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“I am so sorry to ask this of you but I‘m doing this on behalf of a friend,” said Alana with her arm around a tall, gangly but handsome, sixteen year old boy dressed stiffly in a suit. “But can Hannibal stay with you until Johns Hopkins straightens out their paperwork. They have him down as going to school there but someone fubarred the dorm room housing and every slot’s been taken. I‘ve already arranged transportation. I hope she gets everything fixed during the two weeks before school starts.”
“Doesn’t he have family or friends he can stay with?”
“He’s from Europe. And it’s just for a little while. I’d take him myself but my apartment only has one bedroom.”
“I think it depends on him,” said Will. “If you don’t mind a half dozen dogs and me fixing things in the living room, then you’re welcome to stay.”
“I am thankful for your generosity,” said Hannibal in excellent if accented English. “I will try not to impinge on your patience. What is your name?”
“I’m Will Graham.”
“My name is Hannibal Lecter. I hope to be a doctor.”
***
Will woke up and found the young man looking through his kitchen supplies. “Oh, hi,” said Will.
“Good morning,” said Hannibal. “I was checking to see what I could make for breakfast.” Hannibal turned around and seemed to be curious about Will being in a t-shirt and shorts.
“I wasn’t expecting guests. How about you tell me what cereal you want to buy and I’ll get it.”
“I don’t eat cereal. I was thinking of some cheese and bread.”
“I just have some bread. Sorry.”
“I will have toast then.”
“So, Hannibal. What kind of doctor do hope to be?”
“A surgeon. If I can’t be a surgeon then perhaps a psychiatrist.”
“I see.”
“What do you do?”
“I teach at the FBI Academy in Quantico.”
Hannibal was about to respond when several of the dogs began nosing the new member of the household. Hannibal tried to step away from them but found that he was bumping into another dog when he did so.
“Don’t worry. They don’t bite.”
“I’m not used to pets.”
Will sighed after seeing the dubious expression on Hannibal‘s face. Alana better get her friend to hurry up about fixing things.
***
“It’s pretty quiet out here,” said Hannibal. It was Friday night and Will had bought some Chinese take out. While Hannibal ate some of the shrimp and the rice, he didn’t eat much else. I thought teenage boys ate like vacuum cleaners, thought Will.
“That’s part of its charms for me,” said Will. “I’m sorry that there aren’t any kids your age to hang out with close by.”
“I don’t really care for people my age. I find them boring and shallow.”
“Ouch.”
“It’s true.”
“Tomorrow, I’m going to go grocery shopping. I know I don’t have much in the house to your liking so why don’t you come with me and you can help me get stuff you like to eat.”
“I’d like that. It’s just a lot of the food here tastes different so I find it unsettling.”
“Homesick?”
“A little. Will?”
“Yes?”
“Is Alana your girlfriend?”
Will laughed a little at that. “It’s complicated. We’re friends. I admit that I’d like us to be more than friends but . . .”
“She doesn’t have interest in being more.”
“Exactly.”
“She could do worse.”
Will looked away. “And she could do better.”
***
Hannibal took charge of the shopping cart and chose what went in for the most part. He avoided canned goods and boxes. “They taste stale to me,” he said. “I’ll take care of the day’s menu.”
“You already have medical school and you’re living off campus. I really should . . .”
“I’d rather cook for the both of us,” said Hannibal.
“My cooking is that bad?”
“It’s that unhealthy. I will pay for all this since I should compensate you for sharing your domicile.”
“You don’t . . .”
“I insist. I won‘t tolerate any refusal.”
“Well, aren’t you bossy?”
“Yes.”
***
“This is really good,” said Will as he ate the coconut curry chicken Hannibal cooked.
“Thank you.”
“I wish I could cook like this.”
“I could teach you.”
“I don’t want to burden you. You’ve already got everything else on your plate.”
“I can make time.”
“If you like, how about we go fishing on Sunday? There’s some good fishing and it’s a last chance to relax before school. If you find it too boring . . .”
“No, I’ll go.”
***
As they sat in the boat on the lake, Will waved his rod back then forward to cast the lure into the water. “Do you fish much?”
“I haven’t fished in a long time,” said Hannibal. However, he cast his lure in the opposite direction without much difficulty.
“There’s nothing like fresh fish.”
“That’s true.”
They sat in silence for a while.
“Hannibal?”
“Yes?”
“I got a call from Alana at work about your situation. It seems that they can’t squeeze you in until next semester. You’re welcome to stay at my place until then or I can ask her to see if there aren’t some students who live in apartments off-campus who . . .”
“I prefer to stay with you.”
“Still, I’ll bet you’ll be glad to live on campus and start making some friends.”
“Most of them are a great deal older than me. I doubt they’ll find someone who can’t go to all the same places they can go that amusing.”
“I’m a great deal older than you and I find you interesting.”
“You’re different.”
They were interrupted by Will’s line being pulled. Will started to reel the fish in then let go then reeled the fish in again as the fish fought against being pulled in. Finally, he pulled in a chain pickerel. Will smiled as he held up the two pound fish. “Looks like we’re having fish for dinner tonight.”
***
They settled into a routine. Will would work on presentations and check his students’ work while Hannibal would work on his homework. When Will was done with his work, he’d put it in his briefcase then help Hannibal. While it was true that Will had never gone to medical school, he had some passing familiarity with anatomy and was much more familiar and much less squeamish about the grosser aspects of insides of a human than the average person due to the nature of his work.
“Will?” Hannibal said after Will had tested him with a stack of flash cards for an upcoming test.
“Yes?”
“Did you ever consider being a doctor?”
“No, not really.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not from a rich family so it seemed out of reach, and I didn’t think I had the right skill sets for it. I think there are probably hundreds of people out there glad that I didn’t pick up the scalpel.” Will had expected Hannibal to laugh but was surprised to see his lips press into a thin line of irritation.
“You’re smarter than a lot of the people I go to class with.”
“Then that just means your grades will be better than theirs.” Will paused before saying, “I know that you know you’re smarter than a lot of the people around you but you can’t keep saying things like that. You don’t want to end up by yourself. You don’t want to end up like me.”
“You underestimate yourself.”
“I’m a hermit.”
“Hermits are underrated.”
“Aren’t you ever lonely? Do you have family back home?”
“Just my uncle and his wife.”
“You can use the phone. They would probably like to hear your voice.”
“I write them letters. It’s cheaper and I don’t have to deal with the time difference.”
“Not e-mails?”
“They are old-fashioned.”
“Ah.”
“Besides . . . Are you not my friend?”
“I . . . Yes, I am.”
Hannibal smiled for the first time since he had moved in. “And I am yours.”
***
“So, how’s living with Doogie Howser?” said Beverly as they had lunch at a Turkish café. Beverly had a lamb kebab plate while Will had ordered manti, a type of beef dumpling.
“He’s not a doctor yet,” said Will.
“No, but he’s sixteen and going to Johns Hopkins. He could be a doctor by the time he‘s twenty-five once he finishes his internship and residency.”
“He’s much more serious than most teens. I think he feels kind of isolated. It’s not just that he’s a teen but he’s from overseas and he has no family here. I want to help him but I’m kind of in the same boat.”
“Oh, yeah, Jack still wants you to go back to working with him.”
“You know what I have to say to that. He can go sit and spin.”
Beverly laughed.
“Besides, I have to keep an eye on Doogie . . .“ Will slapped himself in the face. “Oh, crap, now you got me saying it.”
“Sorry. It seems that you really like him.”
“Yeah, I guess I do. How’s Brian and Jimmy?”
“Oh, you know the usual. Hey, why don’t you bring Doogie . . .”
“Bev!”
“Bring Hannibal over. We’re going out to the premiere of that new action movie with Jennifer Lawrence and Jensen Ackles called The Fifth Time.”
“I’ll tell him. He might be busy, though.”
***
“Hannibal?” Will said as he washed the dishes and Hannibal dried them, standing side by side at the sink.
“Yes.”
“Want to go out to a movie? A few people I used to work with are going and I thought I could introduce you to them.”
Hannibal hesitated.
“Well, if you’re too busy then . . .”
“I will go.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
***
“Hi, Will,” said Brian as Will and Hannibal approached the trio standing in front of the movie theater.
“Hi, guys!” said Will.
“Glad to meet you,” said Beverly. “I’m Beverly Katz.”
“I’m Jimmy.”
“I’m Brian.”
“My name is Hannibal Lecter.”
“That’s one unusual name,” said Jimmy.
Hannibal shrugged. “It’s my name.”
“Want popcorn?” said Beverly as they walked into the theater.
Hannibal shook his head.
“I’m going to get some munchies,” said Beverly.
Hannibal turned to Will as she walked away. “Is Beverly someone you want to be more than friends with?”
“No, it’s not like that. She’s just fun to be around,” said Will.
“Besides, she’s dating Darren from DOJ,” said Jimmy, referring to the Department of Justice.
“I don‘t recognize that name,” said Will.
“He’s the guy with the pointy little beard.”
“Oh, that guy!” said Will.
Once they got inside, they settled in the center part of the last row. Jimmy and Brian held out empty plastic cups and Beverly poured popcorn into them from the super-size tub. “This is because it gets kind of gross if everybody‘s touching the popcorn all the time. This way, the only person touching the popcorn you’re eating is you.”
“I like that idea,” said Hannibal.
“Sure you don’t want any?” said Bev. “I’ve got spare plastic cups.”
“No, but thank you.”
***
The movie was actually a gem of its genre. The story was about two souls that had to go through five different lifetimes in order to properly connect. The acting was top-notch, the banter fun and well-done instead of tiresome and mean-spirited, and the action sequences done with a minimum of CGI. When the movie ended, there was applause for a job well done.
“So, how did you like the movie?” said Will.
“It was enjoyable,” Hannibal replied.
Will smiled at him.
***
“What do you like?” said Hannibal once they got home.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I mean in terms of liking someone. I mean like how Christian and Sandra liked each other,” said Hannibal referring to the characters in the movie.
Will laughed a little. “That part of my life has been a major disaster but . . . I want someone who makes me feel safe and comfortable. Someone I think is really kissable. Someone who doesn’t make me feel like I need special handling like a teacup made out of fine china. Now how about you?”
“I want someone who cares and doesn’t rub me the wrong way. I want someone who likes me as I am. Kissability is also a factor.”
“I know you‘ll find someone.”
Hannibal turned abruptly and walked into his room and slammed his door shut.
Will frowned. “I wonder what I said.”
***
The next morning, it seemed like whatever had irritated Hannibal had been forgotten. Because the breakfast, if anything, was even better than usual. There was fresh squeezed orange juice and blueberry buttermilk pancakes. Both the maple syrup and an apricot syrup were on the table.
“Will?” said Hannibal.
“Yes?”
“How about you and I go to the movies?”
“Sure.”
“I mean, by ourselves.”
“Just tell me which movie and I’ll drive.”
Hannibal smiled.
“I didn’t know you were such a movie buff.”
“Usually, I’m not.”
Will was about to ask about that when Hannibal interrupted him by handing him a plate with a pile of pancakes.
***
“Will, where were you?” said Hannibal as Will came home, an hour late.
“I know I’m late. I’m sorry.”
“You know that food doesn’t taste as good when it is reheated.”
“Pizza does,” said Will, only to be rewarded with a ‘look.’ “Jack came to one of my lectures and after I was finished, he spent most of an hour trying to talk me into going back into the field. He says he needed my abilities. One thing Jack Crawford is, is persistent.”
“You don’t want to go back.”
“I’m burned out by all that. I wanted to get out while my mind and body were both still in one piece. I‘d also have to take a lot of short trips away and I don‘t want to leave you by yourself.”
“I’m surprised you can still do lectures and presentations about it.”
“I manage.”
“How about you show me one of your presentations?”
“I don’t want to. It’s not because of your age. It’s because I wouldn’t show this to most people MY age. They’re gory. They’re disturbing and they’re sad. It’s because I care that I don’t show you. I also don‘t want to show you, have Alana find out I showed you and get dressed down.”
Hannibal seemed mollified by that statement. “I will do what I can about dinner.”
***
Will saw Hannibal sleeping at the dining table instead of having prepared dinner. Poor guy, he thought. He must be all tired out. He got closer and saw beads of sweat on Hannibal’s neck. He put his hand on his forehead and felt a fever. “Hannibal?”
“Will? I just took a nap.”
“You’re sick. I’m taking you to bed.”
“But . . .”
“No buts. I need you to stand and walk with me.” Will led Hannibal to his bed then lowered him on the bed. “Go to sleep,” said Will as he lifted Hannibal’s feet off the ground and put them on bed so Hannibal could lie flat.
***
The next time Hannibal opened his eyes, he still felt feverish but also felt a cold moist towel on his forehead. He felt achy and miserable.
“I made chicken soup,” said Will from the doorway.
“I don’t want . . .”
“You need to eat and drink something, said Will as he brought in a steaming bowl with a spoon in it on a plate. He set it on the table next to the bed.
Hannibal glanced at the bowl, his dubious expression clearly showing that he was expecting something that was a nuclear yellow with slimy and spongy noodles only to be surprised by a dark broth that clearly had red dates, wolfberries, bok choy, ginseng and white fungus. “You . . . You used my recipe.”
“Yeah, I even dug through the freezer and found a big plastic container named silkie chicken broth behind the demi-glace. I went to your recipe rolodex and picked it out and went to the Asian food market in the next town to get the rest of the ingredients. I couldn’t‘ find any of that chicken meat though.”
“You didn’t have to . . .”
“Yes, I did. I wanted to make sure you’d actually eat it.”
Hannibal’s eyes glistened with gratitude. “Thank you, Will. I’m touched.”
Will ducked his head and smiled at the praise. “I just followed the directions.”
Hannibal took the spoon and sipped the broth. “And so you did. Have some with me.”
“You should drink it all. But I’ll eat my turkey sandwich here with you.”
By the next morning, Hannibal’s fever had broken and he had the rest of the soup to help him fully recover.
***
“Thanksgiving is coming up,” said Hannibal over Sunday brunch of crispy and light waffles and chicken-apple sausage.
“So it is.”
“I’ve never celebrated Thanksgiving before because it’s not celebrated in either Lithuania or France. I’ve read a little bit about it. I also looked up several recipes. I have to say most seem unappetizing and the cause of much unwarranted angst.”
Will laughed. “When I was young, my dad would just make lumpy mashed potatoes and buy this turkey loaf in a metal pan that sweated its own gravy.”
“I have no intention of making either though an entire turkey seems too much for just the two of us.”
“Maybe instead of an entire bird, we should just get a leg. That’s enough meat.”
Hannibal nodded. “That’s a good idea. Pumpkin pie sounds unappetizing so I’ll make an apple pie instead.”
Their discussion was interrupted by a knock on the door. Will looked through the peephole and opened the door. “Alana?”
“Hi, Will. Hi, Hannibal.”
Hannibal waved but said nothing.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to deliver two pieces of news,” she said. “First, Hannibal is guaranteed a room by himself for next semester to make up for the snafu.”
“Did you hear that, Hannibal?” said Will.
“Yes,” said Hannibal, sounding unenthusiastic.
“What else?”
“I was wondering if you’d both like to come and have Thanksgiving dinner with me. Beverly, Jimmy, and Brian are going to be there, along with a few others.”
Will turned to Hannibal. “Looks like you won’t have to make Thanksgiving dinner after all.”
“Oh.” Hannibal got up and went into his room.
Alana frowned. “He doesn’t sound too happy about that.”
“Let me talk to him.”
“Well, call me once you do.”
Will walked into Hannibal’s bedroom. Hannibal was on his bed, looking away from the door. “What’s wrong, Hannibal?”
“Nothing.”
Will sat on the bed and put his hand on Hannibal’s arm. “You don’t have to go. I can just tell her no.”
“But you want to go, don’t you?”
“Not if it makes you this upset.”
“We can go.”
“If it makes you feel better, you can plan Christmas dinner.”
“At least Christmas has better dishes,” grumbled Hannibal.
***
The start of one of the worst Thanksgiving dinners Will had ever attended was inauspicious to say the least. When he got to Alana‘s apartment, Alana had opened the door and behind her was a man helping her with the dinner. His name was Bob and he was her new boyfriend.
“I didn’t realize that you had a new boyfriend,” said Will.
“Actually, this Thanksgiving dinner is my way of announcing it.”
“Oh,” said Will. “Congratulations?’ He hadn’t meant to say it as a question but he couldn’t quite say it with the kind of pure joy one should feel for one‘s friend having someone good in her life.
It didn’t help that a few minutes later, Hannibal was sullenly sticking to the couch, barely hiding his distaste for what he had seen on the cutting boards and on top of the stove in Alana‘s kitchen.
The arrival of the Jimmy and Brian carrying bottles and boxes of booze was only a temporary respite from the death spiral of the evening because they told him that Beverly had gone to her new boyfriend’s house for Thanksgiving. A few minutes later, Jack Crawford came in with his wife. Will hissed to Alana, “Oh, my God, you invited him.”
“He’s a friend of mine,” said Alana.
“You know he’s been bothering me to go back to the field.. Why didn‘t you warn me?”
“I’m sure he won’t . . .”
Jack said, “Will Graham, you’re here. We have much to discuss.”
“Please not here,” Will said.
“Jack Crawford, are you bothering him?” said Bella.
“Oh, no, dear.”
“I hope not unless you enjoy the sport of couch surfing.”
“Oh, Bella.”
The rest of the dinner was scarcely any better. Will could only hold his tongue while Alana and Bob cooed at each other, Hannibal played with his food passive-aggressively while eating as little of it as possible, Brian and Jimmy got more and more giggly the more box wine they drank, and Jack chomping at the bit to tell him to get back to the field without being scolded by his wife. Also, the turkey was terribly dry and the gravy was lumpy and salty.
***
When they got home, Hannibal said flatly, “Thanksgiving should be banned.” A few of the dogs briefly opened their eyes to see who it was then upon recognizing them, went back to sleep.
“I wouldn’t go that far but I‘ll admit it was pretty awful. Why don’t you take shower first? I just need to put away the leftovers.” Alana had given everyone leftovers in Tupperware containers and Will had quickly accepted on behalf of both of them, afraid of the kind of back-handed ‘thanks‘ Hannibal would say.
Will put the leftovers away and then started looking for a bottle of whiskey since he hadn‘t touched a drop at the dinner since he had to drive the both of them home. He took it out of a cabinet and poured himself a glass. He put in a couple pieces of ice, swirled it around and then slowly drank a glass. He was pouring himself a third glass when Hannibal came into the kitchen, his hair wet and wearing a bathrobe.
“What are you doing?” said Will.
“I was going to tell you that I was done with the shower. What are you doing, Will?”
“I was just feeling a little down so I decided to break out some liquid comfort.”
Hannibal put a hand over the glass Will had poured. “It’s about Alana, isn’t it?”
Will shook his head.
Hannibal looked puzzled. “What is it then?”
“During dinner, I was wishing that I had turned down the invitation and had Thanksgiving dinner at home with you. It was then I realized that the months you’ve been living here with me have been the happiest I’ve been in years. Knowing that there’s someone who cares if you come home or not, having someone to talk to and cares about what you have to say. . . And I’m sad because I know that it’s coming to an end. I’m going to really miss you . . .” Will took off his glasses, put them on the kitchen counter and rubbed his eyes. “Just ignore me. I’m tired and I’m not making any sense and I’m being maudlin . . .”
Will would have said more except he was interrupted by Hannibal saying,” I’m not going anywhere,” then Hannibal pressed himself against Will and kissed him.
It was like an intense golden light swept through his mind and made things clear. He pulled Hannibal closer to him and kissed him back, teasing with his tongue until Hannibal’s mouth opened and their tongues caressed each other. He could feel Hannibal moan with pleasure in his arms.
“Now, now do you see? See what you do to me?” said Hannibal, who had let his robe fall open , revealing that his dick was hard. Hannibal whimpered when Will wrapped his hand around it and began stroking it, occasionally rubbing circles around the tip with his thumb.
Will nuzzled his neck and growled, “I like what I see.” He licked a stripe along the side of Hannibal’s neck which made Hannibal come all over Will‘s hand.
Hannibal took Will’s hand and licked off all the spunk, sucking and using his tongue to make each finger clean. ‘God damn,” whispered Will before it slowly dawned on him what he had done. His imagination kicked into overdrive as he imagined everybody he knew at the FBI pointing at him, yelling “Shame on you! Shame on you! Perv! Perv!”
Hannibal must have guessed what Will was starting to think because he said, “Stop!”
“Hannibal?” The sudden exclamation distracted him from the image.
“Breathe, Will, breathe. I want you to listen to what I have to say without interruption. Can you do that?”
“Yeah.”
“I chose this. I chose you,” said Hannibal, rubbing comforting circles on the small of Will’s back. “Do you love me?”
“More than I should.”
“If it is a matter of my age, it is a problem that will soon be rectified. I’m almost seventeen right now. And you know that I am a student studying to be a doctor at a prestigious institute, not someone who is concerned with football games and cheerleaders and pop songs.”
“I just don’t want to be that guy.”
“What guy are you talking about?”
“An old fart who leaves you without nothing but regret.”
“The fact that you are so worried shows that you are not such a man and if you bothered to look in the mirror, you‘d realize that you are a very handsome man at his peak even if you do hide it behind glasses and questionable sartorial choices. When was your first time?”
“I was your age,” mumbled Will, who was slowly feeling less upset.
Hannibal nodded. “Haven’t I told you that I find most people my age boring and shallow? If I was going to be with someone now, it was always going to be with someone quite a bit older than me. I just wanted it to be with someone who’s my best friend.”
Will kissed him again. “Let’s go to sleep and we’ll talk more about this in the morning.”
***
“I don’t want to move out,” said Hannibal as they sat at the dining table. “I like it here.”
“I don’t want you to move out either but the problem is they’ll ask you why you don’t want to move out. If anything, even suspecting that you have feelings for me will make them more insistent that you move.”
“Then . . .”
:”Listen,” said Will, taking Hannibal‘s hands into his. “You move into the dorm room . . . It’ll help keep your grades up and help you make connections. But there’s nothing to stop you from spending the summer with me here.”
“All summer?”
“Yes. Maybe even a road trip or we can take the train to New York City.”
“Do you promise?”
“I promise.”
“That’s such a long time.”
“I know but you’ll be so busy with studying, it’ll go by fast.”
“Can we at least make the best of the time we have left?”
“Of course.”
***
On Christmas Day, Will was awakened by a familiar smell. It can’t be, can it, thought Will. He padded his way to the kitchen to find that Hannibal was cooking over the stove. “What are you . . . It smells like . . .”
“I hope I got it right. This is my first time making it . . .” said Hannibal as he turned and smiled at Will.
Will looked over his shoulder and said, “That’s gumbo.” He had briefly mentioned a while back that while he didn’t miss the humidity and heat of New Orleans during the summer, he had really missed the food.
“It’s not quite finished yet as I plan to make it a seafood gumbo and add the crab and shrimp later but you can taste it.“ Hannibal took a spoon of it, blew on it to cool it then held it out for Will to taste. “How is it?”
“It’s so good it makes me homesick.”
Hannibal turned off the stove. “Now for opening presents!”
They went to the Christmas tree in the living room. Hannibal had been slightly doubtful about getting one in case the dogs wanted to mark it in the way dogs usually marked trees outside but Will pointed out that he had gotten a tree in previous years and they had behaved themselves. The dogs picked up on the humans’ excitement and surrounded them as Will and Hannibal sat down near the tree.
“Let’s open up Jimmy’s present. And it’s booze,” said Will, holding up a bottle of wine after peeling off the wrapping. “You open one up.”
Hannibal opened up one from Beverly and stared at it. “I have no idea what it is.”
Will looked under the base of the object then laughed. “It’s a Dalek pepper mill. You just twist the head around and pepper comes out the bottom.” Ha, he thought, it exterminates peppercorns.
“It’s terrible looking.”
“I’ll explain it to you later. It‘s kind of a joke.”
“Yes, I can see that.” Hannibal picked up a present from Brian. “Looks like a box of chocolate. I don‘t recognize the brand.”
“I like those,” said Will. “This one is from Jack and Bella.” Will opened it up. “Oh, they’re a pair of gloves for me and a pair of gloves for you.” He held up the two pairs of leather gloves lined with fur.
“I’m surprised he didn’t try to sneak in a written speech about you coming back to work for him in one of the gloves,” said Hannibal as he put one on. “They’re nice though.”
“The card is co-signed by Bella so she probably put a stop to that. This is from Alana.”
Will opened up the box and found that there was a knitted wool scarf each for him and Hannibal. Wrapped in the scarves were two bottles of Old Spice aftershave.
Hannibal said, “The scarves are nice but I’m not wearing that sailing ship aftershave.”
“But . . .”
“No.”
“Let’s just open up this box. Oh, it’s from you to the puppies,” said Will. “Oh, you got collars and squeaky toys for all of them.”
“The ones they had were looking a little worn.”
“I see something from your uncle and his wife.”
Hannibal opened up the small package and read a letter. “They said that since my grades have been good and that I seem to be adapting to my new surroundings, they have made arrangements for me to have a car while I’m here. They also said that they will plan to pay for any driving school I need to attend.”
“Wow,” said Will. “Now I want you to open up what I got you. You might not be able to use it for a while but I hope you like it.”
“You didn’t have to . . .”
“Just open it.”
Hannibal opened his package and saw a fishing rod with several lures that Will had made. “Thank you, Will. We should go fishing this summer.” He put it aside. “I have a present for you but it can’t be opened until tonight.”
“I thought the gumbo was my present.”
Hannibal laughed.
***
Later that night, Hannibal took Will by the hand and pulled him towards his bedroom. Will’s bed was much too narrow, especially in comparison to the queen-sized bed Hannibal had. “It’s time for your present,” Hannibal said as he stood next to his bed.
Hannibal took off his clothes slowly, throwing them on the bed. When he was completely naked, he turned around to show that he had put a butt plug inside him. “I want you to have this. I’ve already prepared myself.”
Will put his hands on Hannibal’s shoulders. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. Some people don‘t care for it and that‘s OK.”
“I won’t know until I try and I want it to be you. Unless you don‘t want it.”
“I do . . .” Will wrapped his arms around Hannibal from behind and kissed his cheek. “Seeing you like this . . . You don’t know how much it excites me. It‘s just that it doesn‘t feel good for me unless it‘s good for you, too.”
Will took off his T-shirt and shorts, threw them on the bed as well and kissed Hannibal’s neck and shoulders then kissed him along his spine. He slowly pulled out the butt plug and saw that it was roughly the size of his own dick. Will had to smile wryly at that. He could never quite get over how Hannibal was the most prepared person he had ever known. “Lay down on the bed and I will take care of you.”
Will saw the condom on the lubricant on the dresser near the bed. He slowly put on the condom and used a lot of the clear slick liquid. He put a pillow underneath Hannibal’s back to get a better angle. He caressed Hannibal’s abs and said, “I’m going to go in now. Remember, I don’t want you to put up with anything that hurts . . .”
“Do I ever put up with anything I don‘t like?”
Will threw back his head and laughed at that. “I’m going to fuck you now.” He stuck the head of his cock into Hannibal and slowly pushed in until he was all the way in and started thrusting slowly. After trying different angles, he smiled when he knew he found he hit the right place by Hannibal gasping with pleasure and grabbing his shoulders.
Will leaned forward and said, “Hannibal, je t’aime.”
Hannibal groaned and said, “Moi aussi, je t’aime,” French for ‘I love you, too.’
After Will came and pulled out, he encircled Hannibal’s cock with his hand and stroked the tip with his thumb and Hannibal shook as he came all over Will’s hand. Will threw away his used condom, grabbed his T-shirt and used it to clean the both of them off and was about to get off the bed to go back to his own room when Hannibal grabbed him by the arm.
“Will . . . Stay . . .”
Will reached over and turned off the lights.
***
“Looks like it’s just us for Friday night, guys,” Will said to the dogs. It had been two weeks since he had helped Hannibal move into his dorm room but he felt himself already filled with melancholy and longing. No, he thought, this is good for both of us. He’ll make more friends, call me one day to tell me that he has other plans for the summer, and I’ll . . . just go back to . . . being alone . . .
There was someone knocking on his door. He opened the door to find Hannibal, carrying a picnic basket. “I thought you were at school,” said Will.
“Classes are over for the week. You never said I couldn’t visit over the weekend.” Hannibal then sniffed and frowned as he walked into the house. “You’ve been cooking out of cans and boxes, haven’t you? How quickly you backslide.”
“Hanni . . .”
Hannibal closed the door behind him, put down the basket, wrapped his arms around Will and put his head on his shoulder. “Will, please . . . I can‘t wait until June. I can‘t . . .”
Will closed his eyes and said, “You . . . You have to go back . . . to your dorm room . . . on Sunday night.”
Will could feel the smile in Hannibal’s kiss.
The End