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Hannibal stumbled backwards, catching his breath, feeling The Dragon’s still-warm blood begin to coagulate against his chin. Still a little weak on his legs, his golden eyes came to rest on Will who was kneeling on the hard concrete, one arm outstretched to the sky.
Will turned his hand over, positioning it against the full moon, admiring the blood that layered his skin. “It really does look black in the moonlight,” he managed through struggled, bloody breaths. He trembled on the ground, looking up at Hannibal before returning his gaze to the ground. He raised his arm higher, further toward the Doctor; a request, a need. Hannibal obliged, stepping forward to reach his own blood-black hand out to help Will stand.
Instead of letting go, he held on to Will, finding himself even more breathless than before. To his surprise, Will too tightened his grip, stumbling forward awkwardly yet perfectly, moving his body closer to Hannibal’s with nothing but a need to feel close.
Both men remained gasping for air, gripping onto each other’s clothes. Their blood-covered faces now closer than they had ever been before. The air was different between them now. New. This feeling had always been there, had always been a part of them both, and yet this was the first time they both felt it true and real and mutual.
“See,” Hannibal spoke, gripping Will’s shirt tighter, “this is all I ever wanted for you, Will.” They turned their heads to the side, seemingly both fighting and accepting this new awakening. Hannibal continued in laboured breaths. “For both of us.”
They faced each other again. Their eyes darted between each other’s lips and eyes and all Hannibal could see was Will’s once soft, scarred skin now darkened to black in the moonlight. All he ever wanted. It was beautiful.
Will smiled and let out a small laugh in-between his struggled breaths. He spoke as if he had just read the Doctors mind. “It’s beautiful.”
The bloodied men stared deeper into each other’s eyes, finding themselves leaning closer and closer and closer until Will felt Hannibal’s hand move to his waist where he then held him tight. Will’s hand released its own grip from Hannibal’s shoulder and moved to behind his neck. Their lips moved closer, their eyes still burning into each other until finally, they closed their tired eyes and melted into each other.
Hannibal felt like nothing and everything all at once. He was consumed entirely in the kiss, yet not in the way he usually consumed others. This was better. Chills ran down Will’s skin and a fire burned in them both. He pressed his body closer to Hannibal’s and felt his blood-soaked lips hungrily feeling for his. It was fierce and powerful; beautiful and gentle. It was everything.
They pulled apart, re-filling their lungs with the air they had forgotten to take. They let out a soft sigh, almost a laugh, and everything was okay.
Will pressed his cheek against Hannibal’s chest and felt the Doctor’s arms pull around him and hold him close. With Will’s hair tickling his chin, Hannibal knew he wanted to preserve this moment in his memory palace. This small slice of time where the night was cool and the blood was reflected black in the moonlight and their new possibility of a future together hung between them, full of promise. He knew every happening after this would be different now. It would always be different with Will.
But they couldn’t be.
They held tight to each other, heaving chests pressed flush. Will began to turn them slightly, pressing further into Hannibal, dangerously close to the cliff edge.
And then they just let themselves go.