Groovy Tunes, Saturday

[furnaceface]

Okay, so Jono could still take or leave being a woman on days like this, but he certainly couldn't complain about the assets that the island continued to give him along with the body swap.

... Namely, the other half of his face, some lungs, and a stomach. What did you think he meant?

In any case, he was having a pretty good day at work today, alternating between singing 90s grunge at the top of his lungs and snacking on fruit. Because his priorities were sound, damn it. Completely and entirely sound.

Groovy Tunes was open, and the mutant was in a bloody fine mood.

[OOC: Open! OCD-freeeee.]

Comments

[sharp_as_knives]

And of course at some point, his husband (wife, at the moment?) was going to have to drop by to bring him lunch.

The fish and chips probably weren't quite as greasy as Jono preferred, but they made up for it in excellent quality and flavor. And the beer was homemade, too.

He grinned at Jono and his fruit. "Should I have brought strawberries instead, then?"

[furnaceface]

Husband! They both identified as male, they could be trans for the day, to hell with whatever the island had in mind.

//Should--// Jono caught himself, blinked, and then gave a delighted little laugh before reaching for a strawberry and waving it around. "Should you have? I don't know, I certainly wouldn't complain about having more. But I'm not going to complain about fish and chips, either."

Even if they weren't greasy. Jono was never going to train you right, Lecter.

"C'mere. I have a mouth and I need to kiss you silly with it."

It was entirely possible that he'd say that to anybody who brought him fish and chips today, granted.

[sharp_as_knives]

It was a good thing nobody else was likely to, then, or Hannibal might have opinions about it.

He grinned and leaned in for a kiss, then picked up a chip and held it out. It was at least a little greasy; he hadn't drained them as well as he might otherwise have. But he wasn't buying an industrial deep-fryer and cheap oil just for the weekend.

"I brought beer, too."

[furnaceface]

"Ah, this is what love feels like," Jono teased, wearing a silly little grin as he leaned forward to eat that chip right there were Hannibal was holding it. Because nothing said romance like french fries at work, really. "Have I mentioned lately that you're my favourite? You're my favourite."

Just saying.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hey, Hannibal wouldn't make fries for just anyone!

"Fortunate for both of us. And you're mine as well."

He slid the insulated bag over so Jono could eat for himself, though he held out another fry anyway.

"So, what will we be doing tonight?" he asked. "Dancing? Eating? Flying?"

[furnaceface]

Jono gave a warm chuckle as he pulled the back toward himself, even as he leaned in to eat that second fry.

"All of the above? We're going to have to eat anyway, might as well make an event of it. I can adjust the collar to fit one of us, we could dance under the stars, as close to the stars as possible..."

Would it get cold? Hell yes. Did Jono care? Hell no.

[sharp_as_knives]

"A picnic?" Hannibal suggested.

[furnaceface]

"A picnic," Jono agreed wistfully. "You work on the food, I'll work on the collar, and then we can set up in th'backyard?"

That way it would be a neatly private picnic, at that.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I like it," Hannibal said. "Of course, we may need a few blankets."

Not that that was a down side.

[furnaceface]

"I'm certain we can manage a few blankets," Jono replied, smirking as he set to eating his meal, making little appreciative noises as he did so. "Pretty sure that's the easy part."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Blankets, food, the collar," Hannibal said. "Could I persuade you to forego the beer for wine? And music."

[furnaceface]

Okay, Jono had to laugh softly at that, too.

"I think, just this once, I can pass up on beer in favour of wine. And I'll even let you choose the music."

He was trusting you, Hannibal.

[sharp_as_knives]

"This is what love feels like," Hannibal teased. "Something soft for eating, and then something with a rhythm to dance to. I'll choose well."

[furnaceface]

"I have faith you will," Jono agreed, grinning and setting into another chip. Today? Today was a good day. A weird day. But a good day. "You haven't let me down yet, after all."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smiled and bowed.

"How is the rest of the island doing today? Any undue trauma?" Because he was nothing if not caring nosy.

[furnaceface]

"Only the usual amount of trauma," Jono promised, after tilting his head for a moment to consider. "I think. It's been a slow day, thus far."

Most days were, these days. He was probably going to have to admit that people had gone the way of digital streaming, eventually. Today he continued to merrily live in denial.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Not too much mental babbling and screaming today?" That was good; it would make this evening more fun if Jono could be less distracted.

[furnaceface]

"Not so much that I can't just wall it off," Jono agreed. "I mean, there's still plenty, but I'm having a good day myself. Makes things easier."

Funny how being in a good mindset made controlling his mind into a less daunting task, right? Honestly, Jono.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Any day you have a mouth is a good one?" Hannibal smiled and leaned in for another kiss. "We should work on that."

[furnaceface]

"We should," Jono agreed, grinning and giving Hannibal that kiss with enthusiasm before adding, "I'd like to be able to do that with a mouth that's a little more me."

But he'd take this one for now, sure.

[sharp_as_knives]

"We'll get there," Hannibal promised. "Until then, there's this. And...hm. Steaks?" he suggested. "Perhaps Beef Wellington?"

[furnaceface]

... Hannibal, you devil. You knew exactly how to make Jonothon make inappropriate little lusty noises.

So. That was a yes to the beef, then.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal grinned. And contemplated using other meats, but suspected Jono would appreciate the beef more today. "I'm thinking, roast beets and parsnips with it, and perhaps potatoes again, if you insist. And something chocolate for dessert."

[furnaceface]

"I might not survive dessert," Jonothon decided, "but if I get to choose the way I leave this world, chocolate would most certainly be it."

This was not even exaggeration.

Well, he wouldn't actually die. But what a way to go it would be.

[sharp_as_knives]

"In that case, I'll skip dessert," Hannibal said. "I should hate to kill you when you're having so much fun."

[furnaceface]

"If you aren't going to use chocolate, I demand strawberries as recompense," Jonothon declared loftily. "Many, many strawberries."

Preferably dipped in chocolate, honestly, but the goal here was apparently to not kill him. So.

[sharp_as_knives]

"But you're already eating those," Hannibal pointed out. "I think we'll skip dessert entirely. It's the only way to be safe."

[furnaceface]

"Keep talking like that, and I'll end up biting you," Jono teased.

...

Well aware of who he'd married.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal leaned in, grinning widely. "Promises, promises."

[furnaceface]

"You know I still have an apartment upstairs," Jono pointed out. "Don't think I won't. Right now."

Because he was very, very tempted, now.

[sharp_as_knives]

"But then who would man the shop?" Hannibal asked, projecting earnest innocence.

[furnaceface]

"Shocking fact for the day," Jono drawled, "I am my own master. I have the power to lock the door and turn off the 'open' sign for a while, if I so please."

A pause.

"Besides, I'm fairly certain that having this much more of a body means I'm at least expected to take a break or two during my workday, aren't I?"

He was the most responsible.

[sharp_as_knives]

"It's entirely possible," Hannibal said. "Particularly if you need a bite."

[furnaceface]

"And I'm thinking," Jono purred, "suddenly, that I very much do."

Not even of the fish and chips, at that.

"Give me a minute to lock up?"

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smirked. "I'll put away the food."

[rebelseekspizza]

Yeah, Dante had something to talk to Starsmore about, and no amount of boobs were going to stop him from doing so.

... probably. It depended on who the boobs belonged to.

"Starsmore?" he asked, stepping into the store.

[furnaceface]

"Starsmore," Jono confirmed, shooting Dante a little grin and a quick wave with an apple slice.

He was having a good day, okay? Boobs or not, he was having a good day.

... Anyway, boobs were fun and were absolutely not a dealbreaker anyhow, just so long as he didn't go running.

"Dante, I presume?"

Even without using his telepathy, that one was easy enough to figure out. Not many people around here called him 'Starsmore' to his face.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante was a trailblazer like that. "Yeah, that's me," he said evenly, stalking further into the shop. "Can I talk to you for a second?" he said. "You used to do like, superhero shit, right?"

[furnaceface]

Well, that was enough to get Jono to sober up a little, right there.

"Still do, on occasion," he agreed, raising an eyebrow and frowning thoughtfully. "Were you looking for advice, or are you rounding up the cavalry?"

Because Jono was absolutely willing to provide either. Even if it meant potentially blasting this face off, too. Well. Preferably not. But emergencies were emergencies...

[rebelseekspizza]

Short pause.

"The cavalry thing happens a lot around here, doesn't it?" Dante asked.

No, seriously, he was actually asking. "Because yeah, that."

[furnaceface]

"Not as often as it used to, but enough that I call it 'rounding up the cavalry,'" Jono agreed, shrugging his shoulders. "Practically did that sort of thing on a monthly basis back when I was a student. I maintain it's because my friends and I were all a pack of idiots."

He said that fondly, at least.

"What's th'trouble, mate? Or would you rather just point me in the right direction and let me hit things?"

He was willing to blow off both his face and his date with his husband tonight for whatever this was. Some things, Jono took very seriously. Especially when they came from students who didn't really strike him as the sort to ask for help all that often in the first place.

[rebelseekspizza]

It was true. Dante would much rather gnaw his own forearm off than ask for someone's help to get him unstuck from a mountain crevice, or whatever. Which... made it a good thing that this particular request wasn't really for him, right?

"So I told you a little about the shit going down back home," he said. "Me and my brother and our friend Kat figured out a way to take down the demon running everything. It's just gonna be dangerous for... basically every human back home."

[furnaceface]

"That... is a lot of humans," Jono noted, still managing to sound more thoughtful than intimidated. "I'm guessing what you need is somebody to run damage control, then?"

Jono was very good at recklessly getting in over his head damage control!

[rebelseekspizza]

"The demon king's immortal," Dante said. "To make him unimmortal, we have to throw Limbo - world of the demons - into the real world for a bit. So..."

He shrugged one shoulder. "It'd be nice if thousands of people didn't get killed while that happened?"

[furnaceface]

"... I'm honestly trying to figure out if it's bad that this isn't even the first time I've seen something like that," Jono sighed. "But yes, of course I'll help. Not getting thousands of people killed seems like a solid priority, to me."

Surprise surprise?

"When and where, mate?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Where is Limbo City, when I don't know yet," Dante said, shrugging. "Depends on when Verg gets his shit together now."

[furnaceface]

Oh, thank God. Not that Jono was going to let himself look terribly relieved, but he hadn't been looking forward to blowing off his face or his husband tonight, really.

"Well, then you'll let me know," he surmised. "And I'll try to keep my schedule clear for the foreseeable future."

His schedule really was clear for the foreseeable future. He was his own employer. He could scarper off whenever the hell he needed to.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante let out a sigh. He was going to deny it sounded like relief. "Thanks," he said quietly. "I appreciate it."

He might even stop giving Starsmore shit after this.

Well, for a day or two, anyway.

[furnaceface]

Really, it would be weird if Dante stopped giving him shit, anyway. Jono would start suspecting Dante of being up to something, or... something.

"Don't mention it, mate," he replied, giving his head a little shake. "This is what I do."

Generally for far less than a 'thanks.' That part was admittedly kind of nice.