For someone still relatively new to the city, it didn't take Dante very long to find a favorite place to drink. Well, it was a quick walk from his apartment, and the beer was pretty cheap, and on his budget cheap was good. Maybe once business picked up in the tattoo shop he'd be able to afford more. He had been making more appointments, so maybe that was a sign things were looking up. Maybe soon he'd actually be able to afford furniture! Well, he had a couch, a chair, and a TV, but the TV was sitting on a crate, his coffee table was another crate, and his bed was a really raggedy thrift-store model that he'd gotten on a deal, for good reason, though it did what he needed it to.

But today was not a day for affording things. He'd finished work, went home and gotten Duke fed and walked, and then he made his way to the bar around the corner, like he did...well, pretty much every Friday night. The young man sat at the bar, sipping on his first beer of the night as he alternated looking around the room with scrolling through his phone. The night was still young, so things really hadn't picked up yet.

But he liked to get a start on his drinking early. Besides, tomorrow was Saturday, so he really didn't have any plans.

How?

Raine was not holding the pink severance slip anymore, but she felt it like a brand.

She had been thiiiiiis close to getting fired. She'd had the slip in her hand. They had a security escort ready to go. If she hadn't had that spreadsheet of her own personal backup of her calls and time saved... Raine needed a drink both to celebrate that she still had her job and mourn that she probably needed to go find another one anyway. They'd let her off with a warning. This time. She was an expendable cog and they'd let her know how lucky she was to even be there.

In a daze, the blonde sat herself on a stool at the bar. Which bar? It hardly mattered.

A napkin appeared before her by way of the bartender setting up to get her drink started.

"Jägerbomb. No. Long Island Iced Tea." Nothing said 'let's get white girl wasted' better than a long island iced tea. Raine ran her hands through her hair and pulled out her pony tail before she rapped her knuckles on the bar to get the bartender's attention again. "I'm sorry. I changed my mind again. Whatever you have on tap. And is cheapest. Get me two."

"You expecting company?"

"Yes." The lie was so bald, she may as well have told him 'no' because that was exactly what she meant. One was only a warm up.

The dark haired smoke-manipulator noticed as the blonde came walking in. He let his eyes linger on her for a little while, but that was made even easier by the fact that she sat pretty close to him. And then she ordered a Jägerbomb. Then changed it to a Long Island Iced Tea. Then changed it once again. Oh yeah, someone was a little stressed. He chuckled to himself at the exchange; it was rather cute, to be honest.

But he was sure she wasn't expecting company. Why would she order just one, change her mind, and then change again only to think of her company on the last go? Or maybe she had forgotten and that was why she changed to two cheap beers. Well, it was too late to doubt now because he was already speaking up.

"Go ahead and make one of those on me," he volunteered, then looked at her with a sly smile. "Maybe when your company gets here I'll cover them too," he added with a wink as he slid over, closing the one-stool gap between them. "I take it your day isn't going so hot," he said, his tone more sincere. Well, sincere for him, anyway.

Raine took in a big breath to tell Mr. Nunyabusiness where he could stick his extra dollars, but then pursed her lips. She didn't really have any righteous high ground where money was concerned, and she definitely didn't have the cash to spare on flippant power games. The result was that Raine had puffed out her cheeks and then just... held it in her indecision.

Oh f*** it. She released her breath in a whoosh as soon as she'd decided. She could do so much worse than a Nunya that was offering to pay for something.

"They're both for me." She admitted. "Thanks." The bartender set the first between her fingers and it was everything she'd hoped it would be: cold and frothy. The taste? Eh... Her first sip was less than impressed. But it was refreshing in its own way.

"One's for me now. One's for future-Raine, who I hope is already having a better time." Her lips quirked and she raised glass 1 to clink against Mr. Nunya's.

"And what's your story at—" she checked the tv above and was surprised that the Pacers were down. Also, was it really not even 7pm? "—not even dinner o'clock?"

She wanted to get him talking so she could take a hefty, borderline unhealthy draw on that first drink. Her second had already arrived, after all. Didn't want to drink it warm.

Dante cocked his head to the side; she was a funny one, wasn't she? Though that wasn't necessarily bad; it could prove to be a rather fun evening. Never a dull moment, after all.

"I thought they might be," he said with a smirk as he let his glass clink against hers. He chuckled when she asked his story. And...oh yeah it wasn't even dark yet and they were already drinking. The thing was, he hadn't even had that bad of a day. He'd just made a habit of getting everything set after work and going to the bar whenever he got done. That wasn't a bad habit or anything, right?

"Honestly, this is just part of my Friday ritual," he said with a slight shrug. "Get off of work, go home, make sure the dog has food, water, and a walk, then head to the bar for a few hours." He took a similar swig out of his own glass before looking back to the television. Oh hey, the Lakers were winning. Neat.

"My name's Dante, by the way."

Friday ritual? Raise had started to lift the first glass to her lips after their clink, but that warranted an eyebrow. Home, dog, bar? That was no life.

She tossed back as much of her beer as she could at once, maybe half the glass. She didn't want to taste it, she just wanted to... Augh! Nooooo! She tasted it! Raine tried not to sputter as she set the half glass back down and her boring Nunya friend gave her a name. Raine wiped beer foam from her upper lip.

"Dante? Are you for real?" Could a beer go to her head that fast? Nah. It really was just a weird day trying to punch her in the giggle d*ck. She motioned between them. "My last name is Faust. We've got a devilish theme going on here."

Usually she tried to emulate the angel-type, but tonight...? After a quick breath out to steel herself, Raine chugged the other half of the first beer.

"There. Much better." Oh yeah. Her cheeks felt the slightest flush after that. Raine used her fingers to slide her cups around so that the full one was close and the empty was in arm's reach for the bar keep. This one she planned to sip much more slowlier. Was slowlier a word?

"So, I was thinking that sitting here and drinking is a nice escape and all, but that's no way to live, Dante. You need, like... excitement. And pizazz. Or pizza." It wasn't even dinner time, after all.

He had to smirk at her little...encounter with the beer. Maybe drinking usually wasn't her thing, or maybe she just didn't like beer. That he could understand.

Dante nodded, chuckling a little. "Yep. I mean my middle name is Nicholas, but....call me Dante. Not that devilish is bad.." he said with a wink. Okay, she was really knocking back those beers. He himself was merely nursing his beer, making it last. After all, it wasn't even dinner-time yet and he at least liked to remember that part of the day before the sun went down.

Though, he didn't exactly tell her that sometimes his Friday ritual involved taking someone home--or someone taking him home. He snorted. "Well, I'm an aspiring tattoo artist who hasn't been here very long. Right now, I can't really afford too much excitement," he said with a shrug as he finished off his beer. "Unless you had any ideas that would still let me pay my rent." He looked at her with a sly smirk as he started another beer.

Nicholas! Wasn't that a devilish name too? Or. No. Saint Nick. That was SANTA not Satan. Her immediate excitement fizzled down to disappointment. What a silly thing to be disappointed in.

Dante complained and innuendo-ed, but really all Raine got out of it was that he was too poor for pizza. Well then he shouldn’t have sprung for a stranger’s drink. Technically Raine wasn’t swimming in cash either, but there should always be an emergency pizza fund.

”What about making pizza? At home. Isn’t is always cheaper to do that kind of thing at home?” How she’d gotten fixated on pizza was besides the point. Raine was already having hot-flash fantasies about a scene like in the movie Ghost where the guy was behind the girl and they both had their hands in the dough…

One step at a time.

”Actually, I think I might have an idea. Something exciting. Something you’ve never experienced in your whole entire life.” She started to take a sip but had one more important thing to add. ”And it won’t cost you a thing… unless we get caught.”

How was that for a little devilsh? She sipped her second knowing full well that the bait she’d tossed out was good.

Dante looked over and smiled; was she really suggesting making pizza with a stranger? Not that he'd be opposed to the idea...especially if--nope, not yet. Just stick to the beer and the small talk for now. "You know, I think that's true. Not that I've made pizza before, but it could be fun."

But then she mentioned an idea that he'd never done before. Either she knew nothing about him--which was true--or she was about to suggest something totally crazy, but either way, he leaned in. Dante was completely sold on the idea already and he hadn't even heard it yet. Or maybe his mind was just dirty. Even still...he was intrigued.

"You have my attention," he said with a smile, taking a sip of his new beer. Maybe this was going to be an alright day after all.

Oh. She had his attention, did she? Not before when he paid for a drink he apparently couldn't afford. Or when he moved a seat closer? Raine sipped on her second as she planned the best route for what she wanted. This New York was remarkably the same with a few notable differences. She had her eyes set on one big, glaring difference.

"Can I take this to go?" She was only kinda joking as she pointed at the still mostly-full beer. The bartender gave her a mixture of a head shake of disappointment and amused eyebrow raising. Okay. Well, that left only one option and that was going to kick tonight up an interest level.

"Race you to the bottom? Loser owes the winner a favor?" Raine figured she and Dante had about the same amount left. She raised her glass for a clink and then went to chug her second in a row beer. Whoever won the race didn't matter. They were both gonna be winners by the end of the evening, if Raine had anything to say about it.

She gasped out her satisfaction as soon as it was over and swiveled her head to check on Dante's progress. Did she win? She'd definitely tried.

Sure, she'd had his attention the entire time, but there was a time and a place to argue semantics, and sitting at a bar drinking with a pretty girl definitely wasn't the time nor place. He laughed as she asked could she take her drink to go. "Man, I wish," he said with a slight smirk as he took another slow sip of his drink.

Then she made her offer, and he surveyed their drinks. Roughly even, so he accepted, not that he really chugged that often. Or ever, for that matter. But today was far from normal, so what the hell. "You know what?" he said with a smirk, "You're on." Their glasses clinked, and he put his to his lips and gulped it down as fast as he could. He really wasn't used to this; he was the guy that tended to nurse his drinks, and yet he still tried his damnedest.

However, as he finished the last swig of his drink and set his cup down, he saw that she'd beaten him by at least half a second, and he chuckled, shaking his head lightly. "Well...looks like you won," he said, his smirk dropping a little as his pride took that bit of a hit. This was going to be interesting...

> "Well...looks like you won,"

"Kyahhhh! Damn right I did!" There were a few celebratory gestures that a more sober Raine would have thought better about. But she didn't want to be responsible Raine. Tonight, she wanted to laugh in the face of danger and thank every single star in heaven that she hadn't lost her job. Yet.

"Alright so that's one favor for me." She ticked the number off on her finger implying that there was the possibility of more later. Or maybe she just needed help counting to one. "My favor is..." That he was going to trust her? Nah. That'd be a waste because he was already on the hook for adventure. "I'm gonna have to think on that. I'll save it." Raine pantomimed putting her finger and the the favor it represented into her pocket.

And that was when she realized that she'd been stalling. There was an element of danger involved and it was wholly outside the realm of her instincts. Raine was a rules follower. Usually.

With her cheeks rosy pink and her head freshly abuzz, Raine stood and offered her devilish cohort her hand. "Have you ever been mountain climbing?" It was an innocent, wholly out of left-field question. Once he took her hand (surely he wouldn't leave her hanging, right?), she aimed to walk them outside and to the nearest overpass with a sidewalk. Wasn't one of hte rivers nearby? Hudson? Or... something...?

He shook his head with a smirk at her reaction. It was cute, if a little obnoxious, but it was letting him see a little more of her personality. It meant they could hang out a little more, besides, he owed her a favor now but whether that was a good or a bad thing remained to be seen.

Well, he owed a cute girl a favor, how bad could that be, right? Well, he soon realized that depended on the girl whom he knew next to nothing about. And she was going to save it, great....that meant he'd have time to squirm, to wonder what the hell she was up to. And then came the question, a wide curveball that looked like it was going to miss the plate but came right in at the corner.

"Mountain climbing? No, I haven't," he was going to elaborate but she had offered her hand by this point, so the young mutant reached out and took it, managing to put money on the bar to pay for their tabs before being led out the door. His mind was racing as she was leading him off; he had no idea where they were going, but something in his gut told him it wasn't going to be a motel or anything of that nature...