When Ryeowook woke up, Kyuhyun’s arm was still loosely wrapped around him, his even breath not letting on whether he was asleep or awake. Hunger was making Ryeowook’s throat dry, but he tried to ignore it and the oncoming certainty that he wouldn’t be able to stay in control when he fed from Kyuhyun later.

Banning those thoughts from his mind to avoid enticing the hunger any further, Ryeowook slowly opened his eyes. The fire was close to him, burning low, and the mere handful of twigs next to it revealed that Kyuhyun had to have gotten up at one point to keep the fire alive.

Fire, heat… Lust…

Who would have thought that he had missed out on so much all his life? Who would have thought that someone else touching him, even if it was just through his clothes, could feel so intense and intimate? Embarrassment instantly overcame him at the memory of how confident Kyuhyun had been and how shy he himself had been with everything, but he chased it away with the reminder that Kyuhyun had respected his boundaries immediately and that in the end, both of them had had their happy ending that night.

A small sound distracted him and a moment later, Kyuhyun’s hand moved a little on Ryeowook’s stomach. The latter turned around carefully, smiling when he found Kyuhyun slowly opening his eyes, blinking, his lips forming a drowsy smile when their gazes met. Kyuhyun closed his eyes again and pulled Ryeowook closer, so the prince turned to lie on his side, hugging Kyuhyun back this time.

“Morning.”

“It’s nighttime.”

Kyuhyun shook his head. “It’s always ‘morning’ when you just woke up.”

Ryeowook laughed softly and his heart beat a little faster when Kyuhyun snuggled into him, his reluctance to wake up more than obvious.

“Thank you for last night,” Ryeowook mumbled.

“Which part exactly?”

“First and foremost of course for feeding,” Kyuhyun chuckled, “but also for showing me how to feed and… everything after that.”

“Just remember to leave out the kisses when you actually feed from a human. And I guess you also don’t need to ask for permission to bite them.”

Ryeowook rolled his eyes. “Right, why did you even ask? You knew you had permission to feed from me, so why did you ask?” He looked right at Kyuhyun, but the other diverted his gaze and the playful mood dissipated into thin air.

“It’s just… something that I want to do, at least when feeding from another vampire’s neck. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“But… I never asked you…”

Kyuhyun shook his head, looking at Ryeowook in the end. “You also didn’t have to. As your sire, it is my duty to make sure you are taken care of, and as someone who has fallen for you quite a while ago, I will do anything in my power to protect you and keep you safe. Additionally, you’re not feeding from my neck—yet. Feeding from the wrist can’t be compared to feeding from the neck—when you feed from my wrist, I’m still perfectly in control of what we’re doing and it’s a lot less intimate.”

“But shouldn’t our bodies reaction to feeding be the same, no matter where we feed from?” Ryeowook did his best to keep his expression neutral, but all the talk about feeding made the hunger inside him flare up and his throat ache worse than it had before any of the recent feeding sessions, making him realize that he hadn’t missed that at all.

“It still is a comfortable feeling most of the time—don’t look at me like that, it always depends on who’s feeding from you and how experienced they are. I can tell that you’re learning and that you’re staying in control much longer most of the time and that you are able to be much gentler now than in the beginning. That’s another reason why I would never allow a newborn to feed from the neck, especially not a vampire’s.” A shadow passed over Kyuhyun’s face, making it almost seem like he had said more than he had intended, but then he quickly shook his head. “Anyway, let’s get your feeding over with, shall we? You already waited longer than I wanted you to and additionally had me feed from you.” He sat up, so Ryeowook followed him, a little wary at the change of tone and Kyuhyun’s sudden smile. “I can’t emphasize this enough, but I want you to know how glad I am that you are comparably composed. I’ve gotten to know quite a few vampires who would have been at my throat a long time ago, at the latest when we started talking about feeding.”

Ryeowook looked away, still feeling like the compliment was undeserved and something that wasn’t exactly in his power, but he also didn’t want to argue with Kyuhyun. Instead, he focused on Kyuhyun getting comfortable behind him and casually wrapping his arm around him again while he sent out a quick prayer to his ancestors that they should give him a little control.

☆ ☆ ☆

They continued their journey through the mountains, staying in caves during the days. After the morning talk about feeding, Ryeowook’s determination to gain control over that animalistic hunger had grown stronger and he had set himself a new goal: he wanted to find out at which point Kyuhyun told him to stop feeding. How much blood had he drunk by that point? How far was the hunger quenched by then? He wanted to finally be able to master feeding. What was a life full of learning and internalizing worth if he now couldn’t learn how to control the hunger?

Days and nights passed along with their surroundings and the temperatures rose steadily as spring turned into summer. Ryeowook was grateful that they only walked during the night, but he quickly began to miss looking for caves compared to having to carry around their tent after they had passed the mountains and hope that it would hold for as long as necessary. He certainly didn’t question Kyuhyun’s abilities—he did worry about the dwindling cord, though. And, of course, about his still nonexistent power.

His silver lining was that staying in control got easier as time went by and it happened more and more frequently that he was able to stop feeding when Kyuhyun told him to.

When dawn approached after yet another night of walking, they found themselves a more or less protected spot and set up the tent. Kyuhyun had to fix a new spot and the worry in his eyes was more than obvious, but somehow, the tent seemed to be able to make it through another day.

“We really need to find a town or village soon,” Kyuhyun observed, his gaze revealing that he doubted the tent would make it through the day—or, at the very least, the following night.

“What if we don’t find one?”

Kyuhyun flashed him an “I don’t know, but that better not happen”-glance before he turned back to the tent. “Did you have any procedures that you’d do in cases like this at court?”

“Ask the ancestors for help?”

“Honestly, I hoped for something more shamanistic.”

“That’s not my field of expertise.”

“What a shame. How about a power that will miraculously keep things from collapsing?”

“Is there such a thing?”

Kyuhyun shrugged. “Depending on how long the tent still makes it, I’m willing to believe in something like that.”

Ryeowook looked back at the tent. Could he have such a power? Having no power at all still seemed to make more sense to him regarding how much time had passed without any sign of a power and if powers were based on the human life, then a power like the one Kyuhyun suggested seemed unlikely. At least he couldn’t remember things magically not collapsing while he was around…

“Isn’t it time for you to feed?” Kyuhyun changed the topic, making Ryeowook groan. The fire artist laughed and got comfortable in front of the small tent, most likely not trusting it enough to spend more time than necessary on the inside. “It’s funny how we keep on spacing it out more and how you continue to improve but you’ll still always groan when I mention feeding.”

“My life is made of learning and I still haven’t learned this,” Ryeowook grumbled and sat down next to Kyuhyun, upset that it was getting too warm for them to light a fire. They’d surely need a fire again whenever they found a place to settle down for summer, wouldn’t they? After all, they’d have to cook and maybe they’d be able to take warm baths…

“You have all the time in the world and still, you’re impatient.”

Ryeowook furrowed his brows and looked away, those words not sitting right with him. So what if he had all the time he needed? Was he wrong for wanting to finally figure this feeding thing out and for feeling frustrated by the weeks if not even months that had already gone by with agonizingly slow progress? For feeling like he was stuck on a step of a staircase, sometimes pushed down, and still fighting to finally reach the top floor where a monster was laughing squarely into his face, pushing him back each time that he tried to take that final step?

“Let’s just get it over with for now?”

“You see it as something so casual…”

“You’ll get there, Ryeowook. Please don’t worry so much about it.”

“How can I not? Feeding is such an important thing for us. And so are powers! Still, one I cannot control and the other I don’t seem to have, so how could I not worry about it? What if we meet vampires, what if we can even stay in their company for a bit? I want to have people around, but you said that powers are usually part of our introduction, so how will it sound when I introduce myself as ‘Hi, I’ve been turned months ago, but I apparently don’t have a power’ while everyone else can list something? Why can’t I at least be able to control the feeding when I already don’t have a power?” Tears of frustration were rolling down Ryeowook’s cheeks, but there was nothing he could do about them.

Kyuhyun opened his mouth, the look in his eyes twisted, but Ryeowook shook his head. “No, don’t tell me that I’ll find my power, don’t tell me that I’m ‘composed’ or learning fast—it doesn’t feel fast to me. I just want to be normal and have a power and settle down and… I don’t know!”

Kyuhyun looked away, his silence agony and making Ryeowook want to scream and beg for the ever-repeating phrases that brought little comfort. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say. A week, a month, a year… It’s all so short compared to what I’ve lived through, what I’m expecting to still live through… To me, it feels like we just met yesterday but also as if we’ve been walking this road for a long time already because every night seems to bring something new and we get to know each other a little more. It’s easy to forget that my ‘soon’ might not be ‘soon’ for you and that my experiences lose their gravity in the face of yours and your feelings.”

Something inside Ryeowook broke. He wanted to be angry with Kyuhyun, he wanted to yell and scream about how unfair everything was—but he could only cry. Why did Kyuhyun apologize, why couldn’t he argue, why couldn’t he say again how everything would turn out fine so that Ryeowook could tell him that the opposite was the case?

Kyuhyun finally turned to face him and his expression was still sad and careful but there was also warmth in it. “May I give you a hug?”

Ryeowook wanted to shake his head, but he nodded. Kyuhyun wrapped his arms around him, his body warm as always and his embrace and familiar scent providing immediate comfort and security.

When Ryeowook calmed down, he was tired and exhausted, though he didn’t know whether that was from the crying, the rising sun, or both. “Kyuhyun?”

“Yes?”

“Can we move the feeding to when we get up?”

“You don’t want to feed tonight?”

Ryeowook shook his head lightly, still not moving away from the hug. “I’m too exhausted, so I don’t think I’ll do a good job staying in control this time and I don’t want to go to sleep even more frustrated about all this…”

“Okay, then let’s do the feeding tomorrow.”

“It’ll technically still be today.”

“Oh shut it. It’s after sleeping, so it’s tomorrow.”

Ryeowook couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at his lips and he leaned back, wiping over his face to remove even the last tear stains.

“Shall we go to sleep?”

“Will you tell me a story when we go to sleep?”

“What do you want to hear?”

Ryeowook thought about that question while he got up, but he only came up with an answer when they lay down in the tent. “Can you tell me about the first time that you came to China?”

“Anything about it?”

“Anything that you’re comfortable sharing or that comes to your mind, yes.”

This time, it was Kyuhyun who remained quiet for a short while, his hand drawing absentminded patterns on Ryeowook’s back, making the younger vampire feel safe and loved. “In that case, let me tell you about the first time that I came to the capital here,” he started, his voice quiet and even as he shared his experiences with Ryeowook, lulling him to sleep.

☆ ☆ ☆

When Ryeowook woke up, he felt much better. The hunger was a little more prominent, but therefore he could ignore his insecurities more easily. When he opened his eyes, he was almost surprised to find the tent still standing, but when he turned around, he wasn’t surprised at all to find Kyuhyun looking back at him, smiling softly. “Good morning.”

“Morning.”

“You’re finally giving in!”

“Not like you’re giving me a choice.”

Kyuhyun laughed softly, the warm sound making Ryeowook’s heart melt. Apparently, the emotion showed on his face because Kyuhyun smiled at him, pushing himself up onto his elbow. “With this look you’re giving me, I’d almost think that you’re asking for a good-morning-kiss.”

“Would you give me one?”

“You’re acting like I could refuse you if you asked.”

Ryeowook laughed softly, almost breathlessly, and got himself a little more comfortable. He reached out one hand and placed it on Kyuhyun’s cheek, his eyes drifting down to Kyuhyun’s lips, still smiling, and his body immediately remembered how those lips felt on his own, on his neck…

“Then how about a motivational kiss to start into this night?” Had he really just said that? Could he blame his directness on the fact that he had only just woken up?

“I would say that it sounds like a great way to start into this night.” Kyuhyun leaned down just as Ryeowook’s gaze finally rose to Kyuhyun’s eyes.

He didn’t even notice himself leaning up to meet Kyuhyun for the kiss, but he had to have done that because he lay back properly a moment later, his arms wrapping around Kyuhyun on their own accord.

The kiss ended way too soon and Kyuhyun sat up first, followed a little more slowly by Ryeowook whose emotional high dispersed with his next thought.

“I should feed and then we should get going, right?”

“That would be best, I guess.”

Ryeowook nodded and suppressed a new sigh or groan. He could do this. Learning was in his nature, it had been his entire life, so he could definitely also learn how to control the hunger! It wasn’t such a difficult thing, after all, was it? He had noticed that Kyuhyun tended to become a little tense shortly before telling him to stop, so his goal was to end the feeding session at that non-verbal sign—if not even before then.

“Let’s do it.”

“No arguing?”

Ryeowook blushed a little but shook his head. “As embarrassing as it was, yesterday actually kind of helped.”

“I don’t think it was embarrassing,” Kyuhyun said with a smile and naturally positioned himself behind Ryeowook, draping one arm over his shoulder as always. The younger vampire took the arm, then he breathed in deeply, and out the same way before he led Kyuhyun’s arm to his lips and followed his instincts, sinking his fangs into the skin as gently as possible. As always, the blood’s taste crashed over him like a wave, but like most recent times, he was prepared for it, stood his ground, tried to monitor the hunger. He was doing that for Kyuhyun. For himself. For both of them. And for everyone else out there whom he wouldn’t hurt once he had learned how to control the feeding.

Ryeowook kept a mental eye on how full he felt, comparing it to the last feeding sessions, trying to keep in mind how much he had already taken from Kyuhyun. He could still have a little more. Still a little.

He should stop. Yes, stop. Like Kyuhyun always told him to. Just stop and—

Somehow, his fangs drew back and he hurried to over the small wounds.

What? Where was the fight? Of course he had felt the hunger, had sensed its eternal presence and how much it wanted to take control over his body and his consciousness, yet it had never been that easy to stop.

“You could have taken more.” Kyuhyun sounded as stunned as Ryeowook felt, but he still shook his head as he released the other’s arm and turned around.

“I could not. You kind of… tense before you tell me to stop. I wanted to be able to do it on my own. And I did.” The words sounded new to him, almost like they didn’t belong in this context.

“You did,” Kyuhyun confirmed and a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, making Ryeowook grin.

“I did!” He hugged Kyuhyun tightly, feeling the other hug him back the same way. All of his frustration and worries were forgotten at those two words: he did. He had stopped, all on his own!

When he leaned back, Ryeowook’s expression turned a little sheepish from the intuitive display of affection and pride. “I’m assuming that this isn’t a guarantee that I’ll be able to stop on my own every time?”

Kyuhyun shook his head. “No, but it means that you’re a huge step closer. I’m assuming you’ll still need hints a few more times, but I’ll try to give you more time from now on, so you’ll get the chance to stop without help while drinking as much as you need.” Suddenly, the teasing smirk was back to his lips. “And see? I told you you’d get to this point soon.”

Ryeowook flashed Kyuhyun a playful glare. “I think we should get going, shouldn’t we? After all, we need to find a town or village, preferably before the tent collapses entirely.”

Kyuhyun laughed, taking away any chance for Ryeowook to even act like he was annoyed at the other. A new hope and confidence bloomed inside him, one that couldn’t even be harmed by the knowledge that the fight for control wasn’t completely over yet.