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It would possibly be Jean's last and final night at the Cigar Factory. Drinks were being poured and spilled upon the ground and conversation was aplenty. Along with it being called the Cigar Factory; there actually were cigars going around as most try to shake off the chill of the night with booze and cigarettes to warm their lungs and bellies. Jean was a whirlwind, a woman on a mission, serving up drink after drink as the tray was balanced upon the tips of her fingers and twirled with the aid of her TK that would give men a whistle and a pound up on the table.
Inwardly, she cringed.
Outwardly, she saw the move on television and figured with that little trick, most would be none the wiser.
Smokey blues was being played by a large man on stage, and for once the atmosphere was hot. Hotter than hell which had Jean sweating or it could be the fact that she barely ate anything in the past few days. But that would change. For once she was done with her rounds, she sits upon the stool, turning to face her plate of chips and a nice large sandwich, immediately biting into it as she looks to her chaperone for the night, Julian.
"Wan' a bife?" She asks, pointing the sandwich in his direction. "I thanth dithinish it. Too bif."
*
Julian laughs, and takes the sandwich from Jean with a smirk. "Eyes bigger than your stomach, hey?" He'd been here a while, and though he's had a few beers over the course of the evening he hasn't had enough to be noticeably drunk. Just pleasantly buzzed. Some chaperone. The food is probably a good idea, considering he still has most of a beer in front of him. "So how did you end up working in a place like this?" He wonders aloud before taking a large bite of the remnants of Jean's sandwich.
*
Jean nods, picking up a napkin to dab away at her lips. "But it's a start, so you can't blame me for that." The room was filled with a buzzing noise of conversation. Conversation that went on in their heads, one sided, emotions and the lot hitting her and she was taking it on the chin. Soaking it up. And for once? She was doing great. The question of employment has her grinning. "I really don't know. I walked in one day looking for a job and was hired on the spot. Luke. He's a really great man. Trained me right then and there. Turns out, I can pour a drink like no ones business." Just pour. She can't mix, in fact, this place doesn't mix much but vodka, tonic, sometimes coca cola and jack. If anyone needs a beer? Popping the top was easy. "It's my last night though. Figure that I'd come in on a busy night and give them a good 'what for'."
*
"Sounds like a case of right place, right time," Julian says with a smile. To the comment about it being her last night, he gives a nod. "Glad I came by to witness it, then. You certainly seem at home here, and I'll bet they'll all miss seeing you behind the bar." And he even manages to say it without a hint in his tone that he means it as anything but face value. Julian takes another bite of the sandwich, and holds it back out for Jean to take back, if she wishes. He's happy to help, but he doesn't mean to eat her whole meal on her. "How do you manage the crowd? I mean," and his voice goes lower here, "All of these people, must be hard to stay focused," he says. Still cheerful, despite the more serious change of topic. She'd be able to tell that he's just this side of tipsy, and if she doesn't want to answer he won't press it.
*
"Usually if you use the right tricks." Jean grins at that, then reaches out to take her sandwich from him to take a bite. "Thafs not to say that I used them. But.. luf, you know?" She begins to chew quietly, then bobs her head slightly. "I.. gave up." She quietly confesses, finally putting her food down with a lean. It almost looked intimate, but the reason for him being a chaperone was to keep the others off of her.
"I think now, that just letting everything come and letting it go right after is just helping for me. Sort of like, breathing in air." She gestures a little, then reaches to grasp his beer by the neck with a wiggle and a wrinkle. "No more." She states, cutting him off completely. "We have to stay on alert."
With that said, a large man slowly lumbers into the bar. It was clear that he was a mutant by the sheer size alone, but as he takes up a seat at the end of it, the metal itself slowly groans and croaks as he settles in, his reptilian gaze nearly weary as he looks around the bar. Thankfully, he was covered and dressed, and didn't possess a tail that most of the reptilian humanoids did. But his scales were apparent, and surpisingly? No one really gave a damn.
"I know you've just started out at the school and training, but.. I have a proposition." She glances down towards the large man down at the bar, one finger held up towards Julian. "Gimme a sec." And with that, she hops down from her own stool and heads towards the end of the bar, a grand smile upon her face. "What can I get for you, beautiful?"
*
Julian gives another nod, not arguing even Jean declares that he's done drinking for the night. She's not wrong, and he can't deny that even now he's feeling the effects. For the best, too, because any more and he might start trying to method-act his role as chaperone. The entrance of the large scaled figure captures his attention, as no doubt it had many others, but besides the initial glance he doesn't give it much more thought, until Jean excuses herself to serve him. He wonders, while watching not-too-obviously as she resumes tending the bar, what that proposition might have been. Guess he'll just have to wait until she can take another break to find out though. The next thought to go through his head is that he could probably use a glass of water.
*
It was quiet. The conversation between the larger man and Jean. In fact, it was a focusing of minds that would make everything else look odd. With a nod, Jean moves away from the man, reaching into the bar to retrieve two large glasses, which were soon filled to the tip with beer. She even allows a bit of the foam to fall out the edges before she wordlessly returns to the reptilian man, nodding as both of the glasses were soon slid over, keeping that conversation going without even moving her lips.
There was a crack in the surface as the man begins to laugh, Jean walking away with a slight grin as she hops upon the stool in front of Julian with a huff. "Anyways. I have a lead on where to find Gabriel. I know you don't know him, and that's fine.. but.. me and Logan are working on a way to get to him. It's.. halfway across the world. In Rio." Before he could object, her hand immediately lifts. "I know you just started with teaching at the institute and it's probably your livelihood but this is way important. I wouldn't even ask if I thought I could handle it on my own."
*
"Hey, if I can help, I'm there," Julian says agreeably. "I'm sure the Professor can handle things without me for a few days. It's not like I'm holding the whole operation together," he says, smirking at his own self-deprecating joke. In truth, it'd be nice to get away from the city. Don't know if you realized, but it's been kind of a war zone. "Besides, I can't imagine the Professor would have any trouble with me taking some time off to help one of our own. And I've never been to Brazil!" Not that he thinks it'll be a vacation. But still, Rio. Not the worst place in the world she could have asked him to go. "When do we leave?" Most of the details, Julian imagines, can be worked out enroute. Details like 'Who is Gabriel' and 'What the hell happened'.
*
"Good!" Jean nearly smacks her hands down upon the bar, but she stops cold, not wanting to risk spilling Julian's beer or the chips upon the plate. "I've never been there either but.. what the hell, right?" Yes, she's noticed. The city was in a spot of pure hell and Jean honestly couldn't take it. But essentially, it was like going out of one hell and into another. "I think we'll leave whenever Logan gets his buddies together, whenever that is. I already told him."
With that said, she still tries to sell it. "I figure.. why not. I don't know if Rio has the resources that we have. Like.. everything is here in New York, why not just.. go there and help too. Everyone needs it. Screw it, lets globe-trot. Let's be heroes for once. Damn the rest who don't like it. You know?"
*
"Plenty of heroes in New York already." Julian snags a chip, because one does not simply not snag a chip when they're /right there/. "Not that I think we should just 'let them deal with it', but.. there's a saying about too many chiefs, right?" So why not go where they can do some good, where there isn't already a glut of capable superpowered individuals who can help. "Let's do it. Go be heroes, do some good." It's all kind of old hat to Julian, except that now he won't get flack for using his mutant abilities to help. Peace Corps be damned.
*
"You're telling me. We have Gods in New York. How crazy is that?" Though, there is a cosmic one embedded in her body, possibly watching the events.. but that's a different animal all together. "Too many chiefs and too many cooks." Jean agrees, and a chip is taken to gesture towards him in a brief faux toast, the chip soon tossed into her mouth to chew quickly. A glass of water that she's left aside was taken, sipped, and nearly spat out as she glances towards the big lizard man who stares intently in her direction.
He begins to laugh, and so does she, in which she gestures towards him with a lean forward. "Operation Lollipop." She says immediately. "That's what he said."
*
"Yeah, the Gods are the ones who started the whole mess," Julian says, a little twinge of exasperation in his voice for just a moment. If ever there was a time for a 'let them clean up their mess' sentiment, it was now, but Julian doesn't vocalize that. He doesn't need to. He's going to Brazil. He takes another chip, and mock-toasts with it in tandem before popping it into his mouth as well. At the mention of 'Operation Lollipop', he cracks a grin, and his eyes shift to the scaled fellow when Jean motions to him, and he lets out a short laugh, smiling. "Like super-powered candy-stripers," he chuckles. "That guy's next one is on me."
*
The large man double fists both beers as he lifts them in a toast to Julian. You're Welcome, is what the man things, which Jean doesn't convey. Sometimes, words just aren't needed. "Well it's settled then! Tonight, we get a good rest and then head out. There's just at least one.. maybe two to three more people I'd like to tap for this. It's going to be nuts."
At least, the plan was coming together. They were going to be like the A-Team.. (which probably isn't out yet), but more or less the X-Team.
"Everyone! Last rounds on me!"
*