Mihawk x Reader Night Walker pt3: Humanity

    You sat there in front of that window watching it rain for god knows how long. Your trusty bow now slung across your back and your dagger sheathed in your boot. Your coat and hat lay where he put them when he brought them in. They were soaked and you were inside anyways so you didn't need them. You still couldn't wrap your head around the fact that you were sitting in a vampires living quarters. You, a vampire hunter, were standing here wearing your crossbow and dagger in a vampires house. You sighed for what had to be the 100th time. You'd given up trying to understand it, for once in your life you didn't feel threatened by a Night Walker. Not that you would tell anyone let alone him that. You shifted your weight from one foot to the other as you leaned against the window pane. Speaking of said Night Walker, you hadn't seen him in the entire time you had been standing at the window. Actually you hadn't seen him since you had went to the bathroom. You glanced around the room wondering where he had gone and when he would be back. For that matter you wondered how big this house was, you hadn't really gotten very far when he had found you. You turned away from the window in favor of exploring a little more of the house. You wondered to a door on the opposite end of the room as the door that led to the bathroom. You cracked the door open slowly peering around it into the dark hallway. Well it wasn't actually dark, but compared to the brightly lit living room it appeared dark. Seeing no one was there you pushed the door open wider and ventured into the hallway. You wondered passed several doors, all closed otherwise you might have ventured into the rooms.

    You eventually came to the end of the very long hallway to find a staircase leading up and one leading down. You looked from one to the other wondering which one to take, really you probably shouldn't take either. You should go back to the living room and sit until the rain stopped. When it stopped you should get the hell out of here, this was the enemies home after all. Even if said enemy was treating you like a house guest, despite the fact that you were his mortal enemy. He had even went to the extent of retrieving your personal affects from the rain. One of the items being a cross bow and one item being a silver tipped dagger. Both lethal to Night Walkers, yet he was disregarding all of that to make you feel more comfortable. One thing above all made you want to stay, you were curious about him. He was unlike normal Night Walkers, and you hoped he would explain why if you stuck around long enough. You decided to go up since you figured all that was down stairs was a cellar or a dungeon. Both of them made you shiver just as much. Anything dark and musty and under ground in a vampires house was labeled creepy in your book. Ok that statement just sounded redundant because everything in a vampires house is creepy but, you get the point. You slowly ascended the staircase running your hand along the smooth banister, eyes observing the little bit of artwork that hung on the walls of the staircase. After what felt like forever you came to the second floor landing. To one side of you was a hallway with more doors and to the other side was a door to what looked like a balcony. You walked closer to the door peering out thru the small window in the door. It was indeed what appeared to be a covered balcony. You contemplated for a second or two on whether or not to go out there. Being in this house was starting to get to you, you cracked the door open a bit. Instantly feeling the cool evening air on your face. You also heard the sound of the heavy steady rainfall hitting the roof of the balcony before it ran off onto the ground.

    You stepped out shutting the door quietly behind you. You inhaled deeply as you made your way to the edge of the balcony. Gripping the slippery railing you leaned on it gazing out into the night. You weren't able to see much from here, there were too many trees. You could barely see the night sky spotted with stars and the slight crescent of the moon. From the darkness of the tree's you could hear the howls of many wolves, you shivered and squinted as you tried to see them even though you knew it was a pointless act. " I did not think you would wonder around after i left" a familiar velvety voice purred from behind you. You gasped and jumped loosing your balance on the slick balcony floor. You slipped and you knew you were going to fall. You were almost certain you were going to fall over the railing, yet you didn't. As quick as lightning across the sky Mihawk was there pulling you away from the edge of the balcony. Without even realizing what you were doing you clutched at his chest, clinging to the safety his arms provided. Mihawks golden eyes widened a fraction at your sudden closeness, you were now so close he could feel not just hear your heart beat. He blinked a few times as he forced himself to focus and finally recovered from the brief shock you had caused and stepped further away from the edge. For several seconds after you were safe you still clung to him.

    He smirked a bit " ____, are you OK?" he asked a small hint of concern and a bit of amusement in his voice. It must have been the sound of his voice that snapped you out of it. Suddenly you remembered where you were and who you were clinging to. You let go and stepped away so quickly one would have thought you were being burned. You didn't see the slight flicker of hurt in Mihawks eyes as you did this. By the time you turned back to him it was already gone, not that you could see much anyways. The only light was the dim light from the hallway inside. " What are you doing out here?" you asked seeming a bit too on the deffensive. Your nerves were still shook up from first almost falling to your death then finding your self in the arms of the enemy. Mihawks voice cut thru the night air cool and calm, without a hint of irritation. " I live here, and this is one of my favorite spots to go when i need to think". Suddenly you felt silly and a bit childish, this was his house that you had invaded. Yet here you stood asking him what he was doing here. You almost wanted to apologize but some how that felt like you were giving into the enemy. A nagging voice in the back of your head kept asking " Are you sure this man is our enemy?" Part of you wanted to believe that possibility but the Hunter part of you wouldn't let that happen. You looked at the ground feeling a little awkward at your rude question and honestly you didn't know how to fix it. "___?" Mihawk asked. You looked up as an instinct from hearing your name " Yea?" you answered. " Will you stay tonight and have dinner with me?" he asked. You were so thrown off by his question that you just stared mouth hanging open. " Uhmm assuming that I'm not part of dinner.... sure" you finally replied. Mihawk grinned at your answer then chuckled, the chuckles turned to deep belly laughs that sounded too rich to be real. Chills ran down your spine at the sound, you shrugged them off. It had to be some kind of Vampire magic he was using, there was no way this man..erm Vampire was having any effect on you. You refused to believe it, you'd spent your entire life hating them and hunting them down. You could not believe that you had finally found one you thought was good. Not to mention you might be attracted to him. You ground your teeth together at the thought. 'Pull your shit together' you scolded yourself.

    You came back from your thoughts to find Mihawk talking to you. " I am glad you accepted the offer for dinner and no you are not on the menu miss ____" he said with a chuckle. His golden eyes glowed slightly brighter now, you wondered about that for a brief minute. It was something else you hadn't really seen in other Night Walkers, though you didn't spend much time looking into Night Walkers eyes. You normally just killed them. You thought about that for a second ' what am i doing looking into his eyes?' You sighed getting a dreadful gut feeling about something. ' Maybe i shouldn't stay for dinner' You thought as you looked back to Mihawk who was now opening the door and going back inside. You sighed as you followed him back in, As much as you'd like to just leave you had already accepted his invitation for dinner. It would be incredibly rude for you to up and leave now. But you did vow one thing, you would not spend the night here. Every thread of your being screamed at the very idea of it. Even if you had to walk in the rain and deal with the wolves it would be better than being here all night. You followed behind him silently as you made your way back down to the first floor. Slowly you made your way back down the same hallway you'd come down earlier. He paused at one of the doors taking a key from his pocket and unlocking it. He paused for a moment to give you a kind smile before opening the door and entering. You followed behind him hesitantly peeking around the door. You gasped quietly, the dining room was huge, and beautiful. There was a chandelier hanging from the center of the room and a long wooden table running down the middle. Ornate wooden chairs lined the table on both sides all the way to the end. At the head of the table at one end sat a much larger wooden chair shaped like a cross, which you assumed was Mihawks. ' Why is it shaped like a cross?' you wondered as you made your way in to the large dining room. Your eyes wondered around the large room. On the walls hung many more pictures much like the one in the living room. Some were of other people, some of random scenery. ' Who is this guy?' you wondered as you looked at the various pictures. Most of the people were dressed a lot like Mihawk and the scenery was of places you'd never seen.

    " You may take a seat in any chair you wish, dinner will be done very soon" he spoke from behind you. You jumped and spun around finding him standing behind you again. You narrowed your eyes wondering how in the heck he kept doing that. ' Oh yeah, Night Walker right' you thought almost face-palming yourself at your own stupidity. You blinked up at him nodding that you understood before moving quickly away from him. You took a seat in the chair farthest from the head of the table, thinking it was safest if you sat as far from him as you could. He didn't seem offended by your choice of seating though as he only nodded his head. He then turned and left the room leaving you there, alone. You felt suddenly chilled, even more so than you had out on the balcony. It was so unnatural to be this cold inside where no drafts could reach your skin. You shivered as you shifted in your chair and hugged your arms around yourself. ' I hope it gets warmer in here' you thought as you studied the room. Another thought crossed your mind ' He sure trust's me a lot, letting me roam around his house and leaving me alone, Especially for what i am'. Suddenly the door opened once again causing you to jump almost falling out of your chair. You yelped but quickly covered your mouth and looked away blushing after realizing it was only Mihawk. He strolled in carrying a platter of what you assumed was dinner. But since it was covered you hadn't the slightest idea what it was, maybe it was a large cup of blood. You cringed at the thought and shivered. After a minute you decided it was probably a silly thought. Although the idea of night walkers drinking blood was not unrealistic you didn't hear much about them forcing their victims to drink blood also. ' Victim' the word hit you like a bucket of ice water. Is that what you were to him? His victim? No, you had chosen to stay here, he wasn't forcing you to. The weather was, it would be crazy to try to leave during this rain and at night. You were simply taking advantage of his hospitality, you could leave when you wanted to. But when would that be? After dinner?

    A plate was set in front of you making you jump yet again, you cursed yourself for being so jumpy. You normally weren't this jumpy, there was just something about your current company that had you on edge. But it wasn't the fact that he was a vampire that bothered you so much. It was the fact that you weren't currently trying to kill him. As a matter of fact, you had zero desire to hurt him. " Your pretty jumpy for a vampire hunter" Mihawk observed as he made his way to his own seat. You blushed a bit at that and picked up your fork purposely ignoring his comment. You didn't really have a response anyway, it was true you were a vampire hunter that jumped at every little sound. ' With good reason' you thought. Your entire life had consisted of Night Walkers trying to kill you or angry town folk trying to kill you. You thought that was reason enough to always be jumpy. You looked down at your plate, realizing for the first time what it was. Steak medium rare and several veggies, you smirked at the irony. ' A vampire that likes vampire hunters, has a chair in the shape of a cross and eats steak' You sighed at the craziness of your current situation. Several minutes passed after you'd started to eat before he spoke again " You don't talk much do you". You didn't really think of it as a question but you answered regardless " Not really used to making conversation with bloodsuckers". A few seconds after you'd said it, you paled realizing what you had said. ' I am so gonna die here' you thought as you met calm liquid gold eyes.

    Mihawk stared at ___ for several seconds before he laughed. The look of shock on her face made him laugh more. He wasn't sure of the last time he had laughed this much in the same day. This woman was quite unusual, if she had been any normal woman she'd have left already. Yet here she sat of her own free will, he wasn't sure why. Another thing he had noticed. She didn't seem to be afraid of him. He hadn't expected her to be, she was after all a vampire hunter. Meaning hunting people like himself was her job. From what she had said earlier it was her sole purpose in life. He had every reason to not want her in his home, yet he had invited for her to stay. She was different than any woman he had ever met, vampire or human. Mind you, he had met a lot of women. There was something about her that intrigued him, he wasn't sure what it was. He wanted to know more about her. So much in fact that he had went to the extent of bringing her weapons in his house. She must think him the strangest vampire ever, indeed he was no ordinary vampire. He unlike most vampires had retained his humanity after he was changed. One might think of it as a blessing, but it could be a curse more than a blessing. Especially during times of war and other hard times. He could think of several times when his humanity had gotten him in trouble. Once he'd nearly been killed for a woman he had developed feelings for. Another time he'd been nearly killed because he felt pity for a man in one of the cities the army had pilviged. Anyways you get the point, all humanity usually earns is near death experiences, trouble and heart ache. That had been over one hundred years ago. Since then he'd left the army and secluded himself in his large mansion in the mountains. He was perfectly content to stay here in the mountains alone. He hadn't wanted company, until ___ had come along. Now he could feel the familiar feeling that he had felt all those years ago. The thought worried him slightly but it wasn't like he was in love with ___. He had only just met her after all. He was merely ....intrigued by her. That's all he was willing to admit to himself right now.

    You sat staring open mouthed at Mihawk, too shocked to register what had just happened. ' Did he just laugh at my insult?' you wondered scratching your head in confusion. He laughed for several minutes, the same rich hearty laughs that made your skin crawl in a good way. You shivered again, this time it had nothing to do with being cold. You clenched your teeth and shook your head hard. He stopped at that lifting one dark eyebrow at you " Is something wrong miss ___?" he asked. You blinked a few times as your mind registered his question. " Oh no, I'm fine" you muttered waving a hand dismissively at him. You spoke a bit too fast for nothing to be wrong but you couldn't control how you were acting, which irritated you beyond belief. He gave you a look like he didn't believe you but didn't push it, which you were thankful for. " I'm sorry for that, but i find your sense of humor amusing" he purred giving you a smile. You blinked and shifted tilting your head a bit " My sense of humor?" you asked. He nodded shifting so his elbow leaned on the table. His chin rested in his hand " Yes, What you said was funny to me" He replied. You were confused " But, you are a bloodsucker...er no offense" you murmured hardly able to believe you were having this conversation and who you were having it with. He nodded at that " Yes i am a vampire, but I think you have noticed that i am not like others you have met" he stated. You found your self nodding, he was right you hadn't ever met a Night Walker like him. " Yes, you are different" you admitted. He nodded again giving you a small smile but didn't say anything. Leaving you to continue the conversation if you wanted too. You squirmed a bit in your chair as you tried to decide if you should continue this conversation or just leave. You were done with your dinner so you could in fact leave when you wanted to.

    You decided to continue, you were after all curious about him. Since he didn't seem like he wanted to harm you, you didn't really see any harm in staying a bit longer. That's what you kept telling yourself anyways. It was just for your curiosity's sake. " So why didn't you kill me?" you asked. Not the smartest question to ask but you were curious. He frowned slightly his golden eyes shifting a bit as he thought. " Why would i kill you?" he asked sounding a bit offended. You were more confused the more you talked to him " because for one i broke into your house and for two i am a vampire hunter" you stated the obvious. He looked to the side, staring at the paintings as he replied. " I don't feel threatened by you" he stated simply. " Why haven't you killed me?" he asked. You shifted and looked away blush tinting your cheeks. You knew exactly why you hadn't killed him. But you weren't sure telling him would be in your best interest, it would only give him more of an upper hand. " Do i not threaten you?" he asked before you could answer. " Surprisingly no" you answered honestly. You hadn't meant to say that, but for some reason you had this urge to speak your mind all of a sudden. You narrowed your eyes at him, it had to be something he was doing. He lifted an eyebrow at your narrowed eyes " Is something wrong?" he asked again. You huffed and shot to your feet. " What is wrong with you? You don't act like a vampire at all!" You shouted as you clenched your fists at your side. " You treat me as your guest instead of your enemy. Not only that you bring my weapons in, that were designed to kill you. You cook me dinner and act concerned for me, and you don't even know me!" You didn't mean to shout but you were scared. You took a few breathes trying to calm yourself, you looked back to Mihawk. " You act more like a human, but i know your not" you stated and repeated the sentence a hundred times in your head trying to get it to sink in. His only reply was to nod his head slowly " your right I'm not a human, though i do act different than most vampires' he agreed. You shifted in your chair, wishing he would just tell you and not make you ask anymore questions. When you realized he wasn't going to continue you sighed " Why?" He leaned back in his chair propping an elbow on the arm of the chair " Because i still have my humanity" he said.

    Your eyes grew wide, a vampire with humanity? It was unheard of, though it would explain why he acted so human like. " How?" you asked not really believing him but seeing no other explanation. He smiled a soft smile " I do not know, it has been this way since i changed". " How long has that been?" you asked wanting to sneak in as many questions as possible even if he didn't answer them all. He smirked at your question " lets just say I'm not a spring chicken anymore". You smiled a bit at his joke, then stopped yourself. Were you seriously sitting here in a vampires dining room having a conversation with him and smiling like he was a normal person? Your eyes shifted from him to the door wondering if it would be a good idea to leave soon. " Are you ready to leave already miss ___?" he asked. You looked back at him hearing something in his voice that surprised you. You met his golden eyes hesitantly. Was it just your imagination or did he sound disappointed? You couldn't hold his gaze for very long, his gaze was so intense. You glanced back at the door pondering what you should do. If you were being honest with your self you didn't really want to leave, not yet. It was probably still raining, and it was still dark. There were plenty of good excuses for staying. After all he was the only vampire you'd ever met that had managed to retain their humanity thru the change. It was something you wanted to learn as much about as you could. But he was a vampire, you glanced back up meeting is eyes once more. There was something in his eyes that made you want to stay. Maybe it was a vampire trick, or maybe you were just that damn stupid. " I guess i can stay for a bit longer" you said with a slight sigh. His response surprised you again, His eyes glowed brighter and a wide grin spread across his face. " Good, i find that i quite enjoy your company". Your heart beat quickened at that, ' great i am the object of a vampires attention, wonder where this is going to lead?' you wondered. Where ever it led you would deserve every bit of it. You were making dumb decisions, throwing everything you had been taught out the window. Mihawk got to his feet and started for the door, he glanced at you over his shoulder. " If you don't mind we can continue this chat in the lounge". You gave him a look while getting to your feet, wondering momentarily where the lounge was. You followed him out the door and down the hallway to the very room you'd been in when you met him. You however had called it the living room, but whatever.

    He sat back in the chair he had been sitting in earlier that evening. You took a seat in the same chair as earlier also and looked over to find Mihawk watching you with curious eyes. You blushed intensely and looked quickly away. Mihawk smirked a bit at your blush, though you didn't see since you were looking away. " So how long have you been a hunter?" he asked. You looked up in surprise " That's a funny thing for a vampire to ask" you stated. He shrugged " just making conversation, is there something else you would like to talk about?" he asked. You considered his question for a minute, finally deciding there was something you were curious about. " Why are your eyes that color?" he tilted his head a bit at your question " why? don't you find them appealing?" You blushed again " That's not it, I... just haven't ever met a Night Walker with golden eyes. They all have the same flat eyes, always black, always dead" you answered. He nodded in understanding. " I think it must have something to do with the same reason why i retained my humanity" he said. You nodded, it made sense, for the situation. Nothing about this made sense to you, but you could see the eyes being linked to his humanity. The others had lost theirs and now their eyes looked dead, his were golden, he had his humanity. " I guess that makes sense" you said. He smirked at that for some reason. " Does any of this really make any sense to you?" he asked. You shook your head " No, not really". He chuckled " I thought not". " When does anything ever make sense?" you muttered as you turned your attention to the window. He smirked as he too turned his attention to the window you were now gazing out " true".

    You felt him behind you before you actually saw him. You tensed as you felt how close he was to you. Your heart raced as you wondered what he was going to do. " Do i make you uneasy?" he asked. You swallowed the lump in your throat before you answered " Why do you say that?". He sighed " Your heart rate picked up the moment i stood behind you". Your eyebrows drew together at that " How can you hear my heart beat?" There was silence for a minute before he answered " Your the Hunter, you should know everything about us....Night Walkers". You blushed and mentally kicked yourself ' dumbass, whats wrong with you? stop acting so nervous' somewhere in the back of your mind the rational side of your brain chimed in ' Like hell you should stop acting nervous! There is a Night Walker standing right behind you!'. The other part of your subconscious that was currently over riding the smarter part spoke up again. ' Close enough to touch' You blushed again at your thoughts. You didn't know what you were doing anymore or why you were doing it. Slowly you took a step back until you felt your back touch him. You felt him tense the moment you touched him, it was no doubt something he hadn't expected you to do. "___?" he asked voice low and unsure. You didn't move away, no matter how much your mind screamed for you to. Your mind also wanted you to stay right where you were. You concentrated on how he felt against you, he was unusually warm. What kind of a vampire is warm? Isn't that caused from blood flow? The only thing that could cause your blood to flow is if your heart was beating. A thought crossed your mind ' no there's no way' you thought. The moment the thought crossed your mind you felt the unmistakable 'thump thump' against your back. You froze and pulled away turning to meet his confused golden eyes. " ___?" he repeated obvious concern in his voice. Your hand trembled slightly at your side " You...have....a heart beat" You murmured almost too low for him to hear but he was a vampire so of course he heard you. " Yes" he answered though it hadn't been a question. " That's not normal" you pointed out. He chuckled at that. " What about this is normal?" he asked. You shook your head eyes locked with his. ' What the hell is going on here? a vampire who is warm and has a heart beat?' Your mind raced as you tried to make sense of it all.

    He glanced down to your hand and nodded to it " May i?" he asked. You weren't sure what he was asking permission for but might as well let him. You nodded and he reached out taking your hand in his. You watched as he pulled your hand to him and pressed it to his chest over his heart. There it was, the beat of his heart, your own heart leapt. Everything that you had been grasping on to that made this situation make sense was slowly slipping away. You were suppose to be finding things to remind you of what he was and of who you were but, that seemed to be drowned out by the feeling of his heart beat against your hand. ' How can he be a vampire? How can he be bad? He has his humanity. He has a heartbeat. How am i suppose to hate him when he seems so much like me?' Everything that you'd ever known about Night Walkers was crashing down on you. None of this made sense, how could he be so seemingly human yet he wasn't? You spread your fingers a bit on his chest, eyes locked with his. You knew you needed to move, you needed to get away from him before you did something you would regret. " ____" he breathed. His breathe puffed against you like a warm wind. Your eyes flicked down to his lips as you contemplated doing something reckless and...dangerous. Like he knew what you were thinking he pulled you a bit closer to hopefully urge you on. Your face neared his and was mere inches away when his hand ran up the side of your neck. Something about the gesture made you snap out of whatever daze you were in. You jumped back paling at what you had been about to do. Your eyes were wide, your hands shaking again and your heart beat rapidly. " I need to leave...now" you stated and got your coat, that was still wet and slung it around your body. You put your damp hat on and quickly walked over to the front door slinging it open and went out. It slammed shut behind you leaving Mihawk alone again.

    He sighed heavily as he walked back to his chair sitting back down. He gently massaged his forehead with his fingertips as he sat back in chair. He knew that was going to happen, her leaving like that. He did not however foresee her trying to kiss him. That came as a complete surprise, a pleasant surprise but a surprise all the same. He sat listening to see how far she had made it. He didn't think she'd make it very far at this rate. First off it was still raining fairly heavily and the wolves around this area were brutal and quick. He got to his feet as something outside caught his attention. The wolves had already found her and had her surrounded. They wouldn't be such a big deal to him but she was a mere human and there were several of them. Plus she seemed to be injured, had she already been attacked? how did he not hear it? He walked quickly to the door hoping he would get to her before the wolves. If he had been any normal vampire he would let the wolves have her. However he wasn't and his humanity wouldn't let him sleep if he didn't do something to help. He picked up a large cross shaped sword from the closet by the front door before hurrying out the door slamming it behind him. ' Please stay alive, my unique human girl'  he thought as he made his way to where she was.

    You limped your way down the mountain, trying to catch your breath. You had been attacked the moment you entered the tree line. It was like they had been waiting on you. Two had cut off your path in front of you while another attacked you from behind. It grabbed your leg trying to pull you off your feet. It would have succeeded if you had not been next to a tree when it had attacked. Instead of falling to the ground you fell against the tree and were able to kick at it with your other leg. After getting free from that one the others didn't waste anytime in attacking. You rolled away from them and drew your bow taking out three easily before they got too close to use your crossbow. You got to your feet and started down the mountain. You were currently ahead of them for the simple reason that you had tripped on the way down. So you had tumbled a long distance over small trees and rocks . It was very painful and now your head had a gash on it but at least you had a small advantage, or so you had thought. In the clearing in front of you you could see several more wolves, including one that was probably the alpha. ' Well shit, why did i leave the vampires house? i had a better chance of surviving there' you thought glumly as you came to a halt. You glanced warily over your shoulder to see how far away the other wolves were. That was a mistake, the moment you looked away the alpha lunged at you. It knocked you down causing you to lose your breathe and you hit your head hard on a rock. Now everything was blurry and blood and rain was running in your eyes. You were sure you were going to die and the last thing you would see was this wolf's mangy mug. It loomed over your now bloody face growling as it moved its head closer to yours. You could hear more than see the others surround you, this was it the end of the hunter. Put down by a pack of mangy wild animals.

    Suddenly from somewhere in the darkness you heard a quick 'woosh' sound. What ever the sound was made by attracted the alphas attention, it growled and went to inspect it. You thought about using the opportunity to get away but you didn't think you could see to get up much less get up at all. You listened as the 'woosh' sound happened again and again. The wolves growled and then yelped as who or whatever was making the 'woosh ' sound took them down one at a time. ' Great just great something that can take on the wolves is gonna come eat me now, bring it on nature' you thought ruefully. You would no doubt be unconscious when it happened anyways so it didn't matter to you which one got you. Your vision slowly started to fade as the thing that took the wolves down approached you. It leaned over you eyes seemingly surveying you....those eyes. The last thing you remember before you passed out was a glowing pair of golden eyes.