Arms Hotel, Sunday morning

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal woke up feeling no different than the night before, until all the memories started flooding in. Growing up a woman; growing up with no uncle, stuck in a Soviet boarding school; growing up with his entire family, in France; being himself, with Sparkle his willing protégé.

He scrubbed his face with one hand and shoved it all to the back of his mind long enough to make coffee. Then sat drinking it, remembering, cataloguing every detail so as not to forget.

If there were a few parts that got especially fond treatment, that was nobody's business but his own.

Around noon, he made a phone call and sent a text message. Then he just sat and went back to thinking.


[OOC: Open to anyone who wants to drop by.]

[ETA: Therapy session NFB, please!]

Comments

[justlurkinghere]

Excuse you, his bone structure was amazing.

"Isn't everyone?"

[sharp_as_knives]

His shaving wasn't. And his cheekbones hardly gave Hannibal's a run for their money.

"No." Hannibal raised an eyebrow. "Many people are capable of judging others based on more than their appearance. I would conjecture that with your past experiences, a pretty face is more likely to make you wary than trusting."

[justlurkinghere]

Well, there was no way to compete with that. Hannibal could use his own cheekbones to slice up Beverly Katz.

Too soon? Too soon.

Derek huffed in annoyance at that. Because he was full of issues. "He also said he was in love with a classmate who didn't know he existed for abut ten years."

[sharp_as_knives]

Definitely too soon. Especially since this Hannibal's canon isn't there yet.

"This is the girl your sister also had a crush on?" You should disambiguate your Stileses, Derek.

[justlurkinghere]

"Yes. She was dating one of the other kids here." A beat. "I need a flow chart sometimes."

[sharp_as_knives]

"A diagram might be helpful," Hannibal acknowledged. "This girl, was she only a pretty face?"

[justlurkinghere]

"I don't really know her." Except that she dated Jackson and was a banshee. "They're friends now."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Is Stiles the type to keep someone as a friend for their attractiveness?"

It was a trick question, Derek; you had better know the answer.

[justlurkinghere]

Rude with your trick questions.

"No," Derek huffed. "But he also seems to think he's some weird, inept troll when it comes to socializing."

The expression on Derek's face let it be known that Stiles was insane for this since he was hanging out with the least social person ever.

[sharp_as_knives]

"He seemed to me no more awkward than any other teenager," Hannibal noted. "In any event, as he doesn't choose his friends for their good looks, and you have been friends for some time, I believe you can safely assume that your looks aren't involved in his decision making, yes?"

[justlurkinghere]

"I guess..."

Damn it, Derek. Damn it.

[sharp_as_knives]

"So, since your pretty face is likely not a factor in his decision, do you feel you can trust his judgment as to whether the relationship is healthy for him or not?"

Hoist by logic, Derek.

[justlurkinghere]

You're the worst for reasons beyond being a serial killer!

"I want to," Derek replied. "I know he's telling the truth when he says it, but she did too."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Who did?"

Excuse you, he was the best for reasons of being a serial killer.

[justlurkinghere]

"Kate," Derek ground out. "She could control her heartbeat so I couldn't tell what was a lie."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Do you believe Stiles would lie to remain in a relationship with you?"

Honestly, Derek, did you go looking for reasons to not be happy?

[justlurkinghere]

HAVE YOU MET HIM?

"I don't want to."

[sharp_as_knives]

"What reasons do you think he might do that for?"

[justlurkinghere]

"I don't know," Derek snapped. "It doesn't just go away!"

[sharp_as_knives]

"Of course not." Hannibal looked at him. "That is why you're here. And part of my job is to make you confront these things. I don't expect you will instantly change; what I do expect is that the next time you have these doubts, you will have thought through them and will have the tools to counteract them."

Or you would discover you really couldn't trust Stiles, and the counseling would take an entirely different tack. But he considered that unlikely.

[justlurkinghere]

Derek huffed, resting his forearms on his knees. "Will the doubts ever go away?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"Given that you are human - more or less," he amended with a nod, "it's unlikely. But if you can convince yourself they are unwarranted, they should decrease over time, and you will be able to dismiss them when they do occur.

"So, if you think there are situations in which Stiles would lie to maintain your relationship, what are they?"

[justlurkinghere]

"I think he'd lie by omission," Derek replied. "He knew what was going to happen to Laura--"

Goddamn Peter.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Did he say why he didn't tell you?"

He wasn't as close-mouthed, surely.

[justlurkinghere]

"He didn't want me to get killed." SEE, DEREK? SEE?

His posture made it clear he was seeing the point of this.