Hannibal

[alcuin]

Alcuin had never done this before, and he realized that it might be a bad idea when one of the girls who worked at the brothel talked to him for a few minutes, then gave the person working the bar a Look and then went down the hallway in the direction of Hannibal's office. Where she informed him that Alcuin had been drinking gin martinis at a steady clip for the last hour.

... he really should have gone somewhere else. Or just gotten a bottle of gin and brought it to his room.

When he heard Hannibal's familiar footfalls behind him he said without looking, "I truly hope you're not here to scold me."

Comments

[quitollis]

Aaron wondered what point there was in lying to someone who could read minds, but he still pretended not to have read the texts. "Bad news?" Yes, he thought.

[alcuin]

Alcuin knew he’d seen. He felt embarrassed. “It should have occurred to me that he’d be tracking my phone.”

[quitollis]

"What are you going to do?" He asked, really trying not to judge. But his judgement was for Hannibal mostly.

[alcuin]

Alcuin sank onto the couch. “I don’t know.”

[quitollis]

"I don't mind that he knows where you are, if that's a concern. Please stay. This... that-" he pointed to the phone. "Is not healthy."

[alcuin]

Alcuin shook his head. “I’ve put you in danger,” he said miserably. “He already… after I told him you’d found the brothel…”

[quitollis]

"What? He wants to have a word?" Aaron said. "I'll have a word." Words with silver bullets to be specific.

[alcuin]

Alcuin's eyes went wide when he heard that in Aaron's head. "Aaron, no." He picked up his phone and put it in his pocket. "I shouldn't have come here."

[quitollis]

"That man - that vampire - has you wrapped around his finger," Aaron said. It was impossible to keep a front as neutral priest. "I don't see love; I see abuse. And if he wants to take that on, I will not hesitate."

In part this was still that Aaron didn't trust and hated vampires. He trusted one (Kersen) and he was willing to admit not all were evil. But this one clearly was.

[alcuin]

Abuse. Alcuin winced.

"That's very brave of you," he said. "But I won't be responsible for that risk. I should go home. It will be fine. I'll speak to him in the morning... hash things out."

[quitollis]

"I won't stop you, Alcuin," Aaron said. "I mean it when I say you should seek agency. I'm not going to tell you what to do. But don't think that it's because I want you to leave. Or because I don't care. Because if I'm now getting to know the real you, then I can assure you I do care."

[alcuin]

Alcuin’s expression softened. He approached Aaron, and leaned in to gently kiss his cheek. “Then I’m glad this happened,” he said. “And I genuinely appreciate your concern. I’ll… call you tomorrow.”

[quitollis]

That soft peck brought back emotions he'd felt for an illusion. It shouldn't, of course. Alcuin was right about that; he'd fallen for something that wasn't real. But he'd really enjoyed the illusion. So it was hard to remain angry with him then.

"Please do," he said only and let Alcuin leave, even though he truly didn't want him to.

[alcuin]

Once Alcuin was outside, he started walking, and sent a text to Hannibal.

I'm on my way home. To go to bed. We can talk in the morning.

[anamusebouche]

Hannibal was pretty pleased that Alcuin had chosen to come home. He did wonder why he'd gone to the priest again. He was only meant to ensure the priest didn't pursue any vampires any more. This was unlikely to serve that cause.

He sat down on Alcuin's bed with a decanter of wine and two glasses waiting for them on the side table.

[alcuin]

Alcuin walked in, and froze in the doorway when he saw Hannibal.

"I - said we could talk in the morning," he finally said, not walking in.

[anamusebouche]

"I wouldn't want you to go to bed concerned," Hannibal said, calm and pleasant. He was mostly pleasant because he could smell no sex on Alcuin. It seemed he had not had that much fun with the priest. That much was good, at least.

[alcuin]

Alcuin finally stepped inside. "I am very concerned," he said. "But I just... want to sleep on it. Think through how I'm feeling alone."

[anamusebouche]

This, however, was not good. What had that priest whispered in Alcuin's ear? "I would feel terrible if we did not talk now."

[alcuin]

After a hesitation, Alcuin sat down heavily on the bed, resigned. "Hannibal, do you even understand why I was upset?"

[anamusebouche]

"You've suffered a great trauma in your youth, my love, of course I understand," Hannibal said.

[alcuin]

"That's not why I left," Alcuin said, shaking his head. "You saw how upset I was. I wasn't in a good place. And you still... you expected me to fuck someone just because you asked me to. Do you have any idea how that made me feel?"

[anamusebouche]

"I expect you to understand the importance of what you do here," Hannibal replied. "You invaluable, Alcuin, for the safety of everyone here."

[alcuin]

Alcuin's mouth set in a straight line. "And yet it seems that you are all perfectly fine without me on my knees for one night."

[anamusebouche]

"I found another way to extract the information I needed," Hannibal said and the way he did should make Alcuin know that he had tortured the man, possibly killed him.