Katou (katoustheshit) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-10-14 12:36:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, lucifer morningstar, yue katou |
Who: Katou and Lucifer
What: Katou tries to scam some free drinks
When: Early October
Where: Lux
Ratings/Warnings: low/none
Status: Complete
Things were finally starting to calm down again, which Katou was pretty thankful for. The Agency had managed to separate him from his rock, which had helped clear his mind, and while he and Setsuna weren’t exactly best friends, Setsuna didn’t hate him which Katou considered a win.
As far as Katou was concerned, it was time to unwind and do something that didn’t involve evil, mind-controlling rocks or the Messiah and his dreams. And it wasn’t that he’d forgotten about the guy who’d attempted to pimp himself out on the Network by way of an auction, but he hadn’t come to mind until Katou was trying to think of something to do. Going to some club seemed like as good a way to spend his evening as any, so Katou threw on one of the outfits he’d received from his dreams, snuck in through the front door without paying a cover by borrowing the man from the Network’s face (“I thought you were already inside,” the confused bouncer had said, to which Katou had replied “Well, guess you thought wrong”), ordered himself a drink - free, thanks shapeshifting powers - and then, his own face back in place, he took a seat on one of the comfortable couches near the piano.
Maybe he should have asked Michael along. Katou had forgotten how boring clubs could be when you were there alone.
The night was in full swing at Lux. Damian was pleased. Beautiful people were dancing. Other beautiful people were drinking. And more was going on in places not easily seen or accessed. It was times like this he liked to offer his own bit of entertainment so he’d sat down at his beloved piano to perform his own version of Witchcraft ala Ol’ Blue Eyes.
Toward the end of the song a waitress brought him a drink. Damian looked at it in confusion since he hadn’t ever ordered before...ironically it was the same drink as someone else who had worn his face. The poor waitress was just as confused. There was some back and forth that culminated in him getting up from the piano as he gestured to one of the bouncers while the poor girl burst into tears.
The commotion was right by Katou, and he didn’t have much of a choice but to look over when everything was happening. He recognized the girl, and his drink sitting on the piano.
He, apparently, hadn’t thought his deception all the way through, and now his drink was sitting way over there and he had to think of a way to get it. He couldn’t hear what was being said, but there was a part of him that was aware that the girl was now crying because of something he’d apparently done, but he didn’t know her and so it was hard to bring himself to care.
He got up, walked past the piano about as casually as he could manage, and snatched the drink from where it had been set down, hoping everyone involved was too distracted by the crying waitress to notice.
The owner of the firm grip on his wrist wasn’t too distracted. Damian calmly retrieved the glass from the young man’s hand as two of his security guards came into sight. They were there for the ex-waitress, but their first priority was the boss.
“Where in this club do you see a sign that says ‘Help yourself’?” He hadn’t ordered it, but he made a point of taking a drink. “If you want something to drink there are plenty of bartenders willing to exchange your hard earned cash for the alcohol of your choice.”
Katou sighed. This really was more work than it was worth for a free drink. He probably should have just paid for it outright, but drinks in places like this were more expensive than they were worth. He should have just gone to Michael’s place and gotten drunk there for cheap.
“Ah, I think there was some sorta mistake,” Katou said with an easy grin and a shrug, yanking his hand out of Damian’s grip. “I ordered this drink in the first place. Don’t know why it went to you though. That waitress must not be very bright.”
“Is that so?” Damian wasn’t sure he was buying that, but the man was trying. He encouraged such behaviour and the lad seemed in desperate need of a mentor if he was going to succeed in grifting. A smile spread across his face.
“Come on then.” Damian put his arm around the man’s shoulders as he started walking toward the bar. “Let’s get you a fresh drink. What’s your name, hmm?”
Katou frowned at the arm that was suddenly across his shoulders, but he didn’t especially want to get kicked out of the bar when he’d worked that hard to actually get into it. Getting kicked out of bars was something that was better to do once you were already drunk. Besides, if he was getting a fresh drink out of it, he’d deal.
“Katou,” Katou answered. “What’s yours?”
His bar his rules. If he wanted to sling a companionable arm around you he would. Especially if you had tried to snitch a drink before explaining that you’d bought it. The whole thing smelled like a con. While Damian could appreciate that, he wouldn’t make it easy.
“Lucifer Morningstar,” he answered with that devilish smile on his face. “I own this place. And call it home. I have a penthouse upstairs.” Upon reaching the bar a tender approached without needing to be summoned. “Name your poison. On the house.”
Katou stiffened when Lucifer introduced himself, eyeing the man carefully. He was on the Network, so it was entirely possible he was a dreamer, but no matter how Katou looked at it, this man didn’t have even a passing resemblance to the actual Lucifer.
“That’s not funny,” he said coldly, now stepping out from Lucifer’s arm. The opposite of funny, really. Just thinking of Lucifer made Katou’s stomach drop. He looked at the selection, his eyes immediately making their way to the top shelf liquor - everything here was overpriced anyway, but if he was going to get a free drink, especially from someone who would joke about being the morningstar, Katou was going to make it worth while.
“That rum,” he said, pointing to the most expensive bottle. “And coke.”
Damian’s brows lifted as he lowered his arms. Oh, ho! The name he’d chosen for himself struck yet another mark. Mission accomplished, then. A devilish glint settled in his eyes as his smirk wided. “It’s a wee bit funny,” he said. Katou’s reaction was precisely what Damian went for. He wanted the shock. It was a draw to his business. People came with the idea they would be partying with the devil himself. Even if deep down they knew it wasn’t true, the idea of it kept them coming.
“An excellent choice,” Damian said then gestured to the bartender to bring him the bottle. “Leave the bottle. Every time you see my guest with an empty glass, fill another half way with coke.” He gave the bartender a sharp nod then looked back to Katou. “Now there will be no misunderstandings.” He pushed the entire bottle of rum toward his guest.
“You wouldn’t think it was funny if you ever met the guy,” Katou muttered under his breath, though he wasn’t necessarily talking to Lucifer himself. After all, unless Lucifer was dreaming too, there was no way he’d believe that Katou had actually traded blows with the devil himself.
He started a little when Lucifer just… gave the bottle to him. That he had not been expecting, and he stared at him in confusion for a moment. There was no way this was supposed to be this easy. “What’s the catch?” he asked, not making a move toward his glass or the bottle.
“Well,” Damian said with a sultry chuckle and a waggle of his brows. “Meeting him or not is the trick. Hmm? ‘Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.’ All the fun to be had on this mortal coil. Whether or not there is judgment to be had after is something to worry about then.” Damian grinned. “After all, there are so many deathbed redemptions.”
The bottle was lifted then Damian filled Katou’s glass in a slow pour. “No catch,” he said. That devilish smile made a return as the bottle was pushed just as slowly toward his guest. “It’s all yours.”
Katou snorted. “I’m pretty confident that nothing anyone does here matters to any of them.” Not that Katou had ever actually been to the mortal afterlife - thanks to Setsuna, the first time he’d died, he’d gone to something like purgatory and then had remained there, and it had been Uriel’s job to help guide mortal souls to whatever afterlife there was, but he was pretty sure that humans all generally went to the same place. No eternal reward or punishment, just some other place they stuck everyone while the morons in Heaven and Hell went about making their own lives miserable.
He eyed the glass suspiciously, not quite buying the fact that there was no catch - there was always a catch - but he could hardly be blamed if he asked straight up and the self-styled Lucifer said there was nothing else to it. So, he took a mouthful and swallowed, then waited to see if there really was some kind of catch that he was going to be hit with now.
A silence fell between them thick with Katou’s tension. Damian loved it. He stared at Katou as the man took a drink, smiled when he looked at Damian. He let the tension build for a moment longer then spoke abruptly.
“So!” Damian lifted his own drink. “What do you do, my new friend?”
Katou’s suspicion grew a little as the silence stretched onwards, but by the time Lucifer asked his question, Katou was relatively sure that he was just trying to get some sort of reaction out of Katou, and Katou was going to be damned if he’d give it to him.
“Me, I work for a secret government agency that deals with monster and alien invasions and covering it up from the rest of the word,” Katou said, too casually. It was the truth, but generally when he said it like that, no one ever believed him and he suspected that it would be the same now.
No, Damian did not believe that, despite evidence to the contrary on the network. Mass delusions were not out of the realm of possibility after all. Until he saw something...anything...for himself it would all remain a bunch of hogwash to him. Still, he could play along.
“A man in black?” Damian chuckled. “Does this mean I know something I shouldn’t and you’re here to take me in?”
“Naw, we ain’t as secretive as we like to pretend.” After all, everyone on the Network knew about the weird stuff that went on there, and occasionally the Network itself got mentioned to those who dreamed. “I just came to try to scam myself some free drinks.” And, to punctuate his point, he took another swallow of his drink.
“And scam you did.” Damian smiled as he took a drink of his own. After, he leaned on the bar. For a brief moment his eyes focused on something behind Katou then back to the young man. “A word to the wise, however. Don’t try it again here, hmm? I like you. I’ll have your name added to the door list, and I’ll give you a two drink tab at the bar. After that you’ll pay like everyone else.” A brow lifted. “Deal?”
Out of all the ways tonight could have gone, this was the last thing Katou had expected. It was like reverse karma, and frankly, Katou couldn’t be happier about it. Take that, everyone who ever said the only way to have good things happen to you was to do good things first.
“Deal,” Katou said, grinning. “You’re not so bad yourself, Lucy.”