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Title: Jealous Dog
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Sequel to "A Very Perplexed Dog."
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.

***

So far, so good. Everything was going smoothly.

But Will couldn't help wondering if Max was going to suddenly leap at Hannibal and try to sink his teeth into the other man's leg, growling and barking the whole time.

He and Hannibal hadn't done anything but have dinner and sit down on the couch to watch a movie, but Will felt as though he was holding his breath in anticipation.

He was keeping an eye on Max, but so far, the dog hadn't done anything but stare at Hannibal, his hackles rising. He hadn't growled, or barked, or made any moves towards the other man. Will hoped that he would stay like this for the rest of the night.

If he didn't, then he'd have to seriously think about taking Max to obedience classes, though he didn't think that would do much good.

After all, the dog didn't seem to have a problem with anyone else. Just with Hannibal. Will couldn't figure out why Max didn't like his boyfriend.

Though so far, tonight they seemed to have formed a truce.

He hoped that was so, as he didn't want to get into an argument with his boyfriend over his new dog's behavior. It wasn't conducive to the romantic evening he wanted them to have.

Neither was the tension that he was dealing with now, thought Will with a soft sigh. He rolled his head on his shoulders, feeling some of that tension dissipate. Maybe if Max stayed like this until he and Hannibal went to bed, he could finally let himself relax.

Hannibal turned to look at him, reaching for the remote and pausing the black-and-white film they were watching as he looked thoughtfully at Will.

Will could feel himself tension even further; he was sure that Hannibal was going to bring up the subject of Max's attitude, and he didn't want to talk about it now.

This just didn't feel like the right time or place.

But if Hannibal wanted to talk about this now, then he really had no choice but to listen. Will took a deep breath, making himself look over at his boyfriend. There was a half-serious expression on Hannibal's face; his lips were even twitching a bit, as though he was trying not to smile.

"I think I know just what is wrong with your dog, Will," he said, shaking his head, the smile finally breaking out on his face. "It just occurred to me."

"What is it?" Will asked, tilting his head to the side, trying to make his tone light and teasing. "Do you think he's just jealous of you having me all to yourself?"

To his surprise, the amused look disappeared from Hannibal's face, replaced by a serious expression as the other man nodded. "I think that's exactly it. The animal is used to having all of your time and attention mostly focused on him, and I take that attention away."

So. Hannibal thought that Max's problem was .... jealousy?

Will almost wanted to laugh at the idea, but as he thought about it, he realized that his boyfriend could very well have hit the nail right on the head.

"You could be right about that," he said, the words coming out slowly as he thought about Hannibal's theory. "I do spend a lot of time with the dogs -- and when I get a new one, I try to integrate them into my little family and spend time with them so they'll feel comfortable."

"Exactly." Hannibal nodded, gesturing to where Max lay on the floor near the fireplace. "He is jealous that you aren't devoting all of your attention to him. Simple."

Will nodded, deciding that Hannibal's theory was as good as any. Max was acting as though he was jealous of the closeness between the two men, after all.

The question now was, how did they alleviate the dog's jealousy?

That wasn't going to be easy to do, Will thought glumly. He knew from experience how hard it could be to make a dog change its mind about something.

But he'd try his best to put Hannibal in a better light with Max. He would have to make sure that the dog was around Hannibal more, and that Hannibal was friendly with him.

That might not be the easiest thing he'd ever done, as Hannibal didn't seem to have much of a rapport with animals at all. He wasn't cruel or unkind to them, but even the most mild-mannered of Will's dogs tended to be a bit standoffish with him.

Why was that? Will frowned at the thought; he hadn't realized it until now, but even Winston, normally so calm and placid, seemed to keep his distance from Hannibal.

He didn't know why his dogs would act that way. Certainly Hannibal had done nothing to make them dislike him. He was always friendly with the animals.

Could they sense something that lay beneath the surface?

But what could that be? Will asked himself. He was sure that he didn't know everything there was to know about his boyfriend, but that would come in time.

Was there something that he didn't know, something that the dogs could sense and that they didn't like? Was that why they always seemed to be cautious about approaching Hannibal, as though there was something about him that they didn't quite trust?

That was silly, Will told himself, brushing the thought away. He was imagining things. The dogs were just being cautious, that was all. They'd get used to Hannibal in time.

They would have to, because his lover wasn't going away.

Hannibal got to his feet, stretching and holding out a hand to Will after he took the movie out of the player and put it back into its case. "I think we should go upstairs."

Will nodded, smiling as he got to his feet. He was more than willing to spend the rest of the evening in bed with his boyfriend, rather than sitting in front of the television. In fact, that was what he'd been thinking of doing all night, and wondering when he could suggest it.

But as usual, Hannibal had taken that choice right out of his hands. He had been the one to come up with the idea of going to bed first -- as though he could read Will's mind.

That was a little odd, but Will found that he really didn't mind it.

He turned off the lights, petting each of the dogs in turn as he did so. When he came to Max, the dog whined as Will laid a hand on his head, his dark eyes almost beseeching.

"It's okay, boy," Will soothed him, then turned to head up the stairs behind Hannibal. As he mounted the first few steps, he turned back to look at Max again.

The dog's hackles were still up, his teeth bared as he looked at Hannibal's back.

Max sensed something. That was more than obvious. But whatever it was, he wasn't talking about it, and Will didn't know what to do to alleviate the dog's jealousy.

He sighed as he continued up the steps, putting thoughts of Max and his attitude towards Hannibal out of his mind. He would worry about it later.

A low growl that he hoped Hannibal didn't hear followed him up the steps.

***