13903/The Cave of Wonders

The Cave of Wonders
Date of Scene:	24 October 2021
Location:	Volcanic Caves - Savage Lands, Antarctica
Synopsis:	Investigating the source of significant radiation in the Savage lands, our (anti)heros uncover a strange volcanic source.
Cast of Characters:	Sinister, Lucifer

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Sinister has posed:
Although it isn't necessary that guests accompany Doctor Essex on his checking up of things in the echo of pangea that is the Savage lands, he is not refusing company at all. It is entirely up to the individuals whether they want to come on what MIGHT be a boring trip, or what might be incredibly exciting, depending on where the cards may fall. This particular day started out bright and early, at the crack of dawn with a hearty breakfast of fruits, eggs, bacon and toast. It progressed to checking various gadgets and gizmos were functioning as they were supposed to, then getting ready for a flight across the expanse, close to the tree line so that individuals do not spot he-who-should-not-be-messing in his investigations and observations.

Dressed in a dark one-piece suit that is skin tight to prevent it catching on things, Sinister looks rather wierdly good in what basically is a leotard with extras. Not entirely trusting his abilities to protect him from all that might come, this was NOT made out of himself, but is a kevlar heat-resistant material that apparently he learned how to shape. Volcanos. They might be a little more than is easily handled, without a BIT of back-up. A compact kit bag was also brought. "If you would like, I'm going to go see some unusual cave systems; my agents have recently broken through the deeper cave-ins and found some things of interest after shoring up the rooves."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer has nothing else on his list of things to do except all he can to help Nathaniel while they're here in the Savage Lands. So, he joins the Doctor for breakfast and comes along on what may or may not be a boring trip. Following closely, either right beside or behind however things work out best at times, Lucifer is quite content to simply follow along, explore, and see the lands for what they are. For him, it's all exciting enough since it's all new-but-not things.

It's very likely he's just dressed in normal attire. Unless otherwise warned against doing so and then he'll have dressed in whatever attire Nathaniel said was best to be in. There's a certain air that settles around but not entirely close to them - a protective bubble of sorts perhaps. Easy celestial magic keeping hidden what should not be seen in the first place. "Oh is that so? I would very much like to explore those with you, surely. Perhaps they've found an entrance to hell I'm not aware of!" Comes a joke with a slight hint of seriousness to the thought of going spelunking in caves.

Sinister has posed:
THere wasn't a warning about attire, other than not having too many buttons that might pop off. Lucifer -IS- fireproof after all. Even volcanos got nothin' on Hell. "Wasn't there a belief that if you went down far enough into the earth, you'd eventually get to hell at the bottom of a great staircase? Or that might have been the ravings of a lunatic italian, I'm not sure." Sinister offers.

The landscape closer to the active volcanos becomes more sparse. Outside of the lava-fields though, it is THE densest and most fertile jungle that exists here, joined with the flood planes that make everything grow to gargantuan proportions; necessary to sustain the appetites of the giants that roam the land after all. THe mammalian life here is all small and nervous. It never got the chance to grow and evolve outside of being small prey, after all. Not with the dominant life forms that claim this land.

Checking a very thin personal computer with its own GPS, Sinister nods toward the north west. "The entrance should be up there," he shows the coordinates. "Hidden. I think we had a holographic field put over it, so nobody would see. It should appear as a very slight distortion in the light level."

Lucifer has posed:
"I thought the stairway was for Heaven and there's a Highway to Hell?" Lucifer offers in a return joke, smiling the entire time. He's not even sure what all has been said about how to get to Hell over the years aside from committing sins and not asking for forgiveness. Trivial as such a thing is.

The landscape, while more dense, is surely beautiful and he keeps an eye out for any little thing he can spot. Here there is no stunt of growth and so things seem taller, and more grandeur than what he's ever seen before. "I feel like we're nothing but ants down here comparatively... It's a good thing we're immortal, but I still don't want to know how I hold against being squished..." This, and a smirk, as they continue.

"Ah. Alright.. so I suppose we now should go... up.." A glance to Nathaniel then. "Are we climbing or cheating?"

Sinister has posed:
"Puts things in perspective, dunnit?" Sin comments as one particularly huge dinosaur that they don't even come up to the ankles of, moves past in very slow motion. It isn't of course, it's all about perspective, but high up in the sky, a mouth comes down for the lush treetop greeneries. He shakes his head, looks back to the realm around them and that it gets less verdant higher up. "Cheating. At least I am. Why climb when you can hover? But we've got to find it first..."

He squints at the higher ledges of the giant volcanic crater above, then lifts off to change perspective in a wide arc around. <<You go left. It should show up as distortion as I said...>>

It's there, just a small patch that looks slightly squiffy on the eyeball, enough to cover a small ledge and whatever is behind it. A very cleverly camouflaged ascent rope has been grappon'd to the cliff, blending in with the rock.

Lucifer has posed:
"Surely one of the only forms of personal cheating I'm okay with..." Lucifer offers as he glances up just in time to see that mouth come down to break off some of that lush treetop. He whistles lowly and then flares out his wings, flapping them a few times to take to the skies a bit. Up and up, listening in his mind to the description of what he's looking for.

It takes him a moment, and a little twisting of his head this way and that before he finally spots it. <<Ah. I have found it, I think. A little this way and up some, a ledge, but it's all shimmery...>> He offers and then he flies closer to where he's talking about so Nathaniel can find him easily.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister's attention comes up like a meerkat. POP! Attenshun! <<That should be...>> flying closer, he rises a little higher than Lucifer, then slips a bit further around, to verify the bend of light. <<Yes, I believe that's it...>> Flitting closer, he abruptly vanishes as he enters the distortion field and is gone in a shimmer.

<<Yep. Come on in.>> -- On the other side, there's a small fence around the edge of the ledge with a couple of access gates, for safety. Not all of his minions bounce, are indestructable, or can fly after all. It's easily large enough for several people, it's again a matter of perspective on the giant crater and size differential of everything around it. The cave entrance has reinforced beams and a mesh grid that follows on down, shoring up dangerous spots. "I'm quite excited about this. I was trying to find the source of some intriguing radiation, which maaaaaaaaay or may not be in the areas that were cleared."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer watches as Nathaniel flies closer and then rises to that ledge before eventually vanishing behind it. He follows suit once the man has confirmed it's what they were looking for, coming in behind the man a few moments later. The view on the inside is spectacular, and he moves to the ledge, peering over the fence line to perhaps have a glimpse of what is beyond and below. "Radiation? Naturally occurring I would assume? That's interesting..." Then Lucifer is trying to rack his brain on things that cause natural radiation and what might have existed back in the days when Pangea was more than it is now. The bigger continent rather than a small island. "Another reason why it is a good time to be immortal I would imagine." He offers with a grin.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister chuckles. "Yeeeeeeeeees. It takes the edge off doesn't it? Everyone else gagging and vomiting and we're all just laa-di-dum-dum-dah." He grins, glances over at the view from the top, which truly is an ant on a mountaintop kind of perspective, then heads on inside.

FOr the most part, the tunnel into the caves is pretty normal, the same kind of tunnel as is in many a cave in many a place, all over the world. Lots of rock, shored up by humanity, in other words. Someone was nice enough to put a rope with grappons on the wall too, for those that can't just float on up and/or down. Periodically, lights have been affixed to the wall. Further in, there's a miniature railway established by bore-work with a small four-seater mono-rail waiting at the bottom of it. This, Sinister hops onto and proffers a hand to Lucifer to settle himself. "It's way down. But as noted, we had to hide that we were here."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer chuckles and then shakes his head a little. "Is there an edge?" He considers. "I suppose there is, but even remembering my time as a mortal I cannot seem to comprehend the actual emotion now." This and then he follows Sinister's lead until they are at the monorail. A tilt of head and then Lucifer takes the offered hand to get in and settle himself. "Of course. And need to remain hidden as well. I'm actually quite excited and I think a ride like this is perfect for the occassion.."

Sinister has posed:
Maglev is quite a fun thing, too, we'll note. With enough power, you can RUSH through and whatever power is provided to this particular Maglev is quite potent, because BOY does it put a wriggle on! Zero to sixty in approximately three seconds, without a windshield and you know... a car chasset around to stop the air pressure. It's very like going through space mountain on a rollercoaster! With his voice a little louder than usual, because tunnel + wind "....so am I! I theorized it's probably a contributing mutagen to the human beings that lived here as there's several mutant strains. Given the rest of the environment has very few mutagenics in it, it had to have come from somewhere..." their hair can do a funky thing as the little monorail follows the spiral downward of the volcanic crater. Occasionally, a bit of wall opens to the light of the crater outside, where strangely crystaline rocks protrude here and there, like teeth.

Lucifer has posed:
And they're off! Luckily Lucifer can understand the words being yelled out even as they vroom around on the monorail for a time. "So you're going to try and find the mutant strain? Would it be considered a pure strain if time and other genetics haven't hand a chance to... work their way into the coding?" Does that question even make sense? Lucifer isn't sure, except that perhaps for a second he might have actually sounded like he knows what he's talking about. All things that surround Sinister's work has been something Lucifer keeps an interest in so he can understand the man's world even a little bit. A glance to the wall that opens in the light and he tilts his head. "Interesting crystaline formations..."

Sinister has posed:
"Aren't they?" VROOOOOOOOOM. Fwooshfwooshfwoosh, the air-pressure changes the sound in places, thanks to those windows to the world without. "As far as I can work out, because I cannot look back in time, the techtonics here were under immense pressure when the volcano pushed out the crater. Or there was some incredible pressure equalizations, because there's quite a few of those. Crystal structure doesn't usually happen outside of basalt and I'm sure that they're not all basalt." But then, there's the other considerations. The air is getting warmer, not cooler, the further they go down, testament that the volcano is still active and well, that's why Sin wears kevlar. "If I can isolate the source of the radiation, I can create my own pure strain -- study its particular effects, which ought to improve understanding of the local types and allow better predictions. Honestly, a lot of my work is being able to predicate what will happen on a particular genome with accuracy, eliminating the random as much as possible."

Lucifer has posed:
"I'm kinda waiting to look over and instead of crystals I just look inside the wall and there's a river of magma flowing." Lucifer says this much and then gives a chuckle as the monorail seems to continue on. "Well it doesn't surprise me that you can isolate and make your own pure form from the radiation should you find what you're looking for. If there is anythihng I can do to help, please let me know." This much and he reaches to squeeze where he can, like an arm or thigh as they travel on. "Do you know about how far down this goes? I'm just curious."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister grins at his lover, winking once. "Almost there..." up ahead the tunnel glows red and BINGO that's what Lucifer was waiting for, the window opening and behold, liquid lava rivers. THen it's gone and further down, it becomes stalagtites and lavafalls, plummetting lower into the caverns. "It's about a half mile below the surface where the entrance is..." and that, at the speed they're going, ends up being about another minute of travel. The monorail slows down and stops at rock formation that just by sheer happenstance, looks a bit like old fashioned train stations, given that there's columnal Tite-Mites at relative equidistance. It's hot as hell, figuratively if not literally and the red glow of lava shows on the tunnel walls further along. A path wends past open channels of the stuff, which occasionally does blorp and throw off a sizzler.

"In all honesty, you may be able to help, I do not currently know. We'll have to see what they uncovered." Sinister leans in, kisses, then slides off the train, offering a hand even though it's really not all that far to go to step off. Littering the path in spots are egg-shaped geoids, some of them cracked, others not. Because active volcano. Perhaps three hundred yards along the path it diverts to the south and broadens out to a MUCHLY shored up and supported tunnel, where a great deal of rock has been moved out of the way. Electricity helps create a forcefield to support the weight of unstable rock up above and beyond? Beyond the light is golden-blue by turns, seemingly glittering between the two shades.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer takes a few of the uncracked goids, lifting them and looking them over before glancing to Nathaniel as if to silently ask if he can take them back to the institute with them. Depending on the answer will determined if Lucifer puts them in the monorail or sets them back down. Having seen those lava rivers actually seemed to please the man very much and he keeps taking deep breath because where flows lava often means that rocks are at least covered if not premate sulfur - so they smell like such. Reminds him of hell. It's amazing.

"I can see why people believe going into a mine or deep cave like this is like walking down to hell. The heat alone would make one believe that. The scents as well." Saying this much as he moves forward and watches where Nathaniel looks, spying those gold-blue hued rocks. "Well if I can help I will, just let me know." He motions. "Do we need those rocks?"

Sinister has posed:
It is quite malodorous down in an active volcano, this is true. And perhaps that's why 'windows' were allowed along the otherwise hidden monorail, because otherwise the build-up of toxic gases would be troublesome for minions. Not for Sinister, but it's inconvenient to have to keep replacing them. There's a 'go ahead' gesture made toward the geoids though, some of which are quite respectable in size, "...I think that's why several active lava fields are known as the devil's whatever-you-have in various places..." Sinister glances at the indicated geological pile. "Potentially," comes the simple answer. "If I have to restore this and hide it again, it would help to have them around... oh, wait... that's not..." he narrows eyes and picks one up. "Metallic surface... it's reflecting..." he nods toward the opened up cave beyond, where the golden-blue light emminates.

In for a penny, in for a pound though. He advances through the opened up passageway and there's a blanket feeling of being impressed that ticks from him on the other side. THe reason is rather obvious: What's beyond is essentially a gargantuan geoid, with break-through lava flow that has cooled and become solid at some point in prehistory, but it means that the volcano 'burp' is almost entirely spherical, saving for those paths. What's odd, is that it looks like it was at least sometimes... occupied by people. Paintings litter the wall, a few animal bones, carved and such, can be found littering the floor and the crystalline interior of this giant geoid, is what emits that light. Crystalline gold (It actually can happen) and Sapphire, perhaps... but the luminescence seems to come from within.

Lucifer has posed:
So a few smaller geoids and one medium size (nothing no bigger than his hands really) are placed in the monorail cart. "There's even a near surface level fire pit that's been burning since it was set on fire due to the consistent release of methane gas. I think it's been dubbed the Door to Hell or something like that." Lucifer offers and then he shrugs. "Anything hot and fiery gets dubbed something Hellacious. I love it." Then as Sinister continues but also stops himself due to realizing something is a little off, Lucifer tilts his head a moment. "Is everything..." He stops as Nathaniel goes through the passageway and then shrugs, following along.

On that opposite side, the 'weight' of the air is felt and he tilts his head in a curious fashion. When his eyes befall the inside of the gigantic geoid he places his hand upon where it's formed from lava burps, touching against the crystaline gold. "...Who's been living here I wonder? Is there another entrance from somewhere?" He looks around a moment longer before back to the walls of the geoid. "This is truly magnificent..."

Sinister has posed:
"I think that started out as an accidental fire didn't it? One that they thought would burn off after a while, but it's still going..." Essex chuckles, nodding though. "There's also a couple in iceland that I think refer to Hel, not Hell, though that's just a matter of pronounciation." And theological construct, but who's counting here, eh? "Wow, though. Nature has a knack for outdoing anything we could come up with on our own."

Circumstance of occupancy though, draws him to looking around "Now that's a question..." Sinister takes steps further into the geoid, looking around slowly at the smoothed out pathways into this Cave of wonder. "It's a little like the Lascaux caves in Montignac, France. Look..." he indicates an area of pre-historic cave art, but unlike the french caves, it isn't bison and horses, people and dogs, but dinosaurs that are depicted, in a similar ilk. One particular one has a rainbow dome depicted in muted but obviously mirroring paints. Primative paints never quite pop like the techniques used to create modern colours, after all. A sensor is removed from his kit bag, calibrated and he takes some base readings as he observes, trying to find any other entrance. "Either they used to come in from the passage we ourselves opened up once again, or there has to be some other way. It seems illogical that they'd have used our entrance, we had to literally dig down to it through fault lines to gain access. Interesting, indeed..."

Lucifer has posed:
"No chance that the land shifted enough to bury what was once someone's home? Though... the geoid aspects wouldn't have been around...and it seems like they literally lived inside the geoid..." Lucifer says this much and then decides that there will only be one true way to figure out if there's another entrace that perhaps is now hidden from perhaps rock slides or other such natural occurrences. He pulls a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and takes one out, proffering the pack to Nathaniel as well just because. "I can't imagine it not being safe to light up... and if I remember anything about basic... science and stuff... if there's a draft of any kind, the smoke will waft because of it." Though he doesn't light up just yet. He wants to make sure that nothing will come of it and leaves that decision to the actual scientiest in the room. He's just going off memory.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister holds up a finger for a moment, looking at his scanner. A few flicks and alternate programs and he does a slow turn on the spot, as a little ariel protrudes from one side and does a little 'air capture' swallow. "Analyzing..." Beep! "...ok, no dangerous levels of atmospheric gases. Low on oxygen, but neither of us need that. Should be safe and there ought to be enough oxygen to smoke a cigarette...." he rolls his head, reaches up and rubs the back of his neck, scratching there a few times. "The structural integrity of the chamber seems to suggest that it's always been where it is. There's no evidence of a collapse from the surface."

Looking around and at the light, he nods toward it. "That's the source of the radiation. It's producing alpha and gamma waves in an odd ratio." The proffered cigarette is floated over, set to his lips.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer nods a little, waiting for the all clear and okay to light up and then he snaps a finger to light his own cigarette before offering the hellflame to Sinister as well. "Hmmn. Well, I mean depending on how long before you discovered this place, I suppose someone could have lived here...you said you dug along fault lines? So... that could have shifted and closed off what was once the entrance here?" Inhale, exhale but in a slow circle to see if the smoke drifts anywhere by a pull or gets blown a certain direction from somewhere. It's a thing! Right? Right. When the light is pointed out, Lucifer looks right towards it and even approaches to look at it closely. Little radiation won't hurt the Devil.

Sinister has posed:
All it really succeeds in doing is causing an accidental 'devil face' that's transitory. The Alpha radiation, close up, does cause the skin to blister and burn, but when you're Lucifer, that just sloughs off and renews. It's an interesting view from Sinister's perspective though, watching the regeneration of inconsequential surface discolouration. It lights up Luci's eyes, too, awakens that inner glow simply by reflection. "You are so very alluring, you know that?" He comments with a soft chuckle. A gesture is made to the crystals "...it brings out your inner otherworldly." He watches too, the way the smoke drifts. There are cracks, plus the major entrance that they came in at, so short of a large scale observable smoke bomb, where the air travels is inconclusive.

He draws closer, coming up beside and exhibiting a similar peel-and-heal phenomenon as he nears. "I wonder if these are just the conduit of the energy, refracting it as light. Crystals conduct energy extremely well, after all. That's the entire basis of the silicone chip being able to convert energy into information."

Lucifer has posed:
"Alluring when radiation is burning up my face?" Lucifer quips and grins while looking over towards Nathaniel. Watching as the man approaches and begins to get the same melt regen that Lucifer did. "As interesting as it is to feel and watch... it's also kind of irritating after a bit." He says this as he shifts back enough so he's not being all melty-faced and takes another drag off his cigarette. "So do we cut through the crystal to see if there's something behind it? Take the crystal for testing?" Then he thinks about it. "Or did you bring stuff so you could test on site and then determine what to take with you?"

Sinister has posed:
Sinister grins, shedding skin layers as he steps back, slinging off his kit bag with it. "Diagnostics are us," he winks, setting up an iPad kind of device, a portable supercomputer technically speaking and several electrodes on sticky pads. These he arranges on the surface of the crystals. "I didn't know what I was going to find in here, so brought a varied amount of tools." Floating up he drifts to the upper wall, placing more electrodes until he has seven set up on various spots. The necessary amount to be able to do three dimensional triangulation in space.

Readings come in, all of them unclear until he starts moving the triangulation points, to 'clear up' the flow of data. "Looks like the... source of this radiation energy is the volcano itself. Like concentrated radiation is being focused into this geoid, thanks to the crystaline structure. See if you can spot a loose one that's fallen off. I don't want to run the risk of breaking the natural machine, for the sake of my curiosity."

There's tiny fragments, possibly enough to do Mass spectrometry on, to discern what they're made of, at least. Sinister scratches at his neck again, then at his throat, and chin.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer watches as Nathaniel works to set everything up, interested in the process and whatever readings they can find. "Well, you always do come prepared. I think that's the Boy Scout in you." A pause. "You were a Boy Scout right? Or something similar?" Asking this as he looks back to where the crystalline in the wall is that is radiating light. Incenerating his cigarette since he's done with it, he steps forward and reaches. Watching as his skin sloughs off and reheals as he finds a couple of loose, broken pieces that he can grab and pull back before turning around to take them to Nathaniel. "Will these work?"

Sinister has posed:
"Oh yes. I was a boy scout. I learned all my knots and my wild animal paw marks, got all my badges...including pathfinding and archery," Goody two shoes little kid, was Essex, once upon a nevermind. Doing his duty by his father and family name, helpful, kind, considerate and always prepared. Not all of that stuck, rather obviously. He scratches at his cheek again, catches himself doing it and peers at his fingertips, eyeing the walls suspiciously, then the devil as he finds what he was looking for. "Oh, those should do splendidly. Is there anything else you want to take from here? Or are you happy with the geoids?" He smiles, going around with the ipad now to do some spectroscopy on the walls, recording video of the find and taking photographs of all the carved animal bones, paintings and suchlike. For catalogue purposes.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer raises a brow even as he offers over the crystals and almost seems hesitant a moment. "Are you alright? You keep itching your face..." He offers this gently and then he tilts his head one way and then the other. "Also, no, I do not think there is anything else here that I wish to take. The geodes were the main thing because I think they're beautiful...especially since they are different inside for each one." Offering that much with another smile and then watches as Nathaniel does his cataloging. "I take it we're about done here? Or was there anything else you needed to do?"

Sinister has posed:
"Alright and... I know, I guess I put it down to the radiation causing itchiness but I'm not close enough to it for that to be the case at the moment. Something odd is going on, so I'm attempting to be quick." Sinister replies, taking the last pictures and setting down one of his small GPS devices, so that his tentacle teleportation ring can operate here, if necessary. He straightens, looking around the place one more time for good measure and approaches Lucifer. "I will be curious to see how they are on the inside, whether they're amethyst or another crystal. Citrine geoids are particularly lovely." He smiles, indicating the exit strategy with an incline of his head and a proffered hand. "Our carriage awaits."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer nods and then looks around one last time. "Right. So lets get you out of here..." He offers gently after Nathaniel finishes all of his work inside the gargantuan geode. Following him back out of the entry way and then over towards the monorail cart where he finds a helping hand to lead him back inside and settling down. "This will be interesting indeed. Will you allow me to take at least one geode home? The prettiest one, of course. The others can stay in the Institute... perhaps in our room?" Or a room? His room? He hasn't figured out those logistics yet.

Sinister has posed:
"Of course, the prettiest one it is." The logistical quandary catches Sin's attention as once settled, the mag-lev turns the seat by gyroscopic stabilizer so that they're facing the right way of travel and rockets off. Curious, he steeples his brows up, studying. <<Would you like a little museum within the botanical gardens? A room where you can keep odd items from here? An extra vault, I suppose, second to Lux?>>

Reaching over, he brushes fingertips at Luci's temple, moving hairs back behind the ear, watching his digits move as he does so. Hairline, shape of ear shell, jaw, corner of eye, deep blues.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer seems to actually smile a little brighter, if such a thing for the Lightbringer is possible, and then he nods. <<I would like that very much. Never know what little bits and trinkets I might find. And I suppose it's not too difficult to know I do like keeping such things...>> He's like a crow or a raven in that regard. Keeping all of his shinies in places.

Eyes close for a moment at the feel of those brushing fingers and as they open he turns his head to look directly upon Nathaniel. A hand shifting to rest on the man's thigh, giving it a slow squeeze as his smile simply remains. But it's that melting smile that Nathaniel has been addicted to since day one. "I love you."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister's eyes soften at that expression of happiness. It's because it's wide open and shines, rather than looks saucy or as if the devil knows the darkest secret you're dying not to share. Happiness has no price and no equal, it seems. He leans in, claims those lips in a kiss that lingers as wind rushes by, lets his hand slide to cupping that cheek, then, as is often the case when he feels odd moments of demonstrativeness, he reaches arms around for a sincere hug. <<I shall have one crafted in your favourite spot of the biodome and you can have at it for decoration purposes,>> he informs.

The ride up to the ledge is uneventful and seems to go quicker than the ride down, mostly because there's little anticipation the other way. No 'are we there yet?' to make it seem to last so much longer. The tray of geodes collected, Sin takes a lungful of the relatively cleaner air and looks off toward where the Institute is hidden. "Teleportation sound appropriate?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer returns that kiss surely, and when the hug comes, he returns that as well. A gentle but also firm squeeze of the man he's embraced with. Truly the Devil is happy, and genuinely so. <<Thank you, love.>> He offers within the mind until the kiss breaks in a gentle way and the hug ends.

Uneventful rides are...uneventful. Quicker perhaps, yes, because you're seeing things you've seen before. After things are collected and they step out into wholly fresh air, Lucifer smiles. "Yes. Yes it does." He offers to that final question about teleporting, and will then likely initiate such, arm in arm, one step, two step, and then they are at the Institute's entrance.

Sinister has posed:
<<You are very welcome, my beloved.>> Each moment enjoyed thoroughly, companionable teleportation two-step takes them where they need to go. Perhaps it was the teleportation that triggered it though, but as they emerge at the entrance of the Institute, it appears that Sinister has caught fire in spots. Ash dusts him, where internal toxins have burned out of his flesh, which seems at least to be a surprise to him. A few little flames lick up his cheekbone past his eye, more around where he'd been breathing from time to time, leaving him dusting off his moustache and goatee of ash. Examining his hand, he looks rather baffled as the main doors slide open to allow them entrance into the biodome.

Lucifer has posed:
"Oh gracious..." Lucifer offers when they finish teleporting and Nathaniel has caught fire. "This is... odd. Very odd..." Though once it seems Nathaniel is done burning and is free of ash, he looks to the entrance doors. "Should we get you somewhere? To perhaps... I dunno.. do some tests? Make sure you're okay?" There is worry in Lucifer's voice even if he tries to mask it with simply being steadfast to help Nathaniel in any way he can. "Maybe we should leave these outside the Institute for right now or... put them in a... safe transport device carrier thing?"

Sinister has posed:
"Mmmm, hardly a typical reaction to teleportation, that's for sure," Sinister removes his pack again, taking out a small bag with an electronic seal at both ends; a high tech ziploc. Opening the one side with a squeeze that releases the clamps, he floats the crystals into the bag and seals it up. Lights at each corner go from red to green as the containment field exerts itself. "I think the little geodes ought to be fine..." he says after passing his sensor over them a couple of times. "Only ordinary background radiation you'd expect to find in rock." He pauses, stares at the samples in the bag a short while, then looks significantly at Lucifer. "I think I should be thanking you all over again, your splice doesn't like foreign influence."

Lucifer has posed:
"Alright. If you're sure." Lucifer comments about the geodes after watching Nathaniel seal away the crystals. A once over given to the man again and then he actually chuckles at the last comment. "Well, I didn't really know that was a thing..." He looks himself over, like he's expecting to begin spotaneously combusting in areas himself now. "Still, you're welcome. But we should find out what's gotten into you... quite literally..."

Sinister has posed:
Yes, they should. "In my efforts to understand what happened to me the night that I spliced you into myself, I've done some experimentation on the sly. Various mutagens," As the doors close behind them, making sure that they're protected agaist suddent intrusion by giant life forms, Sinister makes a flinging gesture at the wall. A little montage of illusion plays there: Of Nathaniel laying rather livid green slime on a portion of his skin and watching it burn off. Injection of suspensions that similarly burn off or create projectile vomiting of flammable stomach contents. Holding up a vial that quite obviously shows the radioactive warning label on it, his fingertips catch flame where they hold it and seem to burn it all away.

"I realized that the splice rejects mutagenics, anything that would change your DNA in any way, because it doesn't see the fact that it's a foreign part in me. It more considers I've become part of it, I suppose." Sinister explains that, which does make him look at the crystals. "Must be rather strong mutagenic properties to that radiation. Usually, radiation mutations in nature take several generations to occur... but I suppose the Celestial in me just doesn't like anything that it thinks might be dodgy."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer raises a brow as he looks to the wall where Sinister gestures towards, watching the montage that plays out. He tilts his head one way, then the other, a brow raises and then lowers. He looks back to Sinister after a moment and offers, "If any of these sly experiments had gone wrong, what would you have done?" Asking this with concern in his voice. There may be something else there as well. He knows Sinister does all sorts of scientific work. Testings and the like...but most the time he does them on his others. This was done to himself, and secretly. There might be a part of Lucifer that doesn't quite like this fact.

"Well, at least you know this now I suppose. So the Celestial genetics think they're a part of you, you mean? And now they're rejecting anything else that you try to put up against them." He offers in a sort of rehash of what Sinister just said. "That or the radiation mutations here are a lot stronger and present... or maybe have already had generations to mature." This said at last and he glances back to Nathaniel as he says it.

Sinister has posed:
"Your Malachite heart is still imbedded in mine, my love. Had anything gone wrong, you would've been the very first to know. Besides which, the applications were very carefully controlled," they didn't look like they were! "...in that the foreign mutagens were hardly something I couldn't have dealt with on my own. But I had to understand." Because he can't stand not understanding, fundamentally. "Anything that could potentially corrupt them, I suppose. Given that they're end of gene telomeres, mostly with a little extra, I suppose they're rebellious against being unable to replicate properly. It is quite astounding though, that such a small portion of that which is you, has such a large effect on organism integrity."

Sinister steps up, reaches to place his hand on Lucifer's upper arm. "I'm still not utterly sure why I got the wings. I suspect it may be that some things are not grounded in the mundane and I simply had to be remade in a different image. I promise, I was perfectly safe." His hand drops, nodding faintly. "I shall have to take some samples of the indigenous mutates that call this place home. Nng. I may have to employ a subtle knife there, as has been established, I'm not supposed to be here."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer still wears a sort of face, but it dials back a lot when he's reminded that there's a certain heart within Sinister - literally - that will call to him. "Why do I forget about that?" Asking about the heart, not anything else. "And while I know you do all this in controlled environments and as carefully as possible... seeing it like that on a montage screen in various ways that don't look safe is kinda worrisome." He offers, but he smiles, because he now understands tit for tat.

"I don't know why you got the wings either. Maybe there was just something that called to them. Or, like you said, a certain reconstruction because... or maybe because it was literally copying me. I mean your wings and mine... they act like they're their own soul mates to a degree..." He offers and then leans in to nuzzle the man. "Do you mean not supposed to be here in the Lands, or.. like.. here on this earth in general?"

Sinister has posed:
"THe former, not the latter. Well, I'm sure that they'd probably not like me to be on the Earth in general, that's a sentiment shared by a great many, but..." Sinister shrugs, waves a hand dismissively. "I flaunt expectations and don't take fashion advice from people that think spandex is a fashion statement." He grins. Oh, there's been a few sartorial quips laid against the X-men a time or two in his existence. "For some reason, their attempts at exterminating me never stick. A few times they've come close, but no cigar."

Laying his hand against the small of Lucifer's back, he tilts his head a little bit "I wonder at that too, though. Maybe out of sight is out of mind? Or perhaps it's because I so rarely call upon you. And am but a thought away, on the worst of days." He muses a few moments, pressing lips together.

"They do seem to call to one another, as if they are linked, one and the same. It's actually very hard to keep mine contained, if yours are out and -close- to me at least. But mine are a paltry shadow of yours, I suppose that may be why they picked the colour that they did."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer now makes a silly face at Sinister and then gives a small shake of his head. "What's interesting is that I've met a few of those spandex wearing fashion statements. Though they weren't wearing spandex at the time... Couple of them were kinda hot too. Shame they're seemingly mortal enemies of yours." He offers and then shrugs before sort of leaning against Nathaniel.

"Maybe. Out of sight out of mind makes sense, and the fact that it hasn't had to use itself. Like I remember giving you the heart, and I remember you keep it on you, I just forget that you keep it -in- you." He sighs. "If that even makes sense. Maybe I'm just a horrible person with a shit memory."

As far as the wings are concerned he thinks on it for a moment and then nods. "You know, that's likely the thing of it. They are shadows of my wings, in a few ways. But they are now in you. Almost like you spliced the wings in half. or stole their shadow. Some fancy thing like that." He chuckles at himself. "So... where shall we go? Tea? The lab? Both?"

Sinister has posed:
"They're a fun bunch. Most of them don't try and kill me on sight, but they do, a great many of them, have preconceptions. Well earned, I wager, but..." Sin leans left and right, sucks air through his teeth. "It's all a matter of perspective and grudges. And occasionally, moral compasses. I don't regret or care what is thought about me, strictly. I just get annoyed when people don't see the bigger pictures and get hung up on the nitty gritty details. Overall, I disagree that I've been atrocious. Just individually, I can't dismiss that. Nevertheless, it's purposeful." Which is a ramble, but we'll reserve our own judgement.

"Well, you are a horrible person, but only if people deserve it. Your memory is expansive and inherently manifold. So," Sinister rubs with his thumb where his hand touches the devil's back. "My misunderstood masterclass in style." He leads through the biodome to a nice little sub-aquatic dome lounge, in order to serve coffee, not tea, with liquor as a side-bar in adulting. Irish in tea is less appetising than Irish in coffee, as it were. "How does one steal something's shadow though, when you didn't even know it was possible?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer ah's and nods his head at the rambling that occurs in regards to the X-Men. He's heard this story before, in various ways, and it always intrigues him. Is Sinister a villain? Depends on context. He, himself, will claim to be a bad guy... but it's all circumstantial.

"I suppose it is true that I am a horrible person to people who deserve it..." He offers this and then gives a little chuckle while feeling that thumb against his back. A small chuffed sound comes from him as they make it to the lounge for alcoholic coffee. "Mysteries of the Celestial. I have no idea how to explain it. Honestly. It's just a thought I came up with on how to describe what happened..."

Sinister has posed:
"YOu know what? You're Peter Pan. It fits if you think about it, the immortal lad who never wants to grow up-- except that you did, but adulting is not what it's cracked up to be, half the time, eh? Nevertheless, I stole your shadow. Which makes me Wendy." Sinister chuckles at this, clinks his coffee against Lucifer's own and sighs a little, a happy sound as he lets the expression on his face settle to mild, but pleased.

"Question: if I died and ended up somehow in hell, would you take me as a personal case?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer blinks, and then laughs, and then he shakes but also nods his head. "So I suppose that would make Vlad...who...Tinker Bell?" Which just makes him laugh a little harder at the sheer thought of it. He then sips on his coffee, once he's able to compose himself, and hears that question, posed as a question, fill his ears. He seems to really think on it. Silent for a long moment before he sets his coffee to the side and makes it so he's facing Sinister straight on.

"If you died and ended up in Hell, you would not just be a personal case. I would ensure that every demon, daemon, ghost and goblin knows that you are mine. I would make it so that none else could do anything against you as you are and always shall be under my protection. Now, then, and all the time in between. You won't just become a personal case, my love, you ARE a personal case and have been since you stole my heart and decided to keep it."

Sinister has posed:
"It was such a precious thing, I couldn't help myself. It deserved to be stolen, coveted and kept in a safe and precious space," All of this is said very softly, quietly and with all the intonation and emphasis that denies argument that it would be a lie. Lucifer doesn't lie, but in this, nor does Sinister. He smiles almost shyly in the wake of it, raising his whiskey laced coffee and taking a long sip. A swallow, then a laugh. "I think immortal from dust to life rather works for Tinkerbell. She.. or rather he in this scenario is resurrected by a strange ritual, though I doubt clapping works over Dracula, unless you're clapping your slit wrists over his dust."

And having said that, Sinister inhales deeply, steps close and kisses. "That means a lot. More than I can ever say. I will just say, I had no choice in keeping your heart though. To discard it would've been to discard my own. There is no difference, in my mind." He touches cheek with knuckles, then nods.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer smiles at the first words that come from Sinister. Those words mean a lot to him, especially in how they're offered. Even more so because Nathaniel speaking things like this is rare form, so when it happens, it's a moment that is quite special indeed. Course, the next thing he mentions about Dracula and Tinkerbell and clapping...well...that almost earns a spit take of coffee as Lucifer barely manages a swallow before he laughs at the notion.

The next thing he knows, he's caught in a kiss for a moment. "And I keep your heart just as coveted and safe, for it is just as precious to me as mine is to you. We keep each other, as well as ourselves, and I think that speaks volumes to our relationship as a whole." He smiles, kisses once more, and then will likely either convince the man to bed or to somewhere silent and private to further enjoy such coveted moments.