mogget_cat | OOM: New Orleans with Hannibal and Jim

An optimist might say the day upon the other side of the door is balmy, but only because it's a little too early in the afternoon for it to be called sultry.

And only a little too early. Already halfway down its trek across the sky, the sun's great heat is partially mitigated by the sea-scented breeze off the Gulf and the shade of decorated balconies. Groups of people walk along Bourbon Street in front of the small alleyway in which the door from Milliways appears. The alley entrance is somewhat sheltered from the street by a fire-escape so none notice three dapper gentlemen arriving from nowhere. Faint conversations and laughter and the mingling strains of lively music reach them, and the varied smells of a port city known for its cuisine.

Yrael's green eyes glance up at the roof-edges for a moment as they enter, a half-smile on his face, before he turns to his guests. "Welcome to New Orleans."

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'...so what you're saying is, the bar used to be a lot more fun.'

He's been coming for what feels like ages now, and not a single person has been murdered! It's unfair, really.

"It was. You would have liked Urquhart," Hannibal says. "He was a medieval hitman and had been a crusader; he knew some excellent old oriental recipes, spicy without New World ingredients like chilis."

"And he was always so generous with any fish he caught," murmurs the not'cat into his wine.

"The bar's security force didn't make itself nearly as much of a nuisance back then. It was much less... perceptive, then, with arrests made based on personal opinion and whether or not the security member saw anything happen," Yrael says. Essentially, if you were clever enough to not get caught, you got away with it. "The worst I ever encountered was when a security member had the audacity to try and arrest me for being someone's suicide-weapon-of-choice."

Security may have known enough not to hire him when he tried to apply for a position, but not much beyond that, in his opinion. Nothing like hiring someone who cares nothing for justice or the safety of others to your security force.

Jim hears easy to manipulate re: Security, and chuckles into his wine.

'You have to admit, having X around is fun though.'

He likes X! The fact that she'll be so difficult to beat is only a mark in her favour as far as he's concerned.

'But I'm very interested to know who'd try and get you to kill then, Yrael. And Hannibal, do you judge everyone's character on how much they like to cook?'

He had such high hopes for this friendship too! Maybe. Ish.

"I do not," Hannibal says. "It was yet another thing Angus Urquhart and I had in common."

"The one who apparently tried to kill himself using me was just a boy, Riku, who had gotten himself possessed by a power greater than himself. The one possessing him was mildly interesting, his ambitions grandiose, but he had little care for keeping the fragile mortal form he wore free of harm," Yrael replies. "It is not my concern if the boy chose to seek me out in my true form, to try and provoke and then attack me for dealing cordially with the one possessing him. My warnings that righteous anger was insufficiently flame-retardant went unheeded, and Security saw it as 'violence by neglect' or some other such nonsense."

Yrael sips his wine. "He was a handy diversion from time to time and occasionally made himself useful, but others from the same sheaf of worlds were much more interesting. I would have liked to learn more about the creatures that could devour a world's heart."

And he does, Yrael would admit, miss Axel.

'I presume he didn't die?'

Riku. He sounds stupid. Jim shifts restlessly in his seat, and finishes his glass of wine.

"Sheaf of worlds," Hannibal muses. "I think I have heard of them. Urquhart mentioned one that made thousands of muffins the day they regained their heart?"

"He didn't die, no, but he was rendered blind for a time," Yrael replies, touching his napkin to the corners of his mouth after he finishes his oysters. "And perhaps rendered a little more cautious."

"The Nobodies, yes. Most of those who came to Milliways regained their hearts, or acquired new ones. I did hear that one of their number had made large quantities of muffins after regaining their heart, for then they could once more find joy in it. The Nobodies came to Milliways from a world consisting of a grouping of different worlds, each distinct and separate but in the same neighborhood, so to speak, and they had ways of traversing between them."

Thus a sheaf of worlds. Like a gathering of individual wheat stalks.

'Regained their hearts?'

Whatever that is, it sounds even more stupid.

"From what Urquhart told me," Hannibal says, "that sheaf of worlds took metaphors very, very literally. Hence, loss of heart."

"Quite literal darkness could consume the literal and metaphorical hearts of people and worlds. For most, this would mean instant death and destruction. The minuscule percentage of a world's population with extraordinarily strong will and minds may survive as Nobodies, beings without hearts. From then on they would have to continuously struggle against being unraveled into nothing," Yrael explains. It feels very much like how utilizing Free Magic works, to him. It will destroy you eventually, but the stronger your mind is, your will, the longer you will last, and the greater things you might achieve with it.

"Generally, they were rendered nearly mindless by the loss, as well, though thirteen Nobodies were of such a strength of will as to keep their human forms and names and minds. Some of these Nobodies found their way to Milliways, and it is of them we speak."

'Why-' he says carefully, picking his glass up, '-is literally every other world more interesting than my own?'

That place sounds interesting.

"Greener grass syndrome?" Hannibal suggests, finishing his last oyster. "The familiar can seems boring, until one observes a medieval man's reaction to, say, motorbikes."

Edited Date: 2016-08-27 07:54 pm (UTC)

"Familiarity breeds contempt, even for what once seemed wonderous. Even mundane, predictable, modern-day Earth can be quite fascinating if it is not what you are used to," Yrael remarks. "Other worlds work in new, unexpected ways, offering challenges one's own world doesn't."

Yrael sips his wine, pausing for the short length of time it takes for a server to come in and offer to refill their glasses and take away their empty plates.

As the door closes quietly behind them, he asks. "Have you ever considered finding another world for yourself?"

Jim gives Hannibal a look that says - in a friendly enough way - don't patronise me, and turns his head to Yrael.

'No. Not so far, at least.'

Other worlds do not have Sherlock Holmes on them.

'It's not important. Things are in hand.'

"I try to seek the best of any world," Hannibal says, conciliatory. "As we have found here."

Yrael smiles slightly. "The door always opens eventually."

And doors can usually admit more than one person at a time, if Jim is concerned about other worlds not having a Sherlock Holmes.

"All too often one must wade through the worst, or at least the uninteresting, before finding the best." True with worlds, youtube videos, and people. "I was fortunate, with Milliways and New Orleans, to find places that fit me so well."

'It's never just the place that's the problem,' he says in a bored tone, because he would expect these two to understand that, at least on some level. But he's spoken about it with Hannibal before, how the doctor is never bored and why, and Yrael...well, he's been alive so long, and will continue so long, none of these problems are relevant.

But, whatever. None of them came here to discuss how much people sicken him.

'But things will get interesting soon enough.'

For a time, and then he'll be too dead to worry about other worlds, so fine, it's all fine.

"Patience often pays off that way," Hannibal agrees, heartfelt.

"I do hope your interesting times are to your satisfaction," Yrael remarks quite sincerely. It doesn't sound like the man will get a second shot at making it so.

But that is all he says, for the moment, because the door to the kitchens is opening again, and servers are returning with their main courses: Yrael's pompano, grilled and served with local (but extraneous, for Yrael's purposes) vegetation; Jim's traditional New Orleans jambalaya full of shrimp, crayfish, and anduille sausage, with cajun-spiced rice and freshly-baked, crusty bread; and Hannibal's grilled pancetta-wrapped mullet, served with blood oranges, capers, and local heirloom tomatoes. Each plate is accompanied by a smaller plate, upon which are light salads of roasted beets of deep red, orange, and golden yellow, and roasted heirloom carrots of orange, purple, yellow, and white, on a bed of baby greens. The greens have been drizzled with a lightly-tart muscadine vinaigrette, and each plate is accented with a thin slice of fried green tomato. The cool salad is meant to provide a nice counterpoint to the fragrantly-steaming hot dishes.

Edited Date: 2016-08-30 09:38 pm (UTC)

Maybe he was wrong to take an instant dislike to the chef.

...nah. Food still looks good though, even to Jim's uncaring eye. A hell of a lot better than oysters. He thanks the wait staff politely, surveys the feast and gives a nod. Yep. Decent.

Hannibal just looks at his food for a moment, then closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

Yrael thanks the person who provides his plates, smiling politely. The waitstaff unobtrusively refill the diners' wine glasses, make sure they are not left wanting for anything, then quietly remove themselves from the room.

New Orleans is known for the joy its people take in the quality of their food, the pride they take in their hospitality and generosity. Yrael has had a number of years to find the best the city has to offer, and Restaurant August does not disappoint. As host, Yrael lifts his wineglass to Jim and Hannibal, inclining his head slightly. "Enjoy, my friends."

Jim watches Hannibal with a smile on his face, then lifts his glass and tilts it towards the other two. Friends? Well, maybe.

'Good times.'

Fun times, hopefully.