hiddencait

For

alyse

Four Ways Hannibal King is Underestimated…

Never Shuts Up

The first thing people expect when they meet King is for him to talk his ear off. It’s not that surprising; his tendency to run his mouth is practically legend among the hunter community. Every time they’ve joined up with a new team, the current leader had made a point of warning King to keep his mouth shut.

That goes about as well as expected.

The thing is, Abby much prefers him talking. She’s seen him silent, and it’s never pretty. Even in the midst of torture, King cracks jokes, tosses insults. It’s only in the very darkest moments, when those he loves are in true mortal danger or when he’s given up on life itself, that he seems to lose his voice all together.

He was silent the day Abby found him chained in the depths of the Talos clan’s current lair. He’d very slowly stood and almost casually ripped the chains from the wall, and she’d had the first inkling that she’d walked into a trap.

The vamp had rushed her without a sound, and it was only a strange instinct that had her pulling her blows. Instinct and the sick realization that he’d been throwing himself at her blade instead of away. She’d knocked him out with far too much ease that night.

It was only months later – after he’d been given the “choice” of a cure that he survived against all odds – that he finally began to talk.

So sue her if Abby will cherish his voice as long as she can.

As Dumb as He Looks

There’s a stereotype about men like King – that the pretty ones are usually have shit for brains. And while King is certainly pretty, he’s never been stupid.

While most people can admit he’s witty enough, often too witting with some of his obnoxious ass quips, they rarely realize just how educated and brilliant the mouthy hunter really can be.

But Abby’s seen him in museums and libraries, seen the sheer reverence with which he handles old texts and archeological finds. His study into the Dracula phenomenon was only one of the lengthy researches King had taken up for “fun” to distract himself in the long days in between the dark nights of a hunt.

He read poetry, too.

Total Irresponsible Adult

The thought of a rowdy rough and tumble hunter like King taking over guardianship for Zoë had set more than a few tongues wagging. It was only Abby’s presence that ever calmed people’s concerns. Something that Abby just didn’t understand.

It wasn’t like she had any clue how to take care of a child. Abby tended to forget about things like regular meal times and nap time and playtime and oh yeah, a normal hour for children to be in bed. She couldn’t remember a time when her own mother had tucked her in and read her a bedtime story or helped her brush her teeth. Abby had been hunting or trying to hunt for as long as she could remember.

No, Abby didn’t know the first thing about children.

But Zoë still seemed to be turning out alright.

So Not in Charge

In the field and on a hunt, there was no doubt who led the charge. Any new hunters they hooked up with often laughed about it behind their hands as if King or Abby couldn’t hear them. Talked about the big bad King being pussy-whipped within an inch of his life, and other less kind comments.

‘Course, they didn’t seem the King who could tell Abby to put down the bow and sleep with just a look, or the King who poured over maps and list of weapons to finalize a plan of attack with Abby, his former undead experience providing answers to any number of problems.

And they really didn’t see he and Abby behind closed doors. Maybe he was willing to follow her lead in the field as long as their careful plans held together. And maybe, just maybe he was occasionally willing to lie back and take it in their bed.

But honestly it was usually the other way around. And that was the way they both liked it.

…and the One Person Who Never Underestimates Him

Abigail Whistler

Everyone asked why she’d spared him, the day she found him. Why she was so sure he’d be willing to take the cure, to turn on Danica Talos.

Since then, she’d been asked more questions – why she stayed partnered with him, how she’d could stand his bullshit, just who the fuck did he think he was?

She doesn’t bother to answer.