Hannibal's house, Sunday afternoon

[sharp_as_knives]

The time difference between Fandom and Glacia was occasionally very convenient. It meant that he could pop out for a few hours and get plenty of things done, and still be home in time for lunch.

After taking the time to savor that, he sat in his study to work on class outlines for the following semester. A quiet, pleasant day.



[OOC: Open post!]

Comments

[furnaceface]

//Brutal. It was unbelievably brutal. But there was an art to it. His victims hadn't had that same finesse. They were just dead. But this bastard...// He ran a hand through his hair. //I don't know. It seems wrong to insinuate that what I found was at all pleasant to the eye. But I don't think he was capable of that sort of... aesthetic. The second one, the supplier, even less so, but even that was...//

Ugh, words.

//I had difficulty looking away. Somebody went to a lot of effort to make certain that the scene left behind was... beautiful. In both cases, actually, but especially the second.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"So, someone who killed children - and I'm guessing not only that - and someone who sold them to him are both dead. One a suicide or murder, and the other clearly a murder."

Hannibal pursed his lips and paused. "I've been reading up on Glacial customs and laws. I gather murder isn't illegal. And if you'll forgive me saying so, these men seem the type it's difficult to shed many tears over. Why investigate their deaths?"

[furnaceface]

Jono glanced at Hannibal for a moment, and then shook his head.

//Because they were men of influence, because they've got a common thread between them, and because, if someone doesn't look into this, the aristos will get scared,// Jono replied. //My one real concern is making certain that we can find and bring home any children that might still be alive out there, because after Hintergrove, this shouldn't still be happening. But somebody dropped the ball hard, and in the wake of that, I can find more information more quickly than most anybody else in Karla's First Circle. Just so long as I have access to one of the people involved in it all, and just so long as that person still has a working brain.//

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to ignore just what that said about himself, and then, at length, he shook his head.

//Don't get me wrong,// he said, finally, //am I upset that there are two fewer people like that in the world? Not by a long shot. Hell, I would've been tempted to kill those bastards myself. Some part of me wants to shake the killer's hand. But murder isn't illegal because of the way the Blood are wired... Imagine trying to lock up every bloody Warlord Prince who turned a bad situation into a killing field. This isn't the same. It's not a mindless death driven by instinctive rage. There's a hunter out there, leaving a trail of bread crumbs to follow. Out there saying something.//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal kept himself from scowling, but it was a near thing. Somebody definitely had dropped the ball; there shouldn't be any question the children were safe or dead.

"What do you think he's saying?"

[furnaceface]

//I don't know.// Jono's brow furrowed, and he looked over his shoulder toward Hannibal again. //But I'll bloody well find out if I can. If nothing else, he was saying that there are more despicable men out there like these two. He certainly put plenty of work into making certain there was something to follow. What a bloody wasted opportunity it would be, ignoring that much when what was left behind practically came gift-wrapped.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"So you're less interested in finding this killer, and more in finding what he already has." Hannibal nodded. "In that case, can I simply recommend you continue learning to delegate? You need to rest sometime."

[furnaceface]

Jono shrugged his shoulders and slumped sideways a little, leaning toward Hannibal.

//Delegating is all well and good,// he murmured, //but there's only so much I want to trust to somebody else, at this point. This person, this killer, he's... bloody brilliant. He's not tracking footprints through blood smeared at the scene. Even though nobody would convict him in Kaeleeran court, he's covering his tracks, making these murders look self-inflicted, or somehow convincing the people he's killing to take their own lives. He's... more than just some angry person, disgusted by what these people have been doing.//

Jono spread his hands a little, looking down at them.

//Why hide? Why turn these bodies into works of art? Why make it look like suicide? Is he playing a game? This killer... he doesn't make sense in Kaeleeran society. He's something unlike anything my Blood officers have seen before. I don't think they'd have any bloody clue what to do, if I were to delegate too much, if the next time one of these bodies turns up, I'm not there to tell them what to do with it.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"Perhaps there's another reason for him to hide," Hannibal mused. "He could be someone with power or reputation that would suffer. Or perhaps there's a point to making them do it to themselves."

He sighed and combed his fingers through Jono's hair, coaxing him closer. "Perhaps you could ignore it all and sleep for a bit. If anything new happens, I'm certain you'll hear about it."

[furnaceface]

//Well, he's got shite timing,// Jono grumbled, scooting closer and leaning up against Hannibal. //Karla this close to popping and half the Territory looking to have her head, and she doesn't have the faintest clue how bad it's been.//

It actually took focus to project a humourless chuckle, but in this particular case, he was going to put forth that effort anyway.

//No, I suppose I can't complain. Sneaky bastard is doing my job for me, I ought to be grateful for that much. So long as he sticks with that unsavoury bunch, nobody in the Territory is going to be particularly concerned. Hell, he's making me look bad, being one step ahead like that. All the more reason for me to step up my game. We First Circle landens still have a lot to prove, doesn't bloody well matter if I'm the general or not.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"Not only you," Hannibal said slowly. He sighed. "If I tell you this, you must promise to let it go for long enough to rest."

[furnaceface]

Jono's brow was furrowing a little again as he craned his head back to look up at Hannibal.

//... How bad is it?//

He wasn't promising anything, here. But really, it sounded important.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal gave him a look that said as clearly as he could that no, Jono hadn't promised yet.

[furnaceface]

...

//You're a pushy one, aren't you?// Jono gave Hannibal a tired, vaguely amused look, and then shrugged his shoulders. //Fine, fine. Since you insist, I'll rest, I promise.//

Meanie.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal was horrible, wasn't he?

He nodded and sighed. "After we found those children in the orphanage, I sent word to the local authorities about what had been going on. They should have known." Should have found any remaining children first, so that his work would only be the cleanup of the animals responsible.

[furnaceface]

//They... they knew?// Jono's brow furrowed a little more deeply at that. It was sheer force of will keeping him from sitting up again, though his shoulders got a lot more tense all of a sudden. //The local police knew, and this is still an issue? Did they lose the trail? Did they just not imagine that it could have extended beyond Hintergrove, or--//

He winced, looking for all the world like he'd been slapped across the face.

//Or,// he said, more quietly, his eyes shifting and glowing a deep red, //did they simply not care?//

When it was a matter for taking affluent members of the Blood to task for hurting orphaned, landen children, did they simply not bother to find the time?

[sharp_as_knives]

"I don't know," Hannibal answered. He rubbed Jono's shoulders. "But if the Blood authorities whose job it is haven't been looking into it, you can hardly blame yourself. And perhaps it explains why someone else has taken an interest as well."

[furnaceface]

//Vigilante justice,// Jono murmured, closing his eyes again and trying to relax. //Because if the police won't take care of it, somebody has to. They've got one hell of a way of going about it... but it's certainly sending a message.//

And that message was apparently that some people were so ugly in life that only death could make them anything approaching beautiful.

[sharp_as_knives]

It was! How clever of Jono to get it!

"Whatever message it is, leave it to others for the evening," Hannibal advised. "You've enough on your plate as it is. Should anything happen, they know where to find you."

[furnaceface]

//They know where to find me,// Jono agreed, rolling over a little so he could kind of ball himself up on the sofa, still mostly propped against Hannibal. //I've got them prodding the delivery man for names and addresses, and... he'll be cooperative.//

Because, yes, Jono had already compromised his morals enough, flipping a switch in that asshole's brain so that he would be compliant and honest hadn't hurt his ethical code all that much from there.

//Who knows? Maybe they'll have found some survivors and there'll be good news for me when I head back.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"We can hope," Hannibal said. He pulled a throw from over the couch and draped it and his arm over Jono. "And maybe with you looking into things, your mysterious helper will let things lie long enough that you can use more conventional methods and not break your brain."

Hannibal might have to make sure of it, even.

[furnaceface]

//'M using that brain,// Jono agreed. //Need it for other things, like... other things. Breaking it more wouldn't do anybody any good. I'm not in any mood to have Emma yell at me again.//

Look, you have your reasons for not breaking your brain, and Jono would have his. Emma could be very persuasive, that way.

//Few more weeks. Few more weeks, and Karla will be able to keep her own bloody self safer than she has been, and I'll have the capacity to really focus on this.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"A few more weeks," Hannibal agreed. "Focus on Karla until then. And don't forget to allow yourself to rest."

[furnaceface]

//I'm garbage at that last bit,// Jono muttered, //but I'll work on that. Delegate, relax, sleep. All straightforward enough...//

For anyone who wasn't Jono.

//Might appoint somebody specifically in charge of pestering me until I catch at least a couple of hours of sleep a day.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"I'm certain Karla would be pleased to do so." Hannibal smirked a little. "And she can consider it practice for once her daughter is born."

[furnaceface]

Jono squirmed the tiniest bit at that idea.

//I was thinking perhaps somebody who I'm not keeping secrets from at the moment,// he muttered. //Though I don't doubt Karla's commitment to kicking my shins until I agree to go to bed.//