Had Hannibal reassured her that no, no, it was all fine really, some certainty that it was not fine at all would've burrowed into the junkpile of Neph's brain. He dredges up a wry one liner somehow, at 3am, and her answering laugh is loud and bright and shatters that doubt to smithereens.
If they can come through murmured midnight confessions and end on a joke, then maybe it's not fucked up to want to stick so close to him after all. She may not have the words for this yet, for what exactly she wants from Hannibal or why she wants it; up til now it's been easier to define this relationship by what she doesn't want - his money, sex, for either of them to be merely obligated to the other - than to try and label it. For once it's not just her lack of education getting in the way of finding the right word. Nothing pings back when she searches her vocabulary. Not from books, movies, tv, chatter from friends, nothing.
They can't possibly be the first people to do whatever it is they're doing, but it may not be something that's commonly talked about. Wouldn't that just be the story of her life?
"Yeah," Neph says, lowering her voice back to a more acceptable volume for a pitch black bedroom in the no-mans-land hours of the morning. "I'm...I'm glad I did." She's surprised at how intensely she means that, even if she doesn't know if she'd want to come to him every time. Just having the option available is a talisman against the dark.
The hand at the back of her head tugs her from her thoughts, and also down to the mattress. Neph obliges by tucking her supporting arm under her side and wriggling back under the covers. Hannibal guides her head to his shoulder, fingers lacing through her hair, and Neph settles her cheek there with a sigh. Her topside arm curls over his chest in, not at all shaking or desperate. She'll just have to consider herself cured of the nightmare for now.
"Can we do fancy pancakes tomorrow?" she mumbles, because it's only funny to say 'crepes' when she can watch his soul leave his body at her horrible pronunciation. It's longstanding tradition to smother her bad dreams in sugary carbs, so really, she deserves props for upgrading her choice of junkfood.
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timeasmymeasure
Aaaand scene?
Date: 2017-04-11 01:17 am (UTC)If they can come through murmured midnight confessions and end on a joke, then maybe it's not fucked up to want to stick so close to him after all. She may not have the words for this yet, for what exactly she wants from Hannibal or why she wants it; up til now it's been easier to define this relationship by what she doesn't want - his money, sex, for either of them to be merely obligated to the other - than to try and label it. For once it's not just her lack of education getting in the way of finding the right word. Nothing pings back when she searches her vocabulary. Not from books, movies, tv, chatter from friends, nothing.
They can't possibly be the first people to do whatever it is they're doing, but it may not be something that's commonly talked about. Wouldn't that just be the story of her life?
"Yeah," Neph says, lowering her voice back to a more acceptable volume for a pitch black bedroom in the no-mans-land hours of the morning. "I'm...I'm glad I did." She's surprised at how intensely she means that, even if she doesn't know if she'd want to come to him every time. Just having the option available is a talisman against the dark.
The hand at the back of her head tugs her from her thoughts, and also down to the mattress. Neph obliges by tucking her supporting arm under her side and wriggling back under the covers. Hannibal guides her head to his shoulder, fingers lacing through her hair, and Neph settles her cheek there with a sigh. Her topside arm curls over his chest in, not at all shaking or desperate. She'll just have to consider herself cured of the nightmare for now.
"Can we do fancy pancakes tomorrow?" she mumbles, because it's only funny to say 'crepes' when she can watch his soul leave his body at her horrible pronunciation. It's longstanding tradition to smother her bad dreams in sugary carbs, so really, she deserves props for upgrading her choice of junkfood.