Owner	Pose
Zhao Lin	It was late in the evening, and Zhao Lin was stumbling out of Luke's Bar, using the exit that led into the alleyway. He's stumbling drunk, it would seem, and after he exits the building he stops, standing in the middle of the alleyway, to uncork the gourd canteen he carries with him. He lifts it, tilting his head back, tilting the rest of himself -waaaaay- back, as he pours it into his opened maw, and in the process he falls flat on his back with a grunt. He spills a bunch of the cloudy liquid on his face, and he sputters and coughs. Using his shirt, he wipes at his face, yet to actually try getting up off the ground. He mutters something in Mandarin, which he finishes in English, "...waste of good wine..."
Faith Lehane	"You're telling me." It might be the drunkenness or the shade of the building ,but it was most likely not immediately obvious that Faith was already in this alley. Just what she's doing here isn't clear. She does, however, hace a cigarette and a bemused expression with which to regard the man who just tumbled to the ground in front of her. "Are you sure you're not, like, going to die of alcohol poisoning? I like getting smashed but I usually stop before drinking more makes me fall over. Just a general tip." She walks toward Zhao with a swaying gait, studying him thoughtfully, and then offers the man a gloved hand. Dark jeans, Slipknot t-shirt, leather jacket and boots, and fingerless gloves. Really, the sort of person you might expect to be hovering around smoking in an alley. Pot or cigarettes, dealer's choice.
Zhao Lin	Zhao Lin blinks when he hears a voice speaking to him, and he looks up, seeing Faith walking towards him upside down. The felinoid man flashes a broad grin at her, lifting a hand to point at her, that hand swaying unsteadily in the air. "Oooh, hey, pretty lady," he slurs with a thick Chinese accent, "Where did you come from?" He giggles as he lays there on the ground, until she offers him the hand up. "Oh, no, no, I got it," he insists, but he lays there a moment looking around him. "Where's my hat?" he asks, not realizing that when he leaned back, it fell off his head, and he was laying on top of it. Eventually, though, Zhao Lin finds it, tugging it out from underneath him. "Ah, there it is," he says, dusting it off before starting to climb to his feet. It looks like a struggle for him, and he stumbles a bit, almost falling over, before managing to get to his feet. He blinks a couple of times, eyes trying to focus on Faith again as he stands there swaying on his feet. "...Smoking is bad for you," he states bluntly, his eyes remaining on her as he takes another drink from his canteen.
Faith Lehane	"Not for me. For you maybe. Smoking is great for me. And pot has way more health benefits than most other shit you put into your body anyway." Faith cocks her head and then gives a light shrug, shifting her weight from left to right as she does. Blue eyes stare intensely at the felinoid and her brows furrow as she takes a half step back. "You know, most people think drinking yourself unconscious isn't too great for you either." A beat. "I never really got that." She nods once, as if this is self-explanatory, then reaches up and tugs the cigarette from between her lips. "Something looks different about you," she starts. "...Must be the hat."
Zhao Lin	Zhao Lin grins broadly at her again, his tail flitting back and forth behind him again. "Well, I did get a new shirt," he says, pulling up the front of her shirt as if to show her, giving her a glimps of the faintly-defined abdominals he possesses, but as he looks down at it, he frowns. "Oh, no... this is my old shirt. Nevermind." He drops the shirt again, looking up at Faith again. "Drinking is what gives me power," he tells her, "My name is Zhao Lin, and I am the Master of the secret martial arts style of Drunken Fist!" He strikes a fighting stance suddenly, his body lurching into place fully upright and, for a brief moment, completely rock steady. His arms are up, hands held in front of him, one holding his canteen, the other poised as though holding a sake cup. But then he stumbles backwards as though losing his balance just standing there. He catches himself, overcompensating and stumbling forwards again, though he manages to stop right before he bowls into Faith. Straightening up again, it's to take another drink from his canteen. He swallows, and wipes his mouth on his sleeve. "And who are you, wandering the alleys in the dark?" he asks, brow arched curiously.
Faith Lehane	"Faith Lehane, master of the secret fighting art of being a badass bitch." Faith puts out her hands and catches Zhao when he pithces into her, watching as the man stumbles around. "Either you are completely off your rocker or you secretly are a super martial artist. Drunken Kung Fu. I can dig it, I saw the Jackie Chan movie." Faith shrugs, bouncing again and taking a drag before she continues to speak. "Wandering in the dark is the best wasy to find things people don't want you to see. So here I am. Besides, sometimes a girl wants to smoke without getting stared outm you know? Careful you don't slip again, hey?"
Zhao Lin	Zhao Lin straightens up, nodding his head slowly. "I know of Jackie Chan," he says, "He is good, I am better." He grins again, his tail giving another twitch behind him. Then he gives a perplexed look, leaning towards her a little bit, a little further than he really should be leaning, given his apparent state. "Stared out?" he asks, unfamiliar with the term. He lifts a hand to rub at the side of his face as he sways back upright. "There are dangerous things in alleys," he agrees, "Are you prepared to deal with them, Faith?" Despite the way he's standing so unsteadily, and he seems to be having trouble focusing his eyes on her face, it seems to be a serious question from the leopard-man. His brow arches again, and he leans in a little closer once more. "...How good is your gongfu?"
Faith Lehane	"Out. At." Faith pauses, then shakes her head with a brief sneer. "You know. Getting looked with a stupid, vacant expression on their face." She plants a booted foot and then inhales one more time. A curl of smoke drifts from the young woman's nostrils. "More than prepared. I 'm waiting for them." She sounds pretty serious too, despite the generally cavalier attitude. She squints when Zhao asks his second question, however. "...Gong fu? What? I just kick the shit out of assholes."
Zhao Lin	Zhao Lin blinks a little, but then gives an 'ah' and a nod of understanding. "I see." He takes another drink from his canteen, before offering it to her as well. "I can see why you would get stared at, too," the feline says, "But staring is rude. I try to avoid doing so, myself." His tail twitches behind him, and he grins to her. "Gongfu. Praying mantis, mok gar, five-elements fist. Gongfu." He gets a skeptical expression as he leans towards her again, his voice lowering a bit. "Are you telling me you are out here waiting for assholes to... "kick the shit out of", and you have no gongfu?" He seems... incredulous.
Faith Lehane	G"... I have a little, I guess?" Faith arches a brow. She glances down at the stub of her cigarette and extinguishes it on the brick wall beside her before straightening. "Enough to get by so far. Why, are you waiting for a fight too? 'My kung fu is superior' and all of that? I've had some training but... Mostly, I learned on my own. It's adorable that you're worried, but I /promise/ I've got it handled. Don't worry, old man. ...Cat. Whatever." She clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth.
Zhao Lin	Again, Zhao Lin's brow arches, and he grins. "I am twenty-seven," he tells her, "But I am not waiting for a fight. There are people who come to fight me all day." When she doesn't take the offered canteen, Zhao Lin just brings it back to his maw, and he takes another drink. "So who are you waiting to fight?" he asks, the leopard-man eying her curiously. He stumbles off to the side a little bit, and slumps himself down on some empty crates that have been stacked up behind the bar.
Faith Lehane	"...Go ahead and pass the canteen," Fait hreplies a bit more soberly. She moves over to the crats and sits dow on the ones beside Zhao, holding out her right hand as she does. "Sorry about the age thing. I guess it's the cat thing that threw me." She shrugs, staring into the darkness. "Would you believe me if I told you there were a bunch of vampires hanging around the bar and I'm waiting for them to come out here looking for dinner so I can toss the m around?" She asks in a bmeused tone, lightly pursing her lips.
Zhao Lin	Zhao Lin passes her the canteen with a grin, rumbling low in his throat. It's full of baijiu, a sweet rice wine with a very high alochol content. "The 'cat thing' throws a lot of people off, yes," he agrees, before chuckling softly. "Would you believe -me- if I told you there is a secret sect of an underground martial arts cult led by an ancient Chinese dragon who has taken on human form and is searching the world for ten mystic keystones in order to open the gateway to another dimension and free his true self?" Zhao Lin's brow arches sharply as he glances sidelong towards her, his tail twitching a little bit.
Faith Lehane	"Faith watches Zhao intently while he lays out his mystical story of the ancient arts and takes a swig of the rice wine. She apparently approves as she takes another before replying. She nods once and then gives a faint shrug. "Must be tuesday." She offers the canteen back to the catman before asking, "Planning to do something about it?"
Zhao Lin	"I have been," Zhao Lin says, letting her take a couple swigs before he reaches over to take the canteen back. He takes another drink, himself. "I am searching for a lead now, though," he tells her, "As to where I can find the next keystone. I find it concerning that several of them were in this city already, I am hoping the others are... more difficult for my enemies to get to." He shifts on the crate a little, leaning his side against the ones behind it as he looks at Faith. He offers her the canteen again, not one to bogart his wine. "And what about these... 'vampires' you are waiting for? Do you just beat them up for no reason?"
Faith Lehane	"It's kind of my job," Faith relates in a bored tone. "Plus, they're kind of preying on kids and one of them turned up last week, sooo it's time to take care of the soulless assholes. I guess." Faith makes a face, then tkaes the canteen back and immediately drinks another gulp. "So if this dragon dude frees his true self what's he gonna do? Conquer the world?"
Zhao Lin	"Something like that," Zhao Lin says, "All I have heard so far is his followers blathering on about an 'Age of Darkness' that he will bring. A thousand years of turmoil, blah blah blah." He makes that talking hand gesture and rolls his eyes. "I do not believe they will succeed if I am able to fight them, but I will certainly need more friends who are able to help."
Faith Lehane	"Sounds fun," Faith responds lazily. "I'm interested, at least." She takes another pull from the wine and leans back slightly, bracing a shoulder against the wall behind her. "Probably be a lot harder to handle the fangy dickheads if there's eternal night or whatever."
Zhao Lin	Zhao Lin grins and nods. "Perhaps so," he says, and the feline man shifts his weight a bit, turning to lean back against Faith comfortably, against her side mostly, the back of his head against her shoulder. He closes his eyes and sighs, arms folding over his chest. "Perhaps if we wait they will both show up together, and we can settle all of our troubles at once," he muses, a low, rumbling purr coming from his throat.