Title: We Both Go Down Together
Author: Ashe
Fandom: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
Prompt: Together LJ challengethe
Rating/Warnings: R. M/M.
Summary: They could get through this together: for the first time Kurogane was sure.
Notes: Probably shouldn't be writing this. I should be sleeping. But my roommate is unconscious on my bed (has been since I got back from practice) and the muse has bitten me this evening. So instead, we get Kuro/Fye pt. deux. Which isn't accurate as it connects not at all to the first one I wrote this evening XD Enjoy! Spoilers post 120 ish (not sure which volume exactly) of the manga. Also I will say it has absolutely no point (thus why I shouldn't begin writing when I am tired).

Story:

"And I know that it's over
And there's nothing left to say
And we all pay the prices
Of the games that we play
I don't know how to love you
But I can't walk away"

Kurogane realized the first time that Fye fed after a long fast that he could not stand through it. The blonde may not mean to be greedy, but he drank deeply because he was hungry and could not control himself. Kurogane knew this. It was why Kurogane said nothing to him, merely closed his eyes and prepared as best he could for the gentle, insistant suckling on his vein. It was distracting and more than a little arousing, but that arousal quickly blurred and fell away as the floor spun beneath him and his head lolled back. He managed to keep himself upright by force of will alone, but quickly slumped to the bed the moment Fye left with his head down and shame pouring off of him.

So after the next fast (Kurogane knew he could not force the wizard to feed, and that hurt him) the ninja suggested that they sit on the edge of the bed. The feedings, of course, were done in private so as not to disturb Sakura who did not need the extra troubles on her mind. The two, sitting next to one another... it could have been the awkward beginnings of sexual advances. Instead, it was a far more awkward moment of submission to a burning need and Kurogane forever knowing that his selfishness had broken what was between them before. Rather sacrifice whatever it had been than let Fye die, he told himself, and braced himself for the inevitable pain, and the sudden flood of heat the filled him. Could Fye feel the heat pouring off of him, almost feverishly?

The next time the blonde man came to him, Kurogane was already reclined on the pillows. He had expected him, seeing the pale features and the unsteady hands for what they were: signs of intense hunger. Fye came to him more forcefully this time, not allowing Kurogane to rise from his recline position, but straddling him and pushing his favored black robe away from his neck to seek the vein of the neck. Kurogane was filled with a mix of both fear and a little happiness. It was hunger that drove Fye, but at least he was being more forceful and taking what he needed instead of needing prodded into it.

Kurogane closed his eyes and let his head roll back, exposing more of his neck. The vein was slit and tongue and lips went to work, drawing the blood forward that the hungry may feed. The man's hands were tangled in Kurogane's robe, but the ninja raised his hands to close around the smaller body. One hand placed at the back of Fye's neck, the other on his back. It was this way that Fye took what he needed before pulling back, licking the blood from his lips and pressing two fingers to the cut, healing it. For a brief moment Kurogane saw more than the contented, full feeling in Fye's eye. Lust, perhaps? It was gone too quickly for Kurogane to tell, as was Fye. He lay there for a long time before he finally fell into a fitful sleep.

The next time Fye came, it was not so long a wait. Merely days later, long before the hunger would drive him to seek out his bait normally. Fye hesitated in the doorway of Kurogane's bedroom, and slowly came to him. Either he was not sure of his welcome, or he came slowly as a predator, but Kurogane watched him approach with both apprehension and a building lust. The blonde crawled on top of Kurogane, slowly straddling the larger man's hips and placing an arm on either side of the man's face. Kurogane raised a hand and pushed back pale hair around Fye's good eye, before he slowly cupped Fye's face with those calloused fingers.

The wizard said nothing, but lowered his lips to Kurogane's throat. He was gentle, so gentle that it took Kurogane a moment to realize that Fye had cut a vein and was slowly licking the warm blood from his neck. Kurogane closed his eyes, adn exposed more of his neck for the man. He tried not to let disappointment show: he should be happier that Fye was feeding regularly, not disappointed that he was still nothing but a feeding tube. Fye's tongue rolled gently over the wound, the blood lingering there before he swallowed. He drank slowly, so slowly that this time Kurogane felt no ill effects. Kurogane relaxed, letting each muscle unwind and letting most of the tension leave him. Fye drank slowly, but he did not drink as much, and when he pulled away there was a dribble at the corner of his lips. Before he could wipe it away, Kurogane raised his hand and did it for him. There was shock in his blue eye before he rolled off of the ninja and slid to standing.

"Fye," Kurogane said before he could stop himself. Fye did not turn, but slid through the crack in the door and left at a hurried clip. What had frightened him so badly, Kurogane wondered? Had it been the slightest show of intimacy? Kurogane clenched his eyes closed and groaned, pressing a hand to his neck to stop the bleeding.

Fye fasted again. A week went by, and then another, and Kurogane could feel the tension building in him. In each taunt muscle, in the sallow paleness of his skin, and in the way he watched everything that moved like potential prey. It was disconcerting, and the children were not oblivious to it. They started going to bed earlier and earlier, and Fye would stalk the house throughout the night when he could no longer lay in his room and pretend that everything was okay. Hunger made him restless, and weak, and Kurogane could do nothing by lay in his room deep into the night and wish that the man would come to him to feed.

A sudden crash startled Kurogane out of the half sleep that he'd fallen into. His muscles tensed as he rose from his bed in a rush, his clothing not as neat as he might have wished. He threw open his bedroom door and was halfway down the hall before the noise finally faded, and was replaced by the deafening silence. Kurogane came down the stairs into the kitchen to find that Fye was slumped against the far wall, arms wrapped around himself and a broken vase and water stains against the opposite wall showing not to subtly what had happened. Kurogane hesitated, but slowly approached Fye where he was slumped.

Was he breathing? Barely. His breathing was shallow and uneven. His fingers dug into his calves, and his face was buried in his legs. Kurogane knelt, and he could see the man shake. It was a full body, muscles so tense they threatened to tear sort of shaking, and Kurogane was hesitant to touch him for fear that he would jolt and pull a muscle. The cords in his neck stood out, and his arms and legs were tensed. Nails cut through pants, and into flesh.

"Fye." he said simply. The name was worse than a touch. He jumped, his head shooting up and his lips pulled back. He looked ready to pounce, but the feral look faded in a heartbeat, replaced by such raw fear that it stabbed deep into Kurogane's gut. The man shot to his feet and scurried back a few steps before he fell, obviously too unsteady on his feet to make a true escape. Kurogane simply stood and waited until he had curled in on himself, shaking and rocking back and forth just a little. Kurogane went to him, and as he suspected, the man was too drained to fight him. Kurogane sat, pushed back the collar of his shirt, and nicked at the vein there. Fye's breathing quickened with the scent of blood in the air, and it took little encouragement for the blonde to feed. He was not gentle this time, and Kurogane fell back to the ground with the world spinning around him.

He watched the reflections in the window, his lips parted and working as if he was whispering a prayer. The blonde drank until he fell against Kurogane's chest, breathing rapid and shallow, and finally built up the energy to slid off of him. Instead of just leaving him, Kurogane felt himself being pulled up, slowly and with great care. Fye wasn't strong enough to carry him, but Kurogane gave what help he could (by staying on his feet instead of slumping to the ground) and Fye managed to get him back to his own room and into bed.

Kurogane was unconscious before he hit the mattress. When he finally came to the next morning, he was shocked to find that there was someone curled up quite close to his right side. He shifted his head just slightly, an explosion of pain shooting through him when he tried to move more than that, but seeing the messy mop of blonde hair was more than enough to identify the man sleeping curled against his side. Kurogane felt the corners of his lips curl upwards and he shifted enough to wrap his arms around him before he let blissful darkness take him again. They could get through this together, and for the first time Kurogane was sure of that.