2019-06-30 - The Price of Duty

Summary:

Illyana looks in on Koa for the first time since returning from Liveworld. All is not entirely well.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Sun Jun 30 08:29:24 2019
Location: Limbo

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

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koa-turnerillyana-rasputina

Not many people know it but Koa keeps a sketchbook full of little things. It helps him remember important details - the shape of a sigil, the markings on a wall, the look of a particular spirit. It also helps him relax. He's a fairly decent sketch artist if not much more than that when it comes to art.

At the moment Koa is sitting down at his coffee table, sketching. He's filled about three pages so far with the events of the last several days. Limbo. Piotr's sword. Kieko and Piotr themselves. The Dream realm. The collar. At the moment he's sketching the Darkchild as he saw her some time ago.

It's interesting, really, his sketches. Because he sketches things as he sees them, there are details that mundane eyes don't capture, but he puts to paper anyway.

Koa reaches for his coffee. His hand is trembling and he knocks the mug onto the floor where it shatters.

"Sonofa…"

The house is… less tidy than it usually is. It's not a mess but there are little things left out of place that wouldn't normally be. A testament to someone who doesn't have the energy to put them away. Or rather, is devoting all his energy to something else.

Koa rises, cursing his presently one handed condition and goes to get a towel.


A now-familiar circle of light just… appears in Koa's living room. The blonde is equally familiar now, even if the clothes aren't. She's in jeans and T-shirt that she doesn't usually wear. The boots are familiar though, knee-high and thick-soled.

Illyana looks down to where the broken cup lies on the floor in a pool of it's caffeinated guts and looks over to Koa. "I didn't know you had a cat."


Koa looks up from where he is just bending over to wipe up the mess and pick up the shards of the ceramic cup. His eyes are green. Green like Dreamqueen's hair, though they don't seem to like settling on a shade.

"Illyana." He seems surprised but not unpleasantly so. "Uh, no, I don't have a cat. Just a bit clumsy today. Different look for you…"

Koa notices patterns. He's good at watching. And so he tends to notice when they're broken. "Is everything okay?"

Because really he can think of a dozen reasons why things might not be given everything that everyone has been through. Plus the place they live in. And he doesn't even know about their new housemate.

Then again, if something were really wrong he suspects she'd have pulled him to her and not the other way around.

"Give me a second, I'll pour you something to drink if you'd like it." He's just… disposing of this mug.


"Sure thing. I like watching you on your knees." Illyana says that a smirk, but no sign that she's joking. Moving over to his table she takes a seat and pulls over his sketchbook to leaf through it. "Piotr used to sketch all the time when I was a child." She smiles faintly. "He'd let me color them." She glances up at him. "I was pretty awful at it.

As to if everything is alright, she handwaffles. "No one trapped or in imminent danger that I know of. Though, Piotr and Keiko were left alone together, so who knows." As to the clothing? She glances down at it and chuckles. "WAND dropped off a bunch of stuff. 'Normal' clothes included. Something I didn't have to conjure for once."


The comment is still enough to get a snort-laugh from the WAND agent. He knows it's not a joke, but it's still rather amusing to him. And lucky her, he has to stay there longer than normal to get everything clean. It's a good thing really that his left hand is his dominant one but he really does miss the use of his right, just at the moment.

By the time she's explaining about the situation and the clothes he's up again and pouring coffee. Two mugs. One which he adds cream and sugar to. He brings them out (one at a time) and sets them back on the table.

"Ah yes. The clothes. Standard dimensional refugee stuff. We arranged to have them dropped off. People tend to need a bit of help when they get back from stuff like you went through." Which is to say Koa recommended that WAND do that and WAND did it. Also the food. And the house cleaning.

He gestures for the blonde to make herself comfortable though he knows she will anyway as he sits back down and looks at the sketches. "He's probably a bit better at it than I am. I use it to unwind and to help me remember details. Sometimes they're important, especially when tomb raiding. And sometimes it's a good reminder of the places you've been."

There's a pause as he reaches out - carefully - to get his coffee. Hand's still shaking but it's been doing that. It's amazing his sketches are as clean as they are. "So not that you aren't welcome, but what brings you by?"


Illyana leaves her coffee be, leaning forward as he reaches for his own and her hand closes over his shaking one. She's not looking at it though, she's looking at him. This close, it's hard not to look into those pale eyes and not come face to face with the fact that they've seen too much, and that some of that empathy that most people would call a 'soul' seems to be missing.

"You're not OK." That seems more statement than question, which is pretty par for the course with her. Was that an answer to his own question? Maybe she's ignoring it entirely.


Koa takes in a breath to say 'I'm fine'. It's the usual response even if he is anything but fine, and hasn't been for a few days now. The words though, die in his throat when he sees those eyes and feels her hand.

Does he really want to lie to her? Even casually? He doesn't know her well, certainly not really well enough to claim that she is his friend. A friend perhaps. An ally definitely. All the same… no. No he doesn't really want to lie.

"I'd like to tell you I've been worse… but that wouldn't really be true." He doesn't move though. Can't look away from those eyes. Doesn't pull his hand back. "So no. I'm… hurt. Pretty badly. On several levels."

He doesn't want to lie. But he didn't want to say that either. She's got her own crosses to bear right now and last he saw, they looked pretty heavy.


In Limbo you don't acknowledge weakness. But Illyana basically put him on the spot, so what was he supposed to do? There's no wicked gleam in her eyes either as she finally moves her gaze away. Over to the hand she drags over towards herself so she can take it in both of hers, thumbs smoothing over his palm.

"Is this from getting the collar off too?" Because she knows his arm is because of that. Because he chose to harm himself to free her.


"Yes and no…" Koa watches from behind green eyes - most decidedly not their usual color - as Illyana appropriates his hand. "I took in a lot of magic. Really… nasty flavor too. The rush nearly put me out of my senses but the crash coming off of it is…" That's part of why he's shaking. Though he's coming down from it a lot slower now that someone went and topped him off again.

"It's a problem I'd have regardless of where the magic came from. And it doesn't help that I haven't been getting much sleep. As it turns out, when you eat a bunch of nightmare flavored magic, it gives you nightmares."

So yes. It's fallout from the collar, and exacerbations of problems he already had. In fairness, some of it is fallout from having gulped down a bunch of magic in Limbo too. Having to fight there was… less than ideal.

She might see that he's been dealing with nightmares on his wall if she glances around. There's something that looks like a dream-ward near the entrance to the back of the house. "You're not blaming yourself, are you?"


Illyana Rasputina's gaze flicks up to him, still stroking his hand and shakes her head. "I didn't do it, so I don't blame myself, no." She gives him a thin smile there. "Guilt. I don't feel it quite so easily or deeply has normal folks." She doesn't feel a lot of emotions quite the same as normal people.

"But. While I know it's not the *reason* you did it, you did *do* in service to me." Illyana has to stand to move closer to him, letting his hand drop so she can reach out to slide her hand around his throat, thumb stroking against the ring of shark-teeth like bits of silver there. "Which means I'm responsible." Sure, he did it because he's a good guy and he helps people. But demons see it different.

The bits of Warding on the walls gets her attention, and he can see her focus shift to it with a thoughtful frown, taking in his work.


Koa's hand stills a bit as she strokes it. Maybe it's easier to keep it steady when his focus is on something else. Or maybe it's just easier to be still right now. There's still a faint tremor in it when she lets go, but she sees him nod with a wry half smile when she says she doesn't blame herself. That's good. He doesn't want her to.

"You know I wasn't going to leave you there, right?" He's still got that wry half smile when she points out that she's responsible. Did he do it in service to her? Granted, yes he is in WAND and helping people like that is literally his job. "Don't take this the wrong way, but even if Guthrie would have been willing to leave you there - which we both know he would not have been - I wouldn't have. I'm a bit of an idiot like that, it's certainly not something I expect you to take responsibility for."

It's not about Illyana per se, though he likes the sorceress well enough. She's been decent in ways she did not have to be - even if it's a very demonic kind of decency. It's not that he's good either. Koa harbors few illusions of being good. He's a predator that feeds on life force. But he has lines in the sand. Places he will not go. That is one of them.

His eyes follow hers to the ward. It's a bit hermetic and a bit Navajo and a bit a few other things. Clearly he's been researching. It looks like it's designed to take a lot of juice.


Illyana chuckles. "It's not for you to decide what I'm responsible for. It's mine. You're mine. You did this serving me. And service should be rewarded." A sigh is breathed out then. "I don't know what I can do to *help* you. Not a lot of my magic is, well, *nice*." She points out.

She steps even closer, knocking his feet aside so she can do so. She's close enough he can feel the heat of her against him as she tilts his head back with her thumb so she can get a better look at… well, what *was* his collar. "When did this happen?" She asks, her gaze flickering up to his.

No concept of 'personal space', apparently.


Koa leans back in his chair when she gets closer, mostly so he can actually look up at her, though this does put him in a perfect position to examine what's left of his collar. The metal has an odd 'flex' to it. It looks very much like a tattoo until one gets a really close look at it. Or touches it. It still FEELS like silver. And it is always cold.

No concept of personal space indeed, though. This close he can not only feel the heat of her, but also taste the magic that always swirls around her. Her aura isn't as blazing bright as it was when she took on the form of the Darkchild, but it's bright enough to fill all of his vision that isn't already filled by her in some other way. It's all enough to have him sucking in a sharp breath and going vague for just a moment.

"When…" He shakes himself slightly. "Oh, the collar. Near as I can figure, when Keiko was 'crowned'. Both had already started to squeeze tight, probably when you got trapped." It's not a big stretch to posit some kind of sympathetic link between the two. Or what's left of them both.

When she runs her thumb over the cold metal, though, it warms. Noticeably. And Koa's eyes go vague again for a moment. "Okay. It's never done that before…"

He has to let out his breath slow, but he manages. What was she saying about her magic not being 'nice'?


Illyana Rasputina says, "Mmmmm. Something about Dreamqueen's realm managed to almost completely sever my connection to… well, everything." Illyana observes. "Limbo's time running so fast, the collars reacting…" She shakes her head. "They weren't supposed to do this. I suppose that's what happens when you mix Promethium into silver." They were never 'normal' collars. Not even just normal spelled collars.

Illyana glances up as the metal warms, watches his face as his gaze goes unfocussed. Quirking a brow a bit she taps his cheek lightly, not quite a slap. "Tell me." It's not even made a demand. She just expects him to tell her what he's feeling."


"That fetter on you might have been blocking everything." It would certainly explain why she couldn't get a disk open, or cast enough to get it off her. It's hard to miss the way his features get lean and sleek just for a moment as the inner predator prowls close to the surface. It's only for a moment though and it passes, but it's indicative of just how badly Koa's control has been strained.

"I…" He swallows and takes a breath, searching for words to describe something that he's very seldom felt before. "I'm not quite sure. It's like they're taking in magic but I don't feel any of the burn that I should. A sort of resonance, maybe." He pauses. "Like… a string being plucked. Or a bell being rung."

And he's the string. That he should compare it to the sensation of taking in magic is interesting. And that he's never felt it from that collar before despite having clearly been exposed to quite a lot of it recently is also possibly interesting.

"Wait. Promethium?" She mixed promethium into the silver? Given what she did with the collars it makes sense to him. She'd need something to channel the magic with. Something to focus it on. And it did work.

But it also explains why every time she plays her power over it, it's enough to completely short circuit him.

"It worked out, in the end. The collars let me find you two before things got any more out of hand. And gave me very clear signals that there was trouble, once I realized what the signals were." It worked out in the end. But they weren't supposed to do that.


Illyana wrinkles her nose in annoyance. "She played me." The admission is grudgingly given. Not just because it's admitting she was beaten, but because it's that admission of weakness. "I'm betting she'd been doing more than just invading Sam's dreams. She'd likely been watching his *and* mine. She had cuffs as well, and had me take those off before. The spellwork was *close* but just different enough I didn't notice." She'd spent all her time examining the 'lock' on the initial cuff. "But yeah. It was really powerful." She looks down then to his injured arm, one hand reaching down to brush it lightly with her fingertips.

She listens as he describes it, gaze shifting back up to his again. "Which is different from my magic, correct?" Poor Koa. Has he just volunteered to be an experiment? She chuckles at his surprise. "What, you thought I'd put a normal collar on you?" Now she's mocking him, just a bit.

As he relates how things worked out in the end, she has a bit of a sour look. "It wasn't supposed to come to that. You were supposed to have the option to take them off after Siffror." She pins him with a look that holds some amusement again. "Not that you *did*…"


Koa looks at the bandage where she brushes and then back up. His arm, well he's glad it's covered, it's an absolute horror show. And not for the faint of stomach. Certainly he doesn't want to look at it all that much, and it's his arm.

"Anyone can get played. If it helps, she didn't get far. Once she started making trouble the heat was too much for her to handle. She didn't last anywhere near as long in our world as you did in hers."

"Well not after you used it to channel Darque's power through." Koa says with a short, sharp laugh. "But yes I didn't think it was anything other than leather and enchanted silver." He'd known it might have magic in it which is why he was careful about taking it off. But Promethium?

"But yes, it's different than your magic. It's… reacting to something." Is it something about Limbo or something specific to the sorceress who created it? Koa doesn't know. And if he thought about it, he'd know that she'd be curious as to just WHAT it is.

"Well no, not that either of us did. I'd meant to ask you about it and it… didn't seem that pressing." How silly of him. The look he returns is equal parts wry and sheepish. Yes he could have said something. He perhaps wisely doesn't point out that she could have too, but thinking on it why would he expect her to?

There's a short pause as if he's considering something. "You don't… really have any friends who run in your circles, do you?" Magical circles, he means.


"I could have told her that playing games like that outside of your own realm isn't a great idea. There are too many powerful players here." Yes, Illyana is quite aware of just how vulnerable she is here. And still she spends so much time here.

Illyana hmms and pulls back enough to lift one hand and, speaking a word, summons a simple mote of light. It's a very small spell, and she watches him for his reactions to her casting before she does anything more with it. "Did you think it might blow your head off?" She asks, amusement glinting in her eyes.

The question steals some of that mirth, and then she shrugs off the question. "I don't have many *friends*." She points out. "And most of them don't even really know… *me*, let alone magic."


Koa's eyes are definitely following her hand and it's clear that - close as she is - he can feel her casting magic. Ordinarily that might be in and of itself noteworthy but she IS very close and he is sensitive to magic the way a shark is sensitive to blood in the water. The amount of power though isn't enough to unplug his brain. Not yet, at any rate.

"I thought there was a possibility it would bite me if I did anything foolish with it." Like try to cut it off. Yes he absolutely was worried it would explode. Next to his head.

Koa's jaw works in a way that looks thoughtful. "Maybe then… maybe you should drop by for coffee or something like that. No strings attached, obviously, nothing meant by that. But if we had regular contact I'd have some idea if I needed to go looking for you." Because she would have not shown up.

"I mean, we got lucky this time. It just so happened that there were things that told me I needed to look. Next time we might not be. And if I wind up coming to Limbo on a false alarm… at least you'll have coffee that day?"


Illyana shakes her head at him, tsking softly. "I'd have warned you if it was going to do you real harm." She quirks a brow at him. "You know I was saying you're mine, right?" He deals with demons often enough he should know that, right? And that when she calls him 'mine', it doesn't mean what most people think it means.

When Koa doesn't have much of a reaction to the mote dancing above her fingertip, she gives it a light flick sending it arcing over to land on the tip of his nose where it shatters into a shower of sparks.

"Coffee, hmm? I like coffee." Illyana admits. "I'm really sort of banking on *not* being played like that again, though."


"I picked up on that yes. And I was… flattered isn't quite the word…" It doesn't seem like something she does casually.

Demons do that, and spirits do similar. Their concepts of ownership and value are a lot less nuanced than human beings. Either something is of value, in which case it is 'mine'. Or it is not. In which case it is 'yours' if it has to be mentioned at all. Though it does bear noting that she put that on him when she was about to go to a place full of other humans. Something he does not, perhaps wisely, bring up.

The fact that she made that statement, though, is also why he hadn't been keen on asking her to get it off. Because while he knew she'd get the human angle, he understood that it was kind of a… challenge. Or a slap in the face. So it hadn't seemed pressing. And now the damn thing isn't coming off no matter who wants it gone.

The magic shattering on his nose has him blinking, naturally. But it is all also quickly pulled into him and two things happen. The first is he vagues out for a moment while his eyes turn the color of a limbo sky. The second is that a little point of light gleams at the tip of one of the sharks teeth - the one at the nape of his neck - for just a moment. Glowing from within. Then it's gone and Koa lets out a shaky breath.

"Whoo…" What was she saying. Oh yeah, coffee.

"I'm not thinking you will be. But it might be good to know that someone will come looking who CAN come looking." Beat. "And… if I'm honest, it'd be nice for me to see a friendly face outside of work." Speaking of people who don't have many friends. That last is said quietly. Almost like the predator in him is reluctant to voice that thought at all.


Illyana gives him an amused, but slightly disappointed look. "I'm trying to figure out if you're reacting differently to my magic now, or just me." She chastises him. Though not too badly, already trying to see what she can pick up just between her physical and magical senses. Her eyes have bled to glowing white, not that she really notices it herself.

"Fine, fine. You buy my coffee and I'll show up." While it sounds like a bit of a brush-off, she's got a faint smile as well. That smile turns slightly sympathetic as he admits the last. "You need someone to be your light." She tells him. Again.


That spell she hit him with is actually still there. Well, sort of. In a weird way. An echo of it's form is anchored to the metal in his neck. Which definitely wasn't happening before. More than that, every time her own numbus of power comes near it, something in the metal reacts. Like running a wire through a magnetic field to get electricity. The reason he's feeling power is because it's somehow making small amounts of power from just the mantle of Limbo that hangs over her. THAT is definitely more than a little bit weird. And because of what he is, it's all disappearing inside him.

Oh and his Astral Form. She can see that. It's brighter. And a LOT stronger. That's to be expected, really, but the degree to which it has grown is REALLY significant.

"I don't think that's in the cards, Illyana." Koa says with a shake of his head. "I'll settle for a grey dawn peeking over the horizon somewhere." Because she's talking to someone who tends to EAT the light and right now his control is worse than it has ever been.


"You're keeping a record of all of this, right? I want to see it later." Of course he is. Everyone does, right? When weird magic starts acting up around them? Illyana strokes a fingertip over one of the 'teeth' again, her presence likely not helping his situation at *all* but. Well. It's fascinating.

Illyana's gaze shifts slightly to the side of him, where she can see his astral self overlapping with his physical and her hand moves to stroke over the 'face' of it. Her gaze slides over to meet his eyes as he says that and she arches a brow at him. "Then cheat."


That would get another snort of a laugh from Koa but he's sucking in a breath again. He'd mentioned being rung like a bell. That's that feeling. Right there. Why is it doing that? In truth he's as curious about that as she is, but it's a bit hard to concentrate on anything at all when that's happening.

Koa's Astral form moves slightly independently of him, tilting up to the touch and looking at her. There's more life behind those astral eyes than there was before. More dog, less shark. Though there's plenty of shark in the features.

"I'm keeping notes. Promise…" Koa says when he can talk again. There's an enormous temptation to take a bite of her nimbus. It's right there. He controls it. But only just.

"One hand at a time." He murmurs, continuing the metaphor and then looks up at her with his actual eyes, which had been following her hand. "I'll… work on it. I'm not sure where I'd start honestly."

But that's not her problem and he's certainly not thinking that it SHOULD be. If he can't find something to anchor to, he'll make do for as long as he needs to. It's worked so far. For some definitions of 'working'.


"Always hungry." Illyana says in a soft murmur. Though if it's remembering something Koa said, or something she sees now, it isn't quite clear. Her pale gaze slides between him and his astral self. Thinking. She's still standing *right there*, which is likely closer than a lot of people have been that aren't trying to, you know, kill him with their bare hands lately. Finally, she offers up her wrist to him, though her attention seems more on the predator in him. "Taste."

That. Sounds like an incredibly bad idea.

—-

That IS an incredibly bad idea. Koa had been ordered to do the same to the dream of someone else by a nightmare lord and refused. Unfortunately he hadn't refused because he didn't want to. He did. Does. In fact he still wants to do it to that specific person - which is also an incredibly bad idea. He'd managed not to the last time she'd been over but it had been a near thing.

This time, of course there's not the push of someone trying to force him into it to spur his resistance. He still should say no.

There's a moment's pause. A space between breaths really. And then the Astral part of Koa leans forward and nips. It's not a physical hurt but it bites into the sorceress' wrist all the same. It pinches, slices just a bit from a razor sharp tooth, something that cuts the essence even if it doesn't cut flesh though with the Darkchild those things might be close enough to the same that she bleeds anyway.

Either way he starts to pull in her power. Slowly. She can see his physical eyes closed as he concentrates on just not losing himself in the rush, not trying to take everything and then some.

Though oddly his beast isn't fighting him as much on that as he expected it might.

As the power drains into him, be it only a trickle, a pattern starts to form in the metal on his neck, not visible to the naked eye but very much there all the same. It's like a spell, though incomplete. He'd probably have to draw a LOT to push it there.

When Koa's eyes open and look up, they're silver.


Of course Illyana doesn't know that Koa's been having these dreams. Or these desires. While she's made a claim on Koa he hasn't told her about these things. She hasn't asked. She can only work with what information she has, which might not be anywhere near enough.

Illyana's flesh doesn't part as Koa's astral form 'bleeds' her, but glowing white power wells up to spill down over her arm before disappearing before it can fall to the floor like blood, drawn into Koa's 'beast'. There's a slight narrowing of the blonde's eyes, but no other outward sign of the pain. Some people's thresholds are higher than others. Koa just happens to know few that push that into fairly stupid levels.

One of Illyana's hands lingered at his shoulder, and when the pattern starts to form on the metal, she nudges his chin up and pushes him back so she can watch as they form. It also puts him in a very vulnerable position, the predator offering up his throat, but she's already claimed to be the bigger predator, right? Her gaze flicks to his as his eyes open, always a reflection of the magic taken in, seeing those silver orbs. She moves her hand from his neck to place a finger over his lips, as though to 'shhhh' him. "Enough."


Koa doesn't struggle when she pushes him back. The inner beast resists a little bit, but not very much and offers its throat, recognizing the bigger predator. It's difficult to tell exactly where he's looking. His entire eye has gone metallic. All Illyana can see in them is her own reflection.

The flow of her power stops when she says that one word. Enough. Is it enough? Or does that part of him thirst for more power? Whatever the case, this night the beast obeys and that drain on her stops.

The pattern on his neck is… odd. The thing it is most reminiscent of are the writings in the room of the Heart. But where those are written in Cthonic, these are definitely something closer to standard demonic in appearance. They're so incomplete it's hard to say what they would do if they DID complete. But it would be something significant. Something on the level of her own 'dance' with the Spiral.

Koa lets out a breath. His eyes aren't changing. Though the amount of power he's taken from her is miniscule compared to the power he took in from elsewhere, it seems to resonate far, far more strongly with him for some reason.

"I wasn't sure I'd be able to stop." He says quietly, head still tilted back. From his tone, he's almost surprised he did.

Perhaps when he knelt to her, it wasn't simply a recognition of her place in Limbo. His inner predator has always been good about telling him how to handle the Queen of Limbo.


Illyana Rasputina steps back from him enough to reach for his book and his pen. Her foot hooks the chair she was sitting in so she can drag it closer and, turning to a fresh page she starts to write. Draw. A bit of both. She isn't the artist her brother is, or even Koa is, but she has a lot of experience in making magical notation which is a bit more involved than your usual words. She's still close enough her foot touches his. When she shifts, her knee slides against his leg.

The ring of Koa's former collar is laid out in a circle, each 'tooth' roughly sketched out as she carefully makes note of the partial glyphs before they might fade back into hiding and so that Koa can get a good look at them. Seeing something around your own throat can be problematic.

As Illyana finishes documenting what little information she has, she looks over at him with a smirk. "Of course you stopped. I told you to." It sounds cocky. And it might be. That sort of over-the-top confidence is sort of required to rule in Hell. "In its' way, your predator is as careful and polite around me as you are."


Koa glances down for a moment, then back up. He's rather still. Moving a bit more than he was when she was examining him but still not much. It's not common for people to remain this close. Keiko was almost this close when she was waking him from the nightmare but before that?

Well before that the last person who had gotten that close was Piotr. And Piotr was trying to kill him. And the times before that, all much the same really. So the sensation of someone nearby is… new. Odd.

"It should be." Koa had been careful to offer Illyana respect when he met her. To the point of addressing her by the nearest thing to a title he could in public. She's since… indicated that's not quite necessary but the respect, the deference, is still there.

"But I was concerned it might be too hungry to have it's head about it." Well, that he was too hungry. Because it's him. Just… him with all the priorities changed.

The WAND agent wets his lips - they seem to have gone dry - and watches her draw. The glyphs and symbols are fading, though slowly almost reluctantly. There's a little bit more of his eyes back too but they're still mostly silver. The same color as the promethium in his neck.

"When you did that, or rather when I did that, drew from you I saw…" He frowns and shakes his head. "I can usually see magic, you know that. I was seeing something else. A triple image of you. One shaded in crimson, the other in silver. All sort of… superimposed."

What had he seen? And how could he see it then but not now? He's not sure.

"Nine teeth." He murmurs. "Nine locks on the Heart's gate. Those glyphs… they almost look like the start to a transfiguration spell." He's seen one. Recently even. He had to go get it out of The Shop and put it somewhere that it couldn't be used.


Illyana Rasputina hitches one shoulder up a bit as Koa voices his concern that it might have been too hungry. She's pushed the book over to him and watches him as he looks it over. "If it had been, I'd remind it that it should never be too hungry to listen to me." Again, it sounds cocky. But it's also a reassurance to him, that she'd take steps to stop him. To most people, that might seem insulting. But Illyana is used to dealing with those that tend to sacrifice themselves first, and they would far rather be hurt than hurt another unintentionally.

The 'vision' that Koa had gets a frown from her. Those aren't images that sound particularly familiar. "That's different." She acknowledges. Not familiar, but she doesn't dismiss it even if there isn't much else to go on from there. She'll keep it in mind to see if it helps later clues fall into place.

As Koa echoes her own initial thoughts, Illyana gives a bit of a scowl. "Yeah. Not encouraging." She admits. "But the bulk of my power stems from my control of Limbo, my tie to the Heart, so it's not surprising if it's trying to reach out and manifest through you somehow." There's a hiss of an exhale. "I need to get a good look at Keiko as well, but in the aftermath of events in Limbo.. There hasn't been a great time for that." Her brother might be hovering about the Peruvian a bit. Just a little.


"One of them looked like you from the day I got stuck in Limbo." The Darkchild, he likely means. The demoness she can appear to be. Which is her and which is the form she assumes? Hard to say and Koa wouldn't even begin to take a stab at it right now.

"The other…" He trails off and shakes his head. "… not sure. Still you, and human looking but… different." He's not sure he has words beyond that. Different how, he can't quite put his finger on.

Her confidence in dealing with his beast gets a wry half smile. He would, indeed, prefer that she smack him around then let it snack on her. Particularly because if it was that far out of control, it probably wouldn't stop at snacking.

Koa nods slowly as she explains. "Probably a good idea given how these collars seem to be linked." If it's doing something to him it MIGHT be doing something to her. But his collar seems to be triggered by her power, or at least something related to limbo. Keiko? Keiko doesn't have the ability to draw power in like that.

"I read those inscriptions. I had to, in order to rewire the Heart and use it as a gate." THAT had gotten her to ask if he was insane. And fairly so. "What you've seen here is close but…" He trails off again and shakes his head. "Not quite the same. Something more elemental. More tied to Limbo itself, if I had to guess."

What, exactly? Good question.

"I'm…" He takes in a breath and then lets it out slowly. He's still rather still. "… much less hungry now."

Koa himself would say thank you. He's less worried about appearing weak to Illyana. But the predator is very close to the surface right now and the words are hard to form.

"That won't cost you much, will it?" Letting him nip at her astral wrist and sup on her power, even if only a little bit.


"My Darkchild form." To say that it embarrasses Illyana would be untrue. But there is definitely some self-consciousness about letting others see the obviously demonic form. Her corruption made manifest for all to say. "Did it look like the crimson one, or the silver one?" Because her skin often takes on a pinkish hue, but her eldritch armor shines silver. "You should draw them later, if you can."

Illyana gives him another faint smirk as he notes the collars are linked. "There's no 'seem to be' about them. They were designed that way." Plans within plans. Was that night out dancing just for fun? Or was it calculated all along? When he mentions re-wiring the heart, Illyana *definitely* looks pained. "That was too big a gamble. If that's your only choice in the future, then leave me to my fate." No, she didn't want to stay. But even a small chance the Elder Gods could be released is too large. And that was not a 'small' chance.

When Koa admits he's much less hungry she nods. Thoughtful. "With all the magic you've had to feed on lately, it's odd you'd still feel ravenous. Or is that just… all the time?" The question of what it might cost her gets a chuckle. "I don't do a ton of casting on Earth to start with, so I won't really notice being a quart low unless something freaky happens." Normally, she relies on her control over the stepping disks while she's on Earth.


"I can sketch them yes." If she remains long enough he'll do that while she's here. If not, well, he'll be seeing her again for coffee. He can show it to her then.

"The crimson one had the hooves, yes. The silver one though…" Again his face twists a little as he reaches for a word and can't find anything. "Pure… is probably the best I can do."

He lets that hang there for a moment and tilts his head a bit when she looks pained. That has him leaning forward, just enough to rest his good elbow on his knee.

"I don't leave people behind." He knows what she's saying. That even a small chance that a disaster like that could be unleashed isn't worth her own life. But he has rules. He has principles. She's just found one of them.

Still, he's not challenging her. "But yes, I understand." Would he actually comply? Well, he's been nice and complaint so far. But apparently, he doesn't leave people behind.

"My… my hunger isn't really related to my ability to handle magic. My predatory side doesn't really recognize that I'm not built for that kind of power." He gestures to his burnt arm by way of demonstration. "It wants enough to fill my spirit." It wants enough to get him killed, is what he's saying. It would burn him to a crisp if it were ruled only by his hunger. "So my sense of feeling full is more related to my physical being than the sense of my hunger being sated."

And yet, right at this moment, he's not nearly as hungry.


Illyana Rasputina mmmms and nods, reaching over to pat his knee and rising to her feet. A flick of her fingers and a stepping disk opens over his table and a book falls through with a *THUMP*. It's a pretty substantial book. Though most might consider it more of a 'tome'. Large, leather binding and paper that looks like it's all hand-made. But not old. Illyana taps the cover and then nods to his walls. "Dream wards. They're a bit tricky. Look through my work and let me know what suggestions you might have." The blonde has a huge library of magical knowledge, but most of it is the darkest of magics. Her knowledge of protective magics is much leaner, so she has to design her own spells. She'd been working on them but hit a snag on how to keep people still Dreaming without letting things from the Dream follow them home.

"I'll feed you again when we have coffee. I want to see if that pushes the glyphs further towards completion or if they start from scratch." It's not made as an offer. She's just telling him what they're going to do. Even if he's older than she is.


Koa's eyes glance to the ward by the back of the house. The one that looks like it's made to handle a lot of juice. Why would he need such a thing? Well he did say he'd been having nightmares. His eyes cut back to that tome and he nods. "I'll do that." Why would she like suggestions? He wonders for a moment if it's the same reason he does. He doesn't ask though. If she wants help with that he'll be happy to help.

"I look forward to it then." The coffee. The feeding? Well if he's honest, also that yes. Despite the fact that it kind of horrifies him, feeling less hungry is an INCREDIBLE relief and just right now, he could do with any kind of relief from anything. He's strained enough on the body, spirit and sanity fronts as it is.

"I… I appreciate you coming in to check on me." He doesn't say she didn't have to though in his mind she certainly didn't. She likely sees it differently. She said as much after all. He'd offered her a service. And she felt the need to reward him.

He wonders, for a moment, if what's happened here has satisfied that desire. But he doesn't ask. Just watches as the disk opens through still silvery eyes.

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