Spare the Sympathy

[soulsword]

Who; Illyana + OTA!
What; November open log, feel free to pick a day or if you'd like a different topic I can make something else too!
Where; Outside the red building (or inside if you'd like), cemetery/outside the cemetery, or the market. Or
When; Anytime during November, feel free to pick a day
Warnings;None so far




A. Red Building Cooking Disaster

It wasn't that Illyana had never cooked before. No, that was not the case at all. There had been plenty of times where she had been on her own in the demonic wilds left to fend for herself. The meals she made there weren't exactly things someone would call glamourous, in fact a lot of people would probably be vaguely creeped out by what she'd made. Tentacle skewers probably weren't a normal meal for normal people. Normal was something she'd never been though. It was different here though and not just because there weren't tentacles to easily find to skewer. That didn't mean she couldn't learn some new things though, and that was exactly what she was trying.

Trying was the key word here. In Limbo she'd studied nonstop to learn as much about magic as she could. There was no shortage of books either and even now she often returned to the library to learn more. Spellbooks seemed easy compared to this shit though and she found herself...well...struggling to say the least. The kind of struggling that involved accidentally setting the bacon on fire. Actual fire. Which she reacted to by teleporting out of the kitchen with a slurry of Russian curses.

And that was the scene anyone walking by the red building would see. A blonde woman wearing an oversized sweater holding a frying pan on fire while cursing in Russian. It was definitely...a scene.

B. I'll Cast a Spell On You

Was a cemetery really a place someone should just hang out? No. Was it a place Illyana went to occasionally to hang out? Yes. It seemed like about as good of a place as any for some evening spell practice. There was a low chance of running into anyone, or at least that's what she told herself. Who would willingly walk by the cemetery as night was coming? Spooky creepy places should be free of pests that might show up to interrupt.

Or at least one would think they would be. Unfortunately for Illyana she had constant pests that appeared here and there to question what she was doing. Imps. It was always the imps that seemed to congregate around her even as she tried to set up for a spell.

"What are you doing?" one of them said while jumping around her leg, picking up the athame she had laid down on a cloth.

"Shoo," she waved a hand. "Put that down and return to Limbo right now."

It bashfully put it down and then held it's head sadly. "We could help! Get you things! Get you things!" Another chanted.

"No. Remember the last time you helped?" she asked sharply as she light another candle that smelled of sulfur and perhaps...primrose? It was primrose, but a subtle scent of it. Truth was what she was after and that happened to be a perfect flower for that. Or so she'd read once upon a time.

She sighed as the imps continued to get louder and more rambunctious as she tried to prepare for what she wanted to do. This was going to be a long evening, wasn't it?

C. A New Frying Pan

The market was the destination of the day. Mostly to replace the frying pan she'd kind of just eventually chucked into a portal into Limbo. It'd seemed like a solid solution to her problem at the time. But then she'd run into the problem of not having a frying pan. Which meant a trip to the market, which inevitably lead to a few imps dancing around after her. She'd fully embraced dressing for winter and even had the hood pulled up to hide her scowl.

"Why do you all keep following me?" she muttered under her breath with frustration as one jumped up onto a market stall and picked up a frying pan to show her and then it just started to walk off with it, much to the dismay of the clerk. She quickly pulled out a few coins to pay for the pan.

"You have my apologies," she said quickly as she ran after the imp shouting a slew of demonic curses towards it. Maybe shouting in a demonic tongue wasn't the best mood, but she'd lost her temper now.

Comments

B. I'll Cast a Spell on You

[asthecroweflies]

No, the cemetery wasn't the best place for anyone to be, and honestly, he'd only been passing by, taking a shortcut from the harbor district (another place someone with no means of self-defense shouldn't be) to the residences. He'd had his ear to the ground and his eyes on the look out for more plants since the whole issue, especially since the people who put it there seemed to have some beef with them. It was annoying being psychic most of the time, but when he did read things from objects, he always found he could get more than vague emotional imprints most of the time. If he strained, he could see them working, but nothing that was definitive, at least not yet. He hadn't taken a look at the feather.

He was thinking over his next investigative mood when voices from beyond the cemetery gate caught his attention. Illyana he recognized, and winced at the idea of walking in on her after so long apart. She'd made it pretty clear what should thought of their relationship regardless, and maybe getting wrapped up with a woman who could summon demons from a hell dimension or dump you in the ocean when she was upset with you wasn't such a great idea, but then he'd remember her smile, or even the condescending way she toyed with him and realize he'd miss her if he didn't talk to her anymore. Maybe she felt the same way. It wasn't as though he had a lot of experience with women.

He moved through the entrance to the cemetery cautiously, but it became obvious pretty quickly she was too preoccupied with her imps to notice his approach. Watching them for a moment, it became pretty obvious how little control she'd really had over what they'd done when she'd summoned them as a joke. What a bunch of little jerks.

He agreed with the one, though. He leaned against a crypt, arms crossed, watching for a moment before making his presence known by breaking the silence.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?"

[soulsword]

"Ohhh a person!" a few of the imps chanted and moved to him when they approached. "Human! Interrupting! Definitely interrupting." They chanted between each other while dancing around him. Illyana heaved an exasperated sigh as she rubbed her temples. Under her breath she muttered a few words in a guttural language that seemed to have a strange echo to it. At the words the imps suddenly stopped their dancing and just stood still, silently staring up at him.

"Yes," she said in a more curt voice than she'd intended. Of course one of the imps had to add something.

"We're finding truth feeling!" Whatever that meant. She glared down at him. "We could get the hawk heart you forgot mistress!!" It seemed like a desperate attempt to make up for what they'd said that Illyana only met with a colder glare.

"Shush before I use your tongue instead." She sighed again and turned her attention to Jag. "No, you're not interrupting anything." Time to try to recover with something that obviously wasn't the truth. "Just ignore them. Perhaps they'll finally go away."

[asthecroweflies]

"Yes, I'm interrupting, but no, I'm not." He did think better of directly addressing the imps. They were only under Illyana's control, and even that seemed to be only the vaguest sort of order. He got the distinct impression nothing he told them to do would even be entertained as possible, let alone even half followed.

"What's the hawk heart for in this thing I'm not interrupting?" He knew next to nothing about magic, though he'd read about rituals before. He'd never actually seen one performed.

[soulsword]

"You're not interrupting." Okay, maybe he was. Clearly he was. That didn't mean she was going to admit it. Especially not when the spell she wanted to cast was something to reveal the truth in her own feelings. There was no way she was going to admit that she was trying to use magic to help her figure out what she was feeling in regards to him. Of all the people to walk across it had to be him.

"It was for nothing. They don't know what they're talking about." The imps threw their arms up in protest but wisely chose not to say anything. At least they could actually tell when their mistress's patience for them was starting to wane. "Would you really trust imps to get a ritual right?" In unison they all turned to him with hopeful eyes. Maybe he'd actually say he would!

[asthecroweflies]

"Considering how well I've seen you control them, I wouldn't trust them to fetch the paper." He glanced at one of them before looking back to her. He wasn't exactly an empath, but he could read people okay, and she seemed annoyed. That could just be that her minions were annoying, though.

"A spell for nothing, eh? That's what this all is, right? A spell?"

[soulsword]

The shock on the imps face was more than apparent and they chose to scurry off in a huff at that. They were lingering, somewhere in the shadows, but for now at least they were silent.

"I need to bring you around them more often. I've never seen someone offend them so fast," she said with a little smirk. "Imps are always difficult to control. I could choose more...forceful ways to keep them under control, but..." she shrugged, not wanting to admit the real reason to anyone at all. There was no chance she was ever going to admit that she didn't want to be a complete tyrant to them.

"Several spells, but nothing too important."

[asthecroweflies]

He smirked in response to her own, and chuckled. "I guess I've got a talent for offense if I can offend demons." He didn't ask why she wasn't too severe with them, having an idea already. Illyana wasn't nearly as horrible as she pretended to be. She'd just seen so much and lived through even more that she had difficulty admitting it.

He didn't try to hide his curiosity, though, raising his chin with interest. "Weird, I know, but...anything I can give you a hand with?"

[soulsword]

"I suppose everyone has a talent. It's good you found yours," she said with a tone that feigned praise. She could have admitted that the imps were easily offended but there really was no reason to let him know that. It was more fun this way and they certainly needed to have a bit of fun.

She let out a chuckle at his question. "You think I need help me with my spells? Should I be the offended one now?"

[asthecroweflies]

"I'll wear it with pride." He wasn't completely serious, of course, and he offered the retort with a smirk even as he shook his head.

"I'd never suggest you need a hand with magic, love. I don't have a death wish, I was just saying I happen to have two if you could use one."

[soulsword]

"I imagine you would," she said with a completely serious tone. Her best attempts at playful teasing usually came out rather dry. Or sinister. At least this didn't come out sinister. Clearly, she was making progress.

"You talk to me quite often. Are you certain you don't have a death wish?" In truth she would bet that he did with how often he seemed to seek her out. "Do you want to learn magic?

[asthecroweflies]

He considered it to his credit that he was beginning to develop a grasp on when she was being serious. Most of the time, it was a lot more malicious. The tone she was using was almost playful. Almost.

He laughed. "Okay, point, but...I don't know, maybe? Seems like it might be a good investment, considering the place."

[soulsword]

"Maybe you have a death wish? I would say it leans more towards certainly." Her expression stayed about as neutral as one could imagine. Of course she understood he was talking about learning magic, but this was more amusing. Much more.

She tilted her head curiously. "Do you think you could learn it? Are you a good student?"

[asthecroweflies]

He smiled. He was beginning to learn while Illyana was fully capable of being a savage tyrant, and she did rule over the Hell dimension, that wasn't who she was, or who she wanted to be. More than anything, deep down, he was pretty sure Illyana Rasputina wanted to be normal. He could relate.

"That depends, love. Do you rap knuckles with rulers?"

C!

[gadaboutdetective]

Llewellyn was also… in the market for a new frying pan. As someone who was trying to get better at cooking, he’d ruined more than a few in frying pans in his day… And he was hoping to replace the latest before Rhy got home, because eventually they’d have need of it again and it would be an inconvenience to not have another ready in its place.

… And he really didn’t want to let on to how close he’d been to setting the apartment on fire. Even if the smell alone might’ve been enough of a clue to that.

He was turning one over in his hands, musing over its purchase, when one of Illyana’s imps picked up another pan and proceeded to walk off with it. “Hm…” He raised a brow, expression somewhat comical as he watched the exchange. It wasn’t hard to remember her imps mischief from earlier in the year. They definitely seemed intent on keeping the woman on her toes. Handing over a few coins himself to the merchant to cover the cost of his pan.

It wasn’t just Llewellyn who’d noticed the imps, either. Pretzel, having been sitting at the detective’s heels, had too. The imps, after all, were a new thing for the dog. His ears perking as he darted after… Tugging Llewellyn behind with a start. “Uh- whoa, bud! Not everyone wants to be your friend!” He mumbled more to himself as he tried to stop their hurried pace to catch up to Illyana and her companions.

[soulsword]

Imps were naturally easily frightened. It came from being so small in a hell dimension with things that were decidedly not small. Thus, to the imps, even Pretzel was a bit terrifying. They jumped at the dog as he started coming towards them and in a rush they all congregated quickly behind their mistress. Their mistress who had an even bigger frown on her face from that than from anything they'd previously done.

"Really? How have you all lasted in Limbo like this? I really have been too soft on you," she shook her head as one made an attempt to at least pretend to be brave. Pretending consisted of taking a few wobbly steps towards the dog monster. It was clearly a monster.

"Fluffy demon!" it chanted. The others echoed it along with a few choice words in some demonic language. Maybe they were trying to curse the dog? Whatever it was Illyana put a stop to it with a wave of her hand and a muttering of her own.

"It's time to play the silent game." Not that there was a choice. Her spell rendered them speechless for the time being. She looked down at the dog, then at Llewellyn, then back at the dog.

"You're scaring my imps."

[gadaboutdetective]

"You're collecting names, bud. This one is fitting if you don't settle." He commented, catching up in time to hear the slightly braver demon begin chanting the (frankly) amusing name at his dog. The idea of them cursing the pup hadn't crossed his mind, of course, though perhaps it should have...

Meanwhile, Pretzel was wiggling rather excitedly, nose snuffling as he tried to edge closer to the imps to greet them as though they were 'new friends.' Weird little hound, really. This had happened in the last world as well a few times with several creatures, all with varying results.

Once the chanting had stopped, and Llewellyn managed to scoop the dog up, he gave Illyana a rather awkward looking, apologetic smile. "I apologize for that. He doesn't uh- seem to understand that not everyone wants to be friends. I promise, he doesn't mean harm... But we're working on his training, it's just a bit hit and miss on if it sticks."

[soulsword]

One of the imps tried to say something, but no sound came out of it's mouth. Naturally, this meant that it had to find another way to express it's displeasure with the fluffy demon. This of course meant attempting to throw a random item at the poor dog. At least the random item was just a tomato. Illyana tossed a quick glare at the imps direction and then tossed a few coins towards the vendor to pay for the stolen tomato.

"This trip is becoming much more expensive than it needed to be." Her tone was more tired than frustrated. They really did feel like they had to follow her everywhere anymore, didn't they?

"I know it doesn't mean harm, but they don't," she said with a shrug. She tilted her head and gave a slow little smirk. "It would appear it's mostly not sticking."

[gadaboutdetective]

Pretzel seemed to think the imp was just tossing him a snack, and happily began tearing into the tomato… Llewellyn rose a brow at that, but at least it was occupying the creature for a moment and giving the imps a small break. Not that it would help the creature understand they didn’t like him. Food was a positive in the dog’s book. He winced awkwardly though at her comment, “Er- if they try that again, I’ll pay for the next one. It is kind of my fault… after all.” He shrugged lightly before adjusting his hold on the leash so the hound couldn’t get any closer.

“No, I suppose not. His endeavors in the past were rather hit and miss in the last world too.” Llewellyn shook his head a little, expression turning a little sheepish at her words. “Ah, nope. Some things are coming easily to him, other things are not so much… But! I will attempt to keep him from pestering your imps in future should I notice them first.” And even after, though sometimes, it was hard to keep the dog from dragging him around.

[soulsword]

"It's rare for someone to take responsibility for things they're at fault for," she said with a little quirk of her lips. Truth be told she knew it wasn't really his fault. It was the imps for being...well...imps. Even if Pretzel hadn't startled them they'd have gotten into some mischief of some kind. But, if he wanted to take the blame, she wasn't going to stop him.

"At least it makes it easy to see whose in charge," and it definitely wasn't Llewellyn. "It's best to ignore them to be honest. They shouldn't even be running around out here. Feel free to allow your dog to eat one if he wants."

[gadaboutdetective]

“I suppose it is… But I think it’s important to take responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions.” He responded with a small shrug. At least this was just poor control of an over-excited dog and some produce instead of something more serious. Even if it wasn’t entirely his fault? The detective had a history of feeling responsible for, or trying to take the blame for, things that he shouldn’t have.

Llewellyn had to wince a little at her comment, “Uh… I suppose you're right. We’re trying to work on that… Though, he does listen to Rhy a little better.” Little fuzzy brat...

“Shouldn’t be running around out here?” He tilted his head a little at the imps again, a small grin crossing his face. “They seem to think otherwise.” The detective’s brows rose almost comically high, though, at the suggestion that Pretzel was welcome to eat an imp if he wanted, “Uh… Well, I don’t think he wants to eat one so much as become acquainted with them.” It was probably their scent, honestly. It wasn’t something the pup was accustomed to. Besides that, Pretzel ate pretty darn well for a dog, spoiled with treats and begging scraps from his fathers easily enough.

[soulsword]

"How wise of you." Her tone left it up for interpretation on if it was actually a compliment or not. Which probably wasn't that surprising given the way Illyana usually spoke. It was always a tossup if she was being complimentary, mocking, or somewhere in-between.

"That should tell you something in itself," she said with a quick flash of a grin. Clearly, Llewellyn needed to work on showing his dominate side so that the dog respected him more.

"They can barely think," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. She tilted her head and shrugged. "How disappointing. Having one devoured would teach them a real lesson."

[gadaboutdetective]

Llewellyn’s brow rose a little, pausing for a moment as he clearly tried to work out if it were a compliment or sarcasm… Sometimes Illyana reminded him of a friend from his world with a penchant for doing the same, and he was never quite sure with her either. “Mm… Not many would call me wise… I wouldn’t call me wise- So, I’ll presume that was meant to be a light witticism.” He finally decided with a small, awkward shrug.

Glancing down at Pretzel, he let out a clumsy laugh. “I suppose it does say something about whom he likes better. Mm… And that I’m not as good at getting my point across him as I should. Though I’ve… been learning as I go, to be honest.” To be fair, Llewellyn did try to follow basic training rules when it came to trying to get Pretzel to behave. It was just that the dog was very strong willed himself, and admittedly this world was very different from the last. There were a lot more creatures to see and scents to smell that he’d never been exposed to before. It was all very exciting for the pup.

“Mm… Lots of people barely think, doesn’t mean they can’t.” He responded with a slightly amused quirk of his brow. Still, he’s not sure what to make of the imps. Maybe they just as apt to choose to ignore commands as Pretzel, or perhaps they were as incapable of thought as Illyana said. Still, he isn’t fond of the idea of Pretzel eating one. Seemed bad for digestion, and a bit horrific as mental images went. “I suppose you’ll have to come up with another lesson then, the only one he may be interested in teaching is chasing them around if he thinks they’re playing a game with him.”

[soulsword]

"No interpretation is invalid. Isn't that what people say?" she said replied with a little smirk. She tilted her head. "Not who he likes better, but rather who he respects more. He probably likes you more. The parent that lets them get away with things is always the preferred one." Was that meant to be encouraging? Mocking? Personally, she would call it teasing. Though, some might say teasing was just the polite way to say mocking.

"What a depressing thought. That would mean they choose to not think. Maybe that explains Rockslide's behavior. Or maybe he just has rocks for brains." Either could be the case there. Though it seemed like a lot of people simply chose to not think and just do things. "I would say I might want them to learn that lesson, but I'm certain that happens to them enough in Limbo." Which might be one of the reasons she allows them to follow her around. It keeps them safe and maybe she actually cared a bit about them. Maybe.

[gadaboutdetective]

“Ha...” Escaped at her teasing or polite mocking, as he looked down at Pretzel, “That it, bud? You respect Rhy more than me?” He asked, slightly amused, because he definitely respected his husband more than himself too. That seemed fairly smart of the canine. So mocking or encouraging, Llewellyn was somewhat amused. “Here I’ve always told Rhy what we ought to avoid doing, but perhaps I’ve been the softer mark for those wrinkles.”

“Sad but always possible, which I’m not sure what you could do about if it’s a choice.” He responded with a small tilt of his head. “I can’t speak on this Rockslide’s behavior though.” He added with a little wrinkle of his brow. Who knew who that was. Someone from another world, presumably… It was an odd, interesting name though… Who named their kid ‘Rockslide?’

“Lots to chase them around in limbo, I presume?” He raised a brow, having heard her mention the place once or twice. Llewellyn rather wondered if that was why they were so eager to follow her around here, and to ‘help’ to prove they should stay.

[soulsword]

"I have a friend who could speak to him to give you a direct answer to that. She could communicate with him. Though..." she tilted her head. "I believe we know the answer without actual communication." It was said in jest but she couldn't help but think that there was probably some truth to the entire situation. It seemed as though at least one of them must baby the dog.

"Leave them to their own devices," she said with a simple shrug. "Nobody can speak for a Rocks' behavior." Maybe that was a bit mean, but it wasn't like he was here, or that she would have cared even if he had been here.

"Many things. They are the smallest creatures in Limbo and certainly the least powerful. And power is all that matters there."