Hannibal's house, Friday

[sharp_as_knives]

The contractors had been ecstatic when Hannibal contacted them for more work, and he'd soon had three different possible plans for a sauna conversion.

He also had an estimate for installing radiant heating under all the floors. He hoped Jono planned on paying for that.

He headed for the den and stood in the doorway watching for a time. At the moment, he would settle for Jono acting well again; whatever was affecting him only seemed to have gotten worse lately.


[OOC: For the one mentioned, but open if anyone wants to drop by. Jono modded by permission!]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Jono was tired. Still tired. Too bloody tired, and it was a wonder he was awake at all right now, but there were too many thoughts swimming through his head. Didi's letter was gone. Tired. Hannibal had an unsettling tendency to eat people. Tired. Karla had insisted he terminate his contract. Tired. Something was slowly killing the island and it was chewing at the edges of his consciousness like a pack of hungry rats.

Tired. Tired. Tired.

But he had an easy fix for that, if only for a few moments at a time. He'd taken it from his pocket last night, put the chain around his neck and tucked it into the t-shirt he was wearing so that it wasn't obvious that it was there. It made him more tired still, whenever he took the vial away, but while he was using it, everything was beautiful again. Everything was worth it again.

But there was Hannibal, standing in the door. And some part of Jonothon wanted fiercely to keep the vial a secret. It was his. He needed it. Everything hurt without it.

So he sat with his head in his hands and his eyes closed for a few moments more, and then he finally looked up again.

//Hey.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"Hello." Hannibal came in, checked the couch for cats, then sat by Jono. "Would you like to see the proposals from the contractors?"

He kept his entire demeanor casual, but took in every weary line of Jono's posture, searching out the reasons.

[furnaceface]

//Contractors?// Everything was a bit fuzzy, Hannibal. Give him a moment. //Ah. For the... sauna, was it?//

He gave a little nod of his head, though he almost immediately regretted it. On top of 'tired,' apparently he had one hell of a headache to contend with, as well.

//Sure. Let's see.//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal handed Jono the folder, then stood back up. "I'll get the headache cream." He hadn't missed that expression, no.

[furnaceface]

//I appreciate it,// Jono replied, taking the folder and looking down at it blankly. He was supposed to flip through this and... look at proposals? Contractor babble. He could do that. He might not be able to give it his utmost attention, but he could most certainly open the folder and stare at its contents. //My brain feels like it's trying to make an escape through the back of my skull right about now.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"If you're admitting it, it must be quite bad." Hannibal fetched the cream from the first aid kit and came back with it, once again assessing Jono as he came closer. He sat sideways on the couch and tucked Jono's hair back off his face. "Has it been coming and going, or getting steadily worse?"

[furnaceface]

//Worse,// Jono confessed, tempted to just slump over sideways and rest against Hannibal and maybe not move again. //Steadily worse. And it isn't just me. Should've felt the way Kayla screamed when Karla set foot on the island yesterday. S'getting... oppressive. Like a lead weight pressing down on everything.//

He wasn't quite sure how else to describe it, and his hand twitched as he remembered the vial. It was so tempting, right then...

//I don't know how else to describe it. I can't breathe.//

Figuratively. Literally, too, but that was generally a given.

[sharp_as_knives]

Yes, that was generally given. The rest, though...

"I've seen the way the plants and water look, and I've heard about the deer. I take it that it runs deeper than that?" He massaged Jono's temples. "Is there anything to identify where it's coming from or what's causing it?"

[furnaceface]

//No idea,// Jono murmured, closing his eyes. //There's too much of it all at once, and everything feels a little skewed sideways. I can't focus. It's easier to shield and shield hard. Everything just feels sick and rotting, otherwise.//

Everything. The island itself, most of the living things on it. A steadily increasing number of the residents. Everything.

[sharp_as_knives]

"What about me?" Hannibal asked, rubbing the cream in. "Can you focus on me? Treat it like a nightmare. Focus on my breathing and heartbeat." Slow, steady, soothing.

[furnaceface]

Jono could really only think of one thing that he'd much rather be focusing on, and he didn't want to just pull it put while Hannibal was in the room.

//On you,// he echoed. //I think I can handle that.//

It meant dropping his shields somewhat to let his sense of Hannibal kick in, but if it stood a chance of helping at all, maybe it would be worth it.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Feel my breaths," Hannibal murmured, moving his hands from Jono's temples to just behind his ears. "Ignore everything else. Let yourself relax."

[furnaceface]

//Right... Relax.//

Easier said than done. Now that Jono had gotten a sampling of whatever magic was in Gaunt's vial - no, his vial now, he'd bought it fair and square - he was fairly certain it was impossible to be quite so relaxed as he was while he was breathing it in.

He could feel Hannibal's breathing, almost as though it was his own, if he paid close enough attention.

But it wasn't the same.

[sharp_as_knives]

"You're still distracted," Hannibal noted. "What is most on your mind?"

[furnaceface]

Jono's glance shot up toward Hannibal for a split moment, and he balked a little. The vial. Of course it was the vial. And his fingers twitched a little just thinking about it being right there.

//Everything,// he said instead. //There's too much to pare it down. Didi's letter apparently grew legs and walked away. Nobody could find it anywhere. The island's withering up all around us and nobody knows why. It's been hammering at the inside of my skull for weeks and I haven't been able to sleep, and it gets so bad at times that it's blinding.//

Those were not all strictly the thing on his mind the most, no. But they were all certainly very near to the top.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hm. And what weren't you telling him, Jono? "Was Karla able to determine anything?" he asked, rubbing soothing circles into Jono's skin.

[furnaceface]

//Nothing,// Jono murmured, his gaze dropping again. //It was probably stolen. I can't imagine why anybody would steal it, is the thing.//

What kind of sick bastard stole a man's last letter from a long-gone girlfriend?

[sharp_as_knives]

Someone who knew what it meant to him, perhaps?

"We will find it." Hannibal's lips thinned. "There are a limited number of people on the island, after all." If they had to search them all, they would. Although that would certainly be easier if Jono were at his best. Or even somewhat better.

[furnaceface]

//We'll find it,// Jono agreed, closing his eyes and nodding, just a little. //Maybe the island'll start behaving, too. Be easier to look without all of that pressure.//

Yes, by 'look' he meant 'poke through people's heads until he found a lead.'

Didi's letter was worth that much.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Do you remember when it started?" Hannibal asked. "The island's oddities rarely last too long."

[furnaceface]

//I don't know,// Jono noted, wryly. //I distinctly remember spending a month without a head, last year.//

That had been pretty long.

//But this... It started small, so I'd probably been brushing it off as general background noise for a while before it really started to wear down. Could be a few weeks. Could be as much as a month or so. I'm used to that sort of background noise.//

The nagging, gnawing, clawing-at-his-brain sort of background noise. It was always a constant. He generally created enough of that for himself.

[sharp_as_knives]

You needed a new hobby, Jono.

"Even so," Hannibal argued, "it wasn't months of the same thing; it kept changing for most of us. And in the end, there was somebody behind it."

[furnaceface]

//A terrified father and a babe-in-arms that we ran off the island, yes,// Jono agreed, brow furrowing a little at the memory.

That was... not his proudest moment.

//Somebody else might be able to give a better estimate on how long this has been going on, perhaps. Karla didn't notice anything last week, for example.//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal nuzzled Jono's neck, breathing in his scent. "We need to find out what's going on."

[furnaceface]

The catch that would have been in Jono's breath, or the skip of his heart, were fortunately not physical reactions that Jono was capable of having as Hannibal nuzzled into his neck like that. There was a thin chain around his neck, after all, though he was well aware that any sort of knee-jerk reaction would make it obvious that there was something about it, and... Jonothon would really rather nobody know about it at all.

So, instead, he nuzzled back, lifting his shoulder slightly in silent encouragement for Hannibal to nuzzle his face, instead. All the better for nuzzles, right?

//We do,// he agreed, softly. //There's obviously something the matter, and nobody has the first clue about where to begin looking.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"Perhaps together we will come up with something. There's a faculty meeting later today." Hannibal frowned at the brief spike in Jono's scent, but filed it away for the moment.

[furnaceface]

//Is there?// Jono took a moment to sort of try to clear the cobwebs from his brain before wincing. //And I missed my class this morning. Shite. I hope Rinoa had it handled.//

Nope. Rinoa was even worse off than Jono was, this morning.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I'm certain she did," Hannibal said soothingly. He was getting more concerned, though; Jono rarely let anything interfere with his teaching. Not even the lack of a head.

Well, some remedies at least worked regardless of things like lungs, hearts, and circulatory systems. "Do you think you could try to sleep?" He had no doubt the lack of it lately was at least part of the reason Jono was faring so poorly.

[furnaceface]

//... Now that you mention it, I probably could. I feel as though I could sleep for a month.//

Proof-positive that Jono was exhausted. He admitted to it.

[sharp_as_knives]

"In that case, this," Hannibal wiped the cream from his fingers and took the contractors' file back, "will wait until later." He set it on the end table, then set the cream with it. "Sleep. I'm certain the cats will help." He checked his watch. "And I've a bit more time before the meeting."

[furnaceface]

//Ah, good, then...// He was going to have to get up, then. Make his way from the den to a bed somewhere. Words could not express how badly he didn't want to put forth that effort. //I suppose if I stay here much longer, I'll be leaving an imprint in the seat anyway.//

To his feet, then.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal held out a hand to help him up. He was going to have to walk on his own two feet, though. If only so Hannibal could better assess his health.

[furnaceface]

Jono let Hannibal pull him to his feet, and then stood there for a moment, getting his bearings again. He wasn't so far gone that he couldn't walk, though as he made his way out of the den, his was the slow, deliberate trudge of a man who hadn't properly slept in days and whose head was apparently trying to make a break for it.

//Do me a favour and don't let Joni trip me up along the way?//

She liked ankles.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I'll keep an eye out for her," Hannibal promised. "But last I checked, Beethoven was trying to nap." Which meant she was either going to needle him until he tried swatting her, or curl up on top of him.

[furnaceface]

//I really don't know what her fascination is with him,// Jono admitted, making his way toward the bedroom. //I suspect it's mostly just that cats are contrary...//

Beethoven hated it. Therefore Joni had to do the thing more.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Either she adores him without regard for the consequences, or she enjoys causing trouble. Probably both." She was, after all, a cat. And Jono's cat at that.

"Not to mention, he is closer to her size." All the better to pester!

[furnaceface]

//All the better for getting herself sat on, mostly,// Jono noted. Ah, there was the bed. It had never looked quite so inviting as it did right then. He made his way toward it and... changing out of his clothes be damned, sat down then and there.

Forget effort. Effort involved not laying down for longer than was strictly necessary.

[sharp_as_knives]

Honestly, Jono, one of these days... Well, at least he didn't have his boots on.

Hannibal turned down the sheets and held them up for Jono to slide under.

[furnaceface]

Sorry, Hannibal. Maybe when things felt less heavy, when his head was less fuzzy and everything seemed somewhat less grey, then Jono would take the time to undress himself. As it stood, he was just sort of nodding his thanks and oozing under those sheets, curling up a bit like one of the cats might, himself.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal tucked the sheets around him, then took his own shoes off and lay down on top of them. He combed his fingers through Jono's hair and stroked his shoulders and back. "Sleep. Whatever else is going on, you'll feel better for being well rested."

[furnaceface]

Jono nodded his tired agreement, and for a brief moment he was tempted to make a grab for the little vial on the chain around his neck. But this, being curled up on the bed and having Hannibal right there, giving him little touchstones to reality, were enough, for now. He shifted his weight just enough to be able to lean back against him, and then he let himself start to drift off.

Whatever else was going on, he felt better for not being alone, too.