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The Park | Afternoon | Saturday | March 19

Hannibal hadn't counted on being back on the island so soon. In fact, he'd been perfectly content to hole up in Abigail's spare room, eating Ramen noodle and letting his own guilt overwhelm him until he eventually withered away from old age.

Of course, that hadn't happened so he was back. It kind of sucked that it was overcast so he couldn't sit in the sun but Hannibal figured that not showing up at all because of that would have been worse than showing up and sitting underneath a cloudy sky. He'd just let other things prove that he wasn't who he had been anymore.

Despite the overcast day, he was wearing sunglasses because he wasn't quite sure what was going to greet him and he could hide a lot this way. There was a cold coffee in one hand and Hannibal was slouched back on the bench, eyes up on the clouds and feet stretched out in front of him. Clouds or not, he still loved being out during daytime hours.

[Hannibal's here mostly for two people but this is an open post so feel free to ping in!]

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So, this was it. This... completely weird day that by previous rules Kate had learned shouldn't have been happening at all. Her knife was in its sheath under her jacket, and she supposed there had been a time when the thought of that would've made her feel supremely badass, but now it probably just added to the twisting of her stomach.

She'd gone to pick Mitchell up before coming to the park; there was no way she was doing this alone, for a whole multitude of reasons. She was scared and she was excited, and she just barely kept herself from reaching for Mitchell's hand as she caught sight of Hannibal on the bench, not far away at all.

She felt like she should have called out to him or something, but nothing came to her.

Considering it was quiet in the park, Hannibal was able to hear their approach and turned his head to look at them. He didn't smile or frown or run away so that was good.

Instead, he stood up and held up his hands, showing that he wasn't armed or anything like that. And he'd just stand there until whoever wanted to check him out checked him out. He didn't move or wave or anything.

He waited.

This whole thing felt like it had started with Hannibal, somehow: beating the hell out of him had been Mitchell's first display of authority over another vampire in a long bloody time.

So he was twitchy, but trying not to show it. (He was twitchy about the other thing, too, but he chose not to think about it until he had to.)

"Hannibal," he called out, since he was the only one speaking.

Hannibal was hoping to avoid that whole 'getting the shit out of him' thing this time. It'd hurt a lot more than it did last time and he'd probably die so he was good with that not happening.

"Hey, man," he said easily, still holding his hands up. "Um, do I need to do anything? Turn around? Or sit down? Or something? I thought it'd be sunny but it's not. I brought another shirt in case someone needs to toss water at me."

"It's not a pat-down at the airport," Kate interjected, somewhat gently, just to show she hadn't entirely lost her voice or anything. Even if she did find herself kind of shifting to put Mitchell between herself and Hannibal.

She'd swear that was not a conscious decision.

It suited Mitchell fine - if she hadn't done it, he'd probably slipped in between them anyway.

Also not consciously. Probably.

"Stop talking," Mitchell told him - still not too friendly, here - and narrowed his eyes. He stepped closer to get a better bead on his scent...

..."He's human."

Hannibal just barely suppressed the urge to close his eyes in case a punch to the nose or the gut was coming. His knees sympathetically ached from the last time he'd seen Mitchell.

But when Mitchell gave his declaration, he sighed and felt some of the guilt lift off his shoulders. At least he could prove that he wasn't who he was. It was small but it was something.

"Really?" Kate... sounded a little surprised. It was apparently easier to sound like that than pleased or anything complicated like that. Her eyes darted from one man to the other. "Like, actual human human?"

Look, no one could expect her to come up with the most intellectual and coherent of questions in this situation.

Mitchell's eyes had just narrowed, though. To his surprise, he found he didn't really like what Hannibal's impossible condition said about the species at large, and-- christ. He should be happy about this, right? Be human again?

"Actual human," he agreed. "I can hear his heart beating."

That wasn't creepy at all.

"Well that's creepy." Sorry, even after everything, Kate was going to just come out and say that. Even though she was just kind of staring at Hannibal now. "Wow."

"Sorry," Hannibal said, shrugging a shoulder a little helplessly. "I don't mean to creep anyone out today. But it's good to know my heart's still beating and all. So, uh, thanks for that."

"No problem," Mitchell said. His voice sounded a little rough.

To be human again.

Kate gave Mitchell a quick look as she stepped aside to stand a little less behind him. Whatever off feeling she was picking up from him didn't quite register when she had so much of her own to deal with.

"So, this is real," she said, eyes on Hannibal. There was a little less staring, now, but her head tilted to the side like she was considering him. "Um. So how... are you feeling?"

"Feeling?" Hannibal glanced around and shrugged. "All right, I guess. My coffee's cold and I was hoping for some sun but it's good to be out of Abigail's house for a bit. I'm sure she's stoked that she doesn't have to feed me today."

"She would be," Mitchell muttered. But he took his cue and slid back a little, letting Kate take the lead.

He had enough to think about without being a part of this conversation.

Not that Kate was sure this was going to be much of a conversation, with how awkward she was feeling. This was just so weird, yet anotner wall between her and someone she'd been easy with, once.

She fidgeted a little, fingers getting tangled around the edges of her sleeves, then took half a step closer to Hannibal. "Or that you're not sulking there," she guessed, subdued.

"Well, yes, but I prefer to call it thinking," Hannibal said, making a very light, light joke. "She disagrees but who wouldn't? I've been less sulking and more...thinking lately. I'm doing the best I can circumstances being what they are. It's hard."

He figured she knew that.

"I know." Since the last time she'd seen him, he'd been vowing to kill her ex and everything. Not a cakewalk for anyone. "Takes time."

"And I guess I've got that," he said, re-taking his seat on the bench and stretching out his legs. "I'm glad to see you, Kate. With, you know, my own eyes. It's been awhile."

"It has," she agreed, with a brief glance in Mitchell's general direction. "There's been kind of a lot going on since. Which... I guess you know."

Mitchell quietly picked a tree to lean against, watching the two of them warily. Confronted with the evidence, he was finding he didn't... didn't know what to think. Would he? Could he? Should he? Fuck no, except maybe, yes, to be human--

He exhaled loudly and looked towards Hannibal. "For good bloody reason," he muttered under his breath.

"You don't have to stay, Kate," Hannibal said, shaking his head. "You don't really look like you want to and I won't blame you if you'd just like to take this knowledge and go. It's what you needed."

There was another quick glance towards Mitchell, and then she frowned at Hannibal. "No," she protested, if a little weakly. "I'm just... trying to get acclimated or something. I missed you. I still miss you. I'm just... Okay, a little weirded out."

"I get it, I know," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I wish there was something more I could do but I really can't do anything else but sit here and try. I'll just be quiet."

"I think that'll just weird me out more," Kate said, with something that may have been a hint of a smile. She looked down at her feet. "You're a lot of things but quiet is generally not one of them."

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