Fandom Counseling, Monday

[sharp_man]

Hannibal generally opened his office later in the week, but...well, this weekend had been special, hadn't it?

So here he was today, with a friendly notice that had gone out to the island's message boards:

Fandom Counseling open today for therapy, friendly listening, or snacks and coffee. Confidentiality and squirrel bribes guaranteed.

He was now in his office, a kitten snoozing on the couch and a glittery flamingo on the stoop as close to the inside as he could get away with, playing chess against online opponents until and unless somebody showed up.

Comments

[alwaysonguard]

Dwight really didn't want to be here... he knew it would likely be completely useless. Nothing would change what had happened over the weekend and the fact that he had let Lizzie go, actually let her go. He had lost her again. And no amount of talking would make it any better.

But he had gotten a person text from Hannibal asking him to come over. And so here he was. Standing on the stoop next to a very familiar looking flamingo.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal looked up, then got up to greet him. "Dwight. Would you like some coffee? Or tea?"

[alwaysonguard]

"Coffee, unless you have something stronger" Dwight said as he walked in. "Think the island has drank up the entire supply of Whisky over night."

[sharp_man]

Hannibal smiled. "Coffee with brandy, then? Or shall I hold the coffee?"

He nodded Dwight over to where Joni was sleeping. Kittens seemed to help a lot of people.

[alwaysonguard]

"Coffee with Brandy sounds good" Dwight said.

As he walked into where Hannibal had directed him a slight smile spread over his face when he saw Joni laying curled up on the cushion. He sat and gently rubbed the kitten's head.

[sharp_man]

Joni yawned, stretched, and wrapped her paws around Dwight's hand, then started grooming it.

Hannibal poured a cup of coffee and add a generous amount of brandy and a bit of sugar to it before bringing it back and handing it to him.

[alwaysonguard]

Dwight watched as Joni did her best to make his hand the cleanest it could be.

"Thanks" he said simply as he took the cup from Hannibal when he brought it over. "Honestly surprised there wasn't a line out the door here. Guess everyone else is still at the bar" he said with a slight laugh.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal smiled wryly. "People here are very bad at admitting they need help." He sat in a nearby chair. "How are you feeling today?"

[alwaysonguard]

Dwight gave him a look said pretty much how he felt. Which was like crap.

He sighed as the silence filled the room and it became apparent Hannibal was going to make him actually talk about this.

"I've been better if I'm going to be honest" Dwight muttered as he took a drink of the coffee and moved his other hand over the cushion absentmindedly, letting Joni stalk and pounce it.

[sharp_man]

Joni dutifully batted at his hand with both paws, chasing it across the cushion.

"That's not surprising," Hannibal said. "These weekends are a lovely gift, but they also bring back memories of why our visitors are no longer with us, and they can reopen old wounds. Not to mention the necessity of saying good-bye again."

[alwaysonguard]

"It was nice. Being able to see Lizzie. Being able to say goodbye. But having to lose her again...." Dwight paused for a moment before continuing. "I let her go. She was here and I let her go, willingly. Is that any better than losing her unwillingly?"

[sharp_man]

"Is it?" Hannibal asked. "Only you can answer that. You had little choice but to let her go, but how you feel about it is entirely up to you."

[alwaysonguard]

"Feels like I should have tried harder....I'm thankful for more time with her. But doesn't make it easier to say goodbye."

Dwight was quiet for a moment then gave a slight smile.

"I'm glad she was able to see Fandom at least, for that short time."

[sharp_man]

Hannibal chuckled. "Truly a unique experience. She also got to see you again. I find it best to remember that this is more time with her than you had previously had."

[alwaysonguard]

"Yeah. I kept telling myself that last night... when I was fighting the urge to go back and try and find the stone and wait for her in case she came back that soon." Dwight gave a little laugh as he shook his head. "Would have looked like quite the idiot at that point."

[sharp_man]

"Not at all," Hannibal assured him. "You would have looked like a man not entirely ready to let go. Although as someone who has experienced this several times now, I can tell you that it wouldn't have worked. When it happens again, you will know."

[alwaysonguard]

"I'll take that complement" Dwight said with the first hint of an actual honest smile since Lizzie had left. "And the advice for next time."

Dwight watched as Joni jumped into his lap and started batting at the buttons on his shirt. Taking a slow breath he spoke, still keeping his eyes on the playful kitten as he asked the question he had been both dying to ask and also dreading the answer to.

"So... this has happened before... there will be a next time... any idea how long it will be till that next time?"

Dwight hazard a quick look up at Hannibal as he waited for what he was sure would an answer he wasn't going to like.

[sharp_man]

"Unfortunately not," Hannibal said. "These whims of the island come when they will come. I've experienced this one three times since I arrived here, but there's been no discernible schedule to it. And the last time, I had a different guest than Mischa."

[alwaysonguard]

"Yeah... was afraid that was the answer" Dwight said with a half hearted laugh. "So, essentially, don't go waiting and looking for it, just recognize it when it happens again. Not sure anyone other than Lizzie would come back to see me again though... Wouldn't ever be my old man, that's for sure."

[sharp_man]

Hannibal hummed in agreement. "It's only ever people who think fondly of you."

Though to be fair, Abigail had come back, and he'd killed her, so you never knew who might want to see you again.

[alwaysonguard]

"That's a very short list unfortunately..." Dwight said shaking his head.

Maybe that was for the best right? Less people to be concerned about popping in sometime. There was some good to be said about that simplicity.

"Guess we should count ourselves lucky to have even one person willing to come back like that" he muttered as he tried not to laugh at little Joni trying to climb him like some giant tree or something.

[sharp_man]

"It's good to have someone think of you like that, yes," Hannibal agreed. He chuckled at Joni. "Feel free to put her on the ground if she annoys you. She has enough toys she doesn't need a person to play with."

[alwaysonguard]

Dwight smiled as he scooped Joni up and set her on the ground, only to have her go straight for his shoe laces.

"I think she thinks I'm a giant cat toy" he said with a laugh. "Not that I mind. I mean who could be annoyed by this little fur ball?"


(Oh how you may soon come to regret that comment Dwight...)

[sharp_man]

"She is a cat; everything is a cat toy," Hannibal pointed out wryly. "And I believe Beethoven would argue with you about her being annoying." She was his favorite toy.

[alwaysonguard]

"You got a point there... on both counts" Dwight replied as he sat back, being careful not to shift his feet around too much as the kitten continue to jump and run all around.

He finished the coffee quiet and set it down.

"I don't know how people normally cope with some of these more... emotional... island events (other than drowning in alcohol obviously). But I think I might be taking a little break. Nothing permanent or long term, I think I just need a little time not worrying about the shop, what drama the island is cooking up, or dealing with a lot of people. Just a break from having to care about things. If that makes any sense?"

[sharp_man]

"It does indeed," Hannibal agreed. "Some people will visit the mainland, perhaps get a hotel room for a week, and enjoy the peace. Or use the portals here to go somewhere further." He smiled. "I got to have my honeymoon on the moon, a few centuries from now. It was very relaxing."

[alwaysonguard]

"Yeah... I think I'm going to need a little more time before I'm cool with the whole portal teleportation stuff. Does sound amazing though being able to travel anywhere like that. Maybe someday soon I'll get up the nerve to give it a try" Dwight said with a nod. "But right now even the mainland sounds like a nice break from everything."

[sharp_man]

Hannibal nodded in acknowledgement. "Baltimore is not without its charms; I lived there for many years before relocating here. And it is generally much less prone to...oddities, shall we say?"

[alwaysonguard]

"If it wasn't for the fact that I am from Haven, I'd be tempted to say that pretty much anywhere would have less oddness than this island!" Dwight said with a laugh.

[sharp_man]

"Some of the island's oddities, I should warn you, may follow you," Hannibal cautioned. "Generally the smaller ones - becoming female, or reverting to childhood - I have had those both occur when I wasn't here. But the traumatic ones tend not to spill over."

Generally.

[alwaysonguard]

"well that's comforting..." Dwight said dryly. "Maybe i can manage an oddity free break. Even a small one?" He said with a laugh as Joni tried to jump up on the couch, misjudged and tumbled backwards with an offended meow. Dwight reached down and picked her up just yo have her curl up in his lap.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal shook his head. Then sighed as he caught a glimpse of the flamingo, who had apparently been working his way closer and closer to the inside of the room, and now was hanging halfway over the threshold.

He got up and went to the door, looking down at it. It looked up. He stared. It shuffled back a little. He stared more. It looked down and resettled itself just outside the room, as if it had meant to be there.

[alwaysonguard]

Dwight smiled feeling Joni purring as she snuggled against his hand and curled up closer. Letting himself relax really for the first time in several days, Dwight let his eyes close and felt at least a little of the tension start to leave him.

Whether it was the exhaustion, the emotional up and down, the alcohol, or just the island being the island, that sense of peace and calm was the only thing Dwight felt as he felt himself start to doze off. Which meant he was completely unaware of the one last poke the island wanted to make at him. He'd get his break, but not the way he had anticipated.

Because on the couch there was now a rather large pit bull laying next to a tiny little kitten. Dwight lifted his head when he heard Hannibal walk back in.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal shook his head at the flamingo, turned back toward the couch, and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you won't have much to worry about for a while, I suppose. At least Joni gets along with you."

[alwaysonguard]

Dwight tilted his head to the side as if to ask 'this is ok right?' and gave a slight huff.

Well, there were worst things that one could transform into... as insane as that sounded in his own head. He'd definitely have to remember to make it up to Hannibal somehow.