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“I wouldn’t have asked you over for dinner but, well, I had nowhere else to turn. Hannibal, I need your help,” Frederick Chilton explained one snowy Friday night.
“And what trouble do you find yourself in, Frederick?”
“I’ve been teaching an abnormal psychology course this fall at Northern Virginia Community College.”
“You’ve been teaching at a community college, Frederick? Why not somewhere closer like my alma mater, Johns Hopkins?”
Frederick looked down at his plate. “I, um, tried, but they said I lacked the credentials. ‘Not enough peer-reviewed articles and such.”
Hannibal smirked. He had taught several courses at his prestigious alma mater throughout the years. A community college could be considered a waste of his time, but it was only for one day anyhow…. “Do you have a syllabus you’ve been working from?”
“I’ve…just been introducing my students to case studies. Mostly patients I’ve experienced during my tenure as director at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. And oddly enough, Will Graham is in my class.”
Hannibal’s slight smile widened. “Will Graham? Curious….” He paused a moment. “As they say, a friend in need is a friend indeed, after all. Yes, Frederick, I’ll be your substitute professor.” Hannibal was in love with his best friend and unofficial patient, Will Graham, and would do anything he could to be in Will’s presence. However, he would let his presence as Chilton’s substitute be a surprise to Will. In the meantime, he had to prepare his materials for the class. Of course, he knew exactly on whom he could lecture. It would be someone on whom Hannibal was an expert: It was the Chesapeake Ripper, and he was the Chesapeake Ripper.
~~~
Since Will never mentioned that he was taking a class with Chilton, Hannibal did not feel the need to disclose to him that he would be his professor for a night. He guessed (correctly) that Will would be embarrassed to admit to taking a community college class, let alone one taught by Chilton. Will thought that Chilton seemed to try to impress him, but his lectures were sophomoric at best. Will had signed up for the class (before realizing who the professor was) because he thought it might help him at work. However, he also had another motive: he was hoping to find someone who was unafraid by the killers Chilton described in an effort to find someone he could date who would not be scared off by his occupation. Whether that person was male or female didn’t matter to Will, he was just sick of feeling like a pariah.
~~~
Embarrassed to require a substitute, Chilton did not tell his class that he would be absent for their penultimate class, he merely stated that nothing in that week's class would be on the final. Of course, that ensured that approximately a third of the class skipped, but Chilton hadn’t considered that possibility because he had not thought that far ahead.
~~~
Hannibal took great care in curating his outfit for his teaching engagement. He wore chestnut brown wing-tipped shoes, tan trouser socks, and notably, a three-piece tweed suit with patches on the elbows of the jacket. He also wore a tan ascot with a gold, paisley pattern under his white button-down shirt. If he were playing the part of a professor, then he would look the part. He hoped Will would notice.
~~~
The class was on a Tuesday night from 7-9 p.m. While Frederick had only contacted Hannibal the Friday before, thankfully, Hannibal’s last appointment ended at 4:50 that Tuesday afternoon. That gave him enough time to finish his session notes before jumping in his car to make the nearly 2-hour commute, given the weather. Of course, while that meant that he would not have dinner beforehand, this did not bother Hannibal as he often ate late, a product of European living. He would park and find his classroom as students began to file in. And, in fact, that’s exactly what Hannibal did, only to be disappointed when he noticed Will’s absence. However, he had agreed to help Frederick, so he started by introducing himself as Frederick’s colleague before asking the students collectively whether they were aware of the Chesapeake Ripper. Several hands went up, but there were several other students who had, up until that point, been blissfully unaware of the killer.
“Does anyone here know what a sounder is?” Hannibal asked the class. This time, all hands remained down. “Ah, I see no one here is familiar with swine. A sounder is a herd of wild swine. The Chesapeake Ripper kills in sounders of three. I say ‘sounder’, you see, because that’s what the Ripper views his victims as, as swine, pigs ripe for the slaughter.”
“Why does he view people as pigs?” one student asked.
“Because the individuals he kills were uncouth, rude,” a voice interrupted. All eyes turned to see Will Graham, who had just entered the classroom. “Sorry I’m late prof—Hannibal?”
“Mr. Graham, it’s nice of you to join us, albeit late.”
“I…what are you doing here?”
“I’m lecturing on the Chesapeake Ripper, acting as Frederick’s substitute.”
“Did I miss much?”
“Why don’t you stay behind so as to discuss it after class?” Hannibal suggested, smiling at Will.
“Sure, okay. Sorry…professor. Please, carry on,” Will responded as he took a seat. He usually sat in the back of the class in an effort to deflect Chilton’s attention toward him, but there were several empty seats in the front row. Additionally, he couldn’t help but notice how sexy Hannibal looked in his tweed jacket with the patched sleeves. While he admitted it to no one but himself, he loved a man in a three-piece suit. He wondered what Hannibal thought of him….
Hannibal continued his lecture, thoughtfully answering questions from the students, most of whom were paying rapt attention. His lecture style and knowledge were far superior to Frederick’s, and even Will had to admit to being entranced by the subject matter despite it being an unsolved case which he knew like the back of his hand. “What do you think the Ripper does for a living, if he has a job, that is?” a student asked.
“Given that the Chesapeake Ripper removes organs with an exacting precision, I’d say that he has anatomical or surgical skills, perhaps both.”
“And why just random organs, Professor Lecter? What do you think he does with them?” another student asked.
“You must remember that the Ripper sees his victims as swine. Like many animals we harvest for meat, pig organs are often used for food. Organs such as the liver, kidneys, and tongue—all taken by the Ripper—can be used in such dishes as stews and sausages.”
“Stews and sausages? That sounds like the makings of a great serial killer restaurant,” a lanky boy in the third row remarked. His fellow classmates chuckled, all except Will.
“Han—Professor, are you suggesting that you believe the Chesapeake Ripper is removing his victims’ organs to eat them?” Will asked in disbelief.
The corner of Hannibal’s mouth twitched upward slightly. “I’ve no doubt that he is consuming his prizes. After all, why else has man domesticated swine?” Of course, Hannibal took a particular pleasure in feeding his prizes to his unknowing dinner guests, of which Will Graham was included.
Hannibal finished up his lecture to a round of applause, but Will hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything other than the idea of the Chesapeake Ripper eating his victims. The FBI had been stumped for years now, and while Will had hoped this class would give him some professional insight, he hadn’t expected this bombshell, and from Hannibal of all people! “Thank you for spending your Tuesday evening with me, and good luck on your final next week. Mr. Graham, if you could stay behind after class?”
“What? Oh yeah, sure,” Will responded, still fixated on the idea of the Ripper eating his victims, as his fellow students filed out of the classroom. After they were alone in the room, Will snapped out of his reverie and remarked, “You look the perfect part of a professor. Very dapper and handsome.”
Hannibal, who had seated himself behind Frederick's desk at the front of the classroom, leaned forward slightly. “And you showed up to class late tonight. As your professor, I feel obliged to punish you,” Hannibal purred. His eyes went from Will’s face down to his crotch.
“Are you giving me detention?” Will asked with a silly smile on his face. He walked around to Hannibal’s side of the desk and let a piece of paper fall from his notebook. “Oops,” he commented, parting his lips and raising his eyebrows suggestively.
“You’d best pick that up,” Hannibal warned, his own eyebrows raised slightly in amusement. He had thought for several weeks now that Will was coming onto him, but Will arching his back to push his ass out before getting to the ground on his knees convinced him.
Will acted as though he was going to stand up but instead put his hands on Hannibal’s legs. He squeezed gently before letting his thumbs work into the muscles of Hannibal’s inner thighs.
Hannibal tilted his head while his tongue darted out. He blinked rapidly, a lascivious smile spreading across his lips. “I think I know just how to punish you.” He unbuckled his belt and was about to unzip his fly when Will’s hands took over, prompting him to lay his arms on the armrests.
Will removed Hannibal’s penis from his silk boxers and started stroking it. “Is this what you had in mind, Professor?”
“My punishment involved fucking your mouth,” Hannibal replied. Will had never heard Hannibal swear before, so he was surprised, to say the least.
“Well, since tardiness is frowned upon, I suppose I ought to acquiesce and take my punishment.” Will rubbed a thumb over the top of Hannibal’s rock-hard cock before he leaned over to take it into his mouth. He had only performed fellatio once before—with a close friend in undergrad—but he remembered being told that he was very good at it. Based on the moan that had just escaped Hannibal’s lips, Will guessed that he hadn’t lost his talent in all the years since.
Hannibal let Will become accustomed to his size, the other man swirling his tongue around his shaft, before he took control. He put his hands gently on Will’s head, letting his fingers get enveloped in Will’s unruly curls. Seeing no disagreement from Will, he started thrusting his hips, pushing Will’s mouth slightly farther onto his cock. It felt divine. The men continued on like this for several minutes until Hannibal felt an urgency arise. His hands moved to Will’s shoulders, his nails digging in as his head pressed back against Frederick’s headrest.
Will stopped just long enough to murmur, “Come for me, Hannibal,” before resuming his adulation of Hannibal’s cock. Hannibal’s hands flew to the armrests and dug in as if they were clinging desperately to a life raft as he cried out, “Ungh!” His eyes were closed tight, but he saw a parade of colors as he came in Will’s mouth. He was surprised by Will’s attentiveness, who ensured that there was no remaining mess to stain his boxers or trousers. “Thank you, Will,” Hannibal purred with satisfaction.
“That was the best class—and detention—of my life,” Will chuckled. “I’ve never had such an engaging teacher, especially not as a substitute.”
“Then I’m glad to have obliged,” Hannibal replied before closing his pants. “But now, I’m afraid, I have quite the snowy drive back to Baltimore.”
“Not if you stay with me tonight,” Will offered.
“I have not eaten yet. Perhaps we could grab a bite to eat before we head to your bed?” Hannibal suggested.
~~~
The next morning, while still at Will’s, Hannibal received a text message from Frederick. “How was class?”
“Attendance was fairly low but expected since you told them my material would not be on their exam. However, those in attendance gave me their rapt attention,” Hannibal wrote back.
“Wow. Any problems?” Chilton replied.
“Will Graham arrived late, but I meted out a suitable punishment after class,” Hannibal replied, a smirk on his face and a gleam in his eye as he envisioned Frederick sitting in his chair during the next class, unaware of what depravity had occurred there just one week before.