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Durin found Asahi that evening stretched out on the bed, one knee raised to prop up his book. After a short time, he flipped the page, with a brief flicker of his gaze up to the doorway to acknowledge Durin's presence before going back to his reading, shifting a little to the side to make room.
Seeing Asahi relaxed perked Durin up. He happily crossed the room to join him; the mattress dipped as he put his weight onto it and crawled up level with Asahi. Durin nudged aside his knee to make room for him to rest on top of him. His elbows, to either side of Asahi, took off some of his weight, and Durin laid his head atop his fingers interlaced over Asahi's chest.
Asahi's free hand automatically found the small of Durin's back. Aside for when it came time to turn the page, his hand remained there, fingers absently rubbing, playing with the irregularities of his outfit. Durin hummed, content, and sunk against him as his eyes, too, fell closed. His tail swished lazily, side to side to side.
He lay there, listening to the rhythmic working of Asahi's core, matching to breathing as Asahi's chest slowly and steadily rose, then fell. Asahi was warm, with something that was not blood, but something that imitated it. Turing his head to the side to let his ear press against Asahi's chest, Durin could hear the pulse of it throughout his body. With that and Asahi's familiar sweet-woody smell, sparkling butterflies fluttered in his stomach.
His chest thick with longing, he tilted his head to nuzzle into Asahi's neck. When his lips brushed over his skin, Asahi's chest jumped beneath him, tickled by the action.
"Watch it," Asahi said mildly. His fingers stroked along Durin's spine as if to soothe him, but it only gave him a shiver that ran down to the tip of his tail.
"Sorry." Durin kissed Asahi's cheek in apology, then settled down against his shoulder. Asahi's hand turned his page, then returned to the small of his back.
Unfortunately, Durin was now restless. The yearning became a stone in his throat; his lips parted as the adoration became a need for closeness. There was an itch behind his teeth. He inhaled long and deep, filling his lungs with Asahi's scent to distract himself from the jitter of excess energy.
His fangs had bared, his breath a faint heated pant against Asahi's collarbone, when the realization struck him with a jolt. He clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Sorry!" Durin yanked himself away, cold at the loss of contact with Asahi, but still he forced himself away and onto his feet. Electricity raced through his body; he began to pace to work it out of his limbs. "I didn't think—I just wasn't thinking, obviously."
Asahi closed the book, set it aside on the table. "Durin."
His voice was quiet, but cut through straight to Durin's soul. Guilt shot through him; he turned his back on Asahi so that he could not see the steady gaze on him, not see how little Asahi blamed him for anything.
"I wanted to bite you," he admitted with shame burning his face. He knew that he should turn to apologize properly, but for the moment, while his fangs still tingled and the urge had not faded, he could not yet bear to look in Asahi's direction.
"It's nothing new. It's normal for a vampire to feel that way."
"But I really wanted to, Asahi!" he said. Even though Asahi could not see his face, and there was no need to hide, he could not help but bury it in his hands, as everything became so keen that it felt like it would slice open his chest and all these awful things he buried inside of him—things he wasn't even aware of existing within him—would spill out. "I don't know if I could actually stop myself; what if I just did?"
"Durin, look at me."
Asahi's voice was not demanding. He did not raise it when speaking to him. There was a calm like a lake's unbroken surface which brought tranquility to Durin's heart. So though a beat passed, then two, in a silence that hung between them—Asahi waiting for him, Durin mentally resisting—eventually Durin was compelled to listen, turning around finally to meet Asahi's gaze.
Exactly as he had expected: steady, calm, non-accusatory. It made Durin feel somewhat ashamed for his shame, for how patient Asahi always was with him. He felt unworthy of it somehow, though Asahi would insist otherwise, and he knew it—Asahi was straight-forward, and would not lie just to make Durin feel better. It was something he appreciated, with his lingering uncertainty that what he did was right after so long playing the unwilling role of an evil dragon.
"I'm saying it's fine. If you bite me, then it's not the end of the world. You wouldn't be the first person to hurt another person, and I don't think it would be a big deal if you did anyway. Do I look so weak to you that I couldn't handle it?"
Durin scrunched up his face. "No, of course not, but…" He didn't want to hurt Asahi. Durin wanted to hurt no one, but least of all him.
"…but if you did bite me, or whatever else, if you managed to actually hurt me, then I would stop you before it got too far. I would always stop you before then." Asahi held firm eye contact with Durin as he spoke, and Durin couldn't help but believe him.
And it was a relief. Durin released a quiet breath, feeling the weight slip from his shoulders. He nodded. "Right."
Asahi lifted his arms. "Now come lay down with me," he said.
Durin had no argument for that, because he did not want to resist. Like a rubber-band snaps once the tension released, Durin came back to Asahi swiftly. He accepted the invitation, welcomed into Asahi's arms with renewed warmth stirring deep in his chest. Perhaps Asahi convinced him so easily because Durin wanted to be, but regardless he could not deny that yearning to love and be loved. If Asahi was willing to give it, Durin wanted to curl up into his heart and bask in it as deeply as he wanted Asahi to feel the same of him.