nexus_crossings | Jamming in the Afternoon

Jamming in the Afternoon

Cooking did not happen too often in Mantis’s home. It was messy. It was hot. It took time. He was going to be all day with this latest project. Wandering into the industrial area of the Nexus will allow people to see an unusual sight. Rather than wearing his usual mask, Mantis had a scarf wrapped around his face vaguely similar to how one might imagine a ninja might look. He was seated in front of a portable stove with a pot cooking away over the flame. Next to him were several packages of fruits, empty mason jars, bags of sugar, and massive jugs of water. He sat in a folding chair situated beneath the shade of a large umbrella with a pile of long grass on his lap. Every so often, he’d pick up a piece and add it to a growing weaving project in his hands.

One might recognize the simple operation as a jam making jamboree. It’s an old, but fun way to make the most of a day and a harvest of fruit. Perhaps those who know him might be able to recognize his somewhat gaunt frame as he lounges back in the shade. Some who do not might be curious in general. Pale grey eyes dart up every so often to the cooking pot, but he’s not about to get up and rush for anyone or anything. He gets the jam stirring every so often with a flick of his wrist and a well-used wooden spoon.

There are a lot of jars, in spite of himself. With how time-consuming this was, that jam was going to last him a while. He wouldn’t have to buy any, wouldn’t have to borrow any, and that left him with visions of a personal hoard of sugar-sweet goodness. He sighs as he keeps with making his grass-woven project and sniffs the air. The question was half asked to the air around him, but it does deserve to be answered: “What should I do with these first?”

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There are things that can summon the devil; most like spells and sigils bring his ire and wrath. However, fruit can attract the devil like bees to honey. He could smell it at a distance. It was sweet and fruity and decadent.

Lucifer comes strolling down the street, eyes closed as he follows the sensual smell of fruit slow cooking. He opens his eyes just as he gets to Mantis. Unlike the other angels he has four wings, all white and relaxed at his back.

"The fruit or the jam when it is done?" Lucifer adores cooking so there are a lot of thoughts in his mind when it comes to sweetened fruits.

Hail Satan, lord of the damned. Mantis doesn't yet know which angel he's looking at, but he knows more wings equivocates to more power as far as angelic beings go. It's not yet enough to get him sitting up straight, but Mantis is going to tip toe just a little bit.

"Both. I've already promised jars to those I've met before, and I might have to go out and jet more jars just to store the leftover fruits." That presense though. Whichever angel has wandered over, he's clearly one with a bit more stage presence. "Someone's already given me the impression that I can turn this kind of craft into a business while I'm staying here."

"Some jams can be frozen." Lucifer comments taking a deep breath to sort out exactly which fruits are involved. While he has a lot more presence than the other angels Mantis has met, Lucifer is more laid back and less formal.

"It would be a very seasonal business without knowing the right people." He can see the benefit since there are a lot of people with sweet tooths in the Nexus. "Unless the desire is a passing one then it matters not."

There's a lot, if Mantis is completely honest with himself. He's not the type to prefer one over the other, so having variety means there won't be too much boredom when it comes to teas and toast. He picked out just about every kind of berry he could find in the stores and a few choice fruits that also jammed well.

"Given the 'land of plenty' feeling this place has, I don't see how it would be impossible to keep it up, even outside of the seasonal nature of some of the fruits. Everyone has a sweet tooth. The trick is finding out how much sugar it craves."

"Until winter comes." Lucifer smiles. "I have a winter garden."

Lucifer rarely gets to talk cooking with anyone. People come at him too serious or too startled to hear that he cooks to talk shop. "I prefer minimal additional sugar and rely on blending variable ripening to manage the sweetness."

"Do you? I've given thought of staying through to spring and taking on bee keeping. If I start soon enough, I can have a multitude of flowers on the roof of the apartment, maybe even a greenhouse nearby."

He lives closer to the earth than perhaps most people might expect just from looking at him. His wardrobe expands with each new skein of yarn he brings home. "I've given thought to that, but I should be putting on weight if I'm going to be keeping the flesh and bones I got when I arrived here."

"Beekeeping is rewarding but I am more inclined to keep butterflies as pollinators." Lucifer nods. "The wildflowers here in the Nexus have started to go to seed and will continue over the next few weeks. There is a good field for collecting down south of the Plaza toward the river."

The same could probably be said of Lucifer in his pristine suit, gardening wouldn't be a the top of their list of past times. "I am remiss to forget that concern. I do not need to eat and forget the winter need for weight."

"Going around collecting flower seeds from the source..." He's sorely tempted, don't get him wrong. "I suppose between bees and butterflies, one is less likely to collectively decide to try and kill me one day."

He's going to need to mull this over, especially since butterfly friendly flowers would likely attract bees regardless. His head turns as the man mentions not needing to eat. "Are you one of the angels here? It's the only group I can think of that wouldn't need sustenance the way others do."

"The choice of butterflies is a personal asthetic in my case more than a species preference." And a ridiculously romantic choice to come from someone with a reputation on par with Lucifer's.

"There are others who do not, but yes, I am an angel." He offers a nod of the head, and will take a firearm if a hand is offered. "I'm Lucifer Morningstar."

"I see the practicality of it, too. Bee swarms are nothing to look down on, but butterflies are far more delicate."

Mantis catches himself staring for perhaps a few seconds too many before he realizes he ought to say something. "A pleasure, Lucifer. Belial told me a bit about you. Nothing bad, if I'm a judge of such things."

"My brother has a love of bees but butterflies were not chosen for practicality." Lucifer shrugs a bit, suddenly unwilling to fully divulge his reasoning.

"No, I do not imagine Belial would say anything bad, though his blunt honestly can seen that way at times."

"Everyone has a reason for the way things end up." Not that Mantis is about to speculate on angels to that degree.

"I like it about him. People like Belial were the kinds I learned to admire growing up for their honesty and ability to remain calm."

"Chance encounters have ruled my life." Lucifer admits.

Lucifer laughs quietly. "He has spent his existence with a companion that even tries the patience of the Almighty. I imagine his calm is as eternal as my rebellion."

"I don't know how much of my life was really left to chance, but the mistakes of others led to me making my first and most loyal friend. Sometimes it works out."

He smiles behind the mask at that laugh. "Maybe you two were meant to balance each other out. Entropy is the natural state of the universe, so it makes sense if you two were meant to balance each other."

"I suppose that is the truth for me as well. I am who I am due to the choices of others." He tried not to contemplate the events of the Fall too often but there's no denying that most of it was not his choice.

"I do have a balance. Belial is the mediator between us." Lucifer didn't often talk about this aspect of angelic politics too often. "I am the morningstar and he is the eveningstar; creation and destruction. Belial unfortunately has to deal with two. The one who riles the Almighty and the one who encourages the harassment."

Lucifer smiles. "I would not change the billions of years I have had in his company."

"Then one might offer the hope you are making new choices that let you be a better person."

Mantis grabs a pile of pulled wool from the basket and starts tugging at it. He holds it up to the light before nodding quietly to himself.

"If there's someone you want to spend an untold amount of time with, it's someone like Belial. He is one of the few people who understood part of the reason for my mask without judgement. It was a pleasant surprise."

"I was always a better person." Lucifer answers, perhaps with a little more pride than usual. "I do not believe being forced to act without choice tarnishes a person."

"He is pleasant company. I have enjoyed it since his creation." Lucifer nods. "You will find the angels in my cohort will be more understanding because of our acceptance of individuality and my son wore a mask for many eons, still does occasionally. Though the design of yours is different, constantly wearing a mask is not new to us."

Mantis chuckles a little hearing such a bold claim. Yes, he's starting to understand how the Morning Star was the charming one of the angelic menagerie. He flicks one hand and draws the spinning wheel a bit closer. It doesn't take much effort for him to get a fair pile of wool in his hands and set it going.

"I was given a gas mask when I was very young. I came into a specific ability and it led to me being caught in a fire that destroyed my village." Mantis keeps a steady hand getting the new bundle of yarn going. "My face never recovered, and technology around reconstructive surgery never quite advanced enough by the time I died. I don't think it would have made much of a difference, but it might have been nice to look normal again."

Lucifer would never deny being proud, only that his pride did not cause the Fall. Lucifer watches the spinning with interest. It is one skill with human tools he hasn't even tried yet.

"My son was also disfigured. I think he has the same kind of thoughts you do about living with it." It occurs to Lucifer that maybe, in the future, he should introduce them. "Are you pyrokinetic?"

If any power would be related to a town destroying fire, that would be the top one on the list.

Mantis has a steady and careful hand with his spinning. It's one thing when he takes pride in his powers, but he has pride in his practical skills as well. He's curious about this son of Lucifer's, especially knowing the man was also disfigured.

"Among other things. I came into the telepathy first and learned something I was probably better off not knowing." He sighs long and deep, taking his shoulders down with his breath. "Most of that night is a blur, but I'm sure pysokinesis came right after the telepathy. I didn't get much time to really process how many abilities I had until I was suddenly caught up in someone's schemes to destroy the world."

That would be a point that the angel and man could agree on. Angels could magic all sorts of things but Lucifer enjoyed making with his hands and doing on his own.

"I am sorry that you endured that but over time I have learned that it seems the fate of immortal and alternate powered humans. There's always something major that goes wrong at the very wrong time." He smiles though. "I am glad you've found peace and relative kindness in yourself. Not all get there, maybe most don't."

Mantis nodded at the sympathetic comment. He looks up at Lucifer and shrugs his shoulders.

"I don't know that I found peace so much as had it forced upon me. When I died, I landed at the feet of a dead medium who quickly proved that his powers outclassed all of mine put together." A little shiver goes through him. "He has a wonderful wife, though. I try to think of her as a well-meaning grandmother, but she's got a long standing habit of wrecking people bigger and sronger than her."

"Life is very complex." Lucifer agrees. Nothing is black and white or even close. Everything is muddled shades. "I am not sure I would have chosen peace either were it not for a woman I had intended to kill."

"There's always someone who changes you. Sometimes it's for the better, usually for the worst. What could she have done that you were prepared to end her life over it?" It's a strange thing to hear from anyone, let alone an angel.

Lucifer looks away, all the feathers on his wings standing like a nervous bird fluffing up. A quiet, breathless moment passes before the feathers lay flat again.

"God murdered my child so I was going to kill his." Lucifer sighs as his eyes slowly come back to Mantis. "I was not created for war or violence which is why He murdered my child. I refused to kill my child on God's command."

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Jamming in the Afternoon

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