Chapter Text
Iberian ham. As his final patient of the day droned on about the issues they were having at their work office, Hannibal had decided upon cooking Iberian ham for dinner that night. It had been a while since he had taken part in that dish. He would serve it with a nice red wine. He could almost taste it now.
Hannibal checked his watch. 3 PM. “Ms. Christian, is it safe to assume you would like to continue this conversation at the same time next week?”
She nodded, standing up and putting on her coat. He escorted her to the exit and wished her a good night, sighing gratefully once the door was closed behind her. Most patients felt dull to him. He no longer cared about trying to subtly manipulate them into doing their worst. Whenever he was in his office, Hannibal had one thing on his mind. Will.
He was already starting to notice how it would feel once he set his plan in motion and had Will imprisoned. Hannibal wasn’t a fan of how lonely his office seemed without the profiler, without his rude defensiveness and the scents of his atrocious aftershave and his illness. It was something he would have to get over. Soon, Hannibal told himself. It wouldn’t be long now before he sat his plan in motion.
As he went about closing down his office and gathering his things, Hannibal tried to force his mind to go anywhere but in Will’s direction. Though, no matter how hard he tried, Will stayed. Hannibal had spoken to enough lovesick young adults to know what he was feeling, to see the pining. He understood that his mind, his sanctuary, was no longer just his own. That Will Graham haunted the halls of his palace. Hannibal tried to ignore that voice in his head hoping that he haunted Will just as much.
When Hannibal arrived home, he changed into a sweater and jeans, opting for comfort rather than pretense since he would be alone. It didn’t take too long to make his ham and the sides he chose with them, sitting at the dining room table to eat. Even when he was alone, he chose to sit at the head of the table. It was his preferred placement.
He had just sat his utensils down when his phone rang. Hannibal sighed, standing up to see who was calling. He always left his phone in the kitchen while he ate. He despised whenever any of his guests used their devices at his table, so he tried to live by example.
That tiny part of his brain whispered its hope of the caller being Will, but logically, he knew it was Jack. Will never called. Jack, on the other hand, called frequently in the afternoon. Before he answered the phone, Hannibal noticed that it was half past 6 pm. Maybe the agent had a crime scene he wanted Hannibal to look over.
“Hello.”
“Doctor Lecter. Have you spoken to Will?”
Hannibal’s brow furrowed. He hated that his immediate thought was to worry if the profiler was okay. “No, I’m afraid I haven’t, Jack. What’s going on?”
He heard a sigh. Jack sounded worried. For the agent to actually be concerned about Will, something must have happened. “I’m at a crime scene.” Hannibal had been partially correct, at least. “I called Will to ask for his assistance, and I think he’s drunk.”
“From my understanding, Will is prone to drinking nightly. That’s not concerning.” It wasn’t necessarily not concerning either. Jack didn’t need to know that.
“He hung up on me.” Hannibal closed his eyes. Now that was something. Will, snarky as he may get sometimes, wouldn’t disconnect abruptly with Jack normally. It wasn’t that he was scared of the man, Hannibal hypothesized, but he was intimidated. He didn’t handle confrontation well. His beautiful mind, that voice whispered.
Hannibal opened his eyes. “I’ll try to contact him.”
The relief was audible. “Thank you, Doctor Lecter.”
He tried calling Will. In fact, he tried several times, but the only thing he was able to reach was Will’s voicemail. Hannibal waited several minutes in between calling, trying not to come across as too concerned, but not wanting to appear indifferent. There was also the hope that Will would return the calls eventually.
After the fifth call, Hannibal grabbed his coat and his keys, making sure his phone and wallet was in his pockets before locking up the house and leaving. He was halfway there by the time he remembered the dirty plate still sitting in the dining room.
————-
Throughout the drive, his mind kept running through different scenarios. There are a lot of things that can cause someone to sound as though they're drunk. What if Will had been drugged? What if his encephalitis progressed faster than Hannibal had expected it to? What if he had to put the plan into motion? He wasn’t ready.
Hannibal tried to slam the door to that statement, but the onslaught of “I’m not ready, I’m not ready, I’m not ready” were fighting their way out. Because he wasn’t ready. Hannibal wasn’t prepared to have to potentially say goodbye to their friendship. He knew that if he succeeded in framing Will and the profiler figured him out, it would be seen as a betrayal. There was a possibility that Will wouldn’t want anything to do with him. Hannibal didn’t want to face that yet.
Pulling up to the house in Wolf Trap, he could see the dogs running around in the yard. Will was sitting on his porch, his back against the side of the house, his legs stretched in front of him. Will’s head was resting back against the siding. Hannibal couldn’t tell if he was sleeping, not breathing, or just relaxing. He stopped trying to stamp out the worry.
Hannibal shut off his car and stepped out into the night air, the chill seeping through his coat. He had spent enough time around Will’s pack to be familiar to them, and when Buster ran over to him, he bent down to scratch behind his ears and say hello. He forced himself to greet all of the other dogs similarly, not wanting to give away his fear in case Will was actually just drunk. He was probably just drunk, his rational side of his brain said. The other side screamed out that there was something wrong.
When he stepped up onto the porch, he noticed Will’s eyes were closed, but he could see his stomach moving. Will was breathing. He was alive. From how still the profiler was, Hannibal wondered if he was asleep, already attempting to plan the best way he could move Will inside and onto his bed.
The closer Hannibal got to the boy, he could feel the heat radiating off of him. It was below freezing. Will shouldn’t be that warm. Hannibal kneeled down and placed a hand on Will’s forehead. Wide terrified blue eyes met his.
“You’re warm, Will.”
Hannibal watched as the profiler closed his eyes. He didn’t want that, he wanted Will’s eyes open.
“Will?”
He heard a sigh. “Go away, Hannibal. I know you’re another hallucination.”
Hallucination? His poor boy, that voice in his brain said. That voice sounded a lot like his. It was becoming difficult to keep from submitting to it.
“I assure you-“
“Assure me however you want, it’s not really you.”
Hannibal hated being interrupted, but he enjoyed seeing Will’s fire. The hand that was resting against Will’s forehead dropped down to his cheek, Hannibal’s other hand mirroring it. “Please, Will. Talk to me. It’s really me.”
Will’s eyes opened and met Hannibal’s. “Why are you here?”
“Jack called. He said you hung up on him. We were both in agreement that doing that was not at all usual for you.”
“But why are you here?”
Because I was terrified that something truly was wrong. “Because I was concerned.”
“Concerned enough to drive an hour here?”
“Of course. I felt the need to ensure your wellbeing. You also weren’t answering your phone.”
When Will laughed, it sounded like a song. One that Hannibal so deeply wished he could find the composition for, if only to hear it anytime he wanted. “I didn’t want to hear it.”
Hannibal smiled. “Are you finished?”
At the look on Will’s face, he gestured towards the mostly full glass in his hand. Will shook his head and Hannibal watched as he placed it against his lips, drinking the rest of the whiskey in one go.
It was cold outside and he knew from the warmth coming from Will, that he probably needed to get him out of it. “Why don’t we at least go inside? It’s a bit cold.”
Will shook his head again. “I wanna stay out here.”
Anytime Hannibal had to be in the presence of drunks, he had either asked for a business card or left as soon as he was able. Though with Will, he would be lying if he said the slurring wasn’t adorable.
He inwardly sighed at Will’s stubbornness and stood, walking into the house. His eyes caught on a blanket that was draped across the back of Will’s couch and he grabbed it, taking it outside. If he couldn’t talk Will into going to the heat, he would try to bring a little heat to him. Hannibal motioned for Will to sit away from the side of the house a bit before wrapping the blanket around Will’s shoulders.
Hannibal had just sat down next to him, sitting against the house as well and thinking about how lucky he had been to change into jeans when he got home when Will started speaking.
“This right here is why I feel the way I do. You’re considerate, kind, extremely caring. I don’t feel like I have to worry about who I am around you. I can actually breathe around you. It’s why I feel connected to you the way I do. I’m slowly starting to feel comfortable and like I could tell you absolutely anything and not be judged for it. It’s not shocking to me why I’m starting to fall for you.”
Hannibal couldn’t keep from inhaling loudly. Will didn’t even look like he registered what he was saying. He went to speak, but he saw Will’s head move toward him and he continued.
“Those full, kissable lips. Lips that let out air that I want so badly to breathe in. Eyes that I could look into forever, the most beautiful type of brown eyes I have ever seen. Broad shoulders that seem to never end, that look so strong, yet comfortable enough that I want to rest my head against one and never move it away.”
“Then why don’t you?”
Hannibal couldn’t keep that other part of his brain from vocalizing its first thought, because that was his first thought as well. Will seemed infatuated with him. The lonely nights in his office, in his home, with thoughts full of just this one person were plenty. Has Will been having a similar experience? Hannibal internally groaned. He immediately started thinking of ways to change the plan and he wished that wasn’t his first instinct.
“Oh. Fuck.” Will started rambling on, freaking out about speaking out loud and not even realizing it. Hannibal opened his mouth to speak when Will started on a new train of thought. “I feel embarrassed and uncomfortable. I also want to see that question like the invite it so clearly sounded like and use your shoulder like a pillow. I would be able to smell you better that way. I don’t have your nose, don’t want it, but to be able to wrap myself in your scent would be absolute Heaven if I believed in such a place.”
He couldn’t hold in the laugh. No one had ever talked about the way he smelled before. At least, not like that. Hannibal was no longer upset about wanting to change his plans.
“Oh, fuck, am I still talking out loud?”
Will looked mortified. Hannibal couldn’t say that he didn’t blame him. “Yes, Will, you are still talking.”
Hannibal watched as a gorgeous blush spread across Will’s face. Will bent forward, burying his face into his hands as his breathing picked up. Hannibal wanted to soothe him somehow. Let him know that it was fine. He started rubbing Will’s back over the blanket. “It’s okay. I find it rather endearing. Breathe, dear Will. All will be just fine.”
The profiler steadied his breathing. A few minutes later, he sat up and looked forward. Hannibal was curious. He wanted to continue the conversation. He wanted to know if Will felt as drawn to Hannibal as he felt to him. He turned off the side of his brain that was rational, that held all logic, and raised his hand to cup the side of Will’s face once more, moving it to face him.
He noticed when Will’s breath caught. It ignited flames in his chest and Hannibal knew there was no going back after they spoke. Will’s drunken wishes were Hannibal’s sober dreams. He needed to know if the younger man truly felt the way he did. He gently caressed the side of Will’s face.
“Feeling the way that you do, is that why you have drunken yourself into a stupor?” Will nodded. Hannibal smiled softly at him. His voice grew softer too. “You should have come to me.”
“I wanted to,” Will whispered. That one sentence held so much yearning that it made Hannibal want to wrap Will into his arms. “But I was terrified of the outcome.”
“I have told you that you are welcome to come to me at any time. There’s a reason for that. I don’t offer that to all of my colleagues, acquaintances, or even friends. Please, in the future, do not hesitate to do so.”
Will nodded. Hannibal’s gaze was drawn to his lips.
“I absolutely adore you. I wouldn’t come all this way just to check on someone I do not care about. I will not let you doubt that fact.” He brought his other hand up so that he was cradling Will’s face. He moved slowly, not wanting to spook Will, and kissed him. In his times of weakness, Hannibal had imagined what it would be like to kiss him. The fantasies didn’t come close to comparing.
He felt Will’s hands on his shoulders and for a moment, he was worried that Will was going to push him away. When Will started kissing him back, he slid his right hand to the back of Will’s head, tangling his fingers into the soft, curly strands. He moved his other hand to Will’s back, trying to push the profiler closer to him. Will’s arms wrapped around his neck, one of his hands going to his hair. He felt himself melt. No one ever played with his hair.
The kiss was passionate, though soft. When they finally broke apart, Hannibal rested his forehead against Will’s. Now that he was breaking open the dam that had been holding back his growing feelings for Will, it felt like he needed the closeness.
“Tell me you don’t still doubt that I feel for you, just as you feel for me.” Will nodded against his forehead, but that wasn’t enough. “I want to hear you say it.”
“I don’t doubt that, not anymore.”
He smiled. “Good. Now why don’t we get you inside and in bed?”
“Will you stay with me?”
The vulnerability in Will’s voice made Hannibal’s heart stop. There was nothing else he could say. “There’s nowhere else I would rather be, my darling boy.”
Will smiled shyly at him. Hannibal noted the pet name and the reaction. He would have to continue using different ones to see how he would react. He stood and reached out a hand.
“Take my hand, and we will go in.” When Will grabbed onto his hand, Hannibal pulled him up. It seemed that he had done it a bit too fast because once Will was on his feet, Will had to hold on to him to keep his balance. Hannibal certainly wasn’t going to complain, however.
He laughed softly, smiling down at the profiler. Will looked up at Hannibal. “I have you, Will.” He bent down and picked up the blanket, holding it over one arm and wrapping the other around Will’s lower back. The pack was already inside and in their beds near the fireplace. Hannibal was walking Will over to his bed when he heard his stomach growl.
Hannibal stopped and raised an eyebrow, looking down at Will. He was rewarded with a sigh. “No, I haven’t eaten. I wasn’t in the mood for food.”
“I assure you, you are now.” Will laughed, but stopped when Hannibal started steering him towards the kitchen. He wasn’t going to allow Will to go to bed hungry. The man needed food. Hannibal helped him sit down at the table and started looking through the cabinets and fridge.
“You don’t have much in the way of food, dear.”
“I don’t think you should be surprised by that.”
He found eggs and a bit of meat in the fridge. He started getting everything together to make an omelette. “No, I’m not, but I do so wish you would take better care of yourself.”
“Why don’t you do it for me?”
Hannibal felt himself freeze, his face go blank. He turned around to face him. Hannibal walked over to Will. He leaned over him and put his palms flat on the surface of the table, causing Will to lean back over the table a bit. Hannibal bent further forward, causing their lips and noses to almost brush together. “Are you sure you want me to?”
He could hear the darkness in his voice and he felt satisfaction at the way Will gasped from it. A new scent was in the air, something that had Hannibal bending his head down to brush his nose against Will’s neck. Will was aroused. Hannibal closed his eyes.
Hannibal had a choice. He could fix Will what he wanted, make some excuse about needing to depart, and they could continue on the path that he had set out for them. Or Hannibal could act on the twin sparks of arousal he felt within himself. He could stay the night in that house, sleep next to Will, and wake up alongside him. Hannibal had a choice, he kept telling himself. In reality, Hannibal had only one choice.
He placed a tender kiss on the side of Will’s neck. “Let me take care of you, my boy.”
Will nodded, clearly unable to speak.
“Let me get food in you first.” Hannibal didn’t want to move, and that caused his body to move minutely closer, before he tore himself away and back around the counter.
He fixed Will the omelette, not caring that someone was about to eat something that wasn’t made to the best of his ability. Hannibal was too focused on thinking about the way Will would feel underneath him, how he would taste. It didn’t take long at all for a plate to be sat in front of Will.
“You’re not going to eat?”
“Trust me, I will have my fill momentarily.” His voice still sounded dark to his own ears. Hannibal didn’t care, however. He was too focused on Will. On making sure he was fed so that Hannibal could ravish him on the bed. He sat across from Will as he ate, his eyes never leaving the profiler.
As soon as he watched the last bite pass his lips, Hannibal took the plate and the fork, placing them both into the sink. For the second time that night, Hannibal didn’t care about leaving dirty dishes, he just cared about Will. Hannibal walked back over to Will and picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder and plopping him down onto the bed. Seeing Will all sprawled out and disheveled had all of his blood rushing south.
He stared at him for a few moments, not even registering when he licked his lips. Will looked like a beautiful meal, laid on his table for him to feast on. Will looked delicious, and there was nothing that was going to stop him from partaking in having a taste. Hearing Will’s moan had him moving into action, shrugging off his coat and tossing it onto the floor along with his sweater.
Hannibal crawled onto the bed, over his prey. Will looked captivated, hungry, as though he hadn’t eaten in days. When Hannibal was directly on top of him, Will wrapped a hand to the back of his neck and pulled him down, causing their lips to meet.
He became the starving one in that moment, resting on his elbows so that he could cup Will’s face in his hands. He needed Will’s kiss, needed that closeness. For the first time in his life, he genuinely needed someone, and that need was quickly turning into obsession. He felt Will gasp and used that to plunge his tongue inside of Will’s mouth, needing to taste all of him and choosing to start there.
The feeling of Will’s hand on the back of his neck keeping it down and the other grabbing his back as their tongues collided was intoxicating. More kept swirling around in his head, like an alarm blaring in his mind palace. He needed to feel them skin to skin, needed no barriers between them. The further down this path they went, Hannibal found himself unable to turn back, not that he would even want to. His earlier reservations were gone. He needed Will Graham. He was going to have him.
Hannibal chose to remove Will’s shirt when they broke apart for air. He continued his taste test down the side of Will’s face, his jaw, his neck. He ventured across his chest and stomach, leaving plenty of bruises in his wake. Already he could feel the obsession turning into possessiveness. He needed everyone to know that Will belonged to someone, needed them to know to stay away or they would be turned into a tableaux.
When he got to Will’s hips, he unfastened Will’s belt and leaned down to unzip the pants with his teeth. Hannibal was feeling feral, something he was only used to feeling when he actively hunted and murdered something. Will was bringing out his beast, and Hannibal was powerless to stop it.
He quickly removed the rest of Will’s clothing, tossing them onto the floor before kneeling in between his legs. Hannibal made sure to maintain eye contact as he lowered his head and started licking strips up and down Will’s beautiful cock. A symphony of moans left the profiler’s mouth. Hannibal knew why he was so responsive, knew it was because of how touch-starved he was, and that caused the possessiveness to flare up once more. No one had touched his darling Will in this way for far too long. He would be the only one to bring Will pleasure. He would be the only one to hear how Will sounded. Only him, no one else.
Hannibal took Will into his mouth and the sight of the boy’s head being tossed back as he moaned had Hannibal twitching in his jeans, practically aching for friction. He ignored himself. This was about Will, he told himself. Will’s pleasure came first. Will came first.
That thought caused him to moan around Will, not expecting the idea of caring so much about another person to get him so aroused. He wanted to care for him and to be cared for in return and the possibilities had little noises of pleasure soaring throughout his mouth.
He watched as Will lifted his head to look at him, making eye contact once more, and Hannibal couldn’t find it in him to close off his mind, close off his obsessiveness and his possessiveness and what he was starting to realize was his love.
“Hann-Hannibal, please.” Will sounded desperate. Hannibal was determined to give him what he needed.
He lifted his head enough so that even when his lips moved, he was still brushing Will’s cock. “Yes, dearest?”
Will moaned. Hannibal knew he would never tire of the sound. “Please, don’t stop.”
Hannibal couldn’t help but chuckle. He had no plans to stop. He felt like his mouth was made to suck Will’s cock and tasting his precum felt like taking part in communion. Hannibal took him back into his mouth, and when Will put his hand in his hair and started pulling, he couldn’t keep from touching himself any longer.
He quickly unzipped his pants, taking out his own cock and jerking it to the same rhythm that his mouth had around Will. The profiler was letting out a never ending string of moans. Hannibal could tell he was close by the way his thighs were quivering next to him and he wanted to spur Will on. Hannibal wanted to taste him, and he wasn’t going to leave that spot until he did.
Hannibal started teasing Will’s entrance with one of his fingers. He felt Will’s hand tighten in his hair, knew what that meant, and moaned. He was close, close to falling over the edge, and he needed Will to go over with him. He tightened the suction around Will’s cock and felt it pulse, Will releasing a loud yell as he came, warm liquid spilling into his mouth. He moaned as he drank, feeling as his own orgasm overtook him, and when he knew Will was finished, he released him.
Grabbing his chin after he crawled back up so that he was laying over him, Hannibal captured Will’s mouth with his. This kiss started out passionate before fading into something far slower, softer. When he finally pulled away, his beautiful profiler keened and Hannibal was powerless to resist. He kissed Will softly once more, having to force himself to pull away. He could feel that his darkness had softened, but was still there around the edges. If Will could see it, surely he would know that it wasn’t directed at him negatively.
“I’m not going far, my love,” Hannibal said as he stood, quickly removing his jeans and underwear in order to join his Will back in bed.
When he laid down, Will snuggled close to him, his body pressed against Hannibal’s side with his head resting on his chest. He grabbed the blankets, wanting to make sure Will was warm.
“I can hear you thinking.”
“Where do we go from here?” Will sounded nervous. Hannibal could help but be nervous as well. He knew what he wanted.
“Where would you like to go?”
“I’ve accidentally made my feelings obvious, but I’m-“
“I thought I told you not to doubt me.” He carded his fingers through Will’s hair.
“It’s hard for me not to.”
He sat up, forcing Will to sit up as well. “Look at me. Can you see how I’m feeling?” Hannibal kept himself open, not shying away from the one next to him. Will nodded. “You can see how much I truly care for you. If I had known of your feelings before tonight, I promise you I would have told you. From the first time I caught your eyes, I knew I wanted you to be mine. I wanted to consume your thoughts like you have completely consumed all of mine.”
It was the truth. He knew then that if Will had opened up to him before then, he would have surrendered to him, would have kneeled on the ground in front of him and worshipped. Will was Hannibal’s god.
Will kissed him softly. “Believe me, you have.”
Hannibal smiled. “Then you know where I am with my feelings. Let us sleep and we’ll talk about specifics tomorrow.”
At Will’s nod, he laid back down and pulled Will with him. Will’s arm was laying across his stomach, the only change in the position from before. As Will fell asleep, Hannibal thought about what tomorrow would bring and how that night would change the following ones. He fell asleep imagining the different drawings he would create of their first night together, having no idea what was in store for him on the following day.