This bar was slightly better than the Blue Star. With luck that meant she couldn't get any drunk telekinetics ruining her night. It was called The Pub. The full name was The Pub on 39th but the patrons called it The Pub to save a few syllables. It wasn't decorated in that faux pub style that most would expect from a place carrying that name. Bright woods abounded and were paired with brass. The walls were a spring green and it felt more like a cafe than a bar. Cosmina really didn't care what the atmosphere was like. The drinks were good and the patrons wealthy.

So far Mina had yet to catch the eye of one of the men milling about but with time that would change. All she had to do was frequent the place often and one of them would notice her. For now the woman sat in a booth to one side of the room facing the bar and sipped at a drink. Yet again it didn't matter to her what drink it was. The taste didn't really suite her. However it was one of the more expensive drinks on the menu. That was all that mattered.

When she wasn't sipping at her drink Cosmina was smiling cheerfully at anyone that looked at her. The smile never left her face as she observed the people around her that had more money than sense. Those were the best sort of rich people. People like that were often her employer, her target, or a potential husband. Her mother had successfully married wealthy and ended up with her husband's fortune. There was no reason that Cosmina couldn't pull it off too. She winked playfully at one man that happened to look at her. He turned away swiftly. Well even if tonight's fishing was a bust it was fun to tease them.

Ever since the last time she'd gone drinking, Lenna had decided to be a bit more careful about the locations she chose as watering holes. Annoying strippers were kind of a big deal, hence, any location she chose strayed from the many key factors she suspected led to stripper infestations.

Bright lights.

Good mixed drinks.

Attractive women that negated powers or drained batteries like they were tall glasses of soda.

What remained were drinking establishments that served hard liquor, hard men, occasionally rich men, and where the drinkers were more likely to listen to a recent football or soccer game than a dull synth bassline.

It seemed that left pubs, and few alternatives. The Pub on 39th was one such locale.

Lenna sat at the bar, drinking a glass of rum. An exceedingly rich-looking man with coiffed hair stepped through the doors, and sat down next to her. Lenna eyed him as he rested his arm on the counter, in his cream-colored sports jacket, cream pants, and blue dress shirt. There were rings on his finger that paled in comparison to the smile he honored her with. Like those glittering gems, he looked... a bit green. Gaudy, bold, created under intense pressure that molded him into what he was today, yet still too pretty to work with just anything. He was polished, luxurious. He had stones. He was talking to her. Lenna ignored him. She looked away.

"No thank you. I won't let you order me a drink. Go away."

His laugh was like the ring of a cash register. He wasn't sold on her rebuff. "Oh, please~" He smiled. "My treat?"

Cosmina watched the fresh catch waltz in the door. He had money and he wanted everyone to know it. His attire, his accessories, his hair, all of it was meant to impress. All she cared about was that it took a considerable amount of income to purchase the things he was wearing. If he turned out too intelligent to fall for a gold digger then she could move on. Yes, Cosmina was quite willing to admit that she was a gold digger when it came to relationships. You either married a man for the money or had your fun and dumped him. Love got people nothing but pain. It just wasn't worth it.

The man proceeded to sit beside one of the women at the bar. Cosmina took a drink and watched as she rebuffed him. He didn't seem at all deterred by that. In fact he just laughed and tried again. He was used to getting his way. That was a trait that he and Cosmina shared. Her smile pulled into a brief smirk and relaxed again. One last drink and she left her empty glass behind as she moved from the table to the bar.

There was an open stool on the other side of the man. Cosmina slipped onto it while he smiled at the blonde woman. Why she ignored him and turned him down was anyone's guess. For any purpose other than prevent them from screwing up a mission Cosmina was horrible at figuring out what other people would do and why. Other people just didn't operate in the same ways as she did. Her kill count would either be much higher or much lower if they did.

"No," She rebuffed him, firmly. Lenna's eyes slid to lock on his face, narrowing in annoyance. They looked a little bit tired. Her glass hung from fingertips as she turned her body his way, careful not to spill a single drop. "You don't want to get on my bad side tonight, trust me. Do yourself a favor and bother someone else."

He pouted. He'd always gotten his way before. What was different this time? He contemplated her, haughtily. "Do you know who I am?"

"An annoyance." Lenna drank her rum, eyes on the wall of the pub rather than Mr. Annoying.

"Hmph!" He looked away... finally noticing the woman on his other side. Perhaps, he'd have more luck with her. Yes, he was haughty, with injured pride, but he was a prideful beast with plenty of ego to go around! And flighty. Yes. He could give reasons for anything. Even attempting to buy another pretty complete stranger a drink. The man held up his jeweled hand and flashed the bartender over to him. "For my friend," he smiled. His eyes swung to mystery woman's face. "Anything she wants."

The bartender nodded, and shifted his focus to the dame.

The other woman kept right on rejecting the man, despite his obvious wealth. She sounded as though she were in a bad mood for some reason or another. As silly as it was to reject the man and his money Cosmina found herself intrigued. What sort of woman would turn down such a man? Though it went against her better judgment Cosmina decided to find out. No reason she couldn't let the man buy her a drink though. Therefore, after he was done annoying the woman on his right and offered her a drink she accepted. Once the bartender had completed her drink she took a sip of it.

"Thanks for the drink but you can go now."

A smile adorned Cosmina's face as she dismissed the man. He was certain to be annoyed. She'd allowed him to buy her a drink and was now telling him to get lost. He was a pushy, silly sort of man that didn't know when to quit. These were traits that his money forgave or they would be if Cosmina hadn't decided to sate her curiosity about the woman he'd hit on first instead. As though to emphasize her disinterest she looked away from him entirely. If he annoy her too much she would simply silence him. Not permanently, that was too much for so small an infraction. However he would likely lose a lot of his grating presence if he couldn't speak.

With a pleasant smile Cosmina leaned around the man, continuing to ignore his existance, until she could see the woman on his other side.

"Hello there! I hope that boor hasn't soured you on conversation tonight. I'd love to get acquainted!"

Typical male. When he knew he couldn't have her, he went after someone easier to get. Lenna swung her head away from him, and rolled her eyes. Pathetic, really. She didn't bother thinking much more about him. Hopefully, he'd leave and she could finish her-- wait.

A humdrum sigh from Mr. Moneybags got her attention. It was that loud. He'd been shot down, again. Lenna almost smiled. Almost. It was clear he was not wanted here tonight. Heart, heavy as his dangling bejeweled digits, he ape-dragged his highbrow self out the door. Halfway out the door, he turned, swung a glance back inside the bar. Nobody gave him the satisfaction of attention. He left with one last hopeless noisy sigh.

Lenna focused on her drink. Maybe now, she'd be able to brood in peace?

Nope!

A woman far too cheery addressed her. Lenna humored her with a glance, then took a swig of her drink.

"What." Her voice was deep and unfriendly. She wasn't really in the mood for happy friends tonight, either.

The man left. That was good. Now Cosmina didn't have to sit at an awkward angle to see the other woman. She paid no attention to the man as he left. She'd made her decision to leave him be and wasn't going to go back on it. Unfortunately the other woman's mood did indeed appear to be foul. The tone in which she answered Cosmina lessened the woman's smile just a little bit. It was hard to smile when people were rude. However Cosmina bounced right back. If the object of her curiosity was down then Cosmina would make up for it with her pleasant demeanor.

Of course she probably wouldn't like that. People determined to be in a foul mood didn't like happiness and smiles. That wouldn't stop Cosmina though. No man or woman was going to slay her smile that easily. If blonde didn't she could just deal with it. Cosmina took a sip of her drink and took the man's empty stool. No point in trying to talk with that much space between them. Another happy smile adorned her face as she turned to the woman again.

"I said I'd love to get acquainted! The name's Cosmina. And you?"

Inwardly the brunette chuckled. There was amusement to be had from annoying someone bent on preserving a bad mood. There was no point in bad moods. Life was meant to be lived fast and without regret. Bad moods only hampered that. That was why Cosmina almost never let herself get in one. Of course there was the odd occasion when someone pissed her off to the point where there was no option but a bad mood. Those were rare however. Cosmina raised her glass to the other woman and took another drink.

She got closer, and wanted to get to know her better. Inside Lenna's head, she screamed 'oh god'. This wasn't going to be one of those conversations, was it? She'd already helped the gem-stone ring guy find the way out.

The other woman had helped too, though. Maybe Lenna could be a little bit polite about it.

Nope. She was stubborn. Cosmina was trying to be nice, and Lenna was trying to have a drink in peace. The woman wanted an answer. "Not a lesbian." was Lenna's reply.

At the woman's answer Cosmina laughed. Not a disbelieving laugh at having been turned down but one that was truly mirthful.

"Neither am I. Normally I would have allowed that man to chat me up. You seemed more interesting. That's all."

What was most funny to Cosmina was that the woman's mind had jumped immediately to the possibility of her being a lesbian and having to crush that as quickly as possible. Was she approached by lesbians so often that she felt that she had to make that fact abundantly clear to any woman that was even curious? In either case the decision to talk to this woman was already paying off. She had made Mina laugh after all.

The woman laughed when Lenna stated hard facts. She'd never known her sexual orientation was a joke.

>>"Neither am I. Normally I would have allowed that man to chat me up. You seemed more interesting. That's all."

"Huh."

Well, that was weird. She was weird, this lady. Telling her she was interesting, and that she wanted to get to know her better, yet denying it was based on baser interests. What else was there? Okay. Maybe morbid curiosity. She'd grant her that.

"What kind of things do you want to know...?" Lenna eyed her, calling the bartender over to refresh her drink.

Cosmina shot the woman a coy smirk as she finally granted her a bit of ground. What did she want to know? Well...since she asked.

"To start with I'd settle for your name and why you turned him down."

That was a good place to start. As good as any other anyway. There was always a chance that she would simply refuse to tell Mina anything and tell her to get lost like she had the man. Since the bartender was there Cosmina let him refresh her drink as well.

"My name's Cosmina by the way."

Introducing yourself first generally helped. It made others more likely to share, in theory at least.

"Because he was a jerk, and I've got other things on my mind," Lenna replied. She answered the latter question first. It had been a simple question. It got a simple answer, in return. It was all so simple. The guy was a loser with too much ego and cash, throwing it around like rice at a wedding. Lenna had other things to think about...

What did she have to think about? Well. Good question.

"Lenna, by the way." She said. Onto question two.

"Jerk yes but he did have money. Surely that excuses some of his character faults."

Mina gave a shrug. It wasn't any business of hers why this woman wouldn't act with any sense regarding a rich man. Other people did tend to be a bit weird about gold digging. That's what they called it and it was mostly true. That didn't mean it wasn't a valid approach to romance and all that. If you had to marry someone then surely it was better to marry someone rich who could easily provide for you. At least then when one or both of you ended up dead things would be taken care of.

"Nice to meet you Lenna."

Cosmina allowed her smile to grow a little for a moment or two.

"So what sorts of 'other things' are bothering you, hm?"

Mina highly doubted the woman would share at all. In her position Cosmina wouldn't. Either that or she'd lie.

Money? What kind of woman was this?

She avoided that question, and the question Cosmina posed, dodging that request for elaboration to hop on another tangent. "I have money," She watched Cosmina carefully. "And money isn't a good reason to be with anyone." Not that love was. What was love? Heh... she did not know. It was funny, how much she did not know. Not that she was laughing. Maybe an uncomfortable chuckle, here or there. Yup. Money wasn't a reason to be with someone, and love was kind of a joke. Just a good way to get one's self killed. So... what did that leave.

Lenna took another swig of her drink.

Maybe that's what she was contemplating tonight, whilst brooding? Who knew? She certainly wasn't spilling just yet.

Cosmina gave another warm chuckle as the woman denied that money was a decent reason to be with a person. Cosmina had money too. That didn't mean there wasn't room for more. Remembering her drink, the brunette took a quick sip.

"I don't see why not. It's certainly better than other reasons." she lifted a shoulder in a shrug, "Not that being in a relationship is smart to begin with but if you're going to risk it then it's best if it has some tangible benefits."

It didn't escape Cosmina's notice that the other woman had avoided her question by focusing on something else Mina had said. She hadn't expected a response so the lack of one wasn't off putting at all. If the other one wanted to brood that was her affair. She was mildly interesting and the conversation wasn't dull so Mina had no excuse to leave just yet. What would Lenna say about her latest statement? Was she one of those boring 'Love is the greatest thing in the universe!' types? Ugh, Mina had to hope not.