fandomhigh | Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

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!event: welcome picnic

Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

There were tables and chairs set up all around the lawn. Some were in the sun, where folks could soak up that precious vitamin D, and some were in the shade where folks could stay cool.

All of the tables had at least a little glitter on them though. It was a welcoming gesture to get glitter someplace you didn't know glitter could go!

[OCD is up! This is the picnic post for general mingling. Roommates, fake siblings and teachers are all here. Since it's outside, the picnic is open to all students, teachers, and townies!]

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//I appreciate it,// Jono replied, before proceeding to stand there, awkwardly bleeding.

Oops.

//Never a dull moment on welcome picnic day.//

At least he hadn't seen any new X-men so far.

This is the first one I've seen bleeding at, Hannibal thought back, slightly exasperated. And it rather figured it would be Jono. He headed up to his office and got his medical kit, then grabbed a ceramic saucer from under one of his plants and detoured to the restroom to wash and fill it.

//Well, that's me,// Jono replied, casually just sort of standing around with his back to the crowd, quietly bleeding and keeping his senses open in case Nanika decided to come out to play again. //Keeping things new and fresh whenever I can.//

By bleeding, apparently? Oops.

"And you know I'm always pleased for new experiences," Hannibal answered as he came back out. Which did not include getting grass stains on his suit, so he sat on the stone stoop. "Give me your hand."

Jono nodded and sat down on the stoop beside him, holding out his hand. The damage had been done tidily, at least. That was a bonus about all of this.

//I can't imagine this was quite what you had in mind, though.//

Edited 2015-05-02 22:00 (UTC)

"I generally prefer those I care about not be in pain, yes," Hannibal answered. He took a gauze pad from the kit and started gently washing the blood from Jono's hand.

//I've felt much worse,// Jono offered. Though fingers, being what they were, were sensitive. He was still feeling rather plenty, all the same. //This could've been worse. Believe it or not, this was the merciful option.//

Jono wasn't entirely certain how many lives three fingernails worth of selfish wishing equated to, but he really didn't want to find out, either.

Hannibal patted his hand dry and carefully applied a bit of antiseptic and analgesic cream. "Perhaps you had better explain."

//It's... complicated. It's a difficult explanation,// Jono replied, after a moment's pause. //What's most important is that she's a child. Whatever her physical age might be, she's just... so... bloody young. And there's another one inside of her, that comes out from time to time. Young as well, but... bigger. More powerful. It wasn't the first one who did this, and I can't hold it against the second any more than I'd hold it against a bird for flying or a fish for swimming.//

He glanced up at Hannibal as he spoke. Watching his face. Not sure how much was his right to say. Not sure if it was grossly irresponsible for him to not say more.

"You don't blame a snake for its venom," Hannibal added a bit wryly. "So, two children in the same body. One of them very powerful. Why did they hurt you?" He couldn't imagine Jono had done anything intentionally, but if she'd been scared of him, perhaps...

Oddly enough, that wasn't even remotely the case.

//Would you believe me if I said I'd won the lottery and didn't even know it?//

That was a fairly accurate assessment. And a horrible analogy. Thinking like that would get people killed. Literally. And that was a point that he was going to keep very dear to his heart.

Hannibal gave Jono an exasperated look. "It would depend upon what sort of lottery. Would it help you to tell me if I promise it goes no further unless it should need to?"

//Very much so,// Jono agreed, and now his voice was between the two of them alone. He didn't figure Alluka needed this all over the radio on her second day here. //It's exactly the sort of lottery that would be used for all of the wrong reasons, without fail. And there's a cost. There always is. The next person to come along pays the price for the prize of the person that came before, whether or not they want to.//

"So," Hannibal thought as he carefully wrapped Jono's fingers, "she gives gifts to lucky people, and extracts the price from the next person? What sorts of gifts, and what happens if the price is too high?"

//Wishes,// Jono replied, brow furrowing. //She grants a wish. One wish, in turn for three requests. And the wish... can be anything. Literally anything. The requests to follow reflect what the wish was. Whoever wished before I came along was apparently a selfish bastard.//

He furrowed his brow at his hand. Guitar was going to be... fun... now. Yes.

Fuck.

//All I wished for was to understand. The next person to meet that Nanika aspect will likely fare better than I did.//

Hannibal hummed thoughtfully. "Fortunately most of those here are properly wary of wishes, although if it should happen accidentally - that would count?" he asked to clarify.

Jono winced.

//There's the trouble. There's... it's not a choice people have. She asks for payment, and you have to pay. Pay or you're dead. You, and the people you've spent the most time with during your lifetime, until the balance for the wish that came before is settled. And apparently, wherever she came from, life is a very cheap thing.//

He shrugged a bit.

//It's a sort of trap, almost. Once you're in, the only way to go is forward. And the only way out again is to make a wish.//

Hannibal frowned and taped up the last finger. "My question was more to do with whether someone saying 'I wish this thing would work' around her would count as a wish if they didn't have that intention. But do you have to make another wish, once you've paid?"

//Payment comes first,// Jono replied. //It's... She takes payment for the wish of the person who came before, from you, before you wish. And then the next person who comes along pays for your wish, before they get to wish. That goes to the next person again, and so on, like that. I don't think you could accidentally wish for something. Not unless you're thinking aloud directly after she's extracted her payment.//

Payment, fingernails, whatever it was.

Hannibal nodded. "So you can't set off another round by wishing out of the blue. That at least is something. Do you know what drives her - Nanika, you said?"

Jono shook his head.

//She was a bloody force of nature, Hannibal,// he replied, brow furrowed a little. //You might as well ask me what drives the wind and the tides.//

Jono was never going to mention that one time he engineered a mini cyclone with his powers to put out a fire. Okay? Okay.

"Climate variations and the moon," Hannibal answered wryly. "Do you think we could ask her?" Someone else might have specified without harming anyone else, but if it would keep Jono safer, Hannibal wasn't prone to caring.

//Possibly.// Jono shrugged his shoulders again. //I don't know if Alluka knows what Nanika's limits are, or why she does what she does. They're two minds apart. And it might take a wish to get that information out of Nanika.//

Which... again, was not exactly something you could plan for.

"And without knowing what the payment is beforehand, that could be a deadly proposition." Hannibal grimaced. "I dislike being in the dark."

//I know,// Jono said. Somewhere between understanding and agreement. He wasn't terribly keen on the idea of losing more than a few fingernails, himself. He didn't have much left to give. //More deadly for some than for others. And 'no' still isn't an option, once Nanika makes her requests.//

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