Who: Hannibal King kinghannibal & Jane Foster astrosearcher When: Friday, May 22 evening Where: Test City Bar & Grill What: Hannibal’s working when Jane comes in. Rating: Audience Discretion probably. Warnings: Drinking or at least mentions of it, language and bad flirting on Hannibal’s part. Status: Closed/Complete GDoc
Friday’s were always busy and honestly the bar seemed busier after the whole incident with the Marker, and from the random singing fits. Not that Hannibal could blame anyone. People drank to forget, and with a few new arrivals in town, he was sure that they would soon seek out the bar in an attempt to forget their own worries.
He wasn’t worried, his tips were good and he was great at chatting people up. Test City had done one thing right by placing him there since he knew his liquor and he could volunteer to help out in the event of another disaster.
Of course, breaking out into song hadn’t been so bad. In fact, he encouraged it on the days he’d been working during all of it. Well, he’d really encouraged it when they had been happy songs, and sometimes if he knew they had to get something off their chest. It was better to let it all out than to keep it inside.
He finished cleaning up a spot at the bar after a few patrons left, and he was just about to place a couple of coasters down when a pretty brunette sat down at one of the recently vacated stools. “Welcome to Test City Bar and Grill.” Hannibal greeted her loudly enough for himself to be heard over the drone of voices over the bar, and with a rather large grin. “You here to drink, eat or both?” He asked, ready to hand her one of the menus in the event that she wanted something to eat.
~*~
Jane was enjoying Test City probably a little too much. It was just so interesting, and theorizing about pocket universes and the way it all worked occupied her thoughts almost entirely. She’d been able to go over a wide variety of data from what JARVIS and Tony had been able to pull together, but she still needed to talk to some of the other locals, as it were. Test City Bar & Grill seemed like a good place to people watch, and maybe strike up a conversation or two. Plus, she could eat and drink, which fell under ‘taking care of herself’ the way that normal people could.
She took a seat at the bar, notebook in hand, and gave the handsome bartender a friendly smile. He greeted her right away so nicely that Jane wasn’t really sure he was talking to her, so she glanced around and ended up chuckling nervously when she realized he definitely was talking to her. “Oh, I um…” She knew she should eat, so she nodded toward the menu in his hand. “I should eat something, so I guess both,” Jane replied, managing a slight smile.
“I’m Jane. I just got here a week ago? Maybe?” She honestly couldn’t remember. Jane had gone almost immediately to Tony’s and Pepper’s apartment to pour over data. It had just taken over her focus almost completely. It was a good thing she could take the data with her, because Jane really didn’t want to infringe too much on Tony’s and Pepper’s life.
“It’s just so fascinating to me. I’m an astrophysicist and I spent years theorizing about the Einstein-Rosen Bridge. Uh...Worm holes, I mean. I was able to recreate it with some help, and there’s still so much work to be done with it, but this place! It’s a pocket universe, which was just a work of science fiction before I ended up here. I love knowing that it exists, and now I want to know how it works.” It was obvious that she was coming more out of her shell the more she talked about what truly excited her.
“Oh um, can I just have potato skins or something? Maybe a burger after. Or chicken?” Jane glanced through the menu, and nothing was truly jumping out at her. “Any recommendations?” she asked him.
~*~
Handing off the menu, King kept smiling as she talked. “Hannibal King, I guess you could say that I’ve been here since the start of things.” He had been there since the apparent start of it all, he wasn’t complaining. It was a nice fucking break from working all the time in life or death situations. Hell, at this point, Hannibal was starting to think about things that he’d never really thought about before.
Hannibal honestly hadn’t thought that his life would be that long considering his profession of choice, and the fact that he brawled his way into everything. Besides, since the vamps had been basically wiped out, cleanup would be easy enough back home if they ever made it back.
Placing his palms on the top of the bar top, Hannibal leaned forward to press some of his weight against the wooden top and listened to her as she spoke. Contrary to popular belief, he could listen, and knew when to be quiet.
For the most part anyway.
He chuckled, “Well welcome to crazy town. I’m glad you’re enjoying it, for me? I’m considering it an overdue vacation and just enjoying my time here while it lasts. It is interesting how we’re all here, and learning about different people and where they’re from? Some of these places are trippy as shit. I thought coming from a world that had a vampire problem was bad. I’d take that any day over dealing with zombies.” Taking a step back, King grabbed one of the order pads from underneath the counter, and flipped it open.
“The potato skins are real good. I’d definitely recommend those. Personally? I’m a fan of the Bacon Cheeseburger we make. Comes with a side of your choice of fries and pickles. The Kickin’ Chicken sandwich is good too if you like spicy food since it really does have a kick to it.” Hannibal liked the food they served there, however he preferred his burgers to be more on the rare side. Hannibal knew that wasn’t good for him, but he craved it all the same.
He’d already scribbled down the potato skins order, making a note that it should be sent out first while he waited to see what else she might want. “Oh,” he pulled out a smaller menu that listed out their special drinks that they made, “if you’re looking for something alcoholic, here are some of the drinks we make special here.”
~*~
Hannibal King was an interesting name. She hoped he hadn’t been named after Hannibal Lector, but Hannibal from The A-Team maybe, or General Hannibal from the Second Punic War. It was more likely some kind of pop-culture reference though. Probably. Jane didn’t mention it though, not wanting to see weird. Darcy had always been there to help her navigate social customs. Science was a lot different, as were fellow scientists and researchers. Regular people were just odd.
Hannibal seemed nice though, and even if it was his job, Jane still appreciated it. And made it more interesting, too! “Vampires? You don’t...happen to know how that works, do you? I mean, I know what happens in books, but even that changes from author to author. How does the process work where you’re from? And who do you know that had zombies where they’re from? I want to talk to them, too.” There was so much data, right at her fingertips. Jane had half a mind to try to meet everyone, just to gather all the information she could. If JARVIS had been able to access data archived in a different pocket universe, then surely the chances of him still being able to access that data once they returned home was probably good. Reasonably good. Enough for her to give him as much data as possible to record for more research once she got home.
“Hmm. I don’t really like spicy. I think I’ll go with the Bacon Cheeseburger, just no pickles. Unless you want my pickles. Then I can get them and you can have them. Um. Do you have sangria? A red one. I like red wine better than white, especially with beef. That’s the rule of thumb, right? White with fish, red with beef, and chicken can go with both?” Jane wasn’t 100% sure of the rules, but she was pretty sure that was right. “Tequila and I still aren’t friends after a bad night in college. I try not to drink when I’m in the middle of research, but a glass of wine won’t hurt.”
~*~
A frown pulled down the corners of Hannibal’s mouth when she asked if he knew how vamprism worked in his world. He knew all too well how it worked. Unconsciously he reached up to press his fingers against the bite marks on his neck, “There’s one guy and lady I know of that come from a place like that. Alice and Carlos, I’m sure you’ll be able to find them easily enough.” He wasn’t sure about any of the others that had been brought here, but he figured that there were more. “And yeah, I know first hand how being turned works. It’s not like the books, they don’t drain you of your blood unless they are truly going to kill you and they don’t have to give you any of their blood. All they do is bite you, and introduce the virus into your system. The change takes a couple of days, it’s painful and once you’re on the other side of it? You’ll do anything for that first taste of blood.”
He swallowed hard, and if he thought about it long enough, he could still remember the taste of blood as it ran hot down his throat. “We have a cure, not many choose to take it, but it saved my life. And no, I’m not willing to give any of my blood so you can run tests on it. That’s top secret information.” Sommerfield had been a genius, and it was unfortunate that she’d been killed. At least back home they’d had all of her research stored on various devices in the event that it was needed again. Hannibal wasn’t even going to mention Blade, the only known Daywalker among vampire kind. Blade’s case was rather special, and the serum that Sommerfield had also made for him was the only thing that had kept him in check.
God help them if Blade ever went rogue. They’d all be fucked ten ways from Sunday.
Quickly Hannibal scribbled down the rest of her order, and shook his head with a light laugh. “Nah, I’m good. I’m not too keen on pickles either.” Sour foods often times tasted too sour for him. Nodding, he took the menus back. “This is going to sound horrible, but I’m not too sure about wine since I don’t drink it. I do know that we do have a nice sangria that you should like.” Hannibal eyed her for a few moments, “I’m sure that was an interesting experience. Tequila tends to make people do things they regret. I’ll be right back with your wine.” He moved away from the bar, and went to turn in her ticket, reminding the chef that the skins would need to come out first before he pulled the cork on a bottle of red.
While it breathed, Hannibal took care of a few customers and then finally poured her wine. “Alright,” he spoke as he brought it back over to her, “here you go. Sorry for the wait, we didn’t have a bottle open. Is there anything else I can get you?”
~*~
Jane made a mental note to reach out to Alice and Carlos, more than comfortable with simply posting on the network to see if they’d respond to her willingly. If not, she still had plenty of research to work with. Being bored in Test City wasn’t something she foresaw happening.
The idea that vamprism was a virus was an interesting one, though it was obvious that Hannibal had, at some point, been a vampire. That was utterly fascinating, but he beat her to the punch by forbidding any kind of testing or research. Lame. Jane shrugged though, and replied, “It’s fine. I have more than enough to get started. Figuring out how this pocket universe works is the priority.” There were plenty of people who were willing to help her with her research, so there wasn’t any need for her to bother someone who clearly wasn’t interested in talking about it.
“That doesn’t sound horrible. Not everyone drinks everything, or likes the same things,” she replied, perfectly fine with the fact that he wasn’t sure about the wine. “Sangria’s better anyway. Just make sure it’s red,” Jane added with a smile. White wine tasted funny to her, for some reason. “Thanks!” She turned her attention back to her notebook, where she was trying to keep track of all the people she was meeting and talking to. Jane loved JARVIS’ capabilities, she really did, but she worked better when she’d written everything out at least once. If JARVIS could retain the information from pocket universe to pocket universe, Jane would go over every last note and theory with him each night. Just in case.
Hannibal came back with her drink and Jane smiled in thanks. “No problem. I’m good,” she promised. “Just going over some of my notes. It’s a lot. This place is full of all kinds of knowledge. I hope I learn as much as I can while I’m here.” She also hoped she stayed for as long as the people she knew did, but that was just going to be whatever it would be, unless she could figure out the rules that governed Test City. “Anyway, I’ll be okay with just my notebook. Just make sure I look at you when the potato skins come out, otherwise I might not notice them.” Embarrassing, but true. And she was trying to get better at eating.
~*~
Laughing, Hannibal gave a small nod of his head. "I'm glad you'll have enough." Hannibal wasn't the type to be experimented on. Danica had done enough of that, and he'd done enough of it on himself while he'd been a vamp. He'd seen just how many days he could manage without feeding, and the end result? Well, it hadn't been pretty.
It was what it was, and there was no changing the past even if he might've regretted it. Hannibal knew better than anyone that there was no amount of wishes and wants that could change anything.
He returned her smile, and gave a short nod of his head. "I hope that you can too, and if I were you, I'd settle in for the long haul. I sincerely doubt any of us will be leaving any time soon." Of course, that was just Hannibal's personal opinion, and the way he saw it? It wouldn't be too bad of a thing. He was concerned about Abigail getting a little stir crazy, but he could help with that in some respects.
In others? Probably not, there wasn't a way he could bring things in for her to hunt, but he was pretty certain that they wouldn't lack for that in this place.
"Will do, and if you need me, yell. I'll come running." Or at least he'd try to. Hannibal moved away, grabbing a couple more beers for some extremely happy guys down the bar. He kept doing his duties until he heard the chef yell that Jane's order was up. Grabbing the warm plate, Hannibal made his way back to her and sat it down in front of her, making sure to catch her eye before giving another nod of his head. "Enjoy, I'll be back with your burger in a bit." Giving Jane a wink, Hannibal turned away, hopefully she would find the answers she was looking for, Hannibal didn't wish any ill will against anyone, especially those that were extremely passionate about their pursuits.
Who knew though? Time would tell if they were able to leave here, or if they'd ever get any answers. As it was, Hannibal was taking things and orders one day at a time.