Blue had been well behaved for the past few weeks. He hadn't burnt any of his clothing, off, set anything on fire, or generally caused mayhem, which was saying a lot for him. After his near-death experience, he had spent most of his time at Juniper's house re-cooperating, and tonight he finally got stir-crazy enough to venture out.

Since Juniper was trying to avoid drinking, he was considerate enough to find a local bar to crash and get his fix. His plan was to grab a drink, relax, and practice being a normal part of society. Although, the idea of finding a fireplace to nap in wasn't entirely off the table. His lack of energy lately made him more inclined to find warm places after all.

Blue hadn't paid much attention to the name of the bar, just that it was out of the way, and didn't look too run down. He ordered his drink and sat down, taking a swing and running a hand through his hair. A few of the bar patrons scooted away at the site of the flaming mutant, the running assumption being fire+alcohol=bigger fire. 

Well, that wasn't entirely wrong, but he was behaving, right? He even paid for his drink today, like a good mutant. 

Things looked up for the most part, until a familiar face walked through the door. His eyes narrowed, and he cursed under his breathe. It figured, just when he was healed and back to his normal self, that person would arrive. Same individual who buried their knife into his ribs. 

He was well behaved. He was not going to engage. 

However, the heat coming off his shoulders did seem to say otherwise. 

Things were...going better. Blackjack was adjusting to home life, and life seemed to be settling into what passed as normal again, which was good. 'Work' had been uneventful, and Mae was working late, so after they took the overgrown dog for their walk, they showered, cooked a pizza and left it in the oven(after turning the oven off this time) for Mae when she got home. Then, they made their way to a bar they didn't normally frequent, wearing a loose-fitting black tee shirt with a skull and crossbones on it, matching cargo jeans, the dirty white sneakers that was the only shoes they had, topped off with their headphones over their beanie. They had two burner phones in the pockets, plus their regular phone and an old fashioned portable CD player.

Once in the bar, they saw a familiar sight. The blue flames. That was the jerk that caused a lot of trouble for Mae. And burnt their favorite coffee shop to a crisp. And cost Seven a knife. Oh and pulled hair. But instead from engaging in internal monologue all day, Seven strolled up to the bar. "Rum and Coke," they said simply, sitting right next to the flaming man that everyone else kept at a distance.

They took a healthy gulp of their drink, giving Blue the side-eye the entire time. Seven was still salty from their last encounter, obviously, but as it stood, they turned to look at him, still occasionally drinking their rum and cola. A total power move on Seven's part.

It seemed things were going pretty well for today. His bar’s day manager had to call in last minute and seemed no one else was available because they put Sam in charge. Of a bar. When he was 19. Sam sipped his alcoholic beverage because his newest bartender Jade didn’t bother to card him. Heck he doubted she knew who he was. All she had been doing was complaining to him about stuff he listened little to.

The icemancer didn’t want to be rude but he was little preoccupied staring at his phone. It had been typed out for some time but he didn’t want to hit send yet if he did then there would be no going back and depending how this played out he’d either make someone very happy or make himself miserable.

Sipping his whiskey he noticed something was on fire as people moved away from the bar. It was a mutant and a bright one, at least as far as his thermal sense could tell. Made sense. While the mutant was on fire, he did not burn the place down so as owner Sam had no complaints. It seemed the guy even paid for a drink. Perfect.

Sam looked to his phone when someone sat next to the guy on fire. It was none of Sam’s business, his was more in the realm of romance.

Blue tried not to tense up as the teleporter came and sat next to him. He took another swing of his drink, letting the heat pick up just a little but along his arms. He was wearing a t-shirt today, nothing fancy, and certainly nothing he would feel bad burning. Little flames licked the rim of his glass for a moment before he pulled them back. He didn't want to burn up his drink quite so fast. But he wasn't going to be intimidated by this punk, especially when they had the nerve to come over like this.

"Take it your girlfriend is fine. Else I imagine you woulda come in swinging and not drinkin'," he mused. He took another drink, finishing off what he had and setting the cup down. "What was the name you called her? Mae? Maybe I'll give her a call sometime. She was awful feisty. Could have been fun," he laughed.

He tried to remember what he could from the fight, from the flames to the phone. He knew the kid could teleport, but wasn't entirely sure how it worked. He held the glass, letting his shift in his hands. If needed he could break it, and at least have something sharp. He would not be taken by surprise this round.

"Frankly, I owe you a knife in the back," he growled a little lower, blue flames licking higher on his face. A warning. There was only so far he would take these games today.

Seven bristled as Blue spoke, hand that wasn't holding their glass tightening into a fist.

"If you got a number from her, it was probably mine. But feel free," Seven said coldly. They finished off the rest of their drink, setting the glass down as well. Their face was expressionless but inside their blood was boiling just looking at this asshole. "Well...sad to say Mae's tagged out. I'm your problem now. And you're more than welcome to try. You owe me a knife anyway..."

With the hand that no longer was holding a full glass, Seven waived at the bartender for another one, their cold gaze not leaving Blue as they put the new drink to their lips.

Blue could have let the verbal exchange continue. Mind games were easy, after all. They could have drank, eventually taken it outside like civilized folk. But Blue wasn't civilized. He was not going to be on the losing side of a fight again, good behavior be damned.

Instead of responding he left his right side flare with flames, like a match coming to contact with propane. The burst of flames was enough to hopefully catch the other mutant's shirt on fire, the blinding heat enough the bartender took a mad leap away, falling on their ass in the process. Blue didn't pause, using the heat shield to hide the real attack: a glass breaking and the shard being slashed right for Seven's face.

Some people kicked sand, Blue used fire. There was a certain level of saltiness in him as well.

Mae. That name sounded familiar so did knife in the back. Both of which Sam half listened to as a drink was emptied and replaced further along the bar. Sam looked down to his phone hit sent and then flipped his phone over. A slight panic in his chest caused him to slam the rest of his glass. Jade refilled it then stopped and stared at the two at the bar before she leapt away from the flames. Strike one, Jade was new and didn’t need this on day one.

The flames were higher now. Erupting outward from the mutant. Clearly hoping to catch anything on fire that it came into contact with. Strike two. Sam’s nostrils flared as the glass broke and was used as a weapon. Strike three.

Jade, the bartender started to push herself up from the floor she leaned on the him and got a front row seat to his powers activating. ”mmmmm….. $$$$” already on his feet he pointed to her, ”Call the police, tell them Sam is already on scene at his damn bar.” that surprised the woman and she nodded her head. The air in the bar started to get colder as his arms coated themselves in ice.

”Hey! @@@holes!” he yelled cold ready to combat the heat. ”Bar is for drinking! You want to catch up, take it outside or I’ll take you both out there.” that was the only warning he was giving them. If they kept going and ignored him they’d quickly figure out why there was never any fights in his bar.