1154/Settling Down the Sommelier

Settling Down the Sommelier
Date of Scene:	26 June 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Lucifer and Ravenna discuss Strange's appearance over tequlia.
Cast of Characters:	Ravenna Levesque, Lucifer

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Ravenna Levesque has posed:
Ravenna had a theroy in her mind about Lucifer and when she feels the light sting from his malice which is projected at Strange, she makes a mental note about it. Though right now, her mind is too angry to focus, to put the pieces together. The cat at her feet continues to weave around her legs as she collects herself, but that magic is still pushing against her control. Again she curses in French as she shakes her head. "Girl." She spits out shaking her head. "Sorry, I didn't know I was so popular with strange Sorerers. I try to keep all of that out of my normal job."

Lucifer has posed:
The second Strange is gone, the Bartender's expression totally normalizes again, and he shakes his head when the Sorceror Supreme vanishes. "Arrogant man," he mumbles. He steps forward towards the lily, then stoops and very carefully scrapes it up from the ground. It's walked over to an empty glass, and he adds water to it, then calls over to the front desk on the bar's intercom.

"Hey, it's the bar. Can you send Darryl to the garden store for a little bag of potting soil? Thanks."

He eyes Ravenna, then reaches around the bar for the emergency tequila and pours them both a shot. Hers is slid across the table, and he hoists his full glass in small salute before throwing it back.

"Well, you just turned down a job offer from the Sorceror Supreme," he tells Ravenna, exuding the calm and unruffled poise he almost always displays. "If anyone ever tells you that you don't have moxie, you laugh right in their face."

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
"Understatement." Ravenna retorts flatly, and it's easy to see she's having some issue coming down from her annoyance. She watches as he grabs the lilly and shakes her head. Was that a gift, or perhaps just an after thought. Still that's a problem for another time. When the shotglass is passed over, she throws it back and for a moment it almost looks like it'll have no effect, but her face scrunches and she has to shake her head several times before recovers. "Another." She says, pushing it over with her finger tip.

"That wasn't a job, you heard the way he talked down to me. Telling me my magic is too wild, unrefined. It would be another cage, another long ladder to climb up to the top that has no end. The cost would be high, perhaps too high." The cat jumps up on the chair next to the table and settles in like he owns the place, or at least the chair. "Bartender." She mutters to herself.

Lucifer has posed:
One more is poured, and then the bottle's set where Ravenna can get to it. "There are people who'd sell their left gonad for even an hour of Strange's time," the bartender says, one brow lifting in mild surprise at Ravenna. "The kind of power he has--- the Sorceror is charged with protecting the Multiverse. All possible worlds. There's no question of the cost, but that kind of power is the sort that most people can never even dream of attaining-- and not to mention that he's one of the foremost scholars of magical theory in the universe. Even without the blessings of the Vishanti, he's a man of extraordinary skill and knowledge. Why would you pass all that up-- just because he's a bit of a self-serving dick?" he says, lips tugging into a smile.

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
"Yeah that level of power is not something I can achieve, at least not on my own." Ravenna downs the next shot and the wince is less this time but still there. It's the burn she's looking for and once it rolls through her she sighs. "Had he not belittled me, made me feel small like a child who has been naughty, perhaps I would have been more receptive. I have studied, I have been trained, I know my limits. He would expect me to give up everything else, to give myself to Magic, but I've worked too hard for this, to walk away from all of this." She sighs as she refills her glass, and his.

Lucifer has posed:
"His arrogance is /almost/ boundless," the Bartender agrees, throwing back his shot again. He sniffs, clears his throat, and rolls the glass back towards Ravenna with an expert flick-- it hits the end of the arc right in front of her and rights itself smoothly, rattling to a level balance.

"Oh, it'd be a lifetime affair," the Bartender agrees. "The Sorceror Supreme doesn't make casual bargains. It'd be tied to him forever," he says. "Well, until death do you part, anyway, which is probably not as bad as 'forever' sounds," he amends.

"There are shortcuts to power, but there's always a cost," he says, pursing his lips. "There is no free lunch. But-- not to belittle you," he says, holding up a hand apolgetically. "But to play the game at Strange's level, you /have/ to get some help. Strange didn't just wake up one day at the gym with the power to reshape the multiverse. He got help from some very formidable allies."

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
Ravenna watches the glass as it rolls over to her reaches over to refill it again. With a shrug she shakes her head. "I've seen that level or arrogance before, I really do not want to be under it again. I don't care how powerful and magic he is, he was very rude, and not just to me." Mentioning that it'd be a life time affair, Ravenna makes a face. "I'm not into that. There is too much I'd rather do than be lorded over by some meglomaniac." Still she frowns. "He seemed really keen that I hadn't signed any contracts with you. Very keen. Almost invasively keen." She says, giving a very flat look to Lucifer before she pours more tequlia for the both of them. The next shot causes her to clear her throat but his words cause her to be defensive yet again.

"Look. I've had training, and I've had a lot of training. My life was magic, wine and school in that order. Maybe I didn't have a multi-dimentional library at my disposal, but I have knowledge. I do have help, it just apparently isn't good enough for the rest of you."

Lucifer has posed:
At Ravenna's tart words, the Bartender just compresses his lips and gives her a look of mild reproof. It's the sort of expression perfected by teachers and grandparents the world over-- a silent reprimand against being lumped in with the rest of 'them' when someone lashes out.

"I'm trying to make the point that Strange doesn't just 'give away' power. No one in the Game does--at least, no one who wants to stay in it long. You're talented, Ravenna, and I'm not disparaging that. I'm proud of you for standing up to Strange instead of grasping at the first thread of advantage to get dangled your way. You want to earn your chops the real way-- with hard work and discipline. I can respect that," he says, and this time, an approving smile flashes at her. "It's a rare quality among the Wise-- most magi, whether hedge witch or master sorceror, have no trouble taking any and every advantage they can get, and selling the consequences down stream."

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
At that look, Ravenna simply furrows her brows and shakes her head. Instead of an immedate response, she goes back to the tequlia. A normal woman her size might be feeling it at this point, or maybe even recycling it in the ladies room, but it seems to have very little effect on her. "You know what I mean." She isn't sure where he sits with the rest of them, but right now she just has a lot of aggression.

"Look, by this age, I know I'm not going to be some great and powerful magic user. I can defend myself, I can help others, occasionally, but in the end there is a limit to my powers. I've hit it, I hit it years ago and while there may be a way to break down that wall, the cost is very high. So I'm using what I have, speariningly. Like I told Strange, healing is very taxing, it could kill me. He'd have me beliving that's okay, that sacrificing myself for the greater good is worth more than my life. In my book it isn't. Maybe that's selfish, but it's reality. I have a feeling that Strange is the sort to bend reality when it doesn't suit him." At least from the little bit of power he showed. "Also he seemed to have very strong feelings that I leave here for his place. I'm sorry, but I'm not abandoning my wine cellar."

Lucifer has posed:
"YOUR wine cellar?" the Bartender asks-- but he's grinning at Ravenna's tart tone, and an easy laugh shakes his shoulders. "Wow, someone's settling in comfortably," he says, almost /teasing/ her. But in a good-natured way.

"I think we can agree on this-- Strange's ego is so large, he can't even conceive of the fact that your talent for wines vastly exceeds your talent for magic, and even worse, he clearly can't appreciate what a loss to the wine would you'd be as a magi. So, here's to you, Ravenna-- and your wine cellar."

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
"Hey, you gave me the keys, you told me it was mine, I'm just repeating what you said." Her tone is also teasing, she knows that it's not really hers, but she is definatly spending a lot of time down there. "You'd be worried if I wasn't settling in."

She also raises her glass and nods her head. "Yes, his ego is very large. Still, I might have considered it more had he not came in here, stopping time and ruining whatever bizarre set up you have here." The look on her face is one that suggests she has questions, and that she intends to ask them. Later. "Yes. To me, and my wine cellar." She touches his glass with hers and finishes her shop. "Now. Where can I find the roof? I need to let off some steam."

Lucifer has posed:
The Bartender grins and beckons Ravenna follow him. "As it so happens, we have a very nice atrium on the roof. C'mon. You can take the service elevator." He heads into the back rooms-- which, despite being for the employees, are almost as nice as the lounge itself-- and towards the sleek service elevators that support the heart of the Club and the building above it.

*Ding*, swish, and to Ravenna's senses, the strange sensation of slipping partially through a small dimensional shear point. Just enough to put her very slightly out of phase-- and almost imperceptible to anyone not of magical persuasion.

The door slides open to reveal a lush rooftop garden. Atrium, sitting area, a little bird fountain-- a little slice of nature itself. Even the sounds of the city are distant and muted.

"You're welcome up here anytime you like," the bartender tells Ravenna, hands clasped at the small of his back. "Just... try not to make a mess while you're blowing steam off."

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
"What don't you have here?" Ravenna says with a smirk as she follows him toward the service elevator. It is nicer than most elevators in the aparment complexes in the city. That feeling of going throuth that sheer and she shivers as they pass through it. When she looks at the atrium there is a muted awe, no where near the level of awe she had for the cellar, but than again, it's not everyday you see so much wine.

"Make a mess up here? Hardly, that'd be like ruining a masterpiece. I"ll be gentle."

While it's no great show of power, Ravenna holds her hands up toward the celing, and large heavy clouds form in the glass ceiling. It only takes a moment for those clouds to burst into a fine mist and rain down on the plants, but none of it is falling on either Luficer or herself. It does seem to releif some pressure out of that pent up magic, and once the rain gets properly going, she steps in it, seeming not to care about her attire or what it'll do to her hair.