#I told them I understood it was fair game to stoop. this low considering neither of them tried to reach out to me to hear my side

[bloomingsalma]

i think one of the most disappointing things is to see that your childhood friends have grown up to represent the kind of people you're disappointed in

[hypnoshatesme]

Hit and Run

A couple of days had passed and Zero was getting bored in his cell. Most of the people guarding him until now had been no fun. Outside of the window in his cell the sky was darkening again and Zero sat up, leaning his back against the stone wall. It should be about time for the guard to change again. Zero could see the dark-haired lady that’d been staring daggers at him for the past hours shift at the sound of steps approaching.

Following her gaze, he was met with quite the view. The man approaching the cell was well-built and carried himself with an air of arrogance, posture flawless, his clothes so neat Zero had the urge to rip them to shreds. Crimson hair, redder than any Zero'd seen in Nohr, pulled up into a tight ponytail without a single stray strand to be seen. It was a stark contrast to his fair complexion, his eyes mirroring the vibrant colour, drawing Zero’s gaze to them.

The female guard finally left, exchanging a few ushered words with her companion before disappearing. The man took his place in front of the cell, every movement having something annoyingly fake, as if great thought and consideration went into making them as perfect as possible. Infuriating.

Tsubaki scanned the cell in front of him. In the far back, under the small window a man was sitting, leaning against the wall. A dirty smirk was playing on his lips as his gaze wandered over Tsubaki. It made Tsubaki uncomfortable, but he kept his features neutral. His hands tightened, ever so slightly, around the tray he was holding.

"And here I thought I had met all of you by now.", Niles said, looking into Tsubaki's eyes.

"You have gone through an impressive number of guards, yes, but certainly not all Hoshidan soldiers.", Tsubaki answered, holding the gaze.

They stared at each other in silence. Zero's right eye was covered under messy, white strands of hair, but Tsubaki caught glimpses of darkness in the fading light. The eye seemed to be missing.

A wide grin spread on Zero's face, teeth showing: "So, who did they chose to deal with me this time, hm?".

Tsubaki pondered for a moment: "As far as I am informed, you have yet to surrender even your name to us. It doesn't seem fair to give you mine, then.". Tsubaki was clearly quite satisfied with himself. Promising, Zero thought. He might have some fun with this new guard, after all.

"Very well, Mr. Perfect, if that's how you want to do it.", Zero said, grinning.

The satisfied look instantly went sour. He obviously hadn't thought as far as Zero using a nickname. It was Zero's turn to look quite happy with himself and he enjoyed the visible struggle of Tsubaki wrestling his expression back into a neutral mask. It only lasted a flicker of a moment, but Zero caught it, his grin widening.

Tsubaki noticed the self-satisfied look on the Nohrian's face and decided to look around the cell, so he could avoid the annoying expression. Tsubaki's eyes fell unto the lunch that had been left untouched in the same place it had been put by his guards. Tsubaki had heard that this particular captive didn't only refuse to answer any of the questions asked, but also to touch any of the food provided. He hadn't really believed it. It had been nearly two weeks by now, after all. And Zero definitely didn't look like he was starving. Tsubaki stooped down, replacing the bowl inside the cell with the one he had brought. He felt Zero's eyes following his every movement.

"I already told your friends, you are wasting your time and food like this.".

Tsubaki looked up: "Yes, I heard that you refuse to eat.".

Zero sighed and rolled his eye: "No, I don't refuse to eat. I simply don't eat.", he explained with a voice of somebody who was tired of explaining the same thing over and over.

Tsubaki raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I live off blood, as most Nohrians do.".

Tsubaki frowned. He heard rumours about the creatures in Nohr who drank blood. It was a common fireplace horror story among the soldiers, but Tsubaki personally never considered it more than a story. Although the prisoner's voice did not betray a lie, the mischief in his eye made Tsubaki shrug the information of. He was probably playing with him.

Tsubaki replaced the tray inside with the one had brought, keeping an eye on the captive at all time. For somebody who hadn't eaten in so long he didn't look too bad. Tsubaki tried to catch any sort of reaction to the new food, but the Nohrian seemed unfazed, maybe slightly annoyed.

"You're just wasting it.", he was definitely annoyed.

"If you'd eat it, it wouldn't go to waste."

"I don't eat.".

They glared at each other in silence. Neither wanted to continue this discussion. Zero was more than tired of having to explain this to these people. Tsubaki was tired of what he assumed was a stupid joke. They didn't speak anymore for the rest of Tsubaki's shift. Zero kept his eye on Tsubaki, though, and Tsubaki held his gaze.

~

Zero heard Mr. Perfect's voice before seeing him the next time latter had the pleasure of being on guarding duty. He was accompanied by the girl who Zero had met on his second day. She was easily irritable, quite feisty and a joy to annoy. They seemed to be rather familiar with each other from the easy tone of conversation. Even Mr. Perfect sounded somewhat relaxed.

He didn't look like it, Zero noticed when the two came into his line of sight. He was still holding himself like he had a massive stick shoved up his ass, despite his tone being surprisingly easy-going. The woman was looking visibly on edge when she saw Zero. He gave her a brilliant grin.

Tsubaki walked up to Hinata, who was guarding the Nohrian: "Hana says you promised her sparring practice today.".

"Wasn't it her turn to guard him now…?", Hinata frowned, remembering Hana complaining about that very fact a day ago.

Tsubaki sighed: "I was tired of hearing her complain, took her shift. So, enjoy your practice.".

Hinata beamed and thanked him before walking up to Hana and leaving the dungeon with her, waving Tsubaki goodbye. Tsubaki watched them go.

"Don't you ever let go of that prim and proper stance of yours?", came the voice from the cell.

He sounded somewhat tired but Tsubaki just found that even more irritating. He sighed, turning towards the Nohrian. Daylight was seeping into the cell from the small window and the prisoner was sitting in the same spot as the last time Tsubaki had seen him, but instead of lazily leaning against the wall in a slouch, he was pressed against the stone wall.

"How is that a problem? You've apparently been sitting in the same spot for two days.".

Zero grinned: "I assure you that when I'm not confined to a cell, I move plenty. You, however, seem the kind of guy to keep that stiff demeanour when nobody's watching. Am I wrong?".

Tsubaki decided to ignore the question: "What makes you stick to the one spot in the cell, then, if that's the case? Is it the most comfortable one?".

"In a sense…Your daylight is quite intense. I'm trying to stay out of it.", Zero said while leaning his head against the wall and looking up at the light creeping into the cell from the window.

Tsubaki raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure if he understood what Zero was getting at. He had heard of Nohr being a rather dark place with long nights, but he never assumed they didn't have daylight.

"What do you mean? You don't have sunlight in Nohr?".

Zero closed his eyes: "We do. But not this…bright. This…it's like tiring to be exposed to. And I'm already low on energy.".

Tsubaki considered that. The prisoner sounded exhausted, drenched, tired. He seemed to be speaking the truth. Tsubaki was wondering if anyone had been informed about this situation. He was fairly sure his liege would not approve of having the prisoner suffer unnecessarily.

"I will tell Lady Sakura, I am sure had she been aware of your discomfort she would have had the window covered up.", he ended up saying.

Zero opened his eyes and looked at Tsubaki, a mixture of surprise and amusement on his face: "Oh, I wasn't aware the comfort of your prisoners is a concern you have here in Hoshido.".

Tsubaki pressed his lips together: "And what is that supposed to mean? Are you telling me the treatment you have been given here is in some way inferior to whatever you do to prisoners in Nohr?".

Zero grinned, looking right at his guard: "We don't really take prisoners much so I wouldn't know.".

His tone made it clear that he didn't mean that Nohr used diplomacy to solve their problems instead of prisons. Mr. Perfect was clearly disgusted by that implication and Zero chuckled. It was an obvious lie, he had quite the insight into Nohrian prisons, from both sides of the bars even, but considering the negative opinion Hoshidans seemed to have of Nohr it was an easy game to play into their prejudices. Delightful.

~

"You again? You just can't go very long without me, can you?", were the words that greeted him when Tsubaki approached the cell again only two days later. The rumour of Tsubaki taking other people's shifts had spread and people kept asking him to take their shifts. And he, being who he was, of course couldn't refuse. He might also be a little curious about the prisoner who had, it seemed, actually moved to slouch against a different wall now that the window had been covered up.

"It had more to do with the fact that nobody else seems to have the patience to deal with you.", Tsubaki answered, "I see you have taken full advantage of your new-found mobility.", he added.

A rough chuckle left Zero's lips at that. He had been rather surprised when somebody did come in to cover the window the same evening Mr. Perfect had talked about it. He did actually walk around a little, but he quickly noticed that he was just too tired to keep the pacing up for too long.

"But you have enough patience to do so? I guess patience is a virtue that should be part of the repertoire of somebody as perfect as you are.". "You sound like you're sure you'll be able to change that.".

"Oh, I do get told I excel at even making people with nerves of steel feel uncomfortable.", Zero taunted.

Tsubaki struggled to suppress a grin at that: "Well, you are free to try.".

~

And trying he did. Tsubaki ended up on guard duty frequently, more and more people asking him to take their shifts and, as long as Tsubaki wasn't busy, he agreed to it. And the prisoner didn't let any opportunity escape to try to get under Tsubaki's skin. Latter took pride in giving him as little a reaction as possible, while at the same time trying to get the Nohrian to say something about Nohr or himself. He was about as successful with that as the prisoner was with getting Tsubaki to get uncomfortable enough to refuse guarding duty. In a weird way, Tsubaki started looking forward to his shifts.

~

When Tsubaki arrived at the cell in the afternoon about a month later he was met with a sight that he, by now, had become used to. Zero lying on the floor, rolled up, facing the wall, barely moving. Without watching intently, one could assume he was dead. His state had been steadily worsening, his voice was getting weaker and starting to lose all bite. But somehow, he looked much worse than the last time Tsubaki had been on guard only a couple days before. Glancing to the side, Tsubaki saw the tray with food, untouched. He sighed.

"You look awful.", Tsubaki said and watched Zero for any kind of reaction.

All he got was a weak mumble.

"Why won't you eat? You're starving.".

"I already told you, it's not food that I need. It wouldn't help me at all.", came the answer, barely audible.

He sounded annoyed, but his voice was too weak to really carry it across and gave up completely halfway into the sentence. Tsubaki remembered what he had been told the first time he had asked about the food. He had just thought of it as a joke. After all, the mirth never really left the Nohrian's voice, no matter what he was talking about. But he had been starting to reconsider his judgement in the passing weeks. The prisoner had ceased to move, his voice was losing all edge and he had been talking less and less in general. Tsubaki didn't want to admit it, but he missed their verbal swordplay. At least it never got boring.

Tsubaki was worried. Either he was dealing with the most stubborn person he ever faced, or the prisoner had actually told the truth and what he needed was blood. Tsubaki stared at the lump pressed against the backwall of the cell, pondering.

Minutes passed before he spoke up again: "How much blood do you need?".

Zero's head lifted slightly from the floor, and he mumbled: "Why, are you going to volunteer?".

He intended for it to sound teasing, but it just fell flat with how exhausted he sounded. He sighed, pressing his cheek against the stone floor again. He would've liked to properly get on Mr. Perfect's nerves, but he was too tired. He sighed, closing his eyes. It was hard enough to hold onto a straight thought, much less to actually voice any of them.

Zero started hearing some sort of shuffling noise from where the guard's voice had been coming from before. Zero furrowed his brows, shifted in his place so he could catch a glimpse of what was going on. He moved slowly, struggling to open his heavy eyelids again. When his eyes managed to focus, he saw the guard rolling up his sleeve and pushing his now naked arm through the bars.

Zero wasn't processing what was happening. What was the guy doing? His thoughts were foggy, but he distantly started to remember the conversation that had been going on. Slowly, Zero got to his feet, holding on to the wall for support. His gaze was fixed on the white, bare skin that was inside his cell now. It felt like the first time in a long time his eyes were actually focussing on something. The blinding white skin. Zero couldn't take his eyes off it.

He stumbled to the bars of the cell with urgency. He nearly fell, but he did not care, just needed to reach that arm. He did nearly stumble into the bars, but his hands clasped around the arm before falling to his knees, dragging the guard along with him to the floor without registering it. Zero took hold of the arm in a vice grip, biting down into the soft skin, sharp teeth breaking skin. Zero didn't even notice the redhead twitching from the sudden pain, didn't hear the low hiss. Zero didn't care, he was starving, and the warm blood coating his tongue was all his mind could focus on.

Tsubaki was looking down at the Nohrian, his forehead pressed against the cold bars of the cell. The sharp pain of the bite subsided into a dull discomfort when the prisoner started drinking. The grip on his arm was bruising, nails biting into his skin. Slowly, the pain and discomfort started giving way to a warm feeling, leaving Tsubaki light-headed. Somewhere in the back of Tsubaki's mind he was aware that this might be his end, but his thoughts were too slow, too dense to focus on it. He leaned his forehead against the cold bars, enjoying the chill of the metal against his heated skin, his eyes trying to focus on the white hair tickling his arm, and failing.

Zero, on the other hand, was starting to finally be able to think again. He felt the strength returning to his limps, his thoughts focussing. He was aware of the situation he was in, more aware than he had been ever since he was thrown into this cell. This was the perfect opportunity for him to escape. There was no way the guard could escape Zero's grip right now, he was probably already getting sluggish from the venom. It would be easy to make him faint and then making his way out of the cell, the dungeon, Hoshido.

Zero looked up from under his lashes. The guard was half-kneeling, his face pressed against the bars of the cell. His eyes were glazed, half-lidded, his lips slightly parted. And something inside Zero made him hesitate, rethink his plan. Red eyes were moving sluggishly when they met Zero's blue one, a second of recognition showed on the guard's face, before the gaze went soft again, looking straight through Zero. Zero let go of his guard's arm, taking a couple steps back.

His guard didn't react at all, first, eyes still focussed on where Zero had been a moment ago, watching the blood drip from the wound, running down the pale skin of his arm. It took a couple seconds before he seemingly noticed that Zero wasn't there anymore, before he slowly pulled his arm back out of the cell, clasping the still bleeding wound.

"It…will bleed for a little longer.", Zero mumbled, watching his guard slowly looking into the cell, eyes meeting Zero's.

Tsubaki was trying to make sense of what the prisoner was saying through the fog in his mind. Blood. Right. He carefully got up, leaning against the bars for support. Healing supplies were always kept around the cells, for emergencies. Slowly, he got some bandages from one of the boxes at the far end of the room and sluggishly, started to wrap it around the biting wound.

Zero watched his every, painfully slow, movement. It was frustrating to watch. He might've drunken a bit too much. What he was seeing was a far cry from the usual perfection, the graceful movements he had come to associate with this particular Hoshidan. In a way, it was fascinating to witness.

Zero watched as the guard walked back to the cell, slouching slightly, clearly needing all his attention to not stumble over his own feet. He sat down, leaning his back against the wall right next to the cell. Carefully, he pulled his sleeve back down, covering the bandaged wound. His brow furrowed in concentration. Zero walked towards him, leaning against the same wall, just on the other side of the bars.

Neither of them talked for the rest of Tsubaki's shift. Slowly, the fog in Tsubaki's mind cleared, his thoughts started to focus again, and he started becoming aware of the dull arch in his arm again. He looked down at it. Why had he stopped? It would've been the perfect moment to try to get out of this cell. Tsubaki glanced at the prisoner, who was nearly sitting next to him. He was staring right ahead.

~

They didn't speak about the drinking incident. Tsubaki continued frequently guarding the Nohrian and they continued like they did before it, Zero now being alive enough to not miss any opportunity to make some kind of inappropriate comment. It was as if it never happened. In fact, none of the other guards seemed to notice any change in Zero.

"How come none of my allies have commented on you suddenly coming back to life?", Tsubaki asked him one day, finally confronting the Nohrian.

Zero took a long moment before answering, picking his words carefully: " None of your friends are as entertaining.", he smirked.

It was the truth and a thinly veiled lie at the same time. Tsubaki looked at him like he was seeing right through it, but only rolled his eyes as a reaction. He was quite thankful for Zero keeping his change in attitude a secret. Tsubaki already was constantly being asked about whether he had managed to get any kind of information out of the Nohrian. Surely, he would've been the first one being asked about the prisoner's changes had they been noticed by anyone else.

~

Zero slowly opened his eyes. It was already quite dark in his cell, he probably slept longer than usual. His eye fell on Tsubaki who apparently was yet again on guarding duty. But to Zero’s astonishment, he wasn’t standing, wasn’t even facing the inside of the cell. Instead, he was sitting, back against the bars, legs crossed. He seemed to be looking at his hands that were resting in his lap. Zero raised an eyebrow, a sly grin playing at his lips.

He approached soundlessly, never losing sight of Tsubaki’s back. The guard looked exhausted. His shoulders were slumped and Zero could barely tell if he was awake. He wondered what had happened to the Hoshidan to let him let his guard down this much. This was a far cry from his usual self.

Sitting down behind the redhead, Zero's hand found their way to Tsubaki’s shoulders through the bars, long fingers slowly kneading the stiff muscles. To Zero’s amusement, Tsubaki nearly jumped out of his skin. But Zero didn’t let go, his grip tightening to prevent the Hoshidan from getting away from the bars. Surprisingly, Tsubaki didn’t try to get away. He moved his head to the side, only giving Zero a glance before staring at the wall before him, his body relaxing slightly into Zero's touch.

Zero took that as an invitation to continue his massage, his hand slowly working out the knots in Tsubaki’s shoulders, his eye never leaving what he could see of Tsubaki’s face. He watched Tsubaki’s jaw relax slowly, his whole body giving into Zero’s ministrations. Zero caught crimson eyelashes flutter when he worked against an especially stubborn knot, saw red lips part in what was probably a silent sigh. It was mesmerizing to watch, every small detail unbelievably graceful.

Zero blinked, looking at his own hands instead, so very dark compared to Tsubaki’s pale neck. His thumbs were working circles into the back of Tsubaki’s neck, just below the hairline. A smirk spread on his lips.

“Aren’t you letting your guard down a bit too much?”, Zero leered, breaking the silence.

Gradually, Zero’s icy fingers closed around Tsubaki’s slender neck, his thumbs never stopping their ministration. He didn’t apply any pressure and Tsubaki didn’t move. But Zero still noticed Tsubaki’s breathe hitch ever so slightly. Tsubaki's muscles tensed up again and a malicious grin spread across Zero's face. But that was the extent of Tsubaki’s reaction. He didn’t try to get away and his hands didn’t grab Zero’s arms to pull them away. Zero was surprised. Was Tsubaki too exhausted to react?

“You know I could just snap that pretty neck of yours now, right?”, he whispered, voice honeyed as his grip around Tsubaki’s neck tightening slightly. Tsubaki suppressed a shudder. He was well aware of that. His body was panicking, was screaming at him to get away from the danger on the other side of the cell, away from the icy fingers that were slowly closing around his throat. He balled his hands into fists.

Instead of trying to get away, however, Tsubaki answered, voice controlled and calm: “You had an easy opportunity to end my life not too long ago and yet here I am.", a pause, as Tsubaki caught his breath against the tightening grip around his neck, "Why, actually?”.

Why. That was a good question. Zero had intended to escape. As soon as the haze of hunger was gone, he knew it was the perfect opportunity for him to finally leave this place. It would have been so easy. Thinking back just made him furious. He had stopped thinking rationally when he looked up. Suddenly, all his mind was filled with was half-lidded, red eyes, red lashes, starkly contrasting the perfect, white skin. Pale lips, slightly parted, a stray red strand of hair stuck to the corner of them, like a brushstroke of red paint on a white canvas. His grip was tightening around Tsubaki's throat without him realising, not even registering the quickened pulse under his fingertips, the gasps escaping the Hoshidan's lips.

Zero didn't know why he didn't do it. He had been wondering about it ever since. A particularly loud, wheezing breath from Tsubaki made him snap back to reality. And he stared, for a moment, just stared at the waterfall of red hair finding its way into the cell through the bars. He hated him. Zero let go of Tsubaki's neck, jumping to his feet and walking back to the backwall of the cell. He didn't want to look at the Hoshidan, didn't want to deal with him now. His thoughts were racing, incomprehensible. He lay down and rolled up, facing the wall. He could hear the guard coughing, filling his lungs with air again. He closed his eyes. He could picture how the Hoshidan must look right now, hair slightly mussed, cheeks dusted in red, more red to go with his hair, his eyes, probably watering now, sharp again, not glassy like that night. Zero wished it would stop. He wished he didn't see red every time he closed his eyes.

When Tsubaki had finally stopped gasping for air and his heartbeat had calmed, he got up to his feet, dusting himself off. He looked at him, curled up in the same position he had been weeks ago, before Tsubaki let him drink. Covering the window hadn't really motivate him to use the space more. Or maybe he got too used to that spot. Maybe it was because he was used to play dead when anyone else was on guarding duty. Tsubaki was pretty sure he would be playing dead for the rest of his own shift today, too. That suited him well. He certainly had had enough interaction with the Nohrian for today.

For a moment, he thought the Nohrian would go through with it. Just like when he was drinking. For a moment, Tsubaki was sure he met his end. To his own surprise, that did not really fill him with much emotion. Unsettling.

~

Zero didn't see the redheaded guard for a while after that incident. Maybe he had finally managed to repulse him, just like the other ones. He felt accomplished, but also missed the company, missed trying to find the right buttons to push. It took all his control to not stop his act of playing dead and trying to rile some of the other guards. Zero was bored.

~

It had been over a week before Tsubaki entered the dungeon again. He was met with the familiar picture of the white-haired prisoner lying facing wall, back to the bars. Nothing seemed changed. Nobody had complained to Tsubaki about him since he was back so he assumed that the Nohrian continued playing dead.

"Have you enjoyed your break from me?", he decided to say to break the silence.

The body shifted, turning around to face Tsubaki. He was starting to look tired again. But mostly he looked surprised.

"I thought I had finally managed to get rid of you", he mumbled, rolling his eye in overplayed annoyance.

"You need to try a little harder to achieve that."

"Harder than attempting to kill you?", Zero raised an eyebrow

"If you had truly attempted such a thing I would not be standing here right now, would I?"

Silence. They glared at each other, icy blue and blood red relentlessly staring at the other. Tsubaki could feel his skin tingling with anticipation. Would there be a retort to what he said? He knew that the Nohrian hated not having the last word. But he also seemed to have a deep distaste for this particular topic. He was surprised that the Nohrian had even brought it up in the first place. Maybe the exhaustion was getting to his head already.

Zero broke eye contact first, rolling over to lie on his back: "So did you just decide to take a break from guarding duty? "

"I was sent on a scouting mission and it dragged on a little.", he stated.

Zero made a humming noise. "I guess war is unavoidable."

"What gives you that idea?"

"Your tone."

Tsubaki frowned. He had been sure his tone did not betray his anxieties. Could it be that some of his concern over the worsening tension still managed to slip through? He prided himself in being able to control his tone well. He didn't like the idea of the prisoner being able to read him so easily.

"You don't sound very happy about it", he ended up saying after a moment.

Zero sighed, sitting up and leaning his head against the wall, looking up: "I know that you Hoshidans believe that Nohr is a place full of slaughter-hungry people that'll jump on every opportunity to start a fight. If it were the war would have started a long time ago already. You can always find a reason to start a fight if you want to, so why wait so long?"; he closed his eye, "My speciality is assassination and others quick jobs. Waking up to a long battle every day to mend my wounds every night only to have them ripped open again in the next fight doesn't get me excited, no."

He opened his eye again, looking directly at Subaki, taking his tall figure in. He could imagine him on the battlefield, an exceptional fighter for others to look up to, to aspire to be like. More pressure on him to keep up this ridiculous facade. Tsubaki just looked at him, fighting the confusion showing on his face. "I'm just following orders. Much like you are, I assume. Considering the look on your face the idea of war doesn't fill you with glee either.", Zero decided to add when the silence kept dragging on.

Tsubaki still didn't say anything. The silence continued, both of them dwelling in their own thoughts. Tsubaki's about what Zero had said and Zero about the fact that he needed to get out of Hoshido before he became too weak to move again. He had been stalling for some kind of distraction, an event, just something that would elevate his chance of escape a little. But he was starting to think he would have to take the risk.

The desired distraction did end up coming. It took another week or so, Zero couldn't tell the passage of time in his darkened cell. When the alarms rang, his guard, one of the footsoldiers that all looked the same to Zero, took a surprised step back, getting just close enough to the bars for Zero to knock him out. Picking the lock still came naturally to Zero and, within seconds, he emerged from the dungeon. He was hit with bright sunlight, cursing under his breath as his eye closed in pain. Coming back into not just any light, but the relentless sunlight of Hoshido was horrible. Who the fuck was attacking the castle in broad fucking daylight? He squinted his eye open slightly and started searching for a way out of the castle grounds.

Thankfully, the guards around the castle seemed to be much concerned about keeping anyone from coming in than from getting out of the castle grounds. It didn't take too long until Zero had managed to sneak out and was on his way back to Norhr. He was running through a forest, thankful for the shade the trees were providing. His eye had get used to the light by now, but the sun was still giving him a headache. It was draining him of the little energy he still had left, so quickly that Zero was starting to wonder if he could even make it.

He was out of breath and slowing. The fighting noises were now barely audible, he was a good distance from the castle. He had seen some flyers when he had been closer, but now there seemed to be no fighting going on anywhere close. Zero came to a stop, nearly toppling over. Breathing. He needed to keep breathing. His head was pounding, and his vision was starting to blur. He closed his eye. He couldn't tell if he was dizzy from the lack of blood or the punishing sunlight. It didn't really matter. He had to push through.

~

Tsubaki was sure he had seen somebody move when flying over this part of the forest. Very sure. He had had to land his Pegasus nearby due to the density of the trees rendering it impossible to land where he thought he saw the person running to. Carefully, he made his way through the forest, naginata ready in his hand. Breathing. He could hear some sort of heavy breathing after walking for a while. He followed the sound to a tree somebody was leaning against. They were slumped forward slightly, face covered by hair, but the prison robe was a dead giveaway. Tsubaki raised his naginata, drawing his eyebrows together in surprise and confusion.

"What are you doing here?", he said, taking a couple steps towards the Nohrian.

Zero froze. He hadn't heard anyone approaching over the pounding headache. When he raised his head, he was looking at the sharp end of a naginata. When his eye managed to focus, saw that the person holding the naginata was no other but Mr. Perfect. Zero relaxed a little.

"I'm escaping.", he said, looking directly into the Hoshidan's face, forcing a grin.

Tsubaki rolled his eyes at that. The Nohrian looked so much worse than the last time Tsubaki had guarded him and the pained grin wasn't going to cover that up. He tightened his grip on his naginata.

"I'm can't let you do that.".

"Why not? You didn't seem too keen on keeping me in that cell in the past.", Zero returned, his grin now a little more genuine.

Tsubaki's lips formed a tight line. He couldn't really disagree, of course. He personally didn't want to see the Nohrian rotting in the cell again. He lowered his naginata slightly when Zero took a step towards him.

"You could finally stop wasting your time guarding me, too. It's really a win-win situation.", Zero continued, sidestepping the naginata and getting closer. Mr. Perfect was obviously not even going to try to fight him on that. After giving Zero more than one chance to escape, there was no point in trying to make something up. He wasn't even trying to break eye contact. Zero smirked.

Tsubaki didn't budge, staring at zero approaching. He didn't try to stop him. He really did look like hell, sickly pale skin glinting with sweat. His hair was sticking to his forehead, but he didn't seem bothered. He looked somewhat manic, his eye full of the usual mischief, but also fevered, desperate. It was a look Tsubaki hadn't seen on him before, and it put him on edge. He didn't notice stepping back when Zero was close enough to touch him. Zero just followed suit and another step later Tsubaki's back met a tree trunk. Zero didn't give him much time to register it, though, stepping into the Hoshidan's personal space, blocking his way with his own body. Tsubaki was still holding the Nohrian's gate. The closeness made his pulse accelerate.

Zeros hands found their way to Tsubaki's shoulders, resting there, observing the Hoshidan's reaction to it, looking for anything that would tell him he'd try to fight or run. Tsubaki returned his look, eyes revealing racing thoughts, uncertainty, curiosity, intrigue. He was waiting for what Zero would do next. Zero wouldn't let him wait any longer as he closed the space between them, pressing his lips against the Hoshidan's in one swift motion.

The kiss was desperate and hungry, Zeros hands clutching Tsubaki's shoulders pushing him flush against the tree with his full body. Tsubaki didn't return the kiss initially, taken by surprise by the sudden assault. But he also did not push the Nohrian away. He had wondered about kissing the prisoner, had wanted it. But he did not consider it realistic, didn't think it'd happen, even with the chapped lips moving against his.

Tsubaki's hands twitched, wanting to take hold of the Nohrian pressed against him, wanting to bury his hand in the matted white locks. But he held back, tightening the grip on his naginata instead and balling his others hand into a fist at his side. He didn't trust this, not fully. Tentatively, he started to kiss the Nohrian back.

Zeros hands were snaking their way up to Tsubaki's face, coming to rest on his cheeks. He was making sure Tsubaki didn't move his head as he sucked in Tsubaki's lower lip and Tsubaki knew it was coming then, braved himself against the pain.

Zero run his tongue along Tsubaki's lip, looking up at him through his lashes. The Hoshidan's cheeks were dusted light red, but his eyes were closed. They fluttered open as he flinched when Zero bit down on his lip. His eyes met Zero's, but not with the look of betrayal or disappointment Zero had expected. He looked calm, much like he did when he let Zero drink weeks before.

He had expected this. Something about that riled Zero up and he tightened his grip on Tsubaki's face, pushing his head against the rough tree bark before lowering his gaze again, starting to draw more blood from Tsubaki's lip and drinking.

Tsubaki didn't move. He could feel the familiar numbness spreading from his lip. The pain in his lip turned dull and soon enough he barely registered what Zero was doing. The grip on his face felt like the ghost of a touch soon, his eyes unable to focus properly. His thoughts started fogging and he started leaning more into the tree, his body feeling heavy.

Zero held him upright as he started to slump against the tree, eagerly drinking. He wasn't even tasting it. Not until he felt his throbbing headache calm, his body slowly regaining energy. That's when he calmed down, adjusting his grip on Tsubaki's face so his nails weren't digging into the soft skin. He looked up once more, his own gaze more piercing than before. He was met with Tsubaki's glazed eyes.

Everybody had a different reaction to Zero's venom. Tsubaki, he had already observed the first time, seemed to be out of it pretty quickly compared to most others Zero has drunk from. Fascinating and very handy in a situation like the one he currently found himself in. He couldn't allow for anyone following him, couldn't have Tsubaki even trying to. And he would make sure that would be the case.

Tsubaki already seemed to be in no shape to do so, his body slack between Zero's and the tree. But Zero had to made sure. A voice in his head urged him to kill the Hoshidan. After all, the best way to avoid being followed was to kill the follower.

He slowly let go of Tsubaki's lip, carefully helping the taller man into a sitting position, propping him against the tree. Blood was trickling down his chin and unto his immaculate clothes. He didn't seem to notice, empty eyes trained on the floor, body slumped against the tree, a far cry from his usual stiff posture. Zero should really kill him. He sighed, licking his lips. Fact was that Zero didn't want to kill him and he didn't have the time to ponder any longer. He gave Tsubaki a last glance, telling himself that he would probably regret this.

But he'd face that whenever the time came. Now he turned around and ran.