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]

"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."

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine had been looking forward to Autor's happy hour, wondering what filling she'd get to try (and sure it'd be delicious, whatever it turned out to be). So, when she comes down the stairs, today, she looks for him behind the bar. But he isn't there. The croissant happy hour announcement is up, and all the accoutrements of a happy hour are in evidence, but not Autor.

Autor is standing at the table where Dr. Lecter is having a croissant.

It's a wonder if Dr. Lecter's hair isn't singed by the force of the look Rae is aiming at the young man beyond him.

[herr_bookman]

Autor was about to say something smug and flippant to Dr. Lecter--he'd even prepared the smirk--but Rae's look arrests him, and forces him to swallows his words. His mouth works as he watches her, suddenly ashamed and unable to tear his eyes away.

[cook_the_rude]

"Did a dragon just appear behind me?" Dr. Lecter asks, smiling at Autor.

[sunbaked_baker]

There is no clearer way for Rae to communicate her intense feelings of What the hell are you doing? than this look. Words would likely be a step down in clarity, at this point.

They'd talked about this. About being smart and staying away from serial killers. About not goading serial killers. And here Autor is, having obviously approached Dr. Lecter. Left his place tending happy hour to follow after him. And now he's making snarky remarks to him!

Rae spends a lot of her older sisterly feelings at home wishing her teen brothers would make smarter life choices in the hopes that they'll survive longer - she hadn't expected to need to spend so many of them here, as well.

Setting her jaw, Rae comes the rest of the way down the stairs, and makes her way across the bar room towards Autor and the table where Dr. Lecter sits.

[herr_bookman]

And now she's approaching--Autor knew she would, but he still struggles to rein in his panic. That look of hers still sears him to the bone, to the marrow, and eventually he finds enough air to clear his throat.

"Evening, Rae," the boy says, voice small. "Would you like a croissant?"

[cook_the_rude]

Dr. Lecter turns around and smiles at her.

"Hello, Rae," he says. "I was wondering if you'd turn up."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Wouldn't miss it," she replies, in a tone that would be light if not for the steel behind it. "I'd like to try my luck with a croissant or two, definitely, but it seems our happy hour host has gone walkabout."

'Strayed' seemed a little too on the nose.

"Mind excusing us, Dr. Lecter?"

She'd like to have a private conversation with the bartender.

[herr_bookman]

Autor blinks at Dr. Lecter, as if he'd forgotten that the man was there. "Ah," he says to him. "Yes, please... please excuse us."

Rae's tone galvanizes his spine, and he gestures to the bar. "Shall we?"

[cook_the_rude]

"Of course," Dr. Lecter says, "if our mutual friend has finished with me?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Sounds like he has," Rae says, nodding to indicate to Autor that he should lead the way. She doesn't add 'for now', but she can hear it, nonetheless.

[herr_bookman]

"I have, Dr. Lecter," Autor says, adjusting his glasses. "Enjoy your croissant."

He turns from the man, feeling Rae's eyes on his back, and wends his way to the bar. Once he reaches it, he hops over the counter and picks up his die to fiddle with it, staring at his hands.

[cook_the_rude]

Dr. Lecter sits back, sipping his wine and looking at them.

[sunbaked_baker]

A good percentage of Rae wants to simply wring the boy's neck and make a stated question, along the lines of, What the fuck, Autor.

But instead she makes herself sit, sliding onto a barstool and resting her elbows on the bar.

"So... croissant? Or do you want to tell me what you were hoping to accomplish, back there?"

[herr_bookman]

"Croissant first," Autor says, rolling his die. He feels parched; while his voice doesn't quite crack, the words come out broken. His eyes stray from the die--which has come up four--to Dr. Lecter again, and then back to Rae's face.

"Mashed, spiced yams," he says quietly, plating the croissant. "Would you like a drink with it?"

And then he whispers, "Rae... Can he still hear us?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Smells delicious, Autor," she says, seeing the croissant. "Tea, I think. That citrus-lavender blend."

Rae hesitates taking a bite of the pastry, instead tearing off the end to let the earthy, spicy scented steam rise from the yam filling.

"I wouldn't think so, over this distance," Rae murmurs back, "but if the possibility bothers you..." She concentrates, making a lowering motion with her hand. A translucent veil descends around them, blocking the ambient chatter of the bar from their hearing and likewise blocking the sounds of their voices from the rest of the bar.

Even if she had learned about that spell from Balthazar during her night in the cells, not wanting Eric to spend the time listening to her racing heartbeat as her nightmares plagued her, it has come in handy.

[herr_bookman]

"Of course," Autor says, inclining his head and turning to his already-prepped kettle. He'd once told her that her citrus-lavender tea was her blend for calming down and thinking about something, but also her fallback for when things go to hell. They certainly have at that.

His eyes widen slightly at the veil, and he makes a small squeak of surprise. "That's quite clever," he says, poking it. "Consider me envious of your abilities, again."

Nimble fingers assemble her tea ball, and he drapes the chain across the rim of a cup with a golden rim. He adds steaming hot water, and dips the ball in a 3/4th rhythm, thinking. "So, to answer your question... You're going to think me ridiculously stupid--more so than you already do," he says, keeping his gaze locked to the tea, "but I... I wanted to find out why he was leaving me alone."

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae considers this, and considers the croissant.

"Seems to me," she starts, frowning a little at the pastry, "that's exactly what he was counting on you doing."


"He's always ignored your desire that he leave you alone. Always. You try to leave, he doesn't let you; you ask him to go, he doesn't. Every time you make it clear you don't want anything to do with him. Until one day he respects your wishes, trusting that the jarringly unfamiliar circumstance will be enough to make you forget you want nothing to do with him, to make you forget what he is, in favor of your curiosity."

[herr_bookman]

Autor winces as her words strike true, again and again. "He was right," the boy says, counting off the times he dips her tea ball. "I chased right after him. It... His leaving me alone was a reward, for acting in a manner that was pleasing. He was giving me space."

He nudges her tea towards her, furrowing his brow. He still can't meet her eye. "I'm... I'm sorry, Rae."

[sunbaked_baker]

She doesn't take the tea. Not yet.

"Reward? What, like positive reinforcement? Like giving a treat after teaching a dog to sit? If... if he's hoping to train you to not just tolerate his company but seek him out, you did exactly what he wanted, Autor."

[herr_bookman]

Autor doesn't wince at this--he flinches. He exhales noisily and rests his closed fists on the bar top. "Ugh. That's appalling," he says, wrinkling his nose. "I don't want to seek him out. I don't want to learn from him. I don't want anything to do with him at all."

He says, though he knows his actions over the past few weeks leave much to be desired.