This boy's been in fights before, his tone rings with them - but Hannibal had already been assuming as much. Neph wouldn't look so enraged if he wasn't a threat. Hannibal's upper lip curls, snide but silent, teeth starting to show in a smile, and then Neph's voice cracks the air between them.
He and the boy turn as one back towards her. And then Neph threatens him, again, this time on Hannibal's own behalf.
His mouth stays open, lips falling a bit more slack, a small puzzled and wondering expression for the few beats until sound and motion start up again from the outsider. Hannibal doesn't even bother glancing back for the boy until he's been listening to him walk away for several seconds, and only then because it's nice, sometimes, to be able to watch someone retreat away from you.
Hannibal's been involved in plenty of confrontations over the years, and several of them had multiple players. It's just that everyone else has never been on his side during it. That's happened twice in his life - once with Murasaki, once with Neph. And now again with Neph, except Hannibal was the one who intervened into one of her fights.
Hannibal and Will. Will, who is watching Neph with restrained worry, forehead lined and mouth partially open with words he keeps not saying. He must see something before Hannibal does, because moments later is when Neph - changes.
She stalks away, breath puffing unevenly into the air. Hannibal follows her pacing with light footsteps, alarmed and surprised until he reconsiders what he's fairly certain he caught implied.
This likely isn't about - or not just about - the physical danger. This is about the emotional forces at work behind possible physical dangers. And with an ice-dunk of realization, Hannibal knows he wants to track this boy down. He's good at finding things, he could follow the boy like a bloodhound out of this place, sneak up behind him or even do it from a distance if he found an appropriate weapon. All Hannibal knows is he wants to kill him for how he's made Neph--
How he's made Neph feel.
Neph's here, though. Neph is feeling those things here and now.
And Hannibal realizes that, more importantly than revenge, he can't leave her. Even with Will hovering near her and then circling back towards Hannibal himself, Hannibal can't leave her alone right now.
Will's arm moves halfway towards Hannibal's hip in an aborted arc. "Can I have your copy of the map?" It's in Hannibal's back pocket, folded up. Neph had taken one too, had hidden it somewhere in her pockets and layers, but Will had shrunk away from the friendly greeter and avoided getting one. Hannibal takes it mechanically out and hands it over, Will accepting it with a nod and a bitten-off thanks, already turning away to glance over it.
Hannibal moves in just as Neph swears under her breath, vapor steaming in front of her face. It creates a film of moisture - soon to be ice - across her eyelashes and the edges of her hair where she holds it out of her face. "Neph," Hannibal says, voice-- He doesn't quite have the words for it. Braced, perhaps?
One hand comes out to press against the back of one of hers, right by her temple. "It's alright, you've won for now. He's left." Which is said with a certainty of his own - Neph might have been able to listen beyond anyone's realization that that was what she was doing, but Hannibal also can't smell him as strongly. He's gone, or at least so far out of the wind that he'd take a while getting back over to them.
Hannibal is crouched in front of her, one knee planted on the ground. Will comes seemingly out of nowhere on Neph's side, though, and sits smoothly down in one motion, jeans on cold stone. There's about half a foot of space between his leg and Neph's, and he doesn't lean into her line of sight to try to get her attention.
Instead, he presses the map between them, keeps it low to the ground and offers it up for her to look at if she'd like. "There's other entrances to and from the courtyard. The one to the right goes through an armory exhibit, there'll be a lot less people there than back through the Nepal thing that's big right now. No one'll look twice at us getting out through there."
Hannibal hears the unspoken undercurrent there - so we won't make a scene, and you can leave whenever you want to get moving again. He nods, brief eye contact with Will - who is subdued and quiet by Neph's side, barely moving - and then attempting it again with Neph.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2017-01-21 01:02 pm (UTC)He and the boy turn as one back towards her. And then Neph threatens him, again, this time on Hannibal's own behalf.
His mouth stays open, lips falling a bit more slack, a small puzzled and wondering expression for the few beats until sound and motion start up again from the outsider. Hannibal doesn't even bother glancing back for the boy until he's been listening to him walk away for several seconds, and only then because it's nice, sometimes, to be able to watch someone retreat away from you.
Hannibal's been involved in plenty of confrontations over the years, and several of them had multiple players. It's just that everyone else has never been on his side during it. That's happened twice in his life - once with Murasaki, once with Neph. And now again with Neph, except Hannibal was the one who intervened into one of her fights.
Hannibal and Will. Will, who is watching Neph with restrained worry, forehead lined and mouth partially open with words he keeps not saying. He must see something before Hannibal does, because moments later is when Neph - changes.
She stalks away, breath puffing unevenly into the air. Hannibal follows her pacing with light footsteps, alarmed and surprised until he reconsiders what he's fairly certain he caught implied.
This likely isn't about - or not just about - the physical danger. This is about the emotional forces at work behind possible physical dangers. And with an ice-dunk of realization, Hannibal knows he wants to track this boy down. He's good at finding things, he could follow the boy like a bloodhound out of this place, sneak up behind him or even do it from a distance if he found an appropriate weapon. All Hannibal knows is he wants to kill him for how he's made Neph--
How he's made Neph feel.
Neph's here, though. Neph is feeling those things here and now.
And Hannibal realizes that, more importantly than revenge, he can't leave her. Even with Will hovering near her and then circling back towards Hannibal himself, Hannibal can't leave her alone right now.
Will's arm moves halfway towards Hannibal's hip in an aborted arc. "Can I have your copy of the map?" It's in Hannibal's back pocket, folded up. Neph had taken one too, had hidden it somewhere in her pockets and layers, but Will had shrunk away from the friendly greeter and avoided getting one. Hannibal takes it mechanically out and hands it over, Will accepting it with a nod and a bitten-off thanks, already turning away to glance over it.
Hannibal moves in just as Neph swears under her breath, vapor steaming in front of her face. It creates a film of moisture - soon to be ice - across her eyelashes and the edges of her hair where she holds it out of her face. "Neph," Hannibal says, voice-- He doesn't quite have the words for it. Braced, perhaps?
One hand comes out to press against the back of one of hers, right by her temple. "It's alright, you've won for now. He's left." Which is said with a certainty of his own - Neph might have been able to listen beyond anyone's realization that that was what she was doing, but Hannibal also can't smell him as strongly. He's gone, or at least so far out of the wind that he'd take a while getting back over to them.
Hannibal is crouched in front of her, one knee planted on the ground. Will comes seemingly out of nowhere on Neph's side, though, and sits smoothly down in one motion, jeans on cold stone. There's about half a foot of space between his leg and Neph's, and he doesn't lean into her line of sight to try to get her attention.
Instead, he presses the map between them, keeps it low to the ground and offers it up for her to look at if she'd like. "There's other entrances to and from the courtyard. The one to the right goes through an armory exhibit, there'll be a lot less people there than back through the Nepal thing that's big right now. No one'll look twice at us getting out through there."
Hannibal hears the unspoken undercurrent there - so we won't make a scene, and you can leave whenever you want to get moving again. He nods, brief eye contact with Will - who is subdued and quiet by Neph's side, barely moving - and then attempting it again with Neph.