16242/A Lesson With the Devil

A Lesson With the Devil
Date of Scene:	06 May 2024
Location:	Club Lux, Melville
Synopsis:	Satana comes to Lucifer for advice, and ends up getting set up for a needed 'Come To Lucifer' talk...
Cast of Characters:	Satana, Lucifer, Zatanna Zatara

---

Satana has posed:
It's unusual for Satana, Lucifer's "favourite" "niece" (self-proclaimed) to actually seek out help. It's even more unusual for her to do so over contractual matters, given that she has a huge legal department at her beck and call *and* a knack for negotiation on top of that. What tops it all, however is...

"Uh, Lord Morningstar?..." Bad sign. She's going formal. The one who uses the nickname that often causes Lucifer a bit of ground bicuspid in his mouth is going formal. "...could I seek out ... ah ..." And ... she's nervous as all Hell on top of that. Almost afraid. This is not going good places. "... well ... counsel? Your counsel?"

The last two words hastily added as if she were afraid he might think she was asking him for someone else's counsel.

"I may have put myself into a bit of a bind, contractually speaking."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer is surprised for a few reasons. Most of them likely known to the succubus who's come to his place of business seeking...counsel? Well. There's a first time for everything it seems.

"You know...regardless of why you come here...you can call me Lucifer." Though admittedly, the 'Lord' part of that was kinda nice to hear. He shakes his head however and gestures. "Satana. You look nervous. Which is not like you. What do you mean you've put yourself in a bit of a bind? Tell me what's going on."

He's at the bar, cause it's a slow night and he was bored so he figured he'd wash some glasses. Maybe work on a new drink. He does put something in front of her. "I'm just guessing a gin and tonic might do you good? Unless you want something else."

Satana has posed:
"Gin and tonic would suit, yes. Or maybe a Collins. Either's fine." Satana then clams up, until the drink is delivered. She then sips on it, making appreciative noises. The entire time failing to make any kind of eye contact. With anybody. Even the eyes undressing her; eyes she'd usually be assessing for food.

"So ... I have to fall in love," she finally says when all excuses not to talk are finished. The empty drink glass is shoved in the direction of the bartender for a refill. "Only problem is ... I don't know how?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer blinks. Did he just hear her right? The refill in her glass comes quickly - cause he's pretty sure he's like him and can't get drunk. "You. Have to fall in love? What kind of contract did you sign where that's a stipulation?" He asks her, tilting his head one way and then the other. He's the Master of Contracts - for all intent and purpose - being he makes them quite often when people are willing to make deals with him.

"My next question is... do you /really/ want to fall in love, or do you want out of the contract causing you to have to be in love? Cause... love... for a succubus... can be a very trying thing. If not dangerous. To a degree. It goes against everything you do in your current lifestyle - unless you can find someone to love you for who and what you are... and love them in return for the same things."

Satana has posed:
Satana's hand waves vaguely. "Oh, the other direction was a cinch. They've already confessed that they love me. A month into the twelve month long task." A hint of the regular Satana shows through with the sly smile. "I'm really good, don't forget."

The subsequent wink fails to hide the troubled eyes.

"I guess I should give you the full story. I saw a Homo Magi who was looking ... bereft. You know. Exactly my type: people who are injured in love and looking for some kind of escape. So I chatted her up, she sussed what I was, and then... well, when I offered the contract she took it up. With the stipulation that she fall in love with me, and I fall in love with her within a year."

Satana makes a wry face. "My legal team was screaming at me something fierce, let me tell you, while they drew that up. But ... the prize, Luci. The prize! One of the most powerful of the Homo Magi in my service. For eternity!"

The shiver that goes through Satana is almost orgasmic.

"And it's so easy to make mortals love me. That was done within a month. Hell, she stepped in against Selaphiel, taking a hit for me. That's easy."

She pauses and looks at Lucifer. "Selaphiel was upset that I've backed an NSBM band, in the usual exchange for success against their souls. It's not the NS part that bugged him, I think, but the fact I've made black metal popular."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer listens to the story as Satana tells it. How she's drawn up a deal with a magician - a powerful one at that - because it was berift and scorned. Loveless. Just what a succubus likes to feast on. The contract surprises him. Mostly because he never thought she'd make a contract she couldn't fulfill her side of. Though, how is the other person supposed to know that there's truly love there? A thought which almost makes Lucifer grin.

"Do you -really- think it's going to be worth it? Love is painful as much as it is wonderful... Satana. You have to learn to let yourself go. To give yourself - all of yourself - to this person. It's taking the same type of falls for them. If she'd stand in the way of Salaphiel... would you do the same for her if someone came after her? I think the most important thing here is either her accepting or you giving up the succubus life." He shrugs then. "Also, why would you come to me for advice on how to love?"

When she continues with explaining about Selaphiel being upset with her, he just smirks. "Eh. He's just always got a thorn in his side when it comes to music."

Satana has posed:
"Because you're the only person who knows me enough to give advice that's useful," Satana answers bluntly. "Mortals don't know *shit* about what I am, how I am, what I go through." There's a certain glow starting to happen in her eyes. Only faint, and really only noticeable because her sclera and iris have both turned pitch black, like her pupil has expanded to cover her whole eye. "Do you know about love? The way you carry on with Sin, I think you do."

Who dares mock Lucifer Himself by miming the finger-in-the-throat thing? This girl. This girl does.

"And you know about me. What I am. What forces operate on me. You don't know everything, but you know more than anybody else I could talk to."

She snorts and pauses to accept the refilled drink, practically guzzling half of it before continuing. "Can you imagine the shit advice Damion would give me? Or FATHER!?" She rolls her eyes. "He's the reason I'm in this mess in the first place; why I have to eat souls. He's not going to approve of me loving someone again."

Waitwhat? Again? Was that a slip of the tongue or ...?

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer pours himself a whiskey on the rocks, taking a sip of the drink while listening to Satana ramble. Sometimes letting someone rant it all out is more telling than doing a back and forth. He gives a little smirk when she mock-gags herself talking about himself and Nathaniel's love life. Going on about how he knows her, not everything, but enough to offer advice. It's why she came to him instead of anyone else she could have gone to.

Then. It happens. That last little bit that tells him what he needs to know.

"So it's less about falling in love...and more about loving someone without your father finding out. Because you burned for the first one...not literally of course...but in his own twisted way of being able to punish you. Fathers, am I right?" A flicker of Hellfire fills his eyes as he continues to watch her.

"Take away the prize. The fact that she loves you. What do you like about her? This homo magi you've coerced into signing a contract. What is it about her that draws you. If anything at all...." Putting it out there. "You tell me yours, and I might give you a peep into mine....tit for tat as it were."

Satana has posed:
Satana looks for a long time at the bar. The dance floor. The decor. The scrollwork along the ceiling. Seems to get very intrigued by the patterns in the bar's top. The shifting and reshifting in her seat suggests, however, that she's thinking instead of avoiding.

"She loves me," the succubus finally says. "It's real. Not my kind of 'love' that I use to steal souls from the Whoreson. Not the 'me love you long time' thing. It's ... the kind where she values me more than herself. That's ... incomprehensible to me, but it's an addictive feeling."

And then the fatal moment. She quickly passes her hand over her eyes while looking away, leaving a hint of a trace of wetness on the exiting side when she looks back.

"I felt that once before. Felt it back." Then something happens to her stance, her eyes, her voice. Her body stiffens, as if ready to rip something or someone to shreds. Her eyes harden like black diamonds with the flames of Hell burning deep within. And her voice gets a second voice--one which Lucifer recognizes as the Basilisk--weighing in just shy of an octave below. "Until HE made me eat him. Inflicted this feeding curse on me so I would send him to eternal torment."

There's no doubting who HE is, but ... who is "him"? This is not a story that is well-known even among the malicious gossip-mongers of demonkind.

"So that appeals. It's comfortable. Until I realize what the end is."

Lucifer has posed:
"Satana..." It's a gentle thing, the way he says her name in that moment. After what all she says - again because he is the type to listen to everything before offering anything in return - and one hand moves to cover hers on the bar top. "You're contradicting yourself a little here, darkling. How can what she does be incomprehensible to you and yet you've known love before?" Though he thinks on it a bit, giving her hand a squeeze. "Is it because you only loved before you were made into what you are now? Is the fear more about falling in love, or your father finding out and then somehow coming up with a worse way to punish you?"

If Lucifer was ever able to meet this self-claimed 'Devil'... he'd have some words for the man. Well not some. A lot. Especially considering how he's never heard a good thing about him when it comes to his daughter's life.

"The end doesn't have to be that way, you know. It may seem like it now...but it doesn't have to be."

Satana has posed:
There's an ironic twist to Satana's voice as she sings quietly, for Lucifer's ears only. "Don't talk of love. Well I've heard the word before. It's sleeping in my memory. I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died. If I never loved I never would have cried."

For someone so prone to using vulnerability as a weapon, it's astonishing how much she's showing in her once-again-amber eyes.

"It's incomprehensible because I don't want to comprehend it," she says quietly. "Because when I did comprehend it Michael..."

She shuts her mouth with an audible click.

"Never mind. I was a different person then. A different being. Before I was cursed. Before I had the Basilisk put into me to make me a risk to all around me who aren't at my level of power; to remind me what I am and what my purpose is."

The voice is hard. The eyes harder, though still amber at least. The tough girl mask is on and riveted in place.

"I can't go that route again; I have to find a new one."

One that doesn't make her cry?

Lucifer has posed:
"So what do you want my help with exactly? Telling you how to love so you can fake it to make it?" Lucifer asks, watching her for a moment. Knowing she's put her mask back on, but she knows he can see right through it.

His hand withdraws as he finishes his whiskey and then crosses his arms over his chest. "You come in here asking my counsel and every question I've asked you....you've either deflected or tried to change the subject. So why don't you tell me what you want, Satana. You want me to find a way to change your contract? To erase it completely for you?" His eyes are harder now than before. Black rimmed red and that fire ever burning where pupils should be.

There's a moment, but he knows she's practically immune to his own powers, so there's no compelling her by 'force'. But there is simply staring at her with those Hellfire eyes baring down into the very darkness of her soul. "You're here for more than spilt tears and spoken worries. Tell me what you want, and I'll tell you if I can provide it. Cause apparently telling you how to Love isn't what you -really- wanted when you walked through those doors. You just decided to use it as an in." He might be bluffing. Trying to call her bluff. It may work, it may not. No one ever said the Devil was perfect.

Satana has posed:
Satana's eyes widen at the sudden assault and the black is back, as is indeed the Hellfire in them. The black further spreads through her clothing as the elegant gown of cinnabar red converts to combat-ready leather. That's two sizes too small. (Because succubus.)

It's awfully hard to look fierce when wrapped in leather that pushes bits out here and there in enticing ways, but she gives it the old college try.

"I don't want out. I want this contract to land. I have a perfect record and I'm at risk of losing it over one silly little Homo Magi who's stupid enough to actually love me!"

And there it is. The self-loathing. Even through her mask, past the rivets. How can she love another when she can't love herself?

"I thought it would be an easy assignment. I thought I could fake it enough that the contract would be fulfilled and then have her in servitude forever."

Satana takes a deep breath which causes the leather wrapping her torso to creak alarmingly. She expels it noisily as her top creaks in relief instead.

"And now I don't want her servitude forever. Because what she's offering me is worth more than servitude. But to have it ... I have to ..."

And now the thoughts spill out in random order as a whirlwind of what she doesn't want to admit even to herself starts to throw sentence fragments around her head and out her mouth.

"If I don't love her I lose that comfortable ... but if I do love her she's my slave, not ... and what's next inflicted on me if I ... and will she be tormented eternally because ...?"

Her voice trails off.

Notably absent: the contractual cost of failure.

"I don't know what to do," she finally confesses. "In trapping this silly little mortal--so easily it wasn't worth the effort--I've bound myself in conundrums I don't know how to even separate into different strands."

Satana has posed:
Again the ironic singing voice: "I've got such a hold on you I don't think I can ever be free."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer sighs. "You really did get yourself in a fucked up situation. You want her love now, and not for her to be a slave. But if the contract is broken...you've lost your perfect streak. If the contract succeeds, then you have her whether she loves you or not. Enslaved to you in a way you suddenly don't want her to be."

There's a pause as he says those words, and slowly he lets himself settle down. The eyes soften back to their blue hues and the hellfire dissipates from his pupils. "Which is kinda interesting considering that all of this you're debating, running around in your head. The things you suddenly want and don't want? That's a sign of love right there...which means you're fulfilling your contract. But I'd have to ask which one is truly more important to you. YOU, Satana, and no one else. A failed contract, or a forced slavery of one who loves you truly?"

Satana has posed:
And there it is. The infamous temper. Flames in the eyes burning. Hair on fire. Heat radiating to the point that it's discolouring the brass rail she's against.

"IF I KNEW THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION WHY WOULD I BE HERE SHOWING WEAKNESS TO YOU!?" Satana snarls, double-voiced again, with the Basilisk toning in. "YOU'RE THE ONE THAT HAS ALL THE FUCKING ANSWERS, BEING IN LOVE YOURSELF!"

The temper burst lasts a short time before the self-preservation side of her kicks in and her eyes, now back to amber, all flames vanished in a trice, widen in genuine fear.

"ForgivemeLordMorningstarIamnotmyselfIdidnotintendto..."

Then her voice trails off hopelessly and she visible steels herself for the upcoming punishment, head low, eyes planted firmly on the floor.

*This is going to hurt!* You don't need to read minds to know what's going through her head at the moment.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer narrows his eyes for a moment as the Basilisk makes itself known along with Satana's own voice, shouting at him. He takes it. Standing there simply for a moment and letting her get it out. In other times, this might not have happened. He might have stepped up to her and the Basilisk within to give them both a what for. Instead, he remains calm.

Well. Mostly.

"There is more than one way to love, my darkling. The way that I love Doctor Nathaniel Essex will not be the same way that you love this homo magi whom you have yet to name. We fell in love over shaved ice and a stupid trinket..." To which he holds out a hand and a snowglobe appears in his palm. It's a simple thing, a castle on a cliff with a dragon wrapped around it. The snow - when shaken - falling peacefully over the scene. "I saw this, and I liked it so he bought it for me. We walked along the boardwalk close by...just talking...about everything and anything. From the inate to the deep. He saw through me in ways no one ever has, and he has brought out the best in me in so many ways I have lost count..." This is explained then, the snowglobe placed on the bar top. It wasn't materialized, he just brought it from upstairs to here with the power of his magic.

Nothing more happens. There is no punishment. No pain brought down upon her. "You really need to stop believing that I'm going to rain down hellfire just because you squared up to me with that little creature in your brain space. I have no intention to ever hurt you, dearest darkling, unless I absolutely have to. And I hope such a day never comes."

Satana has posed:
The thought leaps unbidden to mind. Not having that thought is like not thinking about a pink rhino. The very act of trying not to invokes it.

*I got away with it!?*

Satana swallows. Still staring at the ground.

"It was still wrong of me to take such liberties with you, Lord Morningstar. It won't happen again."

Voice quiet. Quavering still in residual fear. Knowing how close she came to unexisting at least for a while.

She looks up, still showing (feigning?) contriteness. "For me it was throwing herself at one of the Host," she says simply. "Zatanna Zatara. The stage magician."

And can it get even more cursed? For it's as if by speaking Zatanna's name that Zatanna shows up in the club, looking for the missing Satana.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
            *** Shadowcrest Manor ***

    Zatana has been waiting for a time now. She has called out in the various places where Satana has been known to hide in her home. She has even done many of the things that usually get the Succubus to simply show up (usually to grope her, admittedly). Nothing has worked. Finally, she gets worried. What if some damn angel has picked a fight? Zee stops to pick up the wand her father gave her.

    "Ekat em ot anataS!"

            ***Just outside the front door of the Lux***

    In a blinding flash Zee appears, landing lightly on her feet. She stumbles for just a moment, dizzy. She looks at the door, and then says. "Sserd em rof siht bulc!"

    She finds herself suddenly garbed in an elegant, red gown. A most flattering one, at that. With this in mind, in she comes, moving through the door in haste. Without looking left or right, she has her eyes right on Satana. Relief is on her eyes immediately (and yes, obviously love and desire). With a smile she makes her way towards the succubus.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer takes a breath. Not that he needs to breathe, but it's taken anyway and then he reaches into the inner pocket of his jacket to pull out a silver cigarette case. It's simple in design with a raven etched on one side and a snake (serpent really) on the other. This case is flipped open, one cigarette withdrawn and then the case offered to Satana if she wishes to partake. A snap of fingers and the tip of the cigarette is lit after placing it between his lips, drawing on it slowly and exhaling most the smoke through his nose.

"Zatanna Zatara. I've heard of her. Interesting." He doesn't /know/ her. They have never interacted...but the magician pair - for he knows she has a sibling - are well spoken of. Then, an inkling. A twitch of his ears and he glances to the door. With a wave of his hand the doors before Zatanna will open without her doing so, and the bouncer at the door - a demon themselves if it matters - extending an arm to gesture Zatanna in without any question.

"...You seem to have a knack with her as well it seems..." He offers to Satana, nodding his head towards the entrance.

Satana has posed:
Satana, confused, looks across at the door and ... just gapes.

A strangled "What the actual f...?" may have escaped her throat there.

She glances at Lucifer, at Zatanna, then, clearly suspicious, makes a subtle hand gesture.

Nope. Not an illusion, or if so, a very subtle one. But would Lucifer really use such powerful magicks for such a trivial joke?..."

Then she pastes a smile over the shocked surprise.

"Hey, Zee!" she says, eyes questioning. "Are you OK?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
    Zatanna does not look, but senses that she's not in Kansas anymore. A demon doorman would generally get her to do something, or at least pay attention. But not tonight. Not when Satana is right there.

    That walk is deliberate, forcused, and like an arrow to her target, she approaches. She stops only when she's standing right near the succubus.

    "I was looking for you," Zatanna admits, feeling just a bit shy. "I was afraid that something went wrong. I know you can handle yourself, of course, but when you are just off without an explanation, I will react. I was expected to wind up in the middle of a fight when I teleported."

    A curious look is directed at Lucifer, then she refocuses on Satana. "Where is this place?"

Lucifer has posed:
"You're in Bludhaven, Miss Zatara. A small subsidary between New York and...I think Sunnydale. I could be wrong though. Welcome to Club Lux." Lucifer offers with a bit of a smile. "Can I get you a drink? We do serve both alcohol and non-alcohol items here...so just let me know what suits your fancy." Between his pseudo-niece and pseudo-nephew he might be drank out of house and business if he keeps up the free drinking for them all.

Okay not really, but it's an amusing thought.

He'll let Satana be the one to explain her reasoning for being here. If he's left to it, the truth will come out because he cannot lie. If Satana wants to come up with something, that's for her to do. So he just waits for a drink order - if any is placed - and minds his business.

Satana has posed:
"This is ..." Satana pauses to let Lucifer do the explaining that explains nothing. "Yes. Club Lux. It's a place for unwinding, and kind of a ... neutral zone. For types like us. I'm surprised you've never been, honestly!"

She looks between Lucifer and Zee, then adds, "This is my faux-uncle."

Pause for dramatic effect.

"Luci..." She just about lets it stop there, with a bit of an impish glance Lucifer's way before continuing. "...fer. Lucifer Morningstar."

Beat.

"Yes. That one."

Satana glances at Lucifer and signals: another drink. She signals with her fingers the relative amount of liquor and mixer to use. (Roughly equal.)

"I'm here to consult with my so-called uncle in a little matter. I didn't mean to alarm you."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
    Zatanna has heard Satana mention her uncle before. "You needed to unwind?" Zee asks, just a bit playfully. "Have I gotten you flustered?" she asks, rather hopefully. It's kind of silly, kind of embarrassing.

    She looks at Lucifer and thinks carefully. "I could use a..." Then the uncle comment. And the earlier comment all come together. "You are a bartender."

    There is this moment where she is bracing for trouble. It's just an old habit. Meet supernatural creatures of great power, get attacked, utter desperate spell, do something horrible, barely survive, then somehow fight and win in the end.

    "Sorry, consult on a matter?" she directs her attention to Lucifer and smirks. "She was talking about me, wasn't she?" She has no idea, but she's almost childishly interested in that being verified. "And a porn star martini, please."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer makes another drink for Satana. Hers have been a bit random. This one is Love Potion. He does it for the joke. Because it's funny and ironic to him all at the same time.

Then his gaze goes to Zatanna. "I am more than a bartender, miss Zatara. I am Lucifer Morningstar. Owner and proprieter of Club Lux. I just happen to be behind the bar because my pseudo-neice wanted to come talk to me about something."

It's when Zatanna asks if the talk was about her that Lucifer's jaw tightens. "I cannot lie, Satana. You know this. So, yes, we have been talking a bit about you." Which is all he needs to say. Details are detials that he can keep quiet on because it's not a lie if he answers the truth. The details were not inquired.

All the while as he speaks, he's making the requested drink for Zatanna. A bit of this, splash of that, shaken up and poured into a Marie Antoinette Glass. (Seriously, supposedly they're shaped after her breasts) and tops it off with a slice of passion fruit. This is then placed before Zatanna.

Satana has posed:
Satana winces as soon as Zee asks the question, knowing what will come of that. "We're going to have to work on that little weakness," she mutters to herself in the Infernal tongue ... just barely audible to be heard by anybody paying attention in the immediate vicinity. Bracing herself for the response, she sighs ever so slightly as Lucifer cuts off the details.

"Yes," Satana says. "Since uncle Luci..." She lets that slip blithely without noticing. "...is in a relationship I thought I could get some relationship advice from him. He's been very helpful."

Unlike Lucifer, Satana *can* lie, but is visibly uncomfortable when forced to do so unless she's plying her trade. You know. 'Oh, it's so big, I don't know if it will fit.' Those kinds of sweet little lies. But she's not plying her trade here and the mild squirming she's doing hints that perhaps she's twisted the truth by a small amount.

"As you can see, I'm fully committed to this relationship; I'm going to the Devil Himself for advice!" she adds in a joke. With the squirming vanishing. "He's given me lots to think about."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
    "So I suppose you told him that I'm already in love with you, then?" asks Zee. She starts that comment with a playful expression, but at the end she's clearly decided it's not so amusing anymore. But the drink is ready.

    She picks it up and takes a long drink. "Perfection," she says, clearly pleased. "Thank you. This is the best I've ever had." As she speaks, though, she finds herself turning from Lucifer to Satana. "So anything you want me to do differently? Is there something I should change? Or maybe I should leave so you can keep talking? You are safe, so I'll be fine." A beat. "You will be coming home soon, though, right?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer looks between the two and then takes a slow breath inward. "I think...that you two should go to the hotel. Drinks are on me for the night...and anything you might want from the kitchen..." He can leave it open as long as he wants. Demons for chefs amirite? "But I've given all the advice I believe I can give...and nudged where I could. The rest will be up to the two of you." Yes. The ball is being placed in Satana's court for the moment. Even as he watches her squirm just a tad.

"No one should ever change themselves in order to be loved." Yes. He's going to say this in front of both of them. "If Satana falls in love with you...it will have to be the you that you always are. Not some you that you turn yourself into." That's a lot of you's in one phrase, Devil! "So. What do you think, Satana? A night alone in the hotel?"

Satana has posed:
"There's a conundrum in the contract," Satana says, after a long pause. "A trap, if you will. And one that ..." Then Lucifer mentions the hotel, and a night alone in it. She sighs then, closing her eyes.

"There's stuff to talk about, yes. And maybe away from where we've grown together is where to talk about it."

A deep breath that brings the leather clothing she'd morphed into to the point of creaking in protest once more, before it creaks in relief as she expels.

"My uncle has experience in matters that ... I have ... less experience in. He asked some very pointed questions that are very much food for thought. And food for frank talk, I think, Zee. Because I fucked this up good."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
    Zee is surprised at the suggestion, but she will defer to Satana. "I can only be who and what I am," she says, somewhat defensively. "I don't expect to be able to change. Though I suppose at the same time, I have. But it's not change I can control."

    Satana's other comments are confusing. Some are alarming. "What do you mean, Satana? Fucked up and you need to withdraw from the deal?" That... bothers her. And yet, "I'll let you go, of course. I would never want this to hurt you. Or frustrate you, or anything else."

    The magician looks between the two experts she is with and says, "I imagine it's a normal deal, where if we agree we can undo it. If you want to, that is. I will understand." She can lie. And she is lying. So very, very much. She could not handle it. Not at all. But she would do it.

Lucifer has posed:
"What I meant by that is, don't change yourself willingly for someone. If the change is making who you are better and you changed it for yourself. Great. But do not change yourself for someone else." Lucifer says this and then seems to think a little more. He wants to explain about the contract, but that's not for him to divulge. It is something Satana must take ownership on.

After a moment, he slides a key across. "This is to room 206." It's not Satana's usual room. They need a totally neutral space. "Go. Talk. Work things out. Communication is another thing about love that makes it stronger. You'll see, my darkling." He smiles at her then. "And whatever you need, we can provide. I promise."

Satana has posed:
"Well, I'll need the usual stuff. Leather thongs. Silk handkerchiefs. Handcuffs." Satana glances at Zee. "The pink furry ones this time," she decides. "And that wonderful cart with all the liquids of different textures, temperatures, and flavours. And ice cream. Lots and lots of ice cream."

She pauses a second.

"Or ... uh ... maybe not that this time. Maybe we need to talk instead of, you know, diverting attention away from the rhino in the room."

Beat.

"Scratch that list. Just have room service on danger money in case this goes well."

She takes up the key, looking at it, then looking up at Lucifer with slightly narrowed eyes. She understands the message.

"So, talk after getting plastered, Zee, or do you want your head clear when I make it explode with words?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
    Zee sets the drink down. "I think I'll need to keep my wits about me." She steps over to Satana's side. A look back to Lucifer. Curious, but uncertain. "Thank you." It's the Lucifer, to be sure. She knows it's true. Some part of her senses it. But there's no need to fight. Her life has grown ever more surreal.

    Then her attention settles on Satana. A hand is offered. "Well, let's do this, then. Hit me with your best shot, Succubus mine."

Satana has posed:
"You may regret those words," Satana says warningly, but with a smile ... that's enigmatic.