A guest room in Glacia, Thursday night Fandom time

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal settled his things in the wardrobe and wandered about the room, familiarizing himself with everything in it. Karla's hospitality was as impeccable as he would have expected, even if he had been for all intents and purposes kidnapped. He wondered darkly for a moment if Glacia had an equivalent of the FBI to investigate such things.

Which naturally led to other thoughts. Of Jack, of Alana. And especially of Will.

He stood in the middle of the room, eyes closed, calming himself.

Jono	The equivalent of the FBI, in Glacia? Julian. Jono. How in the world did Hannibal keep befriending those types, anyway? To the point, in fact, where one of them was currently standing outside of the door to Hannibal's room, wondering if perhaps now was a bad time? //Hannibal?// It wasn't so much a word as it was a question, a light wash of inquiry, wondering if he was intruding. Maybe a sort of soft hint of, 'hey, I'm worried, I'm here if you need somebody' to go along with that.
Hannibal	Something about the violence and intellectual challenge of the job, maybe? Whatever it was, Hannibal had several fewer friends now than he had earlier in the day. He nodded, swallowed, and spoke just loudly enough for Jono to hear. "Come in."
Jono	Oh. Oh. That was a tone of voice that Jonothon had never heard from Hannibal before, and it had him hesitating at the door for a moment before reaching for the doorknob and letting himself in, pulling the door shut again behind himself. //Hey,// he said, tentatively. //Just wanted to check up on you, mate. Karla was in a hell of a rush to usher me away when you got in, and I never got a chance to ask if there was anything I can to do help.// But he had plenty of time to finish cleaning the canapés from the floor while Karla chased Hannibal up to the shower. So. That had been something.
Hannibal	And Hannibal would greatly appreciate that cleanliness once he got back home. For now, he turned to Jono and did his best to smile at him. It was a fairly credible one; he did have a lot of practice. "Thank you." He sat on the corner of the bed, and took a moment to think. "I don't believe there is, but I do appreciate your concern."
Jono	//Nah,// Jono replied, nodding once, //I figured that might be the case.// He'd danced this dance before. Though maybe with somewhat less murder than had been involved, not that he was aware of that much. //But I figured I ought to make the offer all the same. You don't have to force a smile for my sake, Hannibal. I'm not here because I think your pain is a spectator sport.//
Hannibal	That got a more humorous smile. "I hadn't thought it was. Although I wouldn't hold it against you to be a bit morbidly curious. It's human nature, isn't it?"
Jono	//Can't deny that,// Jono allowed. //We don't much care for mysteries, though if you're not feeling up to talking about what happened, I'm not going to push you for information. I know it wasn't your blood, I know you're more pulverized in an emotional sense than the physical one that Karla was letting on. And if there's anything you want to talk about, I'll listen. If you don't want to talk, I'm just fine with sitting here in silence, if that's what you want. Or leaving. It's your call, mate. No expectations, no demands. I don't expect you to perform, here. I just...// He shrugged. //... care.//
Hannibal	Hannibal waved Jono to sit. He wasn't sure if he could or should speak of what had happened, but perhaps the company would distract him.
Jono	Well, if Hannibal wasn't going to chase him out of the room, Jonothon was going to nod and take a seat in a nearby armchair. //Thanks,// he said, leaning forward a little. //... You know, I think this chair is actually more comfortable than the one in my room? There's how you tell Karla likes you, mate. You get the comfortable chair.// He... was rambling. Fabulous. //Hope she didn't put you out too much, kidnapping you away to Glacia like this.//
Hannibal	"I haven't ever missed a class before," Hannibal confessed. "I feel like I should be back there, doing something useful." Though given his current mindset, it was probably just as well that he not be around his students. "I feel..." he grimaced. "Like Sisyphus after his rock rolls back down the hill. I keep staring after it, wondering why it's fallen and how long until I have the strength to try again."
Jono	It was an interesting comparison. After all, Sisyphus' fate was a punishment devised to rub in his face that he thought he was more clever than the gods. //Your class will get on without you for a week,// Jono shared, //though there's enough of a connection to the island from here that you can contact somebody to take over your class if need be. As for the rock...// He shrugged his shoulders again. //I don't think you're damned to push it for eternity,// he offered. //And even if you are, you're certainly not required to push it alone. But...// His brow furrowed faintly as he tried to puzzle out how to say what he wanted to say. //That doesn't make it less brutal now. As much as 'this too shall pass' is true, that doesn't always make the here and now easier to stomach, does it?// This was heartbreak, wasn't it? Heartbreak was crushing.
Hannibal	"No, it doesn't," Hannibal agreed. "I still failed. I have still lost friends." Will had still rejected his friendship, rejected his own nature.
Jono	//I'm sorry,// Jono murmured, and he very much meant it. //It's the doubt afterwards, isn't it? When you end up asking 'what could I have done differently?' Picking apart every little aspect of what you've done, inspecting it in minutiae, after the fact.// And hindsight was always perfect, wasn't it? //Makes the loss that much worse.//
Hannibal	Hannibal clenched his hands around the edge of the mattress, his jaw set. "I trusted someone." Offered him my friendship. But he rejected it.
Jono	//Ah.// Jonothon's eyes rested on Hannibal's hands for a few moments, and then he looked up, trying to meet his gaze. //That's worse, then.// He didn't need to be a telepath to catch the undertones of betrayal and rejection in that statement. //Trust is a dangerous proposition.//
Hannibal	Especially for someone with Hannibal's secrets. "I told him I forgave him. I'm not certain if I meant it." Forgave him for putting him in a position to kill or be killed by Jack, certainly. Forgave him for rejecting both Hannibal and his own nature? Possibly not. Or possibly he still held out a tiny ember of hope.
Jono	//Do you suppose you'll ever be able to mean it?// Jono lingered awkwardly in that seat for a moment, and then nodded to the spot next to Hannibal on the bed. //May I?// This just seemed like it had evolved into the sort of conversation you didn't have from opposite ends of the room.
Hannibal	Hannibal nodded to the second question. To the first... "I gave him more than I've given anyone in a very long time. He turned it down. I don't know if I can easily let that go."
Jono	Jono stood, making his way over to sit down beside Hannibal, his gaze falling back to the floor once he was there. //And when you've been that closed for that bloody long...// Ouch. //Serves to reinforce why you don't open up in the first place. Rough bloody reminder of it. For what it's worth, I don't think anybody's going to expect you to give more than you feel you're able. Especially not in the wake of something like that.//
Hannibal	"Bloody in more than one way," Hannibal acknowledged with a grim smile. It wasn't as if Jono were going to forget the state he'd been in when he'd arrived home.
Jono	//Bloody in more than one way,// Jono agreed, glancing sidelong at Hannibal, at that. //Care to talk about that, at least? Or is that something you'd rather not discuss?// He wouldn't deny his curiosity on that front. It wasn't as though he could pretend he wasn't—Hannibal would know better just as well as he did, after all. It was human nature to want to know.
Hannibal	"I..." Hannibal tried to find some words to say that would be descriptive without being damning. He pictured the scene that he'd left at his Baltimore home, and nearly vibrated with grief and frustration. He swallowed and consciously tried to relax himself again. "Not now," he answered a bit curtly, trying to smile to soften it. "Perhaps when it isn't so close." When he could think about it more objectively, speak of it without the danger of losing control.
Jono	//Not now,// Jonothon echoed, nodding again. He hesitated for a moment before leaning sideways just a little, just enough to kind of bump his shoulder lightly against Hannibal's, filling his next words with as much patience and reassurance as he could. //Not ever, if you never feel up for sharing it. I'm not going to press.// Much as he wanted to. His curiosity wasn't worth endangering a friendship over.
Hannibal	Sharing. Hannibal nodded again, then all but threw himself off the bed, unable to sit still any longer. "Thank you," he managed, squeezing Jono's hand for a moment before he stalked away to pace.
Jono	Ah, pacing. Jono knew that urge well enough, himself. He sat silently for a minute, just watching, before pulling himself to his feet. //Anxious, mate? Want a hand working some of that frustration off?// Sometimes it helped to just hit things.
Hannibal	It did. And sometimes it helped to carve things up. But even if Jono wouldn't actually be harmed by that, Hannibal doubted that was what he was offering. He flicked a glance over at Jono. "What did you have in mind?"

[OOC: Preplayed with the wondermous furnaceface and continued in comments! NFB]

[ETA: Now very firmly NSFW!]

Comments

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal shrugged as best he could while pinned. "It isn't as though I could win any other way." He twisted one leg around Jono's and tried to throw him and reverse their positions.

[furnaceface]

Jono... did not actually resist being flipped around, no. His shoulders hit the floor hard, and now fire was flicking up between them from the skewed wrappings around his chest. He tilted his head a little, raised an eyebrow up at Hannibal from where he was laying, back flat to the floor.

//When all else fails, think hard about very enjoyable sex? I'll have to remember that one for future reference.//

His hands weren't so much pressed against Hannibal's shoulders as they were clenching fists into his shirt, at this point.

[sharp_as_knives]

"It seemed a good distraction, given your talents." Hannibal smirked. "And it seems to have worked."

[furnaceface]

//I'll admit here and now that this wasn't what I had expected when I suggested a spar,// Jono murmured, eyebrow still cocked upwards as he contemplated the position they were in. //But you appear to have gotten the better of me, Hannibal.//

Hey, sex sometimes had a winner too, didn't it?

//Something to be mindful of.//

[sharp_as_knives]

With any luck, everybody was a winner in sex.

Though Hannibal's last partner had just been pushed out a window, so maybe not.

"So you plan on giving up at the first setback?" Hannibal asked, his own eyebrow raising to match.

[furnaceface]

Please, pardon Jono for the little shift of weight he was pulling. He couldn't move much, not as pinned down as he was, but there was at least a little squirming that needed to be done, there.

//Did anybody say anything about giving up? I'm not th'sort to surrender so easily.// He tightened his fists into Hannibal's shirt, leaning up a little, so that his face was just a breath away from the one he was staring up at. //Not entirely convinced this is a setback, either.//

Look, there were very enjoyable thoughts in his brain, now. And this particular configuration really just made those thoughts difficult to brush aside.

[sharp_as_knives]

"We don't seem to be getting much sparring done," Hannibal pointed out. Jono's movements were distracting, yes, but he wasn't about to be hoist by his own petard, and he kept a tight grip on him.

[furnaceface]

//I beg to differ,// Jono replied, sounding... distracted. Distracted was a good word for it. //We're doing some verbal sparring. That must count for something.//

He would be swallowing, if he had a throat. Hell, he would be tempted to steal a kiss, if he had a mouth. As it stood, he was leaning upwards, letting his face rest just a breath away from Hannibal's.

... Which was a terrible idea for a dozen different reasons. But really, a thought like that, followed by a position like this, and the way he was being held firmly in place, now...

//This doesn't mean I'm easily manipulated,// he muttered, shifting his weight again. //For the record. I'll know to guard for this next time.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"I should hope so," Hannibal answered, his own voice going a little throaty. "Not that I expect most people would think to use that tactic." And it was occurring to him that he might not be able to best Jono in a fight, but there were always other ways to win.

[furnaceface]

//I have to admit, this is a first.//

Jono really couldn't help but notice that they weren't fighting, anymore. And he most certainly wasn't complaining.

//Comfortable up there, then?//

This was, it should be noted, not a request for Hannibal to go.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Very," Hannibal answered, grinning. It was probably a bit more feral than his usual smile, just as his grip was a bit tighter. His mood was still balanced on a bit of a knife's edge, and he knew it. "But I can think of better positions."

He eyed Jono and thought hard at him again: an image of him tied face-down to one of the benches, nude, Hannibal on top of him.

[furnaceface]

//Ah, yes, that's a far more appealing one,// Jono agreed, going a little wide-eyed, fingers white-knuckling in Hannibal's shirt. It certainly hadn't been anywhere near the top of his list of 'physical activities to distract Hannibal with' when he'd suggested a spar, but suddenly he was well aware as to just what a terrible oversight that was. //Is that a request, then?//

Or a demand? Jonothon was perfectly amenable to demands.

[sharp_as_knives]

In answer, Hannibal rolled to his feet and held out an arm toward the bench in invitation. "Please." His smile wasn't any nicer, though.

[furnaceface]

Jono wasn't really the sort to look for comfort in a smile, anyway. He pulled himself to his feet as well, glancing toward the bench before making his way over, hand moving to unbuckle his belt as he went.

//Looks like you'll win this tussle, after all.//

Jono had apparently gotten a visit from the Bad Choices Fairy last night. Of course, being Jono, he'd almost certainly offered it a place to sit and a spot of tea.

[sharp_as_knives]

Whereas Hannibal...let's face it, he probably had the Bad Choices Fairy on his payroll.

"That doesn't mean I'll stop playing dirty," he warned. He looked around the room for anything that might be of use as he unbuttoned his shirt.

[furnaceface]

//Maybe I'm counting on that.//

Had Jono ever demonstrated just how deep his masochistic streak ran for Hannibal, before? It was entirely possible that this was going to be an educational experience for the both of them, here. He slid his belt free, setting it on the bench next to where he was standing, before running his fingers over the skewed leather wrappings around most of his torso, looking at the fire that was flickering through the cracks.

//Off or on?//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal looked the wrappings over, then stepped closer, reaching out to arrange them. He glanced at Jono and moved slowly enough that he could easily stop him if he liked, but he was assuming this wouldn't be a problem.

[furnaceface]

Jono remained still, watching Hannibal's hands as they moved across the thin leather that was blocking his flames from plain sight. He let him go at his own pace for a moment before it occurred to him that Hannibal might have been waiting to make certain that Jono had a chance to tell him no, it wasn't okay.

That wasn't likely to happen.

Jonothon looked up, trying to catch Hannibal's eye, before nodding, once. His unspoken permission to do whatever he liked.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smiled. He unraveled the wrappings halfway, until they still held him securely but there were glimpses of flame between them. Then he wrapped the ends around Jono's upper arms, leaving a bit more hanging, and nodded toward the bench.

[furnaceface]

Well, that was an interesting wrapping job, wasn't it? Jono considered it briefly, the way the fire glowed behind the leather like embers among coals, before taking a seat on the bench, looking up questioningly at Hannibal.

He clearly had some sort of vision, here. Or at least an idea of what he wanted to do. Jono was going to be happy to defer to him, here, until he could puzzle out where he was going with this.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Lie down," Hannibal instructed. "On your front." The wrappings weren't just aesthetic, although the effect was quite pretty. This way there would be a surface there without Jono having to concentrate on it. And when Hannibal tied his arms to the legs of the bench, his upper body should be nicely immobile, too.

[furnaceface]

//On my front,// Jono echoed, pushing his belt onto the floor before rearranging himself so that he was laying face-down on the bench. //Like this, then?//

Laid out not unlike the way he had been in that thought that Hannibal had sent him. More clothed, mind. But there didn't seem to be any huge hurry, did there? The door was closed, they had all the time they needed, or wanted, or were probably better off without.

[sharp_as_knives]

Well, he had sent that thought for a reason. And he was perfectly willing to undress Jono himself.

And really, if you thought about it, this was no time at all, comparatively. The blink of an eye in Fandom.

"Just like that." Hannibal knelt and took hold of each of Jono's arms in turn, wrapping and tying them firmly to the bench legs, then passing the ends back through the wrappings on his chest to tie them again. Unless Jono decided to untie or burn them free himself, he wasn't going anywhere.

[furnaceface]

Jono gave his shoulder an experimental roll, testing to see just how firmly he was tethered to the bench. Very, it would seem, and he gave a little nod of approval. No, his bandages certainly weren't the bite of handcuffs that he generally enjoyed, but Hannibal was getting points for resourcefulness, here.

//It's tight,// he observed, and the note of approval in those two words was unmistakable.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Good." Hannibal smiled and ran his hands over the parts of Jono's back that were accessible as he slowly walked toward the other end of the bench.