I Owe You Not a Kindness || Hannibal Rising AU || CLOSED

quitethehumanitarian:

       Hannibal nodded in response to Graham’s question - so he was English, then. He’d thought as much. Muteness aside, he had been gifted with languages when he was very little, before he’d been struck voiceless by… what had happened. English happened to be among those he could understand, both spoken and read.

       The comment about the atlas piqued his interest and even prompted him to smile slightly in gratitude, the idea of having means to draw on some approximation of an easel as he used to being pleasing. And upon reflection, Graham was right; a large atlas would be a suitable replacement for more appropriate equipment, at least for now.

       Perhaps there’d be a book or two in English among the ones being scrapped that he could bring back for Graham in return for the tip. It seemed only fair - and he did try to be good to the boys his age and younger when he had the chance. It was the older ones, the bullies who used their size and strength to intimidate, that he had no taste for. They’d kept him from playing with the others for quite some time during his first few years, fearing first for Hannibal’s safety and later for the safety of the bullies when it turned out Hannibal could defend himself, but eventually the staff ceased to expend the effort. They always found him anyway, be it in the garden when he went to feed the one solitary goose in the pond, or in the hallways between classes, armed with stones or wads of paper.

       Bullies couldn’t resist a target who couldn’t speak to tell anyone of their actions, whether it was the rude older boys who flung stones or the headmaster with his wandering hands.

       Will Graham was not malicious, or even rude in the way the younger boys could sometimes be, asking Hannibal if he was crazy and giggling among themselves when he didn’t answer. That was refreshing.

       The answering nod and faint smile on Hannibal’s face surprised him but pleased him nonetheless. Up until now he had believed him incapable of smiling but obviously he was wrong… and that really wasn’t a bad thing in this case.

       Will was used to catching glimpses of the other boy in the hall, always wearing a carefully blank expression. Except for the rare times he had seen him caught in a fight with the older boys, then he had felt a trace of fear grow inside him. Hannibal’s face had always been twisted into a snarl on those occasions, an intimidating picture of fury.

       Now that he had managed to strike up some semblance of a conversation, Will wasn’t particularly inclined to let it trail off. It had been a long time since he had been able to hold someone’s interest this long.

       "You… do you have many blank pages left in your book? I- I can’t draw, but I know some people go through them really quickly. I have one but I don’t use it, so y- you can have it. If you want,“ he offered lamely. It may count as bribery but if they were going to be sharing the room, Will wanted to at least be on Hannibal’s good side, if not his friend. He didn’t want to have to worry about his few possessions going missing in the middle of the night. Not like how he had had to keep careful track of everything throughout the night while living in the large room with the younger boys.

       "Am I bothering you? I can stop talking, if I am,” he said quietly, suddenly unsure. Reading faces had never been one of his strengths but there wasn’t much else to rely on with Hannibal.