Luci nodded to themself, satisfied with the answer. “Okay. But just know that if you even think of that, I will call our arrangement of me bringing you up here off.” they said. “And you’ll have to find your own way down.” they added. Luci pulled the stranger up the last few feet, he spilled into the tower and they went to get a good look at him. He was handsome, with beautiful long lashes not unlike theirs, and a lovely face, much unlike theirs. He was shorter than Luci, to be expected, and skinnier too. Not as covered in scars. Not… ugly. Even Luci recognized that their reflection was less than optimal. Don’t judge a book by its cover, they say, but most people did do that which was the problem.
At the sight of Luci, Robert's eyes went wide, and his lips parted. He pulled back a shout just in time; who knew what would happen if he screamed. "I-I…uhm." he didn't know what he had expected, but this was not it. The being before him was massive, with scars on their skin that crisscrossed its features. It wasn't exactly pretty to look at, that was for sure.
“Hi. I’m Lucifer, but Victor calls me Luci. I also call myself that.” they said, a tad breathless from the energy it took to lift the stranger. Their eye was moving about on its own, it tended to do that, but the other was firmly fixed on the stranger. “And you are?” better to introduce yourself politely now than to face consequences later. “Not like it’s any of my business who you are, anyways. But I’d still like to know.”
"Uh…hi." Robert blinked up at Luci from where he lay on the floor, eventually pushing himself up to stand and getting a handle on himself. "I'm Robert Walton, pirate without a ship." He had recovered enough for some roguish charm, in any case, as he gave Luci a quick but brilliant smile.
“Robert Walton.” Luci said, rolling the name around in their mouth; it was a nice name, much nicer than theirs. “I like it! So, what brings you here, Robert Walton?” they asked, blinking at him in an innocent, almost sweet way. They pulled up a chair for him, and sat down beside it, patting the seat in a motion for him to sit down.
Robert slowly sat down, one hand moving to hold onto his satchel. It held the crown, and he still planned to make money off of the jewels in it. "Oh. Uhm. I'm just…on the run a bit, I suppose." He replied, shrugging his shoulders and looking over at Luci. He did his best to meet their eyes, even though they were just a bit terrifying to look at.
“Oh?” Luci said. “Elaborate.” this was interesting, much more interesting than anything they’d heard in any story. Someone, in real life, was on the run. Maybe they could convince him to stay in the tower, or better yet, take them to see the world and especially the floating lanterns. “Like, what are you on the run from?”
"The…guards. From the palace." he waved a hand vaguely. "I stole something. But it's fine. I'll get them off of my tail eventually, and then I'll be home free with all the money I need." he really did want to pay off his debts, if only to get those that he owed off of his ass about them.
"That doesn't sound very nice." Luci said, shaking their head. "Are you sure that if you don't just give back whatever you stole, you'll be fine?" they asked. Maybe that was stupid, but they didn't like the idea of harbouring a criminal in their tower especially if Victor was coming home soon.
He blinked at them for a long moment. "No, returning it will not free me from the prison they will throw me into." He replied dryly. "Besides, I need the money that selling it will get me." He had no clue what was going on here; why this person looked so…odd, why there was no door to get into the tower, none of it.
Luci considered again, giving Robert's words a bit of thought. "Uh, well… I suppose I could let you stay here, at least until Victor comes back." they said, shrugging. Denny was beginning to wake up, little hedgehog body stretching and straightening out as he moved. He peeked out of his little pouch, and began to hiss at Robert, needles prickling. "Denny, calm down, this is Mr. Robert and he's going to be our guest for the time being." they said.
Robert nodded slowly. "I see. My thanks." he replied slowly, eyes flickering to the hedgehog. His mouth pulled into a faint smile when he saw the little thing, and he laughed a little bit. "Is that your pet?" he questioned.
“I automatically distrust you for insinuating that Denny belongs to anyone.” Luci said, smiling lopsidedly, literally because their mouth was quite crooked. “But in a sense, yes, he is my friend at the very least.” they added.
He laughed just a little at that, nodding. "I see. Well, he's adorable." he remarked, still watching the little hedgehog as it sat in Luci's pouch. He did wonder how Luci had managed to get a hedgehog up here, but maybe it didn't matter.
Luci's smiled faded after a moment. "Uh, I have a stupid question. You're from the outside world, right?" they asked, leaning towards Robert intently. "Well… what is it like? Is it really do terrible, where thugs and thieves are running around constantly, just looking for an opportunity to kill you and take your money?" they asked.
(Tempted to give Victor a Tragic Backstory TM involving basically he has a kid with this universe's version of Henry, they live happily together but Victor gets into a suicidal state of mind and makes an eternal sleep potion that does what it says on the tin, Henry finds out and he and the kid accidentally get exposed to the potion, fall into an eternal sleep never aging never dying, Victor travels for a bit doing alchemy shit idk and eventually ends up kidnapping Luci because all he wants is to have a family again… may or may not do this…)
( D: but then I'll feel bad for him–)
"Uh…" he trailed off, considering that question. "I mean…sometimes, I guess. Bad things and people are just kind of a part of life. They happen, and they do things, and you either move on or you don't." he shrugged his shoulders, unsure why Luci was asking him this question.
(Das the point :D)
Luci thought about this for a moment. Maybe they could… no… but they wanted to see the lanterns, which took to the skies on the third day after their birthday. Little did they know was that the lanterns marked the end of a three day mourning period, after the birth and supposed disappearance or death of a stolen heir. They chose to act. “Can I see what it is you stole?” they asked, giving their sweetest look to Robert.
(noooo)
Robert hesitated for a long moment. "Uh…fine." he opened his satchel and pulled the crown out of it, holding it carefully as he showed it to Luci. "I stole this. The jewels alone will be worth a ton, and the gold can be melted down and used for anything, so it will be worth quite a lot too. It's high quality metal, not mixed with silver or nickel or anything of the sort." his years as a pirate had taught him to easily tell the difference between good gold and "bad" gold; gold mixed with other metals tended to be harder, and it was worth less than pure gold. This crown was pure gold.
Luci, being raised by an alchemist, also recognized that the crown was very enchanted. "Wow. That's… really pretty!" they exclaimed, taking it from Robert's hands quickly and standing up, holding it above their head. "Now, you're going to want this back, right?" they asked, dangling it just out of reach.
Robert shot to his feet, glaring up at them. "Give that back." he demanded, silently cursing himself for being stupid enough to take it out within Luci's reach. In his defense, he hadn't thought that Luci would take it. "Now. I put in the work to get my hands on that thing, and I need the money." his voice was firm. Not begging. He refused to beg, and he refused to jump to try and take it from Luci's grasp. They were too tall, and he too short, for that to work, and it would be humiliating to try.
"I'll give it back. But one request." they said. Maybe, this would be the night they got to see the lights after all. Maybe, this stranger would help them. "If you take me to see the lanterns-safely-and take me back home, again safely, I'll let you sell this crown in peace for all the money you could hope for. If you don't? Good luck finding a way out of this tower, and good luck trying to get this back." they said, placing the crown around their massive arm like an armband around their bicep. It was way too big to wear for anyone, that was certain enough. "Is it a deal?"
Robert glared at them, crossing his arms. "Can't you go see the lanterns on your own?" he demanded. "Clearly you know how to get out of this tower, and you can certainly take care of yourself." Luci was certainly tall and strong enough to take care of themself; Robert didn't see any reason why they couldn't go by themself and let Robert go his own way, with the crown.
"I… why does it matter to you? And why do you think I should have any reason to return something you stole?" they asked. In truth, as far as they knew, Victor had created them in this tower and since then hadn't bothered to let them out. "Why shouldn't I just keep you up here forever? You certainly wouldn't mind, if you're running away from everything. What are you even running from?" they said, tears welling up in their eyes from anger. They always cried when they were angry, never yelled or swore or got violent, simply cried and was useless.
He blinked. Oh dear. He hadn't meant for Luci to cry, but…he sighed faintly. "It matters because I have so many things to do, and you certainly can't keep me up here forever. I need to write to my sister, and I have other people to write to and talk to." he kept his arms crossed.
