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After much badgering, four times plain refusal, and at least twenty instances where Will had to roll his eyes and groan in annoyance, he had finally been corralled into joining his friend Beverly on her camping trip. There was nothing about hanging out in the wilderness he found distasteful, but he’d prefer to do it alone and not with a group of college students he didn’t know.
“They’re chill, I promise,” Beverly had said when he finally agreed out of desperation to get her to leave him the fuck alone. “There won't even be that many people! We can roast marshmallows and weenies and have a great time! AND you can meet new people.”
Having arrived at the campsite - aka a large clearing in the woods in the middle of bumfuck nowhere -, Will regretted everything in his life that had lead him to this point. There were copious amounts of coolers filled to the brim with ice and booze, and, admittedly, a large amount of marshmallows and weenies as well, but there were also definitely more young bodies than Will had been dreading. As he stumbled out of Bev’s beaten up old car, his shoulders were nearly to his ears with how tense he was, eyes roving over the sizeable crowd of what he considered hell on earth.
“I could be reading a really good book right now,” Will muttered as he very nearly plastered himself to his friend’s side. “Or watching a stupid show on Netflix. Safe. Under a blanket or ten.”
“Oh my god, Will,” Beverly moaned and tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder. “Live a little! Emphasis on live. You can go back to your laptop and your books tomorrow. It’s one night! Oooh let’s set up our tent here, come on.”
Will nearly tripped on Beverly in her enthusiasm to pick a spot to set up their raggedy green two-man tent. She grasped his arm with a strength that belied her small frame and pulled him bodily through a small crowd, and it was all Will could do not to smack into various people, not being as small and determined as his friend, much less as graceful. They set the tent up in a tiny inlet of trees, very slightly removed from the little village going up in an untidy line on either side of theirs, and Will sighed longsufferingly afterwards. The night was still incredibly early and he was ready for it to be over immediately.
Half an hour later found them sitting in comfy chairs around a young fire, nursing a beer each, though Will couldn’t help making faces at her choice for them. He would be happy with some whiskey if he was absolutely required to drink, or a can of soda preferably as he didn’t enjoy being intoxicated around so many people -or at all, really. There was loud rock music playing now, someone having set up a clunky old boombox, and a small group of people had begun dancing not too far from the firepit.
“Not too many people, she said,” Will nagged and took a sip of his beer before scrunching his face up in disgust. “This beer is awful.”
“Can you breathe between all those complaints?” Bev laughed and leaned over to prod his shoulder. “Cheer up. I’m gonna go find Jimmy and Brian.”
“They’re here too? Oh dear god,” Will forced himself to take another sip as he slouched miserably in his chair.
Having evidently managed to get lost, Beverly didn’t return anytime soon, and Will was left to suck at his beer and get lost in his thoughts. He was pretty good at pretending, and was just imagining that he was home under the aforementioned blankets with a cold soda and a dumb show on his laptop, or snuggled in bed with Winston. He didn’t need to party to enjoy his weekend, and everything about this was the last thing he’d do. At least the fire was nice and toasty, and someone had dropped a bag of marshmallows in his lap quite suddenly, so he opened it and shoved one in his mouth without preamble.
“You look positively thrilled to be here,” a voice suddenly said.
Will nearly choked on the mouthful of soft gooey sugar in his mouth as another student sat down primly in Beverly’s recently vacated seat. Dressed in a pink button down shirt and black jeans, the man looked to be quite a few years older than most people here. His light blond-brown hair was brushed back away from his face into a neat coif, and his sharp features were an instant distraction. For a moment all Will could do was stare with a bit of marshmallow poking out of his mouth as he belatedly realized that yes, this man was talking to him, Will Graham, nerd extraordinaire, who was sitting alone and gorging himself on sugar and bad beer.
“Uhm,” he said brilliantly after forcing himself to swallow.
“Is that so?” the man’s voice was deep and smooth and accented, and Will suddenly was a million percent certain he was being pranked somehow.
“Ugh, hi, sorry,” Will finally managed to find his own voice, and he pushed his glasses up on his nose as if that would help anything. “Are you, uh, are you talking to me?”
He looked around and noticed that it had gotten a bit darker at some point. The music was louder, there were even more people, and he finally spotted Beverly dancing rowdily with a small group of other females. Hugging the bag of marshmallows in his lap, Will returned his eyes to the man lounging next to him, who was speaking again.
“Do you see anyone else directly here?” he asked with amusement.
“Uhm. No. Hi, I’m Will,” Will said and then promptly wanted to dive off a cliff at how intelligent he sounded; he set his beer in the cupholder on the arm of his chair and barely refrained from slapping his forehead with his palm.
“Nice to meet you, Will. I’m Hannibal,” the man held out a hand expectantly and Will very nearly balked.
Will stared at the strong hand waiting for him and hugged the marshmallows tighter. He had already begun to reflexively sweat at talking to a new person, and he was insanely grateful his hair was long enough to fall into his face to at least hide some of the blush dirtying his cheeks. After a very nervous minute, he finally reached out and quickly shook Hannibal’s hand, marvelling at how pale his own shaking hand was in comparison. Will snatched his hand back and returned to clutching the bag in his lap resolutely. He figured he could stare at the fire and pretend to be so engrossed in his thoughts that the man would wander away, or maybe he could grow a pair and actually say something that wasn’t stuttering and awkward noises.
“You don’t do this often, do you?” Hannibal’s voice was amused but not, Will realized quickly, judging.
“Uhm. If by ‘this’ you mean sit at a fire and stuff my face with food and awful beer, then no. My friend Beverly dragged me along,” Will spoke quickly and tried to slow down and actually breathe but it was difficult with how nervous he was. “Er, she’s over there dancing.”
“Not fond of eye contact, are you?” the amused voice diverted his rambling politely.
Will realized he’d looked at the guy’s face probably for two seconds before those regal features promptly intimidated him into staring at the flames before him. He recalled a very striking profile, sharp cheekbones, and lips that probably pouted prettily. But his inability to meet a stranger’s eyes was doubly so an issue with this beautiful creature that had decided to talk to him for some god-only-knows-why reason.
“Uh, yeah. I mean no. Eyes are distracting,” Will answered finally, and he looked sort of in the man’s direction to at least try to be polite, but he definitely didn’t look any further than Hannibal’s jaw.
“I suppose they are,” those lips said, and Will felt his body jolt as he realized his gaze had wandered to Hannibal’s mouth at some point, and the urge to choke on another marshmallow became strong.
Snapping his gaze back to the fire, Will slouched further into his chair and ducked his chin into the collar of this plaid shirt, hoping he just looked chilly and not as terrified as he felt. Despite some time having passed, he felt no less nervous in Hannibal’s company, and he prayed the man would talk up some other student sitting miserably at the fire or preferably even farther away. After a while, Hannibal appeared to have picked up on his body language and indeed did get out of Beverly’s chair, and Will was hit with a waft of his fancy cologne and a sweetly musky scent beneath.
He felt his body relax immediately at having been left alone finally. He had about half a minute to enjoy the feeling, though, before a vodka cooler was pressed into his hand quite suddenly and with it the reappearance of Hannibal, who sat back down next to him and even scooted the chair closer. Will took a long gulp of the cooler before he could react in any manner, least of all with the ‘Why are you back??’ that wanted to blurt out of his mouth.
“I figured you’d want something less awful,” Hannibal murmured with a smile that Will could hear if not see. “I do agree the beer is not up to par. Nor are these coolers, really, but what can one expect from an event like this?”
Will sank into his chair and wanted to moan in despair. The man insisting on carrying on the conversation was either blind to his discomfort, or possessed Beverly’s brand of uncaring when it came to him not wanting to socialize. The fire blazed in the pit before him and there were a few others scattered around it, some roasting their marshmallows, others lounging on blankets and cuddling together near the warmth. No one really looked miserable at all, beyond him, and he felt a shock of shame for a brief moment. Spotting Beverly dancing and smiling and laughing loudly at a crude joke she’d made or heard, though, made it difficult for him to feel too bad for long. Maybe he was miserable and sitting here alone -well, before the mysterious appearance of Hannibal-, but he was happy that she was having fun, and he could respect her efforts in getting him to socialize.
“I can’t tell if I’m boring you or if you’re as shy as your posture claims you are,” Hannibal’s voice interrupted his thoughts and Will was shocked enough to look at him fully for just a second.
Will’s blue eyes met dark brown ones, crimson in the firelight, and despite it lasting only a few seconds, he felt as if his entire being had been pried apart for this man’s perusal. His expression was hard to read, caught somewhere between what appeared to be amusement and possibly some frustration, though it hadn’t made it into Hannibal’s tone. His lips were quirked into a smirk.
“No, no, no, you’re not boring at all,” Will stammered, finally pulling his gaze away to blink at the fire ahead of him. “I’m just...bad. At people. Really bad. I really don’t do this often at all whatsoever.”
“What do you prefer to do?” Hannibal sounded genuinely curious. “If I’m not being too overbearing.”
The fire crackled and popped and Will shoved another marshmallow into his mouth and swallowed hard. Taking a nervous sip of the cooler -some fruity flavor-, he finally accepted that Hannibal was not going to be going anywhere. He was comfortably situated next to the frazzled self-proclaimed nerd, leaning casually with one knee crossed over the other, sipping his cooler casually. Will imagined they looked quite the pair sitting there, one obviously used to the atmosphere, the other incredibly out of his element and wanting to sink into the floor. Taking a deep breath, Will attempted to force himself to calm down as much as possible.
“I like books. And fishing, and dogs. I prefer to be sitting inside and comfortably alone,” he answered finally. “I also like boats.”
Silence followed his answer. It lasted long enough that Will looked over again at Hannibal, expecting the man to have dozed off or something, or gotten distracted by someone much more interesting. He found those eyes looking at him, found Hannibal’s head leaning against one of his hands, bottle sitting against his lips. The man was staring straight at Will, and had been for a while. Will blinked stupidly and let his eyes fall away to the nozzle of the bottle, and as he did, Hannibal took a drink, lips wrapping around it and head tilting back just slightly as he drank.
“You’re fucking gorgeous,” Will found himself saying, before he promptly blinked again, turned as red as the fire, and launched himself out of the chair.
The marshmallows went flying, but he managed to keep ahold of his drink at least. His face was burning so hard he felt dizzy, and he slammed unintentionally into at least half a dozen people in his haste to get as far away from the man he’d just blabbed stupid words at. The music blasting in the air felt deafening, as well as the voices of the partygoers, but mainly Will couldn’t hear much over the blood pounding in his ears and his heart beating in his throat. He stopped at some point, wondering if he should go to the car and hide in the back seat, or just straight up drive away, but he refused to leave his friend behind. He figured he could go to the tent and curl up in a sleeping bag and cover his ears and beat himself up.
As he deliberated, he was unable to notice Hannibal catching up to him until he felt a long-fingered hand grip his shoulder gently but firmly, and smelled the man’s cologne again. Will was turned around tenderly, and one fingertip stroked into his stubble to lift his face to see Hannibal’s most definitely amused expression. Beneath that, the man also appeared to be smug for some reason or another, almost as if he were preening. Instead of being disgusted or appalled at Will for what he’d said, Hannibal appeared to be proud and pleased.
“You are quite the looker yourself, Will,” the man murmured. “If you’ll pardon my lack of expletives, I mean it no less. Although.”
The finger left his chin, and with it Will’s breath, which gusted out of him. He hadn’t realized he’d been holding it until then, and he promptly did again when Hannibal reached up to straighten his glasses on his nose, stroking gently between his brows to soften the furrow there. He smelled so amazing and looked even more so, gorgeous, as Will had said. But also more than that. At this proximity, Will could see that Hannibal was sturdily built, with broad shoulders, strong arms, and a thick chest. He had narrow hips and fit legs, and his neat hair had fallen out of place, making him look decided mussed. The sharp angles of his face were gentled by the fond expression as he stroked the same hand into Will’s bangs to brush them out of his eyes.
“Much better,” Hannibal murmured.
“Wha?” Will said intelligently.
Everything is at once too much and not enough. The party sounds had been drowned out by the blood rushing to Will’s face and other places he wasn’t ready to admit even existed in that moment. Hannibal’s fingers felt too hot and also too cold on his skin, and left behind a trail of sensation Will never wanted to be without again. When he’d come to this party, meeting someone new had been the farthest thing from his mind. Meeting someone new and communicating had been farther than Australia was to him right now. Meeting someone absolutely fucking sexy as all hell who appeared to be interested in him even just slightly was unrealistic and also so far from his mind it might as well be a concept thought up by someone in another dimension. Will felt his head become fuzzy and let out the breath he had taken in finally, exhaling hard enough to stir Hannibal’s and his hair just a bit.
“Perhaps we ought to go to my tent,” Hannibal was apparently speaking again.
Will blinked and blinked again. Tent, he thought blankly. Will’s jaw fell open and he swallowed hard. He followed Hannibal’s hand as it gestured to a sizeable tent that ironically as near Will’s and Beverly’s, hiding in the inlet behind a tree, mostly out of sight. He debated escaping again with a half-baked lie, grabbing Beverly, and leaving and never ever leaving his house again. He also debated following Hannibal immediately and getting cozy with him in the tent, wrapped up in one sleeping bag and ignoring the rest of the party. Ultimately, Will decided to just blink again and close his mouth with a loud click.
“Uhm. Okay,” he finally said.
And that’s how he found himself crawling into Hannibal’s tent, where it was warm and cozy, a lantern hanging from the center. It was much bigger than the green thing he and Bev had set up, and there was an air mattress on the ground of it, set up with incredibly soft bedding instead of sleeping bags, and there were two incredibly fluffy-looking pillows. Kneeling on the end of the mattress, Will tried to make sense of his frazzled brain as Hannibal moved in behind him and zipped the tent closed afterwards.
“Make yourself comfortable, please,” the man said.
Will made it to the center of the mattress, which seemed massive to him now that he was inside completely. He’d shucked his dirty boots off outside and he struggled into a cross-legged position now, trying to ignore how awkward he must look, all gangly nerd body and scratchy plaid and old jeans. He dreaded to even think about how awful his hair had been the entire night, but found he couldn’t think about that long as Hannibal finally came to rest next to him, lounging on his right side and facing Will. His head rested on his arm, which supported his upper body, and his long legs were crossed at the ankles, his other arm laying casually against his hip. Fighting the urge to scrunch his body up nervously, Will bit his lip and looked very very briefly into Hannibal’s eyes before he squinted up at the lantern.
“Is it too bright?” Hannibal asked.
“What? No, it’s fine. Uhm.”
The air was warm and close in here. It was simultaneously suffocating as well. Will felt his emotions warring in his brain and heart as he wondered why exactly he was sitting in a tent with an attractive man who was literally giving him bedroom eyes. Or what he assumed was bedroom eyes. They certainly looked it, hooded and black in the dim light of the lantern. The hand resting innocently on his hip was tapping a beat into the cloth of his jeans. In a word, Hannibal was indeed gorgeous.
“You don’t need to be nervous. I would never hurt you, Will,” Hannibal’s voice was lowered and near sensual with that foreign accent.
“Nervous is my default state of everything,” Will laughed and choked on it, coughed to clear it, and then sighed and looked at the man next to him from under his fringe of curly hair. “I’m basically a mess all the time. And I’m not really sure why I’m in here with you, if I’m perfectly honest.”
“I appreciate honesty. Come here. Please.”
Will took a deep breath but found the nervousness in him had subsided just enough for him to force himself to move. He got to his knees and crawled closer to the other man, trying not to think about what he was doing, but also completely obsessing over it as he wondered what ‘here’ was. Did Hannibal want him to lay next to him, just get closer to make talking easier…? Freezing, Will ended up on hands and knees looking Hannibal with a deer in the headlights expression, lip red from having bitten it so much, hair a mess. If he knew how incredibly tempting he looked, Will would probably have just laughed and waved it off. Not smoothly, of course.
“Here,” Hannibal grunted and tipped Will over suddenly.
Long limbs flailed momentarily, but eventually Will ended up half on top of Hannibal, legs curled under himself, upper body leaning against Hannibal’s torso. For his part, Hannibal had moved to lay on his back, and the arm he had been leaning on came to rest gently around Will’s hip, while the other reached up into his hair. Breathing became impossible again as Will stared into red-brown eyes, his own eyes black with pupils blown wide. The cologne couldn’t mask the utterly masculine scent that Hannibal’s powerful body gave off, nor the scent of arousal Will inhaled seconds later, his own and Hannibal’s together.
“Oh,” Will said.
“Oh?” the hand carded through his hair so lightly it could barely be felt.
“Oh,” Will confirmed with an uncertain nod.
“Oh,” Hannibal conceded.
Something snapped within Will finally, and he laughed. Genuinely allowed himself to slow down and find amusement in the situation instead of suffocating anxiety. Let himself slow down to enjoy the feeling of this new person being close, this man he’d just met but who he felt he’d known much longer. It wasn’t just that he was incredibly fucking attractive, but his demeanor was soothing and felt like it had wrapped around him completely from the very beginning. The tension bled out of his frame and Will relaxed against Hannibal’s chest, even leaned forward a little, let his own hand drift into light-colored hair. He managed to keep eye-contact with the man for more than an entire minute as well.
“Is this quite alright?” Hannibal asked quietly after smiling at his laughter.
“It’s okay. Erm. It’s great. Really,” Will stuttered and finally just shut up and nodded his head with a lopsided smile.
The hand in his hair pressed firm fingers against his neck to bring Will closer even, and while yes, Will had definitely been kissed before, he panicked very briefly at the action. Hannibal immediately stopped.
“Will? Honesty, remember?”
“No, yeah, honestly. I’m fine. This is okay, I’m jus- I’m nervous. I haven’t kissed anyone in a very long time, and you’re sexy as fuck, so I’m like-”
Incredibly gentle and velvety smooth lips closed over Will’s babbling ones. Cut off mid-speech, his mouth was wide open, and Hannibal’s tongue licked along the shape of his lips, dipped into his mouth only very quickly to taste the beautiful angel above him. Will’s breath hitched almost violently but he didn’t pull back. His entire body thrummed with excitement now, a similar feeling to the anxiety that had filled him for most of the night, but much more appealing. It was easier to gain his bearings and return the kiss finally, and it was a sweet thing. Chaste and simple and heart-clenchingly amazing.
Ohmygod Bev is going to flip Will thought suddenly.
“Ohmygod,” Will said and pulled away from the kiss. “Bev. Uh, my friend. She migh-”
“Shhh,” Hannibal interrupted and pressed Will close again to lick into his mouth.
This kiss was less chaste. In fact it was downright filthy, Will was sure. He had time enough to moan before Hannibal’s tongue shoved its slick way down his throat, or at least that’s how it felt. There was no inch of his mouth left untouched by that questing, firm muscle, and Will panted breath out of his nose as he fought to keep up, to hold his own ground for dominance. He nudged his tongue into Hannibal’s mouth, ran it along sharp teeth shyly, and his hands fluttered over a smooth jawline, a muscular shoulder, while one of Hannibal’s hand stroked down from his hair to cup his face and the other pressed fingers beneath his shirt to dance along the skin under there.
The music and partygoers outside no longer existed to either of them, there was just the air they both shared between kisses, the wet sound of their dueling tongues, the shuffle of skin on fabric as they gravitated closer together at the same time. Finally pulling apart, Will looked at Hannibal and swallowed loudly. He closed his eyes and savored the moment, nuzzling into the hand curled against his stubbled cheek, before opening them again to blink slowly at the creature below him. Belatedly, Will realized that the night was most definitely no longer a miserable one, and he smiled brightly at Hannibal.
“Wow,” he said eventually, quivering just slightly as Hannibal stroked a finger under his eye and pulled him in for another quick kiss.
“Wow indeed,” Hannibal said into his mouth, and Will sighed happily.
Fini