Chateau Lafite [Katsu]

[DONNAHUE, CHRISTOPHER]

The walls were lined with wine, tables were set up with glasses for tasters, and everything one needed for wine was there. There was a few people milling about chatting about different wines, and tasting the various grapes available. Most of them? Didn't know grape juice from some of the finest Chateau he'd ever seen on display. But he wasn't here for the most expensive wine he could buy. No, he was here to purchase wine for the restaurant. Normally they'd just place an order over the phone and he'd go and pick it up. But when he'd arrived the idiots had packed two grates full of some of the cheapest most disgusting brew they could sell. Christopher had thrown a fit.

Twenty minutes later and he stood at the tasting bar glaring at one of the workers from earlier. They were still getting his order ready while getting all the free wine he wanted. Since he didn't work that night he was drinking a fair amount. The current glass was a divine Bordeaux that just tingled the taste buds. He was enjoying the nervous glances he kept getting from the help. If people tried to screw him or his beloved restaurant over they paid for it. After showing them the error of their ways they rushed to fill the order. It wasn't like he got violent with them he just knew the right words to say with the right intonation in his voice.

Sipping he turned his icy gaze elsewhere in the store perusing the various patrons. A young couple picking out wine for their wedding how revolting. One woman was flirting with the man behind the taster bar like some idiot at a bar, disgusting. There were a few others but they weren't too exciting just browsing the isles. Boring, all extremely boring. He sighed gazing with that boredom over his wine glass. The sooner he got out of there the better.

He turned back to the counter pointing at a dark bottle not caring what the name was or the cost. The server came back with the bottle to pour him a glass. Then he proceeded to explain the qualities of the wine: where it was made, how old it was, what types of berries were used, and the list went on and on. Chris stared at the guy like he was an idiot fierce enough that the man actually started stuttering. Which made Chris smile evilly, which in turn made the man blush and stutter more. It was so much fun to mess with people's head when you were slightly tipsy.

"Yes, yes, all good. Made in California by a bunch of hicks who know nothing about fermenting, and it will go great with a slab of rare meat. Get me a wine that doesn't make me want to gag and then I'll listen to your ridiculous spiel." Usually he didn't make speeches like that but watching the man pale and run away for his manager also made him laugh. Boy alcohol made even the most boring of situations fun.

The manager, or who he assumed was the manager approached and kindly asked Chris to be nice to his staff or he could leave. Chris gave him a look pointed at what he knew to be expensive wine and order six bottles of it. The manager smiled bowed his head and walked away. Money solved everything just like he knew it would. Sure he should treat the staff better but they should stop trying to sell crap in a bottle. He took another sip of the wine staring at the wall of bottles. The restaurant would profit from the wines he'd just bought, and the owner, who loved him, would probably give him a bottle. So in actuality he'd spent nothing just to be able to mess with some kids head. Brilliant.

Tag: Katsu
Words: 656
Music: Bitchslap- Norman Gentle
Comments: Have fun ^_^
[/size]

[TAKEMURA KATSU]

i like the smell of fear that makes you paralyzed
I am the boy next door who put that fear in your eyes

When he was younger, Katsu had never been terribly fond of alcohol. He recalled the antics of his teenage years when he'd watched as his "friends" snuck out to bars with fake IDs and the intentions to get absolutely plastered. He'd only gone along because it'd been funny to watch how inebriated they'd become, all with different types of drunken behavior. One used to get unreasonably angry while another would giggle at every spoken word as though it was all some elaborate joke. It was through these haphazard misadventures that he'd flexed his own tastes, as it were. Even while he'd favored water in his youth, his father had often offered him a sip of wine during dinner. It was common practice in Europe, mind you, and Katsu's British mother used to rub brandy on his gums when he'd been a teething infant. He was no stranger to alcohol, having developed a selective taste for it as he'd grown, but it had taken him a while to actually enjoy the it. He now preferred expensive red wine, though white nearly appealed to him just as much. He liked to think of himself a connoisseur of sorts, especially since his successful, high-paying career allowed for him to take many outings to snobbish Japanese bars to indulge in such luxuries. Tonight, though, he was humoring himself in some light wine tasting. Why not? The night was young... He might as well enjoy himself a little.

Dressed in a maroon, collared dress-shirt and a pair of black slacks, the infamous attorney stepped into the shop with his chin tilted upwards just slightly. Takemura Katsu was a proud, confident man and it was evident in even the slight curve of his spine and the way his lean shoulders held themselves. He walked with languid ease; an alley cat sauntering along his turf. As he made his way along the wall and aisles, observing each label with bemused indifference written on his face, he also took note of the people in the room. A young couple, a few flirting women, one or two businessmen... a curiously devious looking young man who was scoffing at the staff. Huh. It was as Katsu found himself with a glass and some expensive Pinot Noir that he decided he might want to see what all the fuss was about. Not because he cared, but because he had nothing better to do, as usual. He was a man who disliked boredom, after all. Though a woman had begun to talk with him, having recognized him from the court house (she was a secretary there, apparently), Katsu strolled closer toward the man with that interesting smirk on his face.

He took another sip of his wine, tongue stroking through the liquid in his mouth as he casually made his way through the store. Of course, the smell of his drink was savored just as much whenever his face dipped gently toward the glass. Most wine tastings favored a few sips, then spitting, but this wasn't as extravagant as such high-class events that usually took place in art galleries and vineyards. The pale lawyer had been to a few just out of town, but he'd wanted to stay close to his office recently to finish up with a few cases he was keen on settling in the next few days. This place was the next best thing and, much to his sly delight, he mightn't end up so bored as he figured he might be. He wasn't in the mood to waste time on clingy women and whiny men, but had been so immersed in work, lately, that he'd been vaguely hopeful for some company to entertain himself with. But, picky as always, his dark eyes only sought out the most interesting potential. And here, in this shop, there was that younger man harassing the staff... oh, yes, there was certainly potential in someone who could wear a haughty grin all while telling off supposed "experts" in their own field.

Having heard what the man had said, Katsu felt his own mouth curving into a fox’s smirk. He dismissed the woman who'd been chatting him up in an oblivious monologue and stepped closer to where the smug-looking customer was standing. He did not approach him directly too quickly, sipping his wine and letting the taste linger on his tongue as he leaned against the counter. He tilted his head a little to keep his white bangs out of his eyes while he observed him, finally speaking in an amused purr. "You certainly seem keen on flaunting your exquisite tastes..." This was not said to scold him -- oh, no, not at all -- but more in a relaxed tone that suggested his agreement on the matter. He'd enjoyed hearing the way he'd mocked the service. It was always reassuring, after all, to notice that he wasn't the only man here in Tokyo who actually had taste at all. His, of course, would always be superior... but, for now, this amusing stranger didn't need to be aware of how beneath Katsu already considered him. That's how he considered everyone, wasn't it? Well, of course. In his mind, he was a god among mortals... but not a god so above bedding said mortals when it so suited his sly interests.

Already, he could tell that this guy was a little tipsy. Mm, good. All the more manipulative, then... Or so he hoped. He himself was anything but a lightweight. He had a naturally high-tolerance to alcohol and had a strange knack of staying sober even after several shots of hard liquor. It had been a talent to aid him in the past, so perhaps it would be of assistance in this setting as well. Not that he was already scheming to bring this man home with him. He'd test the waters... see what he had to offer. For now, he might provide a certain sense of decent conversation. One could only hope. "Not that this is a bad thing, necessarily... I find it refreshing." His smirk broadened a little and he took another sip of his drink, dark eyes calmly focused on the stranger's face. "You know your wine. Do you work in the business?"

---

tag: Chris
notes: Sorry for the wait! Better posts will come soon. D:
listening to: Twisted Transistor by korn

[DONNAHUE, CHRISTOPHER]

Now that he was left alone to sip his wine he started to wonder what was taking to long to fill his order. Sure he could deliver the wine to the restaurant whenever he was able but he didn't want to spend the whole night here. For one it wasn't very exciting and two he didn't feel like getting very drunk, which wasn't very hard for him to do. The server from before came back with a new wine that appeared to have some dust around the top. An old wine, aged for a good long time from the looks of it. Chris held out his hand and the man put the bottle in it. His eyes scanned the bottle and froze over the year and make. It was a gold mine to a wine connoisseur a Chatueau Lafite it was one of the most expensive wines that he knew of.

"Is this to taste or to buy?" The server grinned sheepishly and he knew it was to buy. To afford such a bottle would cost him probably a year's salary. Chris gave him a devilish smile starting to lean in to tell him to just get his order and that his boss had proven his point when a voice interrupted him. Still leaning he turned toward the voice setting down his wine when he voice an interesting sort as the source.

"Not exactly flaunting. I just find it annoying when they try to get you to buy wine that isn't fit to be put in a box and sold in bulk at a grocery store." Leaning back from the poor server he gave the young man a look and away he went. He turned back to the man wondering where he'd been hiding. From his earlier look around he hadn't spotted him but he could have entered after that or been hiding somewhere. When he came in or where he'd come from wasn't all that important right now what mattered was that he was there.

He sat staring at the man as he returned to sipping his wine quietly. Finding the smirk on the man's face appealing an almost inviting. "Not exactly. I'm a chef and work a lot with wine at the restaurant. I make it my business to not serve my patrons swill." Swirling the deep maroon wine in the glass he stared down at the liquid for a moment before turning his gaze back to the mysterious man. It wasn’t often that someone approached him at the winery. If they did they were usually trying to sell him wine or on occasion ask him what type of wine to cook with what. He frequented the place often enough that he tended to run into people, and people would recognize him from the restaurant.

“If I have such exquisite tastes as you say then I’m assuming you have similar tastes? What wine would you recommend?” He turned to lean against the counter of the tasting bar propping his elbows on the dark wood still swirling the wine. Not wanting to look like a fool by drinking too much when he was already tipsy he was trying to take his time with it. If he drank anymore after this glass he knew that he’d be walking home he could leave the car here the manager had let him do it a few of times before. If only he could have a better hold on alcohol his lifestyle would go so much smoother.

tag: Katsu
Word: 585
Music: Bad Romance- Lady Gaga
Comments: Sorry so short...

[TAKEMURA KATSU]

i like the smell of fear that makes you paralyzed
I am the boy next door who put that fear in your eyes

Mm. Well, this certainly was amusing. In its own sense, anyway. It was a simple scene: just two men tasting wine and engaging in casual conversation. But beneath the layers of Katsu's smirk and devilish eyes, the clockwork was at work and the cogs were turning. The lawyer was beginning to consider his options all while he sipped his wine and surveyed the stranger with nothing to suggest the dark thoughts at work. Lately, things had been so dull for dear Katsu. A client of his had been badgering him constantly and it was beginning to grate on his nerves. The case had taken up time he usually separated for entertaining himself and, true to form, he wasn't pleased with this change of routine. He wanted something to satisfy his restless urges; the dark desires that threatened to nudge him into the realm of psychosis if they weren't tended to. So it was as he studied this stranger through his calm, brown eyes that he realized that there was potential for some amusement. The elements were leaning into his favor, after all. What would it take to lure this man home to play with him a little? Now, now. Mustn’t assume it'd be so easy.... Mustn’t get ahead of yourself. But the sly man couldn't help it. Even gods need something to amuse themselves with now and again. Just for kicks.

"True enough. Though, to be honest, I find it acceptable to flaunt certain tastes. Not everyone understands, after all. Such crude and simple tastes..." He said this with a purring chuckle low in his throat, a hand waving off the matter as though to shoo aside the negativity of mentioning such inferior mindsets. Very much like any predator, his eyes rarely left his prey. Though his face offered an expression of that ever-cool, ever-calm countenance, there was always something vaguely predatory about the man. The way his eyes would flicker into life... the way his tongue would often flicker across the corner of his mouth... Try as he might, there would always be habits peeling through his facade, if only just so. He knew not if this young man would even be worth the hunt. But, for now, he would unfurl his interests and take his chance with harmless flirting. Indeed, no harm in that... right? His posture was the same - tall and proud - even as he stood and conversed calmly. He thrived in this element; thrived in the gloom of the bar and the taste of good wine, the scent of the drink combined with the lulling buzz of potential anticipation. "I'd say that's more so in the business than most connoisseurs can claim,

[/color]" he mused with a swirl of his glass, eyes regarding the maroon liquid for just a moment before shifting back toward those of the stranger. It reassures me that someone's doing their job well, then. The restaurants I've been frequenting lately have had poor stock. It's so very disheartening."

One of his slender eyebrows tilted a little at the question. For a moment, his eyes were set on his face as though there was a consideration deep down to commence with something awful. But then he raised his glass to his lips, briefly letting his tongue tease the rim before he took another light sip. "Well, this winery doesn't seem to have the prime selection for my interests, but I certainly have several labels that strike my fancy. Though this Pinot Noir is nice, I do love an aged Château Margaux. I think my favorite was the 1791. Though the 1900 had a delectable finesse..." The devilish attorney chuckled softly to himself, sipping at his drink again and running his tongue very lightly along his bottom lip as though to savor the details of the flavor. He leaned all the more relaxed against the counter, head tilted just slightly in a mild curiosity that fixed the man with wicked intentions masked by the warm charisma he was so often swathed in. "What about you, hm? Any recommendations, Mr....?" Might as well try to put a name to this face. Though names could often be distracting labels, he enjoyed the way they tasted on his tongue; the way they moved with his lips and teeth. Katsu was a sensory creature... primal despite his attempts at godhood. And, deep in his hunter's brain, he knew this. But he would always be above and beyond. Always that snake slithering along the branches of the Tree of Eden, rubbing his scales against the forbidden fruit he sought to deliver to an ignorant hand.

---

tag: Chris
notes: Fffffs, I knew I forgot something! Sorry! I'll try and do a better job of keeping track!
listening to: Thanks for the Memories by Fall Out Boy[/size][/blockquote][/justify]

[DONNAHUE, CHRISTOPHER]

Staring at the stranger for a moment he focused on the eyes. It usually ended up with him staring at someone’s eyes. So much could be told from looking at a person’s eyes and also it was a weakness of his. If someone happened to have a weird eye or eyes then he just couldn’t stand spending hardly any time with that person. It was shallow to be sure but it was just something that gave him the creeps. These eyes weren’t just some random guy at a bar’s eyes, nor were they the eyes of someone of low intelligence. The man’s IQ shined through those eyes like a fierce fire along with his eloquent tongue, or at least that’s what Chris saw. There was something else in those eyes as well something that made goosebumps rise up on the back of his neck. He didn’t know what it was but there was something there, and that something made him hide a smile behind his glass. When he couldn’t read a person’s eyes like a book he knew that he was in for at least an interesting conversation if not more.

He nodded at the man’s comment about crude tastes fully agreeing with him. “Yes, I know what you mean. People are content with flat, gray pieces of meat between tasteless pieces of bread with cheese that had never seen the inside of a cow.” Cringing he shook his head in dismay by the things people found to be ‘good food’ nowadays. It infuriated him when people came into his restaurant and wanted fries with their prime steaks, or ketchup to put on practically anything. Whenever that happened his employer had to make sure that for one Chris didn’t go out and dump ketchup all over the person’s head. And secondly they tended to just keep such information from him period though he had spies in the wait staff who told him everything. People’s tastes just made his skin crawl anymore.

“Well, if you ever want real food with decent wine then you should go to my restaurant. Though it’s not exactly mine I’m just the head chef.” He reached into his pocket to produce a pale lavender business card with fancy writing and swirling pretty patterns all over it. The word Mirihoto was emblazed in the center of the card with the address, number, and owner’s name beneath it. The owner had talked him into carrying cards with him whenever he did errands for the restaurant that way he if he ran into people asking about the business he could hand them out. Basically he was to advertise the place for free, which didn’t bother him because the more customers they got the more money he earned. Besides it was easier than trying to tell the people all sorts of stuff about the restaurant. It saved him time and a lot of annoying conversations with rich tourists wanting the best of the best while in Tokyo.

As the gentleman listed the various wines he felt a proud smile slip into place. So the guy really did know his wine after all. Such fine tastes and also such articulate speech it reminded him back when he lived in London with his parents. The people they frequented themselves with all sounded like the man beside him. He’d escaped all that a long time ago even if the expensive taste for food and wine had stayed with him. Other such rich tastes had faded a long time ago leaving him to hardly ever buy something unless he needed it. “Me? Hmm, sad to say I prefer harder drinks than simply wine. Brandy is the first to come to mind such as a fine cognac.” Those two were some of his favorite drinks to choose from but not many bars carried them or if they did the type they carried made his tongue burn and his stomach curdle. “To me nothing beats a properly aged cognac.”

He might have just lost some points for preferring brandy to wine but he frankly didn’t care. If the man was so stuck up that he couldn’t appreciate other good types of alcohol then he could just find someone else to fill his time with. Wine was made with grapes and so was cognac so what was the big deal? Shrugging to himself he turned back to the bar top setting down his glass to stare at the wall of bottles. Where in heck was his order? If they didn’t produce it soon he was going to tell them to just call someone else from Mirihoto to pick it up later. He was getting quite sick of waiting because of their mix up. “Oh, and forgive me. My name is Christopher. Christopher Donnahue. And may I have the pleasure in knowing your name?” Why did he just talk like that? He hated it when he slipped into that old style of talking. Licking the back of his teeth he stared down at his empty glass hating that certain people brought out that person he’d thought died so long ago. The innocent little rich boy was dead and he was going to stay dead.

tag: Katsu
words: 866
music: I Love You Always Forever- Donna Lewis
comments: Heh, it's okay...no big. ^_^