sharp_as_knives | Hannibal's house (and totally not Jono's), Sunday

Yesterday had been reasonably quiet at home, but on these weekends, there was no telling how things would end up. So, once again, Hannibal had fixed enough food to almost-prepared for an army and enough coffee for three, and was spending as much quiet time as he could at the harpsichord.

The brass plaque at the gate announcing his office and qualifications was nicely polished, the flamingos scattered on the lawn had been sufficiently fed not to unduly bother any visitors, and everything was hopefully going to stay interesting without being too harrowing.

One could always hope.

[OOC: Open post! No OCD; ping or e-mail me if you have questions!]

Current Location: 22 Phoenix Place

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

sharp_as_knives

Hannibal smiled back. His might not be friendly, but it was perfectly pleasant. "Of course. I find conversations are often better over coffee. Cream or sugar?"

From:

intraspective

"Both, please," she said lightly. Cream and sugar improved pretty much everything.

From:

sharp_as_knives

"Of course." Hannibal showed her to a comfortable chair in the den. "I won't be a moment."

From:

intraspective

Ino did not so much sit as she flopped down into the chair the moment he left and crossed her legs thoughtfully. It was a nice house.

Nobody was scared in it.

She waited patiently, feeling tired.

From:

sharp_as_knives

While Hannibal was gone, the other residents of the house took it upon themselves to determine the suitability of this new person invading their space.

Well, Beethoven did, anyway. Joni's thoughts were closer to, "Ooo, HAIR!"

So while Hannibal was in the kitchen setting out a carafe, glass mug, and cream and sugar containers on a neat little tray (along with some cheese and fruit), Ino would find herself being suspiciously sniffed at by an old grey cat and her braid being gleefully batted at by a tiny black and white one.

From:

intraspective

Ino was not a fan of children and the only pet she'd ever had was her chicobo, but Ino? Ino liked cats.

Her braid getting batted by a tiny fluffy creature just made her so happy and then, when she checked who it was, she squealed. "Joni!" she said, wriggling her braid for the kitten. "Look how tiny you are, you're still the tiniest, aren't you?"

She didn't know the other cat, but she held her free hand out for him to sniff all the same.

Dignity had been tossed out the window. There were cats to play with.

From:

sharp_as_knives

Hannibal chuckled as he set the tray on the table by Ino. Her knowing and liking Joni was enough corroboration of her story for him. "The other man there is Beethoven, my gift from Jono. He's deaf and somewhat grumpy, but not aggressive," he assured her.

He sat nearby. "You're here for the reunion, I take it?"

From:

intraspective

"He's adorable," she said firmly, her smile entirely easy and genuine as she watched the cats for a moment before looking back up at him. "Did you name him or did Jono?"

Ino's understanding of Earth music was hit-or-miss and heavily skewed towards Jpop but Beethoven was a familiar name.

From:

sharp_as_knives

"I did," Hannibal answered. "I am also a fan of music, and since Beethoven himself was deaf, it seemed appropriate."

From:

intraspective

Ino hadn't actually remembered that fact, which would probably make Jono sigh at her, but that was okay.

She mentally shooed a couple of squirrels away before saying, still while playing with Joni, still while petting Beethoven, and in an entirely conversational tone of voice:

"What is it that keeps you from eating Jono?"

Somewhere out there, Tseng was sighing and didn't know why.

From:

sharp_as_knives

Well, that was one way to begin a conversation. Hannibal raised an eyebrow at her, but since she didn't seem to be hostile just yet, he saw no reason not to answer her.

"I don't kill indiscriminately," he said. "Jono would have had to do quite a bit to cause me to consider it, even before we became friends and partners."

From:

intraspective

While subtlety wasn't one of her gifts, looking harmless was. Going from harmless to dangerous was another one of them.

"And now?" she prodded. "Would you eat him now?"

From:

sharp_as_knives

"Now less than before," Hannibal said, sighing a bit internally; he hated to let a good pun go, but he didn't think she would appreciate it. "For a number of reasons."

He was rather good at seeming harmless himself, if you weren't a telepath.

From:

intraspective

Yeah, tough luck there, Hannibal.

"Yes, yes," she said, a bit impatiently. "I don't need to know the reasons, but I would really like to know how much danger Jono is in by being with you."

Because if she judged the answer as being 'a lot' then Hannibal was going to have a small, blonde, former-ninja current-Turk problem in this room.

From:

sharp_as_knives

And now Hannibal was giving her a slightly exasperated (though still pleasant) look. "Jono is in no more danger being with me than he is simply being Jono by himself. With any luck, considerably less."

Because honestly, in this relationship? He was not the dangerous one.

From:

intraspective

Look, Jono generally either made terrible relationship choices or had them end in horrific ways. Ino was just not keen to see him actually get eaten because of his awful choices.

"You have a point," she conceded. "But given that I know him and I don't know you, I think I have the greater point in wanting to know how much danger there is from someone that eats people."

A beat.

"Also, I'd be terrible for you to eat, by the way, and that's not even a joke."

It really wasn't. Not that Ino thought he could kill her, but eating her was a bad plan for so, so many reasons.

From:

sharp_as_knives

"I wasn't intending it," Hannibal answered. "But you mean your illness?" He spread his hands. "Is there anything that I can give you to make you more comfortable?"

From:

intraspective

Oh, look, Ino was going to lean forward to drag her braid along the floor for Joni to chase.

"Not unless you've got a wonder-cure for something kinda like radiation poisoning," she said lightly.

And then there was the whole problem of, if he had, would she trust him enough to take it?

From:

sharp_as_knives

"I'm afraid not," Hannibal answered. "But I've painkillers if you would like. Of varying degrees of strength." So, aspirin through to narcotics, really.

From:

intraspective

"Nah," she said, watching him with her too-blue eyes. "I'm good. It's not really a pain issue."

From:

sharp_as_knives

Hannibal nodded. "Then I'm afraid unless you're staying, there is nothing I can do to help you. Unless you would like to talk about it to somebody with an unbiased ear?" He smiled. "That is, after all, my other profession."

From:

intraspective

Ino looked amused.

"Is it still unbiased even after I came in here and wanted to know if you were going to eat Jono?"

From:

sharp_as_knives

Hannibal laughed. "That merely shows that you're a friend of Jono's and have a means outside of the norm for finding information. The first makes me more kindly disposed toward you; the second makes me somewhat more cautious. Neither prevents my being unbiased, and both make me very curious."

From:

intraspective

It was probably not best behaviour to tell a joke that someone else wasn't going to get, but Ino was going to do it.

"I got the information because I am a ninja," she said, and laughed. "But alright, I guess I can talk. Been talkin' to an awful lot of people this weekend."

So one more didn't seem like it would hurt anyone.

"Where should I start?"

From:

sharp_as_knives

Hannibal might not get the joke, but he could get the intent and humor. "With your coffee," he said, grinning. "And then wherever you like. How did you meet Jono?"