2012-07-21 Hell of a Night

Peter gets a text that evening with the name and address of a club along with 'I'll bring the eyeliner'. Since he doesn't have Illyana's number, that might be all he's got to go on that it's her.

The club is in Manhattan, unsurprisingly. A relatively small place with music loud enough it might leave you deaf tomorrow. The flavor? All metal, baby. While the patrons might run the gamut of size and shapes, genders and colors there is a predominance of black on black attire as well as lots of leather and spikes. It's a good crowd tonight, and there's no blonde waiting outside for him.

Peter winces, hoping that it's all ages. Darn his ethics and resistance to getting a fake. He's not sure whether he can get in and is too chicken to ask. He's brought dark clothes at least. Customary hoodie, dark jeans, dark shoes. His hair is everywhere, as per usual, and he's waiting at line to get in. All things considered, it goes well, but he gets to the door and the moment of truth arrives.

The bouncer looks down at Peter, and it's there in his face. That 'you really don't belong here' frown. He crosses his arms, glowering down at Peter when Illyana appears from the hallway that the bouncer guards. "Ivan! He's with me." She calls over, her expression bland. The bouncer looks back towards Illyana and he looks... hesitant. Almost worried. The small blonde pushes him lightly out of the way and slips a hand through Peter's arm to start to drag him inside without giving the bouncer another look. The large, bald and mustachioed man at the door looks torn, but finally seems to decide that he'd rather move on to glowering at the guy that was behind Peter instead of arguing with Illyana. "Wasn't sure you'd come." She says, raising her voice to be heard over the blare of the music.

"Wouldn't miss it," Peter says with a smile. As the music gets loud, he's wondering what he's gotten himself into. Still, the thrill of the unknown has him pretty excited.

Now that he's not being glared at, Peter can see that she's dressed in black leather pants and a halter-style top. She has those heavy boots with the thick soles that have laces and buckles up to her knees and wide, spiked leather bracelets. Her hair is still blonde, a rarity here really, but with a few blue streaks in it. "Do you dance?" Looking around, there's not so much dancing as what looks like contained violence.

Peter smiles broadly and shakes his head nerdily, "No. No I don't." And as the other group of people look like they're mauling each other, he raises an eyebrow, "I'm not sure they do either.

Illyana gives a low laugh as she pulls him in with her towards the group. Which might start to make his Spidey-sense start poking him because there's a lot of actual contact going on down there. If you don't go home with bruises, it wasn't a good night! Have to wonder how much Illyana likes him, if she's dragging him off to get beat up! It takes some looking, to see past the violence of people slamming into each other to see how it connects to the music. The music is so fast, it's easy to just see it as thrashing about. Illyana lets go of his arm as they get into the crowd, and her eyes close a moment before she starts to move as well, sliding away from one person coming her way, hitting shoulder-to-shoulder with another. It'll be easy for the moving crowd to swallow her up.

Peter groans inwardly. Seriously, he can't figure this girl out at all, so he's not even broaching the idea of whether she likes him or not. He wades in slowly, spidey sense definitely going off. He starts getting banged around, but holds his own. He's tough for how skinny he looks.

It's the drums that drive the dance, and Peter might eventually pick up the rhythm hidden beneath the rapid-fire roll and crash. A few times, Peter loses sight of Illyana, and it's the flash of that blonde hair that will eventually help him find her in the crowd. He loses her again, and then there's a pull on one of his beltloops, very different from the crash of bodies, and when he turns there's Illyana, dragging him closer so he can hear her over the music. "I'm gonna get a drink!" With the press of bodies it's hot, and people are sweaty.

"Oh thank god," Peter whispers to himself as he follows Illyana out of the sweat pile. As fun as that should be, the smell of BO and sweaty dudes crashing into you is a lot more fun for women perhaps than men. Either way he's happy to get out and follows her dutifully.

Illyana leads the way, cutting through the crowd so he can follow in her wake. Getting up to the bar she motions and the 'tender passes her two bottles of ice-cold water. She tilts her head and points for him to follow, leading him to a set of stairs that eventually opens onto the roof. The night air is almost shockingly cold after the heat from inside, and New York City seems quiet after the noise from inside. She tosses him one of the bottles, wiping at her forehead with the back of one hand. "You're still in one piece!" She says, smirking his way.

Peter chuckles and runs a hand through his sweaty hair. "Yeah, well I'm tougher than I look." He doesn't tell her that he's developed a tough jaw because of getting his ass handed to him so often in middle and the first part of high school. Some things are better left unsaid. "But I think one of those guys was gonna try and eat my arm."

Illyana perches on the parapet overlooking an alleyway that the club opens on to and opens her water, taking a few long swallows. "I hope not, eating is *totally* against club policy." She jokes before pausing and watching him with a long, steady look. "So how confused was my brother when you called?" Because nope. She didn't warn him at all.

Peter chuckles and reaches his hands out along the wall and looks over the edge; the cool air feels good after the hot club. "Completely. It took some talking just to get him to allow me to pay him back. I think the whole thing took him by surprise. Which made two of us."

Illyana turns so that she's perched on that narrow wall, one side to the sheer drop down three stories. "You were surprised he didn't care if you paid him back?" Illyana asks, knees drawn up a bit and legs crossed at the ankles.

Peter shakes his head and looks up at her on the wall. "I think the whole thing took me by surprise because I couldn't really figure out why you wanted to have me meet him. Other than to mess with me."

Illyana hitches one shoulder in a partial shrug. "For fun." She admits. "Piotr can be kind of intimidating. It's fun to watch people deal with him. I told you he wouldn't care about the money. It's not like I bought something expensive."

Peter chuckles and his head droops down for a few second before he looks up. "He's an intimidating guy, yeah. But he seems nice. And it's pretty hard to intimidate me to be honest. I've seen all kinds."

"He's a sweetie." Illyana agrees. It's not hard to tell that the siblings have a lot of affection for each other, even given the short period of time Peter saw them together. Peter's statement gets a smirk and a quirk of a brow. "Now that sounds like a challenge."

"Is that all this is about? Intimidation?" Peter leans back and folds his arms across his chest. "If so, you're going to have to try a little harder, I'm afraid."

"I'll keep that in mind." The blonde says, still sounding amused. She caps the bottle of water and sets it down, stretching her arms over her head as she looks out over the city. A pair of glowing yellow eyes peer at the pair from across the roof, about a foot from the ground. The rest of the body that belongs to it is lost in shadow. "And it's not *all* it's about." Illyana admits, looking back over to him, her smirk almost bitter. "Most people have other plans on a Saturday night."

The yellow eyes are not noticed by Peter. Rather, he's looking up at Illyana now. "Can you tell me what it's all about? Because honestly, the suspense is killing me."

Illyana stretches her legs out now, still keeping them crossed at the ankles. She leans back, one arm supporting her reclined position and shrugs. "Why does it have to be about anything? You showed up, and then actually called my brother, so I figure that you must actually enjoy hanging out with me to some degree. Like I said, I'm not much of a people person. Doesn't mean I like to do things alone all the time."

Peter nods, "I see." He looks out over the street below and chuckles, "It doesn't have to be about anything, no."

The glowing eyes disappear then reappear as the demon they're attached to blinks while listening to the two converse. Then, they start to move. The demon keeps it's body low to the ground, sticking to the thick shadows as it creeps closer. "So why'd you come? It's obviously not your type of music." Not that Illyana couldn't guess that already. "And it looks like you weren't going to get past the door." She adds with a touch of amusement.

The eyes are still not noticed by Peter; he's looking back at her. "Well, I'm not really a people person either. Got to hang out with friends when I get the chance. And as I already mentioned, I'm fond of your eyes."

That gets a look that's a mixture of amused and perplexed. "My eyes?" It seems to take Illyana aback because usually the last thing people like about her are her eyes. Windows to her shattered soul that they are.

"Yep." Peter's chest grows as he inhales and then lets it out in a deep sigh. "That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it."

"I'm positive there's jokes to be made there, but I'm not coming up with any at the moment." Illyana notes with a quiet huff of amusement. There's a soft hiss of annoyance from the creature in the shadows. It's body is covered in dark blue leathery skin that blends into the shadow. Bigger than a cat, around the size of a dog with a long, lean body the demon waits until Illyana's looking out over the city again. The wind tugs at her hair, pulling it into a bright, blonde-and-blue-streaked banner. The creature crouches and then leaps, long claws extended as it tries to slash at Peter as it leaps from one set of shadows to another.

SPIDEY SENSE TINGLING!

"Look out!" In an incredibly athletic feat, Peter tries do dive out of the way of the demon, and grab Illyana down off the wall. In a flash he's up on his feet, looking at where the creature came from. "What the hell was that?!" he yells in a way that gives away his lack of age.

Illyana is turning back as Peter yells, one hand coming up to push her hair back from her face. Her eyes go a bit wide in surprise as he grabs her and drags her down. "What in *Hades*?" She says as she's pulled down. There's a low growl from the shadows and those yellow eyes have narrowed to slits that glint in the dark looking right back at Peter.

Peter puts himself between her and whatever is in those shadows. "It's like..." He's bent at the knees with his arms splayed wide, "An animal or something...I don't know. We need to get off this roof."

Illyana straightens up, wiping her hands on her pants and leans over Peter's shoulder as she follows his gaze into the shadows. The low growl rises in pitch into something close to a whine. There's a pause and then Illyana leans in close enough he can feel her breath against his ear. "I don't think it likes you." She says softly.

"Yeah. What was your first clue?" Peter asks as he looks back at her slowly. "Listen to me. I want you to look over the edge and tell me how far down the first window is from this floor. Don't talk...just do it."

Unseen behind Peter, Illyana's brows shoot up. At the same time the demon's tone turns to a snarling hiss. Don't talk? The blonde can't decide if she's annoyed or amused! Still, wondering how it'll play out she leans over the parapet. "Top of the sill is about seven, eight feet down." The demon paces in the shadows, those eyes going back and forth. There is the suggestion of its shape from the light that does manage to get to that area and the whole time there's a rasping, hissing sound from it.

"Come on." Zzzzzzip. Peter undoes the hoodie, revealing his white t-shirt underneath. In one movement, he turns, and wraps the hoodie around a an old antenna left up at the top of the room from yester year. Quickly he grabs Illyana and leaps over the edge of the building.

The combined weight yanks the antenna from its moorings and its cabling comes up out of the roof. The makeshift rope catches on the end of the building and swings them back around again. Peter's outstretched legs crash into the window and the pair end up in a heap in the women's bathroom. Some chick totally starts screaming.

A yowl comes from the creature as Peter grabs Illyana, and as he's leaping over the side of the building he can see the thing break into a run towards him. He gets a good glimpse at its shape. The long, fang-filled maw and claws that rasp against the roofing, leaving scars in it. Illyana gives a yelp of surprise and holds on to Peter as they go over the end and through the window. Glass rains down around them, a thin cut along one of Illyana's cheekbones causing blood to well up. She's got a few more cuts along her exposed arms but otherwise seems mostly unhurt. She knows how to land. "Did you just throw us off a *building*?" She says, still looking surprised. No shrieking though. That might be a plus.

Peter helps her up to her feet. Noticing the blood, he grabs some paper toweling and presses it against her face. "I took gymnastics as a kid. Come on, we need to get out of here." Maybe because of the demon, maybe because of the fact that some dude is in the women's bathroom. He moves Illyana towards the door trying to think of the best exit.

"I'm still shocked you didn't drop me." Illyana says as she idly brushes at the toweling that sticks to her face with annoyance. She lets him drag her out of the restroom, looking back towards the window where the demon's head appears upside down. Like an owl, the head swivels to look at the pair of them with another of those sibilant hisses. Opening the door to the bathroom, Peter's hit with a wall of sound and heat and the smell of sweaty bodies.

Peter holds Illyana's hands as he goes down the stairs two at a time. His mind is racing. He has no idea what the hell that thing was, or why it was after him. Could it know? Could it know he's Spider-Man? Sure, he'd been sloppy once or twice, but he'd learned a lot over the past three years. Dammit. Peter begins swerving the poor, "innocent" girl through the maze of people, trying to find the door.

Illyana lets herself get drug along. A few of the people that she's come to know at the club watch Peter dragging her with some concern but she just looks back up at them with a 'who knows?' expression and a shrug, which causes them to relax. At least the exits are well-marked, and so Peter doesn't have too much trouble getting them back out onto the street. "Do you think it's following you?" She asks once they're out and he can hear her. While she's been at turns surprised by his actions, there's no sense of panic or fear in her as she lets him lead the way. She is looking back towards the building, seeing if she can spot the critter.

Peter shakes his head, "I ...I don't know. I don't know what it was." He curses at himself. If it knows he's Spider-Man, then he can't run away to Queens. "Let's take a cab and get you home. We'll call your brother and have him pick you up."

"Why would my brother pick me up from my place? Pete, calm down." Illyana says as she tries to pull him to a stop. She looks at him, trying to catch his eyes so she has his attention. "It'll be fine."

Yeah, Pete's plan doesn't really make sense. High intelligence, low wisdom, no tactics skill on his +sheet. "It's not going to be fine, did you /see/ that thing?" He looks at her finally. He's worried, but not for himself.

Illyana's blue eyes look ice-pale in the streetlight, and she holds his gaze for a long moment before finally letting out a breath with a sigh and shaking her head. "Yes. I saw it. It's a minor demonling that's clearly taken a dislike to you. Come on." She says, turning to head down the street towards her dorm at NYU. "I should have what we need back at my dorm."

"A /minor/ de...what?" Peter follows along, confused, "You know what that thing is?" Pause. "What do you mean you have what we need back at your dorm?"

"You want it to leave you alone, right?" Illyana says, looking back over her shoulder at him but she keeps walking. "Well, I don't carry salt and sage and all that stuff in *this* outfit." She says, turning to walk backwards as she holds her hands out to her sides briefly before turning back around.

"Salt and s..." Peter starts, incredulously. "Are you one of those Buffa the Vampire killers or something?"

Illyana looks over her shoulder at him. "Are you coming?" She asks, her tone dry as she shakes her head. "No. I don't kill vampires."

"Yeah, yeah," Peter says as he follows along. "I'm coming." As he begins walking, his voice gets lower. "I'm serious, Illyana, I want a straight answer out of you. How do you know what that thing was?"

"Because unlike *you*, I believe in magic." Illyana says, looking over at him. While her tone is mildly teasing, her eyes aren't laughing at all. "It's a demon." She says with a shrug. "Not even a really scary demon. You'll be fine." Especially after she hauls it's ass off to Limbo and kicks its ass. She doesn't need a damned chaperone!

"Oh, so this is my fault," Peter says sarcastically, looking back at her. He then steals a nervous glance behind them as if he's still worried it'll be chasing them down." His breathing is getting more normal though and he's beginning to relax. "What are the scary ones like?"

"Who said anything was anyone's *fault*? If you want to assign blame I'm sure we could pass it off to someone we've never even heard of." Illyana points out. "You asked how I knew what it was. I answered you." The question gives her a moment's pause, and then she shakes her head. "You don't want to know." She says softly. Then she gives him a hard glance. "By the way, I'm still annoyed at you. 'Don't talk'?? Seriously? I'm not sure if I should be more pissed off at that or the fact you *threw me off a building*." She says, enunciating the last bit.

"Well, that's...that's not what I meant, I just...You know...situations like that people always tend to start talking when they should be acting. In the movies they do anyways." Peter's face wrinkles, "I got us out didn't I?" He sighs, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"You did. I'm still trying to figure out why we're not street pizza." Illyana says seriously. She's not a particularly large girl but still! Peter sure as hell isn't her brother to hold her on through something like that. "You did. You got us away from the big scary demon." She's not laughing at him, is she?

"He was scary to me," Peter says with a smile as they walk down the long road to get to NYU. "Do you have food at your place? I'm hungry. Not gonna lie."

Illyana does chuckle then, and steps in next to him to slide an arm around his waist. "I'm sure I can scare something up." She assures him.

Finally the pair get back to the dorm looking for pepper and wormwood or something like that. Peter feels a bit naked without his backpack. Some webshooters really would have worked well with what they've just been through, and could be a great use to him if that thing is still after them. "Nice place. Looks exactly the same."

There is a soft rustle that comes from under Illyana's bed and the closet. Nothing terribly unusual but Someone might be extra paranoid. The boxes are a bit more unpacked than last night! Ok, no, not really. Illyana goes over to her desk and pokes around, but the drawers are just too small for her to store much and so she's starting to look through boxes. "Do you have something you wear all the time? A necklace or a ring or something?"

Peter shakes his head, "No, not really." Peter tries to think but his mind is taken by something that moves in the room. "Illyana," Peter whispers. His hazel eyes trail under the bed. "I think it's in here."

"Hmm. Well, I probably have something that'll work..." Illyana has a few bottles on her desk now and she's moved over to her dresser to root about in her accessories drawer. "You don't have pierced ears, do you?" She looks back over at him as he whispers and then frowns, leaning over a bit to follow his gaze. "How would it have beaten us here, hmm?"

"I dunno," Peter whispers. "You’re the magic fan." Peter exhales and slowly begins to make his way over to Illyana's bed, "You know, this wasn't how I expected it would go." Slowly he bends down, and briefly remembers being 6 and in a very similar pose, terrified of monsters.

Illyana steps over (the room's not that big) and grabs Peter's arm, pulling him back up to a standing position and away from the bed where she just knows one of her demons is hiding out. "Pick something out. You're the one that needs to wear it." Of course, most of the stuff that Illyana has is silver and leather with skull and pentagram motifs and the like.

"Illyana, there's something under there..." Peter looks up at the selection. "Which one has the least amount of skulls? I'll go with that one. Why do I have to wear something?"

"Because I need a focus to cast the spell on. You don't want me casting the spell on *you*. It's more invasive. Yes, I have things without skulls. I've got pentagrams and spiders and bats... Don't mind what's under my bed. And stay out of my closet." She says, tone more teasing than serious.

"Spiders," Peter blurts. "I kind of like spiders." He looks to Illyana and peers at her. He's getting more nervous by the moment. "What do I do?"

Illyana gives a small shrug, as if to herself. "Spiders, okay..." She finds what is on her probably a thumb-ring and grabs one of Peter's hands to see if it fits on one of his fingers. "You don't have to do anything. Just smile and look pretty. I'll cast a spell so the demons leave you be on the ring, you wear the ring, presto! You're good to go." If you y'know, believe in Magik.

Peter holds his hand out to her and nods, "Are you sure it'll work? So I have to wear this ring all the time, then, right? How strong are the demons? Where do they come from?" The scientist boy asks a lot of questions.

Satisfied that the ring will fit well enough, Illyana brings a finger up to lay over his lips in a classic 'shhh!' manner. "Questions after. Go sit down." She nods over to the empty bed left for her potential roommate. Then she makes sure she has enough space on the floor and starts to lay out a protective circle in salt. The ring is placed in a bowl at the center and fragrant bits and bobs of this and that are added as Illyana starts to speak in some tongue that's definitely not English or Russian. The room seems to get dimmer, the air heavier, the world quieter. The blonde brings up a pin and pokes the tip of her index finger, a single drop of blood falling into the bowl. The candles that were lit seem to flare a bit brighter and then go out all at once.

Peter's eyes meet hers as he puts her finger to his mouth and nods slowly. As she begins to work he stands there a little dumbfounded. He's not sure he actually believes this is happening. As the mood of the room changes, he starts believing a little more in Magik. When the lights all go out, there's a bit of a shock that comes to his system, but he manages it okay. "Is it that time I get to ask questions yet?" he whispers.

A single candle lights, and it's being held by Illyana. Her blue eyes have an eerie depth in the sparse light, and she's looking right at him through the flame. "Don't ask questions if you really don't want to know the answers, Peter." She says softly. "A thing known can't be unknown." Then she turns her attention to relighting a few of the other candles to add more light to the room and cleans up the circle of salt. Finally she reaches into the bowl to lift out the ring and holds it out to him. Maybe it's the candlelight, but it looks like the silver has a reddish tinge to it now, and the metal is warm.

Peter eyes her warily for a moment, but as he reaches out his hands his look softens. "I'm a scientist. Or I will be, anyways. Why would I want anything to remain unknown."

"Because sleep is nice." Illyana jokes, but her tone is soft and somber. She turns away from him and continues with the cleaning and straightening. "Ask." She finally says, her words a soft murmur. There's a resignation about it. This is usually the part where they run.

"Who are you, really?" Peter asks. "And what is that demon, really?" He holds the ring in the palm of his hand and peers at it. "And do I wear this all the time? What are the rules?"

Illyana gives a soft chuckle. "I don't think that's a fair question." She says of the first. "I'm Illyana Nikolievna Rasputina. The rest are just labels." Maybe it would have worked better if he asked 'what' she was. "And it was a demon. Really a demon. There are a lot of different kinds of demons though, so 'really' might not be helpful." There's a click as she finishes putting things away and looks back over to him. "Easiest if you wear it. So long as you have it on you, demons like the one chasing us earlier shouldn't touch you."

"Fair enough," Peter responds and decides not to push any further. Who knows how long it'll take until the finger comes back right at him. Peter nods and holds the jewelry in the palm of his hand. "Will it only come after me? What about my aunt? Why did it come after me in the first place?"

"Probably because you were with me." Illyana admits, sitting down on her own bed and crossing her legs. "And no, your aunt should be fine." She's watching him, outwardly calm, but her eyes seem empty of any emotion.

"You okay?" Peter asks, standing in the same spot he's been in. He tries to make a joke, "Listen...everytime we hang out something goes really wrong. I vote next time we just watch a movie or something. Break the streak."

Illyana gives a small huff of amusement. "I like movies." She admits. There's a pause. "But you sure you want to think about a 'next time'? You did have to jump off of a building this time. That's pretty bad." She points out.

"Well, you also gave me a ring, so this is getting pretty serious now. I feel like there really has to be a next time," Peter says with a grin and takes a few steps over to her bed, sitting on the edge of it. "I mena it would be sort of anti-climactic if it all ended right now, right?"

"But probably safer." Illyana points out. She can't help but smirk a bit, leaning over towards him. "You're lucky I didn't pick out a collar then. Then it'd be *really* serious." She says with mock seriousness.

"What makes you think I'm worried about being safe?" Peter asks her. "And just so you know, I'd never have worn a collar. That would look terrible on me."

That coaxes a laugh out of the blonde. "Probably." Illyana admits. "And most people have a keen interest in their safety. It's a survival trait, I think. One which you might lack. You do seem like a glutton for punishment."

Peter smiles, "It's kind of my thing. I get the feeling that's why we work well together. I mean any lesser pairing would surely have died by now, or still be stuck at the pizzeria washing dishes."

Illyana just chuckles and shakes her head at Peter. "You're weird." She says, but the slight grin seems to mean that's not a bad thing. "I should let you get home. You didn't lose your ticket tonight, did you?"

Peter smiles, "I didn't." He smiles and stands up slowly. "Thanks for the wonderful time. I saw many things. I smelled many things. And I got exercise. I think that was the craziest night I've spent with a woman since that time in Nam." Pause. "Okay, it was the craziest night ever."

"I can't say that I've ever had someone tackle me off of a building any time recently." Illyana says all straight-faced. "Or crashed through a window." A pause. "I think I'll skip telling my brother about our little adventure."

"Thanks, because I'm pretty sure he could tear me in half with his pinkies." Peter smiles and makes his way to the door. "Have a good night, Illyana."

Illyana uncrosses her legs and leans back against the wall of the small dorm room and gives Peter a wave. "Night Peter." She says quietly, a quiet ending to a hell of a night.