The Keep, Ebon Askavi, Kaeleer, Friday Fandom time

[trigons_child]

Raven had been at the Keep for about a month now, and she mostly kept to herself, reading or meditating in the rooms that had been given to her. Mostly it was Philia's needs that would draw her outside, but only for a short time.

And she may very well have been getting her brood on in a serious way.

She felt like herself, mostly, but then again, she hadn't realized it when her brothers had infected her with their power. Wrath, Lust, Envy -- it was all so easy to see how each had affected her now, but in the moment it had felt so natural to her. Her brothers had been cunning enough to merely amplify her own emotions rather than force them upon her. That she surely would've felt, but not the more subtle nudge to her own true anger, lust, or jealousy.

Her skin wasn't crawling as much as it had been when she'd realized what had been going on, but she still felt uncertain, disgusted and displeased with herself for allowing it to happen. She'd endangered the people she cared for most. How did she make up for that? And how did she prevent it from happening again?

[For them that are coming to visit, and for great slowplay.]

Comments

[glacial_queen]

That was the million dollar question, wasn't it? Karla thought that she and Jaenelle might have a solution to that, but she couldn't say for sure.

"Kiss kiss," she said from Raven's doorway, her smile of greeting not fully able to hide the worry in her eyes. "Taking visitors?"

[trigons_child]

"Of course," Raven said, looking up and managing a smile of her own. She was genuinely glad to see Karla.

[glacial_queen]

Karla should hope so! She'd be pretty upset if Raven wasn't.

"Sorry for not visiting sooner," she said, walking over to embrace Raven without a hint of hesitation. "Apparently, you vanish for two weeks without any way to be contacted and a ton of work builds up in your absence. Who knew?"

[trigons_child]

Then hopefully Karla would be completely understanding if Raven was just going to cling to her for a moment.

"I hope you mean the spring break trip and not something more sinister," she said, more than a little worry in her voice. If anything bad had happened and she hadn't been there for Karla -- well, that would be another thing she couldn't forgive herself for.

[glacial_queen]

Karla could completely understand Raven's need for clinging. "Oh, let me even tell you about Spring Break," Karla said, shaking her head a little bit. "It was billed as a cruise to Mexico. We were not told that it was a cruise to Mexico in the 1970s. There was more polyester and gaudy color schemes than you could shake a stick at."

To really drive home how awful it was, Karla added, "If you'd been there, you would've ended up having to dress in oranges and lime greens."

And that wasn't even touching on the leisure suits.

"The 70s also didn't have things like cellular service or the internet. So no one's phones worked. I though Warren was going to fly out of his skin, not being able to check his stocks for a week."

[trigons_child]

Karla! Raven had enough trauma in her life right now. There was no need to torture her with images of bright colors!

Raven shuddered. "That does not sound pleasant, but I hope you were able to have some enjoyment. I imagine Julian and Morton were very displeased about not being able to reach you."

[glacial_queen]

If they'd had money, Karla would have brought something back for Raven as a souvenir. Because she was evil. But luckily for Raven, most of their money had either been inaccessible in online banking institutions or on a credit card that hadn't existed in the '70s.

"Displeased is a very politic way of saying it," Karla said, letting go of Raven but sitting close enough to still hold her hand. "They and Mallory had a good time holding the baby while yelling at us, which was fun to deal with. But they're over it."

Because Karla had told them they were over it, dammit.

[trigons_child]

"And how is Kayla?" Raven asked, just a note of wistfulness in her voice. Yes, she'd missed Karla a great deal, but she'd missed Kayla, too, and not being able to fuss over her every day like a proper auntie should.

[glacial_queen]

"Drooling over everything," Karla said, trying to complain but sounding only fond. "She's fifteen weeks now, because it was a week for us in Mexico, rather than the two it was here. She's been smiling and almost laughing a lot, too. She's such a happy little girl. And she coos now. At everything. She's just so enthusiastic about the world and everything in it!"

Karla was prepared to go on a lot about what Kayla had been up to, complete with pictures. Of which there were roughly a million, especially with Kayla in swimmies on the cruise ship.

[trigons_child]

And Raven would be utterly delighted to ooh and aah over each and every picture and story.

But her brow did wrinkle in confusion for a moment. "How are we going to keep track of her birthday between time here and time in Fandom?" she said. "Just keep to the day regardless of her being older?"

These things were important!

[glacial_queen]

"Until she's a year, we're going to have to pay close attention to how much time she's actually lived, regardless of what the calendar said," Karla explained. She'd thought about this a lot. "There's a huge developmental difference between one week and the next. Once her birthday rolls around, a few handfuls of unacknowledged days here and there will be less important. And by three, it won't make a difference at all, really. We'll call her a year next January 25th, regardless of whether she's a whole fifty-two weeks yet or not. It just gets too complicated otherwise."

[trigons_child]

"It is hard enough sometimes to keep track of our own ages," Raven said, nodding. "But it should not be as difficult for Kayla. At least until she learns to keep track and tries to insist we celebrate her being another year old sooner than we intend."

Not that would stop her from having presents ready for both Kayla's physical age and her calendar age.

[Time to sleeeeeeeep.]

[glacial_queen]

"The important thing is that you're always older than I am," she teased.

Before Karla arrives...

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal left Karla to speak with Jaenelle and headed for Raven's room. He nodded at the servant who'd showed him the way, then straightened his vest and knocked politely.

Re: Before Karla arrives...

[trigons_child]

"You may enter," Raven said, curled in a chair with a book in her lap and Philia at her feet. She wasn't expecting anyone, so she thought it was one of the staff coming to see if she wanted to eat.

Re: Before Karla arrives...

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal opened the door and took the moment before she would notice him to scrutinize her and see how she was doing.

Re: Before Karla arrives...

[trigons_child]

Her head was down, her eyes on the book in her lap, but she wasn't really reading it. Her thoughts were elsewhere, filled with worry and guilt and shame, and her body language, the slump of her shoulders, showed it. She'd also lost a little weight during the month here due to a lack of appetite.

Philia lifted her head and wuffed in greeting when she recognized Hannibal. Raven looked up, and a smile spread across her face. "Doctor Lecter," she said, setting the book aside and rising to her feet. "It is good to see you. Please, come in."

Re: Before Karla arrives...

[sharp_as_knives]

"Raven," Hannibal greeted her. He smiled in return and reached for her hands. "I apologize for not speaking to you sooner; our phones weren't working on our vacation. How have you been?"

Re: Before Karla arrives...

[trigons_child]

Raven squeezed his hands warmly, grateful for a familiar face. "I have not been entirely well," she said quietly. "I do not know how much Karla told you, but it appears that I have been infected by my brothers' powers for quite some time. I think I am free of their influence now. I hope I am."

She gestured to the chairs in her room. "Please, sit down. How have you been? How was your trip?"

Re: Before Karla arrives...

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal sat. "I have been well. The trip was warm, which was very nice, and in the 1970s, which was less so." He gave her a small, mischievous smile. "Karla and I were terrible influences, and brought some of the children along for a midnight raid of the kitchens."

Re: Before Karla arrives...

[trigons_child]

Raven smiled a little as she sat. "I am saddened I was not there to see it," she said. "I take it the food there was not to your liking?"

She paused for a moment, and Philia took the opportunity to pad over to Hannibal with a hopeful look. Treats had gone a long way toward earning the dog's trust.

"How is Jonothon?" Raven asked hesitantly.

Re: Before Karla arrives...

[sharp_as_knives]

"The food was...occasionally acceptable, more often regrettable," Hannibal said. He smiled at Philia and pulled a bit of jerky from his pocket. Yes, he had known who he was visiting, and what the toll would be.

"He enjoyed the trip very much, I think. It was relaxing overall. And we went diving at one of the stops, and it was beautiful." No, that hadn't precisely answered the question, but bringing up their relationship seemed in poor taste, and the particulars of Jono's well-being were for him to tell.

Re: Before Karla arrives...

[trigons_child]

Philia took the jerky from Hannibal's hand and sat on the floor between them as she started to chew at it. Yes, Hannibal had Philia's seal of approval.

"Good," Raven murmured. "I am very glad to hear that."

She glanced across the room to a small desk, where a few sheets of paper lay. "I was trying to write him a letter...would you mind delivering it to him for me?"

Re: Before Karla arrives...

[sharp_as_knives]

"I will bring it to him," Hannibal said. "But if he doesn't wish to take it, I won't press him. Is that acceptable?"

Re: Before Karla arrives...

[trigons_child]

"Do you think he would not?" Raven asked, feeling a pang in her chest. "I wanted to apologize to him. I have not been myself for quite some time."