Summary:Piotr's time in Limbo has affected his art. He and Illyana talk. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It's been a few days since Piotr's been out and about. He's worked on the garden some, but Illyana will have noticed that he's taken over the shed in the back. Today the shed door is open and there is a fan running to pull heat from the small space.
Within the shed space, Piotr is at work. He has a large piece of rock that he has pulled and is currently carving. What he is carving though, may be the issue. He's always done such wonderful pieces of humans and life, that the demon currently taking shape in the rock may be jarring. Especially as it is ripping out of a human form, the chest ripped open, the face in agony.
The demon is a hybrid creature, the head of an eagle, with sharp bull horns, and the body of a bear as it claws its way out. The creature itself is made of banded strips of metal.. ones that look awful close to the large Russian's himself when he's in metal form.
The work would likely be disturbing to most for the content. For Illyana, it’s only disturbing because of its’ author.
The blonde has been standing in the kitchen for a bit, watching through the glass and across the yard with arms crossed. Eventually though, she turns away only to show back up a minute later with a glass in each hand as she exits the house. Her feet are bare as she crosses the deck, and then the burgeoning garden.
“I haven’t seen you work stone in a long time.” Illyana offers one of the glasses of iced tea to her brother, looking over the piece now that she’s closer.
"There was little else to work with in Limbo. I am sure you have seen my work there." It started off the same as he had, with humans, and still life and such, but slowly, it just stopped - as the art degraded further and further - as his soul was away from him from him longer and longer.
He takes a drink from the glass, and looks at it. "This is what my heart is feeling at the moment, Illyana. I am not sure why. I am not pleased."
Illyana reaches out, her fingertips brushing over the creature’s horns. “I have. I suppose my library was warded too tightly for you to find anything to draw with in there.” Given the amount of time Piotr was there, another sorcerer might have found a way around her Wards, but without that talent, there was no real way to get through.
She turns to look over at him. “Are you the man in pain, or the demon?” She cants her head to one side a bit. “Or both.” There’s a tightness in her chest that she’s not used to feeling, as she looks at her brother and upon his works.
There's a long pause as he considers, looking between the work and his sister as Piotr lets out a sigh. "I am not sure, snowflake. Perhaps I am both. Perhaps I am neither. I feel tainted. Something is not there that should not be there." He reaches up to rub at his right arm, the one covered in tattoos and he frowns.
"It is not something I wish to share with Keiko or Elena. It would worry them." So he's planning to shoulder this himself. As he usually does.
"Sem‘ya eto te kto paderzhat tebya v trudnoiy situatsyiy." When trouble comes, it’s your family that supports you. "If it's bothering you, Piotr, you should share it." Illyana considers. "Perhaps not with Elena. She's very young."
The blonde watches as he rubs his arm, her gaze lingering on it. "What happened to your arm?" Because she's seen it in his metal form. No longer pristine bands of metal.
She can't say anything about him feeling tainted. Isn't he, by his time there if nothing else?
"When K'nert made me draw the soul steel from the ground…" Piotr responds, when K'nert was ready to kill Keiko if he didn't. The fight was out of him. He lets out his breath and takes a drink. The arm is covered in tattoos and marks now. "I can only imagine that it was their way of matching me to her." he gives a grunt. "I used to be able to summon animal. Large dog. Bigger than you. You'd like it. But now, after Koa, unable to." he shrugs his shoulders.
"Limbo went through arm. Took my soul, left metal in its place. Left mark in its place." And that's the piece of him that's gone now.
Illyana lets out an annoyed sigh. "That's what they did with the soulsteel." She curses creatively in Russian. "And explains how they were able to pull of that level of magic." Most of Limbo's demons have very limited magical ability. It takes more intelligence than any of them usually manage to acquire.
Setting her glass aside, Illyana starts to sketch out symbols in the air in front of her. Air parts, the space between filling with eldritch fire as it hangs there. Her manner is practiced, sure as she draws the intricate Circle in front of her and then with a tap to the center, the whole thing flares and the markings disappear. Only the outer edge of the circle remains,the glowing ring pulsing like it has its own heartbeat.
The space within that circle shimmers a bit, and if Piotr looks at Illyana through it he might catch the hazy suggestion of horns about her head. But Illyana is using it to look at Piotr, and she sucks on her teeth in dismay. "It's inelegant, to go ripping out part of someone's soul. And something always fills the void." Her tone lacks its usual sarcasm. Now she just sounds sad. Worn.
Piotr's right arm is engulfed in eldritch flame from what she could see. Where the corruption took root. His soul was able to drive almost all of the corruption back out of him, but that area remains, a reminder,. twisted and warped in Illyana's eyes - or a weapon that could be used against her.
"Is that what had happened to Keiko?" he finally asks. "She summons. Those summons - they are bound to her soul, da? And that only gave her more of her that was exposed to Limbo. To be corrupted." he sucks in his breath.
"Elena, as well. Born to one with no soul. And one corrupted."
"Nyet, Petya. Don't jump to conclusions about Elena. Everything I've seen of her so far has only been love. She's not old enough to have the control to hide a darker nature. We'll look at her soon, hmm? When there is both you and Keiko to be there for her."
The movement of Illyana's hands causes the lens she's conjured to tilt and move as though it were a tangible thing, and not one made of light and magic.
Piotr's question of Keiko's soul gets a sigh then. "Keiko had already been damaged prior, so that likely gave Limbo's influence a way in. Like an open wound." She doesn't volunteer the information that it was Koa that tore that piece out of the summoner's soul.
Illyana collapses the lens, looking back to her brother. "It's possible that the corruption could be cleansed. Nothing quick or easy.. But perhaps." She shakes her head. "We'd need to find someone specialized in such things." Because she is certainly not.
"Why are you wanting to change the corruption in me?" Piotr asks her finally as the lens collapses, and his attention turns back to the sculpture he was working on. "You had spent so much time convincing me that what happened to you in Limbo… maybe I deserve this for being blind to it." Maybe he deserves a lot of stuff. Like Keiko not being his, or the fact that he's just so lost sometimes.
"I never had vision like this. Now it has changed. I have changed. I want to see best in things. In you, and.." he trails off, he's not going any further. His large hands grip gently and he draws in a breath. "I am strong enough to handle this."
Illyana Rasputina blinks at Piotr's words, almost blankly. It had never occurred to her that someone wouldn't fight against the corruption. Unless they were diving headlong into it. Her mouth opens. Then closes. "I guess, I just assumed that if you could be rid of the darkness.. you would."
She frowns, as he starts to ponder if he deserves it and she steps over to place her hand on his arm and shakes her head. "No. You don't *deserve* any of this. And if there's fault to be found with you not understanding what I went through in Limbo, that's with me. It can't be changed, Petya, so I didn't want to burden you with it. You hurt so much already because you couldn't save me. Well now I couldn't save you. So we're even, da?"
Illyana dips her head, pressing a kiss against his tattooed arm that her hand rests on. "I know you are. But that doesn't mean you can't also work to free yourself of it." She lifts her head, her pale blue gaze almost burning with intensity. "You have always been my light. Keeping me from the whispers of Belasco's Elder Gods. We cannot fall."
There's a chuckle at that. It would almost be comical, but Piotr shakes his head. "It seem that I am bound to you, despite my thoughts on it, my snowflake." he points out to her quietly. "My daughter, my…" he pauses, unsure what to call her, and it shows. "…Keiko." He's confused after that, but shakes it off. "You have so much more to deal with. This? This just scratch. Looks worse than it is." he points out to her.
There's a rolling shrug of his shoulders. "You have so much more to deal with." So he's taking himself out of the equation, or at least he's trying to.
"We've always been bound to each other." Illyana points out. "Just not always so.. obviously." It had always been that unspoken bond of family that everyone can get behind. Not the demonic ideas of heiarchy and claiming.
As Piotr tries to brush it aside, she gives him a long, serious look. "There is no one ruler for what people deal with. Some can take much of something, but little of another. Don't let shouldering this burden keep you from looking for help." It's perhaps the gentlest her tone has been since she's come back as Limbo's ruler.
"Keiko needs the help. You need the help. I am wounded. Not dead. Not lost." Piotr is stubborn as he frowns, glancing towards the art that he was making. "I should probably destroy this. It is not healthy. It does not help my child." Nor does it help Keiko. His arms settle over his chest as he considers the options that he has in front of him.
"I said I would talk to Koa." As much as that means at the moment. She can probably hear the slight strain in his voice, the whole thing with Yana, Koa, and Keiko having to deal with everything, and him feeling on the outside of it all.
Of course, Piotr never sees the price that he pays. Only that everyone else has. That he's going to talk to Koa gets an arched brow. "Not that I would tell you not to, but I'm curious what you want to talk to him about." Becuase it could be Keiko, or it could be magic. Or even something else. Apparently, not his own dance with darkness.
"Everyone needs help. And sometimes it helps to get that when you only stumble, and now after you've already fallen." As to the sculpture? Illyana looks over to it. "It's still amazing." She points out. "I could keep it in Limbo, if it bothers you." Or if it bothers them. She glances back to Piotr. "If you are going to talk to Koa… he deals with art and antiquities. It could be he knows someone that might want to buy it."
"I have not spoken with him since I returned from Limbo." Since Koa saved him, really. It does not rest well with Piotr, and apparently he needs to do somthing about it. If Keiko's involved, Piotr doesn't say, instead he hears the comment on the art. "Perhaps I will offer it to him then." he finally says. "I would not want you to feel burden of my stuff…"
Apparently he's taken Illyana getting rid of the bed to mean she's getting rid of all traces he was there.
Illyana Rasputina frowns over at Piotr again. "You're feeling a bit adrift. I understand. But Piotr, nothing of yours is a burden to me. I've moved some of your other works, but they're none of them destroyed." Sadly, Illyana is not a telepath, and doesn't know what's going on in her brother's head. "Nor are you." She says, as though to remind him of that.
"Is there anything you wanted? From Limbo. I wasn't sure if you'd formed any attachments to anything while you were there. I've.. sort of assumed you haven't wanted to go back." Her tone turns dry then. "Though really, I think you can have my old room."
"I am not sure. I.. do not know." Piotr really is adrift. He's still lost on the concept of the whole idea of what to do with himself. "I tried to return to the school. It feels awkward. Now I understand how you felt." he explains quietly. He can't really go 'I was in literal hell for seven years and started a family'. "Keiko can't visit Elena at the school. It does not sit well." he lets out his breath and his whole body seems to slump.
"I am not sure what I want." Or if he's wanted. This is what he goes through when he really starts to think on it. "I brought back from Limbo all I wanted." Himself, Keiko, Elena.
Illyana Rasputina's gaze narrows at the news that Keiko can't visit Elena at school. "Who said that? Scott? I'll give them a real reason to call him 'cyclops'." She growls before shaking her head. "If you and I both vouch for her, I don't see how they can say no." Really, Illyana doesn't like being told 'no'. "She's not going to tell anyone about the school." No matter that Keiko and Illyana have butted heads repeatedly, one thing the Peruvian has shown is her loyalty.
"I'm going to tell you something I told Keiko. Take some time getting to know yourself again. You without having to be on your guard every moment. Do silly things, just because you can. Everyone that's important to you knows that you're hurting. We *all* are to some degree or another. We each need to find our footing again." Even her, when it was only seven weeks and not seven years.
"Maybe I should give everyone space for a bit." because he is clearly the odd-one out in this whole thing. Sam's adjusted, Keiko and Illyana can deal with Elena. Piotr is the listless one. "She is not a mutant. That is already something against her, you know that already. I will just have to commute with Elena." he shrugs his shoulders. This is one of those red-flag situations where he's getting ready to do something noble, sacrificial. And stupidly idoitic.
Piotr is the original Lawful Stupid Paladin.
"She could use space from me." He doesn't buy into it himself, but again, what else is new there. One of these days, he'll find that confidence in himself when it comes to women again. Or find it in the first place.
"I'm not sure she wants space from you." Illyana tells him, eyes narrowing a bit again. "At least, not as much space as I can just *see* you're planning to give her. I'm not good at relationships, Piotr. Don't make me drag her in and try to make sure you're on the same page."
As for the school? Illyana snorts. "I don't care if she's not a mutant. She's the mother of one, and that deserves some consideration. And furthermore, on space, *I* don't want you to go wandering off and I'm pretty damned sure Mikhail doesn't after just finding out again. Sure, you're older, but you're all the family he remembers that he has left."
"I think.. I want to say I know that.. we're okay." Piotr says finally, a rumbling noise from within him as he reaches up to rub at the back of his head with a blowing out of his breath. "I just want to figure it out. I mean. I've heard of whirlwind romance. What does this count as?" he asks with a small snort before glancing to the statue.
"I will give it to Koa. Maybe he will know someone that will want it." After that, who knows what Piotr plans to do.
Illyana Rasputina gives Piotr a wan sort of smile. "They don't write self-help books for the stuff we've been through." She says, agreeing with the sort of 'what is this?' feeling he's got going. "What I do know, is that you've been stuck in survival mode. Both of you. Hell, judging by the state of Limbo when I got back and Elena? You did better than that. You just need to learn to live here again. But that doesn't invalidate the things you two went through together. She'd be family even if she didn't realize you're a catch." Illyana adds playfully.
There's a hint of sadness about her when she says that though. Remembering her own trials with someone who was her best friend. That didn't make it out of the horrors of Limbo.
"I know. You own her. And she had my child." Of course Piotr mistranslates. It's what he does best. He gives a sad little smile to Illyana in return as he shakes his head. "I have to learn to live again. But I don't want to live without her." comes the quiet words. "I just need time for her to catch up to where I am in the relationship." There's a smirk at that.
"Well, you always wondered if I'd ever consider someone other than…" Kitty. It goes unsaid. And if this didn't torpedo the whole idea, nothing would.
Illyana Rasputina's mouth sets into a line. "No. I don't own her. Not in the way your mind keeps wanting to leap to. Is she mine? Yes. And so are you. So is Sam. And Koa. And all my friends. It doesn't mean I'm going to tell them what to do or expect them to treat me like their master. Hell, most of them don't know that I have a claim on them and those that do, most of them don't understands what it means to me or to those that I deal with." Meaning demons and other splinter lords.
A small smile is offered again and she shrugs her head. "You tend to go in head-first and never look back." She points out.
"And now you're asking me to look back." Piotr sighs, and then gives Illyana a look. "If it was anyone else, I'd say it was lost, Illyana. But.. for you. For her. For them. I'll keep trying." comes the response as he pulls his sister into a tight hug.