2/6 - Illyana
2/6/2009
02:28 PM
Logfile from Emma.
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=NYC= White Queen's Suite - Third Floor - Hellfire Clubhouse
The heart of the White Queen's rule reflects her color and her taste. Spotless white cover floor and walls--all but the outer window wall that surveys the gardens and the East River beyond them. A lushly upholstered couch in the corner offers a perch for enjoying that view or simply relaxing, with an end table and lamp at hand for reading.
The room's decor lies in the furniture. A slab of gray-veined marble rests atop safety-glass legs and lays clean and empty; the wooden paneling behind her does the work of hiding an impressive array of technology. A sweeping throne of a chair sits behind the desk, and two rather more modest chairs crouch in front of the desk, available for supplicants or other guests. The most recent remodel of the room has utilized non-metallic elements where possible.
A door leads to an adjoining suite, where white reigns with a regal decisiveness softened by fine fabrics, lush carpeting, and the suffusion of well-bred taste. The bed stands sleek with satins and down-plumped pillows, its ash-blond frame matching the wood of its paired night stands and the long, low-slung bureau against one silk-papered wall. Across the room, layers of gauze curtain shield tall windows; a high-backed armchair reigns in a corner there, attended by wide ottoman and neat reading lamp. One door leads into a large walk-in closet and another opens in on a bathroom of echoing design and decor.
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============================= Monitor List Online =============================
Percy
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(I) = Idle / (S) = Staff / (N) = Newbie
=========================== XMM MESSAGE OF THE DAY ============================
It's official! We are now X-Men Movieverse: X-Factor and are starting our IC transition to our top-secret base in California. Please @read 47 on *ann for details.
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You paged Illyana with, "Ok! So. Emma is going to talk to Illy. Where would she look?"
Illyana pages, "Well, Illy tries to come to the club to check in regularly, otherwise she's mostly in Limbo. So maybe downstsairs, where she'd usually be meeting with Percy or something?"
You paged Illyana with, "Works!"
MEETME: summons sent to Illyana
Illyana arrives from a disc of crimson light, bringing the scent of evergreens with her.
(OOC) Emma says, "Unfortunately, I think Tybs got carried away and nixed the rest of the club already."
(OOC) Illyana says, "Heh. Okay."
(OOC) Emma says, "So we will have to PRETEND."
(OOC) Illyana strains, thinking hard. Pretend!
(OOC) Emma laughs. So, the watchroom? I can start.
(OOC) Illyana nods. thanks!
Deep in the apparently not so secret bowels of the Hellfire Club, Emma is waiting. Settled on a chair, back to the row of consoles and monitors, and facing the door. Her legs are crossed at the knee, and she laces her fingers around them, an air of angry, nervous tensions jittering her stillness imperceptibly.
Illyana is relaxed as ever, already reaching into her pocket for a cellphone as she comes out of her portal, red light flickering on to bathe Emma in the glow. She checks the time and also importantly the date, and then blinks at Emma in worried surprise. "I'm on time, no? I didn't miss a check-in?" She looks down at her open phone again, her other hand settling comfortably on the hilt of the sword at her hip.
"You are right on time, pet," Emma assures her, breaking the circle of her hands to give a vaguely welcoming gesture. "I need to speak with you, is all."
Illyana comes forward with an impulse to touch, maybe a quick hug, but then settles back at the solemnity of the wording. "I have missed something else important," she guesses. "I've been watching the time very carefully..." Her lips twist with annoyance with herself, and she scrapes her hair away from her face back behind her ears with both hands.
Emma twitches a smile at the stiffled impulse, but does not encourage it further. She shakes her head and drops her face to her lap, her hair sliding forward to shield herself for a moment. When she looks up, there is a wry smile firmly in place. "It isn't your fault. We've simply had an... opportunity come up. One that I think you would do well for."
"Oh!" Illyana brightens, reacting first to the words. Something to /do/ certainly interests her. The body language filters into her awareness a moment later, and she frowns slightly. "What is it?"
"We have been /approached/" (not kidnapped, threatened, blackmailed, or coerced) "about supporting a group with similar goals to us. They are, however, more... proactive in their approach. They deal with things directly. Things that people like us can only approach sideways." Emma picks her words carefully, keeping her eyes on Illyana's face, but still bleeding off tension.
"So I would do a mission for them?" Illyana still looks worried--she likes the idea, but Emma's manner doesn't match. She brushes a fingertip past a black feather hanging from the comb in her hair. "What's the catch?"
Emma inhales deeply, then shakes her head. "This is considerably longer term than a single mission." She gestures toward a folder on the table at hand, indicating Illyana should take it up.
Illyana picks up the folder, paging through, but paying more attention to Emma than anything she sees there. Reading English is work, and so she doesn't waste the time on it yet. "How long? I can travel back and forth so my brother doesn't know I'm gone, but if it's too far away, that would get hard--"
"It would be a fairly permanent reassignment." Inside though, are the pictures of children gone missing. "However, for someone with your abilities, distance is not an issue, is? And they need you. Those children are missing, and they are gifted, like us."
Illyana stares at the pictures. "Well, if it's across the country or something I'll get lost coming back," Illyana says distractedly of distance. "Of course I'll do it," she says to the pictures, pausing on one little girl, for no particular reason. "But--" she looks up again. "Permanent reassignment. I don't get to come back? Work with anyone here again?" Her tone takes on a sense that she's worried she's being fired, or dumped.
Emma stands and crosses the small space to put her hands on Illyana's shoulders, tipping her head forward to touch forehead to forehead. "I do not know for how long. But this is a real job, with real goals, and real objectives. I think you would like that, yes, pet?"
Illyana's shoulders drop with the release of tension when Emma touches her. "I would," she admits. "It has been very hard to stay in this world lately. Jason's gone, my brother's busy, there's nothing to do...Will I still see you?" She let's the folder drop in one hand, and puts the other on Emma's arm.
"Yes, darling. As often as you can spare. Though I believe you will be very busy training and learning useful skills." Emma exhales and straightens, but continues to hold Illyana. A small smile plays on her lips. "You might not /want/ to visit."
"I know plenty of useful skills," Illyana murmurs on a breath of humor. "Though not if you ask Mikhail." She's quiet for a while, taking comfort in the closeness. Someone seems to have been starved for real-world interaction. "What do I tell my family? I suppose they don't really know where it is I call them from, but what about Piotr?"
Emma slides her arms around Illyana's shoulders and squeezes in a comforting hug and murmurs against her hair. "Tell him you are going to school. He would approve of that. Tell him you have a scholarship." She releases the younger woman and stands back, hands on Illyana's arms. "Tell him I arranged for it all, if it would make him feel easier."
Illyana hugs back, very tight for a moment, and then giving in gracefully to the more adult distance between them when Emma shifts. "Please. I think my brother will believe you about such things. He'd be proud of me." She pauses. "Will /you/ be all right?" She asks it impulsively, and then chews on her lip before continuing. "I wanted to be around for you, after Adel--I don't overestimate my own importance, but I still--" She shakes her head. "I'll visit, of course."
Emma blinks, as if surprised to discover concern over her emotional well-being. She huffs a soft breath through her nose and returns a wryly twisted smile. "You have always been a comfort, darling. But this is good for you. And you will not be alone. Percy and Bahir are also moving, so I will be keeping a close eye on things. Visit me often though, promise?"
Illyana says something in Russian, which seems to match up in length and intonation to her next words-- "I'll have someone to speak with. That will be nice." She smiles. "I swear." She puts a hand on her sword, making the words evoke her other world. Then a smile breaks out. "I'll have a bunch of new places I'll know well enough to travel to, as well."
Emma smiles in return and releases Illyana. "I will make sure you receive all the instructions you need. You will be leaving soon, so I won't hold you back from your preparations." Her nose wrinkles as she attempts to look as if she's sharing in the mounting excitement.
Illyana wavers for a moment on the threshold of quasi- to truly adult. The adult gives Emma a wry smile, acknowledging the lack of excitement; but beneath that, her face has already lit up, and it's clear she does want to go start getting ready. The adult flickers out, and then Illyana embraces Emma quickly and calls up one of her portals. "I have to get Mika something to travel in--" she murmurs to herself, clearly just thinking out loud. "See you soon," is her farewell to Emma, and then she's gone.
Illyana gets recruited.