Pursuing the Artist

[Inora Theos]

Inora glanced down at the card in her hand once more, than at the door in front of her. The numbers matched up, but she hesitated at knocking. She had been searching for three days for the artist who painted her friend's newest acquisition. Inora herself was not much of a collector but when she saw something good she felt the innate need to own it for herself.

She raised her hand, but then hesitated once more. She had never done something like this before. Never deliberately searched out someone she didn't know. "But how could someone who created something so beautiful be bad?" She asked herself, her voice so soft she could barely even hear it. She went to knock again but her hand fell to her side once more.

"Oh stop it, Inora. You can do this. Stop being such a wuss. It's just an artist. Take a deep breath." She did. "Let it out." She did. "And knock on the stupid door. It won't bite you and I seriously doubt the person inside it will either." She took another deep breath, let it out slowly, raised her hand, and finally had her knuckles make contact with the wood.

"Pitiful." She said to herself. The knock had been so soft no one inside could be expected to hear it. She knocked again, this time smiling at herself when she managed to make a noise that could be heard inside the home. "Alright." She told herself, settling back on her heels to wait for the artist.

[hayaki]

Hayaki was sitting at his kitchen table on the 'personal' side of his studio/apartment, sipping coffee and listlessly grading some papers he'd had his students write. For the most part they were...horrible. Just...bad. I can't believe...have they even been listening to me at all? After four weeks of instruction, this is the best they can do?

He was feeling a little discouraged; if it had just been a couple of kids, he might have been able to dismiss it as just them being idiots. But the whole class...that smacked of bad teaching. He thought he was a good professor, but maybe...

He sighed and set his coffee down. When he heard the knock at the door, he frowned slightly; who would be visiting him? He didn't have many friends, and those few usually called before they came over. Rising, he grabbed his shirt and slipped it on, then padded through the 'work' side of his studio, carefully avoiding the latest painting he'd set up to dry, and ran his hand through his hair before opening the door.

He blinked at the girl on the other side; it took a second, but he finally concluded he didn't know her. Smiling a little, he raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Hello...how can I help you?" he asked quietly.

[Inora Theos]

Inora's eyes snapped up from the spot they had been examining on the floor as she heard the door open. She nervously pushed a blond curl behind her ear as she smiled at the man who was standing there. Her feet shifted underneath her as she tried to remember what you were supposed to do in this type of situation. "Oh, right." She mumbled.

"Hi, I'm Inora Makani. Um, are you..." She looked down at the business card again, "Hayaki Komatsu." She stuffed the business card into the pocket of her blue jeans and tugged at the bottom of her light gray t-shirt. She was slightly grunged down today, going for comfort.

Her feet shifted again as she surveyed what she could see of the room behind the man and also the man himself. He appeared to be older than her, which would not surprise her. She reached behind her back and played with the ends of her curls while she awaited his answer, her blue eyes wide with anticipation and just a little bit of impatience. Not at him, but rather at her own nervousness.

[hayaki]

Hayaki caught a glimpse of the business card and smiled wider. Ah, that explained it. He directed his smile to the girl, his eyes taking in all the details. Nice face; good bone structure. Beautiful hair. He noticed and filed away these details, the artist in him always seeking inspiration in beauty. Stepping back, he pulled the door open wider, an obvious invitation. "Yes, I am. I assume you're here about a painting?" he asked, gesturing gently for her to enter.

He glanced around the studio area quickly, an instinctive glance to make sure there wasn't anything sitting out that could be potentially embarrassing. His dirty clothes, for example...but the studio was....well, clean wasn't really the word for it. Cleanish. There was still marble dust in the corner from the statue he'd finished for that commission, and there was, of course, paint streaks everywhere. His brushes were all carefully stored away, and the paint was covered, but the drop-cloth he'd been using was wadded up and tossed casually in the corner.

He grinned and waited for her to enter. Wish I had gotten all the way dressed he thought, glancing ruefully down at his blah t-shirt and worn jeans. He hadn't expected visitors this morning, after all. "Would you like something to drink? I have coffee, orange juice, milk and cold tea." He offered. He could sense the girl's nervousness and wondered, briefly, if it was from meeting a new person, seeking him out, or the idea of being alone with a man in his house-since it was obvious that his 'personal' side was where he lived.

[Inora Theos]

Inora's own smile grew as his did. There, that's better. She took a deep breath and mentally shook herself. "Yes, I am. My friend recently acquired one of your pieces and I absolutely loved it. She caught me staring at it one day and gave me your card, telling me to get my own and stop drooling over hers." She laughed. "Though I wasn't really drooling."

She stepped into his studio and cast a furtive glance around the place. Her eyes stopped on the various art works spread through the studio and she grinned. He was really very good at what he did. Her nervousness was forgotten in the anticipation of owning her very own work from this, as she believed it, artistic genius.

She realized that he had asked her a question, and that she'd failed to answer. Her brain skipped back through the last few moments. Oh, drink. "Um, I'll take some orange juice please." She took a step farther into the room. "Sorry for barging in on you like this. I really hate going to people's houses for business things when I haven't met them. I always feel like I'm invading their personal space." She smiled and shrugged, having just explained away her nervousness to the both of them.

[hayaki]

Hayaki chuckled, shutting the door behind her. "I'm glad you did. But don't feel bad...my house and my studio are one and the same, so you didn't really have a choice." He moved to the kitchen, pouring her a glass of orange juice and bringing it to her. "Were you really drooling over one of my paintings?" he asked, laughing gently at her.

He was blushing, though...he knew he was alright, judging from the comments people made on his paintings, but he didn't think he was all that awesome. There were much better painters than himself, in his opinion. It was one of the reasons he didn't exhibit much; he was shy of showing people his work. But it was nice, too, to be acknowledged, especially when he was feeling low about his teaching and all...

He glanced at the drying piece and smiled. He liked that one a lot. It showed two girls standing side-by-side, giving the viewer equally mischievous grins. Neither of them were anything particularly special; one was a slender girl with long black hair and a crooked nose, and the other was a taller girl with oddly red hair and a rather blunt face. But together, with those grins and the laughter in their eyes, they looked beautiful. And he'd caught the background perfectly, too-a view of the street outside his window, New York in all it's early-evening glow.

Other paintings around the room ran the gamut from straight impressionist pieces, fantasy (he particularly liked the gold and green Chinese dragon above the door), and a rather interesting fallen-angel/Gothic man he'd done a few weeks back. That one he wasn't sure about...the man looked rather off, for some reason. Maybe he'd just not gotten the feeling from the model he was looking for. "So...which of my paintings did your friend buy?" he asked, picking up his coffee cup and sipping it.

[Inora Theos]

Inora blushed at his question and shrugged her shoulders. "No, I was not really drooling over it. I was simply admiring it with my mouth hanging slightly open...Like this." She opened her mouth slightly, her head tilted slightly to one side, and her eyes got a far away look in them. She held that position for a second and then put her face into it's normal arrangement and smiled at him. "Really, I loved it." She took the glass of orange juice and took a small sip.

Judging from his actions, and the question, Inora figured that he was second-guessing his work. As a fellow artist, though her work fell more toward words, she could understand the tendency to underestimate yourself in the face of others work. "You have a great eye for details. That's what got me. The painting was just so...real. More like a photograph, or even a window. And the colors were just....unbelievable." She stopped, realizing she might be making him uncomfortable by spouting his praises. "Anyway, I really liked your style."

She looked up and saw him looking at one of paintings. She followed his gaze and was immediately taken aback. Her face took on the look she had demonstrated earlier only, her mouth wasn't open, and this time it was real. It was a gorgeous piece, and she found herself wanting to know those girls, wanting to be as beautiful and fun as they looked.

She was stunned out of her reverie by his next words, actually physically jerking away from the painting. She looked almost like a child who'd been caught in some mischievous act. "Oh um. Well, it's so hard to describe it accurately. Let's see here. It was a painting of a young boy in a cobble stone courtyard, his head was leaning back against one of the walls and he was staring up at the sky. It looked like he was about to sprout wings and fly away, and the way the painting was, you were rooting for him to do just that." Her eyes got the faraway look in them again as she thought of it.

[hayaki]

Hayaki chuckled at her imitation of herself; it actually did look like she was drooling, actually. He covered his smile with his hand and took another sip of his coffee.

When she started describing all the reasons she liked his work, he blushed harder, his smile turning shy. He thought about saying thanks, but really...it would sound egotistical, wouldn't it?

Before he could make up his mind, she turned and caught sight of his newest painting. The look on her face made him blush clear to his ears; he must be bright red at this point. Well...he guessed she liked it, anyway....

"Ah...that was a good day." He said, trying to conquer his blushes and not really succeeding. "The boy was the son of a friend of mine; he never holds still for more than ten minutes at at time. It really does seem, sometimes, like he's going to fly away." Hayaki said, setting his cup down and shrugging self-consciously. "I'm really happy you got the feeling I was going for, though."

He smiled at her, and there was no embarrassment there for a moment, only simple joy that she had understood what he'd been trying to say. You couldn't ever be sure, when you painted something like that, if people would really understand. Paintings were such a personal thing, and the 'meanings' behind them could be interpreted in a thousand different and often surprising ways...

"Those two are singers; I met them in Greenwich. The blonde's a jazz singer, and the red-head-and that's her real color!-sings Scottish ballads in a traveling show. We got talking and I noticed that they were such an interesting pair...I convinced them to come and pose for me. That's actually the third painting; the first two I gave to each one of them. I think I might have sparked a romance..."

He blushed again and laughed, crossing his arms over his chest. "What do you think of him?" He asked, pointing to the Gothic painting. He was very curious if she'd notice the 'offness' or if it was just in his mind.

[Inora Theos]

Inora grinned. She was glad that her interpretation had been on point with his. She'd never really talked to an artist about their work before, so she wasn't sure of the protocol. She'd only realized after she'd made the comment that she might be saying something that was completely her own opinion. She took another sip of her orange juice and tilted her head to look again at the painting of the two singers.

"Really, they're singers. I'm a singer too!" She smiled, instantly feeling more connected to the women in the painting. She walked a little closer to the painting and gazed at the red head. "I've always secretly longed for red hair. So many people now-a-days have blonde hair, I feel like I disappear in the sea of tow-heads."

She turned to look at the painting he indicated next. Her feet brought her closer to it and she started at it for a few minutes. She then moved her head the other way. Then another. "Umm...No offense or anything, but, something's just not right with this one." She stared a bit harder trying to figure out why. "It feels....forced. You know?" She looked at the painting again and nodded. "Yeah, that's it. If feels like one of you wasn't very happy with how things were going or what was going on or something. It doesn't have the same ease to it that your other works do."

[hayaki]

Hayaki grinned. "You're a singer?" He asked, walking over to stand next to her and looking at the girls. "Don't put down your hair...I think it's very nice."

He followed her to the other painting and studied it, his eyes narrowing. "Yeah." He said unhappily. "I know. I don't really like it; something wasn't working that day. He was dressed like that when he got here; I added the wings to try and make it look better, but it never really clicked."

He didn't know it, but the man in the painting hadn't just come to pose for him, he'd wanted to sleep with Hayaki. But Haya hadn't even thought about it; he wasn't used to people finding him all that attractive, and he'd never slept with anyone he'd asked to come model for him, so he'd missed the obvious signs. That's why the man looked unhappy.

Hayaki sighed and turned away. "So...what exactly were you looking for? If you don't see something you like here, you can commission something." he said, smiling. "Even a self-portrait; you have nice lines and I'd love to paint you." He was more at home on these matters; he was used to talking people into holding still for him. "It wouldn't take long, the original posing, I mean. I always make sketches and then paint the actual paintings from memory."

He said it without making a big deal of it. To him, it was a normal way of doing it. "So...what do you say? Want to let me paint you?" he asked coaxingly.

[Inora Theos]

Inora nodded, still trying to get the painting to look right. "Hmm, oh well. Not everything can be a masterpiece. Just put this one in the 'try again some other time' folder in your mind and maybe you can find a model who would fit the idea better. I'm sure it had nothing to do with your skill." She made sure to put that part in, wanting to reassure him that this in no way took away from his abilities.

She shrugged at his question. "I wasn't sure, I just knew I had to come here. Get something for myself. A little piece of your genius." She laughed. When she finally got around to processing his suggestion of a self-portrait, a blush crept into her cheeks.

"Well, I don't know about that." She shook her head slightly but then she stopped and actually thought about it. She'd never done something like posing for a portrait before, and if there was anything Inora loved it was trying new things. Maybe this was just what she needed. A new adventure. She appreciated the smooth manner in which he tried to coerce her into posing, it took a lot of skill to coax and he seemed to have gotten it down to an art form...no pun intended.

"You know what. Sure! I mean, I wanted a painting, why not one of myself. At least I won't have to go get pictures taken. Plus it'll give my apartment that sophisticated feel. I can hang it over my radiator." She giggled slightly and then nodded. "Yeah, let's do it!"

[hayaki]

Hayaki nodded, agreeing with her on the Goth man painting; he'd just stash it somewhere. When she agreed to pose, he broke out in a huge, happy grin and clapped his hands together softly. "Great!" he exclaimed. "That's so great! Ok..."

He turned, looking thoughtfully at his studio. "I think you've never done this before, right?" he asked, smiling. "So, let's do a few things to get you more comfortable with the idea. I'll do some sketches in some different poses. Come here..."

He held out his hand, already falling into 'artist' mode, picturing her in different poses, against different backgrounds. He loved her hair; he really wanted to get something with her hair. And her body was so lithe. She could probably look good in any way they ended up posing her. "Why don't we start with some classic poses, just to ease you into it?" he asked, still considering different things.

[Inora Theos]

Inora couldn't help but break into a grin to match his. The happiness was contagious. She had no idea that just agreeing to pose for an artist could make them this excited. Although, she got the same way whenever anyone agreed to sing with her. Must just be the excitement of sharing your gift with others.

She shook her head. "Nope, never. I'm really excited for it now!" She liked that he was being so kind, trying to ease her into things. Some people she knew would have just forced her to do things their way, immediately, no highway option. She walked over obediently when he asked her to and tried to imagine how her self-portrait would look. She could tell that he wasn't quite the same person he had been before, now he was an artist, he was a creator, a crafter. He was the sculptor and her image was the clay.

"Sure, that sounds great. Thanks for being so nice about it! Although, I've never done it so this whole, easing into it thing could just be protocol. I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and say it's just you being nice!" She waited, body as still as possible to allow his imagination to do what it willed. "Move me as you please!" She said, allowing him free creative reign.

[hayaki]

Hayaki laughed, gently patting her arm. "I am being nice." he said, shrugging. "I don't know..." He'd heard that some other artists were downright bastards with their models; a few of his 'professionals' had told him there were a few they refused to sit for anymore. And at least one was a huge pervert who only asked nubile young girls to sit for him so he could try and seduce them. Yet another reason he'd never considered sleeping with his models; he refused to even kind of get that kind of reputation.

Hayaki gently pushed her down to sit on the edge of the stairs to his loft/bedroom. He stepped back and surveyed her, then grinned. "Sit how you normally would sit if you'd decided to sit there." He said, wanting to see what her natural lines were. He'd adjust her limbs as necessary, but it would be good to see how she held herself. Hopefully she was more excited than nervous; soothing the nervousness out of her might be necessary. He'd done that before too.

He reached around behind him and felt for his pad and pencils; when he found them, he pulled them around and flipped the book open to a fresh page, then checked his pencils for points. He was going to make some simple sketches first, then do a few detailed ones. Truthfully, her features were already fixed in his head, but he wanted to see if he could catch some unguarded expressions. He already liked that smile; he'd have to try and coax it out of her again.

[Inora Theos]

Inora allowed herself to be pushed down, even managing to do so gracefully, which was nice. She looked up at him, sitting in exactly the position she'd ended up in, but then she followed his instructions and got comfortable. She leaned back resting her elbows on the stair behind her and leaning back on her arms to support her upper body. She then drew her knee up and placed on foot on the stair below her, stretching her other leg out. Her head fell back slightly, and to the side so that it rested on her shoulder. Her long curls fell to the side of her body, in the direction her head was tilted and her eyes closed a little as she settled into the position.

"Well, this is how I would normally sit." She said, just to let him know she was done moving and was quite comfortable. She opened her eyes a little wider so she could see what he was doing and saw that a pad had materialized from somewhere. A soft smile graced her lips and she settled back into her seated bliss. She had spent a long time walking around New York looking for his humble abode, so sitting down felt amazingly good right about now.