9772/Coventry Murders: Some Explaining to Do

Coventry Murders: Some Explaining to Do
Date of Scene:	26 October 2019
Location:	Club Lux, Melville
Synopsis:	Red Hood gathers information on the Coventry Murders from Lucifer.
Cast of Characters:	Lucifer, Red Hood
Tinyplot:	Coventry Murders

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Lucifer has posed:
Friday night means the clubs are in full swing. Lux is no different: in fact, there are giant lines outside. Laughter and music spills out of the exclusive club. It is packed, but not in an uncomfortable way: there is plenty of space to move and dance, though elbows will rub, and the business is packed.

The owner is not always present, but he is tonight: he often does a bit of singing on Fridays. He has just finished, though, and recently rose from the piano amidst murmurs and applause. Lucifer is always a favorite, and brings the club to silence when he plays. He retires towards the bar, accepting a drink from a waitress that winks at him, and stands to the side, surveying the club's continued activity as the music returns to full throttle and the dancers resume play at the dance floor. He starts to ease his way towards the stairs, headed to the upper landing, where a number of private rooms exist.

Lucifer is dressed in an immaculate suit as always, though the jacket is open, silky crimson shirt exposed fully. He's in his element, magnetic and pleasant, all smiles.

Red Hood has posed:
This place would be a lot more fun if Jason wasn't working, but as it was the Bat, using the same zipped up jacket and shades trick he had the night before had been posted in a cramped corner booth for most of Luci's show nursing a single beer.

Once the show is done and their gregarious host is on the move, Jason rises to follow him, weaving through the crowd and trying to fit in as best he can with the people arround him, which, given his wardrobe choice is a bit of a challenge.

Still barring any interference from security, Jason makes his way up the same stairs as Lucifer, closing the distance at the top.

"Hey, we need to chat," he says as he catches up with him.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer looks over his shoulder as Jason approaches, with an obvious curious once-over of eyes. His smile doesn't dim at all, nor does it grow. There's recognition in Lucifer's friendly gaze, but no real judgment, and no annoyance.

"Ah! From yesterday. Sure, I have some time; we can use one of the private rooms, if you'd be more comfortable. Would you like something to drink?" Lucifer asks, gesturing at one of the cute waitresses near him, who moves over the Jason with a very bright smile and toss of her blonde ponytail, clearly ready to take a drink order.

Lucifer waits with one brow raised just a little, distracted by a few patrons near him that greet him as they head down the stairs, but his attention doesn't drift so far as to be impolite.

Red Hood has posed:
That was not the reaction Jason had been expecting and it sets him immediately on edge. When most people have Bat come calling let alone Red Hood, they don't offer them a drink.

Still, Jason rolls with it. "No thanks," he says to the offer of the drink, "Just the privacy and the chat," he says before flashing the blonde waitress a smile. "Sorry."

When the last of the well-wishers pass, Jason nods towards the rooms, "Shall we?"

Lucifer has posed:
"I have something for you, actually," Lucifer says, with an agreeable nod and gesture of hand loosely towards the stairs, as if the thing he had was also upstairs. Lucifer seems entirely fine to entirely turn his back on Jason, trusting to not be ambushed (or not worried about it in the crowd?), and he leads the way up the stairs. He picks the first room and enters, revealing a comfortable small conference-like room. The decadence of the furniture suggests it may be used for a variety of things, but there's no direct evidence as to what, at least not without special equipment to reveal such things.

Lucifer enters first, going inside, and takes a comfortable seat, relaxing back, crossing one leg over the other at the knee. His entire body language reads of being curious and friendly, as if they were coming up to discuss some other fun business entirely.

"But please, you had something on your mind?" Lucifer asks, turning his whiskey glass in his fingers, the ice making soft 'tink-tink' sounds.

Red Hood has posed:
Yep, this was definitely not going as Jason had saw it playing out in his head, but he rolls with it, going up the stairs just behind Lucifer, and entering the conference room.

It was... lavish even by the standards of someone who spent a good deal of time growing up in Wayne Manor.

"Nice digs," he offers as he considers how to proceed, the stuff his interrogation teachers and Bruce taught him said, take control of the situation, but given what he'd seen what Lucifer could do, in this case it didn't seem like the right move.

He takes off the shades, mostly because they looked silly over the red domino mask, and takes a seat, "What the hell let's start with what you've got for me," he says, deciding to continue to roll with things. "And I'm beginning to regret saying no to that drink."

Lucifer has posed:
"Do you like it?" Lucifer says, perking up. His grin grows. There's only honesty to the grin, a pleasure of seeing his own taste appreciated by another. There is a little bit of a manic quality that enters when Lucifer smiles big like that: an intensity that comes into his eyes that can make him feel overwhelming at times. Like he's unnaturally turned up a bit too high.

"I'm always glad to hear when someone appreciates my decor," Lucifer chats, though he's in motion, forced to get up and approach a cupboard and set of shelves at the far side of the room. Keys come out. A pressure of fingers after the unlock, and he's opened one of the cupboards, skimming with fingers down two shelves. He picks up two objects stacked on top of each other: cell phones, and brings them over. He re-seats himself, while extending them.

"From the two I spoke to. Their phones," Lucifer says, his tone encouraging, as if he were offering that drink.

Red Hood has posed:
"Heh, definitely, very pleasure palace without being too much," Jason opines about the decore in the face of the overwhelming assault of Lucifer's personality, which somehow managed to be endearing, annoying and slightly frightening all at once.

Definitely not a usual outing, and it didn't get much more normal when he's presented the phones. That doesn't mean he hesitates at all in taking them as he picks them up to inspect them briefly before putting them in his pockets. "So, why give them to me?" he asks, looking back up at his host.

Lucifer has posed:
"I might have been going for /slightly/ too much," teases Lucifer, reclining again, and neatly undoing his jacket button to allow full relax on the couch without restrictiveness.

"They're locked up. They're virtually bricks to me," Lucifer shrugs a little bit, once again playing with the glass of whiskey. "I don't think the police would respect the importance of what is likely on them, and I think your group might be more willing to work with me if I show my ...." Lucifer pauses, considering the word, but also mostly wanting a drink. He has one, and clears his throat with a small light sound. His dark eyes skim the air as if he could pluck what he wanted from nearby invisibly. "willingness to collaborate."

Lucifer gestures with his glass quickly, "Or you can simply take them and go. There's no expectation here. If you do find they lead to the head of this particular group, though, I'm interested."

Red Hood has posed:
Jason actually smiles a little at the joke about the decor, but there's no witty rejoinder, he's studying the phones and listening to Lucifer's explanation.

They were definitely locked up, but then Babs could make short work of just about any encryption. Though the mention of working with them has him looking up.

"Well, this is a good start towards collaboration," Jason saws holding up one of the phones. "But I'm curious, what's your interest in all of this? If we're being honest, when we saw you and the blonde at the party we thought you were running the show."

Lucifer has posed:
"Running /that/ show? Ugh. No. Decor alone should tip you off," Lucifer says, with a quick low chuckle, a rogue's smile easy on his face, a curl of tongue against the inside of his teeth on one side. "I do tend to take over a room if I'm not careful," he admits, as if it weren't a flaw. There's that endearing but obnoxious quality, again, in neon lights.

"I thought I'd clean up a bit of a mess that I may be partially responsible for. Some dark things are loose and mucking around in Gotham. I'm not certain how much you'll believe, as we've only just met, but I'd prefer the place /not/ be crawling with demons. They don't belong here."

The stress was not on the demons themselves in existance, but more on the location of said demons that annoyed Lucifer.

Red Hood has posed:
This time Jason actually laughs at the joke, offering, "Hey Star Sneaks were the bomb back when I was in Middle School, I thought it was a whole retro thing," with a smile. Not that Jason actually went to middle school, he was too busy stealing shit and other things he'd rather not think about.

However, the humour is replaced by surprise when Lucifer brings up demons, "So, that's what they are," Jason says. "Yeah, we knew something was taking bodies for a spin around town. And wait, how are you responsible?" he asks him.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer sets the glass down against an arm of the couch, though he doesn't let go of it; it's too much of a fun toy to turn and fiddle with. His gaze, though, starts to get very steady, very interested, as Jason seems to open up some, to laugh. Lucifer's expression is welcoming: a face that draws information comfortably to the surface. Things are easy, with such a companionable listener.

"I suspect that by opening a brief rift to do something else, I allowed a demon an opportunity to pass through; it appears that she has since pulled in many of her servants. It is just a hunch, though, but a good one: based on the name I now have. But when I find her, I will end it," Lucifer's expression moves to suggest it would be easy, much like switching off a kitchen light, punctuated by a flippant twist of hand and finishing off his whiskey.

Red Hood has posed:
Jason finds himself relaxing under that steady and attentive gaze, rubbing his brow a little as he speaks. "Well that definitely fits our info, one of the..." he struggles with the word. "Demons, said he did what his mistress commanded, so guessing we're talking about the same person... thing... whatever it is... Does it have a name?" he says the information and questions flowing easily.

When Lucifer mentions ending it, Jason can't help but ask, "Can I be there for that? Ending her. These things they've done a lot of damage... we've done a lot of damage to them back," a thought occurs, one that had been bouncing around his head since they interogated Kimberly. "They don't feel anything anymore do they? The ones that the demons get, they're dead right?"

Lucifer has posed:
"Yes, she does, though if what I was told was not correct, I'd rather not send you off in the wrong direction -- unless you have a reason to need it," Lucifer answers. There's an open quality to it, Lucifer isn't trying to withhold information, he just looks at it much like if Jason started telling him something highly tech savvy. It just wouldn't be useful, and more confusing than helping.

"Ending her? By that I meant I will banish her. Should you want to punish her first for what she's done..." Lucifer weighs that. "I don't object. A bath in holy water, for example, would be very terrible for her, as would a number of other things of that sort. But no, beating her would only stun her for a while. I think impact jars their control of the bodies," Lucifer says, perking up, with apparent interest in talking over the subject.

"But they should not be here in the first place, which I mean to rectify."

Red Hood has posed:
"I know someone who might be able to use it," Jason says before amending. "Or a couple of people depending on how my brother did today," Jason says knowing Tim was looking for some help from some of the magic types. "If it helps any you can write it down and I can give it to them," he adds getting that 'it's technical vibe'.

"So you guys have a revolving door too?" he asks about the banishment. "No permanent punishment." Though punishment is indeed a subject they both share an interest in. "That sounds fun, count me in," he says of subjecting this whoever she was to a holy water bath. "So the holy stuff works then?" he asks.

Then it was time for a bit of clarification, "Though what I was asking about is the hosts, do they feel anything or are they dead as soon as the demon hitches a ride? We questioned one, did somethings that I'm not proud of, just trying to square my conscience about it, that we didn't do her more harm than she'd already suffered."

Lucifer has posed:
"If I decide the punishment should be more severe, or permanent... I'll deal with it after the banishment," Lucifer says. His words are cold, and his tone turns strange. That menace underneatht the smile. Lucifer IS still smiling, which makes it stranger still, perhaps. That discrepency that can create discomfort. Batman likely does something similar, it may be familiar indeed. Lucifer doesn't linger there, though, the pleasantness overshadows it soon enough.

"'Holy stuff'? As a general statement, mostly, but not everything," Lucifer replies.

"The hosts? Ah. Those who were killed. No, they are gone. And cannot be brought back; the demon seals any soul restoration off," Lucifer says, chatty. Trading information, it seems, isn't something Lucifer worries about. No dancing around topics here: at least not intentionally.

Red Hood has posed:
"Good," Jason says at hearing that the punishment for this sort of thing went beyond mere banishment.

Oh that look is familiar, not so much from Batman as feeling them on his own lips. He gives Lucifer a nod.

"Right, focus on the water then," he says about the holy stuff. Though its the hosts he wants to hear about most and when he learns they're gone already, he nods, relieved, "I figured we couldn't bring them back, just glad they didn;'t feel any pain," he says.

He stands then, making sure the phones were in his pocket. "I should get these back to my people, as for cooperation I think you can count on it from me at least, you've told me more in a few minutes then we've been able to find out in days of scrambling. So, I'll be back," he offers with a smile.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer smiles, though he doesn't get up; he may have gotten the vibe of how the Bats often work: visiting and then disappearing. Lucifer doesn't mind it, at all, either. "No, the pain they felt was during their murder," Lucifer answers, with a clear little spike of some emotion in his dark, often bottomless, eyes. Lucifer isn't a fan of murder: that wasn't a spark of pleasure, nor was his gaze dead. Lucifer isn't a villain, there's some other drive there. And no mask.

"Well, knowing what she is does not help me with /where/ she is, and getting to her before this continues. Perhaps as a team we can bring both of our strong elements together." Lucifer smiles sleekly, "Should you want a drink before you go, simply tell Brittany I authorized it. You met her earlier," Lucifer offers, with a knowing little grin. "You know my name, what should I refer to you as?" Lucifer asks.

Red Hood has posed:
Jason takes note of that hint of some other drive behind Lucifer, than simply the kill. It's comforting given how much they've talked.

"Hopefully the phones will let us find her, if they do, I'll be sure to let you know." The offer of the drink is tempting and what the hell, he was done what he'd come to do. "I'll find her," he says with a smile before it comes to the matter of names. He knew Bruce would growl out Batman, but Jason opts to be a bit more social.

"Call me Red," he answers before he departs with the phones in search of that drink.