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Baba Yaga ([info]i_cast) wrote in [info]we_coexist,
@ 2011-02-19 19:39:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:baba yaga, hannibal lecter

All in good clean fun...(Oh, Hannibal, your presence is requested)
None of her calls had been returned, but then she hadn't left any way to do so. She hadn't intended for anyone to find her, not exactly. She wanted to learn more before pursuing. Only one was truly interesting; even if the City wanted her to focus on Lestat, the sorceress had found another vampire, if he was such, to "hunt." Of course, none of this kept her from exacting her small revenges against the City. It had been sorely mistaken in allowing her to be held and treated that way. Very sorely mistaken.

Baba settled in the top of a tree, looking for all the world like some quaint little wood nymph, not the crone who had started what she would find very interesting. Her head bedecked in a laurel of spring flowers, her dress matching colors. Her feet bare. Yes, she was a wood creature who was enjoying watching the silly humans, nothing more. Probably.

On the rise of a nearby hill there was a couple. They were having a picnic. Strawberries, champagne, soft music coming from one of those tiny music machines. They were so very much in love. They'd been graced by a silly creature earlier that had whispered soft nothings in their ears, and right now they were busy enjoying their time together. For as long as it would last.

Not far from the couple a group of young men were playing touch football, or that was what they had started playing. Ever since they'd noticed the nymphette and possibly the sunbathing beauties sharing the couple's hill, they'd become physical, tackling entering into play now and then.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 01:03 am UTC (link)
Hannibal was taking the people in as well. He'd come to the park to seek, in a way. Hunt may have been the more appropriate word. He wanted to kill. He wanted to have the satisfaction of bringing somebody to an end. The fact that there was a slight taste for revenge on his tongue didn't do anything but amplify the desire in him. He wanted to find one of the City's own and do these things to them.

Lestat hadn't yet brought him the names of those who might have put hands on River. So this would have to do until then.

He had chosen to not seek out River until he had done this thing. Because she might not approve. Because she might try to talk him out of it, and because she might have been able to. He didn't even know that she'd try, but the risk was still there. He wanted it to be done before he saw her again so that his anger could be quelled a bit, so he could see her with eyes that didn't desire death and pain.

He knew he'd never be able to hide from her what he'd done. But that didn't deter him in the least. She knew what he was. She'd accepted it, so she'd said.

There were the males playing their game, the sunbathers, and the couple. It was an interesting mix, and gave him a good number of choices.

Hannibal walked forward, taking a spot directly under the branch of the tree where the wood nymph sat. He hadn't noticed her before, his attention had been so focused on those in the field beyond. But now he sensed the presence of another. Could smell her above him. Knew that she was female. Even recognized the scent of her.

With a smile, he looked up.

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 01:12 am UTC (link)
Her bare feet swung back and forth. Her dark eyes watched the gathering. The City was playing nice today. There were familiar faces among this idyllic, for a 21st century Saturday afternoon, setting. She didn't giggle, just smiled. If anyone were to truly look at the way certain fairy kind smiled, he'd notice that there was something darker than the oogie boogies seen on tv or in those ridiculous horror stories. If anyone really took time to pay attention, she'd see the truly gruesome workings in a fairy tale. People eating people, blood and gore everywhere, the undead lived among those precious stories. Rape, murder, incest. It was all there. One of the ancient stories sat in the tree, watching and waiting for the story to unfold.

Or that had been the original idea. Then he walked up. Well, well. She didn't have to guess whether or not he was one of the "patients" who'd been mishandled in the asylum. The ones that had to be kept apart for everyone's safety.

"It's a lovely day for a walk, don't you think?" She wriggled her toes at him and watched him for only a moment before her attention shifted to a rather resounding grunt. Oh, yes, one of the young men had gotten a little too aggressive in his tackle. His friend had taken a very hard hit. "Or to play a game."

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 01:51 am UTC (link)
She seemed very different from the first time he'd met her. Not just because she was dressed differently. That certainly was one aspect of it. But she seemed to be different in attitude as well. He'd known that first time that she was a being of power, but now it was as if she were surrounded by it. It seed to come off of her in waves.

Her smile told him not that she was a happy, carefree being, but that she was here with some purpose. Intent. He wouldn't have said to anybody that she was particularly happy, either.

"It's a lovely day for many things." Hannibal agreed. He turned his eyes back to those relaxing and enjoying the day. Watching them did not bring any joy to his heart, but rather caused him further ire. How could they be out there and so carefree when the people who were brought here, those who actually had minds of their own, had been so tormented? He understood that the City needed to have it's background noise. But why should they get a day like this when so many others were still trying to recover from what they'd been through?

He honestly didn't know how River was doing. How she'd been resolving her stay in the asylum in her mind. He didn't know if she was even dealing with it at all, which could lead to future issues for her. All he knew was that she had not deserved to be in there - not that many of them did - and these people had had freedom when she had not.

Hannibal wasn't concerned about himself. He supposed of everybody who had been incarcerated, he was one of the few who likely actually deserved to be so. His treatment had not been ideal, but it certainly wasn't something that he couldn't handle. Though admittedly, he was able to handle much that others were not.

"Is that what brings you out today? The niceness of it?" He didn't think so. But light conversation was polite.

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 02:03 am UTC (link)
"Oh, well, I come out for so many reasons. Sometimes the nice weather. Sometimes the unpleasant weather." Her eyes weren't on him. There was little he could do to her that would kill her. In fact, she wondered if the City would even let her die in the first place. It needed her for something; if it saw her as a problem, it would have removed her. She knew this as much as she knew that she would do the same thing; remove the problem before it becomes an actual problem.

"Why are you out, young sir?" Her eyes dropped to the young one beneath her tree. "You've come for something, searching perhaps?" The City had decided, at least the last time she spoke with it, to give those who'd been hurt the chance for revenge. Now, would it actually do as it said it would?

The game of touch football had changed. They were now tackling; it hadn't taken much. Just a smile and a wave from one of the bathing beauties. As there were no children around, and apparently no cops, they'd decided it was time to get a better more even tan - no tan lines when they wear those strapless numbers. This seemed to upset the young woman who'd just been enjoying a rather passionate kiss with her boyfriend. He'd become momentarily distracted midkiss by the revealed flesh.

"It's amazing what they do. They act sometimes as if they can actually think and act on their own." It wasn't a secret, but the City's white noise was a little more sentient than most gave them credit. The background actors were more attuned to the City's ways, but that didn't mean they had no minds. Of course, they could be very dull, plastic things with no real ambitions. Not usually. There were some like the staff; there were others who'd been augmented by a spell or two.

Her eyes lifted to the game. Oh, yes, they were getting very aggressive towards each other. The sound of bodies colliding could be music if one listened with the right mind set.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 02:13 am UTC (link)
"Searching is an appropriate word, I suppose." Hannibal nodded. The desire inside of him was strong. Not something that anybody would see unless he wanted them to. But there was something about the woman who sat in the tree, he wanted to share with her. She had said her name was Red, but she'd said it in such a way as to make him believe that her name was actually something else. "Are you still Red? Or have you changed your mind on that?"

The nakedness of the females didn't evoke any reaction in him either way. Not pleasure nor revulsion. Perhaps he found it a little absurd that they should be so publicly revealing themselves, but in the end they were just bodies.

It was, maybe, a little fun to be here watching them. For them to be so unknowing that somebody such as himself was nearby. Making plans for one or more of them. They would look over and see nothing more than a boy standing under a tree and a woman in it. They had seen much stranger things in their time, he was sure of it.

"I have no doubt that they can." He glanced up, briefly. "They may not have the absolute free will that you and I have, but for the most part, they are left to their own devices. Allowed to live as they wish. Occasionally given instruction. But if what I have seen is any great matter, they are not puppets. Not always. Their actions speak of those who are doing what they wish. None of it is artificial. If the City itself were controlling them now, their movements wouldn't be quite so fluid, I don't think. Their decisions would be more along the lines of what it thinks we would like to see. The turning of this game from something playful to an actual competition based on the showing of flesh speaks to actual human nature."

Not that he believed they were actually human. Not like he was. Perhaps their basic genetic code would match his, were he to take a look. But he believed that he would see mutations. Things that the City inserted because it didn't know the science. Things that should have made the people walking monstrosities, but didn't because that's not what the City wanted.

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 02:29 am UTC (link)
"Yes, actual human nature. That's an interesting bit about humans. Their nature. As if they were anything other than animals." Baba didn't answer his question right away. "They cannot have absolute free will. If they did, they would not live long. They have lost it; it's been bred out of them. They are not like the errant Eros monstrosities and the wee ginger haired freaks. Yet, even the City's poor constructs are living; they do feel. These..."

Baba shifted a little to allow herself to stretch out along the branch she used for a seat. Her feet lifted to rest against the trunk a little above her. Her dress fell, but she remained "decent." The exposure of skin by the two bathing beauties was for attention. She was simply relaxing, or seemed to be.

"The are more than those constructs. They are not creations from bits of the unseen. They could have been like us once. Their ancestors, but highly unlikely. They come from an older source, something before us. They have been here so long they are part of the City." She didn't emphasize any particular word, and she didn't speak as if she thought he didn't know this. She was simply discussing the creatures they were watching. It was almost comfortable academic. There was another repositioning of her body, and with a soft sigh, she seemed to get comfortable. Her hand lowered to play with his hair a little.

"You may call me 'Baba.'" Her tone wasn't cruel, but it certainly suggested that the name was not to be shared. Her fingers twisted his hair around. She knew giving her name may lead a curious boy, and she had a feeling this one was curious, to search for who or what she was. It was a risk she'd take.

The couple on the hill were fighting. It wasn't loud, not yet, but they were sharing words. The boyfriend was trying to get the girlfriend to turn and look at him; she was talking, her lips moving, but she wasn't doing as the boyfriend wanted. One of the football players just got hit because he'd stopped to notice the couple rather than paying attention to the game. The bathing beauties had decided it was time to put on the tanning oil.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 02:44 am UTC (link)
Her vocalizing of his thoughts might have been strange on any other day, but today it felt natural. Somehow right. He didn't think she'd read him, not like River could do. Just that they shared the same knowledge and instinct about their surroundings.

It was refreshing to find somebody who could observe and be a part of and yet not rail against. It felt to Hannibal that she understood just as well as he did that they were here and there was no changing that fact. That they should make the best of the situation. Live with it, change with it. Use it to their advantage. Something that very few actually did. Most of those that he encountered that had been brought instead of born did their best to fight against the City and all that it sent their way. They wanted out. They wanted their friends, their families. Perhaps it was the lack of such that had given him the advantage.

Perhaps it was other things.

Hannibal did not move when she began to play with his hair. He let her do so as she pleased. It could be taken many ways, he supposed. And if a certain girl were to walk upon them, she might have been none too happy about it. But the touch to him was intimacy of a different kind. Two sharing a thing. But the thing was not yet in front of them.

It was coming.

"I am honored." Hannibal looked up at her again, this time for longer. Allowing the side of her hand to brush his cheek as he did so. Baba. There was a Baba in his knowledge of folklore. Something that he had heard children speak of, something he had read about himself. She was Baba Yaga, wise and wicked. Both sides of the same coin. She could offer help to the lost souls, or she could kidnap and consume your children. It did not strike Hannibal as strange, the idea that this Baba before him and the one he had grown up knowing might very well be one and the same. "You are no crone, however."

It had been an understatement, his thought that she was a being of power. She was one of great power. He would be a fool to underestimate her again.

The couple having the picnic had caught his dark attention. Mostly because of their fighting. Their very humanness. The way that each of them became distracted from their lover by such simple things. The others, though, would be just as good for choices. The women who were now spreading themselves into shininess with the oils they put on their flesh to attract the sun. The males who had become brutish in hopes of attracting their attention. But his focus kept returning to the couple.

How he could end their beautiful day.

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 02:59 am UTC (link)
Her fingers cupped his jaw, tracing lines there. Baba wasn't trying to seduce him; oh, she could probably have some effect on him if she wanted, if she said the right words, but he didn't feel like Dexter had. The red eyed boy could and would feel those things that Dexter claimed were not in him; there was nothing in getting this one to feel. The touches might have been almost motherly if she were older. She also didn't believe he would misconstrue the closeness as some sort of request or opening.

"No, not a crone. Not what I was before either. You know the name, then. Good. There are times I miss being known." She sighed softly. "Help me down if you would. Perhaps we should walk. Find another place to watch as the game unfolds." Not once did she ask a question. She sat up and waited to see if he would move.

The sound on the football field was slowly building to the sound of the Colosseum, the gladiators fighting for something. They were fighting for the spectators, the spectators lost in the world of the senses. The young men were hitting more often and harder; they were no longer apologizing for the physicality of it all, nor were they claiming that it was against the rules.

The two women, the football gladiators, were poised and posed; they knew that they were desired, and they thrust out their now glistening chests proudly. They seemed to promise sex to the winners of the battle before them. Their shared occasional touches, the way they leaned and nibbled on each other, suggested that a..no, the winner might have both.

And that couple? The boyfriend had poured himself a tall flute of champagne and was downing it. The girlfriend was staring amazed at the brazenness of the women not far from them. The boyfriend didn't seem to mind the view; in fact, as he reached over, he lightly nudged the girlfriend's shirt up. He wouldn't mind her showing off a little.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 03:12 am UTC (link)
"I know the name from my childhood. I grew up in Lithuania, which was then a part of the Soviet Union. The Baba Yaga was a staple for us then. A curse and a blessing. A hope for if we might become lost, and a threat if we did not behave." Hannibal smiled.

She wanted to walk, and Hannibal discovered he did not mind the idea one bit. He lifted his arms to her, to guide her down to the ground. When she rolled easily into his hands, he discovered her to be light. Easily, he set her in front of him. A slight nod of his head to indicate he would follow her lead, and they were then walking.

Hannibal walked with his hands clasped behind his back. A serious mannerism that he had learned in medical school. A good way to look authoritative and also a good way to keep one's hands away from things that might be contaminated by them. It came to him easily now, without thought.

"I must say, and I hope that it's not too rude of me to do so, but I would think that in your current incarnation that you would stay away from the front half of your agnomen. You are very much unlike a grandmother in any way." He thought about it for a moment before continuing. "Yaga, however, could simply be the diminutive of Agnieszka. Taking away the cruelty. Though I suspect this is not something you dislike very much."

It was, indeed, the couple that he kept turning his eyes to. The desperate acts of the showy females, the brutality of the males, that was interesting too. But they did not present themselves to Hannibal's mind the way that the couple did. They were so in love, and yet so quarrelsome. They seemed so perfectly natural. So human. They seemed to be exactly the kind that the City was glad for. Those who would blend in for the Brought. Make it feel most like home. He wanted to break the City's hold on them. Show it how very much he could make them hurt.

With his natural ability to focus on two things at once, Hannibal continued his conversation with Baba Yaga while he thought on these matters. "Please, I don't mean to be rude. Merely speculation on my part."

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 03:25 am UTC (link)
There was no girlish giggle, no affectation to make him feel more like a man. He knew, and she could be as she wished. Her own hands rested at her sides, and she walked as if she were easily one with the ground. She wasn't treading upon the earth, but more moving with it. Among it. What he said next, his observation, made her laugh. An honest laugh with a hint of age and appreciation.

"You're right. 'Yaga' would indeed make more sense if I were somewhere that my name meant more to others than my appearance or my power. They do not understand as you do. If they are not aware, the name is nothing." Baba's hand lifted as if she could hear the next question or observation. She didn't know if he would consider it, but she'd meet it before he did or could voice it. "But why call myself 'Red' if the name is not an issue? Because there are still those here who may wish to use my name once they have it; I do not care to go through the trouble of showing them I am more than that name, more than what it can do to me."

She smiled up at him. Now that she was on the ground, he was certainly taller than she. Her lifted hand lightly touched his arm; they were now standing closer to the couple. They interested her as well. The others were mere playthings, background noise to any true intentions. The girls laughed and clapped, encouraging the rough play put on for their pleasure. Blood had yet to be spilled, but the way the young men were "playing" it would be free eventually.

The girlfriend had batted away the hand but had allowed the boyfriend to talk her out of her sweater. Now she was sitting in a thin bit of a blouse, yet she refused to sit any closer to the boyfriend. He was trying to get her to eat some more fruit or drink some more alcohol. He had hoped he'd have her further along, that maybe they'd be heading home by now. He couldn't help that he was being distracted by the women; they were there to distract after all.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 03:34 am UTC (link)
He understood the meaning of what she said. Names were power. Even to mere mortals such as himself. He'd learned that much in being here. His name was bound illicit many different reactions to those that he told it to. Most of them negative. They knew his name and what he was before he ever had a chance. Another thing that might have bothered somebody else, but he found it incredibly interesting. He liked to study their reactions to him. To discovering who he was, what he could do. The fear in their eyes. The way their hearts would speed up. The smell of the terror as it seeped through their flesh.

But he knew that the power his name had was not the same as hers. He knew that nobody could hold him against his will because of his name. Though, Hannibal doubted highly that many would do such a thing to Baba Yaga. He had the impression the City had done so to her as it had done to him, and she was far more unhappy about it.

He supposed she had every reason to be.

"Red is fitting." He shrugged lightly. "But I'm guessing it gets you more questions. Why a color, they would ask. Is it short for anything, they would ask."

Humans were naturally curious creatures. In all things. It could be very detrimental to their health, but it could also prove to enlighten them. Most were careless about their curiosities. As the young man of the couple had been when he'd done more then simply glance at the topless girls not too far away. Had he been more careful about it, perhaps the tiff with his girlfriend wouldn't have happened at all.

"Is your interest in them the same as mine, Baba?"

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 03:42 am UTC (link)
Baba had yet to learn about the red eyed boy, but she could see, feel almost in him, what he was without looking. He did not disgust her; he was there to grow, to evolve, to become. He had accepted that there was a path, even here in the City, for him to take, unlike so many others. He was not afraid of what the City could do for, to, and with him, although he could be very displeased with it.

"Yes, then I would need to explain my origins, and so much more. They do not know when to stop. You should take care you do not forget as well." She looked up at him, smiling just slightly. "You are still one of them; different in your insight, but you still have the human flaws. As I still have my own kind's flaws." Baba watched him for a moment longer before turning her attention to the couple.

"It may be. She is a nurse. He is a doctor. They normally work at the Hospital." Yes, the City had given her more than the pair; it had given her a possible replacement for Dexter, not that she would call Hannibal that. No, he was not the same as Dexter, but he could keep her somewhat occupied. There was something else out there for her to keep her other needs satisfied; possibly she had seen it, sitting on that throne among the duller members of the City's children.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 03:53 am UTC (link)
"I do have human flaws." Hannibal agreed. "But I know when my inquiry should end. I know that if you desire to share, you will. That if you do not, you should not be pushed. This is not something that comes in the fairy tales, but something I have learned by speaking with you."

He did, by all means, respect her power as it deserved. He knew what she was capable of. What she was willing to act on. To think he had learned so much in just this single meeting. Things he had not known in their last.

"I think it's a good thing to be aware of one's flaws and be able to accept and live with them. To ignore them can cause many problems."

Hannibal eyed the couple. He had been interested in them before, but now it was doubly so. Baba had said that they normally worked at the hospital. The tone of her voice informed him that they had recently worked at another place. He didn't have to ask to know what she meant.

Were they the ones that had harmed River? Were they his own special staff? Perhaps they were the ones who had held Baba Yaga against her will. Hannibal wondered if it mattered in the end. He'd come here to take a tiny bit of revenge against the City, and this knowledge was a bonus. Perhaps knowing for sure who they had touched while they had worked in the asylum would add to his enjoyment of the acts he would commit.

"Do you know them?" She knew of them, that was obvious. The question was to clear up some of the wondering he had.

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 04:06 am UTC (link)
"This is what makes you different, and this is what makes you worth my time outside a bauble or a toy." Baba saw no reason to lie to him, or play with him. Any teasing would be to pique his curiosity, but now she did not need to tease in such a fashion. She simply needed to give him information.

Her hand slid into the crook of his arm, even those his hands were held behind him. It wouldn't upset his posture; it would simply allow her to walk closely to him. Others would see a very close couple. It was the physical contact again. The connection that she wanted once more.

"Not as well as you would like, I'm afraid. I know that they dealt with the medications of the more...difficult inmates." They had not been patients there; no, they had been prisoners. Kept away from the regular population to keep everyone safe. It was cruel punishment for those who were simply acting on their own natures.

"No doubt he dosed us, and she aided in the administration." Her fingers dug a little in his arm, just a hint of anger. "They held no qualms about it. The City allowed its children free reign in what happened to us. What they did was what they wanted to do." The City had not told them to mistreat the patients; they had done as they wished because the City had not told them to treat the patients kindly. They had taken it upon themselves to hurt others because the City had not told them to do otherwise.

"Have you developed a plan or are you working it out as you go?" There was no accusation or disgust. She knew that he wanted them, and now she was curious as to what he wanted to do with them exactly.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 04:21 am UTC (link)
Hannibal felt it was a very good thing to be more than just a toy to Baba Yaga. Were he seen as such, he would be very disposable to her. He was not quite ready to be disposed of yet.

Despite learning that the two didn't have any direct contact with himself, River or even Baba, he was not willing to let them just waltz away. He had come here with purpose. He had found the ones he wanted. They would be his.

His previous idea that Baba was unhappy with her treatment at Arkham was confirmed with her action on his arm. She had clearly been more than causally mistreated. She had not dealt with just neglect or slight misuse of medications. Anger such as hers, anger the likes of which he sensed on her and could even smell despite her calm exterior, came from more.

"You know more about the City than any that I have previously encountered." Hannibal turned and looked at her. The body she was in now was small, but it didn't matter what size the power came in, did it? "I would be interested to know more at some point."

Falling into the act of two lovers spending time in the park, Hannibal turned her, letting his hand slide to hers so that they were clasped. He placed his hand on her face and looked into her eyes. From his peripherals, he could still see the couple, still keep tabs on them, but it wouldn't be obvious to anybody but Baba that he was discussing them, or watching them.

"I have no complete plan as of yet. I came out to hunt and I have found. What happens next will be spontaneous." Her eyes, if one only looked at the surface of them, were not the eyes of a killer. They would be capable of charming any person who saw them and convincing them of her complete innocence. "In my pocket, though, I do have some syringes filled with medications that will make them complaint. Easily coaxed."

He was quite sure that River would approve of absolutely none of what was going on currently. Funny that he should be doing this on her behalf.

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 04:34 am UTC (link)
"Perhaps I will tell you at some point. For now, what you need and want to know is that what you're about to do will cause it pain." Baba did not add that it was possible the City was willing to feel this pain in order to cull the mutations. They had exercised free will in a way the City had not expected; they had to be removed like some growth before they infected the others. On the other hand...

She nuzzled into the hand, her eyes closing for a moment. Baba did not feel that the need or desire for physical contact was a weakness. Her eyes opened slowly to look into his, searching for something there. There was no attempt to hide her age or just what she could be. For only a brief moment, he was allowed to see the old crone, as far as anyone could see it in those eyes. The crone who Hannibal as a child could have loved and hated all at the same time. Her hand lifted to his chest, just over his heart.

"You must know something before you do this. It is something that you must think through." Baba didn't know what Hannibal would become in the future, his future out of the City, but she did know the potential she saw when she looked at him. "The City may be offering these two to you. In fact, while it hurts it, these are not the only ones it may offer to you."

She stepped closer and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. It was more chaste than it would appear from most angles. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "The City wishes these and the others who hurt us gone. Did it let you have these? I do not know." She stepped back, but not far away, keeping the appearance of lovers' closeness. "Now, do you seek your due revenge, or do you force the City to live with its unwanted children? I, for one, intend to take advantage of the City's willingness, even though forcing it to kill its own children may be far crueler."

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 04:46 am UTC (link)
Interesting. Doing this would cause it pain. Moreso than Hannibal had imagined. He had wanted only to show it his displeasure. Now to know that it would actually hurt the City was causing in him some eagerness. He wanted to be at the task now, rather then standing here in this park.

"I came here for a purpose. I am not out for mental or emotional cruelty. I am here for the physicality. Perhaps forcing it to deal with these things itself would cause it some harm, but I wish it to feel something that it will remember."

He wondered then how much of his other deeds the City had felt. He had killed what she called it's children before. He had done away with some in manners that were not kind in the least, and not quick by any measurement. He had to wonder if it was already aware of what he was capable of. If it knew he was growing in his hungers and the abilities he had to sate them.

If so, why had it not treated him worse while he was in Arkham? But was it foolish of him to think that it did not know? That it was not always aware of the people it had birthed and what they were up to? How they were living, and thus how they were dying?

These were questions he might pose to Baba Yaga later.

He looked into her eyes and saw the crone there. Saw that wisdom that the stories had spoken of. The knowledge and the age. She was telling him, not guessing, that these two were offerings. He believed her.

Would he be offered more? Would the City keep putting it's cows before him for slaughter until he was satisfied? It was a question he was curious to see the answer for. He would kill as many as he was given. He would end the lives of the entire staff population of Arkham, if that was an option. Acting as a force of revenge for all that had been kept there, though they did not ask him for it. And though that would not be the reason behind his actions.

"Let us grant it's desires for now."

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 04:55 am UTC (link)
Baba smiled up at him. She was one for the emotional cruelty, but then she was one for twisting the knife until the victim begged for it. Her hand rubbed softly at his chest, again an almost motherly action.

"Tell me, Hannibal." She knew his name. "Why do you do this? Tell me as we begin our journey to vengeance." It was only a couple; there had been many more who would pay, who would fall to this or that mistreated individual. But, the couple was now a symbol for the rest. "You seek your own revenge, or for others?"

"You are not the only one curious. I wonder at humans, at the wayward ones as much as the ones who think they are their right course." Her hand would continue to pet and rub as long as they stood near each other. Once they were in motion again, her hand would hold his arm and she would look the happy young woman. There would be a soft smile of contentment.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 05:02 am UTC (link)
"I don't need to take revenge for myself." He told her, honestly. There was no need for them to lie to each other now. Not after all they had shared. And not with what they were about to share. "My revenge comes for those I care for. For those who would not act on their own behalf. Her name is River. She was harmed by their hands."

There was Lestat as well. But Hannibal was fairly sure that the vampire would be more than willing to take out his tormentors should he be faced with them. River would not. Not out of revenge. She would have, had they threatened her while she was there and she were free. But it was not in her to act after the fact.

Even if it had been, he would not let her.

"I took my pleasures while I was there." He smiled at her, remembering those that he had caused great harm to while restrained and believed to be docile. While they thought he was drugged enough to be kept like a pet.

His thumb traced a line by her eye. As if he could erase her anger by doing so. "You take it for yourself." He didn't ask the question, he didn't have to. He knew. He knew her actions were only for her. She wanted to see the pain because she had been in pain.

He began to walk toward the couple again. Falling into an easy stride, pretending to be carefree and unconscious of those around him.

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 05:13 am UTC (link)
There was a sound on the field. The men had finally fallen to fighting; she knew it would happen. The sound wasn't of the fists pounding flesh, but of something sickeningly crunching. She would stop if he did. One of the bathing beauties screamed. The other was busily trying to get her clothes back on.

The young men had turned the playing field into ruined ground, and as they fought, the area was turning quickly into a literal battlefield. The aggression that had begun with and for the women had turned into something more. There was biting, clawing, punching, kicking. The young men were angry, and they were taking all that anger out on each other. For now. The scream seemed to turn some of their attention away from each other and on to the women who had started it all.

"Them!" One of the young men yelled, as if he were accusing the women of starting the fight between those that would consider themselves brothers. Three of the young men broke off from the violent throng and started for the two young women who were now realizing the situation they were in.

There was one prone football player on the ground. The fighting had stopped for only a moment, but soon they were at it again. This time the fight was to either hurt the sunbathers or to save them. It was as if the group could not make up its mind.

The couple had started packing up. They were of the medical profession and should have helped the young man still on the ground, not with the fighters, but they didn't want to get hassled. Not like those girls. Neither girlfriend nor boyfriend was a hero.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 05:30 am UTC (link)
Hannibal did stop to watch.

"I suppose humans really are no more than animals." He brought her line back to her rather casually. To see the game turn so quickly into something more had been rather amusing. To see the confusion on the field now was truly a show in what humans were capable of when it was just the base instincts working the body.

Just the reptile.

He had some idea of how it would be, working alongside this ancient crone who was no crone currently. What kind of cruelty she would work into their evening. He couldn't say he wasn't looking forward to it. It would be strange, to have somebody beside him while he did his thing, but he imagined that Baba Yaga would appreciate his abilities. His knowledge and skills in life brought much to the events.

Hannibal pointed his chin in the direction of their prey. "They're getting ready to leave us. How would you like to go about the task? Follow them and find them again alone on the streets? Or get to them before they have a chance to get much further in their escape?"

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 07:05 am UTC (link)
"I had hoped they'd wait a little longer before complete loss of order." Baba sounded a little disappointed. "One moment, dear boy." The term wasn't meant to be insulting. No, it was heart felt, even if some would believe she had no heart. It took only a moment for her to call the power and create a wind that set the brutes tumbling away.

The two girls were stupid, but Baba had her own agenda. The chaos could come; the City's children were capable of being very willful. It started raining, and the young man who had been hurt groaned back to life. She didn't call him back from the dead, just revived him. The girls were sogged, and the brutes, the animals they'd become, seemed to be washing away with the sudden shower. Baba also wanted the City to know she could stop it if she wanted. At least she could this time.

"There is a reason, but for now, simply accept that as why." Just in case he thought to ask her the purpose behind stopping something that would hurt so many of the City's children. "We could follow them. Let them feel that they are being hunted. Let them feel that they are not in control."

This had been part of her problem, but it had been all their problem. They did not have any control in what happened to them while they were held prisoner in that damned place. While they could say they were calm and in control of themselves, that bit of rationale only went so far.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 07:16 am UTC (link)
The display of power from Baba was amazing to see. If he hadn't known about her, he might have thought that the storm was it's own device. Just a weird coincidence. Or perhaps the City itself breaking into the violence to stop it.

He really liked the way she thought. The idea of stalking the pair, as a pair, had a certain delight to it. How long would it take the two to realize that the couple behind them was not as innocent as they seemed to be? How long before they sensed the nefarious purposes?

Hannibal nodded. "I agree. Following them sounds like an ideal plan."

Not to mention that he would be able to witness their fear rise. Watch them in the first stages of panic. The suffering would cause in them the physical reactions he did so enjoy getting out of people. Perhaps the two of them could cause a little bit of mental torment as well, just for kicks. They could have their cake and eat it, too. As the saying went.

He watched as they packed their belongings quicker and then started along to the edges of the park. The woman jogged along with the blanket they'd been sitting on held over her head. The man followed behind at a slower pace. It seemed to Hannibal that he thought his girlfriend's reaction to the wet were as rediculous as Hannibal himself thought them.

"I feel that you should know, Baba, that this is not my first time engaging in actions such as this. I don't want you to feel as if you must coach me and drag me along. I am well versed in the artform, as it were."

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 07:27 am UTC (link)
Baba took his arm again, ready to follow when he was. The rain didn't bother her, neither did the weather. Certainly not if she was the one who caused it. She watched as the two, the prey, were soon on their way. The woman moved faster than the man; neither seemed worried about anyone who was hurt. It was disgusting, yet not at all surprising.

"Drag you along, no." She soft squeezed his arm. "I am honored that you'd let me watch you. Perhaps offer a suggestion now and then. Participate. You, dear boy, are not at your highest height. You are...still evolving. This is what I find fascinating. You have a foundation, and you have begun building yourself."

"While you are versed, do you feel you have learned all that you may?" She looked up at him, curious once again. It wasn't that she had forgotten the pair, or what they intended to do with the doctor and his nurse. Instead, the more pertinent or immediate matter was this question. Did he feel that he had grown and did not need to grow further, to branch out and discover more of himself? That would be slightly disappointing, but he did not seem the type to feel complete. He was himself, yet he could be more. Some people lived their lives uncomfortable with the idea that they could change, be renewed, become something else; they thought that at some point in their lives they would be finished. There were others who saw life as a constant evolution, changing and adapting. She hoped the red eyed boy was more the latter than the former. That was always the danger when dealing with someone so experienced, she could tell he was, and so brilliant yet so very young, relatively speaking of course.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 07:38 am UTC (link)
He kept an eye on them, but it didn't take very much of his thought processes to do so. His photographic memory picked them out even when they passed through another group of people - who had decided to play in the rain rather then run from it.

"Participation would be most welcome." He smiled at her.

As he had hoped, the pair were not heading toward the parking lot. They had not driven to the park, but walked. They were going in the direction opposite where the cars and other vehicles were. They even passed right by the bike rack. Hannibal supposed there could be another somewhere further along the line, but why chain up a bike and then walk so far when there was one much closer to where they wanted to be? No, he figured the two for the lazy sort who would have ridden as far as they possibly could.

"By all means no." His reaction came with a little bit of surprise. "I am young yet. Not to mention that I have found writings of who I would have become had I remained in my own world. The man, and some would say, the monster. Such talent takes years to hone. I am capable of much, but that man is far more fluent than I. If I were to stop in my growth now, I would never become close to what he is. Not just in this particular area of life, either. He is of a vast and wealthy intelligence and skill set. His career is marked by huge successes and outstanding achievements. I am good at what I do, but I can be so much better."

He knew that by coming to this City, by being brought in, he had learned some things that the elder Lecter had never. Forensic Anthropology for one. Had he never been drawn in, he wouldn't have had these experiences, and he felt that they gave him a distinct advantage over the self that he knew about. He had more to grow off of, more learning to start with. He couldn't imagine what it would be like in those books - Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal - if his younger self had known what he did now. How much worse the deaths, how much more difficult it would have been to corner and capture him.

Hannibal had great plans to be far more dangerous than the man Anthony Hopkins portrayed.

"Every experience is a learning experience, is it not?"

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 07:57 am UTC (link)
"They are a very inefficient pair, aren't they? It's a wonder they were able to keep any of us under." Her fingers tightened slightly to think that creatures like these were able to keep her sedated. Of course, there was more to her confinement than simple sedation, but she wasn't going to admit to that. She didn't need him to know everything. "It's almost undignified. It's certainly insulting."

Baba looked up at him, smiling again. "I apologize. I thankfully do not have to be one of those who must be bound in quiet reserve. I suppose I'd be capable of such, but it's rather confining. I believe passion partnered with will and intelligence is much more useful than logic. I know it is passion and will, with a hint of luck and intelligence, that often overthrows a dictator or tyrant." It was what could upset the City; she wondered how far the City would go to keep its children from revolting. To keep them in check.

"So, you become a monster?" Her eyes narrowed slightly, but again her tone and whole demeanor lacked anything akin to disgust or accusation. "You couple this image with success and outstanding achievements." She nodded slightly. "I can see this. I am glad that you wish to become more than what you are now. It would have been greatly disappointing to hear that you felt yourself finished with growth."

She watched as there were those who played in the rain, enjoying it. Others simply existed in it. Then there were those who ran from it. Baba thankfully would not melt in the rain. She was not that sort of evil doer. Her fingers rubbed absently at his arm.

"I wish to know this other you, but I feel I'd rather see you blossom into something that is solely your own. You here are yours, no one else's." She may have sounded as if she meant the person who wrote whatever story he had appeared in, but she meant something much more. Fables were part of people, the story belonged to them as much as the Fables' existences belonged themselves. She was partly his now in a way, as he knew her, and interestingly, his knowledge of her linked her to him as well as increased her power just a little bit. She was known. She was not some dead, forgotten Fable. As long as the red eyed boy lived, she'd be much much harder to kill.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 08:07 am UTC (link)
"If your stay was anything like mine, they did not just keep you under." Hannibal highly doubted that mere drugs would do anything to contain the power within Baba. Just as he knew that they would do nothing to hold Lestat. Something else had been done to the both of them. Something that he would ask neither of them to reveal. They were both powerful creatures and would never trust anybody with that kind of information, no matter how close they might be to a person, or how much they might have liked them.

Hannibal led her around a tree, not even pausing in a step as he joined the pair they were trailing on the sidewalk. Into the city they would go, away from the greenery. Perhaps just follow the two directly to whatever home they were headed to. Maybe before then, get them into an alley. Though he much preferred the quiet of a residence, the cleanliness of it. The fact that one could take as much time as one wanted behind the closed doors.

"You can do both." He lifted a brow at Baba Yaga. "To know the me that I would have become is quite simple. There are four books that have been written about me. All by a man named Thomas Harris. You can find them in the library here. I recommend reading the books, rather than watching the movies. There are four of those as well. But there is far more detail in the books, and some scenes in the movies have been scaled down or changed entirely for the gentle sensibilities of the movie goers. I do not find them as agreeable as the books myself. However, the man that plays me in three of the movies is quite good."

He didn't expect to be following much in the man's direct path. There were people he didn't have access to here. Places he couldn't go. Not to mention the people he did have access to. He had a feeling there was somebody within this city with a much more interesting tasting brain than Paul Krendler. Though, should he come across that man, he knew he would do well to put him out of everybody's misery early on.

"They do leave out the eyes, in the movies. I would think they would find them one of the most interesting features." Not to mention the extra finger. Though he supposed the makers of movies might find it a little difficult to pull off well.

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 08:22 am UTC (link)
Baba nodded slightly. "I might do that, but I might simply watch you. See how you progress on your own. You are here to be experienced. This other is but a figure on paper or on screen. The experience is removed. The blood he sheds I cannot put my hands in." She held up her small hand, opening and closing it.

"I only participate in his existence as a fly on some wall. There is a time to be a spectator, and there is a time to be a participant." As they left the park's lush grace, her bare feet would be a small problem. She didn't merely create her clothes; she supposed she could try, but as powerful as she was, creating anything out of nothing really wasn't something she could do. She needed something to work with.

"Do you mind terribly if we stop for just a moment? It seems I am ill equipped for a jaunt through the City." It wouldn't take long for her to find something to wear. She could float through the City, but she did actually like walking. She liked the act of moving, especially after being bound.

"The woman looked to be near my size..." She was an opportunist. There was nothing wrong with taking advantage of a situation. While the City could and would provide her with anything, or almost anything, she'd rather find what she needed or wanted her own way. Sometimes she tricked her way into someone's home. Other times she simply took what she wanted. Tonight taking what she needed to enjoy the rest of the night seemed to be appropriate. "I suppose I can wait until we have them tucked away. I'd prefer to conclude this evening in their home. People are so very shocked when something bad happens to them in their own homes."

She paused, stopping their hunt for a moment. Her hand lifted to his face, brushing her finger tips along his jaw. "They should not leave out your eyes. Your eyes are distinctive. Nor should they leave out any other extra bits." She'd noticed the hand, but it was simply part of him. It wasn't odd, just who he was. Why did they always changed things when they decided to retell a story?

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 08:34 am UTC (link)
Hannibal smiled at her. "Which is why I say you could do both. The story really is well written. But of course I cannot force you and would not even if I could. I take a little admitted delight in knowing that I have books about me out there that people can read, and a little more of that delight knowing when people do."

He wondered at her bare feet and if she would need to get something to cover them lest she hurt herself. He did not offer to pick her up and carry her, though he could have easily done so. Baba did not seem like the type to enjoy such things when she was stalking somebody. He couldn't say that he would have either. Much better to be on one's own feet, able to move as one wished.

"Ah, good. I was hoping for the same thing, myself. I find that way that I can take my time. Experiment a little bit perhaps. Even if there should slip out a scream or two, it's not likely neighbors will come running. Funny how very timid people are when somebody is truly in trouble." Unless they caused the pair to scream a significant amount, there wouldn't even be a paused passer-by to wonder at what was going on inside.

"They were a gift. From my mother." The only other person he'd known with the same eye color. Though, now that he considered it, there had been the girl named Raven. She hadn't quite been human though, he was sure of it. She'd not only had red eyes, but also pointed ears. He wondered what had become of her, if she was still within the City's wall.

He glanced away from his companion only briefly. "It looks as though you won't have to suffer long without shoes. They're going into that building right there."

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[info]i_cast
2011-02-20 08:48 am UTC (link)
"There are books about me as well. Old stories. And memories." Hannibal knew her stories. She had no problem with the idea that she was a story, a being to be believed in. Baba Yaga had power in everyone who knew and believed in the stories. Who remembered them. "But, some of the stories are gross misrepresentations."

"They are quite timid. Not just here. Very few suffer from a complete lack of survival instincts, the particular lack found only in idiots and heroes. Only they would go running toward the screams." She understood heroes; she understood how their minds worked, but that didn't mean she had to find it gallant or even part of who she wanted to be. "The other few who go running toward the screams are those that wish to know; their survival instincts keep them out of trouble, but not so far removed that they do not wish to know."

Running to screams was not the same as causing them. Being part of that experience was something all together different. Then again, that often got one called a monster, evil doer, bad guy, the list could get long, but it all came down to being something other than hero.

"Red eyes are rare, even in my world." There were various skin colors and solid black eyes. But, even in the world of the Fable, red eyes were seldom seen. "You are truly an interesting young man."

She laughed softly. "Perhaps the City wishes this over with quickly, but we shall not grant it that wish." No, she'd find away to extend the pair's lives. They may not scream, but they would beg for release. They would try to make deals. They would feel themselves slipping away only to waken to new horrors. Whether Hannibal had been there, or not, Baba would have turned this pair into a little message to the City and perhaps those would be knights of good. The City wasn't a place to live out sweet little lives, and it wasn't a place to forget one's self. It was a place in which lives must be lived and fought for.

Plus, she liked watching the fall out when the City's good guys could be bothered when something dark and sinister happened.

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[info]i_consume
2011-02-20 08:58 am UTC (link)
Hannibal was beginning to understand how Baba Yaga felt when it came to stories. He was making the connection to his existence and hers through the written word and the other medium which carried him. His stories were not nearly as old, of course. Not nearly as well known. Everybody around the world told fairy tales. Not very many, percentage wise, read horror mystery novels.

Hannibal felt her description of human reaction to be quite accurate. Something in him wished to formulate an experiment revolving around the idea and test the reactions of a few living creatures in certain situations. A matter for another time, however. And a different partner.

He took her mention of the rarity of his eye color even where she came from as a vast compliment. He didn't think she would say such a thing to a person she did not find intriguing.

As the couple ascended the steps to their building, which Hannibal now saw was not an apartment at all, but a thin fronted house, he pulled on Baba's hand to encourage her to walk again. "Come. It's time."

They managed to make it just before the door shut all the way, the two had taken their sweet time getting inside, starting to laugh and get along again as if the business in the park had never happened. They even paused to kiss a little at the open door. The toe of Hannibal's shoe now stopped the closing from even happening.

Baba Yaga thought he was an interesting young man.

She was about to discover just how interesting he could be.

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