![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ax_colossus posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ax_mainJester and Nott present Piotr with their findings on his sister
In the end, Jester had invited Piotr to visit her and Nott in their room that afternoon, so that they might share their findings so far. With the interview having gone the way it had, now that Nott had gone through Illyana's things, there wasn't much else they could do - or at least, not before checking in with their client.
Jester had offered Piotr her desk chair, and then launched herself into explaining what they had found out so far (without volunteering how they had gotten that information, of course). About Limbo, how Illyana had been stolen and taken there when she was six, and how time moved differently there, and how Piotr's parents hadn't believed Illyana either, when she had reached out. She'd insisted that Illyana sounded very fond of him, and then her look had softened. "You know how you think of snow when you say her name?" she'd added, softly, forgetting all about professionalism for a moment. "She said you used to call her your little snowflake."
Piotr let out a soft gasp as the name hit him like a clap of thunder. He could practically feel the word resonating with a familiarity he could not deny.
Nott was happy to let Jester do most of the talking beside her at first, but she didn't hesitate to pipe up and help move it along when Piotr looked too shook to make words either, rushing to offer more of what they knew. "She did hear about you and your older brother, a little? But she was too small to remember you, and she thought both of you were dead. She said there was some kind of accident with a tractor that killed you when she was just a baby."
"Your parents probably really think you're dead," Jester explained, her face a mask of sympathy. "Both of you. It explains why they reacted like they did."
Both dead. Of course. It made sense, now. Didn't it? Actually there was something about that was bothering him, but he couldn't put a finger on it, so he set it aside for the moment. "That must be horrible for them," he said. "To think they have lost all of their children in only a few years." He leaned forward in the chair, lowering his eyes and shaking his head. "Poor Papa. Poor Mama."
"And by the time you got here, Illyana had already tried to tell them what happened to her, and...uh. It didn't go well," Nott tried to drive the point home with some excited gesticulations. If anything was going to bring Illyana and Piotr together again, it would be this! "Time is different in Limbo, and they didn't understand, how could they? So it upset them when she tried to tell them the truth and it hurt her too, to be rejected like that. And then to have some other guy call a few years later, saying that he's their 'dead son' after her saying she was their lost 'little girl'... You've all been through a LOT."
Nott wasn't a soft touch like Jester and Piotr were, but it was all so sad, even she looked a little heartsick.
"You really have," Jester confirmed quietly, and stepped forward to put her hand on Piotr's shoulder in support.
It was a lot to absorb, and though they'd explained Limbo, Piotr found that especially difficult to grasp. But it was more than he'd started with, and with time he could work on understanding it more.
He looked up at Jester and smiled softly to show his gratitude. "Perhaps now we will be able to set some if it right," he said. Perhaps it would start with him and Illyana.
"But there's more," Nott offered after a beat, stretching to grab the folder on the desk with a stack of printed pages inside. "We figured out her school schedule, what she eats in the cafeteria, and, uh. A peek inside her room? We didn't dig around or anything! Just, you know, things you could see from the open door, so I'm sure it's fine. It shows you the kinds of stuff she's into though, and who her friends are..." She pushed it at Piotr expectantly.
"Most of them are from school," Jester went on informatively. "But a couple of them are from the Brotherhood."
"The Brotherhood?" Piotr said with a note of concern. He took a second pass over the pictures, setting aside for the moment his objections to how they'd gotten them. An open door did not make it any less an invasion of privacy in his opinion. "I have not heard much about them, but there seem to be many... strong opinions about them." Illyana looked so happy in the pictures, though. He felt his heart clench at the sight.
"They're mostly mutants kind of like us, but they have this grudge against all humans and they've got their own agenda, so... You know what an 'edgelord' is?" Nott doubted it, since Piotr and Nora had even less to do with the outside world than some of the ex-Facility kids, but that was the word she wanted to use.
"Oh my god that's such a perfect image!" Jester confirmed enthusiastically. "Except they put their words into actions." She wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.
Piotr frowned. "I am getting an idea of what you mean," he said. And he found that idea troubling. He was tempted to ask what kind of actions, but wasn't sure he wanted to know. Besides, he reminded himself, he was here to learn about his sister, not to judge her. He shouldn't dwell on her friends like that either. He shifted in the chair and placed the folder back on the desk. "Okay," he said, looking from Jester to Nott, "Is there anything else?"
Nott shared a look with Jester, and shrugged. "There's still the matter of our payment? Expenses, meals, our daily rates... But you know what, we'll just send you a bill, you've obviously got a lot on your mind right now," she hurried to add.
"We'll e-mail you everything," Jester confirmed in the same kind of rush. "Do you - have any questions for us?" she asked Piotr, looking at him with concern. "You can stay here to read through this if you want."
It was so very tempting to ask what Illyana was like when they spoke to her. To get an idea of her personality and temperament. But Piotr stifled that question. As Ororo had said, if he wanted to get to know her, there was only one person he should ask. "Thank you. I am sure you have covered what is most important." He offered both of them a grateful smile. "And I have good news. I sent her a message yesterday. We are meeting tomorrow, after her dance class."
"Oh!" Jester let out in surprise. "We're just in time, then! With all this," with a nod at the file, "you'll be extra ready for that reunion."
"That is true," Piotr said. He pushed himself off the chair and rose to his feet. "I will be sure to let you know what happens."
He placed a hand on Jester's shoulder, eyes going soft as he looked at her. "I wish there was some way to express just how much it means to me that you have helped make this possible."
When Piotr looked at her like that, Jester could think of a few ways she'd like him to express it.
But also, money.
"We just made it a little easier," she assured him with a smile, ignoring the heat in her cheeks.
Piotr felt his cheeks warm at the sight of her smile, and he realized his hand was still on her shoulder. "Ah, sometimes that is enough," Piotr said, smiling as he reluctantly withdrew his hand. "I think this is one of those times. Thank you. For being so good at what you do. And for caring."
As YA Romance as these two kids were with their soft eyes and warm cheeks, if Jester wasn't making a move already, it wasn't gonna happen today. And this was their room, so... It was on Piotr to get out of here. "And thank you," Nott piped up in sing-song, catching his lowered hand and making to haul him in the direction of the door in spite of her much smaller size, "for trusting us with such an important case! Now you should go figure out what you're gonna say and how you're gonna say it and get ready to have your happy family reunion."
Blinking in surprise, Piotr followed the insistent pull halfway out of the room before glancing down at Nott. "Oh, ah. Yes, of course. I will do that." His gaze was drawn back to Jester, even as he stepped into the hallway. He turned slightly and offered her an uncertain smile and half a wave. "Until later, then," he said, and vanished down the hall toward his room.
As the door was shunted shut behind him, Nott spun around to grin at her roommate, all sharp teeth and glee. Jester and Petey could play kissy-face later, when they'd worked up the nerve. But for now? Right now? The girls had something to celebrate, and Nott could finally say that thing she'd been dying to say.
Jester had waved back at Piotr, but as the door closed, she had turned to her roommate and met her grin, just in time for them to conclude, together and victorious, "Case closed!"
In the end, Jester had invited Piotr to visit her and Nott in their room that afternoon, so that they might share their findings so far. With the interview having gone the way it had, now that Nott had gone through Illyana's things, there wasn't much else they could do - or at least, not before checking in with their client.
Jester had offered Piotr her desk chair, and then launched herself into explaining what they had found out so far (without volunteering how they had gotten that information, of course). About Limbo, how Illyana had been stolen and taken there when she was six, and how time moved differently there, and how Piotr's parents hadn't believed Illyana either, when she had reached out. She'd insisted that Illyana sounded very fond of him, and then her look had softened. "You know how you think of snow when you say her name?" she'd added, softly, forgetting all about professionalism for a moment. "She said you used to call her your little snowflake."
Piotr let out a soft gasp as the name hit him like a clap of thunder. He could practically feel the word resonating with a familiarity he could not deny.
Nott was happy to let Jester do most of the talking beside her at first, but she didn't hesitate to pipe up and help move it along when Piotr looked too shook to make words either, rushing to offer more of what they knew. "She did hear about you and your older brother, a little? But she was too small to remember you, and she thought both of you were dead. She said there was some kind of accident with a tractor that killed you when she was just a baby."
"Your parents probably really think you're dead," Jester explained, her face a mask of sympathy. "Both of you. It explains why they reacted like they did."
Both dead. Of course. It made sense, now. Didn't it? Actually there was something about that was bothering him, but he couldn't put a finger on it, so he set it aside for the moment. "That must be horrible for them," he said. "To think they have lost all of their children in only a few years." He leaned forward in the chair, lowering his eyes and shaking his head. "Poor Papa. Poor Mama."
"And by the time you got here, Illyana had already tried to tell them what happened to her, and...uh. It didn't go well," Nott tried to drive the point home with some excited gesticulations. If anything was going to bring Illyana and Piotr together again, it would be this! "Time is different in Limbo, and they didn't understand, how could they? So it upset them when she tried to tell them the truth and it hurt her too, to be rejected like that. And then to have some other guy call a few years later, saying that he's their 'dead son' after her saying she was their lost 'little girl'... You've all been through a LOT."
Nott wasn't a soft touch like Jester and Piotr were, but it was all so sad, even she looked a little heartsick.
"You really have," Jester confirmed quietly, and stepped forward to put her hand on Piotr's shoulder in support.
It was a lot to absorb, and though they'd explained Limbo, Piotr found that especially difficult to grasp. But it was more than he'd started with, and with time he could work on understanding it more.
He looked up at Jester and smiled softly to show his gratitude. "Perhaps now we will be able to set some if it right," he said. Perhaps it would start with him and Illyana.
"But there's more," Nott offered after a beat, stretching to grab the folder on the desk with a stack of printed pages inside. "We figured out her school schedule, what she eats in the cafeteria, and, uh. A peek inside her room? We didn't dig around or anything! Just, you know, things you could see from the open door, so I'm sure it's fine. It shows you the kinds of stuff she's into though, and who her friends are..." She pushed it at Piotr expectantly.
"Most of them are from school," Jester went on informatively. "But a couple of them are from the Brotherhood."
"The Brotherhood?" Piotr said with a note of concern. He took a second pass over the pictures, setting aside for the moment his objections to how they'd gotten them. An open door did not make it any less an invasion of privacy in his opinion. "I have not heard much about them, but there seem to be many... strong opinions about them." Illyana looked so happy in the pictures, though. He felt his heart clench at the sight.
"They're mostly mutants kind of like us, but they have this grudge against all humans and they've got their own agenda, so... You know what an 'edgelord' is?" Nott doubted it, since Piotr and Nora had even less to do with the outside world than some of the ex-Facility kids, but that was the word she wanted to use.
"Oh my god that's such a perfect image!" Jester confirmed enthusiastically. "Except they put their words into actions." She wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.
Piotr frowned. "I am getting an idea of what you mean," he said. And he found that idea troubling. He was tempted to ask what kind of actions, but wasn't sure he wanted to know. Besides, he reminded himself, he was here to learn about his sister, not to judge her. He shouldn't dwell on her friends like that either. He shifted in the chair and placed the folder back on the desk. "Okay," he said, looking from Jester to Nott, "Is there anything else?"
Nott shared a look with Jester, and shrugged. "There's still the matter of our payment? Expenses, meals, our daily rates... But you know what, we'll just send you a bill, you've obviously got a lot on your mind right now," she hurried to add.
"We'll e-mail you everything," Jester confirmed in the same kind of rush. "Do you - have any questions for us?" she asked Piotr, looking at him with concern. "You can stay here to read through this if you want."
It was so very tempting to ask what Illyana was like when they spoke to her. To get an idea of her personality and temperament. But Piotr stifled that question. As Ororo had said, if he wanted to get to know her, there was only one person he should ask. "Thank you. I am sure you have covered what is most important." He offered both of them a grateful smile. "And I have good news. I sent her a message yesterday. We are meeting tomorrow, after her dance class."
"Oh!" Jester let out in surprise. "We're just in time, then! With all this," with a nod at the file, "you'll be extra ready for that reunion."
"That is true," Piotr said. He pushed himself off the chair and rose to his feet. "I will be sure to let you know what happens."
He placed a hand on Jester's shoulder, eyes going soft as he looked at her. "I wish there was some way to express just how much it means to me that you have helped make this possible."
When Piotr looked at her like that, Jester could think of a few ways she'd like him to express it.
But also, money.
"We just made it a little easier," she assured him with a smile, ignoring the heat in her cheeks.
Piotr felt his cheeks warm at the sight of her smile, and he realized his hand was still on her shoulder. "Ah, sometimes that is enough," Piotr said, smiling as he reluctantly withdrew his hand. "I think this is one of those times. Thank you. For being so good at what you do. And for caring."
As YA Romance as these two kids were with their soft eyes and warm cheeks, if Jester wasn't making a move already, it wasn't gonna happen today. And this was their room, so... It was on Piotr to get out of here. "And thank you," Nott piped up in sing-song, catching his lowered hand and making to haul him in the direction of the door in spite of her much smaller size, "for trusting us with such an important case! Now you should go figure out what you're gonna say and how you're gonna say it and get ready to have your happy family reunion."
Blinking in surprise, Piotr followed the insistent pull halfway out of the room before glancing down at Nott. "Oh, ah. Yes, of course. I will do that." His gaze was drawn back to Jester, even as he stepped into the hallway. He turned slightly and offered her an uncertain smile and half a wave. "Until later, then," he said, and vanished down the hall toward his room.
As the door was shunted shut behind him, Nott spun around to grin at her roommate, all sharp teeth and glee. Jester and Petey could play kissy-face later, when they'd worked up the nerve. But for now? Right now? The girls had something to celebrate, and Nott could finally say that thing she'd been dying to say.
Jester had waved back at Piotr, but as the door closed, she had turned to her roommate and met her grin, just in time for them to conclude, together and victorious, "Case closed!"
