A/N: Well, slightly calmer chapter this time, although a bit of lemony-ness still slipped itself in there when I wasn't looking... ;)
Oh, and there actually is a reason for the little discussion at the end of the chapter... but we'll come back to that later on... :D

Chapter Thirteen: "Blurring the Lines"

It was mostly dark, but the small slits of sunlight coming in around the tightly drawn hotel window shades made his eyes throb and ache as he blinked blearily. Everything ached... oh God... even his bones ached. Zero was vaguely aware of a warm body pressed against his back, a warm arm wrapped around his waist. He was vaguely aware that he was naked and so was the other person. The other person who he knew instinctively was Kaname. Much as he wouldn't have admitted it, waking up to this scenario was not unfamiliar anymore and it no longer raised immediate warning bells in his head.

Of course, his head was currently being occupied by the hyperactive percussion section of some band that was badly in need of practice... so there wasn't much happening up there right now except for throbbing. He didn't really remember what had happened last night at first, but then he wasn't really trying either. The current situation spoke for itself.

Zero felt too ill to care just at the moment. He'd never had a really good hangover before and was not enjoying his initiation. He'd slept like a rock for a few hours, but then his sleep had lightened and become troubled. Not enough to wake him, but enough to give him a restless night full of disturbed dreams, which culminated in him finally waking now mostly because his stomach was sending him warning signals.

Rolling clumsily off the edge of the bed, Zero just managed to get his feet under him and stumble for the bathroom.

Kaname had not slept particularly well either. Zero's restlessness had kept his slumber light, and he awakened easily when he felt the hunter leave the bed. He lay still in the dark, tired but not exactly sleepy. Soft sounds from the bathroom told him that Zero was throwing up. He exhaled softly. Wine hangovers were some of the worst and Zero hadn't hydrated properly while he was drinking to help counter the effects of the alcohol.

Save that Zero knew what it felt like to actually want to die he would have thought he wanted to now. He clutched the sides of the toilet miserably as he leaned over it, kneeling on the cold tile floor and silently swearing to himself that he was never going to drink again. His stomach roiled and his head continued to throb as he let it hang. His neck ached, muscles stiff and pained. All his muscles ached dully, which wasn't helped by his shivering as the cold air played across his naked body. He was cold, but not feeling well enough to break away from his desperate hold on the toilet to do anything about it other than be miserable.

Crap... why did he have to be naked? Last night started to come back to him. The hunter had been numbly assuming that things had simply gone as he'd have expected. Kaname had seduced him as he did oh so very well and he'd not been in any kind of state of mind to resist. But there was strangely one place he didn't ache that didn't work with that scenario and now as his head started to clear a little Zero was remembering slowly that it was actually he who had seduced Kaname this time.

Wow... He closed his eyes, ragged breaths heaving his shoulders as he tried to fight back further waves of nausea. If he hadn't been so cold, he would have flushed a bit. Was there any possibility he could blame all that on the alcohol? People did dumb things when they were drunk, didn't they? But... Kaname hadn't been drunk. Zero frowned as more of the previous night came back to him. If the pureblood had been, maybe Zero could have understood what had happened, but as it was... in the light of a new day, he had no idea why Kaname had let him treat him that way.

Zero grit his teeth as his stomach clenched and he suppressed a sharp little heave. It was a losing battle and soon he was quickly leaning forward again, retching although he had nothing left to bring up. His fingers tightened on the cold porcelain bowl. Crap... he'd been such a jerk, or at least... he felt pretty sure he had been. Kaname was gonna be so pissed with him.

Zero froze slightly in confusion as the last thought passed through him. Wait... why the hell did he care what the pureblood thought? Wasn't like Kaname wasn't a complete jerk most of the time anyway. Still, that didn't excuse his own behavior... nor erase the incredibly compelling and confusing memories of last night... of the way seeing both agony and pleasure on Kaname's face had made him feel, of the way Kaname held onto him, not pushing him away despite the fact that in retrospect Zero was pretty sure the pureblood must have been in pain. Zero shivered involuntarily, somewhere torn between guilt and desire. Aw, crap, crap, crap...

Wrapped in his thoughts and his misery, Zero was not aware that he was no longer alone until he felt something soft and warm settle around his shoulders and across his back. He jerked, not used to being taken unawares, but he instantly realized that of course, it was Kaname in the room with him.

The pureblood crouched, carefully tucking the blanket he'd pulled from the bed more fully around Zero's hunched form as the hunter knelt on the bathroom floor. The blanket was still warm from their bodies and Zero curled gratefully into its welcoming embrace, gripping the edges and pulling it around him.

Kaname brushed Zero's perspiration matted hair back from his forehead with gentle fingers, then simply rested his hand lightly on the hunter's shuddering back as he crouched next to him. "Are you all right?" he asked quietly. He already knew Zero wasn't, but it seemed the thing to say and it felt awkward to say nothing.

Zero mutely shook his head, not even up to finding a snarky remark to make about the obviousness of the answer. He stole a glance at Kaname. There was dried blood still clinging to the side of the pureblood's neck, just visible around the collar of his robe. Kaname was wearing one of the white, plush terrycloth bathrobes that the hotel provided. He had laid another on the edge of the sink beside them, obviously for Zero's use when he was ready.

It was surprising, but Kaname's presence and his hand on Zero's back were actually comforting at the moment, which made Zero feel that much more like crap. He swallowed, grimacing at the bitter taste of bile coating his mouth. He wasn't sure what to make of the pureblood's unexpected kindness. Given what he was remembering of recent events, he would have expected Kaname to be more ticked with him. Zero would have been, if the pureblood had used him like that.

"K-Kaname... last night I... I'm sorry I... I didn't..." Zero mumbled softly, trying earnestly to put his jumbled thoughts into some kind of sense.

"Shh, I know. It's fine..." Kaname murmured, his fingers combing lightly through Zero's soft silver hair and sliding down to lightly massage the boy's tense neck. He didn't want Zero to feel bad for indulging his vampire side, and he didn't want to hear that Zero had only wanted him last night because he'd been drunk. It might be the truth, but he was still feeling a bit too vulnerable for that right now. Last night had been last night. It had been Kaname's choice to allow it to happen. Whether or not that had been a mistake... he'd have to decide later. Right now, Zero was obviously feeling pretty raw, and Kaname just wanted to focus on helping him feel better.

Zero closed his eyes, leaning his head back a little, Kaname's strong fingers easing the tense knot out of his neck and helping relieve a bit of the headache pounding in his temples. There was a soft, strange warmth in his chest that had nothing to do with the blanket wrapped around him, and it wasn't arousal either. It was something else... something... indefinable, tentative even, but surprisingly strong. Kaname hadn't had to let Zero have his way last night. He didn't have to be this tender with him now either.

Zero could never reconcile himself to belonging to this pureblood, the way he knew he did, but... things could be so very much worse, couldn't they? His experience with vampires outside the Academy to this point had been somewhat limited, but the party last night had been something of an eye opener on many levels. He didn't want to belong to anyone, but if cruel fate had had to take that choice, that freedom away from him... then he was beginning to think that at least where it had landed him wasn't as horrible as it might have been. He was fairly sure that there weren't many other high-blood vampires out there who would be treating him with this much unnecessary consideration if they had over him the kind of power that Kaname had.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Zero slid his hand out from under the blanket he was hugging to his chest and wrapped his fingers lightly, hesitantly around Kaname's as the pureblood started to withdraw the hand resting against Zero's neck.

"Thanks," Zero whispered quietly, holding Kaname's gaze for half a moment before he had to let it drop. He was too confused inside to hold it, but he squeezed Kaname's hand tightly for a moment, conveying his sincerity.

Kaname froze for a moment as Zero's hand gripped his, then he slowly, carefully squeezed back, an unbidden warmth passing through him. He smiled a little. Unexpectedly, he lifted Zero's hand to his lips and brushed a light kiss on the other's knuckles.

Zero continued to gaze studiously at the rim of the toilet, yet he didn't pull his hand away. He wasn't feeling so nauseous anymore, but he had to control his breathing for an entirely different reason. Memories of last night were still playing in his head. Most of it had come back to him now, including the way he'd... pleasured... Kaname at the end, which made him feel like flushing again. Why on earth had he done that? And even more puzzling... why didn't he regret it? Although feeling embarrassed and weird was a different matter.

Kaname gave Zero's fingers a last little squeeze before releasing him. He rose from his crouch, stepping over to the sink and filling one of the glasses sitting on the counter with water from the tap. He reached down, offering it silently to Zero, whom he assumed would like to wash out his mouth.

Zero did, for oh so many reasons right at the moment. He accepted the glass, rinsing and spitting to clear the taste of bile before swallowing the rest of the water to ease the thirst he only now realized was aching in his raw throat.

Kaname wet a washcloth in the sink, pulling down the collar of his robe and washing the dried blood from his neck. He needed to shower, but now wasn't the time. When Zero had finished rinsing his mouth, Kaname took the empty glass back and set it on the edge of the sink once more before sliding quietly out of the bathroom to give Zero some privacy.

Zero let his head hang, face resting in one hand. He was glad to be left alone to compose himself and try to deal with his remaining wooziness, but at the same time he found he – strangely – kind of missed Kaname's presence.

You are losing it, Kiriyu... Zero berated himself as he finally rose to his feet, keeping the blanket wrapped around him with one arm and running his other down his face as if he could wipe away how crappy he felt. It didn't work. Bending over the sink, Zero turned on the tap, running his head under it and splashing water on his face with cupped hands. As he straightened up, water ran from his hair down between his shoulder blades and along his neck, down his chest, wetting the blanket he was holding around him.

With a sluggish little shiver, Zero decided an actual shower would probably do him more good. He dropped the blanket and shuffled into the tub. When he emerged a while later, his head was slightly clearer. He toweled off and slipped into the robe Kaname had left for him. When he emerged from the bathroom, he found that Kaname had ordered room service while he was in the shower.

A portable table complete with tablecloth and place settings and covered with a tastefully arranged spread of breakfast foods had been wheeled into the room and left near the bed. Kaname was sitting by the table on the edge of the bed, pouring himself a cup of tea. When Zero entered, the pureblood looked up and gestured with his cup towards the table.

"I know you're probably not very hungry, but it will help if you at least try some juice and toast," he said by way of invitation, indicating the carafe of orange juice sitting beside the tea pot.

Zero simply nodded and perched on the edge of the bed near, but not too near, where Kaname was sitting. The smell of food wasn't particularly appetizing right now, but juice wasn't a bad idea and he poured himself a glass, sipping it slowly so as not to encourage any of it to come up again.

Zero couldn't help wondering just how odd room service must have thought it was to have someone ordering breakfast when it was probably almost dinner time, but in a place as ritzy as this, he supposed they probably served a full menu all day long. Zero had never been in a hotel this high-end before, although he'd not really had a chance to see much of it. But it was certainly a far cry from the only other hotel he'd stayed in with Kaname. That place had been a bit of a dive, but then, they'd been wanted fugitives at the time so they could hardly be choosy.

Zero stared down into his orange juice, mentally shying away from where his thoughts had been taking him. It was better not to think about the past. Unconsciously, his fingers plucked at the small silver bracelet he was still wearing on his wrist, under the wide hem of the robe's sleeve. Movement jarred him out of his reflections. He realized that Kaname had buttered a piece of toast and slid the plate over to him before returning to his own breakfast.

Zero almost sighed, not up to feeling annoyed at Kaname's constant meddling and not able to deny that the attention was not entirely unpleasant. He nibbled at the toast, managing half of it, and finished his orange juice before letting himself flop back to rest on his back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He still had a headache, but it was slowly improving a little. He felt Kaname looking at him and glanced over to see that same note of mild concern in his gaze as had been there earlier in the bathroom.

Kaname had finished eating and he pushed the table a way a little, turning to regard Zero as he remained seated on the edge of the bed. "I could have room service bring up something else if you prefer," he offered.

Zero pressed his hand over his eyes. "Stop it," he muttered softly. "Stop being so damn nice to me, it's freaky and unnatural." And I don't remotely deserve it, not after what I did to you.

Kaname smiled faintly in amusement. "You mean because it's more natural for me to be bossy and condescending?" he inquired wryly.

That actually wasn't entirely what Zero had meant, but Kaname's tone was amused, not offended, so he grinned dryly and let his arms fall to rest above his head, glancing over at Kaname. "Yeah, exactly," he agreed. Zero supposed he should have felt more awkward or uncomfortable at this moment, but he didn't. You couldn't be involved in an intimate relationship with someone, no matter how screwed up it was, and not start to gain a certain comfort level around them.

Kaname was gratified that Zero seemed to feel at ease now, in sharp contrast with the tense way he had behaved at first after the disaster at the party. Kaname turned so he was facing the direction where Zero was sprawled and drew his legs up onto the bed, leaning back against the headboard and resting his arms on his knees. He wanted to apologize to Zero about the party, but he wasn't sure how without making himself vulnerable to opening up that whole can of worms again. So he didn't.

"The Satos invited us to go back tonight as private guests," Kaname remarked instead, tilting his head as he watched Zero. That garnered about the reaction of dismay and distaste that he'd expected and Zero made a face, fists curling by his head.

"Oh, peachy damn wonderful..." the hunter muttered sourly and Kaname couldn't help chuckling. Even if he hadn't had quite as horrible time last night as Zero had, he actually more or less agreed with that sentiment.

"Mm," he agreed dryly. "I told them we were very honored, but had other plans. Actually I had thought we might see some of the city tonight before our flight back, if you feel up to it." Kaname's off-hand tone belied the closeness with which he was watching Zero's reactions.

Zero raised his eyebrows and shot Kaname a slightly surprised look. The pureblood wanted to take him sightseeing? The hunter was even more surprised that he kind of... liked the idea. He hadn't been to this city before, so it could be interesting. But since when had spending time with Kaname become anything close to his idea of a good time? Maybe it was just because the alternative was so infinitely worse... maybe.

"Yeah... sure. I guess we could do that," he said after a moment when he realized Kaname was waiting for him to say something. Zero probably imagined the ever so brief flash of an almost pleased expression in Kaname's eyes, but it made him feel like crap again all the same.

Zero bit his lower lip, guilt flickering across his face again. "Kaname, I really am sorry about last night," he murmured, unable to help himself.

Kaname shook his head with a small frown, not wanting to go there. Because whether or not it had been a mistake in the long run, he wasn't sorry it had happened. "I told you, its fine," he repeated, glancing down at where his arms rested on his knees and fighting the humiliating urge to tell Zero he'd liked it and he wanted him to do it again sometime. Hell... now was a great time... Kaname drew a steadying breath, annoyed at himself, and changed the subject.

"Although you did share part of your headache with me, which wasn't very nice..." he added, rubbing his temples and guiding their conversation back to a lighter tone. Actually, he really wasn't much affected anymore by the alcohol he'd imbibed through Zero's blood last night, but he did have a bit of a headache for whatever reason. "Hand me my tea, will you?"

Zero looked confused. "Huh?"

Kaname eyed the hunter as if wondering if he was more hung-over than he'd realized. "You know, tea," he explained with exaggerated patience. "Darkish colored liquid made by soaking leaves from..."

Zero waved his hand impatiently. "I know what tea is, Kaname," he interrupted with a roll of his eyes. "I meant the headache thing."

Kaname looked a bit amused again, having already figured that out before Zero said it, but stringing along anyway. "Oh, that. Let's just say your blood alcohol level was criminal."

Zero had a vague memory of Kaname drinking from his neck as he fell asleep and finally understood. He snorted softly. "Well I didn't ask you to use me like a bedtime snack..." he pointed out. "And why can't you get your own tea? You're closer," he added, glancing towards the table that had rolled a little away from the bed. All he had to do was sit up and stretch out his arm to reach the tea cup resting near the edge, but Zero wasn't so sure he saw the sitting up part happening anytime soon.

Kaname tipped his head back against the headboard comfortably, indicating an equal unwillingness to budge. "No, I'm not, we're equidistant. And weren't you complaining that I wasn't being bossy enough not long ago? I'm just trying to oblige, honestly, you're so hard to please," the pureblood deadpanned wryly. He could simply have 'pulled' the cup or the table to him, but the light banter was more enjoyable.

Zero snorted and waved his hand vaguely towards the table without getting up, making an intentionally pathetic I'm trying, it's just so far away gesture as if he could summon the cup from where it was.

Suddenly, the cup jerked, lurching sideways unexpectedly as if it had been bumped or jostled. It fell over, rolling off the edge of the table and striking Zero's knee on the way down. If the hunter hadn't been so startled his reflexes would have enabled him to catch it as it fell, but instead he felt the irrational urge to bat the cup away from him in alarm as if it were a living creature. He gave a soft, startled cry as hot tea splashed across his thigh and the edge of the bed. The cup hit the floor and Zero scrambled up to sit, cursing and shaking excess tea from the stained lower hem of his robe, pulling the wet terrycloth away from his leg. His heart was pounding.

"What the hell was that? Did you do that, Kaname? It wasn't funny," he said through his teeth, but in truth his agitation stemmed from an entirely different reason. He'd felt... he'd felt so strange just now, just for a moment.

Kaname was staring at Zero with an equally surprised look on his face that quickly confirmed what the hunter had already suspected. The pureblood hadn't done that.

"Shit!" Zero muttered, growing distressed. "Shit!" His hands were shaking and he looked at them for a moment before quickly folding his arms as if he could hide them.

"Zero, that wasn't me, you did that." In contrast to Zero's apprehension, Kaname looked quite pleased as soon as he got over his initial surprise. He knew that Zero inherited a certain amount of his power by drinking his blood and that that might eventually give him some kind of mild abilities along the lines of Kaname's own, but he hadn't expected it to manifest itself so obviously or so soon. True, it had only been a very little flux, but still. He wondered if adding the blood seal to the mix had increased the effect, and then there was also Zero's hunter heritage to factor in. With so many variables in play, the ex-human was a fairly unique case.

Zero was looking increasingly alarmed... almost scared. "I didn't mean to," he protested, hugging himself tighter.

Kaname couldn't figure out why on earth Zero seemed distressed. "No, but you must have been focusing on the cup and willing it to you, even if only in jest. Can you do it again? Try the plate..." he encouraged almost eagerly. He thought it better not to mention that he suspected that Zero's allowing himself to truly vamp out last night, as he did so rarely, might also have been a catalyst in enabling what had just happened. He'd told Zero before, if the boy would just stop fighting himself, there might be a lot he could do that he didn't even know.

Zero looked at Kaname like he was crazy. "No way! It was... it was just a fluke." He shook his head in denial. "It just fell over." He must have bumped the table with his leg without realizing it. Sure, that made sense... but Zero knew he was lying to himself.

Kaname was quickly becoming frustrated. "Zero, for goodness sake, you're acting like this is a bad thing. Even if all it did was fall over, you moved it. Do you realize how incredible it is that you could do that, even by accident?" Kaname remembered when he was little and his powers had started coming in. It would happen a lot like that - accidental use at first, until he learned how to control them.

Zero swallowed. Kaname didn't get it. He didn't understand... the small flux of strange power he had just felt... it wasn't natural. It wasn't human to be able to do these things. It was another reminder of how un-human he had become. Zero had resisted his awakening as a vampire with every fiber of his being. He'd hated it when he became strong, saw farther, heard better, moved faster... although he'd gradually accepted and adapted to all of those changes. But now, he felt like he was changing even more... becoming even more of a... a...

Zero looked up towards Kaname, and was suddenly frozen by the expression on his face. Kaname's eyes were shining, almost eager in an unusually unguarded way. Zero rarely saw him excited like this and it was so abnormal that it actually dissipated the habitual fear and self-revulsion that had been building in the ex-human. Kaname was... he was really happy for him. The pureblood really thought this was something wonderful.

Zero hesitated. Well... maybe... maybe it wasn't so bad. It was hard to withdraw and feel completely weirded out with Kaname looking at him like that.

"Maybe... maybe I'll try again later. I... I still don't feel too good," he whispered quietly, making a conscious effort to dial back on his unease with this new aspect of himself. Showing his disgust with all things vampire when Kaname looked so damn... open, almost hopeful... Zero couldn't do it.

Kaname could tell Zero was trying to be a little more objective than he wanted to be. He took it as a step in the right direction and didn't press him. "Of course," he replied, his tone also quiet. Almost without meaning to, he reached out and lightly cupped Zero's cheek in his palm.

Their eyes caught and held. Zero didn't pull away and for a long, suspended moment, they remained there as if time had stopped. Kaname wasn't sure quite why what had happened pleased him so much actually. Perhaps it was because the more Zero accepted his vampire nature, the better the ex-human's chances were, or perhaps it was simply that deep down he liked the idea that some part of himself had become so inextricably bound with Zero that it was even physically apparent.

Zero's fingers ghosted across the back of Kaname's hand, still captured and captivated by those deep brown eyes. Before he could stop himself, his fingers slid from Kaname's hand to his face, lightly tracing the smooth curve of the pureblood's jaw and neck, playing through the silky brown tresses that lay against his skin. Kaname shuddered softly, lips parting just a little, unintentionally displaying the power that Zero's touch had over him.

Zero's throat felt tight. There were moments... moments of insanity, when his heart ached and he wished badly that they all could have been born in some different world. Some world where he could ever hope to possess the affection of the unfathomable, perilously beautiful soul that sat across from him, some world where he wouldn't have to feel like a fool and a traitor to his heritage for even wishing such a thing. It was crazy and screwed up without a doubt, but he couldn't help it.

"So... um..." Zero said a trifle breathlessly after a few long moments. "Did you have anything specific in mind for what we're going to do today?" He swallowed, trying to turn back to safer topics although he couldn't get his fingers to release from Kaname's hair.

"I don't know..." Kaname murmured, his voice warm and heated like spiced cider wine. The way Zero was looking at him, the unexpected glimpse of hesitant emotion in the silver-amethyst eyes held him captivated. "I could think of a few things..." And none of them involved leaving this room...

Zero knew he should stop Kaname as the pureblood leaned into him, warm, familiar lips sliding across his jaw, nibbling his ear, playing with his earrings. Long fingers trailed down the ex-human's chest, finding the loose knot formed by the tie of his robe about his waist and sliding it free. But Zero didn't stop him, instead he shivered, fingers fisting softly in Kaname's hair and pulling him closer.

--

"Kaname, it's not working right now, all right?"

"You're not even trying," the pureblood returned skeptically as if he'd heard that too many times.

Zero glared at him and shook his head. "I am, it's just not working!" he growled in frustration and deliberately turned his back on the demanding pureblood seated next to him. Considering they were in the back of a limo, however, there wasn't very far he could go to get away. "Give it a break already, all right? Geez!"

Zero rested his chin on his hand, gazing at the sheets of grey rain pelting the tinted windows as he and Kaname were driven down the familiar roads leading to Cross Academy. The two of them had actually managed to do some sightseeing before their return flight, although they had gotten quite a... delayed... start. Surprisingly enough though, they'd had a pretty decent time seeing the city together. They'd watched street performers, checked out a revolving rooftop restaurant, wandered in a park with a hundred fountains and seen a most uninspiring traveling exhibit of supposedly 'world famous' art. Zero said he could do better and Kaname agreed, the two vampires actually ending up laughing over it as they quickly took their leave.

Zero had made the mistake however, of letting Kaname coerce him into attempting to do again, intentionally, what he had done by accident with the tea cup. With exhausting effort, the ex-human had succeeded in making the teapot rattle and ever since then the pureblood had been insufferable about trying to make him work on the ability, pestering him to attempt to nudge almost everything they saw, from the bowling pins balanced by a street juggler to the buttons on the limousine's stereo.

Sometimes Zero refused, a couple times he actually tried, but after the teapot he hadn't been able to do it again intentionally. He hardly even knew what he was doing when he had done it. He should never have let Kaname talk him into trying it the first time, but he had been under considerable duress...

Zero panted, fists bunched in the covers, body slick with perspiration as Kaname's mouth trailed warmly down his chest, stopping to lick and suck on a pale, sensitive nipple while his fingers caressed Zero's inner thighs and his heated flesh with devastating sensuality.

Zero's body was on fire and he half gasped, half whimpered Kaname's name, hips thrusting into the pureblood's grip of their own volition. Kaname smiled heatedly, mouth continuing its downward journey of slow, passionate kisses across Zero's stomach and abdomen, going lower and lower until he found what he sought.

Zero almost screamed when Kaname's hot mouth closed over his throbbing flesh. Kaname groaned in appreciation of his lover's reaction and took him deeper, remembering how good it had felt when Zero did this to him and wanting to give his partner that much delight as well. The intimacy of the act was compelling and after last night... it was impossible for Kaname to feel more vulnerable than he already did, so there was no reason not to indulge his desire to please Zero, to be close to him in every possible way. Kaname's arms curled around Zero's hips, hands gripping his thighs, holding them spread and keeping Zero pinned to the bed as he bobbed his head, sucking, licking and caressing hungrily. Like Zero, this was one thing he'd never actually done before, but as with almost everything the pureblood did, he showed a certain amount of innate talent.

Zero went crazy, all but writhing on the bed in mind-bending ecstasy as Kaname tended him very, very thoroughly. He was teetering towards the brink of release when Kaname withdrew his head, holding Zero still in place while lightly licking and kissing him – enough to stimulate and tease, not enough to get him off.

"Kaname!" he groaned, half accusing, half begging, fingers tangling in the pureblood's hair.

"Mmm..." Kaname murmured against his flesh, making Zero's thighs quiver under his fingers. "You want something?"

Zero moaned in assent. God... Kaname wasn't going to make him ask for it, was he? "Y-you know what I want..." he rasped softly, arousal thick and heavy on his words.

Yes, Kaname did and the raw acknowledgement of it in the hunter's tone made the pureblood's whole body shudder. "Make something on the table move again, and you can have it..." he promised silkily, tongue flicking with deliberate languidness across the tip of Zero's arousal.

"Kaname!" it was definitely accusing and frustrated this time, although Zero's vocabulary seemed to be severely limited at the moment. He couldn't believe Kaname was harping back to that at a time like this!

"Well, you're obviously feeling better now, so why not? Come on, Zero... just try. But take your time, no hurry. I could do this forever..." he purred as he nuzzled kisses along Zero's groin and blew softly across his wet, throbbing flesh. Kaname was enjoying himself immensely, but he also had a feeling this may be the only way to get Zero to actually try. Proper... incentive could work wonders.

Zero groaned helplessly, back arching against the bed, one hand tangled in Kaname's hair, the other in the rumpled sheets. "You are such a bastard..." he panted, his frustrated voice laden with too much pleasure for it to carry any bite.

"In point of fact, I'm actually not..." Kaname replied amusedly, taking Zero deep again for a moment and savoring the way his whole body jerked with pleasure before he withdrew and returned to teasing.

Realizing Kaname was serious, and unable to withstand the delightful, incredible torture, Zero gave in and turned his thoughts to the table, distractedly but urgently trying to make something move. But he didn't know how, and just thinking about it didn't seem to do any good. He whimpered and squirmed, pleading with Kaname that he was trying and he couldn't do it, but the pureblood just kept working him slowly, unimpressed.

Desperate, Zero had given up trying and imagined bashing the smug smile off Kaname's face with the teapot. Startlingly, the damn thing had wiggled, rattling and tipping over. It was kind of a rush this time, actually, when he'd seen it happen.

Kaname beamed at him in positive delight and went down on him so hard he had Zero screaming with ecstasy again in a matter of heartbeats. Zero didn't stop screaming until he'd spent himself fully and Kaname attentively did not spill a drop. The pureblood lay beside him afterwards and held Zero, cradling him as the boy shivered softly in residual pleasure, kissing the ex-human's neck tenderly and murmuring what a good effort that had been, his whole being fairly radiating pride in the ex-human.

Zero didn't know if Kaname had actually meant for him to see quite how proud and pleased he was... but he did, and it made him feel warm and yet embarrassed all at the same time. His own arms curled around Kaname, legs tangling with his, drawing him near so he could feel their hearts beating against one another. As almost always happened, Kaname's heartbeat unconsciously synced to his.

"Maybe it only works when you're properly motivated, hm?" Kaname postulated with a small, meaningful little smile. He could see the reflection of Zero's face in the tinted glass and read a shadow of what he was remembering there.

Zero turned back to Kaname with a dry glare. "You mean like when I really, really want to hit you in the head with something? Now there's a thought..."

"You'd have to get quite a bit better and show more adeptness to manage that." Kaname's grin widened a little. Considering Zero had yet to do more than make a few dishes rattle or tip over, it would be premature to say that he'd ever be able to channel enough precise power to actually move an object from one place to another, but if he didn't try... then they'd never know, would they? "Try to focus on moving in only one direction at a time for now and on objects with simple surfaces, like radio buttons or dinner plates. Blocks or balls would be ideal; we have some in the gym if you want. The fewer variables in the surface of the object, the easier it is to manipulate," the pureblood informed, having slid easily into the role of teacher again.

Zero rolled his eyes. "Uh huh... got it the first dozen times you told me..." he muttered, exaggerating more than a little. The limo stopped and the driver opened an over-size umbrella as he got out and circled around the car, the umbrella obviously intended for the use of his passengers.

"So if you're such an expert, why don't you use your magic to keep the rain off?" he inquired, partially to needle Kaname, and partially because he was curious as he realized he'd never seen the pureblood do that.

Kaname just shrugged, intentionally treating the question as if it had been serious. "I could, but it's usually not worth the intense effort it would take when an umbrella is perfectly adequate. These skills... it's not like in the movies, you know. You don't just wave your hands and 'magically' create invisible barriers or start fires or spread ice... It can get to the point where it's instinctual, like walking and talking, but like both of those actions it doesn't start that way. It takes effort and practice. None of us can break the laws of nature; we simply have the ability to go a step beyond what is considered normal when it comes to interacting with the elements around us. It's really a matter of perspective. To a chimpanzee, the ability to generate electricity in a power station by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor would seem like magic."

Zero was intrigued by the logic of this, although he frowned as he realized somewhat belatedly that whether intentionally or unintentionally Kaname had kind of just equated humans with chimps.

"But we must still operate within our own limits," Kaname continued, trying to pull on examples that he felt Zero would be able to understand or relate to. "Aido has to extract moisture from the air to form his ice, if he were ever stuck in a desert, that would severely limit his power. In my case, you have to be able to find and grip the surface or molecular structure of an object with your mind in order to affect it. Moving air isn't too hard because even though you have to be aware of the individual air molecules, if you miss a few it doesn't make a difference so long as you catch enough of them to get the others around moving. However, water is different because of its nature. I can't deal with it on a molecular level; I have to go for manipulating its surfaces. But if something is moving rapidly, or amorphous in shape, like thousands of individual falling rain drops or a swirling river, then it would take an exhausting amount of effort to be able to catch all the drops or try to influence the overall flow of the water," the pureblood finally finished the explanation, realizing that it had ended up somewhat long, but having not been able to explain the last without explaining the first. He was trying to not take for granted that Zero should simply know how things worked.

These weren't exactly vampire secrets, as those who had powers were all quite aware of the general way in which they worked, but at the same point they also weren't things that were usually told to or discussed with non-vampires or those below the noble caste. Vampires did not usually outline the scope of their abilities to anyone, save perhaps their protégés for the purposes of instruction, if they trusted them, because with full understanding of strengths came equal understanding of weaknesses and limitations.

Despite his intentional displays of indifference towards Kaname's instruction, Zero found himself quite interested by what the pureblood was saying. He'd never realized that vampire abilities were so much a kind of science in their own way. It both helped him accept them as perhaps a little more natural, and interested him from a hunter's perspective as well. If you knew what your opponent's strengths were and the rubrics under which they worked... you could figure out how to better counter them.

"So then... I take it you couldn't walk on water," Zero said slowly, unable to resist.

Kaname raised an eyebrow at him. He knew Zero was joking, but blithely continued to treat him as if he were serious, knowing it would irritate the hunter. "Well, it depends on how choppy the water is. If it's relatively calm, I could work with the surface tension..."

"Okay, okay, forget I asked!" Zero rolled his eyes, but he was actually a bit amused. He reached for the door handle because the driver was standing patiently outside under the umbrella, waiting for them to indicate that they were ready to disembark. The moment he saw Zero reaching for the door, he got to it first, pulling it open for them and shifting to hold the large umbrella over the two vampires as they got out of the car.

"Trumped by an umbrella..." Zero murmured to Kaname as they hurried down the walk, rain pelting around them and pattering against the protective waterproof surface over them. The ground was saturated and small rivulets of water ran across the sidewalk, indicating that it had probably been raining here for a while.

Kaname eyed Zero in mild exasperation. It wasn't like he'd said he couldn't do it, just that it wasn't worth the effort. "When you can do more than spill tea, then you can talk..." he returned smoothly, his lips quirking just slightly.

Zero turned up the collar of his jacket against the chill of the rain, hiding his small smile.