024 - Himalayan Blackberry

[deadly_ned]

I didn't make it home in time for Halloween. A...twenty-year-old tradition. Broken just like that.

I don't know if that's a sign to move on or a sign I've been here too long or not a sign at all, just an odd and unfortunate coincidence.



[Private to Alpha]

Checking in.

[Private to Dean]

I'm going to go...pick up Digby and then. Come to your room.

I'm death-tolling. For the first time. I'm death-tolling.

[Spam to Hannibal]

[Though lethargic and in a significant amount of pain, the Piemaker still struggles to Hannibal Lecter's door with alarming resolve, intent on reclaiming his dog. He holds the doorframe with one hand, pale and panting, before giving a quiet knock on the door]

Comments

[Spam]

[youwill]

[He just arches an eyebrow.

Are you serious Ned.

That was a joke, right.

Right.]

[Spam]

[deadly_ned]

I'm just.


Trying to compromise.



But I figured you weren't one for substitutions.

[Spam]

[youwill]

I'm very particular about what I put into my body.

[Spam]

[deadly_ned]

Do livers have low cholesterol?

I'm not being facetious. I just don't normally cook with meat.

For. Obvious reasons.

[Spam]

[youwill]

Quite high, in fact. Most beef is. [But at least everything he eats is organic.]

[Spam]

[deadly_ned]

Did I ever make you pie? I can't. Honestly remember.

[Spam]

[youwill]

I don't believe so. [He let's the question hang unasked.]

[Spam]

[deadly_ned]

[It's an olive branch being extended. Hannibal's done horrible, terrible things - things that the Piemaker struggles with daily. He's plagued by nightmares and an inability to pick up a pastry cutter again without flashing back to the week spent in the man's company.

But he knows his job. The Piemaker is a warden. He needs to help an inmate - all inmates - leave the Barge and continue their lives uninterrupted. He can't spend time constantly hating Hannibal for what he's done. It wouldn't solve anything, and it would make the pacifist pastry chef feel even worse.

So he's spotted the one thing they both truly love and have in common. It could mean the end of nightmares for the Piemaker, and a chance for redemption for Hannibal.

He still loathes what the man's done to him. But he's struggling, now, to not loathe the man himself. If he's here, there's good in him; the Piemaker will just have to clutch onto that idea for all it's worth.]


Would you eat pie?

If I made it again.

[Spam]

[youwill]

[Curious. Unexpected, and curious. Ned is opening himself to be manipulated once again.]

I would, should you wish me to partake.

[Spam]

[deadly_ned]

[It's a second chance. This is a man who brings the dead back to life; the Piemaker is a fervent believer in second chances.

He looks down at Digby, giving an absent nod with his chin drifting towards his chest]

Thank you for looking after Digby.

We'll be. Going now.

[Spam]

[youwill]

[It's not the second chance Hannibal is interested. He's curious if there will be a third or fourth. He wonders how predictable Ned will be.

He inclines his head.]

You are quite welcome. Take care of yourself.

[Spam]

[deadly_ned]

[Giving a nod back, the Piemaker sets his hand on the wall and uses it as a bolster to make his way down to Dean Winchester's room.

Digby, ever faithful, trots beside his master all the way down]