[JE] Exchange Student
Title: Exchange Student
Fandom: KAT-TUN
Series: Red Turtle Charms
Pairing: Kame x Jin
Rating: R
Genre: AU, comedy, fluff
Word count: 6,677
Disclaimer: Not mine, damnit
Summary: Jin finds it much easier to study magic when Kame gives him a very personal lesson in what giving and taking is all about.
A/N: I guess it's my month for returning to old universes! But I wanted something that was more fluff, less headache-inducing plot, and this is the result. Set between 'Customer Service', and 'Surprises in Store'.
Exchange Student
"It's a textbook, not a tennis ball," Kame said as he watched Jin throw a battered copy of 'Transmutation and YOU' across the room. "Another couple of days like this and that book's going to fall to pieces."
"You can afford to buy me a new one."
"That's not the point."
Jin's magic studies were not going as smoothly as Kame had hoped. Some days, in fact, they weren't going at all, and this was shaping up to be one of those days. In between his work in Ueda's shop, Jin had lessons from Ueda himself, Kame, and every teacher Kame could possibly rope into helping him, all with the goal of coaching Jin towards his exams. Transmutation was proving to be a major stumbling block. If Jin didn't succeed in learning how to channel energy through his body and transmute it into spells, he was never going to be able to work high magics like manifestation without using tools.
And if he couldn't do that, he'd never pass his exams, and that would put paid to all of Kame's secret hopes and dreams.
"It doesn't make any sense," Jin complained. "The books all tell me to relax and not move, and then to reach for the energy in the world around me. How am I supposed to move and stay still at the same time?"
"You're not supposed to reach physically. Use your mind." Jin's blank face told Kame he was going to have to try another tack. "Okay, come sit next to me."
They were in the living room of Kame's apartment; Kame reading the newspaper on the couch, Jin perched on the mantel with a textbook. Or he had been, until the textbook had begun its exciting new career as a missile. It was still a novelty to them that Jin could even leave the shop, after spending a year hiding away from a curse, and he relished being able to visit Kame whenever he wanted.
He removed the newspaper from Kame's hands and plumped down next to him on the couch. "I'm ready for my lesson."
"I'll bet you are." Jin was nothing if not an eager apprentice, and Kame knew perfectly well that they wouldn't be moving from the couch for some time, whether the lesson succeeded or not. "Close your eyes."
Jin obliged. The couch was comfortable; he hoped he wouldn't wind up falling asleep, though that usually happened when he was reading the textbooks rather than having practical lessons. (After all, it wouldn't do to fall asleep during one of Ueda's teaching sessions. He could wake up with tusks.)
"Closed. Now what?"
"Hold out your hand."
Ever-so-slightly wary, Jin extended his right hand. He felt a gentle tickle of something on his palm and instinctively started to close his fingers. Kame caught them, pressing them flat again.
"It's only a clover," Kame assured him. "Try not to crush it. We're going to start very small and work our way up."
"That's great, but with a clover?"
"Clovers can't hurt you if you make a mistake. If you accidentally destroy my apartment building I'm not going to be happy."
That, Jin knew, was an understatement. "What am I supposed to be doing with the clover? Communing with it?"
"Kind of. Picture the clover in your mind."
"But I've never seen it!"
Kame laughed and tapped him on the back of the head. "I know, but you know what clovers look like, in general, and you can feel that one specific clover in your hand, can't you?"
The urge to open his eyes was overwhelming but Jin resisted, concentrating on building up an image in his mind. "How many leaves?"
"Four."
Jin smiled. "Good omen."
Four leaves, okay. Round, and even, and there was the stem, a lighter green, sticking out of a sandwich with... Jin shook his head, clearing the picture of cress which had somehow gotten in there. He tried again, trying to link the wispy tickle against his skin to the clover he constructed in his mind. Kame waited patiently, keeping quiet so as not to distract him.
At last, Jin thought he'd got it. "Clover, check. Now what?"
"Everything is made of energy. It's easier to think about it in terms of living creatures and plants, but all matter is a source of energy. Everything's got something to offer you - the only difference is the quantity. Something like a credit card doesn't have much, whereas an elephant has a great deal.
"But you can't hurt a credit card if you use it as a source of energy. You could drain an elephant. Living creatures can replenish their energy - inanimate objects can't."
"And this little clover?"
"Won't be replenishing its energy anymore. We're going to recycle it, break down its mass and give its energy to you."
Jin thought that sounded rather painful. "You didn't pick that clover just to teach me a lesson, did you?"
"Nope, summoned it from outside. I didn't want you melting any of my possessions, so for all intents and purposes, that clover represents an inanimate object, in that it doesn't matter if you use it up. We'll work on living things later, if you succeed with this one. You need to learn the technique first."
Living things? Jin hoped Kame wasn't about to produce a puppy or something equally cute for him to leech energy from. There were limits to what he was prepared to do to pass his magic exams.
"I won't let you hurt anyone," Kame promised. "You'll be fine. Still got that clover in your mind?"
"Yeah. What am I supposed to do with it?"
"Imagine it breaking down, slowly. Imagine one leaf starts to shrink as the edges fade away, and picture yourself seizing the energy that's released and taking it into your own body."
"Is that safe?"
"Something this small, yes. The human body can only hold so much energy, so when you take more than you can hold yourself, either give it so someone else or use it to work magic. Like I did this morning when the coffeemaker broke - I converted the coffee granules into energy, which I then converted into coffee. It's a lot faster than it sounds."
"And cheaper than Starbucks."
"And cheaper than Starbucks," Kame agreed, amused. "Now try it for yourself."
Breaking down the clover in his mind, Jin discovered, wasn't so difficult. Not once he got going, forcing tiny fragments of the leaves to disappear little by little, as though erasing an image on a computer. The real clover tickled his palm and he desperately wanted to open his eyes and see what was happening to it.
"It's disappearing!" Kame sounded overjoyed. "Now capture that energy. Take it into yourself, make it part of you."
It was all very well for Kame to say that, but Jin had no idea how to go about it. He was supposed to reach for it, wasn't he? But with what? The clover was already in his hand...and in his mind. That gave him an idea. He tried picturing himself standing next to his mental clover - had to adjust their relative sizes so he didn't appear to be standing under a tree - and cupping it as it faded. If he looked hard, now, there was a faint swirl of energy, almost transparent, lingering over his hand. He seized it immediately. There was a sudden tingle and the Jin in the real world jumped, eyes flying open at once.
Kame looked like he was about to die from keeping his laughter locked away. "Felt it, did you?"
The clover in Jin's hand was down to two leaves. "I definitely felt something."
"Good." Kame took the remainder of the clover and set it down on the coffee table. "Now do the other half." Jin leant over to pick it up and Kame shook his head. "Holding it was the easiest way for you to get a fix on it with your mind, but what you need to learn is how to get a fix on anything, whether you can touch it or not, or even see it."
Kame was a tough teacher, but he generally didn't set impossible tasks - those were Ueda's domain. Jin knew if he was going to pass his exams, he'd have to master this, there was no way around it. Things were only going to get tougher from here, but at least when he'd completed his studies, he'd be free to use his magic however he wanted and not worry that he was going to destroy someone's house by accident. He'd have the knowledge and the discipline by then.
Or that was the idea, anyway. Sometimes he just wanted to skip all the theoretical stuff on how to layer shields, or how to create charms, or why love potions were a really, really bad idea, and go straight to the fun stuff, like flying. Kame took him on flights as a treat, sometimes, though he was still wary of any passing birds.
Jin sighed and turned away from the table so the clover was no longer directly in his line of sight. This was going to be tricky. One of the abilities that separated mages from ordinary mortals was a sixth sense, one that could work in tandem with the other five or in isolation. Since Jin couldn't detect the clover through any other means, he had to open up his sixth sense, which he still wasn't very good at. Mostly it just told him when things were going wrong.
Even though Kame had said he should be able to find things he couldn't see, Jin found the only way he could manage to locate the clover was to picture it on the table and reach for it like that. It was easier, this time, despite not being able to feel the clover disintegrate. The tiny burst of energy flared in his fingertips, telling him he'd succeeded.
When he turned back to Kame, the coffee table was bare save the newspaper and a couple of empty cups, now cold on their coasters. The clover was gone.
There wasn't a brighter sight in the world than Kame's smile, so Jin thought. He'd gone a year without seeing stars except by peering through glass, but Kame's smile was far brighter and warmer than any of them, and Jin loved being responsible for making it appear.
"Why is it you make much better progress when I teach you practical magic?" Kame asked.
"I'm more motivated to learn?"
"Oh, I know how to motivate you, all right..." Kame's smile crooked into a smirk. "Think you're ready for the next lesson?"
"And do what? Make a tree disappear?"
"I was thinking of something a little closer. Like me."
Jin thumped him in the stomach with a cushion. "Don't. You'll give me a heart attack, saying things like that."
"I'm serious." Kame rubbed his stomach. The cushions were stuffed to the point of resembling bricks. "Learning how to give and take energy from living sources is important. You could save someone's life by giving them energy - or save your own by draining someone who wants to kill you. Of course with that much energy, you'd have to do something with it afterwards, even if it was only releasing it into the atmosphere."
"Have you ever...um..." Jin swallowed hard. "Have you ever hurt anyone like that?"
Kame met his gaze and held it. "When I was in high school," he said quietly. "I didn't know any better then, didn't know how to stop myself. I got fixated on a friend, drained him almost to death. When I tried to give it back, something went wrong. He was never the same afterwards. I didn't even know it was magic, back then. It wasn't until later I found out what I could do."
It wasn't the first time Kame had alluded to a friend who'd gone off the rails and disappeared; Jin assumed it was the same person. He didn't know the details and it was clear Kame wasn't willing to discuss them, so he didn't ask.
"Kame, what makes you think I won't do the same to you?"
"I can take from you as you take from me - we can maintain a balance. He couldn't do that, didn't know how. I didn't know it myself. Don't worry." Kame patted Jin's thigh. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't know I could make it safe. You won't hurt me."
It was hard to picture anything hurting Kamenashi Kazuya, one of the most reknowned mages in Japan and the man who'd practically invented all the best healing spells. But physical wounds and emotional wounds were very different things, as Jin knew only too well.
"Okay." Oh, it was awkward, painfully awkward. "How do we start?"
"Reach for me."
"With my mind, or-" Jin didn't need to finish his sentence, as Kame's response made it perfectly obvious that physical movement was preferred.
Jin landed up sitting sideways on Kame's lap, braced against the arm of the couch, legs dangling over Kame's and Kame's arm draped loosely over his shoulders. The position was a familiar one. Jin shared a couple of traits with Pi, the shop's imp - a love of food and cuddles. After a year with Pi and Ueda as his only regular company, Jin, who was a sociable creature by nature, was happy with affection wherever he found it, and he found plenty of it with Kame.
"Comfortable?" Kame asked.
"Very." Jin leaned down to kiss him, but Kame smiled and shook his head.
"Picture me in your mind, just bursting with energy, waiting for you to siphon a little off."
"I'm not supposed to imagine you falling to pieces, am I?" Jin shuddered at the thought.
"Definitely not! It's different with living creatures. Try it and see."
Jin closed his eyes. It was easy to picture Kame - he was in Jin's dreams every night, with dyed copper hair, that slightly uneven nose, those eyes that always seemed amused. Of course, in those dreams, it wasn't energy they were sharing...
He reached for Kame in the way he'd reached for the clover, trying to touch him with his mind, and got blocked by an unexpected barrier. He probed, cautiously, picturing himself taking Kame's hand, but the contact was skin-on-skin and went no further.
"Why?" It didn't take much to frustrate Jin. "What are you doing?"
"It's not what I'm doing - it's what you're not doing. You're not trying to break me down, you're trying to take something from inside me. Hmm...maybe you need a real world demonstration."
This proved to be much more pleasant than it sounded, as Jin discovered when Kame brushed his lips against Jin's once, twice, then locked them together, tongue slipping through the seal to taste as much of Jin as he could. Jin got it, then. In his mental picture, he made himself do the same, inviting Kame with the welcoming curve of his smile. The kiss in his mind mirrored the physical one. He concentrated on drawing the energy from Kame, imagining himself taking it in - not all of it, just a little bit, enough so that the jolt when it hit made him break away.
"I like your demonstration." Jin was a little breathless. It was hard work, this energy-stealing business. "Can I have another one?"
"Maybe later, if I think you deserve one. Prove to me you can do it without me touching you, first."
It wasn't in Jin's nature to pass up a challenge, not one delivered in such a provocative tone. "Fine, I will." He wriggled out of Kame's embrace and crossed to the opposite wall to pose casually by the TV, where he wasn't touching Kame at all and when he closed his eyes, he wasn't looking at him either.
He had an easier time reaching out to Kame than he had with the clover, but then, he hadn't known the clover intimately and if he had, studying for his magic exams would've been the least of his worries. There was nothing strange about imagining them kissing, because it happened all the time in his dreams. It was only now that he had to focus on getting something other than pleasure from it.
"You're making good progress," Kame praised him. "I felt that."
"Doesn't it hurt?"
"Not really, not when you're only taking a thimbleful. I've trained myself to monitor my own energy levels very closely, which is the only reason I'm noticing the loss at all. Now," Kame smiled wickedly, "give it back again. See if you can do it without touch."
Jin scowled and closed his eyes again. It was so much more fun with touch - though of course, more distracting too... Giving energy, he was on surer ground. When he cast spells using external tools, he ignited them with a spark of his magic, a tiny burst of energy which, like everything about him, carried his magical signature. Not that he'd ever tried to do that to a living creature, but he assumed the principle was the same. Only instead of using his hands, the Jin he envisioned was going to use his tongue.
Oh yes, this was much easier. In his mind's eye, Jin watched himself kiss Kame slowly, hesitant because he wasn't sure how to stop himself if he gave too much. He pushed, letting his tongue meet Kame's, willing himself to return the scraps of energy he'd borrowed earlier, now flavoured with his own magic. He knew, then, how Kame had felt it - like a faint sucking on the inside of his skin. It didn't hurt, but it was constant.
"Careful." Kame's voice was much closer now; Jin started when he realised Kame was standing right in front of him. "Don't empty yourself out. Break the contact."
With a mental snap, Jin dropped a barrier and cut them off. The sucking stopped. Kame settled his hands on Jin's hips and walked them backwards to the couch again till they tumbled onto the cushions, laughing all the while.
"Be precise when you can," Kame advised. "Use a controlled burst, not a constant flow. It's less risky. The only time you might want to keep up a constant flow is if you're exchanging energy with someone, both of you sharing at the same time so you're constantly replenished."
Jin shrugged. "Why would I want to do that? Wouldn't it just keep our energy levels the exact same?"
"It would," Kame pushed the hem of Jin's oversized shirt aside to reach for the button on his jeans, "but it can be fun if you can keep the transfer steady. That little jolt you can feel? It's like that all the time."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." There went the button, and the zip after it. "But it takes more control than you've got right now."
There was no way Jin could protest that hey, he had tons of control thank you very much, when he was losing more of it with every passing moment as Kame tugged at his jeans, catching his underwear with them and manoeuvring them carefully as far down as he could manage, which left them pooled around Jin's knees. Jin had the feeling his practical lesson was either about to move onto things he couldn't possibly be examined on, or take him down some weird, twisted route that would somehow give him all the theory he could ever need but leave him horribly unsatisfied. He was hoping for the former.
He slid the jeans the rest of the way off, letting them fall to the floor. Kame showed no signs of following suit, so Jin poked him in the chest. "Your turn, unless you're just trying to make me cold for no good reason, in which case I'm getting dressed again before I freeze to death." True, the baggy T-shirt covered him half-way down his thighs anyway, and the plaid shirt over it took care of his arms, but Kame's apartment wasn't the warmest place in the world.
"I could turn the heating up," Kame said, "or you could move so I can actually get my pants off without knocking you over. Your choice, Jin."
Jin scowled and scrambled free to give him room to move. With a hip thrust that would've done a pop star proud, Kame levered himself up and out of his own jeans without letting his back lose contact with the couch, then settled down again, bare skin to fabric.
"No underwear?"
Kame flashed him a cheeky grin. "I knew you were coming over for a lesson tonight, thought I'd save time." That earned him another thump with the cushion. "Honestly? I need to do laundry. The machine's broken again and I haven't had time to call anyone out to fix it. My magic's not much help for appliances."
"After you almost blew your laptop up when you tried to fix the crack in the screen...yeah, I'd say it's safest to let the professionals do it." Jin settled himself comfortably over Kame's bare legs, knees on either side of Kame's thighs, and gave Kame the most challenging gaze he could manage. Control? Piece of cake.
"I was going to ask you to go fetch this for me," Kame held out a hand; the little supply kit from his bedside cabinet materialised in it, "but since you've made yourself comfortable, I'll just teleport. Ready for the next lesson? But it won't be my tongue, this time."
Jin rolled his eyes at Kame's attempts to sound sultry. "I could've figured that for myself, thanks - I know what's in the bag as well as you do."
"Jin." Kame's voice returned to normal. "I mean it; there's no real reason you have to have a magic lesson like this. It certainly wasn't how I learned it and I don't think they use this kind of demonstration in classrooms. You've made a lot of progress tonight, and very quickly - if you want to forget about the rest until tomorrow and enjoy yourself now, that's fine." He set the bag down and locked his hands at the small of Jin's back. "Your teacher's got a gold star for you."
"As long as it's not stuck on the end of his-"
"Euphemism." Kame pulled Jin towards him for another kiss, but Jin resisted, pushing back to keep upright.
"Now's as good a time as any, Kame - I need the practice, right? Hey, you really think I'm getting through this quickly?" Jin knew he sounded like an eager little kid, but he didn't care. Kame refused to praise him without good reason, said he didn't want Jin getting a swelled head because there were more than enough mages out there who already thought they were gods slumming it with normal humans.
"You're an erratic student," Kame said frankly, "but you make some amazing leaps sometimes. You might not always understand the theory behind what you're doing but you'll pull it off anyway because you've got the instincts to compensate. And that's all the praise you're getting out of me tonight unless you do something extraordinary."
"I'm up for a challenge."
"I'm not disputing that you're 'up', Jin..." Kame let go to retrieve the small bottle from the bag. "Can you sit a bit higher?"
Jin rested his hands on Kame's shoulders so he didn't overbalance when he pushed up to make room. Kame uncapped the bottle, squeezed out a little of the contents and set to work, reaching between Jin's legs to prep him with slick, gentle fingers, mindful of Jin's nails digging into his shoulders. It was an odd position, but neither of them felt inclined to move very far and besides, the bed would be cold.
"How's that?" Kame asked, crooking his fingers to elicit a soft whine from Jin.
"Tease."
Kame's eyes were warm, intent; Jin felt his stomach tighten in response. They hadn't done this much. His experience with men had been limited to a couple of awkward teenage fumbles back in his early high school days, occasions brought on by heated struggles and quickly dismissed with embarrassment on both sides. Girls, he knew more about, but then girls tended not to do this to him - at least, not often - and there hadn't been anyone since he'd been cursed by Eris's mad relatives. It was hard to relax when you feared for your life.
He made a conscious effort not to claw his fingers after Kame started dropping hints about how much his shirt cost.
"You tear it, you pay for it."
"But it'll be your fault," Jin pointed out. "I'm not taking responsibility."
"You could make it up to me? I'm sure I could think of a suitable method of compensation."
"I'll complain to the Board of Education about your teaching methods."
"Then it's a good thing," Kame slowly pulled his hand free and reached for a tissue, "I'm not officially responsible for your education."
"Does that mean I'm not getting a gold star?"
Kame snapped his fingers, causing a shower of tiny sparks to appear over his empty coffee cup. "Close enough?"
"Close enough." Jin grinned at him. "I like watching you do stupid things. Makes me feel so much better about my own magic use."
"At least I've never tried to turn back time just because I missed the start of a movie. Which you can't do without a five-part ritual, by the way." While Kame had been speaking, he'd made a few preparations of his own, and slid forwards on the couch to give Jin more room. "Whenever you're ready, Jin."
Jin considered the situation, contemplated the likelihood of him falling off the couch altogether vs. the damage he could potentially inflict on Kame's shirt in an effort to stop himself overbalancing, and shook his head, rising unsteadily to his feet. "Get up a sec."
Kame caught his eye. Nodded. Okay then. Once Kame abandoned the couch, Jin settled himself down, stretching out in comfort, spreading to give Kame as much room as he could. Good thing it was a big couch, though he suspected its owner discreetly augmented it with magic whenever it chanced to play host to one of his engagements.
"All right?"
"Pretty much. Are you going to join me or are you just going to stand there and stare at me for the rest of the night?"
"Ah, I wasn't staring," Kame said. "I was just thinking about my taxes." He relented when Jin tried to kick the back of his knee in retaliation. He positioned himself between Jin's bent legs, then slid one of the smaller, brick-like cushions under Jin's hips to raise him up.
"I'm going to transform all your cushions into marshmallows," Jin grumbled. "Big, fluffy, pink marshmallows."
"They wouldn't match the rest of my furniture."
All thoughts of marshmallows, pink or otherwise, flew from Jin's mind as Kame entered him slowly, one hand stroking circles through his T-shirt, too light to keep him from arching his back as Kame pressed further. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the energy he knew flowed through Kame's body as a means of distracting himself from the discomfort. Kame always had lots of energy. He could spare a little, surely? He always seemed to be able to survive on next to no sleep, whereas Jin would spend half the day in bed if he didn't have to work, and not with company, either.
"Going to sleep?" Kame brushed Jin's bangs away from his eyes. "You do pick your moments."
"Not sleeping." Jin bit down on his lip as Kame stilled, nowhere else to go, waiting for Jin to cue him in.
After a minute of frozen silence, Kame said, "Should I make the couch wider?"
"Hah! I knew that's what you were doing." Jin opened his eyes, wriggling to get the brick masquerading as a cushion into a more comfortable position, and propped himself up on his elbows. "Okay."
"Okay, I should make the couch wider or okay, I should move now?"
"Which do you think?"
Kame didn't answer, but he didn't have to, drawing back just enough that Jin could feel it. Energy, that was it. Kame was a healthy human being just filled with energy, and Jin was determined to retain sufficient presence of mind to help himself to a bit. It would be good practice, he thought, because surely if he could focus on something so important when Kame was moving inside him - a distraction if ever there was one - he could do so at far more stressful moments, like if someone pulled a knife on him.
He pictured them in his mind's eye: himself, still half-dressed, writhing on the ever-expanding couch and gasping as Kame rocked against him, body warm and lithe and movements slow and tender enough Jin wondered if maybe Kame was the sleepy one. Sleepy or not, he imagined himself inviting Kame in, that's it, lots of energy, plenty to share, can spare a little...right? There it was, that jolt, like a spark setting his nerves aflame.
"I can feel that." Kame sounded pleased - proud, even. "Keep going, and try to stay relaxed. I'm going to reciprocate."
Jin was puzzled by that, not sure if Kame meant they were going to change positions, but he got it when the sucking began underneath his skin again. Kame didn't have to resort to visualisation techniques, which meant what they were doing physically had no effect on whether or not Kame was able to leech his energy. "Am I giving or are you taking?"
"I'm taking right now, but you can join in. If you think of the flow of energy as a trickle of water that's coming down the slope to me, if you then go and tip a glass of water at the top, you add more water to the flow." Kame let out an embarrassed laugh. "It's not much of an explanation but you can't blame me for being distracted at the moment."
It was quite the distraction for both of them, especially when Kame picked up the pace, and then talk was something better left for later, less breathless times. Jin wanted to try giving, too. The visualisation wasn't going to work here - could he forget that, and take the mental shortcuts Kame obviously took? He pulled up his elbows, letting his head fall back against the couch so he could run his hands over Kame's sides, wanting to touch as much as possible, to be connected to Kame in every way he could. Kame hummed in appreciation, leaning down to give Jin easier access.
Access. He was trying to give Kame something of himself, wasn't he? Jin imagined he was casting a spell on Kame, like Kame was a ritual or a pentagram or a handful of working mix and Jin had to add the final spark to make the whole thing work - a drop of his own magic. Physically, he was never going to get closer to Kame than he was right now. He imagined magic flowing through his fingertips, hands spread wide beneath Kame's shirt to caress bare skin, and when Kame moaned and froze Jin knew he must be doing something right.
"It's like having lightning running through my veins," Kame murmured. "Really playful lightning. It feels so much better when it's given freely." He bent down for a kiss, and Jin felt sparks dance across his tongue, lips tingling - not in a bad, anaesthetic kicking in kind of way, but with excitement, with Kame's energy washing over him like waves across the shore. Kame was like the sea, fiercely rushing in then playfully retreating; fluid, difficult to catch, and with a world's worth of power hidden beneath the surface.
For a few minutes, nobody moved much, too intent on maintaining the current. It was as pleasant as Kame had said, the constant stimulation of nerves throughout the body, sharing energy flavoured with each other's magic. Jin lay back and just enjoyed, realised he was becoming aroused again and hoped Kame would notice and do something about it. He was too lazy to take care of matters himself.
No, not lazy. Tired. It had been a long lesson, after all, and he deserved a nice rest. Look at how far he'd progressed in a single evening! Yes, perhaps it was time for a nap. Kame could do what he wanted, but Jin's head was starting to feel like it was stuffed with wet cotton wool...
Kame sighed. "I said you didn't have enough control, didn't I? Break the connection, Jin. You're giving too much."
"How...?" It took a lot of effort to form even a single word, with lips that were growing numb and a sluggish brain that yielded vocabulary only with great reluctance.
"The same way you did it before." Kame pulled away and sat back on his heels. "I should've known you were more likely to hurt yourself than hurt me. You're very generous when you're not being selfish."
Extremely muzzy by now, Jin struggled to recall his earlier actions. It couldn't have been that difficult, could it? As easy as...snap. And there it went. He stared up at Kame, blinked away the blurred vision. Even with clothing and Kame's body heat, he was still shivering with cold. "It stopped?"
"Yeah, it stopped. Now relax and let me return the excess."
Heat gradually returned to Jin's body as Kame fed him droplets of energy, each one water warmed by pure sunshine. That wasn't the only source of heat - Kame's hands were working their way under Jin's shirt, stroking in time, taking him from freezing to scorching. The combination left him happy and excited and more awake than he'd been in days.
But all of a sudden, the current cut off. "Why'd you stop?" Jin said, disappointed and not concerned about hiding it. "I was enjoying that."
"We've reached a balance. Do you feel better now?"
"Much better, thanks." Jin tried to sit up but Kame picked that moment to squeeze just so and his bones melted away. "Is it going to be like this every time now?"
"Only if you want it to be. It's one of the more entertaining parts about being with another mage - adds a little 'colour', if you like - but unless one or both of us deliberately starts it, you can forget it. Besides," Kame shifted himself back into position, making Jin gasp again, "we can have just as much fun without it."
"You'll have to show me what the other entertaining parts are sometime."
"There's mid-air, for starters..."
"Tell me you're kidding." Without warning, Jin found himself hovering half a foot above the couch, held in place by Kame's arms around his back. "I guess you're not kidding..."
Kame lowered them down again when Jin started giggling at the absurdity of it all. "You're too heavy for me to hold for long like that," he said. "When you can fly too, then we can start to think about experimenting."
Jin envisioned the two of them galivanting on the ceiling, or perhaps romping in the clouds, scandalising ascending aeroplane passengers. There hadn't been anything in the gossip magazines about that, but few of Kame's past dalliances had been with fellow mages and it would be quite difficult to get photographic evidence of that sort of thing. "Well, I have always wanted to go sky-diving..."
He gave up on teasing when Kame began to move his hips again, having lost his patience somewhere along the way and most of his finesse as well; the occasional kisses grew increasingly sloppy, though no less well-meant. Jin was starting to regret leaving so many clothes on. His shirt was damp with sweat and his hair stuck to the back of his neck. He'd showered before coming over to Kame's apartment, but another one was definitely going to be in order.
It was nice, seeing Kame so happy. He'd been watching Kame visit the store for over a year, always smooth and confident, but his good mood seemed like a mask, as though he were determined to have the world see him as a cool, competent man who'd successfully obtained his heart's desire. It had taken a while for the mask to crack, for Kame to show his true smile, the one that was brilliant and goofy and heartbreaking all at once, and it hadn't taken many of those smiles for Jin to realise Kame wanted him. Of course at the time, forming attachments to anyone was a bad idea, what with Jin being unable to leave the sanctuary of Ueda's store and uncertain of ever ridding himself of the curse. Kame had no idea how grateful Jin was for his removing it, but Jin was having fun thanking him.
Kame's precision might have been lost to pleasure but he had no trouble concentrating on Jin, all teeth and tongue and hands everywhere at once. Jin caught hold of Kame's arms, pulled himself up so he was half-sitting.
"You'll ruin your back," Kame warned.
"I trust you to heal me." Jin wriggled closer, resulting in Kame changing the angle of his thrusts in a way that suited Jin down to the ground. "You can fix it for me just like that-" His voice rose sharply on the last word as Kame found that spot inside. "Mmm...maybe not quite like that..."
"Are you complaining?" Kame let his fingers hover dangerously close to Jin's collarbones, threatening to tickle.
Despite the risk, Jin gave him a teasing smile. "Not if you do that again."
Kame brushed his fingers lightly over Jin's weak point, then relented with a grin when Jin squirmed and batted him away. "I suppose I could oblige..."
It didn't take much more to leave Jin sated, worn out but happily so, and badly in need of a fresh T-shirt. He yawned, once he had the breath for it, and let himself fall back against the cushions, closing his eyes and beginning to drift off. He felt incredibly tired. It barely registered that Kame was still moving, rushing towards his own climax - he might as well not have been there at all, for all Jin could feel. He didn't remember it being so...exhausting.
He scarcely even noticed when Kame finished with a shudder and a low moan; when he pulled out to clean up, all Jin cared about was the loss of warmth.
A few moments later, Kame rested a shaky hand on Jin's cheek and sighed. "You did it again, didn't you?"
"Did what?" Jin murmured sleepily. Why wouldn't Kame let him nap in peace?
"Gave too much."
There was a tingle where Kame's fingers pressed against his skin, and then the cobwebs were chased away, strength returning to Jin's limbs. He opened his eyes, found Kame standing over him, dishevelled but beautiful, concern written all over his face. "Thanks for the pick-me-up."
"You're welcome." Kame ruffled his hair, messing it up even further. "I knew this was a bad idea. Now you've started...we've opened the floodgates. The more control you have over your spells, the less energy you'll need to use, but for now even doing little things will wear you out if you're not careful."
"But it's okay like this, isn't it? You can just give it straight back."
Kame shook his head. "It didn't go to me this time, Jin. I don't know what you were channelling energy into when you came but it wasn't me."
"Where did it...?" Jin sat up, swung his legs over the side of the couch, and blinked. "Uh...Kame?"
Kame looked and almost split his sides laughing. "Tomorrow, we work on how to keep your energy to yourself. After we go furniture shopping!"
Every last one of Kame's cushions was now a giant pink marshmallow.
Fandom: KAT-TUN
Series: Red Turtle Charms
Pairing: Kame x Jin
Rating: R
Genre: AU, comedy, fluff
Word count: 6,677
Disclaimer: Not mine, damnit
Summary: Jin finds it much easier to study magic when Kame gives him a very personal lesson in what giving and taking is all about.
A/N: I guess it's my month for returning to old universes! But I wanted something that was more fluff, less headache-inducing plot, and this is the result. Set between 'Customer Service', and 'Surprises in Store'.
Exchange Student
"It's a textbook, not a tennis ball," Kame said as he watched Jin throw a battered copy of 'Transmutation and YOU' across the room. "Another couple of days like this and that book's going to fall to pieces."
"You can afford to buy me a new one."
"That's not the point."
Jin's magic studies were not going as smoothly as Kame had hoped. Some days, in fact, they weren't going at all, and this was shaping up to be one of those days. In between his work in Ueda's shop, Jin had lessons from Ueda himself, Kame, and every teacher Kame could possibly rope into helping him, all with the goal of coaching Jin towards his exams. Transmutation was proving to be a major stumbling block. If Jin didn't succeed in learning how to channel energy through his body and transmute it into spells, he was never going to be able to work high magics like manifestation without using tools.
And if he couldn't do that, he'd never pass his exams, and that would put paid to all of Kame's secret hopes and dreams.
"It doesn't make any sense," Jin complained. "The books all tell me to relax and not move, and then to reach for the energy in the world around me. How am I supposed to move and stay still at the same time?"
"You're not supposed to reach physically. Use your mind." Jin's blank face told Kame he was going to have to try another tack. "Okay, come sit next to me."
They were in the living room of Kame's apartment; Kame reading the newspaper on the couch, Jin perched on the mantel with a textbook. Or he had been, until the textbook had begun its exciting new career as a missile. It was still a novelty to them that Jin could even leave the shop, after spending a year hiding away from a curse, and he relished being able to visit Kame whenever he wanted.
He removed the newspaper from Kame's hands and plumped down next to him on the couch. "I'm ready for my lesson."
"I'll bet you are." Jin was nothing if not an eager apprentice, and Kame knew perfectly well that they wouldn't be moving from the couch for some time, whether the lesson succeeded or not. "Close your eyes."
Jin obliged. The couch was comfortable; he hoped he wouldn't wind up falling asleep, though that usually happened when he was reading the textbooks rather than having practical lessons. (After all, it wouldn't do to fall asleep during one of Ueda's teaching sessions. He could wake up with tusks.)
"Closed. Now what?"
"Hold out your hand."
Ever-so-slightly wary, Jin extended his right hand. He felt a gentle tickle of something on his palm and instinctively started to close his fingers. Kame caught them, pressing them flat again.
"It's only a clover," Kame assured him. "Try not to crush it. We're going to start very small and work our way up."
"That's great, but with a clover?"
"Clovers can't hurt you if you make a mistake. If you accidentally destroy my apartment building I'm not going to be happy."
That, Jin knew, was an understatement. "What am I supposed to be doing with the clover? Communing with it?"
"Kind of. Picture the clover in your mind."
"But I've never seen it!"
Kame laughed and tapped him on the back of the head. "I know, but you know what clovers look like, in general, and you can feel that one specific clover in your hand, can't you?"
The urge to open his eyes was overwhelming but Jin resisted, concentrating on building up an image in his mind. "How many leaves?"
"Four."
Jin smiled. "Good omen."
Four leaves, okay. Round, and even, and there was the stem, a lighter green, sticking out of a sandwich with... Jin shook his head, clearing the picture of cress which had somehow gotten in there. He tried again, trying to link the wispy tickle against his skin to the clover he constructed in his mind. Kame waited patiently, keeping quiet so as not to distract him.
At last, Jin thought he'd got it. "Clover, check. Now what?"
"Everything is made of energy. It's easier to think about it in terms of living creatures and plants, but all matter is a source of energy. Everything's got something to offer you - the only difference is the quantity. Something like a credit card doesn't have much, whereas an elephant has a great deal.
"But you can't hurt a credit card if you use it as a source of energy. You could drain an elephant. Living creatures can replenish their energy - inanimate objects can't."
"And this little clover?"
"Won't be replenishing its energy anymore. We're going to recycle it, break down its mass and give its energy to you."
Jin thought that sounded rather painful. "You didn't pick that clover just to teach me a lesson, did you?"
"Nope, summoned it from outside. I didn't want you melting any of my possessions, so for all intents and purposes, that clover represents an inanimate object, in that it doesn't matter if you use it up. We'll work on living things later, if you succeed with this one. You need to learn the technique first."
Living things? Jin hoped Kame wasn't about to produce a puppy or something equally cute for him to leech energy from. There were limits to what he was prepared to do to pass his magic exams.
"I won't let you hurt anyone," Kame promised. "You'll be fine. Still got that clover in your mind?"
"Yeah. What am I supposed to do with it?"
"Imagine it breaking down, slowly. Imagine one leaf starts to shrink as the edges fade away, and picture yourself seizing the energy that's released and taking it into your own body."
"Is that safe?"
"Something this small, yes. The human body can only hold so much energy, so when you take more than you can hold yourself, either give it so someone else or use it to work magic. Like I did this morning when the coffeemaker broke - I converted the coffee granules into energy, which I then converted into coffee. It's a lot faster than it sounds."
"And cheaper than Starbucks."
"And cheaper than Starbucks," Kame agreed, amused. "Now try it for yourself."
Breaking down the clover in his mind, Jin discovered, wasn't so difficult. Not once he got going, forcing tiny fragments of the leaves to disappear little by little, as though erasing an image on a computer. The real clover tickled his palm and he desperately wanted to open his eyes and see what was happening to it.
"It's disappearing!" Kame sounded overjoyed. "Now capture that energy. Take it into yourself, make it part of you."
It was all very well for Kame to say that, but Jin had no idea how to go about it. He was supposed to reach for it, wasn't he? But with what? The clover was already in his hand...and in his mind. That gave him an idea. He tried picturing himself standing next to his mental clover - had to adjust their relative sizes so he didn't appear to be standing under a tree - and cupping it as it faded. If he looked hard, now, there was a faint swirl of energy, almost transparent, lingering over his hand. He seized it immediately. There was a sudden tingle and the Jin in the real world jumped, eyes flying open at once.
Kame looked like he was about to die from keeping his laughter locked away. "Felt it, did you?"
The clover in Jin's hand was down to two leaves. "I definitely felt something."
"Good." Kame took the remainder of the clover and set it down on the coffee table. "Now do the other half." Jin leant over to pick it up and Kame shook his head. "Holding it was the easiest way for you to get a fix on it with your mind, but what you need to learn is how to get a fix on anything, whether you can touch it or not, or even see it."
Kame was a tough teacher, but he generally didn't set impossible tasks - those were Ueda's domain. Jin knew if he was going to pass his exams, he'd have to master this, there was no way around it. Things were only going to get tougher from here, but at least when he'd completed his studies, he'd be free to use his magic however he wanted and not worry that he was going to destroy someone's house by accident. He'd have the knowledge and the discipline by then.
Or that was the idea, anyway. Sometimes he just wanted to skip all the theoretical stuff on how to layer shields, or how to create charms, or why love potions were a really, really bad idea, and go straight to the fun stuff, like flying. Kame took him on flights as a treat, sometimes, though he was still wary of any passing birds.
Jin sighed and turned away from the table so the clover was no longer directly in his line of sight. This was going to be tricky. One of the abilities that separated mages from ordinary mortals was a sixth sense, one that could work in tandem with the other five or in isolation. Since Jin couldn't detect the clover through any other means, he had to open up his sixth sense, which he still wasn't very good at. Mostly it just told him when things were going wrong.
Even though Kame had said he should be able to find things he couldn't see, Jin found the only way he could manage to locate the clover was to picture it on the table and reach for it like that. It was easier, this time, despite not being able to feel the clover disintegrate. The tiny burst of energy flared in his fingertips, telling him he'd succeeded.
When he turned back to Kame, the coffee table was bare save the newspaper and a couple of empty cups, now cold on their coasters. The clover was gone.
There wasn't a brighter sight in the world than Kame's smile, so Jin thought. He'd gone a year without seeing stars except by peering through glass, but Kame's smile was far brighter and warmer than any of them, and Jin loved being responsible for making it appear.
"Why is it you make much better progress when I teach you practical magic?" Kame asked.
"I'm more motivated to learn?"
"Oh, I know how to motivate you, all right..." Kame's smile crooked into a smirk. "Think you're ready for the next lesson?"
"And do what? Make a tree disappear?"
"I was thinking of something a little closer. Like me."
Jin thumped him in the stomach with a cushion. "Don't. You'll give me a heart attack, saying things like that."
"I'm serious." Kame rubbed his stomach. The cushions were stuffed to the point of resembling bricks. "Learning how to give and take energy from living sources is important. You could save someone's life by giving them energy - or save your own by draining someone who wants to kill you. Of course with that much energy, you'd have to do something with it afterwards, even if it was only releasing it into the atmosphere."
"Have you ever...um..." Jin swallowed hard. "Have you ever hurt anyone like that?"
Kame met his gaze and held it. "When I was in high school," he said quietly. "I didn't know any better then, didn't know how to stop myself. I got fixated on a friend, drained him almost to death. When I tried to give it back, something went wrong. He was never the same afterwards. I didn't even know it was magic, back then. It wasn't until later I found out what I could do."
It wasn't the first time Kame had alluded to a friend who'd gone off the rails and disappeared; Jin assumed it was the same person. He didn't know the details and it was clear Kame wasn't willing to discuss them, so he didn't ask.
"Kame, what makes you think I won't do the same to you?"
"I can take from you as you take from me - we can maintain a balance. He couldn't do that, didn't know how. I didn't know it myself. Don't worry." Kame patted Jin's thigh. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't know I could make it safe. You won't hurt me."
It was hard to picture anything hurting Kamenashi Kazuya, one of the most reknowned mages in Japan and the man who'd practically invented all the best healing spells. But physical wounds and emotional wounds were very different things, as Jin knew only too well.
"Okay." Oh, it was awkward, painfully awkward. "How do we start?"
"Reach for me."
"With my mind, or-" Jin didn't need to finish his sentence, as Kame's response made it perfectly obvious that physical movement was preferred.
Jin landed up sitting sideways on Kame's lap, braced against the arm of the couch, legs dangling over Kame's and Kame's arm draped loosely over his shoulders. The position was a familiar one. Jin shared a couple of traits with Pi, the shop's imp - a love of food and cuddles. After a year with Pi and Ueda as his only regular company, Jin, who was a sociable creature by nature, was happy with affection wherever he found it, and he found plenty of it with Kame.
"Comfortable?" Kame asked.
"Very." Jin leaned down to kiss him, but Kame smiled and shook his head.
"Picture me in your mind, just bursting with energy, waiting for you to siphon a little off."
"I'm not supposed to imagine you falling to pieces, am I?" Jin shuddered at the thought.
"Definitely not! It's different with living creatures. Try it and see."
Jin closed his eyes. It was easy to picture Kame - he was in Jin's dreams every night, with dyed copper hair, that slightly uneven nose, those eyes that always seemed amused. Of course, in those dreams, it wasn't energy they were sharing...
He reached for Kame in the way he'd reached for the clover, trying to touch him with his mind, and got blocked by an unexpected barrier. He probed, cautiously, picturing himself taking Kame's hand, but the contact was skin-on-skin and went no further.
"Why?" It didn't take much to frustrate Jin. "What are you doing?"
"It's not what I'm doing - it's what you're not doing. You're not trying to break me down, you're trying to take something from inside me. Hmm...maybe you need a real world demonstration."
This proved to be much more pleasant than it sounded, as Jin discovered when Kame brushed his lips against Jin's once, twice, then locked them together, tongue slipping through the seal to taste as much of Jin as he could. Jin got it, then. In his mental picture, he made himself do the same, inviting Kame with the welcoming curve of his smile. The kiss in his mind mirrored the physical one. He concentrated on drawing the energy from Kame, imagining himself taking it in - not all of it, just a little bit, enough so that the jolt when it hit made him break away.
"I like your demonstration." Jin was a little breathless. It was hard work, this energy-stealing business. "Can I have another one?"
"Maybe later, if I think you deserve one. Prove to me you can do it without me touching you, first."
It wasn't in Jin's nature to pass up a challenge, not one delivered in such a provocative tone. "Fine, I will." He wriggled out of Kame's embrace and crossed to the opposite wall to pose casually by the TV, where he wasn't touching Kame at all and when he closed his eyes, he wasn't looking at him either.
He had an easier time reaching out to Kame than he had with the clover, but then, he hadn't known the clover intimately and if he had, studying for his magic exams would've been the least of his worries. There was nothing strange about imagining them kissing, because it happened all the time in his dreams. It was only now that he had to focus on getting something other than pleasure from it.
"You're making good progress," Kame praised him. "I felt that."
"Doesn't it hurt?"
"Not really, not when you're only taking a thimbleful. I've trained myself to monitor my own energy levels very closely, which is the only reason I'm noticing the loss at all. Now," Kame smiled wickedly, "give it back again. See if you can do it without touch."
Jin scowled and closed his eyes again. It was so much more fun with touch - though of course, more distracting too... Giving energy, he was on surer ground. When he cast spells using external tools, he ignited them with a spark of his magic, a tiny burst of energy which, like everything about him, carried his magical signature. Not that he'd ever tried to do that to a living creature, but he assumed the principle was the same. Only instead of using his hands, the Jin he envisioned was going to use his tongue.
Oh yes, this was much easier. In his mind's eye, Jin watched himself kiss Kame slowly, hesitant because he wasn't sure how to stop himself if he gave too much. He pushed, letting his tongue meet Kame's, willing himself to return the scraps of energy he'd borrowed earlier, now flavoured with his own magic. He knew, then, how Kame had felt it - like a faint sucking on the inside of his skin. It didn't hurt, but it was constant.
"Careful." Kame's voice was much closer now; Jin started when he realised Kame was standing right in front of him. "Don't empty yourself out. Break the contact."
With a mental snap, Jin dropped a barrier and cut them off. The sucking stopped. Kame settled his hands on Jin's hips and walked them backwards to the couch again till they tumbled onto the cushions, laughing all the while.
"Be precise when you can," Kame advised. "Use a controlled burst, not a constant flow. It's less risky. The only time you might want to keep up a constant flow is if you're exchanging energy with someone, both of you sharing at the same time so you're constantly replenished."
Jin shrugged. "Why would I want to do that? Wouldn't it just keep our energy levels the exact same?"
"It would," Kame pushed the hem of Jin's oversized shirt aside to reach for the button on his jeans, "but it can be fun if you can keep the transfer steady. That little jolt you can feel? It's like that all the time."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." There went the button, and the zip after it. "But it takes more control than you've got right now."
There was no way Jin could protest that hey, he had tons of control thank you very much, when he was losing more of it with every passing moment as Kame tugged at his jeans, catching his underwear with them and manoeuvring them carefully as far down as he could manage, which left them pooled around Jin's knees. Jin had the feeling his practical lesson was either about to move onto things he couldn't possibly be examined on, or take him down some weird, twisted route that would somehow give him all the theory he could ever need but leave him horribly unsatisfied. He was hoping for the former.
He slid the jeans the rest of the way off, letting them fall to the floor. Kame showed no signs of following suit, so Jin poked him in the chest. "Your turn, unless you're just trying to make me cold for no good reason, in which case I'm getting dressed again before I freeze to death." True, the baggy T-shirt covered him half-way down his thighs anyway, and the plaid shirt over it took care of his arms, but Kame's apartment wasn't the warmest place in the world.
"I could turn the heating up," Kame said, "or you could move so I can actually get my pants off without knocking you over. Your choice, Jin."
Jin scowled and scrambled free to give him room to move. With a hip thrust that would've done a pop star proud, Kame levered himself up and out of his own jeans without letting his back lose contact with the couch, then settled down again, bare skin to fabric.
"No underwear?"
Kame flashed him a cheeky grin. "I knew you were coming over for a lesson tonight, thought I'd save time." That earned him another thump with the cushion. "Honestly? I need to do laundry. The machine's broken again and I haven't had time to call anyone out to fix it. My magic's not much help for appliances."
"After you almost blew your laptop up when you tried to fix the crack in the screen...yeah, I'd say it's safest to let the professionals do it." Jin settled himself comfortably over Kame's bare legs, knees on either side of Kame's thighs, and gave Kame the most challenging gaze he could manage. Control? Piece of cake.
"I was going to ask you to go fetch this for me," Kame held out a hand; the little supply kit from his bedside cabinet materialised in it, "but since you've made yourself comfortable, I'll just teleport. Ready for the next lesson? But it won't be my tongue, this time."
Jin rolled his eyes at Kame's attempts to sound sultry. "I could've figured that for myself, thanks - I know what's in the bag as well as you do."
"Jin." Kame's voice returned to normal. "I mean it; there's no real reason you have to have a magic lesson like this. It certainly wasn't how I learned it and I don't think they use this kind of demonstration in classrooms. You've made a lot of progress tonight, and very quickly - if you want to forget about the rest until tomorrow and enjoy yourself now, that's fine." He set the bag down and locked his hands at the small of Jin's back. "Your teacher's got a gold star for you."
"As long as it's not stuck on the end of his-"
"Euphemism." Kame pulled Jin towards him for another kiss, but Jin resisted, pushing back to keep upright.
"Now's as good a time as any, Kame - I need the practice, right? Hey, you really think I'm getting through this quickly?" Jin knew he sounded like an eager little kid, but he didn't care. Kame refused to praise him without good reason, said he didn't want Jin getting a swelled head because there were more than enough mages out there who already thought they were gods slumming it with normal humans.
"You're an erratic student," Kame said frankly, "but you make some amazing leaps sometimes. You might not always understand the theory behind what you're doing but you'll pull it off anyway because you've got the instincts to compensate. And that's all the praise you're getting out of me tonight unless you do something extraordinary."
"I'm up for a challenge."
"I'm not disputing that you're 'up', Jin..." Kame let go to retrieve the small bottle from the bag. "Can you sit a bit higher?"
Jin rested his hands on Kame's shoulders so he didn't overbalance when he pushed up to make room. Kame uncapped the bottle, squeezed out a little of the contents and set to work, reaching between Jin's legs to prep him with slick, gentle fingers, mindful of Jin's nails digging into his shoulders. It was an odd position, but neither of them felt inclined to move very far and besides, the bed would be cold.
"How's that?" Kame asked, crooking his fingers to elicit a soft whine from Jin.
"Tease."
Kame's eyes were warm, intent; Jin felt his stomach tighten in response. They hadn't done this much. His experience with men had been limited to a couple of awkward teenage fumbles back in his early high school days, occasions brought on by heated struggles and quickly dismissed with embarrassment on both sides. Girls, he knew more about, but then girls tended not to do this to him - at least, not often - and there hadn't been anyone since he'd been cursed by Eris's mad relatives. It was hard to relax when you feared for your life.
He made a conscious effort not to claw his fingers after Kame started dropping hints about how much his shirt cost.
"You tear it, you pay for it."
"But it'll be your fault," Jin pointed out. "I'm not taking responsibility."
"You could make it up to me? I'm sure I could think of a suitable method of compensation."
"I'll complain to the Board of Education about your teaching methods."
"Then it's a good thing," Kame slowly pulled his hand free and reached for a tissue, "I'm not officially responsible for your education."
"Does that mean I'm not getting a gold star?"
Kame snapped his fingers, causing a shower of tiny sparks to appear over his empty coffee cup. "Close enough?"
"Close enough." Jin grinned at him. "I like watching you do stupid things. Makes me feel so much better about my own magic use."
"At least I've never tried to turn back time just because I missed the start of a movie. Which you can't do without a five-part ritual, by the way." While Kame had been speaking, he'd made a few preparations of his own, and slid forwards on the couch to give Jin more room. "Whenever you're ready, Jin."
Jin considered the situation, contemplated the likelihood of him falling off the couch altogether vs. the damage he could potentially inflict on Kame's shirt in an effort to stop himself overbalancing, and shook his head, rising unsteadily to his feet. "Get up a sec."
Kame caught his eye. Nodded. Okay then. Once Kame abandoned the couch, Jin settled himself down, stretching out in comfort, spreading to give Kame as much room as he could. Good thing it was a big couch, though he suspected its owner discreetly augmented it with magic whenever it chanced to play host to one of his engagements.
"All right?"
"Pretty much. Are you going to join me or are you just going to stand there and stare at me for the rest of the night?"
"Ah, I wasn't staring," Kame said. "I was just thinking about my taxes." He relented when Jin tried to kick the back of his knee in retaliation. He positioned himself between Jin's bent legs, then slid one of the smaller, brick-like cushions under Jin's hips to raise him up.
"I'm going to transform all your cushions into marshmallows," Jin grumbled. "Big, fluffy, pink marshmallows."
"They wouldn't match the rest of my furniture."
All thoughts of marshmallows, pink or otherwise, flew from Jin's mind as Kame entered him slowly, one hand stroking circles through his T-shirt, too light to keep him from arching his back as Kame pressed further. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the energy he knew flowed through Kame's body as a means of distracting himself from the discomfort. Kame always had lots of energy. He could spare a little, surely? He always seemed to be able to survive on next to no sleep, whereas Jin would spend half the day in bed if he didn't have to work, and not with company, either.
"Going to sleep?" Kame brushed Jin's bangs away from his eyes. "You do pick your moments."
"Not sleeping." Jin bit down on his lip as Kame stilled, nowhere else to go, waiting for Jin to cue him in.
After a minute of frozen silence, Kame said, "Should I make the couch wider?"
"Hah! I knew that's what you were doing." Jin opened his eyes, wriggling to get the brick masquerading as a cushion into a more comfortable position, and propped himself up on his elbows. "Okay."
"Okay, I should make the couch wider or okay, I should move now?"
"Which do you think?"
Kame didn't answer, but he didn't have to, drawing back just enough that Jin could feel it. Energy, that was it. Kame was a healthy human being just filled with energy, and Jin was determined to retain sufficient presence of mind to help himself to a bit. It would be good practice, he thought, because surely if he could focus on something so important when Kame was moving inside him - a distraction if ever there was one - he could do so at far more stressful moments, like if someone pulled a knife on him.
He pictured them in his mind's eye: himself, still half-dressed, writhing on the ever-expanding couch and gasping as Kame rocked against him, body warm and lithe and movements slow and tender enough Jin wondered if maybe Kame was the sleepy one. Sleepy or not, he imagined himself inviting Kame in, that's it, lots of energy, plenty to share, can spare a little...right? There it was, that jolt, like a spark setting his nerves aflame.
"I can feel that." Kame sounded pleased - proud, even. "Keep going, and try to stay relaxed. I'm going to reciprocate."
Jin was puzzled by that, not sure if Kame meant they were going to change positions, but he got it when the sucking began underneath his skin again. Kame didn't have to resort to visualisation techniques, which meant what they were doing physically had no effect on whether or not Kame was able to leech his energy. "Am I giving or are you taking?"
"I'm taking right now, but you can join in. If you think of the flow of energy as a trickle of water that's coming down the slope to me, if you then go and tip a glass of water at the top, you add more water to the flow." Kame let out an embarrassed laugh. "It's not much of an explanation but you can't blame me for being distracted at the moment."
It was quite the distraction for both of them, especially when Kame picked up the pace, and then talk was something better left for later, less breathless times. Jin wanted to try giving, too. The visualisation wasn't going to work here - could he forget that, and take the mental shortcuts Kame obviously took? He pulled up his elbows, letting his head fall back against the couch so he could run his hands over Kame's sides, wanting to touch as much as possible, to be connected to Kame in every way he could. Kame hummed in appreciation, leaning down to give Jin easier access.
Access. He was trying to give Kame something of himself, wasn't he? Jin imagined he was casting a spell on Kame, like Kame was a ritual or a pentagram or a handful of working mix and Jin had to add the final spark to make the whole thing work - a drop of his own magic. Physically, he was never going to get closer to Kame than he was right now. He imagined magic flowing through his fingertips, hands spread wide beneath Kame's shirt to caress bare skin, and when Kame moaned and froze Jin knew he must be doing something right.
"It's like having lightning running through my veins," Kame murmured. "Really playful lightning. It feels so much better when it's given freely." He bent down for a kiss, and Jin felt sparks dance across his tongue, lips tingling - not in a bad, anaesthetic kicking in kind of way, but with excitement, with Kame's energy washing over him like waves across the shore. Kame was like the sea, fiercely rushing in then playfully retreating; fluid, difficult to catch, and with a world's worth of power hidden beneath the surface.
For a few minutes, nobody moved much, too intent on maintaining the current. It was as pleasant as Kame had said, the constant stimulation of nerves throughout the body, sharing energy flavoured with each other's magic. Jin lay back and just enjoyed, realised he was becoming aroused again and hoped Kame would notice and do something about it. He was too lazy to take care of matters himself.
No, not lazy. Tired. It had been a long lesson, after all, and he deserved a nice rest. Look at how far he'd progressed in a single evening! Yes, perhaps it was time for a nap. Kame could do what he wanted, but Jin's head was starting to feel like it was stuffed with wet cotton wool...
Kame sighed. "I said you didn't have enough control, didn't I? Break the connection, Jin. You're giving too much."
"How...?" It took a lot of effort to form even a single word, with lips that were growing numb and a sluggish brain that yielded vocabulary only with great reluctance.
"The same way you did it before." Kame pulled away and sat back on his heels. "I should've known you were more likely to hurt yourself than hurt me. You're very generous when you're not being selfish."
Extremely muzzy by now, Jin struggled to recall his earlier actions. It couldn't have been that difficult, could it? As easy as...snap. And there it went. He stared up at Kame, blinked away the blurred vision. Even with clothing and Kame's body heat, he was still shivering with cold. "It stopped?"
"Yeah, it stopped. Now relax and let me return the excess."
Heat gradually returned to Jin's body as Kame fed him droplets of energy, each one water warmed by pure sunshine. That wasn't the only source of heat - Kame's hands were working their way under Jin's shirt, stroking in time, taking him from freezing to scorching. The combination left him happy and excited and more awake than he'd been in days.
But all of a sudden, the current cut off. "Why'd you stop?" Jin said, disappointed and not concerned about hiding it. "I was enjoying that."
"We've reached a balance. Do you feel better now?"
"Much better, thanks." Jin tried to sit up but Kame picked that moment to squeeze just so and his bones melted away. "Is it going to be like this every time now?"
"Only if you want it to be. It's one of the more entertaining parts about being with another mage - adds a little 'colour', if you like - but unless one or both of us deliberately starts it, you can forget it. Besides," Kame shifted himself back into position, making Jin gasp again, "we can have just as much fun without it."
"You'll have to show me what the other entertaining parts are sometime."
"There's mid-air, for starters..."
"Tell me you're kidding." Without warning, Jin found himself hovering half a foot above the couch, held in place by Kame's arms around his back. "I guess you're not kidding..."
Kame lowered them down again when Jin started giggling at the absurdity of it all. "You're too heavy for me to hold for long like that," he said. "When you can fly too, then we can start to think about experimenting."
Jin envisioned the two of them galivanting on the ceiling, or perhaps romping in the clouds, scandalising ascending aeroplane passengers. There hadn't been anything in the gossip magazines about that, but few of Kame's past dalliances had been with fellow mages and it would be quite difficult to get photographic evidence of that sort of thing. "Well, I have always wanted to go sky-diving..."
He gave up on teasing when Kame began to move his hips again, having lost his patience somewhere along the way and most of his finesse as well; the occasional kisses grew increasingly sloppy, though no less well-meant. Jin was starting to regret leaving so many clothes on. His shirt was damp with sweat and his hair stuck to the back of his neck. He'd showered before coming over to Kame's apartment, but another one was definitely going to be in order.
It was nice, seeing Kame so happy. He'd been watching Kame visit the store for over a year, always smooth and confident, but his good mood seemed like a mask, as though he were determined to have the world see him as a cool, competent man who'd successfully obtained his heart's desire. It had taken a while for the mask to crack, for Kame to show his true smile, the one that was brilliant and goofy and heartbreaking all at once, and it hadn't taken many of those smiles for Jin to realise Kame wanted him. Of course at the time, forming attachments to anyone was a bad idea, what with Jin being unable to leave the sanctuary of Ueda's store and uncertain of ever ridding himself of the curse. Kame had no idea how grateful Jin was for his removing it, but Jin was having fun thanking him.
Kame's precision might have been lost to pleasure but he had no trouble concentrating on Jin, all teeth and tongue and hands everywhere at once. Jin caught hold of Kame's arms, pulled himself up so he was half-sitting.
"You'll ruin your back," Kame warned.
"I trust you to heal me." Jin wriggled closer, resulting in Kame changing the angle of his thrusts in a way that suited Jin down to the ground. "You can fix it for me just like that-" His voice rose sharply on the last word as Kame found that spot inside. "Mmm...maybe not quite like that..."
"Are you complaining?" Kame let his fingers hover dangerously close to Jin's collarbones, threatening to tickle.
Despite the risk, Jin gave him a teasing smile. "Not if you do that again."
Kame brushed his fingers lightly over Jin's weak point, then relented with a grin when Jin squirmed and batted him away. "I suppose I could oblige..."
It didn't take much more to leave Jin sated, worn out but happily so, and badly in need of a fresh T-shirt. He yawned, once he had the breath for it, and let himself fall back against the cushions, closing his eyes and beginning to drift off. He felt incredibly tired. It barely registered that Kame was still moving, rushing towards his own climax - he might as well not have been there at all, for all Jin could feel. He didn't remember it being so...exhausting.
He scarcely even noticed when Kame finished with a shudder and a low moan; when he pulled out to clean up, all Jin cared about was the loss of warmth.
A few moments later, Kame rested a shaky hand on Jin's cheek and sighed. "You did it again, didn't you?"
"Did what?" Jin murmured sleepily. Why wouldn't Kame let him nap in peace?
"Gave too much."
There was a tingle where Kame's fingers pressed against his skin, and then the cobwebs were chased away, strength returning to Jin's limbs. He opened his eyes, found Kame standing over him, dishevelled but beautiful, concern written all over his face. "Thanks for the pick-me-up."
"You're welcome." Kame ruffled his hair, messing it up even further. "I knew this was a bad idea. Now you've started...we've opened the floodgates. The more control you have over your spells, the less energy you'll need to use, but for now even doing little things will wear you out if you're not careful."
"But it's okay like this, isn't it? You can just give it straight back."
Kame shook his head. "It didn't go to me this time, Jin. I don't know what you were channelling energy into when you came but it wasn't me."
"Where did it...?" Jin sat up, swung his legs over the side of the couch, and blinked. "Uh...Kame?"
Kame looked and almost split his sides laughing. "Tomorrow, we work on how to keep your energy to yourself. After we go furniture shopping!"
Every last one of Kame's cushions was now a giant pink marshmallow.