Lux Opening [OPEN]

[apostatises]

Who: YOU. This is an OPEN log, heck yeah.
What: Lux's Grand Opening
When: Day 69, all night
Where: Lux, in the Baldr District
Rating: PG-13 to be safe—If the rating goes up in a thread, please let me know!

Welcome to Lux —

It's been under construction for about a month, and anyone in the Baldr district (or who just liked to wander) surely would have noticed the bar's construction. It was only a few days ago that the sign was finally put up—Lux.

Maybe you saw the owner's post on the network and decided to come see. Or maybe you were just walking past and was curious about the crowd of people who had gathered. Regardless, you'll be welcomed into a ritzy bar and lounge. There are some locals mingling about, and jazz is drifting through the air, since the owner is currently playing.

Should you decide to stay, you'll find that the drinks and food are very generously half price for grand opening. Or, if that's not to your taste, then surely the music and crowd will make up for it.

Welcome to Lux, the bar owned by the Devil himself.

quick jump to threads

outside lux ☄ around the bar ☄ general mingling ☄ by the stage ☄ speak with the owner

Comments

[corks]

[He raises an eyebrow, but he doesn't seem too surprised by the observation- in fact, the slight quirk of his smile almost seems to agree.]

Me, a mystery? [A pause as he rests his elbow on the counter, bright piercing blue eyes locked on Johan.] I could say the same about you.

[uglyinside]

[ Of course, they were on equal footing at a place like this. He wasn't certain of the nature of this man, but although his kindness resembled Doctor Tenma's, there was something different about him. That removed nature almost reminded him of Kinderheim. ]

Of course. [ He rests his chin in his hands at that, finally taking a seat beside him. ]

Though I do like hearing stories. And I enjoy telling them. All that means is there are many stories for us to exchange.

[ A pause. ] Someday.

[ And his own blue eyes finally leave Jacob's. ]

Perhaps.

[corks]

Perhaps? Why, are you worried that you won't get the chance to exchange stories with me?

[He tilts his head curiously at Johan. What an odd thing to say. But after a short pause, he speaks.]

How about this. You can ask me one, and only one question about me you want to know the answer to now, and I'll answer. All I ask of you is that you answer whatever question I have for you truthfully afterwards. If we start small, then maybe it will lead to better and bigger exchanges in the future. How does that sound?

[uglyinside]

[ Though he's surprised at the offer, it doesn't show on his expression. He holds a neutral smile, eyes watching the man carefully once again, looking almost as if he were drawn in by him. ] That sounds like a fair deal. [ One made by a man with no secrets to lose, or one whose secrets could hardly be guessed or comprehended by an ordinary person. ]

So. Something small, then?

[corks]

Something small, or something large. Whatever it is, I will answer.

[He smiles over at Johan expectantly, but that smile of his is unreadable and doesn't quite reach his eyes. He looks rather like the Mona Lisa, so confident in his own crypticness, as if in the next minute he will know that Johan won't figure him out with whatever question he will ask.]

[uglyinside]

All right. [ Johan recognizes that smile all too well, making certain to not fool himself and keep his hand tight on the mental reins of this interaction. He knew somebody like Jacob wouldn't be figured out easily, if ever. There were always glimpses, though. ]

Do you believe others would consider you a lonely man, Jacob? [ Something small. ]

[corks]

[It doesn't even take him two seconds before he has the answer. Because Jacob has thought many times about how the Others and his own candidates back home would see him.]

[It's precisely why he has never really engaged with any of them, because he knows that what they think he is will never match up with what he really is.]

Yes, I would believe that they would, if they were aware of the nature of my life. But outside judgements are much different than what a person himself feels about his life, aren't they?

[uglyinside]

True, but I find what we think of ourselves is far more [ a pause as he narrows his eyes a bit ] intimate. Unless you'd like this to go on all night... [ He settles in the seat beside Jacob more. ]

Of which I could oblige.

[corks]

[The second meaning of the word either goes over Jacob's head or is disregarded by him entirely, for he just tilts his head as Johan gets closer, looking slightly amused. He doesn't even move away- Jacob and "thinking about his own personal space" aren't exactly two things you put in the same sentence.]

I thought you had work to do, Johan.

But yes, you're certainly right. And if you want to oblige this going all night, I'd be fine with it, as long as it doesn't cause problems for you in any way.

[A slight pause.]

It's my turn to ask a question, isn't it?

[uglyinside]

[ He looks over to where Lucifer is sitting in the distance, then up at the clock, before returning a fond gaze at Jacob. ]

I have work to do. I'm rather astute at mixing business and pleasure, though.

[ He ponders Jacob's answer, feeling that has given him more information -- even if a piece, and that's what matters. He nods in response, smile becoming more tranquil. ]

I believe it is, Jacob.

[corks]

Is this the business or the pleasure part, though?

[He asks it lightly, as if not expecting an answer, before he leans back and thinks about what he wants to ask.]

Alright. Johan...have you ever truly loved anyone?

[He's just curious, because he knows how love is such a monumental force in people's lives- he's seen it time and time again in his own experience, and has seen how it binds people and tears them apart at the same time.]

[Seeing what Johan says about it, though, will be interesting to hear.]

[uglyinside]

[ His expression dims at the question, his smile subduing itself into the faintest curve, barely noticeable at this point. It was certainly a forward question, though he remains calm and undisturbed by it. ]

I believe so. [ Yes. It would look that way, wouldn't it? But outside judgments were always much different than what a person felt about their own life, as the man before him said. ]

Yes. I believe so.

[corks]

Hmmm. You believe so? Well, 'tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Though I shouldn't assume that you have lost anything, even if what Tennyson says is quite true...

[He smiles at the people around them, bustling, their voices filling the air, and its just ever so apparent that he will never be one of them. He will always hang at the sidelines, watching. Forever.]

[Has he ever truly loved anyone in his life...?]

[He turns back to Johan.]

Do you want to ask me another question?

[uglyinside]

[ It was such an elementary game, to him. Though it was also a straight forward one, and possibly the only way to ever get true answers out of himself. Perhaps it was for this man too. He glances at Jacob's drink, not out of any particular interest, but it's something to look at as he inwardly contests the notion that Jacob had quoted. ]

Certainly. [ He'd picked up on some strange parallels here or there. He was well aware these things could be a product of projection, and yet... ]

Have you dedicated your life to helping others?

[corks]

[There's a slight quirk to his smile as he swishes the wine inside the cup, watching it go around like a tiny little storm inside a glass, waves crashing on the sides before he stops the motion, and the liquid is still once more.]

That depends on what you mean by "helping".

[He glances back up at Johan.]

In a general sense, no, I haven't. Not by the usual definition. I give people chances, though. Chances to prove themselves and show that they can rise above their flaws to achieve something greater. But I, in the end, am merely a pusher and I do not want to interfere personally with people's lives.

So, in a sense, yes, I try to help people realize the path that has been hidden all along in front of their eyes, but no, I don't try to mess around with their lives and personal decisions, for those decisions are theirs to make.

Whether that is considered dedicating my life to helping people is really up to you.

[uglyinside]

[ He hides it in his expression, keeping it neutral and bordering shallow, but this serves of interest to him. His eyelids lower slightly at that, thick eyelashes curtaining over his eyes and giving him a more thoughtful appearance.

He saw himself as the same, although he pushed people to prove that they were capable of making poor decisions. Fatal ones. In the end, though, he was only a catalyst to so many, in his own mind. He merely awakened what was within others, though he was aware of the blame that came with that. ]

Realizing ones path. [ He wonders what Jacob's is -- or was that it? What he simply stated so plainly before him? ]

I wonder. [ His fingers land on a napkin set aside, pressing into its center and rotating it along the surface of the table. ] Does it matter? The different paths we could have chosen? The roads not taken?

[corks]

Yes.

[Paths upon paths upon paths, and throughout his life, Jacob had seen them all as he saw the threads on his loom back on the island. He could weave them back and forth, watching them cross and tangle and get cut off at a knot, but eventually, like all things, those threads would end at a single spot.]

[All Jacob did was just arrange those "threads" so that they would be unhindered toward that end he wanted so much.]

I think, in a way, they do, but one should not dwell on decisions they should have made, really. They should dwell on them and use that knowledge to go forward. Of course, we all have decisions we regret, but we cannot sit forever in the past and think of how things could've gone.