milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

(Not-Actually-OOM: A few days ago, Gavroche and Sunshine come to the conclusion that it's better to show someone you're still their friend than abandon them when things get complicated. The trick is finding the right balance.)

When Sunshine comes in from the kitchen, today, she has a plate of food - a full meal, really - in addition to her tray of baked goods. The plate holds a sizable slice of broccoli-cheese quiche, a spinach and mixed greens salad with raspberries, feta cheese, candied pecans and a homemade vinaigrette dressing, and some toasted quinoa with carrots, sweet peppers, corn and caramelized onions. Though vegetarian, everything in it is a good source of iron and protein. On a smaller plate, for dessert, she includes one of her humongous cinnamon rolls.

She leaves the plate and cinnamon roll with with the bar, with instructions that they are for Jason Todd.

A peace offering, and a sign she doesn't want their friendship to be over, though she knows neither of them is probably ready to confront this yet. They'll work through it, though, eventually. That's what friends do.

Once the plate has been delivered to the Bar, Rae starts arranging her tray of baked goods for sale, and puts up a sign:

Sunshine's Freshly-Made Baked Goods
Cinnamon Rolls As Big As Your Head: $4
(Extra Icing: $.50)
Bitter Chocolate Death: $3.50
Death of Marat: $4 (only two available)
Caramel Cataclysms: $3
Lemon Lechery: $3
Rocky Road Avalanche: $3
Chocoholia: $3
Hell's Angelfood: $2:75
Meringuamania: $2.00
As-Of-Yet Unnamed Chocolate Cake with Pecans, Ginger Fudge, Pistachios, and Sea Salt
Help me name it, and get a slice for free!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Graham lowers his hand. It's another moment before he speaks.

"Politely," he picks out, voice even.

"You don't want to be rude."

That word again. Rae looks at him. "Autor mentioned that he considered that Dr. Lecter's... watchword. Rude."

"He called Eric Northman rude, when the vampire came to talk about his debt. And... we've talked about it, before. What it means. When we were going to the opera, I was uncomfortable, because of the dress," Rae's hand touches just below her collarbone, the majority of her scars now hidden now by her shirt. "When I worried about people staring, he said..."

Rae's look draws down into a troubled frown as she remembers that evening, an echo of her earlier horror still shading her eyes.

"He said, 'With me beside you, I very much hope none of them will dare to be that rude.'"

The reward is for their undignified behavior.

"He was your friend," Graham murmurs, remembering the dress.

"Did - did he take you to our world?"

That dress remains the best thing Sunshine owns. She has no hope of ever being able to buy something like it for herself. It's hanging now, in the back of her closet upstairs.

"Yes, he did," Rae nods. The hand that had rested against her collarbone finds the amber sun-ring on its cord about her neck, and absently turns it through her fingers. This minor fidgeting is the only outlet of restless discomfort she'll allow herself.

"We went to his house. We had... a light salad, and... dessert," her mouth twists. Dr. Lecter often made remark of her vegetarianism, when they cooked together. And she can't even know if he... No, her mind refuses to go there. "Then we went to the opera."

"Was anyone rude?" he asks, quietly.

"Not that I noticed," she says, after a moment.

Then again, she wasn't looking for it, either. She was outright avoiding the glance of people who might stare at the collection of scars that mar her shoulders and arms.

"The- um -"

Graham stops himself, and takes a breath.

"His victims have no apparent pattern or - immediate - connection. But it's likely that - most of them have offended him in some way."

"So... what is it then, for him?" Rae says, grimacing. "Payback? With... exorbitant interest?"

To punish them for breaking the social contract, he... breaks it so much worse?

"...I'm going to have to warn Autor. He has always been short with Dr. Lecter, and suspicious of him... but he doesn't know the extent of it." Nor anything like the extent of it.

"No, payback has symmetr -"

He chokes back the words, startled at how quickly the came out of his mouth. Graham pulls back his hand, not looking at her.

"These victims aren't - enemies. And they're not prey. He -"

His mouth twitches into a mirthless smile. "He's culling the herd."

Even now, Graham's starting to wish he had his glasses with him. He curls his fingers against his palm, knocking softly against the table, and nods. "You should - tell your friend. But Rae -"

Finally, he looks up to her again. "Being what he wants, being polite - it won't protect you."

Rae's upper lip curls at the idea.

"I'm sure it amused him to befriend me, knowing that... ah, due to my world's situations with vampires, I am fighting against the... establishment of human-ranches, predicted to begin sometime in the next century if things don't change."

Culling the herd. He's just ahead of the curve, isn't he? Gods, and she had suggested names for his bistro, should he ever give up psychiatry.

"I won't assume I'm safe from him," her attempt at a reassuring smile is no more than a baring of teeth, really, a grimace of pain. "No more than I assume I'm safe from a vampire because they haven't overtly threatened me yet." Only somehow this is worse than dealing with vampires, because he's human. Human, and had been a friend. At least vampires are honest.

"I'll be careful. And stay away from him if I can."

Graham turns away.

"All right."

He can't ask for anything else, or offer it. For a moment, he eyes the bottle again, but then reaches out to slide his glass aside. Without speaking, he nods again.

"You do the same, kay?" Rae asks, gently. "I know there's not much you can do to stay away from him back in your world, right now, but... if you're here."

Her gaze, still overbright and red-rimmed but now dry, flickers with realization. "What about Dr. Bloom? Does she know? About..."

His eyes flicker to her at 'right now,' but whatever the reason, her question seems to distract him away from it.

"No. It, um -"

Graham's voice is flat, like he's carefully weeded any inflection out of it. "They don't believes me."

Rae winces.

"She believes you... killed those people." She can hardly imagine. "Believes Dr. Lecter."

Sunshine's lips press together in a pale line. "...Is she safe? From him?"

"I don't think he has any immediate reason to kill her."

Again, he thinks back to Beverly. He's toying with you.

Graham looks to her. "But I don't think anyone is safe from him."

Rae looks a bit lost. And more than a bit miserable.

"It might be best that she doesn't believe you, right now," Rae says, even though she knows that telling the truth and not being believed must hurt.

"If... 'no immediate reason' is the best that can be hoped for."

Edited 2014-06-04 13:06 (UTC)

Graham lowers his head. For a moment, he's not across from Rae - he's in a cage, while on the other side of the bars Dr. Lecter glances sideways at her - anything else I've been tasked to do -

"It might be," he murmurs, not looking up.

"At least until he's been..."

Rae looks at him. "I assume you're going to try and stop him?"

Whatever 'stopping' him entails.

"I am."

He blinks a few times, pulling his mind back into the present moment.

"Trying to stop him."

Her only answer for a long while is just her faint nod, as she tries to take in everything she's heard in the past few minutes. It feels impossible. She doesn't want to take it in. She'd much rather reject it. Turn away and tell him she was happier not knowing.

But there is plenty in her life she would have rather not found out. No use wishing for the impossible. Better to work on what you can change.

"If..." she starts, hesitates, and starts again. "If I can help in any way... you... you let me know."

"I'm - not going to pull you any more into this, Rae."

There's weight on the word 'more.' It drags the whole sentence down.

"But if I can ask for your help - without doing that. I will."

"I'll admit that dealing with vampires is almost refreshingly straight-forward compared to this," Rae murmurs, something she'd never thought she'd say. "I'd rather help, even if it's a risk to me, and know I did what I could, than stand by and do nothing."

Especially if the eventual outcome is bad, of course, because then one is consumed by the gnawing fear that there was something one could have done, to change the outcome for the better.

"But I'll leave it up to your discretion. You know the situation much better than I do." If she can do anything to make people safe, she will, without hesitation; but if her help could put others in greater danger...

Graham nods, then lifts his head, raising his eyes to meet hers.

"Then I hope you can trust me."

Rae's gaze searches his face for a moment before meeting his eyes.

('Can you trust me?' Con had said. Not will you. Can you. Good question. It will not be easy. Yes, okay, that was a given. I didn't have to think about that. Can I trust him?)

"I hope so, too," the magic handler Rae Seddon answers, reaching gently across the table to touch the back of his hand, two fingers resting lightly on either side of the middle knuckle for a second.

She feels the need to leave, some part of her irrationally worried that the longer she stays, the more dread revelations will be made.

"Please," she says, standing and gathering herself. "Be safe, Will."

He breaks eye contact when she reaches toward him, but otherwise stays still.

Graham doesn't look up at her when she stands, but murmurs in reply, "You too, Rae."

(no subject)

sunbaked_baker - 2014-06-05 05:15 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only