22 Phoenix Place, Monday evening

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal had settled on an impromptu dinner party mostly out of curiosity as to what had happened to everybody else this weekend. He hadn't had much time to prepare, of course, but his "last minute meals" were anyone else's gourmet, so he wasn't too worried.

He set the food out around the room more or less buffet style, opened the bar, and set out good bottles of wine and home-brewed beer. It was a fairly educated guess that some of his guests would need it.

[OOC: If Hannibal knows you, you're invited for dinner. NM, no OCD or I'll never get this up for looking at food. Mod gourmet things and mingle!]

Comments

[trigons_child]

Raven had sensed the familiar emotional after effects of one of Fandom's strange weekends the moment she teleported to the island. She didn't know the details of what had happened yet, but she was still glad she hadn't come to the alumni gathering. She couldn't handle another transformation into some evil version of herself.

She helped herself to a generous glass of wine and took a seat, trying to be patient and wait to see if anyone needed her rather than press too hard to see if her friends were all right.

[furnaceface]

Jono was doing well enough. After so many years between Fandom and his own reality, he was really an old pro at finding himself waking up as someone else for a while.

Still, some pleasant company wouldn't go amiss. Particularly the sort that wasn't likely to faint upon looking at him. He found himself a place to sit, and contented himself with soaking up the ambient drunkenness of those around him.

Psionic powers could actually be useful now and then. Who knew?

[teashopconman.livejournal.com]

Hatter was feeling fairly more level after assuring himself his restaurant was in good condition and indulging in some very, very good tea. He could even laugh about being a sniveling chicken now.

After getting Hannibal's message, Hatter even decided to come out and see what Hannibal's dinner parties were like. He knew the man made good food so there was a definite plus right there.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal squeezed Raven's shoulder in passing and smiled at her. "You've no cause to worry; as traumatic weekends go, I have a feeling this one was rather mild."

[sharp_as_knives]

"You didn't get much of a benefit from this weekend, did you?" Hannibal noted, smiling wryly. He didn't get the feeling Jono had even been able to enjoy having a mouth much.

[wwiii]

Scotch. Scotch was an amazing thing when you were a Worthington who still smelled a bit like seawater, who had almost managed to get most of the sand out from his wings. They itched. They itched a lot.

But besides all that, Warren seemed to be mostly in good spirits as he set out to mingle among the dinner crowd at Hannibal's.

He was behaving himself and not stretching or ruffling his feathers indoors. Partly because of that fresh-ocean-smell, and partly because he didn't want to scatter sand in the food. He was thoughtful like that.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Good evening." Hannibal nodded to him. "How did you fare this weekend, then?"

[furnaceface]

//I can't win them all, I'm afraid,// Jono replied with a shrug of his shoulders. //At least I had a head this time around, mate. And I didn't lose it before this morning rolled around. That's very nearly like a win.//

Very nearly! Almost!

[trigons_child]

"That is good to hear," Raven said, giving Hannibal a small smile. "Sometimes these things can merely be embarrassing or confusing, but so often they leave unpleasantness in their wake."

[teashopconman.livejournal.com]

"I wasn't too pleased when I woke up but apparently, it could have been a lot worse," Hatter said, giving him a nod in return. "I looked absolutely dreadful though. Didn't even have my hat."

Which was a terrible thing.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal had very good scotch, too.

"You seem a bit...well, 'ruffled' would be accurate, if perhaps a terrible pun," Hannibal noted as he poured him another glass.

[wwiii]

Warren huffed a halfhearted laugh at that, even if it was, in fact, a terrible pun, before nodding his thanks and accepting the drink.

"My fiancee beat me to death with a champagne bottle last night, wrapped me in a rug, and threw me into the ocean," he explained, as casually as he might have mentioned something he'd read in yesterday's newspaper. "And I absolutely had it coming to me. Please, tell me your weekend went better."

[sharp_as_knives]

"It is certainly a step up, I imagine," Hannibal agreed. "What happens to those who are injured or killed during the weekend?"

Asking for a friend.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Well, I did flirt with Jonothan again," Hannibal answered, smiling. "We were supposed to have a date on Friday."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal chuckled. "I had rather dreadful fashion sense myself, although I suppose it was in keeping with the times. And now you've an idea of what this island can throw at us."

[furnaceface]

//If it was anything like those weekends where we all become hormone-addled drama queens, I'd say they likely woke up this morning in an uncomfortable position somewhere they wished they hadn't spent the night,// Jono replied. //These odd things that the island does out of nowhere, the ones that resolve themselves, generally end up being harmless by the end of it, no matter how much blood was shed.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"Good lord." Hannibal couldn't do much more than shake his head at that. "Yes, mine was much less eventful. I flirted with Jono, sold information to Emma, and apparently ran a rather lucrative smuggling operation." And, you know, had had one of his students killed. He'd just skip that part. It wasn't polite dinner conversation.

[trigons_child]

That got a raised eyebrow. "That is twice in a row, Dr. Lecter," she said teasingly. "One more time and I think it is permissible to call it a pattern."

[teashopconman.livejournal.com]

"I suppose I should be glad that I got that bit of initiation out of the way," Hatter said, shaking his head. "My restaurant didn't suffer any permanent fire damage and if anyone tries to threaten me again, they'll be eating through a straw."

[sharp_as_knives]

"That's good to know." He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if someone were to be eaten, to take a completely random example, but that could wait for another time. "Although it begs a number of philosophical and theological questions."

He waved dismissively. "I've no intention of such heavy thoughts tonight, however. Good drink, good food - and I should hope you're enjoying both by way of us - and good company. No worrying."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal chuckled. "Well, I could always claim he started it, but that would be utterly false this time. So I suppose I shall simply have to own up to it. How was your weekend? Pleasantly dull, I hope?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"Someone set fire to it? I suppose some of us were more unsavory than others."

[wwiii]

"I'm pretty sure I was running some sort of human trafficking bordello speakeasy," Warren offered, as if that would somehow mitigate the smuggling and flirting that Hannibal had been up to.

... Generally flirting didn't require mitigation, granted, but Warren and Jono never really did get along.

"All-in-all, I think it's safe to say I'm much happier being myself. I'm starting to get the impression that there isn't a version of me through the entire multiverse that isn't a complete jerk."

[teashopconman.livejournal.com]

"The culprit sent me booze and ice cream today to make up for it," Hatter said, shrugging. "So, I suppose I can forgive her. Of course, I don't even know her so even if I wanted revenge, I wouldn't know where to start."

[furnaceface]

//No worrying,// Jono agreed easily. //I came for the good company, but I fully intend to appreciate the food and drink courtesy of whoever's willing to share. Worrying is something I do more than enough of without the island's help already.//