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

[trigons_child]

Raven gave him a faint smile. She'd been waiting to talk to him, but she didn't want to crowd him, either.

"You were not yourself," she said quietly. "You did not know who I was."

Her burns were healed, though she was going to have to see about getting her hair cut to hide the chunk of it that had been scorched away.

[furnaceface]

//Didn't know who I was, either,// Jono noted, bowing his head a little and closing his eyes. //Got that much back this time around, at least. Any brainwashing you can walk away from...//

Really, the number of times he'd been through this now was getting to be a little absurd.

//Still and all, I want to make it up to you, luv.//

[trigons_child]

"That is not necessary, but if you wish to do so, then I would be receptive," Raven said. As long as it made him feel better.

"I am sorry that this happened to you," she added with a little frown. "I felt it when...when they took you, but I could not find you. My own senses were muddled."

[furnaceface]

//I can't even pinpoint the moment I let the link drop,// Jono replied, shaking his head a little. //There were... mirrors. And then reflections...//

He let that thought taper off right where it was.

//Whatever caused all of this certainly knows how to cut deep, fast.//

[trigons_child]

Raven nodded. "My experience was much the same," she said. "I visited the fortune teller. And she knew just what to tell me."

She knew he'd have more than a good idea of what that meant.

"It was you who saved me, though," she added. "When I felt your pain...it stopped my fall." Was that helpful at all? She hoped it was, a little at least.

[furnaceface]

In a roundabout sort of way, it was. Jono nodded a little, to show that he understood exactly what that fortune teller was saying. After a moment's pause, he pulled himself to his feet and made his way over to sort of half-perch himself on the arm of her chair. Sorry, Hannibal's furniture. At least Jonothon was freakishly light.

He reached for her hand.

"I'm glad," he murmured. "No sense in it getting both of us. I'm glad you made it out of there in one piece, Sunshine."

[trigons_child]

"And I am glad of the same for you," Raven said, threading her fingers with his and leaning against him.

"Who was brave enough to hug you?" she asked. Hopefully someone fireproof.

[furnaceface]

//I don't even know him,// Jono admitted, giving her hand a squeeze. //Some bloke in a spider-suit. The island has had a few of those over the years.//

Thinking back, he'd called himself Agent Venom. Fabulous. Snuggled by an alien symbiote. Jono wasn't going to sleep for a month.

In fairness, he probably wasn't going to anyway.

//Hero types. I'll never really understand them.//

Said, you know, Jono.

[trigons_child]

"The one time I would have been extremely useful, but I was not in a very hugging mood," Raven sighed, shaking her head.

She bumped her shoulder against Jono. "Yes, those silly hero types in their brightly colored spandex. Their ways are so strange."

[furnaceface]

He swayed a little, and then kind of rocked back, so that his elbow was giving her an affectionate bump in return.

//We can't always be up for hugging,// he replied. //And I'll have you know, I've managed to avoid spandex for...//

Er...

//For at least a few years, now. That first Decibel costume probably actually counts.//

Unfortunately.

[trigons_child]

Raven giggled. "Do not mention spandex in Karla's hearing," she said. "She will one day assign us costumes to wear at Court if ever we have displeased her."

Or just because she was bored. Because Karla.

[furnaceface]

//She's already done that to me,// Jonothon shared. //Only it's not quite as tight-fitting and involves me standing around feeling like a naffin' arse while aristos strut around under the false assumption that I have any interest in entertaining them in the least.//

Yes, Jono. Most people called that a 'suit.'

[trigons_child]

"At least the aristos are not hitting on you," Raven said, making a face. Even if she wasn't blood, she did have a jewel, of a sorts, and she was definitely close to the Queen.

She gave Jono a sideways glance. "Or are they?"

[furnaceface]

//I'm 'the General,'// Jono grumbled, and the way he wrinkled his nose probably said volumes, right there. //And I speak on a psychic thread. I think most of them just assume that I'm a member of the Blood who doesn't strut around with his Jewel on display. Or else they figure I'd be an easy in to get closer to Karla.//

Either of these things? Both of them. Probably mostly that second one.

//When Karla's angry with me, she makes me dance with everyone who asks for one. So help me...//

[trigons_child]

"We need to plan our escapes in advance," Raven said thoughtfully. "Complete with secret hand gestures. "Such as, if I touch my right ear, it means 'please come save me from this person speaking to me, for they are boring me to death and I cannot escape.' Or something else could mean 'I need to get out of here now; please create a diversion.'"

[furnaceface]

There was a brief pause, then, before Jono closed his eyes and let his shoulders shake, just a little, in the closest physical approximation to an actual laugh as he ever managed, these days.

//I was just going to suggest stringing up a psionic link between the two of us, so that either of us could call for help if ever we needed to,// he noted, //but your way is far more... clandestine. Seems more fun.//

[trigons_child]

His laughter had Raven really smiling now, as that had been her goal. "More fun, and less likely...."

She started giggling herself. "No, I cannot say that it is less likely that Karla would intercept it, as she would probably notice us desperately gesturing at one another. And then she will either be cranky with us or disappointed we did not have her join in."

[furnaceface]

//If we went out of our way to devise physical signals when I've got telepathy that most Blood can't intercept, I can't imagine she'd be anything but amused,// Jono declared. //And then, yes, probably disappointed we didn't teach her our secret code.//

[trigons_child]

"You have telepathy the Blood can not intercept, but I cannot guarantee that my thoughts to you would not leak out," Raven said. Probably not, if he was actively creating a link, and her shielding was generally strong anyway -- unless she'd had too much wine. But it was more fun to imagine them trying to subtly flail at each other across the room.

"I could empath at you," she added, "but that could either be mean or distracting."

[furnaceface]

//I fail to see how 'distracting' could possibly be the wrong choice, here,// Jono pointed out. //At Court functions, a distraction is the first thing I look for, luv.//

[trigons_child]

Raven fixed him with a mischievous look. "Then you are telling me that you will not mind if you are speaking to an aristo when I send you the sensation of nails down your back?"

The thought of waiting until he was talking to someone important to do that was making her feel just a tiny bit evil, but it also felt good to have a more light-hearted topic after this past weekend.

[furnaceface]

Oh, Raven. You knew just what to say to get Jonothon's attention, didn't you?

//Mind? Raven, luv, I can't think of a better reason to excuse myself from the conversation.//

And he would. Swiftly.

[trigons_child]

"Then I will certainly keep that in mind for the next Court function," Raven said. And if he didn't think she wasn't going to try to find the most awkward possible moment to do it....

"Are you coming back to Glacia?" she asked. "Or do you plan to remain on the island for awhile longer?"

[furnaceface]

Jono gave a quick glance around at the people gathered in the room, tired and bruised and numb, for the most part, and then he leaned his head to the side a little, lifting one shoulder in a halfhearted shrug.

//I didn't get much work done in the shop this weekend,// he noted, //but I doubt I actually will. It'll be back to Glacia along with everyone else, I think. Some distance from all of this for a week or two would probably do me good.//

If he had been any less traumatized, he might have decided to wait to make certain former students and current employees were hanging in there. But he couldn't be responsible for everyone else's well-being while his own mental and emotional state was... not the best.

[trigons_child]

Raven could understand what he was feeling, and she nodded. "I am to begin inspecting Glacia's orphanages," she said. "Did you know Karla has given their supervision over to me? I do not know the first thing about management, but I will do my best."

She gave his hand a squeeze. "You are welcome to join me if you wish. Unless Karla puts you to work elsewhere."