#willdelia

[the-girl-who-didnt-make-anysense]

Hannibal in text messages (x)

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#Hannictober/#EatTheRare: Moonlight [Bedelia/Will/Hannibal college/dancer AU]

Hannibal’s hair catches silver in the moonlight, turns what was ashen into sterling. It distracts Will from watching Hannibal go through the steps, teaching Will with his body how to move across the stage on his own. He wishes dance came to him as naturally as it does to his two partners, but Will’s talent lies elsewhere.

No doctor has ever been able to explain to Will how his gift works. It’s like playing by ear, he supposes, only his ears have nothing to do with it.

Hannibal’s pulled him through scene after scene since they were three years old, like a lock and key, a magic equivalent to Will’s own. As long as he can stumble through the instructor’s directions once, Hannibal can elevate Will’s tripping to an art after class.

Their toes know the way, but only together. Conjoined feet, Will calls it.

Now, with Bedelia, Will excels at support, too, at lifts. He watches them move, fluid and smooth, like oil floating on water. One personal performance, and then Will can close his eyes and let their sheer talent gild his optic nerves. They dance behind his eyelids, perfect, like they belong there, secret and only for him.

Will keeps his eyes closed when he dances, recalling the memory, rehearsed solely in his mind. It baffles his instructors to no end, but when Will looks, when they make him share, the spell is broken and he falls, strings broken.

Hannibal, though, he and Bedelia, there’s no puppeteer for them. It’s beautiful--they’re beautiful, out here on the patio in the moonlight, his long hair touched silver and hers bathed in gold. Will loves them, ethereal, strange and unreal, his stability and his heart, spinning and laughing and so very, very much in love with each other.

And with Will, as well, by some miracle. They’ll remind him of it beneath the clear sky when they’ve finished, run their fingers through Will’s hair, more blood-black than precious metal.

That’s his favorite dance, and Will doesn’t have to close his eyes to see it.

[Hannictober: Day 1]   [drabbles for charity]   [like my work?]

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Hannibal Creative’s #EatTheRare Media Roundup

A thousand thanks to @breannadolly for the wonderful banner!

EDITS

Charmont/Draco Edit by daughterofthemurderhusbands

Summary:

Gen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Charmont, Draco

Clash Enchanted

Untitled by galacticcoyote

Summary:

Gen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Bedelia du Maurier, Chiyoh

Bedelia/Chiyoh

Jack and Bella by Graham-Muffin

Summary: The beautiful relationship of Bella and Jack Crawford

Gen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Jack Crawford, Bella Crawford

Jack/Bella

Til Death Do Us Fucking Part by gleamingandwholeanddeadly

Summary:

Gen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Adam Towers, Nigel

Nigel/Adam Towers

Will/Nigel: Waste a Moment (1/2) by identically-different

Summary:

Explicit

Graphic Depictions of Violence

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Nigel

DogsDogs (Nigel/Will)

Will/Nigel: Waste a Moment (2/2) by identically-different

Summary: Nigel wakes in the United States in a hospital bed. The FBI want answers for a few things, but Nigel’s more interested in the guy down the hall with a smile carved into his belly.

Mature

No Archive Warnings Apply

Will Graham, Nigel

DogsDogs (Nigel/Will)

Map of the Problematique by identically-different

Summary:

Teen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Lee Fallon, Lucas

BearHunt

The Fair Lady's Game by shiphitsthefan

Summary: Dr Hannibal Lecter has enjoyed a casual long-distance relationship with Bedelia Du Maurier for years. As an opera diva and popular starlet, Bedelia’s rendezvous with him are typically short, whirlwind affairs. Hannibal fell in love with Bedelia the first day they met, but respects her wish to remain an independent woman, though it pains him to do so. Only Hannibal’s friend and adventuring companion, consulting detective William Graham, can solve the case for romance. His methods for doing so, however, remain as unusual as ever.

Unrated

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Bedelia du Maurier

Bedannibal

ship aesthetic: will graham / frederick chilton by xevinx

Summary:

Gen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Will Graham, Frederick Chilton

Chilly Willy

Pile of Leaves by shiphitsthefan

Summary: Bedelia/Will/Hannibal college/dancer AU

Gen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Bedelia du Maurier

Bedannibal, Willdelia, Bedannigram,

GIFSETS

Path Royale by youandihavebeguntoblur

Summary: 

Unrated

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Cal Roberts, Le Chiffre

Path Royale (Cal Roberts x Le Chiffre)

Unit Tempo by youandihavebeguntoblur

Summary:

Teen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Allan Fischer, Jack Ganzer

Unit Tempo (Allan Fischer/Jack Ganzer)

Luconnor by youandihavebeguntoblur

Summary:

Gen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Lucas, Joe Connor

Luconnor

VIDEOS

A Flexible Arrangement by hotsauce418

Summary: Lucas (Jagten) x Allan Fischer (Rejseholdet Unit One) A video request from Hannibalsimago with love to her smut wife for life <3

Unrated

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Lucas, Allan Fischer

Lucas x Allan

[shiphitsthefan]

#Hannictober/#EatTheRare: Pumpkin Spice [Bedelia/Will/Hannibal college AU]

She likes tight leggings, because Bedelia’s worked hard for her strong thighs and perfect ass, and the whole world should know it. Black boots over top of crocheted socks, soft and gray and all of it complete overkill for mild fall weather. Oversize sweaters, the kind with the necklines that slip down over one shoulder--is she wearing a strapless bra? Is she wearing a bra, at all?

Bedelia pulls her hair back in a tight ponytail, sitting high, ready to pin up into a bun when she hits the barre. Big hot pink Coach tote; pearls on her neck and ears; all her psych books in one arm, highlighter still clipped to her notes.

The whole outfit is planned carefully. She has to leave one hand free for the most important accessory of all--her favorite, more than the boots or the bag or the baubles.

Pumpkin. Spice. Latte.

They give her such shit about it, Will and Hannibal. For the past two years, Bedelia’s thought about breaking up with both of them from mid-September through the start of the new semester. But the three of them just fit, have always clicked and rolled together, in their troupe and in class and at night, high as Hannibal can lift her, endorphins rushed from great sex and good drugs.

But right now, on campus, in the corporate hell of a capitalist coffeehouse, Bedelia steels herself for the onslaught.

“They have a horchata...thing,” Will tells her as Bedelia puts her arm around him, skinny and small.

(“Our wee little man,” Hannibal calls him at night before he kisses Will so hard that Bedelia can’t breathe, either.)

“What’s horchata?” Bedelia jumps as Hannibal sneaks up behind her, wrapping his hands around her waist, like they’re going to do a grande jeté right here in line at Starbucks. “What’s horchata?” she asks again, angling her head to look up at Hannibal.

“A rice-based beverage,” explains Hannibal, “here in North America, at least, where the Mexican recipe is most prominent. As for here here,” and his voice takes on the slightest tone of disgust, “it’s made from low-cost almond milk, second-rate caramel, intolerably sweet syrups, and sprinkles.”

“OooOooOoo,” says Will, wiggling his fingers in a poor approximation of being spooky. “Sprinkles.”

“No worse than a PSL, then.” Bedelia shrugs exaggeratedly, and her shoulder bumps Will’s chin.

“There is far less stigma associated with a horchata frappuccino than with a pumpkinless pie spiced latte.”

“You’re such a pretentious bastard, Hanni.”

Will snorts, drawing one fingertip over the glass case, leaving a smear as he eyes the pastries. “Says the stereotypical poster child for the basic white girl meme.”

It’s okay, though. They can poke as much fun as they want to. Bedelia came armed for battle today.

“You know,” she begins, turning in Hannibal’s arms, reaching out with her free hand to pluck the crochet hook from behind Will’s ear, “I find it interesting that the only people who have an issue with pumpkin spice girls are men. Specifically cis het men, with their ingrained patriarchal notions and knee-jerk response to police how women dress.”

Bedelia bops Will on the nose with the green metal hook, mostly because she can.

“Oh fuck,” Will says after a heavy breath of collective silence. “It’s Thursday.”

Bedelia would have been able to sense Hannibal’s frown from the other side of the quad. “It has been Thursday all day, Will, yes.”

“Beddie has gender studies on Thursdays.”

Hannibal makes a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat. “Fuck, indeed.”

“Only if you boys both behave.” Bedelia doesn’t even try to disguise her preening, simply smirks, and walks up to the open register, and orders exactly what she damn well pleases.

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#Hannictober: Scarves [Bedelia/Will/Hannibal college/dancer AU]

Crochet is predictable. There’s a pattern to follow, an order that appeals to Will’s anxious mind. Ballet does the same for him, but Will can’t always be dancing.

(He tried once, during a meltdown. Hannibal found him thirteen hours and two pairs of blood-soaked shoes later.)

Will remembers glaring at this therapist for the rest of his hour when she first suggested it. He was only there to keep his hard-won place in the pointe class, not for advice on potential hobbies. The only craft Will was interested in was the craft, and he told Hannibal just as much in the cafeteria during brunch break. His books slammed on the table, a satisfying echo of the way he shut Ms. Bloom’s door.

“I take it your first period alternative went poorly?”

Will only grunted in reply, burying his face in Hannibal's neck, hoping Dr. Crawford wouldn't write them up for PDA.

Hannibal stroked the side of Will’s face. “What happened?”

“She thinks I need a hobby.”

“And what do you think?”

“I think she's full of shit,” Will said.

“Yet she has a point. A hobby could be beneficial,” said Hannibal, shrugging. “Perhaps first aid, so you can bandage yourself the next time you take to self harm to soothe your anxiety.”

Will pulled away slowly. “It wasn't self harm.”

“You mutilated your lovely feet, Will.”

And he knew he wasn't going to win this battle, not when Hannibal was so sincere in his concern. Therapists around every corner with no escape in sight. “Suggestions?”

“Perhaps you could create something to do with dancing? It would then catch your interest.” Hannibal smiled and scratched behind Will’s ear when he added, “My single-minded Patroclus.”

He started with leg warmers, because Hannibal hated them, and Will hated being coerced into crochet. Hannibal hadn’t waited for Will to choose a hobby on his own, simply showed up in pointe class with a bag full of yarn and crochet hooks and handed it to him. Will pouted through class--as if the girls didn’t make enough fun of him and Hannibal for being the only two boys to make it to pointe. It was already a woman’s world, and now Will had a bag full of women’s work.

Humiliated, Will set out to make the gaudiest fucking leg warmers in the entire world. Ballet pink, with sherbet orange stripes and silver yarn throughout that sparkled like tinsel. He crocheted a scarf to match, because...well he wasn’t sure why, beyond enjoying making the leg warmers. But the set was ugly, no matter how well-made, and if Will hid Hannibal’s regular leg warmers, then he’d be forced to wear Will’s.

Hannibal still wears them. He wears the matching scarf, too, and the soft plaid socks Will makes him for Christmas, and the earflap hat with the ridiculous crochet roses for buttons. Bedelia likes Will’s work, too, though Will gives her nicer gifts--primarily leg warmers (light pink and lacy) and scarves (chunky stitches and merino yarn) because he loves to dress her in pretty things.

This afternoon, however, on a whim, he decides to start a set of beanies. Scarves to match. Pastels. Pompoms.

Let’s see how they coordinate their outfits now. Grinning mischievously, Will picks up his needles. It is the season for tricks, after all.

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#Hannictober/#EatTheRare: Pile of Leaves [Bedelia/Will/Hannibal college/dancer AU]

Will spends the most time at home; even though Will is the youngest of their trio, he’s managed to pull ahead of both Hannibal and Bedelia by an entire year. He’s dropped his course load from eighteen hours to twelve, allowing Will more of an opportunity to be overwhelmingly antisocial in comparison to his partners’ dedication to Greek life. As much as Hannibal wants Will to be as active as he and Bedelia are, it’s nice to come home to both a happy Will and a clean house.

He particularly appreciates the yard maintenance. Will loves to spend time outside with Ceph, whether he’s reading or working or playing fetch with the mutt. Regardless of activity, they always manage to be covered in dirt by the time they come inside.

Hannibal abhors the mere concept of dirt.

Most afternoons, Bedelia joins Will in the backyard, the two of them studying beneath the canopy of the large maple. Hannibal sits outside, too, spreading his books and notes out across the table that he drags out onto the patio, provided it isn’t windy. He’s not fond of having to weigh down all of his papers, because then they get dirty.

“There’s this newfangled thing called sheet protectors,” Will calls out from the other side of the yard where he and Bedelia sit against the white wooden privacy fence. “Amazing stuff, progress.”

“Don’t tease the old man,” she stage whispers.

Hannibal rolls his eyes. “I’m a mere two months older than you, Delia.”

“And Will’s the baby by a whole year.” Bedelia ruffles Will’s hair and adds, “Little mister genius pants.”

“Eidetic memory.” He pushes her hand off of his head, plopping his ear against her shoulder, instead.

“That’s an odd pronunciation of ‘annoyance’.” It’s hard not to be grumpy in the face of Will’s talent and intelligence, at times. Then again, it isn’t unusual for Hannibal to spend his study session on the patio in a jealous huff, because there they are, the loves of his relatively short life, sitting together and spending quality time without him.

An hour passes with only the sound of other college students in the neighborhood and the whisper of cars on the road to be heard. Will finishes first, then stands with his hands on his hips, looking around for something to do before he winds up pulling out the rake. There will be a pile for he and Ceph to jump in later, Hannibal’s certain.

Instead, Bedelia shrieks when Will starts raking the leaves onto her legs. She’s grinning, trying to trip him up, finally succeeding, and then they start throwing bunches of leaves at each other. Hannibal can’t decide if their laughter is more adorable or disruptive--he has a metaphysical philosophy class to be at the head of, and his paper is due next week.

“Jesus, Hannibal, will you just gazelle-leap over the rail and get down here?” asks Will, trying to bat Bedelia’s hands away from him. “You’re missing out!”

“Shall the leaves compose my thesis statement on the comparative philosophy of Imre Lakatos?”

But neither of them answer; they’re too busy laughing. Hannibal pouts, pondering how the situation might be used as an example of Kuhn’s idea of scientific structure.

***

“Look,” begins Will over dinner, “you have to jump in a pile of leaves. It’s a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood. It’s impossible to move on with your life until you’ve jumped into a pile of leaves.”

Before Hannibal can refute him, Bedelia says, “Hannibal’s devoted to remaining a stubborn child.”

“Doogie Howser,” and Will giggles, and Hannibal frowns, and Bedelia blows him a kiss that Hannibal steadfastly refuses to catch.

***

They always make fun of how dressed up Hannibal gets every day for class. Bedelia only has to wear heels and a skirt on Mondays and Thursdays; Will attends his courses either in flannel or, if he wakes up more sullen than usual, his pajamas. Thankfully, Will does put lounge pants over his boxer briefs, though they’re typically also flannel.

This morning is no different, Hannibal dons his ironed slacks, tucks in his dress shirt, and fixes his tie. He puts his messenger bag on carefully to avoid mussing up his hair or wrinkling himself. One last look in the mirror to appraise himself, and then he steps out of his bedroom--

--and gets tripped by a taut string, falling right into a pile of leaves.

They’re damp.

Hannibal considers the benefits of killing both his partners.

[Hannictober: Day 1]   [Day 2]   [drabbles for charity]   [like my work?]

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#Hannictober: Ritual [Bedelia/Will/Hannibal college/dancer AU]

Bedelia’s never been superstitious, or religious, or even fatalistic. As far as she knows, Hannibal isn’t, either, though he does subscribe to some strange amalgam of philosophy neither she nor Will could ever hope to understand. Maybe that’s a type of fatalism all on it’s own, actually, their acceptance that Hannibal is incomprehensible at best, and impossible at worst.

Will, however, is easy to understand, if only because he's an oddly open book. He's always been prone to oversharing, or else not understanding what constitutes socially acceptable conversation. Bedelia thinks that's what keeps him from joining clubs or going through recruitment for Hannibal's fraternity--his autism--but it's just as likely that Will doesn't want any infringement on his time with Ceph.

Bedelia believes in finding self-fulfillment within a group; Hannibal believes in his status as head of the pack; as for Will, he believes in his dog. They all believe and trust in each other, too, of course, but that's hardly a cultural system or creed. No matter how often they call out for God in each other’s arms at night, there’s no greater supernatural power in which they have faith, or set of tenets they infallibly follow.

That's what makes Hannibal and Will's pre-performance ritual such a damn novelty.

Bedelia’s only been with them for a few years, but Hannibal and Will have been attached at the hip since birth as far as she can tell. Sometimes they look at each other and Bedelia wonders if she’s interrupting a private conversation just by breathing in the same room. They turn their gaze to her, and it’s a different kind of worship, and she knows then that she’s anything but a stranger. She’s not even a penitent.

Except in this, and then Bedelia might as well be David Attenborough.

The day before a performance, Hannibal follows Will through the backyard, or across the street, down the sidewalk, around the park a mile away. Bedelia went with them, once, thinking they were taking a stroll, and they were strolling, but also on a mission.

“Bird shit,” Will finally told her.

“What about it?”

“We’re looking for some.”

Bedelia stopped, hands in her pockets. “Why?”

“Fresh,” said Hannibal, like it was a sufficient answer.

It wasn’t. “Again, why?”

So Hannibal explained to her, while Will kept at the search, focused. It was a Lithuanian superstition, apparently, that if a person stepped in bird shit on accident, they would be rich. Or get a wish. Maybe get good luck? Bedelia was still fuzzy on the details, but what mattered was that he and Will took turns looking for it, and then lead the other person over it.

“That’s not exactly an accident,” Bedelia said.

Will shrugged, still looking. “Close enough.”

For them, Bedelia knows, it is. Their quest for bird droppings did begin as an accident, Will told her later, when he and Hannibal were cleaning off their shoes. Hannibal’s aunt smiled at them when they got home, then remarked off-hand about the old Lithuanian belief. Hannibal and Will had aced their auditions and won coveted spots for instruction at the conservatory, which led to Will insisting that they find droppings to tread over before every event or performance, no matter how small.

She laughed herself hoarse, and then Will said, “Well that’s how Hannibal eventually met you. Seems pretty lucky to me.”

Looking out into the backyard, leaning on the railing, watching her two deathly serious lovers hunting for poop, Bedelia believes herself lucky, indeed. Luckier still if they step in Ceph’s shit on accident.

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#Hannictober: Corn Maze [Bedelia/Will; college/dancer AU]

They have to skip class to go early in the morning, as soon as Verger Farms opens, because Will tries to avoid crowds whenever possible. Bedelia hardly minds; her Latin professor is somehow more pretentious than Hannibal could ever dream of being. As for Will, his criminal justice in media course doesn’t take attendance, and he’s seen Cool Hand Luke more times than he can count.

Hannibal still frowned at them over breakfast. “Skipping once leads to a downward spiral,” he’d said. “It makes skipping a second time easier, especially when there are no consequences.”

But Bedelia doesn’t mind that, either, that it will be only Will and her. The two of them so rarely get private time together due to their conflicting class schedules and her sorority obligations. They both love Hannibal, but it’s nice to have a date to themselves once in awhile, particularly when it’s somewhere Hannibal refuses to go.

“You two look so sweet together,” the woman at the ticket table tells them. Will squeezes Bedelia’s hand tighter, then asks for the difficult-level clue sheet and lets Bedelia drag him off. She can’t help herself; Will looks adorable trying to keep up with her when she runs, his mop of curls bouncing along like the ears of an eager puppy.

They take it slow through the maze, though, if only because Will shouldn’t have insisted on the difficult clues. Bedelia knows a few of them from spending time with her sorority sisters--pop culture references have rubbed off on her easily, especially from her best friend, Bella--but Will is woefully confused.

“I thought these would be about farming,” he says, puzzling over the question board at a crossroads.

“Seriously?”

“It’s a farm, Beddie.”

She does her best not to laugh; poking fun at Will’s literal thinking would be cruel. “I keep forgetting you grew up in the country,” she says, instead.

Will frowns, still glancing back and forth between the sign and the sheet, pencil tucked behind his ear, nearly lost in his hair. “We didn’t have corn. Maybe that’s the problem.”

“We’ll go to a Christmas tree maze next time.”

“Do they have Christmas tree mazes?”

Bedelia shrugs, then gives the corner of Will’s mouth a quick kiss. “I have no idea, but at least you’d be familiar with the environment.”

“What the heck even is a gingham style, anyway?” asks Will, seemingly oblivious to affection.

“Oh my God.” She grabs the list of clues from him. “That’s it, I’m taking your turn.”

They manage to get lost again two questions later, running into a dead end. Will grumbles, grabs her hand, and starts weaving them off-trail through the tall stalks. When they wind up coming out of the rows at yet another dead end, Bedelia giggles, and Will smiles, and they stand there kissing until a small group of children end up taking the wrong road, too.

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#HannibalHallow: Movie Night/#Hannictober: Hard Cider [Bedelia/Will/Hannibal; college/dance AU]

The Halloween Tree is the first real Halloween movie Will ever remembers watching, real in a way that the Charlie Brown special never could be. Will can appreciate Snoopy’s ingenuity, but the existence of a man-monster like Moundshroud and a terrifying madcap adventure through Halloween history always seemed more plausible to him.

He unpacks the VCR--it’s too precious a thing to leave sitting out, to use all the time--and takes the home-recorded cassette out of its deteriorating sleeve. Hannibal bought Will the Blu-ray for Halloween back in high school, but it isn’t the same. As much as he appreciates the gift, it’s like the difference between listening to music on vinyl and MP3; even if the scratches and imperfections are kept in the recording, they aren’t real, merely reflections.

(Bedelia and Hannibal indulge him in matters like this. There are so few times that life feels truly concrete for Will, what with his strong imagination and weak comprehension of reality. Will needs the bumps and bubbles and flaws, and not just in his favorite childhood movies.)

They always try to spend Sunday together--in the afternoon, before Hannibal and Bedelia’s fraternity and sorority meetings, and then again afterward. Even when there isn’t a holiday to set the mood, their respective choices of genre are fairly consistent. Hannibal enjoys somber drama, Scorsese and his ilk; Bedelia loves action flicks, adrenaline junkie that she is; Will typically goes with eighties sci-fi, or else animated films.

All three of them like the classics, however, black-and-white and brilliant and beautiful. Halloween never calls for slasher films, or movies heavily loaded with jump scares. They stick with the cerebral, Hitchcock and The Twilight Zone, then sit around drinking local cider from Mason jars and craft beers from weizen glasses, behaving as pretentiously as possible. Sometimes, Will puts on his nicest clothes, too, though he doesn’t have to follow their Greek dress code.

But not tonight. Tonight belongs to Will and his VCR, to Moundshroud and Bradbury and Hanna-Barbera, three times in a row and once more while his lovers are gone, peppered with Will’s own analysis through the second and fourth viewings. Ceph sits with him, and barks at the appropriately creepy parts, and Will thinks about time and death and what they’d be like, the three of them, Someplace Else in another universe.

As for the cider, Will drinks that while they’re gone, starting without them. Hannibal and Bedelia come home and smile and cuddle his tipsy self, all sensation. That cements Will in the present even more than the static hum of the tired VCR. In those moments, Will considers himself as lucky as Pipkin, though sugar skulls and sacrificed years unneeded, life given freely without prompting from any supernatural force.

[start from the beginning]   [the Pas de Trois series]   [like my work?]

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#Hannictober: Jack O’ Lantern [Bedelia/Will/Hannibal college/dancer AU]

Hannibal has never been particularly fond of autumn, and he especially dislikes Halloween. As far as he’s concerned, there’s no reason to wait for a specific month to unleash one’s fears and preferences and general oddness. Halloween is an excuse for blatant consumerism rather than a true celebration of the dead, the demonic, and the supernatural. Even worse, autumn leads to winter, which leads to Christmas, and Hannibal doesn’t like culturally obligatory holidays, either.

(Thanksgiving is nice, Hannibal supposes, because he gets to show off his culinary prowess. Unfortunately, it’s directly followed by Black Friday, which he fervently believes negates the cheer of the day before.)

But the ballet company puts on a special Halloween show each year, and Bedelia drags him to parties, and Will insists on Hannibal helping him decorate, even though none of them will be there to welcome trick-or-treaters. Pumpkin carving is a group effort, however, and takes them an unfortunate amount of time, yet the overall aesthetic effect of the jack-o’-lanterns on their porch is nice enough for Hannibal to indulge them in carving thematic pumpkins straight through New Year’s.

It’s Hannibal’s assigned duty each Halloween to create a suitably “spooky” design, and Bedelia and Will do the rest. The three of them sit around the kitchen table, and Hannibal listens to them bicker about who will gut and who will carve. They always end up taking turns; Hannibal has no idea why they insist on picking at each other.

He ignores them and keeps sketching an elaborate haunted house, followed by an even more complex graveyard. Since no one’s stopping him yet, he draws a zombified version of Wound Man, and then a horse-pulled coach on a moonlit night. There was a fireworks factory explosion over the summer, and Hannibal was allowed to sit in on the autopsies, so he draws a number of trees with various body parts hanging from limbs.

Limbs upon limbs. Hannibal smiles to himself.

By the time Will and Bedelia stop arguing, Hannibal has created a neat stack of potential patterns. Neither of them can decide which two to pick, which means another trip to buy more, which means Hannibal gets some time to himself. He puts on Stravinsky’s “Vesna svyashchennaya” as loud as he likes, brews a cup of his special psilocybin tea, and then sits back and waits for them to come home, Will’s arms balanced with precariously placed pumpkins.

If Hannibal’s lucky, he’ll be able to convince Will and Bedelia to trip along with him, and then there won’t be any jack-o’-lanterns carved today, at all.

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