taxonomites | [location: outside luthor plaza] you wanna hear about the deal i'm making (backdated to May 6)

Entry tags:

[location: outside luthor plaza] you wanna hear about the deal i'm making (backdated to May 6)

In Lex's mind three weeks ample time to not only get himself acclimated, but start being useful to Taxon. He had currently been in this city for two weeks and six days, with his internal deadline drawing near. The temporary population boom during his first few days was a bit of an obstacle, but not one that couldn't be overcome.

Thankfully he was not entirely without the comforts of home as it seemed as if Luthor Plaza had decided to travel with him. That was more than enough motivation to move forward with his plans. First order of business was rendering the unused science labs operational which required gathering and setting up new equipment, as well as a good cleaning that he was damn sure not going to use an extra for. (The latter he wasn't necessarily ashamed of, but Lex was inclined to keep that one to himself.)

With one lab ready to go and his personal office set up, Lex was ready to begin to get to work. Never one to say no to ceremony, even when it was on his own, Lex stands outside the skyscraper and breaks a bottle of champagne against its outer wall.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

After dropping the bottle Lex looks up to see someone staring. This sort of thing doesn't bother him, he's gotten used to life in the public eye. Perhaps this is someone from his world who would be familiar with the Luthor name. He takes a longer look than he normally would have out of curiosity and when he makes out the face Lex has to take a step back to collect himself.

He crosses the other side of the street and walks up to the young man, purposeful, but with a sense of almost forgotten familiarity. "Lucas. You're the last person I would have expected to see here."

"You might have guessed by now that I'm new here." He starts by way of answering her question. "This building was mine from back home. I'm hoping to bring it up to speed and get some use out of the thing. If all goes as planned I think I'm ready to start, hence the champagne."

Once Lex sees the inside of Dan's apartment he can see the connection between where Adrian stays and his sense of dress that always seemed a little off. Just as Adrian doesn't apologize, Lex makes no mention of the home beyond accepting the invitation to sit.

When Bubastis appears Lex almost wants to stand right back up again. He halfway does as he leans forward, putting his weight on his feet. Lingering thoughts of uneasiness about Adrian give way to awe as he looks at Bubastis, allowing his usual straight face to fade. "I assume this is your proof."

Adrian mentally applauds Lex for fighting the urge to do anything other than sit right where he is, in easy reach of a strange purple cat the size of a tiger. He smiles proudly, nodding, and strokes the cat's head when she approaches.

"Her name is Bubastis. Genetically she's an Egyptian lynx, although as you can see I made some modifications."

She gazed up at the building, then back to him. "What kind of business do you run?"

Lucas? Stefan's brow furrows and he casts a glance over his shoulder as if to be sure there's no-one standing behind him, despite the fact that the absence of a heartbeat other than his own and this man's tells him no-one is standing there without the need to look. Humans look, though, and Stefan's well acquainted with the necessity to move and act as human as possible, despite instinct demanding otherwise of him.

"Excuse me?" He settles on, unsure of why this man he's never seen before is addressing him as if he's familiar with him, and by a name that's not his own. Stefan's used a lot of fake names over the years, from that train to New Orleans after he'd been turned to the last place he'd lived before he returned to Mystic Falls, but Lucas isn't one of them.

Lex's curiosity has the bad habit of getting the better of him quite often. Of course he would like to get a closer look at Bubastis, but that would actually require getting closer to Bubastis. He slowly shifts his weight again and sits back into the couch, not wanting to cause a disturbance.

"When did you make your... modifications?"

"Some years ago. Bubastis accompanied me when I was brought here, apparently." Adrian pauses for a moment, a little frown creasing his forehead as he looks down at the animal, because this is still a point that bothers him more than he's been letting on.

Noting the (very wise) care Lex is taking to remain still, Adrian sends Bubastis to lie down next to the couch, in a much less aggressive pose where Lex can have a better look at her. "Before I became interested in physics, I did some genetic experimentation. Bubastis is my crowning achievement."

"She's lovely." And he means that. Of course if Lex reacted to her in the wrong way Bubastis could easily attack him, but the best things in life always had an element of danger to them.

"Does she live here with you? I'd imagine that space gets rather limited."

"Thank you." Adrian's gratitude is as sincere as Lex's compliment. He's proud of his work, but more than that it's obvious that he's fond of Bubastis herself. She has, after all, been his most loyal friend.

At the question, he glances around and smiles fondly. "She and I are the guests of a very tolerant friend, who has been kind enough to put up with our presence until I find a more suitable arrangement."

Lex hadn't anticipated that reaction, but after turning it over in his mind he supposed that he should have expected it. He hadn't so much as heard from Lucas in over a year and Luthors were nothing if not fiercely independent.

"I know it's been a long time, but I thought we were on good terms at the very least."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are."

With anyone else, there would be the possibility of his memories having been tampered with, but Stefan's memory is as intact as one's can be. Anything that had been compelled away and locked up when he was still human was restored upon his transition into a vampire. The man's face is that of a complete stranger, one who Stefan's just laid eyes upon not a moment ago.

Lex glances around Dan's apartment, taking a mental inventory of the space and what it can provide for Adrian. It was shelter, yes, but easily something that he could see as not quite what Adrian was looking for in terms of a "suitable arrangement."

"If you would be willing to take on more responsibility within LuthorCorp, I might be able to do something about your living arrangement."

Adrian raises his eyebrows, intrigued by the offer. In truth he had planned to ask at some point if perhaps the labs might include some kind of simple accommodation, if only to get out of Dan's hair.

"Mr. Luthor, I'm willing to take on as much responsibility as you will allow, living arrangements or no. But I certainly won't turn down an offer if you're making one."

"I might have need of your expertise within administration from time to time. I can't be everywhere at once and I may need you to act in my stead." He leans back into the chair and glances again at Bubastis before turning his attention to Adrian.

"In exchange for the added hours and duties I'm willing to give you and Bubastis a place to stay within the LuthorCorp building. What do you think?"

A very pleased smiles grows on Adrian's face as he nods. "I think it sounds like a very attractive proposal. Will you want to sit down and write up a contract, or will a handshake suffice?"

Normally he would never do business on a handshake, but this seems like the kind of place where contracts are unnecessarily restrictive. Ultimately, however, it is Lex's company, and Adrian will bow to his preferences.

That comment causes Lex to halt in his train of thought entirely. He again looks at this man and the more he looks, the more he comes to accept that he's been mistaken. Stefan may look exactly like Lucas in appearance but there was a certain way of carrying oneself that every member of the Luthor family possessed that this young man was lacking.

"My mistake," Lex says with an apologetic shake of the head. "You look remarkably like someone I know." He offers a hand to introduce himself and at least clear up one end of the confusion. "Lex Luthor."

Lex is normally not one for handshake contracts either, but Taxon is a special case all on its own.

"Before we do shake on it there is something more I would like to add, just so you are fully aware of the situation. Because it is my building I have access to every room within its walls, which will include yours. This is purely a security precaution and I can assure you that there will be no invasions of your privacy on my part."

It's nothing Adrian wouldn't do if their positions were reversed (the security feeds in New Karnak are -- were -- bordering on obsessive). But it makes him pause for a moment nonetheless.

"I understand, of course, and I accept your assurance that my privacy will be treated with the utmost respect." As proof of his willingness to accede to Lex's conditions, Adrian offers his hand.

Lex reaches out his hand and clasps Adrian's in his own with a firm shake. He regards Adrian with a pleased smile, one that is both professional and reflective of how he forsees his newest endeavor coming to fruition.

"Welcome to LuthorCorp, Mr. Veidt."

This is the first time Stefan's encountered a case of mistaken identity beyond the doppelgänger issue with Katherine and Elena. He was aware of having been in Taxon before; Tara had explained that to him before she'd been sent home. He had no memories of being in Taxon before this time, but that had been him as himself, not this Lucas person he was presumed to be. It was fascinating, though. Of all the people across dimensions and worlds and times, he just happened to look exactly like someone this man new. Interesting.

"Stefan Salvatore," he offers in turn, shaking the man's hand. "First time I've been told I look like someone."

"Well they say that everybody has a double," Lex says as he releases his hand. "I don't necessarily like to treat rumor as fact, but it doesn't hurt to keep an open mind."

Though Salvatore. If this person wasn't related to Lex then he was certainly related to Damon. Interesting. "You don't happen to have a strong inclination towards gambling do you?" It's half light comment, half means of double checking.

If asked, Stefan would confirm that Damon was indeed a relative. His older brother, in fact. It's a good thing Stefan's unaware of Lex knowing Damon, else he would be plagued with hoping the man didn't ask about him. He and Damon weren't exactly seeing eye to eye at the moment to the point where Stefan hadn't been at the house in weeks.

As for the remark about everyone having a double... Lex, you don't know how right you are. There's a set of doppelgängers here masquerading as a pair of twins.

"I'm seventeen," Stefan answers, half-truth, half-lie. "Pretty sure that'd still be illegal, here. I don't even know how to play poker right, so..."

Seventeen? If Lex were the kind to laugh outright at ridiculous statements, this would be the time to do so. Instead his eyebrows furrow slightly and one corner of his mouth quirks slightly upward.

"I'm sorry, but the person who you look like is my brother. He's twenty-two, and the last time I saw him was a year ago. Even so, I feel pretty safe in saying that you look more like him at twenty-one than seventeen."

One hundred and sixty-two, actually, but Stefan's not about to own up to his years any sooner than any other vampire who's spent time in Mystic Falls will. Hiding was in their nature, a tradition that was not to be broken. It was simply what one did, despite being present in an atmosphere where vampires were free to be open as they pleased.

Truth was, they didn't know how to be open.

"Pretty sure my brother would find hilarity in the notion that I look like some twenty-two year old."

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 2 of 2

[location: outside luthor plaza] you wanna hear about the deal i'm making (backdated to May 6)

[ location: outside luthor plaza ]

[location: outside luthor plaza]

[location: dan's apartment]

[location: dan's apartment]

[location: outside luthor plaza]

[ location: outside luthor plaza ]

[location: dan's apartment]

[location: dan's apartment]

[location: dan's apartment]

[location: dan's apartment]

[ location: outside luthor plaza ]

[ location: outside luthor plaza ]

[location: dan's apartment]

[location: dan's apartment]

[location: dan's apartment]

[location: dan's apartment]

[ location: outside luthor plaza ]

[location: dan's apartment]

[location: dan's apartment]

[location: dan's apartment]

[ location: outside luthor plaza ]

[ location: outside luthor plaza ]

[ location: outside luthor plaza ]

[ location: outside luthor plaza ]

[ location: outside luthor plaza ]