post-hannibal-arrest will who develops a habit of lip biting

it started as just biting down on them as a stim, then nibbling on them, then pulling the skin off with his teeth. the sensations it provided felt familiar in a time when he had just quit his life cold turkey.

eventually he would find himself waking up from antler prodded nightmares with his lips battered, swollen, and raw. the worst dreams left him bloodied, having bitten so hard the flesh tore open. he'd lick his lips and savor the twinges of pain and the taste of home. he'd reprimand himself for the flickers of excitement he felt. the warm hug of comfort and the cold suffocation of shame fight one another. neither win, they never do.

he finally made himself stop once he met molly and she politely suggested that he should make the effort to quit such a painful habit. he stops not due to her care, but because he feared continuing would make her think harder about who would develop such a habit.

as much as molly felt safe, he wasn't sure if she would ever feel familiar in the way that a busted lip does.

inspired by this gem by @threadsoflacee

thinking about how will must've been so closed off about his life with molly. cause when he thinks about going back when jack asks... if she knew half of the shit that happened with him she would've chased jack off with a shotgun. we know she's smart and funny and kind and patient and i have to believe that if she knew what being there did to him that she would absolutely not be so okay with it.

i doubt will ever Lied but i imagine it was always just "a conversation for another day" or something he'll "tell her about one day". he'd wake up from a nightmare hyperventilating and sweating and she'd ask and about it and he'd just say some vague bullshit that's technically true but never the truth.

and i'm not blaming will, i feel terrible for both of them. molly wants to love him and all that comes with him, but will only lets her love the parts that he feels deserve it. he doesn't want to ruin something good with the scars he sees as stains

the search engine keywords for hannibal on my favorite streaming website

saw this post and now i can't stop thinking about how will never talks casually around hannibal despite us knowing he is fully capable of doing so.

that scene with molly on the phone demonstrates this so well- will is fully capable of chatting and joking around and not talking through indirect gestures nearing the realm of poetry, but he never does that with hannibal.

with hannibal he speaks like a poet. not to say he's rambunctious around everyone else, of course he's a quiet and blunt person. but as their connection continues on, will seems to pick up hannibal's artsy, aesthetic, scholarly way of speaking. mirroring the one person who makes him feel safe.