aterat | Spare the Sympathy

Entry tags:

Spare the Sympathy

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"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?"

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."

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?"

"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?"

"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."

"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?

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."

"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?"

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?"

"Not yours. Nobody wants to see a grown man cry," she smirked and flicked a stray strand of hair out of her face. Perhaps she was a bit too amused at her own joke, but hey, someone had to be amused right?

"I could teach you if you think you have the skills. Though...what do you wish to learn? White or black?"

"That hurts, love." It was said in jest. He could take a lot more punishment than people tended to give him credit for, but he didn't want to press his luck with Illyana. He got the impression she could be very creative.

Her question gave him pause, though. "I...don't know. I don't think I know enough about either to decide."

"And you prove my point so quickly," she said with a wicked little grin. He seemed so very easy to tease that she really couldn't help herself. Though perhaps it was a bit wrong of her to take the low hanging fruit so often.

"Tsk, tsk," she made a clicking sound with her tongue and shook her head. "Wouldn't that be the logical place to begin with if you're really interested in learning?"

He shook his head, smiling, but moved on. He was actually interested in learning, and learning the difference between the two was, in fact, a very good place to start.

"Yeah, okay. So, what's the difference between the white and the black?"

"One's white and one's black," she said with a smirk and a roll of her shoulders. "I suppose you want more specifics than that though, hmm?" Where to start then...where to start? Maybe...a bit more teasing...

"What will you offer in exchange for information then?" Or was that potentially flirting? Maybe that was almost where she was going with that, not that she'd have realized it herself.

His face, on the other hand, was deadpan. "Yeah, specifics would be great, love."

He crossed his arms, smirking slightly at the implications even though, limited experience not withstanding, he got the impression she didn't mean it that way, or at least she didn't mean it that way seriously.

"An attentive student who will do his best to only mention how intimidating this all makes you no more than once a session."

"What if I want to be seen as intimidating?" She tilted her head with a strangely twisted smile. "Make it at least three times." Though she did actually just start into a more detailed explanation despite her terms. Perhaps she just assumed her conditions would be met.

"White magic is healing and defensive magic. It is tied directly to your soul and the purity of it. Though purity can be achieved through a number of different ways, from training to just being...innocent." The word held a slight question in it and just the slightest hint of sadness. It passed quickly enough, though that was mostly due to her forcing herself to hide the sadness.

"Black magi is much more powerful but comes with much more sacrifice. Sometimes quite literally. You use sacrifices, pacts with demons, cursed items, or just your own corruption to wield it."

"I am most certain you do, but I don't mind." He smirked in response. "Does that count as one?"

He didn't respond immediately, looking thoughtful as he mulled over the information she'd provided. White magic sounded like the safer of the two, and was probably a good place to start.

"Corruption? How so?" That didn't mean he wasn't curious.

"No, I'm not going to make it that easy for you." And that would be much too easy for her own liking. There was absolutely no fun in it.

"Those who are tainted already have a natural strength in black magic," she said with a smile. "All it takes is a little piece of piece of your soul to be able to tap into it."

"I never would have expected you to." and for some reason, he liked that.

He frowned. "Sounds like a slippery slope."

"Oh, you're no fun," she said with smirk. "There isn't always a choice in it though." There was a weighty almost ominous tone to her statement but she offered absolutely nothing more to accompany it.

"You would be regulated to using items. Unless you wanted to make a deal with me." She was kidding. Mostly.

"I am thoroughly boring, love. You're right." He was still smiling, getting genuine enjoyment out of their verbal teasing. It was one of the reasons he enjoyed spending time with her, after all. She was a challenge in many ways, and he'd never been able to walk away from one, whether it was a puzzle or a particularly difficult person.

Illyana was a little bit of both, wrapped around a core of vulnerability which among other things, made him want to protect her. The more he got to know her, the more he understood her brother and his desire to deny what had happened to her, to preserve her innocence. There was something slightly innocent about her, and that thought actually brought a question to mind.

"I think I'll skip the deals, love. I could use artifacts." It sounded sinister just voicing it. "Do you do white magic?" Could she?

"It's less fun when you just acknowledge it," she said with a huff. It just ruined the entire entertainment of it all. But he knew that, she was certain there. He probably liked ruining it.

"Unfortunate. A deal might have ben entertaining." For her. Probably not so much for him. "Though the last person to make one regretted it." It was something she regretted and something that brought her a lot of shame. Naturally that meant it was something she needed to be cryptic and sarcastic about. Everyone had defense mechanism.

"Of course." She almost seemed offended at the question. "I was trained in both kinds by two different teachers."

"Maybe it's less fun for you." He, however, continued to smile, proving it was most definitely that he enjoyed ruining it. More than anything, though, he liked seeing through that cold veneer of hers.

"I don't think that's something you'd do to someone now." Not since her soul was restored. He got the impression she cared a lot more than she let on.

He raised his hands in defense. "Yeah, okay, love. I didn't mean any by it."

She quirked an eyebrow and gave a little smirk in return. "You do have bite." Of course the possessed version of him had shown her he had bite once long ago. That was a situation she rarely allowed herself to think on though. It invoked too many complicated feelings that seemed much easier to just ignore.

Deep down she liked to think he was right about that, that she would never take something like that from someone ever again. The problem was she'd have thought that in the first place. She'd known what it was like to lose pieces of herself, but she'd done it anyway. It probably wasn't fair to herself to just ignore the fact that she had no soul at all when she'd done it. Life wasn't fair though. That was a lesson she'd learn far too early to just forget about now. After a second of silence she just shook her head and chose to not respond to the comment at all.

"It seemed like you meant something." Picking a fight seemed like the easier road to go down.

"I get I don't know you that well, but I think I know you well enough to know you wouldn't force that on someone now." Should he continue the conversation? Probably not, but that didn't stop him. She'd asked, after all.

"Not with your soul, I mean. You know what it's like."

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