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The soft moonlight coming in through the stained glass above paints the room in a myriad of faint colors, gentle, at odds with her purpose in this place. An abandoned church though, really? Mei has to resist the urge to snort and give away her presence. How stereotypical. As her partner pads lightly in after her, leaving scuffs through the thick dust of the floor just like the ones she’d followed here, her hair looking like the very moonlight that illuminates this decrepit place, Mei pivots, gentle as a feather, checking the corners of the room, behind the pews, the shadows of the door. There’s no reason to be afraid of turning her back to what may lie deeper in the church. Kiana will cover her back. She always does.
It’s not likely that their care will even matter, Mei thinks, peering through the shadows. They may be hunters, but today’s prey has far finer senses than theirs. The night certainly will be no obstacle. In the stillness of this ruin, Mei is sure that her very heartbeat must crash against the creature’s senses, the soft song of the blood pumping through her veins. Still, you can’t just turn off training, and it’s not like moving quietly will hurt them. At the very least it makes sure that if the monster makes any sort of noise they’ll hear.
Mei’s hand drifts slowly down to the hilt of her blade. Something about the silence is almost oppressive. Tension lays heavy in the air like a cloud, choking. As they move deeper down the aisle, Kiana takes point, Mei searching the shadows for an ambush as they pass. They’re following the trail in the dust, leading ever further through the church. There couldn’t be clearer bait in the world, but they can hardly pass it by. They’re here to kill the beast, after all. Crosses around their necks, stakes at their hip, and Kiana’s ever-convenient fire ready to go. It’s not that it’s hard to catch a vampire, not like chasing down a werewolf. They don’t tend to understand the hunt in the same way. To cover their tracks, to flee. The werewolves understand it the way they understand breathing. When you reach a werewolf though, they’re not too bad. A good shot with a silver bullet, the flash of a blade, and your problem is solved. Vampires though, the trouble there is finishing them off. You stake them, you decapitate them, and you’ve still got to burn the body to be sure. Extremely annoying.
As she muses on the nature of the profane and vile, a loud crash sounds behind them, and Kiana whips around – bad procedure there, she’s on point, she shouldn’t take her eyes off the front, but when has Kiana ever played it by the book – Mei barely catches sight of a shadowy figure slipping through the broken window at the front of the church, where they’ve passed. Kiana, of course, doesn’t hesitate for a second, throwing herself off the nearest pew to dive through a window after it. Probably sustaining yet more injuries for Mei to have to treat. Something stays her hand as she moves to follow though. Something about the way the window broke. A short pause, to identify what it was that was bothering her, and…
Ah, that was it. The light. Something about the way the light moved when the stained glass shattered wasn’t quite right. There should be more light coming in, and it should be unfiltered moonlight, but… it’s not quite as it should be. She loosens her sword, and stalks her way yet deeper into the church, silent like a ghost. Maybe the vampire will think its illusion caught them both, and Mei can get the jump on it. If she can land a debilitating injury before it even knows she’s there, it will be far easier to pin it down herself.
Oh. It’s… already injured. A rail-thin shape is hunched over in the corner of the back room, feathers scattered around its feet. A deep gash runs down its side, blood dripping out far too slowly for a wound that deep. Has it even fed in the last months? Even now, as it seeks to fix that problem – a messy affair involving the bluebird it appears to have snatched – there’s nowhere near enough blood in that bird to heal what ails it.
She’s taken too long in her surprise. She can see it almost in slow motion as the vampire looks up, locking eyes with her. This will make it much harder. Even if it’s injured – she’s injured, Mei supposes, as it is very clear now that this particular vampire is a woman, malnourished as she may be, given her rather tight attire – fighting a vampire that she does not have the drop on will be a slow and annoying process, if not a lethal one. Which is to say nothing of one that clearly has illusionary magic. Though that’s really quite the injury, hopefully it will slow her down. The vampire though… she’s not leaping at her. She’s clearly a vampire hunter, given her equipment, and the vampire just had the perfect opportunity to catch her flat-footed and… she hasn’t moved. She’s trembling, in fact.
Mei should just step forward and finish her off. A horizontal slash, made as she draws the blade, directly through the neck, and it’s all done. No muss, no fuss. Quick stake to the heart of the decapitated body so she can’t get up and create more problems, wait for Kiana to get back, and the problem is solved, into a neat little pile of ash. She just… can’t stop thinking about that pathetic shape, hunched over her bird. It would be trivial to catch a normal human, even injured like she is, and that blood would heal her up nicely. The bird would be much more work to catch if anything. They’ve tracked this vampire out of the city center to here, so why would she possibly have chosen the bird. And why is she not attacking Mei.
It shouldn’t be any of her concern. Her job is to hunt and to slay vampires, and other creatures of the night. Nice and simple. Just draw the sword and finish the job.
Mei lets the few inches of steel she’s drawn slide back into its scabbard. She crouches before the trembling vampire, looking her in the eye. She reminds her of a baby bird that she found once, almost. Ironic, really, considering her most recent meal. Just a small thing, trembling in fear. The vampire speaks up before Mei can.
“Why?”
Mei simply raises an eyebrow in response, curious to see what she’ll say.
She continues “Why didn’t you… kill me? That’s clearly what you’re here for. I don’t want to die, but… I can’t stop you, if you decide to. So. Why?”
Rather than answering, Mei reaches out a hand, fingers settling over her jaw, tilting her head up, examining. After a moment of observing the slightest reddish tinge begin to color her cheeks, Mei settles back on her heels, seemingly satisfied.
“You could have killed someone. Fixed yourself up real easily, dragged them into an alleyway. Would have been safer and easier than that bird.” As she refers to the creature – the carcass – in question, Mei brushes a stray feather from the front of her pants. “You didn’t, though. For some reason. It made you… interesting. Will you continue to be so? Or should I finish this?” Her fingers drum against the hilt of her sword, reminding the vampire exactly how she could finish this were she to decide to. Mei carefully does not mention that it was the vampire’s beauty that first captured her attention, rather than a guess at her diet.
“The fact that I… chose a bird for my meal – rather than snuffing out a living, breathing, human life – is what makes me interesting?” The vampire seems perplexed. She doesn’t seem to realize how rare that sentiment is. How interesting exactly it makes her.
“Most vampires wouldn’t have. Is that a regular decision of yours, not to sate yourself on innocent blood? I’ve been told it tastes most delicious when they’re pure, uncorrupted. Not just virginal, but kind, altruistic, selfless. That’s the sort of thing other vampires say, while they bleed out on my sword. So tell me, do you think you’re interesting ?” She’s getting worked up. She shouldn’t let her emotions get to her like this. They’re dead and gone. She killed them herself, for all the hurt they caused and all that they said they’re gone .
The vampire seems more lucid, now. Interested herself, just as Mei is. She peers up at Mei with something inscrutable in her eyes, looking for something. Mei doesn’t flinch under the examination, steely eyes meeting hers right back. Naïve as she might appear, those are not the eyes of a newly-turned fledgling, still untouched by hunger . These eyes are ancient, hard. A survivor’s eyes, for all that she seems pitiful in front of her. Mei briefly wonders if she’s being tricked, but the vampire could have struck easily when she grasped her face. Eventually, the vampire speaks. “I appreciate your mercy, then. I did not realize that morals were seen as a rarity among my kind. Would you perhaps leave me to finish my meal? I will swear to you by my name that I won’t hurt any innocents.”
“Your name, mm? I don’t believe I know it yet, to know whether or not to trust that pledge.” Mei is running through lists in her head, all the ancient vampires she knows of. It’s unlikely that anyone who she should be truly worried about is just going to tell her their name and let her identify them that way, but it can’t hurt to have an extra check. Maybe she’ll forget herself.
“Ah, no, you don’t. Fu Hua.” A slight tilt to her head, a glimmer in her eyes. Ah, Mei supposes she must want her to reply in kind, then. The name means nothing to her anyway. She’s never heard of her. Which is a good thing, for both of them. Mei’s sure that at this point it would quite hurt her to kill the vampire – to kill Fu Hua – and she’d have to, if it was any vampire she’d heard of. You don’t grow to be an infamous ancient abomination preying on humanity by being kind and loving. A voice growls from her skull that that attachment makes it all the more necessary that she kill her, before she can’t anymore, but she quashes it down. She’s tired of the violence, and the killing, and being the merciless blade of St Freya.
After a moment, Fu Hua makes a disappointed noise, and Mei realizes that she has not yet told her her own name. That wouldn’t do, she doesn’t want to disappoint her. Wait, she doesn’t want to disappoint her? When did that happen. Shit, she’s really getting attached. Hurriedly, before Fu Hua can say something else, she replies with a terse “Mei.”
The vampire’s face transforms in an instant, a smile breaking through. How simple, that just hearing her name made her beam so. Mei steadfastly refuses to consider how she, too, might be so simple, that her obvious excitement nearly brings the same smile to her own face. Mei collects herself, and, after a moment, continues. “So, Fu Hua, I am supposed to believe that if I let you go free, as you are now, grievously wounded and half-starved, you’ll hurt no one. What is your plan, then? Simply to starve yourself to death out here in this ruin so that you inconvenience no one? No, I don’t think that’s what I will do. You need to feed. Properly. Something more than a wayward bluebird that you managed to snatch.”
Fu Hua looks taken aback, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “First, you only decide not to kill me because I have chosen not to hunt a human tonight. You extend your hand in friendship once you know that that is a choice I make regularly. Now you are here demanding that I do so? I don’t understand. Are you testing me? Looking for an excuse to kill me?” Her voice sounds hurt. Hundreds of years old – thousands, maybe – and she can’t connect the dots. Mei would be disappointed if it wasn’t somewhat adorable. Ah, but she should correct the misunderstanding here, before she causes more than a little confusion.
“Think, for just a moment, about why I might be suggesting you feed from a person. About who I could possibly be suggesting. Out here, away from everyone, alone, who do you think you’d be feeding from?”
The confusion – and the hurt, thank the gods – bleed away from her face, slowly replaced by a rosy blush on her cheekbones. She almost gasps. Oh, now that won’t do, she won’t even look Mei in the eyes anymore. Mei reaches out again, as before, fingers gentler now, and guides her back to meet her eyes. Much better. Fu Hua starts to say something, stutters a little, and, after a moment, tries again. “I… I’m not going to feed from you!” At that statement, Mei frowns, before Fu Hua continues “...I might hurt you…” and it’s clear exactly what her objection is. How utterly adorable; she’s trying to protect her.
Mei leans in closer, lips just barely not brushing her ear, sending warm air skimming across her skin. “It’s cute that you think I would let you hurt me.” Fu Hua shudders beneath her, pressing closer into the corner she’s been huddled in. Mei stands, fingers catching one wrist in a smooth motion as she brings Fu Hua to her feet too. If she’s going to do this, it won’t be happening on the dusty floor of a ruined church with a dead bird sandwiched between them, that much is certain.
As Fu Hua wavers, nearly losing her balance, Mei is reminded of the severity of that gash across her ribs. She’s really going to have to figure out what happened there, at some point. There’s a few things to do first, though. She scoops the vampire up into her arms – too light, as she expected – and carries her out into the main body of the church, ignoring her startled squawk as she does. The things she’s willing to do for a pretty face…
She sets Fu Hua down in front of one of the more intact pews, more gently than is probably absolutely necessary. Fu Hua shifts from foot to foot awkwardly, unsure, tentative, looking up at Mei in a way that makes her feel a fluttering in the pit of her belly… like she’s her savior, like she has all the answers, like all Fu Hua has to do is listen to her and it will all be okay. What a cute little thing she is. Fu Hua breaks the silence eventually, visibly steeling herself to do so. “I said that I didn’t want to hurt you, I shouldn’t-”
Mei is quick to end that line of thinking, stepping forward, pressing into her space, firmly but not harshly. “And as I said already, you’re a fool if you think that I will allow you to hurt me. You will take exactly as much as I give, and not more. If that’s your only objection then we might as well get started. I am not so fragile as you seem to believe – nor as you yourself are, and will continue to be until you properly feed.”
Fu Hua, after a long moment of pause at Mei’s closeness, relents and takes a step back, looking down and away. So shy, for someone as ancient as she clearly is. Mei wonders when she last had to face so much direct attention… at least of the positive sort. Fu Hua makes an awkward sort of gesture with one hand toward the pew, like she’s suggesting Mei sit down. Mei decides it would be much more entertaining to make her say it, and tries to affect an uncomprehending look, as if she’s not quite sure what Fu Hua wants. Fu Hua, after a moment of her eyes flitting over Mei’s face, searching for something, eventually says “Shouldn’t… Um. Shouldn’t you sit down? So I can…” her voice half trails off, a bit timid at having to say it “bite you.”
Mei’s laugh is sudden, but warm. Genuinely amused, she shakes her head a bit ruefully. “Oh, little bird-” Fu Hua’s eyes widen at the nickname, a little shiver, half-suppressed, crawling up her spine “-it’s so cute that you thought that just because you’re going to be feeding from me you would be on top.” A hand to her chest, right above her heart, a light push, and the vampire goes sprawling back into the seat, eyes still blown wide with delicious shock. Mei makes sure to put a particular swing to her hip as she throws a leg across her lap, straddling her, emphasizing their now-even-greater height difference as she leans in. She flicks her hair back, a smooth, practiced motion, leaving the smooth column of her neck uncovered. Her hand comes up to cup Fu Hua’s cheek, her thumb softly brushing her lip, baring the slightest glimmer of fang to the moonlight. She leans in, hand tilting Fu Hua’s head back so that she continues to meet her eyes the whole way. When she does speak, it’s barely even a breath, as soft and quiet as the shadows around them. “Remember, my little bird. You might be a vampire, but I am a hunter. You are simply my prey . Do not forget that.”
Mmm. Mei could definitely get used to seeing that look. Fu Hua looks awestruck, worshipful, like she’s staring at divinity itself. Mei traces her hand up Fu Hua’s jaw, cradling her cheek, threading through the silky strands of her hair. Fu Hua’s eyelids flutter, head tilting almost imperceptibly, pressing into the contact. Mei strokes her thumb lightly over her cheekbone, comforting and reassuring, as she gently tilts Fu hua forward to meet her neck. When their skin meets, Fu Hua simply noses at it at first, her lips ghosting feather-light over Mei’s skin, the gentle exhalation of her breath leaving warmth in its wake. Mei smiles where Fu Hua cannot see her, noting the habit there – the undead have no need for breath, after all – but her train of thought cuts off abruptly at the feeling of Fu Hua’s fangs splitting her skin, ever-so-gently.
It… doesn’t hurt, really. A little pinch, a little pain, and then the feeling of a hot tongue smoothing over the skin of her neck. Really not too unpleasant of a duty. Her fingers curl in Fu Hua’s hair, gently scratching her scalp, and she’s rewarded with a gentle rumble against her skin. Gradually, her eyes slip closed, letting the exhausted vampire take her fill. It’s quiet, peaceful. Not quite so salacious as the rumors sometimes say… unfortunate as that is. Well, she’d still prefer to be the one pleasing Fu Hua, were it to come to that. Mmm, now there’s a thought. She doesn’t have the fangs for it, but maybe once Fu Hua is done…
Mind occupied as it were, it takes her a moment to notice that the vampire, with one final lick to her neck, has pulled away. She keeps her head tucked in against Mei’s shoulder, a vivid blush coloring her cheeks. Which is in itself a good sign – even when she was blushing before, it was a faint thing, not enough blood in her body to circulate up to her cheeks. Mei won’t even start to pretend that it’s not incredibly cute either. From her position tucked against the taller girl’s form, Fu Hua begins to speak.
“Are you alright? You said you wouldn’t let me hurt you, but then, you never pulled me away, so I got a bit worried I was taking too much, and-”
Mei scoffs, cuts her off with a gentle touch under her chin, bringing her up to look in her eyes while at the same time lightly closing her jaw. She leans forward to brush a kiss against her forehead, reassuring. When she speaks, she draws back again first, making sure Fu Hua is looking her in the eyes. “Little bird, I’m fine. I’m made of somewhat tougher stuff than your average human, you know. You’ve not hurt me, and you’ve done nothing wrong – aside from neglecting yourself to this degree in the first place.” She stands from Fu Hua’s lap, noting the disappointed cast of her eyes as she does so, and beckons Fu Hua up with her. “Now, stand up so that I can make sure your wound is patching up the way it should, if you’re not half-starved for blood.”
Fu Hua stands at her instruction, legs ever so slightly shaky, and Mei bends over to examine her side. Ah, good, there it is. You don’t usually end up with an injury on a vampire short of killing them; if they’ve got blood in their system just about any wound should patch itself up in no time – even without blood it will eventually, perks of immortality and all that, but certainly not fast enough for it to have helped Fu Hua. The cut looks quite faded now, like it’s been healing for weeks, not minutes. Mei ghosts her fingers along the rent in Fu Hua’s clothing, feeling the edges of the scar. She’s no expert on the maintenance and upkeep of undeath – much more practiced at the exact opposite, in fact – but she thinks Fu Hua should be more than fine after all that. She steps carefully around Fu Hua, her thin wrist – the side effects of the long-term neglect of her needs will take longer, Mei suspects, than a single feeding to undo – and drops onto the pew herself, sprawling backwards comfortably.
Fu Hua looks somewhat confused, and still a bit embarrassed to be being touched, but Mei is undeterred. She smirks up at Fu Hua where she’s still standing, and pats her lap with her unoccupied hand, beckoning her. “Don’t you think it’s only fair that I have my turn now, little bird? You seemed to have such a nice time sating your hunger, I thought that I simply must do the same.”
Fu Hua’s eyes go wide, but she settles down onto Mei’s lap with almost no hesitation, perching on the edge of one knee gingerly. Mei tuts to herself, and guides Fu Hua’s thigh up and over her lap, straddling her close, just as Mei had done. Despite the reversal in their positions, however, Fu Hua seems decidedly aware that she’s still not in control, squirming a little from her position in Mei’s lap. Though, that might have something to do with the way Mei had her leaning forward a bit, and any friction she might be facing. Mei smirks again, perfectly on-level with her for the first time so far tonight. What an adorable little thing, really. Kiana was going to be green with envy that Mei managed to pick up a girl on a vampire hunt, of all things. Hm. Actually, she was going to have to explain this situation to Kiana when she got back, wasn’t she. It would… probably be fine, Kiana is impulsive, and not very patient or good at thinking things through, but she’s not stupid. If Mei meets her on her feet and clearly unharmed, she probably won’t jump into anything without thinking about it. Regardless, she has a clearly-aroused and utterly adorable vampire in her lap, practically shivering at the thought of Mei sating her hunger in return. There are more important things for her to focus on than how she’s going to introduce said vampire to her vampire-hunting-partner-slash-girlfriend. Though, well, that is probably a good thing to think about eventually. Before said girlfriend returns, ideally.
“Dear, you’re shaking like a leaf. Talk to me, please. I know that I’m a vampire hunter but I would hope we’re past the part where you’re scared of me, by now.” Mei is actually a little bit concerned. She’s pretty damn sure she hasn’t been misreading signals, but Fu Hua seems a little bit scattered, now, and she absolutely doesn’t want to hurt the girl. Well, anything more than a lovebite or two. She could certainly live with that.
Fu Hua, for her part, seems to take a moment to remember herself, blinking a few times before she can answer. “Ah, yes, my apologies. I haven’t gotten to drink blood from a human in… a long while, and I am just a little bit… overwhelmed, I suppose. I’m not scared of you, and… I do want you to return the favor.” Mei leans forward, that domineering confidence gone, and presses a soft kiss to the corner of Fu Hua’s mouth. Her hand returns to its place stroking through Fu Hua’s hair, and her other one comes around to rest gently against her hip.
“I’ll be gentle, little bird, don’t you worry. You deserve to be treasured, after all, and I plan to do exactly that.” A shiver at her words, a silent nod. Mei briefly considers whether she should make her beg, but that would be too much, if she’s already a bit overwhelmed. Just the little reversal of roles that she was planning, that will be plenty. After that, who knows. Maybe she’ll bring her back home, there’s plenty of room. She’s not sure how happy St Freya’s would be with that, but it’s not like they don’t have enough skeletons in their closet anyway, and Mei’s easily their best hunter.
As she ponders on what exactly to do with the girl now that she’s decided to keep her, her body moves on its own, curling possessively even closer, hands moving from soft strokes to a firmer grip, head tucked against her neck. Her tongue ventures out, tasting the fluttering pulse beating under her skin. A gentle bite, at first, teeth just softly scraping, and then, when she hears the hitch of her breath, harder. Fu Hua’s skin under her lips feels softer than the finest silks, and Mei feels that she could stay here for hours, marking the vampire from head to toe, an escalation of the mark her own neck newly bears. She passes her tongue over the bruise she’s making, and is rewarded with a stifled little whine, more reminiscent of a mewling kitten than an ancient vampire. Mei has to fight back a smirk at that thought, given that it would make it quite impossible to properly mark up the vampire’s neck if she keeps smiling like an idiot over how cute Fu Hua is.
She backs away for a moment, both to look at Fu Hua’s face – blushing heavily and eyes adorably screwed shut – and to tilt Fu Hua’s head a bit more, caressing her cheek as she does, giving her access to more of that beautiful neck, smooth and pale, but for one slowly-blooming bruise in the center. Her mark, right there. She can’t think of a better feeling in the world than this. Before Fu Hua can realize that she’s no longer at it, Mei kisses her neck again, right over her pulse point. A few soft licks, her teeth sink in, and there’s a relieved sigh from above her. Fu Hua seems to be getting a bit desperate for more from this whole performance, Mei can feel the clenching and unclenching of her thighs as she tenses up on her lap. Mei settles one hand on her hip, and smooths her thumb over the flushed sliver of skin revealed from where her shirt is riding up, and Fu Hua moans , there’s no other word for it. Just as Mei is contemplating exactly how far they’ll go, exactly what she’ll do with the target she came here to kill, in this ruined church, she hears soft footsteps from the entrance. Kiana’s timing is just… always so terrible.
Mei releases her neck with a soft pop, brushes her lips against Fu Hua’s ear as she whispers “Well, little bird, it sounds like we’ll have company in a moment. Shall I bring you to heel, or will you be good for me?” Fu Hua looks her in the eyes, her own glazed over with arousal, and swallows a few times, like she’s looking for what to say. Mei stands, gently helping Fu Hua to her feet in the same motion, but then, as she steps away from the pew and into the aisle, her hand comes down on Fu Hua’s shoulder, urging her to her knees, not unkindly, by her side. She plays her hand through Fu Hua’s hair, bringing those piercing blue eyes back to hers, and declares “I think I will be keeping you, after all. Are you ready to meet my partner, little bird?”