A/N - Trigger warning. Sexual nature. Not much of either, but enough that I might get frowned at if I didn't mention anything.
A black vest peeked beneath the folds of his black and grey checkered suit jacket, a matching tie knotted against a white shirt atop black slacks. It wasn't the most alluring attire Hannibal owned, but it didn't need to be. No, judging from the hardened stare Eliza possessed as Hannibal entered her professional abode, a line had been crossed. Eliza herself had crossed it, in the pre-dawn likely. Hannibal theorized she had been examining her hand, the hand he is so frequently kissed, perhaps it had even happened in the shower. Eliza hadn't planned on it happening, her hand had likely strayed of its own accord, and when it did, she had cried out louder than she had meant to.
Dressed in a red-orange two-piece suit, Eliza's wavy chestnut curls had again been sacrificed to the hair straightener. Judging from the minor burn Hannibal spotted on her index finger as she gestured for him to take a seat, Eliza had been still reveling in her act of self-pleasure at the time. Through her guarded expression, Hannibal glimpsed shame in her hazel eyes, but he also sensed a less heightened amount of anxiety. Eliza was about to start her first session, counseling a man who held more prestige than she likely ever would, yet she was relatively calm as she sat down across from him. Her morning endeavor had been an achievement for them both.
Eliza crossed one leg over the other, and settled her ledger against her thigh. It was a perfectly natural movement, but Hannibal suspected it was more of a statement - he was on her turf. Allowing a smile to soften the edges of his mouth, Hannibal directed his gaze onto her legs as she no doubt hoped he would, even momentarily. "How would you like to begin, Eliza?" he asked, righting his attention onto her face.
Eliza smiled, the pen she wielded clenched tensely in mid-air. "I'm glad you asked Hannibal. Take off your jacket." she answered.
Hannibal's brow perked in surprise, but only briefly. Of course, she wanted him to reveal his mementos from his near-death experience. Sitting forward, Hannibal ushered himself to the edge of his seat, shortening the gap between himself and Eliza. A quiver streaks down her throat, as Hannibal unbuttons and sheds his suit jacket. Draping it over his lap, Hannibal noticed the relaxed muscles of Eliza's calves have grown taunt. If such meager undressing was affecting her, Eliza was certainly deprived. Seamlessly, Hannibal shifted his gaze onto his cufflinks, unfastening them with slowed precision and folding his sleeves up to his elbows. Once his forearms were bare, Hannibal began undoing his tie, observing Eliza adeptly. She was holding her breath, and Hannibal felt the welcome companionship of pride ignite his insides. With concealed smugness, Hannibal slid his tie free from his collar and began rolling it up. "I admire your straightforwardness Eliza." he remarked, truly using speech as an excuse to push the brunette further into her lust. "There are many ways to approach counseling a new patient, I was curious as to which route you would take with me." It was difficult to ignore how his voice stirred Eliza, as his fingers finished urging open the buttons of his collar, parting the fabric from his neck.
"Our arrangement is hardly typical Hannibal, but it is good that I haven't disappointed you." Eliza replied, her hazel eyes honing in on the fading rope mark around his neck. "Tell me about the man who did this to you."
"Matthew Brown. He was an orderly at Baltimore State Hospital For The Criminally Insane." Hannibal said. "Matthew shot me with a dart gun while I was swimming. When I awoke, I was standing on a bucket, with a noose around my neck, my arms fastened to a plank of wood, my wrists slit diagonally. I could scarcely speak or breathe, hapless to the blood streaming from my wounds."
A dark shadow passed across Eliza's face, and she grew deaf to the rest of Hannibal's response. Mentally, she was transported back to that dark alleyway with Ike Ryan. One hand enclosed around her throat, the other banishing the knife against the niche of her neck. His wide mouth spilling out threats and profanities, his hand groping her chest, then parting her legs. A pain she had not experienced since she lost her maidenhead, agonizing from her abdomen downward. Ike's knife sliced into her clavicle with his every thrust, her blood slowly soaking her shirt.
Sudden contact startled Eliza from her revere, her hazel eyes jumping onto Hannibal's hand which had merged with the small of her right wrist. "..Is everything alright Eliza?" he asked imploringly.
"Yes, yes of course." Eliza mumbled, sitting straighter.
"It appears my retelling triggered recollections of your own trauma." Hannibal observed.
"Even if it did, this is your counseling session, not mine." Eliza reminded, lifting her wrist free of Hannibal's grasp.
Hannibal purposely lagged in his reaction to her recoil, his fingers 'accidentally' brushing her thigh before reeling back into his own personal space. He was still perched on the edge of his seat, close enough to smell Eliza's natural scent seeping through her floral body wash. "Then how would you like to continue?" he asked.
Eliza uncrossed her legs, flipping her hair behind one shoulder and straightening her ledger against her knees. "Why did this Matthew Brown, try to kill you?" she asked.
"Matthew believed he was doing Will Graham a favor." Hannibal answered.
"The favor was to kill you?" Eliza pressed.
"Yes." Hannibal said, noting Eliza appeared oddly unsurprised by his response.
"And who is Will Graham?" Eliza asked, making a note in her ledger.
Hannibal smiled demurely. "A criminal profiler, and a close friend of mine. Will is currently hospitalized at the same establishment Matthew Brown was an employee of."
"Baltimore State Hospital For The Criminally Insane...?" Eliza inquired. Hannibal nodded. "Was Will a patient of yours?"
"In many ways, he still is." Hannibal mused.
"Do you and Will have an arrangement such as you and I have?" Eliza questioned.
"To compare you and Will, would be similar to comparing moss to mold." Hannibal deduced.
A slight frown creased Eliza's lips. "A strange comparison." she blurted.
"Not at all, in fact a rather fitting one." Hannibal lightly argued. "Moss is a plant that converts dissolved soil minerals into the energy it needs to grow and reproduce. Mold is neither plant nor animal, but a fungus that converts decaying organic matter into energy needed to live. Now do you understand?"
"I believe so. Though why is it Will wanted you dead?"
"Will believed my death would bring him peace with his predicament."
"Why would he believe that?"
"Hard to say."
Eliza scribbled something on her ledger, though her gaze remained glued to Hannibal. "Your stitches, and the rope-burn...you keep them concealed, because they are reminders of what you endured...and perhaps also, hiding them enables you to still view Will a friend, after such heinous betrayal..."
After appropriately appraising his wrists, Hannibal glanced upward at the female, repressing a smirk. "And what does that say about me?"
"That you hold Will Graham in special regard." Eliza stated, her mouth rigid with disdain. "Whether it is healthy or not."
"Interesting. Your disapproval is two-fold." Hannibal responded. "For Will's action, and my forgiveness of it."
"My disapproval should be of no consequence." Eliza retorted, with a sideways glance at the clock situated on the table beside her.
"There are many underlying reasons as to why an individual seeks counseling. Approval is one of them." Hannibal replied. "I wonder, however, if your disapproval is strictly professional."
One of Eliza's eyebrows perked toward her hairline. "Meaning?"
Hannibal allowed his gaze to leisurely comb over Eliza's petite form. "What do you perceive my sexuality to be, Eliza? Would your disapproval lessen if I were to assure you both Will and myself are heterosexual?"
Eliza's jaw had dropped open at his first question, and remained ajar for several seconds afterward. "Hannibal your..interests, are not for me to judge." she stammered aloud.
"We shall see." Hannibal remarked, unfolding his sleeves.
Tapping her pen against her ledger, Eliza inhaled deeply, and exhaled just as deeply, watching intently as Hannibal unfurled his tie and leashed it around his neck. "What precisely is it you hope to gain from this arrangement of ours?" she inquired reluctantly.
"Besides the undivided attention of a beautiful woman?" Hannibal jeered looping his tie into a knot.
Eliza tried to respond coyly, but Hannibal noted the flash of pink highlighting her cheekbones. "Mm a woman who can be easily taken advantage of."
"Ike Ryan believed you to be such, and yet you tore out a chunk of his throat with your bare teeth as a result." Hannibal countered.
"This is different." Eliza said shortly, as Hannibal smoothed the collar of his dress shirt over his tie.
"Indeed it is." Hannibal agreed, buttoning his sleeves.
Eliza placed her ledge aside, and sat forward, mere inches from Hannibal who gazed at her keenly. "You claim you seek comradeship, yet you clearly already have a unique bond with Will. You're an esteemed gentleman surrounded by admirers, and you are in no need of counseling that I can comprehend.."
"That is where you are wrong Eliza. I am in need. You refuse to acknowledge it, because you fear intimacy both professionally and privately." Hannibal told her.
"Which is perfectly normal."
"True normalcy alludes you Eliza."
His remark seemed to physically stun Eliza, who slumped slightly in her chair. "You've no right to say such a thing...you of all people.."
Rising from his seat with his suit jacket still in his grasp, Hannibal replied. "I am sorry you feel that way. Unfortunately, unless you are willing to prove me wrong, I don't foresee my opinion changing."
"Should I care about your opinion?" Eliza snapped.
Her sudden adolescent demeanor amused Hannibal, and for once he decided not to hide it. "You already do, you've made that evident from the start Eliza." he said, a smirk curling his lips as he shrugged into his suit-jacket. "I did not mean to invoke your wraith, nor to insult you. I was merely stating the obvious. You've secluded yourself from society, a regular response to such an offense as that which Ike Ryan subjected you to. The only shame you should feel is, that you've allowed him to cast a shadow over your life for so long - try as you might to pretend such a shadow never existed. I aim to bring you into the sunlight, so that you may flourish as you rightly deserve. Moss that cannot be destroyed, must be nurtured, else it plague a garden in constant limbo. I wish you a good day Eliza, I await your phone call to book your next session..." Hannibal announced, dismissing himself with a humble nod.
A/N - bah ending was crap, I apologize. I have very limited access to the internet for the next week and I feared if I didn't finish now, I wouldn't get a chance to publish it at all.