Fandom Counseling, Thursday

[sharp_man]

The flamingos this week seemed less needy, which was all to the good. Except they seemed to have designated one of them as the one to solve everything, so one flamingo spent the morning watching Hannibal with an intense, beady-eyed expression, and then spent the afternoon with the rest of the small, glittery flock gathered around him for...group therapy sessions?

Hannibal wasn't going to ask.

His own office was open! Or you could probably sit in on a glittery-flamingo session, if that was more your thing.

Comments

[alwaysonguard]

It was a bit earlier than he had planned to be out and about today. But Dwight had told Hannibal he would swing by today too take a look at the shelves at last.

"Hey Hannibal" he said as he walked in, giving Hannibal a slight nod. "Not too early am I? I can come back later if that works better for you."

[sharp_man]

Hannibal looked up and nodded to Dwight with a faint smile. "Not at all." He stood and offered his hand. "Allow me to start with a proper introduction, during which I will hopefully remain myself. Doctor Hannibal Lecter. Can I interest you in some coffee or tea?"

[alwaysonguard]

Dwight chuckled slightly remembering their first encounter.
"Dwight Hendrickson. Newest resident of Fandom," Dwight said returning the handshake with a firm one of his own. "Coffee would be great, thanks."

[sharp_man]

"Coffee it is." Hannibal headed for the side table he kept it on in a carafe. "Sugar? Cream?"

[alwaysonguard]

"Black is fine, thanks" Dwight said, gazing around the impressive office.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal nodded and brought Dwight a cup of black (organic, gourmet) coffee. "Black coffee. Give me a moment to put a sign up, and I can show you to my library."

[alwaysonguard]

Dwight took the cup as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it off (not like anyone here had his number yet but better safe than sorry).

Taking a sip, he nodded in surprise. "That is probably the best tasting coffee I have ever had! Sure beats the awful instant stuff I have at the apartment right now that I picked up last week while settling in."

[sharp_man]

"I should certainly hope so," Hannibal said, caught between laughing and making a face. "If you need coffee, might I suggest The Perk as an alternative to instant? Nobody should be forced to live on that."

He brought out a neatly lettered sign that announced he would be in the house, and clients could call or wait. He hung it on the door and waved Dwight out so he could lock up.

[alwaysonguard]

"Agreed, of course. I think all those years in the military kind of made my taste buds not so finicky. Nearly 10 years of "Army Grounds" will make anything taste halfway decent" Dwight said with a chuckle as he followed Hannibal out of the office. "But will definitely be checking out The Perk and investing in better stuff for the apartment ASAP."

[sharp_man]

"Glad to hear it." Hannibal smiled as he led the way across the courtyard to the house and into the foyer.

"I had a bit of a fire in here a few weeks ago. The main damage was to the living room and has been repaired, but the library shelves on that side were a little smoke-damaged," he explained. "At least they saved the books."

[alwaysonguard]

After pausing for a moment to take in what might very well have been the most luxurious looking place he had ever been in, Dwight made his way over to the empty shelves. Running hands over the surface of the fine wood, he examined the shelving for a few minutes.

"Damage doesn't look like it's too bad honestly" he said, kneeling down to examine the bottom supports and shelves. "It mostly looks like just discoloration and some slight singing in a few places. The actual integrity of the wood doesn't seem to be affected much if at all."

Standing to his feet, he turned and gave Hannibal a slight grin. "The shelves should definitely be salvageable. Probably just needs some sanding down to remove the damaged layers. If you want rough-hewn look we can leave it at that or I can add a few coats of varnish and some sealant if you want."

[sharp_man]

"Varnish and sealant, please." Did Hannibal look like the rough-hewn type, Dwight? "I can get you the brand and color information of what was used before, but if you're willing to sand and re-varnish them all to match, I think I'd prefer something new."

The current color was so last year.

[alwaysonguard]

"Sure, they all can be sanded and made to match. No problem at all. Just let me know what your preferences are for color and such and I will take care of the rest. I can arrange getting them moved to the shop for you as well."

[1000yearstoolate]

No, Seivarden definitely wasn't here for therapy. Even should she have been considering it, Hannibal wouldn't have been her choice.

She did however owe him a thank you for giving her a special invitation to a fancy dinner along with the his class, which was why she was knocking on the door.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal looked up. "Seivarden." He stood. "Please, come in. Tea?"

[1000yearstoolate]

It was almost comforting to be offered tea like that.

"Thank you, yes." Seivarden said. "I hope I am not interrupting anything."

[sharp_man]

"Not at all; I'm between clients. Please, have a seat." Hannibal opened a drawer and pulled out gloves to put on before opening the loose-leaf tea. "How have you been?"

[1000yearstoolate]

Seivarden sat down. Someone making tea with gloves; another comforting thing.

"It's been a quiet week." Since last Wednesday at least. "And yourself?"

[sharp_man]

"Quiet," Hannibal agreed. "Apart from the flamingos." He set up the tea to steep and sat down. "My house is almost completely recovered from the explosive child the island sent me this year."

[1000yearstoolate]

"Explosive child?"

Seivarden assumed it wasn't literally.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal looked pained. "A child of mine and Beaker's. About as incendiary as you might expect. She left behind a hair tie, and when I tried to relocate it...well. It's a good thing we have a fire department now."

[1000yearstoolate]

"Beaker? Do I want to know?"

That sounded like a much less likely child than she had ever had.

"I'm sure Travis was happy to help."

[sharp_man]

"Probably not, although she's not the first child of mine due to a lab accident."

Hannibal shook his head with a small smile. "I believe Travis was thrilled. I can hardly fault him, however inappropriate the sentiment. He gets so little to do around here."

[1000yearstoolate]

"Which is true for a lot of us," Seivarden observed, "But I understand him."

She really did, after the time she had spent with Breq.

"My reason for stopping by was to thank you for the invitation to join the class for dinner. It was very kind and thoughtful."

Propriety definitely demanded a thank you, but it was also sincere.

"I brought you this to express my gratitude."

She pulled out a bag of tea from her pocket and offered it to Hannibal.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal took the tea with a nod of thanks and opened it enough to sniff it. "This smells excellent, though I would expect nothing less. Thank you." He set it on his desk, to bring it into the house later, then checked and began pouring the tea.

"I was harsh with you when it seemed you were making every effort to be unpleasant," he explained matter-of-factly, as if he hadn't very much wanted to make an appetizer of her at the time. "It would be remiss of me not to be thoughtful when you are attempting the same."

He set the teapot and cups on a tray, along with sugar, milk, and lemon, unsure which Seivarden would prefer, and brought it to the small table between the chairs.