greatoldjohn | TLV Inbox

[Exactly three days after their network conversation, Misty arrives in the greenhouse gazebo at the agreed-upon time - a few minutes' early, in fact. She carries a small white rat tucked into the crook of her arm, the leash for its harness looped securely around her wrist.]

[ John, on the other hand, is already here, given he figured he'd come early and check up on things in the art gazebo since he's not really working yet. But he'd found it Petronilla-free and thus he'd just gotten back to work on his gift for Natalie.

Misty will get to see the strange duct-tape harness that effectively just holds one needle in place and how he deftly and quickly throws the yarn around with his other fingers to knit each stitch with the other needle. Just don't look at the knitting too long, Misty. We don't want a repeat of the other day with the painting...

The one thing she might notice, though, is that the colors are black and dark blue and white. ]

Misty. Welcome.

[When Misty comes to a stop next to him, the rat scurries down her arm in an attempt to investigate the knitting. Misty gently tugs it back with a quiet no, lifting it up onto her shoulder.]

What are you making?

[Good luck getting her to stop staring. The movement is hypnotic.]

Apparently, it's called a 'snood'.

[ But he's going to make sure he carefully gets to the end of his section (line? What are lines? don't ask) before he pulls off the harness and puts the knitting aside. Better to focus on Misty. ]

Who's this? The rat, I mean.

Hannibal. Don't worry, I won't let her chew on it.

[As interested as she clearly is! She sits on Misty's shoulder, watching the needles until the slow and are put down.]

Who are you making it for, Arthur?

Natalie. She liked Arthur's scarf.

[ It goes in his bag for now, carefully tucked away. ]

...I don't mistrust, er, Hannibal. I'm just putting it away.

Oh, for Nat; that's cool.

[Says Misty, whose face betrays some mixed feelings. Wanting Natalie to have an involved warden when it was all just hypothetical is very different from being faced with her having an involved warden for real, and she's not not struggling with feelings of jealousy.]

[ Yeah, he can see. Which is the other reason he's putting it away. He won't ask about it or 'guess' but... he's guessing a little. ]

So. We're in person.

We are!

[Her tone is forcibly upbeat, and she strokes a finger gently but restlessly over the rat's back.]

So, how has your week been so far?

All right. Natalie and I are learning to cook together. It's part of... everything.

I think we're not going to have any more problems like before at this point. New ones, but not that one.

I think you're probably right. What are you cooking?

Whatever the kitchen offers for supplies that day. Lark liked the idea so he's been dropping things off.

Last one was a stir fry. We're still working on getting it right.

Oh, well, I'm good with stirfrys! I could help.

[ He's trying to figure out a delicate way to put this but he doesn't find one. Delicate isn't his strong suit.]

The ultimate goal is to make a nice meal for Arthur as an apology. If you wanted to be a part of that, maybe we could. But I don't want to pretend that isn't... the goal.

I'm not opposed.

[She says carefully, studying his face.]

I mean, just because my feelings are complicated doesn't mean I didn't shoot him. I'm willing to do something nice to make up for that.

Well, we're going to talk about your feelings. So let's put that aside for the moment to... do that.

[Misty finally moves to sit, careful not to unbalance the rat as she does so, pulling her legs up onto her chair to sit crosslegged.]

Well, did you have any specific questions that you want to start with?

I'd like to hear what you have to say. And then I'll ask questions.

I don't think either of you deserved to be hurt.

[The rat lets out a little squeak, and Misty quietly shushes her, still lightly stroking her back.]

But at first, I had trouble regretting trying to help out Nat.

[ He isn't trying to be difficult, but he doesn't really move. Instead, there's a soft noise that almost seems to be a simple affirmative. Okay, all right. ]

Anything else?

Well, obviously I've discussed this extensively with Pagan. We talk a lot about my desire to do things for Natalie, even when they're not in her best interest.

...so this is all about Natalie.

Obviously there were other factors, but when you get down to it, yes, it was about Natalie.

I see.

[ His tone is very very neutral. ]

All right.

What?

[She asks warily, scooting her chair a half-inch closer.]

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