The Oceans Enigmatic Love

Marked

Will recoiled from the whispered words as though the Mer had bitten him.

"W-what?" He stammered, hand coming up to cup his ear in disbelief. "Did you just..?"

"Hmm." The Mer- no- 'Hannibal' hummed, amusement evident in his tone as his unseen tail coiled tighter around Will's legs, Preventing him from falling back into the freezing water in his surprise. Will had ended up bringing his other hand up to cover his mouth and faintly tasted blood. Whether it was from the tuna blood or his bitten lip he couldn't quite say.

Maybe both.

"For one so Marked, you know so very little about us." Hannibal mused, bringing a taloned hand up to touch Will's still damp hair. Seemingly out of curiosity more than anything, like he was studying him. "I wonder..."

Marked?

"How... How can you s-speak?" Will asked, disbelief evident in his voice.

"This." The Mer brought one of his talons back up to caress Will's mouth as it had done moments before. "But only for you."

"...W-Why Me-e?" The cold water was slowly starting to catch up with him, making his teeth chatter and causing his voice to stutter. Hannibal seemed to take notice, tsking at him as if he was scolding a child. Before Will could react, he was quickly scooped up into the creature's arms with little effort and raised to a standing position on the still open platform above them.

"Best get going before you freeze Will Graham." Hannibal murmured, taking Wills face in his hands and placing another light peck on his cheek before he sank into the waters below from the torso down. Will realized all too late that he hadn't even gotten a glimpse of the tail due to his struggling. Hannibal stared up at him for a moment, unblinking, before he seemed to remember something.

"For future reference, I prefer mammal meat over fish." His accented voice echoed out from the rippling water, sinking below before it too grew still. "The blood was well needed though. Thank you."

Will was left there, gaping for who knows how long as he stared at the water. Hardly believing what had just happened.

"I've finally fucking lost it haven't I?"

The residual silence was answer enough for him. It was almost mocking how quiet it was in the room in contrast to his heartbeat that was pounding loudly in his ears.

"Will? Everything alright in there?"

His legs nearly gave out from fright at the sound of Dolarhyde's voice from outside the door. Quickly, he worked to calm himself as much as he could before he walked over to the door.

Best not tell him about what just happened, he'd think I'm nuts...

"I... I'm fine, just finished up." He called out before opening the door. Francis's broad torso took up most of his vision before he stepped back to allow Will passage. Dolarhyde's eyes, a deep brown color, shone with concern as he examined every inch of the smaller janitor's form for any injuries.

"You're... Okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just soaked."

"Oh." Dolarhyde paused, obviously surprised and relieved he was okay. "Did anything... abnormal happen in there?"

Abnormal? Wait... does he know Hannibal can talk?

No... best not to jump to any conclusions at this point.

"No... Not really." Will said after a moment. "He seemed pretty calm despite the trip. He might be exhausted still."

"Good. Come on, you can go home now and-" Francis started, putting a hand on Will's shoulder before quickly recoiling as though he had been shocked. "You're freezing. Were you in the water the whole time?"