Owner	Pose
Lucifer	During the day, Lux is brightly lit, and lacks a lot of the strong ambiance that it holds during the main night hours. The smokey atmospheric quality is gone, with all of the lights up to full. The place is still extremely impressive: in it's grandness, as one can actually SEE and experience all of it. Lux is being cleaned at the moment, staff move around with various tasks, though many of them are lingering or stopping in their activities to listen to the warm, skilled notes coming from the piano. Lucifer is at the piano, eyes partially lidded, seemingly making up something on the fly as he goes. It's haunting, hesitant, an emotional tune that lends towards the idea of something appropriate for a gentle mourn of a funeral, or perhaps similar to the soundtrack of a lonely hero fading into mist and smoke....
Melinda May	When May arrives, she's in civilian clothes, rather than her SHIELD blacks. Although, yes, she does still tend to favour black. Call it habit. Her jacket is made of leather, her top a high quality cotton and her jeans, while blue in stead of black, are stylish over her black boots. She knows she's expected. And expects the staff knows it, too. So, when she does finally enter that quiet space, with its haunting piano, she walks softly and slowly towards the man at the instrument. Her head cants as she listens. It's pretty. And she appreciates its sentiment, even if she's not prone to wallowing in such sentiment.
Lucifer	With a subtle smile, Lucifer adjusts the piano, adjusts the music, into something more stark, stronger, an edge to it. He's aware of her approach towards him, and gave her a little bit of a theme song for her arrival nearby. He ends a bit suddenly, resting one hand on the keys, the other up on the drink he had perched on a coaster on the piano's upper surface. "Hello again, agent," Lucifer greets, liquid cool and pleasantness, as if he were waking up from a refreshing nap. "If it's urgent, feel free to seize the moment and be direct. Otherwise, though, I hope you are well."
Melinda May	May actually snirks softly at the change in theme, though it's not a derisive or hostile sound. More of a scoff or a truncated chuckle. As he finishes, though, she gives him a small smile. Businesslike, yes, but anyone who knows May knows that's often the best she offers outsiders. "Well enough," she replies. "And you?" She's trying to be polite here. It doesn't do to walk into the place of business of a contact you know only peripherally and be rude about things. She may not have been relaxed the last time she was here, but without all the crazy magic shit going down around her, it's much easier to maintain some perspective. "I do have a question or two, though. And was hoping you might be able to point me in the right direction."
Lucifer	"Quite well, thank you," Lucifer says, as if entirely charmed that she'd think to ask him, or at least to choose the option that isn't immediately leaping at the bone: though she does choose to segway into it quickly, and amusement flutters into the edges of Lucifer's dark eyes. "One question I could see... two? We'll play it by ear," Lucifer teases her, rising to his feet, and moving away from the piano to a set of couches set to enjoy the piano area. He gives an invitational move of hand, but it doesn't require her to sit. "What do you have for me, then?" Curiosity, no hostility. A little bit of a strange 'pressure', as if to encourage or coax information out happens, though. It's subtle, and probably not intentional.
Melinda May	May chuckles softly, though it's a dry sound. "You remember the incident with that necromancer, don't you? The demon... kid..." for lack of a better term "who was there?" Levian. She hopes he remembers him. "Yeah, well, Loki messed with him. Somehow. But some sort of binding on him. And I need to figure out how to break it before he gets himself and a good friend of mine in some serious trouble. I'm hoping you might have some advice. Or a means to do it." And she's wondering what it will cost.
Lucifer	There's no surprise at all on Lucifer's face. None at all. There's a sort of bored annoyance, if anything. "Our //dear// friend Loki did something else, hm? Recently? Didn't turn him into a rabbit, did he?" Lucifer asks, tone dry, as he sits back a little, as if reflective. Which brings a new bit of thought to the surface for Lucifer. "Not a rabbit, no. Another sort of binding -- which is common, the demon kid is very prone to making pacts and deals... bad combination, those two. I did, in fact, recently break a rabbit curse he placed. So I'd say it depends on what the trouble is, exactly. Do feel open to be direct, so that we can resolve this," Lucifer recommends.
Melinda May	"Nessa," May admits. "Yes. Fortunately, that got worked out." She wasn't there for it. She only saw the before and after on two separate occasions. "Barton, the archer that was with me at the farmhouse when we took down the necromancer, is an Avenger." Not that that really matters. "Loki has a penchant for messing with him." Probably because he reacts so consistently. "He did a favour for Levian, the price of which was that he must kiss Barton on the lips. If he gets within ten feet of Barton, Barton will put an arrow through him." Or try to, at least. "And some fool administrator at the Triskelion has recruited Levian into our organization." She sounds really impressed about that. A sigh escapes her lips. "Look. I know it seems foolish. But the fact is, Barton's worth ten of the kid. And I'd like to avoid a serious incident between them. I need the kid to leave Barton alone, or else Barton will be distracted when he shouldn't be. And that could be lethal." Which Loki would likely entirely enjoy, in her opionion.
Lucifer	Lucifer doesn't laugh at the situation of the kiss and everything else around it, or treat it as trivial. He does certainly arch an eyebrow a little bit, particularly as May gives a sigh, and twirls the liuid in his glass with a leisurely rotation of wrist. "Yes, it was worked out by me. My point being, that I'm not against breaking curses of that sort," Lucifer nods. "Though that will be the last time I bring it up for proper credit." And it will be. "Now then. The very nature of what Levian is will bind him to his word. This can be useful - if you're recruiting him in particular - to keep in mind. The best way to handle it is to find a loophole in the agreement. For example, challenging him on who exactly is owed. Without a proper contract, or one done under false pretense, it can be voided as easy as that. Another way is to require Loki to withdraw the deal. Or, I suppose, to trick Levian into thinking the deal complete, or to transfer the deal. For example, buy the deal off of Levian in trade for something else." "If I were to favor one of these, other than simply using that loophole... hmmm, I would probably make a different deal: such as that Levian is required to stay more than three feet from your agent physically for eight hundred years." "...Lastly, yes, I can interfere. But I prefer not to. I like for demons to follow their word, to behave honorably."
Melinda May	May listens to what Lucifer has to say on the matter. She figured he'd know more about it than she is. She cants her head slightly. "Just because Levian thinks the deal has been fulfilled," she says slowly, "doesn't mean it has been, and so doesn't mean it isn't still owing." She gets this. "But I think I see what you're saying." And that helps. "I can work with that," she tells him. "I'm not sure forbidding him all contact is the answer. But if I can make it conditional..." Her eyes narrow and her expression grows thoughtful. "How can I buy the debt from Levian? Transfer it to me?"
Lucifer	"Usually you'd go to the source. In this case, Loki," Lucifer says, with a lift of palm in a 'hold on' motion. "Which I know isn't likely to go like you'd prefer. But maybe someone that Loki fears or trusts can get it out of him, to you. Or something like that. I'm not really 'up' on all of the current dynamics of the Asgardians, but I do know it's quite tangled." Lucifer is apologetic. His knowledge is mainly just humans. ".... The issue here really is that Levian accepted that deal, giving power to Loki.... so that power is with Loki." Lucifer breathes in deeply, but smiles at her. "I agree that tricking Levian isn't the nicest route. But I did include it as an option. Neither would, say, applying significant pressure to Loki until he decides to drop the deal. ... It's up to what you feel is best." Freedom of choice, including bad choices. "But... let me see if I can get the exact wording...." And Lucifer seems to get it, or figure it out, or divine it. "The deal was to be allowed through a ward, in trade for giving the archer agent a 'big kiss'. Lips wasn't specified, if that's useful to you later."
Melinda May	Yeah, May isn't keen on having anything to do with Loki. Unless it's his incarceration... or maybe his death. That she'd be perfectly willing to help with. She can't help but snirk at the idea of there being many people, outside of Banner, perhaps, that the Asgardian troublemaker fears. As she's given the precise wording however. Her brows rise. "I... can work with that," she says, surprised by it. "I can most definitely work with that." It's about time Levian learned the worth of the Hershey's Chocolate Factory. The Ice Queen of SHIELD actually smiles now. "Thank you, Lucifer," she says to him. "That gives me an excellent option, I believe."
Lucifer	"Sometimes one who would hate a kiss on the face would be fine with a kiss on the boot," Lucifer adds helpfully, though his sleek smile suggests he might have some guesses of why she might also be smiling. He just, perhaps, likes his idea too. "You are welcome. And mind, you owe me no fee, or deal," Lucifer laughs. "I'd say it up front, and you'd know about it. No tricky business here."
Melinda May	May lets out a soft breth. "I appreciate that, Lucifer." She's made deals with the devil. This hasn't felt like one. "I'll make a note to ask in advance, next time." Because she rarely makes the same mistake twice. She pauses a moment and then offers her hand. "Nonetheless, if I can help with something, let me know. Perhaps we can be friends." Never pass up the oportunity to develop useful contacts. And, hey. He's charming.
Lucifer	"I collect friends," Lucifer says with a teasing wink, and accepts the handshake readily. He's charmingly fearless, all of the time. His natural state: relaxed, and encouraging others to relax, and talk. Often to say things they don't necessarily mean to. Lucifer, the sharing circle. "And I will do that. Good luck with your big kiss," Lucifer says, sassy wink added. That's a free extra.