Title: Discussions of Mirth among Art
Homework Assignment #3- Jura (Vandread) and Akio (Utena) meet for the first time.
Rating: PG-13
Characters are not mine I am just borrowing.
Slight Shoujo-ai Content.
Alternate Universe and Crossover

Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?

Jura Elden quirked a blonde eyebrow at the paintings title and shrugged. She wasn't sure what the title had to do with the painting but she supposed that in some way the various blotches of ugly colors could be formed into a metaphor for...Well she was sure it was something. She looked at the price tag and then took a note book out of her purse and jotted down the name, the price, and the artists name. She hoped he wouldn't be one of those overly dramatic artists that had qualms about where his art went and to who...and if she could have about a half dozen copies made to hang in various women's restrooms of the upscale department store chain she worked for.

It wasn't the easiest job in the world but she supposed someone had to do it, besides it helped to put her degree in art and art history to use. Department stores were easy to buy for when it came to art. It was almost the same as buying art for banks. You chose something that had an interesting color scheme that was completely abstract with no immediate message and you had something profound and suitable for the entrance way of the stores, or the restrooms. She did not always pick something she thought was terrible though, very often she supplied the store with two choices one that she considered great art and one she knew the store would actually purchase. On occasion she got lucky and the approving management went for something that was tastefully excellent.

She sauntered down the line of paintings on display in the gallery. This show for new up and coming artists was pretty good, which meant her pickings were slim for the new store that was opening, but she could live with that.

Jura stopped at a painting called: The Bride

It was an interesting collage of events making up a nude portrait of a young woman with a blindfold over her eyes. It was very much like a fairytale, complete with gory ending. It was intriguing and yet, completely disturbing at the same time.

A grin perked at the corner of her mouth. Mireille was simply out doing herself with the new gallery location. It was more expansive than the previous location, and with a few rooms the dealer could use to showcase her little ingénues. Not that those rooms weren't earned, and quite frankly if she had been better at making art than criticizing it, and dissecting it into neat little organizable themes and theories she'd be better off.

She shrugged at the thought. What could she say; she had a vicious streak of self importance sometimes, and it came out best when she was either pulling attention to herself, or when she was analyzing the very fabric of creativity.

With a slight movement Jura made a small step back so she could see the way the collage moved and focused from the smaller scenes into the larger picture. It was a strange effect. As she moved back even further she bumped into someone.

She turned almost ready to apologize but the man standing behind her had such a smug look on his face she couldn't find the will to say she was sorry. She stepped forward and then turned to face him. He was handsome as far men went in her book, with a wolfish grin that only meant trouble.

"I'm sorry. I seem to have gotten in your way." His voice was a low boom that naturally dripped of charm, lust, sex...It was the kind of voice a person can not say no to.

"Oh, you did. You kept me from viewing this painting at its best."

"So you like it?"

Jura tossed her hair back and then put her hands on her hips. "It's good, but there is something disturbing about it. I'm not sure if I like it enough. Is it yours?"

He shook his head. "I prefer astronomy to art. The sky was the world's first canvas after all." He paused to look her over quickly with his green eyes and then with a grin motioned to a group of people a little ways behind him. "My brother is the artist."

She looked over towards the group and among them was a man with a similar build and features, but while the one before her was in a crisp red dress shirt and perfectly pressed slacks, the other was wearing a ruffled shirt and looked a bit as if he had just escaped a dance competition. She grinned.

"I see...twins?"

"Yes, but we are very different from each other. Dios and I have different views on nearly everything."

"And do you have name, or are you remaining safely anonymous at this gathering?" She asked and did her own summing up. Her sapphire blue eyes noted the overwhelming confidence that he had.

He chuckled and then said, "I am Akio Ohtori."

"Astronomer and all around playboy I imagine."

"And what makes you so sure about that? I could be happily engaged."

"Are you?"

Sometimes she didn't know why, but she had to flirt with someone. Perhaps it was because she knew how good she looked on the outside, having such voluptuous curves, and great hair. She could be vain when she wanted to be, and despite some things she did in her youth to get attention and be the best she could be...usually she was more conscious of how she presented herself to others. Sometimes though, it was nice to have all the attention of the room, and everyone falling over himself (or herself depending on the company she was keeping) to talk to her.

He shook his head. "Not happily..."

They stepped away from the painting and into one of smaller side galleries that was displaying the current works of a rising star on the art scene. Looking around Jura thought she recognized a face or two in the paintings.

Akio seemed to be drawn to one painting in particular.

"Do you think," he began, almost solemnly, "that these two young women ended up happily?"

Jura tilted her head to look at the painting. "I think if they ended up happily there wouldn't be a need to put that scene onto canvas." She looked a little closer at it and quirked an eyebrow. "You know when I was in high school I was a fencer."

"Is that so?"

"Oh yes. I loved fencing. I loved fencing, racing my car, and art I think more than anything in the world."

"And now you just...you know I do not believe you ever introduced yourself."

She smiled and took his hand to shake it. "Jura Basil Elden."

"Critic?"

"Buyer actually, I buy all those horrid paintings you see in department stores."

"Interesting position..."

With a chuckle she replied, "I could think of more interesting positions Mr. Astronomer."

"Is that so?"

She looked into his eyes and she could tell that he knew she was just playing with him. It was just a war of words between them. If she wanted to she could make a few more innuendos but it hardly seemed fun anymore when she wasn't the only one aware of the rules. She turned her attention back to the painting.

"Tell me Akio, as the brother of an artist what do you think of these paintings?"

"I think they are by a woman who knows her place in life and knowing that place is breaking free from her cocoon."

"She's an insect then?"

"Oh, most definitely, but why should you worry about it, you were never like her, were you?"

Jura's wide smile drew itself in to a grimace. "No, I never was. I always knew what I wanted and when I wanted it and went out and got it. You, I see that you do the same, but you're less straight forward about it aren't you?"

"I want what I want and then I make arrangements to get it."

"I draw lines for myself."

Akio grinned, "And I certainly do not draw lines. If you are ever near the observatory, you should come and see me."

"Well, you know perfectly well I'll never be there."

He stepped back and turned toward another painting in the room. He arched an eyebrow at it. "This one is very bold for her, but somehow I think she's kidding herself about princes." He looked at Jura and then asked, "Are you engaged at all, Miss Elden?"

"No, but I'm taken at the moment."

"Happily?"

"Yes, and you said you were not happily engaged. Why be engaged then?"

He shrugged. "My fiancé can help to get me what I need."

"Ah."

"And since we've changed the name of the game in favor of polite conversation, what about you?"

Jura turned to look at another painting, butterflies and moths flittering around a very unique sword. She smiled then and said, "I'm dating a police officer."

He moved to step out of the gallery and she followed. They entered another one of the rooms and the paintings were of a much different tone, landscapes, seascapes, abstract images of the dawn and dusk, and then there were a few portraits, nudes that broke into someone, leaving them completely exposed for what they were. Here Jura recognized faces as well, but more immediately, from the present instead of the past.

"Don't you ever fear that one day he-"

"She." Jura interrupted quickly.

He almost chuckled but then did not. "Fascinating... Alright, don't you ever fear for her?"

"Always, but she's good at what she does."

"And are you?" He stepped towards one of the nudes and took in a rather meaningful breath. "I think I like this one better than the one my brother did. There's more truth in this one I think."

Jura was confused for a moment and then asked, "Am I what?"

He looked over at her in some surprise and then replied, "Your work, are you good at what you do?"

"Very, don't you hate every painting you see in a department store?"

Akio chuckled and then turned his attentions back to the painting. "Definitely, this piece is better."

She stepped in closer to view it and then noting a resemblance stated, "Your sister is a model."

"Perceptive...No, my sister is a student who models to help with that one goal of hers."

"And what is that?"

He frowned and his voice dipped into something a little snide, "I honestly couldn't say."

Jura took the tone and did not pry any further. She was sure that in many ways someone could go on forever loving someone like Akio without him even batting an eye of thanks. She was sure too, that one could hate for that length as well, and then perhaps you'd get an unmeant apology. The thing was, she had started the conversation in the mood to flirt and it had turned on her to make her want to go home. She wasn't sure why she lingered, but it had to do with how easy it was to speak to him. How easy it was to say something to him, give him a secret, even if he might turn that secret into something dangerous later. It was perhaps the sound of his voice, or the way he carried himself. All in all though she imagined she could listen to him speak about anything, even if he was an arrogant bastard.

She stepped out of the room leaving him with the nude portrait of his sister. It had been an interesting conversation and she was sure would be mulling over it for days, unless something came up to distract her. It was a strange conversation, but more than that she wanted to meet the artist of the paintings from that first room they had been in. The one with the fencer and the butterflies...the one that reminded her of some she had once known.

The main part of the gallery was still filled with people chatting away with artists, and critics being themselves. Amid the throng she caught sight of her girlfriend, still in uniform (the woman was a detective but Jura still called the stuffy and unflattering pant suit a uniform). She hadn't thought the woman would attend. Art wasn't really her scene. She gingerly stepped up to her and smiled.

"I don't understand of this." The young woman said pointing to the painting of the ugly color blotches. "I really don't know why people pay for this kind of thing. I mean you can not tell me that's attractive."

Jura grinned. She felt like playing again, but a different type a game. "It is ugly, but that's why some people think of it as art."

The brunette quirked an eyebrow and shifted uncomfortably. "Really?"

"Really. Don't fret I want you to come with me."

"Why?"

"Because there's real art in the next few rooms that I know you'll find interesting."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't you worry. I'll explain it if you can not make heads or tails of it, I promise. Oh, and I nearly forgot." Then Jura whispered something into the young woman's ear, leading her away into one of the smaller rooms and ignoring the rest of the activity in the gallery.

The young woman blinked and blushed, following eagerly. "Okay, but... Is that even physically possible?"

The end.