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"Cheers to you, Buster!" Will swallowed the rest of his whiskey in one gulp then he refilled his glass more than it would have been advisable or appropriate. But who cares when you're celebrating alone.
Celebrating... Will huffed.
"Cheers to you, Winston!" Another burning gulp.
He usually didn't care about being alone and being alone on Christmas Eve had never bothered him before.
"I like being alone!" Will said louder than intended and the dogs all lifted their heads towards him. Buster even jumped up.
"Nevermind buddy..." Will got up to pet him but his knees had gotten a little wobbly from sitting and drinking all afternoon and he tripped over the rug and landed next to his pile of dogs in front of the heater.
"Ouch..." he groaned but didn't care to get up again. Buster circled him a few times as if to check if his master was alright and when he was satisfied he curled up by his side nuzzling Will's armpit.
It is kinda cozy down here, Will thought.
After a few minutes Will reached for his tumbler that had magically landed without spilling all of its content. "Fucking Christmas miracle..." Will grumbled bitterly and emptied the glass in one swallow still lying down.
Winston scooted closer and rested his head on Will's back.
"Merry Christmas to you too..." Will mumbled, his face squished against the rug.
***
A loud knock at the door woke them up.
"Will?"
He blinked a few times to clear his foggy vision and realized it had gotten dark outside and his pack was huddled close to him.
"Will? Aren't you well?"
Will was still caught up in counting through all of his limbs and seeing if they were able to function that Hannibal's voice so close to him totally startled him.
"I'm sorry, Will, it's me." Hannibal sounded calm but a little worried. His hand on Will's back was cold from waiting outside. "I saw you on the floor and let myself in. Have you been sleepwalking again?"
"More like drinkwalking..." Will grumbled.
He rolled over on his back and propped himself up on his elbows. Hannibal knelt beside him and looked as concerned as he had sounded.
"I'm alright..." Will tried to reassure him and willed his head to stop spinning squeezing his eyes shut.
Hannibal helped him into a sitting position and checked his arms and head for any injuries. When Will noticed what he was doing he sloppily slapped his hands away.
"What brought you to my humble home anyway, Dr. Lecter? Isn't there some fancy Christmas dinner you have to attend with Ala… Dr. Bloom?"
"Yes, indeed, we have an invitation. I'll meet her there. But I wanted to bring you something first."
Will rubbed his face with both hands. “That’s not necessary. I don’t like…”
"Actually it's for your dogs," Hannibal smiled. Will's eyebrows shot up in disbelief.
"And I see Winston has already found that out."
Winston had managed to lift the lid off of a yellow box and was munching on what looked like a brown and yellow candy cane.
Hannibal got up and took the three boxes he had left on the floor by the door to place them on Will’s lure tying table. He switched on the desk lamp. “You might want to check that they don’t eat everything at once. The recipes are specifically designed for dogs but just to be sure.”
Will still sat on the floor while his dogs were practically dancing around Hannibal. He rubbed his eyes again.
“You baked cookies… For… For my dogs?” What kind of alcohol induced hallucination was that?
“Yes,” Hannibal said and opened the other boxes as well. “There are pumpkin and peanut butter candy cane cookies, sweet potato biscuits and green apple mint treats.”
“You baked cookies for my dogs.” Despite himself Will started to grin.
Buster came up to him with a little bone shaped biscuit between his teeth and that was all it took for Will to completely lose it. He fell back on the floor, hands on his belly, laughing so hard that tears were starting to form in his eyes.
Hannibal just looked at him with a slight smile playing around the corners of his mouth. “I’m glad I brought you such joy,” he remarked dryly.
Will’s laughter died down but he was still grinning when he held up his hand for Hannibal to help him up.
“You absolutely did.” He didn’t let go of Hannibal’s hand.
“Thank you...” Will said bashfully. “I mean, really.”
“My pleasure,” Hannibal answered quietly, pleased with the slight flush that had crept up Will’s neck.
The ringing of his phone broke them out of their respective trances.
Will let go of Hannibal’s hand. “You’re probably running late…”
“Yes, I think I need to be going.” Hannibal reluctantly took a step back towards the door.
“Yeah…” Will scratched his neck. “Thanks again.”
Hannibal was about to step out onto the porch when he paused and turned looking down.
“I hope you’ll forgive me but I just couldn’t resist.” He pulled a small box from his pocket and handed it to Will. “Merry Christmas, Will.” Then he was on his way to his car leaving Will no time to protest.
Will opened the box to find a vintage looking silver compass. He turned it around and traced his thumb over the lettering on its back – William.
“Merry Christmas,” Will whispered as Hannibal drove off.