Summary:Piotr and Keiko talk about the meaning of family. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Limbo: Year 3
S'ym had been taken to the dungeons by Piotr's guard and hadn't awakened yet. They don't know how long it will take - given he had been slain with soul-steel blade.
Keiko not long ago woke from a nap and is currently pacing their chamber, hand supporting her lower back like she's experiencing some discomfit.
This is the only room in the Citadel they can even remotely be themselves. Just how much themself they really are is a good question.
The small Peruvian has needed more sleep as her pregnancy progresses - of course, she sees that as a weakness
Returning from the dungeons, Piotr's lips are pulled into a frown as he opens the door to enter their personal chambers. "Keiko?" he asks, a lift of his brow at her condition, before continuing. "S'ym has not awaken yet." he takes the sword from his back - the sword that is his soul, and sits down at a nearby couch to work on starting to clean the blade. Not that it needs it, but it brings some structure to Piotr's thoughts.
"He is the first one I used this blade on. It is powerful." he rumbles in admission, a shake of his head. "It is me."
"You let me sleep." The words are an accusation, Piotr knows how much Keiko fights these changes. She was trained he whole life to not show weakness and being here, in Limbo, is reinforcing that training.
She moves slowly about the room, unable or unwilling to sit. The clasp on the collar that become part of her catches the light - reminding the viewer that there's a gem caught in the filigree buckle.
He will wake soon and then we will deal with him" she sounds confident of that at least. "It was the first, but won't be the last. It was … effective." her head cants "What do you mean?"
"You were peaceful" And peaceful sleep is a rarity these days. Piotr's not going to fight with her on this, instead, as they talk, he explains "The blade. It is made from me - remember when I had to draw it?" To save her life. He sacrificed himself for her that day - all the other sacrifices after that haven't really mattered.
But the collar brings a thoughtful pause as he rises to his feet. Moving over to her, his had rests on Keiko cheek, before moving down to caress the gem at her throat. "Illyana gave this to you. You never told me why." Not that he asked. They've been …. distracted.
Keiko lets out a long slow breath and stretches her back. To Piotr it will look like she's trying loosen tight muscles. "I do. You changed when you drew it. So did I when I said I would stay by your side." She gestures to her clothing which are very far from 'maternity' as you can get.
"Something happened to you?" She's not truly aware that he took up the sword to save her. It's not something they've discussed and she's never really had anyone sacrifice themselves for her. Her life has really been dog eat dog. The strongest survive. The weakest do not.
Piotr's presence in front of her has her motion of stopping and she gazes up into his eyes as he touches her cheek. The touch on the gem gets a gasp and she trembles. "What did you do? I didn't think you had Illyana's power."
"She collared me so she channel her power through me when we went to Sifror. I was offered as a conduit that Sifror could use to attack Plokta." She shivers at the thought, her already wan colour paling even more. Piotr will recognise it though - it marks her as 'one' of Illyanas.
"I don't have Illyana's power." Piotr responds. But he is of her blood. Their family's blood. And now, that same blood is in the child that is Keiko's belly. "When I touched the hilt to form the blade.. it.. took something from me." he closes his eyes and considers. "I used to see the art in things. I still can see the beauty in it. Before this, you may have considered me weak, because my soul…" and he pauses. That's what he's missing. He just hasn't put the pieces together.
"You're my soul." he says to her finally. When Keiko mentions the gem and the collar, and it's history, Piotr frowns. And he looks at her. "This binds you to her." he says quietly. "If it is still active - she is still.." But then his hand reaches up, and lightly closes around her throat. It's not a choking touch. Instead, he's pressing his palm to the gem, to see - what can he do. What can he see?
And would it bring them closer?
"The gem has a memory tied to it. Illyana … she needed to break me." Piotr might not like that about his sister, but he might understand it. Keiko challenged Illyana with her stubborness. "She went through my memories found one of the few I have of my mother. We were in the garden, she kissed on my forehead. It felt … good."
And it's that, that memory with the associated feelings that has been tied to the gem in the collar. For Piotr he can't see anything, but he feel the stone warm. There's a small amount of magic that radiates from it - but maybe Piotr can't feel that.
Koa isn't mentioned when she speaks of the collars. The SHIELD Agent had taken some of the pain that Keiko had experienced, helped her survive what Illyana and Sifror had used her for.
"You were never weak, Piotr. You saw the world differently. In a way I could I not." She frowns though "You put your soul in the sword? And you use that to kill? That's not good."
He can't miss the way her eyes sheen as his hand remains on the collar, on the gem. The unshed tears that she's fighting as the memory of a mothers love she'd lost so early is relived.
Will it bring them closer? Who knows. It will certainly provide a chink in that thorny emotional armour she's created.
"I was an artist before all of this. I would not kill without reason." Piotr frowns in thought. "My expressions were on canvas, or in stone." His fingers run along her neck, over that stone, as he looks down into Keiko's eyes. "I gave that up because I did not want you to suffer because of my reluctance. For what happened." he says quietly, his thoughts confused as he tries to put into words properly.
"Now? I would not hesitate to use that sacrifice to protect you. Us. Our family." he responds. And he has, already. Against S'ym. Against an insurgency. His blue eyes meet her glowing ones.
"I want to share my world with you, Keiko. As much as I want to be a part of yours." His hand drops down to her belly, he can feel the light press as their child kicks. "We are joined, we are family. And should we find our way home…" he doesn't need to say it, she knows he'll be there for her.
"Do you think you kill without reason now?" Keiko doesn't try to move as Piotrs hand toys with that gem and collar, the sheen in her eyes becoming a single tear that trails down her cheek. "Piotr … "
She really wants him to remove his hand but he mistake that as a request for comfort.
"Did you give it up? I saw the stone you were shaping before I destroyed it." The sadness is new on her, not something she ever lets anyone see. "I … didn't know that's why you did it. For Illyana, yes… not for me. I'm not worth it."
Or she wasn't. She might be now, at least until the child is born.
"I don't think we're ever getting out of here." Her hand covers his, as she lets out a relieved breath now the memory isn't be triggered. "Should we find our way home?" she prompts.
His hand moves when she touches it. And Piotr's finger moves to brush the tear away as it rolls down her cheek. "You were worth it before we.." he trails off at that, a frown on his features. He lets out a breath, considering her words. "I have not tried to make anything since then." comes the quiet confession to her. Which isn't true. She's seen him sketching once or twice, but the frustration comes and he stops himself.
There's a room in the citadel that's half-completed attempts for Piotr to try to find himself again. To find that part of himself. But he hasn't been in there in weeks. Months, perhaps.
"Nyet. You /are/." he reiterates. "To say you're not is to admit you are weak." And she is not weak. He knows this now.
"I am sorry that they brought you here. But I am not sorry for being with you, Keiko. If this is our home.. then, I have no regret." he finally comments as he lets out his breath and leans down to kiss the small trail that the tear left behind. And then he straightens up. "I want to get you back to your friends and family." To say otherwise to admit his own greed and thoughts. And that is a weakness.
"Not true…" Keiko doesn't ask Piotr to finish that thought, letting him wipe the tear from her face. "I've seen you with your sketches. You made K'nert get the books for you."
She hasn't done more than glance at them when he's been working. But they're good. "You should keep trying. To admit defeat here, is weakness." She uses his own argument right back.
For just a moment, he can see how vulnerable she is. How … scared as well. Keiko leans against his frame before he straightens. Then the mask is back, the stoic and stubborn woman that he knows so well.
"I don't have family, Piotr." Maybe he didn't realise that when she'd finally escaped she hadn't sought them out. She'd just run. Unlike Illyana, she didn't have the memories to draw from.
What will she do if they get they back? It's likely there'll be a child to think of as well.
Either way, one thing is certain. Piotr and Keiko are likely to damn stubborn for their own good.
He starts to lift his hand to settle on Keiko when she presses against him. "Maybe I will." he says in thoughtful response. But before he can set his hand on her, she pulls away and returns to the Keiko he knows so much better. His hand instead moves, and his other hand rubs that piece of leather around his left wrist.
"You're wrong, Keiko." he responds to her, when she makes that statement.
He looks at her, and his eyes flash. Not with anger. Not with fear. It's hard for either of them to piece together what it is.
"You have family now." Whether she wants them or not - they are tied together in the flesh, if not in the heart. His own tone is stubborn, defiant to her want to deny all.
Keiko watches Piotrs hand move, realising he'd been going to touch her. "You can touch me, Piotr. I won't bite." She knows some people need that more than she does and maybe, just maybe, it will keep Piotr … human.
The vehemence in Piotr's tone, the look in his eye has her pausing. "You?" she asks quietly. "I've only ever had the Nightfall and you didn't want to fail with them."
She has to ask if they're family? And that strikes harder than anything else. "You are my Queen." Piotr says simply. He made the offer to her. She has to choose to accept it. He can't force her into it. Nor would he try.
Straightening to his full seven and a half feet - it seems that he's not getting shorter again anytime soon, he grits his teeth. "I am not Nightfall. And we cannot fail each other." he points out to her. And she says he can touch her. But he hasn't yet.
Kaleesi had been Jon Snows Queen and look at what happened to her. Keiko at least has the presence of mind not to say that. Instead those cat slitted eyes watch him.
Maybe if Piotr had his soul and they weren't here, it might be easier. "You will always be the father to my child, Piotr. That makes us family." She shifts slightly, easing her back again before she lets out a sigh and steps in, resting her cheek against his chest.
"Thank you." That's a dangerous thing to say in Limbo even here in their chambers. That she says it, speaks volumes. Maybe not quite the ones that he wants, but it's a start, right?
It is a start. Little steps. Each and every one of them may have to fight to find the common ground. Tearing each other down off their own towers to find his own tower for them. For their family.
"We are family." The three of them.
And woe to any that try to say or force otherwise.
It's a start.
"Now take my mind off how uncomfortable my back is and show me your sketches." There's something to what he said and this is something she can help with.
At least, she thinks.