Will knew he was awake before he opened his eyes, and just then noticed that was the first time in nearly a month he had not been hearing the screams of anonymous victims every day and night as the empath had even begun to hear the screaming whispers when awake, echoing in the silence around him. Will took shuddering breath's and focused on calming his racing heart before climbing out of bed.

He reached over without looking for his clothes and found only the wood of the chair, checking to be sure before sighing in aggravation, an increasingly common phenomenon he was noticing more. He looked around the room again to notice a robe hanging on the back of the door that he couldn't be certain was there the previous night, pulling it on and moving down to where he knew Hannibal would be, the kitchen. Will could smell the food as he stepped slowly and silently down the stairs, not making a sound as he entered the room to find the doctor's back to him, and raised a finger as he was about to begin what had to be the one-thousandth rant at the male.

"Good morning Will." Hannibal spoke, not turning as he added the spice he had grabbed into the searing pan, smirking at the mental visage of Will's gaping mouth, puffed chest, narrowed crystalline eyes and finger raised to reprimand the doctor made into reality as he turned to face his companion.

This deflated Will's feeling of, for once, having the upper hand around Hannibal but the male shook it off and continued undeterred.

"Where are my clothes." The empath demanded.

"Currently drying, there are outfits available upstairs in the interim Will." Hannibal answered easily, too easily for Will's liking.

"Uhuhm... Thanks, but I'll just wait." Will listened for a sound of a dryer but heard none, the small smile on Hannibal's face speaking volumes and the empath crossed his arms, mumbling lowly, "You don't have a dryer."

"I do not. It is far better for the material, Will, to hang clothing dry when not being dry cleaned." Hannibal wasn't even hiding his manipulations from his Will anymore as it made little difference to the effect if the empath was aware or not, and both were proving to be entertaining to witness despite Will's unsteady emotions to contend with.

"Your-ghurh-" Will stopped himself from being rude, which seemed to get Hannibal angry, though so did ignoring the man completely leaving Will with few options. "You enjoy this... the manipulation, the game. It's all a game to you..." and Will subconsciously stumbled upon a bit of information that hurt him as he said it, raising a hand to cover his face and huffing a laugh at his own emotions.

The second the doctor had heard Will sneaking down the stairs, he had made the decision to respond to the empaths subconscious mimicking of his own behaviour, but Hannibal had not expected that. It wasn't completely false of course, and Hannibal enjoyed very much to play with his Will, but he had not anticipated the effect of Will's emotions being clouded by his own affection for the doctor. Hannibal ignored the food for a moment to tend to Will, a high praise in the world of the cannibalistic doctor but performed without a moments thought as his Will was the single most important thing to the beast, and Hannibal had many parts of many people he and the empath would fully enjoy together, therein showing how his brilliant Will was also wrong.

He did enjoy playing with Will, but felt a desire for his Will to fully enjoy the game with Hannibal, not at his expense, and the empath had been quite proud of himself of his delusion of sneaking up on Hannibal. The doctor pulled the empath into a hug as he thought, lifting Will's chin to connect their eyes and looking into the twitching orbs attempting to keep eye contact, resolving Hannibal to allow Will a gesture in order to draw the male back in mentally as well as physically, while still remaining completely honest.

"If this is in fact a game, you and I are comrades, not combatants Will. However, I see this as far more than a simple game, and you?" Hannibal smiled to entice his Will to speak, the man stuttering under his breath in a motion he thought the doctor wouldn't notice. When the empath didn't respond the doctor refused to release his Will's squirming chin, the pan billowing smoke behind him that he could not see but still smelled in the air.

Will did take notice and pointed in an attempt to distract the doctor as he spoke, "Your pan..."

Hannibal did not budge, however, and silently stared at his Will expectantly, the smoke beginning to turn black, signalling burning. Will struggled a bit more before finally relenting and responding to the doctors question.

"No."

"Good." Hannibal responded, kissing Will's cheek lightly and turning to finish breakfast, throwing away the liver and using a spare one he had in the fridge that, while less symbolic, would be unnoticed by his Will. The loss was well worth what Hannibal had gained in that moment anyways.

"I hope the clothing upstairs will suffice for the day Will." Hannibal offered direction to the man standing in the doorway with a dazed look, "Breakfast will be a few more minutes yet."

Will wandered up the stairs slowly and had made it to the bedroom when he realized Hannibal had once again manipulated him down into a calm state rather than the angry one he had begun in, knowingly evading the reason Will was angry in the first place which was something he logically should be happy about but just made him pissed all over again. He hung up the robe and opened the drawers to find the clothing that would not be uncomfortable to him, beyond, in his mind, just the soft material. Will finally just grabbed the first thing he could reach, the very same system he had put in place at his house ever since Hannibal had cleaned all his laundry.

He ended up in his own style, which was a comforting thought, with a simple, stark white tee, black jean-like pants that hung loosely but fit perfectly to his waist, a problem with his own pants, and all of the clothing felt almost too clean to suit him. He finished it off with a red-plaid jacket, one of three in the bottom drawer that was insanely soft and, when he looked, Will found the orvis tag, a pure cotton content that was warm to the touch. As he looked into the mirror image of himself the empath came to the obvious conclusion, however creepy, that Hannibal knew him.

Beyond the facade and the curse and-or gift the doctor looked, to the point the man could pick out an entire wardrobe for Will that met an easy balance between them. A cheap look for his comfort but woven with no doubt only the finest fibers to, for some reason, pacify Hannibal. Will scratched at his skull, feeling uncomfortable as he snorted and turned away from the image to head back downstairs, but nowhere near as uncomfortable as when he reentered the kitchen to find Hannibal staring at him with an obsessive, possessive look in his eye. The doctor had stopped draining the spinach the moment Will had stepped off the stairs as Hannibal waited for him to reveal himself, smirking at Will before speaking to the embarrassed male when he did so.

"They suit you well Will." Hannibal murmured, only making Will's cheeks redder and leaving the male subconsciously stuck between pulling at his cuffs and trying not to damage the material with any movement.

"Thanks." Will grumbled, seating himself at the kitchen table and resolutely not looking in Hannibal's direction, making the mans smirk widen.

When he had heard Will returning to the kitchen, the doctor ceased any and all movement as he simply gazed at his Will, for the first time and as he would forever more be, surrounded by warmth and happiness and Hannibal. The doctor had chosen the clothing himself with extreme diligence to ensure Will would be comfortable no matter what he took, and that he would have an abundance of choices. The plaid jackets were soft to the touch and simply spoke of Will Graham, so Hannibal bought three and ordered several different styles from the designer to be shipped once fitted to the empaths measurements. He had the entire wardrobe sent to his home where Hannibal carefully folded and placed each article in its place himself long before Will had come to finally find them.

During the week he had been separated from his Will, Hannibal had spent his free time in that very room, sitting in the center of the bed, leaning against the headboard and reading his books as he imagined Will's scent spread around him. Now looking at the man it was clear he had been annoyed by his dreams, angrily tapping his foot as the empath waited for breakfast to be served. This was another thing that Hannibal hoped to solidify in Wills mind to become a tradition of sorts.

"What is the matter." Hannibal asked as he drizzled hollandaise over an egg, barista sausage, spinach and potatoe mixture, not unlike the very first meal he had ever cooked for his Will but with far more showmanship.

"Hmm? Nothing." Will replied lowly and far too quickly to be honest.

Hannibal said nothing, instead bringing over the dish and setting it before Will, before setting two forks down as well as a napkins for each of them. The empath was tense, reaching for his plate like they would then head into the dining room, but Hannibal was far more interested in continuing with the domestic atmosphere.

"Did you sleep well Will?" Hannibal asked, killing two birds with one stone as he both distracted Will from moving while quietly encouraged the empath to speak.

"...yeah." Will replied after a long pause.

Hannibal raised an eyebrow at that in disbelief, but Will refused to speak further so Hannibal took an educated guess as he ate. "You seemed to be thrashing about in your sleep, more attempts to evade the Stag perhaps."

"...N-no," Will murmured back, giving up any attempt to hide his feelings from the doctor, "It- I was trapped."

"Where?" Hannibal genuinely asked, as Will had not mentioned that before, attempting to decipher it himself from the narrowed eyes of the thinking empath.

"This cave thing, more like it's lair." Will shifted his eyes to reassure himself he was not seeing stalking shadows before eating if only to placate the chef staring at him.

"What do you know of this 'lair'." Hannibal reverted to his kind demands, the action becoming an endearing motion to Will as the man attempted to navigate his own treacherous mind.

"Nothing and I don't want to know anything. It wants me to- I don't know, go willingly or something..." Will trailed off, unable to decrypt his own unconsciousness no matter how he tried, sighing yet again at the trouble it brought him awake or asleep.

"And what danger is there in following if you do not fear the Stag Will." Hannibal took a bite but quickly took notice of Will's silence, the male completely still as he gazed off, so the doctor called for his attention gently, "Will."

Will snapped back, nodding and eating but not saying another word, and Hannibal came to an unexpected conclusion.

"You're afraid."

Will snorted and mumbled a low, "..no," but did not look at him and began to eat quicker.

"What happened Will?" Hannibal asked of his Will in hopes the gesture would loosen the empaths tongue.

"It's nothing- it... I couldn't leave, no. It won't let me go." Will thought aloud, supplying Hannibal with his own inner thoughts on the matter. "It's never done that before..."

"Nor has the Stag ever physically harmed you, correct?" Hannibal was careful not to include mentally, for he could not say his presence had not altered his Will's psyche, but that was only fair in his mind considering the affect his Will had on his own.

"...no." Will accepted.

"What is it you fear Will." The doctor and his empath continued eating as they conversed like it was mere small-talk.

"I'm not-" Will stopped himself from the obviously untrue statement and sighed before confessing, "I just- I'm afraid of whats going to happen if I follow it, and of what'll happen if I say no... Well I can't say no. It's a choice between staying like I am now, like I'm under it's thumb, or finding some way to outsmart it..." he murmured, eyes and hands twitching at the sight of the doctor staring at him, "...or something."

Hannibal smirked at that, hiding the motion behind the facade of wiping his face with a napkin before he continued. "Do you believe it will harm you if you refuse it Will."

"I honestly don't know anymore, but it has this other side to it." Will huffed in frustration gesturing around as he spoke. "It's almost like there's this person out there in the real world that's the full person. I can't see the real human being, but I still know them and I can't connect the two sides like I did Hobbs. I know the ripper is smart, he's playing with the entirety of the justice department with no fear or hesitation, whenever he feel's like he's justified in killing he does, no matter the law or the obstacles in his way. But when I see them in my head there's two sides there as well, the killer and the mask it wears. I- the killer, its just unhinged and unfocused on anything but the next kill, and the mask is like it's own person, letting open the cage for its murdering self with this complete clarity I can't understand." The empath rambled as he ate, elbow on the table to facilitate the easy gripping of his curls as he finished his thought and Hannibal would have been offended at the action were it anyone but his Will.