Chapter Text
Music flowed freely out of Will's laptop. It was ever so slightly tinny to Hannibal's ears despite the computer being a rather expensive one he had gifted to Will. His darling had a tendency to play videos and music without earphones, much to his great annoyance whenever he was forced to hear Will's ear-numbing rendition of House of the Rising Sun. The things he would put up with for that boy...
Hannibal, of course, preferred his music live, or at least in vinyl, but after the fall his collection was rather lacking. You could just hear more. The first time he told Will this the other man just rolled his eyes. "Of course you would be able to hear digital compression."
Considering their differences in taste Hannibal was surprised to hear classical music coming out of the computer. What's more, his Will was emitting a mix of hearty laughs and good natured coos, sounding happier than Hannibal had heard him in a while. It made Hannibal slightly jealous and more than a little curious what held the man's attention so raptly. For both their sakes he hoped it was not “America's Funniest Home Videos” clips set to orchestral music or he would have to find the producers of the show and cut them down. Yet again.
(Will, his darling, of course denied he watched such videos. While he did have his own internal darkness and morbid schadenfreude, the man would always put himself in the place of the victims of the all too real pratfalls or the inevitable betrayal of a fake slap turned forever tangible for audiences across the states and the globe. He couldn't get in the heads of the supposed audience, the obviously canned laughter ingenuine and harsh to his ears. And Hannibal truly believed Will when his love told him he didn't watch these videos. What he didn't believe was that these videos would just show up on his Youtube feed without a certain someone fucking with his search history. Hannibal knew what was on his youtube history. It was 90% Pasta Grannies.)
As he approached the man at the desk Hannibal noticed the movement of several furry legs across the computer screen. Ah, So it had something to do with Will's love of dogs then. Hannibal silently approached the man from behind, taking in both the man's reaction and contents of the video. The dog, a border collie it seemed, crossed and uncrossed her front paws in time with the music. As the camera panned out, Hannibal saw what appeared to be a person before the collie ran circles around the woman and ran off like a rocket across the astroturf during a roaring crescendo in the music. Hannibal leaned forward to nuzzle his face in Will's curls, seemingly breaking the gleeful trance the man had been held in.
"Fuck, Hannibal!" It was a good natured 'fuck,' certainly more pleasant than some of the other rude words Hannibal had been subjected to in his time with Will. Will laughed as he moved away from the ticklish sensation and paused the video.
"I wanted to see what had enraptured you so," Hannibal offered in between entangling their hands and placing a gentle kiss on Will's temple.
Will turned. "I bet you would. I just fell down the internet rabbit hole and this time I absolutely don't regret it. It's...it's..." The man struggled through his glee for the words before finally giving up. "You know what, lemme just show you."
The video clicked on again and the static image of the dog and the woman became animated once more, doing tricks and dancing to the music. Hannibal quickly realized that the woman draped in a short yet billowy white dress (but also, confusingly, tennis shoes) was the dog's handler, whose cues were so subtle it seemed the dog was performing almost from memory. The dog jumped over her outstretched hands, trotted backwards, and even gave the woman a rose when she expressed a theatrical show of heartbreak.
The song ended with a flourish, the dog and woman artfully posed in something that struck Hannibal as something oh-so-reminiscent, yet very far from his own artistically arranged public displays. Not quite as elegant mind you--Hannibal doubted anything where one's partner was a dog could ever approach his ideals of elegance--but it was an amusingly twee display that brought one of his small elusive smiles to his face.
"Dog dancing," he finally offered. Will had turned and it was obvious he was looking to gauge Hannibal's reaction as he watched and would be utterly devastated if Hannibal did not share similarly positive sentiment. The two of them suddenly schooled their features--Hannibal not wanting to give away just how much the performance amused him while the other desperately wanted to hide how much he wanted the other to appreciate what he loved.
"Yeah," Will replied, his hands fidgeting through his hair and offering a sheepish look. "I guess they call it 'heelwork to music’. There's ones where they do a set routine of tricks but this one is freestyle heelwork."
There was no "guess" about it. Will knew. This was no one off video Will had stumbled upon but a whole host of videos he had steadily waded through with the same steadfastness he would go through cases until Hannibal happened to return home from his hunt.
"So it's not just a performance. There are competitions for this sort of thing?"
"Yeah. I've been watching all these videos from Crufts. It's so cute."
At that moment Winston and Buster padded towards two of them seeking affection. Will gave them pets and good nature coos.
Will looked up sheepishly. "I wonder if Winston could do something like that. Not for a competition, or even part of a performance mind you, but just for fun." He turned to Winston and asked in an adoring voice whether he'd like that and the dog just stood by him, wagging his tail.
"You certainly have your dogs well trained. I don't think it's too late for them to learn new tricks. It would give you something else to do."
Will had found himself in a severe depression since the fall. It turns out attempted murder-suicide, running from the FBI and abandoning your family can take a lot out of a person. Will hadn't seemed to find joy in much since then. He was present, yes, but not completely. Hannibal knew a non-murdery activity could do wonders for his mental health.
Will sighed. "Yeah, I suppose it's something to think about. It's fun to teach them tricks but it's always a bit sad that only me and the dogs can appreciate them. I wish I could show Beverly, or Alana or even Jack."
He rushed to throw in the last two. While Beverly had always found the tricks amusing and adorable, there was an unspoken agreement that she was not to be discussed between them. Jack of course appreciated how well-trained and loyal his animals were. As with Alana, Will sometimes helped give training tips to her rescues before he left the FBI. Once, while he was still at the BHCI she showed him a video of Applesauce giving high fives and playing dead–which he didn't want to tell her was a bit of poor timing when he was being accused of serial murder.
Hannibal raised an eyebrow, "You could always show me."
Will made a breathless little laugh and smiled, shaking his head.
"I know you'd just be watching to be polite. You look as pained as when you're forced to look at baby pictures and hear people prattle on about their--"
"--Will,--"
"--Just let me finish, Hannibal. It's okay that you don't want to see stuff like that. I have no expectations for you to like it. We both have very different interests and passions in life and I can't expect them all to line up. Beside," he notes as he pulls the other man into his arms, "You went out of your way, risking being caught to help me retrieve these dashing fellas. I can't question the devotion and love you showed me through such an act. It doesn't matter if you don't care for it. I know you love and care for me and that's what matters." He yawned, bringing a not so subtle change in subject. "Anyways, I'm getting a bit tired. Unless you need help with putting away your late night groceries, I'm going to get ready for bed. Don’t stay up too long."
Will walked off, Winston following at his heel. Only Buster remained, staring up at Hannibal questioningly. It saddened him that Will felt there were aspects of his life he couldn't share with Hannibal when Hannibal had already shared so much of himself and his hobbies with his Will. The younger man's well-worn guise of nonchalance did little to fool him, only just tugged on his heartstrings. He needed to find someway to show just how supportive he was of Will and that no matter how odd or un-Hannibal-esque his interests were, Hannibal wanted to know and see and experience him completely.
Buster nudged Hannibal's ankle with his head, continuing to stare. He was the older of the two dogs and not quite as obedient but he was always a bit closer to him than Winston because he shared Hannibal's proclivity for human flesh. He would do. Hannibal knelt down and gave the dog pats.
"We can't have this, now can we, Buster? We have some work to do."