16673/Of Snakes, Snails and...Dragon's Tail!

Of Snakes, Snails and...Dragon's Tail!
Date of Scene:	09 January 2025
Location:	The Magic Box, Sunnydale
Synopsis:	The Lux Couple visit the Magic Box to put in some special orders.
Cast of Characters:	Lucifer, Sinister, Willow Rosenberg, Blueblood

---

Lucifer has posed:
It's been a long time coming. With so many things that has kept the Devil and his people busy, there hasn't really been time to make general calls let alone swing by any place that would even think to carry the things he needs. However, a respite has arrived, and with the holidays all out of the way the Devil and his companion make their way to The Magic Box in Sunnydale. The Devil is, of course, all bundled up because it is COLD in New York and he HATES it.

Yes. In all capitals.

So it's a quick jog up and into the store where he gazes around a moment to see who might be on staff. There are those he cannot ask of things from and those he can. Giles has helped him a time or few. So he's likely on the list of 'people who come to buy Oddities'. Cause, why not? He may not be the most adapt at magic, but he can put together a basic spell or few. Spatchcock things together to make something work. Sometimes. Maybe. For the moment, he'll remain bundled up and basking in any warmth that the shop can provide while idly walking around to look at Stuff and Things which may or may not also make it on the shopping list today.

Sinister has posed:
And if you believe the poppycock of that last self-effacement, there's a bridge that they want to sell you that came from old London town. If the devil really wanted too, his 'amateurism' would turn into professionalism that could rival the very Sorceror Supreme's. He's just so rusty that he's practically a bolt out of the Titanic. Patron of Witchcraft and Warlockism, after all...

But the Secondary narrator just got off topic.

"How is it always the dragon's teeth that we run out of? Do you use them for spicing the cooking, too?" It's a mild question from Sinister as the door chime denotes that they've arrived in the store. A glance around tells him that Giles at least isn't here, the Englishman perhaps (no, actually) psychically attuned to his countrymen. Without a thought, his feet fall into step, angling themselves to look at the oddities over the curios, adjacent to the Stuff and Things. "We do not need candles though."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow happened to be on. Well, she switched her shift with another girl. Even though Christmas was technically over, there were still celebrations to be had. Willow, as a pagan, and a Jewish woman, didn't mind taking over people's shifts at this time. Besides, soon she would be busy with her Doctorate, and even though she had some money squirrelled away, she couldn't count on a steady income..

Of course she could get a scholarship again.

Where Lucifer was.. so too went Sinister. Mind you it had been a long time since she had visited with them.

Sitting at the cash register, she had been reading. Closing her book, she watched them - not because she figured they would be shoplifting! More like they likely were there because they needed something on the arcane side of things. Not books or gemstones.

Lucifer has posed:
"I had to use up some of the dragon's teeth when I made those ward pouches... you know... the ones that blew up in my face because Azazel's an asshat?" Lucifer quips back to Nathaniel with a smirk before he glances around again. No. No need for books. Though gemstones are pretty...even if they are also useless. "Besides, there's a few other things I need. Cleansing sage, feathers, maybe a few handfulls of eyeballs." Some of that is true. Others are not.

It's no telling which is what.

His ears flick as he hears shuffling and then looks up and over towards the cash register. Willow gets the full Grin(tm) from the Charming Devil and he nudges Nathaniel before motioning towards the register. "Ah. Willow, dear. How have things been? It's been some time since we've crossed paths. A crime, I believe."

Sinister has posed:
Sin inclines his head toward the register, grinning to himself faintly as the Devil aims his charms and his gams in that direction. He slides behind one of the stacks of useless trinkets and mainstream 'witchery' to look at the crystals. He, for his part, isn't looking for magic, so much as he is symmetry and harmony. Good quality sometimes pops up at the oddest of places and these... THESE /he/ has a use for.

"It is a pleasure, miss Rosenberg..." drifts out from behind the stack. "...Oh, they -do- have quartz. Well. What a silly thing to say, of course they do."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Oooooo. Did Lucifer say sage? Willow has a soft spot for sage. So much so that she would buy it from anywhere. The grocery. The little hole in the wall of a Chinese medicine store. The lady down her street who had some with her flower stand. Everywhere! It was cheap, and had many applications. But really, Willow just loved it.

"Oh. Hi! Uhm.." Did Dark Willow visit Lucifer and Nathaniel? She could not remember. She didn't think so? But.. maybe??

The trouble was, at times, Dark Willow was more in charge. And threw Willow into that oubliette of Willow's mind more often than Willow was comfortable saying.

"Some people find white quartz a focus. Other pinks. They often use it as a crutch, rather than an accent to their.. well, most of them don't have any power. I guess my point isn't worth saying. Forget that I even said something."

As she speaks to Nathaniel, she turns to Lucifer. "I was a bit distracted these past few months." And how! "How are you?"

Lucifer has posed:
"To further her point, Nathaniel, DO be sure not to mistake regular quartz and rose quartz again..." Lucifer chides and then chuckles before he looks towards Willow once more. "Well, I'm still here, so I am beginning to think I am doing something quite wrong." A grin once more. Most people don't believe he is who he claims to be. Others have been shown the truth and even lived to tell the tale. Lucifer appreciates Willow for her mixed faiths - as he does with everyone. Doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe in something.

"Distractions happen. But if you find yourself with a little time and are in the area do remember you are welcome to Lux anytime."

This is all said, pleasantries and such, which allow Lucifer to reach the counter and stand a bit adjacent to where Willow sits. Now he leans aside onto the counter and watches the woman for a moment. "I need to make a few special orders. Getting low on some supplies and I figure it's time to stock up before the newest apocalypse comes roaring it's ugly head. Or another freed angel. Or a rampaging demon. ....I could go on but you know the drill already."

Sinister has posed:
There is a slow, comically mirthless 'ha ha ha' from behind the shelving.

"Knowing the plural of Apocalypse, right? Although I have booked some time off to go and have a look around Meggido, as I said I would..." Sinister notes, he comes back around carrying citrine and a shaped haematite sphere. He inhales deep. "I have no talent in this regard anyway, I don't use these for mystical shennanigans. Crystals have a very clever useage in their metrics," and science also being a thing with the witch, that's a fact also. The precision in which crystals form their weight, particularly when they're functionally pure and not riddled with extra bit of rock, is used -mathematically- after all. And conductively, in computing.

"I think I shall have to go to south Africa, too. I need some good diamond, ruby and sapphire."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
That confirms things for her. "I wasn't too sure if I had been there in the past months. My memory is quite.. well most of it is solid." Except for those missing gaps.

As Lucifer leans close, Willow nods, and slips from her perch on the stool. "How about I close down tonight, half an hour early. It's dead, and we can have some tea or coffee." She imagined Gile's might have something more potent, but Willow wasn't sure.

As Luci mentions the Apocalypse, she cringes. Maybe she was at Lux? It was hard to judge Luci's quip. Then when Nathaniel carried it on, Willow sighed as she locked the door and turned down the front light to show that the Magic Box was, indeed, closed.

"Okay. I wasn't sure, but.. my alter ego was in charge of me. And we had the scroll that had the spell for opening the Gates of Hell for the final Apocalypse. We came to a mutual decision. I'm still figuring out things. The Book disappeared when it saw it couldn't control me anymore. So, I'm Willow, but I'm not." She shrugs.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer raises a brow and then side-eyes Nathaniel. "Okay... what's the count up to now? Four potential apocalypses? Five?" He shakes his head then. "I didn't even know you were somehow potentially going to open the Gates of Hell... and I likely would have heard about it happening should you have even succeeded a little bit. Anyway. We've set things up to deter the Apophis Meteor... I made a deal with my now undead General who escaped his prison....stopped some elemental creatures from wrecking havoc all around the globe..." Okay, that's three. Ish. If you count Azazel as a potential world-ender.

He gives another shrug. "At this point it's just another fucking Tuesday for us..." And then he laughs. "Anyway. Tea would be lovely, I think. And I can give you the list of fancy occult items I need. We can talk, catch up." A smile. "I'm glad I decided we should come here tonight."

Sinister has posed:
"I miss the biscuits that used to be hidden in the back with Giles' whiskey--" Sinister observes, setting his purchases-to-be lightly on the counter and listening, rather intensely to what is being said and the layers that hide between it all. He grins at Lucifer, then nods slightly. "And the miniature potential disasters that are the Traumas that escaped from my own mind," he adds, looking back to the kitchen area that lurks behind the shop, along with the training dojo.

Evil twin inside? Gates of Hell? This doesn't seem to phase him. "We all have our own shadows, I tend to find that the closer you stand to the light, the darker yours seems when you turn around and look at it. But then again, it's also very well defined. Sometimes, simple knowledge is enough... other times?" he shrugs.

"At least we managed to get through a festive season intact."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"I don't think it was meant to be now? And from what I know of it - the spell - neither good nor evil have any knowledge of where the spell is. So that you, or God, can not use the spell to have an edge on the other side. The Book is, well, it isn't doing things as it should. At least, it needs someone powerful enough to work the spell, but not powerful enough that it can't control them. Dark Willow realized it at about the same time I had to admit I wasn't as good as I pretended to be."

*sigh*

"I'll make some tea. Any flavour you would prefer?" Going over to the kettle and plugging it in.

She has to giggle at Nathaniel. "Well, apparently I am very, very powerful? Who knew?" She blinks. "Do you know where Giles had the scotch?" The cookies were all hers. Pulling out a tin she handed them around. "Giles didn't offer me hard liquor. I am trying various things? Harry thinks it's kind of cute the way I'm trying things."

Lucifer has posed:
"Any black tea you may have on hand would be perfect. I suspect Nathaniel will want the same..." Then again, Lucifer only actually speaks for Nathaniel in rare form when he absolutely knows what the man wants. Or just takes a wild guess. "Yes. We did survive the holidays in tact, and without much interference from on high which I can forever be thankful for." As in God. Or someone else coming down to make his life miserable again. That hasn't happened for a while, and hopefully will continue down such path.

Hell willing.

He finally reaches into a pocket and pulls out a neatly folded piece of paper. This is set down where Willow can retrieve and glance at it once she's free. Dragon's teeth, dragon claw, raven's feather - but specifically harvested from particular Norse appointed corvids. A bit other bits and pieces written in random form and number which apart make absolutely no fucking sense but thought about together - he's thinking of wards and spell bombs.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister looks over the shelves and back to Willow and the countertop, where the note with ingredients is put down. Meanwhile, from several spots about the place, including in the back room and on a trivial bookshelf, several bottles of scotch lift up and ferry themselves cross-wise over the magic shop, mentally moving and doing so in a 'bounce-bounce' manner as if they're jogging along. Several of them having swapped, one at least hangs around and wiggles itself in thin air, to indicate its desire to be noticed. And plucked up, presumably.

"Black tea would be splendid," he notes, with a nod to the devil. He does have it to rights this time. In terms of black hat and white hate, he makes no comment, as a thing is quite a well beaten dead horse in terms of the ends of the spectrum.

"I have a feeling something is on the horizon though. It never truly ends, it just ebbs and wanes, after all. It's been too quiet of late..." a gesture is made to the paper by indication. "And I have other projects I need to overplan for."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Hrm. There's --" Willow blinks. "Interesting. So the wards don't cover mundane uses of magic!" She knew that any spell that was harmful was pretty much blocked at the source. But dancing scotch bottles seem to be on the allowed list! "You know, if I were Giles I'd be more careful about who could abscond with my scotch." Not that she had any love for it.It was okay.

"As I was saying, there is always Earl Grey." That and cookies and the scotch should cover them.

While she waited for the kettle to boil, several scoops of tea were put into the teapot, then Willow looked over the list. Nodding at most of the items. Then frowning.

Lucifer has posed:
"Is telekenesis magic?" Lucifer thinks out loud before lifting his shoulders in a shrug and he settles himself near to Sinister. "Earl Grey is perfectly fine. One of my favorites, really." That he has to give Sinister credit for as well. Though he may still doctor his tea a bit with the scotch that's now bouncing into the room. "You know... I'm not entirely sure this wouldn't be akin to stealing..."

No matter. He settles and he waits, snagging a cookie on his way into such. "We keep saying that we're going to manifest trouble sooner than we really want it to come around....and I still have a couple things to do before our lives get all topsy turvy again..."

Sinister has posed:
"I imagine that there would be a few incantations and charms that might create levitation and telekinetic force, so I imagine that maybe such things would be magical..." Sin glances to the door, narrows his eyes a moment with his head tilting to the side sloooooow as molasses, then he looks away. If there's someone outside (which there may well be) it would definitely feel like someone was watching them, in a thoroughly creepy manner. Invisible eyes, that look straight through solid walls, because they aren't seeing with ordinary light and cellular response...

"I however, come by my talents from a different source..." he muses that, then looks to the offerings of cookies but doesn't personally take one. Perhaps these ones are not the tea-dunkable kind.

A flick of his hand toward the door though and he grabs the air, yanking it closer as if hauling on a lasso. "There's a vaguely familiar presence here...." who may have been caught by that.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"That's a good question? Some is? I'm sure I don't need to regale you of the particulars. Someone like.. well.." Willow catches herself before she mentions Jean. does she have the power to levitate items? "Well, someone who doesn't have magic. If you know, you know."

*nudge nudge wink say no more say no more*

"At least Giles will be easy to deal with. I mean, after this whole rigmarole of Dark Willow, the scotch will be the least of his worries. Beside as long as it isn't the 50 year old scratch I can buy a new one." She almost said steal. Ooops?

She nods at Nathaniel.

Blueblood has posed:
Blueblood's audience is fortunate that his skull is temporarily incommunicado-- the mellifluous intricacies of eastern European profanity are as absent as the jaw to make them. Pulled beneath the doorframe by forces beyond his reckoning or ken, he reassembles his skeleton from "flat-pack mode," staring sternly at whomever has netted him from 'outside an entire building.' When his jawbone *clacks* into place he leads with: "OK, man, what the Hell-- ?!"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer is about to say something. Anything. When there's not much else to speak of except the being that just came into the room. He tilts his head one way and then the other. Looking Blue over, then glancing to Nathaniel before looking at Blue again. "You never cease to amaze me, my dearest." Is all he says.

Then he glances back to Willow. "And the only thing Dark Willow was interested in was that spell you spoke of? Of finding it and using it? But then in the end decided... against it?" He was trying to remember all the specifics. A lots running around his head so piecing things together is a thing.

Sinister has posed:
"Ohhh. It's /you/. Gracious me, you really can pancake, can't you?" This after Sinister actually recognizes the one he only met the once before -- there's a tap to the side of his head with a glance to Lucifer. "Certain individuals feel different than others. But yes..." looking to Willow, he nods. "...extreme prestidigitation and chicanery, without the duplicity involved."

He tilts his head again, at the sight of re-ostification process. "Fascinating..."

Pause.

"You know, I don't think I ever actually got your name." The keening of the kettle makes him give a happy sigh.

Blueblood has posed:
Blueblood serves tea. Whether compelled by sorcery to do so or compelled by habit and hospitality, he makes the kind of tea recognized as 'good manners' by the Byzantines! Dark, strong, sweet. The gut-punch of caffeine 4:00 pm calls for. That he's serving tea in his newly-designed suit is... well. 'Not odd in this town, alas.' At least the tea is hot! "You can't pronounce my name, so you can call me 'Ladi' if you like. I used to go by 'Blueblood.'"

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Oh no! The spell was the least of her wants!" And how.

Of course. Nathaniel.

But Blueblood was familiar. Where did she know him fr-- The Dark Side Bakery! She's bought him a dozen cookies. And he was squeegeeing the outside of the windows.

"Oh.. uhm.. you're looking good? Can I help you? We were just going to have tea. Would you like some?" Real great, Willow. Lucifer would have to wait till he was gone. Of course Nathaniel was talking to Blueblood as if he was an old friend."I'll put an extra scoop in the tea kettle."

Lucifer has posed:
The quick turn around and silencing of the one topic is a clear sign to Lucifer that they will have to wait and discuss that later. His eyes shifting to the sudden new presence and he tilts his head just so. "Well. This certainly got interesting..." And became quite the small world it would seem. None the less, the Devil sort of takes a back seat in the moment. Letting tea brew and others talk while he just munches on a cookie and lets his closer hand touch against Nathaniel's back. For the sake of presence felt, you know.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister's gaze stays steady on Blue for a few long moments whilst tea gets made (by him. Did he do that?) and recognition sparks. "The circle really is small..." he murmurs, darting a look down at where contact is being made when it lands, then up to Lucifer's face. It's grounding and it jolts him back to mild interest once again, rather than scientific fixation.

Old Familiarity is a strange bedfellow with the English villain, he tends quite often to be quite jovial even when he's being a sadistic sod.

"You would be surprised at what I can and cannot pronounce. My distant relations had some quite atrocious names...." pause "...Ladi. Blueblood. Hmm. Literal or figurative, I wonder..." that last an almost silent murmur, he gives Willow a curious look, then around at the Magic shop and back slowly to the tea. It's going to need extra water to top up the pot but after Blue has served himself, the teapot helpfully pours three cups all on its own. Two are black. The third is left for Willow to doctor herself. "What are the odds that we've /all/ met at some point or other? As we clearly all have. Probability is a peculiar calculus."

Blueblood has posed:
Blueblood looks *askance.* "Am I hexed, then? Did you people get me with the Evil Eye? My grandma warned me, but we kids always thought 'old superstitions from before electricity' weren't worth thinking about. The world is much... bigger... than it was when we were ten."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"There's only chocolate chip in the Burpware container. The others were for my partner. And I still don't make the best, well, anything except chocolate chip. They are getting better though!" In truth, Willow had practiced so many times that she knew how to make others, but in her mind she still thought she didn't.

Except.. you've got it.. except for chocolate chip. She was an excellent baker of those! If she said so herself.

"Some would say we are fated to meet. In past lives; bumping each other by accident.. calculus was one of my majors. Well, actually mathematical theory. I need to decide which way I focus on, before the summer, I'm going into my Doctorate." Looking over at Lucifer and Nathaniel, "Did I mention? Mathematical theory, and Computer Science."

Willow giggles at Blu. "I wouldn't say hexed, but in reality you might be better to find different friends?" As she thinks about the groups she hangs out with. None of them could be considered normal!

Lucifer has posed:
"Can't have a past life if you've never exited your first one." Lucifer says this much and then taps his nose. "I am not reincarnated or reborn or whatever other jargon people use in whatever religious variety. I have and always shall exist in the singular." He pauses. Thinks. "Unless dad finally gets some sort of funny bone and does things differently for once but even if he did I highly doubt he would include me in his planning."

There's a bitter undertone to those words as tea is served to him and he takes a sip. Piping hot as it is. Freshly brewed and steaming. And he does this without flinching. The Devil doesn't need things to cool off before enjoying and prefers them super hot anyway.

"I never understood that mentality. The world is always the size it has been. The contents of the world. Presence of life in numerous forms have ebbed and waned... but... the world itself has not gotten bigger. Or smaller." Well, that may not necessarily be true either. He presses fingers into Nathaniel a bit more - perhaps to ground even himself.

"Doctorate eh? Good luck with that. You ever need a tutor I know a guy."

Sinister has posed:
"Mostly a matter of perspective," Sin adds to Lucifer's observation, taking his tea in a very proprietous manner. There are standards. He's English. It's sipped and he's hijacked a tea spoon. The devil is side-eyed. "You know a guy, do you?" a wry tone offered there, he glances back to Blue after. Odd word choices abounding.

"I approve though, even if the juxtaposition of mathematics and theory seem to be paradoxical in the fundament, I suppose one can investigate the quantum of mathematical calculation, particularly in relation to programming language and AI supercomputing. Whole new languages await -- and if you figure out the calculation for string parallels, I'm going to be entirely jealous."

Another sip taken, he glances at the crystals he picked out, sips tea and quietly withdraws cash to pay for them. No thief, he. "Are you Roma?" he asks of Blue.

Blueblood has posed:
Blueblood's eyebrows arch. "I would be insulted, but I am already in dangerous company." He shakes his head. "... pre-Christian superstition. Kievan Rus crap." He seems to consider Sinister's characterization? "A thief, when I need to be. A braggart. But a liar? I like to think I have *standards...*" clearly accusing someone of being a Traveller is a delicate business, socially speaking!

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow was a Type A++ personality. The fact that her grades slipped to an A- this semester irked her to no end. While Dark Willow cackled maniacally in her brain. ~Live a little. Or else..~

Still, what's done was done. And Willow didn't die as a result of her lower grades.

"Oh? Who?" After all, she was in the top .01 percent of brains in the US. Maybe even the world. "Is your friend someone who does mathematics?" Not that Willow was boastful, but there was do sense letting Lucifer's friend down gently. "I guess they might know Computer Science?"

Willow is very smart. Willow was not so wise.

Int 18+
Wis 10? 8?

So far she hadn't drawn a line connecting Lucifer's friend to Nathaniel.

"Well.." Willow furrows her forehead at Blu. "Lucifer isn't technically Christian. Nathaniel might be." Even as she shakes her head no. "And I'm Jewish by race, and pagan by religion. So, that shouldn't be a problem. We are different sorts of problems, though."