Denver...somewhere

[sharp_as_knives]

"I told them we had an unexpected emergency," Hannibal said as they approached the library. "I thought the details might prove a bit much." It hadn't been until Tuesday that Hannibal had gotten to the point in his list that included 'make excuses to library'. While he'd wanted to assure them that only a very serious problem would have kept them away, 'we were kidnapped by aliens' hadn't seemed a good idea.



[OOC: NFB due to distance, for the partner guy!]

Comments

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal greeted the children with a smile, repeating several variations of, "We're very happy to be here. We're sorry to have not been here last week."

"Careful," he cautioned them calmly, just loudly enough to be heard. "Mr. Jono has some injuries that hurt a little; try not to knock him over." There was not worrying them, and then there was being ridiculous, Jono. They would take their cues from the adults; treat it as a minor inconvenience, and so would they. And it would lend their excuses some weight.

[furnaceface]

Aaaand now was when a small chorus of kids calling their names was turning into a flurry of questions about his injuries, how bad they were, if that was why they missed last week, if he almost died, that sort of thing. Because little kid curiosity was a powerful beast.

Jono mostly just stood there looking a little bit like a deer in the headlights.

//Er... some burns. There was a... er...// He waved the hand that hadn't been pinned to his side by another kid joining the hug pile.

The kids took this opportunity to start trying to fill more blanks, starting with 'fire' and expanding their suggestions outward toward things like 'explosion,' and 'meteor.'

[sharp_as_knives]

"Yes," Hannibal told them seriously, "very definitely a meteor. Very dangerous; we're lucky to be here, but he saved me." He smirked a bit at Jono. "Come along." He hoisted the smallest child and herded the rest back to the circle. "We're here for a story. If you still want one?"

[furnaceface]

There was that half-moment of the kids looking between Hannibal and Jono in awe. And then the rest of that moment was a tiny child stampede, with the lot of them making a beeline for the story circle.

Their little chorus of 'Yes, please!' and several variations thereof was kind of pretty adorable.

//Well, then I suppose the next question is which book we're going to read today, hm?//

[sharp_as_knives]

After a bit of negotiation and discussion, they settled on one, and Hannibal and Jono each took their copy to their seats. The children were a bit squirmier than usual, and Maria gave Hannibal and Jono a look that somehow managed to be grateful, exasperated, and apologetic.

"Are you all ready?" Hannibal asked.

[furnaceface]

There was a round of the tiny child equivalent of applause, which was mostly a cacophony of little voices all confirming that storytime was the best time, and then Jono turned a little smile toward Hannibal before starting to read.

A few books later, and they were done their reading for the day. Parents came to collects their children, and Jono and Hannibal were left to sort out their things for all of a few seconds before Maria made her way over to them.

"A meteor, hm? You must be quite the hero, then."

//Er.//

Teasing, Jon. She was teasing.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal chuckled. "Some of the children have quite an imagination." He gave her a little bow. "Thank you for understanding; we would have been here last week had we been able."

Maria seemed to practically burst with curiosity, but she didn't ask. "We missed you. Well, the children more than the rest of us, of course. I'm glad to see you back."

[furnaceface]

//It's good to be back,// Jono replied, nodding faintly. And if there was a whole range of alternative interpretations to that statement, well, he wasn't going to draw attention to it. Much. //We missed being here, ourselves. Th'kids are great. Couldn't help but feel terrible for letting them down last week, but it was sort of unavoidable.//

Thanks for that, Zinyak. You made the tiny children sad.

[sharp_as_knives]

Zinyak didn't seem to care, unfortunately.

"Is there..." Maria hesitated. "I don't want to pry or anything, but I know there are still some stupid, cruel people out there, and if you're having some kind of trouble, there's cops that drop by sometimes; I know they're good people, if you need to report it?"

[furnaceface]

It took Jono a few seconds for him to clue in to what Maria was getting at, there. And then, well, he needed a few seconds more to process what one was supposed to say in reply to that.

//Er... thank you,// he replied, grateful if still a bit thrown by her concern. //It's nothing that needs to come to that, but that is good to know.//

It wasn't like they couldn't handle the run-of-the-mill baseline human bigots that she was alluding to, after all.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal was similarly startled, but smiled at her. "Thank you," he reiterated. "It's good to know, regardless."

She nodded and let it drop. "We will see you next week?"

[furnaceface]

//Barring natural disaster, I think so, yes,// Jono agreed, nodding a little. //At the very least, we'll definitely try to give you ample opportunity to cover for us if we need to back out for whatever reason again...//

"Well," Maria replied, "I certainly hope that it doesn't come to that. In fact, we were wondering..." She looked back and forth between the two of them. "You've both been excellent with the children. They adore you. And next week is technically your last week with us. But if you wanted to, oh, continue coming on a weekly basis, we would be thrilled to have you become regular faces around here."

Those were puppy-dog eyes coming from Jono, rather than any children, as he looked Hannibal's way. Just in case that was unclear.

[sharp_as_knives]

They were rather good puppy-dog eyes, too. If Hannibal hadn't been utterly immune to such a thing. "I thought you never wanted to leave the billiard room?" he teased.

[furnaceface]

//I will leave the billiard room for the sake of small children,// Jono countered. //They're worth a few hours of my time once a week. Also, apparently they give excellent hugs.//

They were enthusiastic!

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal turned back to Maria. "If we continue, there may be other times we're unable to visit, although we will do our best to inform you in advance."

She nodded in understanding. "Every week you're here is one week more than they'll have otherwise," she pointed out.

[furnaceface]

//Good way of looking at it,// Jono admitted, tilting his head thoughtfully. //I'll have to keep that in mind from here on out, thank you.//

Look, he had guilt issues at the best of times. He needed any silver lining he could find, okay?

[sharp_as_knives]

"In that case, apparently we'd be delighted," Hannibal told her. Yes, he was still amused by it, and still telegraphing that amusement to Jono, but why not? It was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, for the most part.

[furnaceface]

//Utterly delighted,// Jono agreed, sounding... well... utterly delighted, yes. //We'll just keep coming back week after week as usual, then?//

He could so, so handle that.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Please," Maria said, smiling at them. "And thank you. It means a lot to the kids and to us."

"You're very welcome," Hannibal said.

[furnaceface]

Jono nodded his own thanks as Maria wished them a better week than the one they'd apparently had, and then returned to her usual duties.

And then he turned a smile back to Hannibal, reaching for his hand.

//Thank you for humouring me some more, mate. I've been enjoying this to a surprising degree.//

It was nice being out and involved in the community without having to play the hero or worry about people pointing and screaming.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal took his hand with a slightly rueful smile. "I suspected this was a hazard when I suggested it," he confided. "I'm pleased to have found something you enjoy. Truth be told, I don't mind it myself, in limited doses."

[furnaceface]

//Not anxious to have a pack of children underfoot at all times, then?//

Jono was teasing, himself. He had a very limited amount of energy for most children, though boundless patience for certain ones in particular. He figured that was probably a good indication that he didn't need to have about twenty of them surrounding him on a more constant basis.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Not at all times, no," Hannibal agreed. "And not so many. But from time to time, it's a tolerable diversion, and as you enjoy it so much, it would be terrible of me not to help."

[furnaceface]

//Well, if they drove you barmy, I'd be the terrible one for expecting it of you,// Jono pointed out. //It's good to know where we both stand on the matter, at any rate.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"It is." Hannibal squeezed Jono's hand. "Shall we browse a bit, then?"

[furnaceface]

//Let's,// Jono replied. //Maybe I'll pick up something utterly ridiculous this week and then spend the rest of my time wondering what in the world I was thinking when I did so.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"In which case I'll remind you," Hannibal said, "you were giddy at the thought of more weekends reading to children."

[furnaceface]

//I do not get 'giddy,'// Jono protested. //... Though if I did, I suppose this would be the thing to do it.//

He'd been giddy.

[sharp_as_knives]

"No?" Hannibal asked. "Hm. It must be my mistake, then. Not even if I were to mention how pleased they were to see you?"

[furnaceface]

//... Maybe if you mentioned that,// Jono allowed. //How pleased they were to see us, even.//

They'd been too bloody adorable for words, hadn't they?

[sharp_as_knives]

They had been, yes.

"There, you see? I'll remind you of that." Hannibal grinned; Jono was nearly that adorable himself.

[furnaceface]

//And that'll explain bloody near everything,// Jono agreed.

... Giddily.

[sharp_as_knives]

"It will." Really, the giddier Jono got, the more amused Hannibal got.

And he'd simply have to pull out his phone and get a picture. Purely for his own sake, and not at all so that he could send it to Karla or Jubilee.