<div class="floatleft">(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e0/7c/4e/e07c4e90da99e7dc68010d39f7c1feff.jpg)</div><strong>Character Name:</strong><strong>Lucifer Morningstar</strong>(https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=304004.msg14845965#msg14845965)<br/><strong>Date/Time:</strong>Wednesday 1st May 2019 -- Early Evening<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Gotham? ---> House Of Mystery<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong><strong>This</strong>(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8f/b7/9d/8fb79dff0a558991848386f1585774ce.jpg) Snazzy<strong>Number</strong>(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/74/88/717488e99cde03a5ee9f7b5a260fadc2.jpg)<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Koriand'r / John Constantine / Zatanna Closed<br/><strong>Warnings:</strong><br/><br/><hr/><br/>Honestly, when it came to most mortals, Lucifer kind of tuned out after a while. For all of their attempts at being witty and clever and charming, they only ever really came across as presumptuous and even a little sad at times. All of the snark in the multiverse wasn't going to save them when The Reaper decided to come for them, after all, and depending on the universe...well, some of those personifications of death actively disliked snark and smarm. At which point, well, you were just pissing off the person who was responsible for looking after you, and that was never a good idea in any circumstance, now was it? Of course, it was rich coming from him that you should never bite the hand that feeds you, wasn't it? That was basically what he was most famous for doing. He supposed it was more that he viewed such attempts at charm as...beneath him? He could be snarky and witty, of course, but you had to pick your targets. Part of being charming was about understanding your target and how to approach them. Simply talking to everybody with that same irreverent smirk, acting as if you were old friends? That was a good tactic to keep in your arsenal, but it was like using a sledgehammer during surgery. If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail.<br/><br/>But this conversation? This one right here, as much as it was beginning to bore him - the same old jokes, the same old tired attempt at familiarity to attempt to get him to lower his guard and let something slip - he had to force himself to pay attention. These two were powerful mortals. Not powerful enough to actually do anything close to killing him, but given his condition...well, it would not do to dismiss a pair of Mortals only to have them give him some amount of trouble as a result. That would just be embarrassing. So, he reluctantly paid attention and took the answers on board, registering them in that unknowable head of his. John Constantine. His tongue was far from silver - he would not compare John's wily charms to his own; that would be an insult that Lucifer would not be willing to forgive, even of himself - but he supposed it was more polished than most other Mortals. What intrigued him more than John's pithy attempts at witty one liners and faux-affable demeanour was his power. If this was Constantine, then the woman had to be Zatanna; it was the only thing that made sense, given the situation.<br/><br/>Constantine was a name he'd heard a great deal of even in his own Universe - an occasional dimension hopper, then - and even more so upon arriving in this one. He was feared and hated by demons in equal measure, and in his forays into Hell - professional curiosity, you understand - he'd heard more than a couple of The Triumvirate muttering some dark promises about his Soul. That in and of itself was interesting; whilst The Triumvirate of this universe was a pale echo of Lucifer himself - every universe needed to have a Hell, but having a copy of Lucifer in every universe? That was just asking for trouble - even an echo was capable of wielding cosmic powers if shaped correctly...and somehow, John Constantine had managed to get the better of him enough times that he'd taken it personally. That was a man to watch. If he had to guess, his affable demeanour was partly to get his targets to lower their guard...and partly to provoke them into action. Neither of which was going to happen to Lucifer at that moment, if he had anything to say about it. And who else would John Constantine go to for help other than Zatanna, one of the few spellcasters more powerful than himself?<br/><br/>He tilted his head to one side, watching with mild bemusement at the circus playing out before him...then paused, the slightest flicker of a frown appearing across his face. He felt an almost<em>pull</em>at the edge of his Cosmic Awareness, like...somebody was requesting information on him. Divination Spells always drew on their target, after all, and whilst most living beings weren't aware enough of the fabric of reality to work out when people were investigating them, he was a different matter entirely. He felt the fabric of the universe flexing a little, bending inwards, pulling his entity inwards, and he didn't like it. Oh, he could probably handle them knowing his name - it had far more power in one syllable than they did in this entire library - but it was the principle of the thing. They'd made themselves a deal, and here Miss Zatanna was, trying to cheat. He let out a soft sigh and allowed the pen to touch just a fraction of the power of the name it was trying to transcribe. He didn't destroy the pen directly; he just...gave it a nudge, as it were, and it toppled over on its own. The pen exploded in a shower of ink and shrapnel, and out of pure spite - as he felt it trying to knit itself back together, presumably under Johns influence - he atomised the remnants with a thought, rendering it irreparable. It flickered into existence for a moment in Zatanna's hand, before falling to dust across her palm.<br/><br/>He cast a glance over at John as he talked, then spoke calmly and evenly, his voice echoing across the small room. His fingers readjusted on the piano, and he trailed off from playing his last song and instead transitioned into something a bit more...grandiose (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a11IUTiZbcQ) for the occasion. Something a bit more majestic...and whose title was a little bit more fitting than the first song he'd played.<strong>"Now now, Miss Zatanna,"</strong>he chided lightly, for the moment ignoring John's question.<strong>"John just asked the question. I know that our deal wasn't specific, but trying to <em>cheat</em> to learn my name isn't following the spirit of the game, now is it?"</strong>He hummed softly in the back of his throat. Zatanna hadn't agreed to the deal, true, but it was still bad form considering that in this equation, John and Zatanna were still obviously on the same side. He had to respect her guts, of course; if she suspected that he was a powerful demon, well, not many people tried to cheat one to his face. She was obviously in possession of more of a spine than most mortals he had met. It would be refreshing, if the attempt hadn't been so galling.<br/><br/>His fingers moved across the ivory as he returned his attention to John.<strong>"I believe Zatanna over there has an inkling of who I am, but I suppose I must answer you directly, in honour of our agreement. Your question could be much better worded - you have given me a great deal of wiggle room to answer without answering, you see - so that is something you should keep an eye on in future. But bad faith aside-"</strong>he glanced at Zatanna,<strong>"-I will not make myself a hypocrite today."</strong>He took a pause, taking a moment to sip another helping from his drink - levitating it towards him, then back again - before continuing.<strong>"My names and titles are myriad, I'm sure you'll understand, many of which are...far from complimentary."</strong>He allowed himself a wry smile.<strong>"I am The First Of The Divine Host, Former Commander Of The Celestial Legions, Lord Of The Fallen, The Opposer, Shai'tan and His Infernal Majesty, The King of Hell."</strong>He paused, then inclined his head to one side in a jerking, belated nod.<strong>"Formerly, at any rate. I'm retired now. Let somebody else take care of that eternal, tedious drudgery for a change."</strong>He paused and allowed the notes of his piano to die off into the ether, his hands sliding from the keys as the music drifted into silence. He stood slowly, brushing himself off and smoothing out his suit. He looked around the room as if for the first time, leaving his piano behind, before meeting John's gaze...and sketched a small bow.<strong>"Lucifer Morningstar, the original and greatest, at your service."</strong>