Femslash February: A Collection

Gold & Silver (Chiyohdelia)

Fandom: Hannibal

Prompts: Gold, Silver

Pairing: Chiyohdelia (Chiyoh/Bedelia)

Summary: If Chiyoh rests between iron and silver (and really, if Hannibal had asked her, she is closer to silver), then Bedelia is gold.

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SILVER. Argentum. Ag. Lustrous, soft, malleable. Once thought to be the only substance, in the form of a silver bullet, capable of stopping werewolves, witches, and other monsters in their tracks.

"Between iron and silver," that's what Hannibal said she is. And far be it from Chiyoh to define herself on Hannibal's terms now, still, after so many years frozen in time in his family's castle, after years of taking care of him, protecting him, hunting him — but. But. She thinks about it afterward, when the beast gets on his knees for Will and is handcuffed and taken into a cop car, and in a way, she thinks he's right.

What Hannibal means is that she is a source of stability. He means that he could trust her to be the eternal steward of his ancestral home. He means that she is a reliable presence in his life, available whenever he needs her, a perpetual shadow protecting his interests and serving as his guardian angel.

That's not what Chiyoh means. When Chiyoh thinks of herself as silver, she means: malleable. Durable. Conductive. She means: I can be whatever I need myself to be. She means: I'm the substance that keeps monsters at bay.

Chiyoh is tired of being defined on Hannibal's terms, but this one she keeps. Silver. It's appropriate.

Shining. Deadly. Sleek.

GOLD. Aurum. Au. Bright, soft, malleable. Associated with wealth, the wisdom of age, and eternity.

If Chiyoh is silver, then Bedelia is gold. Just as shiny, soft, and malleable. Resistant to corrosion. At once a symbol of greatness and greed. And hard to pin down, ever elusive, just as likely to be fool's gold than the real deal.

It's fitting, Chiyoh thinks. Bedelia is full of endless contradictions: brassy and cold, careful and reckless, withdrawn and bold, observer and participant. She is adaptable, alluring, enigmatic, quietly extravagant...and as enchanting as the glinting, sunlit shine of gold at the base of a river-soaked gold pan.

Bedelia is beautiful, and cruel, and not an ounce reliable.

But real gold or not, who would turn down the seductive promise of a wealth like hers?

ELECTRUM. A naturally-occurring alloy of gold and silver. Shiny, malleable, corrosion resistant. Harder and more durable than gold; more resistant to weathering than silver.

When Chiyoh first finds her, she is like a shimmering gem in the midst of the dark mostly abandoned room. Hannibal is gone, but Bedelia is there, alive and whole, resilient and undigested. A bird waiting patiently in its gold cage, hidden sharpness under its feathers.

The second time she finds her, it is after Hannibal's surrender. Bedelia's chosen cage is now a steel and glass box, not unlike a safe or treasure chest, but with the added illusion of freedom.

Chiyoh finds her a third time, and a fourth, and a fifth. She doesn't mean to keep returning to her, but she does, again and again. Because Bedelia is Chiyoh's mirror and counterpart. Both are adaptable, malleable, attracted to and repulsed by darkness in equal measure, caught in a neverending tug-of-war. They are gold and silver, a naturally occurring pair, better together than apart.

Stronger together than apart.

More likely to survive Hannibal together than apart.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Chiyoh thinks she will always be hungry for more: more freedom, more agency, more of this life with Bedelia who is all at once scalding and too cold.

But for now, gold and silver, silver and gold — it's enough.