Hannibal's house, Saturday

[sharp_as_knives]

It had taken entirely too long for Hannibal to do what he needed in Sidra, but he was back finally. He texted Jono from the Portalocity offices before he headed out. For once Fandom was the warmer place. Not warm, though, so he was very glad to get home and warm up.



[OOC: For the one mentioned!]

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[sharp_as_knives]

"If you keep staring at the walls, I may have to take up painting them." Hannibal stood and settled his hands at Jono's waist.

"You promised to do everything in your power to help Karla; it hurts to think you couldn't do enough. It feels as though you have failed a friend and broken a promise all in one. It will be difficult to get through. But think of this: if Karla believed you had failed her, broken your promise, would she remain your friend?"

Hannibal might not know exactly what had happened, but he felt confident that Karla still thought very highly of Jono.

[furnaceface]

//Maybe I'm just a wall-aficionado,// Jono muttered, and then sort of slumped forward to rest his forehead on Hannibal's shoulder. //And I don't... I mean, of course she...//

Ugh. Words.

//She doesn't think I failed her. No. Of course she doesn't. But not being capable of fulfilling my role in her Court... It was more than a promise to her. It was a promise to Glacia. I went to war for that territory. Buried friends there. And then... just... everything came at once at me, and. I.//

Wasn't crying. Of course he wasn't. That wasn't a thing he could do. He was just standing there with his face in Hannibal's shoulder, instead.

//I'm just tired,// he muttered. //Can we sleep?//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal rubbed Jono's head, combing his fingers through his hair soothingly. "You did quite a bit for Glacia as well as Karla. Is there anything saying you need to stop now?" He kissed the top of Jono's head. "Sleep," he agreed. "We can speak later. I imagine we will both feel better for the rest."

[furnaceface]

Jono stood there for a few moments more before grudgingly nodding - as much as he wanted to stop talking and go to sleep, he wasn't hugely keen on moving away from Hannibal's touch - and stepping back so that he could get himself out of whatever was least comfortable to sleep in. The high-end blue jeans had to go.

//See if we can get a decent nap out of it,// he murmured, stepping out of them and taking a moment to very painstakingly fold them. Everything he did got so much more deliberate when he was trying to look casual. Funny how that worked.

[sharp_as_knives]

Fortunately, Hannibal didn't mind if Jono wanted to engage in a bit of extra clothes folding; he was perfectly content to slide into bed and wait for him. There could be more touching there!

[furnaceface]

And touching was even better than clothes folding, wasn't it?

It took him a few more minutes to get out of the most awkward of his clothes, but he was slipping into the bed and kind of wriggling over to Hannibal eventually, so at least there was forward progress happening! Toward 'touching,' even!

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal slid further over, letting Jono settle as he liked before returning to the touching. Which was definitely more interesting than folding clothes. And warmer and more comfortable.

[furnaceface]

Warm was good, comfortable was even better. And if Jono was going to be something of a clingy limpet right now, at least he was a warm clingy limpet, himself?

//This is good,// he murmured. //This is a marked improvement.//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal was mildly amused by the warm limpet, actually. "It is." He put his hand back in Jono's hair and closed his eyes, more than ready to nap.

[furnaceface]

So, that was that, then. A marked improvement, a warm bed, and a warmer embrace to curl up in. Normally it would have been difficult for Jonothon to slip off to sleep, even in the arms of somebody safe, but he was tired enough these days that within a few minutes, he was fast asleep.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal was very good at falling asleep when he needed to (and at waking up quickly), and after his recent activities he was well prepared to.

If he hadn't been quite so tired, the sudden odd feeling that swept over him a few hours later might have woken him more, but as it was, when it wasn't followed by any sense of danger or urgency, he simply gave a sleepy sigh and burrowed under the covers to curl up as closely to Jono as he could.

[furnaceface]

Really, all things considered, danger and urgency probably weren't going to be of any concern to Hannibal for a while, now.

It wasn't until another hour or two after that that Jono realized that the person who he had slung an arm around was no longer... well... under his arm. He was still curled up beside something, and could still sense Hannibal in the room, so he wasn't terribly worried about waking up immediately either. But after a few minutes, he cracked open one eye and looked around all the same.

... Huh. No, he definitely couldn't see him. So, if Hannibal was in the room, but not within plain sight...

He lifted the covers to see what in the world he was curled up next to.

//Ah.//

Well.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal felt the draft from outside his cozy nest and lifted his head to peer at the reason and huff in annoyance. Why was there cold coming in??

[furnaceface]

That... would be the first time Jonothon had ever been huffed at by a snake. Oh, he'd done plenty of huffing as a snake. But sharing a bed with his partner, the cobra, was a new experience for him.

//Er. You appear to be a snake.//

In case Hannibal hadn't noticed. He thought maybe he ought to point that out.

[sharp_as_knives]

Excuse you, Jono. A cobra? He was a king! And he knew it. And would give you a preening look. Just before he hooked his face in the covers and tried to pull them back down, because cold!

[furnaceface]

//... Right then, my bad. I'll just, er, just continue being warm here for you, then...//

Jono was going to slooowly lower those sheets, then. And just kind of lay there, staring up at the ceiling, wondering if he'd been half this bad when he was a snake.

Well, he'd certainly been much smaller.

[sharp_as_knives]

Jono had been much, much worse! Hannibal hadn't bitten anyone yet.

He was going to slither over Jono's hand, though. No more picking up covers!

[furnaceface]

Jono would maintain until the day he died that Karla had been asking for it, and Warren had gotten better!

//Ehm... comfortable, then?//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal was very comfy, thank you. And now he was just going to go back to sleep. Curled up and around Jono, naturally.

[furnaceface]

And Jono... well, once Jono was certain that Hannibal was more interested in leeching his body heat than anything else, he was pretty okay with drifting back to sleep as well.

Snake or not, Hannibal was still a safe place. And Jonothon was still exhausted.

It worked out.