( @nycswriter )
Hannibal had noticed Emil Whitaker before they had ever been introduced.
It was not difficult to find information about an investigative journalist with enough determination to make powerful people uncomfortable. Hannibal found the distinction β
@nycswriter enough distance between them to make the encounter natural rather than deliberate.
"Mr. Whitaker."
He stopped a few feet away, giving Emil enough space to decide whether he wanted to continue the conversation.
"I have read some of your work."
Hannibal watched him β
Hannibal felt the change in Will the moment he leaned into him. The breath that escaped him, the way his hands caught at Hannibal's clothing as though he needed something solid and real to hold onto, none of it went unnoticed, it never would.
His hand β
closer.
"You came here because you wanted me."
His fingers rested gently against Will's neck.
"And I have been waiting for you to understand that I wanted you too."
He held him there, allowing the quiet that followed to belong entirely to them.
"You do not have β
@PermanentVirus affairs.
That afternoon, he stopped at a quiet cafe after leaving an appointment. He ordered his coffee and took a seat near the window, opening the book he had brought with him. His thoughts returned briefly to the matters that had brought him to London.
( @PermanentVirus )
Hannibal had been in London for several days, attending to matters of his own. None of them were connected to the consulting work that had once brought him into the orbit of people like James Moriarty. His reasons for being there were personal, and he β
@PermanentVirus knowing them.
That distinction interested him.
He had no intention of seeking Moriarty out. There was nothing to gain from forcing an encounter, and Hannibal preferred people to reveal themselves without being prompted. So, for now, his attention remained on his own β