Hannibal's House: After-BDE Trauma Party

[sharp_as_knives]

Yet another island oddity had come and gone, and yet again it seemed to have taken a mental and physical toll on several people Hannibal rather liked. So tonight he was cooking comfort foods and low-snobbery (but still gourmet) snacks, tea, and hot chocolate, and his bar was very well stocked.

He'd talked to the other researchers and sent messages to his friends welcoming them to join him if they wanted (except for Jono's, which had been more of a politely worded demand for his presence), but the lights in the house were on and the door was open, if anyone else felt they needed company.

Or just to sit in the corner and cry. Hannibal wouldn't judge. He might take notes, though.

There was food:
Mini grilled-cheese sandwiches (artisan cheese, home-baked bread, probably some with moddable! things like capers or veggies or ham)
Tiny meat pies
Roasted potatoes with salt and rosemary
French fries which tried for greasy and didn't quite have the heart to make it, sorry Jono!
Tiny pies of moddable fruit
Ice cream of several flavors (lavender and honey! vanilla bean! dark chocolate! moddable!)
Chocolate truffles of various moddable! flavors
Other assorted moddable, go to town! things

And drink - if it's a high-end liquor, it's here. Also home-brewed people beer and good wine, both dry and sweet.

[OOC: Open post is open! NM; just put it all here, no OCD.]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Jono's presence had been... well, politely demanded. And while what he really wanted to do was crawl under a rock somewhere, never to be seen or heard from again, he knew that the reason he'd been invited was to keep exactly that from happening.

He did, at least, make a cursory pit-stop in his own room to grab some fresh bandages and to feed the cat before making his way to Hannibal's. He hadn't so much as wrapped his face, granted. The bandages were still in one hand as he stopped at Hannibal's door and numbly rang the bell. But at least he'd had the presence of mind to do that much?

God, he was tired.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smiled as he let Jono in. "Thank you for coming." He led the way to the living room and gestured at Jono's bandages. "You needn't worry about those if you'd rather not. Or if you'd like a hand, I am a trained professional."

[furnaceface]

//I...// Jono looked down at the wrappings in his hand, as though realizing that they were there for the first time. He closed his eyes and gave his head a shake, trying to free it of the gauzy numbness that he'd been wandering through since he'd left the carnival. //Should. If other people are going to be here.//

Look, he knew how these 'after trauma' invitations went. There would at least be a few. He held up the bandages, still staring at them as though he wasn't quite certain what they were for.

//'M not up for unwittingly frightening anyone.//

[voiceoverdue]

A bit later on, Cecil showed up; when Jono hadn't been at his own place, he'd tried here, since he knew he and Dr. Lecter were...friends.

He smiled in relief when he found him, looking...well, no worse than usual, really, except for tired. He flopped on the couch next to him, almost as tired himself. "Hi."

[furnaceface]

Jono gave Cecil a little nod in greeting. 'Tired' seemed to sum it up rather well. It was a good weekend for 'tired.'

//Hello, mate.// A beat. //You too?//

[glacial_queen]

There were plenty of people here who could catch Karla up on just what the fuck had happened over the weekend. She wasn't even going to make Jono try--not yet, anyway. Instead, she'd delicately make her way over to him and wait until she had his attention before saying,

"Three...two..."

Make your wishes known, Jono.

[furnaceface]

As thankful as he'd been that Hannibal hadn't up and called Karla, Jono was still relieved to hear that familiar old countdown. He glanced up at her and nodded, even opening his arms a little.

This weekend had sucked. He could use another hug.

[myownface]

There was ice cream? Good. Sparkle needed ice cream. Sparkle was going to eat pretty much his own weight in ice cream, in fact, if nobody stopped him or he didn't get sick first. He'd staked out a quiet corner of the room, and he'd taken a seat on the floor, and if anybody thought they were going to oust him from that spot he was going to fucking bite them.

He wasn't crying, not with so many people around, but he was feeling very small right about then.

[sharp_as_knives]

In that case, Hannibal would simply keep the ice cream coming. He knew better than to think Sparkle would willingly open up in public, but he made certain the boy had a full dish and gave his shoulder a squeeze or his head a pat whenever he checked on him.

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Hey, dude." Kenzi had headed over to Hannibal's as soon as it looked like it was all over. "How're you doing?"

[glacial_queen]

"You look like shit, Sparkle," Karla said, looking over the boy she'd hired forever ago. Her words were critical, but her voice compassionate. And she was drawing up a patch of floor at a carefully measured distance away. Far enough that she wasn't looming into his personal space, close enough she could do so at any time if it was necessary. "Which probably means you need a drink."

[vdistinctive]

Eliot wasn't looking for a party. He was just looking for someone to help him pull the splinters out of his hands and leg, which for all his creepiness, Hannibal seemed qualified to do.

He was not going to say no to some free beer to go along with it, though.

"Nice spread you got here, Doctor."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Thank you." Hannibal nodded. "Please, help yourself. I understand you're one of those we have to thank for ending this."

[trigons_child]

Raven was glad it was all over. Now that the danger had passed, she could better focus on reigning in her demon side. She was proud of herself for not letting her fear or anger entirely get the better of her, though she was still ashamed for losing as much control as she had.

She wasn't much in the mood to be social, but she didn't want to be rude, either, after how Hannibal had helped her. Taking the middle ground, she found a cozy corner chair to curl up in so she could quietly try to center herself.

With a bowl of lavender and honey ice cream.

[furnaceface]

Nothing like a bowl of ice cream to help you recover from several bouts of attempted murder carried out against you, right?

Jono was on the sofa where Hannibal had seated him, finally wrapped up again, when he managed to nerve himself to speak.

//I owe you an apology.//

It hadn't been him in control. He was aware of that. That wasn't going to stop him.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smiled and brought her a glass of icewine to go with it. "You're doing very well," he assured her.

[glacial_queen]

"Looks tasty," Karla noted, sitting down quietly next to her. "Better still, looks soothing. You actually going to eat any of it?"

She knew you, Raven. Just saying.

"Whatever happened must have been bad, seeing you here in the corner and not worrying over the others."

Again, with the knowing you.

"Come here, sweetheart. You need a hug."

[notamascot]

Kaylin had come by, a bit uncertainly, looking for Hannibal. The lights were on and the door open, so she'd poked her head in and then quickly began to back out again.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't - I should have known - I'll just..." She gestured toward the door. "Sorry."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal intercepted her. "Not at all. Please. Come in." He gestured toward the huge front room. "There is food and drink, if you like. If I wanted to keep people out, I wouldn't have the door open."

[voiceoverdue]

Since Dr. Lecter didn't seem to mind another mouth in the place, Cecil was going to eat a bit. Especially the chocolate. And drink a lot. Someone had to get drunk for Jono, right?

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Dude! Are you okay?" Here was another person to hand ice cream to!

[glacial_queen]

And this was why the members of the First Circle were given super-special Rings. Because sometimes they went to visit the island, assuring their Queen that they'll all be fine and that nothing bad would happen and then she started getting all sorts of negative emotions echoing back to her like fear and rage and pain and then black, crushing despair.

Worse yet, then they wouldn't bother answering their phones because I am a filthy modder! which meant that rather than calling and making sure everyone was safe and sound, their poor Queen was stuck entering into Faustian bargains with Portalocity in an attempt to get to the island before the weekend was bloody over.

Which is why a rather aggravated Karla was storming into Hannibal's house, demanding, "What the Hell happened here?!" without even waiting for so much as a come in.

Yeah, it was rude. But so was being woken from a sound sleep by a feeling of intense violation followed up by nearly drowning in guilt.

[sharp_as_knives]

Apparently not calling Karla hadn't helped terribly much.

Hannibal went to meet her with a glass of very good wine as a peace offering. "Some rather nasty people. It's been taken care of," he assured her, offering her the glass.

In a lower voice just for her, he added, "There has been a bit of mental trauma for both Jono and Raven. I wouldn't press them too hard." He trusted to her being a Healer and a Black Widow and knowing what the two of them were like; that was the best respite he could get you, Jono!

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

HANG ON. HOLD THE PHONE.

Kenzi had to make her entrance.

Thank you!

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal frowned and looked for the source of the music, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. "What is that?"