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sharp_as_knivesHannibal and Jono had both sent out e-mail to everyone they knew on the island, as well as posted in the school's boards, and everybody was invited. After this weekend, some of them seemed like they would need it.
Hannibal had a very well-stocked bar and wine cellar, there were darts and billiards and a card table downstairs as well as a media room, a music room and library on the first floor, outside decks on both if you didn't mind the flamingos, and of course, food.
Pork tenderloin crostini with cranberry pepper jelly
Pumpkin carrot soup shooters with coconut cream
Prosciutto, mango, and parmesan salad
Sweet potato ravioli with lemon sage brown butter
Mini beef wellingtons
Beef tenderloin with garlic and merlot jam
Chocolate and peanut ganache tartelettes
Chocolate orange mousse, spiced fruit brioche and yoghurt sorbet
Raspberry sorbet
[Open post! Everybody invited.]
Hannibal had a very well-stocked bar and wine cellar, there were darts and billiards and a card table downstairs as well as a media room, a music room and library on the first floor, outside decks on both if you didn't mind the flamingos, and of course, food.
Pork tenderloin crostini with cranberry pepper jelly
Pumpkin carrot soup shooters with coconut cream
Prosciutto, mango, and parmesan salad
Sweet potato ravioli with lemon sage brown butter
Mini beef wellingtons
Beef tenderloin with garlic and merlot jam
Chocolate and peanut ganache tartelettes
Chocolate orange mousse, spiced fruit brioche and yoghurt sorbet
Raspberry sorbet
[Open post! Everybody invited.]
Re: Arrive!
Date: 2015-10-06 01:19 am (UTC)Kaylin snuggled the cat closer. It was easier to talk if no one but a cat could see your face.
Re: Arrive!
Date: 2015-10-06 01:23 am (UTC)//You know... I've been there?// His voice gentled a bit. //I'm still there, actually. Knowing you can't undo what happened, but you can at least make a difference in somebody's life for the better... it's a start. But there's a healing process to it, too. As much as you might worry that perhaps you don't deserve to let yourself heal.//
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-06 02:06 am (UTC)She buried her face in Joni's fur till she could shove it all back down inside safely again.
"But it's okay. It will all be okay if I can just be a Hawk."
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-06 04:21 am (UTC)//Kaylin... Kaylin, luv. You'd be surprised, the dark places I've been.// He looked away for a moment. //I'm sorry that you've been there too. And I... I know, there are some places that are beyond redemption. But if you don't let yourself heal... if you never let yourself be whole again, be the best that you can be... can you really give your all to becoming the Hawk that they deserve to have doing right by them?//
It had been a lesson hard-learned for Jonothon. He'd spent years running from it.
Sometimes, he still forgot.
//I know... I know it feels like a sin, like spitting in the face of those that you wronged,// he added, quietly. //But you can't truly begin to atone if you only let yourself live your life by half-measures. I've tried. It only leads to a hell of a lot more regrets, in the end.//
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-06 02:50 pm (UTC)She could never get the image of him, his hands dripping the blood of the children, out of her mind.
"I know I'll kill him if I ever see him again. Or die trying. Why should it be different for me? Shouldn't people want to kill me? I would."
Poor Joni. Lucky that she just saw this as more lovely snuggling.
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-06 10:23 pm (UTC)//Maybe,// he murmured. //Maybe not. There are people who would have every right in the world to seek my life for the things I've done, too. And I can't blame them for it. They have every right to want to see justice, to want some sort of closure after the pain I caused them. But... we regret,// he said, softly. //We know what we've done, we understand the pain we've caused. We regret. And we want to atone. Do you suppose that person who's given you so much cause for hate has done the same?//
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-06 11:16 pm (UTC)She sniffled just a little, barely noticeable against Joni. "And now I've done such bad things. But not like that. Not like what he did."
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-06 11:20 pm (UTC)Oh, right. This was what it felt like when your heart bled. Jono remembered, now.
//Kaylin... you're not a bad person, luv. You were wronged, and wronged terribly. You're capable of doing terrible things, but power alone doesn't make a bad person.//
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 12:23 am (UTC)"How could he kill them? They were like our children. They trusted him. I trusted him!"
She was quiet, trying to stop crying. "I get scared. That I'll lose control of it again and hurt more people."
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 12:28 am (UTC)//I...// Wasn't afraid. That was the important thing to keep in mind. Whatever she was capable of, whatever she was afraid of doing. He wasn't afraid. //I'm sorry.//
And then, possibly against his better judgment, he was slowly stepping in to put an arm around her shoulder, to slip into a proper hug if she'd let him. Because... sometimes, people just needed to be hugged, damn it. But if now wasn't one of those times, he didn't want her to feel trapped, either.
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 12:34 am (UTC)She allowed the arm around the shoulder, leaning into him a little with Joni still cuddled close, and then shifted so that he could put both arms around her. It wasn't quite the same as the Hawklord wrapping hiswings around her, but it felt pretty darn good.
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 12:40 am (UTC)//I know that fear,// he murmured, gently. //I know what it's like, being capable of causing so much hurt, being afraid of yourself. Knowing what the consequences are first-hand. It's not a feeling I'd wish on anybody.//
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 12:46 am (UTC)Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 12:49 am (UTC)//It can be,// Jono agreed, stepping back to give Kaylin her space, again. //But... from the sound of it, you don't get that angry without reason, either.//
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 12:55 am (UTC)She shifted Joni slightly to be able to show Jono the jewel decorated gold bracer she always wore hidden under her ubiquitous long sleeved shirts. "The Hawklord gave this to me - well, it's from the Dragon Emperor. I have to wear it all the time. It stops my magic."
"Except, of course, I take it off when I do healing, so I know if I really want to I could,"
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 01:03 am (UTC)He nodded.
//If you really want to,// he agreed. //But you don't. You understand the consequences of your actions. And there's no excuse for those people doing those things. Not to children. Not to anybody. I've got little forgiveness in my heart for those who hurt children, too. They're children.//
He hesitated, and then added, //I've hurt people who were hurting children before, too. I've done things that I'm not proud of, but I don't necessarily regret. Things I can't take back, now. I don't think the people here would be inclined to judge you as harshly as you're judging yourself, Kaylin, for the things you've done. You're hardly the most terrible person to set foot on this island.//
Hell, she wasn't even the most terrible person to set foot in this room.
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 01:14 am (UTC)She'd been all of 13 then - just arrived in Elantra, just after her failed assassination attempt on the Hawklord, and against all common sense taken in by the Hawks.
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 01:27 am (UTC)He reached forward, to scratch a purring Joni behind her ear.
//You've got so much potential, Kaylin. And so much passion, such a fire inside of you. You want to do right. You want to do more than right. You want to do good. I have no doubt in my mind that you can, and that you will.//
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 01:31 am (UTC)Unless it involved having to like school. At least the stupid parts of it.
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 01:35 am (UTC)He sincerely doubted she'd ever helped murder prisoners in a concentration camp by the score and then dispose of the bodies. Which meant she was doing leaps and bounds better than him.
So.
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 01:57 am (UTC)For all her worry about breaking Joni, she had been incredibly careful with the cat even through all the upset. And was so grateful to be holding a warm purring cat. Something about that just always made you feel better.
"I hope you're right," Kaylin said quietly. "I'll remember you said that during the bad times."
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 02:00 am (UTC)... That would probably be a terrible idea, actually. Scratch that.
But she was welcome to come and cuddle the cat any time she wanted. Joni certainly seemed to be appreciating the attention, at any rate.
//I hope with time you come to do more than remember,// Jono replied. //I hope someday, you come to believe it yourself.//
Re: Arrive! [cw: just in case]
Date: 2015-10-07 02:11 am (UTC)How odd that the person who would most help to heal her was the person she hated most right now.
And yes, sharing assassin stories would be a terrible idea, Jono. The cat snuggling offer she might just take him up on. Because Joni liked the attention, of course. No other reason. Not that she'd be quick to admit, anyway.