Chapter Text
Hannibal sat silently in his leather armchair in the study, glass of wine in his hand. He was staring into the crackling fireplace, and Will watched him from the doorframe.
“Yes, Will?”
Hannibal did not turn in his chair, and Will chuckled.
“You always know when I’m watching you?”
He entered the study and sat on the matching sofa opposite Hannibal. “Or could you just smell me.”
Hannibal smiled and sipped his wine, eyes still on the fire. “Both.”
Will took Hannibal in at that moment, the relaxed lines of his shoulders, his steady breathing. He enjoyed witnessing him at peace.
He exhaled shakily. “Can we talk?”
“I believe we are talking, Will.”
Will shook his head. “No, I mean… I think you know what I mean, Hannibal.”
Hannibal turned to look at him. “Do I?”
Will soldiered on through Hannibal’s refined artifice. “Are you happy? With me?”
Hannibal looked genuinely puzzled. “Of course I am happy, Will.”
“No, I know you are, but we – us – I,” he began to stammer awkwardly.
He steeled himself and met Hannibal’s eyes. “I know the way you look at me. I know you want more.”
Hannibal’s eyes gave no indication of admission, but Will pressed on. “Am I wrong?”
Hannibal paused before setting down his wine glass. “No, Will, you are not wrong.”
They had danced around this subject without speaking of it ever since they had settled into their home, and although it opened a ball of anxiety within him, Will was glad to have finally addressed the glaringly obvious.
“Well. So,” he continued, “are you happy?”
Hannibal laughed lightly, “If you believe that my love for you is based purely on sexual desire, you have grossly underestimated me. I don’t believe you think me to be that base-minded, Will.”
“No, I know that,” Will said, “But, here, it’s just us now. Aren’t you going to get… bored?”
“Aren’t you?”
“I’ve never really needed…. that”, he flapped a hand awkwardly, his face beginning to color. “But I think maybe you do.”
“And in that you are not wrong, Will. But what is stopping me from seeking to indulge my carnal appetites elsewhere?”
“I don’t want you to do that.” Will’s response was automatic and it both surprised and shamed him with its vehemence. “I’m sorry, that was inappropriate, I can’t say things like that when I won’t-”
“Will, as I have told you before, you worry too much. I am happy. The sight of you makes me happy. Surely you know this.”
“I do.”
“Well, then.” He rose from his chair, wine glass back in his hand. “I don’t believe we need to discuss this any further.”
He placed his free hand gently on Will’s shoulder. “I am happy. Are you?”
Will lifted his eyes to meet his and fondly squeezed the hand on his shoulder. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
“Good.” Hannibal said, and moved to leave the room. He paused in the doorway for a moment.
“Although. Perhaps you would allow me to kiss you. On occasion. Not tonight.”
Will’s mouth was suddenly dry. He swallowed, coughing slightly. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, okay.”
Hannibal smiled, tilted his glass slightly in a miniature toast. “Good night, Will.”
“Good night.”
Will sat and stared into the fire until the final embers died.
-x-
The next morning, Will awoke to the smell of Hannibal making frittata. His mouth began to water before his eyes fully opened, and he pulled himself out of bed, padding down the long hallway to the kitchen.
Hannibal greeted him with a wide smile. “Good morning, Will.”
“Mornin’,” he mumbled, and Hannibal slid a generous mug of French roast across the counter to him.
Will sipped at his coffee and regarded Hannibal at his element in the kitchen. Their kitchen. He identified most everything in the house as theirs, except for Hannibal’s bedroom. He had taken the master without complaints from Will, who needed very little outside of basic necessities.
Hannibal set down a plate heaped with eggs and exotic sliced fruits in front of him. “Breakfast.”
He took a seat next to Will with his own plate, and they began to dig in. Will replayed the previous night’s conversation in his head, but it became quickly apparent by Hannibal’s somewhat forced cheer that the subject would not be broached unless Will himself brought it up. They ate in silence together and Will cleaned the dishes after, as was his custom.
“So,” he began, toweling off the last of the cast-iron pans, “… would you like to kiss me?”
Hannibal looked him up and down, a touch of a smile flashed across his face.
“No.” he said succinctly, and without rancor.
“No?” Will felt a flush creeping up his cheeks.
“No.” Hannibal repeated.
Will’s mouth opened and shut a few times, each time he hoped an intelligent response would come forth, but his mind remained empty. He felt dishearteningly like a rejected teenager. He placed the pan down gently on the counter.
“Okay.”
He dried his hands on the towel and turned to hang it. Hannibal was suddenly behind him, not touching him, but the warmth of his body keenly felt. Will turned to face him. Hannibal’s eyes were kind but surprisingly unreadable.
“I will not kiss you today, Will. Your mind is still processing the previous evening’s discussion and you feel it is an obligation. I would like to kiss you when you also would like to kiss me.”
“But what if I don’t-”
Hannibal cut him off before he could finish. “I will kiss you, when you ask me. Only then.”
His last sentence brokered no argument, and Will nodded mutely in assertion.
“Now,” Hannibal pressed on, “we have a busy day ahead of us. Adam Wheeler has murdered 17 young girls across three counties in the past 5 months and is planning his eighteenth. What do you suppose we pay him a visit?”
Will smiled, full and wide.
-x-
Hannibal was true to his word, and did not bring the subject up again. They spent most days either planning or paying their visits to the victims Hannibal chose. They carried out their work in a simple harmony that, since the Red Dragon, had become effortless second nature. When they were not working, they spent most evenings in peace in the study, Hannibal in his armchair, Will leaning against his knee by the fire. Occasionally, Hannibal would reach out a hand and idly run his fingers through Will’s hair, and occasionally Will would lean into it, but Hannibal never sought to touch him further. They continued on in their life, happy and content, but Will began to feel the fraying of seams. A strange itch had started to reside within his belly and no scratching could assuage it.
After three weeks, he could stand the itch no longer. They were in the study in their usual arrangement, Will’s knees tucked underneath him and Hannibal’s hand absent-mindedly playing with his curls as he read. Will had relaxed into Hannibal’s touch so thoroughly that his head was lolling against Hannibal’s right knee, eyes closed. He felt blissful, yet a current just under his skin kept him a hair’s breadth from peace.
“Hannibal?”
Hannibal did not cease in his ministrations.
“Yes?”
“I think I’d like you to kiss me now.”
The hand stilled. All sound in the room was suddenly silenced, except the slight inhale of Hannibal’s breath and the crackle of the fire.
“Are you sure?”
“No,” Will answered honestly, “but I’d still like you to.”
He raised his head from Hannibal’s knee. He could not hear him breathe.
“Hannibal?”
An eternity seemed to pass in the instant before Hannibal exhaled again.
“Could you stand please?”
Will stood, felt Hannibal stand behind him. He still hadn’t looked at him since making his request and his nerves felt like livewires. Hannibal touched him gently on the shoulder and he turned to face him.
Hannibal’s gaze was pure tenderness, but there was a fragile uncertainty beneath it that made Will’s heart ache. Will’s lips felt suddenly dry and he licked them involuntarily. Hannibal cradled Will’s cheek in his left hand, a gesture intimately familiar to them both, yet entirely new. Gently and without force, Hannibal leaned in and kissed Will lightly on the mouth. Will’s eyes had closed of their own accord and he leaned into the kiss, just slightly. Hannibal did not press further, his mouth remained closed, and before Will could think to reciprocate, or process if he wanted to, Hannibal broke the kiss as gently as it had began.
They stared at each other a moment, quiet in this new discovery. Hannibal’s eyes were dark and wet.
“Thank you,” he said, and left the study without another word.
Will watched him leave but did not follow. He lifted a hand to his mouth and ran it along the seam of his lip, trying to feel if the kiss was still there. The fire continued to crackle, but Will stood there, hand pressed against his mouth until the room was dark.
-x-
He wasn’t sure how he had gotten to the doorway of Hannibal’s bedroom that night, only suddenly realized he was standing there, his heart pounding frenetically. He could see the light on and knew Hannibal was still awake, but couldn’t bring himself to cross the threshold.
“Is there something you need, Will?”
Of course Hannibal knew he was there. He’d known he was there before Will had.
Will entered Hannibal’s room. He rarely visited him in this space, and was always a taken a little off guard by its opulence. Hannibal was sitting upright in his king-sized bed, shirtless and covered by glossy chocolate satin sheets. He glanced up from the book he was reading and removed his pince nez. Will still wasn’t sure what to say, what he wanted, but he was there now, and he knew he wasn’t leaving.
“Could I sleep here tonight?”
Hannibal raised an eyebrow and Will corrected his course. “Just… next to you?”
“Of course, Will.”
Will swallowed thickly. “Okay.”
He climbed into bed next to Hannibal, ample space between them, and turned on his side. He immediately felt rude, despite himself, and turned to lay on his back. He looked askance at Hannibal, but he had gone back to his book. He reached his left hand out almost absent mindedly and patted Will fondly on the shoulder.
“Good night.”
Will turned back on his side. “Good night.”
He dreamed that night of Hannibal’s mouth and hands upon him, whispering words that were both tender and filthy. He awoke in the middle of his own orgasm with a shout, flushed and raw. Hannibal was sleeping soundly next to him, or appeared to be.
Rattled and confused, he slipped out of the bed and shut himself up within the master bathroom. He turned the faucet over the sink and splashed some water onto his face, running down a list of excuses he thought might diffuse the situation. Each sounded flimsier than the last, and after regaining his composure, he opened the door back to Hannibal’s bedroom, resigning himself to an awkward discussion.
The bed was empty and Hannibal had already changed the sheets.
-x-
Will returned to sleeping in his room and neither of them spoke of the incident. Three days later, Hannibal greeted him at breakfast already fully dressed in a three-piece suit.
“I have some business that I need to deal with alone. I need to leave this morning.”
“Oh.” Will’s heart dropped to his stomach. “How long will you be gone?”
“Three days at the most.”
Will knew better than to question. Trust had been established between them long before then, and he knew that if Hannibal didn’t want him there, he probably didn’t want to be there. Still, three days seemed like a vast gulf of time considering they hadn’t spent a day apart since they’d begun their new life together.
“Are you leaving now?”
“After breakfast. I made bacon and leek quiche.”
They ate in silence, Will processing the new information in his head. Hannibal would be gone for three days. He would be alone for three days. It seemed impossibly long.
“You’ll be fine, Will.”
Will chuckled and moved to sock Hannibal lightly on the shoulder. “Stop reading my mind.”
Before Will could retract his arm, Hannibal took his loose fist and held his hand fast, uncurling the fingers. He ran his own fingers along Will’s palm before meeting his eyes.
“May I kiss you goodbye?”
Will didn’t breathe in the space before his answer. “Yeah.”
“Good.” Hannibal smiled and stood, drawing Will to him, still holding his hand. Will slid gracelessly from his chair and stood toe-to-toe with Hannibal, his heart pounding, right arm hanging limply at his side.
Hannibal regarded him again with that infinite tenderness. The moment stretched like taffy between them, and Will felt a flush creep up his cheeks. He began to open his mouth to speak, to ease the unbearable tension, and Hannibal descended.
He began softly, but Will could feel passion coiled beneath it like a spring. Hannibal teased at first, with slow damp kisses that grew steadily insistent, until Will’s mouth opened easily under his and their tongues met in a wet slide. Will heard a moan and realized it was coming from his own throat. Hannibal dropped Will’s hand in favor of taking a fistful of his t-shirt, pulling and twisting it tight against his lower back. Will in turn put his right arm to good use and clutched the back of Hannibal’s head, his fingers clenching and releasing Hannibal’s hair in fits and starts. Will felt himself hurtling towards a point of no return and began to move a shaky hand lower, until Hannibal began to pull back, slowing his pace with lazy kisses placed alternately between Will’s lips and cheeks. He ended with a final press of his mouth to Will’s, firm and possessive, before he raised his head and kissed Will’s forehead. Will felt like he had been marked with a brand.
Hannibal ran a hand over Will’s hair and gazed at him fondly.
“I shall miss you.”
He kissed him one last time, a whisper of a kiss barely there and gone before Will could think to lean into it. Before he could form words, Hannibal had picked up his suitcase and was gone.
“Goodbye,” he said to no one. He cleaned the dishes in a weighted silence, and retired to the study.
That night, he slept in Hannibal’s bed.
-x-
After two days, Hannibal phoned Will to say he had executed business quicker than expected and would be home that evening. Will’s heart pounded with something unnamed the entire day, and he flitted about the house from room to room, cleaning things that were already spotless, arranging things that were already perfectly placed.
Hannibal entered their home at precisely 9pm, and Will went to him like water released from a dam.
Hannibal’s arms were around him instantly, and at first Will just let himself be held, pressing his cheek tightly to Hannibal’s chest. Will realized they hadn’t held each other this tightly and intimately since their tumble off a cliff and smiled despite himself. How far they had come in this new life.
Will was the first to break the embrace, and he looked up at Hannibal.
“I missed you.” He smiled almost sheepishly but did not break their gaze.
Hannibal looked down at him, solemn but fond. “May I-”
“God yes,” Will said, and met Hannibal’s mouth.
They kissed hungrily and without finesse, clutching and grabbing as though they had been starved without the other. Will slid his mouth down, kissing a wet line down Hannibal’s jaw, biting softly. Hannibal groaned and moved a trembling hand slowly across Will’s back, his fingers brushing slowly towards the curve of his ass. Will felt himself growing desperately hard and ground his hips into Hannibal’s.
Will tore his mouth away and regarded Hannibal with a hunger he couldn’t name.
“I want you to touch me.”
Hannibal stilled his motion. “Where?”
Will cocked a baffled eyebrow. “On my c-”
“Yes, I know where on your body, Will. Where in our house would you like me to touch you?”
The question had an unexpected weight and Will paused. He hadn’t thought this far ahead. He hadn’t thought past kissing Hannibal when he came through the door and suddenly every possibility was hurtling towards him, most of them he was decidedly unprepared for.
Definitely not the bedroom.
“The study,” Will said. It was their shared space, it was safe, and he had already kindled the fire in preparation for Hannibal’s return.
Hannibal nodded and Will silently took his hand and led him to the study, careful to not let their connection sever lest he gained his wits.
They stood holding each by the fire for several long moments, kissing in lazy, slow, rhythms. Hannibal’s hands moved to the button of Will’s jeans and stilled for a moment. Will felt the hesitancy and placed his hands on Hannibal’s, nodding against his mouth.
“I said I wanted you to touch me,” he rasped, “don’t be afraid.”
He barely finished the word ‘afraid’ before Hannibal shoved him roughly down into the couch. Hannibal kneeled before him, his broad chest wedging itself between Will’s thighs.
“I am not afraid,” he growled, and palmed his hand against Will’s now apparent and painful erection. “Are you?”
Will shook his head, barely able to form a consonant, and in a surprisingly fluid movement, Hannibal had undone his jeans and freed his already leaking cock, gripping it in his right hand. He began stroking him in long, smooth motions, teasing him with an occasional brief swipe of his thumb against the head. Will dropped his head against the back of the couch and made guttural noises. Hannibal was wringing his pleasure out of him deliciously slow.
“Do you know how it feels to hold you hard in my hand, Will?” he kept his strokes languorous and even. “Do you know how long I have wanted – have waited for this? For you?”
“Nng- Hannibal…” Will could barely breathe, let alone speak.
Hannibal leaned forward, his hand still on Will’s cock. “Look at me.”
Will tilted his head down and was met with a gaze full of fire. Hannibal reached out with his left hand and grasped the back of Will’s neck. He leaned his forehead against Will’s and began to pump faster.
“Did you dream of me the night you came in my bed?”
Will blinked wetly and licked at Hannibal’s mouth. “Yes,” he breathed, “I dreamed of this.”
Will’s cock was dripping in Hannibal’s hand and he arched his hips into his touch.
“Oh God…”
Suddenly Hannibal stopped his frenzied pumping, and Will cried out.
“Whuh?”
Hannibal planted his palms on either side of Will’s thighs and leaned in close to his ear, his teeth grazing the nape of his neck. “May I put my mouth on you?”
Will wasn’t sure if it was the sinful question itself, or the excruciatingly polite tone he posed it in, but either way he was undone. He garbled out a pleading ‘yes’, and found himself dragging out the last sibilant sound as Hannibal’s mouth was already upon him.
Hannibal licked him generously from root to tip before taking him in his mouth entirely, sucking with abandon. Will bucked his hips and Hannibal took all of him greedily. Will bucked again and Hannibal used the opportunity to take his ass in his hands, holding him in place to better angle Will’s cock down his throat. He sucked up to the very tip, swirling small licks upon the head before sucking tightly and plunging down again. Will hadn’t been touched like this, and not this well, in years, and found himself lost in the sensation, already close to untethering.
Hannibal, for his part, seemed to be enjoying it almost as much – if not more – by the wanton sounds he was making. Will looked down at him and Hannibal’s eyes caught his. The hunger within them made him hitch his breath and he gasped for air, rapidly unspooling. Hannibal continued to suck greedily, his tongue flat against the base of his cock.
“Hannibal… Christ, Hannibal, I’m going to-”
He placed both hands on the sides of Hannibal’s head as a warning, but it only spurred Hannibal to suck harder until Will’s fingers clutched into his hair and he came with a blinding heat, fucking his hips up into Hannibal’s mouth in desperate jerks. He felt Hannibal swallow around him and moaned softly. Hannibal slowed his pace but continued to leisurely suck and lick as Will came down, lowering his hips and his brain back to earth. Hannibal slowly released Will’s cock from his mouth, placing a final lick to the sensitive head with a flick of his tongue. Will gave a last tiny jerk of his hips and sank into the couch, depleted.
Hannibal wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and sat back onto his knees, looking satisfied with his handiwork.
Will raised his head to regard Hannibal and smiled lazily. Hannibal smiled back, then stood and straightened his trousers, and Will realized with some amusement that Hannibal was still fully dressed in his suit. Then his eyes roved downwards and Will could see the outline of Hannibal’s arousal clear as day.
“Do you want me to-?”
He gestured at Hannibal’s obvious erection, and Hannibal looked down as though he were surprised by it. He looked back at Will, cautious.
“Do you want to?”
Still a raw nerve from the pleasure he had received, Will was caught off guard. From the moment Hannibal had stepped into the door everything had happened so quickly he hadn’t had time to second guess anything. But now, here, faced with the prospect of touching another man so intimately, he was at a loss. “I’m not sure,” he answered honestly, and felt his stomach drop, but Hannibal didn’t seem to mind his response.
“Then I shall take care of this myself.”
Will felt a shamed blush creep up his cheeks. “But you just-” he gestured meekly at his crotch.
“And it is an act I have performed before. Though,” he smiled, “never enjoyed so highly. You, Will, have not performed any act of this nature before. I would not rush you to places you are not yet comfortable.”
He moved to leave, and Will grabbed at his wrist.
“Wait.”
Hannibal looked at him curiously and Will patted the space on the couch next to him.
“You could take care of it here.”
It seemed like a silly gesture, but he wanted to be involved in Hannibal’s release somehow, if not by his own mouth or hand, then at least by his presence. Hannibal, for his part, did not question, only nodded and sat next to Will.
“Will you talk to me while I do this?”
Will licked his suddenly dry lips. “What do you want me to say?”
Hannibal unbuttoned his trousers and slid them down his hips. Will could see the outline of his erect cock through his briefs, and kept staring as Hannibal slowly rubbed himself.
“Tell me what it felt like when I touched you.”
He unfettered his cock from its confines and began to stroke lightly.
“It felt… good. Really good. I don’t remember ever being touched like that.”
“Yes?”
Beads of pre-come began to leak out, and Hannibal used the lubrication to continue stroking himself in earnest.
“Yeah,” Will pressed on, “feeling your mouth on my cock, watching you suck me… God, Hannibal, I could have fucked your mouth forever.
Hannibal grunted softly and began to pant open-mouthed. Will watched in awe as Hannibal stroked harder, sliding his thumb over the tip of his cock in the same way he had touched Will.
“The way you touched me, it was like I was home. You knew every part of me. You know every part of me.”
A wall within him began to crumble as he watched Hannibal so bare next to him. A secret longing that he had shut off from himself suddenly burst forth.
“Let me touch you.”
Hannibal’s frenzied jerks stilled and he met Will’s eyes.
“Yes,” he hissed out, and Will inched closer, closing the gap between them. He reached out and took Hannibal in his hand and Hannibal immediately groaned, loud and desperate. Will buried his face into Hannibal’s neck and began to lick and suck the pulse points.
“God you’re hard… you feel so good… how do you feel so good…” he continued to murmur into Hannibal’s skin, stroking hard and fast, nibbling along Hannibal’s jaw.
“Will…” Hannibal gasped out. “My Will.”
He reached up and seized Will’s face in his hands, pulling his mouth towards him. Will kissed him deeply and broke apart to whisper “mine” against Hannibal’s lips. Hannibal arched his hips sharply and cried out, kissing Will desperately and groaning into his mouth as he came all over his hand.
They sat together, exchanging short, sloppy kisses as they regained their breath. Hannibal smiled almost drunkenly at Will before he pulled back, leaning over the arm of the couch to take a handful of tissues from an ornate tissue box. He wiped up the mess as best he could, and Will curled into his side, his body pressed to his, shoulder to hip.
Hannibal turned to kiss Will’s shoulder. “Thank you, Will.”
He reached out and pet Will’s thigh lightly, reverently.
“If this is all we shall ever do, I will be satisified.”
Then he rose with surprising grace, considering the state they were both in, and left the study.
Will watched him leave, sat for a few moments, mourning the sudden loss of Hannibal’s warmth.
Then he stood and followed Hannibal into the master bedroom. Judging by the sound of running water, Hannibal had gone into his bathroom to clean up. Will took it upon himself to sit on Hannibal’s bed, and waited. He paused a moment, then stripped himself bare and got underneath the covers. He heard the faucet shut off, and watched Hannibal exit the bathroom, equally naked. Hannibal seemed pleased but not surprised to see Will in his bed. He climbed under the covers and opened his arms to Will, who moved into his embrace, and slung a leg over his.
“I won’t,” Will said, kissing Hannibal’s chin. Hannibal pulled Will close against him and smiled into his hair.