[ Open ]

[quod_mutos]

WHO: Kisten, Jean-Claude, and anyone who might step into Guilty Pleasures. (Such as, oh, I don't know, Tommy, who works there, and Raito, who applied for a job, and Brittanny, who might be "applying" for a bouncer position. Yes, I'm pretty sure I typoed Brittanny.)
WHAT: Hiring new help, and simply a day on the job.
WHERE: Guilty Pleasures

Comments

[kirathustra]

Raito, in his immaculate appearance and the careful, clean way that he carried himself, stood out immediately.

"Up-tight" wasn't the word. Not really. He looked too pleasant for that.

Maybe it was because he still felt a little lost, a little confused in the midst of this new culture that he appeared a bit stiff as he peered into the bar.

But the moment that he was actually inside, his posture relaxed into one that melded seamlessly into the situation. If anything, he was capable of assimilating.

Raito approached the man at the bar somewhat quietly, though his voice and the timbre of it was easily heard.

"Mr. Felps?"

[quod_mutos]

Kisten looked up and smiled from where he was checking the levels on various floats. "You must be Mr. Yagami," he said pleasantly, still keeping his enunciation high for the foreign boy. "Call me Kisten." He gestured broadly to the restaurant, obviously high-end and beautifully paneled. "And this? Is Guilty Pleasures. Anything you want, we can find. Delicate tastes, rare tastes, expensive tastes, it can be done." He gestured then to a man sitting at a desk in the back, running numbers. "That's my business partner, Jean-Claude. We've been running this place together for years. Take a seat."

He reached under the counter to grab a glass, and seamlessly flipped it upright on the bar. "What can I get you to drink, Mr. Yagami?"

[mortis_amor]

Jean-Claude had looked up both when the door opened and when Kisten said his name, offering a perfectly blank smile to the young man. "Welcome to Guilty Pleasures," he said smoothly, and then looked down at the papers in front of him. Though it appeared that he was completely engrossed in his work, he kept some of his attention on his business partner and the young Mr. Yagami.

[kirathustra]

The boy's eyes traveled from Kisten's face to the immaculate surface of the bar, the interior of the restaurant itself, and along the walls of the building. There was no hiding the fact that he was doubtlessly impressed, and unused to this style of decorating as opposed to the Japanese interiors that he'd been used to in his home country.

Raito lowered his lashes, looking back and forth, before he lifted his eyes and finally smiling, pushing some longer pieces of hair from his face, at both Kisten and Jean-Claude.

"It is very nice to finally meet you both." He gives an appreciative gesture with his hand that shows he is quite enamored with the bar and restaurant itself.

Upon being asked what he wanted, his smile only twitched wider, before fading into a more relaxed (but still pleasant) version.

"Water would be wonderful--please."

[quod_mutos]

Kisten smiled. "Water it is, sir," and bowed politely, reaching under the bar for a glass and a chilled bottle of Evian. Knocking a couple ice cubes into the glass, he poured the water expertly, and moderately showy, and slid the glass, no bumps or issues, across the bar to Raito

[kirathustra]

Raito's gaze followed every deft movement, every smooth twist, toss, slide of Kisten's hands, his eyes very slightly growing larger in his head. They weren't at that point where you can see whites all around the iris, but it showed the fact that he was yet again quite impressed with what experience could give you

[quod_mutos]

Kisten led Raito slowly through each area of the restaurant, from the outer, casual tables, to the more secluded tables, to the private rooms, explaining as he went. He took them on a quick jog through the kitchen, which seemed bizarrely understocked, then to the club, where Raito might tend bar, eventually, when his Italian had gotten better. Completing the tour, he gestured again to the same barstool Raito had sat in earlier, and again took up his post behind the bar. "Any questions?" he asked, smiling.

[kirathustra]

Once they had made the full circle through the bar, the boy sat himself back down in his seat once again. The glass of water was now just an empty glass, which he set down on the bar, looking entirely uncertain of where to place it or whether or not he should just give it back to Kisten.

Raito pivoted slightly on the barstool, and nodded before he spoke up again, sounding much more confident this time.

The more comfortable and adjusted he felt, the better his Italian became, and his expression took on a much more firm sort of look as he asked his question, the smile still in place.

"Is there anything that you feel I could do to contribute here?"

[quod_mutos]

Kisten made an expressive shrug, pulling a water pitcher out of seemingly nowhere and refilling Raito's glass. "Really, just do the job assigned to you. We can quiz you on your Italian periodically, too, if you'd like." He winked. "There are a few hours of the day where if we get a customer, we consider it crazy strange."

He pulled another glass from beneath the counter, filled it, and took a sip. "We can start training on whichever job you think will suit you best, barkeeping or waiting tables, either tonight or tomorrow, if you'd like to come in after classes. What's it gonna be?"

[kirathustra]

"I...feel that I would be better suited to keeping the bar," Raito ventured, thanking Kisten with a deep nod of his head, similar to a miniature bowing motion.

"Practicing Italian here or there would be a wonderful opportunity to learn things outside of classroom speech. It doesn't leave very much room for socializing." The boy smiled, happily, at the prospect of working in this particular environment.

Raito liked it, and knew that he could benefit from being around people that spoke so many different languages.

"Could I begin tonight?"

[quod_mutos]

Kisten smiled his charming smile, said, "Of course you can; bar would be great, too," before he signaled over the fellow working the other end of the bar. "He'll show you the ropes. I'll swing by every once and a while for impromptu Italian lessons, hm? Come see me before you leave tonight."

[kirathustra]

Raito's face lightened when the man offered the Italian lessons, and the boy nodded as he moved over to introduce himself to the person that was supposed to be showing him where to start.

"Of course I will. I couldn't thank you enough," he replied, his eyes warming and half closing as a result of the smile and the expression on his face.

And so it was that he began the long process of learning how to keep a bar, mostly through gestures and questions on his part, trial and error, a pace that wasn't necessarily lightning but definitely didn't crawl.

After a few hours, the person training him had decided to send him home, and Raito rolled his sleeves back down before he found Kisten again.

The boy tilted his head and leaned sideways, calling the man's name, softly.

[quod_mutos]

Kisten caught Raito's small summon and jogged over, only slightly less composed after dinner rush and actual business. Rather than sloppy, he looked rakish and strangely 20's-esque.

"Did you have a good training?" Kisten asked in the easy, enunciating way that he had adopted for Raito. "You seemed to be doing well -- well enough for a first day, certainly."

[kirathustra]

"It was...so much better than sitting in class all day," Raito laughed, almost sheepishly. He smiled at the man, noting the difference in his appearance with a slightly amused expression.

People really did change based on their situations and how they felt, but it had been a while since Raito had seen someone that showed that phenomenon on the physical surface of their appearance. Raito could see the difference, and was genuinely struck by it.

"I think I learned most of what I needed to about cleaning glasses and...pouring." The boy hadn't realize there was a specific way to do even that last part.

[quod_mutos]

His laugh was full-throated, pleasant. "There's a right and a wrong way to do most things, I've found. Even if 'right' and 'wrong' are defined differently by different people," Kisten said, voice still enunciating, but somehow less professional, more jovial. More friendly. "You did well for your first day. I mean, you certainly didn't get any ceramics thrown at your head; better than the first time Jean-Claude and I worked together." A wink, then, "But you'll have to get him to tell you that story."

Kisten took a quick sip of the drink he'd been holding, so surreptitiously and naturally that it was unlikely it had even been seen in his hand. "Same time tomorrow, or will you need that to flex? Better yet, come in whenever you feel like it, and hand me your availability. I'll try to come up with something static. Lord knows I hated variable schedules when I was younger."

[kirathustra]

The more Kisten joked, the warmer he became, the more comfortable Raito felt around him. The boy smiled, nodded, listened as a polite student would, and then gave a curious glance around the restaurant at the mention of Jean-Claude's name. The impression he'd gotten of the man was that he was much more serious than Kisten, so the thought of the two of them getting into trouble was something he had a little more trouble imagining.

Yes, the motion was smooth, the glass had appeared almost out of nowhere in Kisten's hand. Raito doesn't say anything, but he blinks a few times, wondering just how tired he really is.

Strange things had been happening since he'd come to this city, not all of them bad, but not all of them good, either.

He probably just needed some rest.

"The same time tomorrow would be perfect, thank you." Raito pulled his bag back onto his shoulder, running a hand through his hair before he replied, in addition--

"I really do appreciate this. Is there any way I could thank you?"