Hannibal's house, Sunday morning

[sharp_as_knives]

Jono had slept straight through the night - a miracle Hannibal was perfectly ready to take credit for. He wasn't likely to sleep much longer, though, so Hannibal was headed back upstairs with the simple omelette he'd made for breakfast and a good-sized carafe of coffee.

[OOC: For the well-rested guy!]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Well, maybe if there was added chocolate...

//That'd be excellent, thank you,// Jono replied, pulling himself out of bed and to his feet. Where he stood for a moment, just to be certain he wasn't still wobbly after yesterday. No, apparently he wasn't, thank goodness, so he made his way to the closet to poke through for clothes. //I won't be terribly long, at any rate.//

Probably. Maybe he'd spend an hour in there just trying to see if he could spot any difference in the mirror.

[sharp_as_knives]

It was better than avoiding them.

"Nor will I." Hannibal gathered the tray up again and gave Jono's shoulder a squeeze as he headed out. "I'll just pack the coffee, a sandwich, and maybe some fruit."

[furnaceface]

Jono managed, mostly by some miracle, to keep from immediately perking up to make requests.

Okay, it wasn't a complete miracle. He did have some impulse control hidden away in there. He was British, after all.

//Sounds perfect,// he decided, picking out a few clothes before making his way to the shower. //Can't imagine we'll be out so long as to need more than that, anyway.//

[sharp_as_knives]

Were strawberries part of those requests? Because there were still some left.

"Only long enough for a relaxing ride, and to ignore that most of the rest of the island is twenty years older today," Hannibal said wryly.

[furnaceface]

Strawberries were always part of those requests. Always.

//... Oh, it's that again, is it?// Jono allowed himself a moment to sound faintly amused. //Last time the island managed to catch me in that one, I wound up having my boots thrown at my head.//

He'd kind of had it coming. Ish.

[sharp_as_knives]

"That sounds like a story." Hannibal shot Jono an amused look as he headed downstairs. "Please, continue."

It was really rather nice having a partner that didn't have to yell across the house.

[furnaceface]

//Oh, lord,// Jono muttered as he stepped into the bathroom and started the water for his shower. //Right, so I was still a student at the time, but it was directly after... some manner of dance, at any rate. Raven and I were dating at the time, and we'd gotten a hotel room.//

For things that high school students who were dating generally used hotel rooms for, yes.

//Woke up the next morning twenty years older, the both of us, only as it turns out, that particular iteration of me was still large and blue, and had pulled a vanishing act shortly after becoming that way.//

[sharp_as_knives]

Oh, dear. Hannibal smiled as he put things away and started more coffee. And she was rather rightly put-out, I take it?

[furnaceface]

//Good lord, was she ever.// Jono leaned forward a little, to see if he could get a better look at himself in the mirror. He... definitely looked like a man on fire, yes. //I'd sent a letter. A sort of, 'I'm actually never coming back and please don't come looking for me' letter.//

He'd been... pretty certain he wasn't going to be around long enough to go back. It had been messy.

[sharp_as_knives]

Well, Hannibal thought back, a little amusement and a lot of smug satisfaction in it, you may be pleased to know that this iteration of you has no such problem.

[furnaceface]

//I am neither blue, nor am I making plans to disappear indefinitely,// Jono agreed, clearly pleased by this. //And I would like to think you're not the boot-throwing type, really.//

Even when angry. Boot-throwing seemed to Jono to be beneath Hannibal's dignity.

[sharp_as_knives]

It was, really. Unless it served some other purpose.

I didn't ask about the blue, Hannibal said. But you certainly hadn't disappeared.

He set about putting together a pack of food. Was he being a brat by not saying more than that?

This was Hannibal. Of course he was.

[furnaceface]

//I... hadn't?//

Please, ignore that little glimmer of warm-fuzzy that went along with that. Jono wasn't a big softie. Really.

//Well, good. Honestly, I really have no reason to pull a stunt like that anyway.//

Another pause while Jono stepped into the shower, and then he added, //... Did whoever you were talking to say anything else?//

HE HAD TO KNOW.

[sharp_as_knives]

Apparently you have an abundance of workout equipment? Hannibal answered. That was what he wanted to know, wasn't it?

[furnaceface]

//So I've made myself right at home,// Jono deduced, reaching for the soap. //Sounds about right.//

A beat.

//Why is the workout equipment particularly noteworthy?//

[sharp_as_knives]

Mostly because when faced with a former student with an abundance of aggressive energy, your response is to loan them that equipment. Hannibal smirked and did his best to send his amusement with his words. Mine is to make them cook.

[furnaceface]

//It seems fitting enough to me,// Jono decided as he lathered up. //I make them hit things, you make them... either chop them or light them on fire. Beat them, I suppose. Which brings us back around to hitting things again. And this is, in retrospect, probably why I should never be allowed to do things in your kitchen.//

Good call, Jon.

[sharp_as_knives]

And I thought it was because you were liable to drown it all in grease, Hannibal answered. He set his pack by the door and headed back upstairs.

[furnaceface]

//Not all in grease,// Jono countered, mock-hurt. //I might mix it up from time to time and use gravy, instead.//

[sharp_as_knives]

I stand corrected. Hannibal took out his leathers and a sturdy shirt and set them on the bed. Then he took the shirt Jono had chosen and put it back, pulling out one that went better with his.

"Sparkle came to visit." He lounged in the bathroom doorway and answered the question Jono hadn't asked. "Apparently some years back, he had a rough patch. He came to us, and took advantage of your equipment and my kitchen."

[furnaceface]

Jono was getting used to that, at least. He'd get to the point eventually where he wouldn't even be remotely surprised if he were to peer into the closet to find that all of his clothing had been mysteriously replaced with clothes that conveniently matched everything of Hannibal's, ever.

//Ah, well... sorry to hear he had troubles,// he offered, rinsing off, now. //Glad he had somewhere t'go, though. And I suppose I might as well give blanket permission now, if anybody shows up needing to blow off steam, for people to use my workout equipment, just so long as they don't do anything stupid with it.//

[sharp_as_knives]

It did help that most of Jono's clothing was black. Even if it occasionally made Hannibal shake his head over it.

"I'll refrain from offering the same for my kitchen," Hannibal said. "Although Sparkle is welcome, as are you." Because they knew how he cared about it. "Karla is not." She knew, too, but he wasn't about to chance her skills in the room.

[furnaceface]

//Yes, but Karla is generally unwelcome in any kitchen,// Jono pointed out. //Unless it's to stand in the doorway an observe somebody at work who knows how to make food without burning th'whole building down.//

This was how he expressed that he cared about his friends, right here. Both for Karla's sake and theirs.

//Maybe the kitchen of somebody I really hate...//

[sharp_as_knives]

"One of these days, I plan to present her with a simple recipe and watch her cook it. I can't imagine why it is she seems to fail so spectacularly." He gave Jono a wry grin. "But I won't be doing it in my kitchen."

[furnaceface]

//I'd offer up mine, but Rinoa and Squall still live there and happen to use it from time to time. Probably.//

... Jono really hadn't been big on mealtime with the flatmates, no.

//Danger shop it'll have to be, then.//

And then he was shutting the water off and peering out to make a reach for a towel.