Thread by @HesMyDesign

When their lips met, everything within Hannibal stopped for a long moment. He didn't breathe, nor swallow, nor stir, and he was sure that his heart jumped and missed a beat or two. All thoughts were wiped from his mind, the only thing he >

< registered was the scent of blood and tears, the rush of the waves rolling against the shore close enough to sprinkle them with droplets when the sea got especially ardent, and most importantly he felt the press of Will's lips, their >

< warmth, the softness of the delicate muscle, the dry, cracked up, salty skin that despite all its roughness couldn't hide how outrageously, blasphemously soft his lips were underneath. One day soon the cuts and cracks in his lips would be >

< healed, and then Hannibal would kiss him again - that was the first thought that dripped slow and sweet and golden like honey into the pure, awestruck emptiness of his mind just moments after their lips met, and then a wave of emotion and >

< sensation crashed over Hannibal and filled the void within him. He drew a breath through his nose and straightened out his aching spine, his arm curling so tightly around Will that his hand came back round so that he could place it on the >

< side of his ribcage, and he did, fingers splayed out wide and stroking him slowly enough to feel the vibrations of Will's breath, alive and distinctly human. A dozen ways in which either of them could kill the other crossed his mind; he >

< could snap Will's neck, Will could jam a hand down his throat, they could strangle each other, crush each other's ribcages, Will could rip out his jugular vein with his teeth or fracture his ribs to puncture lungs and heart so that he'd >

< choke on his own blood, and so forth. And yet, as exciting as the thought of Will squeezing the life out of him was, he felt deeply at ease in those trembling and tired but strong arms wrapped around him, those torn up lips quivering >

< against his own and the distinct feeling of Will's beating heart, thumping tangibly against his own chest, the rhythm out of sync with Hannibal's pulse, but alive, oh, so beautifully, fiercely, invincibly alive. Maybe it was because of >

< that heavenly sweet mewl that sent a shiver over his body, or maybe it was the way his lips moved or the stirring of his body in Hannibal's embrace, but Hannibal felt that in this moment neither of them was going to kill the other, nor >

< desired to. It was odd how insistently they clung to life so soon after jumping off a cliff together, agreeing to die in each other's arms, but their current affinity for life, and more importantly their dependency on each other, were >

< apparent.
Hannibal's heart fluttered and he felt a warmth in the pit of his stomach when the empath urged Hannibal to kiss him, and his dark amber eyes flicked open, gleaming brightly and staring right into Will's soul.
Will was the fly >

< trapped in the amber orbs of Hannibal's eyes, and Hannibal would preserve the spark that Will had ignited in his heart for all eternity.
"Anything you desire, Will, I shall give to you." Thanks to his parched throat Hannibal's voice was >

< rougher than usual, the words feeling alien in his mouth but they rang true in his heart. He figured that Will probably knew how far Hannibal would go for him, but it was important to him that he got to say it. He brought their lips into >

< contact again, more deliberate and tender this time, the hand in Will's hair softening its grip and his head tilting the slightest bit to get closer to his lips. He cradled the back of his head, fingers rubbing over his scalp and a low, >

< yearning purr erupting from Hannibal's chest, full of longing and relief. He broke off only when they needed to catch their breath, breathing against each other's lips, and Hannibal made sure to remain close, foreheads leaning together as >

< Hannibal's breath slowed. Will's remark about their survival made the cannibal smile lightly, and he lowered the hand from the damp, dark curls to his chest, right over his beating heart, and his gaze followed as he felt Will's >

< heartbeat.
"Because the story isn't meant to be over yet? Or because we didn't accept the predestined end?" He lifted his eyes again to meet Will's. Perhaps they were more like Romeo and Juliet than they had thought, because surely they >

< were not dead at all, but it seemed that neither of them wanted to live or die without the other.