Pick Your Poison, Monday Evening

[flowering_mind]

It was starting to get late out, but that really didn't bother Ino. She liked working nights-all Turks did, even those who bitched about them-and playing with formulae for perfumes in the backroom of her not-quite-open shop made her happy and comfortable

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[never_dull]

Hannibal had really only been out for a stroll after ordering flowers for tomorrow, but those scents were lovely and difficult to miss, particularly when you had a nose like his.

So, he tried the door and made his way in, breathing deeply.

[flowering_mind]

"Good evening!" she called, not looking up from her mixing. It wasn't hard to hear him--between the presence of his mind in her vicinity and his physical existence--Ino was perfectly well aware of when people entered her shop.

There... there... just a drop more of lilac...

[never_dull]

"Good evening," Hannibal called back as he made his way toward the back. "I hope you don't mind, but the smell was so lovely, I had to investigate."

He finally saw who he was talking to. "Ah, Ms Ino. Hello."

[flowering_mind]

"Why thank you," she said, setting her droppers down, and swivelling around in her chair to smile at him. "It's Iris, though, please."

Not that 'Ino' was wrong, exactly, but she wanted to be called Iris these days.

"I'm going to take a wild guess that you're Jono's husband?" Otherwise she was going to have to do some snooping around because she wasn't that recognizable, was she?

[never_dull]

"I am," Hannibal confessed. "And my apologies, Iris - I met another version of you some time ago who didn't go by that."

He held out his hand. "Doctor Hannibal Lecter. And it's a pleasure to meet you. Both times."

[flowering_mind]

"I'm a woman of many names," she said, and reached out to shake his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Dr. Lecter."

Ino grinned at him.

"I'm pretty sure I've got a couple of friends who've never known my real name."

She didn't think Leda would even remember that 'Amy' wasn't her name.

[never_dull]

Hannibal laughed. "It's good to keep a bit of mystery. And please, call me Hannibal. How are you settling in?"

[flowering_mind]

She wriggled her hand back and forth.

"It's been an interesting adjustment, for the both of us," she admitted. "But it's been good, over all, I think."

If she ignored the way Zack's mind screamed whenever he wasn't distracted. And whenever she didn't think about most of her last five years having been a lie.

"Thanks for making all those meals for us and for keeping things simple," she added. "We really weren't in a good place to cook when we got here."

[never_dull]

"It was my pleasure," Hannibal answered. "Cooking is a passion of mine, and I'm happy to help friends of Jono's. I hope once you've settled a bit, you'll allow me to have you both over for dinner."

See, he was behaving himself - he'd even forgone the pun!

[flowering_mind]

Which Ino would deeply appreciate once she went snooping enough to realize what he was.

"We'd be delighted," she said, knowing she was going to have to run that one by Zack before it was entirely honest. "And I have to admit, our social calendar isn't that busy yet, so it wouldn't be hard for us to swing that."

[never_dull]

"You may not be busy, but I'm given to understand you've both been through a bit of trauma lately," Hannibal said. "I was given no details," he assured her, "but regardless, I'll understand if it's a while until you're ready."