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Hannibal said no dogs. Well, technically this wasn't a dog.
The sky was the lightest blue he had ever seen before, clear and bright, with one single cloud so soft and white. The grass was the greenest and the wind against his skin was warm; he could smell the summer in it. Argentina was as peaceful as Wolf Trap, just warmer and less depressing. In Argentina the colours seemed to shine brighter.
Will sat on the grass with legs crossed as he watched his new animal friend, careful to not frighten it from a prudent distance. It was adorable and radiated such an aura of peace. Will considered using one of the alfajores he had in his pocket to bait the animal to come to him but...
tap tap tap
In less than a minute the thing approached Will, smelled him and decided to take a nap with his head on Will's legs.
Will gasped and caressed it softly, a wide smile growing brighter with each pat.
No dogs said Hannibal.
Fuck it thought Will.
x x x
tap tap tap
Look to the left; look to the right; look to the left again and resume the tap tap tap.
tap tap tap
No one was around outside the house, the nearest neighbour was at least 3 kilometers down the road. Hannibal was in the kitchen (of course Hannibal was in the kitchen) and wasn't expecting Will to return from fishing yet; it was the perfect way to smuggle his new furry friend home.
They sneaked behind the house, crossed the patio and opened the glass door to the living room.
Hannibal's voice came to Will’s ears softly, he was humming along with the sounds of knives and moving around the kitchen.
Shhh. Will gestured to his new stray. Technically, Hanni, my darling, my love, it's not a dog, and Will could swear that the animal had nodded.
Where to put it, where to go. Their shared bedroom wasn't an option; Hannibal loved Will, but Will knew very well that if he slept in the bed with his new pet Hannibal would (finally) succeed in killing him. And honestly, hiding it wasn't an option. Best to lay his cards on the table as soon as possible, one wouldn't want more shattered teacups or stabbing wounds. Will looked at the animal as it put its little foot on the wooden floor and the tap sound echoed in the room. Bad idea.
Will stood still and the animal, as if it could tell who and what Hannibal was, also stood still. Hannibal was still humming in the kitchen, unaware of his husband's whereabouts and his husband's new friend. Will relaxed and let out the breath he was holding.
The animal was a lot heavier than it looked, but Will had already moved dead bodies, and the animal was very well-behaved and didn’t move as Will tip-toed with it in his arms across the living room and sat with it on the sofa.
Will picked up the iPad that was charging on the table next to him while his new pet made itself comfortable resting its head (again) on his legs. He opened Google while awaiting his coming demise at the hands of his cannibal husband and looked up "Common Fauna of Argentina."
x x x
In the kitchen Hannibal detected a curious smell. He opened the bags with vegetables and smelled them. He frowned; it wasn't coming from the vegetables.
Hannibal opened the fridge and smelled. It wasn't coming from the fridge either.
Hannibal opened three different cabinets and smelled every single one. It wasn't coming from any of them.
Hannibal even opened the oven, the cabinets under the sink, the dishwasher, even the trash can. He repeated the motion around the kitchen. It wasn't coming from anywhere in the kitchen and it was driving him mad.
He decided to go to the living room, open the wine cupboard and pour himself a glass. He looked at the clock; he still had approximately one hour before Will would be back in the house.
Tap tap tap echoed in the living room as he walked by, unaware of his husband sitting on the sofa behind him.
And suddenly the smell was atrocious and strong.
"Technically," Will said from the sofa. Hannibal closed the cupboard door carefully and placed the glass in a safe space before turning around and looking at him. The tone in Will's voice told him to prepare himself for the worst.
"Technically," Will repeated, letting his head hang over the back of the sofa, looking at Hannibal upside down with a smirk that screamed you love me but you're going to hate me, "it's not a dog."
Hannibal walked towards the sofa, his glare pinned against Will's neck and back. He circled the living room slowly. Will looked to the open glass door to the patio, fixing his eyes on it and avoiding Hannibal’s, trying not to laugh.
Will breathed slowly with his eyes facing the window, biting his lip to control his smile.
Hannibal walked one, two, three steps.
Four, five, six, sev-
"Will," he said, trying to control himself. Will closed his eyes and his smile widened. He tried to control his laugh (key word: tried), his chest moving slightly. His ears flushed, and then his whole face. He could even look adorable to Hannibal if it weren’t for... "Will, you can't kidnap a carpincho ."
A wholehearted, loud laugh shook Will and woke the carpincho from its peaceful rest. Will kept laughing, eyes closed, one hand still on his new pet, the other wiping pearly tears that adorned the corners of his eyes. His soft, adorable, blossoming, blushing pink face became a strong, fierce red.
Will laughed for at least two whole minutes, trying to regain his composure and catch his breath. As soon as he thought he could stop laughing he looked at Hannibal, who tried (again, keyword: tried) to maintain his serenity. But Will could read him easily; and the fine line of his lips were strongly pressed, and the slight twitch of his husband's left brow were enough to send him on another attack of laughter as soon as the last one was finished.
Hannibal traded glares with the animal resting on his husband's legs, as if they could share a mutual irritation about Will.
It took Will two more attacks of laughter to finally steady himself and remember how to breathe. He was flushed and his eyes were glistening, he was fanning himself with his right hand, the left still caressing the carpincho.
"You said no dogs. She is not a dog." Will said with the phantom of a laugh showing behind his words and Hannibal sighed loudly.
"Will, you can't kidnap wild fauna and keep it as a pet." Will blatantly ignored him, hugging the... how the fuck did Hannibal manage to say carpincho out loud without making a fool of himself? Will was sure he couldn't do it—and pouted at his husband. Hannibal was ready to say something when Will looked away from him again, and actively ignored him.
"I want to keep her; I'm going to keep her," he said, and Hannibal very loudly clicked his tongue against his teeth. That was one thing he would have considered rude, but although there was no way anyone in the world could be ruder than Will, he didn't care.
Hannibal opened his mouth and shut it again when Will said, "And she wants to stay, isn’t that right Cephi?" and kissed her little head softly. Then he looked at Hannibal, danger glistening in his eyes, and his smile was smug as the smile of a cat who’d just knocked a vase off the dresser. "Her name is Encephalitis, " Will said and Hannibal bit his tongue. Hannibal took a long, heavy breath and walked back to the wine cellar to pour himself another glass. He drank it in gulps and gave Will another irritated look that Will didn’t seem to care about. He was still on the sofa with Encephalitis, his head hanging over the back, with a victorious smile plastered across his face, waiting to see what Hannibal was going to do.
Then, Hannibal poured himself another glass.
"If that thing is going to stay, I want it bathed and kept out of the bed."
Will stood up happily and the tap tap tap of Encephalitis’ walk resumed as she followed him to the bathroom.
But Will, feeling that he could push Hannibal’s buttons just a little bit more and rejoice in irritating him, gave him a malicious grin and extended arms ready to hug him. Hannibal took a step back.
"If you ever dare to try to kiss me with the same mouth you kissed that thing, I'm going to kill you."
"You can't kill me; you love me too much."
“Sometimes I ask myself why," He sighed and Will laughed again.
x x x
Two weeks later Will sighed. As he came back to the patio with hot water in one hand, and the clean mate with new yerba in the other, he saw that Encephalitis (the spoiled little girl with his sunglasses poorly placed and munching happily a handful of grass) has stolen his lounge chair next to Hannibal, and Hannibal did nothing to stop her. Instead, he petted her little head while reading out loud something in Spanish. Will peeked at the cover of the book, " Alejandra Pizarnik, Árbol de Diana. " and sighed in disbelief.
The sky was clear, and the sun shone on Hannibal’s skin, making him glow like he was made of gold. There were a couple of drops of sweat running from his neck towards his chest. The salt and pepper hair on his chest peeked from the three open buttons of his shirt, and Will had to resist the urge to bury his hand in it. Instead, Will stroked his husband's cheek—and Hannibal leaned into the touch so comfortably that Will had to smile as he sat down, his shoes discarded alongside Hannibal's.
x x x
“You must be kiddin’,” Will said from the bathroom door, toothbrush still in his mouth, where am I supposed to sleep?”
Hannibal didn’t even bother to look at him; he was far too comfortable to do it. Maybe not entirely comfortable, no one could be comfortable with an eight-kilogram carpincho snoring on his shoulder, but Hannibal managed to look as if he was.
“On your side of the bed darilng, of course.” He answered and the corner of his mouth barely twitched up. Will just rolled his eyes. Unbelievable.
“She is not allowed in the bed. It was your rule. And you are spoiling her,” Will said, but he didn’t move. The dim light from the bedside table lamp made the bedroom look even cozier than it already was; Encephalitis was snoring softly, tugging at some of Hannibal’s more rebellious and longer locks, her head buried in his shoulder. A few seconds ago he was murmuring softly to her, reading old Lithuanian fairy tales.
“I can’t see where I am spoiling her,” The same twitch at the corner of his mouth, one blink and it’s gone. But Will could see the twitch even without being in the same room. Hannibal was taunting him, just for the sake of antagonizing him. Well, old habits die hard , they say. At least no one was trying to stab the other anymore.
Two can play the same game.
Will went back to the bathroom and finished brushing his teeth. When he went back Hannibal had closed the book, looking at him over the reading glasses with such an innocent expression that nobody would believe the man kills people as a hobby.
Slowly Will sat down at his side on the bed, and even more slowly he leaned forward, taking Hannibal glasses off and placing them by the book on the bedside table. The night was still; the summer felt never-ending and the crickets sang rhythmically. And when finally Hannibal parted his lips and leaned forwards, Will smiled and pulled back.
“I’m going to sleep in the other room. Good night Dr. Lecter ,” he said, leaving the bed, a smug smile widening unashamedly. But he couldn’t take two steps before Hannibal was hugging him from behind, strong hands caressing the scar on his stomach, nose buried between his curls and kissing his cheek, neck and shoulder.
“You’re coming to our bed with me, mylimasis,” he said, and Will turned around to kiss him.
When they finally looked at their bed, Encephalitis had claimed the center and didn't seem to plan on moving.
“I told you she shouldn’t be allowed in the bed. You’re spoiling her, William.” Hannibal managed to say, incredibly, with a serious tone. Will's jaw dropped and Hannibal couldn’t seem to hide his own amusement.
“Hannibal, my sweetheart, my darling, my love" Will said with a forced grin and a far too sweetened tone to be real, holding his husband by the jaw, "I swear Hannibal, I’m going to throw you off a cliff.”