The sunlight filtered through the windows of that little farm house in the middle of nowhere. Hannibal started to wake up as he felt the soft heat of the morning sun warming his skin, that was such a pleasant way to wake, so soothing.
His maroon eyes opened slowly, blinking a couple of times until he could clearly see the other man in front of him. A smile formed on his thin lips upon seeing that sleepy face, he felt so lightheaded the thought he was still asleep. They were so close he could feel Will breathing calmly, so close he perceived his body heat, he even believed he could listen his heart beating. At that moment Will reeked of sweat, alcohol and of course, like most of the time, he smell like a wet dog. Those weren't pleasurable scents but even with his bloodhound nose he didn't care.
He was so close to him that it was teasing, he felt tempted to reach out and brush Will's cheek with his fingers. If there was a God, he was putting Hannibal to the test.
No.
He glanced at the wall clock over his shoulder, he had woken up pretty early in the morning. He still felt groggy when he put his feet on the floor, staring at nowhere as he thought in silence. How would Will react? Nothing special had happened, nothing to regret, nothing to be ashamed of, and yet he felt giddy. You're overthinking.
One of Will's dogs woke up as well, he yawned loudly and stretched on the floor before walking happily towards him.
- "Good morning." Hannibal whispered as he petted the dog. The little innocent greeting brought a smile to his face as he remembered what Will said last night before falling asleep. Why'd he think of something like that with such endearment? So juvenile, he felt embarrassed. Should a grown man feel like this?
The dog suddenly walked away, heading to the kitchen. Since someone was awake the little animal was probably waiting for Hannibal to feed him.
What kind of label could he put to his relationship with Will? Hannibal was trying to decide whether it was appropriate or not to go to Will's kitchen and prepare breakfast for the two of them. According to what he knew of him, Will spent more time eating abominations for the palate rather than real homemade food so he'd probably appreciate a change.
There wasn't much to work with at that small kitchen, only basics. An omelette was the simplest and probably the better choice, though to his personal standars it'd be rather poor. Eggs, cheese, butter, smoked ham some milk to make it silky; salt and pepper where the only seasoners Will seemed to know. The rest of the fridge's content just did not look quite right.
The luscious scent of breakfast began to awake the house gradually, first the dogs one by one and finally the smell woke their master, who was strangely surprised by the gesture of his friend.
- "What are you cooking?"
- "Breakfast." He simply replied as he turned the hotplate off. "I hope you like omelette."
Anything different to a reheated meal or a cup of cold milk with biscuits and poptarts was comparable with gourmet food for smiled and rubbed his face with the palms of his hands as if he was trying to wash off the headache produced by the hangover. Slightly slow-witted he got up up to feed the dogs.
Hannibal served the meal and hand Will a plate once his family of strays had their own. Still, the dogs looked at them as if they were inquiring the reason why they had dog food instead of whatever they were eating, it just wasn't fair for them, Will wouldn't mind sharing but sadly there wasn't enough for everyone and he was hungry like a wolf.
- "This is delicious." Will said mouthful, but Hannibal only smiled at the compliment ignoring that little act of indecency. "You didn't have to do that."
- "I was hungry as well. And I remind you that you brought me here on your car and going back home walking didn't seem like an option."
"You're right." He replied in an apologetic tone. "I'm sorry. I will take you to your house as soon as I finish this."
- "You should take a shower first. I assume you have work today and I don't think that you will be there on time if you have to drop me off and come back here to take a bath. Unless, of course, you don't mind teaching a class smelling like a vagabond."
This time Will chuckled. - "You're right again."
Once he was in the comfort of his own house, away from campestrial smells and that air full of dog hair, the first thing he needed to do was to take a long relaxing bath. He was wearing the same clothing he wore the day before, now it was all lined and he felt completely unclean.
When he began hearing the sound of the water filling the bathtub, he immediately thought of the moment when Will had gone to take a shower. Even if he had been quick, waiting for him at his place had felt almost as weird as watching him sleep. The most absurd ideas invaded his mind but somehow he felt that it had been due more than the simply influence of that dream he had had. It had been weeks ago and he hardly remembered the content, only the sensations were what remained on his memories. Those thoughts had to stop before things got even more awkward than they already felt for him. Luckily for him the sound of the rainfall stopping calm him a little bit, the temptations were finished or that he wanted to believe. But now, once again he felt tormented by his desires.
Why wasn't he able to think of him as a friend and nothing else? There was no logical reason for wanting more than that, Will wasn't anything special... Is he? Maybe just unusual but still, Hannibal saw no reason to think of him differently than any other person he knew.
Was that the whole case? There was something that still bothered him. His desire wasn't clear either, what he wanted was more, that was all he felt and it was too vague. Assuming his dream come true, it was not enough, there should be something else entirely different than a one-night stand to fulfill a fantasy. I want him in body and soul? The idea was so ridiculous that he dismissed it as soon as it appear in his mind.
Just when he came out of the bathroom, his phone started ringing. He had to hold back a sigh of annoyance when he heard the voice of one of his patients at the other side of the phone, the most emotional and needy of them to his dismay. Even though he was trying to act cool, it was obvious for Hannibal that he was crying while asking for a session that day, he sounded so desperate and desolate.
- "Alright, see you later." He said as he hang up the telephone once they arranged the impromptu appointment. That ruined his plans for the day, he had to tell Will he wouldn't be able to see him that afternoon. Poetic justice. Maybe if he hadn't talked to Will about how tired he was of this patient and his nonsense, he wouldn't have to change his agenda.
Friday felt like a long day for Will, dull and tasteless. The following day, however, he had big plans. He enjoyed theater but he had had to decline Hannibal's offer since he could go to see a play, but a date with the woman he had admired for so long looked like a one-time opportunity.
It had been so long since they met, he had spent so much time trying to convince Alana Bloom to go out with him. She had gently refused, saying that she prefered not to go out with a work colleague but she had finally accepted. At first of course he was filled with joy, but later Will was not quite sure if she had done it out of pity or if she had finally taken an interest in him in any case he promised he was going to do anything possible to make their date wonderful. However, at that moment the atmosphere that surrounded them at the restaurant felt heavy and uncomfortable and judging by her expression he was not the only one feeling so, should that be a relief?
Alana looked beautiful and refined as always, in the eyes of anyone she stood among the rest of the women who were present at that restaurant and her appearance wasn't the facade of an empty shell, she was kind and smart, funny and enlightened.
Leaving aside the negatives she had given him, they had previously enjoyed each other's company and they had shared talks and interesting discussions, but the conversation wasn't fluent during that night, it even seemed forced.
Maybe I should have gone to the theater with...
He stopped his train of thoughts, staring blankly his meal. At last he was having dinner with the most beautiful and brilliant woman he had ever known, and yet at that moment he wasn't able to feel the same interest he had felt for her before. Did the fascination end?
- "Will." Her voice called softly, making him lift his gaze to meet her blue eyes. 'This isn't going well, isn't it?"
He pursed his lips. When you get what you wanted you discover that it wasn't what you needed, was this the case? Perhaps his previous interest lay with the unattainable of the situation so now it seemed that the enchantment was over...
- "I'm sorry, I guess you were right all this time. This isn't... It's just..."
- "Hey, you don't have to apologize." She assured him as she rested her hand on his across the table. "Maybe it's not what you planned but this can still be a nice dinner, right?"
Will smiled at her an nodded. Just dinner between friends, it could have been nice, but neither of them could deny how awkward the situation was.
With any luck, by Monday both would have forgotten this night and everything would be like it used to, they could pretend to forget it at least.
Once he drop Alana off, Will found himself having no idea of what to do. It was late, he wasn't tired, he wasn't hungry, he just felt like doing anything at all. It was as if he didn't have anything to do, any place to go, not even his own house seemed like an option. He wanted to go somewhere warm comfortable, maybe talk and clear up his mind.
It hadn't been a bad performance, but he had witnessed better representations of Webster's work. Could have it been more enjoyable with company? He felt far gone at the thought, that wasn't the first time he went to the theater alone, being there with someone or not wouldn't make a difference.
When he left the car and stepped to his house, he froze right in spot. His pulse seemed to speed up just by the sight. Will was there, waiting for him on his doorway, sitting on the floor.
He tried to say something to him but no words came out of his mouth. Then Will lifted his gaze from the ground and upon noticing Hannibal's presence he stood up and opened his mouth slightly, he was about to mutter something, but Hannibal didn't let him speak. Driven by an unwitting desire, all he managed to do at that moment was to grab Will close and alight his lips on his.