<div class="floatleft">(https://s019.radikal.ru/i620/1611/95/da0a97f5a50f.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>Monday 29th April 2019 -- Midday<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Perth, Australia -- Lux Carpark<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong><strong>This Tuxedo</strong>(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f2/cf/83/f2cf831d29b18792b6d8fd5230fc9a25.jpg)<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Koriand'r / Closed<br/><strong>Warnings:</strong><br/><br/><hr/><br/>Her reaction to the phone in his hand was amusing, to say the least. At first, there was the obvious response; curiosity, naturally. An intrigue over seeing something new, some new piece of technology that she had likely not seen before. Even though communication devices existed within every advanced civilisation, it was sometimes fascinating to see how the designs varied from culture to culture. Even something as simple as a phone - which had its analogues in every sufficiently advanced species - could vary wildly from planet to planet. Kryptonians used crystal-based holograms, Martians had more psychic-powered internal devices and yet other species had bracelets and earrings and one species he'd visited had even had a tripod that they unfolded and stepped onto to project their image across vast distances. The point was, her curiosity was expected. What was amusing was the sudden look of contempt and dissatisfaction upon seeing the device itself. No holograms, no speech, just a simple keypad and screen-based numbers. Whilst he appreciated the simplicity of it, he could fully see why a more advanced alien species would be rather more scornful towards it.<br/><br/>Still, seeing her pretty little face scrunch up in distaste was really rather amusing. She had the most expressive features, and it was rather a delight to see them twisting in various unique ways. Especially when he mentioned an attempted theft of her ship; her eyes flashed, and he momentarily felt sympathy for whoever managed to arouse that anger within her. It was a brief moment, but it was enough to tell that her fury was like the heat of a thousand supernovas, and whoever decided to provoke it was best left well enough alone because anybody standing nearby would be vaporised alongside them. That could be fun to watch.<strong>"Governments have a habit of taking what does not belong to them. But to be completely fair to the humans, they have suffered roughly a dozen or so hostile alien incursions in the last decade, so perhaps they have a justification to be somewhat paranoid about alien visitors."</strong>He chuckled. What was it about Earth that attracted all of these alien attacks? He supposed it might be the concentration of exceptional individuals on the planet itself. Such strength was an invitation, after all, and if the heroes on the planet beat enough enemies, eventually they would come back looking for revenge.<br/><br/>It was an odd case study, Earth; there was nothing on it really worth conquering, but because of how many exceptional individuals happened to call it home, it didn't half attract a lot of unwarranted attention. It was why he'd retired here; it was quiet most of the time, but it went through periods of being excessively chaotic and interesting. But he could consider all of that and admire her facial features later (and he had no shame in admitting that that was exactly what he intended to do). Right at that moment, they had more pressing issues to concern themselves with, and it appeared that perhaps he had said a little bit too much. As loathe as he was to lump himself in with humans, he had perhaps separated himself a bit too strongly from them in the course of their conversation. Not that he much cared if she knew he wasn't a human; why should he care if she knew who he was or not? The chances that his bad public opinion had reached galactic space was slim, and even slimmer was the chance that she even had a concept of what Angels were. And even if she did decide to take umbrage, his powers were not so diminished yet that she could actually do him any degree of harm whatsoever. If she had the power necessary to harm him, she wouldn't need his assistance in extracting her ship from the ground. He watched her tapping away at her armlet - a communications device and personal computer, he had to imagine - with a lifted, amused eyebrow.<br/><br/>The question was a good one, of course, and one that he'd fully expected. His assistance was pretty simple, really, and nothing more than a few seconds of actual effort on his part, but then she didn't know that, did she? She had no idea who he was, what he could do or what he was like, so why should she believe that he could do anything that he claimed he could? He offered her a teasing smirk.<strong>"I have my ways, My Dear, rest assured,"</strong>he said cryptically with a teasing, almost smug smile. He'd given her enough freebies, after all. She'd just have to wait and see what he could do. She seemed to be much like him in a way, perpetually curious and constantly seeking new experiences and new information, so if he gave her everything up front, well...what more would be keeping her around him? He had to intrigue her, reel her in slowly, snare her in his trap before he gave her too much information. That sounded nefarious, of course, especially coming from<em>The Devil</em>of all people, but it really wasn't. She was simply the most interesting thing that had happened to him in years that didn't also simultaneously annoy him, and he was not willing to let her slip through his fingers before he'd managed to extract yet more distraction from her presence.<br/><br/>He inclined his head again as he stepped up beside her. How to explain where he came from? He wasn't going to tell her, of course, but how would you even begin to explain that you were a being older than Creation itself, and that you didn't come from a planet because planets weren't a<em>thing</em>when you were born? How could you even<em>start</em>to make a mortal brain understand the concept of immortality and infinity. Their minds were temporal by necessity or they would go mad from the raw amount of universal data flowing through them, so how could you force them to imagine something beyond time? How could you even explain a concept like "Before the dawn of time?" How could you make that make sense to a mind as logical and temporal as a mortals? You couldn't. And after a while, numbers lost all meaning, didn't they? You got to be high enough and the mortal mind simply couldn't comprehend a number that vast, that expansive. The Multiverse was over 15,000,000,000 years old and he was older still, but how did you make that many zeros make any degree of sense to somebody whose entire life would be over in the blink of a universal eye?<br/><br/>You couldn't. They would never properly comprehend how ancient he was, to the point where words like "ancient" and "primordial" didn't properly capture the concept. So why bother trying? He simply shook his head with a mysterious smile. What planet did he come from? Please.<strong>"I didn't,"</strong>he answered simply,<strong>"But what I am would make no sense to you, and frankly we don't have the time for me to explain. Suffice to say that I'm...<em>complicated.</em>"</strong>He gave her a sly wink, followed by a rueful shake of his head as he moved closer to the ship, surveying it casually with his arms clasped behind his back in an almost detached, vaguely disinterested manner. It really was wedged into the ground something fierce; she'd really done her best to get it stuck, hadn't she? The ship itself was gorgeous, a wonder of technology and aesthetic design, smooth and sleek and obviously lovingly crafted. It was a shame that it was currently wing-deep in his parking lot, or he would have had a lot more fun inspecting it. As it was...he was just thinking about the effort he'd have to go to to repair the lot. It wouldn't be hard or long, it would just be tedious.<br/><br/>Had she had issues on landing? Such an advanced ship was going to have an exceptional VI to assist in landing procedures, and the ship didn't seem to be externally damaged past the crash. So what had happened? She could have swerved to avoid a satellite or a plane, perhaps, or simply the Earths magnetic field had created an error or malfunction in the computers? Or perhaps she was just a really bad pilot. Either way, it made no difference to what he needed to do. He straightened up once more.<strong>"Oh, my dear, every planet makes exchanges and trades. Everybody wants <em>something</em> in exchange for their services. A young man stopping to help a pretty young female who has broken down by the side of the road secretly hopes that he'll get her number in exchange, or at least a smile and a thank you so he can feel good about himself and have a story to tell others to indicate his virtue. If that young woman were to drive off without another word, he would have a story to tell to feel superior. Everybody wants <em>something.</em> I'm just more honest about it than most."</strong>He lifted an eyebrow and gave her a wide, teasing, almost<em>knowing</em>grin.<br/><br/><strong>"Besides. Making deals is...."</strong>he paused for half a moment with a shrug.<strong>"...really my whole schtick."</strong>He allowed himself a small chuckle.<strong>"Either way, I'm feeling generous right now."</strong>That, and he really wanted the ship out of his parking lot as quickly as possible, before the police and the military arrived. He could deal with them rather easily - with barely a thought, really - but he'd rather not waste the time and effort it would take to do so.<strong>"All I ask in return is information on your home planet. I've met many different species in my time, but never one quite like yourself. I find myself intrigued. Your history, your culture, your wildlife and beliefs...colour me intrigued. I'll assist you, but only if you can alleviate my boredom with stories and lessons on your homeworld."</strong>He regarded her for a moment longer, awaiting her response. He couldn't imagine the price was objectionable to her, but...well, you never knew, did you?