"Gokudera~"

That voice… he knew it painfully well. And though he respected the man of whom the voice belonged to…

He hated that tone.

"Your dog is looking for you." In the doorway behind him, the tall and suave figure of a man loomed. His alabaster skin was a sharp contrast with his hair and eyes like a raven's wing. He wore a black suit, an expensive designer no doubt, without the slightest spark of color coming from him.

He was a blank canvas that couldn't be marked by paint; a black stain on the wall that couldn't be hidden.

He was Reborn.

And Gokudera shivered to be in his presence. "He doesn't need a watcher anymore," he replied as respectfully as he could. "The full moon isn't till tomorrow anyway."

"I'm not saying he needs a watcher, I'm just saying that he's had a rough night and he's looking for you." Reborn went on to purr. He took long, measured strides into the library; there wasn't even the slightest whisper of footsteps as he stalked closer. "Can't you hear him?" There was a mocking smirk on his lips.

"No… No, I can not. And even if he is, he can look for someone else."

"I don't know, Gokudera…" Reborn tutted. "I can hear him from here and he sounds lonely."

He was half-tempted to point out that the possibility of his 'dog' getting lonely with over 42 residents in the building was just ridiculous, but he held his tongue… because he knew Reborn. And, chances were, Reborn was right.

He kept his eyes glued to the ancient, stony text before him. He held in his hands the original laws of Hammurabi, the long ago king of Babylon in 1700 B.C. Surely that was more interesting than what was happening with that bastard. There were over 200 rules to learn, most of them for the benefit of all the people instead of just the wealthy…

Reborn remained at his side, staring down at him with laughing black eyes.

Gokudera found himself reading the same symbols for the seventh time. Damn it. "Fine," he growled low in his throat as he gingerly (no matter how angry he was, he would never take it out on such an important work) set the tablets aside and then got reluctantly to his feet, "I'll… check on him."

Reborn was apparently appeased with that because he didn't say another word as Gokudera slipped past him and down the halls towards the staircase.

It was only after Gokudera left earshot that Reborn smirked. Over his bottom lip, identical fangs perked from where they had been hiding behind his canines; hollow canals that could without warning inject his prey with a good dose of serotonin, making them happily willing for his touch…

Right before sucking them dry.

"This should please him," he purred to himself, right before turning on his heel and make his way back to his passed out mate.

() () ()

Sure enough… he was sitting in front of the back door, looking completely and unbearably lost.

Gokudera snarled a few colorful curses beneath his breath as he rounded the last corner separating him from the imbecile Reborn had sent him after.

There, before a tall, wide arching entranceway barred shut for the night, was his excitable and yet somehow deadly wolf… His once-upon-a-time charge back in the day where the same deadly wolf had been wilder than in control and he had somehow had a calming affect on him.

Except he wasn't a wolf… well, at least not at the moment.

There, at the door, was a man, at approximately around 6 foot 7, with sienna skin, jet black hair, and copper eyes. Actually, they had a familiar red tint to them at the moment, suggesting that maybe he was leaning a little too close to the dark side…

Gokudera scowled and then made his presence known with an annoyed hiss. He wasn't going to get within arm's reach, the damn dog wasn't going to trick Gokudera into coming any closer.

The painfully silent man jerked his head up to pin Gokudera with a dominant glare. Realization lit instantly in his eyes, replacing his cold gaze with one of pure and utter puppy-like joy.

"Hayato." The man tackled him to the floor, Gokudera's figure (despite being of decent height with broad shoulders himself) easily overcome by the other's exuberance. "Hayato…" The man's voice melted into a soft whisper towards the last syllable, nose and mouth running up his jaw and then down to rest his head against his shoulder.

He knew he was supposed to be angry at being tackled, but he really couldn't remember why that was. For that matter, he was kind of having trouble remembering who he was…

The man's heat was melting him; he was always so damn hot, just waves of steam roiling off of him at a time… and Gokudera always felt cold to the touch until that blast of warmth caressed him, so wasn't it acceptable that he was shivering?

And, well, he was nipping his throat, definitely a sensitive spot for someone like Gokudera… He was waiting breathlessly to be bitten – and then he remembered that that would be pretty bad for him if the other man actually clamped his jaw down on his neck.

What sucked was that the man didn't even seem to realize that he was doing it, as if he was somewhere completely outside of lust and was somewhere closer to comforting himself.

Yamamoto pulled back after a small jerk, blinking down at Gokudera with dawning remembrance. "Hayato…" He whispered huskily. "I nearly got someone killed today."

Hayato had to swallow thickly before he could reply. "W-what?" This was why he hadn't wanted to get close. He couldn't really drag his thoughts back to him.

"I was in the subway with Lambo tracking a rogue and I had to shift. Everyone had already been panicky after seeing the first wolf and when they saw me… they lost it. And one of the civilians… he threw himself onto the rails trying to get away from me. I could see it in his eyes, Hayato, he was terrified. I could smell it and I could feel it." He looked so damn forlorn…

Gokudera stared up at him, spring green eyes masked in sympathy. He could understand that pain, the pain Yamamoto was experiencing. Because he was a hybrid, there were those in both worlds – human and supernatural – that saw only the worst in him. The humans only saw the half of him that was vampire and the supernatural only saw a dirty human.

Whenever humans saw Yamamoto's wolf form, all they saw was a horrifying beast. Something that either had to be studied in a cage or shot down without even being trialed.

"If I were different," Yamamoto went on somberly, "would they still be scared?"

He gawked, appalled. "If you were different," he snapped, "I wouldn't want you here. You're – " was he really about to say this? " – great the way you are and those fucking humans can either suck it up or wail about it!"

Yamamoto looked sincerely touched. Gokudera's cheeks were flushed red. "Thank you, Hayato… I think that's the kindest thing you've ever said to me… well, except for that time you told me you loved me!"

He sputtered. "I-I was drunk that time…"

"So was Lambo," he sniggered. He was one of the few that could remember that night detail for detail. Sadly, in the midst of everything, the one thing he could not recall was how Lambo, in his drunken haze, had slipped away long enough to get that bull tattoo. "And Ryohei," which had been a scary sight, "Haru, Hana, and Tsuna," that had been damn adorable to see their small brunette boss languishing all along the bar, eyes hazy and cheeks flushed as he ranted about ghouls at the dock and rebels in their community as if they were the same thing (which they weren't). "But I think alcohol makes you a little truthful~"

"Are you saying I'm a liar when I'm not drunk?"

"No! Well… you hold in more things when you're sober, Hayato."

"Runt!" He punched the overhead male in the shoulder. Hard.

The werewolf flinched but then just smiled the pain away. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to the silverette's lips, one hand stroking back his pale tresses. "Thank you, Hayato… somehow, you always make me feel better, no matter how terrible I feel." He kissed him again, a little deeper. "Mah mah, Hayato~ was that lust I smelled earlier."

He would have vehemently denied it, maybe abused the other till he believed himself, and then throw in a few (very many) curses for the hell of it – he paused. And then he sighed, because what would be the point of it? It would so obviously be a lie and Yamamoto could disprove it in seconds.

"You'll have to get me drunk before I admit to that," he finished lamely.

"I think I have a better idea!" And didn't the damn dog looked so pleased with himself.

Three flights of stairs and two strips later, they somehow made to Yamamoto's room, not quite at the bed but against the door while the werewolf proved just how good his idea was. With a low growl from the lycanthrope and a high-pitched keen from the silverette, they came together in complete unity, the dhampir's nails biting into sienna-skinned shoulders, pronounced incisors clamping on a tanned throat. He didn't have fangs like a vampire, but it was close enough to draw blood into his mouth, good enough that Yamamoto groaned in guttural pleasure.

And then both went tense, a very familiar scent in their nostrils… very close.

Gokudera peeked his eyes open and Yamamoto looked over his shoulder to the best of his ability, what with a mouth on his neck and all.

Behind them, Tsuna looked both annoyed and amused, kind eyes sparkling even as he sighed noisily and crossed his arms over his chest. "You two just couldn't bother to wait till you got inside the room, could you?"

The werewolf, for his part, grinned innocently. Gokudera swallowed – hard – and separated himself from Yamamoto's jugular long enough to try and sputter some sort of apology that ended in a long, shamed whine.

Tsuna, for his part, only shook his head, as if this was something he had seen hundreds of other times (which it might have been considering the animalistic nature and therefore immodesty of his guardians) and was beyond being embarrassed about it. "Good night, both of you. Please remember from now on that you two might not be so lucky as to have me intrude on your… well on your time together." He chuckled, one last time, and then continued down the hall as if what he had just seen was already the last thing on his mind.

"'Night, Tsuna!" Yamamoto called after him before humming amusedly beneath his breath. "But he's right, you know, maybe we should have tried for the other side of the door instead of in the hallway outside of my room…" He gulped as he looked into Gokudera's hellfire green eyes, glaring at him as if he was at personal fault. Which he most likely was. "Heeey… you're not angry… are you?"

His answer came in the form of a bitch slap that dislodged him from the silverette and threw him through two floors.

From where he laid in pained stillness, waterlines spewing liquid down on him and some electrical wires flickering threateningly from the large hole his body had created in its careen through wood, he could hear Gokudera slam his door open and shut in obvious boiling rage.

And he grinned, like the idiot his lover claimed him to be, because he felt very much loved.

Author's Note: A second chapter to my RL vamp story! This was actually written first, but incomplete. I couldn't figure out how to end it… so I put it on the burner for a bit (a long time, actually), and then when I was writing my RL vamp story, this story popped back into my mind. Using my other story as a crutch, I was able to complete this! YAY!