AN: It has been a long wait I know, but I'm even somewhat proud that this chapter comes pretty close on the heels of my latest update to "From This Day Forward", and I managed to answer all the reviews in the meantime as well. Btw. if you are not registered or logged in when you review I obviously cannot send the reply to you directly, but you still can find it in the forum thread.

Hope you enjoy this chapter. There is maybe one, at most two chapters to go still in this story, and then I have a new one planned already - can't live without these boys :)

Oh, and about the "human remedies" - believe it or not, I have really researched the internet and those are the actual recipes (weird though some of them sound).

Many thanks to YenGirl - duh, how come I always have such a lot of typos (which is probably just a gentler euphemism for "mistakes", lol)? Anyway, thanks a lot for correcting them for me!

Disclaimer: Kaname and Zero belong together and to wonderful Hino-sensei. Me? I'm just enjoying their company for awhile :)

And then the dear and frightened face floats into the line of his blurry and slightly double vision, and someone is calling his name…

Someone…

"Ka… na… me?" The name comes out slurred and it disturbs him a bit… Still, Zero is glad that he has spoken, for somehow it is almost like a switch is turned inside his brain, or maybe – inside his ears and he can hear much clearer what the other says and even make sense of the words.

"God!.. Zero!.. Zero!... I swear I didn't mean to… Are you alright?"

Is he? He is not sure. In fact it is… well, funny, isn't it? How he's lying there thinking of all the damage done to the wall, and showing no interest whatsoever to any damage that his own body has suffered… Stupid behavior, Kiryuu, very stupid…

Tentatively, Zero wiggles his fingers and toes and is relieved to no end when everything seems to move perfectly. Of course, his shoulders are damn sore and so is the back of his head, but if there is one good thing to be said about being a vampire it's that the bruises never stay long – hell, they are nothing but blood spilled from his own veins after all, and at times he imagines with faint disgust how his tissues just absorb it back in, like some greedy sponge…

"I… am… alright… just… winded…" He makes an effort to push himself up on his elbows, only to find his body gathered into a gentle embrace, and Kaname is already on his knees by the hunter's side and hugs him to his silk-covered chest that is lifting and falling, lifting and falling with shaky breaths, with urgent, hasty whispers, "I didn't mean it, Zero… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

"D'mn fool," the first word does still sound slurred, but altogether – now he's sitting, Zero feels that he's coming to - slowly but surely, his vision clearing along with his mind. "Th' tiles… you'll cut your feet on them… remember the glass?"

"I won't… They are not that sharp…" For a moment Kaname's voice almost catches with relief, as if he needed to hear Zero scold him to know that everything was truly alright…

"Like hell they aren't, I've just been lying on them myself…" And he can feel Kaname shifting restlessly too, as if there is something digging into his knees. "Help me up already…."

Of course it is only to be expected that the pureblood would pay no heed to his request. Really, the man is so absolutely careless towards his own health – well, take this tooth, if you need a recent example… But as soon as it is about Zero, he's ready to keep the hunter in bed over the smallest scratch… Not that "keeping in bed" is necessarily a bad thing… but well… in essence – Zero is not at all surprised when a steady arm slides under his knees, and Kaname stands up with a slight "ouch" as the added weight of Zero in his arms makes him grit his teeth momentarily, disturbing the fang.

Still, Zero knows him just too well to think that the grim expression upon this beautiful face (while the pureblood carries him into the sleeping room with infinite care…) is only entirely caused by the toothache…

"Stop it," he commands - gently but firmly.

"Stop what?"

And just whom do you think you can fool with this feigned nonchalance?

"Stop eating yourself over throwing me into that wall. You just reacted to pain, and it's my fault really for touching your fang…"

For a few minutes, Kaname doesn't react in any way, making a great fuss of lowering Zero onto the bed and meticulously adjusting the pillows, and it is only when there is absolutely nothing more for him to do that he finally looks up into Zero's eyes with this sheepish and - due to the current circumstances - lopsided smile…

"Uh… yeah… I think I was… Why… why did you touch it anyway?"

There is more interest than accusation within his question - much to Zero's relief, and so the hunter shrugs… well, as much as he can shrug now – lying down and with his shoulders still somewhat bruised even if it's nothing compared to how it felt in those first moments in the bathroom.

"Wanted to check if it was 'shifty'… it would be if it's all ready to fall out."

"And is it?" Kaname asks eagerly, his eyes boring into Zero's face as if he somehow can read the answer straight from his mind, and it is so blatantly obvious in this moment just how anxious he is for the end of his torture.

Ah… Zero wishes he could just tell that it is… But the fact is he can't be sure – he only touched it for millisecond, perhaps, and all the flying and slamming into the wall does nothing for the consistence of memory.

"I don't know," he admits finally, "you threw me too quickly." And he hates, hates, hates with a passion the way Kaname's face loses this inner light, as the pureblood nods in quiet resignation.

"Oh, well, OK…"

For a moment they just stay silent – one lying in bed and one sitting tiredly by his side, and then Kaname closes his eyes and takes a deep breath and… "Ouch!.." he moans sharply, his fingers digging into the sheets and – as it happens where his other hand lay – right into Zero's thigh with such a force they almost cause an answering moan from the hunter.

"What the…!" The curse is cut short because of the sheer obviousness of Kaname's pain and Zero just gently tugs at the white-knuckled hand almost ripping holes into his pajama bottoms, "Come on… come here, lay down by me…" sliding further and turning onto his side to free the place, and when Kaname complies, holds him tightly until the small tremors within the pureblood's body subside, and the tiny sniffles calm down into an even breath, and finally Kaname whispers - the lisping more pronounced than ever, "Yesh, Zhero… it shiftsh…"

What an idiot… Yet, strangely enough, Zero feels like all the fire with which he confronted Kaname in the bathroom has burned down. Now, he thinks, maybe his head needed this jolting (quite literally as it was) to finally see the things clearly… and he nuzzles reassuringly into the dark curls, while his hand rubs soothing circles into the tense back…

"You should've gone to the dentist, you know…" He says quietly, no accusation now present in his voice, just a statement of fact. If Kaname hasn't, well, probably he had his reasons, and so long as it is not about 'not wanting to show his much distorted face to the public', Zero's all prepared to listen to what he tells.

"I wanted to…" comes at the long last from where Kaname's head rests exhaustedly on Zero's arm, "I really wanted to, Zero… only…" Kaname sighs softly… "I… uh… I don't know where the clinic is…"

The answer is so shocking in its simplicity that for a moment Zero is stunned into silence. Yet - absurdly, it just… well… makes such a perfect sense… Being a pureblood, Kaname really would have no need for a clinic… after all it is common knowledge that so long as a pureblood is not killed instantly he is able to heal from anything on his own… (Not from an aching tooth obviously…) why would he need to know where the clinic is?

The even more shocking thing is that neither does Zero. Surely, his healing abilities, even after a year of feeding exclusively on Kaname's blood, are probably somewhere near the noble ones, not nearly on par with the pureblood's, which means that there can be and even were instances where he needed assistance… But the thing is, whatever damage he could not heal from all by himself was usually quickly patched up in the Association's infirmary and then Kaname would come to pick him up, baring his neck almost before they were inside his black limo, and what with the fresh influx of pure blood, he would be almost as good as new before they even reached home... (which never prevented Kaname from keeping him in bed for several days…)

Well, clearly it all doesn't help… He can't very well bring Kaname to the HA headquarters to have his tooth treated, and even if he could, Zero doubts that any hunter – medic or not - would have the guts to get inside a pureblood's mouth to remove his fang... Well, as to the vampire clinic…

"You could have called Ichijou…"

Kaname shifts a little impatiently against him as if he's somewhat frustrated with Zero questioning his intelligence so much.

"I did. He's off to an overseas business trip - only due back on Friday." And it is Wednesday afternoon currently… Oops, tough luck… "And before you ask – Cain and Luca… I dialed them too… have obviously decided to prolong their honeymoon on Seychelles, and Aidou, being Cain's best man, tags along… naturally…"

Frankly, Zero wonders who'd want to have Hanabusa Aidou tag along with them… especially on their honeymoon, but then, he supposes, it's all that cousinly love, duh… and Cain and Luca have long grown immune to the blonde's… eh… charisma (for lack of a better word)…

Well, crap… he starts to understand the pureblood's predicament now. And, well, Kaname being Kaname, he naturally couldn't just ask the directions to clinic from whoever answered the phone in his associates' almost exclusively vampire households… Zero, on the other hand, has no such qualms, and the only thing that keeps him from dialing any of nobles' houses immediately is that by all rights it is just around noon now, the very middle of the night for vampires, and he knows that Kaname will veto such a breach of the protocol if he dares to so much as pick up the phone.

"It should've been possible to figure it somehow through your computer," he says instead. "After all it has to be one of the round-the-clock establishments to serve the vampires comfortably. Just how many of such could be there in this city?" Of course, it is no use now, since the computer is beyond repair, so he just mutters it absently – almost like he is doing up a list of things that could be done and striking out the possibilities that wouldn't work…

"Oh, quit it, Zero…" There is almost a note of plea in Kaname's voice, and Zero feels like shit for plaguing the pureblood with his suggestions instead of just letting him rest in whatever relative comfort… but the very fact that Kaname is suffering and he can think of no way to effectively help him, makes for a persistent squirming somewhere in Zero's stomach, and he cannot relax.

"I only wanted to go there in hope that they will give me painkillers that work for vampires," the pureblood continues tiredly, in what is actually a very telling admission, "and I… well, I thought about looking it up through the computer too… only it was too late, because I broke my laptop already…"

"What?" Zero almost jumps up with surprise, only barely remembering in time that it wouldn't do to jostle Kaname so abruptly. "But it only happened just now?!"

"Oh… huh…" the pureblood chuckles ruefully, "this was the final smash… before that… I just ripped the screen right off the notebook… approximately when I have printed out this list…" Lifting himself a little, he reaches over Zero to retrieve a piece of paper from under the bedside lamp on his side.

"What's this?" Zero asks cautiously, taking the proffered print-out as if it is made of gelignite – well, whatever it is, it did provoke the pureblood's wrath, so, well… what is it again?

"Human remedies for a toothache…" Kaname sighs softly, settling back into place, his forehead pressed somewhere near Zero's armpit, "Take a look… it makes for an amusing read… only I guess I was in no mood to be amused…"

Obediently, Zero squints, using his vampire sight to read the small print in the semi-darkness inside the sleeping room and, well, about 'amusing reading' it's so true… some of the recipes… duh…

"Grate some garlic and tie it to the opposite wrist?.. That's gonna smell like hell…"

"Not only," Kaname comments matter-of-factly, "it also causes a rash… You really chose almost the worst of it, Zero… it's only putting chopped onion inside your ear that is worse, I guess…" and there is something disconcerting in how light and brittle his voice sounds, that makes Zero think that surely not… he would not…

"You… you tried it out?" And by the time the pureblood answers he already knows what to expect…

"All of them… well, all that we have the ingredients for… garlic… onion… sodium… iodine… heat… cold… crying… have you read up to it yet?.. well, a lot of that…" now Kaname's voice almost overflows with abject self-mockery, "they all sound pretty sensible… only do not help…"

Zero's arm tightens around the shoulders that tremble ever so slightly within his embrace, and he drops the paper to lightly massage the very top of the pureblood's left ear with his forefinger and thumb.

"Have you tried this?"

Kaname keeps quiet for a moment as if listening to his own reaction and then his body relaxes almost imperceptibly, as exhaustion claims the place temporarily vacated by pain.

"Is it in the list?" he asks in a whisper as if speaking any louder can make the effect disappear. "I do not remember if I tried it, but it… it does help…"

Sure it would…

In fact Zero knows this spot, as well as the other two listed within the print-out (and another half-dozen that aren't), and he scolds himself for not remembering earlier about this technique… only unfortunately, he also knows that it is only distraction rather than real help that it provides, and as such it is only good for as long as the person would stay distracted… in his estimate - even if he alternates between the spots over and over again, he can maybe, if he is lucky, buy Kaname some fifteen minutes, perhaps half an hour of lessened pain… way too short even as a temporary relief… but still - not a bad thing, and Zero is prepared to go on for as long as it helps…

…when he feels the familiar tightening in his chest, something that he must have been feeling for some time already, ever since the wall-smashing incident, and now that he finally acknowledges it for what it is – the blood lust – he can even trace the thing that caused it – a small spot of wetness on Kaname's knee. The stubborn idiot has pricked it while kneeling on broken tile, just as Zero predicted… A tiny graze and long healed by now, but with him so deeply conditioned to the smell of Kaname's blood, even the small amount was enough to slowly make its way into Zero's senses provoking the unwelcome fit…

Drinking from Kaname right now is out of the question… so – blood tablets it is… and Zero starts to slowly and cautiously disentangle himself from the clinging pureblood, until he is finally able to sit up in bed, preparing to go and fetch them.

Damn… and he so hoped that his ministrations can lull Kaname to sleep…

This hope is obviously thwarted.

"Stay put," he says soothingly. "I'll be right back." But it's too late, the pureblood is worried already, he doesn't even have to turn around to know he is…

"Zero? What's wrong?"

"Nothing… Just need some blood tablets and they are in my bag…"

He steels himself for what he knows will come – inevitably.

"You can drink from me."

Oh duh… please, don't make it harder for me… please…

Determinedly, he moves closer to the edge, only to have Kaname's hand clamp firmly and inexorably around his wrist, and unless he wants to drag the pureblood along like a floating anchor on a chain Zero has no option but to turn and try to reason it out.

"You are ill," he says bluntly, and yet his hand belies the stern tone utterly as it moves with infinite gentleness to trace the outline of Kaname's swollen and flushed cheek, "just who do you think I am when you ask me to drain you more?"

What he needs now is to turn around and go – go, go, go immediately… but Kaname's eyes gaze almost imploringly into his and Zero can veritably hear his control crumbling as he feels himself drawn into their soft mahogany depths, an then - the very surety of the pureblood's voice reminds him that there hardly was one argument with this person that he has won ever, and now is not going to be an exception…

"Zero…" there is actually a tender and somewhat wistful smile on Kaname's lips, and he tugs on the captured wrist, making the hunter bend lower to himself, knowing that the bloodlust itself is his best argument, for it would make it extremely hard for the ex-human to escape once he is close enough to feel the heavy, anticipating pulse of blood in his veins, "If it was only about the amount of my blood… I wouldn't have this toothache in the first place… I would have healed… Since I haven't… a little more or a little less of it won't change a thing… You need it too… I injured you earlier and it's only natural that your body would need replenishment… please, Zero, drink from me… I do not mind…"

The crimson haze is almost obscuring Zero's vision now, and he falls to Kaname's chest admitting defeat… no, in fact he retains just barely enough control to lower himself there slowly, even if inside he is a mess of burning hunger and broken resolve…

"You are… an idiot…"

The reprimand is futile, and Kaname's chuckle reverberates in his ears, "Maybe I am… do drink, Zero…" and he is lost…

He is lost in the first sweet, sweet taste of Kaname's blood in his mouth, in the very overwhelming sensation of this intimate union that they share… but also in the swirl of feelings that the pureblood can't hide from him now, can't suppress as he does so often on the wrong assumption of 'doing it for Zero's sake'… now, in the pureblood's blood he is living out the hell that the last few days had been for Kaname – the frustration and suffering, and near despair of trying and being unable to escape from this ache, to somehow shut it out by sheer willpower, if nothing else works… and the waiting, waiting, waiting for Zero, mingled with stupid fears of Zero actually finding him in this state… What an idiot… But anyway - it's all laid open for the hunter now, something that Kaname most probably hasn't thought out consciously, when he has forced him to drink… And the pain itself… ah… it's almost like he is drinking Kaname's pain… And when he slowly retracts his fangs and licks the puncture marks shut finally – the copper is mixed with salt on his tongue as he runs it along the smooth skin – the copper of blood with the salt of his own tears, running freely, borne of the emotions he received…

"Drink more, Zero…" Kaname's words come hoarsely from over his head.

"No… it is enough…" He shakes his head, still unable to raise himself from crouching close to the pureblood's neck, still reluctant to show him his tearstained face…

"Drink more, Zero… please…" And there is something in Kaname's voice that makes him look up sharply… and never mind his tears… because there are tears staying in the pureblood's eyes as well, between those spiky wet, impossibly long eyelashes, and Kaname's chest rises and falls unevenly with strangled sobs as he finally squeezes his eyes to let the tears flow, "please… Zero… please…"

Without thinking, Zero gathers the pureblood into his arms and holds him tightly, holds him securely cradled there, while Kaname's body shakes helplessly within his embrace in a spectacular breakdown of any control he might've still been clinging to previously, "Please… Z-zero… you… you don't know… how it is to not feel pain… to not even think about pain… all the time you were drinking… you have to… you…"

"Sshh… sshhh… Kaname… I will… I will…" The hunter rocks slowly back and forth, his own helplessness morphing for just a moment into a blinding rage at himself and then into sudden clarity, and it's almost like the domino stones falling, like the matching tiles coming together in the slot-machine with a loud clink – he sees exactly what he should do and how he can help his friend, and the determination-borne calm shines clearly in his eyes, when he places a soft and tender kiss onto Kaname's temple and lowers him gently into the bed, rubbing the shaking shoulder until the last hiccups subside, "Give me just a moment, my love… and when I return – I will…"