4043/Magical Retrospective

Magical Retrospective
Date of Scene:	05 November 2020
Location:	Coffee of DOOM
Synopsis:	Amanda meets with Lucifer to chat over her recent magical escapades.
Cast of Characters:	Lucifer, Amanda Sefton

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Lucifer has posed:
"Ms. Sefton. How excellent to see you. ...Or did we achieve a rapport level to evolve to 'Amanda'?" Lucifer has raised a smart, brief wave of hand from his seat in one of the booths to the right side of the Latverian cafe. His voice carries, commanding and slightly oddly loud; the man can project when he chooses!

Lucifer is draped in his booth seat, with a up of aeromatic dark coffee, the warmth curling in tendrils upwards. He is dressed immaculately, dark purples and black tones at the moment, and more 'smartly' than Amanda's prior encounter within Lux. He turns the wave into a gesture towards the booth seats opposite him, his smile very welcoming and relaxed. Lucifer tends to have a way of setting everything at ease, within the sphere of his presence: which is currently flooded through the coffee shop, like entering a zone of subtle magical incense.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
"Amanda's fine," the sorceress says as she joins Lucifer at his table. Her blue eyes scan the cafe as she approaches. Somehow, it feels like she's stepped into another world. Or, more acurately, another time. She's dressed in a casual pantsuit in cream and pale blue, her rune covered satchel disguised as a purse. "It's lovely to see you again, too, Luci." 'Luci' is, after all, how Nessa first introduced him to her.

She slides into the booth and takes just a moment to order a similar coffee from a passing waiter. "I trust you've been well?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer perks up with a flattered pleasure, as if he is rarely asked how he is doing, and took it as more than just throw-away small talk. "I have, indeed; minor daily challenges are entertaining at the worst, hardly problems," Lucifer chatters comfortably. His long fingers turn his coffee cup once, before he takes a long draught of it. His manner is upbeat.

His eyes catch onto her satchel, with a slightly long look that registers what it is, but he makes no comment or deal about it at all, just curiosity: the way he may have looked at a pet dog under her arm and awknowledged it.

"I am glad to see you appear to have made a //full// recovery; is that the case? No more magical plagues, I hope? You have an air of..." Lucifer considers. "Exhausted victory?" A grin flashes, and a flared widening of his eyes. Lucifer's being overdramatic.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda laughs lightly. "I am quite well, yes. Fullly recovered, more or less. I've even managed to catch up on my sleep, some." She gives a mild half shrug. "Well, mostly at any rate." Exhausted victory, indeed.

"Mm. Yes. We left Zalmoxis' tomb in quite a state. Collapsed most of the chambers down on top of themselves and burned Set's disciple to dust *after* we managed to free all his avatars from their cursed artifacts." So, yes, a win. And yet, she has a vague sense of concern in her eyes. "I'm just hoping the man's truly gone and not just hiding incorporally somewhere." Because she knows that sort of magic is possible. Unlikely, given the heavy magics that were involved in the process, but... Never say never.

Lucifer has posed:
"No, never say never. Even souls that end up in other places can be summoned by the right amount of force, or the will of the correct deity," Lucifer laughs, with a slight roll of his eyes, but he sits back a little, starting to look through the ceiling: a manner of someone thinking deeply into something.

"But let me see." That's absolutely vague, isn't it? It's the same tone used were Lucifer looking up a fact on google. It's possibly more than just a little eerie, if it's to be believed that he's checking on what she asked....

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda blinks mildly as Lucifer appears to check some internal, or maybe cosmic search engine. She leans back and lets him do his thing, probably far more comfortable with the oddities of magic than many others on the 'side of the angels', so to speak. But, that's the nature of her magic, too. The Way waxes and wanes, moves from light to dark and back again with considerable ease and frequency. But her conscience remains constant.

Her coffee arrives and she murmurs thanks to the waiter before he retreats. Then, she takes a slow sip and makes an appreciative noise. "I've heard the best coffee in the city is to be found here. This is my first time here, though."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer looks back down out of the air when Amanda re-engages him in chat about coffee. He brightens again, apparently distracted by that. "I have a top list of about four that I'd say are relatively tied for best ... depending on how you feel about certain aspects," Lucifer teases. "The coffee from the Hellfire Club ranks highly due to the waitstaff, for example," he adds.

But he returns to the other 'question' that she didn't necessarily ask. "The disciple is not in hiding here, seems Set didn't intervene," Lucifer says, as if happy about his search result - he was 'right' about that minor factoid he magical-googled. "That doesn't mean he can't be pulled back to life, but it would take something very significant to do so."

Amanda Sefton has posed:
"I can't say I've been there, either," Amanda says, with regard to HFC. She's more of a tea girl, anyway, and hasn't gone clubbing since leaving Europe. She considers his words, nonetheless. "I don't... know that he'd be worth pulling out of hell," she says after a moment. "I suspect it'd be easier to simply find a new disciple."

She shakes her head. "On the bright side, we destroyed the crown, as well. At least I think so. I just need to retrieve the pieces of the tablet now and destroy them, and I think I can call this one done." A beat. "Once I've got the avatar artifacts purified, of course. I still need to contact your man."

Lucifer has posed:
"You absolutely //should//, the restaurants there are an /experience/," Lucifer says of the Hellfire club, with a smile. "Both the Strait Lace, and the Victorian," he specifies, but moves smoothly back to the disciple topic.

"I'd agree, but good disciples //are// hard to find these days," Lucifer quips with a large roguish grin and a clear broad wink. "Not that I don't find plenty of good ones," he jokes. "But the bad does come in with the good."

"Destroyed? Always a bit of a pity to lose powerful artifacts, from a ...." Lucifer weighs it with a tilt of hand, "artistic point of view. Should the purifier not be responsive, let me know, I can shoot some hellfire up his rear," Lucifer says playfully, over a drink of his coffee.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
"Mm." Amanda can concede his point. "I don't really *want* to destroy them. But I also don't want to leave them out there where someone else might find them. I haven't heard from Radu since the night he gave me his piece." Sadness crosses her expression briefly. "I fear I may not again. He was... very badly injured." He may have succumbed; she's just not sure.

"And," she admits, "I think I'd like to put it somewhere out of reach of a certain God of Mischief, regardless. He's kept his word, I'll grant. But... I'd feel better. There's too much power at that nexus."

Lucifer has posed:
"Should you find relics in the future that need to just be .... let's call it 'removed' from general access, you may run them by me if you like for safe storage, removed from mortal access. I do, of course, understand if your trust level isn't there with me yet," Lucifer cracks a smile, but there's something else in the smile, a rare sadness or self-awareness, that he is not trusted, or liked, perhaps - and knows it.

"And I don't mean to suggest I am a dumping ground for cursed items either. It is ... case by case," Lucifer laughs, returning to his prior warmth. His aura, magical yet not exactly 'magical', vibrantly gives a little pulse: accidental, perhaps.

"Hmmh, 'God' of mischief indeed. No honor in that one, I'd agree with your concern."

Amanda Sefton has posed:
That Lucifer knows... or at least knows of Loki is no surprise. Few in the magical community don't. Thus, Amanda chuckles darkly. She still owes him a favour, which sits as a weight in the back of her mind. "Fair enough. I may take you up on that," she warns her host, regardless. Because, thus far, he has dealt fairly with her. And she's never sensed evil from him. She is comfortable with chaos and unpredictablilty. Loki, however, tried to destroy New York. That's evil.

She cants her head, studying Lucifer for a moment. Not the detatched bug under a microscope sort of way. But simply finding him interesting, despite his mystery. "I should thank Nessa for introducing us. I'm glad she did." There's no untoward forwardness there, incidentally. She's not evincing any of the attraction many girls do, no doubt. She's simply decided he's worth keeping as an acquaintance, and perhaps -- in time -- a friend.

Lucifer has posed:
A twinkle enters Lucifer's eyes. "I am glad she chose to do so as well. I enjoy magical puzzles, and you seem to have a plethora of them," he laughs. He does not expect anyone, necessarily, to recognize who (or what) he really is, and to some degree... does encourage that mystery.

"I know my name carries a certain level of //stigma//," smirks the man, finishing the last of his coffee and sliding the cup away to the end of the table where it can be removed by the next member of waitstaff. He also puts out a payment card with it; drinks on him.

"Though rarely are reputations fully accurate." Lucifer's playful, always amused to imply some things, to be entirely honest but be read otherwise. It's a sad little game.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
"Actions speak louder," Amanda says with a small shrug. "I cannot speak to your previous actions because I have not seen them. Nor to your reptuation, because I really only have Nessa's word; though I do trust her." She takes a sip of her coffee. "But names can change, can be borrowed, given away, adopted... And we are magical. Few of us give out our true names." Although it's possible he may be. She knows, however, that he has a lot more power than can be seen on the surface. Not because she's poked at it, but because the way he comports himself and the information he has so readily available hints at it. So, its more a guess, perhaps. But her instincts are good.

"I think you've been straight with me." A beat. An arch smile. "So far."

She *can* play the game, too. She just rarely chooses to. That's her mother's balliwick. "That's good enough for me." For now.

Lucifer has posed:
"My name did change, in fact." Entirely true! "I have been entirely straight with you, though I understand if you struggle with taking my word on it," grins the Devil, with an abrupt deep but infecting laugh. A few people in the next booth feel the vibe of it subconsciously and laugh along a little bit, amidst their other conversation. Lucifer can be a little 'leaky'.

"However, I am entirely truthful, all of the time, which can be jarring to some. Be sure not to ask questions to which you don't want to hear the answers, mmm?" Lucifer purses his lips and folds his hands on the table, long piano fingers gracefully touching fingertip to tip. "Though being truthful does not require me to /answer/, should I think it best not to." And he doesn't always volunteer, either. But honest, yes.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Even Amanda has to laugh with him. "I think we all reserve *that* right, don't we?" The right not to answer questions best left unannswered. She cants her head. "In my experience, such honesty is no guarantee the listener will walk away with the truth." She's had some passing dealings with the Fae, after all, and other Otherworld denizens. Just enough to know that one must be very careful about how one interprets what they say. "Nevertheless, I do think you're right. And, I will say... *generally* I prefer the hard truth to a comforting lie. Even when it hurts." Not that it'll stop her from reacting, mind. It just tempers her perspective *later*. Because... Amanda is human.

Lucifer has posed:
"I am not /cursed/ to tell the truth. What a horrific fate that would be. I //loathe// spells or charms that force or control anyone," Lucifer says, with clear distaste in his tone. "Hardly any honor to choosing truth if you are forced to do so." He flutters his thumbs up in a shrug-like motion, hands only.

"Mmm, hurting is human. Growth, change. Evolution." There's a wistful quality, as Lucifer speaks of the qualities of humans that he appreciates. "Consequences - good and bad." His gaze had drifted, and he returns it to her. "--Ah, nearly got into monologue on philosophy. Oops."

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda laughs genuinely, now. "Monologuing on Philosophy is much better than monologuing on a plot to take over the world." Evil Overload mistake 101. "Though, if you do decide to monologue about that, just let me know. I'll let the LBC know." And probably anyone else she think smight stand a chance at thelpting them... woefully inadequate as they all may be.

Lucifer has posed:
"The LBC sounds like a religious organization, like the Ladies Bible Circle; meets every Sunday after church," Lucifer teases in return, a snarkiness to the mention of 'bible'. "And no, I don't have any interest in controlling the world right now. I'm on /vacation/." There's a grand gesture of both hands outwards away from himself, a relaxed display of how he's verly clearly not working!

"Such as it is. Lux is a hobby, not work. I enjoy performing," Lucifer shares. He enjoys sharing some things, though for the most part, Lucifer really is very lacking in talking about himself or anything he does. Which, for many, make him a great friend. He //listens//...

Amanda Sefton has posed:
"Close," Amanda laughs, nearly done her coffee, now. "Ladies' Book Club. It's just something Nessa said." She gives a mild shrug again, eyes twinkling. "I'm not precisely sure who they are, only that they're friends of hers."

She cants her head again. "I expect Lux could keep you quite busy, if you wanted to. Me? I'm busy enough trying to keep my new business afloat. Not a lot of time for hobbies."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer does look up as the waiter returns to collect his cup and the payment, with a brief flare of smile that gets returned. Lucifer's easy to smile at. Is there a flirt element in it too? Possibly. Or that's Lucifer's face. He's always like that.

"It keeps me as busy as I want to be! I've also been on consult to help one of the local police precincts. As I said, I love puzzles... and seeing the bad guys caught and punished," Lucifer observes. "How /is/ the float on your business? On the upswing I hope?"

Amanda Sefton has posed:
"Mm," Amanda nods. She sets her empty cup out for the server to take as well. "Yes. I've found quite a bit of success with the Hallowe'en film festival this last month and we're moving into Christmas, so." Another chuckle. "I'm sure I'll be run off my feet. I don't know that I'll have any more puzzles to present you between now and then, mind, but you never know."

Such is the way of magic.

With her luck, of course. Oh, there'll be more puzzles. He's no cause to worry.