31_days | [August 27][Blade:Trinity] Figment

Title: Figment
Day/Theme: August 27- give me your black sky
Series: Blade Trinity
Character/Pairing: Blade, King
Rating: PG
Notes: Trying to get back into the writing habit. Post movie.

[A/N: Everytime I try to push myself back into writing regularly, I turn inevitably to this community. : ) The prompts are always so fun.]

Blade was a difficult ~~man half-man dhampir~~ Daywalker to find when he was being a total arse about it, and it had taken bribery, intimidation, and much wheedling from a whole host of his contacts before Hannibal had finally tracked the Daywalker down to a slum district in New Orleans, and only because he’d heard screaming from under a bridge and had gotten curious.

Blade was wiping vampire dust off himself when Hannibal approached, not even bothering to look up. The dhampir wore his black vest and had a katana strapped across his back, silver knives in his hands, ankle-deep in slow-running, stinking sludge, his khaki trousers spotted with blood, his severe features as dour as ever under his sunglasses.

“King. Where’s Whistler?”

“Down south with the cell in Mexico.”

Vampires took well to the drug trade; Abby had said that it had to be something about similar addictions and all that wealth and control within easy grasp. The seesawing balance of power had gone all to hell after Daystar – the arrow had wiped out all vampires up to a certain level of blood dilution, it seemed, the closer to the original lines the better, leaving all the nasty, newly made and blood-crazed vampires in power, and the violence was growing noticeable.

“Zoe?”

“She’s with some friends in Westchester.”

“Huh.” Blade pushed past him to vault up onto the bridge. Showoff. “Xavier?”

“She’ll be safe there.” Grumbling under his breath, Hannibal clambered back up after the half-vampire. “What, you know him?”

“Know of him.” Blade started off on a brisk walk down the dirt path, without looking back. “Didn’t figure Zoe as a mutant.”

“She’s not, but her mother used to be a good friend of Hank’s, and he offered to babysit.” Besides, Xavier’s mansion was a great place for kids, even if one wasn’t super-powered, and Zoe needed a little bit of tutoring before she could catch up enough to fit back into school.

“Why are you here?”

“Can’t come down for a social visit?” Hannibal trotted up to Blade’s side and smiled, winningly, but jokes always fell flat against the half-vampire’s I-Had-A-Traumatic-Childhood withering scorn. “All right. I had a question, actually.”

“Ask it and then fuck off.”

So much for making nice. “Have you been seeing things after Daystar?”

Blade stopped walking so abruptly that Hannibal went right past him, and on close inspection, actually seemed to be frowning. A little more. Than usual. “What are you talking about, King?”

“Like, a little shadow in your peripheral vision. Whispers that sound a little familiar. Everything only in the dark. Things like that.” Hannibal pushed abruptly sweating palms into the rough denim of his jeans. “Yes?”

“You’re losing it, King.” Blade said flatly. “You come all the way here to tell me that?”

“No, no, I had a theory,” Hannibal said, relief choking up a sting to his eyes, “And, well, you’ve given me the answer I wanted.”

Blade tilted his head at that, then looked the Nightstalker up and down, slowly, taking in the dark rings under his eyes and the unkempt hair, the pallor to his cheeks, then said, quietly, “What are you seeing?”

“Nothing important. It’s probably post-traumatic stress or something. Seeing as,” Hannibal added a little desperately, as Blade seemed unimpressed, “As, what with me getting tortured and fucked over before you guys showed up to blow their party.”

“Get out of town,” Blade responded succinctly, striding on, and Hannibal watched him leave, this time, leaning up against the slippery, rusting rail of the bridge. At the very corner of his eyes, he could see Drake smirk faintly, outlined against the iron gray afternoon sky.

“If you’re a figment of my imagination,” Hannibal whispered, once he was sure Blade was out of sight and earshot, “Then I’m no longer afraid of you, dipshit.”

Drake inclined his head, and bared his teeth in a silent laugh. Shivering, Hannibal pushed away from the rail and hesitated, looking down after the direction Blade had disappeared to, sighed, hunched his shoulders under his trenchcoat, and walked back the way he had come, cradling grim relief.