6108/Longnecks and Rednecks

Longnecks and Rednecks
Date of Scene:	02 May 2021
Location:	Harry's Hideaway (Bar)
Synopsis:	New kid in town wanders into the path of Rogue and Jean Grey. Casual convo and beer drinking to follow.
Cast of Characters:	Jacen Knight, Rogue, Jean Grey

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Jacen Knight has posed:
It's never dull, being the new guy. Fortunately for Jacen that's never bothered him and probably never will. He walks into the place, pushing his hat back from his face and eyeing it thoughtfully. A hint of a smirk touches his features and he starts towards the bar and the promise of a cold one. If anyone takes the time to look at the man clearly out of place he is always ready for a nod and moving on so long as that's all. Just to prove his level of redneck he reaches up and tips his hat to two ladies he passes closer to them and then settles on a stool to wait for the bartender.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue had become a regular here since turning 21 a ew months ago. She was doing as any 21 year old would, really, coming to the bar to enjoy her free time with friends.

Here and now, she'd been with some of her friends from Salem Center as they were all playing pool together on the 3 tables in the back of the bar. They were finishing up though and the Belle was walking alongside the 3 other people as they head toward the bar themselves.

But the other 3 only go to the bar to pay out their tabs, while Rogue herself settles in on one of the stools and puts her hands on the edge of the bar, looking down it. She sees Jacen and smiles at him. "Nice hat." She says friendly-like to the man while Harry is processing the payment from her friends.

"Harry. Beeeeer." Rogue playfully says to the man who grumbles about impatient kids.

"yeah yeah." He mutters back to the young woman with the brown and white hair.

Jacen Knight has posed:
He gets settled and leans on the bar a little. He isn't overly watchful of people yet, just getting a feel for the place. The arrival of the four catches his attention for a moment and then he starts to look to the bartender, but the southern belle's tone and accent catches his attention quickly.

He turns to focus on her for a moment and once more, reaches up to tip the hat a little,"Thank ya ma'am." he replies and turns his attention to the bartender as the poor man tries to take money and process orders.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is just toying with the owner of the bar, the man in his 50s or 60s, she likes to give him trouble as if he were a father figure or some such.

The Belle's eyes go back to Jacen though and she leans there forward on the bar, wearing blue jeans and a dark green tanktop with a black hoodie tied around her waist and some boots on her feet with small heels.

"Where ya from?" Rogue asks Jacen next, hearing his own accent making her intrigued a bit about his story while they wait for Harry to free up.

Jacen Knight has posed:
Busy bar is a good bar. Patient patron gets his beer, Jacen isn't too concerned about when that is. He turns towards Rogue and replies,"Midwest of the midwest." he replies,"I was born in'n Missouri right near the border of Kansas. Don' hold th' Kansas proximity part against me huh?" he tells her and grins.

He considers her voice and accent for a long moment and hazards a guess,"I gotta cousin'r two down'n North Carolina way. Ya sound similar, but not exactly. A bit furthur south?" Shy he isn't, so he takes the blind shot,"Us southern types gotta watch our own up here'n th' north I reckon."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue has a pair of aviator sunglasses that are up on the brow line of her white bangs that flow down the sides of her face and over her shoulders. AS he speaks, she raises her hand up to adjust the sunglasses to keep them stable there atop her forehead. His words make her crack a grin and she replies to him firstly with a little nod of her head. "That's right." She says quietly.

"I was born an' raised in Mississippi, south western part'a it. So I still acquired the classic accent, I guess." There comes a pause then as she considers him again. "My dad was from Missouri, St> Louis side though. My mom was the Miss native, obsessed with things like old world charm and, well, Paris." She grins at him briefly.

Her hands slap on the bar lightly as Harry frees up and heads their way. "But yeah, we gotta watch out around these northen folks, shifty they are." Rogue grins at Jacen while Harry sets her beer down in front of her, without having to ask her what kind she wants.

"Nobody's as shifty as you, Marie." Harry tells the young woman as he moves some glasses around behind the bar.

Jacen Knight has posed:
"Reckon I w's close at least." he concedes,"I've been through St. Louis a time'r two. Some of th' city's pertty fair, but a lot of it's right nasty." He looks at her beer and nods to the bartender,"I'll have th' same thanks." His attention moves back to her and admits,"Ain' never been down Mississippi way though. Keep thinkin' I will, but not lookin' too hopeful."

"There's th' usual question, how'd th' southern belle end up'n New York o' course, but that comes fr'm bein' way too curious. Gonna get me skinned one of these days I reckon." he tells her,"So if ya don' feel so inclined ta say I get it."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue smirked at Harry when he gave her name away, but her eyes go back to Jacen as she raises the tall mug of beer up to take a sip from the frothy goodness.

She lowers it again and dabs at her upper lip before nodding once toward the man in the hat. "School." She tells him. "I was pretty lucky and got accepted inta a nice boardin' school that's just down the street from here. They helped me a lot. Got me off the streets too. After my parents passed away... I, well, ya know, went the way of a rogue, so t'speak." She shows a little grin.

"Now i'm workin' my way through college so I can teach at the same school. It's sorta become my home, I guess." She moves to lift her glass up again for another sip. "What about yourself?" She counter asks him.

Jacen Knight has posed:
Getting a beer of his own, he takes a pull and sets it down for a moment, clearly enjoying the taste,"New ta town. Still on th' fence 'bout whether I'm stayin' or movin' along. Emergency medics're kinda in short supply round these parts so I am leaning towards here. I passed through Gotham, that wasn' th' best choice."

His hand rests on the cool glass and he considers her for a long moment,"Y'all ain' gonna think too much less of me if I say I think I seen ya somewhere. Maybe on TV'r the Internet. Sorry. Soun's like a really rotten pickup line I know. Just sayin' it is almost painful." He smirks a moment and then raises the glass for another drink.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue lowers her glass down ot the bar top again to set it down on one of the themed coasters. She turns it around a little while she listens to him and nods her head softly at his answer, and the Gotham part gets a flicker of a grin. "Yeah that place is pure trouble." She tells him. "In a way I won't even mess with. Well... reluctantly anyhow."

The rest of what he says get a much more prominent grin to appear on her face before she levels her poitned chin and her gaze upon him. "I was thinkin' the same thing about you." She tells him, before looking a litlte more modestly prepared to state her next words.

"I'm a, well. I'm a Mutant." She just lays it out there. "I can do things. Powerful things. I've been trainin' for years t'use them for good stuff, like helpin' people. I swoop in and around New York sometimes, t'help out. I like t'help out the cops, keep'em safe but also not get in their way if I can. It's just, ya know, somethin' t'do. Gets me put online now and then too."

She flashes him a light smile then.

Jacen Knight has posed:
The first part is clear he agrees. Gotham City bad. He rests an arm on the bar top and listens to her assessment of Gotham and then his own smile breaks when she comment about regonizing him as well. When she gets more serious he doesn't stop smiling, just eases it off a little while he listens.

He is thoughtful for a moment as if measuring his next words carefully,"Mutants getta bad rep sometimes. I ain' never seen no gatherin' of any sort that's totally bad'n I reckon I've seen plenty o' good folks puttin' themselves out there. Riskin' a lot." He pats his right hip with his free hand and tells her,"Jacen Knight. Last year's world champion bull rider'n Wragler jeans last campaign...well face." Of course there is something else Wranglers are known for, but face seems a better choice.

He considers her again turns on the seat a little so she can see a medicine bag on his hip resting behind a knife pouch,"I'm not a mutant, but I have...abilities. Less about born'n more learned if ya take m' meanin'."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue nods along with his response to her super hero side life, then she takes another swig of her drink before setting it down again. Her right hand comes up and she snaps her fingers then points at him. "That's where it is. The jeans!" She says with a light laugh. "Wow." She glances him over again before shaking her head side to side once. "Nice job." She tells him in good humor.

With a big grin showing on he pink hued lips, Rogue just shakes her head side to side. "I don't know how ya even find a gig like that, but I'm guessin' it came with the rodeo stuff. Which must also be pretty darn impressive. Been a long time since I went t'one'a those. My aunt used t'love'em. Hell, she probably knows ya by name." Rogue states, still grinning.

She notes what he indicates on his hip, and then looks back up at him. "So you're a scrapper too, huh? Well, there's always a scrap goin' on somewhere around these parts. Especially if ya go lookin' for'em."

Jacen Knight has posed:
Settling back to where the medicine pouch isn't so obvious, he takes another drink and smirks,"Thanks. Always fun ta be recognized I reckon, even if it ain' usually first f'r m' face." He laughs softly and takes another drink. Considering her for a moment he nods,"Yeah. Getting on th' back of a coupla tons of somethin' that'd like ta kill ya has a tends ta get attention. Do it well enough, long enough an' folks'll want ta ride th' notoriety."

Lastly he nods and tells her,"My grandfather taught me th' ways of our tribes...magic. Th' ability ta tap inta th' abilties o' animal spirits. I ain't a master by any means, but it's gotten be outta a few scrapes in th' past. Tryin' ta learn more. No place ta hone those skills other'n never leave his reservation an' that wasn't th' life I wanted."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue raisese her left hand up to put it against the side of her head as she listens to the man speak. She grins at the first bit of what he says while setting her drink down again after another sip from it. "I fully understand." She tells him. "Those bulls wouldn't know what hit'em if I competed though." She's super strong after all, not that he knows that, but still.

She listens to the other part of what he says and just gently nods her head to him. "I have some Native American friends at the school." She tells him. "But I never really ask them about their powers. I know that they're pretty damn impressive though, as I imagine yours are too. Or what you've learned, or however you put it." She smiles again at him.

"So are you lookin' around for a place t'settle in this area, or you're not sure if you're gonna stick and maybe head back south?"

Jean Grey has posed:
There's a jingle as the door opens and closes, with Jean strolling in between. She and Harry exchange a brief hello, marking the familiarity the man has with most of the local school faculty who make up a sizable chunk of his regular customers. And while Jean isn't quite the natural cowgirl of a certain OTHER customer, it's the weekend, so she can get away dressing a little more casually. Jeans (har har), a shortsleeve green top, and a longer plaid shirt, although the latter she's tied around her waist given the sudden warm turn in the weather!

After getting a beer from Harry (her regular, it seems), she moseys on toward the back, acting as if she's looking for someone in particular, seemingly quite sure she's here even before she's spotted. Aha, there she is!

"Who's your friend?" asks the redhead as she sliiiiiides right up to Rogue, appearing at one side and wiggling her beer in a hello gesture toward the man she's talking to.

Jacen Knight has posed:
He takes another drink of his beer and sets it aside again,"Bulls're honest at least. They don' want you ridin' them an' they do their worst ta get rid of ya. Some of them tend ta repay ya f'r bein' dumb enough ta ride'm, but that's part of th' game." He smiles and adds,"I'd be curious ta see how that played out. Could prolly arrange a ride for ya even. Always fun ta see confusion on th' big beast's face."

Glancing back towards the medicine pouch again he shrugs,"A little magic c'n go a long way I reckon. Some folk say I'm wastin' my talents by not bein' a cop'r somethin' like that. My abilities're helpful in patient assessment an' transport and th' six gun aspect w's too on th' nose. As f'r th' thoughts. I really ain' a city sort, but there's a big d'mand f'r medics up in these parts so I'm thinkin' 'bout stayin' f'r a while. Try ta find some place a little less crowded, but near enough ta work in th' city too."

The arrival of another gets his attention briefly. Jacen considers Jean with a quick once over, much the same way Rogue was assessed earlier. Nothing really leering so much as just a quick observation. Ok...so maybe he lingered a little on both, but not overly creepily. Since she asks Rogue, he turns his attention towards her again, taking another drink from his beer and letting her introduce how she sees fit.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue just leans ther eon the bar and watches the man as he speaks. She nods softly at what he's saying and is about to reply to him when Jean appears from the side. Rogue seems a bit surprised to see the redheaded woman appear like that, but when she does she lets a big smile appear for the woman. "Heya, Birthday girl." The Belle mildly teases, knowing Jean's Bday was last night, but she wasn't able to find her to tease her and celebrate it then, so may as well now.

She darts her eyes back to Jacen then and motions to him. "I uh... hadn't gotten your name yet." She offers him a hand, her hand is gloved in a wrist-length green glove that is soft to the touch over her hand. "I'm Marie, this is Jean." She indicates toward the man again. "Thsi is... well, a sportsman, bull rider and if ya can believe, it a pants model." She grins back to her friend. "I thought I recognized him, but I couldn't tell cause he sat down before I noticed him."

She grins back at Jacen. "Ya probably get sick'a those jokes, huh?"

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean can be sneaky like that!

Well, it's probably something more to do with being able to pinpoint her friend quickly and thus stalk her without having to text first to set something up! She cheats like that. Although as Rogue immediately mentions her recent birthday, she wrinkles her nose. "I didn't really want to make a big thing of it, definitely not like your last one!" That was a night that Harry's sure to remember. "That was wild. But if you want to buy me my next drink I won't say no." This is said with a certain sense of humor considering who signs the woman's paychecks.

Turning toward the mysterious, evidently nameless stranger, she nonetheless offers a smile as her friend introduces the both of them. "Oh, really?" She makes a point of holding up her beer bottle in front of her face, in such a way that it presumably blocks her view of the man from the waist-up, so she can evaluate him on his apparent profession. "Not sure I recognize them, but I can kind of see it! I did a little modeling myself, when I was younger."

Jacen Knight has posed:
Finishing his beer he nods to the bartender for another. He reaches out and takes the offered hand to shake with Rogue,"Jacen Knight." he replies in introduction. Not a vise of a grip, but a firm grip for the shake. It's just his way,"Nice ta meecha Marie." He nods to Jean and adds,"Nice ta meecha both. A lot better first night th'n passin' through Gotham City."

Once the handshake is done he'll offer to shake Jean's as well if she wants and he laughs shaking his head to answer,"Nah. Wrangler butts drive cowgirls nuts. I kinda set m'self up f'r all those'n more. It's ah'ight." He considers Jean's comment,"Modelin's...somethin'. A good paycheck I reckon, but I'd be slow ta take another round. Never say never."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is well aware of Jean's desire to not make birthdays a big deal, and she actually chose to honor it, but it wasn't easy... She looks from one of them to the other as she holds a little grin at them swapping modeling details.

"Imagine that, a jeans model, meetin' another model named Jean." She slowly shakes her head side to side. "What are the odds." She loud-whispers that part before another bit of her beer is sipped. Her eyes dance back over to the man.

"Well, you should definitely get Gotham outta your mind, and maybe wander around Salem Center here just down the road. It's a nice small town atmosphere, compared t'say New York. But it's close enough that if ya got a ride, you can drive down ta'the city pretty quick."

Rogue motions to the second bartender who just arrived for work and asks for Jean to have a second bottle on her tab, along with a piece of chocolate cake as the place has some foods in the back too.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Beating Gotham for hospitality isn't exactly a high bar," Jean observes with a laugh. "Though Salem's not exactly much of a fair comparison, either. But Marie's right, this part of Westchester can be a real nice place to live with a more relaxing pace of things, while still having an easy drive down to the city, for whatever business you might end up with down there. Plenty of people who make that commute, when they want a bit more space than they can get in the city." As for the modeling? "It was nice for extra money when I was starting college, that kind of thing. And, yeah, well, a bit of fun on top of that, just the whole lifestyle. But it's not really something I could go back to, since the school is really a full-time job."

Heck, it's basically two full-time jobs, when you combine her public-facing position as Headmistress and the 'hero' side of things with the X-Men!

"Ooh, cake." Rogue seemingly knows exactly the sweet spot where it comes to birthday celebration. While Jean might not want a big party, she will not say no to cake!

Jacen Knight has posed:
"I managed ta not have people try ta mug me here since I got here. More'n I can say f'r there. I ain' plannin' ta go back." he agreees in regards to putting it behind him. He smirks at Rogue when she comments about the model meeting,"So far I like it here. So prolly stickin' around f'r a bit." He raises his fresh beer to Jean and offers,"An' happy birthday."

He takes a drink of the foamy goodness and sighs as he sets it down,"That's good. So y'all pertty fonda th' area. Any chance I might getta tour fr'm some locals ta getta better feel f'r th' place? I mean I gotta place ta get a beer, that's half th' battle." His attention bounces around a little when he tells Jean,"Modelin' does pay good. I ain' had ta have a steady "job" f'r two years. Since I retired fr'm th' rodeo game, might's well go out on top, I ain' really settled into a normal routine modelin' or otherwise."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue exchanges some words with the new bartender who is much younger than Harry, goes by the name of AJ. She grins and says some quippy comeback to him before he goes to get the cake from the back.

When Rogue looks back she's got Jean's Birthday Beer in her hand and is holding it there for Jean to have it. Really, she just wants the Headmistress to be standing in Harry's holding two beers at the same time.

It's the little things in life that keep the Southern Belle happy.

She's listening to Jacen and Jean speak to before she looks back to the cowboy. "I can give ya the addres to a nice apartment buildin' in Salem Center if you're interested. We could probably make time t'show ya around, but it's a pretty straight forward little place. Few commercial streets, residential, schools, parks, the usual affair." She grins at him some.

"I honestly am in love with it, myself. I can't imagine livin' anywhere else anymore." She glances over to Jean and hooks a thumnb at her. "She's my guide in the big city though. She knows all the best places there, especially if you're goin' shoppin' for people. She's the local from here after all. Not a migrant, like you and me." She states, grinning to Jacen again then before reaching for her her own glass of beer.

Jean Grey has posed:
With Rogue's plotting, Jean definitely doesn't even have time to finish her first beer before the junior bartender arrives with the second, leaving her to manage both of them along with the piece of cake, which ends up set on the side of a pool table to wait while she manages the beer. Rogue gets a meaningful look before she lifts the older of the beers to chug down and finish, trying to get at least one of them out of the way. When she's done, Rogue gets a meaningful 'Happy now?' look. It doesn't even require her telepathy!

But that means she finally has a hand free for cake, which is what's TRULY important in life.

"Thanks," she echoes after Jacen's own birthday well-wishes, before pondering his question about a tour of the local hot-spots. Rogue has her own advice there, and ultimately, Jean nods along. "Yeah, if you've seen the mainstreet here, and the cross street down at the stoplight, you've basically seen most of what there is to see," she agrees, with a laugh. "Otherwise, you've basically gotta drive to the next town. They dot the whole way along here, up and down the river, and it'll still mostly be the same thing." Yet even that sameness is spoken of with affection. While Rogue is praising the place as her new home, Jean's got the love of a local girl.

"The fact we've won over this southern gal is definitely a point in it's favor," she finally declares, grinning around bites of chocolate cake. "But yeah, you've always got the city if you need a little more excitement. I admit, when I was growing up in this quiet, ALL I wanted to do was go down there to see the lights and have fun."

Jacen Knight has posed:
"I never really got th' draw of th' city life." he admits with a shrug,"I grew up'n small town life an' then a reservation. I dunno. At th' end of th' day I like th' quiet I reckon." He smirks and adds to Rogue,"I'd appreciate th' address. Th's place's callin' ta me on some levels. Close enough ta work an' still get back ta quiet."

He smirks as he gets the message between the two of them without the telepathy too. A soft laugh and he takes another drink of his beer,"I gotta say I w's surprised ta meet a southern belle this far up th' east coast f'r sure. A good surprise, but a surprise."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue grins over at Jean as the cake is delivered too and she nods happy at the sight of the woman having to struggle with all of her spontaneous birthday gifts.

Her nearly finished beer is set down on the coaster again and she looks back to Jacen. "You got a cell phone or a place to contact ya online? Social media, or what not?" She asks as she gets her own phone out of her hoodie pocket since the garment was right there tied around her waist the whole time.

She glances at her phone and then sets it down on the bar top. "Well, this part'a New York has a lot of stuff in common with where I'm from, it's all just more... I dunno, wealthy in its roots?" She tries to articulate. "Like, everyone here has barns and stables filled with horses and such, but everyone here has a shit ton'a money t'back it all up, rather than all the poor sods back in Meridian." She grins between Jean and the cowboy.

"So yeah, it's not /too/ hard t'relate with the locals, though I'm sure I get a lot of frowns too as I'm reluctant t'ever hold my tongue." She grins again.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Yeah, people who think of 'New York' and just imagine the city don't tend to realize that upstate's mostly farmland," Jean points out, echoing Rogue on just how alike the area is with where she's from. "There's differences, for sure, and yeah, Westchester itself has a weird kind of mix of history, with all the money that came up here as the city grew and all those Rockerfeller types started building estates up here." Which leads her to point out: "They did some good though, too. You should check out the Rockerfeller preserve if you haven't, it's just a lot of beautiful land and hiking trails and such."

Soon enough, she's finished her cake. It's a lot easier to scarf down than the beers, for her! "Anyway, I hope you settle in alright. Marie, you wanna grab a game or something? Think I owe you a rematch from the last time." The last time with the BLATANT CHEATING.

Jacen Knight has posed:
While he doesn't seem to be terribly high tech, he does produce a /very/ basic cell phone. Not a smart phone, a flip phone. It is clearly made for impact and liquid as it is rubberized and all the ports have rubber plugs that cover them,"It's a little behind the time, but I do have a cell phone." he admits. He settles to take down a number and laughs softly,"We'll get on famous b'cause I don' hold my tongue. It's a curse."

"I never woulda known it w's farmland either." Jacen admits when Jean mentions that,"I do get th' rich vibe though." he agrees with Rogue. As the two prepare to go over and play pool he raises his glass,"It w's nice ta meetcha. Have fun with th' game."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is in the process of garnering another glass of beer for herslef from AJ when she sees the phone that Jacen produces. It makes her grin and shake her head. "That is a cowboy's phone if'n I ever done seen one." She says, playing up her own southern accent a bit there, showing him another grin.

She'll use her phone to text him so that they can exchange numbers. "I'll shoot ya that address, there's a hotel there too that lets ya rent by the night, so you don't have t'like buy'in immediately on a place."

She starts to stand up with Jean's beckoning and she smiles at Jacen. "Good chat, don't be a stranger, Mistah." She waves and with her new drinks he goes to follwo after Jean.

"This time, no mind games. No mind tricks, Jedi Jean!" She states, bumping hips with the other woman as they go to the far table where she'd been with her Salem friends earlier before they left.