Sally didn't know Peter particularly well. He'd been at the mansion when she was in the Brotherhood and she rarely had ever interacted with him. But she knows the two people who loved him probably the most in the world and she wouldn't miss this for anything. Not even an Apocalypse, which thankfully seems to have been stopped before it even started this time.
She sits in one of the chairs and listens to the speeches and waits to lend a hand any way that she can. For now, she'll admire the photo of the young man they lost and keep a watchful eye on her friends.
"I'll be right here in this chair until the service is over so you need anything just say so." She glances at the refreshment table and adds, "I may get up to get food but I'm here."
Illyana grins. "I made most of that myself," she says proudly. "Our mother taught ume to cook, from when I was small. Piotr's favourites are all there."
Her face grows more solemn. "Do you ever put out food for the dead, Sally?"
Sally shakes her head. "No. I've never done a wake or funeral for those I've lost before." She'd been to the one for Lorna's father but never had one for her parents, Rusty or the Morlocks.
Illyana twirls a strand of hair around her finger.
"Putting food out for the dead is a very old tradition. You do not need a funeral or anything. Just a plate, really. Some places, they do it every DAY. To feed the ghosts. I think I will only do it at cross quarters, and today."
She lets go of her hair and sighs. "My mother taught the boys a little, yes. Mikhail never took to it, I was told. Piotr was better. But cooking was more a woman's job. ...Piotr would have been a very ugly woman."
"They do that for the Day of the Dead, right? Down in South America I think." Sally isn't quite sure what to say and tries not to fumble with her hands. "Cross quarters?"
"That's right," Illyana says. "And in some religions. The Egyptians did it. If you did not feed the dead, they went hungry and rose from the grave. Vampires, sort of."
She looks at Sally seriously. "Cross quarters. Between solstices and equinoxes. Halloween is one. Sally... Everyone knows I killed him. Thank you for not treating me badly."
"What?" Sally takes Illyana's hands in her own and squeezes tightly. How can her friend think that? "No you didn't. You lost him that is not the same thing. He might still be alive, yana."
She sighs and squeezes the girl's hands again. "You didn't kill him."
If Peter is dead, it was Illyana's actions that caused his death. She knows this, and strangely she has come to a sort of peace with it.
"See?" she says, instead of arguing the point. "You are good to me. I am very happy to have met you. With Piotr gone... it is good for me to have friends. Good people, to remind me how to be human."
She smiles a little, and a few tears finally fall from her eyes. "I just hope he is not alone."
She sits in one of the chairs and listens to the speeches and waits to lend a hand any way that she can. For now, she'll admire the photo of the young man they lost and keep a watchful eye on her friends.
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"Thank you for coming," she says simply. "Piotr would be proud that I have such good friends."
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"I'll be right here in this chair until the service is over so you need anything just say so." She glances at the refreshment table and adds, "I may get up to get food but I'm here."
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Her face grows more solemn. "Do you ever put out food for the dead, Sally?"
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"Did she teach your brothers how to cook too?"
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"Putting food out for the dead is a very old tradition. You do not need a funeral or anything. Just a plate, really. Some places, they do it every DAY. To feed the ghosts. I think I will only do it at cross quarters, and today."
She lets go of her hair and sighs. "My mother taught the boys a little, yes. Mikhail never took to it, I was told. Piotr was better. But cooking was more a woman's job. ...Piotr would have been a very ugly woman."
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She looks at Sally seriously. "Cross quarters. Between solstices and equinoxes. Halloween is one. Sally... Everyone knows I killed him. Thank you for not treating me badly."
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She sighs and squeezes the girl's hands again. "You didn't kill him."
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"See?" she says, instead of arguing the point. "You are good to me. I am very happy to have met you. With Piotr gone... it is good for me to have friends. Good people, to remind me how to be human."
She smiles a little, and a few tears finally fall from her eyes. "I just hope he is not alone."
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"You are human, yana. And I'll always try and remind you of that."
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