14219/All you could Hope for

All you could Hope for
Date of Scene:	23 March 2022
Location:	Lucifer's Penthouse, Melville
Synopsis:	Hope has a house. And a positive effect.
Cast of Characters:	Askante, Lucifer

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Askante has posed:
Never know what's going on in the Penthouse of Lux. All manner of things -could- be occuring, but one thing that perhaps isn't the most usual of things is a cloud of black moths and scittery things popping out of nowhere and condensing into a tall Daemon in a leather stetson. Askante manifests nearby the book shelf, smiling faintly at the plain looking box there. It had been here once before, whispering to the whispers within -- and it takes the box from the shelf silently, to go crouch by the piano, folding itself up and resting its back against the leg there, setting the item on its knee. "I'm back. I promised I would be." It says quietly, with a stroke of the wood.

It took no permissions to come, bypassed all security downstairs, but such is the nature of fear, it sneaks in.

Lucifer has posed:
With Sinister actually away on business, Lucifer hasn't really thought of what to do with himself. So when Askante lets itself into his penthouse without warning, permission, or anything like that it takes the Devil a moment to realize who is there. Though by the time he figures it out, he sees Askante stroking that box and gives a little smirk. "Ah, Askante, my friend. Such a surprise to see you here again." And this time without invite - but Lucifer doesn't mind really. "Back to pay Hope a visit?"

Askante has posed:
"Aye," looking up as the Devil arrives, one hand removes its hat, respectfully, setting it on the piano stool. It smiles, a light in its black eyes as it adds: "I have brought Hope books with pictures of cats and monkeys and other cute creatures with writing that says trite positive statements. It will love it. And sweets, hotdogs and sand from a beach, seashells and teenie tiny farm animals made of plastic." It beams as it extracts all of these things from various pockets, including the motivational poster meme book. It's a bit ratty and rolled up, but there we go. "I am going to go and visit it. Do you want to come see?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer listens as Askante explains as well as watches while it takes all these items from it's pockets. He smiles a little and then motions gently. "I am sure it will appreciate all those things..." He offers this and then moves to step closer. "I would like to come see, yes. Are you sure I'll be able to both enter and exit? I mean, surely you did such a thing, but isn't one like me a bit different from one like you?" He asks this merely in a curious fashion, meaning to perhaps chance it regardless of the risks.

Askante has posed:
Askante considers that, pressing its lips thin and making a pout of them, twisting them left and right as it thinks on the question. "I don't know. Language is a funny thing, turned inside and out, it paints some fun images. You can dance upon the head of a pin, in infinite numbers you know. But I can go anywhere bound to the earth herself. It's a quandary." Smoothing the wood of the box, it looks from thin air to Lucifer. "If you're with me, it should be fine. I can take you with me when I go. No barrier can stop me, no door can hold me out."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer nods. "Alright. That sounds fair. I'm sure that, if nothing else, I can get myself back to some place and then return here. I'm sure it will be fine." He further says this before giving a smile. Watching as it strokes the box for a bit longer before finally offering over a hand. "Shall we then?"

Askante has posed:
The Daemon stares a long moment, then nods a few times in rapid succession. "Should be able to," hope springs eternal, particularly when you keep it in a box, right? It glances at the hand, then takes a good grip with two of its own, above and below, to help Lucifer sit. Not to help itself get up. It's an odd critter, often enough. The other two hands gently unfasten the box and lift the lid, spilling forth that oh-so-gentle light of promise that is the time in the first light of morning. That scent of new buds and extinguished birthday candles.

And that sensation that within the light, an unfathomably deep hole exists, dizzifying, mind bending and somewhat voracious ...disgorging? Yeah, the 'turnkey' mostly faces outward so to speak, expelling, not entrapping, so this may make things easier.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer sits with the help of Askante and watches as it opens up the box and that light comes forth. It seems a bit brighter than it appeared before - perhaps because it was expectant that this moment would come? When Asktante would visit again and then kept it's promise. The scent comes first, the warmth next, and then there's the shifting of them leaving the penthouse and entering the deep hole that doesn't seem to have a bottom. Until it does have a bottom and they are within.

Askante has posed:
For not having to use muscles or move at all, that journey is surprisingly long and quite exhausting in its own way. As if throughout, one had to swim upstream against the current.

It's surprisingly warm inside and though the mind knows better than to expect anything that carries logic with it like an old friend, it strongly resembles a earthen cottage in here. The walls though, are rather boxy. Distinctly so. On the inside, there's glyphs of a different nature than the ones on the outside of the box -- the carvings glow, filled with that warm light, making the interior seem cosy.

Of note however, attempting to read those glyphs makes the eyes water, as if they deliberately attempt not to be read and comprehended.

Comfortable furniture of a simple nature lines the place, old stone tables and benches, worn smooth. There's papyrus scrolls of a variety in a cubby of one wall and a nest of interwoven feathers of white, lined with similarly white down.

And there, nestled in that nest and rising with the visitors, is a small entity. Hope is very birdlike, small child-like and frail and it glows. If one looks at it the right way, it resembles a dove, but that its face is humanoid, sweet and large of eye, as if it came straight out of an anime. Its hair is long feathers which frame its face, a face that smiles brilliantly. "Hello!!"

Lucifer has posed:
"My dear Hope. How wonderful it is to finally meet you..." Lucifer offers this and then gives her a slight bow. "You look an absolute picture.." This and then he glances to Askante and nods to it. "Thank you for bringing me down here. This place is... rather quaint... simple. But also...whole. I like it." He does get stuck on a glyph or two but then averts his gaze to something else entirely to just take in his surroundings as a whole.

Askante has posed:
Hope does seem like a she, in the same way that Askante is chock full of androgeny. She fluffs like a chicken and bows back, despite that not being the classic kind of response. "I have been in your care for so long now, it's is good to meet face to face! SO many interesting conversations, but so many people that had lost the glimmer inside them. It was sad to feel them all, sometimes. Occasionally, they got it back when you helped them, Fallen Demiurge." She claps tiny hands and waddle-sways over to a shelf carved beneath one particularly snakey glyph. Three small egg-cup sized cups are collected and an earthenware bottle tied with hemp, all of which are ferried back and set down.

Meanwhile, Askante is unburdening its pockets of trinkets to give its sister. Sand in a bottle is shaken with a grin, set down for the birdlike one, along with the tiny animals, motivational posterbook, hotdogs and candy.

Lucifer has posed:
"You have been. It is good to meet you face to face as well. I am glad there have been interesting conversations." Though when she talks to him about the glimmers he has given back to people over the years, Lucifer actually flushes a bit. "I have only given people the ability to walk the a new path. They have to be the ones to take those first steps and then keep on walking." This much and then he looks to Askante who is quickly laying out all the trinkets it brought. "I am sorry...but I do not have a trinket or any sort of gift for you. Next time. I will make sure to bring something."

Askante has posed:
"Oh, I didn't ask. My sibling has a strange fascination for human culture and the things that they make. It always has, since it discovered the first bone carved to look like a fish leaping. But I like seeing what it finds." Hope replies, but shakes her head to Lucifer. "The glimmer is very hard to kill completely, but when it is lost it is hard to get it back. Giving that gift is what allows people to walk a different road." She explains with a nod that bespeaks that she Knows This <tm> and that the devil should just take the compliment on the nose.

"Look!" Askante holds up a tiny plastic cow. "They don't even need to carve it any more. They have taught machines to squish shapes and to paint them to look like tiny farm life. Remember when they discovered how to befriend the cows and keep them safe? They were happy then, that they could drink milk." It sets the figure down. "And this is a hot dog. It is neither a dog nor is it hot any more, but it is made of all kinds of bits of meat and nobody argues with it. They put hot rapeseed press into it, for fun."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer would protest further, but something about what she says and how she says it stops Lucifer in his tracks. He says nothing more to debate, and then lowers his head respectfully. "Well I am glad for that. That I help, somewhat, at the end of all." Especially since most people would throw him under the bus more for hindering things in the process. There's a glance, then, to Askante and how it gets all excited over the small things. A step taken towards the table and he offers, "I might be able to make the hotdog hot again. They're wonderful when they're warmed up..."

Askante has posed:
Hope smiles and it's the kind of thing that makes a body feel like tomorrow is a brand new day and golly gosh, it could be anything at all! You could win the lottery, meet the love of your life, discover how to bungie jump from suspenders even! This particular Daemon would definitely be a loss to the world if it hadn't let itself be entrapped. But one supposes, if it was out and about in the world, people might get a bit giddy with hopefullness and do silly things.

"Ohhh, yes yes. Although not charred in hellfire. That's not a good hotdog, that's a charcoal brickette. I learned those are things that people pray to, on summer days when they can't get the barbeques to light."

Lucifer has posed:
"I don't just char things in hellfire, my friend." Lucifer says to Askante. He reaches then and takes the hotdog in hand, holding it firmly, it soon begins to steam and sizzle just a little. He then sets it back into it's packaging. "There. Like it's hot off the grill." He says this and then looks around for a brief moment before glancing back to Hope. Nothing more is said, he's simply basking in her presence. It's likely a thing.

Askante has posed:
This might end up BEING a thing, really. Feeling down in the dumps or particularly overwhelmed? Take a trip to Hope's house and just sit there playing tic-tac-toe, or chess, or tiddlywinks with her. End up feeling like it might not be so bad after all.

The hotdog is held up like a holy relic, where there should be a full on church choir singing arias... then is cut with a long claw into three pieces. Hope herself pours from the earthen bottle into the tiny cups, a beverage that is both thick and smells distinctly chocolatey. "Kiff," she informs, which is both rich and burns in the stomach very pleasantly. She nibbles on the hotdog third but it does seem as if she enjoys it, certainly she makes some odd faces at the entirely new experience.

Eventually though: "Do you know if any of our other siblings still remain?" Hope asks this... hopefully.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer lifts up his own cup and does a mock toast before taking a sip of the contents. "Oh. Oh that's lovely. Is it a recipe or..something that exists?" He might have to find some for Sinister to try. Then he picks up his third of the hotdog to nibble on. And that's that. He will enjoy time with Fear and Hope, likely doing all the above things. Tiddlywinks, chess, poker maybe? Just enjoying the time until it is time for them to go...