Owner	Pose
Askante	It's a weirdly foggy evening in Bushwick, which makes for interesting sights and sounds in Mutant town. With the variety of spot-on-the-wall talents that the general population possess, there's a few people glowing faintly down there, others who have small balls of light chasing the fog away. Upon a roof overlooking a bario and a thrift store, a gargoyle hunkers. Except that it's not a gargoyle really, but may as well be one, or how still the Daemon of Fear is. This is a place it can feed, on a night like this, where the mere atmosphere is permeating the world with a slight wariness, a nervousness of things you cannot see. The primal fear of losing a sense. Of the dark. Of things that steal the senses away and leave you vulnerable to things that go bump. However, it's eating out of a paper bag, ferrying handfuls of what looks like trailmix to its mouth to crunch noisily, some surreal spikey chipmunk by the looks of its cheeks.
Lucifer	The fog makes an arrival such as Lucifer's an easy one to make, being as how he telepots via smoke and it can very much blend in with the fog thick as it is. So one moment he's not there and the next he is sort of appears next to where it is acting as a gargoyle, watching the people below and munching on food. He can almost tell that it is not only feeding physically on food but also on the mood that sort of permeates the air along with the fog. "Satisfying a few different hungers tonight, my friend?" He asks the darkness, not really knowing if it has taken any particular shape or is just blended in with the shadows as it does so well.
Askante	When you're black on black, with black eyes, it's easy to hide in the dark. In the middle of a snow-storm though, is a different matter. Being able to sense the shift and flow of the world around it in terms of the nuances of anxiety and fight-or-flight instinct is one thing, but it can sense the presence of the weird and the wonderful too, to a lesser extent. One always knows one's own kind, right? "The one in the belly, the one in the urge. Nervousness, all that funky music -- I'm currently making everyone watch their step." It replies, looking up and around, then spotting the shadow in the shadows, it lifts one hand to wave, proffering the trail mix with another. "New car smell. I think they were lying. I think it's just nuts and fruits with chocolate pieces."
Lucifer	Lucifer reaches to pull a small handful of the offered mix from the bag and pops a few pieces into his mouth to chew on. "Just as everyone should watch their step but I am sure you are causing them to be even more cautious, as you do." He offers. "Also, new car smell is a scent. You can't quite eat a scent can you? This is more trail mix...taste's good though." He speaks, shifting to show that he is perfectly balanced on the ledge without any signs of faltering. Another small bit of his snack is taken, chewed thoughtfully. "It is good to see you out and about a bit. I am also glad I ran into you... I have a present for you."
Askante	"I've been practicing," Askante replies, thinking for a moment. "Sometimes feels like you can eat a smell. Miasma. MMmmmmmmmmnasty," it takes another handful of the mix and expertly tosses nut after fruit to its mouth, its aim expert. "Easier now. Less overloaded. There's a lot of people..." this said in a whisper, as if Lucifer hadn't noticed that already in his time. Billions of them, in fact. "Oh?" Curiosity piqued, it cranes its neck, spines gently rattling as it does so, to peer along the ledge to the Fallen one. "I like presents."
Lucifer	"I mean, in all actual technicality, you could eat the thing the smell comes from. A lot of places sell them in the shapes of little trees. They're not supposed to be consumed though, but...in theory..." Lucifer offers and then grins. A nod is given as it explains a bit more, or perhaps just provides further commentary on what is going on and the Fallen One smirks. He then reaches into an inner pocket of his jacket and pulls out a small soft-leather pouch that's drawn closed by a weave of braided leather. This is handed to Askante. "I'll explain it once you see what it is."
Askante	Askante's nearest hand reaches for the pouch and immediately hesitates when it comes close to it. Sitting up a bit more, it stares, brings the hand back, cocks its head a little left and right. Finally, it takes the pouch with care and stares at its palm, up at Lucifer, back to its palm and its spines all raise, so that they form almost a cockatoo-like crest. "This is dangerous..." it says, but seems confused at the same time. "Not to me. But..." it doesn't really seem to understand -why-. After all, when it went to sleep the west had just been won. When it woke up there were cellphones. The drawstring is undone and it pours the contents into its palm, blinking.
Lucifer	"To a human, or even a meta human, any mortal type I suppose... it's deadly. Very much so." Lucifer offers as it pours the glowing stone necklace into it's palm. "Nathaniel and I had to do some work at a place called Kiev in Ukraine. There's an old neuclear power plant nearby that had a meltdown in it's reactor back in 1986." He offers. "I found that stone, all glowing and smooth, in the waters there. I thought if I turned it into a necklace, it'd be something you would like. A piece of history that none can really touch or appreciate. Unless you're immortal like us."
Askante	"It's beautiful," Askante murmurs, turning it this way and that, against the light. "And deadly. I don't really understand why. I think... I should read things. I know I know how to do that. At least I think I know how. I might have forgotten. I have missed a lot in a hundred years." It smiles at the glowing stone though. "Who is Nathaniel?" it asks this looking up putting the pendant in the pouch, then hunting for things in the coat pockets of its old black duster.
Lucifer	Lucifer watches it for a moment as it looks over the necklace and then he smiles. "I am glad you like it." Then he considers. "You know. I have a small library with some very interesting books within it. You're welcome to come to the Penthouse and have a read." He then reconsiders. "Actually, you'd probably prefer to remain here within the shadows. If you have anything that is of interest to you, I probably have a book on it. I would be more than happy to let you borrow the book or books to read through." He goes through the motions to light up a cigarette then. "It likely is a good idea that you read up on what's been happening within the world. All the new fears you could give people. It'd be entertaining." Then that question finds him and he smirks. "Ah, Doctor Nathaniel Essex, also known as Mister Sinister. He's a geneticist, and my lover. Very dear to me."
Askante	Honestly, Askante could do with watching a scary movie marathon of the latest and greatest creature feature and spooky tooth supernatural flicks. It would get SO much inspiration. However, it hasn't discovered movies yet, which is probably a good thing for all those punks down there in the dark. It listens, then tries the word on its lips. 'Jen-et-ee-sist'. Silence for a bit, which prolongs as it pulls out a little pill case which oddly is made of lead. It drops the little necklace of Death in there, gazing at it for a little longer, before sliding the case closed. "I think... I remember something. Big stink in the Empire, when someone made a monster. I read about it....Oh! I do know how to read! The news papers, out of San Fransisco." It beams to itself with a small sigh. "What is a geneticist? Happy for you though. You are alone a lot. Were alone a lot. You always seemed to be alone." It considers "Books. Where would I start? I have struggled with this. I do not know where to begin."
Lucifer	"A geneticist is someone who works on understanding how things work on a creationist level. The building blocks of life, the things that make one human have brown hair and another blonde, are based on genes. They study those." Lucifer explains as simply as he can. "You begin at the beginning. I'll get some books for you to read. You just tell me if you want to read them here, or in my home. Nathaniel won't harm you, I promise. Though he'll probably be fascinated by you." Tapping his chin then, to sort of think a few things through. "Do you not like being alone? For some reason I always thought you were content as such..."
Askante	Askante's mouth forms an 'o' and it looks down at the street, tracking someone in a particularly thick patch of fog. It hunkers though, hisses softly for a moment and some OTHER individual in the shadows. There's a startled sound from that alley, followed by what amounts to a whimper and footfalls running /away/. It looks back at Lucifer then, relaxing as it tucks away the almost empty bag of trailmix. "Used to not care. I'd run into another of my kind every so often, sometimes there'd be a few of us. But fewer and fewer. Now, I'm the only one. All faded. All gone. Lots of minds, though and the purpose is never done. Don't get attached. They fade. We do not. And I'm not keen on gods, they get pushy, sometimes. Make me wary." It ponders. "Geneticist sounds like Witchdoctor Alchemist. Finding the power of life with ritual and mixing things together. It's probably a lot cleverer than that, but there's so much I don't know. Um. Where IS your penthouse?" It pauses. "Heard a human living on the street say that there's a library here, which is warm sometimes when it's cold."
Lucifer	"Well, yes, there are such things as libraries that are whole buildings filled with books. Of both fact and fantasy. I just happen to have a lot of texts that....probably shouldn't exist." Lucifer offers and then he looks through the fog and, for a moment, shifts a hand that parts the fog for them above where it rests below. "See those lights there? A few blocks away? That's my club. A, ah, gathering for people to be entertained with music and food and drink. My home is above it." He offers this. "And yes. A witchdoctor alchemist. I'll have to tell him that. He might be amused by such a thought." A ponder. "I am sorry that you are the last, and that it is lonely. If I could help in any way..."
Askante	Craning to look, ASkante stands tall, to its full seven foot of height, looking through to the distant pillar of light in the fog. "If I get lost on the ground, I'll just ask to go to the club of light." Which might actually help in the end. It exhales a sigh, then hunkers back down on the ledge, putting itself beneath Lucifer once again, on its haunches and its tail stretched out along the ledge. "I have things that should not exist. I know what that is like. Some have to hold on to what would be lost or forgotten." Or forbidden and anathema, or just plain dangerous in the wrong hands! But who's counting, right? "You help. You help by not being lonely. It's a good thing. You are necessary. I wish I knew how to help the situation myself, but I do not know how we are made in the first place. I was not born, I just... awoke. I am sure the others did, also. I do not know what happened to them all." Enlightenment, not needing those superstitions any more, that kind of jazz. But fear persists. "I wish I knew where they have gone."
Lucifer	Lucifer smiles gently and then nods. "That would be quite appropriate. It's called Lux. Which is light in Latin." A tilt of his head and then a nod as Askante speaks on having things that shouldn't exist or are dangerous. "We keep them to preserve them at most. Though I do also like reading things every once in a while to keep the knowledge fresh in the mind." Offering this before he bows his head. "I am glad I help ease the loneliness at least a little bit, for a little while, when I come to visit. I could, possibly, try and see if I can figure out what happened to them. I might have a contact or two that may know some things along the way."
Askante	Looking at Lucifer from the corner of its eye, the Daemon smiles, but it's a kind of bittersweet thing. "You may not like the answer, lightbringer. Wishes are fishes and we all have our hunger slaked. But wishes are always dangerous. Should you give them what they want, or what they -need-." It sniffs, gazing at the angel a while. "Still, I would like to know, even if I think I know the truth of it. Men are cruel creatures, as much as they are kind and many want to take and take and take, not thinking that when some things are gone, they will never return. Ever." It gestures around at the city that they lurk in. "It is easy to forget this, when you breed like a rabbit in the springtime." But then the maudlin is done and it murmurs a few wardings against the evil eye, in several languages. "Maybe your books are like my trinkets. I do not keep books, they're too heavy. I keep in my little treasure caches, my secret places, or what I carry in the coat of deep pockets. Oh! Oh, yes, I had forgotten about this, when I saw you last..." it stands again and pats the pockets, rummages in them, pulls out a Colt 45, engraved with a single thing: A crucific in the wooden handle. It's handed to Lucifer. "You should keep this and protect it. The coat belonged to the Saint of Killers, when he was alive. He then went to your domain and comes back when there is need of him. This was his gun. It was in the coat, when I took it. He didn't need it any more. The coat I mean. But this... you should have. No man should have it."
Lucifer	Lucifer considers it's words for a moment and then nods his head. "I will see what I can find, and I will let you know." He says it and then tilts his head a little, listening to Askante more. To the words it offers still. "You speak truths, my friend, with a wisdom that many do not possess unfortunately. And my books are like your trinkets, some of them anyway. I have books that anyone can own and then I have books that I have kept since books were first being made. The ones that are truly not supposed to exist, or at least, be known to exist, are hidden away and not on display. But the safer ones... I keep those on the shelves." When the gun is presented, Lucifer takes it carefully, checks it over, and then carefully tucks it into the inner pocket of his coat. "Thank you for entrusting me with this. I will put it in a place where no man can ever find it." A breath, a inhale of his cigarette. "Is there anything else I can do for you? Bring you the next time I come around?"
Askante	"You should have it," it's just quietly said, but then Askante shakes its head with a passle of honor gestures, from bowing over its clasped palms, to the SHalom forehead handwave. "Knowledge is a gift. Even when it is forbidden, or dangerous. The knowledge itself is not the dangerous thing, is it?" It smiles again. "Censoring knowledge..." it doesn't elaborate on that, because well, it's an old thing and old thorn and an old truth. Lucifer's never ever censored knowledge. "You are kind, Lightbringer. But I do not know what I would ask for, as I do not know what I am lacking. If you think of something, I will not refuse it. Perhaps I should start in the library here. If I can find it. And then read the books you offer me." It cocks its head, to check if that's the sensible path, by guaging it off of the Devil.
Lucifer	"I would never. Keep it from the wrong hands, because some can abuse the knowledge they gain. Yet at the same time..." Lucifer doesn't elaborate on that either. It knows, and perhaps this is an understanding they have kept between themselves for the eons they have known each other. "If I think of something, of course I will bring it to you. That is a promise I can easily keep." This is offered and he incenerates his finished cigarette so it is but ash in the air now. "I think starting in the library might be a good idea. There is a wealth of knowledge there, and I am sure you can learn much. Anything you cannot learn, or that you wish to understand better. I will help you do such." He straightens clothing, even though he doesn't really need to. "I should get back home. It was, as always, a pleasure to see you my friend. I will see you again soon." And with those words, Lucifer steps as if to fall off the ledge, but in a moment of perhaps necessity or desire, his wings unfurl and he flaps his way deeper into the fog until he disappears entirely.