14164/LUX: You never know what might happen

LUX: You never know what might happen
Date of Scene:	02 March 2022
Location:	Club Lux, Melville
Synopsis:	A young... empowered person? That's what they're calling them these days... comes to Lux to support a family member singing at Jazz night. The power of Inspiration is incredibly, incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands...
Cast of Characters:	Sinister, Lucifer

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Sinister has posed:
It appears to be jazz night. Local singers that require a little extra spotlight to launch careers is not unheard of in Lux, after all. It's not quite open mic, but there is a line-up that has some of the usual clientelle watching and listening. And of course, there are flavours of jazz; this one, afro-centric makes use of some very different kinds of instruments not usually heard in such easy listening. The beat is far more catchy than most jazz numbers are known for and afterwards it's supposed to be swing jazz. There are people on the floor already, which could make it quite packed down there.

At the end of the horse-shoe of bar, Nathaniel Essex is not really paying a whole lot of attention to the music. He has a largeish, but pristinely cared for sketch book in hand is why - and appears to be using a fountain pen with considerable skill.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer is behind the bar at the moment, serving drinks and talking up some of the customers. There's a lovely couple of ladies who are simply *fawning* over the Devil and getting more and more drunk in the process. It's an interesting thing, really, and sometime in Lucifer's sordid past he would have taken every advantage. Tonight, he doesn't, not in the beginning. Though he might already be working on giving the ladies a special night regardless - just not with him.

His head nods to the beat of the music being played and he loves just how packed the downstairs gets when fledgling jazz musicians and singers are trying to spread their wings a bit. Once his two ladies are satisfied, he slips down to the end of the bar where Nathaniel is putting fountain pen to sketch pad. "Does this mean you're bored or studious?"

Sinister has posed:
Sinister's hand upon the pen lifts, a blotter artfully applied to cover what he's working on as Lucifer approaches and he doesn't remove it, gently rubbing the back of it with what could be a roll of quarters but is in actual fact a proper blotter from the nineteenth century. There is a half-smile given as he watches his work, sliding eyes up to the Host with a sparkle in their depths, before he checks himself on the women at the bar. "Neither actually. For once in a long while, I was feeling a little bit on the creative side. I used to have moments of whimsy, once upon a time and it got... kindled." He replies, applying the roller with care and fastidiousness.

The floor is glanced at, the mood of the moment assessed with the lights from below reflecting on the planes of his face in sharp relief. "Fresh talent has a knack, doesn't it?" he observes, looking at the lead vocalist with her rather impressive range. "Revenue will definitely be in tonight." No sneak peeks. He seems to be being remarkably cagey.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer tries to peek at whatever it is Sinister is doodling and then his eyes shift to the floor and he gives a nod. "Well, feeling creative surely isn't a bad thing, of course." This much offered as he expertly serves a glass of cognac to the Doctor. Though he does note the sort of...attitude? Air? That's around Nathaniel for the moment and a curious tilt is given with his head. "Everything alright? You seem a little...beside yourself somehow?" Asking this as he glances down then to the two ladies who have since been approached by two men. Asked to go down and dance. Yes, follow the moths to the fire, little women.

Sinister has posed:
"No, but it is unusual," Nathaniel replies, looking at the blotter pad with a frown, then the floor as the little women find their moths and the inferno of the dance. He looks across the singers and the instrumentalists again, back slow to the crowd that rings the floor and the artists waiting in the wings for their turn to shine under the light. He scratches at his cheek idly with a fingernail then groom-wipes his lips with a little rub of the thumb in the groove beneath them. It's an oddly nervous gesture that he's not prone to giving.

"I don't rightly know. I don't -think- anything is off," the reply is made with a slow and steady sweep of the crowd with his eyes. Hunting along painted faces and the chiselled types of look that speak of hours and hours of work to make them look that way. "How peculiar."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer frowns a bit and then he shifts to exit from behind the bar and moves to sit in the stool next to Nathaniel, a hand shifting to rest on his arm. "You seem nervous. Is there some oddness in the air or something?" Though neither of them have seemed to feel anything odd, but sometimes Nathaniel can sense things that Lucifer cannot - and vice versa. "I don't think anything is off either, but your actions are saying otherwise. Not that I'm trying to seem like I'm critisizing you. I'm just worried."

Sinister has posed:
"If I said that it feels like something is crescendoing, would that make a lick of sense?" Sinister asks, as Lucifer comes to sit next to him instead of with the bar between. There's a glance to the hand on his arm, which is where he realizes that all the hairs on his forearm are standing on end. That makes him blink and look from the hand upon him, to the proprietor of the illustrious establishment. He reaches for the sketchpad then and brings it forward.

There's not just the one image -- far from it, in fact. With photorealistic detail, he's managed to capture in crosshatch and very meticulous pointelism, the expression of passion on the face of one of the singers earlier, creating an illusion of smoke and shadow with it, in negative space. Another is of Roxie with her tray, sashaying in such a manner as to be professional but alluring; people are even reflected in her eyes, the hints of faces seen. A third is of Lucifer himself, his aspect gracious but also with a hint of hauteur, in one of the moments where he was simply watching the crowd, reflection in the surface of Lilith's ring on his hand. That's where it's visible and THEN it's visible in all of the images: in the reflective surfaces, be it eyeballs, the shine of the mic that's being sung into, or the black of a ring, there's a figure, infuriatingly indistinct.

Lucifer has posed:
"Somewhat. Like in music when it's coming to a head right? About to reach a peak and then fall out. You feel like something is coming? Or someone?" Lucifer asks this right about when Nathaniel brings the sketchpad forward and reveals what he's been drawing. Taking in the singer, Roxie, the detail of the piece. The negative space that creates smoke and shadow. How people reflect in the eyes of the waitress - one of their favorite on staff really. He sees himself and that makes him smirk just a bit before he finally finds the other thing. The figure that's there, that can't be made out, and he can sense how that would be frustrating...cause it's driving him a little crazy as well and he's just seen it. "Hmm...something there but not really there...I wonder how we can make it show itself..."

Sinister has posed:
"I'm not even sure if it's an it. A them? A they. A nebulous they. Maybe I'm having a moment of feeling something oncoming or somesuch thing. Or maybe something else," he looks about again, a slow fastidious narrowing of the eyes and that perceptive sweep once again; how many people can feel the brush of thoughts when they happen and are clearly not their own? Well, if truth be told, it can be seen as a ripple effect across the dancefloor. Jane looks at Joe, Joe looks at Mike, Mike looks at Tsion, Tsion looks at the drummer, on and on, face to face, human being to human being, all except...

One.
There. In the corner by the corridor to the washroom. A curtain hiding her mostly.
A woman, mousey hair, glasses, mousy mannerism. She's dressed like she should be here, but the little black number is more modest than the average person. She holds a clutch, but it's more practically sized than what may typically be found, also. She looks nervous. Eager? And she does NOT look like she's eighteen.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer leans back in his stool, pulling a silver case from his inner pocket and pops it open to offer a cigarette to Nathaniel. Taking one for himself as well. Lighting them with a flick of hellfire from his finger, he takes a long drag while glancing off in the direction that Nathaniel found the offender to be in. "How much you want to bet on how old she really is? I got a hundred pounds that says she's...fifteen." This and a grin. Wondering if Nathaniel will even take the bet, and then further still he wonders if he should do anything about it. He has standards in his club, a rule that one MUST be over 18 to get in. Anyone younger and that's just a whole heap of trouble he does not need himself or anyone else at the club to get into.

Sinister has posed:
"I'd wager you're correct," Sinister replies, with a glance to the devil and then to the nicotine stick. Pluck, tap, tap, tap, tap. Set to lips, he waits for the ignition to strike and leans himself back on the bar stool. "She came in, knowing the risk..."

He might have been about to say more, when their mark leaves her position in the shadows, just as the band finishes their afro-jazz and swing comes in. She doesn't bee-line for anyone, just a spot on the floor, eyes on the stage as a youngish man comes up to the mic. He's his early twenties, the same mousy brown hair as the Mark, considerably less shy, no less nervous though.

"Supporting act?" Sinister murmurs, then seems lost in a moment, turning back to the pages of the sketchbook which is drawn back to his lap, the pen to his hand, to begin a fresh image, hand sweeping the exacting lines with swift scientific accuracy.

Even Lucifer might be tempted to get up and dance; the energy levels just spiked considerably as the young woman grins up at her... brother? And he? He sings like this is the 60's and it's the very first time anyone has heard anything like Rock and Roll. Sings with a /passion/ that's unrivaled and the band? It's on fire.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer takes another drag off his cigarette as their mark leaves her position and goes to the dance floor. When she faces the stage, there's just something about the air in the entire club, it shifts just a bit, and Lucifer tilts his head just so. "She did know the risk...which makes it that much more wonderous why she bothered..."

Supporting act seems to be putting it mildly. The man on stage seems a bit nervous, but when the band begins and the man starts singing...there's something else about it. Especially as even Lucifer feels the urge to get up and start dancing. His eyes narrow and he shifts to stand from his seat, moving forward to the railing that keeps one from falling from the top floor.

"Hell's Bells...I... this is familiar... but also not...I...I think I know what it is. It's just... it doesn't fit...cause they're not celestials or..immortals...or..." He frowns a little and glances back. "Mutant maybe?"

Sinister has posed:
Sinister was caught by surprise by that surge of unadultarated EXcellence, with a blatantly obvious capital EX. Testament to willpower however, he marshals himself after he's managed to close off his mind and with an unfortunately loud crack of his knuckles, sets pen and paper back on the bartop, reaching a hand to Lucifer's shoulder -- to experience a mental shield is a strange thing, if one has never been privy to one before, akin to hearing white noise on the inside of your head, but clarity follows and unexpected urges simmer down to the regular kind of foot-tap that might be associated with jolly good music, executed by someone under the influences of an urge to be inspirational.

"It could be that. Meta, or even inhuman. She could even be alien and not know it, without further analysis, I'm taking a wild stab in the dark. And as most know, those tend to be hazardous to the scenery as much as they are to a pinpointed target." He studies the crowd though, most of whom, unremarkably are simply having a very good time. "She is exceptionally dangerous."

Lucifer has posed:
As the white noise settles and filters out the SUPER that is whatever this woman is doing to the music, Lucifer breathes a little bit. Not that he has to, but there's something about taking normal breaths that settle him just a bit in this moment. "Well yes, but it's not like we can just go downstairs, put her in a net and take her to the lab..." He says this with a sneer and then scoffs. "Though I suppose I could go down there and see if I can muster her up some courage to come with me..." A pause. "Dangerous. Yes. We might need to do something, and quick..."

Sinister has posed:
"If we do, it will cause a scene, my dear. At the moment, I would have to caution the SAS about doing that, as what can inspire someone to dance, or to sing their heart out, can also inspire them to turn incredibly violent if they feel they must..." Sinister squeezes the devil's shoulder. "This might be one of those times when it would be prudent to check the security cameras to see how she arrived and call in a favour with the Melville PD. I know it's been a long time since you've worked with them, but I'm sure they can run plates. And run the name on her ID if the bouncer remembers it."

The Doctor lets the grip ease, breathing slow. "If you do anything at all now, we'll have a riot on our hands."

Lucifer has posed:
"And the more sane thought prevails. That is an excellent idea. I'm sure I can call in a favor at the Melville PD, no problem." Lucifer says this and then leans against Nathaniel for a moment. "Surely don't want anything bad to happen, especially in this crowd. Especially with the reputation of Lux on the line... but she has to know she has this sort of power, right? Otherwise why would she risk being here in the first place... and the singer has to be her brother. They look the same..." He offers all of this and then takes another breath. "Alright. Security cameras. I can look them up when we're in the Penthouse..."

Which is likely how the night closes. Cigarettes and drinks finished, and Lucifer will leave it to the staff to properly close the club while he takes himself and Nathaniel upstairs to do some late night recon work...cause that's definitely what we're calling it these days.