Hannibal and Jono's house, Christmas

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal and Jono had returned from their honeymoon in time for Christmas Eve, but where most people might have taken a few days to relax, Hannibal was taking the opportunity to cook.

Sparkle had been invited, along with their collective students, and they'd asked that word be passed to anyone who might still be on the island and needing or wanting to spend the holiday with others.

There were eggnog, coffee, lamb, quail, copious roasted vegetables, and desserts in the oven. The fireplaces were lit, and the smells of pine, spices, and roasting meats were everywhere.

Christmas was ready!


[OOC: EVERYONE IS INVITED! If you're around, feel free to drop in. SP is the name of the game, I expect.]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Jonothon was here. Of course he was here. He lived here. He was married to the man who had his name on all the paperwork. This was his home, damn it, and he was spending Christmas here, with his husband and...

He'd be fit to burst today, if he hadn't already gone and blown his face out yesterday. But damn, the holiday spread had him half tempted to step outside and immolate his body to start over again anyway.

He was resisting. That was a lot of extremely painful effort just for some quail and eggnog.

[sharp_as_knives]

"There's still time to make Yorkshire puddings," Hannibal said slyly.

[furnaceface]

//Evil,// Jono accused, pointing a finger at Hannibal. //That is an evil carrot to dangle. Have you even made enough gravy that I can have them floating away, like little dough boats across my plate?//

It wasn't British enough if things couldn't float away on a gravy sea.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I can make gravy," Hannibal said. "How much you put on your plate is entirely up to you."

He was not going to be responsible for floating dough boats.

[furnaceface]

//I think you know how I feel about gravy,// Jono replied. After all, he'd had free reign over what went into his mouth for a week. It had been an educational week. //Question now is how I feel about being a noncorporeal mass of psionic awareness in order to have a chance at eating it...//

[sharp_as_knives]

"That is entirely up to you," Hannibal said. "But if you do decide to do it, I want to be there again."

For purely selfless reasons, naturally.

[furnaceface]

//Of that, I have no doubt,// Jono said, sidling up behind Hannibal and wrapping his arms around his waist. //You just want to find out how much of an imprint of you it is you need to leave in me before that mark is there permanently, don't you?//

Without all the inconvenient blowing up that tended to come after.

[sharp_as_knives]

"The thought had occurred to me." Hannibal grinned back at Jono and lifted one of his hands to kiss, leaning back to let Jono's flames wrap around him.

"Also, I adore watching you eat my food."

[furnaceface]

//I adore eating your food,// Jono replied, flames curling between them, up around them both. //Always have. This week was a special occasion, though. I don't think I'd blow myself up for anything less than our marriage or a demonic entity sucking the life out of the people I love.//

It happened more often than one would think.

//Just means I'll have to double down on re-growing what's meant to be there the usual way. Earn it. Yesterday set me back a bit, there.//

Worth it.

[2_old_for_this]

Peter showed up; he didn't do much about Christmas most years, but...well, earlier this year, he'd killed a demon with the man; he might as well acknowledge his birthday. (Even if it wasn't on the right day.)

He probably should have brought food, he supposed, but since he didn't eat himself, he brought flowers instead.

He gave a nod and smile to the hosts. "Hi there. Thanks for having this."

[furnaceface]

//H'lo, mate,// Jono greeted, giving Peter a little nod. //Good t'see you could make it. More the merrier and all that, right?//

He gave the flowers a curious look, and then managed to crack a little smile around the corners of his eyes.

//A centerpiece for the table, hm?//

[2_old_for_this]

Peter laughed. "I couldn't think of what to bring. This's one thing I've got plenty of." He handed them to Jono. "Thanks for having me. I probably don't get out enough."

[furnaceface]

//Trust me, mate, I know nothing about how that goes.//

Homebody McFireface, here.

//Anyway, the more the merrier. And Hannibal really doesn't bother with potlucks or anything of the sort, so flowers are the perfect offering for the occasion.//

[2_old_for_this]

"Good thing." Peter snorted. "Before I got here, I hadn't seen a kitchen in a thousand years, and I haven't eaten in fifteen hundred. Doesn't really make for the best cooking."

[furnaceface]

//Not eating has a funny way of doing that,// Jono agreed, only slightly bemused at the timeframe Peter was talking about, here. //I think we're at about half and half now, for people attending this dinner who do eat versus ones who don't.//

[2_old_for_this]

"I...sort of wondered if you did," Peter confessed. "Didn't seem polite to ask. Or that it was any of my business." Just so long as he wasn't hurting anyone to do it.

[furnaceface]

Jono gave his shoulders a shrug at that.

//Hard to eat without a mouth,// he pointed out. //Though more people ask than not. You'd hardly be a first if you did. I'm used to the questions by now. It's almost stranger when people don't ask them.//

Which wasn't really an invitation, either. Jono was contrary like that.

[myownface]

Sparkle had considered not coming at all, today. It wasn't anything personal, really. He'd appreciated the invitation, of course. He just had a really complicated relationship with the holiday, and would have been just as happy without ever having to deal with it at all.

He'd also been kind of gutted that morning, not literally, by the gift that the island had addressed to him and left on the mantle of the fireplace they weren't usually supposed to have. He'd kind of hidden himself in his room after that, curled into himself and processing. It was a great present, he'd known the face of the person in the little framed family portrait right away and had spent hours just wrapping his head around how much she'd stayed the same for all that the years had changed her, but god, it had left him feeling...

...

Well, he'd needed the excuse to stop hiding in his room today anyway. So here he was, feeling off and looking a bit distracted for roughly a million reasons, but at least game to be out and socializing for a bit all the same.

He hadn't really brought anything. He hadn't been expecting to actually attend. Happy holidays?

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal hadn't actually expected anybody to bring anything, anyway. And he was pleased to see Sparkle.

"Welcome." He held the door open, then held out a hand for his coat. "Everything went well this week, I take it?"

[myownface]

"The cats managed to not light a single thing on fire while you guys were out," Sparkle reported, slipping his jacket off and handing it over. "And the frog was definitely a frog."

So he had sat there, being blue. And froggy.

"You guys had a good trip? Everything went smoothly, nothing on fire that wasn't supposed to be?"

[sharp_as_knives]

That was a valid question when one of the things that was supposed to be was one of the grooms.

"It was wonderful, thank you."

He led Sparkle into the salon and offered him a glass of eggnog. "Merry Christmas. I'm pleased you could make it."

[myownface]

"Merry Christmas," Sparkle said, a touch wryly, as he accepted the offered glass. "And I appreciate the invitation. I was mostly planning on just kind of being a homebody and seeing if there was anything not shitty on Netflix, so this is a step up."

In fairness, plenty of things were a step up from sulking.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I realize you have many reasons not to be terribly fond of the holiday," Hannibal said, "but I still believe it's better to make new impressions." He smiled and held out the plate of quail legs to him.

[myownface]

Sparkle blinked at the quail legs (so tiny!) before shrugging and reaching to take one, smiling tiredly.

"You have a lot of faith in your tiny drumsticks if you think they can wipe out, like, twenty years of shitty holidays, you know."

... That was meant to sound more lighthearted than it came out sounding.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal shook his head. "No one thing can ever do that. The key is to begin building good memories. Good food is a part of that. And this is very good food."

He set the tray down, still smiling, and reached into his pocket to pull out a heavy parchment envelope. "Gifts are another tradition, although if you would rather, you can consider this to be in exchange for your house-sitting."