croissant happy hour

[herr_bookman]

"...but still will keep"--and here a pause--"a bower quiet for us, and a sleep," Autor recites. "Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.*"

The boy pats Bar, bidding her a goodnight before he hops over the counter. He takes a few moments to take secret things out of his sylladex and to review his list. Then he writes a message on the blackboard in neat, flowing script:

Croissants with Surprise Fillings
All Vegetarian
Unfilled Also Available
He sets his blue, twenty-sided die on the counter, and waits for the first customer.

*Endymion: Book I, by John Keats

Comments

[cook_the_rude]

"Hello, Autor!"

That is Hannibal Lecter, leaning on the bar. "So that is what you made your croissants for."

[herr_bookman]

"Just as I told you," Autor says, leaning back and folding his arms. "I do worry about your memory, I really do."

He might be teasing.

"Would you like a croissant, Dr. Lecter?"

[cook_the_rude]

"Of course," Dr. Lecter says, smiling. "Please."

[herr_bookman]

Autor leans forward to scoop up the die, and, with a properly dramatic flourish, rolls it across the bar top. He turns to retrieve number fourteen: sautéed spinach and creamy Parmesan cheese. The boy plates it wordlessly.

[cook_the_rude]

Dr. Lecter takes the plate, takes a deep breath, closes his eyes in appreciation, and then takes a bite.

"You really learned well," he praises. "The company you've kept has been rubbing off on you."

[herr_bookman]

Autor watches him carefully, logging away that first bite for later. "Yes," he admits, guarded and stiff. "Rae is a wonderful teacher. Would you care for something to drink?"

[cook_the_rude]

"What would you suggest I should have with the croissants?" Dr. Lecter asks.

[herr_bookman]

"Chardonnay," Autor says, shrugging. "At least, that's what I would recommend if I knew anything about wines, which I don't." He did look it up, though. "Milk otherwise. What would you like?"

[cook_the_rude]

"A good Napa Valley Chardonnay would go very well with this," Dr. Lecter says. "You are really catching up to civilisation, Autor."

[herr_bookman]

"Ha, and all I needed to do was look up wine pairings?" Autor says, shaking his head. He locates the wine in the refrigerator and an appropriate glass. The boy opens the wine and fills the glass halfway before nudging it to Dr. Lecter. "Good to know."

[cook_the_rude]

"Ah, but you have to come to the point where you even think of them," Dr. Lecter says, taking a sip and nodding briefly in appreciation. "Where you can be that dwarf on the shoulder of giants."

[herr_bookman]

Autor props his elbows up on the bar and leans on them. "I'm not doing this to impress you, Dr. Lecter," he says, and adjusts his glasses. "I'm doing this because I find it fun."

[cook_the_rude]

"That's the spirit," Dr. Lecter says, smiling over the rim of his wine glass.

[herr_bookman]

And that smile is wholly unnerving to the boy. Dr. Lecter is easier to deal with when Autor prepares for him, but he's still Dr. Lecter. Autor shivers, almost imperceptibly. "Can I get you anything else, or are you sated today?"

[cook_the_rude]

"I would like to try the brie and onion," he says, "in honour of our good friend Jean Valjean."

[herr_bookman]

Autor hesitates. He already gave the brie and onion away, but he has two extra in his sylladex. The boy regards Dr. Lecter for a moment, and then withdraws his book from his pocket.

"Thus do I pine and surfeit day by day, or gluttoning on all, or all away,*" he says, and rummages through his foodbag to find the prized croissant in a donut box. He plates it, and notes mentally that it is still warm.

*Shakespeare, Sonnet 75

[cook_the_rude]

"What a superior way of storing food," Dr. Lecter says, watching him intently. "It's still warm."

[herr_bookman]

Autor lifts one arm in a shrug. "It's an interdimensional space, so nothing goes bad in it," he says, flipping through the pages of his sylladex before replacing it in his pocket. The pages are marked with items such as bags and books. He turns to face Dr. Lecter. "Enjoy your croissant, sir."

[cook_the_rude]

"Thank you, Autor," Dr. Lecter says, picking up his plate and his wine, and wandering away to a table, where he can be seen doing just that, and only that, for a while.-

[herr_bookman]

And once again, Autor's left thoroughly confused. He blinks for a moment, furrowing his brow as Dr. Lecter gets himself settled. Then he hops over the bar, steeling his courage enough to wander over. "Wait," he says, "why did you leave?"

[cook_the_rude]

"To enjoy my wine and my croissant," Dr. Lecter says. "You seemed to consider our conversation over; I'm delighted if it is not."

[herr_bookman]

"Well, no, now I'm just even more confused," Autor says, curling a hand around his hip. "You've never left me alone when I expressed the desire for it before, and you never do anything without a reason. What's behind this?"

[cook_the_rude]

"You want an explanation?" Dr. Lecter says. "You're not that much of a raw apprentice, Autor. You have a very good idea already."

[herr_bookman]

Autor stiffens. "You're... pleased with the way I've been acting, so you're offering up a reward of sorts."

[cook_the_rude]

"Short as you are," Hannibal says, smiling, "you've come up a little higher towards eye level, so there is no point any more in pulling you up."