Owner	Pose
Sally Pride	There were plenty of flashier, higher quality taverns out there. But there was a certain charm to a tacky dive bar. Especially one that was a bit down and out of the way, and less likely to come across problems. Relatively speaking, considering what the usual patrons were. But for some that was part of the charm, and part of why one shouldn't have to deal with other problems. It was one of Sally's usual spots to drop in for a drink, the lioness sidling over to the bar and dropping her posterior on a stool. Tail curling a bit around the base to keep out of the way of other passing bargoers. "One of the usual," she requests of the bartender. There's not too many other bargoers at the moment, keeping to their own in the booths on the other side of the room.
Cain Marko	The doorway darkens, then opens. A figure who's tall and broad even for a mutant bar stepping inside. While he doesn't stand out THAT much in this bar and this part of town, there's a certain aura about him that does. He glances around the place, noting how it's mostly empty. Then his gaze settles on the lone person sitting at the bar itself, and his brow raises. A... cat person? Hunh. Okay. He hasn't seen man of those before. He considers for a short time, then makes his way over. Booted feet thumping the ground loudly, he comes to a stop at the stool next to her. The one good thing about these mutant joints is they tend to have extra sturdy furniture, for all of the... alternative body types that might show up. He settles onto the stool, his sheer width and bulk meaning he's perhaps a bit closer to Sally than might be considered polite. "Beer. Whatever you've got that tastes best." He puts his massive forearms up on the counter, and glances at Sally again. He doesn't say anything for a while. Eventually though he notes, "So. Cat, huh?" Insightful observations, a specialty of The Juggernaut.
Sally Pride	A pierced ear flicks at the heavy footfalls behind her, but she's use to such things. Big bodies have heavy steps and take up a lot of presence, that's how it works. The bartender slides a mug to her, and when the new arrival requests much the same he turns back to the taps to fill another. Being actually spoken too does get Sally's attention more, tilting her head a bit to look at, and to a degree up, at the other barstool occupant. "Lioness, technically," she replies. Eyes him a bit more closely. "And you're a pretty big fella."
Cain Marko	Cain turns some on his stool to look more fully at the woman next to him. "Right. Lioness. Shoulda realized." The big brute peering down at the leather-jacketed mutant. His lips twitch at the comment about his size. "Yeah, I get that a lot. Especially from ladies for whatever reason." His own mug finally ocmes, and he picks it up. It looks particularly tiny in his hand as he takes a sip. Then he looks back over the bar with the scarce patrons in distant booths. "Pretty dead night. You come here a lot?" Well, half the reason of coming to a bar is to not drink alone, right? Who's he going to talk to, the bartender?
Sally Pride	Sally Pride chuckles a bit. "I bet." Hmm. He's clearly not 'just' human, but she's not quite getting a mutant vibe from him either. "Yeah, not much action tonight." She pauses for a drink from her own mug. "I guess so. It's nice enough, it's out of the way... Sometimes it's noisy, sometimes it's not." No one is picking a fight right now, and with the hulk of a man at the bar probably wouldn't want to either.
Cain Marko	The biggest vibe Cain tends to give off is 'Muscles'. That's what he has more of than anything. He nods down at her. "Name is Cain, by the way." His eyes flick up to her ears. Cat ears. Well, lion ears in this case. But still a cat. You see them and your fingers just sort of start itching to touch them. He probably shouldn't though. "Suppose those are benefits. Could use a little more excitement. Maybe somebody thinking their balls are cast iron." He takes another sip, and his drink is empty. He sets it down, then motions for a refill.
Sally Pride	Sally Pride turns on her stool look across the bar for a moment. "I think they'd need a bit more than balls and a thick head to want to pick trouble with you." The usual click and clatter of a billards game can be heard from the backroom but the poolsharks are keeping to themselves. So she swivels back to the bar and takes another drink. "Mine's Sally." A pause as she usually does for effect. "Sally Pride." Just to make sure we get the lion pun in there, apparently.
Cain Marko	His lips twist a little in a smirk. "Sally Pride. Of course you are." He shakes his head. His eyes raising to those ears again. "Yeah. I suppose not many people try to pick fights with me. While they're sober. Or by themself." He reaches out now, and a pair of fingers give a light scritch behind one leonine ear. What's she going to do, bite him? "So. You get a lotta shit for being a cat? I know this is Mutant Town and all. But I don't see a lot of, y'know. Animal people." She might be getting the impression he's not the most subtle of people in his approach to things. Or the most polite, necessarily.
Sally Pride	There is a moment of tensing, as felines tend to do when someone is reaching towards them in an uncertain manner. The tips of claws dig into the sides of the mug (hardly the first marks made in the dishes in this joint).. but then partially untense when he just scritches her ears. This is a thing people do with cats as she's learned. "Specifically, no." The claw tips scrape on the mug again, this time just for effect, until the barkeep shoots her a look for it. "Or they learn better." A pause, and then this time she just drinks from the mug and sets it aside for a refill. "I -have- noticed a lot of the folks with cat related names are just people in costumes though." Catwoman. Cheetah. Black Cat. So on.
Cain Marko	When she doesn't stop him a faint smile touches the big mystical merc lips. He keeps scritching, then shifts to pointer and thumb each massaging the base of an ear. They're big digits. "Mmm. Yeah. Lots of supertypes with animal names. Or bug names. Or just weird shit. It's that sorta community. You pick a name then you're pretty much stuck with it, even if you decide later on you don't like it." Not that he has that problem. His name is great. He isn't really paying attention to his refilled beer at this point, focusing on what his hand is doing. Man, maybe he should get a pet. That could make things less boring at home.
Sally Pride	"Everybody wants to be a cat~" Sally singsongs poorly. "Or a bat. Or who knows what else. Guess some people are just jealous the animal kingdom is cooler." And then you have the actual cat mutant sitting here, who's name is a play on a famous human one. Go figure. He could probably rub booth ears with one big digit if he really wanted to. "Just not mess up the hair, big guy." Meaning the lopsided mohawk she has, for lack of a better description.
Cain Marko	Cain snorts at that "Well, not everybody." He nods his head at the request to leave her punkish hairdo intact. "Will do. So. What does a young... lion lady like you do for a living, anyway?" His other hand moves up now, and he adds rubbing under her chin to the ear attention. Dammit, once you start petting a cat it's really hard to stop, isn't it?
Sally Pride	"Mercenary. And fixing things." What kind of answer would one expect? Not like she can just go out and get a 'normal' job. Sally does move her head away after a moment, though it's probably moreso she can get a drink once her mug was refilled. "What about you?" Though considering that build she's probably expecting a similar answer. He just.. looks the part, with the bulk. Even if he's managing to be gentle enough to not hurt her with his touch. Some people just like cats.
Cain Marko	"The same actually. Except the fixing things part." Cain eventually does let his hands fall away entirely, picking up his second mug and taking a long pull that almost drains it instantly. "I guess we've never worked any jobs together. I think I'd remember." Some people do just like cats. And/or are bored. He dips a hand into a pocket, and pulls out a card. He slides it across the bar to her. "Maybe we will eventually."
Sally Pride	That gets a faint chuckle out of Sally. What she expected. "There's a lot of work to go around, not every merc is going to know every other merc all the time." She reachs over to pick the card up. "... I really should make cards or something," she muses. Then tucks it away in an inside pocket of her jacket for safe keeping. "I'd almost expect you to walk into a room and everyone else just doesn't want to fight anymore.... but that's giving people too much credit. Most of 'em probably need an ... example why not to pick a fight, yeah?"
Cain Marko	Cain chuckles himself. "Well. It does happen sometimes... but yeah. Lot of times they're not so smart. Or, well. They're gettin paid too. So they gotta put up an effort if they want to get their cash. Not that it'll help them any." If he was a large but otherwise normal guy, she'd probably be stronger than him. He finishes off his beer, then stands. "Actually, now that I think about it. I got someplace I should be. It was nice meeting you, Pride. Gimme a call sometime. We'll get together, trade some war stories. Whatever." He smiles at her, briefly reaching out to rub her ears once last time. Then he turns to head for the door.
Sally Pride	Lions technically can't purr, but Sally rumbles softly at the last ruffle in sort of the same manner, then picks up her mug and gives a playful salute with it as Cain turns to leave. "Take care big guy. Drop ya a line sometime." Then leans back against the bar and resumes emptying the mug before she wanders off herself.