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Nigel took some time to find the cabin, hidden deeply in the forest.
Nice place, he said to himself once he left his rental car (he chose a vintage Cadillac thanks to Hannibal’s credit card, even if it wasn’t made to do off road shit) and knocked at the wooden door.
It was Will that answered, looking deeply annoyed, as if he was in a full kissing session and had been interrupted. Maybe it was the case, Nigel thought. His hair was even more messy than usual and he replaced his glasses correctly with the tip of his fingers. He would lie if he said Will Graham wasn’t fuckable. But Hannibal was the last person on earth he wanted as an enemy, so he kept it in his pants.
“Hi Nigel. Hannibal is cooking. Come in.”
Will never looked like he meant what he said. Now, he looked more like he wanted Nigel to get the fuck out of here so he could make out with his boyfriend all afternoon.
But Nigel wasn’t here to please him, anyways. He simply smiled and went in.
Once in the corridor, he saw Hannibal’s back. That guy never missed a day at the gym, for sure. Nigel was pretty fit himself, but his cousin was a beast. Nothing unusual for a fucking cannibal.
“Hanni, how are ya?”
The doctor, hands deep in some flour, was making another one of his dishes Nigel only ate because he was afraid for his dear life if he didn’t.
“I’m fine, Nigel,” smiled Hannibal. “I’m glad you’re here. Please make yourself at home while I finish cooking.”
Lecter was the exact opposite of Nigel. He looked all nice and tailored on the outside, but that guy was fucking insane on the inside. The first time Nigel saw Will, he made the mistake to tell his cousin how handsome and fuckable the FBI profiler was. Hannibal, who was chopping vegetables at the time, dropped his kitchen knife that planted in the ground a few inches away from Nigel’s toes. The apologetic smile he gave him never reached his eyes. Fucking psycho.
So now, Nigel made sure to keep it in his pants AND to shut the fuck up.
Will, annoyed as ever, showed him the living room by simply opening the door before mumbling:
“My brother is here.”
“Your brother?” Nigel looked at him in surprise. “Hanni told me you were an only child.”
“Yeah-yeah,” told Will while looking away, “long story short, we were separated at birth. I found him a few months ago.”
“At birth?”
Will rolled his eyes. Yeah, Nigel wasn’t as smart as the murder husbands, so what ? He had been shot in the head, for fuck sake.
“We’re twins.”
Nigel then saw a little frame sat on the ground near the fireplace. His breathing stopped. He truly looked like Will, but yet felt so different. He looker smaller, softer and even more beautiful than his brother. Nigel thought Will would look the same if life would have been kinder to him.
“His name’s Adam. Hurt him and I’ll kill you,” said Will before leaving for the kitchen.
Nigel stayed still for what felt like a few minutes, looking at the pretty face lit by the fire. It looked like Will if he had a decent life, a good shave and a normal diet.
The younger one didn’t seem to realize he was here, too absorbed by his gigantic galaxy puzzle. The fireplace was lightening his soft face and Nigel swore he now believed in God, because only an angel could look this beautiful.
“Hello there,” he said with his most seductive tone, an arm casually pressed on the wall.
The other one looked at him for barely a second before looking at his puzzle again.
“You are late.” he answered in a hurry, blunt tone. “And Hello. You must be Nigel. I’m Adam.”
His tone was flat, but Nigel didn't take it personally. Something told him it was usual, especially if he was Will's brother. And that voice was adorable. Nigel swore he would light a candle in the next church he could find.
He checked his watch.
“Late? But my cousin said 1 pm.”
“It’s 1:17 pm. You’re late. It’s impolite and Hannibal doesn’t like impolite people. He will not like you.”
Nigel wanted to laugh. Who cares! Hannibal would turn him into meat without batting an eye if Will wanted a snack. Being late is the last thing he could do to make him hate him. He was pretty sure Will himself was able to kill him just as much as Hannibal. They both were made for each other.
He tried another approach:
“So you guys are really twins huh?"
He smirked, ready to receive a smile or a little laugh to his silly joke. Instead, Adam replied:
"Yes. We were separated when we less than one year old, not at birth. Will says he doesn't remember, but I do."
Nigel nodded, registering the information, before he dropped the bomb:
"You have a good memory then. Well, I don't, since I've been shot in the fucking head."
He knew he could be a little dramatic sometimes.
"Oh. Okay."
Nigel wanted to laugh. That little guy was not easily impressed.
"Did it hurt ?" asked Adam as he placed another piece of his puzzle.
" It fucking did."
"I'm asking because I've never been shot in the head."
Why was Nigel smiling so much ? He was cute.
"I figured it out."
"You don't have a trace of it."
"How do you know ? You barely looked at me."
"I don't need much time to look at people."
"But if you touch it, you can feel it. Wanna touch ?"
The little one stopped, looked at the wall for some time, before he said:
"...okay."
Nigel approached in two steps, thanks to being this tall. He crouched on the carpet and his bad knees cracked just like the wood in the fireplace.
Adam didn't look at him until he stayed still, eyes on his shoulder.
" Touch my forehead."
Adam did, approaching his little hand carefully, without looking at his face. Nigel grabbed it gently to place it on the spot. Doctors made an amazing job, but his skull was still a bit odd under the touch.
" See ?"
" I can't see, it's under your skin."
He wanted to laugh. Fuck, that little guy was cute.
" I mean, you feel it ?"
" I do."
Nigel loved him already. He was straightforward and easy to read, a quality he desperately needed in people after being shot in the fucking head. The fact that he looked angelic was helping, too.
“It’s a nice puzzle you’ve got here.”
Adam finally raised his head to look at his face a bit more, before asking in a hopeful voice:
“Would you like to know more about the Orion constellation? Will tells me it’s important to ask first. ”
Aww, how cute, he thought. He nodded.
“That thing on the pic? Sure, go ahead.”
The face Adam made would light up the entire world. He started a very long and enthusiastic explanation Nigel couldn’t comprehend well enough, thanks to his stupid fucking head.
But he could take another bullet just for this man, he knew it.
He was smiling fondly, looking at Adam doing his explanation, when he saw Will popping his head at the door.
“Everything is fine, Adam?” he asked with a soft voice, the softest Nigel ever heard from him, with a murdering gaze in his direction.
“Yes, William. I’m explaining the Orion Constellation. But I asked before! Can we eat soon please? I’m hungry.”
Will’s gaze relaxed from a murdering one to a mean one, and Nigel took it as a good sign. He wasn’t going to be tonight’s diner.
“Yeah Honey, it’s almost done. Hannibal is heating your mac and cheese.”
Never, in his entire life, would Nigel think he would hear Will using the world Honey.
“Thank you.”
They were left alone again. Something clicked in his mind. Hannibal would not let anybody eat something as silly (to him!) as mac and cheese under his roof without a very good reason.
He was trying to find a way to ask without sounding like a fucking asshole before remembering Adam was very straightforward and decided to give it a go.
“Adam, are you special or something?”
The other placed another piece of that puzzle for so long he thought he wouldn’t answer. Then, Adam took a big breath and recited by heart:
“I’ve been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome when I was 3. It’s a neurodevelopmental condition that makes me difficult to interact with other people. I have trouble understanding social situations and subtle forms of communication like body language, humor and sarcasm. I also stick to a very specific routine and have very niche interests. Mine is space. Hannibal told me Asperger Syndrome doesn’t exist as a diagnosis anymore and it’s now part of the Autism Spectrum Disorder.”
Nigel took some time to process it.
“So you’re autistic?”
“Yes.”
Nigel could deal with that. More, it was refreshing to know exactly how Adam perceived him and not having to deal with all the social cues bullshit he always found fucking annoying. Sure, he would need to be very straightforward, but wasn’t he already?
Without missing a beat, he answered:
“Okay. Can I help with the puzzle?”
Adam took some time to consider, eyes on the wall. “Yes. Only if you make sure to do only the black pieces and you make sure they don’t touch mines. It’s very important.”
A bit bossy, but Nigel could deal with it. He sat in front of him, appreciating the warmth of the fire. Adam looked behind him while he sat.
“Am I scary or something?” he laughed.
“Not especially. You look just like Hannibal, and he’s handsome, not scary. You are not scary to me, I just don’t like eye contact.”
The fact that they were cousins and not twins, was probably some witchcraft only eastern Europe could know, he knew that. But what caught his interest was:
“So you find me handsome then?”
The younger one blushed. -blushed!!!- and said:
“Yes.”
It’s always nice to be complimented by such a pretty man. Nigel knew he had a stupid smile on his face.
***
Diner was tolerable. Nigel was afraid it would be human meat, but thank god Hannibal brought what looked like a turkey on the table and, unless he was a fucking wizard able to transform human meat in a turkey form, it was a real one.
Hannibal and Will exchanged some bedroom-appropriate gaze the whole time but he didn’t care because Adam was next to him, with his little mac and cheese and his hard plastic cutlery.
“May I have some ?” he asked him half joking, half hopping.
“No, sorry. I don’t like sharing my food. But maybe you can ask Hannibal for some, if you’re still hungry.”
“That’s very kind of you Adam, but it’s your food. You don’t have to share it,” said Will with a warning look to Nigel.
Apart from that little incident, everything was fine. When they went to the living room for a cozy movie session (Nigel was pretty sure his cousin and his boyfriend were going to be very inappropriate under that plaid), there were only the sofa and the armchair. The couple took the sofa and he wanted to be comfortable. Adam was left with nothing but he didn’t seem to care, as he began to sit on the carpet.
“You can sit on my lap, you know,” purred Nigel. Will rolled his eyes.
But to his surprise, Adam stand up and sat on his lap. He saw his ears blushing while his own heart was beating faster.
“Okay.”
Nigel knew he wanted to hear about the Orion constellation for the rest of his life.