"What?" she asked, wondering why he was staring at her so intently. He lifted his fingers from the harpsichord and there was silence. "Its wonderful having you here my dear" he said calmly, "I’m not quite use to it yet". She smiled at him and closed the distance between them, standing directly behind him. She gently began to massage his shoulders through the silk, black shirt he was wearing. "Its such a nice day" she commented "its such a nice place as well". Hannibal placed his hand on one of hers and turned round on the stool to face her. He rested his hands on her hips and she brought her hands to the back of his head, gently stroking the side of his face. His lips curved upwards into a smile, "are you happy to be here with me Clarice" he asked. She brushed her hand against his cheek and replied "do I look sad…yes, I am happy". His smile broadened and she pulled his head against her chest for a quick hug.
She released his head and turned back to the balcony but he caught hold of her arm so she couldn’t. She turned back round to face him, a bemused smile spread across her lips. He pulled her towards him so she straddled his legs and sat down. "Would you like to go out for a meal tonight?" he asked "I hear there is a splendid restaurant down the road". He wrapped his arms around her waist to support her better as she placed her hands on his shoulder to keep herself from falling off. "That’s fine by me but what are we going to afterwards?" she asked suggestively. "Well" he said slowly "I thought we should just come back here, get a bottle of wine and entertain ourselves". "sounds good" she muttered as she pressed her lips against his. "I’m not going to discover your a whipped cream kind of guy am I?" she asked playfully between kisses "or chocolate spread?". "My dear Clarice how tasteless, I’m more a caviar man" he replied when she stopped kissing him for a couple of seconds. She brought her head back slightly so she could his face fully. "Caviar" she exclaimed "your not putting that on me!". He laughed at the disgusted look on her face, "you never know…you might enjoy it" he said.
She shook her head at him, "yes well I’m going to have a bath in that large, luxurious bath we have here" she said slowly "what about you?". He smiled at the suggestion, "well I’d love to join you my dear but I’m afraid I’ll have to pass" he said "I’ve got to go out and fill in the forms for this place". She looked disappointed but she managed a smile. "Well you better go do that then" she said before she stole another kiss.
She got up of him and walked of to the bathroom. He watched her walk away and close the door then he put on his shoes and coat and went out.
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Hannibal opened the door to the restaurant and let Clarice through. They found a table for two in a corner and sat down. The waitress came and gave them menu’s then later came back to take their order.
"What would you like?" the waitress asked. "can we have two soups for starters and two seafood platters for the main course please" said Hannibal. "Certainly sir" said the waitress "what would you like to drink?". "Can we have a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem please" asked Clarice, flashing Hannibal a smile.
The waitress scurried of and came back a couple of minutes later with the wine. Hannibal poured them both some and handed Clarice her glass. "To us" he said, they both raised their glasses, "to us" Clarice repeated. They both took a sip of the wine. Hannibal put his glass down on the table and reached across taking her free hand. "How are you feeling?" he asked. She smiled at the concerned look on his face, "very clean" she replied. "That doesn’t suprise me…you were in that bath for almost three hours today" he commented "I’m suprised you didn’t grow fins in there". She laughed at his joke. "I actually meant how do you feel in yourself, your leg, do you still feel drowsy because the drugs won’t have fully worn of yet" he said, stroking the hand he held with his other hand. "The leg feels fine, I think the soak did it some good and I don’t feel ‘drowsy’ at all" she replied reassuringly. Hannibal released her hand from his so he could take another sip of the wine.
Their first course, wild mushroom soup, was served to them within ten minutes. They ate it in companionable silence, occasionally making eye contact and smiling at each other.
The waiter came and took the empty bowels away once they had finished and came back with their seafood platters within minutes.
Clarice was the one to break the silence. "This looks delicious" she commented to Hannibal as she regarded her dish. Hannibal, who had already tried a fork full before she spoke nodded, "it tastes delicious too". She tried a fork full and found that he was right. They both tucked into the course without too much conversation apart from the occasional comment on the taste of a certain type of fish or sea creature.
After they had both finished Hannibal spoke up. "What do you want for desert?" he asked handing her the menu. She flicked through and handed it back to him. "I’ll have the sticky toffee pudding" she said, he raised an eyebrow at her choice. "OK my dear, whatever you want" he said. "What are you having?" she asked. "The fruit salad" he replied as he put the menu back in its rack.
A short while later after they had ordered then eaten their final course the waitress came over with the bill. It was an expensive meal and the waitress was amazed when Hannibal (or Dr. Marcus as he was now known) paid with cash.
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As the house by the sea were they were living was not very far away they decided to walk home along the beach.
The sun was going down and caste a red light across the water. Hannibal noticed how the light went well with Clarice’s hair and found himself walking faster so he could get her home quicker.
They reached their house and he opened the door. They both made there way upstairs to the sitting room were the harpsichord and the balcony was. Clarice opened the balcony doors and looked out. Hannibal joined her on the balcony and stood behind her wrapping his arms round her waist. "What are you looking at?" he asked, resting his head on her shoulder so they were cheek to cheek. "The view" she replied "its a lovely place…very peaceful". He kissed her cheek and she turned in his arms so she was facing him. She flashed him on of her brilliant smiles and he pressed his lips against hers. She parted her lips giving him access to her mouth instantly. He pushed her back so she was against the balcony rail as their tongues fought for supremacy. They pulled apart for air and he led her back indoors and into the bedroom trying not to knock anything over on the way.
They woke up the next morning in each others arms both perfectly content to be there. Clarice didn’t regret going with him, the FBI had given her nothing in return for all the hard work she put in for them. Hannibal however, gave as good as he got sometimes more. She felt save with him, a feeling she knew many people would find crazy but he was different with her than he was with everyone else so their opinions didn’t matter to her. She was looking forward to new experiences with him, trips to the theatre, dinner parties and other things similar. Hannibal was glad of her company and her trust and found himself improving his eating habits because of her even though she had never asked him too.
THE END
