"Twelve Weeks Sober" - (Hannibal S2 Drabbles)

[beatlelover22]

The Vergers' barn is not so bad as the horse stables, cleaner and more modern, spacious. But it's still freezing, and still dusty with all the natural, wallowing filth of pigs. Animal smells hang heavy on the air, enriched with the metallic tang of blood. Will itches occasionally at the tip of his nose with his wrist to mitigate it, but this is a luxury that Dr. Lecter lacks with arms firmly bound in the straitjacket.

He blinks twice, then sneezes violently enough to set himself to swinging.

"--IDSSSHH!"

Mason barks a laugh as he circles around and steadies him by an arm. "Oh, ooh. I should have cleaned up the place first, right? That was rude."

I took your advice awhile back and actually did catch up on Hannibal! It's fantastic, of course. In fact, I'm watching the season finale tonight! Yay! Anyway, this drabble was awesome.... thanks so much! Mason really creeps me out and you write everyone so perfectly

[Garnet]

VoOs - Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one, haha. And yyyeesss, straight jacket sneezing. Sadly it looks like it will be a while before I get to revisit that scenario, but I still maintain future fantasies of mask and straight jacket sneezing, because I'm fucked up.

AngelEyes - Thanks!

Maru - Yesss yes, watch it. It's... certainly a ride!

Bruyere - Akjhdfss, these comments! Thank you! And to answer the question, I originally went by Janice Poon's blog, but just looked it up out of curiosity. Lomo apparently just means loin, usually beef by default, whereas pork loin is lomo de cerdo. The more you know~!

beatlelover22 - Oh, I'm so glad! Always happy to see more fans. HNNGH that season finale, tho. And Mason is creepy, but his actor is so spot on that I find his performances endlessly entertaining. Too bad he's out of commission for a little while.

And with that, here's the final drabble. All I can say is it's a good thing I ship everyone with everyone in this stupid show, because Hannibal is determined to kill off about half of the options :| Thanks for reading through all of these with me!

13. Mizumono

Bedelia has her own constructs of the mind to slip into, when the claustrophobic air of the cabin grows too oppressive, and watching the sunlit clouds begins to hurt her eyes. Boredom and restlessness are not threats to her.

She stays in the present anyway, because it's more interesting to watch his solemn, unmoving expression from beneath her lowered lashes. She shouldn't do it, but she can't help herself, she never gets to observe him with so many of his barriers missing. Behind that well-composed superficial layer, closed eyes and clean lines, he's not even pretending to be human anymore. He's an ambulatory wellspring of dismay, a raw and open wound unto himself. She can practically taste the blood on the air, and almost wants to touch his cheek to make sure it's still solid and tangible.

Almost.

She blinks and looks away, back through the half-shaded window to where the bent blue of the troposphere seems less surreal than Hannibal Lecter in mourning.

"--hh'rsssh!"

Her attention pivots with surprise to find him alert and irritated, nostrils flared. She didn't think he was asleep, but she didn't think he was entirely present, either.

"Bless you."

He nods weakly, already closing up for the next, "hh'rhff!" and the next, "--hh'rhfssh!"

Keeping them quiet, she's observed, tends to come at the price of quantity. That seems to be sufficient for now.

"Bless." Bedelia inclines her head slightly as he blots the fold of a handkerchief to his nose, and then holds it there in resignation. "Was that a sick sneeze or a dry air sneeze?" She also wouldn't put it past him to be bothered by a hand cream of some anonymous woman thirteen rows behind them.

"The latter," he sighs. "Excuse me." He closes his eyes and puts his head back again, but she arrests his attention while it's in the moment, touching a hand to his wrist. She doesn't risk saying his name. He blinks at her.

"Don't go too deep."

The smile he gives her is empty, but he opens a palm for her to fit her hand into, and there is sincerity in the lattice of their fingers. It soothes her nerves enough that she feels comfortable returning her attention to the cloud layer, a thumb skimming his knuckles. Running from the devil felt no safer than pretending to hold his leash in her hand. This is a little better. She can think of much worse company to keep.

[Bruyere]

I am so sad that these are over as they have been such a treat over the whole of this series and I am still amazed by all of the variety and all of the different characters that you covered over the past couple of months.

I loved Bedelia's curiosity about Hannibal in this, watching him but still with some caution at the end, not saying his name but also holding hands with him.

Running from the devil felt no safer than pretending to hold his leash in her hand. This is a little better. She can think of much worse company to keep.

Oh Bedelia.

[bangbang]

SCREECHING. I'm almost as sad about these drabbles ending as I am about the series ending! They are putting us through the wringer this time round. Some nasally-challenged Hannibal on the show might ease our suffering a little. You've got all the characters and the darkly humorous tone perfect.

[VoOs]

While I am a little sad to see this glorious drabble project come to an end, I'm mostly just grateful that it exists.

It's been a dark, twisted, delicious journey. Thank you.