Hannibal's house in Baltimore, Sunday evening

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal had decided to forego the dinner tonight; after returning from the zombie play on the island, there wasn't time for anything elaborate, and he had a feeling Raven might not want much anyway.

So instead, there was a bit of wine and some very good cheese in the study, and he sat waiting in a very comfortable chair.


[OOC: waiting for one! NFB]

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[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal chuckled. "I rather think that I would make a good Pride, but that position is already taken." He gave her a little bow then turned to look at the others in her dream. "Karla. Look deep inside yourself. Still yourself and search for the answer. How do you feel about her?"

[trigons_child]

Raven blinked, confused for a moment, and shook her head. The redness of her skin began to fade a little as she tried to fight off the hunger.

"She is more than Queen to me," she said slowly. "She is like a sister. More than a sister. I...I love her. With all my heart." She paused for a moment, struggling to put words to her feelings. "And I want to protect her from all harm. And I envy her sometimes. And I am proud of her for how far she has come, from being made to flee from her home to reclaiming it again."

[sharp_as_knives]

"How would you feel about her if you were to make her Lust?" he asked.

[trigons_child]

"She would be bound to me forever," Raven said, laughing softly. "She would be mine."

Her expression abruptly changed from one of delight to dismay, and she shuddered. "No!" she said. "It would not be right. She would not be Karla anymore. I would never do that to her." But the desire to do so was so strong, and here in her unconscious mind, it so often slipped from her control.

[sharp_as_knives]

"It's not uncommon among captives for emotional responses to be blunted," Hannibal noted. "If you were to make her entirely yours, you would miss the opportunity of her unfettered, pure emotions. Yes?"

[trigons_child]

Raven hissed in frustration, unwilling to admit that he could be right. Then again, did she care? There would be plenty of others to feed upon.

"What do you suggest, then?" she snarled.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I suggest that you have very strong urges to protect your friends and make them happy, and also to taste their emotions," Hannibal answered mildly. "You see these urges as competing and mutually exclusive, and so neither is truly satisfied."

He nodded toward Karla. "You keep her happy, you protect her, and she will always be there to provide those emotions. You heal her, and you can take her hurt. Share her joys. Satisfy your hunger and your other instincts."

[trigons_child]

"That is not all I hunger for," Raven snapped. "I am Trigon's daughter. Millions upon millions have been sacrificed in my name. I was born to destroy, to spread pain and misery!"

She changed fully into her demon form now, and the world grew dark around them, lightning crackling across the sky. "What does a mere mortal know about satisfying my hunger?"

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal eyed her mildly, with more than a little curiosity. "Is this the aspect of your dream that frightens you?"

[trigons_child]

"This is what I am!" Raven said as her answer. "It does not matter what I pretend to be, my true nature will make itself known. It is only a matter of time."

Screams came from the darkness around them, and she let her head fall back with an expression of ecstasy.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal ignored the screams and the darkness. "So wanting to heal your friends, wanting them to be happy, that is all pretending?" He might have sounded just faintly disappointed.

[trigons_child]

Raven laughed. "I fight what I am," she said. "I fight so hard. But in the end, I will accept what I truly am."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal looked distinctly disappointed now. "So, who you truly are has no desire for friends? Friends closer than family?"

[trigons_child]

"Family," Raven repeated, tilting her head. "No, I wish my family beside me. But my brothers are foolish and waste their power. That is why I will take it from them and make my own family."

She drew closer to Hannibal, bringing up one hand to lightly touch his face. "Do you wish to be part of it? I can sense a hunger in you, one I have never quite felt before. I find it very curious."

[sharp_as_knives]

"We all have our hungers," Hannibal answered mildly. He put his hand over hers. "As you did before, still yourself, look inside. What do you believe is the core of family?"

[trigons_child]

Raven growled and shook her head, trying to resist, but something about his voice made her want to listen. She closed her eyes. "It is not blood that makes family," she said. "It is who I have chosen to be close to me."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Why choose them?" Hannibal urged. "What makes them special to you?"

[trigons_child]

"I...I do not know. They just are," Raven said. "And they will be forever." She didn't sound as confident of that as she had just moments ago, though.

[sharp_as_knives]

"There must be some reason," Hannibal coaxed her. He nodded at Karla again. "What makes Karla special to you? What makes you want to keep her with you?"

[trigons_child]

Raven's form shifted between demon and not as she struggled with her darker impulses and tried to focus on Hannibal's voice. Trigon's blood tried to twist her feelings, so much so that she wasn't completely certain just what she felt anymore.

"I love her," she said. "I love her passion and her fire, I love her kindness and compassion, I love her determination and her wit and her mischief, I even love her stubbornness and impulsiveness. She helped me learn to be human."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Because humans are all these things. Even you," Hannibal pointed out.

[trigons_child]

"But I am only half human," Raven said softly.

[sharp_as_knives]

"And half demon," Hannibal agreed. "A half which also has its benefits and drawbacks. Your mind is not split down the middle; some things call more strongly to one aspect or another, but you are always Raven."

[trigons_child]

She drew back and wrapped her arms around herself, shaking with the effort to keep herself in control "I do not want to be a Raven that craves darkness and pain," she said, shaking her head. "I want to be good. But how can I be good if I feel such things? How can I be good if I have such hungers?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"Has Karla never craved anybody's pain? Or Jono?" Hannibal gestured at them. He wasn't even making an educated guess there; he'd seen them when the unicorns were slaughtered. "Do you think either of them is a bad person?"