20th story in my series of short stories with various VK characters. Independent from the previous 19. :D

#: 20

Title: Watching you sleep.
Characters: Kaname x Zero / Zero x Kaname

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight, this is a fanfic written for fun and for love of the series. I'm not making any money with it.
Warnings: Spoilers for chapter 35 of the manga, but that's it.


Just a random Kaname & Zero ficlet for fun and for the sweet loving interaction. (Since my current ongoing fic series has so much angst at the moment, hahahaha. XD;; )

No back-story for this one since it's just a short ficlet... I suppose they're in a threesome with Yuuki, but she's elsewhere at the moment in a travel or something, and thus Zero has to endure the full force of Kaname's love focused all on him for the moment rather than aimed at both at once. XD It's a lot of love to put up with, but it's most pleasant to endure. ;D *lol*

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"Hmm, go away Kaname, I'm not in the mood. I have to get up early tomorrow."

But the complaint held no bite, just the usual moodiness that disguised actual gentleness in the hunter's voice. The pureblood chuckled fondly, snuggling closer and playing with a disarrayed tuft of silver hair, paying no heed to the injunction to go away.
In moments like those, Zero wryly wondered if he might have been able to sleep more easily if he'd been laying next to Lilly the horse, since purebloods and her seemed to share the same fascination with messing with hair.

Kaname and Zero still lived in opposed schedules due to the necessities of the world they lived in –Kaname being a pureblood and having various obligations in the vampire society, and Zero having his duties to the Hunter Association—, but they tried to find various ways to get around the issue to spend more time together. One of those solutions, Kaname's idea, consisted of watching Zero sleep. He couldn't always do it if he was too busy, but he at least spent a while watching the hunter each night, or working on paperwork nearby while keeping a fond eye on his sleeping lover.
Zero wouldn't often admit it, but he also regularly watched Kaname sleeping in the mornings.

At the present moment it was night though, and Zero was trying his best to fall asleep so that he could get enough rest.

Kaname was laying on his front, partially over him, head propped on his hands as he intensely gazed at his lover, who had made sure to put a blanket between them in hopes of preventing Kaname from getting too tempted.

As it was the pureblood was already wearing a short silk robe that left his long legs mostly bare, and Zero suspected Kaname was wearing nothing beneath it. He had that light in his eyes that told the hunter it was best to look asleep within five seconds if he didn't want to stay up all night. So Zero just covered his face with his forearm and did his best to appear sleepy. Tiredness quickly caught up and soon his consciousness was wavering back and forth almost completely asleep.

Kaname inched closer, laying his chin on his lover's chest and sighing softly, a pleasant warmth rising to his cheeks because the proximity of Zero made him smell his scent even better, and that always did all sorts of things to the pureblood, who was very attuned to his senses. He stared at his lover's face intently, the hunter's soft breathing making the corners of Kaname's lips curl up into an amused smile as he caressed his lover's face with the tips of his fingers.

Zero opened a drowsy eye and shot him a forced glare, but his lips contradictorily curved into a half smile.

"Kuran, has anyone told you before that you're a little bit creepily obsessive when you're in love?"

The pureblood laughed softly, laying his head on his lover's chest so that the weight of his gaze would stop disturbing the hunter trying to fall asleep. Zero's strong heartbeat and the gentle thrum of the blood in his veins were so intensely soothing to the pureblood that Kaname nearly fell asleep as well, despite the fact that his own bedtime was still several hours away. He sighed lovingly, enjoying the complete peace of the moment, something he'd often missed in his life until now. How paradoxical, for a vampire –especially a pureblood—to finally find so much peace and such a deep feeling of safety in a hunter's arms. But Kaname felt safer in Zero's arms than anywhere else.

For so many years –perhaps all his life—the pureblood had to be the strong one, to protect Yuuki, to protect all that was dear to him. In control, perfect, invincible, unable to ever have a moment of respite from that flawless mask that left no opening for his enemies. And for so long, he'd deeply ached, vulnerable inside, hurting so badly beneath that mask, the loneliness rising higher and higher, especially since back then even with Yuuki he couldn't be fully open without putting her in risk.

Now that his gentle princess was back to her real self, Kaname didn't have to be in charge of everything at all times anymore – he was still just as protective of her as ever, but Yuuki was perfectly able to take care of herself now that her powers had risen back to the level they should normally be at, so at least he didn't have to constantly worry or constantly be the strong one.

And now, there was Zero. A most unexpected trick of fate throwing together purebloods and hunter and having them all get along fine.

Kaname raised his head a little, his warm and loving gaze caressing his lover's sleeping face.

He looks like an angel asleep like that.

Zero happened to have the same opinion of Kaname. When the pureblood was deeply asleep and completely relaxed, he looked much younger and his face lost some of the compelling power it often had during the day, to take on instead an almost child-like innocence, the light flush of sleep contrasting irresistibly with his pale skin. There were days were Zero stared at that delicate face and swore to himself he'd gut whoever tried to hurt Kaname, feeling surprised and almost scared by the possessive protective urges he'd developed towards the other vampire over time.

Currently, Zero was still deeply asleep, and Kaname was still snuggled close to him, inhaling the enticing scent coming from the hunter's neck and his hair. The pureblood ran a nimble finger over the piercings on the hunter's left ear, feeling the cool metal brush lightly under his skin, before his finger disappeared into the hunter's hair, softly caressing his head, careful to not wake him. He resisted the temptation to kiss him, which would most likely wake him up.

The pale skin of the hunter's neck uncovered further as he shifted slightly in his sleep and his shirt collar slid down a bit. Kaname's eyes were automatically attracted, but he resisted bravely, contenting himself with inhaling the beloved scent of the younger vampire.

He teased his lover mercilessly when they were awake, but if there was one thing Kaname wouldn't do, it was touching Zero's neck while the hunter was asleep. It was like an unspoken promise, something sacred which he refused to break.

He knew well how deep Zero's scars ran. He knew it particularly well, because he himself carried deeply buried traumas as well, things that even now still haunted him. So he understood how long it had taken Zero to finally accept the idea of a vampire near his neck. Kaname took it as a blessing that the hunter would even allow him to touch him there while he was awake, and wouldn't dare to break his trust nor do anything that might accidentally trigger a traumatic memory while Zero slept. He would never betray the trust Zero placed in him.

Even now, the hunter's instincts could on rare occasions dangerously react to him while Zero was asleep or in between sleep and waking, because Kaname's aura and scent were so unmistakably those of a pureblood, and Zero's instincts on the subject were very clear.
For some reason, the transition had been easier with Yuuki, maybe because even though she was now a pureblood too, Zero's body unconsciously recognized her more easily as being the same person who used to caress his hair until he fell asleep, during the troubled nights years ago. But with Kaname it had taken months of them together before Zero could slowly ease into being able to accept Kaname nearby while he was asleep.

But then, things hadn't been any easier for the pureblood, albeit not for the same reasons.

Even asleep, Kaname could recognize Zero and remain peacefully asleep even if the hunter entered the room – a complete proof of how the pureblood trusted him on a deeply unconscious level—but that was now. It had taken him a while to become able to accept someone's presence in the room while he was asleep, even if that was the presence of his lover. The eight years spent under Ichiou's roof had made Kaname even more paranoid than another pureblood would already naturally be. The slightest little shifting in the wood or natural noise in the building would startle him into waking up and quickly extending his aura to check if anyone had entered his room.

But time, love, and mutual trust had helped soothe the wounds of the past a bit, and Kaname had grown able to remain relaxed and asleep, rather than waking up, once his aura identified the other person in the room as being his lover. Maybe eventually Yuuki and Zero's company would heal the deeper wounds that still remained in the pureblood's very soul.

Moved by an irresistible need for more closeness to push back the memories of the past, Kaname buried his face against his lover's chest suddenly, nuzzling him lovingly and curling up against his side. Inevitably, it prompted Zero to wake up and glare at him anew, before exclaiming in an outraged voice, "Kuran, will you finally let me sleep or what?!!"

But instead of pushing the pureblood away, Zero wrapped an arm around Kaname's shoulders and pulled him closer, in a protective embrace that conveyed all the warmth the pureblood needed and some more.

Kaname couldn't help but smile in delight and snuggle up against him.

Yes… love could change anything, could even pull former enemies together…

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Fluff~! XD Fluffity fluff fluff~! *lol*