"…and that's how I ended up shooting a Elephant hunter in the butt." Granted it wasn't the best story Strife had ever invented, but claiming to once have hunt illegal hunters was not even to far from the truth. But then again that had been in a complete different realm and against a flying demonic hunter ship and its crew.
She touched his bruises up another time even when he flinched from the unused strong pain.
He was sitting without a shirt on the kitchen table in the small apartment of the woman that had introduced herself as Laura and done him the favor of taking care of his bruises.
After they had talked for a while on the bus stop and on the bus itself he had managed to convince her to let him go home with her, since he was in dire need of professional medical care.
She had known just as much anyone else that he was only simulating, but he had listened to her and her problems and lightened the mood.
He had listened to her when she told about the old man that had died today at the clinic she was working. Now he had no means to judge but the old friendly man had meant something to her, and if only because he should have survived his operation with ease.
In a spur of the moment he had decided to accompany her and by the smile he saw on her right now he was sure he had made the right choice.
She let her wet tissue dab the bruises on his tanned chest one more time and took a step back.
"I think that should be enough to heal these tremendous wounds. If there is anything else I can do for the patience?" she said with played devotion and held back a light laugh at her own silliness.
Strife had noticed how she had looked at him and decided to take his chances.
He stood up and came closer to her, moving so close that she had to take a step back.
"I heard a kiss can do wonders in the healing process." He said as gently as possible before leaning forward.
In the next moment he jumped backwards, holding his side which Laura had just mercilessly poked with her index finger.
To add insult to injury he bumped his knee into the kitchen table, lost his footing and fell on the ground.
"I am sorry." She said, but her laughter while watching his misery said quite the opposite.
"Oh no! So I lay here by the hands of the woman who pierced my heart! Will nobody come to my help!" Strife hammed his performance of the fallen lover to the limit by flailing his arms around which only caused her to laugh even more.
"Don't you think you are overdoing it a bit…" she asked as she reached for his hands to help him up but he took the chance and dragged her down to him.
She was still smiling after the sudden surprise and had nothing against his arms reaching around her.
"Well, what about that kiss my beautiful lady?"
"I wonder how many women heard that line before." She said trying not to laugh about his goofiness.
He could help but smile, Fury had always rolled her eyes at the amount of woman he had spent his time with in thousands of years. She was not wrong, and neither was the girl in front of him right now. There had been quite a lot of woman in his long life.
"You caught me, there have been some others I called beautiful as well. But they have all something in common with you."
"And what may that be?" Laura asked as Strife pushed himself up so that they were sitting and facing each other.
"I never called one of them beautiful if I didn't mean it."
She gave him a skeptical look that turned into delighted surprise as he quickly leaned forward and kissed her gently.
The snow fell thick outside as Fury looked out of the window, still listening to man on the other side of the table. It was the first time in forever since she had been able to meet someone who had not instantly recognized her as one of the most powerful enforcers of the Charred Council.
Fear, Obedient, Defiance, Respect were all normal reactions of the residents of all the different realms between heaven and hell towards a Horseman, which made normal and unbiased interactions with other people quiet difficult or outright impossible.
If there was one thing she was going to enjoy in this world it was that no one knew her name or statues, she was just one of them for the moment.
He was still talking about the ramifications of morals and religion and its influences on the modern justice system, something he seemed to care about as he was a lawyer himself.
And even thought Fury had never thought it possible herself, she found it interesting what he had to say.
It was something entirely different from the balance threatening missions the Council would send them on, ignorant of the gigantic War between Heaven and Hell, just a man talking about something he enjoyed.
That and the fact that he used many religious and historic examples that he only saw as stories his ancestors told themselves to pass the time and nothing else.
After all, she and the other Horseman had meet many Gods of different Pantheons and played their parts in their affairs when the former had still visited the Human Realm.
The waiter of the restaurant stopped by and finally delivered the food they had been waiting for.
She liked the look of the salad with small meat in it on her table and managed a hungry smile as her partner inspected his similar plate.
"I heard it tastes good." He said with a light smile.
"Only one way to find out if you heard lies or the truth!" Fury said and began eating.
Many different places in Creation prided themselves in having the tastiest food, but the results often varied greatly. Not having a couple of different drugs in it like that one time in Hell was definitely a plus.
For a Moment they were busy eating and Fury took a quick glance at the actually handsome man in front of her. It had only been yesterday when she had met him in one of the places Humans used to train their weak body despite many of them having no actual enemies or need for it anymore.
He had been the only one to muster up the courage to talk to the lady with the orange-red hair that had broken several records of the gym in one go.
He had introduced himself as Marcus, been friendly and seemed as intelligent as he was now, after the training session they had met in a café and in a quick decision she had agreed to the dinner he was offering her.
So far she hadn't had any regrets about it. He had even taken her warning that she wasn't looking for a partner without a second thought. And that she was wearing a elegant red dress instead her usual armor of iron and leather was something exciting different.
"But what would you take?" she finally broke the silence and added where he had stopped.
"I would what?" he asked, swallowing his last bite.
"You where talking about the beginning of the Trojan War, the old goddess of discord hat thrown her apple during the wedding. For the most beautiful of the goddess. I think you where at the part where they reach Paris."
"Ah yes, I remember." He said with a light smile. "Athena goddess of Wisdom, Aphrodite the goddess of Love and Hera the wife of the godfather. The first two offered Paris said Wisdom and Love in exchange for the apple that everyone wanted to posses, while Hera offered him a Kingdome to rule over. You remember what he chose?"
Fury gave Marcus a play full annoyed look to show how ridiculous this question even was.
"The young fool chose love and the promise of calling the most beautiful woman on earth his own. The last thing anyone should want to be predetermined and he takes it."
"I wouldn't have thought you are a romantic Lucia." Marcus teased her and called her by the false name she had introduced herself with.
Fury shook her head a little bit too soon for his taste. One of her own reasons was that she had never liked Aphrodite, seeing her more as the personification of Lust rather than Love.
The exchanges between her and Fury had never been very positive in the ancient times and even Strife had known to careful around her despite her looks.
"I simply cannot see how one could pass up on the promise of actual wisdom or even a kingdom of his own."
"Like people like you and I would have much fun with our own Kingdome to rule." He laughed and took another bite from his food.
She looked at him with played anger and strictness.
"I for one think I would make a great ruler. Rigorous but fair." She dropped the act and smiled again, noticing how he did as well.
"I mean, you said yourself that a society as a whole is a culmination of the story's that are told and the lives that are lived by example. Imagine a smart and just person like you as the head of an entire kingdom in ancient times. Maybe you would become the stuff of legends that would inspire us to this day?"
He only shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"Marcus the Just! He abolished slavery before everyone else did!"
She laughed and Marcus joined a sincere heartfelt laughter about something they both enjoyed.
The more frustrating it was that Furys Mobil Phone rang and ripped them out of the moment.
She searched in her handbag and excused herself. "I am afraid I have to get this." which he took with ease.
After she had gained some distance and managed to activate the device she was so unused to she could hear her brother on the other side of the line. "Fury?"
"Yes, it's me War. What is wrong?" she said, withstanding the urge to be angry at him that he had ripped her from this moment. After all, this was War, not Strife. He would call her just to spite her.
"I got the Information about our target and a clue to find him. I thought I contact one of you to investigate this clue with me before we all meet up and discuss our next step."
"Did you reach anyone of the others yet?"
"You are the first one I called."
She sighted and took a look back at her so called Date, he was waving with one hand and eating with the other mimicking how good the food tasted with such silly faces that she couldn't help but laugh for a moment.
Fury frowned playfully and looked the other way.
"Fury, Are you alright?"
She wondered if her brother was actually concerned or that he had only heard her laugh a few times and was confused to hear it now.
"No, everything is alright War. In fact, it's actually quite nice right now. I meet a Human friend and we are having a dinner at the moment, and also a really nice time. We are where talking about the Trojan War right now, and just like you always jumped at the chance to pay this particular Battlefield a visit in Human form I would rather like it if you could find one of our brothers and ask them for help."
She half expected him to give rebuttal about how they hadn't come to earth for their own pleasure and be reminded of her of her duty to the council, but nothing in this direction came.
"So I guess you are having a good time." He simply stated, possible that her comparison to a bloody war and her situation had let him come to this obvious conclusion, but maybe he was just not as uncaring as he let on.
"If Heaven would be invading Hell in exactly this moment you would have a hard time getting me to leave right now."
She said with more anger than she meant to do, reminding War that for all her usual calmness and sensibility that there was a reason why she was named Fury.
"Who is the guy you are having dinner with?"
Fury could only groan in disbelief at the question.
"He is called Marcus and is a competent Lawyer. He is not trying to take me home or anything we are just having a good time. No need to worry."
A moment of silence followed and Fury wondered if he hadn't just cancelled the call without her knowing before he finally answered.
"Just remember that we won't be on earth for very long."
She heard a clicking sound and put her phone back when she saw that the call had ended.
Fury looked back at Marcus and caught herself liking the simple but friendly human more and more.
She knew what War wanted to warn her about, it was not like she hadn't been alive for thousands of years and had seen countless lesser races vanish in time.
With a sigh of resignation she returned to the table.
"I am sorry, just one of my siblings." Fury stated.
"Just one? Are there more? And is this sad expression a hint that they are all not as competent as their Sister?" He asked teasingly, trying to lighten the mood.
"Well, they are all competed in their own way I would say. I don't know anyone as straightforward as our youngest, and while the second can sometimes be very annoying he always finds a way to cheat himself out of harm's way. And nobody stands in the way of our eldest for long that's for sure."
"Wow, seems like quiet a family. I only have one sister, but she is annoying enough for me. If I imagined two others, I would probably be long dead."
Fury laughed. If she imagined herself with only Strife at her side, she probably would have said the same.
She shook her head and ignored Wars last words. She was in the here and now and she should have fun, that's what mattered to her right now.
War walked through the cold streets of the city towards his destination. The snow fell thick and another man crossed the street as he saw him walking in his direction.
He beat the snow of his cloth and made sure to keep walking to battle against the cold.
If none of the others would come to his aid he would need to manage this on his own.
War shrugged, it wouldn't be the first time.
Note: Any and all Reviews or Suggestions about story, content or writing mistakes are much appreciated and help me stay motivated to continue the story. Thanks for following me so far.