Hannibal's house (in which he actually knows Jono again), Monday morning

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal woke in one of the guest bedrooms, stretched, and rubbed his face. The weekend slowly filtered back in, and he shook his head. Well, that was new.

Joni looked up at him and mewed, then attacked the foot Beethoven wasn't sleeping on. Then mewed again and pounced toward the door.

Apparently, locking himself (and the cats) in a room away from Jono was not going to be tolerated any longer.

"Yes, little one," he told her. He rubbed Beethoven's head and got nothing worse than a grumbly look as he extracted his foot and went to open the door.


[OOC: Open post!]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Jono, meanwhile, had apparently crashed on the sofa last night. Because Jono as a teen was not actually much more put-together as a human being than Jono as an adult was. They were both dysfunctional messes in their own special way.

So, Jono was awake now, the television volume on low, flipping through the channels looking for something good on. Because a great way of repressing what actually hadn't been that terrible a weekend, for once, was apparently by attempting to navigate past the infomercials to find something decent on that wasn't also a soap opera or a talk show. Good luck on a Monday morning, Jono.

//Still have a bone t'pick with you, MTV,// he muttered, going on his third lap through the channels.

[sharp_as_knives]

Incoming, Jono!

Joni ran up and jumped on him, demanding attention and cuddles. Hannibal followed behind, chuckling at her.

"This is a change," he noted, waving at the couch. "I slept in a bed, at least."

[furnaceface]

//Oof.// Oh, come on, Jono. You had boots that weighed more than Joni did. This wasn't going to stop him from giving her so many cuddles, though. Not really. //Well, teenager you clearly wasn't grounded yet. And teenager me was very busy being scandalized by whatever had happened to the art of the music video in this place.//

In fairness, he still wasn't over that one.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Teenager me appreciated the place to stay," Hannibal said. He came and sat on the edge of the sofa and combed his fingers through Jono's hair. "And the undemanding company, even if he couldn't entirely trust it."

[furnaceface]

//Teenager me,// Jono leaned into that touch shamelessly, eyes half closing, //was quite happy to be undemanding. Teenager you didn't immediately spit on him or scream and run away, after all.//

... About that first night, Jonothon...

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal shook his head. "He did, actually. I was here Friday evening, after all. Was already headed for the door when your fear came through." He shrugged. "But when we met again, so long as you weren't being violent or aggressive, I was willing to forgive a slightly odd scent. You were being kind to animals."

[furnaceface]

Ah, right. The nightmare. Jono looked faintly chagrined.

//I hadn't quite mastered my powers by that point, yet,// he admitted. //It had only been a few weeks.//

Which was why his speech had been... rough. Quite rough.

//Anyway, who can possibly be mean to this little lady?// Joni was getting a fond scratch behind the ears. It was important.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smiled and petted her, too. "Her and the ducks both, despite their pushy behavior. It spoke well of you."

And he wasn't throwing any stones about rough speech.

[furnaceface]

//And you gave up your food for them,// Jono noted, looking back at Hannibal approvingly. //Didn't realize you were quite that much of a bleeding heart for animals.//

No wonder the flamingos were still glittering up the lawn.

[sharp_as_knives]

The flamingos looked like tacky lawn ornaments, but that was hardly their fault; they had, after all, come first.

"I was used to living on very little, and animals had been kinder to me than humans, for the most part." Hannibal shrugged. "I was planning on stealing more later. Albeit it would have been stealing from myself."

[furnaceface]

Only a few years prior, but yes, the flamingos totally beat Hannibal to the island. Good on them.

//Somehow, I don't imagine you would've minded waking up with less bread this morning, anyhow.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"No," Hannibal confirmed, "although I might have despaired of my diet."

He smiled at Jono. "It's interesting seeing how far you've come." He tugged at the wrappings around his face.

[furnaceface]

//From being barely able to string a few words in a row together, you mean?// Jono tilted his head slightly, to better accommodate the removal of his wrappings. //Or the wrappings? Or something else?//

He actually woke up screaming more often these days than he used to, so probably not that.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Those, yes." Hannibal pulled the wrappings free down to Jono's neck. He couldn't speak to the dreams, having only spent one evening in the same house as teenaged Jono.

"But other things haven't changed. Your kindness and understanding, for instance." He grinned. "And your inability to say no to any person or animal you perceive to be in need."

[furnaceface]

//Oh, sure, point out that I'm a bloody bleeding heart,// Jono muttered, though there wasn't really any heat in it. //It isn't the same thing as being a pushover, though.//

No, but the inability to say no to anything using big sad eyes was.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Of course not." You could tell how sincere Hannibal was by his smirk. "Still, I appreciated it. And so did the ducks."

[furnaceface]

//They would,// Jono muttered, lifting his arms to make unwinding his wrappings easier. //Pushy little buggers that they are.//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal wound the wrappings he had already and started on the rest. "They are. Of course, feeding them so often might have something to do with that."

[furnaceface]

//Well, it's calming,// Jono protested. //And it isn't as though I'm the only one to encourage the island's bird population with handouts, is it?//

Anybody with eyes could see your front yard, Hannibal.

[sharp_as_knives]

"It would be rude to allow them to starve simply because they're stupid," Hannibal said, putting on an air of wounded dignity. "At least the flamingos aren't pushy."

Not to him, anyway. If they wanted to serve as an extra intruder alarm, that was fine with him.

[furnaceface]

//If you didn't feed them, they'd probably find their way back to the pond,// Jono pointed out, reasonably. //Or the beach. The island isn't that big, you know.//

Jono, mostly, just sounded amused.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I tried that when they first settled in," Hannibal said. "It didn't work."

They'd eaten and come back.

[furnaceface]

Well, then they clearly weren't in danger of starving, were they?

//I think you just like having them around,// Jono decided. //They really are lovely birds. And nobody else has a front lawn quite like yours, this way.//

The plastic things didn't count.

[sharp_as_knives]

It didn't mean it wasn't rude to not feed them. It wasn't as though hungry flamingos were going to eat intruders.

Hannibal would do that.

He sighed. "I don't mind the birds themselves, only the appearance of them on my lawn." He finished tugging Jono's wrappings free, tied off the ball, and set it on the sofa.

[furnaceface]

There was nothing rude about encouraging animals to look for food in their natural habitat! ... That said, Fandom really wasn't their natural habitat to begin with.

//Well, you could feed them food without pink pigment in them,// Jono mused. //Then you'd mostly look as though you've been invaded by storks, instead.//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal thought about that. "This being Fandom, I wonder if, should I feed them blue or green food, they would take on that pigment."

Because Fandom.

He reached out a hand to help Jono sit. "Coffee?"

[furnaceface]

... A lawn full of blue flamingos would be kind of fetching, wouldn't it?

//I'll never turn away coffee,// Jono replied, //though I actually slept half decently last night. I just like th'taste.//

Which was good, since it wasn't like he was going to be able to drink it himself.

[sharp_as_knives]

"After breakfast, we can work toward you drinking your own, if you like," Hannibal suggested.

At the rate they were going, they might actually get to kiss at their wedding.

[furnaceface]

At the rate they were going, even if Jono had a mouth at their wedding, he'd be terrified to kiss Hannibal for fear of blowing his face off.

//Sounds like a plan,// he decided, giving a little nod of approval. //Build up on that framework we got a start on before.//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal nodded as he stood. "Before you know it, you'll be eating your own greasy fish."

[furnaceface]

//Well, nobody's gonna do it for me,// Jono replied, amused. //Really, there aren't many incentives as convincing as that one.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"I have eaten greasy fish for you before," Hannibal protested.

When he'd lost that bet.

[furnaceface]

//So you're telling me I'm going to need to beat you at billiards more often?//

Because yes, Hannibal, Jono remembered why you'd eaten that fish for him.

[sharp_as_knives]

"We do have a table downstairs," Hannibal pointed out.

[furnaceface]

Jono's eyebrows raised a little.

//You're just hoping I lose so you can be ungrounded, aren't you?//

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal raised his back. "I had hoped I already was. I can move perfectly well now."

The saving grace of having been a teenager for a weekend, apparently. The island did have some good points.

[furnaceface]

Jono considered this one carefully for a moment, and then shook his head.

//Now that you're healed up, you can tidy up the damage to my theatre, then.//

Because that was on you, Lecter.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal made a face. "I'll sweep up, if you insist, but after that I'm hiring somebody."

[furnaceface]

Jono was giving you his 'seriously unimpressed' face, Hannibal. It was not a face he wore often these days, but he was rolling it out special just for you.

//Your mess,// he said, stonily. //You clean it.//

[sharp_as_knives]

"I am not a carpenter," Hannibal said, giving Jono an arch look as he walked to the kitchen. "Unless you want everything to fall apart again, I am hiring somebody."

[furnaceface]

Jono's eyeroll toward the ceiling was epic, really.

//Repairs, fine, hire somebody,// he grumbled, and was briefly tempted to put himself between Hannibal and the kitchen out of spite. //But there's more cleaning to do than a simple sweep. There are bloodstains, Hannibal. You don't get to foist those off on somebody else.//

And really, it would probably be best not to. There were only so many questions you could keep a carpenter from asking.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Don't worry," Hannibal said. He gave Jono a look for that temptation, almost like he knew him. "I know how to get them out."