week three - post-trial

[sating]

[ As soon as their trial is dismissed, there's very little hesitation in who Hannibal heads to.

Naturally, he does give Will's hand a squeeze, a quick "I'll see you later," but with all the chaos of the day, there are other people he needs to see and tend to. In fact, so many that he almost wonders about who to go to first, but... His bias wins out. For each of the people he's taken a liking to so far, there was perhaps no one where that was as true as Xion. So, he goes to her. Follows her, if necessary, and when he speaks her name, his voice is full of sympathy and concern. ]

Xion—

[ But it's only her name. She'll let her drive the rest of this. ]

Comments

[ceded]

[ There's been a little time now since Xion stopped crying.

It took a while. She spent longer than was probably good or necessary or even okay wailing in Chane's arms. Like a baby, is what she might think were she even equipped to make that comparison. But she's not. All she has is her own failures exactly as she is.

And she feels the weight of one already dead and one soon to die bearing her down like ten tons.

Suffice it to say she's a mess when Hannibal finds her. Leaning heavily on her walking stick, her hair messy and her face messier (though she's tries to wipe it off on her sleeves), she looks ....

.... empty.

She'll stop when she hears her name, slowly turning to look back at Hannibal. No, no.

If there's anyone who can break down her walls all over again it's him.

Her jaw clenches, but she turns to face him fully. Everything about her, from the furrow in her brow to the tense hunch of her shoulders to the way her hand clutches her cane, says hurt.

She does try to speak. It's just that no sound comes out when she does. ]