Chapter Text
Hannibal had been very careful. He had sent Will’s blood and urine samples to a lab and he had gotten a clean bill of health and had the same done for himself. He could have taken Will the first night at his house but he was not someone who wanted to force someone who did not even understand what was going to happen. He wanted someone who would choose to stay, not create someone who would try to flee every chance he could.
He sat down with Will on the bed. ”Before you came here, what did they tell you about what would happen?”
Will looked down. ”They said that I was to do whatever you wanted.”
”Have you not liked what we’ve done so far?” Hannibal said, lightly massaging Will’s thigh. So far they had kissed and engaged in frottage with Hannibal sometimes taking Will’s cock into his hand and bringing him to completion.
Will blushed and said, ”I like it very much.”
”Has there ever been anybody else besides me?”
Will shook his head no. ”I was guarded every single day since I was born. You are the first to touch me like that.”
”I want to try something new. If you don’t like it, tell me to stop and we can do something else. Do you understand?”
Will nodded.
Hannibal began unbuttoning his shirt and left it on a nearby chair. It was soon joined by his slacks and his briefs. He stood by the bed, quietly watching Will take off his clothes as well. He feasted his eyes on what he was being offered.
Hannibal sat next to Will and began kissing him. His ardor was matched as Will clung to him and moaned. Hannibal nuzzled his neck and enjoyed the delicious smell of his body that was almost as arousing as the way Will looked. He rained kisses on his neck, shoulder and cheeks. ”I want you to get on the bed and hold your knees to your chest.”
After Will had complied with Hannibal’s command, Hannibal carefully lubricated a slim toy the width of a lipstick and slid it inside of Will, getting it past the ring and then all the way up to its flared base . ”How does that feel, Will?” Hannibal said, after hearing Will gasp.
”It feels strange like I’m full.”
”But it doesn’t hurt, does it?” Hannibal said while slowly working the toy in and out of him.
”No.”
”Good boy.” Hannibal took care to slowly work Will open getting him used to bigger and wider toys with encouragements until he felt Will was relaxed enough to take him. He enjoyed the look of surprise when he knew he had hit the right spot inside of him, the hit of pleasure helping to reassure him.
”Now lie on your left side,” said Hannibal after he pulled out the last toy. He slicked himself up and lay down to spoon Will from behind. ”I will be coming in now . . .”
Hannibal kept it slow and gentle, murmuring endearments in English and Lithuanian into his ear while running his hands along his chest and thighs. He had had many lovers in the past but nobody had captured his heart like Will had. It shook him utterly when he came and when he reached around to help Will find his own release, Will’s cry of pleasure was better than any aria.
***
Hannibal looked through his mail and found a postcard from Mr. and Mrs. Komeda from Berlin. She talked about what a splendid time she was having and wondering when the next dinner party would be. He chuckled and put it aside. He would have to throw one eventually. Nothing excited the curiosity of others more than being too much of a recluse. Yet he did not want to have to lock Will away for hours. A scheme popped into mind and he laughed to himself.
”What’s so funny?” said Will.
”I know that you have been curious about some of the people I have mentioned from time to time. I plan on inviting them over so you can see them.”
”I thought that you didn’t want anybody to see me.”
”You will be seeing them but they won’t see you.”
***
”Blindfolded?” said Mrs. Komeda. She was not the only one who were flabbergasted at the idea. All the diners Hannibal had invited were looking at Hannibal as if he suggested they should all take off their clothes and make out on the floor.
Hannibal smiled. ”This is merely an experiment where I believe the shutting off one sense will cause an increased acuity in the other senses including taste and smell. I believe that my dishes will only please you more that way.”
”You are such an eccentric!” she cried though not in a way that signaled true displeasure.
”To make sure that there is no peeking, I will put all the blindfolds and eye masks on all of you while remaining unimpaired myself. I shall tell you where to put your forks and spoons. Everything has been cut small enough so there will be no need for knives. Furthermore, I shall tell you whether it is a meat dish or a soup or dessert but I shall not tell you what it is made of. The one penalty is that you must keep the blindfolds on all throughout the dinner. Anybody who takes it off even for a second will be permanently dismissed from my guest list. I promise to tell you once everybody has finished the particular course what it is.”
Since an invitation at Hannibal’s dinner table was something coveted by Baltimore’s elite, they all decided to comply. After Hannibal had seated them at the table and tied the blindfolds designed to keep even the slightest bit of light from passing through while staying snugly on their heads, he lit a few candles and turned off the lights.
Will walked in, dressed in his finest. Hannibal smiled at him and lifted a finger to his lips to indicate silence. Hannibal rolled a cart in from the adjoining kitchen and put a little cup of cold yellow cream on each of their plates. He casually named each person he was serving so Will could match the name to the person. After he was done distributing it, he said, ”Now, you may partake. There is a little cup with a handle on your plate full of cold soup. Guess the main ingredient.”
While the diners carefully took up the cup and brought it to their lips, Hannibal and Will quietly sipped from their own cup.
”Is it corn soup?” said Blanche Austin, heiress of a supermarket fortune.
”You guessed correctly. I just added a little cream and a little sea salt,” said Hannibal.
The other diners clapped at her correct guess. After that, everybody became more interested in the guessing game, chatting amongst themselves while Hannibal was both server and ringmaster with Will bringing the cart to and from the kitchen with the laden trays.
”Is someone with you? You are talking here but I hear someone else bringing things to and from the kitchen,” said Blanche Austin.
”I had the help of a few sous chefs to help create this party. I had one stay behind to help with service of the dishes, nothing more.”
Once the final course of dessert was served, Will took a dish with his share of the dessert with him to wait in the secret room downstairs after Hannibal gave him a conspiratorial wink and mouthed that he would not be too long.
***
Hannibal woke up and turned to look at Will only to find him gone. He gasped and looked all over the house before he realized that Will was standing in the backyard looking up at the snowflakes falling from the sky. He was shivering despite having wrapped himself up in a coat and slippers but seemed absolutely delighted. ”What is this?”
”It is snow, Will. Now please come back inside!”
”It is beautiful,” said Will before Hannibal took matters into his own hands and swept him off his feet to carry him back inside. He carried him to the bathroom where he immediately started filling the tub full of hot water. He could see that Will‘s teeth were chattering and he had not stopped shivering.
That night, Will caught a fever and moaned and whimpered during the night. Hannibal went to the basement where he stored several medicines and various apparatus for emergencies. He gave Will some acetaminophen and Tamiflu and put a cool cloth on top of his head. If necessary, he could take him to a clinic that he had been a very generous donor to and use its facilities with a free hand.
Will ended up spending a week in bed. When awake, he would eat the rice porridge and the special medicinal soup made of ginseng and silkie chicken Hannibal specially prepared for him. When asleep, he would whisper words in his language that Hannibal did not understand.
”Will? You said something in your sleep,” said Hannibal when Will’s temperature had returned to normal.
”What did I say?”
Hannibal repeated a phrase.
”I was calling for my sister.”
”Sister?”
”Before I came here, she took care of me. She even bathed me and emptied my chamber pots. When I was ill, she would rub me with warm oils then feed me mashed vegetables with warm milk. She was older than me by fifteen years and had been chosen as my caretaker. It was a position of respect. They would not have given me to her if they thought I would come to harm or be neglected. I suppose she has become part of the council of elders now.”
”I am sorry that I can not take you to visit her as they have disappeared without leaving a forwarding address.” Though to be honest, Hannibal did not mind being in the pleasant place of having no in-laws who would visit regularly and often.
”It is the way of the tribe. Once the treasure has been given, he belongs completely to his new caretaker. Hannibal?”
”Yes?”
”Do you have family?”
”You are the only family I have. My parents died when I was young. My sister and I were adopted by my uncle, my father's brother. However, he died soon afterwards. When I was eighteen, I left for America to go to medical school. While I was away, my aunt and my sister were in a car accident that took both their lives. And that is why you must be more careful about your health. I had given up on anything resembling family but you’ve managed to change my mind.”
”I’m sorry . . . I didn’t mean to . . .”
”I know.”
***
Will went into the kitchen one Saturday morning to find Hannibal on the phone. After finishing the call, Hannibal sighed and put the phone down.
”I do not want you to have to go down to the secret basement room today but a very important man is coming for dinner tonight. He is a high-level government official and if he knew you were here and how you came to be with me, he would take you away. If he does somehow see you, simply claim to be a friend who is staying the night but offer no further explanation except your name. Roll your eyes and act surly. I will do the rest.”
”Why is he coming?”
”Because on occasion, I have helped him hunt monsters for amusement and because it was challenging. However, it used to take me away from home for days at a time and I would have to study things at home that I know would give you nightmares if you were to see them. I know that you found my anatomy and medical journals rather disturbing. I will be explaining to him that my services are no longer available.”
”Perhaps I could help.”
”You went outside in the snow for a matter of minutes and you were in bed for a week. No, my dear. I will not go through such a scare again.”
”What is he like?”
Hannibal took out his sketchbook and started drawing Jack Crawford. ”He is physically strong and smart but not a man of subtleties or great imagination. He, however, is not tied too closely to doing things by the book, which partly compensates for those weaknesses.”
”What is it like to hunt monsters?”
”It is very dangerous but stimulating. I've always found the idea of death comforting. The thought that my life could end at any moment frees me to fully appreciate the beauty and art and horror of everything this world has to offer. However, now that you are here, I confess that I am not quite as indifferent to death though I still do not fear it. I will be telling him that I am retired from such pursuits. He will not take it well.”
Will kissed him.
”I believe I shall make him something experimental to push his boundaries and to make my leave taking less irksome.”
”What?”
Hannibal smiled. ”Kholodets, a gelatinous dish with a circle of fish.”
Will made a face.
”There is one more surprise . . .”
***
Chilton drove by Hannibal’s house and stared at the real estate sign in front of it. ”What!” he screamed. He immediately phoned Freddie. ”Did you know that Hannibal has sold his house and moved away?”
”Now I do.”
Freddie did her best to try to find Hannibal and Will. However, the only thing she could give Chilton was a letter she received from them. ”There is a picture of them.”
Chilton grabbed it from her. There was a picture of a smiling Hannibal in a Speedo on a beach with Will standing next to him, wearing a bathrobe, sunglasses, a hat and a scarf around his mouth. Chilton screamed in frustration because it was just like Hannibal to fuck with him like this.
The End