Melissa looked outside in amazement as the snow fell quickly picking up in pace and even more of a suprise the windows had even began to frost. Their was no way this was natural but their was also not much she could do against such a thing but try and wait it out. As she watched the snow she also looked in a folder with a smile to herself. She had only recently recruited her but she was going to get her own brand of booze and was excited about it.

It had been a beautiful 80f day and barely a cloud in the sky with a decent breeze. In an hour the place would be busy but as it was their was barely a person in the bar. Melissa leaned against the bar watching a news flash on the blizzard, well unsure if the culprit was mutant or a Mage their was still a man trying to use it as a reason to ship mutants away and another countering you could not judge everyone on a few bad people. Melissa shook her head even as they broke into the cast to tell people to avoid the streets.

She knew a few mutants capable of the act but none that would have done something so childish. She assumed this do to the location and limited area of the storm. As it was several inches of snow was on the ground and lining the window sills of the bar. The heat worked well at least which was always nice "This better not go on to long" she grumbled to herself. She never minded working past hours but it was annoying when the bar was so slow. The mansion teacher certainly not and the others she knew had all moved away over the years.

As she was cleaning a glass she heard something outside that broke the rythem of snowfall. Maybe they would be getting a few customers she thought to herself or very least people wanting out of the cold. The bar was warm and the tv's somewhat still worked though the picture kept breaking up from snow on their dish. "Welcome everyone" she said warmly as people entered.

”In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire.”

The recitation rolled off Rex’s tongue and the dying flames around him surged with new life. They twisted and whirled around him, stretching a dozen feet into the air and providing a powerful column of heat and light. The snow could not come within a half dozen feet of him and where he walked, the snow and ice melted behind him. As it was, a small gathering of people had formed around him, the four such he’d already worked with that evening.

The blizzard had sprung up out of nowhere. It’s suddenness and lack of proper weather beforehand gave it an unnatural edge. Likely it was a mutant or a cadre of them in another one of their clashes, unconcerned with whomever was caught in their wake. Within minutes of it appearing, it had thickened to nearly blinding levels. Traffic had become nightmarish and there had already been a few wrecks. Rex had witnessed one and had already managed to leave the drivers to shelter, as miraculously they’d been unharmed.

“Not much farther,” Rex shouted so he could be heard over the fury of his personal fire vortex and the equally tempestuous snowstorm. “We’re almost there!” If the huddled people behind him, woefully underdressed for this eldritch weather, said anything, he couldn’t hear them. He took care to move slowly and steadily, allowing them to maintain an optimal distance for warmth and safety. He’d located a suitable building that could provide shelter for a number of people without strain or burden and was guiding them there.

Finally they made it, and none too soon. The flames licked out as Rex’s spell faded. He didn’t renew it. They were only feet from the door and he was already feeling the effects of constantly renewing his spell. He could feel the signs of heat exhaustion building in him. Despite the sudden cold, he wiped sweat off his face. “Everyone inside! Come on!” he barked. At least this was something he knew how to do. He was used to guiding people through blinding, dangerous conditions and they were more than happy to follow someone who sounded like they knew what they were doing.

As the last person to enter the building, waiting for all ten or so people to file in first, Rex pulled the door behind him firmly, to keep the cold out.

It was a bar. He’d known that before. He would’ve avoided it, but it was the first place he could think of that would cater to a bunch of people. Food, drink, plenty of space, it was perfect. He marched up to the bar and slumped onto a stool. “Excuse me miss, I need some water,” he said, goose bumps breaking out all over.

Eleven people, more then she had thought but still easily handled came in and she smiled in her friendly way. Glanceing out the window the blizzard was actually seeming to pick up. She was glad the people had found the place, not one of them looked dressed for the weather and none had physical mutations she could see. Most seemed content to take various seats and warm up, they did not sere hot drinks but what could ya do.

A man walked up to the bar and asked for water which made Melissa glance at the window a second but she poured the man a glass of water as requested with a few ice cubes, making sure to keep the water in the cup and set it in front of him. Her own hands smelled a bit of booze. She turned and hit one of the Tv's with her hand, but the picture refused to comply. "Tv's are out sadly, hopefully just some mutant kid and not the city being shifted to the ice age" she joked though she realized she really meant it.

The city had a tendency to draw the strange, from alternate earths, to police robots to shared future dreams and alternate futures the city had a way of not letting normalcy settle in. She wished her joke was less possible then it might of been and normal or not their was cash to be made and customers to serve. "Thankfully the pipes have not froze" she commented making sure to let the water run just a bit. "Name's Melissa and you?" she asked curiously making a man who walked up to the bar a shot before we wandered back to his booth.

Rex nearly inhaled the water. He chugged it quickly, stopping only to breathe and to continue gauging if he could keep so much so fast down. He could. Soon the ice was rattling against his lips and he set the glass down. “Thank you. May I have some more, please?” he asked, pushing the glass toward the woman’s side of the bar.

The water was doing him some good already. He needed to take it easy and get his temperature down. This seemed as good a place as any. Ironically, he’d probably cool off way easier in the blizzard, but then he’d be far too cold. Alas, how could one expect to use sorcery without paying a price? As it was, Rex considered this penitence quite light.

He snagged an ice cube and chomped down on it, quicking turning it into ice water. “I should hope it’s neither,” he said very seriously. Only a few seconds later did he realize the woman was kidding. He considered smiling, but he didn’t have the energy. An ice age would be horrendous, but so would a mutant run amok, especially one this powerful!

“Rex,” he said by way of introduction. He glanced around the place, from the booths to the pool tables. “Nice place,” he said a bit gruffly, having never been too great at small talk or polite conversation. That was more his wife’s area of expertise.

Melissa shrugged and refilled the glass, maybe he just preferred water she thought or maybe whatever he had done to get these people here had been dehydrating. "As do i but the storms certainly not natural and after zombies rose from the dead last year, the riots, and the alternate earth portal, really, some kid is prolbely the best scenario. Could also be a mage i suppose but i dunno much about that stuff" she said with a shrug, taking an order for another customer who quickly retreated to his seat after words.

Nice to meet you Rex. Nicer then my old bar was. The owners a good guy and back to being an adult to which made employment way less strange for me" she replied looking over the patrons again to make sure she had a good count. She was not kidding, it had been uncomfortable in a way working for someone who was to young to drink. It would be said when she left this place, but Haven was helping her found her own brand using fake but working stills but the building would also have a large swimming pool

are you a native of this city or just visiting? she asked curiously as she struck the side of one of tv's again causing it to sputter into a Japanese cartoon before going back to static. Board and drunk people or board people in general had a habit of trying to make things more intresting and booze certainly helped with that.

Rex grunted and nodded grimly, accepting Melissa’s speculation seriously. The city had been a magnet for the strange and unusual for as long as he could remember, but things had certainly started ramping up in the last few years. There was nothing to do about it though, other than keep your head down, power through, and do what you could for yourself and others.

He stopped mid-sip for just a moment as the bartender mentioned a mage. That was another of those words for magic people, wasn’t it? “I truly hope it was not one of them either,” he said. That was a far more worrying thought, that the sorcerers were starting to enact plans like this. Unlike mutants which almost seemed like acts of nature and were generally independent entities, the magic people he’d encountered were all part of one organization. They were organized.

That made him shiver harder than the blizzard had.

He resumed drinking, the water an icy kick to his stomach but he didn’t care.

“You too,” he said, inclining his glass to her as the end of the introductory exchange. Then he didn’t know what else to say. Back to being an adult? What did that mean? Did Rex even want to know? No, probably not. He sighed heavily.

“Yes, I’ve lived here my entire life,” he said. He idly watched Melissa fiddle with the television. “Never seen a storm like this in July. Hope we don’t again.” He sat the now empty glass back on the counter, his wedding band glinting weakly with a brassy shine. He was feeling much better, but he knew he shouldn’t call the fire again any time soon.

“...are you from around here?”

The idea of it maybe being a magic user stopped her patron for a moment and she could not help but wonder why but chose not to press further there. Mages were still new and the trust in them had not setteled much with mutants or humans.The thought of her boss being a kid was still an odd one for her, part of her had wonderd how it would have turned out if she had been the one to get way younger. With her power it could easily have lead to weird encounters with cops and others. She was not at all surprised when he passed to bite at that line a she likely would have as well in his place.

"No, im from San francisco, moved here about seven years ago. Wanted to start a bar for mutant kind and so planted roots in the thick of the more heavily mutant populated area near Sanctuary." she said knowing the bad memories for some that place brought and hope for still others. It had improved its reputation under its newer management but that had had other issues as well with the more volatile sanctuary residents.

"well no matter the cause of the storm, im sure it will either end soon or some hero or another will stop it, best to sit back relax and have a few drinks" she said playfully with a bright smile. She had learned over the years it was often best ti let the city go whatever funny direction it felt like on a givin day. "Its the city, i'm just happy the blizzard is made of snow and ice and not blood" she said having seen a number of rather brutal scenes over the years

She was from San Francisco. “Nice,” he grunted. And that was all Rex could think to say. Even that was a bit of a strain. Rex wasn’t one for small talk, especially around people he didn’t know. It was so...awkward. Inefficient. Instead of cutting straight to an issue or enjoying comfortable silence, people wanted to...talk. To him, even. He didn’t have Gloria around anymore to handle the talking for him.

His face darkened in thought, only to darken further when he caught the next thing Melissa said. He frowned at her and then looked around the bar. “This...this is a mutant bar?” he asked. He sighed wearily. Of course it was. It didn’t rain, it poured. He stared at his water for a long moment, suddenly wishing it was alcohol instead. First the blizzard, then a bar, then a mutant bar. “Ay, Dios mio,” he whispered under his breath.

Rex couldn’t stop the small scoff that escaped. “More likely whoever started the thing will wear themselves out,” he said, still staring at his water. There were very few heroes, and even fewer of them mutants. No, mutants tended to be the villains, or at least the perpetrators. Even the X-Men could cause severe damage and endanger bystanders at times, all in the pursuit of “justice”.

He knocked back the rest of his water and signaled for a refill. He frowned at Melissa again. “Seen many blood blizzards in San Francisco?”

She smiled and shook her head. "No, my old bar was centered on mutant's. This place is geared torward whoever walks in the door. Even at my bar i would taken anyone's cash, but my clientele was the less then savory end of mutant kind. You would be shocked how well violent sociopaths tip and how dangerous drunks with powers can be" she said with a laugh and a shake of her head and her long black hair.

A blood blizzerd? she thought for a secound. "In san fran? No. Here it would depend on how ya define the term. Actual blood tornado is still a no." she replied actually thinking if she had ever seen one. it really spoke to how numb she had become to things that it would not have been in front of her mind but no, she had seen blood baths however and even a few murders unfortunately. It would have been near impossible to run a bar like she had without some serious injury.

"all the weird stuff i encountered i saw hear. Back home is pretty tame otherwise, unless you count my parents. Ever seen a dragon? I did months back" she said trying to keep the man engaged. she took note of his scoff but said nothing about it. "So how did you come to lead these people to safety?" she asked trying to prompt him and brighten his mood. She quickly got another one of the storm refugees a hot chocolate which she had a few packets of since it was out of season.

Rex relaxed nearly imperceptibly, which is to say as much as he ever relaxed. This wasn’t specifically a mutant bar. Good. Even if it attracted a large mutant clientele. Bars were some of the last places he wanted to go to anymore, but despite all the events that kept driving him back to them, at least the place wasn’t swarming with the genetic time-bombs.

He did really find Melissa’s comments that amusing. He doggedly took a drink, keeping his lips tight in an effort to maintain a smooth expression and not glare. “No, I wouldn’t be shocked,” he said softly, looking at her sternly for a brief moment. So many of the worst fires he’d ever been called to had resulted from mutant activity.

He cast his eyes back to his drink and he took another swig. But at least blood tornadoes weren’t a common thing. “Good,” he said simply. Even if she has worryingly hedged around a definitive answer for NYC. Just what had this woman seen? And she was still so cavalier about such things?

This...this was definitely not a place Rex wanted to be.”Lord willing, I will never see a dragon,” he said with a slight shudder. “I can’t imagine what they’d do to this city.”

He stared down at the bar as she turned the other questions onto him. He idly scratched at the wood with a close-cropped fingernail. “I...made a fire,” he said slowly. “Everyone...followed me. Warmth. That kind of thing.” If it sounded awkward and odd, that’s because that’s how Rex felt. He wouldn’t claim to be a mutant ever, but somehow admitting to that...magic...was so much worse.

He was interesting one and she could see their were things he seemed reluctant to talk about. "Yea, the dragon was not much fun, it burned a number of building to the ground before it was finally taken out. The dragon just kinda vanished when it died. Theirs news footage available" she offerd recalling the attack. she had been caught up in it and with her powers was not at all equipped to do very much. Mutants of course had saved the day and at the time they had assumed the dragon mutant related but now, since the emergence of mystics she was less sure.

"That's good, likely kept them alive. Those with power should protect those without" she said trying to probe the man. somthing about the way he said made a fire sparked her mind into wondering if we were a mutant himself or a mystic. who knew these days and in the end she was still sure mutants were superior. Humans were needed of course and she wished no true harm to them as a whole, so long as they paid their tabs of course.

"You did good with that fire, some would have saved only themself s" she said having met a lot of those types over the years considering where her old location had been it was not surprising. She would dlikely have saved herse self if she could, she lacked much strength to help others in a real crisis. No her suty was serving those after the issue had passed.

Rex shuddered as Melissa described the damages wrought by the dragon. He could all-too-vividly imagine the devastation such a creature could bring. He’d never seen a dragon-like mutant before, but he'd responded to several alarms for burning buildings as a result of some draconic dealings. They were worse, almost, than mutants with explosive or combustive powers, because they typically flew and had supernatural strength and durability, increasing their damage potential. They were but one of many types of fire hazards they were regularly trained to deal with.

Rex focused on his glass of water to avoid going too far down that road of madness. Dwelling on such topics was one of the things that had pushed him over into the abyss before and his current location was the worst place he could be if that happened.

“Maybe,” Rex grunted, nodding his head in acknowledgement. The people were New Yorkers, sure, and used to the cold, but they had been dressed for July, not February. They could have been fine on their own. Or maybe not. He wasn’t the kind of guy to puzzle over what ifs, though.

“Just doing my job,” Rex said, unconsciously stiffening at the compliment. He forced himself to relax and he did, slightly. She couldn’t know about the magic, that stain on his soul. She also couldn’t know that Rex was terrible at handling compliments, especially when related to things that actually were somewhat part of his job. While a blizzard was the opposite of his primary job of countering fires, and making fire was total anathema, protecting and rescuing people in an emergency was what everything he did revolved around.

“You all have food here?” he asked.

"We do, and it's good to" she said with a smile and turning she casually grabbed a menu and set it in front of him. Most was normal bar food though a few items were more to Sam's tastes. She mused about the abyssmel food in her own bar, her chef had been famously ill tempered and a human sized rodent mutant. "The chicken fingers and fish sandwich are both pretty good" she recommended. She assumed he was a mutant not knowing mystycs by more then passing tongues.

"So what do you do for work around here? she asked to make conversation even as she turned to give out a few more drinks to the ones rex and brought in. It was nice none of them seemed to be heavier drinkers, the last thing she needed today was a nasty drunk. Most seemed more worried about when the freak storm would clear up, which Melissa was as well.

"Im planning to make my own brand of liquer soon" she said meaning it far more litterly then she figured rex would know. Haven had helped her a lot with the details and logistics which when she had looked at them, knew she had to help, it was all complicated and engrosing to her. Plus she had to sign a lot. "Been meaning to for a bit, but so much paperwork needed and inspections" she shook her head a bit at it all.

A menu was promptly placed in front of the man and he began pursuing it. After several seconds, he realized he wasn’t actually reading any of the items. He squinted for a moment and then just set the menu down. “Fish sandwich actually sounds pretty good,” he said. “I’ll take that with a side of fries, please.” He was starting to get hungry. He chalked it up to the expenditure of magic. Just one more cost to pay for it, it seemed.

There was very little conversational reprieve after that. In his experience, usually when a person submitted their order, they were then left alone. That did not seem to be the case here. Melissa kept things going and out of politeness, Rex refused to allow his teeth to grind together. She’s a nice person - don’t make her feel bad. He could almost hear Gloria’s voice in his head.

“Firefighter,” Rex said after a moment. Then he felt a need to divulge more. Too many one word answers was often seen as rude. “Been on a leave of absence for some time though.” Some days it felt like no time had passed, other days it felt like years had gone by. It had only been about six months. Six months of struggling to stay about the murky waters of his life, but at least the job, the job he loved, wasn’t adding additional strain.

The bartender carried on with some of her dreams. “Congratulations,” Rex said noncommittally. It wasn’t that he didn’t care at all - well, there was a bit of that in there, okay a lot of that - but he’d encountered too many servers and bartenders and wait staff that talked endlessly about their dreams but never did anything to achieve them. If she was a dreamer and nothing more, Rex really didn’t want to get into that conversation. “How far are you in the process?”

She punched up the order and sent it back and took a few more orders from others at the bar before she passed the receipts back to the kitchen through the register. She glanced outside and saw the snow seemed to be slowing though it still came and had done this before, so she had doubts it was over. Still it would not hurt to hope that it would she hoped. If it did not stop soon however she was not sure how the roof might react.

SHe nodded with a continued smile. "so helping just comes natural then i would guess" she had met a few fire fighters over the years but it had certainly been awhile since she had. He seemed like a nice enough guy as well. She considered asking why he was on leave but then figured it best to ket him bring that up in case in was a senceative topic or one he did not wish to talk of.

He asked how far she was in getting her brand out there and that made her shine with a bit of pride. "In just over a month actually, much of the manufacturing and advertising is in place, found some good backers" she said not mentioning Havens involvement not that it was a secret. Still she had made it all and it had been a lot of work, more swimming then she had done in quite awhile. Still she thought it would keep her in good shape. "Were actually putting together quite an opening in two months" she continued, stopping to get a few drinks while she waited for the food to be ready.