Hazel in the Demon's Den

Hazel didn't know how to respond to Will's confession so she ended up avoiding him as much as possible over the next few days. In case she couldn't find it within herself to be normal around him again, she needed a way out.

So she looked up ways for artists to make quick and easy money. The sooner she could save up enough for a deposit in a new apartment, the sooner she could be on her way if that's what she ended up deciding to do.

The comic was coming along well so she had a bit of extra time to work on other things to sell. It pained her but she decided to sell the paintings she had saved from her old apartment. She had about a dozen of them.

In the past when she sold paintings on Etsy they always went fairly quickly. Watercolors didn't go for as much as acrylics, oil paintings, or mixed media ones. Most commonly she used acrylic paint but she enjoyed watercolor too.

That could make her a few hundred dollars if they sold. Hazel reckoned she would need about $5000 to get back on her feet at this point and move away but there was no guarantee all of her paintings would sell.

She had a fairly popular art blog on Tumblr where she had been posting sketches and digital art for years. It was actually how Muffincake ended up hiring her; she liked her digital art style. She could always open up commissions to her followers again.

In the past when she did that she ended up getting more requests than she could take on and made a few hundred bucks. It was worth a shot.

What really interested her though was an ad she saw online looking for artists to sell in Artists Alley at a comic convention happening in Salt Lake in a month. It wasn't one of those huge ones that focused on inviting celebrities; it was mostly fan-run panels and merchandise sales.

Renting a table cost about $250 there but after reading reviews from artists who had sold there in the past it appeared that the cost was worth it because sales always went really well. Hazel could probably make that work.

The problem was that she knew very little about fan culture. She ended up doing some deep, deep diving into the internet to find out what the people who went to these conventions liked.

When Hazel did commissions before there were always some nerds who wanted her to draw their favorite characters together so she knew a little about that but she wanted to be successful. More research was required.

She ended up discovering that there was much more to it than she thought. She would need to actually attend that convention to see what it was like and if her type of art would sell before wasting the money on a table.

Instead, she focused on her commissions and prayed that her Etsy sales of existing paintings did well.

Hazel didn't even see Will except when she snuck into the bedroom to sleep. She had been holing herself up in one of the guest rooms to work and hardly even came out to eat. She would much rather work than think and her frenzied pace produced a lot of art over following two weeks.

Will tried checking on her every so often but she kept the door locked and always yelled "I'm fine!" or "I'm busy!" She was sure if she saw his face she would end up doing something stupid. What that stupid thing was, she wasn't entirely sure.

Her feelings were a mess and she didn't want to face them so she threw herself even more fully into her art. It wasn't the healthiest coping mechanism in the world but it was how she had survived growing up with her uncle after leaving the mental hospital.

"You've been avoiding me, Hazel."

There was no judgment in his tone. No hurt either. It was a simple statement of fact.

"I've been busy," she said.

It wasn't a lie but it was skirting around the truth. She had indeed been avoiding him because she wasn't sure what to say.

"With what?"

"Commissions. It's a thing popular online artists do where they offer certain types of drawings for different prices for short periods of time. I got more requests than I could handle on top of my comic job so I've hardly had time to sleep."

"I've noticed," Will said mildly. "Can I commission you to draw me something?"

Hazel looked at him like he had sprouted another head. She was already working on those paintings for the house out in nature during daylight hours when he was at work. Why would he want a digital art drawing on top of that?

Commissions were normally done for people who liked an art style and wanted to save the picture to their computer to use as a profile picture or banner on their blog. Most of her customers used the commissions that way.

"Normally I do it all digitally. Do you want something digital or on actual paper?"

"On paper, please. I prefer tangible things."

This was so awkward. They were discussing business in bed at one o'clock in the morning as Will stared at her intently. Did he really miss the sight of her that much?

"If you really want something you don't have to pay me," Hazel insisted.

He had already done so much by letting her stay in his house and eat his food, not to mention the plane tickets and art supplies. The guilt she had been trying to force back by avoiding him now threatened to drown her. She really was a terrible wife, even if she was only a wife in name.

"Then what should I do instead? You deserve something for your time and effort," Will said, sitting up to face her.

"I really don't need anything," she said quickly. The last thing she wanted was more guilt added to this unequal relationship.

"How about this then. I have some business in L.A. in a few weeks that I can't get out of but afterwards what if we go on a little vacation to Mexico? I can take you snorkeling and to see Mayan ruins as well."

Hazel couldn't deny she was excited at the prospect of snorkeling and seeing the remains of an ancient civilization. She had learned a little about the Mayans in school. It would be amazing to see!

But wasn't that too much in return for a simple drawing?! Her highest tier of commissions was still less than $100 and that involved a full color scene with background and multiple characters of the client's choice.

Hazel didn't even know how much a trip to Mexico would cost. She would have to do dozens and dozens of commissions to pay for that on her own!