trailblazers | 004 » broke all the promises i made last night

[Sometimes a man wants to go to a popular, crowded nightclub to get lit on expensive bottle service and designer drugs while some young, scantily-clad thing sits on his lap and drinks champagne. Sometimes, he wants to go to a quiet little place that's known for the quality of the drinks and service, where he can sit for a while and relax.]

[The bar's quiet when he walks in except for the light music playing, unobtrusive and there to complement the mood and decor of the place. The bartender is very much a pretty young thing, dressed up clean and crisp with just a popped collar button and rolled sleeves to keep the whole look from being too stiff. His monochrome look-- gray hair and white shirt and black vest and slacks-- contrasts with the riotous color of the backlit bottles behind him. Sampo can appreciate the presentation, the showmanship of it.]

[He slides into a seat in front of the bartender. He smiles, all friendly charm.]

Hey yourself. [Props his chin on his hand, his elbow on the bar.] Start me off with an old fashioned?

[A classic cocktail, to see how good this bartender is at not just slinging drinks, but making them well.]

[ Caelus's lips quirk slightly, but he doesn't comment snidely about the order as he nods, murmurs assent, and begins working on it. It's a fair first order to make. It could just be this customer's usual, but the bartender also tends to know when he's being tested — and a little bit of testing is normal. Quite normal, to want to know if the pretty young man behind the bar actually knows how to make a drink or is just being paid to look sexy enough to make clientele look the other way about the subpar cocktails.

He's slick about it, but he makes it with a classically trained sense of style. Sugar, bitters, splash of water. He stirs smoothly and quietly, without hitting the sides of the glass. Pours the whiskey with a firm hand, and in a way that highlights the strength in his forearms and a sultriness to his slender wrists. The soft sound of the liquid trickling into the glass is an ASMR experience all on its own. Pulls a fresh orange from under the counter, cuts it cleanly, slides it into the drink for garnish. And then — even though it's not traditional, but specifically because he's noted that this customer has a playfulness to him that makes Caelus suspect he'll appreciate this — he throws in a cherry on top, just for good measure, and because it makes the drink look cute. ]

Your old fashioned, sir.

[ He presents the finished cocktail with panache, gesturing with his hands as if to suggest that it was his utmost honor to serve Sampo. ]

Please, enjoy.

Edited 2024-03-26 04:36 (UTC)

[Sampo watches the bartender as he works, noting his technique, the steadiness of his hands as he pours the spirits. There's an art to making a good drink, and though it's a little early to really gauge Caelus' abilities-- one drink does not a master make-- he does seem to have a very firm grasp of the fundamentals. And he's confident enough to add in a little flair, just enough to make him interesting to watch without being flamboyant. Whoever taught him was clearly the classy type.]

[He garnishes the drink with an orange wedge and a cherry. Modern additions, but sometimes change is a good thing. Adds a little touch of sweetness that can go very nicely with the right kind of bourbon.]

Thanks, friend.

[Sampo picks up the drink, takes a sip. The bourbon is smooth, rich, and warm, balanced well with the aromatic bitters; leaves a trail of heat going all the way down to his stomach as he swallows. A very well-made old fashioned, definitely a strong start.]

Are you new in town? [A pretty young thing that's good with his hands-- it would be a shame not to pay him due attention.] I haven't seen you before, and I'd definitely remember a face like yours.

[ Caelus leans on the counter for a moment, carefully watching Sampo sample his first cocktail of the night. There's a smooth confidence to the way the man kicks back his whiskey, a playful glint in his green eyes. The bartender has to admit that he likes the way the man smiles. ]

I'm just substituting for Siobhan for a bit. Are you one of her regulars?

[ Every bartender has glasses to clean somewhere in their bar, and Caelus is no exception. With nothing else to do for the moment, and Sampo as his only customer, the young man with golden eyes takes some time polishing one from wet cleanliness to an unblemished sheen. ]

She didn't say much about what to expect. Just told me to, and I quote, "make sure the customers don't get fresh with you."

[ He can't help but shoot Sampo a sly smirk, as if he somehow knows full well that Sampo might be the type to get fresh with him. But then... he hasn't said that he's against it, either? ]

I don't know if I'd say that... but I stop in every time I'm in town. I travel a lot!

[He's almost envious of the glass in Caelus' hands, getting so much attention from him. All polished up to an immaculate clarity, held so gently in those dexterous hands. A guy might like to get worked over like that.]

[Siobhan's warning makes that smile twist a little, going from easy friendliness to a something a little sly. Oh, did she say that he might get fresh? Sampo wouldn't get fresh with her, he knows the wrong tree when he's barking up it, but it's a very funny thing that she'd be able to take one look at Caelus and go yeah, that one is Koski's type.]

Fresh? Me? No, I would never. Miss Siobhan must be talking about other patrons, some of them can be real scoundrels.

[He knows a thing or two about scoundrels. The stories he could tell you, Caelus! One or two of them might even be true.]

I'm a stand up kind of guy. She'd tell you herself, if she were here.

[She'd tell him something, that's for sure! She'd probably tell him 'let me deal with Koski, new kid, he's too much for you', and spend the whole night being a solid wall of lesbianism between himself and Caelus. The galaxy's second worst wingwoman.]

[ There are nights when Caelus very much appreciates the wall of solid lesbianism that Siobhan puts up between herself and some of her more unruly customers, but tonight, the bartender suspects that he'll be glad that she's out of town for once. It's very obvious, despite Sampo's fervent protestations otherwise, that he's exactly the type of sly scoundrel that Siobhan likes to warn Caelus about; it's just something in his inherent demeanor, in the glint of his green eyes even as he's trying to make them warm and wide and friendly.

But Caelus doesn't hate that. Really. There's something very attractive about it, actually.

He finishes polishing up that glass of his and lovingly puts it to the side with all his other clean glasses. Really, it's almost as if he's trying to show off how gentle those gorgeous, long fingers of his can be. ]

Really? [ He sounds amused, even as he's trying to keep his voice flat and carefully neutral. ] And what else would she tell me about you, sir?

[ Opportunity for an opening, here. The question could also be phrased: What do you want me to know about you? ]

All kinds of things! She'd tell you that I'm a real charmer! [She'd say that he thinks he's a real charmer.] And that I'm a gentleman, [an absolute scoundrel] and a successful businessman. [a con artist] I'd like her to mention my good looks, but you can see that all for yourself, right?

[He smiles at Caelus over the rim of his glass as he takes another sip. A nice cocktail and some eye candy, this is shaping up to be a very good night! The only way it could be better is if the eye candy ends up in his lap by the end, but that remains to be seen.]

And if I asked Miss Siobhan about you, what would she tell me?

[To keep his hands to himself, probably. To quit eyeing the fresh meat. That her bartenders are off-limits, and not to try to sweet-talk them into coming home with him. She doesn't want one of her employees to have to do a walk of shame from his apartment to the bar for their shift.]

It's only fair for me to ask.

[ Caelus should keep a poker face, but he can't help but let his lips quirk just the barest bit as he listens to Sampo talk, nodding along at face value, and carefully taking apart the surface layer to find the truth beneath. There's absolutely no way that Siobhan would speak so glowingly of really any of her clients, so now he knows that the man is a liar and probably a bit of a scoundrel. Handsome, though — he wasn't lying about that. He really is handsome, and just Caelus's type, too.

...Still. What a question. What would Siobhan say about him? Caelus pauses for a moment, taking the time to seriously and earnestly contemplate it. It's hard to tell, sometimes, with Siobhan' she tends to bully most humans she knows, but she's sweet on her monsters, and Caelus occupies a funny space where he's something in between. ]

She'd probably tell you that I'm a good boy. I learn fast. Pick things up pretty easy, and I don't ask a lot of unnecessary questions.

[ A good boy that Sampo should absolutely not corrupt, or take back home to his apartment. A good boy who is off=limits, and would turn down Sampo's sweet talk, and has the common sense not to let a handsome stranger with wandering hands into his life.

Just kidding. Caelus is a good boy, sure, but he's never been that kind of good boy. ]

She'd probably tell you to keep your hands off me, too.

[ A little bit of a knowing, sly glance out of the corner of his eye, as he gently puts away some of the things he'd taken out earlier to make Sampo's cocktail. ]

...But you won't do that, right?

What nice things Miss Siobhan would say about you!

[A good boy, a smart boy. Too good and too smart for a scoundrel like Sampo Koski, probably. But that doesn’t mean that Sampo won’t try! No risk, no reward, after all! And Miss Siobhan isn’t here to threaten physical violence on him to get him to stop flirting.]

[Sampo watches his hands as he puts the bottles away.]

Oh, you have nothing to worry about from me. I wouldn’t put my hands on you unless you ask me nicely for it.

[But if he asked, Sampo would put his hands in all sorts of places, including places that would make Miss Siobhan very upset with him. Watch out for Sampo’s hands, she’d say, both for what liberties he might take and for the safety of your wallet.]

But if you ask nicely, I’m a very accommodating kind of guy! A real people-pleaser, you know?

[Wink!]

004 » broke all the promises i made last night

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