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This is a bar that has recently undergone a change in ownership, and consequently, decor. The owner, Doug Ramsey, a mutant, has it squarely placed in mutant town, and he's trying to make it seem like a nice place, with a bit of class and fresh paint. Since its darkish in the place, it mostly passes, but there are tell-tale signs that its just not exclusively for the rich, kind of like the Outback Steakhouse of bars. It does have general cleanliness in its favor, and a smiling, hammy bartender, who is wiping out a glass with a white rag while he dimples his cheeks with a smile at the couple who just ordered some drinks. He flirts harmlessly, until the man tips him and they move off. There are dining spots further in. It'd be a good place to pilfer from distracted folks, or…to find a nice fellow mutant to take back home.
*
Severin spends quite a bit of time hanging out in Mutant Town, though most of it is spent in one animal form or another. Tonight, though, the good old Louisiana boy is wandering in on two legs instead of four. He drifts on up to the bar and settles himself in on a seat before turning his attention to the crowd, looking out over the bar and the restaurant with a considering expression. What trouble was Severin Bonaventure going to get up to this evening? It's then that he notices a familiar face behind the bar and says, "Hey, weren't you the one with the other guy with the wings and the hair.. when JP and I went to do some charity work?" And by charity work, he means when they stole the truck full of toys from the rich to give to the poor. Good times. Good times.
*
Sam looks up from the glass cleaning and then sets it down. "Ah…yeah. Oh…it /is/ you." He wanders a few paces nearer, "What can I get ya? That's a might fine way to describe mah brother. Ah knew straight who you were talkin' about." He grins easily. "Not sure he much appreciated being dragged into all that. That's mah fault though." He reaches up to scratch the side of his face. "So…ah guess you aint arrested, so, things are good?"
*
Severin folds his arms in front of him and leans on the bar, grinning broadly, "I didn't get the impression that he was as in the holiday spirit as the rest of us, at least not in that particular spirit anyway." He shrugs his shoulders, not seeming overly concerned. "Things're good. And I rarely get arrested." Rarely. "You missed the passing out of the goodies to the kids at the community center last night."
*
Cannonball tilts his head and then gestures around, "I had work. Ah get good money these days after Christmas. People tryin' to let it all out while they got a little extra cash in their pockets." He leans on the bartop and rubs his upper arm with the opposite hand. "It work out the way it was spose to?" Blond brows loft, disappearing under a fallen mop of hair
*
Severin looks around and scans the room, "Well, ah can't say that I'm not here to enjoy a little bit of cuttin' loose while I've got a bit of cash in my pocket either." He slides a few bills across the bar and says, "So how about fixin' me up with somethin'. Surprise me." He then says, "Yeah, made all the little girls'n' boys smile, and some of the adults too. JP makes a pretty fucking skinny santa clause but hey, we had a sleigh and a reindeer an' everything."
*
"How'd ya manage /reindeer/?" Sam asks without really knowing the extent of Sev's power set there. He starts fixing the man up a drink with orange juice, vodka, and a couple cubes of ice. Classic for a reason.
*
Severin flashes a grin at Cannonball and says, "If the drinks are good, maybe I'll show you." He watches as the drink is fixed, ah, a classic. Which is just fine by him. His attention turns outward toward the people passing by. A man steps in near the bar with some colleagues and orders some drinks for his friends. One of those friends loses his wallet in the transaction, brushing up a little too close to Severin. Winter coats. They're thick. Feeling things in them is tough. He takes full advantage. The cash comes out. The wallet goes back in the man's pocket all without him noticing a thing.
*
Sam's too busy filling up their order to notice either. There's an easy way about him, and a sense of familiarity that he projects, too, making him seem more like a long-time acquaitence. When he's done earning his tip from that direction, though, he meanders back in Severin's. "Ahm not sure I wanna see a reindeer, actually. I'm a bit /old/ fer that." He grins and his cornflower blue eyes twinkle. "What other trick ya got?"
*
Severin takes up his drink and takes a swallow from it, satisfied with the ratio of OJ and ice to vodka. He then raises his brows and says, "Who is too old for reindeer?" But he chuckles then and shrugs his shoulders, "I can sing? Play a bit of guitar?" He chuckles, "Most of my talents ain't for crowded places, or avoiding gettin' arrested. Best stick to drinking for tonight, I guess."
*
Cannonball chuckles. "Damn right. Mine too." The second drink he makes for Severin has rum in it, and a bit of juice, definitely he's giving the man the things people like to warm themselves up. Because its cold as frozen hell out there. "So, the other guy…he's yer brother? Or yer cousin? Or you just know each other real well?"
*
"JP? He's my brother," Severin says as he reaches for the second drink and considers it. He's more than happy to enjoy the sorts of things that warm people up, and he takes a swallow from that glass as well, considering, and then nodding. Yes, that will do. That will do nicely. "We both come up here from Louisiana, not too long ago. Was lookin' up an ol' friend, and he and Collettte, that's our sister, came up followin' after me. So now we're here, enjoyin' a bit of big city life."
*
"Ah sorta ended up here the same way, cept…it was owin' to mah powers that I ended up in New York. Then…mah brother followed. He's…more 'n obviously a mutant so…and the rest of mah family seems ta be followin'. Surprised it aint my dad bein' a super villain or somethin'." Sam chuckles. "But, course, I'm from Kentucky. But, there's a decent amount in common between Kentucky and Louisiana. Decent folk…good food…bit slower all around. Shitty jobs."
*
"Shitty jobs. No jobs," Severin says with a grin and a shrug. He hasn't bothered with one since arriving in the city. He takes up his glass and takes another swallow from it before chuckling, "Sounds like you an' me got a bit in common. Quite a few mutants in our family, too, all three of us who's up here. We got several other siblings back home, some of them mutants, some not."
*
Cannonball nods and purses his lips, "Ah got a lot of brothers and sisters…and so far..aint a one of em made it through the normal time without goin' through the change. Ah…am one a the few that look normal, too. Looks like ya made it through ok." He grins. "Ah always feel lucky that I can pass."
*
Severin grins and spreads his arms a bit, glancing down over himself and says, "I think I made it through jus' fine. Actually, all three of us pass jus' fine. Though I can not if I wanna," he says and props his chin on his hand on the bar. Suddenly his eyes go strangely lizard-like, complete with nictating membrane that close over the eye and then open again, before shifting to something a little more catlike, then something like an owl, bright orange and round with a large black center, before they shift back to his usual.
*
Cannonball half misses the first one, then does a double-take so that he catches the second and third transformations of his eyes with a curious look. "Ohhh…so, maybe that explains the reindeer." He grins crookedly. "Were ya a male or a female reindeer? Ah mean…if yer gonna change yer shape…"
*
It's a subtle enough change that most people in the bar wouldn't notice, but it's a bar in Mutant Town, so he's not really concerned if they do. "That explains the reindeer," Severin agrees. Then he smirks a little bit and says, "Male reindeer. Not that I've anything against women or anything, but that's a switch I'm not particularly interested in makin'. Sorry, sailor." He picks up the second drink and finishes it off.
*
Cannonball chuckles and lifts both hands in the air in a 'surrender' pose. "Ah dun care what ya do, I was just curious if you ever messed around with that too. I bet ya get that all the time. Me…I just fly and run inta things. How do ya feel about flyin'?" Sam swipes his cloth along the top of the bar a few times.
*
Severin can't help but laugh and lets Sam off the hook, "Yeah, I mean, people got all kinda questions once they know you can shapeshift, but it's only into animal forms, and I have to have seen'm well enough to get an idea of how they work before I can do it. Photographs, movie reels, somethin'." He says, "Couldn't just become a woman if I wanted to, though I'm guessin' I could become a female animal of some sort and figure it out. Just never tried. Can't mimic other people neither." He grins and says, "Flyin's bad ass. I like bein' a bird, or just growin' wings and flying." Then he blinks, "Runnin' inta stuff? Isn't that usually the opposite of an ability and more of a.. uh.. lack thereof?"
*
"Not when you do it as fast as I do it." Sam gets a glint in his eyes at that. "BOOM." He waggles his brows and spreads his hands out like an expanding explosion. "I make holes where there are no holes. Its a handy skill…if you need somethin' destroyed or…a hole made in something secure. That's why they call me Cannonball. Do you have a code name?"
*
Severin's brows raise together at that and one can almost see the wheels turning as though he were some sort of cartoon character, gears turning in his head. "Well, that's pretty handy. Reckon' you could do all sorts of interesting things with that." He chuckles a little when Sam asks his codename and then says, "Jackrabbit. But you can call me Sev."
*
"Jackrabbit eh? Yeah…I'll call ya Sev, and you can call me Sam, 'course." The blond bartender gives the guy a dimpled grin again and then straightens to run his hand through his hair. Then he gives it a little shake. "You got any other…grand plans…Robin Hood?" He plants his hands on the bar top and briefly stretches his back.
*
"Right now? Gettin' the lay of the land, settlin' in, havin' a drink or two, maybe finding a place to crash of a more long-term nature, and scopin' out the next gig. New year, new plans. I'm sure the inspiration'll strike real soon now," Severin says easily as he leans up agianst the bar. He says, "You want in if it does?" One brow ticks upward.
*
Cannonball nods small and sharp. He notices someone down the way and is gone for a couple seconds as he makes their drink and hands it off with an easy smile, then meanders back over again. "Right now…ahm crashin at this big sort of mansion place. I dunno if you've heard of it. But, now that ahm gettin' paid, i was thinkin about getting a place. Course, ah'd need ta share it with a few folks at least, or I won't have a damn cent left to do anything with. Ah'll let ya know if I get around to that. How can I contact ya in the meantime, anyway?"
*
Severin raises a brow and says, "Yeah? Well, JP an' Collette and I might be lookin' for a place, though we hadn't planned on anythin' fancy. I've been usin' cat and dog doors to crash out in empty places while folks are on vacation, but havin' a place I can reliably sack out in is better." He takes out a bit of paper and scribbles a number down on it. "Friend of mine'll take a message if you need to get in touch. I pick up the messages on the regular." He then studies Sam and squints, "If you're crashin' at a mansion, why you lookin' to get out?"
*
"Cuz ah can't bring folks home to it." Here, Sam grins crookedly and slyly. "The bathroom in the bar or the booze closet isn't near as nice as a bed."
*
Severin laughs a bit at that and says, "Yeah, guess that's a thing. Got a motel room for that, when I'm not squattin' somewhere. It's easier when you can be a bird. Just roost wherever y'damn please. Though, a lot colder in the winter. Someplace warm'd be good. Though hey, nothin' wrong with the bathroom or the booze closet in a pinch." He flashes a grin and then takes a look out over the crowd as people come and go from the bar. He taps the bartop then and says, "I'll take another of the rum."
*
"Easier to /sleep/ when yer a bird, but…ahd assume bringin' someone back to yer nest would kill the mood." Sam chuckles and shakes his head, trying to imagine Severin pointing out a teenie tiny roost. He reaches for the rum and pours it out of the glass bottle, tosses a bit of spice in it and hands the glass off to Severin. "So…if ya have a bunch of alcohol, then turn into a bird…do you just pass out?"
*
"Well, no, that's what the motel's for," Severin says with a laugh. "Used to have a bi tof room in a Winnebago, but home done drove off and went back west. Wasn't countin' much on that anyway. I should do that sometime though, bring someone back to some attic somewhere and be like, yep.. here we are.. I'm guessin' there wouldn't be a second date." Severin seems amused by that more than anything else. He takes the rum then and takes a swallow. Shaking his head, he says, "Now, if I drink a bunch of alcohol as a bird.. then I figure I'd fly crooked and develop your superpower."
*
Cannonball lets out a burst of a laugh. "Oh man…yeah…you /would/, but that would be /hilarious/. Watching a drunk bird. HAHAHA. Sometimes we'd get the horse drunk and that was funny as heck." His eyes squint with mirth and he looks the other vagabond over. "I spose I shoulda caught yer age, 'fore I served you all these drinks."
*
Severin smirks and says, "You seen nothin' til you've seen a drunk possum trying to scare a racoon out from under a porch." He shakes his head and chuckles, "You ever get the horse drunk and ride it?" Then he laughs as he lifts up his glass and lifts both eyebrows, taking another swallow from it. "You think I look under eighteen?"
*
"Maybe its just my sneaky way of makin' sure you ain't." Sam wags his brows once. "Mutants, you know…you coulda shape-shifted into an older fella."
*
"Fair point," Severin laughs then and fishes out his wallet. He pulls out his ID and slides it across the bar surface toward Sam so that he can verify that it not only looks like an actual real ID rather than a fake, though it's from Louisiana. According to his birthdate, Severin Bonaventure is 23 years old. He lifts both brows quizzically.
*
Cannonball nods faintly and slides it back. "Mr. Bonaventure. Looks like ya check out. Hey, aint that some fancy French fer somethin'?" He arches a blond brow right back and tops off that rum.
*
Severin takes the ID back and slides it back into his wallet, which goes back into his pocket. He says, "Drinking, I take seriously enough to do legally," with an idle grin and lifts his glass, tipping it in Sam's direction. Though he does laugh and says, "Even my pa doesn't go by Mr. Bonaventure. Though, yeah. Means good adventure. An' I can attest that life's been that if nothin' else."
*
"Mmmhmm, so…you know the ol' sayin'…that you can lay yer troubles with a therapist, or yer bartender. You got anyhin' you'd like ta talk about, while its a little slow?" Sam offers in a soothing drawl.
*
Severin grins a little amusedly and considers, "I supopse I could spin up a tale of heartache and woe, but I can't say as I've got any real problems right at this moment. I guess lost opportunities that drove off in a winnebago headed west is about the worst of it." He shrugs his shoulder, "But that's a bird meant for flyin' it seems. What about you? Bartender got any problems he wants to share? I mean, seein' as it's slow and all?"
*
"Ah don't share my secrets on the first night. I gotta preserve that…bartender mystique." Sam wiggles his fingers. "I spose I'll hear from you soon enough though, once that mind a yers gets ta workin', eh?"
*
Severin smirks and says, "'Course. Wouldn't want t'spoil the mystery an' all that." He then nods and says, "Yeah, I'll let you know soon's I catch a scent of a good idea, or a bad one that seems like fun." He hand-wobbles. "It's about 50/50 which you're gonna get on any given day."
*
"Sounds good ta me, Sev. See ya soon, well, unless you need some more rum." Sam smiles friendily enough, though maybe he's getting off soon.
*
Severin takes the hint and fishes out his wallet. He takes out some cash for the drinks as well as a generous tip and sets it on the counter top, tucking it under the edge of the empty glass. "Nah, I won't keep ya," he chuckles. "I wouldn't wanna work any longer than I had to either." He then slides down off of the stool that he had been sitting on.