Work Text:
Will arrived at Hannibal's opulent house early, having been invited over for dinner with Abigail. He brought with him a bottle of what he hoped was acceptable wine. It had been the best he could afford without paying a ridiculous amount, though he would have preferred whisky. He stood on the doorstep and braced himself against the cold wind that was bringing in a stormfront, with the promise of snow. He knocked, waiting only a moment before the door was opened.
“Good evening mylimasis,” Hannibal greeted him with a smile and leaned in to offer him a kiss before graciously taking the proffered gift.
“I hope you don’t mind me being early?” Will answered, pulling away from the kiss and stepped past Hannibal in to the warm house.
“Not at all, I appreciate your company. You can help me set the table while we wait for Alana to drop off Abigail,” Hannibal offered as he took Will’s coat, then led him through the house towards the kitchen.
“Mmm whatever we are having smells delicious,” Will said, and inhaled the aroma of cooking meat and spices; his stomach rumbled its agreement.
Hannibal gave a small smile as he passed by Will, running his hand along Will’s lower back. “I’m sure everyone will find it enjoyable,” He gestured towards the cabinets on the other side of the kitchen as he placed the bottle of wine in the wine chiller. “Would you get out three place settings, along with the white and silver tea set for me Will?” He asked as he went about checking on the food.
“Yeah sure,” Will replied, as he opened the the cabinet that held Hannibal’s fine china. He grabbed enough for three place settings and placed them on the island, before returning for the chargers and stemware. Those he took directly to the dining room and placed on the table. He wasn’t sure where exactly Hannibal wanted everyone to sit so he left them stacked at one end, and went in search of the tea set.
Walking back into the kitchen, he passed by Hannibal and stopped to watch as he moved fluidly around his kitchen. Will stood for a moment in awe; he blushed and quickly returned to his task when Hannibal glanced up from the hot pan to catch him staring.
Hannibal watched Will as he retreated back to the other side of the kitchen with a small smirk before returning his attention to the food.
For five minutes Will searched the cabinet shelves for the requested tea set. He checked and rechecked to make sure he hadn’t missed it, but could not seem to find them. “Hannibal,” Will asked, his head stuck in a cabinet.
“Yes, Will?”
“Do you move that tea set to a different place? I can’t seem to find it in here,” Will asked, his voice muffled through the door.
Hannibal frowned and thought for a moment, “I apologize Will, I forgot I moved that set over to the hutch in the drawing room.”
“It’s no problem, I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing it,” Will explained as closed the cabinet door. “It’s in the hutch in the what did you call it? The ‘drawing room’?”
Hannibal huffed out a small exasperated sigh as Will held up his fingers and made air quotes as he said drawing room. “Yes, that is the one.”
Will chuckled at Hannibal's exasperation, “You know most people would just call it a sitting room, or something else equally mundane,” he called back over his shoulder as he made his way through Hannibal's house.
Will opened the hutch doors and was not at all surprised to see three different tea sets. Thankfully the white and silver set was easily reached. Ever cautious, Will made two trips between the hutch and the kitchen with the cups and saucers, and as he returned to close the china hutch doors, a weirdly shaped teapot caught his eye.
Reaching in past the other cups, he carefully pulled the teapot out and took a good look at it. I can not believe this! This is amazing! Will thought with a chuckle and carried the teapot back with him to the kitchen.
“Hey Hannibal, I have a question for you,” Will called out as he neared the kitchen.
“Yes Will, what is it?”
“Why do you have a teapot shaped like the Death Star hanging out in your china hutch?” Will asked holding said teapot aloft.
Hannibal’s head snapped up, eyes zeroing in immediately on the teapot in Will’s hands. “Will, where did you find that?” Hannibal asked nervously. Turning off the burner and setting the pan to the side, Hannibal rounded the island and stood in front of Will, reaching his hands out for the teapot.
“It was in your china hutch, back behind some of the other teacups,” Will explained as he handed the teapot over to Hannibal. “You didn’t answer my question though: why do you have it? You don’t strike me as the type to even watch the Star Wars movies, let alone know what they are.”
Hannibal blushed and turned to put the teapot on the counter behind him. “I admit, it does seem strange that I own such an item. I must confess, I enjoy the movies quite a bit. I have acquired several pieces of memorabilia and merchandise over the years, this teapot included.” he admitted, the pale pink blush on his face deepening to a bright red as he spoke.
“Wait - so you have more than just that?” Will waved his hand in the direction of the counter. Hannibal nodded. “How much more?”
“I...I am not sure if...uh” Hannibal faltered and looked desperately at Will. “If I show you, you must promise not to say a word about it to anyone.”
“Yeah, of course Hannibal. I promise.” WIll agreed and followed as he was led up the stairs to the door of what Will had always assumed was another guest room. Hannibal paused in front of the door, and glanced at Will before taking a deep breath and turning the knob, letting the door swing inwards. Hannibal stepped back and allowed Will to enter first.
The room was dark; Will only took two steps into the room before he halted, waiting for Hannibal to turn on the lights. Behind him, Hannibal cleared his throat, “Please Will, do not laugh, and I hope this will not change how you feel about me.”
“Hannibal, how bad can it be? Why do you think I would feel any different…Oh,” Will trailed off as Hannibal flipped on the light switch and the contents of the room became visible. The walls were lined with posters for all of the different Star Wars movies, even the not-so-great three that had come out in the early 2000s. Shelves filled with toys and other memorabilia lined every inch of wall that were not covered by posters. Prop lightsabers were hung behind glass, and in the corner of the room stood a life size Darth Vader figure.
“Wow,” Will breathed out as he stepped further into the room and began to inspect the items on the shelves. “Hannibal, this is really cool,” Will smiled as he turned back to Hannibal and found the older man nervously hovering near the door.
Hannibal let out a shaky breath and gave will a small smile, “You don’t think it is... a bit much?”
“Honestly Hannibal, this isn't all that weird. I knew a guy who put astroturf in his study and painted yard lines on it and had the whole room decked out in Green Bay Packer stuff. Trust me I don’t think any differently of you for this, though I am disappointed you didn’t tell me you were a Star Wars fan. We could have marathoned the movies several times by now,” Will added lightly, stepping over to the older man and lifting his hand to cup Hannibal’s face.
“I didn’t want you to think me childish,” Hannibal bashfully admitted.
“Honestly Hannibal, I don’t think you are childish because of this, I think it makes you seem a little bit more human,” Will said with a smile before he stepped closer to Hannibal, eliminating the space between them.
Reaching out, Will grasped Hannibal’s hand and interlaced their fingers before he tilted his face up, their lips brushing softly. Pulling back slightly, Will smiled again, mischief gleaming in his eyes.
“So I do have one question for you,”
“Umm what is that mylimasis?”
“Who do you prefer, Han or Luke?”