chairwoman

Simply put, this woman was complicated as fuck. She prided herself on being in power, being in control, and always being able to have a general pulse on everything that was happening in the world, both natural and supernatural. To her credit, she did it extremely well. Being in control always came with its own set of unique challenges and you always had to ensure that you could maintain a cool head while commanding both authority and respect from those around you. Blade commanded that respect from his enemies through both fear and living up to the promises of killing vampires in the most visceral ways possible. While he was still getting to know Chae in a number of different ways, the fact that he'd been able to completely fluster the woman and shut down her attempts to seize control of his operations more or less was an accomplishment in of itself. This thing between them was going to be a complex alliance to say the least, with the best still yet to come. Sometimes you had to be without control to learn to appreciate it among other things, a lesson the Daywalker was happy to bestow upon Chae.

"Everybody's got a choice, Chae. Fortunately for you, your body made your mind up for you a while ago," Blade stated, looking down at the torn shirt she'd just ripped off of his torso with her own strength. "It's been a long time coming too. It's about time you got what you've been fiending for all this time," he stated with the most stoic face possible, before taking his shades off so that Chae could see the midnight red blood color in his eyes. Picking Chae up off the couch, he carried her over to the wall with the greatest of ease and pinned her body against one of the walls, followed by his own body pressed up against hers. "Feel that heat? That tension? Your stomach muscles and walls retracting, recoiling in anticipation? Good. You know what's coming," He smirked, and without a moment's notice, he captured her lips tightly and concisely. Their lips sparked almost instantly with electricity, prompting Blade to tear off the rest of her clothes that she'd had hanging on her body. Completely nude and exposed to the man who could frustrate her like no other, Blade took full on advantage and used his free hands to explore her body. Her breasts were groped rather aggressively while her nails dug deeply into his exposed back with marks and tattoos all over it, drawing blood as deeply as she could as the drops rolled down his back.

"Dig all you can babygirl. You're gonna need to hang on tight," the Daywalker declared, sinking his fangs deep into the the heart of her neck, and grinding the edge of them across her neck all the way down to her collarbone, watching both the wall and the floor beneath get painted with a crimson red color. HIs right hand switched from her ribcage and traveled downwards, right between her thighs, and Blade gladly plugged two of his fingers directly into her core. Curling his fingers deep into her core, the vampire watched the other vamp's eyes nearly roll backwards at his touch, even as he continued to consume her lips and even tongue for that matter.

#ic: chae #verse: vampire #daywalkwithme #rated: usfw

This was beyond what she expected, if she had any expectations at all. He was so ready to give her what he thought she wanted - she had no plans of denying his offer, not when he was so willing. If she did though, he'd have to earn every side of her that he thought he could discover. She wasn't going to make it too easy for him. Like her trust, he had to prove himself time and time again as a worthy ally. But who really was fiending over who at this moment? Blade was always hiding behind that shell, always preaching about how he hated her kind, always greedy and eager to kill vampires like her. Chae always thought he was full of shit.

"You don't make the choice for me," she told him. "No one does. You make it seem like controlling me is the best strategy."

"I'm a multitalented individual. I just don't advertise the good stuff," the vampire hunter concurred, continuing to give the Korean business woman the massage of a lifetime. This line of work was hard trying to exist as you prenaturally were, and though Blade ultimately loathed being half of something he purely despised, he could admit that he had no problem relying on his strengths in order to get the job done. He'd been in this game for over 100 years now, and if that wasn't a testimony to his survival, then he wasn't sure what else there could be. But he'd seen and known Chae's types in the vampire underworld for a good long while now, knew how they operated, and what type of business they liked to involve themselves in. They fancied themselves titans of business and industry, and ultimately used their sway to try and get more vampires into positions of power they didn't deserve. Were they all bad? Not necessarily, but most of them were, and that was more than enough for the Daywalker to enact his war on cleaning up their supernatural asses.

Eric knew where this was going, and in fact it was well intended by him on his part. Chae was a bit different from the rest of her family despite the business facade she always wore around others who worked underneath her. There was more to the woman than she cared to let on, and now that they were in a prime position alone together, he aimed to find out a lot more about her. Seduction wasn't necessarily something he used as a weapon for anybody for that matter, but she was fine by his standards, and that little bit of intrigue in his mind desired to explore her. Removing the rest of the robe from her body, Blade stripped it off of Chae's body and casually tossed it to the side of the couch to render the opposition naked. His hands traveled down from her shoulders and collarbone down to her core, where his index finger danced around her entrance, threatening to travel to the center of her universe and really let her feel his touch. "Not a damn thing you can do about it, is there?" he whispered into her left ear with a confident tone. "I'm gonna fuck you senseless, just as God always intended." And with that, he pushed his finger directly into her core, watching her eyes light up like the night, pushing right past her walls as he curled it inside of her. Her body reacted in real time, but Blade held her down against the couch with one hand from behind, allowing his finger to do a bit of a scouting trip.

#ic: chae #verse: vampire #daywalkwithme #rated: usfw

"Tch," the woman rolled her eyes. Sure. No one likes a humblebrag. Everyone knew that. Still, Chae knew well enough that he was going to kill her, if not now, then later. Whether she allowed them to become intimate now, the end result was still definite. A romance between a vampire hunter and a vampire? It was a tragedy. She didn't choose to be sired as a vampire, but family was family. Despite their dysfunction, Chae was loyal to her clan, her coven. Too many of them have died in the past, having to put down one of their own was always a difficult task, but it had to be done to ensure the continuation of the family line. They almost had been wiped extinct in those parts of the world. There was safety in numbers, as long as those ties were as closely-knit as possible. "You really are something, aren't you?"

Conquest. Chae saw and confirmed his intentions now. If she hadn't already, his objectives were clear as day since his first encounter with Miharu. Miharu may have had her misgivings with him, but the woman considered the possibility of her family now involved in a war they did not sign up for, and Eric was going to be the end of them all, if not Tai. Both were terrible choices to end her undead streak.

There was a reason Chae allowed herself to take on the role of the villain, the one to always antagonize Miharu. It was because she cared about them more than she let on. Of course, it was different carrying a yoke as an only child; the Jungs were a team of three, but she was alone.

And defenseless.

But not entirely. Chae still knew she could hurt him. The question was, would she want to?

That depended heavily on the wayhow he approached her, especially now that she looked the part. The damsel. The one he could rescue. She could play the part, not the first time, but often it worked to her advantage. She knew his strengths, anecdotally, and now seemed a good time to test them. This would end badly. But perhaps not as bad as the way Miharu had been bruised and battered. "Maybe," came the whisper, with no hint of resistance. For now. This was what she would allow, only ripping apart his shirt in response. Her eyes lit up, fangs ready to bite down on his person the very second he let his guard down. She would at least grace him with what he wanted, and figure out where they were later. She knew this was a way he could use her in more ways than one; he was just another body for her to use for no apparent reason other than this - pleasure that she previously refused to be tempted with.

"It's not like you've-- oh--given me a choice, have you?"

anon asks - @bcrninghearts Hey Chae, what did your boyfriend get you for your birthday?

"Boyfriend? There is no boyfriend in the picture." I'm too fucking busy to date.

"But you know, those Jung kids decided it was a good idea to send a gift card, so I can apparently just treat myself to take out. I'm not complaining."

#ic: chae

No doubt Chae would have plenty of questions on her mind about why Blade was being so "nice" to her and everything, but the Daywalker was a methodical person. Everything he partook in happened for both a reason and a purpose; whether he chose to let someone in on that reasoning was solely up to him. You didn't get this far in life by just letting everyone in on your secrets and motives if it put you in grave danger or played directly into the hands of your enemies. Chae wasn't necessarily an enemy or anything like that despite the family that she came from, and regardless of Miharu's objections towards whatever the two of them were developing, Blade didn't give a shit. He didn't follow anyone else's orders but his own. "You're welcome," he obliged. Many people in the world didn't get the chance to see the beauty of the City of Light that was Paris, and all that it had to offer. The language, the scenery, the pastry scene, and a whole lot more were things to write home about, and yet for Blade, he dabbled in both that side of Paris as well as the underbelly of the vampire world that truly had their hand in things. He hadn't been here in nine months, back when the streets were on lockdown for a vampire quarantine that took the Daywalker weeks to clean up. Even now, he still wondered if the threat he'd sliced through was truly diminished.

"Like I need a reason to be nice to you," he ignored the tone in her voice. "Enjoy yourself first and foremost. We need to get you settled into things so that you can understand the scene. But for now, you're tired, you've got jetlag, so it's time for you to unwind a little bit. There should be a specialized meal being prepped similar to what you enjoy eating back at home, but with a French twist. Hope you don't mind the personal chef I know here getting a little bit experimentative with your meal. He likes to try and outdo himself with each and every thing he cooks," he smirked. Standing up to stretch his arms while fighting off the fatigue toxins that his muscles were giving him ( he'd been doing a lot more underground work regarding Tai than he cared to admit it ), he reached for the shoulders of Chae and pushed down her bathrobe to reveal that sleek skin that dabbled in the moonlight. His hands slid downward onto her chest, massaging both sides with the tenderness of a butcher towards meat, making sure she was cared for while the TV automatically turned on to the local French soccer team. "How's that feel, huh?"

He wasn't entirely wrong, she was tired. Mentally. The jetlag was so humane, though she never really felt any physical tiredness after that trip. What was tiring of course, was having to figure out Tai's next move, and Blade's motives. He was more invested than she was in this situation, and he was determined to see the other's end, whether she gave him permission to meddle in her own family's affairs or not. Chae decided to indulge him - spoiling her since they both found out about Tai, basically kidnapping and taking her away in Paris, as if they were on a honeymoon. Sure, he claimed to have no reasons for being nice to her, but she knew well enough he was doing her a favour - one that always came with a price. A price that Chae wasn't sure she was prepared to pay.

Vampires did not get tired nor hungry, but being able to taste food was one of the simpler pleasures she was afforded to. She'd been so used to home cooked meals even as she had taken over the company ( employed a family chef that came through out the day and prepared her meals or sometimes helped her better her cooking skills with little time she had to herself ) that for a moment she started to feel a little homesick. Paris was a welcomed change, all the hustle and bustle of her everyday, undead and mundane life was suddenly filled with something... different. She gathered much that the daywalker knew his way around the place, but before she could gather more questions to ask him, it was as if he could read her thoughts - her mental responses were quick to try and defend herself with pain ( a mental pain that she could inflict in any susceptible mind ) but restrained herself. There was no way he could read her mind, right?

She'd sat on the couch, robe still intact until it was pushed past her shoulders, revealing her collarbones wide and open. Chae's skin was fair and pale, never ever tanned even when she was human. Ivory smooth and cold, his hands were a contrast to hers - roughed by his vampire hunting activities, but gentle enough to help ease whatever tension her neck held. "I didn't know you were apt at this," she couldn't help but muse. But then again, there were many things that Chae still didn't know about him. This trip, she anticipated, was going to be that time she would have to get to know him. Quite intimately at that too.

"You ain't taking the sofa," Blade declared, bringing the bags into the room from the bellhop himself, closing the door in his face without a tip. While he didn't mind tipping, some of the people around this place were a little too expectant of receiving tips for doing the smallest of things that required the littlest of effort. Not on his watch, he thought. After setting aside some of the bags near the wall and couch, the Daywalker shed his signature black trench coat and tossed it over the side of the couch, revealing his long sleeved gray shirt with a red center. It felt good to get out of traditional gear for a change and to unwind a bit; there was a fight out there that was going to need to be fought in due time, so taking advantage of the little moments that they could afford were incredibly important. "This is your vacation, your downtime. I know you got a business to run and everything, but right now isn't the time for business, so those assholes you're texting can wait," Blade declared, taking Chae's phone from right out of her hand and setting it on the nearby lamp stand. This wasn't a mistake that Blade was looking to make, but in order to put a stop to Tai's plans they needed to hit up places of interest to him, and France was one of those places. Easy come, easy go as they always said.

He sat down on the couch next to her, sighing for a moment as the long fatigue of being up for so many hours as well as jet lag finally come to a rest. "You probably won't let me hear the end of this if you hear me say it, but it's good to have you here. I know France isn't one of your usual stomping grounds like Korea and the States might be, but you're gonna learn to love it. The people aren't that bad, and the food's pretty solid if you know what places to hit up, especially the pastry shops. You wanna take a shower, you can. Plenty of scents and soaps that could make your skin cry up in this joint, so do what you will with that. I'll be here."

#ic: chae #daywalkwithme #au: vampire

Chae was about to protest further as her phone has been taken away from her hands, but decided not to say anything further, and only observed. She still couldn't figure out what his motives were; why he was being so nice to her when the fact still stands that he hated what she really was. Maybe things would have been different if she were still human, but that would have meant she would not cross paths with him ever. Whether it was fate or destiny, the fates may just be playing a sick joke, after being undead for decades. Now that he had her full attention, Chae clenched her jaw, unsure of what to say or think, especially when he'd positioned himself next to her on the couch. "Why are you being nice to me?" She wasn't ungrateful or anything, but forcing her to take a break? It was an Odyssean task for anyone to even convince her to take a vacation, so she had to give him credit for succeeding.

He looked tired, and she really didn't mind taking the sofa. He needed the rest more than she did, despite both of them being tired after the brewing storm ahead. She really appreciated the moment of respite he offered her. "I haven't been since I was a teenager," she confessed. A small moment of vulnerability shared between them, and Chae felt it appropriate to reciprocate at least. "For what it's worth, thank you." She didn't shuffle from her seat yet, allowing a moment to pass between them in silence, before she'd stood up and started to unpack her luggage to retrieve her small bag of toiletries, and headed to shower, only emerging in a robe as she'd forgotten to grab a spare set of clothes to change into.

"You seem to blend more than I do. What's on the itinerary?"

"Strange is more than aware of the problem going on right now. Unfortunately he's busy on another plane of existence handling a different problem so he'll be out for a while. Nothing we can't handle though," Blade assured, keeping his hands steady behind the wheel as they maneuvered through the Parisian streets. They weren't as crowded or packed as they used to be years prior, and to this degree Blade much preferred it. Less people on the roads meant less people to deal with in general, and even less people prone to vampire attacks on the streets at night. After what had went down here in Paris years ago, where things with vampires taking over the city of light had gotten so bad to the point that the city had to put up quarantine zones, Blade wanted to make sure that something like that never had to happen again. "But yeah, we're here. 4 star hotel stay that I get for free because of the work I put in a few years ago helping the people of this city out. Can't say it's completely 5 stars, but it's the thought that counts and the act that matters, so we'll make the most of it. Even someone with your preferences should be able to survive here."

As the vampire hunter pulled up into the parking lot of the hotel, there was a valet already meeting them out in the parking lot. As the bellhop unloaded their bags from the car itself, Blade pulled out a spare keycard and handed it over to Chae. "This'll get you in and out of the room at a moment's convenience. I'm not hiring personal security though, but the people that guard this place should do a solid job of keeping shit in check and making sure that nobody who needs to be here gets in here," he assured her. Taking the elevator up to the fourth floor was an interesting ride, as not much was said if anything at all, but the body language from both parties told the entire story in of itself. This was going to be a unique experience to say the least, and even though this wasn't exactly anything new or groundbreaking for Blade, having to care for someone like this while bigger things were going on was giving him a challenge he'd never quite anticipated. He still welcomed it with open arms, though. The elevator doors opened up and directly to their right was the room Blade had set up shop in. "Feel free to make yourself at home."

"Must be nice." Chae had other places to stay as she had initially planned, but it looked like she'd have to adapt to whatever he was giving her at the moment. Again, at least until she had already managed to get a good grasp of her new surroundings. The heiress gathered that Blade frequented the city, and that he must be well connected to the owner of the said hotel. Luxurious, as it was definitely to her tastes. Then again, while Chae appreciated the finer things, she liked them simple. She pocketed the spare keycard he handed her, and merely followed as they stepped into the elevator. She'd been on her phone as it ascended to the fourth floor, checking her emails while on the go, because being a CEO at current circumstances meant little rest and making sure things ran smoothly even when she was offshore. The silence was appreciated, only the sound of soft feet patting against the carpeted hallway floor were all that she could hear in addition to the minute heartbeats of her dhampir companion.

The hotel suite where they'd set up camp was by no means cheap, and was rather... intimate. Perhaps a little more intimate than she had expected, but they were in France after all. There was a small sofa at one end of the suite, a single king-sized bed, and a balcony with doors (currently closed) that overlooked into the streets and even gave a view of the famous landmark that the capital city was known for. There is one bed. Upon entering, Chae had this habit of removing her shoes, not caring whether her socks would be dirtied. At least until she could unpack. The woman made it a practice to bring a set of indoor slippers, leaving her shoes by the suite door. This was of course something that may be out of sorts and foreign to the daywalker, Chae realized. But nonetheless, she only meant to stay the night, then maybe get on her own way and out of his hair if she could afford it. "I can take the sofa," she stated, already sitting down to unwind. Still, she'd be checking some of her emails, replying to texts, before she switched apps to check social media.

Whatever business she had to handle in Manila, Blade was more than content with letting Chae do what she needed to do. In these trying times, every vampire had their own personal ways of dealing with either trauma or lack thereof, and with Tai now bringing in terrors and nightmares far beyond the pages of the original Darkhold, the Daywalker couldn't even be mad at Chae for being a bit shook. It took a lot to admit whenever someone had you stymied far more than you cared to admit; pride was a thing after all. The higher up the totem pole and food chain you were, the more your pride became a thorn in your side. All you had to do was point to individuals like Tony Stark and Reed Richards as smart, brilliant men who had pride the size of shoulder boulders, and even on most occasions they wouldn't admit that to anyone. Nonetheless, he wanted to meet her at the airport to at least give her some kind of familiar face to work with. After pulling up to Charles de Gaulle airport, Blade made his way through the security detail and baggage claim area to find the Korean businesswoman herself. He even checked his phone with a smirk, not bothering to answer the text that she sent as he stalked her from the shadows, just to pop up behind her without saying a word.

"Depends on what your definition of fun looks like," he scared her as she jumped just slightly before turning around to stare at Blade himself. "Glad you could make the trip," he calmly stated, bringing her body towards his for a brief warm hug to at least make them look like they were normal in these types of surroundings. "I'll introduce you to the doctor that I know soon enough, but we need to get you acclimated to your new surroundings first. Let me get your bag. Just follow me," he instructed her, pulling her bag over his shoulder with little to no effort thanks to the superhuman strength he possessed as a dhampir. When they got to the car, he popped the trunk open and set her bags down inside next to his own that were still in there, and closed it shut. "I know what you want from me," he walked past her, murmuring lowly into Chae's ear, his rather rough skin brushing up against her soft, experienced skin. "Hop in the car and let's roll. Maybe you'll get it," he dangled the carrot in front of her.

The sudden whiff of air meant only one thing. Of course, Chae had yet to identify that scent, his when she finally pinpointed it; but before she'd realized he may have been closer than she initially guessed, he'd already shown up next to her. A subtle jump and her head turned fast enough to give a normal person a whiplash. "You did mention there was something important going on here," she pointed out. The way she froze at his hug was definitely a curveball, but she didn't resist, showing any watchful eye around them that they were just fine. France was about as new as it could be; it had been a while since she last set foot at the country. Nonetheless, she started to appreciate that he took the time to pick her up, and allowed her to get her bearings a little bit before more things went out of her control than she could afford. "Thanks for picking me up." There was nothing wrong with a simple act of gratefulness, though a part of her still wondered why he was helping her. What the catch was.

Huh. What did he think she wanted from him? Chae wasn't about to play mind games, and she knew he was starting again. As she'd known him, he was the type to play mind games and use them to his every advantage. Chae wasn't always a fan of that, but she knew she had to be cunning. Not completely distrustful, but every move he made was enough for her to question his every motive behind it. "...okay?" She was quite unsure what he was hinting at, but nonetheless she'd hopped onto the passenger seat, quietly taking in the sights of the city. "I'm gonna assume that Strange is aware now, huh. Am I wrong?" She may have been not looking at him, not because she abhorred him, but it was clear that her mind had not yet taken a break trying to manage everything in between her visit to Manila, and now. As the car had come to a stop, they had reached a hotel. Not the one that she had initial plans of staying in, but she'd assumed that maybe Blade had reservations for either of them.

"This is where you're staying. It's not bad."

A week managed to pass by rather quickly and efficiently underneath everyone's noses, though it didn't really matter for Blade. Time was but a sliver in the life of a man who was essentially immortal, and when people like Tai were out there attempting to use evil books of dark magic and infernal torture to plunge the world into darkness because of his own personal anger and vices towards others, Blade had to draw the line somewhere. While taking a knockoff Darkhold from a raging idiot should have felt like taking candy from a baby, Tai was one of those people whose anger was enough to ward off even the staunchest of plans. Whatever damage Chae had done to this guy in the past, he was taking it beyond personal, and the rest of the vampire underworld was taking it personally. Was this guy even a vamp to begin with? HIs origins were something that the Daywalker wanted to personally explore, but with his attention on other things that were brewing at the moment, he hired Akio and Yumi to look into finding information out about the guy that could prove useful in the very near and far future. Japan had been kind to Blade as it usually was in the form of fighting and killing vampires, hitting up his favorite sushi and ramen spots, and even hitting up the drifting scene every once in a while. But whatever Tai was cooking up, it wasn't just affecting the vampire underworld in Asia. Apparently something nasty was brewing in France, and given the events of what had transpired the last time Blade was in Paris...yeah, it wasn't going to be pretty.

Picking up his phone, he flipped through a few of the names that he'd recently contacted, settling on Chae's name before finally deciding to hit the dial button. Texting would've been more than sufficient, but the Daywalker was an old school soul. Whatever the new thing or way was, he preferred doing things the way that came previously, at least for most of his every day endeavors. So with the flick of the wrist, he dialed Chae and let the phone ring a couple of times before it finally picked up after the fourth ring. "Thought you were sending me to voicemail. Hope Manila's treating you well. Listen, I ain't gonna tell you much about it over the phone, but let's just say that your boy toy Tai's making some moves across Asia and now over in Europe that are pretty damn hard to ignore. Somehow, he's managed to get his hands on a more fucked up unusual version of the Vampiric Verses within that damn book, and it's causing more trouble than I care to handle by myself. You wanna do something about it, book a flight to Paris and I'll see you there."

Visiting Manila was a good trip to learn of what she needed to learn for a few days, but there were more pressing matters that required her prompt return to Seoul. Board members and stakeholders alike were raising concerns of a possible outbreak, wanting to speed up the trials to have it out available for use. It was a valid concern, but as far as she was up-to-date with research, there wasn't any emerging ones of primary concern until the last two days. On top of this, a family meeting had been called, alerting everyone in different parts of the world. Chae knew her gut feeling was right. This so-called outbreak was no mere nor ordinary one. It involved turning humans into vampires, creating more chaos than there should be. Older vampires unable to control their urges and giving into the temptation of blood. Not to mention that these newborns were more feral, and were as fast as the older ones. Traditional wooden stakes dipped in wolfsbane only held them enough, and her contacts in France had been also alerted to keep them at bay.

"I thought about it," Chae spat back, tiredness evident in her voice and it wasn't even subtle at this point. Blade would surely hear it with the way she responded at the moment. "Manila was good, really." Not convincing enough, but it was there. Under different circumstances, maybe she really would have enjoyed it. She was exhausted mentally. It was a familiar type of pressure - one that Chae had been used to, and even more. It was the pressure she once felt as a debutante, but even more. Chae didn't ilke when things got out of control, when she couldn't control it. Even vampires got tired too. "What does the doctor know about this?" Chae knew that the doctor was one of Blade's allies, and by proxy, hers.

"I'll see you in fifteen hours then," she had texted her executive assistant to book her next flight and hotel as they were talking, having just finished a meeting with some clientele. Gods.

Lo and behold, fifteen hours later, she'd touched down at Charles de Gaulle, orienting herself ( like a normal person ) to the French daylight. She had not been in Paris since she was a teenager; a lifetime ago so different to now. Coming back had an air of homecoming, but still a stranger to the place.

[text:] having fun without me?

After receiving the message from Chae that she was heading out towards Manila to handle her business, Blade faded the screen to black. These were all weird times that many of them were operating in right now, and even if the regular everyday world of the humans and what not weren't exactly suspect to Tai's deadly ambitions and motivations, if he continued down his deadly path of recklessness, it wouldn't be long until the supernatural became naturally seen and frightening for the innocents. This was exactly why Blade traveled the world so often as he did, in order to find out what monsters in the darkness were stepping out from the shadows to try and claim the world for themselves or send it to some kind of goddamn shadow realm. HIs travels had taken him all over the States, Asia, and Europe, where the majority of the vampire activity had been going down lately thanks to Tai's evil storybook. France was starting to see an insane amount of vampire activity being influxed in their direction, and the Daywalker knew that eventually he'd have to turn his eyes to Paris when the time came, especially if the city were to start instituting quarantine zones to protect against the bad guys, much like last time something similar happened.

Driving down the highway in what was considered light traffic by Japan's standards, Blade made his way over to another one of his strongholds that he kept on lock in case the vampire hunter ever needed to pay a visit to it. "Hey Makoto," he saluted to her upon driving up in the entryway. Makoto pet her dog, who wagged his tail eagerly, happy to see Blade after what felt like it'd been six months if not longer since they properly saw him. "About time you finally came back to visit! We helped you with Deacon Frost, and you hardly even write or answer your text messages! This better be good," she pouted, crossing her arms for several moments, before caving in and rushing over to give the Daywalker a bone crushing hug. "Yeah I know. That's my bad. Bad WiFi," Blade suggested without changing the look on his face. "Good to see you two are still handling business out here on your own terms, though. Maybe you haven't realized it, but we got ourselves a situation on our hands. Remember that weapon I told you to keep here on ice just in case I might need to use it one day? Well that day's today. Let's get cracking."

Manila was wet this time of year, and the humidity was not exactly her friend. It made her sweat a little bit more, and it felt a little sticky. The only consolation was that it was chilly enough for the locals, they're wearing thin sweaters to insulate themselves. Hurricane season was not a good time to go to the country, but at least she wasn't risking being burnt at the extreme sunlight.

Alexandra Trese, she found, was a skilled lakan who helped the local police department deal with the supernatural. She kept the peace in the metropolis, especially if things had been a little too suspicious. Her brothers were twins, often wearing masks when called to action. She didn't pry much, though she kinda found the twins charmingly playful. Filipino hospitality was greatly appreciated. The first day of her learning under the babaylan-mandirigma wasn't much. Alexandra did not trust anyone, but Chae had caught on, and managed to win her over with some coffee blends not common to the locality. Plus the information that Blade had given her - a copy of the same file on the flash drive he got her a day or two since they'd last seen each other.

At the end of the first day, she had a mind to call the daywalker, but decided against it. She learned everything that had to do with the aswangs - the Sibat tribe had common dealings with Trese for a while for the most part. And warned Alexandra about the dollar store version of the Darkhold, and how that could affect every single creature in the world, but heavily affect anyone and anything that exhibited any vampiric abilities.

Still, there was so much to learn, and Chae had decided to stay another day. Though, she could expect that the daywalker would eventually call her soon for any new findings...

Right on the money again. It was almost like he had some kind niche ability to predict these sorts of events and activities from different people. Chae wasn't any different, but he could certainly understand and even relate to the building pressure mounting up on her shoulders right now. Nyssa had that same sort of pressure from her family thrust upon her own shoulders unwarranted, and now it felt like Blade was watching history repeat itself for the umpteenth time. "I bet you did. Knew you couldn't refine yourself to a wine bar and business office," the vampire hunter bantered back and forth with Chae, as if the two of them were jockeying for position above one another. "I'll be alright though. I usually prefer to do my own hunting on the solo side anyway," he shrugged his shoulders, turning the keys in his car to ignite the engine.

Considering there was an upcoming trip planned for Chae to make a visit all the way to the Philippines to discuss a matter of business regarding the fate of many different vampire families, Blade could get in on that, and make sense of things from his own different perspective. Normally, that wasn't a usual destination for him and given how personal things seemed for Chae, he didn't want to fuck things up further inadvertently in case Tai had plans with his sorry excuse for a Darkhold to make his presence known there as well. "I'm not gonna do anything rash to jeopardize whatever the hell you're cooking up over there. But if you need anything at all that you feel like might give you the edge. call me or hit me up. I've been known to appear in places whenever you least expect it."

"Try not to show up unannounced, won't you?" Chae knew him well enough that he would not listen to her. One way or another, Blade was going to weave himself into her situation, a personal battle at that. How? The details were undefined at this point, but the result was the same sure thing. She didn't need saving; she had always been able to stand on her own ground, and protect those that mattered to her the most. She could at least admit that he could be right: this was bigger than her.

"And try not to miss me too much. I'll only be gone for a bit." There it was, the banter between them returned. Since when she care that he would miss her? That's one thing to the list of things that never happened. She'd finally reached the airport at this time, successfully passing through security where she had time to wait until boarding.

"How long are you staying in Japan?" Again, she had no plans to meet with him there. But just in case he showed up, she could at least prepare the babaylan for their uninvited guest and not cause the demigods any alarms. The chess pieces were moving on their own, and there was no knowing what Tai would be doing first. It was a matter of when, not if, he would make his first move. The predictable constant with guys like him, was that they were bound to make mistakes. And Chae was waiting patiently to see what he would do.

Boarding for flight A135 to Manila will begin in ten minutes. Please have your boarding passes ready. Her luggage had been stashed not long after in the airline cabin storage. First class flights were cheap to her destination, allowing her a bit more leg room despite a short flight.

"I have to go, I'll call you."

Just like he thought. Not to say that Chae was predictable or anything like that, but the more time Blade spent with someone or around them, the more liable he was to stick with them in some form or another. Just from the chain of text messages alone, Blade could tell that his usual effect was starting to take hold of the Korean businesswoman. After loading up the back of his vehicle with all of the necessary tools and weapons that he sharpened, handcrafted, or picked up from Akio and other allies themselves, he checked his phone to see that it was ringing with a call from none other than Chae herself. Predictable as the sunrise. So while Blade would answer the phone at some point within the next few seconds, he let it ring and play out, giving her those extra few moments of anticipation. So when his phone finally got to the fifth ring, he finally picked up the phone and answered in the most relaxed tone possible while slipping into his driver's seat.

"About time you called. I was beginning to think you went native on me or something," he mused, before checking his phone to see the picture message that had been immediately sent in to his phone prior to the phone call. With careful observation of the photo and the enticement that it brought, the Daywalker gave it a brief grin and a chuckle, electing to save the picture to his photo gallery for later purposes. "So you wanna know what I want? I told you to call me because I'm doing some work out here in Japan that I thought you might want to be a part of, giving that it's got ties to your boy Tai. I got a network that I'm setting up throughout Europe and Asia that's monitoring the situation regarding the usage of his fake ass Darkhold book. Hate to admit it, but some of your contemporaries in the area aren't holding out well against it. Had some contacts tell me that he's turning people who knew you into literal kabobs. Has them roasting over a goblet of fire right now unfortunately," he admitted, knowing that probably wasn't the best news she needed to hear right now.

"I know you probably haven't been in the best of moods lately, but we'll get his ass. Dumb ass {expletives} like him always make mistakes when they're at their cockiest, so he'll be facing his downfall sooner rather than later," Blade stated with the utmost confidence, "but all in all, I'm just trying to make sure you aren't going off the wall or anything. Calm and steely as you like to present yourself, even certain terrors in this world can make someone as strong willed as you break too."

It could be anyone else, anyon who was at least associated with the family - not family. "I don't see a valid reason to go to Japan at this time," Chae countered. "I suppose I have. In fact, I just came back from a hunt. Shame you couldn't join me." And miss out of all the fun, she taunted. Before she could say anything more flirty, he had dropped more news. Though, if his information were true, then there would be a bigger case now than she would know. If anything, she should book that flight to Manila soon. If there was someone best in the area who could deal with a potential god-sized threat, it was the lakan whom she'd initially reached out to.

When will this end?

Chae pinched her nose. The heiress had now checked the next flight to Manila, and while her planning was scrappy and not as ideal, it was the next best thing due to the circumstances. As long as she had a place to stay, and knew how to get to the Diabolical, that was important. She had no plans to linger, only to chat and learn from the lakan's experiences about her fight with Talagbusao. Plus, she'd heard that the babaylan-mandirigma had demigods for bodyguards.

"Look, I said I got this. And I have a flight to catch." He was right. She had not been in the best mood lately, no thanks to him, but at the same time she supposed she should thank him for looking out for her, even when he'd clearly expressed his disgust multiple times.

"How about this? I'll call you when I land," Chae hurriedly changed out of her nightclub outfit, making a mental note to later throw it into the incinerator. She'd changed into a casual shirt, jeans and threw on a cap. Minimal clothes packed, she hailed a taxi to drive her to the airport.

He was not wrong: Walker or whatever his name was, had been personal for Blade, but not to her. And he'd enlisted her help then, which she reluctantly agreed to. This time, it was her fight, not his. She was as calm and steely as she had always been; Tai should not be this much to make her worry about the fate of her family, and yet, he was much stronger than her, even with a weaker version of the darkhold.

"Just, don't do anything rash. Please."

He waited a while, waiting to see if Chae would actually respond to his text about paying him a visit in Japan. It wasn't wrong of him to assume that she would pay him a visit, but there had been times when Blade had gotten into someone's head just a little too much to the point where it pushed them to do crazy things...uncharacteristic things. Was his mental mind game warfare just a little bit too strong for Chae? He didn't think so; the woman had exhibited some very strong leadership traits and mental fortitude to be able to fight off anyone who would dare challenge her or her family, and the Daywalker certainly respected that. At some point though, everyone cracked, so maybe it was best to lay off for the time being, and just focus on taking down Tai along with all of the other threats that were beginning to rise thanks to the thievery of that dark spellbook. Who the hell even thought it was a great idea to make a copy of the Darkhold anyway? Or a Great Value version?

"Alright Blade, everything you need is in the usual storage bases. Any time you need to alternate between your weapon choices or energy sources, just hit up me or Yumi on the usual line, and we'll set a meeting up," Akio explained to his number one client. Both he and Yumi were good friends and allies of Blade when it came to his war on vampires, both having lost loved ones to the creatures of the night when it came to their selfish feeding ways. While Blade didn't exactly enjoy training people and taking on 'strays' more or less, they were in a rough spot and Blade couldn't just leave them whatever fate might've had in store for them. At least his investment in them really ended up paying off for the Daywalker. "Good shit Akio. I'm gonna head out for a bento, and I'll see you two around." After exchanging goodbyes, Blade grabbed his new weaponry along with some intel from his ally to prep for the hunt, but first? The bento. He quickly sent out a text, just to push his game a little further.

{text: don't go native on me}

Mmm. This guy was nothing but a snack, not even the kind that made her guilty pleasure list. It had been a long time since the heiress fed on an actual human, she'd almost forgotten how that tasted like. She charmed the human, her poor victim, allowed him to take her and once the bait was taken, the vampire had bit on her victim's neck; she smiled, knowing it would be the last thing he'd see before his demise. The body had fallen soon into a thump, dried of blood as the toxin stopped her prey's heart.

Chae licked every single drop of her prey's blood, leaving no evidence but the body. She was rusty, but did her best to leave no traces of her. The body would be found lifeless, possibly decayed, depending on how soon the local folk would find it. The perfect kill, if anything. After all, Chae was a little bit of a perfectionist. It was nothing less than the rest of her peers would expect.

She'd gone back to her victim's car, stealing it to make it home, and parked it by the night club where it was originally parked. She'd left its keys into the console, and soon headed back into her apartment. The vampire now felt great and invigorated. But still, while the distraction was great, her phone had unfortunately blew up while she'd left it. It wasn't like she went missing though - just on a hunt. Two texts from the Jung twins, and nothing more.

And of course, Blade.

He was the reason they could not have nice things, she was absolutely convinced of this.

{text: maybe you'll come find what you need out here}

Another text.

{text: call me}

Man was he ever persistent. Yet, there was no way she was going to book any flights to Tokyo anytime soon. She had no business there, lest Shin needed help with Takuto, and Eun Seol was quite busy training for his next competition. They'd be fine.

{text: don't go native on me}

Alright, she'd humour him. With a bonus photo of her outfit. Not a mirror selfie unfortunately, but still nicely taken.

"What do you want, Eric?" Not even a hello, but at least it was a call, right?

Admittedly, the conversation with Chae gave Blade a source of amusement and even fun, he could admit. She wasn't like much of the overly greedy pureblooded vampire lords who thought the world owed her a debt of gratitude, blood, and the whole fucking ten yards. After things went south with Miharu, the Daywalker considered just swearing off the entire family in general, but with some welcome and unexpected assistance from Wolverine, he was able to find himself in the presence of one of the other head figures in this family in Chae. Was it a bad idea to get involved with someone like her despite not having any intentions to slay her family and the rest of her ilk? Maybe, but as a crazy man once told him, the world was often built on bad ideas more times often than not, and there wasn't much you could do about it.

{text: maybe you'll come find what you need out here}

Putting his phone away, Blade headed to an abandoned warehouse on the outside of Tokyo, meeting up with an ally in Akio who often made sure to keep the Daywalker equipped with all the necessary weapons and sharp tools to keep him as the deadliest foe of the night. "Good seeing you man," Blade dapped up his friend, who gave him a couple of brand new glaives that could emit a UV light when cutting through multiple foes at a time. "How's the fort being held over here?" he asked him, as Akio went over to the fridge to pop open a sake for the both of them to drink. "Everything was fine, until that baka Tai or whatever the fuck he calls himself these days decided to just steal that stupid dark spellbook and unleash his ass upon the world." An expected reaction if not amusing to Blade, knowing that Tai had people all the way out in Japan who hated his guts both inside and out.

"Appreciate the new weaponry. Heard some of these weapons have sonics in them, especially the glaive. So when I throw it and flip the switch on, it'll emit sonic emitters that will blow the goddamn eardrums off these suckheads while still killing them as a whole, right?" Blade inquired, to which he got his answer. "Alright good."

{text: call me}

The night club may just be a mistake. Still, Chae was determined to stick this one out - she needed to feed and find a distraction. Having a certain daywalker in her mind running circles was not how she wanted the night to go. Not to mention the worry of an ex-suitor made her start watching her six and it hadn't been twenty four hours since. It had been a while since she wore such an outfit too, she much too old in human years to dress like so - a strappy bodycon dress that just stopped short enough to cover her ass, half way her thigh. A complete contrast to her day-to-day style.

The vampire scanned the scene unfolding before her: Girls who were just having the time of their lives - a group of barely legal freshmen who were partying the night away; another smaller group was being approached by a few guys, offering to buy the females drinks. On the dance floor, couples grinding at each other by the hips - a synchronized foreplay prior to a hazy one night stand. Pathetic, but interesting enough for Chae to keep her eyes on before she found her victim.

She walked by the bar, to be interrupted by a guy who had slid next to her and offered to buy her next drink. This guy, she singled out to be the ringleader of the group who spiked a group's drinks. Chae wasn't always selfless, but she was the type to at least look after vulnerable adolescents. In a way, she was a girl's girl, and looked out for the humans who may be in harm's way. The perks of being undead? Most toxins were just flushed by her body, for anyone who tried to gain the upper hand. Of course, Chae was still susceptible to others, just not what ordinary humans would be weak towards.

She humoured him, giving him her time of day and had convinced the guy to drive far out into the outskirts of the city proper. They'd found an abandoned shelter, and after a foreplay that she had not been impressed with, Chae had sunk her fangs into this poor bloke's neck, draining him completely until he had no longer anything to offer.

As for the daywalker, she'd forgotten about him. For a while, at least.

One of Blade's favorite pastimes to play with both allies and enemies was psychological warfare. Whenever the Daywalker could supplant himself into anyone's consciousness to the point that they couldn't get him out of there, the battle was already half won. Playing chess against the likes of foes such as Dracula or Deacon Frost was incredibly essential over the years because they weren't exactly one dimensional villains when it came to the threats they presented to the world, but staying one step ahead of them proved to be instrumental in protecting the natural world from the darkness of their evil. Allies were a bit of a different story however, especially if you were to ask the likes of Doctor Strange, any of the Ghost Riders, the Nightstalkers, and various other folks who'd partnered up with the Daywalker over the years. Chae was the latest in the line of folks to cross paths with Blade, though her...interest in him was coming in from a different kind of left field.

Knowing that he was directly entrenched inside of her mind, Blade was more than willing to push his advantage here against Chae, knowing that she'd come to him for his help at some point. It was just all about reading the map and figuring out the gameplan. But unlike most, Chae had an interesting sliver of an edge to her that the vampire hunter just had to explore further.

{text:} just wondering my ass {text:} if you wanna come find me, i'm in tokyo, won't be hard to find

Chae had no time for mind games. That was the others' alley, but not her. She was always direct and straight to the point, sharp as a harpoon. Things sometimes would feel like black and white straight up, and there was an extremely small patch of grey in between. She was not the type to compromise, knowing well her non-negotiables for every deal. That was not to say that she was terrible at diplomacy; though, considering Blade's deal with Miharu earned him a bad rep, it was surprisingly different when the dhampir dealt with Chae. The CEO did not care, as long as she got what she wanted.

In the short time she'd crossed paths with him, Chae knew that he was not a patient man. He wanted to always dip his fingers into vampire business, uncaring whether the vampires he dealt with did not want to bother anyone ( like her coven ) but coexist with humans and other supernatural creatures. She was rather convinced at this point that she wasn't going to get what the family wanted - a return of the peace they had prior to meeting the daywalker - not until she's dead.

[text:] tempting

What was he doing in Tokyo?

No, she should not care what he's doing there. Whatever it was, she didn't want to be part of it. Even if he wanted to ally himself with her, after Tai's threats.

I need to hunt. Her restlessness grew, and it wasn't long when the heiress had gone out of her apartment, and headed out to a night club. Maybe she could get a bite there.