p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When was it that Hannibal fell in love? Was it when he thought that Tobias Budge had gotten to Will? Was it when Will had transformed in front of his eyes, almost killing that social worker? Was it when he had come to Hannibal willingly, even if it was a lie – entrapment, when he had wooed Hannibal? Or maybe it was already when Will had admitted to not finding Hannibal interesting over their first meal together. It was hard to say, and at times Hannibal found that frustrating./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He had a long time to reflect upon these things during his time in his cell. He had nothing span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"but/span time to think, when reading became redundant and no amount of sketches could live up to the imperfect perfection of Will's face. The black and white lines upon white paper were but a pale imitation of the man who had captured Hannibal's imagination so thoroughly that he even threw away his freedom for him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"So, when had Will Graham fallen in love with Hannibal Lecter, then? Hannibal had no idea. For a man like him, with a brain like his, with his capabilities and mental faculties, Will Graham remained an enigma. It did not frustrate Hannibal as much as he thought it would. All he felt was an endless thirst for Will's company so that he could get inside him, find out how and what he thought and then swallow him whole./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Though, he supposed, that the last time he tried that, it went span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"terribly/span. He also realised later that perhaps, in part, he had been manipulated into it by Bedelia, by her incessant goading disguised as therapy. She had made him confront his feelings, drawn the Mischa parallels, called him out on consuming her, and then, finally, she had brought it full circle by leading him to that fateful day in Professor Sogliato's apartment. He didn't regret it, but then he did. Will Graham was not for eating, because as Hannibal came to understand in the intervening years, there were span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"other/span (better) ways of consuming someone than just by marinating and eating them. Especially if it was someone as fascinating as Will./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As he admitted to Will, his compassion for him was inconvenient, and it was the reason why he let pull him down. At last, he understood what Will felt for him, and knowing Will, he also understood that the man wouldn't be able to live with that knowledge. Will Graham was not going to get into the bed with a devil. He had to do the right thing and bring the devil down with him, even if it cost his life. Perhaps that was what sealed the deal for him, in any case. He could not live with Hannibal, and as Hannibal came to understand, Will could not live without him either./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"That was the ending Will had chosen for them. Plunge into the abyss rather than be separated from Hannibal, rather than give into his nature and calling, and take Hannibal with him. A few years ago, Hannibal would have scoffed at the idea of taking a passive stance on such a decision and letting Will do whatever he pleased. But that Hannibal was no more. The man he was now, shaped and changed by Will (while changing and moulding Will as well in return), he would and did allow Will everything. He couldn't deny Will anything./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And why would he? Not when Will had finally done what Hannibal had always wanted from. Not when Will was the one who had leaned into him, wrapped his arms around Hannibal and rested his face against Hannibal's neck. Not when Hannibal finally understood the feeling of completion in love, the joy of having your love returned, the beauty of requited feelings. Not when he could feel Will Graham's warmth against his body, the smell of his blood, the scratchiness of his stubble, the erratic heartbeat next to his chest, and the strength of his embrace./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Nothing could ever be better than this moment in time and death alone could ensure that this moment alone would remain perfectly untouched –span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"inviolate/span. And therefore he stood close to the edge, where Will would have wanted them to be after they had consummated their love, baptised it with the Dragon's blood. And that was why he let Will throw them over the edge, putting up not even a modicum of resistance in the moment it happened./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As long as he had Will in his arms, with Will holding him close, nothing seemed to matter and even death was just another beginning for them instead of an end./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He had a long time to reflect upon these things during his time in his cell. He had nothing span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"but/span time to think, when reading became redundant and no amount of sketches could live up to the imperfect perfection of Will's face. The black and white lines upon white paper were but a pale imitation of the man who had captured Hannibal's imagination so thoroughly that he even threw away his freedom for him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"So, when had Will Graham fallen in love with Hannibal Lecter, then? Hannibal had no idea. For a man like him, with a brain like his, with his capabilities and mental faculties, Will Graham remained an enigma. It did not frustrate Hannibal as much as he thought it would. All he felt was an endless thirst for Will's company so that he could get inside him, find out how and what he thought and then swallow him whole./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Though, he supposed, that the last time he tried that, it went span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"terribly/span. He also realised later that perhaps, in part, he had been manipulated into it by Bedelia, by her incessant goading disguised as therapy. She had made him confront his feelings, drawn the Mischa parallels, called him out on consuming her, and then, finally, she had brought it full circle by leading him to that fateful day in Professor Sogliato's apartment. He didn't regret it, but then he did. Will Graham was not for eating, because as Hannibal came to understand in the intervening years, there were span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"other/span (better) ways of consuming someone than just by marinating and eating them. Especially if it was someone as fascinating as Will./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As he admitted to Will, his compassion for him was inconvenient, and it was the reason why he let pull him down. At last, he understood what Will felt for him, and knowing Will, he also understood that the man wouldn't be able to live with that knowledge. Will Graham was not going to get into the bed with a devil. He had to do the right thing and bring the devil down with him, even if it cost his life. Perhaps that was what sealed the deal for him, in any case. He could not live with Hannibal, and as Hannibal came to understand, Will could not live without him either./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"That was the ending Will had chosen for them. Plunge into the abyss rather than be separated from Hannibal, rather than give into his nature and calling, and take Hannibal with him. A few years ago, Hannibal would have scoffed at the idea of taking a passive stance on such a decision and letting Will do whatever he pleased. But that Hannibal was no more. The man he was now, shaped and changed by Will (while changing and moulding Will as well in return), he would and did allow Will everything. He couldn't deny Will anything./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And why would he? Not when Will had finally done what Hannibal had always wanted from. Not when Will was the one who had leaned into him, wrapped his arms around Hannibal and rested his face against Hannibal's neck. Not when Hannibal finally understood the feeling of completion in love, the joy of having your love returned, the beauty of requited feelings. Not when he could feel Will Graham's warmth against his body, the smell of his blood, the scratchiness of his stubble, the erratic heartbeat next to his chest, and the strength of his embrace./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Nothing could ever be better than this moment in time and death alone could ensure that this moment alone would remain perfectly untouched –span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"inviolate/span. And therefore he stood close to the edge, where Will would have wanted them to be after they had consummated their love, baptised it with the Dragon's blood. And that was why he let Will throw them over the edge, putting up not even a modicum of resistance in the moment it happened./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As long as he had Will in his arms, with Will holding him close, nothing seemed to matter and even death was just another beginning for them instead of an end./p