Chapter 3
As soon as Will walks into the house he shares with Hannibal, the dogs come bounding to him. Now it’s just two of them, instead of the brood that Will used to own. He had to give the others away for adoption with a heavy heart, because they became afraid of Hannibal. Hannibal did not mean to scare them, but being a wendigo made them instinctively defensive. Will tried to do anything he could, giving them a room to stay in and making Hannibal agree to never go near them, but instinct still won. Hannibal put his foot down the day Will got bitten by Winston. It was then that Will carted off the ones that reacted more aggressively towards even the scent of a predator. And thus only two remained.
Putt was blind in one eye and had the biggest doggie smile ever and Marie was quite the queen. Will loved them both. Hannibal did too, in his own way. Will never had to check if their food dish or water bowl ran empty, Hannibal took care of that, and should Will be late to return home, Hannibal always took the dogs on their walk even though he did not like walking that much. He couldn’t bear to be licked by their tongues either and found their too loud barking problematic sometimes, but they made do. Sometimes Alana would come and take them away for a week should things become too much. Apparently, one of her new partner is quite fond of dogs and she likes to oblige.
Putting his bag down in the table by the door and his keys in the bowl there, he headed towards the kitchen, from where he could hear the sound of utensils and the amazing smell of something delicious cooking. Hannibal was a fantastic cook, even thought all he himself partook was raw flesh of what he could find. He was not named the eater of flesh for nothing. Disease ridden, stale, anything, so long as it was still recognisable as flesh and not a maggotpit, Hannibal could and did eat anything. That did not lessen his pleasure in making wonderful dishes to tease and taunt the taste buds of his beloved and his very few close friends.
Right then, Hannibal was making a mouth-watering stew if Will was right with a bunch of herbs and balls of seasoned meats. He went up to Hannibal, and kissed his cheek over his shoulder on his tip toes. He was rewarded with a pleased smile at that and the chance to taste the stew while it was yet to be plated. Will declined, for he was feeling very hungry and anything Hannibal made Will always liked so it was not a good question to ask. He just couldn’t make out whether a dish required ore salt or not. Hannibal kissed his nose and sent him off to their bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes. With a slight tap on Hannibal’s ass, Will headed to their room.
The room was as minimalistic as his office. There was a huge bed that took most of the space, one side of the room completely converted into cupboards of various sizes where they kept all their clothes and toys. A mirror hung near the door and it was full length, and played an awesome part in their games. Hannibal liked to watch Will in the middle of throes while he shivered and whimpered out his moans to Hannibal. Will took a quick shower, don a soft undershirt and flannel pyjamas. They would not be going out tonight after all.
By the time he returned to the kitchen, Hannibal had already set the small table in the kitchen opting for it instead of the big one in their dining hall. This meant that Hannibal was feeling cozy and that fun times have been planned for the night. Will liked how Hannibal let out such unsubtle hints on when anything was going to happen. It gave Will ample time to refuse or defuse the sexual expectation or get ready for it. Hannibal certainly required special requirements and arrangements for the whole thing to be such well planned and maintained. While Hannibal had no problem in copulating in his human form, he preferred his original form of a wendigo with the full rack of antlers, his featured more animalistic as his reactions.
Will had once asked as to why it was so. The antlers were not easy to grow and usually took half the night to regrow their original shape, his body would became skeletal without any fat or even nerve endings, so it should be the worse alternative to have sex in. Hannibal had said, “It might seem like the harder alternative, but for me it is the most freeing. I may be a skinwalker, but I too have an original form that which is more natural for me. The antlers, they are a matter of pride among us. When we transform into humans or anything else, it’s the antlers that help us retain and maintain our new shape, by giving us bones and knuckles and muscles that we as wendigo do not posses in our body. They are our life and should one’s ever break, even a bit, we will die a horrible death, unable to even hold a form and just ooze into the shelves of the earth till the day this planet is destroyed.”
Will had pulled Hannibal to him then, the idea of Hannibal gone horrific beyond belief. Will assured Hannibal that he would be always careful and make sure that Hannibal or his antlers are never harmed. Bringing his mind form the past Will finds Hannibal seated before him, his skin already going splotchy and darkening into a foliage of dark greens, deep blues, yellows and brown lightning streaming through and an underlying black like a spreading bruise while his horns grew minutely every minute. Will was used to it enough now that it did not even quite register. What did was the plate before Hannibal that contained not the stew he had cooked but a piece of bloody meat. Will wrinkled his nose at it, not to convey his disgust but rather the look one gives food that one if not a big fan of. Hannibal just gave a huff and ate his meal with pleasurable bites.
“Today, I made a few mistakes in my counselling sessions. It was the hunter with freckles you sent as well as the chatterbox with the werewolves. I ended up pushing them more than I should have, not that anything bad happened. In fact something good may have happened for it. Still, I was lacking in patience. Maybe I should go for a few sessions of my own to Martin again. What do you think?” Will asked Hannibal.
Hannibal said, “The hunter is a mass of writhing contradiction of what he should and should not be or do. The other one talks enough to make the dogs seem like quite gents. I am not surprised that you ended up losing patience my love, not everything can be faced with the same level of patience after all. Still, if it made you worry, you better go for the sessions. Martin is good, even I will vouch for her, her mind is delectably sharp and selfish. People like that have no problem at pointing out the problems and giving a straight account of the possible solutions. You should definitely go for them if that is what you want.”
Hannibal was lisping by now and making an effort to enunciate each word clearly. Will helped him clean the table, washed the dishes together and after looking after the dogs both headed towards their bedroom. They were still talking about their patients, and no confidentiality were breached as both knew the patients. Hannibal was particularly interested in a client who had in fact travelled from the Congo basin in Africa for help from Will, so desperate he was for any kind of assistant he could get.
“Mr Malin is one of the sweetest man I have ever seen. His English was quite good. He had a slight problem with the pronunciation of a few words and his speech was very direct without any inflection, but really, I hope he finds the help he was looking for,” Will confides in Hannibal.
Hannibal frowned and said, “I thought you would be all the help the man required. It was certainly my understanding when I sent him to you. Why was your assistance not enough?”
Will remains silent for a few minutes as they together turn the covers down so that they can get in it. Will then says, “I looked it up on the net afterwards, after he left, because he gave me a very clear description. In Congo and Uganda, people pray to a plant god there, who apparently was responsible for the creation of the first plant. They call him Chonganda. Mr Malin informed me that his partner was possibly the same deity or a live descendent of the said deity. Human in form and stature, his partner could have intimate physical connection only via tree vines, tentacles of thick branches, and tendrils. This is no problem to Mr Malin, who find these administration pleasurable.”
“So what is making him run here?” asks Hannibal as he pulls Will towards him and covers his skin in rough kisses.
“He is in love with a God, Hannibal. It is understandable he is intimidated,” Will gasps out due to the administration of Hannibal’s clever finger and tongue.
After that the only sound that falls form the bed are that of skin slapping on skin, keening gasps and whimpering, mouth sucking off liquid and skin. Will is overwhelmed by what he is feeling and Hannibal is feeling raw and happy and wild and fulfilled. Finally, as he kneels between Will’s open knees and lines himself up, his antler rack in full display, his skin an uninterrupted shiny coat of black, Will whispers out, “Imagine being in love with a God.”
Hannibal grunts back, “Yes, imagine that,” and shoves in. Will cries out and comes, immediately sated and hungry for more. Hannibal hushes him with soothing sounds for the night is a long way to be over yet.