Tattoos and Piercings (Akiravadel & Clover) R-18

[クローバー (Clover)]

Summary: A new sous chef joins a highly-acclaimed chef in his restaurant, helping make food for dozens of food critics and several hundred more hungry customers. How will the new recruit hold up in the biggest opportunity of his life?

 

Rating: R-18

 

My character:

 

 

Name: Rei Shiraume (白梅礼)

Age: 24

Occupation: Sous chef

Personality: Rei is a calm worker, never letting things bother him too much. Because of that, he is very adept at working alone. He hardly ever gets into fights that weren't meant for him, and he does a good job of avoiding making trouble. Sometimes, he can be a bit of a wallflower. Because he's used to being alone, he is also a little shy. He doesn't like people who come off as clingy.

Background: Rei grew up in a suburb environment, where he got his start in the kitchen helping his parents cook for the yearly block party. He slowly honed his skills over the years, cooking for schoolwide events with the cafeteria staff by the end of middle school and all throughout high school. He went to culinary school in America, where he expanded his palette to a multitude of other cuisines. Throughout his years of culinary school, he worked towards being a jack-of-all-trades, traveling frequently and keeping detailed food diaries of his experiences. After graduation, he found a job at a sushi bar near his culinary school, but didn't like it very much. After a couple years of searching, he found a job in Japan, his homeland, and found one at a very famous restaurant with a world-renowned chef...

 

[akiravadel]

 

(Chase is the man with the dark blue hair))

 

Name: Riley "Chase" Duncan

Age: 26

Occupation: Chef

Personality: Being a rough man to handle sometimes, he's a stubborn man who has no trouble telling people what he needs, but he's not a mean man. That side really shows with the people he cares about.

Background: Grew up in a fairly normal family with an older brother. His past wasn't anything special until more recent years. Both his parents passed of natural causes and his older brother lives a few towns away. He went from job to job, until he discovered his passion. Having never finished school he worked his way up to head chef at this facility. He now runs one of the most wanted restaurants in the state.

 

____

 

 

It was early afternoon, the food was being prepared for that evening. Fish were being pulled from the flash freezer and rice was being steamed and seasoned. Many people were running about inside the sushi/cuisine restaurant. They made many foods there but the main reason people came was for the sushi Chase prepared. Being trained by the previous owner before he passed he learned nearly all of his tricks before sickness took him. Having no successors he naked Chase the one to take it over. Now he uses his talent to bring the same and better dishes to his clients. Being such an expensive place when he took it over he dropped the prices slightly and increased his sales immensely.

 

Not only was there a fancy spot to eat but also a casual dinning area. Building into the place next to them they made enough to expand the building. No he could offer the same foods in a relaxed atmosphere. The problem was he was having trouble finding people fast enough and good enough to work there. Currently it was him and three other people preparing the food. There were several who helped prepare the basic ingredients but not many were good with the handling and cooking of it.

 

So Chase had to be a hands on Chef and every dish that went out he personally checked. Maybe that was another reason this place was so good. His OCD helped immensely in those times. One of the other cooks in his place interviewed a kid recently to come in and he agreed allowing him a chance to talk to him directly while he was working. He never stopped working. His coworkers worried for him, even though they liked the money and the nice place it was still hard to see him running himself ragged.

 

Behind the counter he was preparing the sauces to refill for the dishes for that night along with the rest of the gang.

[クローバー (Clover)]

Rei looked at the restaurant before him and took the sight in. The biggest break of his life was just paces away from his reach, and someone actually responded to him and got him an opportunity to speak to the head chef directly as he worked! He was excited... Though it didn't show very much outwardly. Outside was a calm, collected smile. Inside was the screaming, jumping kid who got all the toys on his wishlist for christmas. Rei was never the one who outwardly expressed emotions... much.

 

It's a really nice place... he thought. The last sushi bar he visited was trashy and old, with peeling wallpaper, spiders in the restrooms, and a decaying wood foundation, so seeing the clean exterior of this one gave him hope for sanitation. He passed through the doors and a waiter was at his side.

 

"Good day, sir." he said. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Oh, I have a reservation, all right." Rei flashed the letter the restaurant sent him asking him to come and speak to the new owner and head chef Chase Duncan. The waiter looked a little shocked when he read the letter.

"You have an appointment with Mr. Duncan?! I-I'll take you to him right away!" he said, urging the black-haired man to follow him.

Rei smiled, going with the waiter to the counter, where said owner and head chef was preparing sauces.

"You requested to see me?" Rei said.

[akiravadel]

Turning around was Chase with a bandana on his head to keep his hair back, his sleeves rolled up and tied to keep them from falling. His tattooed muscled arms were out for the world to see. The tribal markings went all the way down to the back of his hands. His ears were pierced several times along with an eyebrow. He was not your typical looking fancy sushi owner.

 

Wiping off his hands he walked over to the kid and reached his hand out to shake his, "Chase, and you must be Rei I heard about. I certainly hope you know what you're getting into." He winked at the kid. He was a man who liked handshakes. He felt he could learn a lot from one depending on his the other person grabbed it and how they shook it.

[クローバー (Clover)]

Rei took the man's hand, shaking it firmly and smiling. He was starting to like his boss's attitude already. Chase seemed strict, but not strict enough to cause problems. His last boss was almost tyrannical in the amount of obedience he expected from his employees. He saw the tattoos on Chase's arms and grinned. From the markings on his arms alone, Rei could tell he was no ordinary sushi restaurant owner. He made a note to look around the place later for any other quirky things.

"Yep. The same Rei that wrote in a couple weeks ago. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Chase." Rei said with a chuckle. "If I didn't know what I was doing, I wouldn't have applied for the open sous chef position here, right?"

[akiravadel]

Chase smirked turning back around, "if you think you can keep up here." He pushed over a tray with veggies that needed to be diced up. "I need the chives into small pieces for the sauce, the leeks for now. Once we're onto the next step I'll let you know." He wanted to see how this man worked. Words were just words, he wanted to see him in action.

 

Stepping to the side he continued with his mixture and pulled out a clean spoon tasting the sauce he made, "perfect."

[クローバー (Clover)]

Rei didn't expect to be put to work immediately, but he got to work like he had expected it all along. He carefully cut the chives and leeks to Chase's specification, organizing them perfectly into two piles after each individual vegetable was chopped. It almost seemed like the boy's face was frozen in a calm smile as he worked. After about 2 minutes, he finished chopping all of the vegetables he was asked to.

[akiravadel]

"Alright," Chase was studying him. Every move and everything he did. The blue haired man pulled the ingredients together and set a piece of tuna before him. "Please prepare that for nigirizushi. Only two slices for now." He didn't offer any other explanation. He scooped a bit of rice into a bowl and handed him the bowl. He wanted to watch his hands work.

[クローバー (Clover)]

Carefully scooping out the rice to start making nigiri-zushi, Rei made two uniform slices of tuna from the larger hunk of tuna given to him. He carefully rolled the mounds of rice into oblong shapes before layering the tuna on top of them. He then presented Chase with his finished product: two carefully made pieces of nigiri-zushi. Though his performance was on his mind, it wasn't worrying him.

[akiravadel]

Chase raised a brow and took one popping it into his mouth, "it'll pass." He shrugged his shoulders. It was almost like he wasn't quiet satisfied with it. He started to move onto another dish removing some other fish and handed it to him. He knew he wouldn't find someone who knew his quirks right off the bat but as long as h was willing and close to his he was happy.

[クローバー (Clover)]

"Do you have any pointers for me?" Rei asked. Despite being confident in his work, the boy knew he couldn't be perfect. He was open to improving and changing his technique to fit each boss he worked for. He even tried completely abandoning a previous tried-and-true methodology to suit his last boss's tastes. As he analyzed the sushi himself, he realized that one of his rice mounds was a little lopsided. His gaze shifted to the next fish.

"Which preparation would you like me to use for this fish?" he asked.

[akiravadel]

"When I prepare the way my Sensei did," Chase pulled over the slice of tuna. "You want a good fish to rice ratio." He sliced into the piece which was a fraction thicker than the one he made. "And the rice and fish may only touch your hands for a couple seconds. Two presses." He scooped a little rice, pressed the fish against it once, shifted it in hand then again before setting it down. "That way less hand oils and it stays cold." He smiled to him. "Try that." A piece of sushi made from him that was actually worth nearly $15 a piece.

[クローバー (Clover)]

Rei made another nigiri zushi piece, this time taking care to cut a little thicker and press the fish and rice only twice. This time, more emotion showed on his face. A more determined look graced his features as his concentration was on his technique. He came to his first press and put the fish on the rice before shifting the piece of food to his hand and adjusting it again before putting it down.

"I gave it another try." Rei said.

[akiravadel]

Chase smirked and scooped up the piece chewing it and then smirked, "better." He headed towards the back pulling out a tray then set it on the counter. "Every day the sauces and food is prepared fresh. I'm usually here at seven am every morning but you wouldn't be required until eleven. We don't open until three and close at eleven at night."

 

It was already getting later in the afternoon and barely anyone was there. He had trouble handing over the dishes to other people because so many were not done correctly, "if you can learn these correctly I can perhaps pass some on to you." It was then he could see the darkness under his eyes, and was that make-up? That's right he used concealer to make himself look less tired.

[クローバー (Clover)]

"I see." Rei took notes on his phone, setting several alarms to keep his sleeping habits in check. "I assume that I'm beginning in the kitchen, right?"

Rei was careful about his word choice with Chase. One wrong move could change the tattooed man's thoughts on him in an instant. He noticed under the man's eyelids dark circles. A look of concern graced the younger man's features.

"Had a rough night last night?" he asked experimentally.

[akiravadel]

Chase nodded his head, "we'll start you following us for now. Mainly me or Jake. Jake handles some of the foods but he's never been great with a lot of things. The man is pro at making the ginger dressing here though."

 

Reaching up he ruffled the hair sticking back behind his head from under the bandana, "I'm always here. Might as well set up a bed for myself and just stay." He chuckled tiredly but turned back to the kitchen grabbing a large book. "Everything we make, is in this book. I have a lock to it's safe and so does Jake. That's it. So many places want to steal the things we make but I keep them locked away."

[クローバー (Clover)]

"How original of those other places." Rei said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. He chuckled for a little before returning to his normally serious tone.

"You're a smart man, locking up your secret recipes." Rei said. "My last boss didn't believe in locks, so he left even the restaurant unlocked for the night. We got robbed so many times, that we had to use plastic cups instead of glasses to serve drinks."

He was pleasantly surprised to find that his assumptions were right. He had a feeling that Chase would be better to work with than his previous boss, who just sat in his office eating Boston Creme donuts every day. He considered asking the man if he liked Boston Creme donuts, but he didn't feel like joking too much at this point.

[akiravadel]

Chase smirked a bit, "sounds like a savy business man." He joked back a bit. Opening the book the recipes were written in a strange fashion and were hand written but sealed in plastic. "Sensei's book." Smiling he touched one of the pages. "He wrote these down just for me he said. Everything was always in his mind but when he trained me he had to write them out because at first I didn't even know the difference between a measuring cup and a tablespoon." He cleared his throat and set the book on the counter turning a bit more serious. "Here try this one."

[クローバー (Clover)]

Rei looked at the writing. The recipe was unfamiliar to him... Or was it the previous owner's writing? Either way, oshizushi was something his previous restaurant had no resources to make.

"Hmmm... I don't think I've ever prepared something like that before. Won't stop me from trying it, though." he said. "So box sushi, huh? Isn't that a Kansai specialty? Not that that's a problem. It's just that I've never been to the Kansai region before, so I'm not sure how natives like it."

[akiravadel]

"Similar, just give it a try," Chase smirked. "I need to do a few things." He headed into the back of the kitchen to talk to a couple people working there. He also went through to make sure everything was getting prepared correctly and waiting for that evening. In the back of his mind he wondered about this man hoping he could help out there.

[クローバー (Clover)]

Rei gave a nod and looked at the oshibako used to press the sushi into rectangles. He was intrigued at how it looked.

So this is what my friends in college in the Kansai region are raving about. he thought with a smirk. Grabbing the sushi rice vinegar, he wetted his fingers as well as the inside of the box to keep the rice from sticking. He then sliced a long strip of smoked salmon and put it on the bottom of the box and layered it with one layer of rice, a couple long strips of light-colored seaweed, and another rice layer. He then wetted the box's top and pressed the sushi into its characteristic rectangular shape before removing the side of the box and carefully flipping his creation onto a long plate. He then cut the sushi into bite sized pieces, waiting for Chase to be done with his errands and evaluate his work.

[akiravadel]

Chase made his way around critiquing the food as he came to each one. He only had to alter a few things but because of that reason he felt stressed to touch everything. Because it's off means someone coming in looking for that specific flavor would have been disappointed that night. He couldn't trust them to do it right.

 

Coming back he looked over the plate Rei prepared with a raised eyebrow, "impressive. You might just be able to work here yet." Popping a sushi into his mouth he then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ready to start tonight? I want to see how you handle the heat."

[クローバー (Clover)]

"I'm always ready to take the heat." Rei said. "I like a good challenge."

Once again, Rei began to silently critique his old workplace. There was hardly any business in the months leading up to the day he quit, so he had a lot of free time since he generally worked quickly. He knew how famous this restaurant was, and he was almost certain that he'd have a challenge unlike anything else he had ever faced on his hands.

[akiravadel]

((Sorry I've been absent, I usually don't just fall off the planet. Too many things have happened and the funeral for my grandma is tonight. Sorry for the delay))

 

Chase smirked at him and went into the back to change. There was a locker room past the break room where he kept some spare clothes. Changing into his chef top and fixing his hair he washed his hands before returning to the front. His sleeves were rolled up just below his elbows showing off the lower parts of his tattoos, "tonight you'll be next to me and we'll go quickly but step by step through each meal that's ordered. We open in ten so might was to piss while you have a chance."

[クローバー (Clover)]

((It's fine. Take all the time you need. Death is a hard thing to deal with.))

 

Rei nodded, going off to the bathroom. Once he was finished with his business, he walked over to the sink and turned the water on, splashing water on his face. He was actually a little nervous underneath his almost arrogant nonchalance. After a couple deep breaths, he washed his hands well and left, walking over to the front and expecting a flood of customers soon.