empathicfault | IC Inbox

[ Will looks down at his canvases and smiles somewhat shyly. ]

Nah. It didn't feel right when I tried it again. I'll remake it eventually. At the moment, it's...I'm not sure what it'll be, other than a landscape.

[ One that Malcolm can get a peek of, if he looks. It's still in its early stages. Will, regardless, starts setting up the easel and then backs up and takes another look. His eyes slide towards Malcolm. ]

Would you want to try it with me sometimes? There's plenty of space to paint side-by-side.

[Malcolm admires the canvas, only tearing his eyes from it at Will’s invitation, turning his head to look at Will’s face.]

I’d love that. It wouldn’t disturb you?

[ Will scrunches his nose up and shakes his head. ]

Hardly. I tend to be less disturbed the closer you are, rather than more. I mostly do this to relax now, anyway.

[ He scoots his easel to the left, leaving space. His smile is evident as he winks at Malcolm. ]

Let's steal another easel from the art gazebo. I'm pretty sure they won't mind.

[Every time he tells himself to stop being weird and needy and imposing himself into all of Will’s space, Will tells him to get in the space already. And yet, it still hits him with that flood of surprised intense warmth, this notion that he can’t impose here, in their home, because Will wants him to fill all its corners the same way he wants Will to fill all its corners. He sees you, Johann had said. He doesn’t entirely trust his voice at first, nodding eagerly, then giving in and throwing his arms around Will and holding on tight.]

[ Will hugs him back just as tightly. He does have a tendency to catch onto Malcolm's feelings and just sit with them sometimes, but in this case he thinks the happy overwhelm is coming from both of them. Will spent such a large portion of his life like a ghost, haunting other people's presences with no impact of his own. Even his farmhouse was full of decisions and items of other people.

He felt like he existed when he was around Hannibal. An entity with its own thoughts and desires, despite Hannibal's overpowering personality. Now? Here? He feels like a person. Like he can grasp what he wants with his own hands. Like this place is his now, too.

Maybe it's a strange time to be this emotional- it's not one of the alloted 'best moments in someone's life' that most people go through. But fuck it, that's how they are. It isn't until he sniffles that he realizes he's crying, and that makes him laugh. He knew people sometimes cried when they were happy, he just never figured he'd be privy to the sensation. ]

Hah. I don't know...don't know how to thank you for everything you've done for me. Looking forward to finding out, though.

What I’ve done for you…? [Spoken with his own laugh, but that’s kneejerk, that reaction to the suggestion that he has things to offer in this setting. That what he’s done for Will could possibly compare to what Will has done for him, just because what Will has done for him has changed not just his life but his entire concept of life and self and what to live for. But he remembers his presence in Will’s mind palace. The place that shone. The place that was always bathed in brilliant light. To me you’re radiant. He smiles against Will’s shoulder, calmer now. Still feeling intensely warmed inside but also contented.] Maybe… we’ll just keep doing those things.

[ Will knows the disbelief, because he feels the same every day. Just unending delightful surprise after surprise. He's sure it'll eventually settle, but even then?
The contentment he expects they'll find with each other will be new. It's the reason they work, and the reason they'll be good together. ]

Yes, let's.

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