A/n: This chapter has REMOVED CONTENT due to the NC 17 nature of it. For the uncensored chapter, please see my AO3 account.

"The Devil's hand directs our every move, the things we loathed become the things we love"
― Charles Baudelaire

Tuesday – 13 Sep 2022 – 9.34 PM

Will exhaled a breathy laugh when Hannibal rolled him forward and spooned up behind him, placing one hand on Will's hip and one thigh between Will's legs as he continued to kiss along Will's neck and shoulder in the aftermath of sex, smoothing his hand over Will's chest and over the plane of his stomach, Will's skin was slick with sweat under Hannibal's palm.

It still amazed Will sometimes that Hannibal was a 'cuddler', but he never failed to enjoy it, turning his face into the soft mound of pillows under his head and giving Hannibal more access to his neck so the older man could kiss and nuzzle against his skin and into his damp hair.

They laid that way for a while, their heart rates and breathing evening out and Will felt sleepier by the minute, and he was honestly on the verge of falling asleep when he remembered,

"I need to lock up downstairs…bring in the dogs…" he mumbled, leaning back into Hannibal with a sleepy sigh when the older man pressed against him, their skin hot, still sticky, pressed sweetly close and intimate.

"I'll see to it." He rumbled deeply in his accent against the nape of Will's neck, nosing the hair there.

"Are you sure?" Will asked but he already knew Hannibal would say yes and his eyes were drooping as he stared out beyond the windowed wall of the bedroom, the electric curtains were still open and beyond the balcony was just dark blue sky, it was so peaceful.

Hannibal hummed his assent and Will mumbled a thank you, letting his eyes fall closed and enjoying the feeling of Hannibal's breath on his neck and his fingers tracing patterns on Will's hip. He would have fallen asleep within a minute, but Hannibal's quiet words woke him,

"I didn't realize you were interested in romance."

Will's eyes snapped open, threatening to fall closed again as he blinked a few times, his stomach having dropped unpleasantly at the subject Hannibal had just brought up. Will had thought the conversation from earlier would have been put aside, brushed off permanently, but now Hannibal was bringing it up and Will was feeling worried and uncertain all over again.

Hannibal wasn't a romantic man, he was a refined monster.

So in end, maybe it wasn't such a good thing that Will forgot that 'monster' detail, because it made him say stupid things about romance.

He frowned and turned his face almost entirely into the pillow, trying not to start stressing because Hannibal would smell it,

"Neither did I." he muttered, upset with himself for his stupidity.

'Dare to dream that you could have something so normal in your abnormal relationship, Graham.' He berated himself mentally and automatically wondered what it'd be like to be Will Lecter, not Will Graham and he frowned deeper, sadder, for the pain it brought to his chest. He really wanted it now that he knew he could have it.

Or at least something close to it. Ethan Kask would be fine, it'd still be him and Hannibal, no matter what their names.

Hannibal nuzzled behind Will's ear, inhaling quietly,

"Why have you never mentioned it before?"

"I don't know…" Will answered quickly and curtly, upset by the whole thing and he curled in on himself slightly, letting in some cool air between their sticky bodies, "…for the same…damn reason I regret bringing it up tonight, it's…it's incredibly…it's just stupid." He sighed louder than necessary, the afterglow of their sex officially gone.

Hannibal made a sound close to a sigh,

"As I said earlier, Will, you need to tell me if something is bothering you, or I can't be expect-…"

"I don't expect anything, Hannibal," Will sat up on his side then, leaning on his hand and moving himself more away from Hannibal in doing so, and he rubbed his face irritably before carding his hand up into his hair and shaking his head, "I don't sit around thinking about it, you just…you mentioned the retreat and I…I liked how it sounded, it's not more than that, it's nothing that's been bothering me." Will huffed, frustrated.

He and Hannibal didn't argue often and they hadn't done so in many weeks, the last time having been over Will finding out that Hannibal occasionally gave Heller and Remy pieces of raw human meat to snack on. Honestly, Will just didn't like arguing with Hannibal in general, because it was hardly an argument when all Hannibal did was speak in a normal, if slightly tighter tone, using his words sparingly and as if he were just managing Will's temper. It often made Will feel overly emotional, too immature, too outclassed by a violent monster who was so damnably level headed in everything.

And while Will knew he was feeling weird because he'd seen the engagement ring and it was making him react badly and feel defensive…it was only because he felt so vulnerable for wanting it so much.

Thoughts of getting married were giving him fanciful ideas of a private wedding and vows and a romantic honeymoon. It was more than a little pathetic.

"Were you romantic with your wife?" and, wow, was that the worst question Hannibal could have asked.

"Ex-wife, Hannibal, Jesus." Will felt nauseous instantly, he never thought about Molly as his wife anymore and Hannibal bringing her up hurt because he should know how unimportant anything from Will's former life was, "And no," he said sharply, temper raised, "no I wasn't, she probably felt about as insecure…about bringing it up with me," he laughed humorlessly, "as I feel bringing it up with you." He hated the way his stomach was shaking, he didn't want to talk about the things that might be wrong with their 'relationship', because he didn't want anything to be wrong.

Will liked being happy and he was happy with Hannibal. He didn't want to fuck that up.

All sleepiness gone, Will shifted to get off the bed, aware that he'd have to go to the bathroom first before he could go anywhere else in the house, but he didn't get any further than standing up at the side of the bed before he heard Hannibal shift and, quickly, two strong arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him backwards.

Will sat tensely on the edge of the bed between Hannibal's legs, the older man holding him firmly back against his chest as he pressed his lips to the back of Will's shoulder,

"Why do you still doubt that I would do anything to please you?" he asked quietly and Will frowned, all of those sappy emotions that had been awakened that afternoon lodging a new lump in his throat, "I loathe hearing that I make you feel insecure," Hannibal squeezed Will a little tighter, inhaling against his skin, "and it infuriates me to think that I make you unhappy." he quietly growled and Will melted bit by bit, leaning back into Hannibal.

Hannibal skimmed his lips up to speak against Will's ear in a purring tone,

"Mylimasis, if you want romance I will suffuse and saturate you with it." He began and Will pursed his lips, unsure of how he was supposed to take that, was it mockery? He started to shake his head,

"Hannibal-…"

"I'll bring you red roses, and prepare a candlelit dinner with various chocolate and strawberry desserts," he went on, his voice a low and breathy sensation against the crook of Will's neck, "which I will feed to you in between amorous kisses and whispered adulations in every language I know," he sounded amused and Will was blushing, thinking of how stupid it sounded when Hannibal put it like that. And he wasn't done apparently, kissing Will's neck once before continuing, "I'll draw you a hot bath laced with salts, lavender oil and bubbles and while you drink Ramonet Montrachet, I'll lather your skin and hair with soaps, relaxing your body with attentive touches as I remind you of just how exquisite you are to me." the vowels and consonants curled and lisped uniquely around every accented word and Will was smiling slightly now, pretty sure Hannibal was just diffusing the tension with his words of cliché romance, but hell, it was working.

"Then I'll lie you here, in our bed," he went on, his lips against Will's ear now and Will's pulse began to race at hearing the change, the new depth and roughness of Hannibal's voice, "there will be rose petals and scented candles and I will take my time touching and kissing every inch of your body before I make love to you for hours," he sounded particularly gruff when he said that and Will shivered lightly, "to a sonata that I will have composed just for you, and when I'm done you will be sore…but also deeply satisfied." Will's toes curled against the wooden flooring, closing his eyes briefly as he considered a wedding night made up of such a stupid, girlish fantasy, "And that would be on just one occasion." Hannibal finished and he was grinning, Will could feel his teeth against the shell of his ear.

Will's mind was swimming in thoughts of what could be, and he was also a little thrown by the term of 'make love', because Hannibal had never used it before, but he didn't over think it, instead he laughed softly and shook his head to clear his premature –and somewhat pitiful- imaginings,

"I get it, you would…assault me with all manner of corny romance inanities, until I'd feel like a spoiled and pampered princess." he acknowledged in as neutral a tone as he could manage.

Hannibal chuckled quietly, and it vibrated from his chest into Will's back, and right into his bones, and to the tips of his ears, fingers and toes and Will relaxed further as Hannibal responded,

"Alternatively, we could go on this retreat and indulge ourselves for a few days with just being a couple around other couples." He offered sincerely, bringing his arms up to wrap around Will's upper arms and body and Will's chest hurt with a swell of emotion when he realized that Hannibal was serious.

And all over again he was excited, thinking that maybe Hannibal was considering using the opportunity to propose.

Will shifted then, turning around and straddling Hannibal, pressing close, sliding his hands down, his arms loosely circling Hannibal's torso as Will kissed him a few times,

"I'd…like that." Will admitted, smiling against Hannibal's mouth, "Just being a couple for a few days."

"Then you shall have it." Hannibal smiled too, an honest curve of his lips as his arms encircled Will,

"My wish is your command?" Will teased, kissing Hannibal again, his top lip pressing just right between Will's lips,

"You joke…" Hannibal said when they parted, "…without realizing how right you are." and again, he was serious.

Will was too tired to deal with how quickly his chest got all tight and warm right then with an excess of emotion, so he didn't try to restrain his feelings, rather he brought his arms up to wrap them around Hannibal's shoulders in a hug, his face pressed to the side of the older man's neck to avoid any intense eye contact,
"I'm sorry that I upset you…" he sighed into Hannibal's warm skin, "…you do make me happy, it's just been a…weird day." he said carelessly, not considering that Hannibal might question him about what had been weird.

But the older man didn't, he simply stroked Will's lower back for a quiet moment and then kissed Will's scarred right shoulder before he said quietly,

"Get into bed, Will, I'll see to locking up and join you soon."

And after a quick, soft kiss, Will did as told, climbing off of Hannibal and lying down on the bed on his usual side, getting comfortable on his back. Hannibal pressed a kiss to Will's bent up knee before getting up and walking over to the built in wardrobes, retrieving a pair of pajama pants.

Will watched Hannibal leave the room and then he turned onto his side, pressing his face into his pillow and smiling, he felt lightheaded just thinking over Hannibal's words, even the awfully overkill romantic ideas he'd mentioned were still effective enough to make Will feel mushy inside. It was pathetic that he was a grown man feeling flattered and pleased by the idea of romantic gestures, but that was just how it was now. It was being happy and being in love, something Will hadn't really experienced before Hannibal, and it apparently affected him on a very deep level.

He was only human after all.

"Who knew I'd be a romantic sap under all of that depression." He mumbled to himself, shifting his legs and enjoying the familiar tenderness he always felt in his lower body after sex.

Will let his mind drift to thoughts of Hannibal's earlier words as he lay relaxed and on his way to falling asleep, and the Lithuanian word 'mylimasis' resonated. He recognised it, Hannibal used it occasionally when refering to him. It meant darling or love or beloved and a few other variations. He hadn't asked Hannibal exactly what he meant when he said it but Will was fine with any of the options.

Because while Hannibal never said 'I love you', he meant so much in other things he said to Will that really, it didn't matter.

About ten minutes passed before Hannibal returned to the bedroom, Will was aware of the sound of the electric curtains closing followed by the click of a lightswitch which cast the room into moderate darkness. And when he felt the bed shift and Hannibal got in beside him, Will rolled over and moved nearer. He felt Hannibal's fingers thread through his hair and was coherent enough to pucker his lips for the few light kisses Hannibal gave him before they both settled down to sleep, lying close with their knees touching and feet intercrossed. Facing Hannibal with his head low on his pillow, Will had his one hand settled between their bodies with his fingers lightly touching Hannibal's stomach. Hannibal was lying higher up, also facing Will with one arm stretched out above Will's head and his other hand caressing Will's curls, likely to do so until one of them fell asleep, whoever managed to first.

And Will never had nightmares anymore, not with knowing the worst of the monsters was watching over him.

The following day Hannibal informed Will that the retreat was from Friday to Monday, at the end of that same week, which coincided perfectly with Will's weekly classes from Tuesday to Thursday. Hannibal didn't have to worry too much about keeping hours, he could move his appointments around to suit himself most of the time and Juan, probably Adoncia De Villafranca too, had arranged the retreat booking to suit their needs as well.

It had been Tuesday when Hannibal told Will about the retreat and the rest of the week passed as it usually did, with only two differences. One being Will making plans for Heller and Remy to stay in a dog hotel for the weekend and the other being that Will kept having to stop himself from going down to the cellar to see if the ring was still there or if Hannibal had moved it, maybe with the intention to pack it.

Will did try his best not to think about it, but whether he was teaching a class, or taking the dogs for a run on the beach, working out in their home gym or tidying up around the house, he could not get the damn engagement ring off his mind.

Thursday – 15 Sep 2022 – 7.05 PM

When it was Thursday night, he and Hannibal were both in the bedroom packing weekend bags. The bedroom balcony doors were wide open and cool night air was filtering in pleasantly. They'd been talking about random things as they moved around one another with familiar ease in the space of their shared room.

At first they'd talked about what Hannibal knew of Costa Del Sol before they'd moved on to talking about Hannibal's mostly undecided thoughts on joining Juan in business. Randomly, Freddy Lounds had come up, Will mentioning that TattleCrime hadn't had any new reports lately and Hannibal suggesting that perhaps someone had finally put a stop to her ignominious behavior, or just her in general, and he'd been wearing an amused smile on his face at the idea. Will had been amused too, liking the idea of her disrespectful brand of journalism finally coming to an end. They never did talk about how Freddy Lounds would be dead already if she hadn't driven out to Wolf Trap and been unintentionally spared Hannibal's wrath by Will.

There was no need to talk about that…

Hannibal went on to mention that he needed to restock their meat supply soon, asking if Will thought he should drive up or down the coast, or pick off a few people locally over the next few weeks. Because that's what they did, if they chose victims from Alicante then they spaced out the killings, otherwise, they would drive several hours out, book into a cash motel with other false identities, kill a minimum of two people and never more than four and then return home with their meat.

Hannibal would sometimes not even kill anyone when he was in a less murderous mood, to mix it up he'd occasionally just take organs in the same way a black market organ harvester would, without the precision of the talented surgeon he was, he'd be purposely sloppy instead and then he'd leave the victims alive to wake up whenever…or not. Whether they survived in the end, Will never cared, he was always just sure to check the papers and news to make sure nothing was leading back to them.

And then other times, with or without Will, Hannibal would go off and kill as violently and cruelly as he enjoyed and remove organs and limbs while his victims were still alive, which was just something Hannibal preferred. He never displayed the bodies though, and whatever he didn't take from the victims ended up efficiently disposed of.

Hannibal had been cleaning up after himself for years and Will had been fascinated to watch him work back when Will had still been learning, new to it all...

…the first time Will had been present for one of Hannibal's -formerly personal- hunts, through which he usually obtained his meat, Will had been left breathless and shaken from shock and adrenalin.

The experience had been different from killing Bedelia, who, despite everything she'd suffered, had still somehow managed to hold onto her fury, hatred, tethers of silence and even some abstract sort of dignity, right up until she took her last, pained, blood sodden breath. Also, Will had truly despised her, which had made it easier to kill her.

But for that first true victim, a man innocent but for having rudely bumped into a few people –including Will and Hannibal- on the streets of Lagos in his angry haste, without even so much as a muttered apology, the experience had been wholly different. And it hadn't been the blood or the violence of the murder that had been a shock to Will's system, no, it had been the screaming. All the screaming –even gagged- had gotten to Will, especially since Hannibal hadn't drugged the man before he'd started cutting into him.

Hannibal had wanted Will to experience everything in real time, raw and uncensored.

It had been horrible and incredible and Will had –as he always did- tapped into the killer's mind at the time, into Hannibal's mind, and the older man's tranquil, deadly and pleased demeanor had grounded Will in the moment, had eased his shaking and kept him from wanting to throw up as he'd watched.

Later that night, after, when they'd returned to their temporary rented apartment, the sex had been rough and close. Hannibal had trapped Will beneath his stronger form on their double bed, had pinned Will face down, restrained his arms above his head with his hands, rendered his body prone and Hannibal had fucked him with a presence of force and hold of dominance that Will hadn't experienced from him until that night, and it had fit so well to the apex-predator that Hannibal was. Will had been a hot, writhing mess of empathetic emotions and physically reaching needs, and his own dark and unfurling desires had mixed with Hannibal's raw unbidden lust that night, having resulted in the sex being almost sadistic in its relentlessness.

Will had had a hoarse throat the morning after, and had just been grateful there'd been pillows to muffle him.

The second time Hannibal had taken Will along, Will hadn't been left to observe, he'd wanted to participate. Hannibal had stayed close as he'd guided Will through the process of carefully removing kidneys from a man. The second victim had been drugged so that he could not move but would feel everything, and Hannibal had whispered praises into Will's ear while he'd cut and snipped inside of the paralyzed body, which had been trying desperately to convulse in a show of pain. And when Will had held a whole, cleanly extracted kidney in his hands and the blood had slicked over his plastic covered hands and forearms, Hannibal had pressed himself against Will's back and the younger man had felt Hannibal's arousal as well as the sharp toothed smile he'd bared against Will's ear in approval. Will had felt both sick and powerful by the time he'd cut out the man's other kidney and his liver and when he'd had been taking the heart, intimately guided by Hannibal's hands through the delicate task, his own heart rate had decreased substantially, his anxiety had ebbed and he'd felt…satisfied.

And he'd not done so by empathizing with Hannibal. It had been all of his own control that time.

Like he'd finally arrived.

They'd had sex again and that night, Will had not so readily succumbed to Hannibal's physical dominance. He'd grabbed and grappled and bitten and bruised Hannibal as much as he'd received in return and his aggressiveness had only served to please Hannibal even more. There'd been too prominent teeth marks in their flesh, almost broken skin dotted with petechiae, and nail scratches striping their skin along with dark finger bruises on hips, thighs, throats and wrists. Fistfuls of hair had been yanked and clung to and their teeth had clipped a few times during their biting, grinning kisses. It had been murder and sex at its finest, and Will had only just begun to embrace what he truly was back then.

He'd come so much farther now.

And every kill since, whenever Will went with Hannibal, each time it was a heady and gratifying experience, each kill was beautiful. It was a pity they were no longer able to make art like Hannibal had used to with his victim's bodies, but that didn't take away from the experience, the beauty and pleasure, of killing together.

It had been a few months though, since Will had gone with Hannibal and for a reason Will didn't even completely comprehend, he wasn't okay with Hannibal going alone anymore. He paused with a half folded T shirt in his hands and looked at Hannibal across the bed from him,

"I'll go with you." He said evenly. He didn't need to go, he wasn't craving a kill, he hardly ever did since he was able to revel in a kill while it was happening and then be fine when he wasn't killing too, he and Hannibal had that in common. Murder was not an impulse they couldn't resist.

But Will felt like he had to go, there was some other instinct making itself known in him.

Hannibal glanced at Will and then he continued to pack socks neatly into his well-organized and skillfully compartmentalized suitcase, far neater than what Will had going on in his own bag.

"I hadn't thought to ask if you wanted to join me, you usually let me know in advance if you're interested." He responded, some of his brown/silver hair falling over his eyes as he leaned over to pull a zipper closed on the inner top flap of his suitcase, and then he looked at Will again when he stood up.

It was always Will's choice to go, Hannibal hadn't ever insisted, not since Will had run away with him.

"Well…yeah," Will blinked and then squinted slightly at Hannibal, his eyesight feeling a little strained because he was wearing his glasses, having taken his contact lenses out that afternoon when he got home from dropping the dogs off at the hotel, "I kept forgetting to mention it," a little lie, "let's go, uh, North." He said as evenly as possible as he tossed a few of his balled up of socks untidily into his suitcase.

Hannibal considered him for a moment and then packed in the last of his folded clothes, nodding at Will once he was satisfied with his bag,

"North it is." He said before idly touching a folded shirt, dragging his fingers over it absently and then turning around and walking toward the door,

"Where are you going?" Will asked as he stuffed some underwear into his suitcase.

"I have to fetch something from downstairs." Hannibal answered before walking out.

Abruptly left alone, Will closed his eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath, clenching his fingers absently in the cotton briefs he was holding; he'd be wearing proper underwear that weekend since he wouldn't be at home. He frowned to himself when he opened his eyes again and his unease hadn't settled, dropping the unfolded briefs into his bag and then rubbing his hands over his face before brushing stray curls away from his forehead as he tried to make sense of his reaction just then.

Something unpleasant and unsettling had settled in his stomach when Hannibal had said he'd be going away. The fact that it'd be four or five days of having no way of contacting Hannibal aside from a cell phone had made Will say he wanted to go with, and that hadn't ever happened before, he'd never felt like that, Hannibal had always gone and come back and life would go on…

Will clenched his jaw and turned around to sit on the bed beside his suitcase, having realized that for some ridiculous reason he was suddenly very worried about Hannibal's mortality. In his mind, a quiet voice that sounded like an old version of himself, posed the question; 'Well, why should I bother marrying him if he's constantly putting his life in danger?' and Will didn't like that voice because it was familiar in a very bad way.

It was a version of himself that took its reasoning from the far too neurotic and formerly neglected part of his limbic system, a place where a lot of his former self's negative emotions had since been sealed away.

The version of him that couldn't accept being happy, couldn't believe it was possible and it was –for some reason- asserting itself right then, posing another statement of 'If he won't stop then he wouldn't really do anything for me, he lied, I can't trust him, I never could trust him'.

And Will abruptly smothered that voice, rubbing his hands over his face and exhaling harshly, dismissing the thoughts immediately and countering them with a thought that came from the true Will Graham, the one who was no longer buried under pseudo-conformity, paranoia and a shit storm of neuroses,

'I love him the way he is, for what he is, I would never ask him to stop, I don't want him to stop…' Will frowned slightly, the idea of getting married to Hannibal affixing itself permanently in his mind, making him consider how much he wanted to enjoy whatever time they'd have together, which helped him make a reasonable decision, '…but I will go with him every time in future, because with two of us it'll increase the chances that we both come back alive.'

Will was aware that he should let Hannibal know what he was feeling, but he wouldn't. Because if Hannibal misconstrued Will's thoughts and feelings, he might start thinking that Will no longer wanted to kill, which wasn't the case, not for the reasons Hannibal would assume anyway. Will was happy to kill, it was cathartic and euphoric and very intimate when he was doing it with Hannibal, a lot like foreplay, except bloodier. He enjoyed it, he wanted it and he didn't want either of them to give it up.

He smiled to himself and flexed the fingers of his left hand, considering his ring finger and how the platinum engagement ring had fit so perfectly. He wondered again if Hannibal would bring it along, would he make the retreat the venue for the proposal? And wondering about that made Will question what Hannibal would have needed to pack into his luggage from downstairs.

When he thought –hoped- it might the ring, Will felt contradictorily nervous and impatient that Hannibal might be bringing it along. He was sitting with his lips pursed and staring at his bare feet when he heard Hannibal walk back into the room. Will blinked away his distracted thoughts and stood up, turning to face Hannibal and quickly glancing at the older man's hands as subtly as possible. But Hannibal was only carrying a rolled up belt that he must have left downstairs at some point,

"Have you finished?" Hannibal asked as he leaned over his open suitcase, slotting the belt into a compartment before he closed the flap of the bag and started to zip it closed.

Will automatically nodded but then frowned down at his open bag, running a hand over the side of his neck as he looked over his shirts and pants, belts, underwear and socks, some toiletries,

"I think so-…ah, no, my toothbrush-…"

"We have spares, I'll get one for you." Hannibal said and was already walking toward the bathroom.

Will took the opportunity to look over Hannibal's lower half, trying to gauge if there was anything in his pockets but there was only the shape of his cell phone. He sighed quietly and irritably at his slight disappointment and waited for Hannibal, who came back quickly and walked around the bed to where Will stood, holding a plastic packaged toothbrush. He stopped at Will's side and looked down into the suitcase and Will noticed the slight raising of his eyebrow when he saw the less than organized way Will had packed.

Will managed a wry grin when Hannibal looked at him,

"For someone who spent so much time traveling and staying in motels for work, you'd think I'd have perfected the art of packing a weekend bag." he joked, looking over Hannibal's relaxed and fondly amused countenance.

Hannibal smiled at him, one side of his mouth curving up attractively, before he leaned over the case, taking the task upon himself to make sense of Will's suitcase as he commented,

"You had far more important things on your mind whenever you were called out."

Right, all of those dead bodies.

Will snorted, scratching idly at his chest,

"Yeah, and plaid doesn't really crease noticeably…so…" he smiled, also amused.

Hannibal smiled a little wider, showing a few teeth and Will's eyes drifted from his face to watching as Hannibal expertly segmented, refolded and neatened the contents of the case. Not wanting his hands to be idle and feeling a little frisky, Will slid his hand underneath Hannibal's untucked dark blue shirt, up the plane of the older man's smooth back. And tapping into his mostly unused reserve of awkward humor and abstruse flirtation abilities, Will ventured,

"You loved the plaid though," he purposely used a blithe tone as he eased his hand up along Hannibal's spine, "all of those sexy checkered shirts. I'll bet you had dirty dreams about it all the time." Will added his other hand underneath Hannibal's shirt then, moving to stand behind him and running his hands in massaging movements over Hannibal's back as he pressed his pelvis lightly against Hannibal rear.

Hannibal made a noise of amusement and stood up straight after he'd slotted the toothbrush in, glancing back at Will over his shoulder,

"In the case of you wearing nothing but a plaid shirt in such dreams..." Hannibal trailed off with a smirk, making an effort to joke along with Will's obscure humor and it was nice of him, it was quite a statement to their relationship that Hannibal would speak nonsense with him just for fun.

Will kept smiling, fond and comfortable as he slid his hands around to Hannibal's chest and now that the other man was standing up straight, he pressed his front properly to Hannibal's back, setting his chin on Hannibal's shoulder,

"Yeah, I don't doubt that I was, I mean, after that first time we met, how could you possibly resist me?" Will looked at Hannibal's side profile when the man glanced at him again, going on in an amused tone, "Will Graham, a…social hazard by any standard, wearing unflattering spectacles and walking around all day with uncombed hair. And that cheap aftershave too, can't forget that to go along with a creased old plaid shirt, worn chinos and scuffed shoes." he made a put upon hum of delight, "And to top it all off, I had the audacity to be rude to you for no reason, whatsoever." Will dipped his head and sighed out a quiet laugh against the back of Hannibal's shoulder, his warm breath clinging to the fine cotton of his shirt,

"Tell me Doctor Lecter, why didn't you just come after me?" he slid his arms around Hannibal's chest, properly hugging him from behind, "I'd given you all the reason you needed to kill me in the first two minutes of meeting you, it's…it's a wonder…that you didn't kill me the first chance you got. You could have eaten my tongue for dinner that same night." Will was morbidly amused by his own words, "Or did you just really like my…swag?" he added in a mumble.

Hannibal chuckled, low and quiet as he slowly turned around, Will loosening the circle of his arms so the older man could face him. Hannibal held Will's face then, so that Will would look at him in the eye. He looked genuinely amused and deeply fond as he regarded Will at close proximity,

"Firstly, on the day I met you, you were in fact not wearing plaid." Hannibal informed him. Will frowned, the unasked question of 'really?' hanging between them and Hannibal nodded once, his eyes moving from Will's eyes to his lips and back, "You were wearing a vintage green, brushed twill shirt -…"

"…faded green…" Will translated in a mumble.

"…and you smelled of cafeteria coffee, chalk dust and dogs, more than just your aftershave."

"…definitely a keeper, huh…" Will mumbled, looking at Hannibal's smirking mouth, inches from his own.

"Hm…more than, actually." Hannibal stroked his thumbs over Will's ears, "And while I can't say I had any sexual thoughts about you at that time or in the immediate months that followed," he leaned in and kissed Will's lips softly, the younger man's eyes sliding closed and halfway open again when it ended, "my first thought when you were so unnecessarily rude to me that day was far from any consideration to murder you." He finished softly.

Despite the tentative –and bizarrely- affectionate context in which they were speaking, Will found himself pressing for further candidness by offering some of his own,

"You were thinking…that you wanted to pick me apart slowly, piece by piece…" he said quietly, holding eye contact, "…until I was either overrun by my darkest fantasies, by my…shocking associations and appalling dreams, unable to resist giving into them, or…" he smirked crookedly, "…until I was too crazy and too broken to be made any sense of." Will knew, it was an observation made long ago.

And it could have gone either way, really.

Hannibal had wanted to play with him like a brand new, limited edition toy doll, until the carefully laid paint covering his plastic shell would have started to fade and flake off, until grime would have started to gather in the lines and joints and sockets and scratches, until his arms, legs and head would have eventually popped off and he would have no longer been any fun to use or worth anything to anyone…until the novelty had worn off.

It hadn't though.

Hannibal nodded in response, honest about it, and then he absently wet his lips and spoke lowly,

"Although, when you told me that you didn't find me interesting, I had considered what you would have looked like with your jaw dislocated and my thermal flask jammed down your throat." he said it almost like a caress and Will, knowing that Hannibal wasn't just saying that and had probably very literally considered doing that to him at the time, was really very fucked up, because he was pretty turned on right then all the same.

Will laughed quietly, and then his smile waned and his mouth settled slightly open, his teeth just shy of touching as he looked over Hannibal's face and slowly frowned,

"I didn't though…find you interesting…" he admitted seriously and Hannibal raised a curious eyebrow, "…but I lied about when that changed. It...it didn't happen after my time at the Baltimore institute," he was looking at Hannibal's mouth now, "it actually happened mere…minutes after I initially said it, when you told me how Jack saw me, and then you told me…how you saw me." he slowly lifted his gaze to look into Hannibal's eyes.

Hannibal's lips curved into a cryptic smirk as he brought his fingers to the temples of Will's glasses and slid them off his face, before placing them on the clothes in the open suitcase behind them. When he looked back to Will, he slipped one arm around Will's waist and raised his other hand to brush his knuckles under Will's chin,

"You've turned out to be far more than just that mongoose, Will," his tone was slightly gravelly, "on that observation, I have long since eaten my words." he wet his lips, staring intently at Will's mouth.

"And many…many people too." Will added with a renewed grin, his arms still around Hannibal's torso as he leaned into Hannibal's hold and considered another question he'd never thought to ask before. He'd been feeling a little raw around the subject of their relationship for the past week, the engagement ring having made it apparent to him that there could be more and that they could be more as a couple. They could still be closer, there was more to know, more to have and take and share.

"When…" Will paused and swallowed lightly, forming the question in his mind before just blurting it out, "…when did it start…for you, when did I start to change you?" Will asked vaguely, expecting Hannibal would know what he was actually asking about. And he did, his smile fading slowly and Will watched as Hannibal considered an answer to that, or at least, he was considering how Will might feel at hearing it.

"It occurred to me…" he started, pressing his lips together for a moment and then parting them again before he continued, "…that I had grown attached to you, beyond just your mind…during the first time that I was denied access to seeing you." he swallowed slowly and lowered his gaze to Will's chin, "I realized then…that I wanted your existence and mortality…to coincide with mine." he said quietly, the sincere words heavily accented.

And Will's eyes widened just slightly, his eyebrows raising a fraction, because that sounded an awful lot like Hannibal was saying he wanted to spend his life with Will,

'…until death do us part.' he immediately thought, feeling tense in his shoulders and warm in his face even though he doubted a proposal would happen right then. The moment was far too informal, and also, the inescapable memory of what had followed Will's time in the BSHCI, of the massacre that took place in Hannibal's kitchen because of Will's rejection, definitely did not set the best ambiance for a 'Will you marry me?' moment.

So Will huffed out a laugh, a few short amused snorts as he shook his head, intending to lighten the mood,

"Only you, Hannibal, could fall in love with someone who'd been institutionalized in a mental fa-…" and he abruptly cut himself off when he realized what he'd said.

Will hadn't mentioned the word love in the context of Hannibal's feelings for him since they'd been together, mostly because he never wanted to see hints of amusement or subtle incredulity in Hannibal's face that would let Will know for sure that Hannibal didn't, or rather couldn't, be in love with him.

He was getting too distracted though, having slipped up like that.

"…uh, a…a facility for the criminally insane." he finished haltingly, avoiding eye contact and instead looking at Hannibal's cheek. Hannibal would know what he was thinking though, he seemed to know without even having to try most of the time, they'd become that close, all of Will's forts long since having been disassembled. He hoped that the older man would let it go though, "W-what time is the flight tom-…"

"Will…" Hannibal cut him off firmly but quietly and Will looked into his eyes instinctively, noticing that Hannibal didn't look amused or condescending or mocking, just serious and thoughtful, "…do you need me to say it?" he asked softly and Will's breath stuck in his throat, his face twitching into a frown,

"Wha-…" he felt like he'd forgotten how to breathe.

Hannibal tilted his head, leaning in closer and placing his hand splayed over the front of Will's throat lightly as he spoke in a silvery tone,

"Would it make it real for you, Will, to hear me say that I l-…"

…-but Will kissed him quickly, to stop him from saying those three little words, because just the idea of Hannibal saying it was upsetting and exhilarating.

Upsetting because it'd probably be a lie in more ways than truth, but exhilarating because it'd be the first time Hannibal would say it and actually want to mean it.

The kiss started as a press of silencing lips, but became fervent in the minutes that followed. Will moved his mouth against Hannibal's in wide parting and with deep laps of his tongue and Hannibal returned the kiss with equal desire. When they eventually drew apart, Will dipped his head and touched his forehead to Hannibal's cheek,

"No, you don't have to say anything…it's real, I know it's real." he sighed out with his eyes closed.

"It is." Hannibal conceded in response.

His tone was gruffer and whatever he was feeling was enough to make him swallow tensely…before he pressed a gentle kiss to Will's temple.

Later, after they'd finished packing and had everything prepared for the trip, they climbed into bed, cast into mild darkness but for the windows letting in the half-moon light, and Hannibal kissed Will for a long while in the blue-white glow of it, starting at his mouth before moving on to lavish the same attention over the expanse of Will's body, Hannibal stripping clothing away as he went, until Will was naked. Until they both were.

They took their time getting there, neither was in a hurry.

And when it was over they kissed for a while still, even when Hannibal had settled himself at Will's side and their breathing had returned to normal, sweat drying on their skin, Hannibal continued to lavish Will's mouth with delicate and intense attention, until Will's lips burned, his mouth felt dry and he could barely keep his eyes open.

Will fell asleep close to Hannibal as he often did, their bodies, their bare skin, touching in intimate places. And with his face nestled against the front of Hannibal's throat, Will was lulled to sleep with the scent of Hannibal lacing his senses with every breath.