Hannibal loved his god-daughter, no doubt about it. That didn't mean that he didn't find her irritating on occasion. In this instance she had the right thought in mind but he was still rather cross with her. A puppy, she had bought him a puppy for Christmas. There would be fur and drool all over the house to go with it. He struggled to keep a straight face and not show his god-daughter his displeasure, after all she had meant the best with the gift.
Abigail still seemed to know and started rambling an explanation. "I know you're not fond of animals but I worry about you. You've lived all alone for as long as I can remember and I thought you could use the company and" Hannibal held up his hand to stop her. She went quiet immediately and Hannibal smiled softly at her.
"Thank you it was very kind of you." He held out his arms to pull her in for a hug. When they parted he looked down at her. "How about we go have coffee and cookies before you head back to the university." She nodded her head and walked into the sitting room with him leaving the small hound in the pen that had been set up for her.
An hour later saw Abigail boarding the train to her university and Hannibal staring at the puppy she left him. "I suppose I can't get rid of you without being rude." The puppy tilted its head to the side but kept silent. Sighing Hannibal leaned down to pet the little things head. The dog seemed to take this as a sign that it was ok to jump at him and start trying to lick his entire arm. By the time Hannibal gets the puppy off of his arm his hand and suit sleeve are covered in drool. Hannibal frowned down at the dog who stares back wagging her tail and lolling her tongue out of her mouth. Hannibal decided that he would figure out what to do with her in the morning and walked into the bathroom to clean his hands and remove the jacket. Once he finished he found the puppy trembling next to a small puddle of urine.
Hannibal hated animals.
The next morning Hannibal decided that he didn't have the patience or experience to train a dog and needed a professional. Luckily it was Sunday and he had no patients to deal with so he had time to find a proper trainer for the hound. After two hours of searching the internet and yellow pages Hannibal found the Crawford training company. The company had trainers for almost every pet and had wonderful reviews.
Hannibal made the decision to call the training company after lunch. He made both his and the dogs food. He may not want the dog but be damned if he stooped so low as to buy that processed food that was on the market these days. Hannibal left the dog in the back yard and walked back into the kitchen to make the call. The person to answer was a disgruntled sounding man who was unusually loud.
"This is the Crawford animal training center how may I help you?"
"I'm calling about a dog trainer for my," Hannibal paused and looked at the paperwork that Abigail had left him "Rhodesian ridgeback"
The man on the line hummed in response. "Sessions start at $125 for 6 weeks with a group and $240 for private lessons. If you sign up for lessons now we can throw in 1 free potty training session."
"I'd like to schedule for private sessions, is there any way those sessions can be in my home."
"Yes but depending on how far you live there may be an extra fee for our trainer's gas."
Hannibal spent the next half hour hashing out the details with the man on the phone who turned out to be Jack Crawford the owner of the company. They agreed to 1 hour sessions every Saturday at 11:00 A.M. at Hannibal's home starting this weekend.
At exactly 11:00 Hannibal's doorbell rang letting him know that the trainer had arrived on time. Leaving the small puppy in the fenced off area of his sitting room Hannibal went to greet the man that would be teaching his dog manners. Hannibal only hoped the trainer had manners of his own. Opening the door Hannibal put on his best smile and tried not to grimace at the sight before him. The trainer was a scruffy looking man in baggy clothing and plaid. In his hand was the leash holding a long haired dog that Hannibal just knew would leave all kinds of fur on his furniture and floors. At least the dog that Abigail had gotten him was short haired.
"Hello my name is Will Graham I am the trainer that you requested." Will shuffled uncomfortably on the doorstep while Hannibal openly examined him. Remembering his manners Hannibal held out his hand towards Will.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Graham my name is Hannibal Lecter"
Will took Hannibal's hand hesitantly and shook it. Once they parted Hannibal took a step back and gestured towards the hall. "Please come in Mr. Graham."
Will stepped in hesitantly followed closely by the dog. "I would be prefer it if you would call me Will Dr. Lecter."
"Then I insist that you call me Hannibal." Will glanced up at Hannibal's face before going back to staring at his shoulder.
"If you insist, now where is our star pupil?"
"Follow me and I'll be able to show you." Hannibal lead Will into the sitting room and the moment the other dog was in sight the puppy jumped up and started yipping excitedly, her whole body moving back and forth with her tail. Will's dog showed almost no response other than a single wag of his tail instead sitting down and not moving. Hannibal had to admit that he was impressed by the dogs training and willingness to follow Will's directions with no verbal commands. Will walked forward so that he could lean down and scratch the back of the puppy's head before turning back to Hannibal.
"To start with I'm going to need the general information about you dog, such as name and age. Also if there are any specific habits that you would like to have me get rid of or teach you should let me know now so that I can make a general plan for our training sessions." Will got straight to the point, something that Hannibal could appreciate.
"Her name is Hess and she's about 5 months old my goddaughter gave her to me as a gift. I would prefer it if she could be taught to only bark when there's danger and I would very much like her house trained as soon as possible."
Will gave Hannibal a crooked smile "Where would you like us to perform these sessions?"
Hannibal paused for a moment considering. "We can move to the back yard, it's not particularly large but it should have enough space for us to move comfortably."
Will nodded and Hannibal led him into the yard picking up the puppy along the way. Once they got into the yard Hannibal turned around to Will waiting for directions. Will pulled off his glasses and looked at Hannibal's face for the first time and Hannibal was struck by how blue the man's eyes were and how young he looked without the glasses hiding his face.
"We'll start simple we need to get her responding to her name." Will held up his hand to his own dog and went a few steps away. "Winston." The dog looked up at his master standing at attention tail wagging back and forth.
Will looked over at Hannibal "It won't be in one day she has to get used to the name so you'll have to call out to her regularly. A lot of dogs respond to the tone rather that the name even if the name is familiar to them so make sure that you use a strong voice when you talk to her."
Will walked over and took the puppy from Hannibal and walked a few paces away. "Try calling out to her so she can get used to your voice."
Hannibal raised an eyebrow at Will but did as he was told "Hess."
The puppy turned her head towards him and tilted her head. "Good, she's responsive."
"Now let's move on to . . ." Hannibal sighed this was going to be very tedious.
By the time Will and Hannibal finished Hannibal was frustrated by the lack of visible progress which was strange because Hannibal was usually a very patient individual. Hannibal being the polite host that he was invited Will to stay after for drinks and when Will declined he couldn't help but be a little disappointed although Hannibal himself wasn't sure why. The rest of the week passed quickly only slowing down when Hannibal had one of his regular sessions with Franklin who he found rather pathetic and uninteresting.
Saturday's session was rather standard in the way of training and this time when Hannibal invited Will to stay after he used the dogs to his advantage convincing Will that Hess needed the company and would benefit from playing with Winston. That was apparently all the reason that Will needed to stay for a while longer. Hannibal found that he enjoyed the other man's company and found the other to be a very refreshing change from all of the rather annoying and rude people that he had to deal with. From that session on Will and Hannibal made it a habit to sit in the yard and watch the dogs while talking. It got to the point where Will and Winston stayed so late that they stayed for dinners on occasion.
It took 2 of these dinners for Hannibal to realize that he didn't want his contact with Will to end and their sessions would be over next week. Something would have to be done about that.
The last session started like normal with more reviewing than normal. Hannibal was patient and waited until the end of the session before making his move. Will was clearing up the last of the stuff that he brought and feeding Hess a treat when Hannibal cleared his throat.
"Will I realize that before now we have had a mostly professional relationship but I would like to know if you would be willing to pursue a relationship beyond that?" Will looked up at Hannibal in confusion.
"Do you mean as friends or ?" Will let the question hang in the air and Hannibal was quick to answer.
"That would depend on what you want. I can tell you my preference but the decision is yours." Will's lips twitched into a small smile.
"Well I don't mind the idea of going on a date with you and seeing where it goes from there."
Hannibal smirked at Will. "It would be my pleasure."