First Date (Tag M-)

[daywalkingblade]

The black muscle car rumbled into the gravel parking lot of what looked to be a bar/saloon in the middle of nowhere, upstate New York. The place was south of Rochester by about forty miles. Above the entrance, a tacky red neon sign read "The Roadhouse". There was no one hanging around outside, but thee were several cars and motorcycles. It was pretty quiet for what one might expect of a bar, at least from the outside. As the car pulled to a stop, Blade glanced at his passenger. This was going to be...interesting. She was too pretty and far to classy for a place like this. Hell, she was probably too stunningly beautiful to be in this car with someone as rough around the edges as Blade. But here they were. People would notice as they went into the bar, but nobody would say anything. Of that fact at least, Blade was certain.

"We're here. Stay close, and order whatever you want. The food's actually pretty good, and the drinks are better. Once I get some information on where to find some suckheads, we'll be out." He flashed a little bit of a toothy grin. "Guess you could say this is the closest to a "date" portion of this outing as we'll get."

They both pushed their doors open and stood up out of the car. The parking lot remained silent. Hunters and mercenaries were probably inside drinking quietly, enjoying a bit of peace. There were the occasional loud, rowdy drinkers - usually the mercs - but most just wanted a place to rest and get information before the next big job. Also, most didn't trust the night enough to be drunk out in it. Blade knew the bartender inside. A good woman by the name of Ellen who really knew her shit. It was why he liked coming here. Of course, he knew the bartenders in most of the Roadhouses around the country. It was a bit of a chain, but not in the corporate sense. When a place was named "The Roadhouse" in some back country nowhere, it was a kind of secret sign to all hunters and some mercenaries that this was a safe haven and a good place to exchange information and get jobs. They were also neutral zones. Any who dared cause any trouble in these kinds of places was blacklisted, and that was as good as being fired in this line of work. In some cases, it was a death sentence because it also meant no assistance in any job ever again.

"You ready?"

Comments

[daywalkingblade]

"Well in that case, guess I have a damn good reason now."

Although, truth be told, Blade wasn't a virgin, but he was relatively close to one. He'd had one night stands fucking women who didn't matter a very few times in the past. Most said he was good, but he knew that was probably only because he was naturally gifted in the stamina department. If he'd never had the time to learn to flirt, then he sure as hell hadn't had the time to learn how to really please a woman. That didn't mean the man in him didn't want to, though, especially now as he turned his gaze ever so slightly away from the distraction of his work. It took a stunning woman like M- here to actually make him shift his gaze. Well, better late than never.

"That's the kind of fucked I think I'd like. But I guess we'd both be lacking in experience in our own ways..."

He shook his head. "Yeah, they're loaded. Seelie are the Tinkerbells. Usually better regarded because they're usually prettier. Least in the conventional sense. But they can be some nasty fucks sometimes. Unseelie, on the other hand, can actually be nastier when they want to be, but least they don't try to hide it. They are what they are. They fulfill the balance, or some shit like that. Cold, dark, and death are necessary, or so they say." He grunts. "Doesn't mean I condone them spreading any of the above on my turf."

Blade shrugged, looking up at her as he finished his steak. "They usually aren't as pretty as you. I'll admit, I've killed more of them than the Seelie, but not a one didn't deserve it. You go on and be M-. I'll help you do it. But now we know what might be coming after you eventually if they think you're still their queen. Shit might get real, but I won't let anything happen to you."

[cold_as_snow]

She counted his reaction as a victory. The complicated, man looking at her from across the table wanted to try something besides his work for long enough to get somewhere. Not that she didn't assume part of him thought like a man. There were the diehards that literally lost all that was sexual in them and the ones who pretended and fought. The fact she was here at all was plenty telling.

"All the more reason to get a little practice."

The familiarity of what he says should be vaguely upsetting. 'Seelie' manages to bring something close to a sneer. Some things are too deeply ingrained to be forgotten. Besides, she's entirely certain that light, heat, and life can be just as or more cruel than the things he's mentioned. A vague instinct of the things that can be done to someone who is not allowed to die makes death seem like a kindness. But she doesn't feel the need to explain that at the moment. Instead her expression becomes calm and thoughtful.

"It seems quite fortunate that you and I are going to see exactly what I'm capable of, then."

[daywalkingblade]

"How'm I doing now?" Because he wasn't quite dense enough to be ignorant of the fact that he was flirting in his own way, even if that way was somewhat bumbling about in the dark. Ha. Kinda made a certain kind of poetic sense, since he was flirting with an unseelie woman.

He caught the sneer at the mention of seelie, but he didn't remark on it. Yeah, he knew from what he'd researched under Strange's guidance that the two had a kind of eternal civil war going on. The sneer proved that, memory or no, she was what she was. It'd be like a vampire that didn't remember it was a vampire smelling blood and lunging for it. Fact was, he knew that she could be a monster under the lack of memory, but she wasn't now, and he intended to protect her from herself, if it came down to it. Somebody might come along and try to restore her memory, but that would kill the woman sitting across from him now and he'd be damned if he saw that happen without a fight.

Still..."Hey M-. What's the risk that somebody will try to come and kill you by bringing out what you used to be, do you think? Because..." He had to look away now. Emotions were HARD. "I don't want to lose you. And if you think you're going to become somebody else...I dunno if I can take that after coming to like you now."

[cold_as_snow]

She leans in slightly towards him, her voice dropping to just above a whisper. "You figured out a way for me to go with you to a dive bar filled with people who'd probably want to kill me if they knew the full truth and given proper opportunity. You must be doing something right."

The thing about the woman in front of him is that she isn't human. That's enough for some people and some places to label her a monster, regardless of what she does. She'll never think exactly like a human, never react exactly like one. Courting him, and she doesn't exactly doubt she's the one doing the courting, is courting a risk. He can't make peace with the part of him that is inhuman, and that draws her.

"I don't know who I will come to be. A person checked my head, and apparently it's devastation in there. Which means I've only begun to be who I am. There are no promises about the final product. If that's too much for you? I understand."

[daywalkingblade]

When she whispered, he leaned in closer too. He told himself it was to hear her better, but his enhanced senses could pick her up just fine sitting back. There was just something irresistible about her that drew him ever closer. They were inevitably spiraling towards one another, regardless of how this hunt went,and some part of him knew that even if the rest was too dense to catch on quite yet. Their lips were so close though that it sent a shiver down his spine akin to the one that went down it when she brushed the fluid from his lips earlier.

"It ain't too much for me. Because I think that means I get a say in it. Not that I'd tell you what to do or who to be, but...just being around me might shape that final product. Maybe I can help you like the old man helped me once. Good Karma, if I believed in it. Mostly I just want to help make a woman that I still want to be around. Is that...okay?"

[cold_as_snow]

She's tempted to kiss him in answer. The smell of his skin, the subtle shiver, the flush of heat that she actually wants to feel against her skin. It's too early. He wants her, but he won't accept the want until he sees a person who can keep up with him hit for hit. Who can hunt with him. She can wait, but not before leaning just a little bit closer before relaxing back.

"I think that it's just fine. Whoever stays around has to be in for the ride, which means someone who can survive it. I think you can survive it just fine."

[daywalkingblade]

As she leans back, he feels the invisible tension that he hadn't even noticed fade. It didn't break, but he felt the distance of her presence as a kind of loss. Hell, maybe he wasn't so terrible at the flirting thing after all. How was it that he could be falling so for an unseelie fae? The question had to occur to him at least once, considering how he'd hunted some of them in the past. The answer? He wasn't falling for the species. He was falling for the woman.

"Survival is what I do." He grins a little. "But I need to stop saying that to you. Otherwise I become a broken record, and the point is to become something new, right?"

"All right. Here's the bill, and here's your tip." Ellen was suddenly there, as if she'd been waiting for the right moment to not interrupt something important. She actually looked just the tiniest bit disappointed, but there was a gleam to her eye too. "There's a nest about twenty miles east of here. Word is, they're playing hitchhiker only to lure people back to their place. I'd like to think they're just draining their victims, but I've heard it's worse. They're trying to boost their numbers by turning as many as they can. You'll have your work cut out for you if you can find the nest."

Blade nodded, and put down cash without even looking at the bill. It was more than enough for the meal and a generous tip. Ellen looked at it and raised her eyebrows, but smiled at him. "Thanks, hon. Guess you liked the intel?"

"And everything else." His eyes didn't lift from M- to see her smile widen.

"Good. Now you both get out of here. I'll make sure the silverware looks used." She was sharp, but Blade had known that. She was one of the best in her own right.

[cold_as_snow]

There would be the question of whether or not she were glamouring him, if she knew she had the ability or how to use it. She doesn't know how, and the truth is beyond the native attractiveness she radiates, there's a damned good chance M- doesn't need it. The woman is a femme fatal, even when she doesn't intend to be. Especially when she feels drawn to someone like Blade. The affection, attention, and more runs through her and feeds instincts and to satisfy an ache. Certain things don't change.

"The point is to explore something new, too. Being a little bit of your old self is hardly a sin."

M- didn't let her eyes drift over to Ellen. Not with the way Blade kept his look on her even as the information goes on. His eyes are hypnotic in their own way, and she wonders if she isn't a little caught by him. Definitely more than a little caught when he gives the generous tip and comments about what else he's thanking her for.

"Clever and kind."

[daywalkingblade]

"That's good, because one thing about me that you'll learn; I don't change much."

His gaze finally broke from hers to stand. It was probably a little amazing that he could hold her eyes through sunglasses, but it was pretty much a habit by this point. Blade was okay without the sunglasses, but he preferred them because most light was just intense enough to bother him, especially during the day. Ironically, most vampires dealt with it better than he chose to, but most of them were trying to fake being human. He wasn't. At least, he wasn't any more than necessary to pass through human society.

"She is." He answered M-'s comment, although she could have been talking about either him or Ellen. Either way, he preferred that the complement go to Ellen than himself. "Let's roll."

[cold_as_snow]

M- scoops up her silverware effortlessly tucking them away so they're hidden in her pocket. No sense leaving things that expensive behind, even if she does have the money. Not to mention the evidence as she stands and follows him.

"Good meal, Ellen."

And then she's working on her way out the door after Blade.

[daywalkingblade]

Blade wasn't the type to hold the door open for a lady. In all actuality, he'd likely never even learned that it was appropriate in certain situations in order to feel a lingering sense of guilt for not doing it. As such, when they went out to the car, he opened his door and sat down inside it without a second thought, expecting her to do the same. Ellen's frown in the doorway as she crossed her arms made absolutely no sense to him.

Once they were in and buckled, he flipped on some techno hip-hop that he was fond of, threw the car into reverse, and rocketed off down the lesser used highway. Twenty miles east put the site in a secluded area that was still a necessary artery for going back and forth from Rochester to other parts of the state. Given time, the vampires could really build up their numbers. Given more time, they might decide to move into the city. But they wouldn't be given that time. Blade and M- were going to nip this nest in the bud.

"Alright, here's the plan. Probably going to run across one of these hitchhikers she mentioned. In about five miles, I'm gonna pull the car over and put you in the driver's seat. I'll be crouched in the back. Suckheads like the pretty ones. You'll be a motherfucking honeypot for the little shits. Gorgeous, alone, clearly not from around the area, and ripe for the turning. You lure whichever one is on hitchhiker duty in, I incapacitate it, and we find a way to torture the information about where the nest is out of the bloodsucker. Maybe your freezing thing'll come in useful for that. Most of 'em are weak little pussies and don't take much pain to talk, but you never know."

He flashed a grin at her, his own sharper incisors making it very predatory. "Somehow I doubt even the most stubborn of them will want a slow death by freezing." His gaze returned to the road. "Think you can handle it? You're the star of this first stage of the extermination."

[cold_as_snow]

Just as well, really. M- would accept him holding a door open for her out of respect, but chivalry would have only gotten him a subtle kind of disdain. Women might be treated with a certain ingrained sexism among human cultures, but it was only a weakness to be exploited in her eyes. So Ellen was frowning at Blade for no real reason at all.

The music is interesting. Nothing that M- is aware of, but interesting enough to fill the silence until Blade talks. The plan is one of those classic things that lasts because it works. Let the predator think they're hunting until they're too distracted for anything else. Wrapped in compliments that aren't quite compliments, but details in a plan.

Her smile is a subtle thing. A slight quirk of her lips and shift of her brow. "I have no doubt that I can. The only thing that surprises me is that you'd let me drive your car."

Apologies for the delay...it's the first week of the semester at a new university!

[daywalkingblade]

"Good."

He shakes his head with a small smirk. "Normally, you're right. I wouldn't let anybody drive my baby. Me and this car, we go back a ways. But it's about priorities. You'll learn that about me. Killing these bastards is number one. Always and forever. My car is a close number two. Your safety is a close number 3. Give it a while, and you might make number two. No offense, but I've known my car longer." The smirk became a grin as he patted the dashboard.

"But," he was sober again, "Number three is really fucking important, no matter which number it is. Part of the reason you're lower than the car is also that you can take care of yourself. I've seen the...potential." The freezing. "Much as I love her, my car can't. So I'm putting number two in number three's hands. Don't let me down."

Of course, that show of trust was a huge point in her favor. Saying that he knew she could take care of both herself and the car showed that he actually had faith that she'd make it through the night just fine. That in turn said that he had faith that she'd pass this test, and that implied that this was almost just a formality for him to get to what he really wanted. If he didn't really want to explore something with her and he didn't have faith that she could survive and thrive out here, then she wouldn't be here. It was as simple as that.

Not a problem. I was kind of wonderign if that was the case.

[cold_as_snow]

"Truthfully, your priorities are right. Anything that tries to hurt me is going to find out exactly why that's a very bad idea. Your car is simply subject to whatever whims the driver and passengers subject to it to. Besides, the car has nothing to prove at this point."

Not that M- is really acting like a woman with a lot to prove. If anything, she's calm, waiting with a gently curled energy, like a big cat napping before a hunt. She stays that way until they reach the stopping point, and the shift is from relaxed to readiness that is still surprisingly steady.

It's been crazy! Fun, but crazy. New jobs always are, I guess!

[daywalkingblade]

"I hope so, M-. I really do."

They reached a spot on the road where there was enough of a spot to the side to pull over and change seats. It actually took about six miles to get to that kind of point because even though the road was supposed to be a highway, it was still more of a two lane affair with old, twisting trees hunched up to either side. The night sky was clear and starry, but it was hard to tell through all of the branches. If there was going to be a creepy place for vampires to ambush people, this was it. They had miles and miles of country to hide in - miles and miles not to be found by Blade. Unfortunately, they'd fucked up and gotten noticed by somebody, and Ellen had gotten wind of it and passed the intel along to him. Tonight was not to be their lucky night.

Was Blade tense as M- drove his baby? Of course he was. His teeth were clenched tight in the back seat, but he held the same impassive demeanor as ever. No need for her to know just how tense he was entrusting her with his car. There was a time when he would have called himself stupid for trusting a woman he'd only known for a little while, but...he had not 'but'. He couldn't argue with his former self. He trusted her, though, for better or for worse.

They didn't have long to travel. About ten miles later, the headlights picked up a guy in black jeans and a hooded jean jacket trudging along the side of the road, his thumb out. This one was really playing it up, too. He was dragging a foot behind him in a limp, as if he'd been in an accident somewhere along the way and just needed a little help. When his eyes glinted in the headlights, his features looked so incredibly sad and pleading. It was a good act, if you were stupid. How many people had fallen for it without ever thinking? Thinking that they hadn't passed any accident for this kid to be limping from? He looked scrawny and mostly harmless, but the situation was all wrong. Hell, where was his cell phone? He looked too young not to have one. But humans were...soft. They saw this picture of a poor kid and felt the need to help out.

Blade hunched further down behind the seat. "That's our suckhead." But odds were, she didn't need to be told.

((P.S. I think your tiand*** AIM account got hacked - it logged on and sent me a link to a site that wanted me to click on a your name versus my name a few days ago. Unless that was you? I starred the last three letters in case you want it kept private. :) ))

Especially the beginning of the school year.

[cold_as_snow]

It's always odd to be out of the city where it's too dark for the lights to work. Everything picks up silver lines to make up for the lack of light. Makes it hard for things to sneak up on her from the shadows. Makes it hard for her to pick up that certain places are spooky because she doesn't have the natural aversion. Bright lights are far more likely to blind her and is therefore more dangerous. She tilts her head back and takes a deep breath, letting the smells of the night fill her lungs. Her smile is best described as feral before she slides into the seat.

She doesn't mention that she doesn't know if she can drive or not. The second she slides into the seat, she finds herself familiar with the car. Her hands run lightly over the steering wheel before she rides on the road, forcing herself to drive more slowly than she wants to for Blade's sake. He was trying, but the line of his jaw betrayed him.

There was no reason for Blade to say it. The kid was good, but there was no reason for him to be out on the road. But how many people would actually think of that? Not many. Humans tended not to realize they were prey anymore. So she just nods even as she slows down, rolling the window down as she does.

"You okay?" She asks with clear concern.

Lesson 1 - Parking is no better for profs than it is for students. -_-

[daywalkingblade]

The guy is at the window with an uncanny speed that would maybe strike the unwary as eerie. To Blade, it is classic suckhead. They lose track of what it is to be human, so even when they're putting on their best show, there will always be tells. Always. The fluid speed is one. He can be just that fast himself, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't notice it for what it is. Familiarity can't breed ignorance in a hunter.

"N..no. I had an accident a while back. There's nowhere on this road for help. I..I'm afraid. What if I heal funny before I get anywhere? What if I...die? You've gotta get me to help, miss, please!"

Die. Hmph. As Blade silently prepares a silver garrote, he has to keep from snorting. Yeah, this suckhead'll die just like the rest. Maybe it'll be a good critique of his shitty performance. Hamming it up much? He was almost glad that he finally had someone to share this bullshit with. You had to see it to believe it.

The same rule goes for highschool teachers if they don't show up at the buttcrack before dawn

[cold_as_snow]

It was good to see him move. The vampires were fast, and the truth was she didn't know if she needed to be that fast in the given situation. Or strong, or half a dozen other things. The same instinct that let her know she could drive said that she could handle the fight. So far it hasn't led her astray. Hearing the sob story, she parks, unlocks the door and gives him a sympathetic smile.

"Get in. It would be cruel to leave someone alone and injured on a dark road. I'll give you a ride somewhere safe."

She radiates a kind of friendliness and warmth that's underlined with concern as the vampire gets in.

Yikes! Yeah, it's a pain because you pay for a parking pass and can't park! Grr

[daywalkingblade]

"Thanks lady, I really appreciate it."

The guy slid into the car, something a little too smooth about his movements. Most didn't see it. Blade did, and he was starting to suspect that his former fae partner in this hunt did as well. It made him happy for some reason deep down to see her handling things so well, but he warned himself not to get too excited; this was still all of the easy shit. The rough part was coming up in, well, just a few moments actually.

When the car started rolling again, the vampire made his move. He began rubbing his hand along her inner thigh, almost as if he was coming on to her or molesting her. It was the kind of thing that made Blade see red, far more than he would have normally. He wanted to stake the motherfucker through the chair. But he had to let this play out. Killing one suckhead wouldn't solve the problem, and without him they couldn't get to where they needed to go.

"Keep driving, lady. I'm going to show you a really good time." He smiled at her, revealing fangs. At this point, most women would be startled, demanding that he stop, and becoming either indignant or scared. The fangs would terrify them, and probably startled more than not into silent compliance. "You'll fly higher than you've ever flown before." He laughed aloud, all of his sad puppy demeanor gone. If she started to struggle, his nails would lengthen and he'd subtly remind her how close he was to severing a major artery in her thigh.

Blade clenched the garrote, but kept his peace. It looked like he wouldn't need it after all. Assuming M- didn't fuck him up in a spat of temper of her own, this stupid little bitch was going to lead them right to the den of wolves. A silent movement switched the garrote for a stake. Once they got to the home base, this monster's ticket would be punched.

Ugh. That's not fair. Or shocking.

[cold_as_snow]

The vampire misses subtle signs in M- as she starts moving and he decides to start playing handsey. A regal disdain runs through her, subtly, sure, but nothing he would have missed if he weren't so intent on being a creepy vampire stereotype. She says nothing until his hand runs a little too far up her inner thigh and his little monologue finishes up.

It's fast. There's so much water in a body, even a vampire's body, just waiting to give up the constant struggle necessary for heat. When he tries to move his hand, there's a crack that registers before the pain of having his hand first frozen, then the soft tissue broken everywhere but the bone that connects them until it, too, gets cold enough break in his panic.

Her hand darts over in a movement the vampire is too distracted to stop and she grabs the handful that is his groin with a cold hand that makes the vampire freeze, not so literally, and whimper as she applies a slowly increasing pressure.

"The good news for your future is that you apparently are smart enough for me not to speak this particular threat out loud or follow it up by mentioning this is not the only way I intend to castrate you if you don't cooperate. The next bit of good news is that I have need of some information. Give me it to me, and I promise you won't die while finding out exactly how much of your body I can freeze then break off at a time before damaging your heart or cutting off your head. Or decide to take a few days and revisit the more tender parts of your anatomy whenever they begin to grow back."

She glances over and there's a flash of a brutal streak that says she could laugh while doing it.

"Nod your head if you're willing to make the deal."

Nickle and dime, nickel and dime. I love universities, but they do nickel and dime you a lot.

[daywalkingblade]

Well, things didn't always go as planned. M- Wasn't going to play the fearful damsel being led back to the lair of the vampires. It might've been the quieter, less flashy way to go, but there was something regal about her that wouldn't allow her pride to even be faux wounded so. Blade's lips pursed and he nodded in appreciation, still unnoticed and likely to remain so behind the seat. It would appear that he wasn't even needed at the moment. It really was her show for the moment. He was impressed.

The vampire was still screaming bloody murder about his hand. A string of obscenities along the lines of "WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK, LADY? WHAT KIND OF FUCKING NUT ARE YOU?! YOU CAN'T BE A HUNTER, YOU CAN'T!! JESUS GOD, JUST LET ME GO!!!!" It went on like that until she grabbed his family jewels, beloved even to a suckhead that didn't need to make any babies, and then he shut up and glared at her in a mixture of fury and terror.

"We were gonna turn you, make you an immortal hottie, but now you're just gonna get drained, bitch. We're gonna fuck you uUUUAAGH!" Apparently she had reminded him of his lack of control in the situation. He finally gave her a sullen nod at the deal. "Yeah, sure, whatever. You can go to your grave knowing whatever it is that's so goddamn important that you'd risk the wrath of The Coven for it."

At that, Blade snorted. He couldn't help himself. They'd given their little club a name? The vampire spun around as much as he could and when he saw Blade, he started to panic again. Blade just grinned at him.

"Oh nonono, FUCK no, FUCK THIS SHIT, man, I did NOT sign up to fight the goddamn Daywalker!" Forgetting his tenuous position in his panic, he actually tried to leap out of the car with her grip still firm on his tender bits.

I swear I replied to this days ago.

[cold_as_snow]

The vampire talked too much. Far, far too much considering most of it was utterly useless information and ranting. Really, did it think she was afraid of it and the other vampires? Creatures of the dark, her well toned ass. Just children thinking they understood even for one moment what it meant to be part of the night. That time of perfect rest, unease, safety, and fear. M- could feel it. The power delighting in a conduit that had largely been lost.

The gaze that met hers in the mirror almost spooked her, belonging to an entirely different face that was still hers even as she gunned the engine, forcing the doors shut faster even as her grip tightens into an absolute inhuman force on the handle she has on his flesh.

"Shut your insolent mouth, you useless corpse, before you find out exactly why you're afraid of the wrong person in this car. Yes, the Daywalker is a scary son of a bitch who would happily torture you until you give him the information that he wants and then proceed to kill you."

She pauses, wondering where this voice came from. Cold, cruel, beautiful. Nothing amongst humanity had brought it out, but balancing the wheel and pinning the vampire left enough of her active mind busy to let this old skeleton get some flesh. Was this what Wade had missed and others feared?

"I, on the other hand, have no crusade that needs me. Which leaves me days, months, perhaps even years to explore certain fine points of pain on a captive who could survive it. You would do nicely."

Mab.

It's all good. You know me...I've had that happen more times than I can COUNT so I can't talk!

[daywalkingblade]

Since there was no hiding any more, Blade sat up and just leaned forward between the seats with an elbow on each one. There really was no need to jump into this little spat between her and the vampire. She was doing a fine job on her own, and he just couldn't help grinning the whole time. This was the kind of entertainment that he missed working alone. It was better than the Nightstalkers, though. This was a woman who definitely knew her shit and was far more than capable.

But the woman that spoke, the woman that lurked behind those beautiful icy blue eyes...that was not the woman that he had come out on this "date" with. He observed it all in silence, still enjoying the vampire's misery but recording all of it. It was the first hint he got that this might not last. Sure, he felt a little bit of sadness deep down at that, but it was good to know that she was finding herself little by little. This was the Queen. Queen Mab. A cold shiver shot down his spine as the words sounded in his mind with all of the regal tone one might expect.

"Nooonononono..." She'd convinced him. He had heard it in her voice too. A newly born babe to the night recognized its better, recognized a woman that had been one with the night since before the night even had a name, since it was but a concept in some god or gods' eyes. "Please lady...Blade..don't let her..."

Blade put his hands up. "Her show right now, suckhead. Not mine. I'd give her whatever the fuck she wants."

"I..I...what do you want?!?! He was wailing now. It was kind of pathetic how quickly she cracked him.

Blade looked at her. "I like your style. Glad you're on my side." But was she, really? Something told her that the woman inside the woman in the driver's seat was on no side but her own.

And yet still he felt drawn to her. Interesting.

I appreciate it!

[cold_as_snow]

Blade was a comfortable shadow over her shoulder. She should be worried that he'd stab her with this particular flare, right? No, not really. Plenty of hunters would, but Blade wasn't any old hunter. He was the Daywalker, which clearly meant something, as did the streak of vampirism running through him. Hunt his prey with him, and he would put the rest off until later. After they both dissected what was happening here and now. Which starts with the mewling wretch in the front seat.

"Directions to this Coven of yours. After your description, I just have to go visit these welcoming individuals of yours."

As the vampire gives the instructions and she drives, her gaze flicks back to the mirror. That dark and dangerous thing was still there staring back out of her her eyes, and it did not frighten her. M- knows in a quiet way that what she's seeing doesn't mean she can't be the kind self either. Just that she isn't quite as simple as she was the moment before. That's comforting in a way she can't explain so she can answer the question that isn't quite in Blade's statement to her.

"It does keep things more interesting."

I seriously think I write posts out in my mind and forget to type and send them sometimes.

[daywalkingblade]

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you want, just make it quick, all right? Don't make me your butterfly pinned to a goddamn board that you poke at just for shits and giggles..."

Blade gave her a wry look. "You'd think he thinks you're his personal devil, with a hell already laid out for him." He looked back at the vampire. "But he's smart. Knows there's no way out of this for him."

The directions he gave her had her turning off the road into a dirt path that didn't even look like a road at first. Once under the trees, it widened out a little, but only a little. They passed through thick darkness and then by a large, moonlit field to the side. Wherever they were going, it was several miles back off the road. He told them that it was a farmhouse about a mile further on, one probably no one missed when suckheads ran it over.

"Probably gonna need to walk from here to keep the element of surprise." He paused, then looked at her. "I like interesting. But I'm not sure if I'm gonna be heading back with the same woman I came out with. Not sure how I feel about that one yet, but I signed on to this knowing you'd be changing. Guess we'll have to see what's what when this is all done."

He started to walk down the path. After a few steps, he raised a hand in a gesture over his shoulder. "You can kill him now. Just don't let him scream. And feel free to enjoy it all you want. I can wait."