Hannibal's house, Friday evening (with hints of the past)

[sharp_as_knives]

The day had been decidedly long, and Hannibal was glad to finally make his way, avoiding any untoward encounters, back home. And, since Jono wasn't home yet, have a leisurely dinner of the sort he wasn't sharing with anyone these days.

[OOC: For the guy who can't duck a pitchfork!]

Comments

[furnaceface]

//Slower,// Jono replied, and if there was a hint of a sigh in that, well... //You get the benefit of a needle and thread. I'm trying to build new muscle tissue out of thin air with my brain. Preferably without knocking myself out for the next week. There's... I'm making progress, but I still need to knit it together once it's where it's meant to be.//

It was interesting, the odd acrobatics his flames were doing inside his chest in order to accommodate pulling the tissues together as they were meant to be. That control on its own was tiring.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smiled. After they were done, he might remind Jono how unthinkable this might have been for him a year or two ago, but right now he was pleased there was progress.

"Remember what works for the first one, and repeat it," he suggested. "Hopefully it will get easier. Will it help if I pause so we're working together?"

[furnaceface]

//It might help me set a better pace for myself,// Jono admitted. //And it's difficult to focus on what's going on in one place if you're over there stitching up another.//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal nodded. "Where are you?"

[furnaceface]

//The one you started on...// But he'd been actually working on it! And making progress! That was something, right? //S'about... half-done, I think. Might settle for three-quarters of the way before starting on th'next. I'd rather have progress on most instead of one or two completely out of th'way and nothing on the rest.//

Pacing himself. Pacing himself. Because if he didn't, and the island tried to do something especially sneaky tomorrow and he wasn't at the top of his game...

Like, oh, say, island-wide empathy. Being completely shattered and then being exposed to every emotion on the island would be rough. You know. Hypothetically.

[sharp_as_knives]

Halfway done was certainly progress. Hannibal paused in his work and turned back to the first hole, framing it with his fingers, pressing lightly to help Jono focus on the area. "Here."

[furnaceface]

//Thank you,// Jono replied, pulling his focus back to that particular wound. //Give me time and maybe I'll be able to take care of these things without even the stitching, but... I'm not there yet. And I'm not exactly at top form tonight, either.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"You've been doing remarkably well so far." Hannibal stroked the skin toward the stitches as if encouraging it together. "Practice will make perfect." Hopefully practice without further past intrusions.

[furnaceface]

//Between you and me, I'd much rather have less cause to get that practice in,// Jono murmured, though his tone was drifting a little, getting distracted by the effort of building cells out of nothing. //Fewer holes would be a good start.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"It would," Hannibal agreed. "But you'll have plenty of practice repeating this in large scale."

Because you were rebuilding yourself, Jono.

[furnaceface]

//Suppose I will,// Jono allowed. There wasn't much point in arguing; Hannibal had made up his mind, and Jono couldn't deny that at least having a face again would be nice. //Eventually.//

He tilted his head faintly, and then added, //Maybe we move to the next one. This one's come along a fair bit, but I want to still have enough in me to get to the rest.//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal nodded. "The next one, then." He framed that one as he had the last one, focusing on it.

[furnaceface]

//Right. And we can come back if I haven't passed out by number four...//

That was like having a game plan, wasn't it? Close enough, if you asked Jono.

He was going to sleep so well tonight. All the better for Christmas Present to have a little fun with him in his dreams.

[sharp_as_knives]

"We can," Hannibal agreed.

At some point, perhaps Jono could convince Logan to let him share the feeling of his accelerated healing; that would probably be helpful. For now, though, this would do.

[furnaceface]

Logan's, even Warren's. There really wasn't a shortage of mutants handy who could heal themselves unassisted. Jono just wasn't the sort to go around just asking people if he could experience what their bodily functions felt like, really.

... Generally. It seemed stranger in that context, anyway.

He was silent for a few minutes, letting himself get kind of lost in what he was doing, throwing his focus hard at the job at hand.

[sharp_as_knives]

Yes, well, Hannibal knew better than to suggest Warren. Not to mention that Logan was much more likely to be matter-of-fact about it.

Until then, Hannibal would just help on his own, by focusing on Jono's body and on the things he could do to help it and what they felt like.

...not like that. Right now.

[furnaceface]

Later? Could they focus on those things later? Much later, after the weird uninvited company took off? Jono would like that.

//Done that one,// he muttered after a while, a little sheepishly. //Got carried away. Stopped once I reached the stitched parts, though.//

Which on its own was kind of remarkable. Usually when he was out of sorts and lost himself in a task, he didn't tend to snap out of it again until somebody shook him for it. Thank goodness for stitches?

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal chuckled. "We won't come back to it, then."

He went back to the third hole and started in with the needle. "I'll go more slowly; see if you can match my pace. Let me know if I should slow down or speed up."

[furnaceface]

//If slowing down means just hanging around for a while with a needle half-in, I'd rather you not,// Jono replied, after a pause. He didn't mind the pain, or in this case the weird lack of it, but it was still just off. //But if you go at your usual pace and then wait for me to catch up, that... that ought to be fine, I think.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"Whichever you prefer." Hannibal was flexible. He carefully made the first stitch, concentrating on the skin moving and holding together.

[furnaceface]

Jono nodded his head a little, eyes closed again. He could handle this. Keep himself aware of how much he was pushing himself, too. He still had a bit of work ahead of him. And the island was still a mess.

//Alright, then let's give this next one a go.//

He was already working on it, too.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal couldn't tell how far Jono had gone or how fast he was working, so instead he went at a slow, steady pace. He concentrated on pressing the skin together and sewing it carefully. And on projecting calm, which was only a little harder than usual, after Will's visit.

[furnaceface]

Still, it helped, and Jono took that calm and fed it into his focus, which he offered back to Hannibal again on a sort of open-channel. One was great for the other, after all. And as an added bonus, along with the focus would be a sort of vague awareness of just how much Jonothon had left to work at, and how exactly that focus was beginning to slip, the closer they got to the end of their task.

About halfway through the last hole, Jono paused, and, making certain the needle and thread were finished with, put a hand to the side of his head and muttered, //Oy...//

Somebody was getting tired.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal cleaned up and put away the suture kit, then set his hand on Jono's head, petting lightly. "Do you still want to try to finish them?"

[furnaceface]

//Dunno,// Jono admitted, leaning into Hannibal's touch. //I almost feel like I could, if I really pushed myself. But I'm not sure now is the time to push myself, either...//

The visions and the people who showed up just to mock seemed harmless enough. But there were still creatures outside who were quite capable of doing a fair amount of damage if they had a mind to.