Tala smirked wickedly before pressing his lips against Kai's. The bluenette's eyes merely widened, too surprised to do anything else. Tala moved back slightly, deciding against taking advantage of the stunned boy.

"As I said Kai, you have my attention." The sentence was practically a whisper, but Tala knew that Kai heard him, despite their noisy surroundings.

Tala laughed slightly, he could tell that Kai was having a lot of difficulty in comprehending and accepting what was going on. He really did look like the proverbial goldfish. The redhead decided the look didn't suit the usually intelligent boy and decided to kiss him again, a little more forcefully. Kai's eyes slowly shut and he almost responded; however his senses kicked in first, as Tala had expected and the bluenette pushed him away.

"What are you…?" Kai started, but was silenced by Tala placing his index finger over Kai's lips.

"Relax a little Hiwatari. You have your way of doing things and I have mine. You've told me exactly what I wanted to know, so I'll behave myself now. I wouldn't have done anything anyway."

"What do you mean, I told you what you wanted to know?"

Tala smirked, not surprised that Kai had so easily fallen back into his role of psychiatrist, rather than dealing with him on a normal basis, and of course, it was much easier to hide behind his work, rather than having to try and deal with Tala's actions.

"I'll leave you to figure that out for yourself. See you around Kai."

Tala stood up, ignoring Kai's protests. It was clear to him that Kai felt the need to understand everything, even if that wasn't possible. The boy had clearly taken up the education he had to satiate his own needs, rather than wanting to help people, though that was better than most, who were only interested in the money it brought in.

Tala left the busy nightclub and quickly put some distance between it and him, not wanting Kai to be able to follow him. While it was true he enjoyed Kai's company, though he wasn't sure why, he was attracted to him, which was unusual for him. Tala wanted Kai to have to think abut it himself. If Tala gave him al the answers then Kai wouldn't have to consider his position in it, while if he had to think about himself, he would have to realise that the attraction was mutual.

Tala smiled softly as it began to snow, it reminded him of Moscow, not that sentimentality was something he was meant to express, though he had most often been allowed to do things others hadn't, he had always been favourite. Tala smiled more brightly as the snowfall became heavier and suppressed a laugh at the attics of other people as he entered the park, the people in this place clearly weren't used to this kind of weather, but he was and he loved it.

Tala sat alone by the park lake, eyes closed as he enjoyed the snow. No doubt his new guardians would worry over it, but they didn't understand that this was normal for Russia, though this was very warm in comparison. He missed the Abbey and his training; he missed Moscow and the 'treats' he got that allowed him a nightlife the others were forbidden from. Boris had always understood Tala's need to learn and experience new things and had allowed him to sate that need, knowing it would do him no harm. Tala's loyalty was with Boris and the Abbey first and foremost, no matter what he saw.

Of course, this new lifestyle was nice enough, and that made things a little more difficult, though really, he supposed it didn't matter, the likelihood of the Abbey ever being opened was very slim and even if it were, it was unlikely that they would take him back, and certainly not under the same conditions as before. His head was trying to convince him to forget the Abbey's way of doing things and just get on with his new life, but another part of him told him not to, which probably his training.

Suddenly feeling eyes on him, Tala's own eyes snapped open and took in the scenery around him, looking for the person responsible. The dark snowstorm made it difficult to make anything out, though his senses could at least make out the general direction the person was in. While he didn't feel as though he was in any immediate danger, the unknown presence made him feel uncomfortable and vulnerable. It also left him feeling confused because something about it felt familiar, but there wasn't anyone he knew outside of Russia.

He was about to try and make contact when he heard someone behind him, quickly realising the presence was Kai. The person who had been watching him left the scene upon Kai's arrival, leaving the two boys alone, much to Tala's disappointment.

"You catch cold." Kai said softly, trying to break the ice.

"No, it's impossible to catch a cold from the weather and it isn't nearly cold enough for me to catch a chill either." Tala replied shortly.

"I suppose so… Tala, I really don't understand."

"You don't need to, it doesn't matter."

Kai knelt in front of Tala looking almost angry. "Yes it does! Maybe kissing someone doesn't mean anything in Russia but it does here! Especially when the person you kiss is you therapist."

Tala frowned slightly, he hadn't expected this reaction, Kai seemed the type of person to handle things better than this, avoiding unnecessary confrontations. Tala sighed, wondering if he had wrongly judged him.

"Kai…does it really matter so much to you? What do you want me to say?"

"I want the truth Tala! What did you mean?"

"You're attracted to me, that's all I wanted to know."

Kai's faced registered surprise, though only briefly, but it seemed to be enough to regain his control. "Why?"

"Why do you think? You're the psychiatrist, this should be easy." Tala sighed again. "I've had enough of this tonight, we can discuss this as much as you like at our next meeting. Until then, goodbye Mr Hiwatari."

Tala walked away, glad that Kai had the sense to leave him alone this time. The snowfall had thinned considerably, but there was still falling steadily, and settling, much to Tala's delight. The fact that it was cold and late meant the streets were practically deserted, providing a peaceful atmosphere, for which he was grateful, he needed time to think.

The night's events were not quite what he had expected, Kai had been a lot more difficult to deal with than he had expected, not that he'd given much thought to what he was doing, he hadn't expected him to be there after all. Then there were all the unusual events with his supposed new 'friends', which he certainly wasn't used to and wasn't really comfortable with. Plus the event in the park was unsettling, the fact that the presence was familiar was unusual, he shouldn't know anyone.

There was little chance it could be anyone from the Abbey, though the idea couldn't be completely dismissed, though if it were, why not just get whatever it was they wanted over and done with? The Abbey was never known for playing around and he hadn't been away from them for long, so surely they wouldn't think he was compromised already? Boris knew he had meant no harm, which was why things had gone back to normal, until the authority's investigation was done and they had the evidence to act. Tala sighed again, he had reached his new 'home' far too quickly and had worked nothing out, he hadn't expected to, but things would have been easier if he had.

Resigning himself to his fate, he sighed and stepped into the house, knowing they were waiting and were worried. He wasn't really interested in receiving a lecture just because they were worried over nothing, but they were taking care of him so he would have to put up with it regardless.

"Tala! Where have you been? Are you okay? It's like a blizzard out there!" As expected Mrs Ziranai immediately barraged him with worried questions.

"Relax, I'm fine, I'm from Russia, remember?" Tala replied softly, trying to hide his slight irritation.

"Still, you're not dressed very warmly Tala, why don't you go and get a bath or shower and change your clothes?" Mr Ziranai gave him a chance to escape without further questioning.

Tala smiled and nodded, assuring them he would follow their advice and get some rest as well, before taking his leave from the two. Reaching his room he let himself in, locking the door behind him, no more intrusions would be welcomed regardless the cause. Rather than doing as he had been told, Tala walked to the window and sat on the ledge, glad to see that the snow was still falling. The white flakes were calming to watch, providing a sense of peace he had not felt since the problems at the Abbey had begun.

That thought once again brought a wave of pain and guilt, but also the concern and confusion left by the unidentified visitor at the park. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure the person had been from the Abbey, though he was still unsure who it could have been. The fact that the person had waited so long and had left without saying anything was unnerving; it wasn't the normal way the Abbey did things. Tala sighed again, all he was doing was going in circles, he was no closer to understanding any of his actions with Kai, nor the events in the park before Kai had arrived.

Tala had found himself thinking about Kai a lot since their earlier meeting, he knew there was something there, but that was what confused him, he had never had such emotions and wasn't ever supposed to. There was no denying that he was attractive, but that thought should have been a passing observation, one that didn't mean anything, that had always been the way, but not this time. That's what made everything so frustrating, he couldn't even really answer Kai's question, because he didn't know himself, not what he meant, not why he did it.

The bluenette was a constant distraction, one that caused unknown emotions and impulses to act, and that lack of control was not something he was too pleased about. Perhaps his interaction with 'normal' life had ruined him already; maybe there really was a very good reason that they weren't allowed to go outside with everyone else, because becoming contaminated by them was all too easy. It was hard to believe that in only a few weeks his training was already starting to fade, he was falling into a life he had never known and didn't really want. Unlike the rest of the world, Tala had no problem with the Abbey's way of doing things, it had suited him perfectly, the 'real' world wasn't really all that good, it was mainly just chaos.

Leaving the window, he drew the curtains and sat on the bed, randomly flicking through TV channels, hoping for a distraction from his thoughts that he knew would not come. He had never been able to ignore problems, he had always had to sort through them and figure out how to resolve them. The problem was, that these ones went beyond him, one went into a realm he simply didn't comprehend and the other left him with no clues to work with, let alone anything else.

Without more knowledge he would be unable to work out the latter and he would be unable to gain it unless the person returned. The former should never have existed in the first place and Tala wanted nothing more than for it not to exist, but wishful thinking got one nowhere. Whether he liked it or not, it seemed he was attracted to Kai and some part of his subconscious seemed quite intent on taking things further, despite his protests.

His life at the Abbey was over and he knew that, but that didn't mean he wanted to let go, after all, that world was all he had known, he had nothing else. Despite that, his training seemed to be abandoning him and he seemed to be slipping into the realms of those outside the Abbey. He didn't want to become like those people, Boris had shown them that those people were destructive and chaotic, not worthy of what they had. To be like them meant that he would be better off dead, so why did he seem to be doing that anyway? The facts did nothing but frustrate him and the lack of answers and solutions made things worse.

Despite knowing that sleep was unlikely, he got himself showered and ready for bed, before settling down. The TV still remained on, though he paid it little heed, that had never been deemed a good thing either, junk and brainwashing was all the media was, everything edited, opinionated and bias. Anything that didn't follow the ideas of those in charge was made out to be 'evil', it was all a farce, but he knew that they didn't understand that, to them, television was a normal part of their life, so they assumed it was to everyone. That which society deemed to be normal was adhered to and everything else was wrong or eccentric, depending. Sighing once again, Tala turned the TV off, deciding to at least try to get some sleep, no matter how unlikely.


Well, there we have it at last. I really don't seemed to be able to write unless it's some obnoxious time in the morning…

Um, anyway…as I said, not much shounen-ai just yet, though more will probably come soon, I don't think this fic is going to be all that long. Let me know what you thought of this chapter, okay? Lots of nice reviews give me motivation… (Lol, sad that it's true huh? I'm a review junkie lmao.)

Right, I'll shut up now I think. Ta everyone, later!