Fai's lips curled around Kurogane's neck, and he breathed in the scent of sweat and blood and something like fear. He licked and tasted, and thought of salt and earth, and heard Kurogane growl somewhere above him; loud in his ears and annoyed, then Kurogane's hand pressed against his hair.

"Do it," Kurogane snarled, and his hand trailed down to Fai's own neck and rested there. Waiting.

Kurogane's pulse beneath his cold lips and beating heart beneath his hands, Fai tasted more and wanted more and thought he might go mad. But Kurogane was still there, waiting. And wanting.

Fai could smell it. Like raw flesh. So strong it was almost overpowering and he wondered that he had never smelt it before. Then he remembered that things had been different then. There hadn’t been this need. There hadn’t been promises made or things said. Before things had been lost and other things found that Fai didn’t want to remember.

And Kurogane wanted this. Wanted him. Wanted something Fai couldn’t give, but wanted to all the same. So he bit down and felt warm fluid fill his mouth and faster beating under his fingers. Kurogane's heart; strong and proud and his, and Fai wanted more. So he drank and felt Kurogane grasp his hair tightly. He hissed then, his other hand on Fai’s waist and Fai thought that this was like kissing, really. Just with a lot more blood. And sharper teeth.

Each taste made Fai feel stronger and more alive and warm and he wondered if perhaps it wasn’t so bad to be like this. Kurogane could stop him. Kurogane could kill him. Fai didn’t mind.

More blood, heart beating faster and Fai could almost feel his own veins filling with it, his own heart pounding with it. And Fai thought that this was just like sex really; not being able to get any closer, Kurogane’s breaths loud and laboured and fast, his hands holding onto him even as Fai held Kurogane. And there was trust. That Kurogane would kill him if he asked it. That Fai would not kill Kurogane. That they would stay like this.

Still drinking, licking at flowing blood, the warmth and taste of it beyond any pleasure Fai had ever known, almost unable to stop and Fai began to wonder if that trust had been misplaced. Kurogane’s hand in his hair dropped and Fai wondered if he would drink until Kurogane was as cold and dead as he had been. If Kurogane would hate him then. And that would be worse than caring, Fai decided.

The thought tempered his thirst and the burning, welcome warmth and life of Kurogane’s blood in his veins. So Fai pulled back, almost ripping at tender flesh in his sudden need to get away, gasping for air, arms falling to his side, feeling oddly cold and empty. And feeling blood on his lips that before had been so addicting now felt thick and repulsive.

Would it always be like this? Would he always have to fight for control? Would be always be left feeling this way? And Kurogane was staring at him, eyes narrowed and searching.

“Why did you stop?” he said. Kurogane’s hand tightened at Fai’s waist as he tried to back away.

He was looking at him and Fai couldn’t understand why.  Kurogane was still holding onto him and Fai couldn’t fathom how he could stand it.

“I was…” Fai began, but couldn’t think how to finish. Or even begin.

Kurogane was still looking at him, free hand rubbing absently at the wound on his neck, breath still heavy and Fai could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears. He knew then that he wanted more and hated himself for it.

But Kurogane was pulling him back, fingers laced with his own blood reaching towards him. Fai could smell it. Could almost taste it. Wanted to taste it.

“You need more,” Kurogane said.

Fai shook his head, leaning away from Kurogane’s hand and Kurogane’s blood.

“No… no, I’m fine.”  He smiled.  Kurogane frowned in reply.

“No, you’re not.” Kurogane paused, his hand moving from Fai’s waist to grasp his arm tightly. “Now drink.”

Fai shook his head again, grimacing as Kurogane squeezed his arm tighter.

“You were fine a minute ago. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Kuro-sama…” Fai tried, but Kurogane gripped tighter and dragged Fai back towards him.

“Don’t lie to me,” he almost snarled, and held on, eyes locked and waiting for an answer. And then Fai wondered at how Kurogane could be so strong even after losing all that blood. Blood that Fai could still feel in his veins and see on Kurogane’s hand and neck so he knew he had taken it.

“I don’t want to… drink too much,” Fai said, trying to look anywhere but at Kurogane.

“Idiot. You won’t,” Kurogane sighed. He was so sure it was almost frightening. “I won’t let you.”

Kurogane drew his free arm to Fai’s face, the blood thick and dry on his fingers but Fai couldn’t take his eyes off of it. So freely offered and Kurogane still strong and perhaps, just this once, Fai could trust him.

It wasn’t just the lust or the need, Fai knew, because right then all he wanted was Kurogane.

He took the proffered arm, and looking up to meet Kurogane’s eyes began licking the blood from the fingers. Slowly and carefully, enjoying and cherishing and trying not to hate and love every drop. And Kurogane still watching him so closely. So intensely. Fai took one finger after another into his mouth, watching lust build in Kurogane’s eyes that he knew must have been reflected in his own.

Then Kurogane’s hand; Fai’s tongue tracing along the scar there and thought that he felt Kurogane shiver. Both their hearts and breath loud now, Kurogane ran a hand through Fai’s hair and leaned down to kiss at Fai’s neck. And the vampire in him loved it, and the human in him yearned it. He thought he must have gasped or something because Kurogane’s lips were grinning against his skin.

“Damn mage,” he breathed, then licked a line up to Fai’s mouth so that when they kissed it was all tongue and lips and Fai could taste blood.

Fai wondered if Kurogane was somehow sneakier than he had ever realised, until he remembered warm wetness on his chin after he fed from Kurogane. Fed. From Kurogane, who now seemed intent on reclaiming what life he had given with kisses and air and bruises as he gripped Fai and pushed him down onto his back.

“I won’t stop,” he warned, pressing his body against Fai as though to prove the point. And perhaps, Fai thought, he meant to say that he wouldn’t let go either. But Fai already knew that, so he smiled and let Kurogane kiss him and strip him and press their bodies together even as Fai kissed Kurogane and stripped him and pressed their bodies together. Hard floor beneath them and cold ceiling above them but Fai didn’t care because Kurogane’s hands were all over him and it wasn’t about blood or life or death anymore.

It wasn’t about anything.

There was grinding and sweating and always Kurogane’s mouth was on him. And Fai wondered if Kurogane might like the taste of him, and lust for that taste as much as he lusted for that blood running in those veins just inches from his own and from his mouth.

They were quiet, but it was deafening to Fai as he fisted Kurogane’s hair in one hand and clasped his thigh in the other and arched against him as he came. Blood rushing in his ears and hammering pulse in his head, he couldn’t tell what was him and what was Kurogane anymore. He felt Kurogane’s weight push against him once more and then more heat as Kurogane held him smotheringly close, eyes shut tight but lips open.

Everything given and everything lost as they stilled and sank to floor, Kurogane lying on him like the heaviest blanket imaginable.

“Perhaps…” Fai wheezed, “you are under the false assumption that vampires don’t need to breath…” 

He heard Kurogane snort, and though he did roll off of him, Kurogane then pulled Fai close.

“You don’t get to leave unless I say so,” Kurogane stated, those eyes scrutinising him again.

“I suppose not,” Fai smiled.