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The first time Hannibal witnessed Will being rude to a client, it felt like a revelation. It was no secret to anyone in the Upper East Side that the plutocrat despised rudeness, it was somewhat of a secret to what degree he despised it, and it was definitely a secret what the consequences of being rude in front of him were. So, naturally, a couple of the underlings flinched at the exchange when it happened, dreading the thought of having to find another coffee shop when they so enjoyed the grumpy barista’s high-quality concoctions, totally unaware that their boss’ only concern was having to intervene in Will’s behalf as the bad-mannered teenager gave him attitude.
“I want an Iced Mocha latte with no caffeine” The girl practically barked without even lifting her eyes from her phone as soon as she got to the front of the line.
“And hello to you too.” Will replied, voice deadpan, “So, decaf Iced Mocha latte, got it”
“No, I said no caffeine, ” She huffed, as if it was Will the one trying her patience, “not decaf. Decaf still has caffeine. I don’t want less caffeine, I want no caffeine at all, not a drop”
Will crossed the order he had been scribbling on his cup and tried again,
“Alright, so Iced Mocha Latte with no espresso. One chocolate milk coming right up”
The girl went red to the tips of her ears, eyes finally leaving her phone at that, looking around to make sure no one had heard she had asked for choccy milk,
“Are you daft or something? I want an Iced Mocha Latte with no coffee, not a kids' drink!”
Will’s baby blues went skyward and he mumbled something under his breath before explaining in a louder voice,
“Look, I’m only telling you this because chocolate milk is cheaper. If you want me to, I can ring it like this and charge you the full $6.95, kiddo”
Now, Hannibal had heard Will call his daughter that more than once, and seeing as this girl seemed to be around Abigail’s age, he had no doubt the word had simply slipped, with no ill intent behind it. However, considering how livid she instantly turned, the girl took it as a mortal insult.
“Whatever, asshole, just make me my fucking drink!”
The entire shop went dead silent. Whatever patrons had not been aware of what was happening at the counter, definitely were now. All eyes were trained on Will, expectant of his reaction, including Hannibal’s.
It was a surprise, unexpected but not unpleasant, when the older man caught sight of the cold fire burning inside Will’s eyes, the dangerous glint not even his thick-rimmed glasses managed to hide. In an instant, he had gone from cute nerdy barista to predator.
If Hannibal had been interested before, now he was intrigued .
“Out” He growled. The girl whose lizard brain seemed to perceive to some level the precariousness of the situation she had managed to put herself in if the way she seemed to be trying to make herself smaller was anything to go by, was left sputtering.
“Wha- what?”
“You heard me. OUT!”
The girl scrambled to obey. Hannibal smiled into his cup. It seemed his puppy-dog-eyed barista had some bark. How interesting…
….
The second time Hannibal watched Will be rude to a client, he wanted to throttle the rat himself.
It was two in the afternoon, Hannibal's favorite time to stop by the coffee shop, right after the lunch rush and before all the college kids invaded the store after classes. Will and the girls were always more relaxed by then and also free to make small talk, so he could spend precious extra minutes with them.
Apparently, he wasn’t the only one looking forward to their short time together, because as soon as he walked through the door, Will ushered Abigail and Georgia away from the counter.
“I think that’s clean enough, kids. Why don’t you guys take your lunch break now, I think I can man the store alone for a while.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind waiting until Abs is done…” The blonde girl started offering, but Abigail discretely elbowed the girl, throwing a significant look at Hannibal before practically dragging her through a blue door labeled “employees only”
Secretly thankful, the older man pretended not to notice, wearing his most innocent barely there smile as he reached the front of the shop.
“Hello, Will”
“Good afternoon, Hannibal, how are you today?” The barista greeted him, and Hannibal was pleased to notice he no longer seemed to avoid eye contact with him, but his cheeks still tinted with their usual rose blush.
“Certainly improving now that I see you” He indulged in a little bit of flirting just so he could see that lovely pink deepen.
Will smiled, lowering his gaze to the counter between them, only to raise it again to peer at Hannibal under his lashes. He opened his mouth to reply but was rudely interrupted by a tall man in a grey suit and too much Armani Code practically pushing Hannibal out of the way to get upfront.
“Excuse me, my drink is done wrong”
“Hey! What is wrong with-” Will started to tell off the customer, but caught himself on time. “... your drink?”
“This caramel macchiato is hot”
Will blinked.
“Did you specify you wanted this drink iced?”
Armani Code huffed,
“Specify? Why would I want a hot drink, it’s like a hundred degrees outside!”
“Well, unless expressly indicated by the customer, the default for any and all of our coffee drinks is hot” Will threw a quick glance at the employee door, “Sir” He added as an afterthought. “But if you let me have that back, I can remake it for you”
“Damn right you’re gonna remake it” The guy all but shoved the cup at Will. Hannibal mentally flicked the pages of his recipe book, already planning a dinner. Of course, he would have to actually ask the blue-eyed barista out first, but it wouldn’t hurt to prepare with time. He hoped Will liked prosciutto.
“Now, chop chop!” Armani Code snapped his fingers, “Hurry up, I don’t have all day!”
Will’s eyebrows jumped to his hairline and he threw Hannibal a look that seemed to say “ Did this jerk really just say chop chop to me ?” Hannibal replied with a raised eyebrow of his own as if to say “ Yes, I do believe he did. Absolutely preposterous ” Still, neither of them said anything as Will made the new drink.
He failed to hand it to the customer though.
“So? Are you just gonna stand there all day? Give me my drink!”
“You can have your drink,” Will said, casually leaning on the pastry display, “As soon as you apologize to Dr. Lecter here”
Hannibal didn’t even try to stop the smile Will’s words provoked. How chivalrous of him. Hannibal was charmed.
“Who?”
“Dr. Lecter,” Hannibal explained with a courteous nod in Hannibal’s direction, “He’s one of our most esteemed regulars, and I can overlook you being rude to me, but I can’t allow you to assault other patrons”
Armani Code went red. It was not a pretty color on him.
“I did not such thing!”
“You pushed him” Will pointed out, “In the state of New York, that’s battery”
“Yes, I believe that is correct, dear Will” Hannibal confirmed, drawing the jerk’s attention toward himself, and watching him pale as he realized exactly who it was he had assaulted. Hannibal nearly chuckled, watching the poor bastard change colors so fast was proving to be most entertaining.
Swallowing audibly, the man croaked,
“My apologies, Doctor Lecter”
“Very good” Hannibal praised, condescendingly, “Now, apologize to my friend William”
“Apologies” He repeated, much less kindly.
Will offered a curt nod.
“Good. Now get the fuck out of my shop, and never come back”
The pitiful idiot couldn’t get out fast enough.
***
The third time, Hannibal knew what was going to happen as soon as the woman entered the shop. Her long blonde hair and face stiff with too much Botox and fillers suggested she was trying to appear younger than her age, her exposed midriff in the middle of January made it obvious she was far more concerned with her appearance and perceived desirability than her comfort or health, her brittle hair and dry skin over too prominent bones told the story of her malnourishment. And chronically hungry people tended to be irritable and rude. Will, much like Hannibal, did not get along well with rude people. Even worse, since Abigail was not in the store to keep her dad in check and stop him from scaring customers off, there was nothing to protect this woman from his wrath.
Hannibal could hardly wait for the show that was to come.
Sure enough, the woman didn’t even bother with a polite greeting before demanding,
“Yes, I’ll have an almond biscotti please”
Never be told his favorite barista didn’t at least try to be polite before biting a client’s face off.
“I’m sorry, we ran out, but if you take a look at our pastry display I’ll be happy to serve you anything else”
As Hannibal expected, the suggestion was not well received.
“Do I look like I want anything else?”
“What you look like, it’s like a fucking headache” Will mumbled, just loud enough for Hannibal’s preternaturally good hearing to pick.
“What did you just say?!”
“Nothing. Do you want anything or not?”
“I just can’t believe you ran out of biscottis! What am I supposed to have now?” She practically screeched.
“I don’t know, but if you figure it out, do let me know” Will turned around, ready to ignore her until she left. Sadly, she refused to do so.
“You know, this is terrible inventory management from you”
“No, ma’am, it’s just eight pm on a Thursday…”
“Well, do you have anything else that’s less than two hundred calories?”
“I don’t know. The napkins?”
“Oh my god! You are being so rude! That’s it, I wanna talk to your manager”
The fed-up barista rolled his eyes.
“Of course you do. Well, I happen to be the owner, so…”
The blonde deflated somewhat, but she refused to back out.
“Well, did you never hear that the customer is always right?”
“Well” Will mockingly copied her stance and voice tone, placing a hand on his hip and cocking it out, “You’re not though. A customer, I mean. You are not buying anything, you’re just being an entitled hag” The woman gasped, and Will knew he had picked the perfect insult, “So get out of my shop. And do me a favor, don’t ever come back. I have an impressionable teenage kid and I would not want you setting such an unhealthy example for her”
The woman stood there gaping like a fish before turning around and leaving, not without threatening the shop with a bad Yelp review first. Will gave the finger to her retreating form.
“Good parenting decision” Hannibal praised, coming to stand by the bar, closer to Will. “I’d hate for sweet Abigail to see that ghastly creature and think that’s what a woman should be like”
Will sighed,
“Thank you, Dr. Lecter. I mean, I mainly kicked her out 'cause she was a total bitch,” He snorted, “but I wasn’t lying about not wanting Abby to be exposed to people like that. I know I can’t protect her from everything, the stuff on TV and social media and freaking Tik tok. But I just” Will rubbed his face, tiredly, “I just want her to grow up healthy and happy. Growing up dirt poor in Louisiana like I did, going to bed hungry more often than not… I just can’t understand people who starve themselves voluntarily.”
“I can relate to your experiences” Hannibal confided in a rare show of vulnerability, “I spent many years in an orphanage as a child, but even before losing my parents the situation was… dire, to put it mildly”
“I’m sorry to hear that” From most people, the words sounded hollow and trite, but Hannibal could tell Will actually meant them, “Can I ask what happened to them? Your parents, I mean”
“Russian soldiers” Was the older man’s simple reply, “The soviet occupation was not kind to the old Lithuanian noble houses. Count Lecter, like many others, was made an example of. Can I ask what happened to Abigail’s mother?” He had gathered from observing the father-daughter duo that there was no Mrs. Greene, there hadn’t been for a while, and he could admit to himself it was a little more than curiosity that impulsed his interest in Will’s past love life. The younger man shrugged, corners of his mouth falling down in an exaggerated moue that had no right to be as endearing as it was.
“History tends to repeat itself, I guess. I grew up without a mom, now my daughter does the same”
Hannibal realized that was all the answer he was going to get for now, but it was no hardship to let it go, not with Will already moving to the pastry display and getting out what was left of Hannibal's favorite Belgian chocolate cake.
“All this talk about our tragic childhoods made me hungry” Will explained, placing the plate between them, “What do you say I pack you some of this to go, so you can have something sweet after dinner? On the house”
“Why wait for dinner” Hannibal countered, recognizing the polite dismissal for what it was, but unwilling to accept it “when we can have cake now?”
“And risk ruining your appetite? My my, Count Lecter! How improper!” Will gasped in mock outrage, affecting an admittedly quite good British accent.
“I think you will find, my dear William, that my appetites are a little harder to satiate” The flirting was shameless, but worth it just to see the flush on the handsome Barista’s pale cheeks, the alluring blue irises almost disappear, swallowed by dilating pupils.
“Alright then” Will turned around, looking for a couple of metal spoons. Hannibal seized the opportunity to quickly flip the sign on the door from Open to Close, and give the signal to his security, waiting for him in the car, not to let anybody in. “Let’s see if you can walk your talk, Dr. Lecter”
“Please, if we’re going to indulge in a pleasure like this” The good doctor gestured at the succulent-looking desert, “together, I feel we should be on a first-name basis”
Will bit his lip, but met the older man’s intense stare with resolve. Handing him one of the utensils, he agreed.
“As you wish, Hannibal ” Raising his own spoon, he toasted, “To indulgences”
“To indulgences” Hannibal repeated.
They ate their cake like that, standing on opposite sites of the narrow bar, leaning close to each other until even the last crumb disappeared.
***
“THIS IS OUTREAGOUS! HOW COULD YOU BE SO IRRESPONSIBLE?!”
The screams were audible from the sidewalk, and suddenly Hannibal was grateful that Jack, his friend and head of security, was with him. Exchanging an alarmed look, they both hurried into the store, where they were met with chaos: Cups of coffee overflowing in the espresso machine as the shy new guy, Peter, cowered behind the counter, customers staring, some of them filming with their phones, as a middle-aged woman with a perky haircut shouted abuse at Abigail.
“YOU IDIOTIC LITTLE BITCH YOU POISONED MY DAUGHTER! I’LL GET YOU FIRED- HOW DARE-”
Hannibal had no time to think, as soon as Abigail’s doll-like blue eyes, made even bigger by fear, landed on Hannibal, the girl all but ran to him, hiding her face on his chest as she begged,
“Dad! Please, help me!”
What else could he have done, but to immediately wrap his arms around the terrified teenager?
He placed a comforting kiss on her head, feeling her immediately sag in relief that the doctor was willing to go along with her little ruse. Hannibal murmured his reassurance to her hair before turning to the rude woman still throwing an adult tantrum at them.
“That’s quite enough!” He announced, voice loud and clear, yet never yelling, “You will cease this abhorrent behavior at once, and tell me why are you attacking my daughter so viciously?”
“Well, she- I…” The woman sputtered, clearly unhappy at being unable to continue to verbally abuse the employee she saw as inferior and an easy target, and even more displeased at having to explain herself to another adult, one that looked unlikely to let himself be walked all over. “Your child poisoned mine!” She finally settled on. Behind her, a brunette girl about Abigail’s age rolled her eyes.
“Oh my god, mom!” She protested, “For the last time, she did nothing wrong! She didn’t know I have celiac disease because I DIDN’T TELL HER!”
Ignoring her, the woman went on,
“She refused to accommodate my daughter’s dietary restrictions, and now my Marissa will be sick for days!”
“Oh, my fucking-” The girl, Marissa, drowned her frustrated screech in her hands.
“We have an event tomorrow, and now-”
“I don’t even care about your stupid church thing! I ordered the fucking croissant because I wanted to eat a pastry that didn’t taste like fucking cardboard just for once! Stop being such a bitch!”
Apparently, Marissa's manners were as bad as her mother's, but Hannibal couldn't help to think she wasn't exactly wrong.
“So, if I understand this correctly, your Marissa here broke her, admittedly very important, diet making Abigail here an unaware accessory in the process” Had he been a less dignified man, Hannibal would have pinched his nose, “and you, the only adult in this situation, thought the appropriate response would be to harass and threaten a minor. Is that an accurate assessment of the situation?”
The woman went red with embarrassment, looking around the store as if for help. Of course, it was in vain, the regulars all adored Abigail.
“Well, she- She was being very rude to me!”
“How so?” Hannibal prodded.
“She was mocking me! She called me a slur!”
The Doctor seriously doubted it, but it was once again Marissa the one to deny the veracity of her mother's words.
“ Karen is not a slur, mom. You need to stop saying words without knowing their definition, seriously, you're so embarrassing! And she wasn't even the one to say it! I told you to stop being such a Karen and she chuckled, that's it!”
Hannibal had heard enough. He could now see, clear as day, what was wrong with the entitled woman, having seen the same phenomenon many times, back when he was still a practicing psychiatrist: Marissa was an only child, conceived later in life, probably after many treatments and failed attempts, a miracle baby. As a consequence, her mother idealized her, seeing her as more than human, her little angel. And of course, her angel could do no wrong, so she went about life blaming everyone else for young Marissa’s short comics.
But Marissa’s mom was not a patient, and Hannibal couldn't care less about her.
“I see. Well, Ms…”
“Schurr” provided Marissa, helpfully.
“Ms. Shurr, you have verbally abused and threatened a minor, terrorized both the staff and patrons of this fine establishment, and made everyone uncomfortable with the scene you made” Hannibal declared with all the authority and gravitas of a judge of the law, “Therefore, I must request that you leave this Cafe immediately, and refrain from ever coming back”
“Are you throwing me out??”
“I am. I happen to know this establishment reserves the right to refuse service to customers who can't seem to respect the basic norms of good social etiquette, and you failed terribly at those”
The woman gasped, scandalized at the perceived slight.
“You can't do that!”
He stood his ground
“I can and I'm doing so. Jack?” One word was enough for the man to approach, “Please, escort this woman to the exit”
“Of course, boss” The man turned to the disruptive Karen, towering over her, intimidating, “This way, ma'am”
The crowd of customers broke into applause as the woman and her daughter left the store, some even immortalizing the moment for posteriority with their phones. A slight raise of his eyebrows was the only sign of surprise he allowed himself before giving his audience an elegant, hardly noticeable bow. He was man enough to admit to himself he quite liked being the center of attention sometimes, so he guessed there was no harm in enjoying himself a little…
Until his gaze met Will’s.
His favorite barista was standing by the door, a storm brewing in the ocean of his eyes.
“Hannibal, a word?” Eyes never leaving the older man, Will shoved the huge box of paper cups he was carrying into the arms of a still-shaking Peter and marched into the staff room, leaving Hannibal to follow him.
“Will, I apologize if I overstepped my-”
He never got to finish his apology, because as soon as Hannibal closed the door behind him, Will pushed him against it and attacked his mouth with his own.
The kiss was rough and violent, teeth clashing and biting lips, tongues invading mouths without permission, hands tugging at hair and pulling at clothes, and bodies pressing hungrily against each other. Hannibal’s mind was hazy, dizzy with want, his breathing labored and heart galloping out of control, when Will finally released him.
“You were protecting my daughter” He gasped, smiling at Hannibal’s abortive little movements, trying to chase his lips. “Never, ever apologize for that”
Fine. Yes. Whatever, anything for Will to keep kissing him like that. He feared he might have said something to that effect out loud since Will exhaled a hoarse little chuckle, breath hot against Hannibal’s face, before going “Alright, then” and kissing him again. A little softer this time, slower, taking his time to tease his pouty top lip, nibbling at it with blunt teeth only to soothe it moments later by licking at it with the tip of his tongue.
Had Hannibal known that, after all his flirting and longing stares, all it would take for Will to finally kiss him was some rude Karen being mean to his daughter, Hannibal would have plotted to find one and make it happen a lot sooner.
He had no idea that was exactly what Abigail had done.