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There’s something to be said about the kind of domestic bliss you find with your partner, especially after years of playing a murderous game of cat and mouse. Hannibal finds that he enjoys having a settled life with Will more than his imagination could have come up with. It fed into Hannibal’s more romantic side, as the two of them settled together in a small little villa in Italy, in the countryside where they were five miles away from the nearest town full of people. There was enough room for the three dogs they had collected over the years to run around, and for Will to walk through the garden when he wanted to sit out in the sun and relax. At some point he started working on a garden so Hannibal could have fresh vegetables for cooking instead of driving into town.
And the best of it all was Will had succumbed to that beautiful darkness lurking inside of him, which led to them going on hunts together. It made the cannibal’s heart sore with love and joy when he got to see Will covered in blood, eyes wild like an animal’s. Hannibal had been allowed to bathe Will after their hunts, taking him to their clawed foot tub in the bathroom and getting the water hot while Will stood by and stared at the empty space in the room. He was a ghost after their hunts, thrilled from the blood and viscera but slowly coming back to the human mask he’d carefully catered to hide his darkness away.
Only Hannibal was allowed to see Will at his barest moments, it was something he greedily ate up every chance he got until he was full off of the sight. And even then, Hannibal still hungered for more.
Before Will, Hannibal wasn’t as keen about sexual pleasures and other worldly needs. He ate when he wanted to, slept when needed, and he had sex when the appetite arose or when it was the best alibi. But now, he found himself a fool for the flesh. Desperate to feel Will’s naked skin against his own, limbs entangled with one another and breaths mingling while they fucked and rutted like wild things. Sleeping with Will became another one of Hannibal’s favorite things about domestic life, he enjoyed going to sleep next to the other man with his back bare to him knowing Will would never harm him. And when he woke up it was to the sight of his lover fast asleep or, on a few occasions, awake before him and pretending to catch up on some more sleep.
It was rare to find Will awake before Hannibal, and it was even more uncommon for the man to sleepwalk anymore. At least, to Hannibal’s knowledge, it was until around winter when he would wake up a few times throughout the week and find Will would sleepwalking down the hall. He had thought nothing of it at first, winter seemed to bring about a gloominess in Will that not even Hannibal could help. So he had put it off as nothing more than seasonal depression affecting his lover's sleep.
That was until he woke up and found Will down in the kitchen, eating raw meat by the handful.
“Will, if you wanted a midnight snack I could have prepared you something,” Hannibal suggested upon walking into the kitchen, before seeing his husband kneeled over and eating the meat he had prepared to roast tomorrow. “Will?”
The wet slurping sound of flesh being ripped off the bone had Hannibal stepping closer, stopping at the corner of the kitchen island when he saw what Will has considered a midnight snack. Hannibal was happy that he’d gotten Will to enjoy the kind of meat Hannibal did, but watching his lover eat human meat raw from the plate had a strange effect on Hannibal. Arousal that came from a deep fear of the unknown.
He watched as Will finished the last of the politician they killed, before snapping the bone in half to lap at the juices inside of it. Tilting his head a little, Hannibal moved to get closer, only for his foot to kick at a container that was tossed onto the ground due to Will’s haste for raw flesh.
The sound Will’s head made as it snapped towards Hannibal was something that came right out of a horror movie,and his eyes weren’t the same blue Hannibal had become so used to. Instead he found that Will’s eyes had changed and paled over like the reflective eyes of an animals. It was then that Hannibal realized that this was not his Will anymore, but a creature that had taken the shape of his lover.
Carefully he stood still waiting to see what Will would do upon noticing Hannibal. There was a set of knives on the counter not too far away from him, but it would take an effort to jump over and grab them. Will stood up slowly, like he was still trying to get used to the body he was in– like he was meant to be bigger and on all fours. He didn’t sprint at Hannibal or immediately jump at him, but his lips were pulled back in a sign of aggression as he walked towards Hannibal in slow steps.
Standing still as Will walked towards him, Hannibal kept his eyes on the younger man as Will leaned in and sniffed at his shoulder. It was comical how their positions had changed suddenly, Will sniffing at Hannibal like he was considering him as either another predator or prey. Blood smeared against Hannibal’s bare shoulder as Will pressed closer to him, and a deep rumbling purr came out of his throat accompanied by clicks that a human could not make. It took a moment for Hannibal to realize Will was smothering himself against the older man, in the way big cats do to smear their scent against one another, and it was then that he noted Will didn’t consider him predator or prey,but as a mate. An equal.
Reaching a hand up to pet Will’s sweaty curls, Hannibal made a click with his tongue. “Cunning boy, always full of surprises, even after all these years of knowing each other, I still have yet to finish the puzzle that is you.”
He pressed a kiss to Will’s forehead, licking the sweat off his lips while Will made a rough noise with his throat.
“Come darling, let me clean you up and get you back to bed. We can discuss this tomorrow.” Hannibal tugged at soft curls, smiling when Will followed him without complaint.
Hannibal wiped the blood off Will’s mouth with a wet washcloth before helping him change out of his sweaty clothes to give him a cool bath. Something about the water seemed to settle Will, and the creature receded from the front to allow a sleepwalking Will Graham regain control. Once done bathing his lover, Hannibal took him to bed and waited until Will was in deep sleep before going back downstairs to clean up the mess and then rejoin his lover in bed.
Upon the next morning, Hannibal found himself waking up an hour later than he usually did. Not that he minded;he went about his business as usual, preparing breakfast and starting a hot cup of coffee for Will while he waited for his lover to wake up.
Hannibal was finishing up a few touches when he felt arms wrap around his waist and Will pressing a cold nose to the back of his neck.
“Good morning, love. I was just finishing up with the bacon,” Hannibal smiled, moving his hand to rest atop of Will’s.
“Mmm-Not hungry this morning,” Will mumbled against Hannibal’s skin. “S’full.”
“Hmm, could it perhaps be that you had a midnight snack last night?” Hannibal asked in a teasing tone.
If he was wondering if Will remembered what happened last night, the answer came quickly as Will pulled back and went to the fridge to pull it open. A curse dropped out of his mouth when he noticed the absent roast meat Hannibal had set out the night before.
“I didn’t realize it was going to be starting so soon,” Will said more to himself than anyone else.
“What is starting?” Hannibal turned off the stove so he can redirect his attention toward Will.
Will tensed up at the question, but when Hannibal didn’t press for more after that, he settled down a little before turning back to Hannibal.
“It’s a little hard to explain.”
“Harder than having to explain why I caught you eating raw flesh last night?” Hannibal tilted his head a little, watching as a mixture of emotions washed over Will’s face.
“I guess I should have mentioned earlier that my parentage is a little more than an absent mother and a wayward father.” Will ran a hand over his face, worry lines creasing at his eyebrows like he was nervous to tell Hannibal anymore than that.
Pushing away the food for later, Hannibal removed his apron so he could walk over to cup Will’s face. Making the younger man look up at him so he could press a kiss to the wrinkles on his forehead, he said, “Nothing you have to tell me will scare me off, Will. You are to me as you always have been. My equal, my other half, and my husband. I didn’t ask you to marry me for your mind or your darkness, I love every aspect and side of you, including the ones you have yet to share.”
“My mother was of the unusual sort, and oftentimes she doesn’t stay around to take care of her children.” Will sighed, “This would be easier if I could show you.”
Following Will down to the basement where they kept their kill table and supplies, Hannibal raised an eyebrow as he watched Will begin stripping himself down.
Will stopped once he was completely naked before walking back over and pulling Hannibal into a kiss, the smell of nerves clung heavily to Will’s skin as he took a few paces away. The first thing that Hannibal witnessed was the snapping of Will’s spine. The man’s mouth dropped open like he was in a fit between pain and arousal before dropping down on all fours. His back arched up towards the ceiling as his shoulders shifted and his spine squirmed under the skin. The sight was grotesque,and yet, Hannibal couldn’t stop himself from watching as Will’s body began to grow in size, bones elongating as his face shifted and changed. Teeth. An abundance of teeth grew from his mouth and antlers from his head. A rack big enough that would have any hunter proud to claim it on their walls.
Some of Will’s skin had ripped open and dark fur sprouted from the tears until they covered his body. Hannibal felt the need to take a step back as Will’s body grew in size until he was face to face with a large muzzle. Once Will was finished, it seemed like time itself was frozen as Hannibal took in the beast that became of Will. There was violence and beauty in the shape Will had taken on, looking like something out of a nightmare as his form lumbered around the room. Like smoke being carried on all fours.
“Beautiful,” He marveled, stepping closer to touch Will’s soft fur, marveling at how it felt under his hand, and the reality of their situation became much clearer. “Can you speak in this form?”
Will nosed against his hand, a soft rumbling starting in the man’s chest while Hannibal explored the new form. It made sense now, how Will was able to go through so much and still move on afterwards. Not even the fall had stopped Will as he helped swim them back to shore that night. Clearly, Will had the power to kill Hannibal without so much as tiring himself out. The knowledge did nothing to scare Hannibal or push away the rising arousal. A shiver ran through his body as Will lifted up one of his massive clawed hands to settle it against Hannibal’s side. The sharpness on them was not lost on either man.
“Will, you are as glorious as ever,” Hannibal tells him, fingers curling into the fur. “I only wish to see you dripping in blood while in this shape. How beautiful that must be to witness.”
Will made a noise, low like the creaking of trees falling down before his body shifted and bones shrank back down into his human shape. Hannibal watched as Will changed back, a process that seemed easier than the initial transition as the fur fell off Will's skin and his bones cracked in an agonizing way. The noises Will made replayed in Hannibal’s mind like a broken record as skin and muscle fell away to the floor until Will stepped out of the husked shape of his other form. Blood dripped off his skin as it laid upon him in a thick coat, bits and pieces of gore and warm flesh still clung to his skin, but the man didn’t seem bothered at all.
His eyes still held something old and inhuman about them but when Will tugged Hannibal in for a kiss he didn’t have to worry about anything.
“Maybe one day I will show you, but I will be busy for the next few weeks going through my heat.”
“Pardon?” Hannibal blinked as Will moved away to wash off in the shower they had installed down there for messier kills. Once the blood was gone, Will pulled his clothes back on and then stood before Hannibal like he did not just witness the most incredible thing in his entire existence.
“Let’s go back upstairs, I’m hungry now and I’ll explain more after we eat.” Will pressed a chaste kiss to Hannibal’s cheek as he stood there feeling a little flabbergasted.
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After they ate breakfast, Will sat Hannibal down to tell him more about his mothers side of the family. She wasn’t human, was what Will had started with. In fact, she was much older than humans and didn’t have much care for her own children. Will’s father was devoted to her since he was young and she, The Black Goat with a Thousand Young, The Mother, Shub-Nigguroth, had granted him a child. Will hadn’t been like other children: his hunger for humans separated him from others and led him and his father to traveling from dock to dock.
The taste of blood and human flesh had been Will’s first good in the world, and it was what he would always hunger for.
Now, older and better at controlling his hunger, Will's only troubles were when his heat came around every other year. As embarrassing as it was for the man to describe that he would be itching for blood and sex at a constant.
Once he was finished, Hannibal waited before asking, “Did Molly ever find this out about you?”
It was petty, and beneath him to ask they both knew it. And the flash of anger across Will’s face told him so as well.
“No, she didn’t know and I made sure she didn’t. I left for a few months until I knew my heat was over before coming back. Told her it was a hunting trip,” Will grounds out.
Pushing down the pleasure that rose up in his chest, Hannibal leaned back in his seat to take in all that Will had told him.
“I will admit, I’m not put off by this information. It does pique my interest in you more, and my interest in seeing you at your fullest potential.” Hannibal takes one of Will’s hands with his own so he can press a kiss to his knuckles. “And it makes me honored that you would allow me to know the truth about this other part of you.”
Will let’s put a puff of air, a smile toying on his face as the annoyance washes away.“You would say something like that after finding out your husband’s birth mother was an eldritch god from outer space.”
Leaning forward, Hannibal pulled Will in for a kiss. Tilting his head to the side so he could run his tongue over Will’s bottom lip, waiting until the man opened his mouth a little so he could push his tongue inside and taste every bit. Will went slack against him and Hannibal was secretly thankful for the fact that Will’s touch starvation caused his instincts to go lax when he was being touched. Cupping one side of Will’s face, Hannibal continued licking at the inside of Will’s mouth until he felt the younger man shiver a little, then he pulled back to study Will’s ruined posture.
“Will you let me see more?” He asked, the curiosity and fascination killing him as he had to be patient.
Will’s face head down to his neck, and he gave a half hearted shrug. “Maybe. It’s a lot to take in for a human, if I reveal myself too much I could permanently harm you.”
“It didn’t seem like you were about to attack me last night.”
“Not that kind, it’s uh, been known that my kind can send grown men insane by just gazing upon us.” Will explained to him, drumming his fingers against the wood of the table. “And there is no way to fix it.”
Hannibal made a soft hum, “I see, well whenever you’re comfortable, then, I would gladly love to gaze upon you again and again. Even if it did turn me mad, I would take the risk just to witness you behind the veil.”
“It’ll take some time for me to get used to the fact that you know, I’ve never shared with anyone else before. The feeling is refreshing in a scary unknown way that I’m not used to feeling, like a boat coming out from a storm that’s lasted for days.” Will laced their fingers together and smiled up at Hannibal. “Thank you.”
“I should be thanking you.”
Will’s eyes shined with mischief at that. “Well, I won’t say no to a morning blow job right now, or even going back up to bed for morning sex.”
Unable to stop the slight smirk on his lips, Hannibal tugged Will closer to him on their chairs before telling him, “Anything to please you, my love.”