Piotr, Amanda - Friday afternoon
Jul. 16th, 2004 02:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAmanda drops by the art room to collect something and finds Piotr there painting. They talk, and things are going quite well until the subject of Illyana comes up. Amanda tells Piotr some of her fears regarding just what might have happened in Limbo, and Piotr is determined to help his little Snowflake.
It had been ages since he last painted, not since January probably. He didn't want to be a pain and practice on Paige so he decided to spend some time in the Art room testing out his oil paints and get used to controlling his brush strokes. He turned on a little Brazilian Jazz he picked up at Borders his last trip and settled himself next to a canvas and experimented.
With the Europe trip and everything else that had happened immediately afterwards, Amanda hadn't had a chance to pick up her art work from the previous term. She wanted in particular the poster she'd made for "Art as Propaganda" - the photomanipulated picture of the Professor as Uncle Sam would do nicely on the wall above her desk. So, having no other particular demands on her time, she took herself down to the Art room. It was only when she opened the door that she realised the room already had an occupant. She paused as Piotr looked up from his work. "Um, hey," she said, a little awkwardly - she'd almost forgotten the Pillock was back,
he'd been so quiet since his return.
"Oh, hello Amanda," Piotr smiled. He hadn't seen Amanda since he returned. He remembered back to the beginning of the year when they had their 'argument', but he didn't care. That was in the past. "Can I help you?"
"Just pickin' up some of me work from last term," she said, casually. If he was going to be her teacher again, it was probably best to try and get along. Especially if Marie-Ange wasn't going to be there and Jubilee was. "Logan left in a bit of a hurry, didn't have time t' get it back t' us beforehand, an' then I was away meself."
"Yes, I heard Logan took my place for the rest of the term. How was he as a teacher? I bet we had very different methods..." Piotr paused a mused for a moment. The image of Logan with a paint brush alone almost made him crack-up. He kept envisioning feral images and violent brush strokes. This all faded quickly as he caught Amanda's curious expression at his light day dreaming. Paint fumes must be getting to him.
"Well, he weren't much for the whole talkin' part, but we did some pretty interestin' stuff. More modern stuff, different media... I got into photomanipulation a bit, once I learned how t' do it." As she was speaking, Amanda was going through the stack of folios in one corner, until she came to the one marked with the anarchy symbol she used as a signature. She pulled out the "Professor Xavier Wants You!" poster to show Piotr, caught up in her enthusiasm. "He pretty much spent one class tellin' us 'bout stuff, the second we worked on our own versions. It was fun."
Piotr set down his brushes and took the poster in his hands. "Photomanipulation...?" He had no idea what to think. The media was beyond anything he really knew. The more he talked to Amanda, the more he realized There was much to learn about her. He stood up from behind his canvas and smiled at her. "You said you were away earlier. Where did you go? How was it?"
"Well, I ain't much with the sketchin' an' paintin', as you know. But it turns out I'm all right with a camera an' a computer program." She left the other example in the folder - her controversial art project wasn't something she felt comfortable showing people now it was obvious who the model had been. "Manuel an' me went back home - well, t' London an' Brighton first, which is as much home for me as anywhere, an' t' Spain, t' see his dad." A shadow crossed her face at that memory. "Um, an' we dropped in at Muir t' catch up with Nate an' the doc, an' Amsterdam, t' see Dom. Bit of the whirlwind tour." She smiled. "It was fun, an' I needed the break. How 'bout you? You've been pretty much holed up here?"
"Yeah. Ever since I arrived back at the end of May I've been doing nothing for the mansion. I took all this training to protect the Professor and he doesn't use me." He shifted his weight and paused. "Last month I tried to have a little fun by celebrating the Russian Independence Day with Illyana but she wouldn't participate with me so I dropped it. Sounds like you had a good time at least," he managed a smirk.
"You have no idea," Amanda said, grinning despite herself - she hadn't expected to actually be able to have a civil conversation with Piotr, let alone a teasing one. Then she took in what he'd said about Illyana, and frowned. "Yeah, I saw in yer journal, you two ain't gettin' on so well..." She trailled off, unsure how to go on. Illyana deeply unsettled her, and she wasn't sure how much of it was in her head and how much was based on a genuine problem.
"She's just distant and uncaring and that's not the Illyana I knew and grew up with. Limbo did something to her, I know it. I miss my little Yana... but if that's how she's going to act, I'm not going to force her attention on me. I'm just keeping myself distant until she's ready to talk to me again."
Amanda hesitated, not sure how to put her suspicions. "Um, Piotr, I think it's a bit more 'n her bein' distant an' uncarin'. That place... well, demons ain't exactly the best examples for a kid growin' up, if you get what I mean."
A puzzled look drew across Piotr's face. He slowly sat back down. "I...I'm not sure what you mean."
With a sigh, Amanda pulled up one of the stools arranged around the central bench and perched on it. "Demons... they ain't really ugly people, Piotr. They're evil, pure an' simple. An' she was there for eight years, by her reckonin'. Eight years livin' in a demon dimension. That's gotta do some seriously fucked up shite to a person." As his face darkened, she continued. "Not sayin' she's evil..." 'At least, not yet', she mentally added. "...But there's a lot we don't know 'bout what happened there, an' there's this feelin' I get from her. Can't put me finger on it, but it sets me all wrong."
"This concerns me," he replied. "Have you spoken to anyone else about this? There's no way my little Yana could be evil. There's just no way that could happen," he shook his head in disbelief.
"I didn't say she was. Just that there's somethin'... off 'bout her." Amanda was glad Piotr hadn't decided to take offence at what she'd set and decide to defend his sister's honour. "An' yeah, I talked t' Doc Strange 'bout it - me magic tutor," she clarified at Piotr's puzzled look, remembering he'd been away when she'd come back from Homily's retreat and started with Strange. "After the thing with Jamie, when she wouldn't explain how she got her an' Artie out... well, I was worried. I didn't like that she wouldn't say how. Why would she hide it if she hadn't done somethin' wrong?"
"Amanda, I'm not sure what you're getting at. What could have Illyana done that was wrong? She saved Artie, isn't that good enough?" Despite his hopeful words, Piotr had a dreadful feeling that he was blindly defending his sister.
"Yeah, she did. But why wouldn't she say how? If she's a mutant and has some sort of teleportin' power, why not say so? Ain't like we're gunna run her out of the place for it." Amanda considered Piotr, and took the plunge - being tactful (as much as she could) hadn't worked, so maybe hitting him over the head with it would. "I ain't sure, but I think she's got some sort of magical ability. An' not the nice happy fuzzy pagan stuff they're teachin' me. Limbo had plenty of power t' spare, an' all of it was as dark as you can get. If she picked up somethin' over there, it ain't gunna be good. An' it could be doin' her damage, if it's true."
Piotr starred blankly at the wall for a few minutes contemplating what Amanda had just told him. Was it true? Was Illyana a mutant... or powered by demons? He decided. "We need to talk to her about this. I want to know the truth from her." He felt determined to help his little sister.
"I figured you'd probably say somethin' like that. Just... be careful how you do it. She's coverin' for a reason, an' I'm hopin' it's just 'cause she's scared." Amanda thought of her various encounters with the Ice Princess, as she'd taken to calling her privately, and thought that was pretty unlikely. "But if it's for some other reason, well... she might get defensive an' do or say somethin' you won't like. Doc Strange is lookin' into that demon lord who took her, but he says there's a lot of fake accounts t' go through an' it's slowin' him down."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," Piotr confirmed. He knew that some part of his little sister was in there somehow and he could get her to trust him again. "I'll let you know how it goes. Thank you for taking this time to talk to me, Amanda," he smiled.
She blinked at the thanks, surprised. "Um, no worries," she said. She hadn't been expecting him to thank her for telling him his sister was possibly possessed by demons. "Thanks for listening t' me. A lot of people... well, they don't get the magic thing, an' most of the time I think they prefer t' pretend it don't exist. Or that it's all sparklies an' rabbits out of hats, nothin' more." Sliding off the stool, she gave him a nod. "Doc Strange'll keep on it - he's seein' this as a personal project now."
"Well, if Doc Strange needs help with my sister, tell him to talk to me." He looked down at his painting. "I really should get back to practicing, Angelo's birthday is coming up and I need to be ready for Paige's portrait to him." He sat back down on his stool and started feverishly painting. Anything to take his mind off the conversation. Despite his support, he was terrified of what he might learn of his sister.
It had been ages since he last painted, not since January probably. He didn't want to be a pain and practice on Paige so he decided to spend some time in the Art room testing out his oil paints and get used to controlling his brush strokes. He turned on a little Brazilian Jazz he picked up at Borders his last trip and settled himself next to a canvas and experimented.
With the Europe trip and everything else that had happened immediately afterwards, Amanda hadn't had a chance to pick up her art work from the previous term. She wanted in particular the poster she'd made for "Art as Propaganda" - the photomanipulated picture of the Professor as Uncle Sam would do nicely on the wall above her desk. So, having no other particular demands on her time, she took herself down to the Art room. It was only when she opened the door that she realised the room already had an occupant. She paused as Piotr looked up from his work. "Um, hey," she said, a little awkwardly - she'd almost forgotten the Pillock was back,
he'd been so quiet since his return.
"Oh, hello Amanda," Piotr smiled. He hadn't seen Amanda since he returned. He remembered back to the beginning of the year when they had their 'argument', but he didn't care. That was in the past. "Can I help you?"
"Just pickin' up some of me work from last term," she said, casually. If he was going to be her teacher again, it was probably best to try and get along. Especially if Marie-Ange wasn't going to be there and Jubilee was. "Logan left in a bit of a hurry, didn't have time t' get it back t' us beforehand, an' then I was away meself."
"Yes, I heard Logan took my place for the rest of the term. How was he as a teacher? I bet we had very different methods..." Piotr paused a mused for a moment. The image of Logan with a paint brush alone almost made him crack-up. He kept envisioning feral images and violent brush strokes. This all faded quickly as he caught Amanda's curious expression at his light day dreaming. Paint fumes must be getting to him.
"Well, he weren't much for the whole talkin' part, but we did some pretty interestin' stuff. More modern stuff, different media... I got into photomanipulation a bit, once I learned how t' do it." As she was speaking, Amanda was going through the stack of folios in one corner, until she came to the one marked with the anarchy symbol she used as a signature. She pulled out the "Professor Xavier Wants You!" poster to show Piotr, caught up in her enthusiasm. "He pretty much spent one class tellin' us 'bout stuff, the second we worked on our own versions. It was fun."
Piotr set down his brushes and took the poster in his hands. "Photomanipulation...?" He had no idea what to think. The media was beyond anything he really knew. The more he talked to Amanda, the more he realized There was much to learn about her. He stood up from behind his canvas and smiled at her. "You said you were away earlier. Where did you go? How was it?"
"Well, I ain't much with the sketchin' an' paintin', as you know. But it turns out I'm all right with a camera an' a computer program." She left the other example in the folder - her controversial art project wasn't something she felt comfortable showing people now it was obvious who the model had been. "Manuel an' me went back home - well, t' London an' Brighton first, which is as much home for me as anywhere, an' t' Spain, t' see his dad." A shadow crossed her face at that memory. "Um, an' we dropped in at Muir t' catch up with Nate an' the doc, an' Amsterdam, t' see Dom. Bit of the whirlwind tour." She smiled. "It was fun, an' I needed the break. How 'bout you? You've been pretty much holed up here?"
"Yeah. Ever since I arrived back at the end of May I've been doing nothing for the mansion. I took all this training to protect the Professor and he doesn't use me." He shifted his weight and paused. "Last month I tried to have a little fun by celebrating the Russian Independence Day with Illyana but she wouldn't participate with me so I dropped it. Sounds like you had a good time at least," he managed a smirk.
"You have no idea," Amanda said, grinning despite herself - she hadn't expected to actually be able to have a civil conversation with Piotr, let alone a teasing one. Then she took in what he'd said about Illyana, and frowned. "Yeah, I saw in yer journal, you two ain't gettin' on so well..." She trailled off, unsure how to go on. Illyana deeply unsettled her, and she wasn't sure how much of it was in her head and how much was based on a genuine problem.
"She's just distant and uncaring and that's not the Illyana I knew and grew up with. Limbo did something to her, I know it. I miss my little Yana... but if that's how she's going to act, I'm not going to force her attention on me. I'm just keeping myself distant until she's ready to talk to me again."
Amanda hesitated, not sure how to put her suspicions. "Um, Piotr, I think it's a bit more 'n her bein' distant an' uncarin'. That place... well, demons ain't exactly the best examples for a kid growin' up, if you get what I mean."
A puzzled look drew across Piotr's face. He slowly sat back down. "I...I'm not sure what you mean."
With a sigh, Amanda pulled up one of the stools arranged around the central bench and perched on it. "Demons... they ain't really ugly people, Piotr. They're evil, pure an' simple. An' she was there for eight years, by her reckonin'. Eight years livin' in a demon dimension. That's gotta do some seriously fucked up shite to a person." As his face darkened, she continued. "Not sayin' she's evil..." 'At least, not yet', she mentally added. "...But there's a lot we don't know 'bout what happened there, an' there's this feelin' I get from her. Can't put me finger on it, but it sets me all wrong."
"This concerns me," he replied. "Have you spoken to anyone else about this? There's no way my little Yana could be evil. There's just no way that could happen," he shook his head in disbelief.
"I didn't say she was. Just that there's somethin'... off 'bout her." Amanda was glad Piotr hadn't decided to take offence at what she'd set and decide to defend his sister's honour. "An' yeah, I talked t' Doc Strange 'bout it - me magic tutor," she clarified at Piotr's puzzled look, remembering he'd been away when she'd come back from Homily's retreat and started with Strange. "After the thing with Jamie, when she wouldn't explain how she got her an' Artie out... well, I was worried. I didn't like that she wouldn't say how. Why would she hide it if she hadn't done somethin' wrong?"
"Amanda, I'm not sure what you're getting at. What could have Illyana done that was wrong? She saved Artie, isn't that good enough?" Despite his hopeful words, Piotr had a dreadful feeling that he was blindly defending his sister.
"Yeah, she did. But why wouldn't she say how? If she's a mutant and has some sort of teleportin' power, why not say so? Ain't like we're gunna run her out of the place for it." Amanda considered Piotr, and took the plunge - being tactful (as much as she could) hadn't worked, so maybe hitting him over the head with it would. "I ain't sure, but I think she's got some sort of magical ability. An' not the nice happy fuzzy pagan stuff they're teachin' me. Limbo had plenty of power t' spare, an' all of it was as dark as you can get. If she picked up somethin' over there, it ain't gunna be good. An' it could be doin' her damage, if it's true."
Piotr starred blankly at the wall for a few minutes contemplating what Amanda had just told him. Was it true? Was Illyana a mutant... or powered by demons? He decided. "We need to talk to her about this. I want to know the truth from her." He felt determined to help his little sister.
"I figured you'd probably say somethin' like that. Just... be careful how you do it. She's coverin' for a reason, an' I'm hopin' it's just 'cause she's scared." Amanda thought of her various encounters with the Ice Princess, as she'd taken to calling her privately, and thought that was pretty unlikely. "But if it's for some other reason, well... she might get defensive an' do or say somethin' you won't like. Doc Strange is lookin' into that demon lord who took her, but he says there's a lot of fake accounts t' go through an' it's slowin' him down."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," Piotr confirmed. He knew that some part of his little sister was in there somehow and he could get her to trust him again. "I'll let you know how it goes. Thank you for taking this time to talk to me, Amanda," he smiled.
She blinked at the thanks, surprised. "Um, no worries," she said. She hadn't been expecting him to thank her for telling him his sister was possibly possessed by demons. "Thanks for listening t' me. A lot of people... well, they don't get the magic thing, an' most of the time I think they prefer t' pretend it don't exist. Or that it's all sparklies an' rabbits out of hats, nothin' more." Sliding off the stool, she gave him a nod. "Doc Strange'll keep on it - he's seein' this as a personal project now."
"Well, if Doc Strange needs help with my sister, tell him to talk to me." He looked down at his painting. "I really should get back to practicing, Angelo's birthday is coming up and I need to be ready for Paige's portrait to him." He sat back down on his stool and started feverishly painting. Anything to take his mind off the conversation. Despite his support, he was terrified of what he might learn of his sister.
