Summary:Keiko wakes to a night terror. It goes badly for Piotr Log Info:Storyteller: {$storyteller} |
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Keiko slept before Limbo, not as much as some and probably not as heavily. Being on the run does that to you. Now, though she sleeps even less - it keeps the dreams at bay. The dark and twisted dreams that started at some point - even if she can't remember when.
It's late, past the witching hour, when Keiko cries out in her sleep, rolling to the floor and grabbing the short rod she keeps under her pillow. "Get away from her…" She's growling and hissing as the rod extends to her quarterstaff.
Piotr was never much of a heavy sleeper - Limbo did nothing to help with that. When he hears Keiko's call out and hiss, he rises quickly, armor shifting and forming around his frame. "Keiko?" he asks, worry in his voice.
And a wariness as well. Keiko's warnings are usually on-point, and the armored Russian is ready to defend his small family. "What is it?"
Keiko raises her eyes to Piotr, the quarterstaff held at the ready. They're yellow - he's seen her catseyes do that before but now the similarity to some of the demons in Limbo may well strike him. Particularly as he sees the scaled 'armour' creep over her shoulders from that silver lined tattoo on her back. Over her shoulders and covering her body.
"I said get away from her…" She's looking at Piotr but is she really seeing him or is she looking through him, seeing something else?
Hard to tell.
What he can tell, is she's on the offensive, her quarterstaff starting to move. Rounding on Piotr as he stands there. "I'll have your hide…"
"Keiko… solnyshko?" Piotr's confused. In the sleep haze of the moment, and Keiko's attack stance, the large Russian's expression is one of not understanding. Instead, he's trying to look around him, as if the attack is imminent.
As she rounds on him, the large Russian lifts his hands in a defensive posture. He's not sure of what she's seeing - what she's doing. But the concern on his metallic face grows.
Poor Piotr. That quarterstaff rounds with all of Keiko's skill. It will hit him. "I will skin you." Keiko's nearly feral as she attacks.
Is she awake? Or is this a waking night terror?
Piotr can be sure there's no threat in their room, except for Keiko. And she's slowly armouring up as she presses her attack, trying to force whatever she's seeing instead of Piotr back. "She's the heir to your King, when I'm finished with you, he'll deal with you next."
Piotr knows that Keiko faced a number of challenges when she was in Limbo. She had to become like steel to weather them. Is… this a manifestation of those times? She's not seeing Piotr at all but something else?
When the first strike comes in, Piotr defends himself against it. And he's working on blocking the other strikes. While Keiko's hits do not hurt per say, the magic of her quarterstaff is wreaking hell on the magic resistant metal of his armor.
Then he realizes what's happening. The confusion melts away to sadness at the realization. "I am not a demon, Keiko.." which is exactly what a demon would say.
After a few more strikes and advances and as Keiko armors up fully, Piotr realizes what he has to do. He moves back, away from Keiko. Towards the door. And to retreat. He's not going to fight her. Not like this.
The Gossamer in Keiko's staff is proof after the Nightfall weapons and clearly against Piotrs armour. It might be interesting to find what else, if anything, it works on. But later.
For now, Piotr has a murderous spirit caller who's experiencing a night terror.
As he retreats, the confusion sets in. The attack slows to halt, the staff held defensively. That's a natural thing for Keiko - to be ready for an attack. He can see the moment she comes to herself - her eyes are still yellow, but someone's finally home.
"Where where are we. Did we go back?"
The metal held. He's going to be bruised where she hit him, but the metal held. Piotr has had his own nightmares since coming home, and he lets out a breath.
"We did not go back. You were having bad dream." he offers to her with a frown. Now that she's calmed down, he goes to the bedside table to pour her some cool water from the decanter next to the bed.
He offers it to her, saying nothing on his injuries, but she may notice the red welts on his skin.
The armour starts to recede, flowing back to that tattoo. It's a bit eerie really.
Keiko looks at the welts, then the quarterstaff, then him again, shaking her head at the water. "I hurt you…" the staff is collapsed, the rod dropped to the floor as the spirit caller runs her hand through her hair.
"It was so real. Dr'xal…" another shake of head. Dr'xal had been part of Gr'fins faction and had tried to best Keiko when she was alone one day. Piotr knows that much. "Was going to hurt Elena to get at me." the timing on that is just all wrong - Elena hadn't been born when that all happened.
"I thought you were him…"
No sorry.
"You didn't stop me…"
"Dr'xal wasn't around after Elena was born." Piotr had seen to it. Setting the glass to the side for now, he kneels down to pick up the staff. "They can't get here to hurt us, Keiko. Illyana made sure of that."
He lets out a breath when she comments he didn't stop her. "It is like sleepwalker. You do not wake sleepwalker. Bad things happen. You were in armor. The demon.." Was it talking to her? Suggesting he was a threat? He's not sure, but he's not sure about a lot.
This isn't his area of expertise, and he's feeling it. "I am not him. I will always be here."
—-
"You let me hit you…" Keiko says. "Dreams don't know that… That we're safe. They only know what we know. Gr'fin…" the Demon had been smart and never moved against her directly, always working through proxies, like Dr'xal.
She doesn't finish that thought. "Illyana won't, you won't let anyone hurts us."
"What demon? The armour…" Wrapping her arms about her waist, the spirit callers eyes run over the welts. Piotr can see remorse flicker over her expression, the first break in muted responses. It's gone, but it's something.
"… I… It responds when I feel I'm in danger. It was like that, in a way, with the others." She doesn't say much about her experiences with her spirits. She offers this, to Piotr, now.
"You are hard to dodge." It is all he can really say on her hitting him. Piotr gives a rolling shrug of his shoulders. But when she hugs herself, he steps forward, setting his hands on her shoulders so their eyes can meet.
"Does it pull at you often like that?" he asks her finally, searching her face. If he saw her remorse, it may not have been notice, his own expression pulled into one of worry.
Another time, before Limbo, Keiko might have smiled a bit at the comment - but not now. She is hard to dodge but he's bigger and stronger than her, he could have just wrapped her up and waited for her to tire.
Piotr can feel the slightest tremble when his hands rest on her shoulders. Keiko's not as calm as she seems. Not as muted. Her yellow eyes meet his, not fading just yet to the brown they usually are. "Pull at me? It's there, the spirit. It's become part of me and it's strong - I bested it that day in Limbo…."
"But it still tries to assert itself every so often. It is the way of these, all of my spirits needed controlling. At the compound, there were Magi who would 'help' us." The bitterness on the emphasised word is obvious. "At least we were able to subdue them, I suppose."
"I need to teach it, teach myself, how to be. The spirit and me… how to be together." That might sound a little familiar. The spirit caller needs to learn a lot of things now - the primary of which is how to be part of a family.
"It is just trying to protect me." or is it?
Feeling the tremble beneath Keiko's shoulders, Piotr pulls his hands back with a frown. "There are times where I worry that I have caused you more harm.." it's said mainly to himself, and is shaken off quickly. "Was it trying to protect you from a dream…" the or is there - but he doesn't give it voice.
He decides to make himself a glass of water since she declined. Rubbing at his arm, he glances off to where Elena is sleeping in the other room, and closes his eyes. "There is much that we have been through. I do not regret what we have done." But there's that nagging worry that he's harmed her.
"Have you talked to Illyana about the demon? To see what it is.. as far as if it is one she knows and can give insight on how to handle it." he finally asks. "It is not as if I could go, 'I am your King.. Prince..'" he's not even sure, "..surrender yourself to my consort."
As Piotr steps back, Keiko catches his hand and gives him a questioning look. That's partly because he's withdrawn like that and partly because of his words. "How would you have caused me harm, Piotr? In Limbo, you did what you did to protect me. Protect Elena. Protect Us. Here … you have only been kindness itself."
She's sure the Universe is laughing somewhere. To pair Piotr, the kind hearted giant, with her - murderous little spirit caller she is.
"My dream. Or the threat it saw in my mind." When he rubs his arm, she sighs and looks at the marks she's left on him, placing a hand on one of the welts. "I do not regret what we did. What I did but it's left it marks. On both of us."
She too glances towards Elena when he does. What, she wonders, had Limbo done to their daughter?
"Wait." Her eyes turn back. "Do you think it was the spirit that forced me to fight just now?" She'll get to the rest in a moment.
——
Opposites attract, isn't that the Paula Abdul song?
"It is not a kindness of sympathy.. it is of affection." She knows that. She may not return it, except in her own ways, but Piotr will always be there for her. And Elena. Elena is the given - but Keiko.. he wants her to know.
He closes his eyes when he feels the touch, cool to the heat of the injury that he suffered. There's a sigh, but then her words call back his attention to her.
"I am not sure. You were convinced I was here to take away your daughter. From straight sleep to attacking me." he frowns. "You said that your spirits, when you first took them in, attempted to co-opt dominance of your mind. And you do not have.. the same instructors you did with your first tattoos. Then there was the snake the other day that you absorbed.."
He finally frowns. "I want to help. I just do not know how, other than to be here."
"It was a night terror, Piotr. I wasn't awake but I wasn't fully asleep. It has happened before and it will happen again." It's possible too, that Elena will suffer them. They sometimes run in families, not that Keiko knows that. "It was not you that I was seeing. It was Dr'xal standing there. The last time I faced him … just…."
Keiko traces the welt on Piotrs arm as she tries to find the words. "He was coming for Elena. It … I can't explain it. When I dream like that, things meld and shift …" They're really coherent. "I … did not know it was you. That I harmed you …."
It's not sorry. But it's close. Sort of.
Taking a seat on their bed, Keiko crosses her legs and pats the space beside her. "My spirits do challenge me. They wish to be free, to do as they will. With Bella, she was always appearing trying to chase the other children. It earned me a number of beatings until she stopped doing that."
Him wanting to help draws a soft snort from the woman "Is that not enough? Being here? I've never had people I could lean on and borrow their strength with things are difficult. I … if that's not what you want…" She's sure she's not misread that previously. Maybe this has spooked him enough to change his mind, though.
His response comes in the form of action. Sitting down next to Keiko, he settles his arm around the murder bug and kisses the crown of her head. "Glupaya devchonka." Silly girl. It's said with all affection. "Seven plus years with you, and yet we still act like we don't know our feelings." There's a shake of his head.
"And before you say it is because we were trapped and only had each other.. it would not have changed." Piotr's sure of that. As sure as he is of most anything. The scent of her in her hair is drawn up into her. "I will help. As we have."
"And maybe, someday.." he trails off. Now he's worried /she's/ going to run.
Keiko leans against Piotr when he settles beside her, a slight difference to how she's been in the past. "Things changed when we came back. I have a family now… People who care about me. Not just Elena's mother or Piotrs…." She gestures awkwardly at that "…but Keiko Kutita. Broken woman that she is."
"There are things I don't think to share. You can always ask if you want. I won't promise that I'll always answer, but I won't lie either." Which might mean she just won't answer.
"I'm getting used to having you about. That's not something I want to lose." she finally admits. Such a romantic, Keiko is.
She's not going to run. Not for these sorts of things.
"Someday, what?" she's noticed him do this a couple of times, recently.
There's a chuckle. "I'm a romantic. Like the fairy tales I used to read to Elena. And Illyana before her." Piotr traces the tattoo on Keiko's back, realizing that the prometheum is spreading with a frown.
"I believe that a King should eventually marry his consort. Especially if they have a Princess together."
The prometheum is there, infusing the tattoo that had been started. Originally the mark had been indistinct but after that last day in Limbo, when its form was set. That's what Piotr is tracing. The form of the flyer they had killed together.
It's the source of the armour that Piotr witnessed, at the least.
Keiko's changes are mostly visible but what of Piotrs? There's the tattoo on his arm and his armour - but what else? Was there anything?
"In fairytales they do." Keiko agrees. "And someday this is what you want?" It's quiet. They've never really spoken beyond 'tomorrow'. She's so still, as she leans against his shoulder. She hasn't withdrawn - that's good right?
If there is anything that has changed, Piotr has not shown it. But then again, has Keiko ever known him to voice things that are inside of him? Always concentrating on everything else.
Even if there is a chunk of him missing - lost - a weapon to be used. But for what?
"We talked about this once. You said it was something you could not give." Like a family. At least that's how he's translated it. He's always thinking ahead. Not tomorrow. Or the next day.
Seven years from now. He continues to trace and hold her, and then smirks. "Perhaps I read too much, da?"
Keiko hasn't and as much she's silent and reserved, hers is obvious in many ways. Piotr might still be somewhat of a mystery. Particularly with that part of his soul gone, lost in the sword.
If she knew how to ask, she might.
"You did not answer my question." Keiko notes. "It doesn't matter what I think I can give. I didn't think I would or could be part of a family. And yet here I am,with people who will help me." it's not easy, for most of her life she'd had to rely on herself. Now, well, she's learning.
"In Limbo, there was a lot I couldn't give. They would have used that against you. Eventually I became numb and it was just the way things were…"
She sighs "Stop thinking about others and state what you want. I'm not a fragile flower that will wilt." beat "And one of us has to read stories to Elena, stop her becoming like me."
"I never said you didn't give me much, solnyshko. You gave me plenty. You gave me Elena." Piotr points out. "I want to ask you to marry me. But I will do so when that time is right." When will that be? He's not even sure.
"You are not fragile. I never claimed you to be. In many ways, you are much stronger than me. You wouldn't have given up your soul for me." That, maybe to her, may have come across as weak. And she's said that he didn't have to do what he did.
"We are not in Limbo anymore. We are home now. Our home. With our child. And we are family."
There's a shrug of his shoulders and a smile at her. "And what more could I ask for? You never tell me what /you/ want." And he turns the table on hers, waiting to hear what she says.
"I know what it cost you, that first day in Limbo." Keiko answers quietly. "I might not have at that time, but I worked it out. You kept sacrificing more of yourself to keep me safe. It is not strength to refuse to give up something to save another."
She doesn't discuss the things she did to ensure Piotr couldn't be hurt by threats to her.
Her catseyes hold his for a moment as he says the 'M' word. Not a hint as to how she feels about it. It's probably for the best he doesn't ask now.
"You haven't said I was fragile but you shy from topics when you think I might run." To be fair to Piotr, Keiko isn't easy to read and she's used to being in her own. "It causes you pain where I can't see it."
"What do I want?" That's a good question. She shakes her head in answer. "Illyana asked me similar. I don't know. I have more than I ever have right now. Why would I want more? Elena, you and your family. Food to eat so my stomach never rumbles and a roof over my head that I'm unlikely to lose."
"Maybe I want to be more involved with Elena. I don't know though. She is happy with things as they are."
Simply things that mean oh so much to the woman.
"You have given me everything I need."
"You are involved with Elena. But if you want more, she will welcome it." Piotr points out as he glances aside and drops his hand into hers.
"I shy away, because I know you are not ready." She'll probably have to ask him when she's ready. If ever.
"A child wants attention from it's parents. And if Elena is to be our only child, then we should make sure she knows she's cared for and loved."
It's possible that Keiko doesn't know how to be different, but she'll try. Maybe. "Just don't treat me like I'm going to run from you. I haven't, I stayed even when you tried to get me to leave." Maddeningly frustrating is what he'd called her.
"She will have it, Piotr. She's got you at least." Keiko is well aware of her shortcomings. "And the others."
"Let's try to sleep some more, you have work in a few hours and I … am ready to go back to work. SHIELD has several properties that need maintenance and they pay well, not to mention Martha Wayne foundation." She knows how fortunate she's been - they've both been incredibly patient as she recovers.
"I have been trying to work on my art. And welcomed to teach at the school again." Though he's only been going as of late to keep an eye on Elena for Keiko. Piotr lets out his breath and smirks. "I tried to make you run a couple of times, and you stayed. Damned stubborn." he admits.
"And.. maybe that's why I realized.. I wanted more with you." he admits. Others /would/ have ran. And not stayed. And let him sacrifice himself. But Keiko remained.
"Sleep now…" Keiko insists. "You should teach." That's the last thought she has as curls back in bed. Asleep nearly immediately. She might not sleep much, but clearly it's not hard for her to fall asleep.