Palatial Intimacy

XXIV- The Meal

April 24, 2030

"I've prepared you pork lomo saltado. Marinated and presented with tomatoes, onions, and carrot slaw." Hannibal set the plate down in front of Will, placing his now free hand on Will's shoulder. He leaned in and kissed Will's cheek, lips hovering by his ear. "It comes from the finest pig. Bon appetit."

"Thank you." Will stared at the beautifully plated meal before him. "It smells delicious."

"I hope that it's a good experience for you. Everything you want and more."

"Even if it's not, it's still a meal with you. It's making up for lost time."

"We will never lose time again." Hannibal pulled away, but his hand lingered on Will's body for as long as possible. He set down his own plate, sitting right across from Will. "I will do anything in my power to make sure of it."

"I believe you." Will looked up at him, and they shared a dark glance. "And from now on, I will, too."

Hannibal smiled. "You are so lovely. I still find it hard to believe that I've woken up the past few mornings with you right across from me. Your stunning face near mine again, and this time it's more real than ever."

"No more retreating into your palace to find me. I'm here now."

"I will admit, it's been difficult for me to accept." He picked up his utensils, and Will followed suit. "I have felt this close to the sun before, and then it was all ripped away from me. You betrayed me, I lashed out, and I lost you for half a decade."

"I know. I'm not sure what I can do to make you believe me this time. I know I have to regain your trust, but..."

"Oh, Will. You will always have my trust." Hannibal shook his head solemnly. "Even if it goes against my best interest, you will always have my trust."

"Why?"

"Because I truly believe you are capable of greatness. Even after your betrayal, as you lay bleeding on the ground, you called out to me. Asked me to come back." His eyes began to shine. "It is my greatest regret that I did not."

"Do you think we would have been the same if you had, though? Would we be this connected, this intimate with each other? We wouldn't have had the benefit of using the LOOM. We wouldn't have had the clarity that comes with absence."

"That is true. And I'm grateful for the opportunities we did have. But I do wish the absence hadn't been so long." Hannibal began to cut into the meat. "I feel you should know. This is the exact meal I made you on the night we had sex for the first time. When you brought me the body of your first victim."

"I thought Mason was the first."

"Yes. But this was your first intentional kill. Your first meal. I figured it would be beneficial for you to have it again. Retrieve those memories through the senses, like you have before."

"Good idea." Will pierced a piece with his fork, holding it above the plate. He glanced up at Hannibal with an expectant eyebrow quirk. "Shall we?"

"Enjoy, my dear."

They both breathed in the scent of the meal, closed their eyes, and took a bite.

Will chewed it slowly, running the idea through his head over and over again that this was human meat. This was no sirloin; it was the product of one of Hannibal's victims, slowly extinguished of their life under Hannibal's torturous hands. Judging by the crimes of the Chesapeake Ripper, this animal was horrified when it died. It was slaughtered with no mercy, its organs ripped from it while it was still breathing. This had been someone walking along the street, someone that had once been just like the two of them. Human, living, speaking, with a pumping heart and a brain capable of complex thought. Hannibal had single-handedly decided whether or not a human deserved to live or die.