Out and about, Saturday

[sharp_as_knives]

Last week's abduction had derailed their original plans, but fortunately they'd been easy to reschedule. Hannibal had chosen this particular show with an eye to Alluka's youth, an ulterior motive towards Jono, and a bit of sheer perversity.

He was rather looking forward to it.



[OOC: For the two mentioned! NFB due to distance. WARNINGS: Link has pictures of plasticised bodies, and the comments will likely have descriptions of such. Also, Amsterdam.]

Comments

[that_oldsaying]

There'd been a big argument between all three of her toys this morning, over who she loved the best, so Alluka was toy-less today. She'd made up for it by adding ribbons into her braids, which didn't really make up for it at all, but somehow made her feel like it did.

Which was the important part.

"And we're really going to see bodies today?" she asked, again, just to make sure.

Because the answer might have changed in the last five minutes.

[furnaceface]

//Of course we are, Sunshine,// Jono agreed, even if he did still feel sort of weird about that. //All sorts of them, though most of them have their skin off, I think.//

He'd really only given the website a cursory looking-at, himself. Long enough to see the very happy looking dead person with all sorts of bits taken off here and there, anyway. Which... wasn't actually so bad as he'd been envisioning, oddly enough.

At least they were happy about it?

//I hope that isn't a problem?//

... Because the answer to that might have changed in the last five minutes, too?

[that_oldsaying]

"Nooo," she said, giggling and reaching out to hold his hand. Because she wanted to. "I'm okay with that. It's going to be fun!"

And gruesome, but that didn't take away from Alluka's idea of fun.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Excellent." Hannibal smiled at her. "If anything isn't, though, you must let us know."

Although if anybody tried to punch one of these exhibits, they would probably have more than one protester.

[furnaceface]

//We'll head off to the zoo instead or go get lunch or something, instead,// Jono agreed, letting her take his hand, and giving hers a little squeeze once she did. //If whatever you see here doesn't turn out to be something you like, there's no need to worry that we'll just end up turning around for home, okay?//

He worried, ssh.

[that_oldsaying]

She beamed up at the both of them.

"I'll remember," Alluka said, though she probably wouldn't the moment something shiny caught her attention. Sorry, Jono and Hannibal.

Oh!

Though there was--

"But, but what if you two don't like it?"

[sharp_as_knives]

Well, if shiny things caught her attention, she was having a good time!

"I'm certain we will," Hannibal told her. "And if we don't, but you do, then we'll enjoy your happiness instead."

[furnaceface]

//What he said,// Jono agreed, giving her hand another little squeeze. //Though what I've seen of it looks fascinating. And if there are aspects of it that I don't like, I'll just find something else to look at. Problem easily solved.//

[that_oldsaying]

She thought about it. There seemed like something was funny about that but she didn't know what, so Alluka decided to just go with it.

"Okay," she decided, wriggling her fingers in Jono's grasp, just because she could.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal petted her hair (careful not to disturb the ribbons). "Are we ready, then?" He took out the tickets, and handed Jono his and Alluka hers.

[furnaceface]

//Looks like we are,// Jono agreed, taking his ticket and, shut up, kind of feeling warm and fuzzy, like this was some sort of family outing or something.

Which, if it was any student but Alluka, would probably feel like a weird situation to ascribe this to. But... Well, she was less a teenager in high school and more like a lost little girl, and he had kind of taken on a big sibling role, here.

He was okay with this.

//So, let's see what this thing is all about, shall we?//

Dead people, Jono. It was about dead people. And what made living ones tick.

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka wasn't a cat, so she couldn't purr when Hannibal petted her, but the fact that she lit up like a sunrise was probably enough of a hint that, yeah, she'd enjoyed that.

"I'm ready!" she said happily, holding out her ticket. Alluka wasn't quite sure what she had to do with it yet, but if it was hard, she knew they'd help her out. "And it's about dead bodies!"

She was just trying to help, Jono!

She tugged on his hand, heading towards what looked like the entrance. "If we don't hurry, we'll be late!"

For what, Alluka? For what?

[sharp_as_knives]

For their entry time slot? They had plenty of time, but Hannibal didn't want to dampen that enthusiasm. "We wouldn't want to be late." He gave Jono an amused look and stroked Alluka's hair again as he followed her to the entry.

[furnaceface]

Meanwhile, it was mostly a wonder Jono managed to stay upright while he was tugged along. There was his usual level of enthusiasm for heading in to see things he was excited about, and then there was Alluka's, and wow, he didn't hold a candle, did he?

Of course, Jono wasn't generally a poster boy for enthusiasm in general. Still, he was enjoying this outing thus far.

//I think we're going to make it, luv,// he shared, amused, as he nodded at the person at the door and handed his ticket over, before nodding to Alluka to do the same.

//So that they know we've paid to get in,// he explained.

[that_oldsaying]

"Oooooooooooooh," she said her eyes big and excited as she solemnly handed her ticket over.

It was funny how doing so made her feel a little bit grown up, wasn't it?

But she'd done it right! That wasn't going to stop her from just as avidly watching to make sure Hannibal got through too though.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal would do just fine, but he appreciated the attentiveness. He handed over his ticket and nodded his thanks to the woman taking them before joining Jono and Alluka. He held out the brochure (they'd had them in English as well) and nodded at the first exhibit, right under the banner.

"I think happiness and music go well together; it's good to see it front and center."

[furnaceface]

//It's definitely expressive,// Jono decided, tilting his head at the exhibit. Never before had he seen a dead man so into playing the saxophone. //The focus of this whole gallery is the effect happiness has on the body, isn't it?//

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka was peering more at the body itself than at the saxophone curiously.

"But they're all dead," she said, puzzled. "So why would being happy matter to them?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"It doesn't now," Hannibal answered. "But you mentioned using bodies as learning tools at home - this is similar. Instead of learning how a poison might affect someone, we learn how happiness or the lack of it does."

[furnaceface]

//We might be able to see a comparison,// Jono added, //at some point, perhaps. The difference between the brain of a stressed person or a happy one, that sort of thing. Even if they're dead, they might still have bodies that show how healthy they were otherwise when they died.//

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka worked her way through that, absently swinging Jono's arm a little as she thought.

"So, so it's not really about the dead people then?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"It's partly about them, and partly about what they can tell us about the human body," Hannibal answered. He pointed. "There are plaques by each to tell you what it shows."

[furnaceface]

//People have learned a great deal about the living by studying the bodies of the dead,// Jono added, leaning over to peer at the plaque nearest to the saxophone guy. //Bodies generally complain less when you take them apart, I suppose.//

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka giggled and... completely ignored the plaque.

What?

"It'd be pretty funny if the dead people could talk," she said agreeably. "Though I guess they'd probably just scream if they woke up looking like instrument guy."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Perhaps," Hannibal said. "But all of these bodies were volunteers. They knew what was being done with them after death."

And yes, the dead tended to complain less.

[furnaceface]

//They all signed cards donating their bodies after they died,// Jono added, helpfully. //They didn't volunteer to be plastinated effective, er, immediately or anything.//

Look, Alluka was the daughter in a family of assassins. He thought perhaps it would be a good idea to clarify.

[that_oldsaying]

It was helpful!

She nodded seriously.

"Did they know they'd be playing instruments and stuff?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"They likely didn't know the details," Hannibal answered, "although some of them may have made requests. But they knew they would be displayed."

[furnaceface]

//People who signed their bodies over to have this done to them would have at least known what these exhibits are about. Not all of them can end up playing the saxophone, of course. A few of them become, er, more like spare parts, I suppose.//

There was a whole display of preserved body parts over there, for example. And a two-inch-thick slab taken clean out of somebody's midsection to show where certain fat deposits settled on certain bodies and whatnot.

//But for the opportunity to be preserved as... something of a work of art in their own right...?// Hannibal got a brief side-eye before Jono shrugged and pressed on. //Some people would love the chance to look this lively even after they've died.//