Hannibal's house, Thursday

[sharp_as_knives]

Well, radio this morning had certainly been...interesting. Hannibal was torn between going to a deserted beach somewhere warm until this was over, and talking to as many people as possible. Maybe even Anakin.

He decided to start with breakfast, though. With actual pork sausage, just in case.


[OOC: Open post! Because I couldn't not give folks the chance. *G*]

Comments

[sharp_as_knives]

Of course not!

Hannibal opened the door and smiled. "Jono. Please come in. You look better rested than you have in months."

[furnaceface]

//I should hope I do,// Jono replied, giving Hannibal a little nod hello as he stepped inside. //After the baby was born, I took off, got as far away from Glacia as possible, and with the exception of a few runs to the school to help people set up their classes, I've just been sleeping, since. More soundly than usual, I was so bloody knackered. Apparently I needed it more than I was willing to admit.//

So... desperately. He wouldn't have denied that much even without the island's help.

//How're you doing, mate?//

[sharp_as_knives]

"A little bored, but well." Which he managed just in time not to say he blamed Jono for. "I've been contemplating a dinner party. Do you think Kayla's arrival is a good enough excuse?"

[furnaceface]

//I think,// Jono replied, //given how much everybody enjoys your cooking, 'I've been contemplating a dinner party' is, on its own, more than enough to excuse throwing one, mate. And people would be thrilled to attend, too.//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal chuckled. "I'll have to do it, then. I promised Karla waterfowl, coffee, and alcohol as celebration. And I've got a batch of beer that should be ready soon, brewed especially to spoil you."

[furnaceface]

//Well, I'm flattered,// Jono replied, reaching up and scratching at the back of his neck through his wrappings. //You know, my birthday's in July, right?//

Yes, 'just because' gestures still confused the hell out of him, sometimes.

[sharp_as_knives]

It probably didn't help that Hannibal normally wouldn't have said that last bit.

"Yes; and mine is the end of this month. I'm not certain yet how I feel about fifty."

Sigh. He was definitely sure he knew how he felt about the island today.

"I enjoy spoiling my friends."

[furnaceface]

//Well, much as I might fuss about it, I really do enjoy being spoiled,// Jono admitted. And then blinked.

//... I didn't actually mean to think that one aloud.//

Brilliant.

//Anyway, fifty probably isn't all that different from forty-nine. And besides, you don't even have to worry about all the traditional fiftieth birthday pranks. I wouldn't know how to get more flamingos onto your lawn than you've already got, anyway.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"Good," Hannibal said. "They're lovely birds, but the association with cheap lawn ornaments is unavoidable. I'd be curious to see what else people would come up with, though."

Damn it, Fandom!

He ignored Jono's admission; he already knew it, after all, and if he didn't mention it, he didn't have to explain why it had happened. And then other things might slip out.

[furnaceface]

Probably for the best. Jono actually kind of liked Pinkie Pie. But not as flamingo feed.

//... Is that a challenge? Because I'm absolutely not above trying to one-up the flamingo thing. It'll give me something to focus on for the next few weeks that doesn't come with that extra level of impending doom that my usual concerns seem to involve. What day's your birthday, mate?//

[sharp_as_knives]

"The thirtieth," Hannibal admitted. "Hopefully with much less impending doom. If you try to throw me some sort of party, I'll be touched, but please don't let Karla cook."

[furnaceface]

//Ha, no, not for your birthday I wouldn't,// Jono replied. //Unless there was a good chance that Worthington would pull damage control. He used to eat her baking, you know. All through high school, whenever Karla would surface with a platter of cookies, he'd take the whole bloody thing and somehow manage to get it all down. Definitely not the only time I've had a bit of respect for the man before the war, but it ranked somewhere in there.//

... Well. That was more than he'd intended to say, there.

//I'll, er, maybe talk to Ermengarde.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"I find it difficult to believe her cooking was actively deadly, rather than just unpalatable," Hannibal said. "Then again, Saetan did mention something about Karla and Jaenelle exploding a casserole."

He paused. "I still wouldn't want her to cook for me just yet."

[furnaceface]

//Extremely unpalatable, from what I've been told.// Jono shrugged his shoulders. //I wouldn't wish it on anybody, particularly not on their birthday, but I'm not in any hurry to go back to Glacia to babysit Karla once she catches wind of the fact that your birthday is coming up.//

He cared for you, Hannibal, but he had to not die in order to continue doing so.

So.

[sharp_as_knives]

"She could forget; she is, after all, rather busy at the moment." Yeah. "I have a feeling that would be wishful thinking."

[furnaceface]

//Karla has this terrible habit of making damn certain to remember anything that we desperately want her to forget,// Jono replied, faintly amused. //But I could probably keep your birthday a secret from her until it's too late for her to set aside time to do any baking. She'll be angry at me for springing it on her at the last minute, but all things considered, that'll be the least of my worries with her before long.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"I would offer you a safe place to stay, but I wouldn't lock Karla out of my house, so I doubt it would be very effective. Why else will she be angry with you?"

[furnaceface]

//She'd just walk through the door if she was that hell-bent on getting at me,// Jono replied, looking about as put-upon as he was able, here.

Which, given Jono, was 'very.'

//I might've left her a folder to peruse at her earliest convenience before leaving Glacia. Sort of a 'state of the Territory' deal. What I've been up to in Glacia since she made her pregnancy announcement. And a little before that, I suppose, when Raven mentioned it while out on the town with Dinah and Momoko, as well.//

So it was more or less a folder about damage control. A lot of it.

[sharp_as_knives]

"She should be grateful as well as angry," Hannibal said. "You've helped ensure she stayed alive."

[furnaceface]

//She'll be livid,// Jono replied, shaking her head. //She'll mostly just see that I compromised far too much of whatever she thinks is left of me, all for her sake. I imagine she'll cry. I'm fairly positive she'll try to beat me, but only because if she doesn't, that crying will be done at me.//

He'd been thinking of this for a while.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I don't think you've compromised anything." Hannibal frowned. "You made a conscious decision that the safety of someone you love and are tasked with defending is more important than the mental sovereignty of those seeking to harm her. Taking that choice upon yourself, whatever your decision, strengthens you."

[furnaceface]

Jono closed his eyes for a moment and sort of let himself cling to that logic for a moment. Cling desperately.

//I might have to get you to explain that one to her for me,// he replied, wryly. //It'll be difficult for me to do. I know, logically, why I did it. But it takes a lot of work these days to not look in the mirror and see the people who violated my mind all staring right back.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"You're looking in the wrong mirror." Hannibal thought about it for a moment, then held out a hand for Jono's. "Come with me."

[furnaceface]

Jono hesitated for a moment before nodding, and reaching out to take the offered hand.

//I know that there's a difference,// he offered, tentatively, //between what they did and what I've been doing. They just... made one hell of an impression. Where are we going?//

[sharp_as_knives]

"To make a different impression."

Hannibal led him upstairs and into the bedroom, then turned him to face the full-length mirror, his arm around Jono's shoulders. "So. What do you see?"

Was it evil of him to do this today? Probably. He weighed current gain against future animosity for a long moment, then added, "the island seems to be preventing lies today, but not silence."