Learning to Rest

Summary:
September 17 2014: Magik notes that Aspect is a bit… off

Unit 24F

A nice apartment with a view of the hudson


Characters

NPCs

  • None

Mood Music:
[* None]


Jericho doesn't really know how to rest. Partisan has observed that before. He's trying though. It helps that, until recently he hasn't felt up to much. Some limbo gardening, getting some takeout but otherwise he's been too off kilter to really sink his teeth into anything. Even now he's not precisely doing so. Erasing his network footprint as he has to do regularly to keep ahead of people who still want him dead, but this is the kind of thing that's become routine to him. He's dressed simply in jeans and a t-shirt and going through that demonic dictionary idly as he perches on a stool at the kitchen sidebar and keeps one eye on K'nert keeping one eye on the ice cream. He gets the feeling that the sneaky little imp is up to something. Something long term, given the way he's acted whenever Illyana is about. He's not quite sure what though and isn't sure either that he needs to be worried.

-

Obviously he needs a hobby. Like people-watching. Or dropping in on people when they least expect you so you can watch the hilarity that ensues.

Speaking of Illyana being about, Jericho gets that light touch along his spine that's become a familiar sensation as his traces react to the magic that spills from Limbo as Illyana opens a stepping disk. Not that he needs it, as she appears to one side in jeans and one of his T-shirts. It gives her a certain casual, messy sort of look. She also has a backpack that she dumps on the couch with a sigh. "You don't happen to want to do my homework, do you?" She asks dryly, coming over so she can rub a thumb against K'nert's head.

-

Jericho smiles and pours Illyana a glass of vodka before getting up to go give it to her. It comes with a hug and a kiss on the jaw too. "I'm not sure you want me to try. What kind of homework is it anyway? I thought you'd graduated? Or are you going for a graduate degree?" And what on earth in, he wonders.

Hug done Jericho pulls back to look Illyana over. Her propensity to wear his shirts kind of makes him smile. It's probably a dominance thing on her part, taking what's his, but it's honestly A) Kind of cute (don't tell her) and B) really damn flattering since it could be taken as marked in the other direction by some. He's not sure why that occurs to him, nor if it occurs to her but there you have it.

-

If Illyana were asked the why of a lot of her actions, she could probably explain them but having grown up in that culture it's not something she really thinks about or notices as a general rule. By now, most of her friends just accept it as Illyana's quirks.

The greeting is returned with a quick nip and a flash of a smile before she nods. "Graduate degree. I enrolled before the whole Red thing so suddenly I have a lot on my plate." She admits. "At least I can get through the reading in Limbo and save myself a lot of time." Well, she's still putting the time in, it's just not ticking past on Earth.

-

"Ah." Jericho nods. He himself actually has a masters and could, in theory go for a doctorate, though it's been difficult to do so. So he's not entirely unfamiliar with higher education. And truth be told he's rather intelligent. You don't get to be most of the things he is by being dumb… though Illyana may have different impressions of him at times.

"Well if I can help I will." He smiles, grins even at the nip from Illyana. "But it sounds like you've got it under control." Watching her be so… relatively normal is a bit different, but then he knows at some level that normal is kind of what she wants to be, much like him, even if it's hard in her world to make it fit.

Much like him.

-

"I do drink things besides vodka you know." Illyana teases him as he sets the glass down, her fingers slipping through the beltloops on his pants to keep some slight contact with him. "Eh. I don't think you have a huge interest in comparative religions." She says with a chuckle. "But thanks."

-

Jericho leans on Illyana ever so slightly, quite content to stay close. "Do you now?" He's teasing. Between running a hell realm, being on the X-Men and now having a graduate degree in the process, he's well aware that she does things other than drink vodka. Really, that's probably why she drinks vodka though that's neither here nor there. After a moment he inclines his head to the side, inviting her to sit with him for a bit. "So what were you planning on being up to tonight."

-

Illyana takes the drink with her as she moves over to sit down with him. Hey, no use wasting it since he's already poured it! She hitches a shoulder in a shrug. "Procrastinating like a good college student?" She jokes. "This Friday though, try to keep your schedule clear, hmm?"

-

"Oh? What's on Friday?" Jericho doesn't have much scheduled since the wrap up of his last big operation and he kind of likes it that way. Having deadlines to get shot at isn't really enjoyable no matter how often you do it. "Got something planned do we?" So far, the two of them haven't really had time to have things planned that might involve the other and don't involve some level of fighting. That'd be a nice, if perhaps slightly odd, change.

-

"Band I like is in town." Illyana says as she puts her feet in his lap and wiggles them a bit to suggest he take off her boots for her. So bossy. "I know it's not that jazzy piano stuff you like…" She says, grinning at him. "But. Dancing."

-

The buckles start to come undone, Jericho being more familiar now with her unspoken cues. Off comes one boot and he sets to work on the other. "I like most kinds of music, actually, and I definitely like dancing. I play jazz because playing it is different than listening to it. No rules, no forms to worry about, just whatever sounds good." And Jericho's good enough to make no rules sound very good indeed. The prospect of dancing has him grinning again. "Friday it is, then."

-

Illyana chuckles as she sees that grin, poking his midsection lightly with her toes. It coaxes one of her own, smiling as she watches him tend to her footwear. "So. How are you feeling today? Still feeling drained? Better…?" This was the first time something like that's happened, so how he recovers is important information.

-

"Well, I have my energy back more or less." Jericho says as he relieves her other foot of it's boot and begins to massage her. His traces start to glow dull red as they do whenever the two touch. "I still feel a bit…" He pauses, digging for the right word. "Off. Odd. Like something's missing from me and I don't mean just the magic." He hasn't particularly noticed that he's been behaving a bit more like Illyana - blunt and a bit possessive - but he has. It's not like he's different so much as it's like he hasn't got the internal reserves to moderate his words or actions.

-

"It looked, from when I made that initial assessment of you," And put a band-aid on him bleeding magic out with her own magic, "That it.. damaged you. Like… it was still integrated with your life force when it got pulled out, so it tore things loose. Instead of if you'd, I dunno, released it or something. I'm not sure if that's something that can be helped along with anything or if it just takes time."

-

Jericho nods, still rubbing Illyana's feet slowly, concentrating on that with a small smile. "Figures I'd be a bit weird when it came to things like this. I'm not sure what I'd do to release it… though it's not like I'd have given that guy anything willingly anyway. I guess I shouldn't be surprised it had side effects. Honestly, I'm just glad he wasn't able to hurt you with it."

-

"If I were another mage, he probably would have. Not many pack a sword that Unmakes magic." Illyana's sword is a fairly unique item that a lot of magical sorts wish they could get their hands on. But, since it's linked to her soul… They can't just make off with it. "And now that we know I'm OK, I'm more concerned about hwo you're dealing with it. Finding out how to get you to uh, give up your stash might help to figuring it out." She smirks at her own words.

-

"Other than not quite feeling myself, I think I'm dealing with it okay." Jericho frowns as he thinks, prodding his systems. "Tech's okay, though I didn't expect it wouldn't be. The experience was…" That gets a shudder, the memory. "Unpleasant. Like every nerve I had was suddenly on fire, then a slow creeping, lethargic warmth when I was done." His hands on her foot and leg still for just a moment. "Felt… a lot like dying…" He's been close a few times, in the Service. Not really since then but it's not the kind of thing that leaves you.

After a moment he looks up and smiles, starting to rub her feet again. "But it passed. I'm pretty sure you've put some back into me, we could always try to draw it out, if you'd like?"

-

Illyana shakes her head in bemusement. "Only you would say the sensation was like dying and then offer to let me do it to you." She says dryly. Of course, she would stop if it started to hurt him, unlike the mage that ripped it free. Her expression sobers at that though. "Been there, huh?" She asks softly. Perhaps a bit too knowingly.

-

He nods slowly, eyes sliding over to hers. "Been close a few times. Was a while before we met." As if to assure her there's no one she has to go stomp on. "It's the most awful-wonderful feeling, sliding down into the darkness. Horrifying how easy it is to let go and how much it hurts to hang on." But he always has, and this last time even though he wasn't actually dying, was no exception.

"I'm okay, though, really, and if you wanted to try… well, I know you wouldn't do that to me at least."

-

"If I hurt you, it'll be on purpose." Illyana promises dryly. She moves her feet from his lap so she can sit up straighter and holds out her hands for his, turning to sit facing him. "Let's see what we've got." She draws in a breath, and the lets it go so when he gives her his hands she can stretch her magical senses to really 'feel' that magic within him.

-

Jericho offers out his hands, arms already traced out in dull ember red. There's not as much magic in him as before, of course, but she did put some effort, and some of herself, into putting back into him. It's there, in that odd place that's near his soul but not precisely the same thing, marbled into his life force like fat into meat or dye in water. She may be sensing other things as well, depending. Jericho himself can't feel it. He's got all the magical aptitude of a house plant and while he's been taking it in and learning demonic its not real likely that he'll ever learn to do anything with it on his own.

-

"Seriously. How do you even do this?" Illyana asks dryly. "It's… a bit like you're an artifact. A magical item. You're like… the tether? for the magic." Her eyes are closed and she's got that thoughtful frown on. Her head turns a bit to the side, as if to look at something better. Which makes no sense when her eyes are closed. "Not your body, though. You."

-

Jericho cants his head. "It's not residing in my body?" That makes him think a little. His traces, which are in his body, are clearly pulling the magic in. But if it's not being stored in his physical form then where on earth are they putting it. And more to the point, how are his traces getting it there?

"So… me. Like my… er, essence? What makes me, me? Or… something else?"

-

Illyana gives a slight nod. "It's hard to explain without teaching you a whole lot of magical theory. But it doesn't have the same rules of space as you're used to. But it's definitely tethered to your essence, life force, soul, whatever you want to call it. 'Soul' might be a bit misleading, but it's the part of our soul that exsits in this plane, how's that?"

-

"Makes sense so far as it goes. That'd be why it hurt so much when it was ripped out of me. That mage had to damage wherever it was in order to get to it. Or maybe… it tore up someting coming out. Like packing tape on a box, or something." Physical analogies to this kind of thing are often bad, Jericho knows, but they're the best he can do.

"Though… that kind of begs the question how it got there. I mean it's coming in through my traces and so far as I know my traces only exist in my body." Though comes to that, they were grown inside him so he's not completely sure, he supposes.

-

"But they're 'awake' now. So they exist magically speaking. They have an essence which is likely fused with yours. Part of why we can't take it out of you." Illyana says, letting her eyes open again though the look in them is distant, still trying to suss out the details of the stored magic and the connection. She 'reaches' for that magic, giving it a slight tug to draw on it like she would an item designed to store magical energy.

-

The feeling is a bit like someone pulling bandaid off, though that's imprecise because the sensation isn't physical. Jericho takes in a short, sharp breath at the tug, having felt it. He closes his eyes and tries to relax that unseen part of him, making it easier for that energy to be drawn out. Intent matters much here, and he reminds that part of him that Illyana can be trusted, that she's helping. What little resistance there is to the tugging fades away.

"That was an interesting feeling." He murmurs. Not quite the same as what the other guy did, thank goodness.

-

As he starts to tense up, Illyana eases off on that pressure but her cold blue eyes watch Jericho intently. She sees him working to calm himself, feels the power seperate a bit, like cream rising to the top and then tugs lightly again and feels it start to flow into her in a thin stream.

-

Even like that it hurts, a bit. Not much when she's taking so little and taking it slowly. It's sort of akin to the dull throb of having a needle in you while blood is drawn. Jericho actively works on keeping himself relaxed, keeping the power up at the top where she can reach it rather than having to go dig for at. At least he's not bleeding additional magic and life the way he was earlier. Seems like this, at least, is much less damaging.

-

"Still doesn't look terribly pleasant." Illyana says with a bit of a smirk, but her attention is very keen on him. "Now… let's try this…" Illyana tries to reverse the flow, still keeping it a trickle. She hasn't really tried to 'feed' him this directly before. At lest it's the light side of her magic, since they're on Earth.

-

The moment she stops drawing Jericho relaxes even more. He takes in a deep breath as the sensation of being emptied fades - not precisely physical pain at that level so much as it was the feeling of having something vital taken from him - and as her magic flows into the place that it all seems to end up he seems to perk a little, as though she were actually feeding him and not simply storing arcane energy in him. He seems a bit more himself, a bit more controlled.

-

Illyana gives a low chuckle at that. "I think I saw your ears go up." She teases. She increases that flow step by step, to see if he has a tollerance. So far he's just been sucking up ambient levels. This is a hell of a lot more concentrated, and she wants to see if he has an intake level as well.

While Illyana doesn't talk about it much, her magic is very much a part of who she is. Sometimes, it's like the only time she really feels alive is when it's rushing through her veins as she bends it to her will and the energy she's pushing into him is her white magic. It's like feeding him her soul.

-

There is definitely a limit to how fast the traces will take magic in, though it's a lot higher than might be suspected otherwise. Certainly if Illyana's not trying to drain herself she probably won't notice it. Of course there's a much more practical limit on the amount of metaphysical space that he has to store magic in before it starts doing… odd things. Like compressing, and spilling over into his traces themselves, and leaving bits and pieces of residue on the life-force container that is his soul.

Regardless of whether or not she gets there, the effect on Jericho is quite noticeable. First in the eyes which seem to become a bit less otherworldly and a bit more human. Still bright amber but there's not the sense that something alien is peering out of them. Then in his general carriage. It's not so much that he has energy as it is that he seems more like the man she knows most of the time and not someone so exhausted that his personality extremes and quirks are showing.

Oh, and his traces seem to like this.

-

Illyana's own 'battery' is finite, and she doesn't want to drain it all into Jericho, so once she has an idea of how much it can take, she eases off. She does squint at him though, and her expression is… puzzled. "You're lucky I'm attached to you. Or I'd be tempted to find out just how you work." She jokes, finally letting his hands go. One hand comes up to rest against his cheek, thumb sweeping back and forth. "You look better though." She says with some relief.

-

Jericho leans his cheek into Illyana's hand and takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I feel better. Whatever that did felt like it… rebalanced me. Mostly." He's still missing some of his maximum capacity, though not much of it, and he's more or less himself now. And a damn sight less pale to boot. "Did you find out anything useful?" Given what she just said, he's going to guess it raised rather more questions than answers. Questions are okay though, at present and he reaches on over to tug Illyana into his lap.

-

Illyana doesn't put up any resistance to his tuggin, and indeed pushes herself over so she can settle comfortably there. "How to help you 'heal' a bit, which I find pretty damned useful." Illyana says, her eyes blinking slowly and looking a bit tired herself. "I just pushed my magic into you, instead of pulling it out. Not something I'd want to do with my black magic though. It looks like it… leaves fingerprints on your soul, for lack of a better analogy."

-

"No wonder you're suddenly looking a bit worn yourself." Jericho murmurs, pulling Illyana's head down to rest on his shoulder. "Fingerprints on my soul, mmm?" He wonders what kind of marks were left there just by absorbing her ambient magic… and Limbo's. He's had a lot of exposure to both and he's traces haven't been shy about taking in everything they could reach. "Good to know. Would those affect me, I'm guessing?" Now he has to be worried about magic being forced into him as well as out.

-

"I would thing so, since they're showing up on your 'self'. Though as to how, well. Not sure." Illyana admits, stifling a yawn. She nods at his observation. "My 'battery' for my white magic is fairly small. Why I don't use it much, or only do small effects."

-

Jericho nods again, kissing Illyana's jaw. "I remember it putting you out fairly well the last time I saw you do it." And it's different from when she tries restoring him with demonic magic, he also knows. His last trip to Limbo featured that and a somewhat concerned Darkchilde. "Do you need to rest?" Because it's looking like she just used a fair bit of that 'battery'.

-

"What's it look like I'm doing?" Illyana asks with a small smile, leaning her head against his shoulder and nuzzling in against him. Her legs curl inwards, feet slipping behind his calf so she's wrapped around him a bit. "But at least I don't damage myself from it." She gives a slight frown there, and for a moment she honestly considers not saying what comes to mind. But, finally. "Your friend. The one with the wings. He might be able to help with that kind of damage." As much as she hates letting anyone else at that part of Jericho.

-

"Angelo." Jericho nods. "Maybe. Angelo's a decent guy. His mentor though has a bad habit of doing things without his permission." It makes Jericho more than a little nervous and no mistake. "So far the man has kept the Seraph from doing anything to me that I wouldn't approve of, but I don't know how far I can push that, honestly." And he'd been given to understand that his demonic… er, aura was getting a bit strong. And that'd been a good month go before he and Illyana had started sharing the apartment.

"I'll keep it in mind if it ever becomes an issue, though."

Jericho cradles the slight blonde against him with a smile, enjoying the closeness more than he can say at the moment.

-

Yes, it's the demon in her that wants to keep everyone from 'touching' him. As if the mark that proclaims itself to those with magical senses isn't enough. While Limbo, despite having demons, doesn't have much truck with souls that doesn't mean that they aren't a coveted thing. Like a dragon with his horde. "There comes a point," Illyana notes, "When free will gets ignored in favor of 'I know best'." At least demons are straight up about it. It's because 'I can'.

-

He hasn't thought a whole lot about how Illyana may or may not view his soul mostly because Jericho has observed she seems to care enough about his state of damnation to be careful with him. "And the ones you have to worry about the most seem to be convinced that they're doing it for your own good." Sort of what happens when SHIELD slides too far toward Hydra. At leasat with demons, yes, you tend to know what you're getting and why.

Perhaps it's just because he spent more time with them, but Jericho feels a lot more comfortable betting on those odds than the angelic that he largely can't predict.


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