WHO ARE YOU REALLY: A Hannibal Fanfiction

Argumentive

Come By Fire -- Sara Jackson-Holman

Hannibal sat in the darkness of his room, it was twilight hour and it had been only a few days since his last encounter with Ms. India Maibus, she had been unable to attend an appointment on account of differing schedules. It had ever so slightly disturbed his train of thought from time to time. His conversations with her tugged at the topic of his judgement.

Opening up that intimate of his backstory was more than what Will Graham was ever told. Maybe it was his automatic feeling of a personal relationship with her that drew him to elaboration. A frown plastered his face, not much later in the day he received a knock on his door, unusually. He curled his fingers around the doorknob only to open up to a man with a bouquet of all too familiar flos fasciculum. A note tied around the vase inscribed

"- These came into my shop yesterday morning. I figured that they'd look better in your home than my flower cooler.

- India "

His face remained unchanging, curious but somehow flattered at the gesture, slightly amused even. The thickness in the stem was equivalent to that of a branch, he noticed now he was able to see for himself. She pinned him, putting walls up was something he did by default and taking them down was incredibly hard even for the most formidable opponents in social aspects.

She seemed to have no issue taking the wall down brick by brick.

Will entered through the doorway and immediately threw his jacket to the usual chair in which Hannibal's patients would sit. The empath strode tensely around the cannibal's office, sweaty, disassociated and uncertain.
"Will." Hannibal said invitingly "I don't usually have visitors this early in the morning."

"No, Doctor, you're right." he huffed with disdain of sorts "I can't sleep, I remembered you said you were a bit of a early bird so.. " he drawled on as he continued to pace about "..A recent figure of my past, has- resurfaced- and they've been wandering through my dreams."

There was no point to using nonbinaries, not referring to either gender- he knew who it was. "Were they somehow involved with you at an intimate level that was deep enough to traumatize yourself when there was, assumingly, a bond shattering fallout?" the psychiatrist inquired analytically "Yeah, well, yeah." Will's fingers scratched the back of his head, voice quietly shaky "Will," Hannibal began speaking steadily, unlike his patient "You have a feeling of nostalgia, or regret maybe for this falling out. You very simply miss them. Seeing them has brought back the emotions you left behind the last time you were with them."

"I know- why - but I want to know how to stop."

"We, humans, theorize that... Missing someone is a result of feeling incomplete, that the person gone from us was so akin to who we are- if not greater- that without them we feel our life is inferior, empty. The idea is very 'farcical'" his eyes glimmered in thought "and not by any means a popular thought- but I feel it implies to you and this person somehow, that they were a person of influence on you that by their absence you are lacking direction."

Silence on Will's part as he drank the words in, trying to understand meaning "You resort to their influence in your dreams."
A small nod, the empath had struggled with this unsettling truth for months after they no longer spoke. He was able to recover, go into work and become married to it, then forget his friend for good... Up until that moment he saw her.

She wasn't her, when he last saw her.
And she wasn't her up to the ppoint before he saw her.
In his mind she was her, someone different from who she really was now. An imago.

"Maybe, I will have you both for dinner, just for you to see how you feel." Hannibal tilted his head, offering a slight rise from the ends of his lips. But Will had already zoned out into something else, "Who are those from? " he asked pointing to the bouquet of magnolias.
"...An admirer "

[ Graul's Market -- - ]

India hadn't usually shopped during the day, even if it were just grocery shopping. Leaving the house felt like a bore, driving felt dangerous... It was like at any time she wanted she could just turn the steering wheel into oncoming traffic- but that would be counterproductive in her eyes, before she dies she has some things she needs to do.

And one of them right now would be shopping and going back home.

Her hand reached into one of the many fridges in the isle and pulled back a pint of sorbét, set it down in her cart and back in, pulling out a pint of gelato and then putting it in the cart.
"Do you have a bit of a sweet-tooth, India?" a familiar accent inquired, the woman turned and smiled sheepishly to Hannibal and agreed "It's a bit of a problem I have, I will admit." she began, an empathized smile returned to her by the doctor "You got my flowers?"
"I did."
"And what did you think of them?"

"They say that not only do flowers make us happier but, they have strong positive effects on our emotional well being." He went on "Are you worried on my well being, India..?"

A smile crept up on her face, her tongue poking into her cheek "Are you saying they made you happier?"
A pause then an even lighter response on his behalf took her by surprise "They compliment my dining room rather nicely."

Usually a more serious retort became of their conversations "That's wonderful!" a toothy smile was shed on her part.

"My patient came in today and wondered who they were from, and I was hesitant to say who." There was the serious side she was beginning to wonder about.
"But what do you say..?" she would have called him by his name but she was suddenly unsure if they were on that level like she thought they were.
Dark eyes seemed adrift, "I say that it was from an admirer."
'So he would lie? Is embarrassed? Did you do something w r o n g?' a tingling feeling shook her bones.

India took it as an insult, albeit, she did not know that he was unsure himself.

"What am I to you doctor?" voice arguably defensive,"A friend or a patient?" her face was now inches away from him, her hurt scowl easier for him to study now. His head back away, cocking back in prevention if a face on face collision. Rude.
"I am, whatever you want me to be." he put simply. Her face changed, he notice she didn't smell like jasmine and peonies today... She had a scent of something different, something he couldn't place.

Something internal rotting deep inside of her that had finally begin seeping through the exterior of her façade. It was something sitting in her for a long time, something that she tried covering with sweet flower like scents. But today there was no avail. Something interesting, and it distracted him from her disrespectful burst.
Then over that smell was a shroud of legitimate Chanel N°5, a sharp scent, but not enough to cut through suspicion.

"I will see you soon then," she lodged her eyebrows in place, forming a straight line above her eyes "Hannibal." jade orbs refuse eye contact with her debatable friend... As she carried on without him, he watched her feeling as if he chose the wrong words? His shoulders rose and fell with a sigh.

Maybe, he should invite her to dinner before she and Will and he have dinner together.

[ Hello! Just an author's note to see how everyone is doing, I hope you've enjoyed the recent chapters, I've been reviewing on the past few seasons hoping for an even more believable portrayal. Please feel free to comment, critique or message me with your thoughts and suggestions! I would love to make the most ideal storyline/characters I can for my readers. ]