Summary:A day in the park for the Rasputin trio. Which one? Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
     |
Elena is currently playing in one of the splash areas at the moment around the park. Dressed in a one-piece bathing suit with shorts and flip-flops, the little girl is running through the water and gives a giggle. "Papa!" she calls out as she comes over to where Piotr has his easel set up and he's sketching. "Yes, malen'kaya zvezda?" he asks the little girl as she comes over.
"Papa, why couldn't I bring Aggie with me?"
Piotr sighs and pauses his drawing of the girl and runs a hand though his hair. "It is not so easy to bring Aggie out." he admits. It would be hard for them to explain a demon in Central Park.
"But why?"
"Because.. ah.. your mama will be back here in a moment with our drinks. You can ask her?" he offers helpfully.
Piotr isn't the only sketcher out. There's the young man with the long brown hair, under a Cyclones cap, setting up on a bench. No easel, just a pad and a roll of colored pencils. The arm is covered with a flesh-colored sleeve, good enough to disguise it against all but pretty close examination.
Buck's expression is calm. It feels weird to be out in the city without Steve to hand, but he can't just den up in their apartment everytime Cap's busy. Having something to focus on….that's useful.
Mama, in this case, is Keiko Kurita. A small, asiatic looking woman, with tattooes covering her arms and torso and she's approaching the pair now with a couple of bottles of drink in her hands.
In a crop top that exposes her midriff, the brand that covers her stomach is clearly visible and the silver lined tattoo of a demon on her back is as well. There appears to be no part of the womans upper body that isn't marked.
For those who know her - it's her but she's aged from the last time they've seen her. About seven years.
"Elena pequena, Piotr… I have drinks." she says as she draws near. "Hello… James isn't it?" she asks the other artist. It's been a while, but she's sure that his name.
Being out in Central Park helps him think. It's been a wild month. Working for Kane, meeting royalty, getting his clock cleaned a few times, embarrassed himself enough times to keep Spider-Fail.com swimming in content, and helped a few people.
He is sweating slightly. Probably due to the baggy long-sleeved shirt, jeans, tennis shoes…everything a slouching kid needs.
Then he makes a turn around one of the paths and it's Hello, Strange…and he doesn't mean the guy he heard about.
There is a large metal guy talking to a little girl. Okay. He can deal with this. No one's causing any trouble. It's summer in New York, after all.
Then the woman comes out and he can actually HEAR the clicks as the Weird knob is turned up. Well, whaddaya know. It's the girl with the multiple tattoos…but she looks older by a serious stretch. He pauses at the periphery. He knows she's seen his face, but was just Spidey's contact person. He is…compiling. There are a LOT of things to compile…
"Hello, solnyshko." Piotr greets Keiko with a kiss to the side of her mouth, before accepting the drink. "Elena has a question for you." he offers.
Elena beams as she takes her drink. "Papa says it's difficult to have Aggie out here. He wants to play." she explains, before her eyes go white, and she murmurs something, and suddenly, popping up next to her is a little purple demon.
Realizing for a moment he was in his metal form, Piotr shifts back to his more fleshy stance, apparently he was subconsciously on demon guard. Reaching up to rub his head, he at least has the sense to look chagrined. "I forget that my size.. it does not change anymore." he admits, before Keiko calls his attention to Bucky.
While it's only been a few weeks since he saw the artist last, for Piotr it's been more than seven years. He's now stuck at that seven and half foot form, with his right arm covered in tattoos. And apparently with a significant other and a child. There's a peer at the artist for a moment, and he moves a little closer to Elena. Out of habit.
The artist in question looks faintly startled, giving Keiko an owlish look. He grips his sketchpad tightly, before forcing himself to relax. "That's me," he acknowledges. "Uh, I'm sorry, I….don't think I remember…."
Piotr, however, that's a hell of a show, and he's mostly focussed on the big Russian.
Keiko accepts the kiss from Piotr though in a reserved sort of way. Her expression carefully neutral as she surveys the area, her pupils - now that people can see them - are slitted like a cats and there's a slightly predatory air about her.
"Ag'thaaz can't be here, people won't unders—-" She's saying to Elena when the purple demon appears. "Did you call her, Elena? You know the rules." It's mild, but there's steel to that last. Severe. Though she seems to be on the look out for threats to the family.
"It was a while ago." She finally says to Bucky in that muted sort of way. "You were drawing the plaza and I was looking for a missing child." It had been years for her but only a month or so for the other artist. "It's of no matter…"
Then there's the youth who's slouching and she frowns "Peter Parker, isn't it?" For her first real outing from the house, Keiko seems to be meeting up with her past.
Wow. There it goes. Right to 11. The little girl goes all Regan for a few seconds, and poof, there is a purple demon.
Okay. No tattoo used. He'd seen enough of that during the many altercations with the Nightfall. All bad, of course. Man, what a row THAT had been. Beat up a bunch of thugs, knock down some of the cultists, but the brains all got away, the kids got marked and are probably in therapy right this second, and…nothing. Just disquieting thoughts that spoiled his sleep at 2:45 AM on a school night…
He looked up and she had called his name. Why, thank you, Parker Luck, for making this awkward.
"Uhm…yeah." He stepped out from under the tree, walking towards Keiko. "You were the girl…handing out flyers in the park. I gave one of them to Spider-Man. He was…he was wondering about you."
"But mama, she said it's hot and he wanted to play in the water…" Elena starts in a protest, before Keiko's words still her. "Sorry mama." Though she spares a glance towards Piotr to see if /he'll/ bend.
No luck there. The large Russian shakes his head. "Another time." he responds, and smiles slightly. "And next time, ask before you summon." he corrects, fully supporting Keiko on this.
"Sorry papa, sorry mama." Elena's eyes flash, and the demon is disspelled back to Limbo.
"Children." he offers with a sigh. "Though she is our first." There's a grin at Keiko, before glancing to Bucky. "You know my sister, da? Illyana?" He switches to Russian. "«Blonde girl. Very .. leather in her clothes. And demeanor.»"
Then when Peter joins the others, his words cause Piotr to give Keiko a curious look. "Must have been before we met?"
The demon, however, is an even better distraction, and Buck jolts hard enough to nearly knock the bench over. "what the-…." There are fingerprints compressed into the pad, now. Permanently. "I think so. The park…." Unthinkingly, he drops into Russian, too. «Yeah, Ithink so…..»
His gaze wanders back to Elena. «You ever taken that kid to see a sorcerer? I mean, if she does that often.» Surely that's what Stephen Strange wants, a new job as a magical pediatrician.
"Very good." Keiko is so stern, she's like steel that won't bend. Bucky might have seen similar in his time. Someone tempered by experience to only know one way of being and that's to be strong and never show weakness.
Piotrs grin gets a flat look from the peruvian. "Our only." she answers quietly but nods as Peter approaches. "Yes." It's not rude, just the way she's come to speak after her experiences.
She goes to help Bucky set the bench back up. «Her aunt is sufficient, I think?» In russian, no less. Not flawless, but the womans not bad. She … hadn't known Russian when Bucky had met her. What the hell is going on?
"And yes, I was." Keiko answers Peter and gestures. "This Piotr and my daughter, Elena. You remember, I think, James?" beat "I was looking for children and Spiderman helped retrieve several. We've hopefully … resolved that issue. How much did he tell you?"
Whilst she's talking, Elena has drawn near to Bucky and is inspecting his arm quite closely. Personal Space isn't a thing for the child it seems. "Papa, this one is different to yours…"
Peter smiles ruefully. "Apparently a LONG time ago. I met her when she was handing out flyers involving missing children. I told her I'd reach out to Spider-Man for her, see if she needed help investigating. That's about all I heard from Spidey about it. I get some shots for the Bugle for a couple of call-ins about fighting this group called the 'Nightfall', but after a few weeks, I stopped getting tips about Nightfall run-ins. Never heard back from Spidey about it, but I figured it was all over, one way or the other, and there are a LOT of normal crimes to capture. Uhm, by that I mean take pictures of. After my third text to him asking about it, he just sent me a link to a YouTube video. 'Everybody Knows' by Leonard Cohen." He shrugs. "After that, we just moved on to the stuff we could deal with, even though I was getting more and more work on my lab job. Got a few nice pictures of the new Wakandan ambassador."
"Elena, it is not polite to look at others without their permission." Piotr sighs, though he gives Keiko a look back when she states that Elena is their only. Pick your battles, Rasputin. «It was offered by SHIELD. Along with marriage counseling. Our story is.. different.» comes his response in that more flawless Russian as he listens to Peter, and his expression turns more confused.
"Nightfall is who took Keiko when she was young. She is not one of them now. She is Rasputin." he says with a frown. Go ahead, try to say she's not. Then there's a lift of his brow. "I thought they were driven away? Moved to other place, decided here was too dangerous?" He didn't have a direct influence on that. He barely knew Keiko at the time - just the attractive woman with the interesting art. If he only know.
It's a nice enough day out, still warm with a little breeze, with enough clouds to keep it from being too sunny. Perfect for jogging.
Which is why Sarah is taking her nightly run through the park, enjoying the greenery, dressed in a simple black sports bra under a green tank top and lycra running shorts, a few beads of sweat running down her chest and her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail to keep it out of her face.
She's just in time to see…something…disappear in a puff of smoke. Which at least attracts her attention as she slows down to cool down for a moment, panting as she heads over to a nearby waterfountain."
«Yeah, I'll bet,» says Buck, drily. He looks confused, no doubt about it. Not inclined to argue about Piotr's marriage. He's managed to escape news of his own getting out, for the most part - still blessedly a secret.
Elena's inspection of the covered arm has him drawing it away a little. To Keiko, he nods, "Yeah, I remember…."
"Kurita, still but I am with Piotr, yes." Keiko answers. Her accent is still that mutt of a Latin one though her words are something of a mashup of English, Spanish and Russian. It's weird. She's not trying to pick a fight but she's starting to find herself and identity … it goes to her core.
Around her throat is a black leather collar with silvery pink lines that run through it. Closer inspection shows that it's melded with her skin - it's not possible to tell where one ends and the other starts.
As Sarah draws near, Keiko positions herself rather defensively by the girl who is inspecting Bucky's arm. "Elena, your father spoke." she says firmly. There seems to be a lack of affection but is it really that? She's watching the woman very carefully though.
"The Nightfall have been pushed from New York." she agrees with Piotr, trying to give Peter some update as she can. "Illyana, Koa and me … we did something to cause Plokta to break with them. It was difficult and costly but we succeeded. The Nightfall might still exist but they'll not be a threat again for some time, if at all."
Peter nods. He has no idea what they did, of course. Magic is not his jam, science is.
"Hang on." He takes out his phone, then does some quick typing, nimble fingers flying over the onscreen keys. As he types, he says, "Letting Spidey now. He had a phone that did text and phone service, but now he has an email as well. He has to keep it private, because obviously…there. Sent it all off. Hopefully it'll give him some closure." He smiles a little wider. "Okay, no reply, but he's probably busy."
Elena is a little caught up in looking at Bucky's arm, and Piotr picks up the little girl, there's a frown at her. "Remember the story of Kikimora and what she did to small children that get too curious," and then he considers Bucky.
"There was story, when I was young. Of American with one arm. He came to Russia. Tried to steal Russian girl's heart. She took his arm. Now he wander Russia, looking for girl to give her his arm back." he says, a glance from the covered arm, back to Bucky, and he pulls Elena just a little closer. Keiko might sense the worry in the large Russian.
After all, it's not every day that a fairy tale character is standing right before him.
"They called him the zimniy soldat. And said if you were mean to woman on date - he would come, take your arm. And leave you."
The discussion with Peter is forgotten for a moment as Elena looks over Piotr's shoulder and waves at Peter with a smile. Then she's turning back to storytime.
Sarah raises a brow at Keiko as she steps between her and the little girl. Cute kid? Must be some trust fund kid or something if she's got bodyguards, she figures, shrugging her shoulders and taking a deep drink from the fountain, then leaning against it a bit as she idly twirls a finger, a bit of water flowing up from the fountain briefly to run over her forehead to wash away some of the sweat, before she flicks it towards the nearby grass, her breathing having evened out pretty quickly.
Yup, those folks over there look kinda mean and all. Maybe it's Russian mobsters? Some secret Russian Mafia/Triad love child thing or something? Hmm.
Now that story he's never heard….but apparently, they aren't fooled by the cover on the arm. Buck looks bemused at that. "The Winter Soldier," he says, in English. "No, that's not how I lost my arm. No ladies involved…" By his expression, he doesn't know how he feels about any of this….buteven odds, Steve'll be laughing about it with him over the dinner table.
When Peter sends that message, Keiko does something that's fairly uncharacteristic - at least for Piotr. "Thank you…" she says quietly. That cost her. She'd lost so much in the seven years in Limbo. "Are are you still in school, Peter?"
"Piotr, is that story you should be telling her?" Keiko's attention is on the water witch and she rubs her arms as her tattooes sting a little. Touching the tattoo of the demonic looking wolf, the peruvian considers Bucky's words. "That story is about you?" Sort of.
In a few seconds, there's a huge demonic looking grey wolf, manifesting not far from the group and it's going to herd Sarah towards them. It's not … menacing her. Not really.
As to mean looking? Keiko's tiny and probably weighs 140 lb's soaking wet!
Peter looked to Keiko. "Uhm…well, yeah. I took first in the regional science fair. I got a scholarship and a work-study gig and I get to go to Empire State UniveriWHOA…!"
He blinks as the appearance of the wolf derails his train of thought. OH YEAH…she does that. "Uhm…okay. Kinda worried." He looks from the wolf to Sarah and back to Keiko. "Uhm…and the rest of it is completely unimportant, so I'm going to shut up now…"
"I have told her many stories, solnyshko. You have not complained." Piotr points out with a look towards Keiko, before he realizes something. Keiko knows who they are, but well… "I am Piotr Rasputin. You may know me.. as mutant." As if his seven and a half feet and muscle-bound features didn't hint at that enough as he straightens. "I am Keiko's…" Complication? "…consort."
Then she is summoning a wolf to herd Sarah, and his frown turns more severe. "I do not believe that she is threat."
Okay. Well, the Apache girl was definitely not expecting a demonic wolf to just pop into existence next to her.
She backs up slowly, taking a long step back as she keeps her eyes on the wolf warily. "….does this belong to you?" she says, raising her voice a bit towards the group, as she angles to keep herself between them and the wolf. AS far as she knows, civilians…probably. And kid, and giant demon wolf, so she's inclined to err on the side of caution in case they immediately scream and go running like normal folks would when confronted with giant demon wolves.
The wolf….Buck's angled himself to keep it in sight, carefully. But he does manage to reply to Keiko, slowly. Having set the sketchpad down with the deliberation of a man who doesn't want to get shot or attacked for doing something threatening, he starts tugging on the sleeve over the metal arm. Little by little, the gleaming plates are exposed. "I suppose it is, in a way," he says, almost wistfully. "But….no, I never fell in love with a Russian girl. All my war was on the Western Front, or in Africa or Italy."
"Bella won't hurt anyone unless I tell her to or someone tries to hurt me." Keiko addresses the group. "And yes, she's mine. She is ensuring you are no danger to myself, Piotr or our daughter." It's so … very flat. Like all the feelings have been beaten from her.
"Bella here." The demon wolf trots on over, tail wagging as it pushes its shaggy head into Keiko's hand before starting to circle the group and introduce herself. Bucky's hand is sniffed, Peter is bumped until he pets and then the wolf sits in front of Sarah, watching her. Seeing what sort of response she gets. "I'm Keiko…" the small woman says to the Water Witch.
"Partner, Piotr. Not Consort." She corrects and holds her arms out for Elena. "Piotr and I … have had an adventure. I suppose you could say."
Peter gets a look from Bella. He wonders if he smells…no. That was the old suit. He's wearing the new suit, which is odor-resistant and has its own cooling system now. He doesn't seem to react at Piotr being a mutant. It's kind of a giveaway, and y'know, judge not lest ye be freaking judged.
He gingerly ruffles the wolf's fur. "Good predator. Nice predator…" he says, trying to sound as pleasant as he can be.
Annnd she's…married? No, "In A Relationship," and probably right above the qualifying category "It's Complicated." But she wasn't seven years older when he saw her only a few months ago. She also didn't have a kid that could summon demons.
An uncharacteristic chill ran down his spine. Just ignore it.
It's complicated is putting it mildly.
Demon law can be very fickle when it comes to relationships. And kings and consorts.
Handing over Elena to her mother, Piotr presses a kiss to the child's head. Baby daddy, apparently, is his real title.
"Seven years. It was yes.. an adventure." he agrees as he remains next to Keiko, extending his hand to Bella when she's done protecting the small family unit.
Sarah relaxes a little bit as Keiko confirms the wolf is with her, breathing out. "…why would I want to…okay, Central Park is kinda rough at night sometimes, but I was just jogging. I don't even know who you are. Or who your daughter is?" She waves to Elena though, smiling at her a little, before turning her attention back to Keiko. "…I'm Sarah." she says, hands on her hips. "And no harm, no foul I guess. Were you worried someone was after you?" she says with a faint frown, glancing around now.
Bucky has lapsed into a thoughtful silence, just watching. The kid, especially, is intriguing. But then…..he's got next to no experience with children, ever since his sister was sent away. "Seven years?" he echoes.
Elena is a dark haired moppet. A fusion of her father and mother with her fathers eyes. Not Keikos - which is probably fortunate, given the womans are more like a cats than anything. Settling the girl on her hip, holding her close - there's something about the way Keiko positions herself.
What she's done is freed Piotr to fight if he needs and she'll provide back up. It's the way it ever was when they were in Limbo. Those with military will know it for what it is.
"Yes, Seven years. We were in Limbo for seven years." Keiko answers bluntly. "Elena was born there and being back … is not easy to adjust to." It's by way an apology to Sarah for the treatment. "The demons there named Piotr King and me, Consort. But there were those … politics…" she adds in an effort to explain.
So not married by Earth standards but certainly in demonic terms.
Bella trots on over and sits beside Piotr, pressing her head into his hand and licking it.
"I have learned to be careful of her safety." And theirs.
"You were saying Peter? About school? And James, might we see what you were drawing before we interrupted?"
Peter is stunned. Limbo? LIMBO? For SEVEN YEARS? The concept is almost too great for him to process. And for him, that's a stretch.
Five seconds. Say something, dammit.
"I'm…sorry?" Wow, brilliant, no wonder they call you a genius. "That…I don't even know how to process that. Give…give me a minute." He swallows. "I'm…jeez, that blew my mind for a bit. I'm…SCHOOL! Right. Empire State University. Full tuition and books. I can…"
Something's prodding him. He's dying on the vine, about to make a MASSIVE fool of himself, even more so than usual. In the scope of things, how does going to college even MATTER when compared to being in another REALITY for seven years? He could feel a migraine coming on. Probably his brain trying to grasp the enormity of it.
"LIsten, I'm not feeling so hot…maybe it's the heat. Piotr, Keiko, Elena…Sarah…sorry to leave like this. Uhm…" he looked to the trio. Think of something good to part with.
"Uhm…welcome back?"
Swing and a miss, Parker! Sorry you blew it, but there's a nice consolation prize at home. Maybe you should go there…like, right now.
Peter waves, then starts off down the path, heading straight for the subway station beyond the park. Right now, being in direct sunlight is becoming painful…
As others are offering confusion and condolence to Keiko, for the first time since they returned, Piotr feels the intense guilt that he's kept in check. That he helped Keiko. Then got her pregnant. And then…
With Keiko taking up Elena, the large man looks around and runs his fingers absently through Bella's fur when she snuffles him. "…I .. it was done, and I cannot change it." Somewhere in there is a sorry, but he's finding that hard to say - maybe Keiko was right about Limbo hardening them both up.
A brow raises as the Amerindian takes that in, folding her arms over her chest. "…you're a demon king and consort, and she's….a princess? And you're here. Instead of this Limbo place. That you escape from or something?" she says slowly, trying to organize this in her head. "Were you overthrown or something?"
She seems to have dismissed the wolf issue pretty quickly now that she's getting an idea of what's going on. She nods to Pete as he takes off. "No worries, have a good night." she says with a faint smile, before returning her attention back to Keiko. More seriously, she says softly. "Do you need protection? In addition to what you already have, I mean. Or do you just need…time to get used to life here after being there that long?" She taps her chest. "I know I don't look like a lot, but I'm a Young Avenger. That's got to count for something with SHIELD or something…"
Someone who has a story as weird as his own. Weirder, in fact. Buck doesn't argue, but turns around the sketch pad. It's just a roughed out image of the fountain and the plaza, done as a broad perspective. "That sounds nuts," he says, simply. "But hell, Iv'e seen weirder."
It's strange that Keiko doesn't seem to pick up on Peters distress. To her it's happened and they survived. "Bye, Peter. Take care." She looks to Piotr "And we have each other and Elena, yes?" She prompts. Unaware of the guilt that the man is feeling.
"You could say that, I guess." Keiko nods to Sarah. "Piotrs not demon, though and … a SHIELD agent came for us, got us out when he realised we were missing. It had be thirty hours here." As to what they need? What she needs "This … is the first time I've been out since we've been back. It's … complicated." As Piotr can attest. "I need to learn how to live again. Illyana says I need to do silly things."
"There's been weirder… I grew up in a cult." Keiko offers to Bucky, looking at the drawing. "This is good. Almost as good as Piotr does." Is that her loyalty shining through? Or just honesty in her opinion. "I'd like to put that on my wall…"
"Sorry, I don't give 'em away anymore. Not since I found out a magician could use it to get to me," Buck sighs. Blame Loki for that one - why would an Asgardian want a mortal man's work, after all. "But it's good to see that you're okay, for some values of okay….."
Sarah hmmms, then reaches down to tug her phone off where its strapped to her arm, tapping it a bit. "Tell you what…" she murmurs, her faint Southwestern accent showing. "I'll give you my number? And if you need help or whatever, you can give me a call." She looks wry. "I've had a lot of experience helping people who are getting used to Earth culture lately. Just in case, huh?" she says, showing Keiko her phone so she can see the number.
"Oh." Keiko says, looking to Bucky. Seems like a story there. "I get that. They're good though." She doesn't smile. Bucky might find though, that he's kept company by the murderous little peruvian and her offspring more often though.
It's a Limbo thing.
"Uh… " With Piotr moving to pick up his painting supplies, Keiko's left to deal with the offer of help from Sarah. "Sure. I … sure. Let me …" At least the woman didn't ask for her phone, that wouldn't have gone down well. Keiko fishes her phone from her pocket and juggles it a bit as she holds Elena and tries to enter the number. She does, eventually. The name - as it's entered - seems to be done phonetically.
"I … think we need to go. Maybe we'll see you later… " Not goodbye or thanks. That's not something that occurs in Keiko's world, generally.
With that, the small tattooed woman moves to join Piotr and his clean up. The silvery outlined tattoo on her back clearly visible as she leaves.