Truth or Dare: Nexus Edition

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer isn't quite sure how this madness started. The angels had opened up the council chamber for visitors and of course Beelzebub had started them drinking, then they got rowdy and people started joining them. Who had brought up the idea of Truth or Dare was unknown but it rippled through the amassing group to a uniform good idea, despite the objective nature of it being a disaster.

Then there was some vote that Lucifer missed where Galahad, Prometheus, and Belial were made judges to keep things in line. That might have been the most reasonable and sane thing since this conversation started. Chairs were rearranged to a big circle.. and all the chairs from the villa had been taken. It was crowded, specially when they decided the judges should have chaises to lounge on. This was some true ancient Greek style madness with the drinking and the topics that were sure to come up. Still, it was all fun and games, right?


Rules of the Road:
1. Top level with your character.
2. Note if you are opting this in as canon for Nexus. This may be done in top level or in individual responses (If there is any questions about this please seek out players OOC.. Discord, PM in Dw etc)
3. A character may only ask truth or dare of the same character once.
4. However, a character may ask as many different characters as they please.
5. Characters may ask questions without doing a top level. However the 1 per the same character applies
6. If your character is crossing threads for a dare, please link back to the original comment where the dare was issued.
7. When in doubt ask?

Comments

[mayfairmonster]

Dorian sips at the wine offered to him in its pretty glass, privately appreciating the taste of it. He probably shouldn't be surprised that an angel has managed to offer him something that he likes without getting more information from him than that he'd wanted red wine.

"You mine and cut gems for recreation?" Interesting, if so.

[goldenwolf]

Mammon relaxes into drinking his coffee, sipping it and delighting in the hot bitter quality.

"I am a spirit of civilization." Mammon answers but then continues figuring that the immortal before him might want more given how his gaze had fallen on the bead work. "I oversee all manner of wealth and economics."

[mayfairmonster]

Civilization, wealth, and economics? As he mulls the angel's words over, Dorian's gaze briefly crosses the room to Lucifer where the angel stands in conversation with Balthazar. The more angels he meets, the less like a rebel army and more like a resident pantheon the group as a whole seem to Dorian. Taking another sip of wine, the immortal's attention tracks back to Mammon again.

"That seems like a considerable responsibility for one angel." Not that he doubts that Mammon has some kind of appropriate powers to manage it. "I've done a little of that myself. Not on as grand a scale, of course, but I was an investment banker in the 90s. The maths of monies and economics interest me. There's a great pleasure in understanding the rules and ways the market works to reap benefits from it."

[goldenwolf]

Mammon watches where his gaze moves and is intrigued to see it stop so long on the kings. It is definitely a piece of information to investigate later in the conversation or after the guests disperse and only his brothers and sisters remain.

"Oversee may not be the best word for your understanding." He admits as Dorian begins to speak. He does wait patient and attentive to finish his point when the other man is done speaking. "We are not responsible for our spheres but they exist because we do. Our energy is the energy that brings it to be and moves the currents. My presence is what allows the ebb and flow of economics, wealth, and with my brothers the rise and fall of civilizations, dynasties and people."

Mammon pauses to see if understanding has been reached between the two. For someone who isn't an angel the concepts can be difficult to grasp.

[mayfairmonster]

"So," Dorian says, his tone taking on a playful lilt, "the next time the market improves and my stock portfolio starts doing well I should be thanking you?"

[goldenwolf]

The angel's brow cocks up briefly before sipping his coffee. Mammon was many things but he had a taste for manipulation and mind games that were so much part of trade and the black market. "It would depend on how you would thank an angel for your good fortune. Occasionally, favors can be won, or bribes well received."

[mayfairmonster]

That earns an appreciative chuckle as Dorian sips at his glass of wine again. Yes, this angel certainly has a handsome face when he smiles like that. The obvious intelligence isn't bad, either. "Well, what kinds of gifts do you like to receive from people seeking your favor? Or is it up to us to make an effort and either succeed or not on our own merits?"

[goldenwolf]

He laughs in return, high and musical because he didn't make a complete effort to hide his angelic voice, it was better for manipulation. "It's a poor bribe if I have to come up with the offer?"

Mammon is both playful and serious in his commentary. "The best bribes are finding things the target desperately wants but didn't know they wanted it until your offer is in their hands."

[mayfairmonster]

"That's the trick, isn't it? I'll admit that I pride myself on being a good gift-giver, but beings like you --and me, to a lesser extent-- add an extra challenge-- hypothetically speaking." He punctuates with another short sip of wine, his eyes lingering on the rim of the unusual glass with its fine etchings. "I've seen Lucifer produce things with the same ease that humans breathe air. I know all of you have different abilities, but when it comes down to it, anything any of you wants is within your reach to have. Add your immortality and the time you've been alive on top-- well. Is there anything any of you desperately want that you couldn't have easily?"

[goldenwolf]

"Boredom comes to those who avoid challenges." Mammon truly believed that as well. Most of the angels sought out challenging situations. "That is the trick. What is wanted by someone who appears to have everything? Everyone wants something, some are honest, or make you guess, or lie."

[mayfairmonster]

"If I had to guess? The kinds of things that people who either have or can have everything want are personal. Emotional. Intangible. Either that, or I'd guess that they crave an experience of some kind."

[goldenwolf]

"For some." Mammon glanced around the room at the other angels and grew thoughtful. "A blanket statement is ill advised with the variability long lifespans. Expanses of time breed both stability and extreme variability."

He knew that it sound like he was being vague but it was an honest answer. Time worked oddly on people, diverging them and consolidating at the same time. "Not everyone will accept what they want from everyone willing to offer either."

[mayfairmonster]

"True enough." Dorian can think of a few very specific charred bridges that he'd have trouble crossing now in such a way if it's what he desired to do. "That is what time does to us all, if nothing else. Produces eccentricity. Variability." If there's a wine bottle or other alcohol nearby, Dorian's going to reach over and refill his now-empty glass.

"I was speaking from a self-referential perspective when I supposed that immortals might crave the personal or intangible, or an experience."

[goldenwolf]

There is likely wine around, with how heavily most of the angels drink.

"It is true of some, though materialism and greed can continue into eternity. I've seen both commonly enough in my time. I think you have the same desire as most angels, gods and other immortals are not always as open to unknown experiences."

[mayfairmonster]

"I have certain advantages that allow me to take risks that others might not be able to do so freely."

Dorian smiles at Mammon at the mention of endless materialism and greed, watching him closely. "Do you desire gems and minerals endlessly? Currency?"

[goldenwolf]

"What advantage is that?" Mammon asks with genuine curiosity.

"No. Not particularly." Mammon comments. "I am a trader by nature. What I have fluctuates, though I do ensure the currency for Chaos is minted and maintained."

[mayfairmonster]

There's no harm in sharing this aspect of himself with the angels, Dorian reasons, because he's reasonably sure some of them already know-- Sin and Lucifer definitely do, at least. "I heal immediately from any physical slights my body may suffer. That, and I can die and resurrect without issue." He'll leave out the part about his lack of a soul and the extra benefits that confers, but given how Lucifer was able to tell he didn't have one simply by being near him, it may or may not be pointless to withhold this particular truth from any of the angels. "I still feel pain, but as you can probably imagine, being able to heal and resurrect takes away a lot the dangers of living an immortal life that ordinary humans, or immortals that can die from physical wounds wouldn't be able to face as easily."

That surprises Dorian a little. From the careful and elegant way the angel is dressed, he would have figured him for someone who enjoyed such material objects-- the gems, at least. "No? So, if I'm understanding you, it's the value of those objects and how they're used that you like?"

[goldenwolf]

Mammon hadn't cared to look to closely at the state of Dorian, only a casual overview of his presence, the immortality. True, if he wished he could delve in and see the lack of soul. However, as an archangel and him specifically, the sense of those things required active looking. "Then you are much like our kind in those respects."

It wasn't surprising to hear, and made his presence fall into place. The similar method of living and not dying could be a unifying characteristic across immortals. "Yes. However, I am not without favored things in what I do have. Everyone has objects and other items that are too valuable, though perception or personal reasons, to be traded away or sold without great pressure or offering."

[mayfairmonster]

"Others in your family have said the same thing." And it has taken Dorian a while to agree, but he does now. He does think it's interesting, though, that yet another angel doesn't hesitate to pull him within the venn diagram of 'like us' where the Fallen are concerned.

"So they do. What is it you favor, then?" The angel has been a little cagey, either deliberately or not, on this point so far. It's left Dorian wondering if he'll tell him now.

[goldenwolf]

"I can only assume that you have shared qualities with them that they also see in our kind." Mammon was completely neutral on the idea but there were, at least some, similarities between whatever type of immortal Dorian was and a fallen angel.

"Information?" Then the angel smiles and it grows until he laughs. "I've always favored the gold gilded walkways and spires of heaven; encrusted with fine gems. The hypocrisy of that being the request of a God who speaks of the sin of avarice as one of the greatest evils has a pleasant feeling to it. His throne too laden with gems and gold."

[mayfairmonster]

"The same that I just shared with you." Dorian issues a short, amused huff, as he remembers telling both Sin and Lucifer separately about this particular ability. All of the angels either seem to like, or seem compelled by, drawing parallels between him and themselves. "Your kind seem to like consolidating immortals and their favored humans among themselves-- collecting, one might even say." A beat, as he looks indicatively around the party. "And by the looks of this party, you've all done an impressive job of it."

The comment about God's throne gets a short, cynical laugh from the immortal. "So it's less of the walkways and throne themselves, but your own amusement at God's hypocrisy?"

"And what kinds of information interest you? Or do you not discriminate?"

[goldenwolf]

"We fell long before humans and those of Earth were created." Mammon shrugged joining Dorian's gaze considering the party goers. "... but we were intended to watch over and aid humanity. Without the gates of heaven holding us at a distance it's not surprising to see from any of the fallen." Mammon grinned as a sidelong gaze settled on Dorian. "The benefits are mutual from the what I have noted of the collection, a thing you've taken advantage of yourself in the bed and favor of royalty among us."

The angel was merely calling attention to the fact that the one talking about collecting had at one point or was still part of the collection he spoke about. Mammon knew about Sin, she was clearly fond of this immortal, and the gaze on Lucifer earlier drew curiosity.

"The walkways and structures of heaven are indeed of a splendor and glory worthy of envy, but it is amusing to know God is as far from His own laws as we are, maybe farther."

"Everything has potential worth. Knowing is always better than remaining ignorant."

[mayfairmonster]

Dorian's drinking continues, with another thoughtful sip of wine taken as he listens to Mammon. A smile tugs at his lips again as the angel points out his entanglement with his family. The other man isn't wrong about that, and Dorian can't deny the truth of it either. He'll always consider himself his own man to a certain degree, but this is the most time he's spent in close contact with a group of the same people in a while.

"'Taking advantage of' is a strong way to put it," Lucifer might see it that way now, but Dorian doesn't know for sure. He wonders if Sin does. "Would your family see it that way with regards to themselves?" His eyebrows rise as he watches the other man closely. It would be quite something to hear, if the angel really thinks it's the case.

"So you think of yourself as a scholar of everything and anything?"

[goldenwolf]

"Is it?" Mammon counters, more with curiosity than rhetoric. He continues, even toned and with acceptance. "We are ancient, even by the standards of gods. We understand that all initial contact is with someone who wants the benefits of our company. It may be as benign as simple curiosity or our reputation for sin and pleasure freeing people from thier culture's restrictions. Others may have more demanding benefits of protection, information, or coming at us with preconceived demands of what they want or expect from us."

Mammon paused to observe the man beside him. "Even when we initiate an interaction, as the more powerful component, we must be wary of others using us to thier benefit and our detriment."


He figures that is enough to say on that subject. "It is the natural condition when you reach a certain length of life."

[mayfairmonster]

Dorian's smile grows --it's pleasant, polite, a little distant-- but inwardly he wonders how much he should say about this particular subject to an angel with an observant temperament like this one. Mammon reminds him of Death in this way, if seemingly more detached. A person like this is interesting to him, but someone worth watching his step around.

"That's why, in my home world, I take steps to guard my privacy." Which he knows isn't an option for the angels for many reasons, but Dorian's just trying to relate to Mammon and his family. "The powerful and the unusual attract attention, curiosity, people's desires--" A thoughtful beat. "For the record, I knew very little about any of your family members before I approached them."

That answer's a little vague in his estimation, so Dorian tries a different approach. "Do you like to read?"