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Title: An Acceptable Risk
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Sequel to "Writing the Handbook."
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Hannibal Lecter or Will Graham, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

"I see that you still haven't put the glasses aside."

Hannibal sat down across from Will, raising his brows in what appeared to be a question. Will's hand went to his glasses, but he didn't take them off.

"You know why I wear them," he said, knowing that he sounded defensive. This wasn't the way that he'd wanted this conversation to go. "I need a shield."

"You don't need a shield to isolate you from the world, Will," Hannibal told him, his voice strangely gentle. "You want it. There's a huge difference between wanting to hide yourself away, and having a need to keep yourself hidden. You merely want to avoid social situations. You don't have a need to do so."

"You have me all figured out, don't you, Hannibal?" Will answered. His tone sounded sarcastic, even to his own ears. This conversation was already spiraling downhill at a rapid rate.

"No, Will, I don't." Hannibal's shoulders rose in a shrug. "It would take me quite a long while to figure you out in every way. You are, as I've said before, a very complicated man."

Well, he couldn't deny that truth.

"I guess I am, in some ways," Will said carefully, wanting to keep the conversation going. He was veering into tricky waters here; he didn't want to reveal too much of himself.

But hadn't he already done that, during the long talks that he and Hannibal had shared before everything had gone to hell? This man knew him far too well.

"Being around other people involves risk, Will," Hannibal told him, leaning forward, those dark eyes seeming to pierce directly into Will's consciousness. "You have to be willing to accept that risk. Other people can hurt you, but social contact is something that everyone needs."

"I'm still trying to decide if being social is an acceptable risk for me," Will told him, folding his arms across his chest in a gesture that indicated he didn't want to talk about this any more.

"You really don't have a choice, you know," Hannibal told him, his tone somewhat admonishing. "In your line of work, you have to deal with people in many ways."

"But that's work," Will pointed out. "Being social isn't something that I have to do in my time off. I only do it when I choose to." Or when I'm not given an easy way out, he added silently. He wouldn't say those words aloud. He didn't want clue Hannibal in on his thoughts.

"Or when you feel that you're forced to," Hannibal said with a wry smile. "Oh, I know that you don't particularly like being social, Will, even when you come to my parties."

So much for Hannibal not knowing what he was thinking. Will couldn't keep back a soft sigh; how did this man always seem to know what he was thinking?

"You've got me there," he admitted. "I've never been very social. You know that."

"It's a risk that you need to take, Will," Hannibal told him, his tone serious. "You can't move forward in this world unless you push yourself. And you, my friend, are merely treading water."

"It's a risk that I"m not ready to take," Will muttered, not looking at the man sitting across from him. This conversation was making him more uncomfortable than he cared to admit.

"It is a risk that you must accept, Will," Hannibal said, his voice almost stern. "You cannot keep isolating yourself. If you do, then you are falling into a trap of your own making, and not even I will be able to help pull you out of it. You cannot let yourself fall into that trap. Not if you want to be .... of use."

He didn't have to ask what Hannibal meant by that. Those words meant that Hannibal had plans for him, that he thought Will's loyalties were to him, and him alone.

Hannibal intended for him to be of use to him, and he was sure that he knew what that use would be. Hannibal was going to use him as his instrument. His patsy. His fall guy.

But he wasn't going to let that happen.

"Okay, I'll accept the risk," he said, feeling his way carefully, unsure of exactly what he should say now. "But don't expect to push me into a social whirl right away. I'm not ready for that."

Hannibal's brows raised again, but this time, the questioning look was accompanied by a somewhat smug smile. "I think that I have just the social even for you to take your first steps into."

Uh oh. Will already regretted this. He didn't think he was going to like whatever Hannibal would suggest.

But he'd said that he was willing to accept the risk, so he really had no choice, did he? And he had to convince this man that he would do what he was told.

Taking a deep breath, he said the only thing he could. "I'll be there. Just tell me when and where, and I'll do my best to be social. Even if it's not going to be easy for me."

There. He'd accepted that risk, at any rate. He just hoped that he didn't regret doing so.

***