It had always been said that Stand users are drawn to other Stand users, or at least that's what Hol Horse told Mariah when she had asked how he had found her so quickly after she was released from the hospital. With none of the money and power Lord Dio had promised her, she had retreated (or rather, limped) to a small apartment hidden in the vast urban jungle of Luxor. In contrast to her once active lifestyle, she now spent her days huddled in the shadows of her bedroom, living off of her earnings from past lucrative exploits. In short, Mariah didn't want to be found. And yet he found her. He didn't even so much as bother to knock on the door when he showed up. Just barged right on in.
From the rumors she had heard about Hol Horse from the other Stand users, Mariah had put him in her mental category of "annoying womanizers," a category that had grown immensely over the years. When he kicked down the door and flashed Emperor around as proof of his identity, Mariah was tempted to use Bastet to teach him proper etiquette. But after her humiliating defeat and grueling recovery, it just wasn't worth it.
"Why the hell did you do that?" she had asked crossly.
"You didn't respond when I called out your name."
Mariah blinked. She didn't even hear him. Was she really that lost in her own world? "Well, what if you had entered the wrong apartment?"
"But I didn't."
When she asked him what he was still doing in Egypt, he simply offered her a cheeky grin and said that he couldn't go home until he got enough money to pay the fines on his expired visa. Mariah was surprised that he had even bothered to get one.
"It's… It's a couple of weeks old," he had said while they shared a cup of tea (which Hol Horse had insisted on preparing since Mariah still hadn't fully recovered). "I spent all the money I brought with me on the hospital bills. Paid for Boingo's expenses too."
It was surprisingly easy to hold a conversation with him. They exchanged stories on past contracts, congratulating each other on their impressive earnings and laughing over botched jobs. It wasn't until they found themselves laying on the floor sharing a cigarette that Mariah asked the question that any normal person would have asked when he first showed up.
"Why did you come here?"
Hol Horse rolled over on his stomach and sighed. "I don't know. I guess I'm trying to figure out what to do next." It was strange for Mariah to hear the problem that kept her up at night voiced by someone else. "I mean, we got into some deep shit, you know? We're lucky to be alive. Both of us nearly died by our own hand. But we would have died for sure if we didn't attack the Joestars. Makes you feel pretty weak and helpless." Oh yes, it most certainly did. "I know you and Dio had a thing, but you realized how dangerous he was, right?"
"It took me several lonely weeks in hospital, but yes."
"If you didn't have a Stand, you would've ended up like the rest of his fucki-" He stopped himself, remembering he was in the presence of a woman. "Uh, freaking leftovers I saw when I tried to kill him."
Mariah shot up, ignoring the sharp pain in her sides as well as the urge to tell him to drop the gentleman act. "You WHAT?!"
He chuckled softly. "Oh, you didn't hear about that? Dio was cornering me, telling me all of this weird stuff about this guy named Jonathan Joestar before threatening me, and I acted out of self-preservation." His smile then faded into a dark frown. "He was sitting right there with his back turned to me as I summoned Emperor, but the next second, he was behind me telling me he was 'impressed.' I've never seen someone move that fast, and I swear, Mariah, the cobwebs around me hadn't been disturbed at all. I don't know how he did it. I had never felt so powerless in my entire life. I still don't even know what his Stand's power was, but I had no choice but to keep working for him."
Mariah sat there in silence for some time, impressed that unlike her, Hol Horse was not so easily swayed by Dio, and he had to be forced to cooperate. Her thoughts were interrupted by loud snoring, and she looked down to see her guest asleep on the floor with his hat covering his face. Rolling her eyes, she limped back into solace of her tiny bedroom. He wasn't at all what she imagined him to be like. Maybe his experiences had changed him. She had certainly changed, though probably for the worse. It scared her how easily Dio had won her trust and support, and she was still recuperating from the consequences. The idea of a "Stand mercenary" was pretty new, and usually, the only ones who gave her contracts either knew about Stands or were Stand users themselves. Getting back into the business was unthinkable. What if she fell into grasp of another dangerous user? She wouldn't survive it a second time around. But what else was there to do? Mariah groaned and buried her face into her pillow, finally drifting off to sleep.
She awoke a few hours later to the sound a pot banging on the ground followed by a string a cursing. Alarmed at what she might find, Mariah opened the door to the living room to see Hol Horse frantically cleaning burnt fava beans off the floor. She leaned against the doorframe, amused.
"I tried to make us some breakfast, but I burnt the damn thing. And I dropped it when I tried to save it because the pot was too fucking hot."
"Let me guess. You tried raising the temperature to cook the beans faster, didn't you?"
He scowled. "Yeah…"
"It takes time to cook them. You have to keep it at a simmer."
"Hey, I barely know how to cook! I was just trying to do something nice since you let me sleep here, and I think I did a decent job." Mariah burst in to laugher, clutching her sides as she collapsed onto the ground. "What? I'm serious! This isn't bad for a first time!" She couldn't stop. She hadn't felt this light since before she had been checked into the hospital. Hol Horse grumbled and continued scooping up the beans into the pot as she wiped tears from her eyes.
Finally, she stood up, reduced to a chuckle, and walked slowly over to him. He put the pot down on the counter and rushed to her side. "Hey, woah, don't move around too much!"
"I'm fine, I don't need your help, but it looks like you need mine!" Another fit giggled escaped her.
"Okay, well, why don't we head out to a café and grab something?"
That stopped her giggles. "Out?"
"Yeah, out. I don't think you've left your apartment in weeks. I don't even know how you have food here. Why don't we go out?" Mariah bit her lip. Hol Horse saw her hesitation and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, what happened, happened. I don't know we're gonna do next, but we'll keep wandering around until we figure out. That's what I always do."
He was right. She had always been strong, and she'd be damned if these injuries she got from fighting for someone who was really no better than an asshole get the best of her. It was past time she regained her independence.
"Okay," she sighed. "But we're not going to a café like we're some damn tourists or something."
Hol Horse grinned at the flicker of determination in her eyes. Now, this was the woman he had heard about. "Lead the way."