Summary:An early morning encounter by two people who are still getting used to Earth again. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It's pretty early in the morning. The students haven't started walking the halls on their way to classes yet though some might be in the cafeteria getting breakfast. The only one walking the halls at the moment is Illyana, dressed in her usual black-on-black, heavy metal reject attire. The thick soles of her boots thud softly as she walks the halls, hands on hips, a frown on her face. Pausing, she stands in the middle and looks up one direction and then down the other. Then she continues on until she gets to an intersection and then seems to scrutinize that hallway as well. Finally she shakes her head, blowing out an annoyed breath through her nose.
"Alright, you look a little frustrated." Dani grins a bit, coming from behind Illyana to give her a friendly look. Dani is clad her typical jeans-and-T-shirt attire, this black shirt featuring a wolf howling at a full moon. She tilts her head, sipping from a cup of coffee, "I'd say good morning, but it's way too early for that."
"Never anything good about mornings." Illyana agrees, giving Dani a smirk and a nod hello. "And yeah. I'm trying to decide on the best way to ward this place. It's just so damned big, I might want to skip something that's got teeth in it and settle for an alert." She's clearly distracted, mentally. Because she doesn't start with explaining what she's doing, and just jumps into what's going on in her head. Of course, with a history of living in Asgard, Dani might well understand more than most people what she's talking about.
Dani nods, "Yeah, sorcery wasn't my specialty, but I knew some folks that were pretty good in runecraft. Hmmm. Not that I can see them, but how do the leylines stack up? Nexus points for maximum effect?" She isn't exactly versed in magic, but she knows the general idea, even if she lacks the ability to do any of it herself.
"So many critters can affect or ride those things. I don't want to make it too dependant on them." Illyana says, her manner still distracted. "But my power base is substantially diminished here." The blonde worries her lower lip and then finally looks over at Dani. And her coffee. "Oh, nice you brought me coffee." She gives Dani a smile that's way too sugar-sweet to be real.
Dani narrows her eyes, "Hey, I like you, and I can get you a cup… but this one is mine." She then smiles wryly, "I just did a fresh pot in the dining room, if you wanted to grab one. Made it extra strong, since… well, I'm cramming for my GEDs."
Illyana Rasputina lets the faux-smile slip back into her more natural smirk and chuckles. "Fine." This time. She probably wouldn't like it however Dani drinks it *anyway*.
Turning towards the dining room, Illyana continues to talk to Dani, apparently assuming the valkyrie will follow along. "Offhand, would you mind giving me any feathers that your horse drops?" The blonde doesn't suggest plucking Dani's steed. "They might be useful in some types of spells." Honestly bits of a lot of critters are. Including humans. But there's decent odds that Brightwind's might have some extra kick.
Dani nods, "I'll save some next time I groom out his wings. That shouldn't be a problem." She side-eyes Illyana, walking along with her as she sips her coffee. A bit quietly, just to avoid rubbing it in too much but she still needs her fix too, darnit. "What sort of spells are you thinking of there?"
"With the feathers?" Illyana's brain isn't completely back on the conversation yet. The coffee is probably badly needed. "I haven't dealt with a pegasus before so I honestly don't know what they're attuned towards. There's also the upside that they're a good sympathetic link, so if I need to find you I can home in on him and I bet you won't be too far."
Since Illyana was a Senior last year, almost all of the current students are pretty familiar with her. While she relied a lot more on her mutant abilities than her magical ones, there are still the whispers of the 'demon sorceress'. Those with a more Faithful bent are usually the most critical of the girl that grew up in (a) hell.
Dani nods, "Makes sense, though pegasi are Greek. Brightwind prefers to be thought of as a 'winged stallion'. And before you ask, no, I don't know the difference." She grins, "He's very touchy about that though. But yeah, you being able to find me seems pretty good, especially since you can portal everywhere."
If Dani has heard anything negative about Illyana, she doesn't show it. Not everyone was lucky enough to be whisked to Asgard and become a Valkyrie, after all, so she feels more accepting than most.
"Huh." Illyana says, oh-so-articulately about the possible taxonomy of Brightwind. She might very well consult her tomes to see if there is any functional difference between the two later. "I'll keep it in mind around him, though. He's huge." And Illyana, especially on Earth, is pretty damned squishy.
Making it to the dining area, Illyana makes herself a cup of coffee, rubbing at her eyes as she does so. She doesn't sleep much to start with, and the last time she put her head down on a pillow she was rudely awakened by some magical hoo doo so things are definitely edging towards exhaustion for her. "So what kinds of things do they test for on a GED? My catchup was the K-8th grade bit."
Dani hmms, "Pretty similar, I guess, just scaled up. Math, science, english, history… nothing too hard, but just trying to get this done ASAP so I can try and start work on my pre-vet degree." She grins, "Since I can talk to animals, being a vet sounded like the perfect choice. And I like animals. They're better than most people."
Illyana Rasputina wrinkles her nose a bit, but it's not at the taste of her coffee. "Animals don't like me." She admits. "Luckily I tend to trip their 'flight' not 'fight' response." Honestly, she does the same in most people.
"Planning to do the first two years here then transfer to somewhere else?" Illyana asks as she starts to poke around in the cupboards and 'fridge to see if there's anything easy to eat as well. Easy as in 'doesn't require cooking'.
Dani nods, "Yeah, I can see that. I'll probably stay here, at least for the beginning. Might end up going down to Empire State or something… definitely feel more at home in New York than here." She grins, "Though Brightwind seems to like you enough, but he's a bit of an odd horse." His taste for White Castle is a testament to that.
"He's probably more used to magical stuff, too. And Choosers of the Slain deal in death, right? Another thing that your generic animal would shy away from." Illyana says, settling on an apple to munch on while she leans her elbows on the kitchen island.
"Asgard is a lot like the Big Apple?" Illyana asks, apparently amused by that thought. "I guess my mental image was more D&D fantasy realm y'know? Stuck in Midevil times or something." Just because her home is in another dimension doesn't mean she's gotten to visit a lot of others.
Dani grins, "Well, Asgard is a pretty big city, it doesn't have pizza, or Starbucks, but it does have a lot there. A lot of it is just magic and not techy stuff." She shrugs, "I like Asgard a lot, but Mi… Earth is home."
And she nods, "But you're right. I even have a bit of a… aura, of death. Sometimes. It can creep a lot of people out, but animals don't mind me, since I can talk to them."
Illyana Rasputina lifts her coffee up in a mock-toast. "To the Creepy Chicks." She remarks dryly.
As Dani has to correct herself again, Illyana smirks. "Man, they must have hammered that into you. How long were you there again? Five or six years? I suppose I'm lucky. When I was stuck in Limbo, we still called this Earth." The habits that Illyana developed, there was more incentive to un-learn. Or at least, restrain.
Dani laughs, clinking her coffee cup against Yana's, "Yeah about five years. Really never thought I'd be getting back here anytime soon but… well, things definitely changed the past few years. For the better, mostly."
"When I was seven, I got taken. Spent the next six or seven years in Limbo. When I escaped, it was like a whole new world. I didn't remember almost anything from when I was that young. I spent four years here and then he found me. Pulled me back to Limbo for another I dunno. Six or seven years? Time is weird in Limbo, and there's no sun or moon or stars. So, between being too young to remember, and time spent in Limbo, I only remember 4 years of living here on Earth." Illyana shakes her head. "Stuff still hits me as weird all the time." She admits.
Dani nods, "Yeah, it wasn't too bad for me, since time is pretty similar in both Asgard and Midgard." She grins wryly, not bothering to correct herself on the slip, "Well, and I didn't have demons but a bunch of sisters to take me in as one of their own, which was really nice to help me fit in. Kinda skewed things a bit for me, since Asgard social customs are… different."
Some people might be bitter, or jealous, that Dani had it 'easier'. But if Illyana does, none of it touches her features as she listens. Instead, she asks: "What was the biggest thing to get used to? Either going from here to there, or there coming back?" The blonde smirks. "Aside from using 'Earth' instead of 'Midgard'." She teases.
Dani laughs at that, "Biggest thing? Cars. Cars everywhere. It's so weird, let me tell you." She grins, "Also, um, the Internet. That's kindof a big thing. Or uh… well, there's about a billion things really that just make it so different now."
"Huh, really?" Illyana seems surprised. "I didn't think the state of the internet was that different from before you left." Both were really big changes for Illyana as well, so she can remember how it affected her, at least.
"I think it was food for me." The blonde sorceress says, looking thoughtful. "Compared to food here, food in Limbo really sucks."
Dani ahs, "Well, I mean, differences from Asgard and here, anyway. I didn't even think about not having social media and… um, yeah, it isn't like Asgard has a Facebook server or something." She nods, "Food in Asgard is pretty good, I gotta say. More rustic than New York, but still really good." She grins, "What's your favorite food? Me, I'm getting turned onto sushi. Never had that in Colorado or Asgard."
"Ice cream." Illyana says, without missing a beat. Apparently, to the demon sorceresss, ice cream counts as food.
Tilting her head from side to side in an ambivilent sort of manner, Illyana notes: "Sushi reminds me of food in Limbo, a bit. I mean, it tastes way better but eating raw meat. At least I haven't had it try to bite me back yet."
Dani grins, "Ice cream… yeah, that's awesome. My favorite has to be mint chocolate chip." She hmms, "Or maybe chocolate with marshmallow ripples. Those are just decadent."
Illyana Rasputina chuckles. "Sounds like either way, Chocolate makes the list." The blonde gives Dani a wink. "Don't blame you one bit there."
Rinsing out her now-empty coffee cup, Illyana raises her arms so she can stretch her spine out a bit. "I'm a bit jealous of you knowing what you want to be when you grow up. I'm still trying to figure out how I fit into things."
Dani chuckles, "Well, honestly I'd love to stay a Valkyrie, but… I'm not sure how feasible that is. I mean, I'm still mortal, I'm not an Asgardian." She grins, "I'm from Colorado, I only work in the Nine Realms. But yeah, it's… strange to think about, and it just kinda makes sense."
"It does sound like Valkyrie-ing" Illyana slows down as she tries to make that into a word, her face expressing her amusement with it "is really a peak-performance years kinda job. I know I've got a responsibility to Limbo, but I also want to be able to live here. I'm just not sure how to do that."
Right now, it involves free rent from a former classmate and mooching meals off of the Xavier cafeteria. While Illyana's pondered the idea of finding a job, she knows anything she's likely to do that involves taking orders is Right Out.
Dani hrms, "Pity there's not an opening around here for sorcerers. Why, in Asgard your abilities would be pretty in demand." She grins, "If I ever move back there full time, I could always use a roommate I guess." A bit of a chuckle with that, as she gives Illyana a wry expression.
Illyana Rasputina chuckles as well. "Yeaaah, doesn't help me so much here though. I wouldn't even do well running my own sorcery business since I'd have to be nice to people wanting to hire me and I'm not so good at that."
Illyana looks thoughtful for a bit. "Maybe if I can charge enough to also *hire* someone and make *them* deal with any people…"
Dani grins, "Well, see, that's why you get a partner who can handle the people handling, leaving you to do the magic stuff." She nods, "Exactly. I'm pretty sure that these days there's a lot of work for a sorceress in New York." As long as Strange or Zatanna didn't get cranky about infringement anyway…
"Well, that model in general at any rate." Illyana says, still looking thoughtful. "I could also play fetch, teleporting stuff. I don't think people would be big fans of riding along, but stuff I could probably do. People can get dumb when they ask for magic. It's all love spells and wishes y'know?" A beat. "Actually, you've been around magic enough you wouldn't know, would you? Asgardians probably don't go find a sorceress for stupid stuff."
Dani laughs at that, "Illyana's Magickal Delivery Service. Guaranteed to get there by last week!" She grins at Yana, "Hey, if you need a partner, let me know… and yeah, Asgardians see sorceresses for really serious things. And, um, also love potions. They aren't that different from Midgard folks that way."
"Well, by 'now' at least." Illyana jokes. "It was good seeing you again Dani. Good luck on the cramming. I need to get back to a couple of things." Like how to get that spell off of Remy without damaging the Cajun.
A stepping disk opens at Illyana's feet and slides upwards, sweeping Illyana away.