"Will, for Christ's sake, do not touch it with your bare hands-"
"I'm sorry! I don't know how else to get it just parfait-"
"Are you mocking me? It's preparing food, not open-heart surgery-"
"Both of which you can perform!"
An impatient sigh warmed his bare forearm, deft fingers slipping under to cover his hands and better work the food he so miserably attempted. The ever-lingering scent of peonies emanating from her skin and the mild sea salt fragrance of her hair pushed the waft of ripe fruit away, distracting Will Graham from the task at hand.
"It's a melon baller. It's like scooping ice cream- how hard is this?" The woman sighed, training his grip with a few more quick flicks of her wrist before releasing him. The doorbell suddenly caught her attention. Blue eyes swiveled to Will, dressed so formally in a button-down shirt and dress pants. She grinned.
"They're here."
Anna Astor opened the door only to have her breath catch like a noose, heart stuttering.
Before her stood not Alana Bloom and Beverly Katz,
But Lily Astor.
"You recognized me," A soft, young voice escaped the blonde girl through a cherry mouth.
She smiled in a way that reminded Anna of herself.
"Good. I wasn't sure if you would or not. I've grown quite smart-mouthed and tall over the past two years, since your personality was altered."
Her aunt, always so elegant, willow frame dressed in a black swoop-necked dress fitted and crossed at the waist by a thick white tie, a bow just apparent behind her. The natural waved curl of her hair fell loose among her tense shoulders, framing a shocked, wide-eyed face. Lily sighed gently.
She's still so beautiful, but afraid. Please, please don't reject me Aunt Anna.
"Lily," She breathed.
Ice shattering through her veins, pulsing the sudden warmth of the euphoric recollection of memories and love she had once harbored for her fair, blonde, awkward, blue-eyed, beautiful niece. "Lily,"
"You remember...me? I hoped so desperately that you would. Oh, I'm so happy!" The girl gasped, caught between tears and laughter as she was suddenly crushed against the wiry body of Anna Astor's.
"Cecelia was afraid you wouldn't. She almost forbid me to come."
Anna pulled her away, brows furrowed.
"I'm sorry, so sorry for worrying you and Cecelia. Please, forgive me," Her voice, low and somber, pleaded. Lily laughed as Anna pulled her close once more, swaying with a sigh.
"Of course I forgive you. I'm more angry over the fact that you're engaged and didn't feel the need to ring and tell me-"
"Lily?"
Twin eyes jumped to the sidewalk, still blissfully tangled in the other's embrace. Beverly Katz, Alana Bloom, and Abigail Hobbs now stood before the large stone house, one girl in particular colored by shock. Lily grinned, slipping from Anna's arms to tackle her.
"Abigail! What brilliant timing! Are you all here for dinner?"
"I thought it would be a nice meal change for Abigail, to join us," Alana Bloom explained to Dr. Astor. The woman simply smiled, holding open her front door. Even Lily was tricked by the cool shield Anna Astor placed around her like a second skin, hiding her raging annoyance at a surprise guest.
"The more the merrier. Please, come in."
"Did you know she was coming?" Will Graham murmured as Anna filled the silver platter in his arms. Beach waves shook with her impassive face. "-Then how did you know to serve these?"
He gestured to the crystal pitchers, one of sparkling blueberry mint lemonade, the other a fragrant mariage freres iced tea with glossy peach slices swimming like fish through the liquid. Anna allowed a small smile, adding glass tumblers and two plates to the tray.
"Because I knew Alana would bring an element of surprise. Why bring a bottle of Chardonnay when you can bring a mentally-conflicted psych patient?"
Four sets of eyes rose upon their entrance, an exuberant smile beneath one lively pair.
"Ah! I was hoping for this," Lily praised, sitting straight in her chair. The blonde grinned, turning to Abigail. "Aunt Anna makes the absolute best of all Parisian foods, including beverages. Pick the blueberry-mint. It's my favorite."
"Will, I didn't know you were here too," Abigail acknowledged after receiving a sparkling glass of lemonade. Her eyes popped with the sensual flavor caressing her tongue. "Um, is Hannibal here?"
"He had a work date," Anna answered simply. Porcelain plates fell to each guest before she gracefully landed in a chair, unfolding the thick cloth napkin and lying it across her lap.
"Melon au jambon de bayonne: melon with raw cured ham, a rosemary butter-topped brioche, and grilled asparagus tartines with fresh ricotta and scallions. The baguette slices are covered with a mixture of onion soup ingredients, brought down to portions fit for each bite."
"Oh my god," Beverly groaned, biting into the brioche, "-why haven't you invited me over before? This is heaven. This is sex- this is better than sex-"
"Beverly," Alana reprimanded with a glance to the teenage girls. She noted both absorbed in their appetizers, unaware of anything but learning the quickest way to scarf food into their mouths. Anna beamed.
"Will helped, actually."
"Right, so if you find anything horrible, you know who to blame."
Anna sighed at his pessimism. Lilly chuckled from across the table, fighting Beverly's fork from spearing food off her plate.
"You should feel lucky Anna even let you in her kitchen. She never accepts help."
"I think she ran out of time, which is why she turned to me," Will offered humbly as Anna rose from her chair, returning with five shot glasses containing three vibrant colors.
"On the bottom is ginger yogurt, the center a pea soup, and topped with saffron and cardamom foam. A tie-over until the next course," Anna quipped before leaving to produce the next main course. Abigail's eyes were caught on Will, the others grossly surprised by the delicious "tie-over."
"How long have you been over here?"
"About an hour and a half before everyone was scheduled to arrive."
"Does Hannibal know you were here?"
Will Graham stared at the Hobbs survivor, surprised.
"I didn't go out of my way to call and inform him, no. Why?"
The eldest teenager shrugged under their careful scrutiny. The younger woman to her right did not appear to enjoy this questioning any more than Graham.
"Just wondering."
"Ah, Canard au sang," Lily broke the awkward conversation with a silky tone, marble eyes fixated on the woman pushing a cart with numerous instruments into the room. Anna Astor mirrored the girl's smile, stopping alongside the table. A large burgundy body sat upon a wooden chopping block, parallel to a clear bowl and a large, sterling machine.
"Canard au sang is produced by strangling a duck to retain its blood and partially roasted, with the breast and legs removed," The brunette began, slicing the meat into large slabs with a frightening grace.
"-It's liver is removed, ground, and seasoned. After the best cuts of the duck have been taken-" Anna lifted the carcass and placed it into the silver machine. "-it is crushed and pressurized to produce a broth of blood and other juices. This is added to the liver, cognac, and other seasonings prior to being cooked with the breast and served together."
The performance lasted nearly half an hour before every plate was filled, sided with balsamic peppers and a earthy salad doused in goat cheese and a creamy cilantro-lime dressing.
With the finale introduction- Lemon ricotta and almond cakes, beautifully fixed like scales of a fish, and ripe Myrtille blueberries, bursting with sweet juice, artfully cooked into a meringue, topped with buttery, whipped almost-cream, Alana Bloom finally succumbed to Anna Astor. Will sent the slender chef a look and she nodded absently, clearing her throat.
"I thought this would be the best setting, after everyone was so weighted by the heavy Parisian food that running would not be an option," Anna began with a wry smile, "-to ask if you, Alana and Beverly, would be willing to be my bridesmaids-"
"Will there be food? Your food?" Brown eyes lifted to stare hungrily at Anna. "I'll be your personal monkey if so."
"I'm her personal monkey, thank you," Lily's young face beamed at her aunt. "Right?"
"I would like you to be my maid of honor, if that's what you mean. Yes."
"Does that mean I'll walk down with the best man? Is it you, Will?"
"Yeah."
"Of course I'll be a bridesmaid, Anna! I'm flattered. Just don't make me wear yellow."
"Why? I bet you look great in yellow-"
"No, it's horrid with my complexion. What about blue, or orange?"
"Blue is nice, but orange is absolutely atrocious. How about a soft lavender?"
"Ohh, that would be pretty-"
"So this is really happening?"
The room, so jovial and filled with playing bickering just moments earlier, fell into a stiff silence.
It was the question, but more importantly Alana Bloom's tone.
Attempting incredulous, though obvious in the scathing distaste she clearly felt.
Anna did not look away.
"Yes," She answered.
Alana lost the war, the first to look away. Lily shook her head impatiently.
"Will you be a bridesmaid, or not?"
"I…Yes. Yes, of course."
"Zank you for zis, William," He grinned at her inability to pronounce a 'th' sound in her native accent, standing cross-armed under the entrance of her home. His hands were hidden deep in dress pant pockets and he shifted weight from one leg to the other.
"It wasn't a problem. I'm quite proud of how you handled Alana."
Anna scowled, nose wrinkled with distaste.
"I know it was hard for you."
"She is nothing compared to Lounds, at least. Sitting you beside me was brilliant, though," Anna smiled. "She couldn't keep her eyes off you."
"I'm sure I will get another lecture of how she wants to be with me, but can't due to my instability. I wonder if the matter will be increased or decreased with this performance." Will commented dryly. Anna chuckled, leaned against the door's frame.
"I think you're quite normal around me, Will. You make me look unstable."
It was his turn to laugh, a white-toothed, bouncing noise that ushered her own.
"Anna, you're probably the most sane person I know."
They quieted, Will Graham watching Anna with an unfathomable expression.
At last he smiled, turned to the dark night.
"Good-night, William."
"Good-night, Mol',"
"He knows your real name?" A voice broke through, an incredulous screech as Anna returned to the house. She kicked off the aching black stilettos and brushed past the disbelieving blonde.
"So?"
"So, you never tell anyone about that. It used to embarrass you to no end," Lily countered, following her. "-and now you have no problem telling FBI agents?"
"He's hardly an agent, less so than I am even. Besides, Will is my friend. One who knows what you and Abigail did," Anna sniffed. She stood in the middle of her room, stripping from the cocktail dress and tugging shorts and a sports bra from a drawer. Anna dressed quickly, Lily watching with wary eyes.
"He knows, and didn't tell Mr. Crawford?"
"That's right."
Lily contemplated this.
"…What are you doing?"
"There is a ballet I intend to dance in fast approaching. Auditions are next week and I'm afraid I might be rusty-"
"You're dancing again?" The blonde interrupted sharply. A delicate chin rose languidly, initiating one simple nod.
"Yes."
She knew there must a spark, a reason.
"Why?"
Blue eyes so like her own closed, a tone of amusement tickling her lips.
"Gideon is going to escape. His one request to ensure no "slips" in his sanity was a performance. Now, I'm not overly frightened of what he would do if I didn't do as he asked, but…It should be fun." Anna looked to her niece with a sly gleam.
"It will be a night to remember, forever."
Lily inhaled deeply, exhaled a breathless blonde smile of excitement.
"We're going to have so much fun, Annie. I'm going to wear you absolutely ragged."
She was running.
So fast, hard, bobbing up and down with the weight in her arms.
"You have to let it go, An-na. Let it all go,"
I can't, I can't.
The faceless man was suddenly before her, tall and impeding. Breath catching, she tightened her grip on the breathing form in her arms, relentless.
Heavy, it was so heavy in her arms.
"You must let go, An-na. Our love will not survive what you so desperately hold on to."
The thing writhed in her arms, and stilled.
It was not a dead child in her hold,
But a lamb.
Anna Astor shifted, conscious stirring. A heavy, warm weight was upon her, swallowing her whole. Panic rose and her body tensed as a sharp face nuzzled her neck, kissed her skin. "An-na,"
"Hannibal," She breathed, a deflating balloon upon realization. Her eyes closed, wrapping an arm around his neck. "You frightened me, lord. What time is it?"
"Three in the morning. I've grown too accustomed to sleeping with you in my arms and cannot find peace without your presence, it seems," The silk button-down she wore easily fell apart with his expertise, full lips pressed into the hollow of her clavicle before trailing lower. Anna was wide awake as clever fingers slipped into her silk bottoms, finding the bundle of nerves already greedy for his touch. A velvet tongue rolled over the peak of her breast, back arching with the sudden bite of pain his teeth left.
She could just make out those bright, dancing brown eyes, a sinful smile licked with delight on his face. "You're so warm and wet already, mylimasis. Were you expecting someone?"
"No," Anna breathed, eyes blissfully closing when two deft fingers curled into her. She swallowed, caught frenzied thoughts to speak again. "You just have a very powerful magnetism over me, Hannibal."
The dream sudden rose to the top, lingering in her conscious, souring the core of her stomach.
Mild bemusement looked up when a shaky hand caught his wrist, stopping his decadent stroking. A pale brunette swallowed again, trying to sooth the unease in the pit of her belly.
"P-Please, please just make love to me, Hannibal."
"Anna," He murmured, surprised.
The twitching smile forcing her mouth to curve was enough for him to understand her sudden need, no matter what the cause or reason. A welcoming warmth filled her ribcage as full lips molded to hers gently. Hannibal freed them both of clothing, and gently began the breakdown of their fears and carnal desire.
The large, glass building that curved around both Anna and Lily's room was a green house.
One window open to the sanctuary, protected by a black screen. It filtered the bugs, crickets, but not the gentle noise so accustomed with summer.
Anna Astor had never been quite as relaxed as Hannibal found her now, languid and pressed against his body still misted with sweat, lying on their backs with a soft head of hair beside his, snug in his bent arm. The first lights of dawn peaked the horizon, close to breaking.
"Did something happen over dinner?"
"I'm just tired," The dark-haired body heaved a sigh, running fingers across his chest, tickled his forearms. "Since visiting Gideon, I've returned to practicing ballet once more."
"May I ask why?"
"He expects a show, a little over a month from now. There will be one soon not far from here, and if I desire a high-ranked part I need to be in pristine shape. Auditions are fast approaching." Anna let out a breath that vibrated her lips. She faced him, lying on her side and kissing the bones of his face. Hannibal's skin wrinkled, turning to catch the soft mouth with his own.
"Hannibal, Hannibal," Anna Astor cooed. The ample chest her head fell upon rumbled with a chuckle, a loose arm molding across her waist.
She fell asleep to the soft heartbeat under her ears, his fingers running through her hair.
