aterat | Lets Make a Deal

Who; Illyana || OTA
What; Crystals!
Where; City | Network | anywhere??
When; Any point during event
Warnings; Will update if any come up.

A. OTA | City in the evening/night

To say that Illyana was unhappy about the current situation was almost the understatement of the century. The worst part was that she wasn't even sure what she found more irritating: the idea of her own memories being out there for someone to find or being forced to see the memories of other people. Both had their own set of problems that ultimately led to her disappearing to her own dimension far more often than not lately. Which was starting to lead to it's own unique Limbo-centric problems. Perhaps there was something to be said for it being a bad idea to just hide away from complicated emotions.

Perhaps.

Or perhaps not. It still seemed like the most viable option to her. Unfortunately, she had to come back eventually. That didn't mean she had to seek out people though. In fact, she was practically going out of her way to try to avoid them. She wasn't alone though, a few of her imps were there with her.

"If you find any crystal with a memory of mine, bring it back at once," she said sharply to one. "And if I find out you looked too long at one it'll be recorder concert for eternity. No breaks." With that she pulled the hood of her coat up and went back towards her own building.

B. Network | Audio

[ Illyana's voice is curt and cuts right to the point without any pause. ] If you find a crystal that has anything to do with me, I'll send an imp to retrieve it. Look at it too much at your own peril. I can tell you the last person to peer into my memories found herself regretting it. [ Does she sound...proud of that...? Maybe. It was kind of funny. ]

People only see things if I want them to. That is how this works. [ And how dare this place not respect that she's a sorceress supreme. It's just rude. ] What's the point of being
a sorceress supreme of a realm if you don't have perks and protections? [ There is no point really. It's pretty awful in general. ]

I'll gladly return any I found to their owners and we can all agree it did not happen. Isn't that a generous and fair deal?

C. Other

Anything specific you'd like to do? Feel free to do it! I'm game for anything.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

And he was happy to drop the subject.

"Yeah." Jacob scratched the back of his head remembering past conversations with his sister. "That's probably why I tend to avoid it. Seeing someone else's reaction makes me feel like I'm not reacting enough." It was strange and impossible to explain but he was selfishly happy that he found someone who understood.

"Who knew we had something in common." He snickered as if it had been an unexpected development. "If you need someone who gets it, let me know and-" He shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "I hope I can do the same. It's hard to find someone to talk to about this stuff."

He might never talk to her about this after this moment but it was always nice to have the option.

"I understand. It's why I often avoid most people. Back home I used to retreat to Limbo, it was...easier there. In a strange way." It shouldn't be easier in a hell dimension, but she'd known that place so well and for so long. "My brother would often get frustrated with how often I escaped to it." It'd be more accurate to say with how often she fled to it, but nobody needed accuracy here.

"Pixie asked me if the return of my soul meant I was a real girl now," she shrugged. She really wasn't sure if it did or not. There was some hesitation in her speech that was a bit uncharacteristic. Mostly it came from speaking of the purple haired girl whose soul she'd stolen. There was no point in hiding the bit of shame she felt in regards to that situation. It wasn't as though she could change it and truth be told, even if she could change it, she wouldn't. It had gotten her what she'd needed. "I told her I would at least pretend. I have done a poor job of pretending."

It was even more strange that she offered so much about herself just then and she even looked slightly surprised by it. He'd offered but it still felt weird.

"I just tried to be alone. I didn't really have anywhere to escape to. At least nowhere I couldn't be followed." He would have liked the escape but his life didn't make that easy. He always had someone who cared about him and needed to know where he was. It was flattering but also inconvenient.

Jacob stepped forward and lightly tapped his knuckles against her shoulder. "Soul or not, you feel real to me." He grinned, knowing that he was being cheeky and purposely misunderstanding her statement.

"But yeah, I've found that pretending takes practice. Only disastrous things happen over night." At least that has been his experience.

"Unlucky for you." Her lips quirked upwards for a second in a smirk. Limbo was the only place that people usually couldn't follow her. In fact sometimes she took great offense to people entering into it without her knowledge.

She tensed at his touch despite how brief it was and shook her head. "How does real even feel?" It wasn't a genuine question.

"Maybe you could teach me."

"Me, teach?" Jacob grinned. "It would be easier with a TV and a whole mess of Disney movies." He wasn't kidding either. A lot of his efforts came from watching various happy movies with his sister. He didn't want to tell her that he wasn't interested when she was going out of her way to try and spend time with him.

"The biggest thing is just to try and think about how someone else feels. Even if it's not something you can understand. It's pretty obvious when someone's happy, right? So when they aren't that, just ask what's wrong. Pretend to listen and repeat things they say back in your response to make them think they have your attention." He sounded like an ass when he said it all out loud but they were the methods he used when he was first trying to interact with people again.

"I'm not sure if I'm prepared for that kind of torture," she said with a strange laugh that was almost a cackle. Sometimes she really didn't go all the way with the stereotype. For a few seconds she fell completely silent as she debated if she wanted to ask her question or not.

"That seems simple enough. It's mostly what I try to do. Sometimes I throw out something shocking that distracts them completely from the entire conversation. It makes it easier to put them on edge." That definitely seemed like a shitty way to go about things. "What about when they're happy? Or when they express concern for you."

Jacob wouldn't deny the torture that was supplied by the Disney corporation. Luckily there weren't such garish movies in a city with such limited technology.

He next question was difficult. He thought that he felt happy from time to time but it was more like a sense of relief and a lack of paranoia. It was hard to tell if it was happiness when he couldn't remember a basis of comparison. "For me, I think of happy as feeling safe. If you feel that way you just do want you want." Jacob enjoyed making Yuki blush because he finds it cute or just forgetting about all of the annoying things that collect at the back of the mind. "If it's someone who's accepted you. I don't think you need to act anymore. Just be you because I think that matters more. Even if you are a horrible person."

Jacob didn't always follow this advice but he hoped one day that he'd be able to completely be himself around others. "If they're concerned, just accept it. Whatever you feel or not. Even if you can't understand it. Accept that they care and thank them." He shrugged. "It's a compliment. If someone cares enough."

"Safe..." she shook her head. "I cannot remember feeling safe." Perhaps when she was younger and had been with Piotr she had felt that way. That felt like an eternity ago though and in some ways it was. Time travel had the effect of messing with ones perception of time itself. "Some would say a terrible person doesn't deserve to feel safe." Especially if said terrible person had taken the safety of others. Which was the implication that she let linger in the air for a few seconds before she spoke again.

"Have you found someone like that?" There was a strange tilt of curiosity to her tone with the question. One that even almost surprised her. "Only an idiot would care enough to ignore terrible things because they cared."

Jacob shrugged. "I don't really care what some people say." It took his distant childhood memories to recall that feeling of safety and while its never an exact replica of the feeling, it's close enough to ease Jacob's worry. Memories were rarely accurate and so Jacob relied on his perception. It was the closest thing to truth that he knew.

"Maybe." He grinned a bit. "I'm getting there."

"Maybe, hm?" she shook her head. "Perhaps I will get there someday." Probably not.

"Fingers crossed." Jacob whispered, more to himself than Illyana.

"If you want company in your isolation let me know. I'll be collecting and attempting to destroy any crystals I find." He didn't think that Illyana was one for long goodbyes, so he lifted his hand in a friendly wave before turning and slowly walking back the way he'd come.

Lets Make a Deal

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