sharp_as_knives | Hannibal's house, Wednesday

Hannibal rolled down his sleeves and nodded at the table. Everything looked to be in order for his little dinner. He'd made a slight variation on steak and kidney pie, with Yorkshire puddings, horseradish potatoes, and roast winter vegetables. And, since Jono would likely be far too busy to visit on Christmas day (Winsol no doubt meant a security nightmare above what it already was), Christmas pudding, one week early. It had been sitting for around a month, which should have been long enough, anyway.

Hopefully it would be a welcome break from the excessive work Jono was no doubt putting himself through, and they would have a chance to talk and share music again.

He had no doubts of Jono showing up - he'd sent a beautifully calligraphed invitation.

[OOC: For the one mentioned, though I suppose if anyone wants to drop by beforehand, why not?]

Current Mood: mellow
Current Location: 22 Phoenix Place

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

furnaceface

//You mean I get to take off my own boots? Lord, I barely remember how...//

That was, of course, absolute bull.

//But I suppose I can muster up the will to head up on my own. I think I've got that much left in me.//

From:

sharp_as_knives

Hannibal smiled. "There are pajamas in the bottom drawer on the left, if you'd like." He handed Jono the remote. "I'll set the music to play upstairs."

From:

furnaceface

Jono took the remote with a little nod. He didn't generally have much use for pajamas, but when sleeping in Hannibal's bed, he didn't exactly want to go without, either. Even if they did feel silly.

Jono was very much not a pajamas person.

//I'll see you up there in a bit, then,// he replied, heading for the stairs to go up to get ready.

The cat watched him leave for a moment in silence, and then opted to wind around Hannibal's ankles, instead.

From:

sharp_as_knives

Hannibal wasn't much the type to talk to animals, and the fact this tom was deaf made it doubly pointless. He reached down to rub his head, then plucked a piece of meat from the pie and held it out to him.

Because he hadn't quite learned his lesson with the flamingos yet, apparently.

From:

furnaceface

The cat was quite happy to gobble that meat up, please and thank you, and now Hannibal was at least pretty damn tolerable. You know. For a people. The cat was going to demonstrate his acceptance of the people by looking up at him expectantly for another morsel.

Jono, meanwhile, was taking his own boots off (like a big boy) and changing into a pair of pajamas that seemed like the most mild assault on his senses that he could find.

Hannibal and plaid patterns. Really, now.

Still, it didn't take long before he was sitting on the edge of the bed, kind of awkwardly inspecting his own toes, planted firmly on the floor.

From:

sharp_as_knives

They were very sedate plaids! And there were even a few stripes and solids! Just because Jono didn't want to go digging...

Hannibal put everything away (with feline help that made it take a minute longer) and made his way upstairs with a tray of just enough for dinner. Okay, and a small dish of raw lamb cut into tiny bites. What? He couldn't imagine the pie with all its spices was the healthiest for a cat. And since it seemed more or less permanently attached to his ankles at this point, he might as well feed it.

"I'm sure I've socks as well, if you like," he said. Not that he for a moment believed that was what the toe-gazing was about.

From:

furnaceface

//Hmm? Oh, no. I always thought it was a little weird, people wearing them to bed,// Jono replied, tilting his head a little at Hannibal and the cat both. //Looks like you've made a friend, there. Fed him, did you?//

Friend for life, there it was. No remedy for that now.

From:

sharp_as_knives

"He was acting as though he hadn't been fed in some time," Hannibal explained. "And while in my limited experience that may not mean much, I'm guessing if you had him at the vet, he hasn't been." He sat on the bed and set his tray down, then tossed another piece of meat to the cat.

"If all of this isn't your primary reason to want to drink, what is?" he asked.

From:

furnaceface

Jono watched the cat eat, and then nodded a little. Yes, he supposed it was dinner-for-the-cat time. He could appreciate that.

It seemed easier to focus on than that other thing. Or even the other more different other thing.

There were a few of those.

//Been talking to Raven at all lately?//

From:

sharp_as_knives

"I brought her a birthday present." Hannibal shook his head. Raven's vehemence - almost avariciousness - at the baby shower had worried him, but he'd rather hear Jono's untainted opinion before mentioning that.

"We spoke about the need to remind you yours is worth celebrating. I said I might have to have a party for my own, and she threatened me with Karla's cooking. Why?"

From:

furnaceface

//She...// Jono stopped short, briefly wondering if it was any of his business to share. But then, he trusted Hannibal's judgment, and this, just as much as what he'd been talking about earlier, wasn't something to go running around mentioning to just anybody. Hannibal would respect that. //... She wants a child. One of her own. And I think that's in no small part because Karla and Warren are having one, that 'got to have a baby right now' mindset that some people get into, and I understand where it's coming from and all, but...//

From:

sharp_as_knives

Hannibal nodded slowly. "She mentioned that to me at the baby shower. I thought at first that it was just as you say, but she seemed rather..." greedy? "...insistent upon it. Then she dropped the matter altogether."

From:

furnaceface

//Not altogether,// Jono mumbled. //She asked me to be the father.//

Which came with a whole bucketload of fun issues, really.

From:

sharp_as_knives

Hannibal was not going to laugh. He was going to drink some more beer as he thought. And maybe take a bite of potato.

"It is an expression of the trust and regard she holds for you," he pointed out to Jono. "Do you think she truly wants a child and all that entails, or is this merely passing fancy, envy that her closest friend will be giving birth soon?"

From:

furnaceface

Jono's shoulders hitched up a little, and he was staring back at the floor.

//Both, possibly,// he admitted. //Lord knows, I would love to be a father someday. I just... don't think I'd be cruel enough to pass my genetics on to somebody else. But the timing has me second-guessing it. We haven't been a dedicated couple in... a long while. There's no stability in either of our lives at the moment, and it would be bloody cruel to bring a baby into the world, no matter how stupid Karla and Warren are being about this. Don't get me wrong -- I already care about that child and I'll protect her with my life -- but she was an accident. Making the conscious decision to bring another baby into this situation right now, it seems... ill-thought out. Like a desperate whim. And there shouldn't be any hurry. Raven's still young. There's no timer nearing its end or anything of the sort...//

From:

sharp_as_knives

"This seems to me an easy problem to fix, then," Hannibal answered. "Tell her these things - there is no rush, and now is not the time. Ask her to reconsider you in a year, or whatever space of time you feel you need. It isn't a refusal, and it should eliminate the aspect of desperation."

Hannibal rubbed Jono's back. "Don't make your own poor decision for fear of disappointing a friend."

From:

furnaceface

Jono gave a little nod, leaning closer to Hannibal. Back-rubbing was good. It was doing wonders to get him to relax, at least.

//If I were to make a choice like that, it certainly wouldn't be for fear of disappointing. If she wants a baby of her own, there are plenty of ways to go about having one that don't involve my buggered up genes getting into the mix. It just... I don't even know if she's aware, just what sort of salt she rubbed into it by asking.//

He'd decided a long time ago that he wasn't going to be so cruel as to pass his genes on to a baby. It had been a hard decision to make. This hurt in ways he couldn't quite put words to.

From:

sharp_as_knives

Fortunately, Hannibal was good at reading between the lines.

"It gives you hope you can't believe in." Hannibal rubbed Jono's back some more, since he seemed to enjoy it, and ate a bit more pie. "Why can't you? Other versions of you seem to have had children that haven't suffered from your parentage."

From:

furnaceface

//Other versions of me that aren't ever going to exist?// Jono glanced sidelong at Hannibal, and then shrugged his shoulders. //It's a wildcard, every time. Every. Bloody. Time. And fire... it runs in the family.//

From:

sharp_as_knives

"And yet, perhaps knowing what you do, having your experience, would make you better equipped to deal with a child that might have similar abilities. Having seen the mistakes that your own parents made, you may be less likely to repeat them. Don't discount the possibility out of fear, any more than rush into it out of desperation."

Which was almost exactly what he'd told Raven, and yes, he was aware of the consequences, but Jono didn't strike him as the broody type. Well, not that sort of broody.

From:

furnaceface

Very broody, but a very different sort, yes.

//I'm not desperate,// he mumbled. //I'm going to be around a long time, if the way my body works is any indication. I'm in no hurry to rush into any sort of parenthood, and there'll never be a shortage of children needing a home, if once I've got my head on straight again, I decide to adopt.//

He shook his head a little.

//I just don't think the island would show me any child that was a certain tragedy. And... so far as powers went, I was a late bloomer. Most mutants manifest at the onset of puberty. My family was still calling me a flatscan until I was eighteen, when I blew my face off.//

From:

sharp_as_knives

"Which you wouldn't do," Hannibal pointed out. Honestly, he was going to thump you, Jono. "And while I've no doubt there are tragic possibilities, there are also good ones. As there are for anyone contemplating parenthood."

From:

furnaceface

In this one particular circumstance, Jono would be just as likely to thump Hannibal back.

//It's not what I would do that I'm afraid of,// he replied, furrowing his eyebrows at him. //It would be disgustingly irresponsible for me to parent a child that might end up sharing my mutation, or as a target of the bloody cult that my family was a part of for thousands of years. Yes, there are good possibilities, there's Angela and JJ, there's Kathe and Elizabeth and so on, but most of them were children. There's good odds that the youngest of them still haven't manifested as mutants. But then there are the ones I haven't been shown. Out of countless possibilities, you mean to tell me that it wouldn't be cruel to any potential son or daughter to bring them into the world knowing there are high odds they'll go through the same hell that I did, or worse given Raven's parentage? Based on a half-dozen examples hand-picked by the island out of infinite possibilities?//

He narrowed his eyes a little and got right back to glowering at the floor.

//If you have a genetic condition that you're guaranteed to pass along to your offspring, something that could potentially cause them years of suffering, and you choose to pass those genes on regardless...//

From:

sharp_as_knives

"It makes you optimistic," Hannibal said. "I'm not saying that I think it is or isn't a good idea, only that you shouldn't let fear drive your decisions." He petted Jono's hair for a moment. "Maybe a year or so to think about it would be a good idea for you both."

There was a slight shift in the bed, and when Hannibal looked down, there was a grey cat looking up at him and giving him a mostly silent meow. He debated trying to insist it stay on the floor, then just gave it another piece of meat. It was, after all, a cat.

From:

furnaceface

'Optimistic' certainly wasn't the word Jono was going to use. He shook his head a little, slumping at the shoulders, and then decided, maybe for the time being, it would be for the best to let the topic drop.

Hannibal was right, at least, in that there was no hurry to make a decision about this just yet. And Jono knew perfectly well just how paranoid he could be.

//You're encouraging him now,// he noted, nodding at the cat. //At this rate, he'll be sleeping in your lap in no time.//