The dry skepticism was something that Lucius was expecting. That was not out of the ordinary and he had been well-prepared for that tone to come from the Nordic demigod. If Feo expected him to be rethinking his plan, it wasn't going to work just yet.

Instead, as Feo leaned back against the post... well, the grin that Lucius wore grew a bit more into a rather confident expression again--if not a touch smug. He did think nobody would bat an eye. He didn't have a reputation, he was simply nobody special or important. Nobody was going to care. That was the idea.

Besides, it wasn't like anything could really go wrong. Nobody knew the plan, it wasn't going to hurt anyone--they weren't taking weapons with them, at least he wasn't. It was a simple little thing. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing bad... it didn't even really have any sort of ill-willed implications on the surface. They were just going to see the Cestus of Aphrodite.

Before he could respond stating such, Feo continued. Disaster only happened if you lost control of the situation, Lucius had repeated to himself. As of right now, he still felt like he had control on the situation. If the Cestus didn't work out, well, there was a river calling his name.

Lucius knew about lies and how easy it was. His mother was never one for full honesty and it had... inadvertently rubbed off on him. Why tell the whole truth if it was going to hurt someone or if they weren't going to let you do what you wanted to do? Especially if what you wanted to do didn't hurt anyone?

But there was a touch of worry behind the expression that Feo gave him, his voice lowering. For once, Lucius almost second-guessed himself. But he shook that thought off and waved his hands--both hands--and let out a small noise.

"Nobody is going to bat an eye," he echoed with confidence, "we've got this. Disaster only potentially happens once you lose control of the situation. It's not out of control and, last I checked, it's idiot proof. We're not taking weaponry, we aren't going to kill anybody," yet, he added mentally, "we're just going out to see if we can't find it. It's simple, it's easy, it's harmless. I don't have the wings," Lucius shook his shoulders loosely, "which means I can figure my way out of things either way. Besides, I can always bring them back in the blink of an eye."

Lucius finally bobbed his head in addressing the questions. "We start now," he confirmed brightly. "It's rather simple, we mix ourselves into the middle of the crowd, we follow everyone else being shuffled outside of campus and then we just wait with everybody else to get our own taxi," he stepped forward, gesturing for Feo to follow him. "It's easy as pie. That's the beauty of it. Nobody's going to notice because right now? We're nobody special, there's a whole bunch of special first year students that need attention. Us? Nah, not at all."

Lucius gave him a lopsided smile, tipping his head lightly as he slid into the crowd.

Lucius felt his heart skip a few beats as Feo commented vaguely on the tone he had let slip. He'd... he would have to remember to keep a tighter hold on his tone. He couldn't always get away with it like he could with others. Clearly. They would just give him a pity look and move on, not willing to dig in deeper.

No, Feo tried to pry in.

Lucius didn't meet his gaze, slightly stewing on the comments he was making. He'd didn't have time to think about it right now. He'd had to focus on being something else right now.

"You see it enough," Lucius let a looser tone slip into his voice, deflecting the emotions that he was feeling, "you figure out how to mirror it. Just think of a few memories to mirror the emotions and it'll show on your face--ugh--you're not going--we're not going to get caught," he lowered his tone and shook his head.

Feo was so determined that somehow they were going to get caught, that something was going to go wrong. There was nothing that was going to go wrong.

They were tucked in the middle of a shuffling crowd. They didn't look any different, nobody was really paying attention. They were more focused on what was coming in the campus than what was going out. Nobody cared about what went out, they only cared about what went in. Were they dangerous, were they special, did they have any special accommodation needs? Stuff like that. Nobody cared who was leaving.

He knew well enough. He would owe him? Oh, Lucius knew that already. A part of him was curious as to what Feo would require as payment. Probably money. Probably.

But he was refusing to let his mind wander too much to his own feelings and thoughts. They could... they could talk about it on the plane. Not right now. The stakes were too high to even think about thinking about it.

Just a little farther and they'd be beyond the gates of campus. Lost in the crowd, able to walk farther away, catch a taxi and get them to the airport. Good. A few more steps.

"You ready?" Lucius flashed him a lopsided and wry smile, keeping a touch of wist in his expression. The sort of look that asked him if he was ready for what was going to happen, the look that shared between a few others. The weary smile of 'things aren't going to be the same the moment we step through' and a touch of hesitation. Would they be ready for how things would change?

Lucius didn't particularly care too much, he wouldn't admit it but he always had thought of himself as slightly disposable. Better him than anyone else, right?

The only, relatively new, issue with that... was the fact that suddenly there was a Nordic demigod that seemed to care about him in a way he wasn't sure he understood. Maybe it was because he didn't know him all the way yet. That was probably it.

Impossible? Ha! Now he was getting closer to the truth. Lucius had a feeling that he'd only continue to earn that "ticket" or title or whatever. Which he didn't mind. It would prove to Feo that he wasn't really all that great when it came to friendship and whatnot. It was one less person that Feo really had to worry about.

Or, so was the hope at least.

"Relax," Lucius replied to his insistence, turning to meet his gaze. "It's all going to be fine. Nothing is going to go wrong--we're just going to see if we can't find a little mythical item. There's no harm done."

He nearly opened his mouth again to add that Feo just needed to trust him when he said it himself. Not--there wasn't much to screw up in the plan at this point. It was a rather simple plan with no real risks to go wrong.

"So you don't have to," Lucius said lightly, "don't worry about saving anyone but you. I can hold my own--just because it doesn't look like it doesn't mean I can't. But there's literally nothing that can go wrong. We're not confronting any beasts, we're not trying to fight anything, we're not stealing--technically--we're just seeing if it is where it says it is," he waved his hand lightly and turned to look ahead again, keeping track of the crowd as they passed through the gates. Don't die.

The words sent a small chill down his spine. If his wings had been on display, a rush of rippling white feathers would have coursed down his wings. He... he didn't... really mean that. Right? Of course not. Lucius wasn't that special to anyone. He was just there, just a minor background figure in the lives of everybody, he really didn't mean that much to anyone.

Let alone this demigod who had met him two days ago.

Lucius cared about him, of course he did. That was different. He could see potential and a demigod who could be something more than just a pawn. He could see Feo becoming something incredible, something amazing--something and someone far beyond what he could even imagine.

But to turn that on himself? To think about what he could become? There was no way. Lucius was only meant to be the winged one. The faux angel.

A dazzling smile, the touch of golden hair, a sweep of white feathers and nothing more. If he was meant to be something, he wouldn't have grown up the way he had. He would've had someone telling him he was special, showing him how to be special. It wouldn't have been him more or less surviving on his own with the vague eyes of supervision from the houses and demigods around him.

He took in a freeing breath as they passed through the gates of campus, stepping onto the sidewalk just outside. People were filing into vans, trucks, some were on buses and the long line of taxis waited for anyone to jump inside.

"Told you," he nudged Feo's side, "we're outside, nothing happened and now we can catch a taxi."

The outside air was similar to the air of campus but it was electrifying for Lucius. Part two, technically, was complete. Quite literally everything was going as perfectly as it could and that was beautiful. It fit together like clockwork gears, each one turning in time. If only, of course, the demigod behind him could see that inner working as well as he could. Plans that fell apart, fell apart because they were planning something dangerous. It was that concept, when danger became a part of the plan--when weaponry, when violence and the sorts--when that was involved, then plans had a higher chance of going out of control.

Lucius, at that point in time, had no plans for that just yet. But, if he did need to turn to that direction, he had a plan and a back-up plan and a back-up-back-up plan.

But that was a problem for later, right now he was focused on the now. He had to be. Feo had fallen silent behind him, not entirely lost in his own world but definitely in his own mind. Not that Lucius could blame him too much, this was probably a lot more than he had ever really known. The campus was never really that loud but out here in the bustling streets, the rumble of car engines, the shouts of people calling out directions or for taxis, the general hum of conversation over the rest... it could be a lot.

But that type of environment was the exact type of thing that Lucius wanted at that moment. Loud, bustling, hurrying, something to get lost into and no one would notice--if they did, it'd be far too late.

His hand stretched out, signaling one of the many yellow cars that sat beside the sidewalk and the other reached back to grab Feo's arm, pulling him into the taxi with him. It wasn't out of any real emotion, just habit to make sure that he was still there.

The taxi door closed, cutting out a lot of the outside noise. The man sitting in the driver's seat huffed and glanced back at them in the rearview mirror. His raised eyebrow gave off the question that he spoke in a rough and low voice. "Where?"

"Airport," Lucius responded with a brief smile and a nod. The smile was not reciprocated in the slightest but the taxi jerked into motion as he pulled into the thick of traffic.

Lucius leaned back--almost startled at the fact that he could lean back against a chair now. That was a new sensation, feeling something steady and firm against his shoulder blades that weren't feathered or pressing awkwardly against feathers or joints. Briefly, he glanced toward Feo, making sure he was still at least somewhat okay before his sapphire eyes turned out the window, watching the city pass by.