Hannibal's house (where Jono isn't being lied to today), Friday

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal hadn't noticed anything different yet today himself. He'd heard the radio, which had made him cautious, but it wasn't as though he made a habit of lying to the cats, or even to Jono these days.

So, he was staying inside for the moment and working on new wedding preparations. It wasn't as though things could go bad that way, after all.



[OOC: Open post!]

Comments

[sharp_as_knives]

"Of failure?" Hannibal asked. "Or of success?" He poured Kanan another cup of coffee and set the bottle of cognac on the table between them.

[uncertain_dume]

Damn it, Hannibal.

"Both. The cost of failure is too high." He reached for the cognac. Poured a healthy dose into the cup. Stole another not-too-subtle glance toward the doorway. "So is the cost of success."

[sharp_as_knives]

"What is the very worst that happens if you fail?" Hannibal asked.

[uncertain_dume]

"I slip," Kanan replied, clenching his jaw momentarily before he found himself compelled to continue. "Fear and anger and pain get the better of me, and I trade in peace for passion. Everything that makes me who I am gets swallowed up by the dark side of the Force. People get hurt. Those who died to keep me alive will have died for nothing. Maybe somebody manages to put me down eventually. Maybe they don't. By that point it won't matter as much, I suppose. I'll be so obsessed there won't be much left of who I am anyway."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal just nodded. "And yet that can happen to anyone, with or without your Force. Are the chances of giving into fear and anger less if you are less well-acquainted with your own abilities and limitations? I should think it was rather the other way around."

[uncertain_dume]

"If I don't embrace the Force, I won't be as likely to feel the pull of the dark side of it," Kanan said, shrugging his shoulders. It seemed like sound enough logic to him. It would probably take an actual Jedi to convince him otherwise. "It's a different sort of pull, not quite as simple as temptation or greed. It's... hungry. It'll eat a person away from the inside if they let it. Make them believe that's exactly what they should have done all along."

[sharp_as_knives]

"And what are the defenses against it?" Hannibal asked.

[uncertain_dume]

"Against the dark side?" Kanan gave Hannibal a humorless smile. "Constant vigilance? Proper training? It doesn't take much for even a fully-trained Jedi to be seduced to the dark side in the right circumstances, and I'm not even that."

And wow, was that fact going to turn around to bite him in the eyeballs ass someday.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smirked. "But the proper training would certainly help, it seems." Point made, he asked, "What's the worst that happens if you succeed, then?"

[uncertain_dume]

That answer, at least, was easy.

"I get back to being a Jedi. I get back to duty and my personal well-being becomes secondary to that of everybody around me. Eventually, the Imperials find me out. They get back to hunting me like a dog. I die."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal raised an eyebrow. "There's no way of succeeding without becoming suicidally stupid? That says very little of your Jedi."

[uncertain_dume]

"There's no way that I can think of," Kanan sighed, reaching a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "The Empire is bigger than I am, and it betrayed and murdered countless Jedi, from youngling to Master. I felt them die. Maybe if my Master had lived longer, I'd have a better answer right now. But I'm barely Jedi, myself. My failure shouldn't reflect on them."

[sharp_as_knives]

"So it would seem more training might help with that as well?"

You weren't making the case you wanted, Kanan.

[uncertain_dume]

"I don't know how," Kanan replied, not one to be deterred. Maybe being unable to speak anything but the truth as he saw it helped with that. He'd much rather be drinking coffee than speaking, after all. "Being fully trained Jedi didn't help most of them."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal shook his head, still smiling. "No solution will work should you not wish to see it. All I ask is that you consider these things. It's better to plan for eventualities than simply to fear them."

[uncertain_dume]

"The plan that I had seemed to be working out just fine, until I wound up here," Kanan pointed out. "... It wasn't the most healthy plan, but it was working."

Damn that addendum. He would've been perfectly happy if he'd just left it at 'just fine.'

[sharp_as_knives]

"Ah," Hannibal said, "but it is my job to help people find healthy ways of coping. And," he didn't stop himself from adding, "I do enjoy meddling in people's lives, to help them become more fully realized."

[uncertain_dume]

"I noticed, yeah."

Well. That was... concise.

"I hope you realize I'm not exactly thrilled right now?"

Just throwing that out there.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I do," Hannibal agreed. "But I hope you realize that I want only to help you, and that you may be willing to continue this conversation another day, under other circumstances."

[uncertain_dume]

"I realize," Kanan sighed. "And it's too early for me to be sure if I'll want to continue this conversation again. I'll probably avoid you for a bit, because even if running away from my problems isn't a solution, it certainly helps me feel better for a while."

He grunted in annoyance.

"I'll come around eventually. I might still try to pretend this conversation never happened, though."

[sharp_as_knives]

"I probably won't let you, but I'll allow you to address it in your own time," Hannibal said. "And I'll keep offering food, drink, and the chance to clothes-shop until you give in."

He grinned. "Fortunately, I'm a very good chef, and I have impeccable taste in liquor and clothing."

[uncertain_dume]

"I would accuse you of gloating, Doctor Lecter, but I've tasted your cooking. You've redeemed oranges for me. I was going to just stubbornly avoid them even though I know they're perfectly fine if they're prepared properly, just to be contrary."

... A little bit of honesty about oranges was easier than talking about his off-again relationship with the Force. He was fine with his mouth taking that particular detour on him. Of course it was bound to circle on back.

"I'm working at Luke's now; not preparing food, that would be a disaster. But it means I'll have another source of income soon. Good for that clothes shopping, anyway. I'm irritated right now because I know you're probably at least mostly right, but I'll likely be over it by the time I get paid."

[sharp_as_knives]

"I look forward to it," Hannibal said. "And I'll do my best not to gloat; I generally find it counterproductive. I am, however, very glad to have redeemed oranges."

[uncertain_dume]

"I'm not completely sure the oranges would agree," Kanan noted, wryly. At least some of the frustration was leaving his tone, now. "Maybe I'll get in touch with you when I have money again, though I have to say, my own taste in clothes is a bit different from yours."

Clearly.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal shook his head. "Fashion isn't only about what is currently fashionable. It also involves what is right for an individual, and what is practical for them. I wouldn't try to dress you like me unless you wanted me to do so."