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

[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."

[notamascot]

She peeked in again. "Are you sure? Because it's okay, I can come back another time. I just... I didn't really want to - being in the dorms..."

[sharp_as_knives]

"You're not the only one that finds food, drink, or company comforting at times like this," Hannibal told her. "You've no need to stay, but you're welcome to."

[notamascot]

Kaylin considered for a moment, then nodded. "All right. I promise I won't be in the way. It's just... I almost did something bad yesterday. And today... I'm still... I swore I wouldn't and I didn't but..."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Many people have done bad things this weekend," Hannibal told her. "The carnival seemed to have a will of its own. Would you like to talk about it?"

[notamascot]

"I didn't get that far into it," Kaylin said. "But I didn't help either. I was afraid."

And Kaylin hated being afraid. Even worse, she hated letting fear dictate what she did or didn't do.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Rightly so, apparently. What was it about the carnival that gave it away?" Hannibal led her in and poured her some beer, nodding her toward the food.

[notamascot]

Nice job contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Hannibal. Not that Kaylin didn't go out drinking regularly with Teela and Tain back home, so being given beer didn't phase her.

"The magic," she admitted. "I could... I could feel it."

She rubbed her arms unconsciously, almost able to feel the burning again. "I knew it was bad and I was afraid that if I stayed I'd lose control."

[sharp_as_knives]

Anyone who had to deal with things like this past weekend was old enough to drink. Besides, half of his students weren't from anywhere with drinking laws.

Hannibal nodded at her. "Good you escaped when you did, then. Not everybody was so lucky."

[notamascot]

Kaylin's world certainly didn't have any.

She nodded, still a bit shaken. "If I'd lost control... last time I... I flayed people alive. If I did something like that here, well... the Emperor already thinks I'm too dangerous to allow to live."

[sharp_as_knives]

Well, that was certainly interesting. "I don't suppose he's considered getting you training instead of summary execution?" Hannibal asked dryly.

[notamascot]

"It's part of why I'm here," Kaylin said with a sigh. "Someone or several someones spoke up for me and they agreed that as long as I was training with the Hawks - or now, studying here - and I didn't, well... kill anyone with my magic, then the Emperor wouldn't eat me or otherwise have me killed. Yet, anyway. That's why I have this -"


She went to point to the bracer she wore on her left arm under her always long sleeves, then paled as she realized that she'd taken it off. "Um... the bracer that stops me from doing magic and that I'm never supposed to take off, except I do when I'm helping the midwives, and that I took off Saturday when I realized there was bad magic going on there. I... better find that again. Quickly."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Do you know where it is?" Hannibal asked.

"...eat you?"

[notamascot]

"It... might be with the woman from the bookstore. Or it might be with the Hawklord. Or possibly still in my room where I left it." She looked up at him apologetically. "Mostly if I take it off it ends up with someone else."

And then gave him a curious glance. "Yes. He's a dragon after all."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Ah. Well, yes, I suppose that might make a difference. The emperors on my world are all human," he explained. And mostly dead, but that was beside the point.

[notamascot]

"How do they maintain order?" Kaylin asked curiously. "People don't cross the Emperor because, well... Dragon."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Armies, wealth, and tradition mostly," Hannibal answered. "And some of them don't; there aren't many left. Does the Emperor rule your entire world?"

[notamascot]

"Well, the City of Elantra. He doesn't control the fiefs and I'm not sure that he has much say inside the Barrani High Halls," Kaylin said. "But history isn't one of my strong suits. He rules all the important stuff. I wish he ruled the fiefs, then he could stop a lot of the stuff that happens there. They aren't good places."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Who rules the fiefs?" Hannibal asked. He was always curious, and the more she talked about things like this, the less she fretted about the weekend.

[notamascot]

"They each have their own ruler. And the fief takes its name from its ruler," Kaylin explained. "I grew up in Nightshade and Nightshade was the Barrani who ruled it. Not that he cared about anyone there, not like the Hawklord cares about his Hawks."

[sharp_as_knives]

"If the Emperor keeps order, why the need for the Hawks?" Hannibal asked. "Or are the kinds of crimes they see to beneath him?"

[notamascot]

Kaylin shrugged. "He's too important to deal with day to day stuff. And he gets angry very quickly if you don't know all the right rules and ceremonies and whatever to deal with him and when he gets angry, well... he might eat you. So... the Halls of Law deal with all the human stuff. His guards deal with dragon stuff and all that."

She made a face. "They have a stupid job because really, who's gonna try to hurt a dragon? And who could, really? Except maybe the Barrani, and the Imperial Guards aren't going to be able to handle them very well anyway. No one can. Except maybe a dragon."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Barrani are a different race?" Hannibal asked. "How many are there?"

[notamascot]

Right they didn't have all the races here.

"Well, there are humans, of course," Kaylin was keeping track on her fingers. "And the Leontines - they're kind of like your lions, except sentient. And the Barrani - they're all tall and perfect and beautiful and immortal. There's the Aerians - they have wings..."

Kaylin might have a happy little smile going on there. "I wish I had wings too. That's one of the best things about being here, that I get to do flying. It's not like having wings of my own, but it's still wonderful! Oh, right, races... Um, humans, Leontines, Barrani, Aerians, and right, the Dragons, of course. Mostly they can look like humans, but they can also change into their dragon form. And breathe fire. And if they're speaking in Dragon you're going to wish you had earplugs 'cause you'll practically go deaf. Oh, and they're immortal, too."

She counted on her fingers. "So, that's five. I speak Leontine, of course, - though the roaring really hurts my throat - and Low and High Barrani - people say I should only speak in High Barrani because it's almost impossible to accidentally insult people in it - and some Aerian and Elantran, obviously."