2012-08-13 Full Disclosure

After his talk with Illyana, Piotr waited a bit to think things over and then gave Peter Parker a call. He wants to talk, please come meet him down at the pier. Specifically, it's a very deserted part of the pier still in eyeshot of tourists and dock workers but unlikely that anyone would overhear anything said. He's leaning on the railings overlooking the Hudson and watching ships pass.

"Hey, Piotr." Peter Parker approaches in a hoodie with ear buds in and a confident saunter. He walks right up beside Piotr and pops out the buds before shoving them in his pocket. "Sorry it took me a while. Traffic can be murder. What's up?"

"Peter. Thank you for meeting me." Piotr turns and extends a hand. "I want to discuss Illyana with you. I've just talked to her and she is troubled about you."

"Troubled," Peter asks as he looks away with a wince, trying to figure something out. "Troubled like...she likes me...or troubled like she's sending you to dump me? Because if that's the plan...I gotta cry foul, bigguy. No offense. If I had a brother as big as you, I might have done that too." The second part of the line is given with a scrunched but reluctantly accepting face.

"Troubled as in troubled." Piotr answers. "She has told you as much so this comes as no surprise to you. Peter, you are aware she is no regular girl. Believe me when I tell you that whatever you know, I know much much more. So tell me exactly what you know of Illyana and then I will know what else to say."

"Uhm," Peter tries to think. "Part demon, part girl. Super fraid of losing her humanity. She thinks she's going to kill me. I think I'll help her be more human." He eyes Piotr's size, "And she has a really big brother."

Piotr nods once Peter has finished. "Mostly accurate. I would say though that Illyana is incorrect and that she is fully girl. She was born as human as either of us but was changed, against her will. And yes, is very afraid of losing her humanity. I agree, Peter, that you can help keep her more human. I also think it might kill you. I am willing to take this risk. Are you certain that you are?"

"Well, I care about her a lot. And I'm a bit more than meets the eye. I don't agree that she's going to kill me. I think I can help her. I don't think she'd kill me." Peter says while scratching the back of his head.

"Not intentionally, no." Piotr agrees. "But intention is not what she is worried about. You have seen her demons, she says. Do you know where they come from? Or how they became her demons?"

Peter shakes his head. "No," he says softly. After a long pause, he mutters under his breath. "I like Sparky."

Piotr might have said more but... "Sparky?"

Peter nods, "Yeah. The lil cute one. He's cool."

Piotr gazes at Peter a moment then shakes his head. "They get much larger. So Illyana has yet to show you Limbo. And she has not mentioned Belasco."

"Well, I know she's taken me through something. What? Where? I'm not sure," Peter says. "Belasco? What's a Belasco?"

"That would be Limbo. Another dimension full of demons where Illyana was imprisoned for ten years." Piotr folds his arms over his chest as he talks and watches Peter. "Belasco is the one who captured her, abused her, stole parts of her soul and tried to turn her evil. Ten years Peter. You know how old she is now."

Peter looks to him, wide eyed. "Oh my God. She's like...10?" He looks terrified.

Piotr can't help but smile. Sometimes he thinks the same thing. "She gets very annoyed if you say that. No, she lived every one of those years. But yes, they passed here in mere days. Her age is not the point. What happened to her is."

Peter scratches his head, before he tries to level with Piotr. "If it was you and you had to take all this in. What would you do?"

"That is not the question you should be asking." Piotr tells the younger man. "I am not here to persuade you one way or another. You need to decide if you are willing to see this through before you get in deeper. Illyana was abused for ten years, her soul torn and corrupted. She is stronger than she thinks, better than she thinks. But this is all knew to her and you have the right to know what you are getting into. So better that you learn now and not later when you rejecting her will hurt her even more."

Peter shakes his head, "It's not really a matter of rejecting her. It's more that I'm a lil concerned about that whole getting eaten by demons thing."

"And so you should be." Piotr agrees. "Your being eaten would upset her too but she can usually command them well enough that's unlikely."

Peter scratches his head, "You know, I've always heard about the big brother coming to scare the suitor speech. Gotta think this one takes the cake. What did they do to her?"

"I wasn't there." To save her. "I do not know much. I know over half her soul has been corrupted. I know she was made to kill. That is enough to know. I do not want her to have to relive it." Piotr turns back to watch the Hudson.

"Well, alright then," Peter says with a bit of a chuckle. "Good talk." Pause. "I really do care about her a lot. And I really do think I can help her."

"Illyana was there for ten years, Peter." Piotr repeats without looking away from the water. "She was taken when she was six. She needs human friends. Human contact. Human emotions. She already cares enough about you to be troubled by you. And so I am here to give you full disclosure of what dating Illyana will mean."

Peter nods as its his turn to look out over the Hudson. "I understand. Both what it means and the consequences."

"You will hurt her." Piotr says. "You will date and, like most people, will sooner or later break up. She will be hurt but it will be a very human hurt. But it needs to be over what normal people break up over and not because of who and what she is. And then I will be there to help her get over it and point out that you knew everything going into it and it had nothing to do with why things ended so that she will try again." Pause. "Hopefully it will not because a demon ate you." He doesn't sound like he's joking.

Peter looks a bit bewildered at the matter of fact way in which Piotr explains how things are going to end up. "Well, looks like out of the three of us, I have the highest expectations. Three cheers for being an optimist."

"You are young. And she is very young despite her age." Piotr glances over at the younger man. "I will be happy to be wrong, Peter. So we will just have to see what happens." And then in a more normal tone of voice, he adds "And you will get tested. And always use condoms. Da?"

Peter coughs, "Dude!" Incredulous Peter looks to the older man, "It's a little early to be talking like that, okay?"

Piotr just gives Peter a Look. "Da?" he repeats.

"Man, yer as crazy as your sister." Peter gives Piotr a swat on the side of the gigantic arm. "Thanks for the talk, Piotr. I'll...uh. I'll treat her as best I can."

Piotr pats Peter on the shoulder and the hands gets left there. "You did not agree." he points out quietly.

"Oh man." Peter sighs. "If ever Illyana and I were to do somehting like that, I hereby swear that I'll use the proper precautions and safety devices. Do I need to sign anything?"

Piotr pats Peter's shoulder again and drops his hand. "Good. Your word is enough. Use proper precautions in all things, Peter. That cute little 'Sparky' as you call him is a demon who would find you a tasty snack." He'll have to ask Illyana to make sure Peter gets a demonstration of what demons are like. "Thank you for coming."

"Seems like a nice enough lil guy," Peter says but then shrugs. He nods to Piotr, "Thanks for having me. Guess we'll see how it goes. After a nod with pursed lips, Peter makes his way from Rasputin and shoves his hands in his pockets. Sheesh. This all started innocently enough with a broken Nintendo 64.