"A frightened child. And what would you have done then, to 'take care of it if need be', with her in the room still?" Hannibal's voice has the same weightless heaviness to it that Ruth's does, and he looks absolutely unrepentant about having his actions pointed out.
But he does look over to Argus at his attempts to mediate. Hannibal's attitude doesn't stem from anger - not quite - so much as the wounded pride that comes from not being certain you're the largest predator in the room, after a lifetime of having that up your sleeve. He's dealt with Mages and mutants in the past with far more destructive physical powers than his, but he's always known what hand the other person held. Sword-tongued are more secretive, in that nothing Hannibal has read about them was by them. Or even approaching what you might call 'objective'. All of them - every single one - had been a guidebook on recognizing them to kill them, or simply decrying their heretical nature.
It's enough to justify the paranoia involved in trying to strangle him in his own kitchen, he'd admit - if their conversation was a little less snippy. As it is, he seems a good deal more relaxed than he has so far in their conversation, unrelenting attitude or not. These new pieces in the puzzle explain the oddities in their behavior, and their clear concern for Patricia makes him think they might be slightly less likely to orphan her a second time. Perhaps.
At the very least, he assumes they'd adopt her if they did, and in his possibly-very-twisted mindset, that's a positive sign.
Hannibal twitches an almost-smile of his own at Argus's, at least. Message received, although he wonders when - not 'if', surely he can take this for granted - they'll get around to discussing what his augmentation type is, since he clearly doesn't match his adoptive daughter and present company.
He's never shared that with non-family. He's not...entirely sure about his feelings on disclosing it. His knee jerk reaction is to think he never would. But if these people are going to be a permanent fixture...
He's getting ahead of himself. "Allomancer," he repeats. "It's not as dramatic. But I'm glad to have a more appropriate term." Is said with clear good humor, and enough of an inclination of his head and an apologetic tone that it...very well might be intended as an apology. It probably is. Definitely is.
And then Patricia becomes everyone's distraction, and Hannibal focuses on that. While her head is down, however, Hannibal's snaps up to regard Ruth when she attempts to soothe her. He finally leans across the table, voice low, and says with the first notes of anything approaching urgency he's shown so far: "I appreciate it, believe me, but please do not try to soothe her with the reality that it may have turned out worse. It already did, before." Which is, hopefully, said with enough weight to get his message quickly across.
Hannibal then sits back upright and pushes smoothly up from his chair. Danae crowding him or not, he moves past Argus, chair in tow, and methodically re-seats himself, close enough to Patricia's chair that the polished wood gives a small squeak. Moving slowly enough not to be rushing her, he folds in around her. His right upper arm circles her shoulders easily, hand tucking against one of her own, but he leaves her otherwise free to wriggle as she may choose.
"Many things are dangerous, if you don't know how to use them properly." Hannibal's voice comes from only about a foot above Triss's head. He barely checks in on the other adults in the room, only ensuring that he knows where each of them is.
They've talked about this angle of Triss's powers before. Shushing her and telling her 'it's alright, you're not dangerous' is too easy for her to (rightfully) dismiss - and Hannibal has promised her he won't tell 'those white lies adults always have'. He looks at the pragmatic pieces of what is happening to her, and picks them out to polish down into child-sized parts. "That's what these people wanted to see you for. They can teach you what I cannot, Triss. I would do it if I could." Another subject they've talked about, especially after the adoption. Hannibal's powers are different, different enough that even if Triss was willing to learn, there's very little he could teach.
"Learning about it will teach you to control it. Then you won't be dangerous unless you wanted to be."
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2016-06-08 02:40 am (UTC)But he does look over to Argus at his attempts to mediate. Hannibal's attitude doesn't stem from anger - not quite - so much as the wounded pride that comes from not being certain you're the largest predator in the room, after a lifetime of having that up your sleeve. He's dealt with Mages and mutants in the past with far more destructive physical powers than his, but he's always known what hand the other person held. Sword-tongued are more secretive, in that nothing Hannibal has read about them was by them. Or even approaching what you might call 'objective'. All of them - every single one - had been a guidebook on recognizing them to kill them, or simply decrying their heretical nature.
It's enough to justify the paranoia involved in trying to strangle him in his own kitchen, he'd admit - if their conversation was a little less snippy. As it is, he seems a good deal more relaxed than he has so far in their conversation, unrelenting attitude or not. These new pieces in the puzzle explain the oddities in their behavior, and their clear concern for Patricia makes him think they might be slightly less likely to orphan her a second time. Perhaps.
At the very least, he assumes they'd adopt her if they did, and in his possibly-very-twisted mindset, that's a positive sign.
Hannibal twitches an almost-smile of his own at Argus's, at least. Message received, although he wonders when - not 'if', surely he can take this for granted - they'll get around to discussing what his augmentation type is, since he clearly doesn't match his adoptive daughter and present company.
He's never shared that with non-family. He's not...entirely sure about his feelings on disclosing it. His knee jerk reaction is to think he never would. But if these people are going to be a permanent fixture...
He's getting ahead of himself. "Allomancer," he repeats. "It's not as dramatic. But I'm glad to have a more appropriate term." Is said with clear good humor, and enough of an inclination of his head and an apologetic tone that it...very well might be intended as an apology. It probably is. Definitely is.
And then Patricia becomes everyone's distraction, and Hannibal focuses on that. While her head is down, however, Hannibal's snaps up to regard Ruth when she attempts to soothe her. He finally leans across the table, voice low, and says with the first notes of anything approaching urgency he's shown so far: "I appreciate it, believe me, but please do not try to soothe her with the reality that it may have turned out worse. It already did, before." Which is, hopefully, said with enough weight to get his message quickly across.
Hannibal then sits back upright and pushes smoothly up from his chair. Danae crowding him or not, he moves past Argus, chair in tow, and methodically re-seats himself, close enough to Patricia's chair that the polished wood gives a small squeak. Moving slowly enough not to be rushing her, he folds in around her. His right upper arm circles her shoulders easily, hand tucking against one of her own, but he leaves her otherwise free to wriggle as she may choose.
"Many things are dangerous, if you don't know how to use them properly." Hannibal's voice comes from only about a foot above Triss's head. He barely checks in on the other adults in the room, only ensuring that he knows where each of them is.
They've talked about this angle of Triss's powers before. Shushing her and telling her 'it's alright, you're not dangerous' is too easy for her to (rightfully) dismiss - and Hannibal has promised her he won't tell 'those white lies adults always have'. He looks at the pragmatic pieces of what is happening to her, and picks them out to polish down into child-sized parts. "That's what these people wanted to see you for. They can teach you what I cannot, Triss. I would do it if I could." Another subject they've talked about, especially after the adoption. Hannibal's powers are different, different enough that even if Triss was willing to learn, there's very little he could teach.
"Learning about it will teach you to control it. Then you won't be dangerous unless you wanted to be."