snowblindrpg | As Sharp as Knives

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As Sharp as Knives

Characters: Gregory House, Ecks, Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Jared Rhys, James Wilson
Location: Building 327 and Building 326/Maintenance Tunnels/Building 316
Date: Day 311
Summary: House, Hannibal, Will, and Ecks meet up with Wilson and Rhys while conducting a few specialized searches.
Warnings: Typical House and Hannibal-related warnings, otherwise will add as they come up

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{Rhys shrugs, shoulders that are starting to narrow from the rough living of arctic survival. He's not a thin man, but he's going to be eventually if he stays here.]

Keeping the mind busy is a different story. I think you get a pass on that.

[He pauses.]

Just figured I'd meet you face to face while I had the chance. And see if you needed any food or drinks, since me and Wilson stocked up on our way through. I brought a couple extra days' worth for anyone who might need.

Don't be so quick. [ Will countered, his voice surprisingly amused. Granted, it was a dry sort of amusement, self directed as well, but amused nonetheless. ] I'm fairly certain their are doctors' notes and official testimony that speaks specifically to my mental instability.

It's well documented. [ By Hannibal and others. People Will had considered friends at one point.

As for the offer, it's on the tip of Will's tongue to politely refuse, but such an action would be foolish, so he stopped scanning the walls and walked over towards Rhys. ]

Do you happen to have [ the words he was going for were any granola bars. The words that came out of his mouth were... ] a tail?

You probably aren't alone, at least? Plenty of crazy to go around here. Just pick a flavor.

[For just a moment, there's the urge to really yank Will's chain...but he had gotten along fine with the man when they'd talked before. No sense to be cruel just because he's in a sullen mood.

So in response, Rhys just brings his tail around to wave the heart-shaped tip at Will.]

[ Will blinks at the heart-shaped tip and then looks up and away, as if he's looking inward rather than at anything actually in his field of vision. After a moment, he nods a little jerkily, as if to say yep, right ... this is my life.

Turning away, he looks at the walls but inwardly Will tumbles back to conversations had with Hannibal about God and the nature of God, demons ... religion. It feels like a lifetime ago, beyond a lifetime ago and now here he was standing in front of ... what? Proof of a demon?

Did demons really have spade shaped tails, like the illustrations in books and art?

'Does God gloat?'
'Often.'

Exhaling a deep breath, Will reached up and scrubbed his hand across his face a few times. There was a familiarity to the gesture that suggested he spent a lot of time trying to physically scrub away the evidence of his eyes. ]

Sometimes it's very hard not to let go and accept this as a Hell of my own making. [ Will muttered from behind his hand. ] I was damned before I threw us off that cliff, and if I wasn't ... [ Hand still over his face, Will gave a strained little chuckle that sounded like brittle, broken glass. ] I doubled down in that instance.

[Rhys leans against the wall, watching the other man quietly.]

I think that's the only Hell I was ever able to believe in. That it was somehow a construct of our own heads, our own dreams. A hole we fall into, because we think we deserve it, and that becomes our reality.

[It's philosophy time now, right?

The tail lashes slowly, finally curling back behind Rhys to snuggle behind one of his legs for the body warmth. He crosses his arms over his chest, trying to be nonchalant but not quite making it.]

But if there had to be a Hell? I'd vote for this place.

[He lets the silence linger for a moment.]

You went off a cliff?

My reality has always been suspect. [ Will said from behind his hand.

He stood there for a moment, gathering himself, before taking a deep breath and lowering his hand to look at Rhys. ]

Threw myself off a cliff, actually. Myself and my [ he paused trying to think of what word to use to describe Hannibal. There was no real singular word that summed up his relationship with the other man and he gave his head a small shake, not even trying. ] It's complicated and not important.

Point being, this could easily be Hell.

[Well. That's...something.]

Reality was pretty fucked in my world, too, if that makes you feel any better. I could sense emotions and see ghosts.

So you're dead in your world, then?

[ Wrapping his arms around himself, Will gave a small shrug. ]

I honestly don't know. The cliff I threw us over stood over the ocean, so it is theoretically possible that we could survive hitting the water, but I came here while falling so ... [ Another shrug.

As for the offer of a connection that Rhys shared, Will appeared to consider it for a moment, before he gave a small duck of his head. ]

What you do is tied to ... the supernatural though, yes?

[Rhys ponders that. Still a hell of a way to go. Not a risk you take expecting it to come out in your favor, is it?]

Yeah. It is. But you'd be surprised how much it shows you about plain old humans, too.

Being able to see inside. And how much we have in common with the monsters.

[He stops, and laughs quietly, shaking his head. Even without his empathic powers, this feels wrong. Awkward, unwanted.]

Fuck. You didn't come down here for company. Sorry. If you want some convenience store junk food before you go, just come find me? I've got plenty. Didn't mean to poke around.

[ Will arched an eyebrow and then offered Rhys a wan smile. ]

I wouldn't ask, if I wasn't genuinely curious, Rhys. I'm not like that, too socially awkward for the fine art of small talk.

[ Leaning his shoulders back against the wall, he motioned towards the wall across from him, as if he were inviting Rhys to take a seat on a nice chair, rather than the hard floor. ]

Which are you? If you don't mind my asking? Plain old human, I think not but not exactly one of the monsters either?

[Rhys smirks. But Will offered something raw and painful to him and as awkward as it is, Rhys doesn't really want to be alone right now. He slides down against the wall.]

The tail is someone here in Snowhell thinking they're being funny. Not part of the original package.

But no. I'm not human. I guess you'd probably call me a witch, or a mage. It takes supernatural blood to use magic in my world...usually far back in the bloodline, but sometimes as strong as half blood. All kinds of things like to get it on with humans, make little half-monster kids.

[The smile is cold and flat. It's clearly not a happy, fuzzy foundling story.]

[ It wasn't difficult for Will to take Rhys' words and rearrange them to fit his own reality. After all, couldn't it be said -in a way- that Abigail was one such half-monster? Her all too vulnerable human mother and the monster who was her father, leaving her with a foot in both worlds.

He recognized that Rhys was being more literal, and he could see from the man's expression that this was a touchy subject. Will had no reason to press Rhys about it, so he didn't offer up his own analogy. ]

Are you skillful, at what you do, back home? [ He'd almost asked "are you a good witch or a bad witch" but caught himself sounding like Judy Garland in time to rephrase his question. ]

[It would be a tough wisdom to answer, if Will were to ask it. Even the question he does ask is fairly loaded, but it's easy enough to answer, at least.]

Yeah, I was very good. I hunted other mages that went bad. Ghosts. Monsters that found a way to cross over into our world. Not to brag, believe me. Just... If you aren't good, then something else tends to see you as easy prey. You either learn to hide, or you get strong enough to make anything think twice about taking a bite out of you.

For me, my powers wouldn't let me hide, so it was in for a penny, in for a whole fucking ton.

[ Will listened, quietly as Rhys spoke and at the end his lips twitched but didn't make their way into a full fledged smile.

What the man was saying all sounded painfully familiar. ]

Hard to catch predators when they look upon you as prey. [ He agreed. ] Sounds like you did what you had to in order to survive.

[As nice a guy, and as easygoing as Rhys is, the picture is probably starting to become clear: there's an edge there, hard and sharp and cunning.

A nice guy, but like most guys who've been to prison, not afraid to get dirty and get the job done. It's something worth keeping in mind.

But so far, he likes Will well enough, and he just smiles and shakes his head, the rueful smile of necessity.]

It's funny, though. In some ways, it wasn't so different from the real world, you know? Except the rapists use sleep or charm spells instead of roofies.

But yeah. It was a lot more...immediate. How's it go, "nature red of tooth and claw"? Different rules. Harder rules.

[ If it ever came up in conversation, Will could commiserate that much of the worst of what he learned to survive, he learned while in the BHCI. ]

Harder rules. That's a good description for it. [ He agreed, for now. ]

[Rhys shrugs again, gaze a little distant.]

Guess we can't knock it. Whatever comes in handy here, right?

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As Sharp as Knives

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cw mention of suicide

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cw mention of suicide

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cw: mention of sexual assault

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