It doesn't shock Will that Hannibal's plans have them heading to Europe, that he's made a place for them there, and he wonders what sorts of things Hannibal has imagined them doing in Paris, if he has smaller intentions to go inside the larger ones. Will's never been to France, and the idea of going there with Hannibal, the two of them escaping this life that holds nothing but barriers for them, finding and making a new one abroad, strikes Will as romantic on a level he's never considered for himself before. That notion has nothing to do with anything beyond the trust that's so close to completely forming between them, but there are things clicking into place in the back of Will's mind, new potentials unlocking.

Hannibal doesn't tell Will what comes after Paris, and he assumes it will be in continental Europe, but there's a reason Hannibal's keeping it from him. He knows it's contingent on Will proving himself, because while Hannibal is ready to take Will to France with him, he's reserving the right to leave Will behind if he needs to, if Will forces his hand. But Will also senses the place Hannibal intends for them to settle has a deeper meaning for Hannibal, one that would be irrevocably tarnished if Will turned on him there. It makes Will feel determined to find this place, to be there with Hannibal, to earn the right to stay by Hannibal's side.

The hand falls away from Will's face then, but not before Hannibal gives him one more touch, intimate, sweet. It's close to benign, but in this moment, on the path they're about to take, it makes something tight and hot coil in Will's belly, and the sensation only increases as Hannibal leads Will toward his bedroom, a space Will has never set foot in as long as he's known Hannibal. It's Hannibal's sanctuary, and being asked to go there, invited in, only further proves that Hannibal is allowing himself to trust Will despite everything Will's told him, that he believes that Will is ready to give up everything, to give his life to Hannibal.