Summary:Robbie takes Illyana out to dinner. Just to prove her wrong. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Queens.
Perhaps one of the better Neighborhoods of New York City. Robbie had managed to ask one of his magician friends to send a mystic -tell- through the system, sending a message that only Illyana would be able to understand. 'Friday: 7pm'.
She'd know what it meant. But Robbie was mainly doing this just to prove her wrong, because he's gotta be like that. No, seriously, he's gotta be like that. Its just in his character and nature. So, he's currently parked outside of a classic diner. His arms crossed, awaiting Illyana's no doubt eventual arrival.
Illyana Rasputina honestly isn't used to getting magical messages. Most people that want to contact her use the phone. But, let's be honest. There aren't a lot of people that want to contact her. Acerbic even on her better days, those that find the blonde sorceress to be pleasant to be around tends to be a fairly small number.
So when the message comes through, Illyana answers. Of course, she's late. Because she's never quite managed to wrap her head around time as most understand it. The result of over a decade of living in Limbo where time… isn't really a thing. It's faster than you want and slower than you need. Eventually however, a disk of light opens off to the side and the leather-clad queen of Limbo steps out, giving Robbie a look that is both amused and put-upon. "You know, I don't respond to summons particularly well." She strides over towards him, the tread of her heavy boots a decisive thud against the pavement. "I hope you've got suitable offerings."
Robbie looks at Illyana as she finally arrives, and seems to try and get a offering out of Robbie. "What do you want? Bleeding goat with a pentagram? I'm buying you dinner. That'll have to work. Its either that, or we settle it the old fashioned way." Punch each other until someone dies first. And from the looks of things, it probably won't be Robbie now that Illyana is out of her dimension. Anyway.
"Hope you like pasta." Robbie already starts to walk, perhaps daring Illyana to join him. "How ya been?"
Illyana Rasputina gives a soft snort at the suggestion of offering. "I'm not that kind of Hell Lord." She says, tone very dry. She comes to a stop a few paces away. Enough to be out of immediate arm's reach, at any rate. "And what is it we're settling?" A brow is quirked upwards and as he starts to walk away from her she gives an amused huff of breath and a shake of her head. Arms cross before her and she settles into a hipcocked stance and doesn't follow. Her silence to the question is probably the clue that she's not, since he's turned away.
"Us punching each other until the other one dies, I imagine." Robbie stops in his tracks and half-turns to look at her. "Are you hungry or not?" Robbie asks her, he imagines she's so busy running her own dimension that she probably doesn't eat. Or might not even need to. "Got a reservation at that nice Italian joint up the street."
"And *why* would we do that?" Illyana asks, her confusion couched in amusement and perhaps a bit of mocking. "I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of punching. I normally get someone else to do that for me."
Food is generally a good way to get Illyana go to along with something. Years of living on Limbo's excuse for food has made her a fan of food on Earth. Finally, she starts over towards him. "This doesn't feel like a 'thank you', so what's up? You're safely back on Earth. I don't figure you're looking to strike a deal with a Devil." She glances over him, as though she can see what lurks beneath his skin. "You should have already learned that lesson."
Gwen says, "Oh hey!"
"Hell if I know, Chica." Robbie says with a shrug before she's walking at his side. "I have no intent to sell my soul more than I already have. I'm paying my penance." he smirks at her. "Why? You trying to take my soul?" he's just teasing really. "I don't regret what I did. Better than the alternative." Which is he and his little brother are dead.
But he shrugs. "Its mainly just proving you wrong. I showed up and took you out on a date. You probably have your own suitor by now, so I'm not expecting anything personal to arise out of it, romance-wise. So instead its just friends having a meal. Reason enough?"
"I'm not really buying." Illyana asides to Robbie on the subject of his soul with an easy smirk that seems to replace the smile that most would have. "Sounds like there's a story there." But she's not going to ask him for it. She'll let him tell her if he's inclined.
"Proving me wrong, huh? Wrong about what?" Amusement seems to come easily to the blonde, her chuckle a low punctuation to the question. "You're gonna give me whiplash, Robbie. Now we're friends?" Her hands slide into her back pockets and she rolls those pale blue eyes at him while her lips settle into a smirk. The idea of Sam as 'suitor' is as amusing to hear the term come from Robbie.
Robbie walks with her. "There's a story for everything." He admits to her, though he doesn't seem inclined at all to tell her his tale of woe. After all, she's the type of person who would laugh instead of show sympathy. Most likely. Hell Lord and all.
But Robbie shrugs. "That I wasn't going to take you to dinner on Friday at 7pm. Do you not recall going on a spiel and thought I wasn't going to do it?"
When she seems taken aback, Robbie nods. "You didn't try to kill me in your own dimension. Counts as friendship to me. Got a problem with it?" Robbie smirks at her. He knows that look, which means he's right about the suitor.
"And so often it's a tragedy." Illyana's tone is a lazy, mocking sort of drawl but there's something beneath that. Like maybe she believes it a bit too much.
Certainly, most Hell Lords have a type. Ageless, powerful, prone to enjoying the suffering of others. Just because Illyana looks like a pretty young blonde doesn't mean much to beings with that kind of power. She gives a soft huff of amusement, shaking her head. "You latched on hard to that bit of banter, hmm? Hurting for company?" That's actually asked with less mocking than some of her other comments as she glances over to him. He gets another shake of her head as he says that yes, they're friends. Because she didn't try to kill him. "You've got a very low bar, Robbie." That is said perhaps a bit more gently.
Robbie looks at Illyana as she mockingly describes tragedy of life. "Yeah. Sucks to suc, right?" and yes, Robbie is definitely assuming that Illyana is dating or is married to some kind of evil alter-dimensional hell-lord whose idea of a good time is evisceration of pregnant women or something.
You know. Evil.
But When she asks him if he latched hard or if he's just hurting for company, Robbie shrugs. "Bored, really. Figured I might as well. Worst case scenario, you go back to Limbo and we go on with our lives." Robbie says slyly, and when she comments that he has a low bar, he shrugs.
"Street rats like me never set it too high."
As Robbie has that image firmly in mind, it would be hilarious really were he to ever meet Sam Guthrie, who is about as far from evil hell-lord as one gets. But the blonde isn't getting into her own social circles at the moment.
"Ahhh, boredom. Well do I know how that feels." Illyana chuckles. She's done a lot of things others consider odd to keep herself entertained. Wouldn't want her to stay bored long. Idle hands and all that. "What, you wouldn't be crushed by my rejection? Left a broken shell of a man without my smile…" She looks at him sidelong with that smirk that comes so easily to her lips.
She snorts softly at him. "Rats don't chase down dangerous demons." Because yes, there are non-dangerous demons, damnit! Kind of. "They cower in the shadows. You're not the cowering sort, from what I can tell." The stone set into one of her rings winks in the laplight. "And you set your bar too low, you'll start to think that's all you deserve."
Boredom. Root of all evil, aside from money. But Robbie seems to chuckle a little bit. "Can't be crushed by rejection if I'm not romantically involved. I know your type. You -always- have someone." When she reveals that he's no coward, but if he sets his bar too low, its all he'll believe he deserves.
Robbie pauses in his step, turning to look at her. "Do you really believe that anybody, in their right mind, would love a guy who made a deal with a spirit serial killer uncle to become a faux-Ghost Rider? I don't deserve anything. Doesn't matter what my reasons were." Robbie's self-esteem is pretty low. Makes sense though. Dude kills demons for a living for the sake of vengeance.
"Here we are." he tells her, and opens the door int othe restaurant for her.
Illyana Rasputina's eyes narrow as she lets Robbie speak and then he ends with them at the door. Her lips press into a line and then she reaches out to grab him by the jacket, pulling him off to the side a bit so they don't make as much of a scene as doing this in the doorway. She's strong for a woman her size, but not supernaturally so. If he resists enough she won't be able to move him.
"The worst rejection isn't romantic. And it sure as hell doesn't come from strangers. It comes from those that you care about. That are part of your life. You're right. I do have someone. He's been there since I was born and has proven he'll give *everything* to try to save me, no matter how much I tell him I'm a lost cause. If you don't have someone like that, then I feel sorry for you. Because you don't survive the fires of hell without someone like that to hold onto."
Illyana shoves Robbie's shoulder back a bit as she lets go of his jacket, her pale eyes the opposite of his. His burn hot. Hers are so cold they'll do the same. "Love doesn't come with stipulations. If it does, it's not love."
When Illyana reaches and grabs his jacket, Robbie lets the door close when she seems insistent on keeping her grip there. His eyes speak for itself. She might lose a hand, depending on her next action. But then she's trying to give him a pep talk on rejection and that he's worthy of love, as is everyone.
"Only person I have is my little brother. He's my reason. The only reason I'm still alive." he sold his soul to keep Gabe alive and to be revived himself. "Left school so he could attend, but its also my fault that he's a paraplegic." He doesn't elaborate on that.
When she finally releases him, he looks her sharply in her eyes. He's lived a pained life. Maybe not quite as pained as hers, but a pained one nonetheless. "If it happens, it'll happen."
While Robbie's glare might be enough to make hardened criminals flinch back, unless he's adding some supernatural oomph to it, there isn't a flicker of fear from the pretty little blonde with the angel's face and devil's eyes. She looks at him for a long, hard minute as he mentions his little brother, and finally tilts her head to the side a bit.
"But he doesn't know what you are, does he?" It's a guess, based on stuff that Robbie's said. "And you're afraid if he knows, that he'll change his mind. That he'll take back that love." Something Illyana is all too familiar with herself.
Finally, Illyana tilts her head to the restaurant's door. "C'mon. Sounds like you've been stuck in your own echochamber for a bit. Tell me about this deal you made."
Robbie looks her in the eyes. "No, he doesn't. I intend for it to stay that way. If he knew, he'd be in danger." Because then they could use Gabe as leverage, and Robbie would literally break down if that happened. Gabe is his world.
"To know the deal, you'll need to know what happened to make me make it." Robbie enters into the restaurant with her. They are sat in a booth, and drinks were asked. Robbie just ordered a water. When the waiter leaves after seeing what Illyana would like, he narrows his eyes.
"It was during a race. Car I grabbed from the shop I worked at apparently had some drugs in it. Planted by a group called the fifth street locos." he crosses his arms. "Gabe wanted to come with me so he could 'coach' me while I raced. The payday would've given me enough money to get us both out of that shit neighborhood." he takes a shaky breath.
This is clealry hard for him to talk about. but at least it gives her the chance to ask questions.
"Is he really in more danger not knowing? If he knew, then he'd know what to look out for. If your enemies find out about him, they'll use him if he knows or not." Illyana points out.
when Robbie says she'd need to know the beginning, she nods and follows him in. She orders tea to drink, stirring idly as she listens to his story. "Sounds like this wasn't a legal sort of race." She holds up a hand to forestall any objection or defense. "Just observing. I'm hardly one to care about human law much. I do like to know when I'm breaking it, though, so I know what the response might be." Subtle reminder, perhaps, that she's not just another pretty face.
"The group came looking for their drugs at the wrong moment?" The blonde surmises, sipping at her herbal tea with oddly impeccable manners for a demon queen. Belasco was big on tea time.
Robbie crosses his arms. Robbie narrows his eyes too. "Gabe is a child. He'd be traumatized beyond theraputic relief if he found out his brother was a deady demon hunter." Robbie takes a breath and he shrugs lightly.
"..no, not legal at all. So, I'm driving, on the way to the race. But then these guys come along, they corner me. They had lights on their cars, so I naturally think its the cops." He goes silent for a minute.
"It wasn't. I turn the corner, and machine gun fire ripple through the car. All I see is the afraid look in my brother's eyes. He was shot through the spine, the car flipped over. I was shot twice." He goes siletn for a second. "I was launched from the car. They shot me several more times just to be sure I was dead. And I was."
"A child hmm?" Illyana blows on the top of her tea, sending the scent of peppermint Robbie's way. Her manner is quiet and those pale eyes rest on him with eerie intensity. It might be nice, if they didn't seem so… empty. "And how old is he?
"Even with a job, you can't afford to live, hmm?" That's said with a quiet air of observation, finger taptapping against her cup.
Her finger goes still as he says he was dead. Her brows arch up a bit higher and she waits to hear the rest of that story. Because obviously, it didn't end.
Robbie smells the peppermint. "He's nine." Robbie tells her. "Almost ten." He shakes his head a little bit. "California isn't exactly the easiest place to make a living." He takes a breath before he continues onward. "Turns out, the car was possessed by the spirit of Eli Morrow. My uncle." he reveals. "He whispered to my soul before I could go to whatever the hell comes next after this, if anything. Asked me if I wanted revenge for my own death. If I wanted to punish those who hurt my brother…if I wanted a second chance."
He pauses.
"I said yes. I felt a breath go through me again. He even saved Gabe. But he also turned me into the Ghost Rider. I made the deal." he breathes. "The killers, the rapists, the gangbangers, the scum of the earth - if he poitned me in that direction, I would kill whoever was in my way. But no one else. So we became not quite a Spirit of Vengeance, but an all-new, all-different Ghost Rider."
Illyana Rasputina's smile is somewhat wan as Robbie tells her Gabe's age. "Maybe a bit too young." She agrees. Even if her own world was turned upside down younger than that. There's been many times when she's wished she could have had a normal childhood, so she won't argue to take that from him.
His comment about California gets a dry chuckle. "And New York is any better?" She points out. "But maybe I'm biased. It's not like I could manage to hold a job, so you're one up on me."
Setting the cup down with a soft *tink* as it hits the saucer, Illyana leans back, her attention all on Robbie. They look a bit of a pair with their black leather jackets in the nice little restaurant. "What does your uncle get out of this? Was restricting you to those already touch by darkness his call? Or yours?" She's fairly blase considering he's basically admitted to murder, but then she is a Hell Lord, right?
Robbie nods. "No kidding." he shakes his head then. "Just too young for this kind of life." then it seems as though he falls into another short silence when his uncle's motives is called into question. "He was a serial killer in life. Worked for and with a cult. He saw his chance in me to continue his grizzly work, just for a better reason." Robbie shakes his head. "Bit of both, really." he shakes his head for a small moment before he takes a breath.
"But thats my curse. One day, maybe I'll be free. But for right now, our souls are bound."
Illyana's head cants to the side a bit, and she looks thoughtful. Pondering the matter of Robbie's uncle. "So for him it's about the killing? Serial killers have a type, right? Was his other bad men?" There's a clinical sort of interest there that some would find unnerving. "Because it sounds like you set some of the terms of your damnation." Her lips quirk into a smirk that might be getting familiar. "That's more than most of us get."
As Robbie speaks of curses and souls, Illyana's fingertip *taptaptaps* against the table top. "Curses, souls, damnation… Those are all sort of in my wheelhouse. But I don't know that any freedom that I could offer would be better than the curse. First, because my magic is easily as black as your uncle's. And second…" She trails off for a bit. "It's likely all that's holding you here, given you died." And most aren't too keen on letting go a life regained.
"Sorry, for the moment, freeing me is impossible." Robbie shakes his head. "My soul and Eli's own are fused together. To destroy him, you'd need to destroy me. Which is next to impossible too, I think, thanks to being the Ghost Rider." Robbie sighs for a little bit.
"One day, I'll be free. Then I can live a normal life with Gabe. But until then…vengeance." Robbie says with a soft whisper.
"And, I don't know if Eli legitimately brought me back to life, or if its just him thats keeping me that way." He sighs a moment. "Chances are, if we separate, I won't be long for this life."
"Sounds like you've already had a talk with someone that's versed in the arts arcane, since you're so sure." Illyana notes, her tone perhaps a bit dry. "You're not just listening to the devil on your shoulder, are you?" Because if he's listening to Eli, well, she's betting that the spirit will say a lot of things to get Robbie to do what it wants.
Picking up her tea again, Illyana makes a dismissive gesture with one hand. "You've been marked by Life, Robbie Reyes. You're never going to live a normal life. Even if you were suddenly free of your Rider tomorrow. Once you've got the attention of Fate, as one of my friends might say, you'll never escape it." She sketches a small shrug by way of apology. "That just tends to be the way it goes."
"Bit of both." Robbie says in a serious tone. "Eli's a killer, but not a liar. I've talked to a few magic types, see my chances of freedom." He shakes his head. "Wasn't good."
Then she just talks to him. Normal is just what he wasn't cut out for. "Maybe. But there's no harm in trying. If you could be human again, would you take the chance?"
"Are you saying I'm not human anymore?" Illyana's smirking at him again and her tone says she doesn't really expect an answer on that question. She shakes her head. "Can't just throw something like that out there. It doesn't exist in a vacuum. If the bad man that started my story didn't take me, would he have taken some other little girl? One that bought what he was selling and danced the spiral into darkness? Would the bad guys plans I've helped to defat have succeeded if I wasn't who and what I am? That kind of question is a fool's game, Robbie Reyes."
"Alright, you make a point." Robbie crosses his arms as the waiter comes by just in time to ask for orders, or rather, if they were ready to order. With this in mind, Robbie orders a ribeye steak.
and of course, Illyana can order whatever she likes.
"I like to think the best. But I know there's a reason for why I'm here as I am. A second chance or maybe just a chance to do some good. But…" He shakes his head lightly. "If I can make abetter world for Gabe, then is worth it."
It being an Italian place, Illyana opts for the ravioli. The pair are fairly quiet while the server is there and the blonde will let Robbie spearhead the requisite polite chit-chat. The waiter wants to prove he's engaged and cares about them as people, after all. Which really, is commendable as the creepiness factor at this table is pretty high.
Pale blue eyes follow the waiter as he leaves before sliding back over to Robbie and chuckling. "Of course I do. I rule my own dimension. I have a legion that will tell you how I'm always right." Her tone though, is fairly self depreciating.
Illyana's demeanor sobers a bit as she pins him with that empty gaze. "Just be careful. It's easy to fall off that knife's edge you're walking. And then you won't just wear the mask of the monster. You'll be it."
Robbie doesn't seem to judge her food choices, and it also doesn't appear as thoug hthe waiter is going to judge them either way. But as she says ruefully that she has hordes of demons who tell her she's always right, that she's perfect, and she never makes mistakes? Well, Robbie understands how annoying and quickly exhausting that can get.
So, when she tells him to take care and caution not to fall off that knife, Robbie looks her in the eyes. "I lost the ability to tell the difference a while ago." Robbie shakes his head lightly. Clearly, he seems almost depressed at his situation.
"But the only thing I can do is make the best of it."
There's zero things wrong with Illyana's food choices! They're amazing. Just ask her demons. They'll tell ya.
More than it being exhausting and annoying, having all those yes-men can make it very easy to start to believe the press about yourself. Especially when a lot of it? Is pretty hard to argue.
When Robbie says he's lost the ability to tell the difference, she watches him for a long moment before leaning in, her tone dropping to a soft murmur. "And do you enjoy it, then? Their screams? Their terror? The light dying from their eyes? Do you have a taste for it, like your uncle did, hmm?"
Robbie looks at Illyana when she leans in and asks him in that soft tone. "Only the ones that truly deserve it. The serial killers. The gang members. Those are the ones I only enjoy. Otherwise, I take no pleasure in my actions." Robbie states clear as day to her, looking her in the eyes. She was in his personal space a little bit, but he doesn't mind.
He then lowers his eyes though, taking a breath. "Do you enjoy what you do?" He asks her then, not afraid of the answer, but only concerned that she might be more fucked up than he is.
Illyana Rasputina's mouth pulls down into a slight frown at that confession. Perhaps the Queen of Limbo does not approve. She doesn't say anything though. At least until he asks his question. And then her mouth quirks up a bit, amusement touching her features. "And what is it you think I do, Mr. Reyes?"
Certainly Illyana doesn't seem to be uncomfortable or uneasy at invading his personal space. And she's seen what he can be. Maybe she trusts the man not to hurt her. Or maybe she's cocky enough she doesn't think he *can* hurt her. Her casual manner doesn't give much away.
Robbie looks at Illyana, perhaps he said it just to see her reaction, or maybe he was telling the truth. However way this was cut, This was just not a good situation for Robbie. When asked about what he thinks she does, he shrugs.
"Ruler of your own dimension. I imagine more than a few souls find their way into your grasp. I mean, barely an hour in your realm and you took something from me." Robbie teases her lightly.
He didn't know what her job description was.
The sorceress chuckles at that, lifting her shoulder. "I do rule my own dimension. Which… mostly entails trying to keep anyone from taking it, and keeping the demons there in line. But Limbo's not that kind of Hell. No lost souls wandering in. At least, not *actual* souls. Just an endless sea of demons. I also keep an eye on a dimensional weakspot for WAND, and I do my version of Defense Against the Dark Arts." She waves her hand a bit in a dismissive manner. "It's a work in progress. Less me teaching and more me going 'don't be an idiot'."
A smirk follows when Robbie points out she took something from him. "Technically, I suppose." She extends one of her hands and the gem on one of her rings winks back at Robbie. Light and Hellfire. She lays her hand close enough he can get a good look at the jewelry there. There are other small faceted stones on some of her rings, all a deep red. A few rings are some sort of clear resin with some sort of thread spun through the center. "Is it really taking something if you're never going to miss it, though?"
Robbie smirks just a tad as he takes another bite of his food before he notices that ring she wears all while she explains her duties on her Limbo plane. But while he looks at that ring, Robbie narrows his eyes a bit. "If it was mine, and it isn't in my possession, doesn't matter if I'll miss it or not." Robbie says with narrowed eyes.
"So then, what does that trinket do?"
Illyana Rasputina just gives Robbie one of those amused smirks when he says it doesn't matter if he'll miss it. She leans in towards him a bit again, close enough he can pick up the scent of smoke and cloves about her. "You know what the best part about ruling your own dimension is? Deciding what the rules are." Then she leans back away from him, still smirking. And not giving that little bauble back, either.
"As to what it does?" She lifts her shoulders in a shrug. "Nothing, on its own. But it let me send you back home, and not just drop you down anywhere on Earth. I'm partial to Siberia, by the way. It also makes it easier for me to just drop in on you. Like when I get obscure invitations."
Illyana reaches for his hand then, a pen appearing in her hand, and she writes down the ten digits that are likely a phone number on his palm. It's a New York area code, no less. "But next time, try calling, hmm? You wouldn't want me to go skin the messenger if I don't like the message."
Patting his hand, she gets up to her feet, her food cleaned away. "Thanks for dinner." She gives him a wink and then a stepping disk steals her away in a flash. He *was* paying, right?