“How are we defining love?” Haruka asks. “It means different things for different people—are we talking about agape love? Eros? Pragma?”

“I feel like you’re overthinking this,” Nino says, finally meeting his focused gaze.

“I feel that perhaps you are oversimplifying,” Haruka counters. “Some individuals think that they love or are in love, but their actions cause pain. Their harsh expectations and corrupt behaviors are justified in their minds, sometimes under the guise and misrepresentation of love. It does not always mean the same thing to all beings.”

There’s something significant in Haruka’s eyes as he reasons. Nino can’t pinpoint what it is. Like maybe his words aren’t solely conjecture. Maybe they come from a place of experience?

“Okay, I hear you,” Nino says. “What if we keep it simple? Free will versus an arranged bonding. Even if we take love out of the equation, we can still gain a strong understanding of the intent behind the bond if they willingly chose each other versus not.”

“That should produce less ambiguous results,” Haruka agrees. “Has your brother sent another list of contacts?”

“Yes. We have fifty altogether… only nine thousand, nine hundred and fifty more contacts to go before we have a scientifically sound sample,” Nino says brightly, a weak attempt to make the task in front of them seem less insurmountable.

Haruka groans and drops his shoulders. “Will it even be scientifically sound? We cannot be sure of the total population of bonded vampires. This is merely a guess.”

“I think if we hit ten thousand, it’ll be plenty.” Nino pauses, then smiles as he glances up once more. “The only downside is that you’ll be stuck with me for a while.”

Haruka sets his coffee cup down and stands from the floor, stretching his long arms up as he moves toward him. “On the contrary,” he says. “That is the primary benefit of this research.” He folds one leg against the cushion as he sits in front of Nino in the sunlit window. Thankfully, the intense heat Nino feels in his chest isn’t outwardly visible.

Nino smirks, teasing. “Because you’ll have a guaranteed purebred source for a while?”

“Because I take much pleasure in your company,” Haruka says matter-of-factly. “Nino, why should we rely on your brother to obtain contacts for us in Italy? I can understand relying on him for other areas of Europe, since his business dealings are wide-ranging. But do you not have correspondence with the vampire aristocracy of Milan?”

Nino rests his back against the wall. Confession time. Again. He should start referring to Haruka as Father Hirano. “When I lived at home, I didn’t engage with the members of our aristocracy. After everything with my uncle, and then my mother dying… I just kept to myself in our estate.”

Haruka’s eyes are patient as he listens. He shows none of the awkward stiffness that had been there the first time Nino talked about his childhood.

“Have you not cultivated a specific role within the aristocracy?” Haruka asks.

“I haven’t. But I’m learning that I’m pretty good at running the bar. I earned a twenty-five percent gain of profit from capital within the first year and a half of opening.”

Haruka grins. “While I am not an expert in business economics, that does sound impressive.”

“I have proper skills. I just haven’t established them in any official capacity in the aristocracy.”

“I think you could easily adopt the role of Business Consultant. You are thoughtful and easy to talk with as well, so perhaps even Social Liaison?”

Nino hesitates, meeting Haruka’s gaze. “I’m not always like this, Haru… just with you, or if I’m around other vampires I trust.”

Haruka’s hand is resting near Nino’s in between them against the cushion. He subtly shifts his hand forward, brushing his fingers against Nino’s. Understanding the gesture, Nino reciprocates his touch, gently entwining their digits together. Haruka wants to feed. Nino has learned over the past month that this is his quiet way of communicating his needs.

“Why do you trust me?” Haruka asks, his eyes searching. “This is not the first time you have expressed as much.”

“Well… when I first moved here two years ago, all everyone talked about was the mysterious purebred who never left his house.” Nino remembers both humans and low-level vampires alike coming into his bar and speculating.

Was he old and creepy? Was he like Dracula? Some kind of horrific, self-loathing monster that they should all leave alone? People had these wild theories, but having been someone who’d hidden himself away practically all of his life, Nino wondered if Haruka might simply be like him: fearful or deeply wounded in some way.

“When I met you, you were so polite and nice,” Nino says, decidedly leaving out the part where the energy of his aura had reached out and pulled him toward Haruka like a magnet. “You’d always stayed isolated, but then you offered to help me. I just had a good feeling about you.”

Haruka nods in understanding, softly caressing his thumb against Nino’s with their fingers still entwined. His gaze flickers down to their hands, then back to Nino’s eyes.

“May I feed?”

Nino swallows hard, conflicted yet again. Caught between speaking his mind or keeping his mouth shut. “Yes…”

Haruka shifts Nino’s hand upward, but Nino instinctively grips his fingers tighter, keeping them linked against the cushion. Confused by the subtle resistance, Haruka looks up, his voice quiet in the intimate space. “Is something wrong?”

Nino rakes his free hand through his hair and takes a breath, steeling himself. “Why do you keep feeding from my hand?” The first time he’d done it, Nino had understood. Haruka had been attacked, he was wounded, shaken. It was a tense moment and a spontaneous offer. His reluctance to feed more intimately was natural. Expected.

But for the past month, he’s continued the practice. It feels odd. They’re both adults and Nino has given his consent—even initiated. There’s no reason for Haruka to keep doing this.

Haruka blinks, the sudden unease like a veil over his head. “I… Well—”

“Are you feeding from me this way because it’s comfortable for you?” Nino interrupts. “Or because you’re worried about hurting me?”

Haruka rubs the back of his neck. “It is always my intention to make you feel comfortable in my presence and home. I take your confiding in me very seriously and I wish to be sensitive to what you’ve experienced.”

“I appreciate all that, it’s exactly why I trust you. But, here—”

Nino lets go of Haruka’s hand, then moves his fingers to unfasten the first few buttons on his shirt collar. Haruka’s burgundy eyes widen at his actions and Nino stifles the urge to laugh. He opens up his collar, takes hold of Haruka’s hand and slowly brings it up to his right shoulder, snaking it underneath the fabric of his shirt. He presses Haruka’s fingertips against his skin, guiding him to caress his upper back.

“Do you feel that?” Nino asks quietly, ignoring the warmth in his belly from Haruka’s fingers on his flesh.

“Mm,” is all Haruka says, his face full of trepidation.

“That’s where he bit me.” Nino sighs. “It was always in the same area, so there’s a cluster of bite marks in that spot. My skin never properly hardened there.”

Nino stops guiding Haruka’s hand and allows him to feel for himself. He softly strokes his long fingers across the old wounds.

“Is it sensitive to touch?” Haruka asks, finally breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” Nino says, staring into his eyes. “But it doesn’t hurt. I think as long as you don’t feed from me in that exact spot, we’re okay. You won’t break me. You can feed from me normally. And you don’t need to ask me every time, either. Remember? We’re friends. You don’t have to be so polite all the time.”

Haruka slides his hand from inside Nino’s shirt, then offers a weak smile. “I—This is the first time that I have had a relationship like this.”

“Like what?”

“A true friendship,” Haruka says. “Aside from Asao, everyone I have met across the span of my life has explicitly wanted something from me, or expected something of me. Not unusually something of a sexual nature. I have never been in this situation before, so please have patience with me.”

The vulnerability of Haruka’s confession surprises Nino. He smiles. “Of course.”

Haruka sits back a moment, blinking his bright eyes. He lifts up from the cushion, simultaneously running his fingers into the back of Nino’s hair and against his scalp. Cradling his head, Haruka leans into the left side of his neck. Nino’s heart rate skyrockets as he instinctively lifts his chin, stretching his neck to allow Haruka full access to his flesh. Trusting him.

When Nino feels him delicately drag his tongue up the length of his skin, his heart practically stops altogether. He clenches his eyes shut as something like fire engulfs his groin and abdomen, then shoots up the length of his spine. Haruka bites down. Nino swallows, stifling a groan of pleasure from the sensation of his incisors elongating and sinking deeper into his skin.

Haruka gently pulls to feed from him, and in exchange, Nino clearly senses his mind. Warm, quiet thoughts of gratitude and affection are being poured into him. The tenderness of it floods his body, making his breath short. It’s wonderful and singularly the most intimate thing Nino has ever experienced.

Haruka pulls again and something deeper within Nino shifts. Something primal, as if his nature is breathing and pulsing, desperately wishing to be released.