"Anyone's fascination with anything has an origin point," Malcolm tells him reasonably. "My dad only tried to kill me twice. You know. For his own good," he adds flatly.
"'Only," Hannibal repeats, then takes another bite. Instead of savoring it, he looks thoughtful.
"You wanted to understand him, then? Enough so you could catch people like him. But you are also terrified of being like him, which is where you and Will first found common ground."
Hannibal pauses for a moment, turning to face Malcolm slightly more on his stool. His expression (as always) is hard to read, but seems to be a mixture of confusion, concern, and deep interest.
"You...recreated the Hobbs case? I assume Will played the role of Garrett Jacob Hobbs for you."
"It wasn't so much 'playing' the role as letting Hobbs emerge," Malcolm tells him. "But I think you know." An assessing pause back at him and his eyes narrow slightly. "Yeah. I think you know about that." He turns his attention back to his plate, shaving off another tiny bite with the side of his fork. "That's why you worked so hard to make sure you'd get in there, too."
Hannibal watches Malcolm's face. His own is blank, now that he seems to have wrestled his own mild display of emotions back under his control.
He hums and then looks away, back to his plate. "I understand if you find it hard to believe, but initially he was not supposed to know me. Not truly. However, even with his health deteriorating, he found me. He pierced through every layer of obfuscation I had."
Hannibal licks his lips and takes another perfectly-sized bite. Only after consuming it does he ask, "How did he fare, after that role-playing exercise was finished?" He is doing his best to come off as nonchalant about the question, but there's a seed of worry in it.
"Others have seen glimpses, but very few. They turned away at the sight. Even when trying to murder me, Will has never done so." His voice warms as he speaks. It's clear that means a lot to him.
"What was it you ended up doing, that surprised Will so?"
"I disarmed him. And arrested him. And saved his daughter too," Malcolm tells him. He takes another tiny bite of omelette. "I hunted serial killers for the FBI for ten years. My solve rate was over eighty percent compared to a Bureau average in the sixties. And I never discharged my firearm at a suspect. Not once. ...I did get thrown down some concrete stairs and cattleprodded a little bit. But that comes with the territory," he admits gamely.
Re: Morning of the 9th
Re: Morning of the 9th
"You wanted to understand him, then? Enough so you could catch people like him. But you are also terrified of being like him, which is where you and Will first found common ground."
Re: Morning of the 9th
“Correct. But we tested whether I could choose the path he chose from the point that he began to walk on it and I couldn’t.”
Re: Morning of the 9th
"You...recreated the Hobbs case? I assume Will played the role of Garrett Jacob Hobbs for you."
Re: Morning of the 9th
Re: Morning of the 9th
He hums and then looks away, back to his plate. "I understand if you find it hard to believe, but initially he was not supposed to know me. Not truly. However, even with his health deteriorating, he found me. He pierced through every layer of obfuscation I had."
Hannibal licks his lips and takes another perfectly-sized bite. Only after consuming it does he ask, "How did he fare, after that role-playing exercise was finished?" He is doing his best to come off as nonchalant about the question, but there's a seed of worry in it.
Re: Morning of the 9th
He looks over at Hannibal.
“He’s the only one, isn’t he? The only one that has… really seen you.”
Re: Morning of the 9th
"What was it you ended up doing, that surprised Will so?"
Re: Morning of the 9th