"Good evening, Will. Please come in."
"You've been drinking. You're drunk." Will eyed his host in something akin to amazement.
"I've had a glass of wine in the security and comfort of my own home." Hannibal said loftily as Will followed him into the parlor. There was a fire going, though Will was unsurprised by that. Hannibal valued being warm. There was a fireplace in any room he spent a substantial amount of time in. There was even one in his office.
"Something happened to him," Will's second thoughts whispered to him. His third thoughts continued, "It happened to him when he was young, scarred him." Will made note of this, deciding to dwell on it later. He had noticed this quirk before. Will knew it was important. He just didn't know why yet.
"More like several." Will corrected, "I may not have your sense of smell, but I know scotch when I smell it. My my my, are you rattled?"
"Hardly…" Hannibal smirked, "Though, I can't say the same about Dr. Du Maurier. You really owe her an apology."
Will just laughed at such a notion. That would happen when Hell froze over. "She's an unconventional psychiatrist."
"We have that in common." It was a delight to witness Hannibal intoxicated, not that anyone else other than himself would probably notice. The good doctor wasn't slurring or even made clumsy in the slightest. The depth of his expressions, the openness of them was the giveaway. That, and whatever he used in his hair had released its firm hold so that it framed Hannibal's face. It gentled the harsh cut of his cheekbones and the other angles of his unusual face. One had to admire Hannibal's control. "I thought we were merely having conversations, Dr. Lecter."
Which made Hannibal make his version of a face at him. He did not like Will calling him by his title.
"Yes, and no." Hannibal amended.
"It's complicated?" Will offered.
"Have a glass of wine with me." Hannibal said, already getting up to pour him a glass of something pink of all things. Hannibal mostly drank reds.
"Is it drugged?" Will asked, just for the hell of it. He more wanted to know what kind of answer he would get than anything else, testing the waters of this alcohol diluted pond.
"Not this time." Hannibal said a little too gleefully for Will's liking, but he accepted the glass anyway with a shrug. Hannibal joined him on whatever a fancy sofa was called…he found out later it was a chaise lounge because of course it was…so Will went through the process of sampling it properly instead of just drinking it. It didn't go unnoticed, Hannibal smiling over at him.
"Why her?" Will risked. Hannibal seemed to be particularly chatty like this.
"Why not?" Hannibal was certainly enjoying himself with his soft hair and pink wine. He was dressed down, his version of it anyway. The tie, vest, and coat were gone, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.
"Well, she is one of your creations. One of many, I presume." Will said, trying and failing to not notice how good Hannibal's forearms looked.
"That's as good an answer as any. I read Freddie Lounds article. The Chesapeake Ripper strikes again." Hannibal said, toasting himself. He chucked at Will's eye roll.
"Imagine that." Will said dryly, "Are you done for now?"
"Why? Have you missed me?" Hannibal all but crooned. With his accent, it made something flutter inside of Will.
"Don't flatter yourself anymore than you already do. Answer the question." Will pressed, ignoring those unfamiliar tingly sensations going on in his gut. He hoped the wine was drugged because the other options of what it could be were not good.
"Yes…for now. Certainly for the moment." Hannibal smiled, the expression wicked from its sharpness before turning into something far more gentle. "Stay the night?"
"It's not like I have a choice." Will's answer making Hannibal look amused about something. "What is it?"
"How long are you going to keep telling yourself that?" Hannibal said, making Will frown.
He was missing something so Will ignored the question for now. "Yeah, I'll stay, but we have to get up early in the morning. They've found the last of your sounder. The team is processing it right now."
"I'm shocked Jack isn't trying to break down my front door." Hannibal looking quite pleased about life. From the staging of it all, Will could tell that the Ripper had had fun with this one.
"Thanks to you mimicking the organ harvester," Oh, Hannibal certainly didn't want to be reminded of his short comings, even if it was intentional this time. He gave Will a sour look. "The team is split about it. Jack isn't really interested in it if it's not the Ripper. We're going in to confirm who's responsible for the brutalization and harvest of organs."
"All those valuable organs. Jack keeps looking for a serial killer he can't seem to catch." Cheered Hannibal up immensely.
"It's a brilliant diversion." Will admitted after a moment of thought. It made Hannibal beam over at him. Unexpectedly, it took Will's breath away. This wasn't a facade hidden within a person suit. The expression was open and real and every so lovely in its sincerity. Hannibal wasn't even being smug. He was just genuinely happy that Will had paid him a compliment.
"Take me to bed." Hannibal said softly. It wasn't quite a question yet it wasn't a command either, and it was doing things to Will. Things and thoughts and feelings he had so rarely experienced for himself that he had not recognized it for what it was. Whatever he had felt for Alana paled and withering in comparison to this thing growling inside of him.
Will was in love, utterly and truly in love. He was horribly in love with one of the most terrible people in existence.
And yet, suddenly leaning over to kiss Hannibal's lips was the easiest thing for Will to do. He actually startled Hannibal by climbing into the man's lap to deepen the kiss with a fierce passion that surprised them both. Will held Hannibal's face in his hands, licking and nipping the unraveling seam of his thin mouth.
"Or here if you prefer." Hannibal rasped out when Will allowed it.
"As much as I would love to ruin your upholstery, I want to see you splayed out beneath me." Will admitted, a bit breathless.
The next few minutes was them making their way to the bedroom. It took longer than usual as they stripped the clothes off one another, pausing numerous times to kiss, grope, and touch.
It was all a blur until Will found himself hilted deep within Hannibal, his lover panting beneath him.
Something broke…not broke…more morphed in Will. Sex was usually an intimate thing for normal people. For Will, it could be a free fall deep dive into another person's psyche. That wasn't always a good thing. It certainly wasn't a good thing now, but all the failsafes were off in Will's head. His hand was upon Hannibal's throat, not choking him but definitely keeping him in place as Will thrust hard into him. Hannibal's face was serene as he looked up at Will, as if he was experiencing something divine.
It made Will feel powerful. Tumbling down this rabbit hole, he left off the grip on Hannibal's neck so that he could hold the Ripper down by his broad shoulders. Leaning in, practically lunging, Will's teeth found the junction of Hannibal's neck. He bit down. He bit down hard. As blood welled up in his mouth, Will experienced Hannibal's orgasm. Heard his sigh, the tempo of his breathing, the heat pouring off of his skin, the way he clenched around Will's cock as he came, the soft sweet nothings he kept whispered in a language Will didn't understand in rapid concession, the metallic flavor of pennies that coated Will's mouth, Hannibal's pulse ringing off of his teeth.
Will lost himself in his own release. It was like being bodily thrown into an ocean, forcibly enough that one just floated for a moment after impact as they tried to decide which way was up in time to keep living.
Will only came back to himself when he realized that Hannibal was licking his own blood from out of his mouth. He allowed Hannibal to guide him down onto his back, the cannibal licking all the sweat, blood, and spend off of Will as if he were a feast.
The bite mark would be easy enough to cover up, Hannibal wearing so many layers on the daily. It still bled, little rivulets of blood coursing down Hannibal's chest, getting caught in his chest hair. Will lazily ran his finger through them, smearing more red across Hannibal's skin.
"Usually, I would apologize," Will said.
"But you're not going to." Hannibal smiled as if Will had just said something charming.
"No, I'm not. I think I just gave you exactly what you wanted." Will said as he licked the blood off of his fingertips.
"What do you want in return?" Hannibal's eyes tracked what Will's tongue was doing.
To not be so madly in love with you, Will thought to himself.
"For you to not do whatever you're planning for me." Will said quietly, looking away.
"Will, Mielasis," Hannibal sighed, "I need you to trust me."
"Hannibal, if you break it, break me, you'll lose me in every aspect of the word. Abandonment only hurts if one has expectations." Was the closest Will could come to saying 'I love you' out loud, "Choose you next words wisely."
"I always do. Words are living things. They have personality, point of view, agenda." Hannibal said in diversion.
"They're pack hunters." Will nodded.
"Will it suffice to say that your expectation of me are high?"
"Would you have it any other way?"
"No, Mielasis, I would not."
"Mielasis had better not mean dinner." Will sighed, making Hannibal laugh.
Will never got his answer, not a real one anyway, but he already knew it would foolish to hold onto hope.