An Unexpected Reunion With... (Redhorn)

Hanging up her coat outside the main bar section of the Elysian garden's, Mia let out a low sigh, it had been a rough day out on patrol and she just... needed a drink. A typical solution to her problems but hey it was proven to work, even if she needed a practical barrel to really get pissed.

Honestly, things shouldn't be this bad. She was back out on the field, probation was over... but it was clear they were still keeping a close eye on her when everything was said and done. Whenever she tried to respond to a call to fight a criminal she was diverted by the police onto civilian management duty. Despite the fact they knew what she could do.. ugh. It was like any chance they saw for Mia to get even remotely aggravated, or... fight-thirsty? They cut her off in an instant and made sure to send her somewhere else. She sword to god she was gonna go Red just from the frustration at this rate but...

Give it time.

It'd change in time.

She just needed to prove she could control herself and behave and soon she'd be back in the frontlines being a hero the way she loved. For now, she moved in towards the bar, wearing a casual tank top and some cargo pants since she'd changed out of her hero suit at home, rolling back her shoulders and slipping into a stool at the bar. "The usual" She simply chimed, resting her head donw on the counter, hearing her horn clunk against it briefly as she just tried to take a few deep breaths and calm down. She lifted her head back up as 5 pints of beer all arived at once, eyes drifting around the bar when she spotted a familiar face in Antonio.

"... Hey... I... we've met before, right?"

Mia smiled a little as some energy returned to her, glad her poor memory was doing SOME good in remembering this guy's face, rubbing at the side of her neck as she started to get a clearer memory of them... didn't converse... ah Right. He was that guy hitting on the clearly gay raven haired chick at that bar that one time. Heh. Fun few minutes before she had to go back on duty that night.

"Drinks on you eh? You have seen the size of me right?" She chuckled a little and shook her head. "Fine though, I mean I'm not one to turn down free drinks." She tapped the bar, getting the bartenders attention as she sat down, pointing to Antonio. "Shift my tab to this guys for the night. Apparently he's loaded.~" She teased with a cheeky smirk, leaning on the bar and looking across to him with a cheeky grin.

"Er.... I dunno. I think this place is pretty dynamic in it's own right, but I think you can guess my name at least.~" She pointed to the identifying Red Horn on her forehead before shaking her head with a smirk, offering across her hand to shake too, squeezing Antonio's lightly so it pinched just a smidge, not enough to really be worth a complaint though. "Mia Kearney's the real name though. Tony it is then with yerself." She scoffed a little at the cassanova comment. "Oh really? You falling flat with that black haired chick didn't give it away...~"

When asked why she was hear Mia rolled her head back and grabbed the nearest drink that had been poured out for her, looking into the brown liquid and letting out a rough sigh. "Just got done with a shitty day of patrolling... all my work's getting diverted so even though I'm off probation it feels like I'm still on it ya know?" She gave a light shrug, just assuming Tony kept up with the news around her probation. "I mean I can't exactly blame them but... Job's losing the spark it once had for me. But then again, it would if I don't even get to do the damn job, right?" She took a hefty chug of her drink, finishing the glass in one and reaching for another. "How about you? What has you drinking tonight?" She gave him a light nudge of her elbow, curious as to his own reasons for a bit of intoxication.

“Pssh. Hardly an honor. Your looking at a disgraced, on the bench hero here pal.” She gave an idle shrug at the issue and started to chug away at her drinks, not even realizing the fellow was more surprised by the fact she was giving out her real name. For Mia it wasn’t a bother. What were people gonna do? Attack her when she ‘wasn’t red horn’? Was she any less bullet resistance when she was at home? Was her Red Horn apparently hard to notice? Secret identities didn’t matter much to her. Her hero name was the equivalent of a wrestler’s stage name, nothing really special to it, no reason to keep it hidden at all.

Hearing about the night she’d missed out on Mia couldn’t help but scoff. A raven haired beauty like that and he was saying he didn’t consider it a failure? Well… yeah she wasn’t there till the end, but she was gonna consider it a tall tale if he tried to say he ended the night getting off with her. “Oh yeah? And what DO you consider a failure? Cause not being able to get off with a babe like that definitely seems up there on the list of life regrets for me.~” She offered a cheeky smirk, taking another swig of her drink.

“Mmm? And what do you do for a living?” General, generic bar talk as it may be she was at least intrigued by the fact she’d ran into this guy twice when out for a drink so it may be good to build some rapport with someone who may effectively become a good drinking buddy for her in the future, rolling back her shoulders as she tried to get more comfortable, leaning back in her seat a bit to get a better look at his eyes. He seemed… kinda classy, from what he could remember, a little smug, maybe a little sly, hard to say given she had the intention of getting drunk both times she’s met him now, but at the very least her ears were open to anything he potentially had to say. “Same here on the ‘no one at home’ bit though, shrugging it off, not really feeling any pain in admitting she was a bit more of a lone wolf. Afterall it wasn’t it was a secret. There were probably half a dozen tabloid articles pointing out her habit of one night stands.

Mia let out a chuckling scoff as he said his behaviour had earned him a slap or something along those lines. Honestly given what she remembered of that tough, raven haired chick, she wasn’t at all surprised, chuckling from the back of her throat and shaking her head to the idea. Not so much in disbelief but just… finding it comical how that probably played out exactly how she was imagining it. Him Laying down some cheesy line, one too many, and suddenly getting a powerful back hand across the face. And she bet that woman could deliver one hell of a slap too. “Sounds about right for her.~”

She took a sip of her drink, about to listen to this… what seemed like it might be a boring spiel about this guy being some desk job number cruncher or something, but suddenly he cut the façade. Mia lowered her drink and pulled her head back curiously, listening carefully as he rattled on what was happening here… Right. So this guy was a criminal… he’d seen the Ishtar hitlist and was taking one hell of a direct approach to getting that cash prize. Hah! She almost laughed out loud but it at least showed as a shimmer in her eyes… she had to admire this guy’s balls to say that so openly. Especially after she’d had one hell of a rough day…

“Gotta admire your co-honays but er…” She leaned on the bar, her arms folded as she gave him a deadass glare, taking this conversation a hell of a lot more seriously at the drop of a dime as the conversation shifted tones. “Par the kindness of my heart, what’s to stop me turning around when you show me to Ishtar and taking you both in? I mean-“ She rested a hand on her chest with a smirk. “I’m interested, don’t get me wrong… but your putting a lot of faith in me being honourable to such a deal right now... I’m just curious if this is a risk your willing to take just for a pay day.”

In truth Mia was more than willing to work with him if the deal could be arranged. Why wouldn’t she be? A chance to be walked up to Ishtar’s front door? Who’d pass that up… she just wanted to make sure this was some grander trap. She’d had a rough enough year already afterall.

Mia had to admit this guy had a cool head on him. Usually with her leering over them a fair few of your average punks would be tapping their foot, bobbing a knee, shaking in the shoulders… this meant he knew what he was doing, what he was offering, what he was laying on the table for both of them… she took in long, slow breaths as she considered his words. Ultimately she didn’t doubt if she took him in it’d be IMPOSSIBLE to find something tied to him, a fingerprint, a scrap of DNA, what have you… but it would definitely be a gamble, and not one she was perhaps willing to risk against what he was offering more… peacefully. “Well I mean you are talking about taking me in on an illegal bounty but… yeah. I don’t got no proof o’ you sayin’ that. No partner to cooberate the evidence so… keep talkin.” She took a sip of her beer, listening intently all the while. He was right, the list was public, but to act on it was kinda the illegal part… again though, she was very willing to listen.

Much as she was open to a risk it seemed he was too and she could kinda admire that. Honestly if they weren’t on opposite sides of the law she might have enjoyed having some further drinks with a mind like his but for now they were hardly working on the same side, even if they did briefly have similar goals. “… I’d say you’re playing with a good hand… we gotta time this though. The public see I’m gone for a day or two and… well you see what happens when any of us heroes go down. People panic. I’m gonna arrange some time away from work, a weekend maybe… you got a number so I can call you when I got everything ready?” She probably shouldn’t be doing this, making any sort of deal with a criminal… but she was at the bottom of the barrel in terms of most other heroes opinions… this could be a break she needs.

“And this certaintly isn’t one.~” She replied with a rather smug smile of her own… but she really had to admire his cahonays in talking back to her about this. In another life she really might have been good friends with this punk… maybe they would be still if they could some to more mutually beneficial arrangements, but for now at least, she was on her guard around him. Able to share a joke and a tease, but having to hold at least a briefly serious gaze or quiet moment with him to remind him that this wasn’t all jokes between them. They had some serious, risky business on the table. For her career… and his life if he fucked her over.

The burner phone didn’t help her trust in him as a person, but it definitely helped her trust in him as just being someone who was damn competent. He knew what he was doing from start to finish here. He could have been more subtle when offering the deal, perhaps, but Mia was hardly one for subtlety and maybe he recognized that. Realized he’d need to be more direct with her… no matter where this wound up she had to say, right now at least, she respected his moxie and his gift for the gab. Guy had talent… might have made a decent cop or a spy if he was working for her team.

“Like I said, I’ll think on it. Best I don’t make a rash decision even with just a light buzz…” She slipped the burner into her pocket, taking the last of her drinks and downing them. She suddenly felt it was best she not get any more shit faced and rose up from the bar before the booze really hit her brain. Even if it was only gonna be a light buzz… she still had to be cautious. She was about to leave without another word… but a hand held onto the bar.

“… This weekend. You don’t hear from me the deal’s off. Sound good?”

Assuming he agreed, she’d simply nod in turn. “Good.” And pull away from the bar. She didn’t feel proud as she left the bar but the chance to see Ishtar, face to face.. the current number one… something told her it wasn’t gonna be the beat down she might expect if she went into the ring with Thunder, but she sure as hell wasn’t gonna let this opportunity slip away too soon.