John Faraday was half way through his third double whisky when the winged woman entered the dingy little tavern. It was his first night on leave from the military where he served as a medic in the ongoing civil war against the mages and he had no intentions of remembering it. The faster he could drink himself silly the better. It would be a relief to be able to spend a night sleeping in a real bed without being woken by the sounds of damned muskets and cannons- that was for sure. He rolled himself a cigarette and looked out over the room, instantly spotting the winged stranger sitting at a table a little way off. While he appreciated that not everyone liked being approached by strangers the liquor in his belly gave him the confidence to follow the relentless pull of his curiosity and he got up from his bar stool, cigarette and drink in hand.
He felt pleasantly merry, the room humming and only spinning a little as he moved to take the seat opposite her. He noted her depressingly sober choice of beverage, but decided to jump right into a conversation anyway, socially lubricated as he was.
"exscuse my intrusion, but I just have to know- are you an angel?" He asked, regarding her with his doleful brown eyes. He took a drag from his cigarette, the little red cherry burning down the white stick towards his lips, and then suddenly realised that what he had said might sound a little questionable.
"That... that was not intended to be a pick up line, I might add." he said, offering a friendly and rather fiery little grin. It was uncommon but not unheard of to see people with wings, and in his increasingly drunken state he felt confident enough to probe. The man was handsome enough, with dark desevieled hair and neat facial hair but there was a tired, drawn look to his eyes behind the intelligent glint- somewhat dulled by the booze.