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]

"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.

[sharp_as_knives]

"So it's possible he will lie in order to save your life. Are there other situations that you think he would?"

So far, Hannibal wasn't seeing a downside.

[justlurkinghere]

"When he thinks he's protecting me from things happening in his life."

[sharp_as_knives]

"I would say that is a valid concern to have - if you're going to be in a relationship, he shouldn't expect to hide his problems from you," Hannibal answered, without a hint of irony.

"However, it isn't necessarily unhealthy on its own; merely something to discuss."

You would actually have to talk to your boyfriend at some point, Derek; you knew that, right?