Piotr and Illyana | Backdated to 9/27/15

[om_magik]

Piotr and Yana have the long delayed "talk". It could have gone worse?



For months now, Piotr's main concern with Yana had been to tread softly and give her space. he'd hoped that that would change fter they visited Siberia, but there hadn't been a real shift in the mood. Maybe things were a little less tense when they met in the hallway. But "not frosty" wasn't what he wanted his relationship with his little sister to be. Especially not now that the weekly phonecall with their mother now involved her asking about Yana's health. Today had been one placatig 'She's fine' too many. It was time for Piotr to actually /know/ she was fine. or rather, to know why things between them weren't. Why was there was a disconnect between the story she told in Russia about having found a good adoptive family and her reaction to his arrival? Answers were definitely overdue.

So Piotr marched down the hallway with a determined expression. It was Thursday evening and still pretty early, so he didn't suspect she'd be anywhere unusual. A good time for a proper brother/sister heart to heart. Whether she wanted it or not.

Illyana, for her part, had been more than content that Piotr had seemingly backed off altogether. She'd put on a great act for their parents, who no longer had any reason to worry - as far as she was concerned, the Great Rasputin Family Drama was over, and good riddance. Okay, so maybe Cal got on her case now and then about having lied to everyone, but whatever. Cal didn't have to deal with biological family at this point, simply by virtue of not having any. She didn't see any reason to develop a closer relationship with Piotr. He was there. She said hi when she saw him, and hadn't kicked up a fuss about whatever was going on with him and Megan. Really, with what had happened with Clint, trying to keep up the act with Nico, working on getting over Vance, and junior year starting, Piotr was really low on the priority list.

She wasn't, however, anywhere unusual on that particular evening, or at least, not unusual for her. She was down in the rec room, scowling over her Chemistry homework and trying to puzzle out exactly why electrons wanted to flow in the first place while watching some show with dance competitions. It probably wasn't surprising that she was paying more attention to the dances than she was her homework.

"Ouch." She winced as one of the guys fumbled a lift, dropping his partner to the floor where she landed in what had to be a painful position.

"That must have hurt." Piotr had walked in just in time to see the landing. Maybe if Yana had been doing work when he came in he'd have chickened out again. But if she was watching TV then this was obviously a good time for him to interrupt. The big man stepped fully into the room and gave Yana a tense smile that didn't soften the frown creasing his brow much. "Do you have time? I need to talk to you."

"I guess?" Illyana shifted over to one side of the couch, dragging her books with her, though she left them on the center cushion. Piotr looked unhappy about something, and she wasn't really altogether sure she wanted to know what.

Piotr was tempted to stay standing, he wasn't at all comfortable and preferred to face things on his feet. But one look down at Yana confirmed that looming over her was going to be just as awkward. With a heavy sigh Piotr smoothed his hands over his jeans and sat down opposite Yana. "I spoke to our mother just then." Piotr started off heavily. He was watching Yana intently, openly trying to read the reactions of the little sister who was still more or less a stranger. "She always asks about you now. I tell her you are fine. But I do not know if you are." He really wasn't explaining this well, but he was committed now. "It is not good Illyana, that I have to pretend to know this so that she will not worry."

"You really can't go wrong with I'm fine," Illyana pointed out. She curled her legs in to sit cross-legged, deliberately casual, though her shoulders tensed. Great. It was going to be one of those conversations. Somehow, she should have expected he hadn't given up yet. "I'm pretty much always fine." After all, fine was a relative term, right?

"No." To Piotr that deliberate casualness seemed dismissive, and that annoyed him enough to make him dig his heels in and be blunt. "I do not think you are fine with our family. You pretended when we went home, and I did not say anything because it made mother happy, But you were not happy when I came here. We should talk about this and I do not want to wait any more."

"And I don't want to talk about it. I played the happy, well-adjusted American teen for...our parents," she pointed out irritably, stumbling just a little over the last words. "I did it so that if they actually cared, they wouldn't worry. I don't have to pretend with you, and I'm not going to." Honestly, what did he want from her? She'd told him straight out she wasn't doing "happy families", hadn't she?

"They do care. Do you think they will stop now? You are their daughter. They want to know more about you. And so do I." It was hard not to snap back. The implication that their parents didn't care sawed more at Piotr's patience than Yana's allegations against him did. He managed to keep himself calm, but he wasn't going to back down.

"No one was all that worried about it for nine years, were they?" It wasn't so much a question as it was a declaration, and Illyana got to her feet and glared at Piotr. "I spent three years in a Moscow orphanage, brother. No one came. I spent six with the Belasco's, and I learned there exactly what family meant. So no. I really don't think our parents will be all that concerned about their long lost daughter now that they know I'm alive and okay, so they can tell the neighbors everything is just fine. I gave them that. I don't owe anyone anything else."

Piotr forced himself to stay sitting with a deliberate act of will. This way they were more or less on the same eye level. Still, that didn't soften his glare. "No. We were worried. We looked for you. I never stopped." Yana's accusations stung, and the heavy implication that she'd been ill treated didn't help that at all. The more he thought about it, the more Piotr's temper frayed. His hands were clenched into fists in his lap. "I jumped in front of that tractor! THAT is what family means!" There were so many sensible things Piotr could have said, nut that's what his temper let get out.

A...tractor? Illyana frowned, confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she admitted. "If you're talking about some game of Truth or Dare we played when I was little, I really don't remember much of anything. I told you that."

Her confusion helped Piotr regain some equilibrium. He wasn't happy, he always was slow to calm down after getting annoyed. But he was more focussed now, and his hands smoothed out again. "You do not remember? It was when you disappeared. The tractor breaks broke. It was going to hit you. I....I jumped in the way. It was when I first transformed. But when I turned around, you were gone. Everyone was so afraid. The whole town looked for you."

"Well, they didn't find me, did they?" Illyana sighed and pushed her hand back through her hair. "Look. I know you want this whole happy family thing. And I tried it. But whatever actually happened? The police told me I'd been dropped off in Moscow and left there, because obviously, my story made no sense. I waited for three years for someone to show up and get me. No one came until the Belascos, and honestly, I'd have probably been better off if they hadn't come either. So, thank you for trying to save me, but can you just leave me alone, now?"

The Rasputins had never thought to check orphanages in Moscow. And apparently nobody in Moscow had checked Siberian missing persons. Why would they? There were thousands of miles in between. Still, that was going to be a knife of guilt for Piotr for a whole long time. But as to her request? "I cannot." He stated categorically. "You are my sister, we are still family. You do not need to play 'happy family'." Yeah, he would like it if she did, but he knew it wasn't going to happen. At least not yet. "But I am not going away."

"Then that's your problem," Illyana stated. Her nails dug into her palms, but she managed to keep her voice more or less calm. "Because I've had more than enough of family to last me a lifetime."

"What did the Belasco's do for you to say that?" With his heels metaphorically dug in, Piotr decided to cut right to the heart of things. For him there needed to be a pretty dire reason to reject family. where he came from, family way a fact of life.

Illyana's eyebrows climbed. "You don't read SHIFT!, I take it?"

"No. Why do you ask?" If something big enough to make a magazine had happened, Piotr really should have known about it. Apparently it was time to start reading the American (or at least mutant) press. Because that didn't sound like Yana was just changing the topic.

"Take a peek sometime," she suggested. "You can read all about your sister the demon. I told the story there; I'm not doing it over and over again."

"I will." With the way Piotr said that, chances were he was going to do it as soon as they parted ways. he rose to his reet, but didn't immediately turn away. "You say that us being family is my problem. I do not think it is a problem. For me or for you."

Illyana started to take a step backwards as Piotr got to his feet, but held her ground, eyes blazing. He couldn't have given it a rest, could he? "And you never had someone who called himself your brother make your life a living hell, or try to rape you. So, if you don't mind? I'm going to keep calling it a problem. I don't do family."

After all that, Illyana had finally managed to find a way to make Piotr shut up. He looked absolutely floored by that. Sure, he'd expected that things had been bad for her, it had been pretty obvious. But in his fundamentally naive way, Piotr hadn't expected /that/. "I...." What was he meant to say to that? That he hadn't known? That he was sorry? For bringing it up? For it having happened? All of the above? At least for a moment Piotr didn't have a response except to look poleaxed.

For a moment, Illyana stood, waiting for Piotr to continue. When it became obvious he wasn't going to, she nodded. "Exactly. So, just keep telling our parents I'm just fine. I think they'd rather hear that, don't you?"

"Yes." It was a bit of a grudging acceptance, but Piotr was forced to agree. That was a story their parents couldn't handle. They hadn't had the time to adjust to Illyana being alive that he had. But protecting his parents was one thing. How Piotr dealt with that information was quote another. "Where is the boy that did that now?" The idea was too shocking and newly assimilated for Piotr to have any concrete plans behind that question. But he would, that much was already clear from the hard edge underlying the question.

"Back in Minnesota. It's not like I brought him along when I took off." Illyana frowned, her forehead furrowing as she eyed Piotr with suspicion. "Why?"

"If someone hurts my sister then I want to know where they are." Piotr stated flatly. He hadn't decided what to do with that information yet, especially since Minnesota wasn't exactly a specific location. But he wouldn't forget it.

Illyana shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Nico and I took care of it."

Piotr grunted, seeming Less than satisfied. Still, that was something. "I am glad Nico helped you." Piptr wasn't Nico's greatest fan, he wasn't going to pretend otherwise either. But apparently the boy deserved more credit than Piotr had been giving him.

The momentum had drained out pf his attempt to learn more, and he needed to read that SHIFT article before he could proceed. Having to research his own sister was a weird feeling, one Piotr decided he didn't like even a little bit. "I will tell our parents you are fine. But I would like to speak again. I am not a Belasco" (yeah, that name already made him want to spit, and he hadn't even gotten the details yet). "I hope you can learn to trust me Illyana."

Illyana's shoulders slumped, and she bit at her lip as her eyes drifted to the floor. Trust him. There were people she trusted, now, and like Cal had pointed out, Piotr had never done anything to suggest he wasn't trustworthy. Still. "I'm not promising anything. But...I'll try, okay?" She met Piotr's eyes and re-squared her shoulders. "I still don't do family."

"I only ask you try." Even if she'd qualified it at the end, this felt like a pretty big win for Piotr. He smiled warmly, there was no meed to hide he was happy. "I will earn it." He wasn't sure how yet, but he would. And then he'd see about chipping away at her not doing family. With a step forward taken, he could go back to being patient.

Illyana waved that aside, feeling distinctly awkward. "Whatever. Can I get back to my homework now?"

"Of course. But you must hurry. The next dance will start soon." Piotr nodded to the TV and flashed her an amused look. He didn't stay to tease her more and just turned to leave her to her 'work'.