event } you can jive

[seeingyou]

WHO: Open to all passengers!
WHAT: A visit to New Ecrillion, and all the music your ears can handle. Plus, bonus new partners!
WHERE: Anywhere in the city of New Ecrillion, or Navi.
WHEN: June 19 through July 10
WARNINGS: Add these to your comment subject lines as needed! And if you end up partying literally to death, please record it on the death page.

Hello, passengers! Hope you're all ready for an announcement, 'cause Navi's voice is getting beamed into your head right about ... now:

Attention, passengers.
We'll be docking soon at the city of New Ecrillion, on the planet Zegnolia, where we will remain for approximately three weeks, local time.
Please stand by.

From the announcement until landing, to help everyone adjust to the new environment, Navi will gift all passengers with a a faint hummed melody.

Upon docking and disembarking, passengers will find a bank counter just past the terminal, where your new windfall of Navigems can be exchanged for credits (the universal currency). Try not to spend it all in one place!

Now, go get your groove on! Just remember to take breaks to hydrate.

Comments

[dealwiththe]

Lucifer smiles faintly and pulls some money out of an inside pocket. He's done incredibly well for himself on this planet, and that would be true even if he cared at all about money - which he doesn't. Money is a useful tool that can get him neat toys and impress humans, winning him influence and access, but he doesn't hoard it. Why should he? He's Lucifer. All he's ever had to do to get more is flash a charming smile at the right person, and he's all set.

So he's perfectly willing to lose some to Mister Brekker, in the name of having a good laugh at the suckers at the table.

"Sure, why not? It's a simple enough game to play," he says - truthfully!

[misterbrekker]

Where Kaz comes from, wealthiness was next to godliness. They worshipped Ghezen, the god of trade and commerce, and to profit meant to be pious. Even though he himself held no stock in faith or religion, he did know that money was a universal language and you weren't going to get far without it. He didn't particularly have a plan for it here just yet, but he was certain he'd rather have it on hand than not.

That said, Kaz will gladly take your money, Lucifer!

"That's the spirit," he says with another grin, gesturing once more at the cards on display before turning them back over and deftly moving them about. As he places the last card, he moves his hands away, and if Lucifer is paying close enough attention he might notice that Kaz's pinky gives a pointed flick in the direction of the card he just placed down.

[dealwiththe]

Lucifer has met a lot of humans like Kaz - "I worship the almighty dollar," is a thing that's been said to him in the past. He's aware of how much money means to a lot of humans.

"Oh, that one, of course," he says confidently, choosing the card Kaz had indicated.

[misterbrekker]

Lucifer, you trusting soul, you! Luckily for you, he does intend to reward your efforts at guiding people over to the table and helping to hype them up, so when he flips the card over with a flourish, it is indeed the money card.

"You've the luck of the devil," he says with a smirk, producing Lucifer's winnings to the cheers of the others at the table. Not wanting to waste the momentum, he takes another bet and begins a new game, though he keeps the conversation directed at Lucifer.

"Have you been enjoying the sights?"

[dealwiththe]

"Obviously," Lucifer says. He is the Devil, after all. But hey! A few more gullible mortals are approaching, thinking gee if that guy can win some money, I can too.

Lucifer accepts his "winnings", tucking them into the inside pocket of his jacket. "Mm, reminds me a bit of Vegas, but with even more musical performances. No murders yet, though."

[misterbrekker]

Meanwhile, Kaz is collecting his winnings from the gullible folks who stepped up to try their luck and, unlucky for them, Kaz wasn't feeling charitable in their favor. Just to stoke their confidence, he'd "accidentally" bent the corner of the money card with a clumsy thumb, inspiring them to raise their wager a bit.

His hands were anything but clumsy however, and the poor bastards didn't stand a chance when he'd made the switch, in the end sulking off as sore losers.

Out of habit, he made a mental note of where Lucifer had tucked the winnings away, and gave a chuckle in response. "If they find a body, maybe we'll hear a musical number about it." It'd certainly make the incessant singing more interesting, anyway.

[dealwiththe]

“Wouldn’t be the first time a murder investigation has involved musical numbers for me,” Lucifer says easily. “Vegas is good for all kinds of things.”

[misterbrekker]

For the benefit of the other tourists at the table, he gives a warm chuckle in reply, finishing up yet another (for him, winning) game of Monte. The couple at the table laments their bad luck for a moment, before turning to head off down the street to see more of the sights, and finally it's only Lucifer left at the table.

One moment, he has his recent winnings and the cards he was using in hand, and the next second they seemingly vanish into nothing as he sets about cleaning up the table. Just as quickly, his friendly, welcoming demeanor drops back to his usual straight faced impassive look, and he almost looks relieved to drop the act.

"If there's anything I've learned here, it's that people will sing about anything." He heaved a sigh. Music was common enough in the Barrel, revelers breaking into drinking songs and the like, but musical numbers about murder and this entire cities treatment of it took it to a whole new level.

[dealwiththe]

“Ah, but it’s not just fun,” Lucifer says. “It’s useful.”

Annnnnd then he’s off, grinning, working the crowd and within a few moments, he’s singing an upbeat rendition of “Feelin’ Good”. Needless to say, his song attracts even more gullible tourists to Kaz’s table, though Lucifer appears oblivious to that side effect. He clearly just likes the attention, and he’s very good at making the most of it, charming the crowd thoroughly.

[misterbrekker]

Almost as soon as he starts up, Kaz heaves out an exasperated breath, giving the briefest roll of his eyes. Just as quickly, however, he gives a grin and shakes his head as more gullible tourists approach. Seemingly out of nowhere, the cards have reappeared, along with his more jovial manner from before.

Lucifer did have a point, and he would have put some of the paid shills back home to shame with his natural charisma and enthusiasm. Not for the first time today, he imagined a few friends from home and how they would have done extremely well here, though he wasn't ready to admit he already missed them.

"You can carry a tune, I'll give you that," he says with his own summoned enthusiasm. More importantly, he knew how to draw, and distract, a crowd, but that didn't need to be said out loud.

[dealwiththe]

"Faint praise from a tin ear," Lucifer jokes. "But you clearly have other talents to sustain you."

He reaches in and counts out some of the money he "won", handing it back over to Kaz generously. "You seem like you desire this far more than I," he says with a faint smirk.

[misterbrekker]

"You're selling us both a bit short," he quips back easily, offering a chuckle of his own. "I'm a humble cripple, but my ears are as sharp as ever." Accompanying the statement is a dark, conspiratorial glance at Lucifer, along with a smirk. There was a slightly sharp edge to his tone, but it wasn't threatening; indeed, the counter joke was that he was always listening.

As Lucifer handed over the money, the smirk remained, though his brows knit together in clear confusion and distrust. Tilting his head slightly, he hesitated a moment before taking it. He wasn't quite sure what Lucifer was playing at, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth either.

[dealwiththe]

Lucifer just smiles faintly. Human threats have never concerned him, and never will. He likes playing oblivious, actually. Sometimes they get flustered and/or annoyed, and that's often very funny.

"I'm only keeping my percentage," he says lightly at Kaz's obvious confusion over being handed money. "Besides, you seem more in need of it than me."

[misterbrekker]

For the most part, Kaz is just toeing the line and testing Lucifer's temperament. He has no intention to actually threaten Lucifer, he just wants to see how easy it is to ruffle his feathers. As far as he's concerned, there surely must be a catch to anyone who claims to never lie.

Even as he vanishes the money to stow it away, he still seems thoughtful and considers Lucifer carefully. "The deal is the deal," he offers in reply, a turn of phrase from home. If anything, it seemed like Lucifer was a prime candidate to do future business with. At the mention of him being more in need of it, Kaz merely shrugs. "Never hurts to set up a rainy day fund."

[dealwiththe]

"The Devil always deals fairly," Lucifer says with equanimity. He may not be familiar with the specific phrase the deal is the deal, but it's not hard to understand the basic point. "And you seem like the sort to always land on your feet," he adds.

He no longer feels the need to point out that he doesn't need a "rainy day fund" - when he says things like that, humans tend to get annoyed with him. They put so much value (hah) on money. "Enjoy your winnings," he finishes, turning to find some other means of entertainment - shilling is only fun for so long, after all.

[misterbrekker]

There's still a suspicious glint in Kaz's eye, but he shrugs and decides not to press it for now. If he had felt that Lucifer had received an unfair share of the deal, he would have simply pocketed the difference later. Pickpocketed it, that is. All that was a moot point, however, in the face of the true puzzle Lucifer presented: he conducted himself like an honest businessman.

"That I do," he concedes in that rough rasp of his.

To that end, there are a lot of ways to annoy Kaz Brekker, such as singing and sentimentality. For this point, though, he'd simply shrug and agree to disagree, though Lucifer did have a good point. He wasn't sure how the money would come in useful in this situation just yet, just that he'd rather have it than not. Perhaps he'd never see this place again, or perhaps he'd go to return to the ship and find the doors locked and himself on the streets of a strange town, or in this case, planet.

Currently, he's turning his attention back to the task at hand, vaguely aware of Lucifer making his exit. It was a shame to lose such a good shill, but Kaz could manage on his own, so he simply waves him off nonchalantly. "Oh, I'll put it to good use. I'd hate to keep you from your detective."

Not that Kaz actually believed he was keeping Lucifer from anything, but he could play at courtesy.