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[ Will doesn't have a boat, not even one that he could spruce up a little bit. Maybe the people on the Island he's stranded on took them all before he started looking? What he does have, however, is an old boat engine, yes that's right, a genuine boat engine he's fixed up and into working order. ]

Hows that song go again? I got the cards but not the luck. I got the wheel but not the truck- or eh, well, I got the engine but not the boat in this case.

[ It was what seemed like almost a whole year ago now since Will received the item from home. Miriam Day was the one who found it and returned it back to him, Will had been tinkering with it since then, managed to fix it up pretty nicely. Now hopefully he could put it to some good use. ]

I er, I need a boat. I'm on the West most Island, where the Colosseum and Hope and Fear's temples are. I cant find all of my animals over here and believe they might have gotten themselves scattered during the shift...

[ So far, Will had only managed to round up about half of the 14 Fenic Fox he'd rescued prior to the City relocating. Needless to say, it was stressing him out. ]

I can help fit this engine to the boat, make it go faster. In exchange for a little boat trip across all four Islands, that is. I'm not bothered about it after that, you can keep the engine.

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You want to go to all of the islands to look for them? Is that safe?

It's eh, it's probably really not that safe at all, no.

[ A pause. Avoidance of looking at her eyes over the camera feed. ]

... But that's exactly why I need to find them.

Animals aren't that different from us. They adapt, find ways to survive.

[She frowns and looks down.]

You could wait. At least find out if anyone's seen them.

They're not, you're right. But there's also a lot of people here who would actively hunt them for food or supplies.

[ He knows this well, both he himself and Abigail are those kinds of people too. ]

There's a lot of newcomers piling in, a lot of upheaval and unrest, I don't trust enough people here to be honest if they have seen them or not. What would you do? Kill one and eat it or return it to its caretaker?

I wouldn't kill someone's pet.

[She's surprisingly upset by that, considering Nick Boyle, Alana, her father's victims.]

You can trust most people here. Not the one that hurt Margaery. But others have been good. They helped me when I couldn't see. They'd help you. And besides, you can't help any animals if something happens to you.

You're not desperate, Abigail... Others will be.

[ He didn't intend to stir up bad memories or thoughts. He was just trying to explain. ]

I remember when there was a food shortage, people asked me for my Nugs because they resemble pigs. People were willing to take my pets, my Friends and use them as a food source. And as for the people here? A lot of them dislike me because of past things that have happened in the Old City.

[ In all of this, Will has never stopped to think that, maybe Abigail doesn't want Will to go in case he gets hurt? She's always taken to Hannibal better than him after all. ]

What if I take some people with me? People who can fight better then I can? I could take my fishing rod and see if there's anything nice to catch in the wider bodies of water for us?

We won't let them get that desperate. We'll figure something out.

I think there are a lot of people here who'd like you too. They like me. And you, you're not tainted like me.

[She looks at him, trying to get him to look her in the eyes.]

Do you promise you'll come back? I don't want to end up alone.

[ Will's face, his expression is a mix of sorrow and deflation but he pulls a small smile in the corner of her lips at her comment about figuring something out. It was honestly nice to see she had some light in her still. ]

We can try but for a lot of people, that solution is to hunt and eat the most extensive supply.

I- ...

[ A small sigh left his lips, his jaw grinding side to side slowly as it did when he was concentrating. ]

-I disagree, Abigail. I'm tainted and warped well beyond my true colour... Never really been the social type either, so if someone likes me? Its because I have a purposeful use for them. My mind mostly...

[ A gut feeling of guilt wells up from the pit of his stomach as he managed to look her in the eyes for a few moments as he talks. Will doesn't want to lie to her but how can he promise something like that? ]

I'll come back, regardless. You'll never be alone here, Abigail, you've made connections, people care about you.

Just a sec.

[She switches to private.]

I hope that's not the solution. Then we're all in a lot of trouble.

[She shakes her head.]

No. I used to think everything my dad touched was tainted. But you're not. You said killing him was ugly. You wouldn't think it was ugly if you were tainted.

Isn't that why anyone likes anyone? We have uses for each other. Even friendship is a use. Friends rely on each other for comfort, for company.

[She shrugs.]

People care about the me I let them see. I don't know if that's the same as caring about me.

[ Will waited as she paused and switched the feed over.

She was fighting a good argument, but Will just wasn't buying into it. He softly shook his head and looked down at his feet. ]

It was ugly. Hideous in fact. But it was that one act of taking another life, as ugly as it was, that first tainted me, Abigail. I still-

[ No, no he can't do that to her, he can't tell her he still sees her fathers ghost, haunting him from inside his own mind. It wasn't fair to do that to her. She was healing, she was growing.

Will chuckled a little at the last few things she said. ]

You sound just like Hannibal.

[ A small smile. ]

But it's a little more complicated than that. I don't have friends, do you see me socializing? No, people use me when they need me and now I have something some of them wanted and it's not in my protection. They never see me yet I always see them.

[ A shake of his head and deep sigh as he looked back at her. ]

Perhaps you are right. Perhaps they find a way to survive on their own. I just... I miss looking after them.

That one act saved my life. My dad wouldn't have stopped until he was sure I was dead. Until he made it all go away. And Hannibal wouldn't have saved me if you hadn't been there to make him curious. If he hadn't wanted to give you a family. You're the only reason I survived. Could saving me really taint you? Be that ugly?

[All the girls she helped her father find had been to spare her own life. Even killing Nicholas Boyle had been because she thought he wanted to kill her. It gives her some relief from the guilt to think of it was self-defense, maybe he can see it that way too.]

Then I sound smart.

[Or like a killer. She likes to think that's not how Will sees her.]

You don't want them to see you Will. It's hard on you to be social. Too many people, too many minds for you to get into. I get that, but not all of them are going to be sick minds like my Dad. There are good people. It wouldn't hurt for you to put on an sometimes. We all put on acts.

[She's been doing it ever since her father became the shrike.]

You might make some friends worth having.

[She plays with her scarf for a moment. She wants him to look after her, be the family that she was promised. Perhaps that isn't enough.]

Then I'll help you look.

I...

[ She was right. How could he argue with that? Though Hannibal was in the car, though Hannibal knew what was going to happen too, it was Will who acted first and fast at that. If he hadn't, Abigail wouldn't be here. Though, how could he tell her that he believed the tragic events that happened to her family that day, were all designed by Hannibal, designed to push and break Will?

He couldn't. He wouldn't. She was the daughter he wanted, the family he needed. ]

You're right. I'm sorry. What happened to you was devastating and I didn't mean to say that saving you tainted me. It was the best thing I've ever done. No regrets.

[ A soft smile for her there, he genuinely meant it. She did sound smart because she was smart. And no, he didn't see the dark side of her, not like Hannibal did. She was pure and innocent in Will's eyes as clouded as they might be. ]

I don't. I don't want them to see this. I'm a mess, Abigail. I like to keep sequestered away with my dog and my fishing lures.

I dunno, Abigail. I mean, I'd like to be optimistic, positive even for a change but I just, I just can't see past the bad in people. I don't think I'm all that good at acting. Have you seen me lie?

[ Will never wants her to think she's not enough. There is nothing that he wants more than to look after Abigail, with or without Hannibal, she's the most important thing in his life. ]

Wait, what? What do you mean help look?

[ She was making him nervous! It sounded like she was going to go out and pick people to be his friends or something!? Kind of humiliating and embarrassing but also... Kinda cute of her. ]

[She gives him a smile when he says no regrets, but it fades.]

We're all messes here, Will. We're brought in from all kinds of dark places and we're messed up. But if you sequester yourself too much, you'll be alone with the darkness. You'll have nightmares. And flashbacks.

[At least she does when she's alone, especially about her father]

You see past the bad in me. And I think you saw past it in Hannibal too.

[She studies his face for a moment.]

I don't know. Have you lied to me?

[It wouldn't bother her if he has. She's rarely completely honest.]

I can help you look for your animals since you miss looking after them. I'm good at tracking and I know how to stay back and not scare them.

[Hunting skills. It's nice to think of using them for something more positive.]

Edited 2018-06-18 19:20 (UTC)

[ Her smile, no matter how fleeting, warmed him to his core. That was all Will wanted to do. Make her smile. ]

We are, true. Yet, I don't think the world is over fond of my kind of messy. I don't mind the dark all that much, I deal with my nightmares when they come. I wouldn't want anyone else to step into my darkness without a guide- I keep a torch burning at both ends to keep it from consuming me.

[ Will see's her father on a daily basis. He's learnt to ignore him for the most part, but now and then when Will's guard is down, he creeps in and torments Will. ]

There isn't any bad in you, Abigail. You were painted in it, had no choice but to wear it. You're clear now, free.

[ As for Hannibal? ]

Its different with Hannibal. I er, I didn't see through his badness... I just. Understood it?

[ Will feels her staring at him, looking over his expression. It made him a little uncomfortable, a little awkward but there wasn't much he could do about it. ]

No. I never would either.

[ He doesn't think he's lied to her? And if he has, he clearly sees it as protecting her or he was made to because of Hannibal. ]

I dunno, Abigail. The other Islands could be dangerous. What if you got hurt?

The torch isn't other people?

[Hers had been Hannibal, climbing over walls to get to him, and then staying hidden with him. And now, she's learned to rely on others when the darkness is too much. She looks down for a moment, wondering if Dr. Bloom had told him that she pushed him through the window. Or if knows that Beverly Katz died because she found Abigail in the basement. That Abigail didn't try to stop it. Would he still think she had no bad in her if he knew she's hurt his friends? She looks up again slowly.]

And you don't want to have to understand anymore badness? I guess I get that.

[She finds herself looking down again. She can't make the same promise. If she thinks she needs to lie for her own safety, she'll do it. She might even lie to protect him from her darkness, let him keep the better image he has of her.]

What if I get hurt while you're not here? It's dangerous everywhere. Especially when I'm alone.

I've never... Never thought of it like that before.

[ If that was the case, then Abigail had always been his torch. He'd always tried to be better for her, tried to be his best, there was no one he cared for as much as her.

It was still too early for Will to know such things and Hannibal had kept it from him, for now at least. He'd have to deal with those feelings if or when it came up. For now? For now, Abigail was innocent, just a little broken from bad handling. ]

Honestly? No, I don't - But I can't help it. I see the badness before I see the good, like a crack of light in the window through a broken blind... It's distracting.

[ Deep down, Will already knows Abigail probably lies to him. She was more inclined to Hannibal and his attitude so it was a given she would pick up some of his traits. ]

Wow, okay.

[ Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and raisin his brows. If there was one way to make Will actually feel like the father he longed to be, it was by guilt tripping him. Congratulations. ]

You put up a fierce fight, Abigail. You got me there. Okay, you can come too, on at least one of the trips, but not the first one, okay? Let me get a feel of what we're up against then you can come too.

I've always need other people to bring me out of bad places. It's got to be the right torch, you know? The support groups never worked for me. Hannibal was the torch when I was in the hospital. Freddie and Dr. Bloom too, in a way. When I was alone, that's when it felt like there was no way out. Just darkness.

[With her dad, when she felt she couldn't tell anyone else what was going on. When she was in hiding and Hannibal had to work, or spend time with Will - that's when she felt surrounded by her own guilt and the ghosts of her past.]

You don't always see the badness first.

[He didn't with her, not seeing it until he brought her to her dad's cabin. He didn't see it in Hannibal either. Maybe he just needed people to be better at hiding it. Like her. She's good at manipulation too.]

Okay. But send me a message or call or something when you reach the other islands. Let me know you didn't sink.

[Drowning's worse than the other dangers. She felt like she was drowning in her own blood after her dad cut her throat.]

[ A part of Will wished and hoped she would mention his name then when listing off all the people she used as a guide from the darkest of places. But how could she? Will was there for one of the darkest, was a factor in why it was such a dark place. He'd been the reason her whole family died that day. Had he not been investigating so hard, Hannibal wouldn't have had to make that phone call, make that visit to her home. No, Will knew she thought differently of him and deep down, it crushed him. ]

Maybe I'm like a moth with a flame. Drawn in by a person's light when really what I'm looking for is the darkness behind it. Bashing in head-on despite knowing what I'm looking for is unhealthy... Sorry, I...

[ He's rambling, getting lost in memory and thought. Her comment made him think though. At the moment, he's not exactly from the same time as Abigail, he had been but Confusion took his memories, reset his brain in a way. ]

What do you mean by that, Abigail?

[ She was indeed like Hannibal, only in a different way, different parts of clay that the Doctor could mould to fit his own as he pleased. Maybe Will was envious of her for that? Her relationship with Hannibal. Without him. ]

Ah, I eh, sure. I'll be sure to keep in contact. Might be able to catch us a nice fish or two. Can you watch over Winston while I'm gone?

Maybe you're just looking for something familiar to cling to. You spent so much time in people's heads. People like my dad. Maybe it started to feel like the only thing that's real is the darkness and the light's just an act that people on.

[Maybe he's more like her than she thought. On some level, she saw Hannibal as a father figure, like her dad. She sought him out and stayed with him even after he told he'd cut her throat as her father did.]

You didn't see the badness in Hannibal. You didn't see it in me.

[She nods and gives him a small smile.]

Yeah, I can do that. I think Winston likes me. If you do catch some fish, I can cook it up.

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