbow nodded.
"What's that?" Rebel asked.
"We make things all the time and send them to stores on consignment. They take them to sell as they get it in from us. We give the money to the Prime. We do this as we go along. Wait until you see the new designs," Silverbow said. "Maybe we can make a boy thing and call it Rebel."
Rain laughed. :I love that. Rebel Stuff."
They both laughed as Hound and Trailbreaker pretended to read newspapers.
:I hope this goes well: Hound said to Trailbreaker.
:I do, too. I think I have a tank ache already: Trailbreaker said.
:You and me both:
=0=Earlier on before the here and now at an art studio
Sunny stepped into the corridor to leave when he felt a tap on his ped. Looking down, he knelt before Silverbow and Rain who were there with Rick Harris driving. "What's up?"
"Sunny, Rain and I started a business. Like you did. Its our business."
Sunny stared at the two who were nodding seriously. He grinned. "You always were that kind of awesome. What sort of business?"
:Gems, jewelry, art stuff. Even Silverbow's paintings: Rain said. :I draw but I need more lessons before I put my art into the business:
Both of them were dead serious.
Sunstreaker stared at them a moment before he leaned closer. "You paint, Silverbow?"
She nodded. "I do, Sunny."
"That's slagging awesome. I want to see it. Both of you bring your art to the studio after school. I want to see what you got."
Both of them smiled, glanced at each other, then looked up again.
"Sunny, we're going to be in the show. Are you?" Silverbow asked.
He nodded. "I am. All my pieces are sold from my website but I'm showing anyway. You never know who might want to buy in future and some galleries want me to consider them for the next round. That's how you grow a business. You're in the show then."
"We are," Silverbow said as Rain nodded.
"No kidding?" he asked with evident pride. "Slagging good for both of you."
"We don't know how to sell stuff. We need an idea of prices," Silverbow said as Rain nodded. "We have really good stuff in the gems and stuff. We don't know how this works. Can you help us?"
They both looked at him hopefully.
Sunstreaker grinned. "Slag yeah. You need a manager. I'll be your manager. What's the name of your business?"
They both smiled brightly. "RainBow Gems," they said in unison.
It would be a match made in the Matrix.
=0=Later that afternoon the next orn
The door opened and a mech peered in. "You home?" Hound asked.
"Come in," Sunstreaker said as he turned from a painting he was working on. "Are they here?"
"They are," Hound said as he set Rebel on the ground. He ran to the toys in the corner and sat down to play.
Trailbreaker came behind him with a big box in his servos. Following him on a segway driven by Rick Harris, Rain and Silverbow followed. He pulled over and they jumped out running to Sunstreaker together. Hugging his ped, they looked up with a smile. "HI!"/:HI!:
Sunny grinned. "Hi. Lets see your stuff."
Trailbreaker set the box down, then he and Hound took a seat on a couch nearby. They were nervous and expectant trying hard to hide it but failing miserably as ever when it came to their kids.
Everyone knelt on the floor, then the girls began to pull out their paintings and sketch books. Heading them to Sunstreaker, he carefully examined them. It seemed like forever, then he looked at the two of them.
Hound and Trailbreaker were nearly shaking with expectation.
"These are really good, Sunny Bunny," Sunstreaker said. He looked at Rain. "You have talent. You could use lessons but there's real talent here."
The two girls hugged each other, then stepped closer to Sunny. "Can you be our teacher?" they asked together.
=0=Moments later
Sunstreaker gently packed the little paintings and sketchbooks to place them in the box. He watched as the girls extracted their display boxes, seven of them, placing them on the floor.
They looked at Sunny with expectation and hopefulness. It was adorable.
"What do you think, Sunstreaker?" Silverbow asked.
Sunny leaned down closer to the boxes to scan them into his art files. There were some he'd designed to create things that were difficult to draw or needed examining without handling. Because he could do that he was on call to the forensic archaeologists to come help them get things out of disasters that were various including art and sculpture. Some of the finest and most delicate creations of their species had been reclaimed with minimal to no damage thanks to him.
He glanced at the girls. "This is really good work," he said. He glanced at Hound and Trailbreaker who exhaled in spite of themselves. He grinned at them and they, him. He looked at the gems, the necklaces and rings, earrings and other jewels that were shining in the cases. "You have the markings of Appa and Amma in your work."
:We had them show us how to do this: Rain said. :We went to the best: she said. :That's why we're here. You're the best:
Sunstreaker stared at her a moment and detected deep sincerity. He grinned slightly. "You got that right."
Snickers rounded the room for a moment.
"Your designs are simple but beautiful. The placement of things is the real talent. Anyone can do this but making something live, that takes talent." He stared at them a moment. "Once a decaorn, you come here after school unless I'm deployed. We can start that way. You can have exercises to work on to bring in completed form at the next lesson.
"I have friends who do wire work and settings. When you get more of a handle on drawing, it'll help you make your designs. Then they can come and teach you how to do more wire work, bezels and the like, more complex types."
The two girls hugged each other, then looked up at him.
"Thank you, Sunstreaker. YOU'RE MY HERO!" Silverbow said.
Rain nodded. :THANK YOU! THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT! Can you come to the show and help us get started? We don't know what to charge for this:
"I'll be there. Leave this with me. I'll appraise it. I have an appraiser that we use at the Guild. By the way, I'll get you in. If you're my students you can belong."
The two girls jumped up and down a moment hugging each other, then looked up at him with ecstatic joy. Then they hugged his ped.
He grinned at them, then looked at the boxes. "Nice boxes. Who made them? The velvet setting is beautiful."
"I did," Trailbreaker said. "Whatever they need I'll do on that side of things."
"Good. You have an appraiser, a manager and a tooler. That's a good start. I'll provide the art supplies. You might want to wear something over yourself. Paint goes where it wants," Sunstreaker said.
They would chat a moment, then all of them would gather up to leave. Rick would buzz out with the girls as Hound followed with Rebel.
Trailbreaker paused at the door. "Do they have talent, Sunny? Between you and me."
Sunstreaker nodded. "They do. They'll have it worked out with me. I'll have them stars in no time. Sadie is showing on Earth again. Daro is, too. What's two more students."
Trailbreaker grinned. "Yeah. Thanks, Sunny. This means the world to us."
Sunny nodded as Trailbreaker walked out the door. It closed slowly. Walking to the boxes to kneel and examine them again, he grinned. "This is really cute stuff for a first try." He sent a message to his appraiser who would come in a joor, then sat down again to examine the designs.
He would conclude that they were simple but good, the work very nicely done and precise. He would conclude once again that his two new students had a lot of talent. All they needed was a mentor to guide it.
They would both have one with him.
=0=The next day at the Convention Center, Central Labor Hall, Autobot City, Mars
Bus after bus came from Earth2 and Unidad filled with humans in environmental suits. They were here to buy for their stores, some of which were the most fancy and high end in the world. Walking into it with a local human guide per store representative, they entered a vast busy place.
Booths of businesses, all of them Cybertronian filled the room. Some had nice accouterments but most were neat and simple display spaces for an astonishing array of creations. Artists and others who assisted them were already talking to buyers who were asking about their wares. Somewhere in the middle of this two little kids had a table with a sparkly table cloth and a line of jewels and art that were beautifully arranged to show them at their best advantage.
Hovering nearby trying to look inconspicuous, Hound, Trailbreaker, a frazzled looking Mariah Harris-Davis, Owen and Rick Harris along with Tie Down watched them with varying degrees of anxiety.
Tie Down who was a veteran of shows grinned at them. "You lot look amusing. This will go well. No matter what happens its a first step."
"You should talk," Hound said with a grin. "I'm still on your list. Me and half of Mars."
"Its coming along," Tie said with a chuckle.
That was when a number of humans paused by their booth.
The mechs watching nearly had a metallic aneurysm watching. All of them but Tie. Rick and Owen just looked desperate for things to go well.
Standing behind them looking impossibly sexy and imposing, Sunstreaker watched with his arms folded across his chassis. He'd gotten the collection appraised, a set of numbers running from several hundred dollars and/or Euros up to mid five figures depending on the piece. It was a collection with an appraised value of 250,000 dollars or nearly 233,000 Euros. The quality of the gems and the precision of their cuts were first class.
The two had a good optic and a way of getting the suppliers to find for them the best for their tiny designs.
The buyers asked questions, were shown the merchandise and took pictures of them. Everyone watching but Sunstreaker and Tie were plotzing. Sunny was guarding his students.
The show would go on, they would sell out before the end of the first day of the three day event. They would earn the entire quarter of a million in value and the Primal Foundation of Earth would be richer than it was that very morning. It would be the start of a beautiful friendship between a girl, a girl bot and their mentor.
=0=TBC 5-30-2022
