Otherworld

His Smile [AkinXHannibal]

His Smile

{AkinXHannibal}

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His Majesty the King of Atlantis woke just before dawn every morning.

No alarm necessary at this point in his life, frankly.

It had become a routine.

He rose before Akin, who snuggled down under the blankets whenever Hannibal left him, as if his very lack of presence gave Akin the chills. He bundled his master up well in the duvet before he crept to the bathroom to shower. And it had certainly taken a few years for him to learn how to braid his own damn hair, but he'd managed to do it lately without knots or tangles.

He'd debated just chopping it all off.

But that would make Akin cry for sure.

Plus, he'd gotten used to the weight. He had it'd take a minute to regain his balance without it, so why bother?

He could dress himself for home no problem, of course. He and Akin had discussed that home was all about comfort and whatever Hannibal felt comfortable wearing was what he wore at home. Of course, Hannibal wasn't comfortable with jackshit once he left the house, so better to let Akin dress him for the general public and royal or military meetings. Somehow he doubted the realm would appreciate him showing up in sweatpants and a tank top.

Why?

He had no clue.

And that was why he had Akin.

He smiled faintly at the thought of his husband, his eyes dropping to the ring on his finger that caught the light only very briefly. He never thought for a second he'd be happy to see a wedding ring on his finger. The collar around his throat was something else, meant for him and Akin, but the ring was something softer, something warmer, something a lot more kid friendly.

He had to shake his head.

Kid-friendly.

He never thought he'd be anywhere near the word.

With renewed confidence for the day, Hannibal went downstairs, leaving Akin to sleep in until it was time for his breakfast. He pulled the shades as he went, filling their modern home with natural sunlight as the sun rose up over the mountains, beams of light cutting paths from one side of the house to the other.

He made it to the kitchen just five minutes before he heard Seven's alarm go off from his room, some really loud rap song about seizing the day. Hannibal didn't have anything against rap and listened to it himself; it was the new stuff that threw him, but he supposed that happened with each evolution of music.

He remembered the first time he heard modern music, rap specifically. He'd been living with Cain, and that had really thrown him into the modern era considering he was used to living in dungeons and stables and shacks before that. He'd been in the kitchen, watching as Cain moved through the kitchen like the professional chefs they watched on television together.

The one thing he and Cain had done together was watch cooking shows on and off. No particular show, any and all that happened to be on.

Abruptly, Cain had changed the channel to a music channel and the loudest song came on that caught him off guard. It was a harsh bass and some strange mystical echoing. He didn't understand the lyrics at the time. His English was fucking garbage at the time and he'd been very careful not to reveal that fact, so he didn't dare ask Cain about it at the time.

Once he'd learned more, he realized the song was Hypnotize by Biggie Smalls, a famous human rapper. How strange that at the time, he'd heard the song and almost cringed. It was too new, too loud, too confusing. Now, it was a regular song on his playlist.