Summary:Piotr gets a visit from a demon Log Info:Storyteller: {$storyteller} |
Related LogsTheme Song{$themesong} |
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Piotrs at home, working in his shed. Elena was put to sleep about an hour ago. Keiko had messaged to say she was working for SHIELD and would be late - Koa would give her a lift a home.
Short on detail, at least she remembered to message, yes?
The sound of the crickets, or perhaps it's cicadas, chirp a happy little tune in the yard outside. All is quiet. All is peaceful. A perfect time to work on whatever he's working on. Keiko should be home soon. All is good with the world.
Piotr's phone is set nearby. He had sent her a text back to be safe. What more could he really say on the matter? He knows her SHIELD/WAND work can be dangerous. And he's learned that he can't really help on that front.
Currently he's sitting in front of a large piece of marble he pulled from a quarry nearby. He was able to just haul it home from where he found it. It hasn't taken a shape yet, he's just looking at it, his fingers feeling the texture of it.
As if it will tell him what it is that it wants to be shaped into.
The sound of the crickets outside suddenly fall silent, as they tend to when someone draws near. That's strange because Piotrs heard no foot falls or anyone drawing near as he usually would - and there's not many who would have the need to sneak up on him.
"Boss, boss." Comes the sibilant hiss from the shadows. Piotr might remember that voice. Br'lef. One of the demons that formed Gr'ffn faction. The faction that had actively opposed Keiko and tried to harm her.
What on earth could he want?
"Where's the false consort, Boss, Boss? She's not here, is she? She's out with the other one. We saw."
When he hears the voice, Piotr's brows knit and his lips pull in a thin line. "Agent Turner. I'm aware." he says finally. "The two of them worked together before we came to Limbo. They still work together."
And that's all he seems to want to say on that.
"She is able to do as she wants, Br'lef. She is not beholden to me. She is not my consort any longer, not in this plane." He runs a hand through his hair. "What do you want?"
Br'lef clicks into the studio given Piotr hasn't said not to. He takes a walk about that marble and then perches on top of it. "She shares your bed and you want to be with her. We watch. We know these things."
"We saw her. Just now. Eating with the one armed one." Koa still has his arm in a sling after all.
Once he's on top of the marble, the little demon - more an imp than a demon - peers Piotr intently. "We came with news of her and what she's doing. The Heir of Limbo should have someone more … fitting. One who is loyal and doesn't stray."
"Keiko is loyal." Piotr's eyes cut to where the demon is sitting. "If she chooses to dine with Agent Turner because it is late and they are hungry, that is her choice. You have much to learn about humans. Or perhaps, not meddle in them because…"
His smile turns cold, "..she would probably make a nice corset out of your pelt. Since you are so keen on being close to her."
"Is she boss, boss?" Br'lef pulls back when Piotr voices his thoughts but he's not disappearing. His eyes narrow, there's a calculating look in them. "She calls him 'Koa', not Agent Turner and says she will visit his home."
The Imp pulls back when Piotrs smile turns cold. "I don't want to be with you, Boss boss. You do. Are you sure they're only 'friends'? They are bonded through those collars aren't they?"
He's pushing Piotr, letting the words settle in, watching the big mans reaction. "He knows how to find her, you know."
Piotr's fingers grip to his side. "They are friends. And they are tied together to your Queen. Would you like for her to learn of your possible treachery?" he asks, blue eyes narrowing as his fists hold to his side.
"Keiko is not married to me. Or beholden to me. She has her feelings. They are.. for her to decide what they are." This would almost be comical if he had not had the same exact feelings not too long ago.
"She is loyal to our daughter, she is loyal to your Queen. That is all you need to be aware of."
Br'lef sees Piotrs fingers tighten and a calculating look. "Treachery to bring you news of your Consort. She will never stop being that, you know that… You don't want it differently either." The imp almost smirks as he hops off the marble to the floor again.
"She chooses to spend time with the one armed one who bested you." With that parting shot, the imp disappears into the shadows. Leaving Piotr alone with his thoughts.
Or has he left Piotr alone?
There's the sound of booted footsteps coming down the path "Piotr? I'm home." Keiko comes through the door and looks around. Had she heard the voices. "Elena is well, yes?" she hesitates as she looks at him,finally drawing nearer. "And you?"
Have Br'lefs words found fertile ground?
After Br'lef leaves, Piotr's fist slams into the marble. The flesh breaks and tears, the bones beneath bruise, and he feels the pain of it all. But better the rock then something else. Vodka is used to treat the injury and wrap it, the cold bottle used to combat the swelling, which is how Keiko finds him.
Hearing the voice of her behind him, he draws in a breath. "Elena is asleep. She was tired after playing at the school today. It was a good day."
With the next question, he gives a terse nod. "I am fine. How was your work? Did you make any leeway with your project?"
"You are?" Keiko is uneducated not stupid, she can see the marble, the bottle of vodka and his hand. "You are supposed to drink the vodka you know. What happened?" She rustles a bag "I bought us food home. I know you've probably eaten but I thought… maybe you would like to eat with me."
Coming closer, the Peruvian puts the bag down and takes Piotr hand to look at it.
"We did, yes. Some… things that relate to the Nightfall and we think, the thirteen children still missing. The Nightfall were in New York a hundred or so years ago."
"Rock and I have argument. Rock more stubborn that you." It's a lie, but Piotr doesn't move when Keiko checks his hand. It's bloodied, but not too bad - he clearly didn't armor up.
"I would like to dine with you, yes." he finally offers, flexing his fingers slightly - more to show her the hand is okay than actually holding hers.
"So they were wrong children? Or descendents of originals?" comes the curious question. "This was not the first time they were here. Easier to take children hundred years ago."
"The rock won by the looks." Keiko finds a cloth and wets it down, cleaning his hand as they talk. For someone who is naturally muted in her interactions with him, she's not shy about this. If she suspects it's a lie, she's not saying. "Did it refuse to tell you what it wanted to be?"
When his fingers flex, the Peruvian squeezes them gently. Responding to him again.
"Descendants…" That gets a look before she shakes her head a little "We don't know exactly what they did last time except try to bring something called The Silence. I heard tales in the compound of something similar happening in our Outposts when I was young but we have no idea what it is. Or if it *does* relate to the children."
Clearly though, she thinks there's a connection and she's willing to talk about it.
"The ones, the Nightfall, that were here then didn't appear to worship Plokta. It looks like they might have belonged to Sifror." This bothers Keiko and Piotr might intuit why - her entire life had been built on something of a lie.
"Sifror - that is the one that tried to take from Plokta?" Piotr is still fuzzy on some of the details that Keiko has shared with him so far on everything. "So you and Agent Turner will need to work more on it." this seems to be a given. And something for him to accept.
"Is the Silence only something you know the name of? No stories of it from your time with them?" he asks curiously as he listens. "What type of tales?" comes the curious question.
The response brings a smile. Not the usually warm one that comes so easily to the Russian. It's subdubed and muted. He's processing things.
"Sifror is the one that Illyana gave a channel to, yes. The one that we went to before… Limbo." Keiko answers, finishing cleaning up Piotrs fist. There's a look she gives that and the marble. "There wasn't a name we gave it, just tales of outposts bring blanketed in silence, no one able to hear anything while it happened. It was the sort of thing some of the magi would tell us as we prepared for our trials."
She has to wonder on that. "Some of our magi, I found out when they were here, were loyal to another Lord, not Plokta." We're the tales meant as threats? Or were there preparing other Nightfall for something else.
"But yes. There are thirteen locations in New York that seem to related to the working. We've found most of them, but not all. Cullen and I should be able to find the others in time, then we need to open the locations and… disarm them I suppose."
The marble seems to have broken in an interesting way. It might suggest a shape to Piotr now. "What is it that bothers you, mi amante? That I work with Koa of that I work on this at all?" Astute? Keiko's that.
"Why would it bother me? He was working with you well before you met me. And he will continue to work with you - as Illyana has bonded the two or you together, with her." Which brings up the question - demons may have bonded Keiko with Piotr as mates - and their child as their blood bond - but would Illyana's claim that Koa and Keiko are a matched set stronger?
"It is important to you that you get to the bottom of this. Not because it is your history. But because it is a threat." There's a shrug of his shoulders at that. "I trust you, solnyshko. You have never given me want or reason not to. There are those that want to try to sow doubt. They will only reap their own destruction."
"You do what you must do, Keiko. I will be here, waiting for you to come home." And maybe /that's/ the crux here. When it comes to her. Koa. His sister. He's the odd man out. Not magically inclined. Not very smart. Just.. muscle to be thrown in when needed.
Even his soul turned out not to be very valuable.
It's a good question and one that Keiko can't answer because it comes down to Piotrs trust in the matter. "I don't know why it would bother you, that I work with Koa. I chose you, mi amante, to stay with. Not just for our daughter but because I wanted to be with you. And I am here now, telling you what we're doing."
"It might bother you I work on this at all and that would be… understandable. Nothing to do with any of this has been safe in the long run, but I am one of the few who can do something about it and because of that I must. For you, for our daughter, for our family. The family you gave me when I had nothing."
Maybe it is the crux of the matter. That this isn't something Piotr can help with at the moment. Each of them have their own challenges - Keiko's had to trust her daughter to strangers, without being introduced to them first.
"I will always come home to you, Piotr." the Peruvian murmurs. Hopefully that's a promise she can keep. "And if the time comes, it is you I want you by my side, fighting. She frowns though "Who has been trying to sow doubt?"
In a move that might stun the big Russian, Keiko puts herself in his lap as they talk. Cat. That's what she is.
"I do not doubt that anymore. There are those that still use the house as a gateway. Those that would divide us against each other. Against Illyana." And there is surprise as Keiko claims his lap, but is it hers to have. His hand moves, settling on her stomach. Not just where the brand is, but where she carried their child.
And a little part of him hopes it was just the first. But there are things he's come to realize. And accept.
"If someone had altered me so drastically, I would want to know about them as well, solnyshko. I do not fault you for what you do. I do not blame you for who you do it with. I only blame myself that I cannot let you skin me and wear my armored hide about to protect yourself."
Did.. he just make a joke with her?
"I chose you. I love you. And that is not going to change because a demon suggests that you have other feelings towards someone else. If you change.. if they change.. I know you would tell me." And it would break his heart, but he'd accept it.
—-
"Who?" There's a predatory nature to Keiko that's become more defined during their time in Limbo. Piotrs words trigger that now "They don't just use the house, I'm sure. Tell me who and I will teach them just how loyal I am to you and Illyana."
Settling in his lap, Keiko shakes her head at his 'offer' though "I prefer your skin just as it is. I have armour now, remember?" Sometimes she's far too literal.
She doesn't add more to what he's said. There's no need to, in her mind. The words - those three words - don't come as easily to her. For her it is demonstrated, like her being here.
"Why did you think it might be descendants? When I told you of there might be a connection?" she pulls the bag of food closer. Chinese containers by the look. Demons? She'll deal with them when she finds them.
"Something I will deal with. You have enough battles, Keiko. You do not have to fight mine as well." Piotr responds with a shake of his head, as he smirks slightly as she doesn't get the humor.
He sighs slightly, reaching for one of the containers finally. It will be fine. It has to be. Just ignore all the voices tell you it's not.
Something he will deal with. Keiko gives Piotr one of those looks of hers. Of course he will.
They'll eat the chinese and try to enjoy the company. Of course it will be fine. Why wouldn't it be?