Title: A Not-So Lonely Road
Prompt Number: 6
Requested By: Anonymous
Description: with clarice having the evening off from work, and hannibal having no patients and nothing else to do; the pair decide to go for a little stroll together
Rating: T
Characters Mentioned: Clarice Starling; Hannibal Lecter;
Word Count: 560+
-the evening was full with a radiant peach-colored glow in the west; the rest of the sky retained tints of blue and purple. starling had to admit that she found it rather captivating. she knew lecter, who was beside her as they walked, felt the same way. her hands were stuffed into her jacket's pockets, whereas his were comfortably resting at his sides. his stride was far more concise and sophisticated than her own, but it did not seem to faze either of them. she could feel him glancing to her on occasion, and she would not be so shameful to not admit that she did the same. the couple was indeed a handsome one; and both thought so about the other and showed it through the way in which they constantly coveted one another with every glimpse.
- "i'm glad you decided to come with me, clarice." hannibal finally spoke. he never denied himself the simple pleasures in life, nor did he deny himself the things that he wanted. walking with the young agent was something he indeed wanted and found pleasurable, all at the same time. "oh, it's no problem, really. i like this. it's nice." she smiles, taking a moment to observe her feet before looking back to him. a soft laugh is expelled from her at a brief thought which passes through her mind. "i, uh, don't suppose there's any chance of me convincin' you to go on a run with me sometime, huh?"
-the question seemed to amuse lecter, doubting he would be able to keep up with the younger woman should they do such a thing. "hmm, i don't know, little starling. there might be." he teases her with the unconfirmed promise of a potential run together. "do you honestly think i would be able to catch you, should we run?" to that, she shrugs. "maybe… y' never know." now it was her turn to tease him. "no, you never do…" a series of laughs follow from the both in their own measures, but afterwards the walk continues in a taciturnity which both find secure. in the distance, the couple hears various sounds of traffic, kids playing in a park, dogs barking, but they do not break the silence that transpires between them. it's something that at times they get a lot of tranquility out of, and both having their own stresses of life need this more so than they dare admit.
-as the agent lowers her head, her bountiful curls fall to conceal her face from the world. lecter, though all too familiar with the features it bestows, cannot help but to be a little unpleased by this, though he enjoys the opportunity to admire her hair, a part of the woman he idolized and found himself obsessed with—a fact of which she knew quite well. he would touch it at any chance he got to do so, and he took them all—another fact she knew. when they paused at a cross walk, she watched from the corner of her eye as he reached over to tuck the hair back behind her ear. she chuckled when his hand lingered for so long that they almost missed the signal to cross. "it's tellin' us to walk… come on." starling says sweetly, offering her hand to him—and he unquestioningly accepts, a micro-smirk coming to his full lips.
