[IC] Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

[FreckersFrog]

Although she had tried to hide it, Geralt could see the surprise on Ivory's face. Although he was used to this reaction, he relished it more with her because he was sure it was harder to attain than with the layman. At least he knew that she could be shaken.

"I didn't think so." he said, maintaining his smile. "This will be the easiest part for you, honestly. It's a little...different, at first, but once you get used to it, its as easy as, well, standing there."

He took a step toward her, but put both of his hands behind his back before adding, "And I do have to touch you, I hope that isn't a 'deal-breaker'." Although this part could have easily been a lie that he was sure Ivory would believe, it was actually true. One limit to his abilities was that whatever he was "magicking" had to come into contact with his hands. This was true for larger things, and especially humans, although smaller and inanimate objects were much easier to manipulate. The gramophone, for example, required no effort. Levitating someone was a little harder, but still second nature. Teleporting himself was not difficult, but moving someone else without damaging them or their parts required some concentration.

[xivyxx]

Ivory didn't like it, not one bit. She looked at him almost suspiciously, wondering if this was actually true, but he had already preemptively stated that he might have to touch her for this. Unfortunately, it was unlikely that they could pull off any sort of good transition without her allowing him to touch her. She knew she couldn't be that difficult about it, so she resigned herself to accepting. It technically wasn't that big of a deal.. depending on how long he had to anyway. She would make sure to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't have to linger for more than he had to. She believed him capable.

"Fine." She said simply. Part of her was curious to how this magic of his worked anyway. It was her best chance to learn as much as she possibly could. Any feeling, or strange thing she saw, she wanted to keep in mind so she could inform Illyana about it later. There was plenty to gain from this experience, and she wasn't planning to let it go to waste.

[FreckersFrog]

Geralt wasted no time, nodding as soon as the word had left Ivory's lips. "Good," he said, then took one step closer so he was just within arm's reach of her. "Now, I'm going to give you a little hop to start. You'll still be on stage, I don't want to go flinging you across the grounds until you're accustomed." There was a slight pause, then he reached out towards her shoulder slowly with his pointer finger extended. He looked her in the face to be sure she would accept his touch, then proceeded when she didn't stop him. He simply tapped her on the shoulder with one finger and she disappeared in a wreath of black smoke.

Ivory reappeared faster than the blink of an eye, only a foot away from where she had been standing. This made no sound, and the smoke was the only visible factor with Geralt's...well, his "partner's" ability. As long as this was done in darkened area of the stage, there would be no giveaway.

[xivyxx]

Ivory made no reaction as Geralt stepped toward her, preparing himself for whatever he was going to do. As he reached for her, her expression remained the same, her way of allowing him to continue. She nodded as he spoke, and simply waited. The tap on the shoulder was light, but there wasn't a moment to really prepare herself for what followed. A shudder ran up her spine, a strong sense of unease hitting her as she suddenly found herself standing in a different spot than she was. It had been so quick that the sensation had been hard to fully grasp. She stumbled but only briefly, and quickly straightened herself. It was strange.. and while it had taken not even a second, she knew she didn't like it. How exactly was he doing this?

She knew there was no point in asking, because he would not give her an answer. The only way she could really find out more about this was by having him do it again.

"It's weird." She said, feeling the need to at least say something about it. "Again. The faster I get used to it, the better."

[FreckersFrog]

Geralt was pleased to see that Ivory had taken her first displacement so well. The first time he had done it, he'd vomited, but that was a long time ago and he had been pushed much farther through space. He smiled at her, noting the stumble but not commenting on it. There was no need, he could tell the sensation had not been all too pleasant for the vampiress.

Still, he applauded her gumption. He smiled, cocking his head slightly, and said, "That's what I like to hear." He took a long sidestep towards her and reached out again, this time not pausing before he tapped her on the shoulder.

This time, he sent her to the middle of the room. The height change would be a little jarring, he knew, but the distance was still not as far from here to there and here to backstage. She reappeared exactly where she was supposed to.

You are giving this away already...I thought you might be more prudent with our skills. The voice said, scolding him.

Oh, please. They were going to find out anyway. The more secretive I am, the more they will ask. Better this way.

[xivyxx]

Ivory didn't say anything and simply prepared herself for another teleportation. This one made her just uneasy as the first, if not more. While the distance was not much larger, she felt it had lasted a little longer than the last. She managed to retain her balance this time around, but grabbed hold of a nearby chair. It was still a little off-putting. She was used to twirling and dropping at fast speeds because of her act, which had given her a strong stomach, though she was sure her vampiric composition might have also helped her with that.

Did this ability of his have a limit? How far could he teleport someone like this? She didn't really like being unable to have no control over where she ended up. The fact she had to leave it all up to him made it all the more irritating, but she had no choice but to comply, for the good of the show. Part of her wanted to get used to it to, just for future references. She didn't want to let him catch her off guard too much.

"Again." She said, straightening herself.

[FreckersFrog]

Geralt wasted no time in obliging Miss Ivory. He knew she was determined to get this down, just as she had been with her part. With any luck, they would only need an hour or two of practice tomorrow before taking the stage.

As soon as she steadied herself, he disappeared from view in a plume of black smoke, reappeared behind her, and sent her to where he had been standing. Because they would be switching places in the act, he wanted to make sure this was covered as well. In fact, he found the switch to be a bit easier than just sending her willy-nilly, although neither put him out at all.

The two continued at this for a while with Geralt and Ivory trading places and with him sending her out farther and farther, even beyond the confines of the tent. The repetition soon became boring for him, but he kept at it, knowing that a smooth transition would be the best possible start for his show. No need to undermine himself, after all.

Once Ivory was satisfied that she had grasped the physics of the displacement, she let Geralt know and he was quite relieved to be through with it. To his surprise, however, Ivory had actually done much better than he anticipated. Although, she was a dancer and an athlete, so she had the strengths to contend with the nausea already. Lucien had somehow played the right card when he made the decision to partner the two of them.

He brushed his hands together as the two completed their last successful switch, and called across the tent to Ivory, "I suppose we should call it here for the day, reconvene tomorrow for one more round before the finale?"

[xivyxx]

Ivory was determined to get this whole teleportation thing down as quick as possible. While the unease grew the more distance was put between them, she became better at hiding her discomfort as the practice continued, until it was an almost natural landing for her. She was glad it hadn't taken an extremely long time to get down.

"Yeah." She responded, before jumping off of the stage. They had made a lot more progress today than she originally thought they would, which she was glad for. It meant they wouldn't have to spend too much time on it tomorrow, as she had hoped.

"See ya." She turned her back to him, and with a salute-like wave, she took her leave, no longer seeing any reason to remain here. Despite her sturdy physique, even she got tired, and there was nothing else on her mind except getting some sleep until it neared show time. It was probably best. She quickly made her way across the grounds, though it seemed Akane had caught sight of her in the midst of helping a carnie with something, and ran up to her.

"Hey, how did practice go?" She asked her.

"It went fine, we got the majority of it figured out, and we'll just be doing final practice tomorrow." She told her. At this, Akane gave her a relieved smile.

"I'm glad to hear that! I can't wait to see what you two have put together!" She exclaimed.

"M'hm, well, I'm going to get some rest before the show. Mind stopping by to make sure I've woken up in time to get ready?" She asked.

"Sure! No problem!" The woman responded with a bright smile. Perhaps it would be a good time to invest in an alarm clock, honestly she hadn't really needed it up to this point, as she usually just woke up to the rowdiness of the grounds or someone simply came to get her, but she supposed if now she had to help keep an eye on Geralt.. she had to make sure to wake up in a.. timely manner.

What a pain.. She thought to herself, before thanking Akane and making her way back to her trailer. Upon arrival she quickly removed her clothes and simply put on a robe before collapsing into her bed. There was no point in changing her clothes if she was just going to change again upon waking up. With that thought in mind, the dhampir eventually trailed off into sleep.

[FreckersFrog]

Geralt watched Ivory's back as she left the tent, and waited until she was completely out of sight before moving. He did quite enjoy watching her walk away.

After he was done, he hopped off of the stage and made his way back across the grounds toward his own trailer. He didn't have any particular plans for the evening, perhaps he would do some "research" by speaking with some of the rubes on his way in. In fact, that seemed like a rather pleasant idea, so he made his way into the center of the grounds, spotting a man who seemed to be taking a rest break. Luckily, neither Lucien or the performers were around to see this, so he sidled up to him and struck up a conversation.

All in all it was a rather droll tale, and Geralt didn't even have to waste his energy hypnotizing the man. He explained that he, and many of the other carnies, had met Lucien through a chance encounter. The man had been down on his luck, injured, and unable to work until he met Lucien and company. The Ringleader had nursed him back to health, although Geralt would have to fact-check this as there seemed to be something more to it than simple medicine, and because he was homeless had offered the man a job here. He owed Lucien his life, and thus was loyal to him and the others for taking him in when he had nowhere else to go. It appeared that this man was without specialty, otherwise human, and completely ordinary. Geralt guessed this was the case with all of them. It seemed that Lucien had built a veritable army of able bodied human rubes to cart around his freakshow. Either the Frenchman was more cunning than he appeared, or he was just that kind.

After Geralt had learned all he needed to, he took his leave and headed back to his trailer for a round of drinks before the show. He encountered none of the other troupe members on the way, though he did glance at Lucien's trailer before entering his own, just to see if he would catch movement inside. It was no matter, he had plenty of time.

Illyana continued her research, and Cora helped Akane prepare for her performance before the grounds opened to their patrons. All were excited to see what the turnout would be, considering Geralt's offer the previous evening.

[xivyxx]

Akane had stopped by as she said she would, and Ivory prepared for her show. It went as smoothly as it normally did, with a bit more of a turnout than the day before. That was good. After her last show she headed back to her trailer to change, and waited it out until closure, going to their usual after show meetings. It seemed everyone had experienced a much higher turnout today, with Geralt of course having the highest. He certainly seemed smug about it, which did not surprise her in the least. Lucien had used that opportunity of higher crowds to advertise their new and improved Big Top show. There had certainly been those who seemed excited to see it.

He also took the chance to ask her and Geralt how their practice transition practice was going.

”Nearly perfect, thanks to Miss Ivory.” The man had responded.

”We’ll have it completely ready to go before the show.” Ivory added in. Lucien was at least glad to hear that their practice had gone well enough to the point they had almost finished. Perhaps he had been worried for no reason. It seemed they were doing just fine.

Once Lucien called it a night, everyone returned to their respective trailers, everyone except Ivory, at least.

Instead, she headed to Illyana’s trailer, knowing the fortune teller would want to know in more detail how their practice had gone. She raised her door to knock, but Illyana had seemingly already known she was coming. Not surprising.

”Come in.” She had said, prompting the dhampir to enter.

"I figured you'd want to know what I learned today." She told her as she closed the door behind her.

[FreckersFrog]

Just as Geralt the Great had predicted, the turnout for this show was substantially higher than the previous one due to his quick thinking. Even with the free entry for children, the Magician was confident that their overall profit would be greater than Cirque D'étoiles could have hoped for. He knew that they owed every penny to him, but he was happy to take his cut and keep his mouth shut...for now. As long as Lucien's opinion of him stayed positive, he was happy to put on a show, both off and on stage.

After their meeting, he walked back to their respective trailers at Lucien's side, trying to tempt the Ringleader into another glass of wine. Unfortunately, Lucien declined, but Geralt showed no disappointment. He left the man with a smile, and returned to his trailer for the evening to retire.

Cora had retired as well, leaving with Akane to practice some more writing before bed. The girls had spent a good majority of the day before the shows writing Geralt's name onto the show-bills. This was a temporary fix until they could reach a town to print new ones. Despite the slight cramp in the mermaid's hand, she wanted to practice a little more, knowing that her writing was nowhere near as pretty as Akane's or as dainty as Illyana's. Despite the cramp in her hand, she was determined to one day find her own nice style of handwriting, but she wouldn't be able to without more practice.

Illyana had retired to her trailer as well, though her intention was to sleep. The little rest she had gotten over these past few days was finally catching up with her. Though, as she entered her space, she felt a twinge and knew to expect company in moments. She busied herself separating the show-bills she, Akane, and Cora had worked on into piles, setting aside Cora's for the time being. She had spent a lot of time on them, but unfortunately they were mostly illegible. Of course, Illy would never let Cora know that they did not use them, she would simply hide them until she had a chance to discard them where the mermaid would not see.

She felt Ivory's presence before the dhampir was able to knock, and allowed her entry into the trailer. Though the walls, tables, and dresser were piled with books, the front of the trailer was spotless. This was where she did her readings, and needed to make sure that patrons were under the illusion that she was cleanly and dramatic. The curtain that normally divided her workspace from her living space was open, so Ivory had a full view into the back of the trailer, which was an absolute mess.

"Evening." Illy said as she set the show-bills aside and turned toward her guest, wiping her hands on her skirt as she did so. After Ivory's comment, she raised her eyebrows and nodded. "Of course." She gestured to one of the chairs at the reading table and turned away for a moment. "Tea?" she asked, grabbing the kettle from the camp stove as it began to whistle.

[xivyxx]

Once Lucien had gotten back to his trailer, he sat in his office as he began to count the coin that they had earned today, measuring each act in comparision to each other. It was around that time he heard a knock on his door, and saw it was Geralt. He politely declined his invitation this time around, after all he had a bit of work ahead of him, and he wanted to get a decent amount of rest for tomorrow. The man hadn't took offense, and took his leave, and so the Ringleader went back to work.

He had to admit the turnout for this day had gone quite well, better than the day before. It had been twice the amount that they had earned their second day from their previous stop in this town. It seemed like allowing kids to go in for free the first two days had been a wise decision. Perhaps he'd consider doing it again at one point, he'd just have to be strategic about it. It made him optimistic for the final day, where they had their big show, but he supposed he'd have to wait and see how it went. So far the addition of Geralt had proven to be a good one, and it hadn't caused them any problems yet either, but he'd still be sure to keep an eye out for anything.. unsavory.

With all the finances out of the way, Lucien decided to retire for the night, planning to wake up bright and early to do some practicing with Cora. He knew the mermaid was typically an early riser, and Ivory was normally quite the opposite, which would give him time to use the Big Top for practice before Ivory and Geralt needed to make use of it.

-

Ivory took a quick glance around Illy's trailer, taking a look at the ridiculous amount of books that she had piled. It wasn't surprising really, and the dhampir would be the last person to make judgement on the mess. She approached the table she was motioned to and took a seat.

"Sure." She responded, watching the fortune teller prepare the two sets of tea before nearing the table and taking a seat as well. Taking a better look at her, the woman seemed completely exhausted, more so than she had been the past two nights. It was a little worrying, and made her think twice about whether coming here tonight was a good idea.

"How did the readings go? You look pretty tired.." She commented, worry reflected in her gaze. If she kept the girl up too long tonight, it would definitely be noticeable tomorrow, and she knew that a scolding from Lucien was bound to occur. She'd have to do her best to make sure Illy got a decent amount of sleep. The scent of chamomile filled her nose as she breathed in the relaxing smell, and she couldn't deny that she was glad to have it, after having to deal with that Magician for as long as she had.

[FreckersFrog]

Illyana set her cup down and took a seat across from Ivory, picking up a wet rag from a dish as she did so. She began to wipe her face as Ivory spoke, removing the makeup she had worn for her readings. It had never felt natural, but it had been her idea to dye her hair and paint her face to draw in more customers. When she was younger, before she had thought of impersonating a Romani, she pulled half the amount of clientele that she did now.

"Oh," she said in answer as she finished cleaning one eyelid, "You know, some nights are better than others." She paused a second as she began to work on the other eye, keeping her gaze on the table. "Just...one of the women, she wanted to channel her son. It was...hard on us both." She shrugged a bit, then smiled weakly up at Ivory as she finished wiping her face. She left the stained rag on the table as she held the teacup to her lips and sipped the warm, soothing liquid. She felt the stress of the day melt away with it as the Chamomile warmed her throat and chest.

"You wanted to tell me something?" she asked, clearly preferring to change the subject.

[xivyxx]

"I see..." That was all Ivory could really say to that. She was.. awkward at these kinds of things, it's not like she had a close family connection in the past that she could ever possibly be attached to enough to be able to relate to this kind of thing. Not even her mother. Asking Illyana to channel her mother would be the last thing she would ever want to do. She shook her head, and was glad to shake off the subject. She reached for the sugar to put a couple teaspoons in before she stirred it around with her spoon.

"Ah yes.. our practice." She started, before leaning back on her chair, finally taking a sip of her tea.

"I managed to discover two things that he could do. Teleportation, for one.. I experienced that one myself.. since we're using it for our transition.. It seems he can do it to himself and other people as well, though it seems he has to touch them for it." She muttered.

"I don't like it.. the feeling is strange.. it makes me uneasy.. He disappears into a puff of black smoke and appears somewhere else in less than a second. Completely soundless, it caught even me off guard." She hated to admit it, but she knew she had to be honest when it came to explaining this to Illy of all people. She needed all the information she could get.

"He also told me he could make himself "unseen," so I'm assuming that he can make himself invisible, or something of the sort. I didn't get to see that one though, so I can't confirm it."

[FreckersFrog]

Illyana's eyes went wide, her teacup to her mouth, as Ivory began speaking again. She lowered her cup as quickly as possible and it tinkled against the saucer. She leaned forward a little as Ivory continued to explain, completely enraptured and trying to absorb everything. Halfway through, she realized what she had missed, and shuffled around in a shelf by her side before withdrawing a small notebook. She flipped to the center and began jotting down notes, still listening intently.

She didn't interrupt or ask anything until Ivory was finished, in fact, she was completely silent the entire way except for the scratching of her pencil. When Ivory was finished, she set the notebook down closed and nodded. "Hm..." she said, her eyes alight.

Abruptly she began to pace, pulling at her bottom lip as she did so. She was turning this information over and over in her head, cataloging and organizing it into the library of her brain. It was good information, to be sure, but she wondered if it could actually lead her to anything.

"Black smoke..." she said, then turned to Ivory. "That's interesting, probably a big hint as to what's going on with him." It was very good to hear that Ivory had actually experienced the sensation as well, this gave her much more insight into how the ability worked. If he was not only able to transport himself, but others, and against their will...that was quite a powerful ability.

"Wait," she said, suddenly, turning toward her guest once more, "Describe how it feels again. Did you see anything, hear anything, feel anything? Did the temperature change, or did you feel a texture, like something touching you? Anything that could make the teleport...corporeal? Did you let it happen willingly every time or try to resist it?" Her words were flying out of her too fast for her to check. She was so excited to learn that Ivory had this much information, and so soon...this was definitely a boon. The more they could find out about the Magician's abilities, the better, and of course it was best to know as fast as possible. Having Ivory work with Geralt was probably the worst thing that Lucien could have asked of her, but the best thing for the troupe as a whole.

[xivyxx]

Ivory didn't speak up immediately once she had finished, as Illyana was clearly in thought. She was always like this, so.. absorbed in her knowledge.

"Probably." She told her simply. It certainly fit with his... style.

At Illy's following question, she remained silent, trying to think back. Honestly in the heat of the moment she had been much more focused in trying to get used to the sensation and attempting to not trip over her own feet when it happened, not wanting to give the Magician that satisfaction. She hadn't really focused too much on the feeling itself because she hadn't liked it one bit.

"Honestly I don't have much to tell you there. It just made me feel uneasy, like.. I was covered in darkness, for a split second. I know that the smoke didn't smell, and that it dissipated soon after. He touched my shoulder to do it each time, and he continued to teleport me around the Big Top until I got used to it. I let it happen willingly, because I don't really want to find out what happens if you don't. My body is moving from one space to another, I prefer it's all kept in one piece." She said. Not knowing how that ability worked exactly definitely made that a risk she wasn't willing to take, even for the sake of knowledge.

"He teleported behind me in a blink of an eye, and then teleported me to take his place just as fast, it lasts no more than a second, it's hard to be.. aware of what's really happening during that time, as I'm usually too busy trying not to trip right after it's done. It's easy to lose balance when you have no control over where you end up.. it sucks.." She grumbled. Not having control over herself was one of the things Ivory hated the most. The fact she had no say in this made the experience even more annoying. She had to rely on Geralt to put her where she was supposed to, and while she figured he'd do it for the sake of 'success,' it didn't mean she trusted him one bit. He was probably only doing it to look good in front of Lucien.

"I'm sorry that's not as helpful, but we still have to finalize things tomorrow, I can try to focus a bit more on the feeling itself then, now that I'm used to the actual displacing." She added, not planning to give up on finding out as much as she could just yet.

[FreckersFrog]

Illyana listened to all of Ivory's explanation, snatching up her book once more when she explained the sensations and jotting them down. This was good information, even if it was scarce. Illyana was only sorry she didn't have more details about the way it felt, that would be really helpful for their research. But she would have plenty of chances to do it again and again if they were using the teleport in the act, so Illyana wasn't worried about getting the information. Everything would come together in time, Illy just hoped that time would be sooner rather than later.

At the last word, Illyana looked up from her scribbling and said, "'Displacing'?" This struck her as an odd word for Ivory to use. "Is that the word he used?" Without waiting for an answer, she scribbled more into her notebook. There was a slight pause as she looked down at the words, then her eyes went wide for a moment.

She tossed the book into the table, turned and made her way over to her bed. Every surface except the cutout in the middle where she slept was covered in books. She rifled through them for a second, turning them to see the spines, then tossing them aside. After a moment, it became clear that she was organizing them into piles. She was mapping out how she would attack this next phase of her research. The information Ivory had shared had given her quite a few theories to work with, which was definitely more than she had before. In fact, she felt like she had already reached a stopping point before the dhampir had come to pay her a visit, and was grateful that the wheels could begin turning again.

"What are you doing...?" Ivory's voice carried from behind her.

"Uuuh..." Illyana began in answer, looking at the spine of a book on the occult before she tossed it into the larger pile. "I'm just making a plan...you know, for researching. This was really good information, honestly, the best clue I've gotten so far, so I need to jump on it before--" there was a pause as she yawned loudly, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, "--the trail goes cold." This was true, though Illyana's body was resisting, her mind was alight with the thirst for more knowledge. If she could just push through one more night of research...maybe she would find something, anything, that could lead her to figuring out what was going on with Geralt. The longer she waited, the more dangerous he grew to her and the troupe. They needed contingency, and they didn't have that until they could determine the source of his abilities.

[xivyxx]

Ivory always found it a bit amusing when Illyana became so.. absorbed like this. It reminded her of when she was little, when she'd manage to get a hold of story books, how fascinated she would be by them, though she never quite reached this.. extreme.

At her question, she simply nodded, though she wasn't sure if Illy had even seen it before she went off toward the back of her trailer. She watched in silence for a moment, watching her move all the books around. Now she could clearly see why the fortune teller had appeared tired the last few days, if she was spending her nights doing stuff like this. Eventually she decided to speak up, wanting to know what her goal was here.

The dhampir sighed. Of course that's what she was doing. No hesitation at all before jumping right into that research. Normally she might have let it be but, considering how little sleep Illy had been getting lately, she figured letting her do this today could be bad, specially if tomorrow was their last night. Lucien would certainly scold her. She got up from her chair and made her way over, her steps quiet as usual. She didn't hesitate before scooping the smaller woman into her arms almost effortlessly, it had clearly startled the girl, but she didn't mind it.

"Not tonight you won't, or you will never hear the end of it from Lucien." She said, stepping around some books to place Illy on her bed.

"You look too tired today to be throwing yourself into research. I'm sure the trail will be just as warm tomorrow." She added, pausing for a moment. She figured it'd be possible that Illy would be stubborn about it.

"I was planning to stay up for a while anyway. If you tell me what to read, I can begin skimming through some books, give you a head start." She suggested. It wasn't like she wasn't curious about the answer herself. She knew that it was best if they got to the bottom of this as quick as possible.

[FreckersFrog]

Illyana was completely taken aback when she felt her feet leave the floor. She dropped the book she had been holding, which bounced onto the bed face down and open. "Ack!" she squealed, then looked up at Ivory, surprised as confused as the dhampir placed her on the bed. For a moment, she was still an silent, unsure of what to say or do. She was not often in unwilling contact with others, given her situation, but she noted that Ivory had taken care that there was no skin-to-skin contact.

After she had calmed herself, she twisted her mouth in begrudging acceptance, attempting to pout. Ivory was right, after all, and Illyana knew this, even if she didn't like it. Lucien would simply have a fit if he found out that she stayed up late for another night to research Geralt, especially this early on. No, she had to admit that this time she could not force herself to stay awake and read.

But still, the allure of knowledge was too strong, "But, I promise I'll only--" another yawn broke her sentence, this time it was jaw-cracking, and it made her eyes water.

When she was finished, she fell silent again before letting out a sigh. She couldn't say she wasn't grateful for the offer of assistance. She glanced around the bed, seeing the sheer amount of ground she still had to cover, and seemed to deflate as she realized that she would need to accept Ivory's help if she wanted this done quickly. She knew the dhampir well enough to gather that she would not leave her trailer until Illyana was truly, finally, asleep.

"Well...I would appreciate an extra set of eyes." She reached across the bed and slid a pile of seven books towards Ivory. "I've already skimmed these a couple times, but you can start here. If you finish, let me know, there's plenty more to keep us busy." she said, glancing around at the other books on the bed. She had to admit, even sitting here in comfort was making her tired. She yawned again, then reached for the closest tome.

[xivyxx]

Ivory raised her eyebrow slightly at her attempt to fight her, which was interrupted by her own yawn. It was a bit amusing, but she didn't speak up immediately, as the woman accepted her offer. She shot a glance toward the pile. Seven books, that wasn't that bad, to start at least. She knew there was also the larger pile she had just pulled those seven books from. She had to admire Illyana's tenacity, at the very least.

"Don't you worry about it, I'll check through them." For a moment, she almost stopped her from reaching for that book, but it was common knowledge that Illy tended to read before falling asleep.

"I better see those eyes closing in the next fifteen minutes." She warned her before she moved a few books out of the way before taking a seat on the floor, leaning her back against Illy's bed. This was the best way to ensure she would sleep. She reached out and grabbed the first book from the pile. She could not really remember the last time she had sat down to read like this. This one seemed to be Slavic folklore, which sounded interesting enough.

"I can't deny that I'm impressed by your collection.." She commented. Just by giving some books a brief glance, she could tell that there were a variety of genre's, which is something she expected of Illyana. "Do you have any.. fiction?" She asked, though she knew it was a bit of a silly question. She had to have some with so many books piled around. She couldn't help but ask. Over the last few years she had been much more distracted with her little... art projects, since she now had access to a lot more materials than before, to end up giving herself time to read, not to mention keeping up with her training. She only had a couple books in her room, stories she had found she liked enough to keep. If Illyana had some things of interest in that regard then.. maybe she'd pick up reading again.