Melissa took a breath, the lunch crowd while not big was certainly growing. Jupiter and Venus had spread the word quite well. The past few days, she had a steady crowd and more then one conversation had mentioned the great red brothers. Snapping for her momentary daze she finished cashing out a customer and waved them good bye. The Nearly empty bat left her with a guy she was considering cutting off, and Jose The Raccoon Mutant cook whose conversational skills sometimes left a bit to be desired.

Clearing the bar she put glasses away , as well as various half eaten plates people had left on the bar. Placing them in a sink she wiped the bar down. It was not really dirty it was just a habit she picked up over the years. Hearing a beep go off from the register she shouted into the kitchen "Hey, Jose it's your break time" she called and was greeted with a muffled reply and the closing of the back kitchen door. Glancing over at the bar drunk, she felt a bit of guilt for the older man. Still soon she was going to have to cut him off or make him call a cab.

The mid-day lull was one that was almost a break in itself, few people showed up and the one's that did tended for a quick drink. In the Lull she filled one of the sink's until it full of water. Slipping the dishes into it, she quickly began scrubbing some of the cup's. Things would be easier when she was fully staffed, but for now thing's were running well enough. Smelling the glass she frowned, realizing she had not put on gloves or added enough dilution to the water, she had basically cleaned the dishes in beer. Shaking her head, she added a hand satiatizer to her hand, to try and play down the Oder some. She recalled the interview she had later in the day and was hopeful the guy would work out. Grabbing a remote she turned one of the Tv's onto the news, while she waited for the abr to fill up again.

Nate needed to find ways to occupy his time during the summer. Classes were over, and his private sessions and commission taking considerably less time away from his day, (especially after the Mahadevi commission,) he found himself reading, jogging, and sometimes just wandering much more.

In his exploration of the city, he overheard discussions on various sidewalks about a new bar in the area that was unlike most other public establishments. It was a touchy thing to do, but supposedly the owner of the bar was publicizing the place as a mutant-friendly bar, which was a gutsy move in an uneasy city. He even heard rumors that two red giants were promoting the place, which would sound absurd if not for the aforementioned mutant-friendly policy.

It was only a matter of time before he crossed paths with the familiar name across the front of the bar. Nate had nothing to do, and though he would normally do his best not to start drinking before five... three, he decided to indulge his curiosity.

Nate entered the bar that was predictably empty for the time of day, so he took a seat at the bar near a young female bartender. After all, if he wanted information, bartenders were always a good source.

When the bartender noticed him, he made his request for a Sam Adams seasonal. "Can I have a Sam Summer, hun?"

The tragic events happening in Syria were nothing she could affect. War's were always terrible thing's though and she tried not to pay them to much mind. She heard the soft chime of the door, which broke any interest in the news anyway. It was , much less trouble then she thought she would have with the bar. Whoever Jupiter and Venus were they seemed to have influence. A flicker of pessimism pointed out this might just be early luck, but she crushed that thought early.

"One Moment" she said and taking a few steps bent down, opened a cooler and slipped out a bottle of the Ale and a cup. Slipping a few ice cubes in the cup she shut the cooler, rose and turned to face him. " You want this in a cup or right from the bottle?" She asked. It was slow enough to and with so few people in the bar, she suspected the bottle itself would not become an issue. she would leave what he asked for.

Walking to the other side of the bar, she shook a sleeping drunk lightly, and advised him to call a cab. Making her way back she smiled."My Names's Melissa, what's yours?" she asked trying to strike up up a small conversation with the man. She enjoyed the bond a bartender could get with her customers through that communication. Glancing back she saw the bar drunk she had awoke, make a surprisingly straight walk to the door.

They did not have much of a dinner crowd yet, instead the place got moving again later at night. Not for the first time she mused on having kept the kitchen entirely hidden.

The bar did not have his seasonal on tap, but that was fine; bottle beer was just as good as beer on tap, and Sam was less likely to be on the tap outside of Massachusetts regardless. "Just the bottle's fine, thank you," he assured his server with a smile.

After addressing another customer, (a pretty obvious lifetime drinker,) the girl whose name was apparently Melissa struck up conversation with him. She seemed friendly enough, especially since most bartenders would rather wait for the customer to talk to them, so they could postpone faking enthusiasm. The bar was already earning a few points for good hiring. "I'm Nate. It's nice to meet ya, Melissa."

He took a satisfying swig from his bottle before initiating the next part of the conversation after greetings. "So this seems like a nice little place. How long has it been in the city?" Based on the advertising and the fairly tame day crowd, his guess would be a week or two at most.

"It's good to meet you as well, We opened last week, Me and Jose, came from San Diego" she replied. She had liked the city but had come because NYC was both away from her parents and because it had a reportedly high number of mutants. In her last week of experience she was pretty sure the reports were true though no one seemed to explain why.

NYC was far different then San Diego and had taken some adjustment. "It took six months for me to have the place built" she said though it may have been less or more. It did not matter she decided. Grabbing a rag she moved to where the man had been sleeping and cleaned the area off. He had come in every day spoke little and drank until she asked him to leave or to call a cab when he got to bad.

"Honestly i expected more trouble, but so far thing's have gone well" she continued. She had expected to incur some damage even if it was not the place being flattened. Aside from a few stolen salt shakers she had done pretty well. She hoped it would last and still feared the first real fight with powers in her bar. She silently preyed for no fire mutants and chastised herself for the semi mean thought.

Based on the woman's mannerisms and speech, Nate had already deduced that she was most likely a west-coaster, but he kept it to himself; people did not enjoy being analyzed, and picking apart dialects is a suspicious talent to reveal regardless.

What was more surprising was the revelation that she had at least partial ownership of the bar. "Wait, this is your place?" He was not much older than Melissa, but she was still pretty young and sweet to be the owner of a bar, which in New York would be destined to see several drunken brawls, especially with a mixed mutant-human customer base.

At the very least, the first week had been tame. The last thing a budding businesswoman needed was a rough welcome to the city. "Ah'm glad to hear it. I mean, advertising as 'mutant friendly' doesn't exactly close the door on trouble after all."

SHe smiled when he asked about it being her place. "Well my parents did tell me, the place will fall down around me the first night" she said keeping her smile. Her parents had been proven quite wrong so far. Her parents had not been her strongest supporter, of course she understood their reasons well enough.

"Well, being a mutant myself, i see the trouble our people go through. I want to provide a place of relief for them. I can't let a few bad drunk's get in the way of that. That's why i put the bar in one of the the more densely packed mutant area's i could find" she said openly. She had never really faced the issues other had. It may have been a pain to get around her power sometimes but she was not stuck being obvious. At worst she smelled like the bar she worked in.

"How about yourself? What kind of work do you do?" she asked trying to turn the conversation more toward's him. She liked hearing about her customer's, as each one had their own story's, likes and dislikes. Everyone came to a bar to forget some people to forget and some to drown sorrow and others out of simple enjoyment. Their were some that worried her, but she had a feeling this man would not be one of them.

Melissa's intentions were noble, which could warm a more cynical heart, but she also had, at the very least, an idea of the dangers involved in creating a "mutant sanctuary." Really, the idea invited trouble from both sides: bigot humans and genuinely dangerous mutants. "Here's hoping this place survives the first barroom brawl, then," he joked, raising his bottle.

Ironically, Melissa unintentionally gave Nate the best transition to accurately describe his job. "I'm actually an artist and a teacher." He took a sip of his beer, wanting to take care of it before it had the chance to warm up. "I teach mutants almost exclusively, so if you ever bust a kid with a fake, it could be one of mine," he admitted with a laugh. Mirror was a candidate high on that list, despite not being a direct student of Nate's lessons.

Nate glanced around; the bar was certainly nice enough. Hopefully it would stay that way after becoming a hotspot for mutants and drunks. "It's nice to see someone looking out for our own."

She looked a bit worried by his comments about a brawl. "Well the walls are thick anyway, still i'm no fighter" She said honestly. "I have a bouncer later at night as well" she said. Jupiter had done so a few nights, whenever he wanted free booze really. The other guy she met might work out as well she thought to herself. Still the trouble was, you never knew what kind of powers a person had.

"A Teacher and an artist?" She repeated intrigue seeping into her voice. What was more surprising to her was that he taught exclusively Mutants, that had to be a rare teaching job. "Where is it you work? Do you teach Art" She asked clearly interested.It made sense he would teach art but in reality he might teach history. ABsebtly she twiled some stray hair around her fingers.

Then something processed in Melissa's mind. Sure she figured people would use fake ID's they always did. The issue was weather the kid in question could be stopped from simply stealing the liquer they wanted. "Never thought about Mutant kid's trying to buy before" She admitted clearly considering the idea. "Guess i'll have to hope you can teach them the dangers of drinking underage" She said with a soft playful smile.

"It has to start somewhere, The more people see and hear of such places the more normal it will become" she said hoping that would be the case anyway. She said hoping Humans and Mutants would live in peace with each other. Either way their was littile she could do about it.

Nate was curious to know what sort of man Melissa could convince to play bouncer in an establishment designed for elementals, telekinetics and hulks. One option was to find a strong-armed mutant, but upon reflection, there was probably one more efficient choice. "You could always hire an adapted to stand around." After all, would a person who nullified mutations by virtue of existing not be the perfect employee for Melissa's needs?

There was something about the tone Melissa was taking with him... had he been away from single life for so long that he was having trouble identifying a flirtatious bartender? Taking an interest, speaking familiarly, playing with her hair... Yep, most of the signs were there.

It was a shame too; had she caught him last summer, he would have gladly joined in that playful game with her. As it stood, he was already working on his second chance with Quin, so he would be even more well-behaved now. "I'm definitely an art teacher," he replied, doing his best to drain his voice of any excess charm. His tongue tingled at the unfamiliar sensation of an innocent tone.

"As for where, I teach..." Nate checked around the bar to make sure no one was listening in, for the sake of the school's anonymity. "You can feel comfortable in knowing that your bar isn't the only haven in New York run by an idealist." The comment was not an insult; it did Nate's heart good to know there were still those hopeful enough to take a chance on improving the world.

Adapted it had been a word she had not known until she moved here. It seemed like a good idea, but she had her worries on it as well. She had little understanding of adapteds beyond what they could do "I don't understand them well though i have heard the term only recently. My worry is that people won't feel comfortable that their powers are being weakened" she said but she had another fear as well. If an Adapted's powers cancelled Mutant powers what might it do to the booze she had made earlier.

On the other hand an Adapted would be nice, she mused to herself, The idea of being able to take a shower in peace was heavenly. However as far as she knew no adapted had ever entered the bar but then she was unsure how she would know. She never made alcohol on the clock in front of anyone, she felt that might just ask for trouble.

She watched as he looked around and then spoke. "That is good to know" she said feeling a little stonewalled by his answer, as his caution had made her think we would give her more . Still they had just met and what he had said already was very interesting. "I'm not much good with kid's myself. I Admire your bravery as well, Teaching Mutant children sound's like it could get rough" she said in a lowered voice, picturing thirty kids in a room with powers litterly bringing the place down.

Gathering herself she smiled. "I'm not entirely sure my job's safer then yours" She joked with a gentile laugh. She moved to the rows of liqueur bottles behind the bar, and lifting one up she saw it was nearly empty. "You like vanilla Rum? On the house?" she said as poked the bottle with her nail, knowing their was only about two shot's left.

Apparently human politics and mutant politics were destined to deal with the same issues in spite of their differences. There would always be the struggle between the right to arms and the right to security, and evolution was helping the debate right along. "I guess you're right; it ain't so cut and dry."

Neither of them had a really "safe" job description. One could argue whether dealing with untrained, inexperienced mutant students or drunk, rowdy mutant customers came with more risks, but regardless, each could end up going out in a five megaton explosion if they were having a luckless day.

The lovely lady tending bar offered up a shot of vanilla rum, which he had no problems with, even if it was a more serious leap into his daydrinking. "Sounds good to me, but I'm more than happy to pay for it."

Their was a purple ribbon tied to the neck of the bottle. She poured it into a pair of shot glasses, then slipped the empty bottle into a cabinet which held a few other empty bottles as well."Might be worth a try anyway, their are Mutant's who might enjoy the freedom" She admitted considering the idea further.

A Custom liqueur she made herself, she called Six. "I got this back west" she said. It was true it had come from the west. Since the process of making her various brews was not necessarily a precise process and so it was hard not to be off a proof or so now and then.

"I have already encountered More Mutants in the time ive been open then i ever did back home" she said, which was very true. She had never been sure if it was the area of if new york city had some magnetic pull. She served the man his hot and smiled, as she took her shot she recalled the famillier flavor. "I really just wanted the bottle empty and not to waste it" she said. If he really wanted she would of course take his money, even if it was not her aim.

"Yeah, New York has a habit of drawing mutants." The big city certainly changed his life in his first few days the previous fall. "Before I came here last year, I was really the only mutant I had ever known."' He was certain there were mutants everywhere in America and the world, but New York was the one place where mutants were bold enough to live openly.

Her logic for letting him drink for free was sound, but he had to refuse on principal. "I still wouldn't want to abuse the kindness of such a lovely bartender." Nate's instincts almost forced him to flirt, which was a problem he would have to deal with.

"Cheers!" He took the glass and shot the vanilla beverage, savoring the flavor on his tongue. "Very smooth."

Nate decided, if he was unable to turn off his flirt valve, his next best bet was full disclosure. "This really is a nice place. Maybe I'll try convincing my girlfriend to make this the MRC's new late-night haunt." After all, what better place for Mutant Police to drink than a bar that invites dangerous mutants as customers?

She could believe that based on the people who had come in so far. She could relate to feeling alone as a mutant, her parents still did not know and she was quite happy about that. They were over protective enough as it was. "I know that feeling, it can be quite scary and frustrating" she admitted of her own experience. She rcalled long hours of frustration trying to figure out how to shower and other things as well.

She blushed slightly as his comment and his her recovery with they shot they did. He then mentioned he was a taken man. It was a shame to, he was good on the eyes. "MRC?" she asked a bit lost by the abbreviation. She drew a blank as she tried to recall what it might stand for, it did seem famillier to her.

"I welcome all, if it were legal i would serve a cat, provided they were not paying in tuna of course" she said with a smile. The joke sounded bad to her, but she found attempted humor was often received better then no humor at all. Either way she felt she would be glad for any help Graves could provide her with.

"This city is beautiful, i still need to check out some ogf the sights" she said, which was true she had been to occupied with the bar to check much of the city out for herself. Still what she had seen of it was gorgeous, they ahd even been able to spot the statue of liberty from the plane.