A/N: This chapter ended up a little longer than expected, so for those of you that I've talked to about it, a lot of what I had originally planned to have happen in it will take place next chapter... :D

Chapter Eleven: "Darkly Fading"

"His and hers, pick your pleasure ladies and gents." Seiji's voice drew Zero's gaze back in his direction again. As if on cue, the two ex-human dropped the shawls they were wearing, revealing that both of them had necks and shoulders completely bare. The boy wore no shirt, the girl wore a tight, strapless bodice. From the looks being laid on them, they might as well have not been wearing anything.

"Unlike some, I believe in sharing the wealth..." Seiji said with a deceptively charming smile, shooting a pointed look directly towards where Kaname was standing, one hand still gripping Zero's elbow tightly.

Zero felt a funny little drop in his stomach as the fact that he was the only ex-human here, besides the two that Seiji had brought, really hit home. He was so used to being the minority at the Academy, with all the nobles, that he hadn't thought much of it. He was used to being looked down on and ignored too, but those odd, almost hopeful looks that several of the nobles at the party had been directing at he and Kaname earlier suddenly made a sickening kind of sense. They all assumed he was Kaname's courtesan, and they were waiting to see if the pureblood was going to share him, or if he was private stock.

Kaname had known, he had to have. He'd known exactly what they were thinking and he'd worn Zero on his arm like a goddamn status symbol. Zero's face flushed hotly in pained humiliation and his heart started racing in a fear he couldn't control, spurred by the intense, palpable thrum of eager, hungry vampire vibes that he could feel swelling all around him, causing warning bells to screech like klaxons in his hunter senses. He'd grown complacent, having been around vampires so much. How had he let himself be put in a position where he was in a room full of nobles and purebloods without weapons or any way to defend himself, let alone anyone else?

In a matter of moments, one of the regally dressed party guests had latched onto the girl's neck, pulling her to him, and another had taken the boy in similar fashion. The scent of blood blossomed heavy in the air. Rich, coppery, sweet... cloying...

Zero started forward on instinct, without conscious thought. Someone had to stop this!

Strong arms grabbed him and held him back, curling around his chest and pinning his arms. Kaname quickly hauled Zero in against him, holding the boy's back tight to his chest in an iron grip. "No! Zero..." he hissed urgently in the hunter's ear as Zero started to fight him.

Rather than act distressed or frightened, as one might have expected, the ex-humans seemed to know exactly what was coming and they groaned in delight, panting excitedly as they were bled a little and then handed off to a new partner who eagerly sank their teeth home into the already punctured necks.

Whether it was the wine Zero had drunk or the simply the shock of what he was seeing, it felt like time had slowed down, sound becoming muted and distorted like his heart pounding in his ears. Zero watched in horror as the boy and the girl were passed around from vampire to vampire, glassy eyed, eager to please, practically crawling into their arms, begging to be bled and gasping with pleasure as different sets of ivory teeth pierced their skin again and again, gaining them long track lines of puncture marks along their necks and shoulders. The hunter wasn't sure which horrified him more – the way the vampires were using the two ex-humans like some kind of blood-prostitute party favors or how deeply the two enslaved vampires seemed to be enjoying the experience. None of the guests were drinking very deeply, that would have ended the fun too soon and been a breach of etiquette in a situation like this. It was about the indulgent pleasure of the act, as much as the sweet taste of the blood itself.

Zero realized that he was being dragged backwards. It was Kaname, trying to pull him away from what was happening. Feeling more than a little panicked at being restrained right now, Zero lashed backwards with his elbow, nailing Kaname hard in the ribs. Kaname's breath escaped in a soft, pained wince, but his strong self-control came in handy and he managed to give no real outward sign that he had been hurt. One outburst from Zero in front of this crowd, already stirred up into a blood frenzy, and things would get complicated, quick. The phrase going to hell in a hand basket came to mind. Fortunately, the other vampires were all far too fixated on the current bloodletting to be paying much of any attention to him and Zero.

"Kaname, let me go!" Zero protested in a sick, urgent whisper. "We've got to..."

"You can't help them, Zero!" Kaname hissed softly in his ear as he continued to drag the unwilling hunter away with him towards the thinning fringes of the crowd. "Look at them..." Kaname's low voice wasn't quite anguished, but it wasn't very happy either. He held Zero still for a moment so the hunter could get another good glimpse of the two ex-humans, eyes glazed in delight as they were groped and fondled and fed upon. The girl was all but wrapped around one of the older men, her knee hugging his hip suggestively. The boy... Zero felt sick. The boy was bending so that young Kia Suzuki could reach his neck, her small fingers wound almost shyly in his hair as she pulled him close and slid her petite fangs into his skin, a startling contrast of innocence and perversion.

Zero couldn't breathe. The horror of what he was seeing, the welcoming smell of blood, and the intense, almost unbearable sea of stirred up vampire pheromones swirling around him, compounded with the alcohol in his system made him feel like he was caught in a spinning maelstrom... drowning... he started hyperventilating without realizing it. Kaname's voice, still close by his ear, both grounded the hunter a little and sent horrified shivers crawling through him at the same time.

"They don't want to be saved, Zero. You pull them away, and you're the one they'll hate as the enemy. Soon as they can, they'll just run right back to Seiji. He's bound them to his will, they can't live without him," the pureblood murmured softly. Zero was having a near panic attack in his arms; he had to get him out of here quickly.

Numb, Zero's struggles slowly ceased and he allowed Kaname to quickly pull him along towards the patio doors at the rear of the hall. Once he stopped struggling, Kaname eased and shifted his hold, taking Zero by the elbow instead as he quickly led him out of the house. The few people who noticed their passing smirked and tossed Kaname knowing looks. It was obvious they thought that the bloodletting had stirred him up and he was going to find a little private action with his 'D. Even though that was the safest thing to let them assume, Kaname's gaze was withering hot if anyone dared catch his eyes. He hated them thinking that way about Zero. That Zero was to him anything like those poor, mindless pawns were to Seiji. Even if he had bound Zero to him in that fashion, he would never have suffered him to be treated like that.

Kaname dragged Zero outside. The air felt cool on his skin and Zero felt dizzy and sick all at the same time as he stumbled along. The music, the voices and the smell of blood faded as Kaname and Zero left the patio behind, delving deeper into the gardens until they were alone in an un-trafficked area of the grounds where the gardens met up with the side of the house. Kaname pushed Zero back against the brick wall and let him lean there. Zero shoved the pureblood's hands away from him and Kaname backed off a pace, looking away.

"I didn't want you to see that. You should have left when I told you to," Kaname said quietly, still looking over Zero's shoulder and not at him. He could smell Zero's fear and disgust. The emotion was so strong from the hunter that it echoed in his own senses through their bond, almost giving the pureblood a headache. Kaname wanted to wring Seiji's neck. Certainly, it was his family's party and he could do what he wanted... but there were some aspects of vampire life and culture that Kaname had not particularly wanted to introduce to Zero. This was definitely one of them. He hadn't thought Seiji would do that at a party his mother was attending, as she had used to frown on him for those kind of extravagances, but apparently she had given up trying to control her younger son... or else Seiji just didn't care anymore. Kaname ran his hand through his hair, disturbed by Zero's obvious distress and frustrated that he had miscalculated.

Zero was having a hard time getting his heart to slow down. The alcohol he'd consumed was working against him and it was a dozen times harder than it should have been to get control of himself and calm the raging revulsion and panic he was feeling. Zero shook his head slowly.

"Are they going to kill them?" he rasped quietly, not sure if he wanted to know the answer. Not sure which way he hoped the answer would be. To live... like that... death might just be mercy.

Kaname shook his head, his gaze finally sliding back to Zero. The fear and disgust in Zero's eyes as they met his twisted something sharp and surprisingly painful inside Kaname's chest. "No. They will bleed them until it is no longer safe to do so, then they will be sent off to rest," the pureblood replied quietly, his voice soft but even. It was no use trying to whitewash the situation when Zero had already seen it for himself.

Zero was a little disturbed that Kaname seemed so familiar with how this worked. "Rest? After being drained like that? They'll be starving! They'll attack the first thing they see..." Zero murmured incredulously, still a little dazed although slowly regaining himself now. He didn't care what Kaname said, this was wrong... there had to be something he could do for those people...

"No, they won't," Kaname said with a soft sigh. The look in Zero's eyes told him he was going to have to explain in order to keep him from doing anything foolish, and Kaname didn't really want to explain about this. "If Seiji tells them they are not hungry, they will not be hungry. It doesn't matter what their bodies are telling them, he controls their minds. If he tells them to go rest, they will go and fall asleep as soon as they lay down. They will probably stay down until their bodies have recovered, unless he intends to let them feed on some of his other ex-humans later. I told you, Seiji is their life, literally and figuratively. It's not just that he turned them, he also bound them to his will. That's... different. Whoever, or whatever they were before has ceased to exist. They do not miss their former lives, they have no memory of them. They have no will or desires of their own, they only feel and desire what their master wishes. His will is their will. You take them away from him and if they cannot get back, they will go mad and die."

Zero's eyes were wide with horror in the moonlight. "That's... that's horrible." It seemed like such an understatement in his own ears.

Something flickered in Kaname's dark eyes. "It... can be. Especially with a cruel or thoughtless master. If they really want to be spiteful, then they don't wipe their thrall's memories and bind only their bodies and wills. That would be a horrible existence," Kaname said softly, a faint note of deep revulsion echoing in his tone. If Shizuka had gotten her way at the Academy a while back, that was the manner in which she would have bound both Zero and Yuki to ensure their full future obedience, Kaname knew. She might have wiped Yuki's memory, because she wanted the girl to be her assassin and it would have made her a more effective weapon, but she'd already shown that she liked to observe Zero's torment and hatred too much to make him a clean slate. Kaname was tempted to say this, but he didn't. The current situation was unpleasant enough without bringing up the past.

"But it doesn't have to be that way. And even those poor souls in there... they know no pain. In a way it's very pleasant for them. Seiji has the power to make them happy, to let them live in a state of contentment where nothing can ever hurt them." Kaname had never really approved of the practice of binding others to your will in that way, but he could actually understand the draw now, a little. Looking at Zero... thinking of the deadness that was too often in his eyes, the pain, the self-hatred that would slowly physically and mentally destroy him... it frustrated Kaname deeply that he couldn't do anything but watch Zero suffer... he would do so much to take his pain away.

Of course, that's not why Seiji and the others did what they did. Kaname was well aware it was all about self gratification, and if he had respected Seiji at all, he would have lost it after this. Not much there to lose, however. He already knew about this side of the other pureblood.

Zero couldn't believe that Kaname was talking so calmly about something so hideously unspeakable. Acting like on some level it was okay. There was nothing okay about any of this.

"Nothing hurt them?! You're basically saying they've been mentally raped and brainwashed until they don't even know who they are, how does that not qualify as hurting them?!" Zero was furious. "How can you condone something like that?!"

Kaname's jaw set. "I didn't say I approved of what Seiji is doing. He's an ass who uses people like tissue paper for no greater good than his own satisfaction and desires. I said I was sorry you had to see that, Zero. What else do you want me to say?"

Zero looked at Kaname levelly. "If I had gone back to the hotel... would you have partaken in... that?"

Kaname looked away again, and Zero didn't like that. It was rare that Kaname wouldn't hold his gaze. "No," the pureblood said quietly, and Zero somehow knew he wasn't lying. But there was something...

Zero blinked as his thoughts shifted another direction. "Have you before?" he almost whispered.

Kaname stared out at the darkened tree line across the lawn and didn't answer for a long moment. "Would it matter if I had?" he said quietly, voice soft but carefully devoid of emotion.

Zero knew that was an answer in itself and he felt a funny twist in his gut that he wasn't sure how to name. "Maybe," he admitted slowly, unable to let it go. "Did you?"

Kaname sighed ever so softly and drew his gaze back to Zero, eyes meeting his once more. "Yes," he said simply. His tone held no shame, but there was a faint flicker of regret in the dark brown eyes. Zero wasn't sure if it was regret over the past, or regret that Zero had to know about it.

"Asato Ichijo threw many parties and soirees while I was a ward under his roof after my parents' death," the pureblood explained quietly. "Many of which I was obligated to attend. People often wanted to give me extravagant gifts to curry favor. Except at need, I would not take from someone unwilling; I was not raised that way. But having a pureblood drink from you is an honor, and it did not seem to me that there was anything wrong if the other vampire wanted it..." Kaname knew he should not be telling Zero all this. It was obvious from the sick look in Zero's eyes that Zero considered nothing about this situation or any past situations right or normal. But Kaname had been raised differently, and he didn't know how to ever explain or justify that to Zero. It hurt and frustrated him that he even had to try.

His parents had been pacifists, but they had still needed to drink blood, and so had Kaname. Haruka and Juuri had provided him with fresh blood sources when he needed them, and taught him how to humanely acquire his own. They hadn't had any options, there were no such things as blood tablets back in those days.

Old Ichijo though, had been much more of a traditionalist, and it was only when a young Kaname had gone white after seeing him casually finish off a 'meal' and dispose of the body, that the elder vampire had refrained from any outright blood slaughter in the household, at least whenever Kaname was present, although Kaname knew he had continued to practice in private. It was ironic actually... that gentle, sweet Takuma had been raised in that manner, and taught to think nothing of his family's feeding practices until Kaname had come to live with them. Kaname could still remember his friend's wide, innocent, worried eyes when Kaname floated the apparently unimagined idea that the humans he fed from might actually feel pain during the process. They had both been so young back then...

In that environment though, it had hardly seemed wrong to Kaname when willing ex-humans belonging to others offered their necks to him for nourishment and pleasure. Yes... part of him had known that they were only willing because they had been made that way, because they had been bound and their own wills and personalities stripped away from them so all that was left was the joy of serving their master and the pleasure they took in being used. But... he hadn't done it, he hadn't taken those things from them, and it wouldn't have made their lives any better if he hadn't drunk from them. In fact, they would probably have been punished for failing to please him. Some things were just facts. They weren't pretty, but it was the way things were.

In the human world, many people knew that the methods used to obtain foie gras, an expensive duck liver delicacy, were unspeakably cruel and inhumane to the ducks in question, and yet many indulged in it all the same without feeling any sense of guilt or culpability towards the abused and slaughtered ducks. That was very little different from most vampires' points of view when it came to humans and ex-humans.

Kaname didn't think that Zero would ever understand that though. He didn't know why he hadn't just lied to him, except that that would have been worse, especially when the truth would be readily available if Zero asked anyone else who had known him long enough.

"There were no blood tablets back then, Zero," Kaname fixed him with an intent look. "I and the rest of the Night Class are responsible for those. We invented, tested and patented them at Cross Academy. I have been on them almost as long as you have really known me... but what do you think I did before then? What recourse do you think we had? The options, when there were options, were to take from those who were willing, or to take from those who weren't. You tell me, which would you have had me choose? Your blood lust did not take you until you were a teenager, Zero, until you were mentally capable of making moral judgments about the rightness or wrongness of it according to the society in which you had been raised. I have needed blood since I was three years old." Kaname's eyes bored into Zero with an almost anguished earnestness. He truly wished Zero could understand him. There was this stupid little part of his heart that craved acceptance.

"Did you agonize about the cows that your hamburgers came from when you were three, Zero? Did it bother you that you were in essence eating unfertilized baby birds every time you had an omelet? Did you even realize that's what those things were, much less that something, be it animal or plant, had to die or sacrifice in order to nourish you?" Kaname really didn't know what Zero thought he could have done. As a pureblood, his options were ironically limited. Unless he killed them, Kaname couldn't drink from humans without changing them, without creating ex-humans, which he believed was wrong. If he didn't drink from other vampires... how was he supposed to have survived?

Zero blinked, still a little dizzy and trying to absorb everything Kaname was saying. He was so upset right now... he didn't want to hear the purebloods excuses and justifications. Yet at the same time, Kaname was much too skilled. Zero didn't know how to refute what he was saying, didn't know how to fight that cold, damnable logic. When the pureblood put it like that... it almost made a sickening kind of sense. And Zero did not want it to make sense.

Zero pushed away from the wall, looking away as he crossed his arms over his chest, almost pulling into himself in a closed posture. "You can't make that comparison. People aren't animals," he said quietly through his teeth.

"No," Kaname said softly in the darkness. "Yet you think we are."

"Kuran-sama, are you out here?" a calm, polite voice called from the direction of the veranda. It was Diachi. Doubtless, the other party guests had told him where they'd seen Kaname heading.

Kaname stiffened slightly. Damn... he wanted a few more minutes... "I have to go back," he said quietly to Zero. He didn't want to take Zero back into that room, but his dealings with Diachi were not concluded yet.

"Right, your business, of course..." Zero said with a clear thread of contempt. He felt calmer now, more back in control of himself, although the confused, sick feeling in the pit of his stomach remained.

"Yes. Business." Kaname's tone had turned cold. Zero didn't know what that business was about, and he wasn't about to tell him at this point. "You can go back to the hotel."

Kaname turned and started to walk away, but Zero scowled and started stubbornly after him. The tone in Kaname's voice had been a flat dismissal, hinting that the pureblood apparently thought he wanted to run away. Well, to hell with that. Zero wasn't going to run off like some frightened kid, nor was he going to leave Kaname with no one watching his back in this mad house... although that last thought wasn't one he'd admit to at the moment.

"I'll stay, thanks," he muttered darkly.

Kaname was actually quite surprised, but he simply nodded. "Suit yourself. But don't drink anymore; I don't want to have to carry you out of here."

Zero gave Kaname a dark look that dared him to just try it and see what kind of a scene he could make. Then they were emerging from the garden and Zero had the sense to school his features to a blank, if still dark, state of neutrality as they found Diachi waiting on the patio.

"You have lovely gardens, Diachi, my compliments to your grounds keepers," Kaname said smoothly.

--

Kaname's business with Diachi went well and they formed the tentative basis for future dealings between their holdings. Diachi got the business connections he wanted, and Kaname got access to the resources and knowledgebase of Diachi's pharmaceutical enterprises to help him in his quest for answers. It was about the only part of the evening that went well.

Seeing Kaname distracted in private conference with his brother, Seiji had made directly for Zero with an annoying, knowing swagger, looking with smarmy interest for bite marks on the ex-human's neck. Not finding any, he made indelicate and amusing suppositions about other ways that Zero could have serviced Kaname in so short a time, drawing a few chuckles from others nearby. He knew better than to touch Zero, or act in any way that could be considered infringing upon or threatening Kaname's property, but by the time he was done verbally humiliating him, it was all Zero could do to resist the overpowering urge to stake the son of a bitch with one of the long, shish kabob serving skewers from the buffet table. He doubted even Kaname could protect him if he attacked a pureblood in their own home, but Seiji was almost making it worth the consequences. Zero was all too conscious of the way people were looking at him now, and Seiji made it a million times worse. His face was so hot it hurt and his heart burned in anger and shame.

Zero was also too conscious of the scent of blood still lingering in the air, making his chest throb despite having recently fed. It made him sick that he reacted to that smell, just like the rest of these creatures. More blood wine had dulled that craving. It couldn't dull his burning mortification, but it gave him something else to think about, and the fact that Kaname had told him to stay away from it just made it more attractive at that point. Right then, Zero had hated every blood sucking bastard in the building. Including Kaname. Including himself.

By the time they left the party, Zero had moved past significantly buzzed to actually drunk. He wasn't seriously wasted; he still had fairly decent control of his motor skills and mental faculties, but he definitely wasn't sober either.

Kaname's jaw was set as he swiped his keycard in the hotel room lock, admitting he and Zero back into their suite. Zero didn't follow him inside immediately though. He was looking around the hall like something might catch his attention and wander him off. Kaname grabbed his wrist with a resigned look and tugged to get the hunter to follow him into their hotel room. He was finding that a drunk Zero was a very easily distracted Zero.

The pureblood let the door shut behind them. He supposed couldn't really blame Zero for getting like this. Kaname's eyes glinted darkly as he flicked on the light and remembered the awful feeling of helplessness he'd gotten when he looked up from where he'd been seated in intense discussion with Diachi only to see that Seiji and several of his cronies had corned Zero near the far wall. He knew Zero was physically in no danger, but the hunter's face was scarlet and his body language screamed anger and misery. Kaname hadn't heard what Seiji had said but he didn't have to; it had been written perfectly clear on Zero's face.

Kaname had broken that up quickly, cutting the evening short and leaving with Zero, but the damage had already been done. He had really wanted to kill Seiji then. Truly. If there ever came a time and a place where it would service more than just his own desire, he would, too. And he would enjoy it.

Kaname shrugged out of his dinner jacket, resisting the urge to drape it over the back of the nearest chair and taking the few extra steps to the closet to hang it up instead. He wished Zero would have just gone back to the hotel earlier. He hadn't meant for things to end up this way. He hadn't wanted to subject Zero to any of what he'd gone through tonight. He was bitterly frustrated with himself that he hadn't protected him better.

Zero had already shed his tie and his jacket followed quickly. He wasn't quite so picky about where he left it, and he did toss it over the back of the chair, the starched white shirt following quickly. He looked much more comfortable once he had stripped down to his undershirt although his skin was still faintly flushed, more from alcohol than anything else by now, and he rubbed his eyes because they occasionally blurred a little on him.

As Kaname undid the top couple buttons on his dress shirt, he couldn't help letting his gaze rove silently across the hunter's form and the appealing picture he made in dress pants and t-shirt, the slightly damp cotton tee hugging the slim, defined contours of his chest and abs.

Kaname quickly jerked his gaze away. Stop it... he told himself. Zero was definitely unlikely to be in the mood tonight after everything that had happened. Another fine reason to really hate Seiji.

Zero crossed to the nearby sink and poured himself a glass of water from the tap. He felt a little too warm and a little too giddy and he was alternately so tired he wanted to fall asleep and so energized he wanted to go jogging or something. His stomach felt strange. It was really weird. Zero had never been drunk before.

Kaname's hand on his shoulder was warm as the pureblood leaned ever so slightly against his back while Zero stood at the sink. Kaname looked at Zero in the mirror in front of them. The pureblood's hand moved from his shoulder and slid lightly down his ribs, unable to resist the temptation of feeling Zero's warm body through the cotton.

"You okay?" he inquired, and in their mutual reflections, Zero could see the small, teasing smile on the pureblood's face. Kaname couldn't help it. Yes, it had been a hell of an evening, but it was kind of cute, seeing Zero this wasted. Kaname was slightly buzzed himself – it tended to help the endurablility factor of long, tedious social events. But he knew better than to imbibe too much in mixed company, or when he had business which needed attending.

For a moment, Zero's ease of distraction right now played a little in Kaname's favor, because he was initially too sidetracked by the sensation to be properly irritated. Kaname's hand trailing across his body felt so damn good... Presently, Zero remembered to scowl as he gave up drinking the water and splashed it on his face instead, drying off with a wash cloth. Damn, why was it so hot in here?

"Yeah, fine," he mumbled. His words weren't exactly slurring, but they were just a little indefinably off. "Listen, I need some fresh air, I'm going for a walk," he said, pulling away from Kaname and turning towards the door. He didn't particularly want to be around Kaname right now either.

Kaname caught Zero's arm, stopping him.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said in a quiet, reasonable tone. No way was he going to let a very drunk hunter wander the streets by himself... especially when he looked so delicious. Definitely not safe. "Why don't you lie down and rest a little instead?"

Zero jerked his arm away, anger flaring hotly again. "Stop telling me what to do!" he demanded, and his words did slur just a little bit that time. "You're always... always ordering me around. Who died and made you king, anyway? You don't own me!" Zero ran a hand down his face, groping for the back of the chair with his other hand for balance. He didn't know why he needed balance, or why he misjudged where the chair back was, finding himself stumbling backwards a step. He was unsteady for only a moment though, and recovered quickly once his hand found the chair. "I'm not your thrall. If I wanna go out, I'm going out," he insisted stubbornly.

Across the room, the inside bolt of the door slid into place with a flick of Kaname's mind. "Zero, you're drunk," the pureblood said bluntly. "I'm not letting you out of the hotel room like this, it's not safe."

The feeling of being trapped did nothing for Zero's current state of mind and he frowned, shooting Kaname a dark look. "Safe? Right, because it's so much safer in here, isn't it? I only have to worry about one vampire who wants to use me like a party favor instead of dozens. That's why you really want me here, right? Nice little ex-human nightcap after a long day? You act all high and mighty, but you're just like them! You're disgusting." Zero looked away. What he had seen today had profoundly upset him, and he was just drunk enough to voice that agitation.

It was Kaname's turn to look away, hurt flickering briefly behind his eyes before he could hide it. It had been a long day and he really didn't care to be reminded of how much he and everything he was appalled Zero. He felt weary and frustrated at how things had turned out. Put simply, Kaname had screwed up, and that was a feeling he hated. He had wanted Zero's company, but he probably shouldn't have brought him. It had been counterproductive to his original aims and the hunter was simply more convinced than ever what kind of monster he was.

Damn it, why did that hurt so much? Kaname turned back towards the closet, away from Zero. Zero's words angered him, but he didn't want to fight so he swallowed the urge to lash back. He just wanted to get out of these clothes and raid the mini bar for anything he could use to try and get even half as drunk as Zero was in order to forget as much as possible for a little while. It sucked that normal alcohols had so little effect on vampire metabolisms.

Zero groaned softly and shoved his fingers into his hair, holding his head. He didn't feel so good and the weird feeling in his stomach wasn't going away. "Crap..." he mumbled, not really sure why, but feeling like he'd probably just made an ass of himself somehow. Zero stepped away from the chair he was holding onto and wavered slightly, suddenly feeling like the laying down suggestion wasn't such a bad idea after all. "I don't feel good..."

Kaname's arm caught around his shoulders, steadying him, although Zero hadn't realized the pureblood had come over. He guided the hunter to the bed and helped him sit down on the edge. The pureblood's long fingers brushed softly through Zero's silver hair as he bent, crouching a little to be at eyelevel with the ex-human.

"Get some rest, Zero," Kaname said quietly. "You'll feel better tomorrow." Actually, the boy would probably have a decent hangover, but no sense mentioning that right now.

Zero inhaled, pulling Kaname's scent deeply into his lungs as his silver-amethyst gaze slid up towards the other's face. Close. Kaname was so close to him. He probably should have felt threatened... but he didn't. He felt something else entirely. The hunter's eyes were slightly glassy, but there was a silent, almost dark intensity in them that the pureblood had not expected to see and for half a moment Kaname faltered as he was caught by Zero's gaze, his heart skipping a beat.

The first three buttons of Kaname's crisp white dress shirt were undone, the collar gaping casually enough to reveal the graceful curves of the pureblood's neck and tantalizing little glimpses of the vampire's pale, sculpted collarbones and chest. Zero's gaze was drawn to the sight and he felt a warming of his blood.

There was something incredibly attractive about the pureblood like this, partially out of his evening finery, but still looking good enough to eat – no pun intended. Zero was suddenly gripped by the strong desire to peal Kaname out of that shirt. He wanted to touch the fabric, feel the warm flesh and the pulse pounding below, wanted to strip it away slowly and take what was underneath. His silver eyes started darkening to ruby. Inhabitations nicely smothered by the intoxicants on his system, he didn't see any dichotomy in being mad at Kaname and wanting to strip him at the same time. Quite the opposite... he'd been so humiliated tonight, made to feel so powerless... the urge to take back a little of his own was very strong.

Zero was looking at him intently and Kaname felt his body temperature rising despite himself. It was there again, that look that Kaname had seen back in Zero's room at school. That dark, alluring vampire radiance that usually only presented itself when Zero needed to feed. Kaname swallowed quietly. Zero had insinuated that the pureblood only wanted him along so he could use him, like... like Seiji did with his ex-humans. Kaname wasn't about to prove him right, not tonight. But it was really hard to remember that and keep any kind of a clear head when Zero was looking at him like this.

Zero was staring at his neck and given the hue his eyes were taking on, Kaname figured he wanted blood again, even though he'd fed quite recently. But his blood seemed to be the only thing Zero ever really wanted from him. Just like everyone else. Well, at least it was something, Kaname supposed.

Kaname started to straighten up, his fingers sliding to his collar to pull it aside. Zero caught his sleeve, stopping him and keeping the pureblood bent over him. "No..." he growled softly. He didn't want Kaname touching those buttons. Those were his, Zero's. No one else was allowed to touch. He wanted to do it. Zero didn't know where the sudden surge of possessiveness was coming from, but it felt good and he didn't question it.

"Mine." The growl was almost in a whisper, but it strangely shot straight to Kaname's gut, making him stare at Zero in uncertain surprise. Zero liked that. He liked seeing surprise on those graceful features, liked to see the pureblood off balance for a change.

The ex-human let himself sprawl backwards on the bed, tugging Kaname with him. The bedspread was cool against Zero's back through the thin t-shirt he was wearing and it felt really good to be lying down. His head didn't throb quite so much.

Surprised again, Kaname allowed Zero to tug him down. Half standing, half kneeling now, Kaname had to bring one knee up to rest on the edge of the bed, hands planted on either side of Zero's head to support him so he wasn't actually lying on top of Zero, although their bodies were close. Very close.

Zero's fingers slid up to trace the front of Kaname's dress shirt, savoring the feeling of the fabric under his fingertips as he undid Kaname's fourth button slowly. "Let me..." he murmured, slightly mesmerized as the round, smooth little buttons gave way one at a time under his touch until Kaname's shirt was hanging completely open. Kaname wasn't wearing an undershirt and Zero shivered.

Kaname's breath rasped softly in his throat as he looked down at Zero, the glazed silver-red eyes focused intently on their task. Kaname did let him, although he knew he shouldn't. Because each moment Zero was this close to him, each time his fingers lightly, unintentionally brushed Kaname's skin as he worked the buttons, it was getting harder and harder for Kaname to restrain the urge to strip the boy and make urgent love to him right here.

Zero was drunk. Kaname was trying not to take advantage of him. Zero already thought he was a manipulative, callus bastard; Kaname didn't need to feed that fire. He didn't ever want to see again that look of horror and disgust he'd seen on Zero's face earlier. But Kaname was no saint and in some matters his control only went so far. Much more of this and he was going to be bedding the hunter, no matter his intentions to the contrary.

Zero's knees came up and gripped Kaname's hips, giving a push against the bed that rolled them over so that Kaname was now lying on the bed where Zero had been a moment ago. Zero's scent on the sheets and above him filled Kaname's senses. Kaname swallowed again and closed his eyes, turning his head to the side to give Zero access to his neck. Oh God... don't play with me like this, Zero... take what you need and don't make me do something you'll probably hate me for tomorrow...

Zero felt his stomach lurch, but this time with heat rather than queasiness as he looked down at Kaname, sprawled passively on the bed under him. The pureblood's shirt was open, lying puddled on either side of his body. The change in positions had caused it to slide down and almost completely off of Kaname's left shoulder, presenting a provocative view of creamy, vulnerable skin. Kaname had his eyes closed, long black lashes brushing his cheeks, head turned in a way that presented his neck like the most delicious of invitations. It wasn't a thirst for blood that had spurred Zero's movements, but he couldn't resist that kind of temptation.

Capturing Kaname's wrists in his hands, he held them trapped against the bed by the pureblood's head as he leaned down and trailed his mouth slowly along the curve of Kaname's exposed shoulder, tracing the graceful, corded muscles on the path from shoulder to neck. Kaname's chest shuddered ever so slightly. Zero bit him low, on the junction of shoulder and neck. The tremor in Kaname's breathing was much more notable this time as the sensation of Zero's teeth sinking into his flesh zinged through him. The feeling of Zero's body straddling his, of the hunter's grip pinning him down as he licked, lapped and drank from his neck made Kaname's body weak with arousal and he breathed harshly through his teeth. Hurry up... just hurry up and finish... I can't do this...

Zero loved the taste of Kaname's blood. It was better than any alcohol he'd had tonight. But Zero wasn't really thirsty this time; it was the act of claiming Kaname that he craved. The pureblood was swiftly filling his mind, becoming the focus of his world for these moments as everything else slipped away to insignificance. Zero slid his teeth free, licked the small, delicious little puncture wounds left behind, moved a few centimeters farther up Kaname's neck and bit down again. Zero had known Kaname would react, he always did, and Zero drank up the slight tightening of the frame under him, the way the blood pumped faster into his mouth as Kaname's heart rate increased, the small, almost inaudible groan that his sharp hearing picked up from deep in the pureblood's throat. Kaname knew what was coming.

Kaname clenched his eyes shut tighter, hands curling into fists in Zero's grip as the hunter bit him again... and again... laying a slow, deliberate trail of bites from his shoulder up the side of his neck. Kaname knew by now that Zero would do this sometimes. It wasn't a matter of not knowing how to bite anymore; it was just that he liked it. Kaname had learned to like it too, perhaps too much. It hurt, but it also made his senses spin. His body throbbed in raw desire as Zero's fangs claimed him repeatedly. There was a kind of intoxicating rush to his own vulnerability in surrendering to Zero like this. He shouldn't like it. But he did.

Kaname groaned softly through his teeth as Zero reached the top of his neck, where jaw joined throat. Kaname's brows knit and Zero could feel the muscles in his wrists cording and tensing under his hands, although making no attempt to pull free. The hunter was aware that Kaname didn't like being bitten up here, on this part of his neck, and he sank his teeth down with particular relish, anticipating the reaction it would cause. Zero could already smell his partner's arousal. Dark fire was lapping up in an all consuming flame inside him. Reason was fading to a distant thought as the urge to claim, to please, to hurt; to do whatever he wanted with the warm body beneath him welled up like blood rising from a wound. Thick, raw, compelling... delicious.

Kaname whimpered unintentionally and his body squirmed beneath Zero. Holy crap that hurt... he both hated and loved it when Zero would bite him this high. The hunter mercilessly pulled free and bit him again even higher, behind his jaw and below his ear. Kaname moaned sharply, heart almost pounding out of his chest now, body continuing to squirm desperately despite himself. It was almost unbearable being bitten there. He wanted to scream, but he managed not to. He was on fire. Zero obviously didn't really want to drink; he just wanted to bite him. Kaname should make him stop... but he didn't want him to stop. Kaname could not have explained why exactly this hurt so good, but he was entranced despite himself, his breath coming in small, needy gasps.

His knees gripped Zero's hips, pulling the hunter down to press against him, urgently needing the warm friction of their bodies rubbing together, even through their clothes.

Zero was keenly aware of how hard Kaname was as he pressed up urgently against him and the aroused fire pumping through his own veins answered strongly. Kaname was so damn beautiful that Zero felt sometimes that looking at him was like looking at the sun – his afterimage was left burned into Zero's retinas... and his heart.

Zero couldn't even feel weird about thinking of the other vampire as beautiful anymore. He was beautiful... and arrogant, and dangerous... and so appealing. Fury had metamorphosed into lust. Zero wanted the pureblood so much his body ached with it. He would show him. Kaname had paraded him in front of all those people like Zero was his property, like some kind of mongrel dog on a leash. Well this dog had teeth, and he would show the pureblood exactly what it felt like to be owned.

Groaning softly, Zero released one of Kaname's wrists, freeing his hand to travel down the tempting, exposed planes of Kaname's chest, ribs and abdomen below him. He felt the pureblood's stomach quiver under his hand as his fingers trailed below the navel. He loosened and unknotted that delightful sash Kaname was wearing, like unwrapping an exotic package before his searching fingers found the button on Kaname's dress slacks and tugged it free.