OTA

[hollow_moon]

He liked spring. There was still a chill to the air most days at the moment, but you could see nature slowly waking from its slumber, even here in the heart of the city.  It brought the wolf inside him nothing but joy, and left him with an itch to be outside in the sunlight, roaming and exploring. He'd have to plan a trip to the country soon, somewhere he could really roam wild...

For now, however, a jog through the park would have to do.

Dressed in running shorts and a t-shirt, Valentine alternated between jogging and sprinting. Moving slower where there were crowds, then taking off at top speed along empty stretches of the path, the man didn't stop until his heart was pounding hard and he knew he needed a break. Slowing to a stop, he stretched out and caught his breath, before drinking from the water bottle that he had strapped to his hip.

"Sorry, didn't mean to stop in the centre of the path," he said, stepping out the way when he realised someone was attempting to get past him.

Comments

[just_hex]

"No worries, mate," Hex said with a bright smile. He had had to slow and so he stopped as well to take a drink.

"I've seen you running. You're really taking off. Are you crosstraining?" he asked.

[hollow_moon]

"Training implies a goal, right?" Val asked with a smile as he stepped to the side and took another drink. "No goals here, just love running."

Clipping the bottle back onto his hip, he started to stretch out again, ready to cool down and call it quits for the day.

"What about you?" he asked.

[just_hex]

"I'm just out for me run. Got to do a little cardio every day, yeah?" he smiled. It was clear he was well fit. Hex's body was sculpted and he wasn't terribly winded, though he'd worked up a sweat.

"I just keep fit. I started in the army and just never stopped."

[hollow_moon]

Val's gaze flickered over the other man, and he offered a faint but very flirtatious little smile.

"I can see that."

[just_hex]

Hex found he quite liked that smile and though he was just a bit bashful, he smiled in return.

"Comes in handy at work, too. Being strong. i'm a nurse at St. Bart's. I'm Hex."

[hollow_moon]

"A pleasure to meet you, Hex," Val replied, offering his hand. "I'm Valentine, though most just call me Val."

[just_hex]

Hex took the offered hand and gave it a firm handshake.

"Pleasure, Val," he said. He stepped back and forth and then stretched a leg. "I think I've lost me rhythm. Might call it a day...get a longer run in tomorrow."

[hollow_moon]

"Mmm, I was about to do the same. I'm absolutely starving. I was going to pop into the gym to shower and change, then grab a bite at the cafe. They're selling bison burgers this month, with a side of parsnip chips," he said, the wolf inside salivating a bit at the prospect of food. "You should come with me. You look like you could use a bit of protein after a run like that."

[just_hex]

"That sounds great, I'm famished," he said happily, giving one more good stretch. "I really could eat, and that sounds a lot better than the leftover food I have in me flat.'

[hollow_moon]

"You can always have the leftovers after," Val grinned. Honestly, he could eat all day some days...

"So how long have you been a nurse then?" he asked as he started to walk.

[anamusebouche]

Hannibal worked out himself, quite regularly, but never in public. He rather enjoyed people thinking he could eat what he liked and never work out. But he swam, and he ran, and he killed. That kept him fit. And his young lover helped keeping him in shape too.

He paused in his track, had to, because someone was blocking the way.

He smiled at the polite apology. "No need to apologise. It's a day for enjoying the air leisurely."

[hollow_moon]

"It's gorgeous out," Val agreed, flashing a toothy smile as he stepped to the side and took another long drink from his bottle.

The wolf inside was on edge suddenly, but Val paid those feelings no mind. The animal was wary of many new people after all.

"I love the smell of spring. The smell of renewal and rebirth... I look forward to it all year," he said, strapping his bottle back onto his hip and stretching as he spoke. It was only then that he took a moment to really look at the man, finding his face instantly familiar. He nearly brushed it off as just a face he'd seen at one of the many events his family were constantly getting invited to, but then it clicked.

"Dr. Lecter, isn't it?" he asked after a beat. "I'm almost certain we share a mutual friend in Marian Westbrook- Well, I say 'friend'..."

Truthfully the woman was more like high societies biggest gossip. A pleasant enough woman for the most part, but one who seemed to have nothing better to do than talk about others.

[anamusebouche]

Hannibal smiled mildly. The woman was a dreadful gossip, but Hannibal was quite charmed by her nonetheless. Well, he did enjoy a little gossip now and again. "Oh, I'm sure she is," he said. "And a joy at the dinner table, though. Nothing she will not eat," he joked privately.

"Though I hope that you know my name from my presence at one of her parties, and not as the protagonist in one of her stories." He liked gossip, but he didn't appreciate being gossiped about.

[hollow_moon]

"I don't pay her stories much mind," Val replied, a polite way of admitting that the other man's name had, in fact, been the centre of one of her stories.

"I'm Valentine, by the way. Most just call me Val though," he said, offering his hand.

[anamusebouche]

Hannibal had made a conscious decision to let gossip be. He would not trade Alcuin for it, and so he would endure any gossip that might arise from his affair with the much younger man. It caused some to look at him with barely veiled disgust, while others found him somehow more charming and appealing. It was a price he was willing to pay. This young man didn't seem to mind whatever he had heard.

"Ah," Hannibal seemed to recall as he shook Val's hand. "Collingwood, I take it?" There was a family resemblance.

[hollow_moon]

Val nodded, though any resemblance was a result of being raised by his parents, rather than genetic code. It wasn't uncommon for adopted children to have a strong resemblance to their parents after all. ...And the fact that he was adopted was still quite a secret anyway.

"Very few other Valentines in London," he replied cheerfully. "Makes me easy to remember."

[harrowgate]

"Oh, not at all," Felix assured the fit gentleman behind whom he had been discreetly strolling. In contrast to the runner's workout gear, he wore an up-to-the-minute checked grey suit over a turquoise shirt and perfectly-draped scarf -- with a polished-porcelain smile to match. The thick curls of crimson hair seemed entirely unruffled by the spring breeze.

"Please, hydrate. What do you have, if not your health, after all?" He seemed perfectly content to wait, even if there was, in actuality, plenty of room to get by.

[hollow_moon]

Val laughed softly at that, downing the rest of his water bottle, then clipping it back onto his hip. Stepping to the side, he started to stretch, ready to cool down and call it quits for today.

"That's true, I guess," he replied, flashing a flirtatious little smile. The wolf inside was always on the prowl after all.

[harrowgate]

Delightful. Felix would flirt even without encouragement. Reciprocated interest was merely a bonus. He slid to the side of the path as well, ignoring the other passers-by. "I'm afraid I don't often frequent this park. Are there particular rules of jogging etiquette I ought to observe?"

[hollow_moon]

"No, but I wouldn't recommend doing it those clothes though, no matter how dashing you look in them," Val grinned. "One of the perks to jogging here is the nearby gym though. I'm about to head over there to shower and change- Then perhaps grab a meal at the cafe next door."

He stretched a little more, then straightened up. "You should join me. I hate dining alone," he grinned.

[harrowgate]

Felix would have lapped up the compliment like a cat with a bowl of cream, if he could. "Join you? Ah, for the meal, not the shower," he pretended to misunderstand, with a glint of salacious tease in his mis-matched eyes. "I was about to say, I don't believe I'm a member."

As if that were the only barrier to the suggestion.

"As it happens, I am free for... whatever meal is eaten approximately an hour from now?"

[hollow_moon]

"I believe they still call it lunch," Val grinned.

"I'm Valentine, by the way," he added, extending his hand in offering.

[harrowgate]

"Felix," he answered, accepting the other man's hand in his own, slim but strong and covered in boldly-tattooed leafy vines. His handshake was firm and assured, as was his smile. "It seems I will be your lunch date today. Shall I secure a table for us?"

[hollow_moon]

"That would be brilliant," Val grinned. "I'll meet you there soon."

[harrowgate]

Attractive, confident, forward. What an unexpected treat for Felix's afternoon. "You certainly will. Don't keep me waiting long," he advised with a secretive half-smile, before turning to stroll his way to the cafe Valentine had indicated.

He acquired a table for two in the quieter back of the restaurant, and a decent bottle of red wine, informing the staff his companion would be joining him shortly. While he waited, Felix poured himself a glass, and was quickly distracted by the scholarly he'd been carrying with him in his briefcase. So much that he quite lost track of the time, absorbed in a new article analyzing recent linguistic developments.