(no subject)

[thewidewideworld]

[from here}

Sinric comes down from his room, still dressed his furs and heavily embroiled tunic but looking fresh and scrubbed.

He smiles brightly to see Hannibal.

Comments

[cook_the_rude]

"That is what I was hoping for," Hannibal says. "It may even become a tiny bit better with time, and regular use of the eye drops, but not much. As for your other eye, eye drops with painkillers, and if the pain doesn't get better, I'd suggest amputation. In my time, there would be a chance of corneal transplant, plus maybe artificial lenses for both eyes, restoring much of your actual eyesight, but unless the door lets you into Milliways and we declare it a miracle, simply managing the pain and being able to see dark figures in sunlight might be the best we can aim for."

[thewidewideworld]

"I would accept a miracle and gladly. But it would mean having to leave this life, this name behind."

Niketas turns his face to Sinric, squeezing his hand. "But I could not do that alone."

Sinric bites his lower lip, glad Niketas can't see the expression on his face, the reluctance and conflict. "Nobelissimos, I-"

Niketas holds a hand up to hush him, hearing it in his voice. "I had no right to ask it of you. Forgive me."

"I will stay with you." Sinric offers, "as long as I can."

Niketas pats his hand and Sinric turns away to blot tears from his own eyes with the sleeve of his tunic. "What should I do from here, Doctor?"

[cook_the_rude]

"Go forward," Hannibal says. "Treat your eyes with those drops, and keep the improvements secret at first."

[thewidewideworld]

"You might consider a pilgrimage?" Sinric suggests softly, bringing Hannibal the bowl of water to wash his hands. "Rome perhaps. Once you're healed and ready."

[cook_the_rude]

"Take Sinric to help you until you get there," Hannibal says. "By the time you reach it, you will know to find your way. Perhaps three or five of the young monks from here, too. The ones you get on best with."

The ones most likely to be punished by the abbot, that is.

[thewidewideworld]

Niketas nods slowly, considering. "Rome would be... a good change of pace. And there are a few young men here who were meant for more than this."

Sinric looks up at Hannibal, gratitude in his eyes. The path is righting itself.

[cook_the_rude]

"They deserve that chance," Hannibal says. "As do you."

[thewidewideworld]

"But that is a plan for another day. You should rest a day or two before we begin such a journey." Sinric strokes Niketas' hair. "And I need to return to the bar to collect the drops for your eyes."

He helps Niketas to sit up. "Let me lead you to your bed. It's already well past noon and we'll be missed."

[cook_the_rude]

"Are the monks allowed a feast on Christmas?" Hannibal asks.

[thewidewideworld]

"Indeed." Niketas answers, leaning heavily on Sinric as he stands. "Or what passes for a feast here. I'm afraid Sinric and I have... other standards."

Sinric laughs lightly. "Just so. There will be a large communal meal at sunset. To celebrate the birth of Christ. It would be best for us to been seen there."

[cook_the_rude]

"That is what I was going to suggest," Hannibal says. "Even if it is not up to highest standards, I am curious."

[thewidewideworld]

"Niketas, you should rest. I can come and wake you before the feast and help you dress." Sinric glances over his shoulder to Hannie. "There are parts of the enclave I'd very much like to show you, if you're not too tired?"

He guides Niketas to his cell, settling him on the straw mattress. He reaches into his pouch and draws out a small lacquered box with pills inside. He glances to Hannibal, making sure the strong pain killers are alright to give Niketas. "Your face will ache when you wake. This will help."

[cook_the_rude]

Hannibal nods. "Take one, then wait for about an hour before taking another, if you are still in pain," Hannibal says. "And I would be very glad to see everything. In my time, all this has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over."

[thewidewideworld]

Niketas swallows the pill as Sinric instructs and lays back on the bed. His expression is drawn and tired, now that Sinric's magic is withdrawing. "Strange to think we are nothing but dust to you. Time is the death of all. Men and Empires." the last word slurs as sleep claims him.

Sinric sighs, feeling a load lift from his shoulders. He draws Hannibal outside, closing the door behind him so Niketas will not be disturbed.

He walks in silence out to the courtyard, lifting his face to the weak afternoon sun, eyes closed to bask in it. "Thank you." It's said so softly, so heartfelt.

[cook_the_rude]

"This was an astonishing day," Hannibal says. "Thank you for taking me."

[thewidewideworld]

"Come, there's something I want you to see."

He leads Hannibal into the chapel, slipping quietly around the monks. The altar, the one he shared the image of himself on, is much older than the church. Sinric turns the corner of the altar cloth aside to touch the ancient stone. "This belonged to Apollo. The story goes that Benedict tried to remove it but Satan sat upon it, making it too heavy to move."

"And when Benedict tried to cast Satan out, the devil pulled down the wall." He points to where the stone wall has been rebuilt. "It crushed a young monk, who Benedict supposedly brought back to life."

He shakes back his golden hair, eyes closed for a moment. "I don't think Satan was ever here. I think Apollo made his last stand here before giving the place over to Christian god."

[cook_the_rude]

"So this is where Apollo still lingers, the Christian saints being ultimately much more tolerant then their more fervent worshippers," Hannibal murmurs. "Thank you for showing me."

[thewidewideworld]

"I don't know that Benedict was so much tolerant as much as he stubborn. He couldn't make the stone move so he claimed it as his own." He straightens the altar cloth, hiding the ancient stone. "I like to think Apollo hasn't forgotten the place. And the scrolls we are translating bring back another time."

[cook_the_rude]

"You will have to abandon them when you leave with Niketas," Hannibal points out. "But you could take pictures of them before you do. I remember you have an iPod or something like it; do you have something with a camera and a proper screen as well?"

[thewidewideworld]

"Given how ready the abbot was to see them destroyed, I'm tempted to steal them away to Milliways and finish the translations myself. Or ask Alcuin to take them back with him to Charles' library. At least Charles has respect for the old empires, and through that, the old gods."

[cook_the_rude]

"Photograph them, and suggest to Alcuin to take them," Hannibal ponders. "Maybe suggest to the abbot that Charles might grant the order some land as those scrolls will interest him, and then suggest to Alcuin that a grant of tenuous land near the border of still-heathen Saxony will be beneficial to all concerned. I can already tell you that will work, because that's exactly what Charles did around the Saxon lands, and the specific outcome of this plan now is probably going to be the Imperial Abbey of Corvey."

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric laughs aloud; a bright, cheerful sound that echoes around the empty chapel. A passing monk shushes them, scowling. That sort of joviality has no place in God's house. But it doesn't stop Sinric, only forces him to bury his face in Hannibal's tunic to stifle himself. "You are a wonderful, clever man and if it wouldn't get us both in trouble, I'd kiss you right now."

[cook_the_rude]

"Let's find a hidden place where you can at least do that," Hannibal says. "We need to celebrate our combined cleverness."

Because it's not just him. It's never just him.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric nods and takes his hand, skipping on light feet across the cold stones. Being who he is, Sinric has explored the chapel and most of the abbey enclave, often under the cloak of the unseen, one of the earliest magics he mastered.

There little nook, formed by a buttress and the line of a wooden staircase added later that proves close cover for two. Sinric shimmies in, pulling Hannibal with him. "You know well how much I need this." It's not really a question. He know Hannibal, as Hannibal knows him.

[cook_the_rude]

First things first: Hannibal pulls him close and kisses him deeply. "You love Niketas," he states, "but he cannot see your power, your fire, the golden antlers reaching far into the future from everything you touch."