Welcome to Gaia! ::

A small smile curled the corner of Gehenna's lip, drawing out the puckered scar across the left half of his face. He could feel the uneasiness the sight drew from some of the local bar-hoppers. That was fine. People were less likely to make a scene if they were intimidated.

"Aye, Silas!" He answered, trudging through the heart of the bar to take a seat next to the civilian who had always seemed to be more intrigued than horrified. There was a certain level of comfort with the other man and in a world where duty almost always came first, Ghen was quick to grab the comfort (and a beer) when he could.

The General unclipped his cape from his shoulders and let it stretch out across the bar stool next to him. His bared forearms showed where his weapon had been permanently attached, screwed in by bolts on a heavily scarred stump. He moved it with the ease of a general's strength but it made a loud 'thud' when he rested it on the bar top.

Without a word to the bartender, he slid a bill across the counter with his left hand. He was as much a regular as the man at his side, and he was the predictable sort.

"What's new this week, hm? Got any new papercuts?" A thick black brow raised at his jest, but Silas had to be used to his particular brand of humor by now.

Gehenna listened to his smaller companion regale him with the exciting tales of a teacher's life but his eyes had swiveled to watch the bartender pouring his drink. Once he had it in front of him, he gave the man a small salute and turned his gaze back on Silas just as he was taking the first gulp.

"Ahh, no. If it did, I probably wouldn't feel it." He chuckled slightly at his own jest, but it was true. His body had been beaten and reforged so many times that he wasn't sure parts of it even had nerve endings anymore. That was just fine. He shrugged at the question though and set his beer on a close-by coaster. Gehenna the great, protector of bar tops.

"Just the same old thing: patrols and terrorists. One day we'll get them all, eh?" He gave Silas a small nudge with his good hand, doing his best not to put too much strength into it lest he send the man flying right off the bar stool. His eyes shifted up to a TV in the back of the bar, following a random sports game for a second but it was hard to find pleasure in the little things anymore. What was a soccer game compared to a super hero?

"I spent most of my night breaking up some stupid protesters downtown. I swear those kids get more and more ballsy every day, half of them barely look old enough to drink." He shrugged and took another gulp of beer.

Gehenna chuckled at Silas, trying to imagine what the smaller man might find big and scary - probably a lot of things that Gehenna had learned were just normal, every day occurrences in this town. Even some of the things he'd once feared had become familiar.

"No, not recently, at least not me. I caught sight of a few of 'em down by some abandoned apartments but they lost me in the sewers." He banged against his chest and smirked. "Not really built for stealth and speed, y'know."

Yet as Silas moved the conversation on to a touchier subject, Gehenna's good nature faded with a grimace instead.

"We've always taken them pretty young, as young as the Senshi will take them." But he sighed, leaning to the side a little to put more of his weight on the bar. His beer was balanced on his knee as he thought it over. "I can't say I get behind the idea of a kid getting himself killed before he's ever touched a girl or had a beer. I don't see the point in it. They can't fight." And more.. he'd seen what those kids turned into. The ones that never got to have a childhood but grew up in the Negaverse instead - he'd never say it aloud where others could hear him, but those were some of the worst monsters he'd ever encountered.

"Probably, which is why I was sent down there to bust them up."

Gehenna shrugged and drained the rest of his beer without much effort, then set the empty glass down on the counter as a summons for another round. He was off patrol for the rest of the night - he could afford to get drunk and wander home if he felt like it. One beer wasn't going to put a dent in him anyway.

"That's the reason we're supposed to take them out on sight. It's a little unnerving though, I'm not too much of a man to admit it." His eyes shifted away from his companion and followed the bartender as he scooped up the glass and walked away for a refill. He was polite enough not to say anything about their conversation, but he didn't want to meet Gehenna's eyes either. Not that he could blame him. Killing children wasn't his favorite thing to do.

"You'd think they'd just stop awakening them so young, but I guess they must be desperate by now. I don't know how many they've got left, but they're running out of places to hide." He nodded at the bartender and set down another bill, taking a sip of the second beer set down in front of him.