That was a hell of a welcome to the city. Not here a week and someone had stolen his damn wallet. The girl had made a run for it, but he managed to keep up. He'd lost time falling, plus a minute shifting, but once he'd finished his shift, it was pretty easy. People in New York didn't move for much, but a goat running down the sidewalk? That made people get out the damn way. Then, he felt sorta bad for tackling her and taking his wallet back, but really, it was her fault. 

As it stood, there was a white billy goat trotting down the sidewalk, a wallet in its mouth. The goat slipped into a nearby alley and out of sight of the general public before it started shifting and morphing, like someone was turning a goat made of putty into a man. After sixty seconds passed, there was now a tall, handsome man in a black cowboy hat, denim jacket, flannel shirt, jeans with a big belt buckle, and black cowboy boots with a wallet in his mouth. Walking back out onto the sidewalk, he took the wallet out of his mouth and tucked it into the inside pocket of his jacket. 

"Not making that mistake again," he mumbled in a deep Southern Twang. 

Then, he continued the walk home, suspiciously eyeing everyone who so much as brushed against him. 

There... there was a goat. A goat with a wallet in it's mouth.

Just...

Just meandering down a busy sidewalk.

Of all the things Juniper had seen so far, this was probably the strangest.

Still, since she had nothing better to do, she set about trailing along after the animal to see where it was going. Did it have an owner? Was it trained to steal wallets, or retrieve a stolen wallet? Were goats allowed as pets within city limits??

She watched, sipping a frosty coffee, as the goat ducked off into an Ally. She didn't really wanna follow a strange bovine into a dark place, least of all an alleyway, so she lingered toward the front and simply peered around the corner. She'd lost sight of it.... the goat had slipped away.

Curiously, a man appeared. Tall, dressed exactly like the folks she used to hang out with on her way through Tennessee. Even more curiously... he had that same wallet in his mouth. Had he mugged the goat? Or... was he the goat?

Goat man. She'd call him Billy.

By the time he had come back out she had tucked herself out of sight to see what he would do next. She knew on some level New York was supposed to have a cow boy, but... be was supposed to be naked and played the guitar for a living, so she doubted this was him. Goat-man started walking', she started following.

Eventually she popped up at his side like a demon, having snuck up without making really any sound. "So, do you always change in alleyways, or is that, like, a kink of some sort?" She was assuming some things, but didn't really have much to go on otherwise. She tucked a hand in the pouch of her Missouri state zippered coat and sipped her coffee again.

... Why the hell was everyone in this stupid city so much taller than her?!

He was attentive but apparently not attentive enough, as someone seemingly popped up out of freaking nowhere and was now behind him. Or maybe he just wasn't looking behind him. Either way.

"Sheeit!" he yelped with a startled jump. "You saw that, huh?" he said, his Texas accent very prominent on his lips as he spoke. "Nah, that's not the kink. The kink is doing it in the open, or completely nekked," he said with a shrug and a small smirk. Sure he could shift clothes, but when he had the option, he chose to at least ditch the shirt, but this shift was last minute, and it was freaking cold today.

He tipped his cowboy had and gave her a charming smile; his wallet was tucked away safely, so he didn't have to worry about that. And...hell he may as well try to have a little fun to make up for the crappy welcome he'd gotten five minutes ago. Hooking his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans, he relaxed considerably. "Name's Jericho. Just blew into town about a week ago."

His brown eyes twinkled a little. "If you ain't too busy, I'd love to have ya show me around sometime~"

"Huh." She blinked. Naked goat man out in the middle of busy New York sidewalk traffic. Maybe he was the naked cowboy. "Exhibitionist, then. Neat-o."

She blinked up at him as he explained. Her coffee was running empty. "Well, unfortunately for you i'm new too. I haven't figured out all of the fun places to go yet, only a few of them."

Jericho was a cool sounding name. She was pretty sure there was a show named the same, and like... some place from the bible or something. "I'm Juniper."

She eyeballed him a bit more, silent and curious. "Aren't you a little far from the ranch? What brought a goat-poke like you all the way out here?"

"Hey whatever floats your boat; long as it don't sink mine," he replied coyly.

"Welp, maybe it ain't unfortunate," Jericho said with another smirk, straightening up and turning so he was standing next to her instead of in front of her. "Just means maybe, if you're up to it, we can find some fun together. Unless that was your way of sayin' no, in which case you broke a cowboy's heart because I'd have to ride into the sunset alone." He gave her a teasing smirk.

"Juniper. Purdy name. Suits ya nicely if ya don't mind me sayin'." He could practically feel her eyes on him, and he couldn't feel her hands on his wallet, so that was a good sign. He winced a little at the question.

"Ya caught me. Yeah I'm a long ways from the ranch. I uh...welp..." He shuffled a little. "I'm from a ranch in Texas. Old man thought I was gettin' a little too spoiled and spoonfed back home, so I'm here workin' my Uncle Frank's bar," he said with a shrug, trying to play it off. But hey, at least Daddy hadn't cut him off; he wasn't sure if that was intentional or an oversight, but he wasn't gonna test that. Not all at once, anyway.

"Got an apartment a few blocks away, walking distance from work, so that's nice, I guess. Still gettin' used to the new settin' though."

She adopted a pretty convincing accent of her own, throwing the back of one hand up to her forehead dramatically. "Oh, goodness me how could I ever forgive myself if I broke a poor cowboys heart? What kinda lady would I be to do such a terrible thing?"

She dropped the dramatics with a lopsided grin. "Well thank ya kindly. I'm pretty fond of it myself seeing as my favorite drink practically wouldn't exist without it."

Her ears perked at the mention of a bar. Hell, she was going to need to make it a goal to have every bar in the city memorized at some point.

"It can be a bit much. I'm from Ohio originally, myself. Moving here was like walking into the DMV times five thousand. Everyone's busy and angry that they are busy, and all stuck in the same space." She chuckled, lifting her coffee cup to her lips again. Fun places in the city, huh? Well that depended entirely on his definition of fun.

So far all that she had gathered from him was that he potentially liked to be naked in public, either as a goat or as a cowboy.

She was still pondering on calling him Billy.

"Why don't you show me this bar you work at? I'll never say no to a good beer."

He laughed, a deep, silky southern laugh that almost rumbled. "Not bad, you sure you ain't got a lil' Southern in ya?" he teased lightly.

"Noted~ Though...I wouldn't say I have a favorite drink. Long as it goes down smooth and has a little bite to it, I'll drink it," he said with another smile and tip of his hat. "That's a good analogy. Though I've never had my dad-blamed wallet stolen after walking into a DMV..." he grumbled, biting his lip a little as he winced thinking back to only moments prior. Then again, that led to him shifting into a goat and ultimately catching her attention. So maybe indirectly, he owed that ginger demoness a beer for possibly setting him up.

"I'll be glad to," he said, offering her his arm in a gentlemanly fashion. Truth be told, he actually hadn't worked at the bar yet, but he was set to start, and besides this would be a good way to get a lay of the land, what he could look forward to. A few blocks around the corner, the bar was pretty unassuming. Basic building with tinted windows that let you see out but not in. The sign out front read BAR NONE. Once inside, it was....well, it was your basic bar, but with a hint of a saloon feel. Like they had gone for the theme, but never fully committed. Business hadn't quite picked up yet so it was quiet. But as the older gentleman walked out of a back room and met Jericho's eyes as he led Juniper to the bar, he was starting to think it was a bad idea.

"Huckleberry! You don't start work for a couple of days, but I appreciate the initiative," the gentleman said in a similar accent.

"Hey, Uncle Frank," the bovine-shifter groaned. "Here for pleasure, not business. And I haven't gone by Huckleberry or any form of that name since I was sixteen."

"I know, Huck, but that's about to change,[/color]" the older man said with a smile and a wink, his deep voice rivaling that of Jericho's.

"Duly noted, Uncle Franklin," he replied. "Can you get a couple of drinks for my friend and me? Whiskey, and whatever she's having."

The old man nodded, and Jericho motioned to the both of them. "Juniper, Uncle Frank. Uncle Frank, Juniper."

After receiving the orders, the old man grumbled something under his breath and went to the back, to return with their drinks in a few moments.

"I've had a big southern in me, but not a little one." She quipped back, sipping her coffee innocently.

She side eyed him for a bit, looking at his offered arm and pondering on whether to take it or not. He didn't seem the bad type, so she would probably be fine. She hooked her arm through as they started off.

"Man, that's unlucky. First day in and already pick pocketed? That's what happens to the tourists."

Heh, she was one to talk. No one could steal something off her even if they tried.

She deposited her empty coffee cup in the proper receptacle on the way to his Uncle's bar, chatting lightly about things she probably didn't care a lick for, until they were there.

Bar None, huh? Funny!

An older man appeared, and Juniper lifted a hand to cover her sly grin at the name he dropped. "...Heh... Huckleberry."

She glanced around while they bantered, appreciative of the atmosphere. It was a nice little change from city.

"I'll have whatever he's having."

Whiskey was fine. She wasn't picky while out and about. Only with her personal stash at home. Which... she was seriously going to need to refill soon.

"Hi, Uncle Frank." The 19 year old grinned as he walked off, before shifting her eyes back to Jericho.

... That was an awful nice hat.

"Huckleberry, huh?"

"Welp, I ain't got no little ones...." he quipped right back with a jokingly apologetic shrug.

"First week, actually. But yeah, I feel like a damn tourist. I'm hoping maybe the city'll grow on me, but...as it stands I ain't a fan."

He gave a sigh at the mention of the name Huckleberry, but his mood turned around after Uncle Frank left. "Yeah...that's my middle name. Apparently my dad read a book once," he said with a dry laugh as he let his eyes meet Juniper's, not worried about the bar or his crazy-ass uncle for right now.

"Growing up that's all my aunts and uncles would call me, Huck, Huckleberry, or any other embarrassing variation. I insisted on Jericho when I got older, and everyone but Frank got the memo."

About that moment, Frank came back and set their drinks in front of them. "I don't do memos. Refer any grievances to the complaint department," the old man said in his southern bass voice as he pointed to a plaque behind the counter that said "Complaint Department, please push button," and it had a mouse trap on it.

"I remember when you had that tacky shit in your house. At least now it makes sense," he quipped.
"Friendly reminder, your employee discount doesn't hit til you start work," Frank said dryly as he walked away.
"It's fine," he said to Juniper after he'd gone. "I can still spot ya~" He flashed a charming southern grin and an equally charming wink.

Perhaps she was fixating on something unreasonably, as sometimes every normal person was prone to do from time to time.

But... ones? Why had that been plural?

Juniper blinked at him while he explained the name and some background or whatever, while still completely fixated on what was probably a slip of the tongue and nothing more. She felt justified being suspicious though, since she had seen him change into a human from a goat.

"I mean, my mum named me after one of her favorite shrubs, so it's not like I can crack too many jokes." Besides, she was still totally calling him Billy in her head, so it wasn't like huckleberry was any worse.

...heh. Hucklebilly.

Her drink was set down and she reached for it immediately, mind wandering off to that old fable about three goats and a troll.

Jericho joked about spotting her, which earned a genuine laugh from her, if only because she hadn't been planning on paying for anything anyway.

"Thank you kindly." She quipped back, raising her squat glass to him. "You're uncle seems like a pretty funny fellow, if all of the decor is anything to go by."

She glanced around at all of the various decorations scattered about, while sipping her drink.

"Must be quite a sudden change going from spoon-fed to having to take care of drunks."

Crap. He meant to say one, not ones. Why did his dumb ass go and make it plural? Dammit, Jericho, you're supposed to be more charming than this. But she hasn't left so maybe you're in the clear, right? Right.

"But Juniper's pretty," he complimented, mixed with a fake whine. "But Huckleberry just....sucks..." His fingers wrapped around his glass, bringing the liquid to his lips. "Hey, what kinda gentleman would I be if I didn't?" he said with a wink as he looked over at her.

"Oh he's a real peach as long as you're a paying customer and not family. So naturally, you'll like 'im." He chuckled lightly as he looked over at her again, this time his eyes wandering a bit, slightly checking her out. Okay, definitely checking her out.

Then, she called him spoon fed and he put a hand over his heart, faking injury. He was going for the Oscar but he knew he was never going to get one. "Oooh...that one really hurt, Darlin'," he teased lightly. "Eh, it ain't too bad, really. I mean...sure I gotta work, but ya meet some interesting people, right? Besides..." he lowered his voice to a whisper as he leaned in, a devilish grin on his face as his brown eyes twinkled.

"Besides...I wouldn't say I'm dealing with a drunk right now..."

"All's i'm saying is that if it's good enough to make a liquor out of, it can't be all that bad." She ended their little argument over names with a wink and finished her drink. Before he had even grabbed his, too! Look at that.

Also, he was totally checking her out. She didn't mind it much, despite him having a bit of a baby face. She was picky with her partners, notoriously so, but other than a few minor things she could point out to herself he seemed like a good one when it came to the whole of him. It certainly helped that he was, as he had mentioned a few times, being a gentleman. It added a few points in his favor.

"I might feel bad if you hadn't called yourself out on it first." She chuckled, toying with her empty glass by tipping it sideways and rolling it around a little. Him leaning in was certainly daring, especially with that deep voice whispering at her like it was. Was he trying to get in trouble? That's how you got in trouble.

"Who knows? Maybe i'm really good at seeming sober all the time." She reached out while he was leaned in close, dragging her nails lightly through that scruff she could see on his jaw. "No one will ever know~"

And then she went right back to coyly playing with her cup, smirking at him with a side long glance.

"Where's the bathroom in this place?" Or any room, for that matter, that did not contain an Uncle Frank. She had a feeling she might be needing one at some point.

While Juniper was focused on the drink, Jericho had been focusing on something else. For him, the drinks were merely...a side stop on the road to where he was wanting to go. He had a good feeling; just had to keep playing it smooth, and no more mess-ups.

"Well, I admit I did kinda step right into that one, didn't I," he said with a deep chuckle. He downed the rest of his glass, almost as an afterthought as he kept that sly smile plastered across his face. "If that's the case then you're definitely better at it than most people I've met," he quipped, chuckling again as her nails ran through the little bit of beard he had--honestly just enough to say he had some, so they did end up briefly meeting a bit of skin as well, and it sent a tiny shiver through him, though he did a decent job of hiding that. At least he thought so. That, remained to be seen.

Bathroom. That was a dangerous question. Was it innocent? Or was it a little more devious? If the latter, it would mean either he was going with or she was gonna ditch him out of the nearest window while she was in there. But either way, there was nothing to do but answer the question and hope for the best. Granted, he was confident, but that was always. He wasn't worried, just noting that things were about to pick up, one way or another.


"Over on the right, at the end of the bar, there's a little hall around the corner. Men's on the left, Women's on the right." Straight ahead, she'd find a door that said 'Employees Only' but it was just a barely used storage closet.

"I'm better at most things than the people you've probably ever met." Her grin curled dangerously at the edges, a promise of many things the likes of which he had probably never seen before.

He was a bit more babyfaced than she usually went for. She was picky after all, notoriously so. There were a few things she could pick out here or there, but on a whole he was fine. It also helped that he did indeed appear to be a gentleman in more than just words. That right there earned him some points all on it's own.

She blinked innocently when he pointed out where the bathrooms were, nibbling on her bottom lip absently in thought. "Could you walk me there? I'm afraid I get lost so terribly easy." She slid from her chair without waiting for a reply, simply expecting him to follow, and dragged her fingers over the back of other chairs as she passed by.

The bathrooms were easy to find, but her eyes instantly spotted that little sign down the hall and she knew where she was headed.

He might have caught on too when she passed by the bathrooms without even pausing to look at them.

Employees only, huh? Was this where Uncle Frank had run off too? She hadn't seen him go down that hall, so she assumed not. Perhaps it was a better, more private location for what she had in mind.

"Whoops! Went too far."

Her expression was positively impish as she turned, back to the door, and grinned at the tall cowboy. Then, without a word she reached out and hooked her fingers in his shirt, concentrating enough with her power to literally steal the shirt from his body. She acted surprised for a moment before curling her fingers invitingly at him and stepping back through the door into the mystery room behind it.

It was clear that he wasn't getting his shirt back unless he came after it himself.

"Oh, really now? That I think I'd like to see," he said, once again leaning in and whispering in that deep silky voice. "Of course, Darlin'," he answered with a smile as he got up and walked with her, not even making eye contact with any other patrons, and he was doing a really good job at keeping his hands to himself. Usually, he let his words and his charm do most of the heavy lifting, and usually...it worked.

He smiled a wicked grin when she walked right past the bathrooms, not even looking at them. Oh yeah, he knew what she was thinking.

"Whoops! Went too far."

"Really? I'd say we haven't gone quite far eno--" When she turned around, that grin caught him off guard, but what shut him up was when she hooked her fingers in his shirt. While he was prepared to walk where he was pulled, he was not prepared for her to straight up pull his shirt right off of him without damaging the shirt.

She'd stolen his shirt right off of him, leaving his upper torso exposed. While Jericho wasn't body-builder toned, he had a farm-boy build. Working muscle coupled with a nice tan. And then, she just walked through the door without even opening it. He tried the knob, but it was locked. Luckily, he had his keys already, so he unlocked it and stepped inside, kicking the door shut behind him and locking it back.

The room was in fact a closet, used for storage. There were a couple old tables in there, shelves with unused or retired decorations...things apparently just got tossed back here instead of being thrown away.

"You sneaky little devil," he teased lightly, grin on his face as he stepped forward, attempting to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her closer to him, assuming she would let him. From what it seemed, her power was a lot more useful than his for this kind of thing...