One of the only things Hannibal felt he could do to apologize was to help Will through the grieving process and exorcize his hauntings. He had ceased using light therapy on Will as well administering any more drugs. He contemplated asking Will to drink the same mushroom tea he had made Abigail. Would Will drink it?
Hannibal wandered into his office with a mug of freshly brewed French roast. He set the steaming cup down and opened his laptop to read the news. A charity symphony was taking place at seven o'clock that night. It was a fundraiser for orphaned children. Smiling to himself, Hannibal saw he could purchase tickets at the opera house and decided he would buy a pair for him and Will.
In other news, Freddie Lounds wasn't giving up on Will Graham. Her "article" was pure gossip on the ex-FBI special agent. She speculated about Will's absence from the Ripper case and what that might mean. She dug up dirt on any of his past indiscretions and what she could find on his parents and brother. None of it came across fair and made Will out to be unstable and possibly mad enough to aid the Ripper in murder by not stopping him when fully capable. She even suggested he had something to do with Abigail Hobb's disappearance.
Hannibal imagined how he would get rid of her.
After Hannibal finished his coffee he got dressed to go buy the tickets. He drove to the opera house and walked into the ground lobby. The ticket clerk in the box office recognized Hannibal and lit up. She lifted her head from her text book and grinned at him. She was around sixteen, the youngest employee, but her older sister held the title of supervisor and got her the job.
"Hi Dr. Lecter!" she beamed.
"Good morning Kaitlyn," Hannibal said to the wavy headed blonde.
"How are you?" she asked smiling.
"Very good. How are you?"
"I'm great, always happy to see you!"
"Do you still have tickets for tonight's symphony?"
"Yeah, we have a few but I hate to tell you they kind of suck," she sighed. She hated disappointing him. "Oh! You know we do have a few VIP tickets that our sponsors aren't using, but they are sorta pricy," she suggested.
"That would be wonderful if you could Kaitlyn," Hannibal said noticing her black pearl earrings.
"Let me call my sister to go get them," Kaitlyn said using the phone at her desk.
"Sophie, hey Dr. Lecter wants to buy VIP tickets for tonight," she said. She covered the receiver. "Oh, how many Dr. Lecter?"
"Two."
"He needs two… okay, thanks!" Kaitlyn hung up. "She'll be right up. Who's the lucky date? You usually go solo. If I'm not being too bold."
Hannibal thought it was a bit nosey, but he knew she meant no ill-will. She wasn't a gossip, she just found him interesting.
"My friend Will," Hannibal said.
"Oh cool. I'm sure you'll love it. I went once when I was little," Kaitlyn said. Sophie came up with the tickets and Kaitlyn rang up his total. Hannibal gave her the money and gladly placed the tickets in his jacket.
"See you tonight," Kaitlyn said.
At home Hannibal took to his drawings until his first appointment came at eleven. He gave himself short days on Friday and his last appointment left at four-thirty.
Hannibal called Will shortly after only to be left at an answering machine. He didn't leave a message, Will had caller ID. Instead he began to wonder if Will owned a nice enough suit and lamented that he had not gone shopping for new cologne for him.
Promptly Will called back.
"Sorry, I was in class. You called?" he asked.
"Yes. What are you doing tonight?" Hannibal asked.
"Oh. Uhm, nothing why?" Will felt nervousness in his stomach.
"I have tickets for a symphony tonight and I would enjoy the pleasure of your company," Hannibal said imagining Will walking to his car across the campus. In fact, Will's hair was blowing in his face and his glasses were slipping down his nose as he tried to balance folders, books and his phone while unlocking his car.
"Are you asking me out on a date Hannibal?" Will asked.
"I would say 'just as friends' but I think we can be adult enough to recognize the situation for what it is," Hannibal said smirking. He heard Will climb into his car and toss his school things on the passenger seat.
"What time?" Will asked.
"I'll pick you up in an hour," Hannibal said. They got off the phone and Hannibal went to his master bathroom to fix himself up. He changed from one of his three piece suits into a tuxedo and knew almost immediately Will wouldn't have one. He gave an internal sigh, but he had to let it go, nothing could be done about it tonight.
He felt rather pleased with himself as he drove to Will's. He did not normally get to sincerely enjoy anything too intimate with another person. He was always content on his own, but in this instance he was excited about the prospect of having Will with him.
Carefully Hannibal pulled up into Will's driveway, his dogs were out and running around. Will stepped outside in a black suit with a slimming black tie. He whistled at his dogs to come inside and they all gathered around his legs. He shooed them inside and walked to Hannibal's car.
Will climbed in and slid across the leather seat. Dog fur clung all over him. The heat in the car caused some of the fur to float off Will and onto Hannibal.
"Hello Will," Hannibal said. "Do you need a lint roller?"
"The first thing you do when I get in your car is insult me? Rude Hannibal," Will laughed.
"Will, you are covered in dog hair," Hannibal said eyeballing him.
"I don't have one. We can stop at a pharmacy and get one," Will said light heartedly.
"Reach in the glove box," Hannibal said. He had turned the car around to head to the opera house. Will began to tidy himself up with the lint roller.
Upon arriving they parked and Will got out to try and get the excess hair off his back.
"May I?" Hannibal asked watching Will miss whole patches.
"Are you embarrassed?" Will asked handing over the lint roller.
"Please Will," Hannibal said getting his back and legs. When he was sufficiently cleaned up, they went inside. Kaitlyn switched from being in the box office to taking ticket stubs. She seemed quite happy to be dressed up for the event.
"Good evening Kaitlyn," Hannibal smiled.
"Good evening Dr. Lecter, Will," she grinned remembering his name. "Enjoy your seats!"
"How does she know who I am?" Will whispered into Hannibal's ear as they walked down the aisle.
"I told her you were coming with me," Hannibal said. He took Will's hand in his as they found their seats. Will found himself blushing at Hannibal's public display of affection and kept their hands low. They sat just a couple of seats in and six rows back.
Low chatter filled the theatre as guests filed in and Will wondered if he would have to be sociable with anyone that might know Hannibal.
A blonde man in a fur coat took and a stunning woman in a red dress and doe face sat next to them. The man next to Will looked over him and gave him a big grin.
"I'm Mason. Mason Verger," he held out his hand to Will and removed his white leather gloves. Will hesitated and Hannibal took over, his head cocked.
"Oh," Will said annoyed. He kept his head down, his eyes averted to his knees.
"Not very friendly are you?" Mason said putting his hand down. The woman next to him looked unfazed as she stared ahead to the stage.
"Please excuse Will, he's not feeling well. Pleasure to meet you Mason, I'm Hannibal Lecter," Hannibal said extending his hand over Will. Mason shook it.
"And who is the beauty beside you?" Hannibal asked.
"Oh, her? That's Margot. She's my twin sister," Mason said turning from Hannibal to Margot. He pinched her cheek roughly.
"Hello," she said. Her voice was deep but feminine. Both Will and Hannibal felt uncomfortable at Mason's pinch.
"Did you know I'm the largest benefactor to this charity?" Mason ignored Margot. "I started donating after Papa died and left me and Margot orphans."
Will rolled his eyes over to Hannibal incredulously. Hannibal wanted to laugh at Will but quietly acknowledged him with his eyes instead.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Donating to help orphaned children must make you feel good," Hannibal said placating this strange man.
"Not really. It's mostly to look good. Hey, now how did you get these seats anyway? I was expecting Ashton and her husband Louis, you aren't them," Mason laughed.
"I bought them," Hannibal said giving Mason a quick smile. Will still had his entire head turned away.
"Oh-ho-ho, you are rich," Mason said grinning. He elbowed Margot. "You should dump Judy and get with this guy. He could take care of you almost as well as I can, sister."
Margot gave a tight lipped smile to her brother. Will wanted to defend her but didn't feel comfortable butting in.
The orchestra warmed up and everyone quieted down. Mason put his hands roughly on the base of Margot's head and yanked it towards his ear. He whispered something sharp and let her go with a little push. She fixed a bobby-pin in her hair and sank slightly in her seat. Only ten minutes in and Mason leaned into Will's ear.
"You didn't want to come here, did you? That suit is old, you would have a tuxedo if you did this often. He's not a very good sugar-daddy, is he?" Mason said. Before Will could respond through gritted teeth, Hannibal put a firm hand on Will's thigh. Will turned to Hannibal sharply and Hannibal turned to the amused Mason.
"You should look into swallowing your tongue Mason," Hannibal said staring him down. Mason giggled and Margot turned to him. She quietly whispered in his hear. His face calmed.
"For Margot," Mason said to no-one in particular.
The performance went on with only a few interruptions by Mason talking to Margot. Hannibal's hand never left Will's thigh.
Will wasn't sure how he felt about Hannibal's hand resting there. It seemed like a possessive move over a protective one. It especially made him uncomfortable to have this happen in public. However he made no attempt to remove Hannibal's hand. Slowly through the performance it felt like a security blanket, the grip loosened. Towards the end Hannibal softly moved his thumb across Will's leg and only when he clapped did he finally remove it.
Mason and Margot left quickly and Will let out an audible sigh. He muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?" Hannibal asked wondering if he heard correctly.
"If I ever felt like killing somebody," Will said pulling at his shirt collar.
"Well…" Hannibal smirked.
"No," Will said sternly. They began walking to the dining hall that had been prepared for the orchestra and donators.
"Are we supposed to…?" Will trailed off.
"It came with the tickets," Hannibal said. Will followed him reluctantly. Socializing with Mason Verger was enough to last him a few weeks.
Hor d'oeuvres were served across long tables draped with white fabric. A few tasteful paintings hung on the wall and flowers filled up empty spaces. The patrons mingled with each other, pleased with themselves for donating. The musicians mostly talked amongst themselves.
Hannibal and Will walked over to the hor d'oeuvres. Will ate a few stuffed mushrooms in peace until Margot Verger approached Hannibal.
"Hello," she said to both of them.
"Hello Ms. Verger," Hannibal said. Her long ponytail lay against her strapless shoulder. She had small pear earrings and red lipstick that made her bright teeth stand out.
"You said your name is Hannibal Lecter. The Doctor Lecter I presume?" she asked.
"Yes," Hannibal said.
"Dr., I need help. Do you have a card?" Margot asked seriously. Hannibal pulled out a card and with two fingers handed it to Margot.
"Thank you," she mouthed and turned to leave. She almost made it to the door when her brother caught her elbow. Will watched as he didn't let go and then swiveled his head to lock eyes with Will. Will turned away to Hannibal.
"He spotted us, let's leave," Will said unable to handle more Mason.
"Mr. Lecter, oh don't leave yet. Here," Mason said coming closer. "Here, look. I suppose I should apologize. Margot says I need to behave when we're in public." Mason stuck his hand out.
"Apology accepted," Hannibal said shaking Mason's hand.
"Now I don't know if I caught your name," Mason said looking to Will. Will tilted his head up but kept his eyes averted.
"Will," he said.
"Will. Well, Will, would you and Mr. Lecter give me the delight of coming to dinner next Friday? I have to throw this annual party for the company, only higher-ups of course. Its rather boring to be honest, but you two would be so fun to have around," Mason said adjusting his glasses.
Will did not want to go, not in the very least. Though… Margot seemed to be in trouble, probably with Mason. Maybe their presence could spare her a few hours.
"Okay," Will said. Hannibal looked at him with mild surprise.
"What's your number Will? I'll call and get all your details later," Mason said grabbing a napkin and pulling an ink pen out of his coat pocket. Will quickly scribbled on it.
"Goodie. We're off now, bye-bye," Mason said giving a wave with just his fingers bending up and down. Once out of the building, Hannibal turned to Will.
"Why do you want to go to Mason's diner party?" Hannibal asked.
"Margot," Will said. "Hannibal can we leave?"
Hannibal was disappointed with Mason monopolizing the evening, but decided he could plan something better next time.
