Author's Note: I want to thank all of you that have followed, reviewed or faved this story! I realize that I forgot to state that I will try to keep the characters as in character as possible. There may be some OOCness, but I'll try to keep that to a minimum. Anyways, here's the next chapter!

Chapter 2 Thoughts

Kuro had flipped on the television shortly after he saw Mahiru head into the kitchen area. He listened to the news with half an ear. He was far more interested in trying to find out just how big of an annoyance it was that Mahiru was going to ask of him. Judging from what he could see Mahiru making for dinner, which happened to be homemade ramen, it was going to be extremely exhausting.

'He's definitely trying to butter me up for something…' the vampire observed discreetly. He thought back to what had happened earlier that day. Other than chasing and speaking with that grungy joker the only other thing that had caught his attention was when Mahiru had called his name shortly after Sakuya had left.

- Flashback –

Sakuya had just taken off and Mahiru had stood up and had shouted for him to wait. His back was facing Kuro, but the Servamp could hear him clearly. "Kuro! I've… I've gotta stop Tsubaki. No question. So…we both need to be strong!"

- End Flashback –

Kuro sighed and slumped even further into the couch. Mahiru had looked, and sounded, so determined then. He had a pretty good idea now just what it was that his Eve was going to ask of him. But… He absolutely did not want to get involved any further. Nor did he want to fight. Period. Unfortunately, it seemed that his Eve did not share the same sentiments.

Well, when Mahiru came to ask him, his answer was going to be a big resounding "No". He was going to dig his heels in and resist Mahiru every step of the way. Normally he wouldn't have put so much energy and effort into something like this but… Well… He had his reasons.

Kuro's eyes flicked over to Mahiru when he heard him drop something. 'He must be nervous…' Kuro thought before his small frown grew a bit deeper. 'Nervous of what, though? He must already suspect what my answer will be, otherwise he wouldn't be making my favorite meal…' Kuro continued to watch Mahiru after that. His Eve looked pale, extremely pale. Kuro's red eyes narrowed slightly when he saw that Mahiru's hands were trembling a little bit. A twinge of worry surged through the vampire when he saw that. Something was definitely wrong. He quietly slipped off of the couch and wandered into the kitchen. Mahiru hadn't even noticed him, not even when he made sure that his bell jingled to alert his Eve that he was right behind him.

Kuro watched Mahiru for a moment after it was clear that he hadn't sensed nor heard him come up behind him again. His Eve was pale and trembling. His warm brown eyes had a faraway look to them. The vampire's red eyes found Mahiru's hands again. They were trembling the worst and he was holding a knife; not a good combination. Kuro sighed quietly and placed his hand over Mahiru's, holding it still so then he didn't accidentally hurt himself.

The effect was immediate. Mahiru flinched and tried to jerk his hand away, but Kuro's grip was stronger and he was able to hold his hand in place. Mahiru had turned to face Kuro and blinked when he saw his Servamp standing right there behind him. When had he even moved from the couch?

"Mahiru…?" Kuro questioned quietly. It was just his name, but Mahiru was able to detect several other inquiries just by Kuro's tone alone. "Are you all right? What happened? Do you need to take a break? …Did I do something to upset you?"

Mahiru just shook his head slightly, trying to clear his mind a bit. "I'm all right, Kuro. I was just thinking about something and spaced out a bit. Nothing to worry about!" he said, smiling at his Servamp to try and reassure him that he was okay.

Kuro's narrowed eyes did not leave Mahiru's face. The Servamp of Sloth most certainly did not believe that Mahiru was all right for one moment. Mahiru's hands were still trembling, after all. He managed to pry the knife from Mahiru's hand a moment later, which just caused his Eve to look at him in confusion.

"Kuro? What're you doing? I haven't finished dinn-!" he started to exclaim, but Kuro just shushed him.

The vampire sighed internally. He was going to regret what he was about to do but… If he were to let Mahiru try to finish making dinner he was sure that his Eve would definitely hurt himself. And that would cause him even more trouble, as then he'd have to tend to the wound and then finish making dinner. "Sit down, Mahiru," he said as he steered him out of the kitchen and to the couch.

"But!" Mahiru tried to protest.

Kuro sighed loudly. "You're such a pain. If you try to finish, you'll end up hurting yourself," Kuro said as he turned to go back to the kitchen.

"Kuro…?" Mahiru asked in confusion. He had no idea what was going on or why Kuro had just basically kicked him out of the kitchen.

"It's troublesome, but I'll finish making dinner," the vampire said, sighing heavily as if doing just this one thing was going to actually kill him.

Mahiru could only blink and gape after the vampire. Had he… Had he just heard that correctly? Kuro was going to finish making dinner? The laziest creature that he had ever met? The embodiment of sloth and all things that couldn't find the energy or motivation to do things was going to finish making dinner? He must have been dreaming. Yeah, that was it. There was no way that Kuro had just basically volunteered to do something without complaint or a threat hanging over him.

It wasn't until Mahiru heard the faucet being turned on that he snapped back to the present and knew that this was definitely not a dream. He was insanely curious as to what the vampire was doing. Did Kuro even know how to cook? Could he even work any of the appliances? His curiosity, and fear of his kitchen catching on fire, eventually won out and he worked his way back to the small kitchen area that his apartment had. A look from Kuro had him opting to take a seat at the kitchen table instead of fully going into the kitchen. Thankfully he could still see just what Kuro was doing, and jump in if he needed to!

The vampire had taken off his jacket, Mahiru realized. It was laying across the chair that he was sitting on, but Kuro didn't seem to mind that he was using it as a soft backing to his chair. Kuro looked to be finishing drying his hands, so that explained why he had heard the water running. Mahiru couldn't help but to fidget slightly when he saw his Servamp pick up the knife that he had been using to cut vegetables. 'I really hope Kuro at least knows how to cut veggies… I don't think I can watch,' he thought, as he tried to close his eyes. He was unable to look away, however, once he saw Kuro finish cutting up the vegetables that he hadn't gotten to. At least it looked like Kuro knew how to work a knife, it was just putting the rest of the dish together that was worrying Mahiru now.

He glanced back up to Kuro's face. He looked extremely bored and Mahiru was sure that if he didn't need both of his hands right now, he'd be using one to lean his head on. As much as Mahiru wanted to get back into the kitchen, it was killing him just sitting there and not being able to help, he knew that Kuro was not going to budge, even if he did find this a pain. The vampire had obviously seen through his attempt at appearing as if nothing was bothering him.

He couldn't help the small shudder that wracked through him as the memory of that…that thing that came bursting through Kuro's back assaulted him again. It had been terrifying. He had honestly thought that he was going to die, and he probably would have had it not been for that strange antique dealer and the Servamp of Envy.

While he wanted to get stronger he didn't want to cause Kuro to lose control again. He realized now that he was responsible for what had happened. He had ignored Kuro's warnings, after all. And the next time it happened, there would probably be no one around to save him. He was afraid that if he did push Kuro too much, and ignored him again, it would happen again, and he could do without that. He wasn't scared of the vampire in the slightest. It was that thing that lurked in him that was terrifying.

While lost in his thoughts, Mahiru never noticed the narrowed red eyes watching him closely. Of course, Kuro had no idea just what was troubling his Eve. The boy had gone pale again as he shuddered slightly. It definitely wasn't normal Mahiru behavior and the vampire had the sinking suspicion that he was the cause of it. He didn't know what exactly it was about him that was causing his Eve to act strangely, but he could sense that something about him was setting him off. The question was…did he bother to find out? Or did he just ignore it and not trouble himself anymore and hope that Mahiru got over it? To honest, that second option was sounding pretty good right about now.

But…the fact that it was him that was unsettling his Eve bothered him…if only a little bit. ... Okay, maybe it was bothering him a lot of bit. Yes, he thought that Mahiru could be quite irritating in certain instances, but the boy was still his Eve. Despite his best efforts, Kuro was starting to grow a bit fond of him. When he wasn't dragging him straight into trouble or nagging him about something or other, the boy had an easy going personality that made him relax just the tinniest of bits. It also didn't hurt that Mahiru seemed to be starting to care about him as well, since he seemed to be starting to understand his quirks and was starting to treat him as a person, and not a vampire or a monster, like in their first week living together. So, yes, Kuro was definitely starting to grow fond of his Eve, just a bit, mind you. They had only been in a contract for a few weeks now, but Kuro just wasn't ready to face Mahiru yet. He knew that something was going to come up where he would have to face him a little bit, he could feel it but… He just couldn't deal with it right now.

Kuro let his thoughts wander as he finished preparing dinner. Mahiru was still silent, but he was watching him curiously now. The vampire sighed quietly when he saw that. Good, at least he no longer looked pale and his trembling had stopped. Whatever it was that had been troubling his Eve had finally been pushed out of his mind, at least for now.

"What…do you want to drink, Mahiru?" Kuro questioned tiredly as he tried, and failed, to stifle a yawn as he pulled out a cola for himself. His question seemed to have startled Mahiru out of his thoughts.

"Oh! Umm...tea's fine," Mahiru replied.

After Mahiru had managed to push the thoughts of the monster that had come from Kuro out of his mind, as well as what he needed to do to make it up to the vampire for causing it to happen in the first place, he had taken to just watching his Servamp as he worked. 'Who knew that Kuro actually knows what he's doing in the kitchen. I hope he doesn't think that I'll let him out of preparing dinner every now and then now that I know he can do this!'

Occasionally Mahiru would glace up at Kuro's face, but other than his eyes narrowing slightly or his perpetual frown deepening a bit, Mahiru couldn't get any sort of read on him at all. And even then, he knew that if he hadn't have been watching him so closely he would have missed those minute facial expressions. 'He's so hard to read… I wish that he'd open up a bit. I want to get to know him better, but he hardly ever talks about himself…' Mahiru thought with a sigh. It had been Kuro asking him what he wanted to drink that made him realize that the vampire had finished making dinner. "Oh! Umm…tea's fine," he heard himself reply. 'That was quick… I was expecting to be here for a while longer, since Kuro moves at a snail's pace when he's doing something other than playing video games.'

It wasn't long after that that the vampire placed his tea and a bowl of steaming hot ramen in front of him before doing the same for himself, but with his cola instead of tea. Mahiru couldn't help but to stare slightly at the food that had been placed in front of him. It looked perfect, like it had just came straight out of a professional kitchen. He had been expecting to find everything just thrown in haphazardly and to have a sloppy meal placed before him. His Servamp had already started eating, and was conveniently ignoring the way that Mahiru was looking at him.

"Ah… I knew that this was going to be troublesome," Kuro said quietly when he finally stopped ignoring Mahiru and looked up to meet his gaze.

Author's Note: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! I've seen a fair few fics around where Kuro is depicted as being unable to do anything, which is absolutely fine in my books! I loved reading them and seeing how others portray him! But, I wanted to try something different. He's the Servamp of Sloth, which means that he's just extremely lazy, it doesn't mean that he can't do things in a decent fashion, it just means that he would rather not! Originally this chapter was going to be shorter than what is, but where I had stopped it originally didn't seem quite right, so I kept going. This means that I have yet to start the next chapter, but I have an idea for where it is going to go! If you're enjoying the fic so far, please leave a review, favorite or follow!