hellflake

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /          𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐨  𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐞.​

There was little she could do to even try to match the smile Illyana was giving her, though it pierced at Ororo’s heart. Maybe she didn’t have to ask any questions. Maybe she could let this go, let Illyana keep whatever happiness she had managed to glean. But: I’ve had a lot to work through recently. Whatever poor attempt Ororo had managed to make as a smile flickered. “Have you?” she asked.  “I suppose that somewhat is what I want to talk to you about. What you’ve been dealing with. I realise it hasn’t been easy for anyone, with all the blipped coming back. What they’ve been through -” Ororo broke off, realizing she was automatically excluding Illyana from that group and was quick to correct herself, “That is, what you’ve been through-” 

She couldn’t continue. The words felt too hollow on her lips, like she was giving herself another chance to ignore, to forget. Ororo shook her head, bracing herself and looked Illyana directly in the eyes, saying quietly, “You look older, Illyana. Every time I look at you, I notice it. I tell myself I’m forgetting what you looked like, but-” Her head shook, sadness in her eyes. “I know your face too well. I don’t believe I’m wrong.” 

·.·❅   /      𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄  𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐑 ,  𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒  𝐓𝐎  𝐀  𝐒𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐑  because  illyana  NEEDS  to  feel  a  base  level  of  control  over  all  situations   ,     how  people  see  her     ,   treat  her.   when  her  self  of  sense  is  ever  confronted  ,    snow  hardens  to  ice  and  she  is  cold  again.  it’s  her  method  of  defense  from  ever  letting  anyone  to  close.  ororo  has  always  been  someone  that  struggled  along  that  line  for  illyana  ,  someone  she’d  want  to  be  open  to  --  but  every time  illyana  sees  the  face  of  storm  ,  she  sees  her  magical  mentor  who  raised  her --  saved  her  --  taught her  she  was  not  as  ruined  as  belasco  made  her  to  be   /   she  sees  the  woman  who  died   for  her.  it  wasn’t  the  same  storm  ,    she  knew  that   deep  down   ,   but  it  didn’t  invalidate  the  sense  of  failure  that  clouds  her   half  missing  heart. “  i’m  not  sure  what  you’re  referring  to.   or  implying. “    she  feigns  ignorance  ,   as  if  the  souring  of  her  face  wasn’t  enough  to  give  her  away  already.   in  a  second,  she’s  already  trying  to  change  her  argument  ,   the  cliff  she’s  standing  on  crumbling  beneath  her  feet.     “   when  have  i  ever  looked   my  age   ?     sometimes  i  fall  through  time ,   it’s  not  unusual  for  me  --  or  anyone  here.     “ 

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /      𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐚​

[ text : yana ] now that’s funny as hell [ text : yana ] see what i did there [ text : yana ] but srsly y don’t u visit us anymore :(

[   📱   SMS ⇛berto💰  ]   you  are  where  you  were  raised  >:) [   📱   SMS ⇛berto💰  ]   ha. [   📱   SMS ⇛berto💰  ]   bad vibes. i can’t go two seconds without a vibe check. apparently i am terrifying and widely disliked by the new kids,  for some reason. 

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /              𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲​.

              THEY  TENTATIVELY  LOWER  THEIR  ARM  .  that  might  not  be  the  best  decision  on  donna’s  part  given  the  person  standing  next  to  her  is  the  demon  queen  from  hell  .  judging  by  the  blonde’s  reaction  ,  whatever  the  stranger  said  was  clearly  not  positive  .  brows  furrow  before  she  turns  to  face  the  other  .  “  wait  ––  what  exactly  did  he  say  ?  i  turned  around  and  just  saw  a  flying  frappuccino  .  ”

·.·❅   /    𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖  𝐆𝐀𝐙𝐄  𝐈𝐒𝐍'𝐓  𝐉𝐔𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋    but  just  trying  to  place  the  rock  the  other  must  have  grown  up  under    ,        “   you’re  not  from  this  universe  are  you  ?   “      of  course  the  mutli  -  dimensional  teleporter  has  an  intuition  like  that  ,    she  offers  a shrug  --  clearly  no   longer  that  bothered   by  it.   it  was  unfortunately  common.   “  mutie  freak  scum,  et  cetera  et  cetera  --  words  you’d  be  better  off  not  learning.  flatscans  have  ugly  prejudices  --  “   a glance  down  at  the  empty  starbucks  “  --  and  nothing  better  to  do  with  time  or  money.  “ 

[hellflake]

ａｓｋ ｈｅａｄｃａｎｏｎｓ ｒｏｕｎｄｕｐ.

@marvelbcys​  /  𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐭  :  𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 ? 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 ?

Illyana  enjoys  winning  ;  and  she  doesn’t  mind  losing  if  she  considers  a  fight  fair  and  an  opponent  worthy  —  she’s  not  someone  who  needs  to  win  constantly  to  uphold  some  kind  of  bravado  or  ego,   but  if  she  considers  someone  to  have  taken  a  cheap  shot  or  cheated  she  can  get  very  annoyed  by  it.  This  is  a  lot  to  say  for  someone  with  teleportation  skills,  who  often  wins  duels  by  teleporting  behind  opponents  or  simply  removing  obstacles  from  the  battlefield.  (  She  said  she  didn’t  like  cheaters,  she  said  nothing  about  her  opinion  of  hypocrites.  )

Her  skill  with  kids  means  she’s  also  very  well  aware  of  when  it’s  best  to  throw  a  match  in  order  to  improve  someone’s  morale,  or  cheer  them  up  —  but  this  is  something  she’d  only  ever  do  with  a  select  few  that  have  earned  her  sympathy.   with  most  of  her  friends  and  junior  x-kids,  she’s  very  much  a  proponent  of  merciless  bullying  of  them.

@ghcstspidcrs​  /   𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩: 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩? 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐬? 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩? 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞? 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐨, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧?

illyana  gets  a  solid  three  to  four  hours  of  sleep  on  a  good  day,  time  progresses  differently  for  her  as  she  never  quite  exists  fully  or  entirely  in  one  dimension  or  time  stream.  sometimes  once  every  few  weeks  or  so,  she’ll  manage  a  full  17  hours  of  sleep  or  so.  people  would  be  surprised  to  hear  that  now,  mostly,  her  dreams  are  empty.  whilst  in  her  youth  she  would  be  haunted  by  nightmares,  well,  she’s  aware  those  demons  are  in  fact  very  real  and  that  through  intense  meditation  practises  she  can  make  her  dreams  the  one  place  where  they  don’t  exist.  so  whilst  she  may  only  seem  to  sleep  for  a  very  limited  amount  of  hours  per  day,  it  is  an  extremely  efficient  sleep  schedule  !

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /    𝐂𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐄  𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐒𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐓   for  sure  doug  was  going  to  have  to  make  up  for  that  one  later  ,   “  no ,  i  haven’t  been  keeping  track  of  berto  --   more  he’s  been  trying  to  keep  track  of  me.  “  a  shrug  ,   casually  wiping  coffee  drips  from  cup  and  chin,  “  i’m  fine,  but  what’d  you  need  from  berto  that’s  so  important  but  not  enough  to  call  him  daddy  ?  “

@hellflake​

“Hey, Yana have you seen Berto, I was going to ask him something very important but then I remembered he wants to be called daddy, and I am in no way shape or form calling that needy bottom anything of the sort. Anyway, how are you?”

[hellflake]

[   📱   SMS ⇛    berto💰  ] 66.6′69.69″ [   📱   SMS ⇛    berto💰  ]  😈

[ text ] –––––––> @hellflake

[ text : yana ] what are the gps coordinates to hell? [ text : yana ] since u won’t visit me i’ll just visit u 

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /            𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧  𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞​.

“No, we don’t have snake meat money. Would be cool though.” Adrian said wistfully. “I don’t have that many facts. Just a normal amount of animal facts. Did you know lions could be gay?” Adrian added on. This girl seemed cool, so Adrian wanted to keep talking to her.

“Okay, forget about the rat mind control. If you could have any powers, what would they be? Like, you can even take rat mind control, but the skies the limit.” Adrian said, trying to think of the answer to his own question. “I would want like, super sight. I’m tired of wearing glasses all the time. Really cramps my mojo.”

·.·❅   /   “  𝐨𝐡?   𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐡!  𝐠𝐚𝐲  𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬  ,    𝐢'𝐝  𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞  𝐭𝐨  𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭  𝐚  𝐠𝐚𝐲  𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 “   who  needed  a  demon  army  and  kingdom  when  she  could  rebrand  herself  as  the  girl�� with  the  gay  lions.    “  --  did  you  know  that  ...  “     wracking  her  brain  for  a  similarly  interesting  fact  “ -- if  you  stab  someone  with  a  heated  knife  ,  it’ll  immediately  cauterize  the  wound  ? “  there  wasn’t  a  second  illyana  thought  about  lying  about  who  she  was  ,  if  the  guy  was  going  to  be  a  mutaphobe  she  would  want  to  know  immediately.   “  i’m   a  mutant  ;  i  don’t  need  to  wonder  about  those  things.  “   a  shrug,   “   i  can  teleport  things,   and  magic,  but  that’s    unrelated  to  the  super  powers.   super  sight  though  ?   like  x-ray  vision  ?   couldn’t  you  just  get  laser  eye  surgery  ?”

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /      𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞  illyana  always  found  herself  in  these  kinds  of  situations  ;   with  people  others  might  go  out  of  their  way  to  avoid  ,  but  illyana  held  little  fear  or  self-preservation  in  her  half-formed  heart    ...   and  as  long  as  no  harm  fell  close  to  the  groups  she  held  dear  ,  the  mutant  had  no  issue  encouraging  unsavoury  behaviours.      “  a  bit  early  to  be planning  revolution  ?   no  ? “         an  eyebrow  raised  ,  and  a  glance  to  the  building  in  question.   she  had  no  clue  what  the  grey  building  was  for  ,  other  than  being  an  eye  sore.   “   what’d  they  do  to  you  ?  swindle  you  out  of  your  life  savings   ?  killed  your  parents ?    i’m  down  for  their  destruction  ,  regardless   ,  but  personal  vendetta’s   always  make  things  fun.  “    

location  :  outside  of  oscorp  tower  /  @reshieldedstart​ 

     did  she  sneak  into  empire  state  university’s  science  lab  earlier  in  the  morning  ?  yes.  is  she  now  standing  outside  of  oscorp  tower  judging  the  business  ?  also  yes.  pamela  is  in  her  much  more  mundane  disguise  as  she  shoves  a  couple  of  test  tubes  into  her  lab  coat.  she  pushes  the  glasses  up  the  bridge  of  her  nose  and  makes  an  unsatisfied  ‘  tsk,  tsk,  tsk  ‘  sound.  “  do  people  around  here  normally  glorify  technology  ?  ”  she  can’t  be  too  surprised.  it’s  new  york  city  after  all,  the  industrial  melting  pot  of  the  world.  still,  pamela  is  going  to  judge.  “  there’s  so  much  raw  power  in  the  world  being  neglected.  maybe  that’s  what’s  going  to  take  this  corporation  down.  all  of  them.  ”  

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /       𝐭𝐢𝐦 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫​.

“  i’m assuming since you said back that you’re at least from this universe  ,  ”  tim says  ,  “  so i guess i can forgive you for that grievous insult  .  ”  they’re joking  ,  of course  —  they weren’t really offended that much  ,  just a little annoyed that someone would so quickly assume they were hopeless with magic  .  “  i mean  —  normally she’ll only fly off for a good reason  ?  so i just  .  assumed it couldn’t be anything too bad  ,  once you’ve been to fairyland there’s not a lot of places that can actually scare you  .  ”

·.·❅   /      𝐚  𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤  𝐛𝐨𝐰  𝐢𝐬  𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝  𝐢𝐧  𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝   she  can  joke  back  ,  in   her  own  twisted  sense  of  humour  that  not  many  could  get  or  stand.   illyana  was  an  acquired  taste  for  certain  ,  “   this  universe  ,  yeah  ,  very  boring  and  mundane  of  me  -- i know ,  “      brow  raised  ,  “  now  what  the  hell  is  fairy  land   and  how  is  that  scary  ?  like  ,   peter  pan  and  shit  ? “ 

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /      𝐭𝐡𝐞  𝐣𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐥  𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐬  𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧  𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥  𝐭𝐨  𝐚  𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐡  the  group  are  no  longer  students  here  ,  but  so  quickly  fell  into  those  patterns   --  there’s  the  immediate  glance  around  of  wondering  what  trouble  did  illyana  get  into  this  time.  which  cruel  prank  or  badly  timed  joke  would  be  her   undoing  this  time.      it  was  in  a  crowd  of  snickers  did  illyana  leave  the  familiarity  of  her  little  pack     --  -  and  her  spine  can’t  help  but  stiffen  as  she  left  their  comfort.     the  only  time  she’s  ever  able  to  regress  to  that  more  carefree  time  is  around  her  old  friends  ,  that  sometimes  by  being  with  them  she  can  pretend  for  a  second  that  nothing  has  changed  (  that  they  all  shouldn’t  despise  her.  )         “   whatever  it  is    ,    i  assure  you  it  wasn’t  me  and  that  i’m  being  framed.   “      she’s  being  genuine  ,   for  once  she  can’t  think  of  a  single  thing  she’s  done  --  except  maybe  overly  antagonise  some  guy  who  had  gotten  hold  of  her  number  (  but  it  was  funny  --  and  he  deserved  it.   )    a  hint  of  a  smile  turned  up  on  lips  ,  with  pride  in  her  eyes  as  she  looks  up  at  ororo,    “    unless  you’re  here  to  compliment  me  on  my  danger  room  times  ,  i’ve  had  a  lot  to  work  through  recently.  “  

@hellflake​

Ororo didn’t like unfinished business; it was something she rarely had. She didn’t typically allow herself to put off things that needed to be done, and this was a conversation that she knew she needed to have. Yet here she was, arms folded as she lent against the doorway into the kitchen, watching on as Illyana spoke with some of her former classmates, Roberto, Dani, the three of them seemingly in their own world. It was a scene she was reluctant to interrupt, when it seemed like a moment of peace for Illyana. For the past five years she had assumed like everyone else had that Illyana had been blipped. Painful as it was, at least she had not had to imagine any of her dearest ones suffering painful fates, torments, their own personal … hell. A flicker of pain passed over her expression. What she would give now to still have the comfort of that ignorance, if she could close her eyes to how different Illyana looked. The younger mutant had always had eyes older than she should have, than she would have if Ororo had not failed her once already, but now… Ororo had tried, truly tried, to tell herself that it was her memory that was wrong, but the doubts remained, even if she had kept them unspoken until now.

Enough of this. It was time to master herself, and Ororo stepped forwards, features solidifying into the steadfast resolve she always carried with her. “Illyana … I was hoping that … that we could talk.” 

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /      𝐝.   𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞.​

         diana   rolled   her   shoulder   sending   her   brunette   locks   to   fall   down   her   back.   ❛❛ i’m   sure   you   could’ve   —    ❜❜   she   exhaled.   ❛❛   i’m   sorry   for   stealing   your   spotlight.   ❜❜   she   added   with   a   smirk.   diana   promptly   crouched   just   enough   to   swoop   her   arm   underneath   illyana’s   legs.   she   then   proceeded   to   lift   her   from   the   concrete.   holding   her   bridal   style   ,   diana   looked   down.   ❛❛   where   to   princess   ?  ❜❜

·.·❅   /       𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃  𝐎𝐅  𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄   escapes  her  lips  in  a  way  so  unlike  her  usually  --  the  unbothered  snowflake  ,  having  seen  hell  and  passed  through  the  other side   completely  changed   ,   but  such  OPENNESS  to  strangers  &  the   kindness  of  a  heroic  heart  --  people  don’t  tend  to  act  like  that  towards  people  like  illyana.     she  tries  to  hide  her  shock  ,   but  there’s  a  second  of  processing  before  the  icy,  cool  ,  unbothered   composure  settles  again  like  snowfall.    “  it’s  alright  ,   there’s  always  next  time  to  show  you  up.  “    it’s  not  meant  to  sound  like   a  question,   but  her  intonation  rises  at  the  end  regardless.    “  i  was  heading  to  the  library  --  trying  to  avoid  getting  executed  by  the  librarian  for  more  late fees.  “

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /         "  𝐖𝐇𝐘  "     bluntly  spoken   ,   at  first  there  is  no  elaboration  to  the  mutants’  statement  --   nothing  can  be  garnered  from  their  neutral  expression  &  closed  off  body  language  ,     so  she  further  clarified  her  inquiry  after  a  beat.   “  why  do  you  bother  returning  it  ,     not  up  to  your  tastes  ? “   curve  of  the  lips  at  the  hint  of  a  joke  (  she’s  trying  to  play  nice.  ) 

/ @reshieldedstart​ .

     “  this  looks  bad  .  .  .  “  teddy  steps  back  ,  hands  rising  up  in  the  air  and  a  look  of  shock  on  his  features  .  “  really  bad  .  but  .  .  .  “  another  pause  .  “  it’s  not  what  you  think  ,  i  swear  .  “  teddy  really  wasn’t  stealing  although  it  sure  did  look  like  it  .  and  the  look  of  guilt  on  his  features  didn’t  help  the  situation  at  all  .  “  i  was  actually  returning  it  .  “

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /      𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓  𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐍  𝐈𝐂𝐄  𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄  𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒  ;  by  no  means  is  illyana  an  expert  in  these  kind  of  weapons  ,   guns  were  not  something  often  seen  in  her  childhood  other  than  the  hunting  rifles   --  and  her  source  of  knowledge  mainly  focused  around  weapons  of  the  bladed  variety  ( like  the  butterfly  knife  she  was  twirling  in  her  hands.  )      “    like  you  said  --  pretty.     but  why  the  chicago  typewriter  ,    do  typewriters  and  guns  sound  the  same  only  when  in  chicago  --    did  someone  throw  a  dart  at  a  map  ?   i’ve  never  gotten  how  stupid  english  names  can  be.  “ 

       (  @reshieldedstart​  !  )      ‘  pretty  .  ’   words  are  murmured  as  yelena  takes  the  vintage  shotgun  into  her  hand  .   ‘  and  the  name  is  even  prettier  .   do  you  know  what  they  call  it ?  the  chicago  typewriter  .  ’   points  the  gun  towards  the  other  ,   closes  one  eye  as  if  she’s  focusing  on  ,   and  pulls  the  trigger  .   it  clicks  .   yelena  shrugs  .    ‘  it’s  supposedly  supposed  to  have  no  differences  in  sounds  .   when  there’s  a  bullet  in  it  ,   anyways  .   i  got  iit  on  the  black  market  -   thoughts  ?  ’

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /    𝐍𝐎𝐓  𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄  𝐇𝐎𝐖  𝐓𝐎  𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐓  illyana  is  left  in  a  blank  stare  ,    there  is  a  level  of  gratefulness at  the  stranger  who  saved  her  --  but  at  the  same  time,   they  are  holding  illyana  back  from   going  whole  demon  queen  from  hell  on  the  mutaphobic  asshole.   “   no.  “      response  comes  pushed  through  gritted  teeth  ,   hands  by  her  side  clenching,  “   that  guy’s  just  a  fucking  bigot,  did   you  even  hear  what  he  said  ?  “

          @reshieldedstart​​    //    “  WHOA  HEY  WATCH  OUT  !  ”  arm  instinctively  shoots  out    to  stop  the  other  person  from  walking  right  into  the  splash  zone  of  a  flying  drink  .  “  guess  they  were  that  dissatisfied  by  a  frappuccino  ?  ”

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /           𝐚.   𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞.

“Rats are smart as hell. My best friend, Chris, told me that he knew this girl who could control rats with a wand, like some kind of Harry Potter shit. And don’t get me started on bugs. I hate those things.” Adrian made a face. It doesn’t seem like that long ago that he and the other 11th street kids had literally saved the Earth from a bunch of aliens that looked like butterflies, but the memories were fading fast. Vigilante did get a slight boost in popularity (and his record wiped clean) thanks to Leota working her magic, but Adrian’s life has largely remained the same. Still at a dead end job, and now, in a new world, he had to start his record all over again. He had seen the rapture first person, and was pretty sure it was over.

“You think i’m funny?” Adrian said, slightly confused. He wasn’t trying to be funny, not really, but it was still a nice compliment to get. “I don’t- really eat here if I don’t have to. I like calzone. It’s like a pizza, but rolled up into itself, like that snake thing that’s eating his own ass.” Adrian pointed to it on the menu. “The lasagna is good, I guess. I’ve been here for like, a week, so I really don’t know shit.”

·.·❅   /    𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐖 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐃   she doesn’t  clarify  what  she’s  skeptical  of  ,   one  might  assume  that  the  rat  controlling  wand  is  what  she  wanted  to  question  --  but  that  was  typical  for  mutants  ,  she  never  asked  doug  if  he  could  talk  to  rats  but  she’d  be  willing  to  put  a  bet  on  it  --  and  well xi’an  could  control  minds so   nothing  about  that  seemed  far  fetched   /   but  the  way  the  guy  phrased  it,   what  kind  of  super  hero-less hole  had  he  been  in  before  this  job?     RATHER   --   illyana  ,  so  use  to  more  humorous  characters  to  her  rather  brazen  personality  ,  wasn’t  sure  how  to  deal  with  his  question /  so  simply,   she  didn’t.     “   you  have  a  lot  of  interesting  animal  facts.  “   illyana  remarked  ;   not  fully catching  on  to  the  idiom  as  a  native  speaker  would    ,    “   there’s  no  snake  actually  in  the  calzone  right  ?  i  want  to  be  adventurous  ,  but  there’s  a  limit  to  that. “  

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /     𝐭.   𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫.

“  hey  ,  it’s dimension  -  walking  ,  not universe  -  walking  ,  ”  tim retorts defensively  .  “  and yeah  ,  i  —  came through that weird portal  ,  you know the big one  ?  i was following my dumbass owl  —  ”  here they turn their head momentarily to glare at yo-yo  ,  the bird not the slightest bit remorseful  ,  “  and now i can’t get back  .  ”

·.·❅   /    𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄  𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐑   illyana  didn’t  know  there  was  a  difference  til  the  universal  portals  became  a  thing  ;    she  knew  what  her  powers  could  do  ,  and  paid  little  attention  to  what  they  couldn’t   (  that’s  just  asking  to  get  upset  )    “  oh,   shit  --  sorry ,  if  it  helps  i’m  new  back  to  this  world  too ,  sooooo “     illyana  turned  to  the  bird  ,  slight  smile  on  her  face  --  she  thought  the  owl  was  cute  ,  in  the  way  it  reminded  her  of  lockheed  ,  “  but  ,  hey  you’re  a  pretty  good  pet  owner  if  you’d  run  into  an  portal  to  the  unknown  for  your  pet.  “ 

[hellflake]

·.·❅   /        “   𝐈  𝐆𝐄𝐓  𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓  𝐀  𝐋𝐎𝐓  “      russian  mutant  doesn’t  jump  at  the  sudden  voice  ,   just  cranes  her  head  from  where  she  had  been  watching  the  cats’  run  through  the  alleys.    illyana  had  her  own  motives  for  roaming  the  blackened  back  streets  of  new  york  ,      a  free  agent  of  chaos  -  her  own  motives  and  morals  guiding  her  through  this  world  she’d  yet  to  cement  herself  back  into.   years  of  isolation  warped  mind  and  soul  into  something  too  rotten  for  her  past  life  ,   yet  everyone  seemed  so  eager  to  drag  her  back  to  the  girl  she  once  was.    “    you   ever  hear  of  witches  and  familiars  ? “       serious  glint  in  ice  blue  eyes  ,    not  shrinking  away  from  the  approaching  gaze   ,  suggested  that  there  was  no  joke  in  illyana’s  statement.   she  always  used  to  joke  kitty  was  hers       --  the  extension  of  her  soul.   that  was  five  years  ago.   things  change  ,   and  now  she’s  hanging  with  the  alley  cats’  as some  kind  of  replacement.     “   no  catnip  needed   --   but  maybe  it’s  because  last  week  i  stopped  a  drunkard  with  no  regard  for  feline  safety.   are  they  --  “  a  pause  ,   illyana’s  head  mirroring  the  others  tilt  ,   “ --  your  cats?  “  

    *     ⅋        —        @reshieldedstart​          ❪         open     starter  

   the  night  doesn’t  scare  her.  street  lamps  that  illuminated  her  way  home,  flickering  out  of  time  while  the  moon  acted  an  illusive  guide.  this  new  city  was  strange,  but  full  of  opportunities.  for  someone  like  selina,  you  had  to  make - do  with  what  you  got;  reliance  is  a  risky  business,  and  in  times  like  these,  the  only  person  she  could  trust  was  herself  ⸻  but  even  then,  selina  struggled  to  stay  consistent.  tiny  shards  of  smudged  glitter  rested  underneath  tired  eyes,  her  make-shift  mask  and  a  midnight  bag  caught  up  in  one  hand.  she  was  doing  her  best  to  survive,  sometimes  to  keep  above  board,  it  called  for  illegal  measures.

❛  she  seems  to  like  you.  ❜  the  femme  called  out,  head  tilted  to  the  side  as  she  watched  one  of  her  newly  adopted  strays  rub  the  entire  length  of  her  body  against  the  stranger’s  leg  ⸻  a  spark  of  quiet  jealousy  burned  in  selina’s  chest  at  the  sound  of  the  cat  purring,  it  took  a  good  week  for  the  stray  to  like  her.  dark  hues  flicker  to  face  the  stranger,  a  suspicious  sparkle  in  selina’s  eye.  ❛  did  you  stuff  your  pockets  with  cat-nip  or  somethin’  ?  ❜