The other thing was, he was pretty sure by this point, the bizzare and heady aroma of Chovek's herbal tea. It was unfamiliar to him and dizzying, though soothing in its own right. The smiling half-blood sipped it at slow intervals, ocassionally stirring his teacup's contents with a large digit. Absently, Kyo mimicked his actions with an index finger in his own shotglass before catching himself.

The conversation thus far had gone nowhere dangerous or significant, and he was thankful for that, because he didn't want to have to watch his words at the same time he was drinking freely. The two patterns of behavior didn't mesh and he didn't want to force them to. So far, they had only spoken of Chovek. So far, that had been nothing about family or ghosts. It was only work and the safe, sweet present. His movements, his soft speech, in a way had been explained. A dancer, Kyo thought dumbly to himself. That makes so much sense. He realized he'd said it out loud a little too late. Maybe he should set aside the rum for now.

"Would you like to see?" The growling, alien accent of the half-blood interupted his thoughts. Chovek made a motion to climb to his feet. His lack of bashfulness at his own nudity made Kyo emberassed on his behalf and the blonde's face reddened again. The movement disturbed Chovek's tea and a fresh cloud of its scent went up. It made Kyo think of the forest behind his high school years ago, and he couldn't think of why.

"Yes. I mean, no, but only because..." He really wasn't sure why he wanted to put this off. For a moment he fumbled for an excuse, but none came. Chovek smiled and settled back into the cusions without asking for one. What time was it anyway? He glanced around for a clock, squinted into the kitchen, but couldn't make out the glowing numbers on the coffee machine.

"Well past the last train," Chovek offered the information he was after.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get stuck here." That was a partial lie, and by the look the dancer gave him they both knew it. Kyo bedded the guilt at voicing it with another shot. He could feel the alcohol settling in his limbs now, and wondered if he'd stagger once he stood up. He'd stayed immobilized on the couch since he'd been offered a seat there, but now he suddenly wanted an excuse to be alone a moment. Placing the shotglass and bottle on the floor, he looked slowly from side to side, testing how stable he felt. Stable enough, he decided. He wasn't so drunk he was feeling stupified, at any rate. "Where's the bathroom?"

Waving a tridactyl white hand, Chovek stood. Kyo felt a fresh surge of blood to his face as the dancer climbed to his feet again. He tried to quell it with a cough. His lungs felt weakened and heated by the alcohol, the cough coming out feeble and leaving him feeling strangely satisfied.

"Come on, I'll show you. Are you feeling tired?"

Tired? Not really, not at the moment, and he was still wrestling with exactly where he wanted to go from here. The question of whether or not he intended to stay for sex was sending him in mental rings, trotting like a trick pony on a wire. Were they going to sleep together? Were they going to both back out? Were they going to pussyfoot around the entire evening and leave it until another time when one of them had the courage and the morality to make the first move? He shook his head. It was a bad idea to do so and he had to put out a hand to steady himself before even making it to his feet. He hoped Chovek hadn't noticed. Once up, he felt himself stagger slightly as he began to follow the cream-coloured alien. At the sound of the sudden awkward footfall, Chovek glanced over his shoulder, extending a hand again, asking if he needed any help. Kyo brushed it off quickly, maybe too quickly. He was fine, just fine, fine if not sober and he hoped to keep that front up for a while anyway. Chovek left him in the bathroom. Kyo shut the door quietly.

It was easier to admit how drunk he was alone. Pressing his back to the door, the Hekshanian let himself slide down to a sitting position on the tiles and began to laugh. It was a silent laugh, his shoulders shaking and lungs shaping the air but his throat just too lethargic to make the sounds. This was rediculous. It was the first time he'd ever done something like this and it was turning out to be more confusing than it ought to have been. He had always thought the concept of picking people up in a club was supposed to be that there were no strings, no complications, just a mutual desire for temporary company and maybe some sex. Now that he was here, though, he felt as though somehow spidering out of that void was the start of actual human emotion, and that made things difficult. Generally he'd thought being straightforward would uncomplicate matters, but somehow it was only making things worse.

Was it because Chovek was a man, maybe? He'd never had this problem with women. No, he doubted that. It was much more simple than that. Kyo was waiting for Chovek to make a move, to give him some slightly aggressive act to go from as an indication of what was to follow. But the dancer was anything but aggressive and was waiting for Kyo to go at his own pace. The paces themselves contridicted.

God damn, this was stupid.

For a half a second, he entertained the notion of just walking out the door and grabbing Chovek. Of throwing him on the couch, or the bed, and turning it into a clipped out scene from a home-made vanilla pornography. It was so rediculous he burst out laughing before remembering the half-blood could probably still hear him. He obviously had. A short double-knock on the door and Chovek called his name. Kyo cleared his throat and fumbled to his feet.

"Gimme a minute," he told the other side of the door.

Take a leak, wash your hands, wonder for a minute at how excessively soft and nice it feels to touch Chovek's towels...then shake off the drunken infatuation with bath linens and open the door. Kyo wondered if there was really only one way to get through this stalemate or not. Would it turn into something so preposterious and against both of their natures, just to get around the complication? He didn't want it to wind up that way. But more, he didn't want the responsability in his hands if it did. That left him with one real option, which was simply to trust it to Chovek. He hoped that would be the right choice. Regardless, he gave up on the pretense of responsible sobriety. It was just getting harder to maintain, anyway. Leaning against the doorjamb, he rolled around the entranceway and smiled at the half-blood who stood, leaning inwards against the wall.

"Well?" The scent of the herbal tea clung to the dancer's muzzle.

"Yes, please." Did that make any sense? Would Chovek have any idea what he was talking about?

His host smiled. Apparently he had a fair idea after all. Taking hold of Kyo's hips, the dancer pulled him closer.

It was admirable, in a way, Chovek felt, how Kyo kept maintaining a facade of near-coherancy. It reminded him of a dog who's torn up the paper, but still tries to act as though it's perfectly readable by bringing it to your feet. He understood the logic of it as well, of course, as he'd spent enough time around Hekshanians to be well versed in their subtle forms of denial. Kyo was afraid of showing a weakness, but at the same time was more afraid of not answering to it and so could not help himself from continuing to solve the duplicitious nature through the bottle. He had the presence of mind to stay still, but his conversation suffered for it. Chovek would mention something from his travels and Kyo would suddenly have a revelation which he had to voice that at best was tangently related.

By the same token, Chovek was glad to see this unintentionally shown fault come to light. He had already known that Kyo was not an overtly negative drunk, he'd met him after the Hekshanian had a few drinks after all. What he had not known was what Kyo's limits were or how his personality shifted nearer those limits or behind closed doors and under a nervous pressure. Awkward attempted sociality was not the worst he could have done for himself. Well soused and still awkward in his intentions, Kyo asked for the bathroom.

"Right this way," Chovek climbed to his feet and quirked one finger to follow. The blonde blushed deeper again, fumbling to put down his glass and bottle and nearly careened back into the couch once on his feet. He denied needing help but put on a good attempt at making the statement true. Chovek grinned and lead him through the study to the guest bathroom. It was less intimidating, really. He was fairly sure that Kyo would be more observant of the room's contents upon exiting the bathroom and the calm wooden bookshelves and personal computer desk were nuetral in their intentions.

Once behind the door, Chovek heard the unmistakable skid and thump of a drunk sliding to the floor. That particular bathroom had seen similar guests a few times. That abandonment of the defensive front generally meant the owner was thinking, however briefly or glancingly, about something. Chovek leaned against the wall beside the doorframe and did his own thinking.

Kyo, unlike most visitors, had spent the entire evening attempting to not impose while at the same time obviously imposing. Despite draining Chovek's rum and sitting on his bathroom floor, there was really nothing he had done short of being a good guest. That, while not exactly unusual, was a bit less scripted than Chovek had become accustomed to. Most of the time, men were more interested in their own goals and took only glancing notice of him as he related to those goals. He did not mind this, as he of course did it himself- would he have sought out an attractive blonde for any reason other than what he himself desired? But Kyo's actions were not in keeping with the situation which surrounded them. Chovek thought, ideally, this could turn out to be a working friendship at the best.

The night was still unfolding. Time was still before them and there was still ample chance for mistakes. He knocked on the bathroom door twice to speed them along, if they were going to happen at all.

"Gimme a minute," Kyo's voice was more slurred as the alcohol was slowly working through his bloodstream. The native flavour of the speech suited the slur. Not many locals had the right pitch to their voices to accomodate that. It made him sound both nonchalant and considerate. The door opened as Chovek thought the intonations over and Kyo leaned around the frame, eyes half-lidded and smile stupidly slow.

"Well?" Chovek ran a hand up the doorframe, leaving the open-ended question for Kyo's own interpretation.

"Yes, please." The blonde smiled and almost immediately hung his head in a short emberassed laugh. Chovek pushed back his hair and ears and reached forward, looping his large hands around the skinny man's waist to pull him close. They were about the same size, but Kyo slouched, somewhat out of nervousness at getting close and somewhat out of intoxication.

The half-blood guided him by the waist as he had before, but this time only a few feet until Kyo's back was pressed to the study wall. Nuzzling against his neck, Chovek touched the blonde's side lightly and pressed their bodies together. Tenatively, curious and maybe doubting the reality of the moment, Kyo slowly raised his arms up to embrace the half-blood. Once in Kyo's arms Chovek could feel the same fear and paranoia of all Hekshanians- the worry of abandonment, the guilty want to use him as a placebo for the loved ones who weren't coming back and the times that were never going to be the same again. Well trained in it, Chovek smoothly pulled away, hands against Kyo's chest. The Hekshanian looked at him quizzicly a moment, as if worried he'd done something wrong. Chovek cupped his cheek in one hand and patted it softly.

"I've never done this before," Kyo's particular brand of honesty was uncanny and refreshing, if unintended. Kyo seemed at a loss for what to do, at any rate. Chovek didn't mind. Given the blonde's personality, it would be Chovek's job in any case. He assured Kyo not to worry, that he could do nothing wrong, his large fingers looping into the front waist of Kyo's jeans, thumb calmly freeing the button in one practiced movement. Tugging the jeans down just a bit, Chovek pressed his muzzle to Kyo's shirted chest and began to sink to his knees, the Hekshanian slowly flattening his palms to the wall. He knew what would be coming and at the least, and with Chovek's gentle touching and reassuring nature, he would not feel guilt over it.

That was the hope, anyway.