Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hannibal King had a difficult time wrapping his head about everything that had happened to him in the last two weeks. Initially, he tried not to overthink all of it, to avoid giving himself a headache, but the situation was just too bizarre to ignore.

He was currently lying in bed, a bed so unnecessarily big that Hannibal fell in love with it as soon as his eyes had landed on it the day before, enjoying a slow morning.

Rubbing his eyes with one hand, Hannibal recalled the whole week during which he and Drake finally talked. After hours of arguing, shouting, and three tactical retreats Hannibal had done three days in a row, because he had needed time to think, last night they had sat down and actually talked. Telling Drake about Danica and everything that had happen to him had been exhausting, but it had turned out that listening to Drake describe his own experiences, his life, as well as his feelings for Hannibal, had been just as draining. Hannibal might have had freaked out a little bit and left the room then, because all of it was a lot to handle, so he refused to feel bad about his very understandable reaction. It wasn’t often that an old-ass vampire told you he had feelings for you, after all. However, Hannibal had ended up coming back after an hour or two, which had led to even more earth-shattering discoveries.

Stretching on the bed, Hannibal immediately felt everything he and Drake had done earlier, his muscles still pleasantly sore. His hand immediately travelled up to his neck, where Drake had bitten him the night before. He still felt strong apprehension about having a vampire so close to his veins again, which Drake had learned very quickly, because last night when he had ran his teeth gently down Hannibal’s neck, Hannibal had been so startled that he had kicked the other man in the stomach. The kick had clearly surprised Drake, and in his shock the vampire had ended up almost falling off the bed, which had made Hannibal snort. Loudly. He also might have had laughed at the expression on Drake’s face right then. The vampire had wanted revenge for that. It had been a fun night.

Hannibal didn’t have to look at a watch to know that it was still disgustingly early. The pillows next to him were already cold when he woke up, which meant Drake was up and about for some time by that point. How did Hannibal end up with, apparently, a morning person, he had no idea, but he already knew that finding new ways to keep Drake in bed longer would be an enjoyable challenge.

After getting up, Hannibal put on the shirt and pants he wore the day before, since he didn’t have anything else with him, and went to look for Drake. And for something to eat. He was famished.

He was walking down the stairs of the mansion Drake apparently somehow owned, admiring the place, and just when he was about to enter the kitchen, he heard something he was not expecting to hear at all.

“What can I do for you, Whistler?”

Hannibal frowned at the question. As quietly as possible he walked towards the door, hoping that he wouldn’t be overheard, and glanced inside the room.

Drake was leaning back against the kitchen island, both hands propped on the countertop, looking politely curious. In the middle of the room was Abigail Whistler, looking less than impressed, as she watched Drake with a frown on her face.

The two kept staring at each other, and the whole scene was so intense that Hannibal could almost feel the temperature in the room drop. After solid five minutes of silence that accompanied Drake and Abigail’s impromptu staring contest, Hannibal could feel himself getting progressively more and more uneasy. And hungry. He really wanted a sandwich.

Then, after what felt like an hour of waiting, which was realistically more like a couple of minutes only, Abigail said: “Break his heart and I'll stake your ass. That’s a promise.”

Drake’s face didn’t even twitch at the threat. “Understood.”

“Good.”

As soon as Hannibal saw Abigail walking away from Drake he took a step back. Then, when she finally left the room, he immediately wrapped one arm around her shoulders and squeezed her, smiling the whole time, because how could he not? “Thanks, Abbs. You’re the best.”

Abigail rolled her eyes briefly, but one corner of her lips tilted upwards as she hugged him back. “Take care of yourself. And if you need me to kick his ass, call me.”

“Will do,” Hannibal promised, and squeezed her once more before letting go. Only when Abigail left the house did he finally enter the kitchen.

Drake still stood in the same spot, one eyebrow raised as Hannibal walked up to him.

“You do not want to piss off Abbs, believe me. She will kick your ass,” Hannibal told the other man, and just as he was about to reach the fridge, strong fingers wrapped around his wrist, tugging gently. Soon, Hannibal was staring at Drake’s face, while the vampire’s arms wrapped around Hannibal’s waist, their bodies pressed close together. “Well, hello there.”

“Consider me warned,” Drake glanced at Hannibal’s lips, so Hannibal tilted his head, expecting the other man to kiss him. To his disappointment, however, all the vampire did was ask: “Have you given security codes to the house to anyone else?”

Hannibal’s smile only widened in answer. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“I am sure I will find out soon enough.”

“You should always expect the unexpected, you know.”

“Very well, then. I do hope your friends do not expect to see you today. Or tomorrow, for that matter,” Drake ran one hand down Hannibal’s waist to palm his ass.

Hannibal raised one eyebrow at that, maybe a little hesitantly, because some things were not easy to overcome, Drake being a vampire definitely among them. He was a bit curious, though. A tiny bit. He did enjoy all of Drake’s ideas from the night before, after all. “Oh. And why is that?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Hannibal let the other man lead him back to the bedroom, all food-related thoughts leaving his brain for the time being. He was definitely going to make Drake bring him breakfast later, though. A big breakfast.