"Scrouge," Death hollered down the stairs to the basement as he ran down them, "Sam is hurt and needs aid."
Scrouge already had a few things laid out and a table prepared to lay her on, as if she expected this to happen.
"You prepared fast." Death said, as he laid her down.
"I am sure you can smell her blood, I anticipated it to drive him mad." Scrouge was opening a jar labeled 'histcap'.
"I am sure you are pleased to see you were right."
"Not exactly, I'd never wish harm upon your mate." Scrouge was now pressing the histcap along the neck of the unconscious demon, and preparing bandages.
"Why have you all begun referring to her as my mate?"
"You did first. We have all assumed you have sealed it by now, especially with her suddenly being so full of pheromones." Death scoffed, crossing his arms. "Alas, I do note that you both are still.. uncomfortable, be the word? So it reads to me that it isn't the case." There was a pause, "You know, you having not claimed her is a tease to the other three."
"I am aware." Death looked down to the demon, running his hand along her back. "I may not have a claim over her, but she is undoubtedly mine."
"Very true." Scrouge was now tending to her head, and once she was finished, she turned to Death. "It seems some of the poisons really have weakened her. Sparring was not a good choice of her to make. May I ask, how did the wound form on her neck? All of the weapons we used are still here, and not once did she have that that I could see." the female rider gestured to the array of daggers and vials.
Death turned to examine them, and turned back to Sam once more. He sighed, "Will you watch her, while I go speak to our impulsive brother?" Scrouge replied with a nod, and the male retreated upstairs.
War was in his room, mentally planning various things in his head. From argumentative points, to reasonings, and things of that nature. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door. He knew who it was, and got up to open. "What do you want, brother."
"Are you jealous?" Death stated, bold as ever.
War was dumbfounded, replaced with anger a moment later. "Jealous? Of a demon? Are you mad?"
"No, not just a demon. Of the fact I even have a mate, and them being powerful."
"Tch. You act as if I do not know the tenancy of our kind." War crossed his arms over his chest
"Well, you are young and naive." The eldest shrugged, shifting his weight to be more comfortable. "Powerful mates grant powerful respect."
"As if you need more. Testing my waters right now isn't wise, brother." War growled, turning his head to the side.
"You dare to threaten me? I'd say you are jealous."
"Just claim your whore already, she's driving everyone mad." War went to slam his door, only for it to easily be stopped by Death hand.
"Whore, you say? May I remind you of the succubus you laid with for years, and never caught on to the rest she serviced, while my 'whore' hasn't, not once?" Death leaned closer to War, clearly upset.
"Shut up! You know nothing of that, you only ever know what you believe you want to know. Do not speak of her again. Let me rest, so I may stop acting in such a way."
Death reluctantly pulled himself away, watching as War closed the door harshly. The eldest sighed and began to travel down the stairs to the ground floor.
"Brother," Fury, standing in one of the far corners beside the couch, turned to the new member of the room. "War was right, about the traitor remark. Have you gained information? I do not think somebody like him would say such without reason."
Strife, sitting on the middle of the couch, let out a nasty growl. "Will you all stop talking about that, she's got a reason for not explaining it to you."
Both turned to look at him, the pale one speaking, "Do you know something we do not, brother?"
Strife looked up at him, and then back at the quiet tv. "Maybe I do. For once I want you to trust me, and your lover. You know her better than I, don't start doubting her."
Fury sighed, crossing her arms. "How is she doing?"
"I am unsure. I was just about to go look for myself, you are both welcome to come." Death began walking down to the basement, followed by the two siblings. They were silent, and all that was heard in the hallway was heavy breathing from below.
Death walked faster, being greeted by the sight of a sweating, heavy breathing Sam, laying in the same place as before, bandaged and with a wet rag on her forehead. Her hoodie and shoes lay to the side, leaving her in her tank top and jeans once again. "What is wrong?"
The horseman looked at Scrouge, walking closer to Sam. "She is just running a fever. This happened last time, she was just awake and fighting to not show symptoms."
"Damn," Strife said, "is there anything this woman wouldn't keep secret?"
Fury gave him a whack on the chest, watching Death hold the demons hand. Sam was extremely warm. "Were you successful on finding a copy of the weapon, then."
"It is not exact, I believe, but it may be close. The question remains, to which one was used. I indeed am not missing a weapon. And it doesn't seem like any wounds we inflicted today ourselves, are reacting the same." Scrouge stepped away, now tending to something else.
"I wonder when she'll awaken." Fury crossed her arms, looking at Strife, who responded with a shrug.
There was a loud gasp and cough in the room, gaining everyone's attention. Sam sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the table, and coughed a small pile of black tar onto the ground.
"Yuck, that's gross." Strife faked a gag, watching her continue to cough.
Death stood beside her, gently rubbing her back and trying to soothe her. The demon stopped her coughing, and wiped her mouth with the rag that had just fallen from her face. "That's disgusting."
Death chuckled, and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Your neck wound is very similar to the one your mother caused."
Sams eyes widened, "Where's War? He has the knife that did it."
Strife let out a low growl, "He did this? I thought it was some sortof accident."
"No," The demon shook her head "He threatened me with it. Though, I probably deserved it. I started getting a little nasty with him."
"No doubt he was much worse with it, what he said was downright cruel." Fury shook her head,avoiding looking at the demon.
"What did he say to you, Sam?" Death looked at her, and she just shrugged. Strife went to open his mouth,but was cut off by the wounded woman who stared him down. "He just said that I appear useless often. Which is true. I wasn't here for a couple weeks, and it caused stress. That's not helpful, it's useless."
Death sighed, crossing his arms. The demon looked at him finally, and smiled. "I'm fine. I just hope I didn't say anything too harsh to him. What started it was me not giving the full truth to begin with anyway."
"He's still as childish as ever." Strife huffed.
"You're childish too, and he was just trying to protect all of you from potential danger. It was valid actions, in my book." It was Sam's turn to cross her arms over her chest, only to realize her arms were incredibly sore, and her chest was very visible due to the tank top.
The demon looked around, and Death seemingly knowing what she was looking for, gave her the hoodie and shoes. She took her time putting them on, as the other three had a conversation she distanced herself from. She felt around on her head, feeling the bandage that wrapped around completely. She then felt her neck, which was now also wrapped completely around. It was sore to the touch, even with the gauze padding. She began thinking of all the comments her and War shared moments before.
She was pulled back to reality when a hand was on her shoulder, and a voice speaking to her. "Hm? What?" She looked at her lover, confused.
His expression grew to that of worry. "We have been talking to you for quite a while, are you okay?"
"I'm sorry" the demon said, "I spaced out, I didn't mean to ignore you all. What was it about?"
"We just wanted to know how convincing you were to Samael, so we know for sure how we should form our battle plan." Strife leaned on the wall by the stairs.
"Well, considering for most of the time I was there I was acting like I really hated it, and wanted to make it seem like I really did hit a breaking point when I finally told him. I can only assume he took the bait. Speaking of which, in the end battle, I think I should be the one to fight him." heads turned her direction. She sighed and stated, "I grew up fighting him, he was the one who trained me. It was Lucifer's order, and Spendu agreed."
"You have way too many tricks up your sleeve for anybody to keep track of. I don't know how the hell you can keep track of them." The white rider laughed, "It seems we have a big portion of the fight figured out already."
"Why would you consider Samael to be a big portion of the fight? In my opinion, compared to the other past Demon Lord's, he isn't even that strong." Sam once again received strange expressions. "Maybe when I was younger, he let me win the fights to boost my confidence, but who knows." She shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Speaking of this,we have news to bear to you, Sam." Death crossed his arms, looking uneasy.
After a moment of silence, Sam looked around. "Okay, what is it?"
The eldest horsemen glanced at the others before speaking. "We know how you feel, but this is still shaking news regardless. We've been told the humans got to Lilith."
Sam didn't respond, other than looking around at them again. "Is that it? I knew it was going to happen, that's nothing new. Hell I might have expressed to the humans how much I didn't like her at some point and she was hunted down." Sam shrugged. "Who knows."
The riders let out a sigh, clearly relieved at how she took the news. The demon sighed, slipping herself off the table. She nearly instantly lost her balance. Of course, Death being the closest, kept her from falling. Her face twisted in pain, and she turned her head so that Death could not see.
"Sam, are you alright?" She turned her head back to the horseman, smiling.
"Yeah, I might just need a bit of help getting back to my room, but I think I'm okay otherwise."
"Alright. Then I shall accompany you to your room, and then you will rest, for the remainder of the day and night. Do you understand?" He looked at her, sternly.
The demon began to walk away towards the stairs, "Yeessss Motherrr."
Strife and Fury both chuckled, bidding her a goodnight. Death followed his lover carefully, and quietly. Sam nearly tripped several times, but of course he was there to help her. They eventually made it to her room, and she got halfway to her bed before she realized he was no longer behind her. She quickly made her way to the door frame, and peeked into the hallway. "Death, where you goin'?"
The horsemen turned and looked at her, "You need to rest. Go to sleep."
"But I want company. Tell me a story, come teach me some necromancy, spend the night in here, I don't care. Just come onnn." He didn't respond, so she pouted. The pale rider sighed in defeat, making his way back down the hallway.
"I figured that you would have done something like this, so I wanted to see you to your room,and then head back to my own." He entered her room, closed the door behind himself, and plopped in the chair at her desk.
The demon sat on her bed, smiling. "Well, how'd that work out for ya'?"
"It didn't." he smiled, taking his mask off and setting it aside.
It had become a regular thing, when the two knew that they were alone and in private that Death would remove his mask for her. If he didn't, she would do it herself. She loved it when he did it on his own though, since he had expressed to her how reluctant he was about it.
"So. I got to see Strifes face again recently. It's been so long, I forgot what he looked like." Death responded by lifting an eyebrow at her. "Looks like you have a bit of competition~"
Death scoffed, which made Sam laugh. "I could never see you with a man like him. You two are too much alike, it would grow sour and an instant."
"Considering how much you hate Strife, and you just said I'm a lot like him, I am greatly offended, mate." she crossed her arms over her chest, pouting.
Death crossed his arms as well, and to her surprise, copied her expression. For some reason, this made her laugh very loudly. "I believe the wound to your head is actually affecting your brain, you seem awfully cheerful."
"Is it wrong for me to be cheerful? Now should I be extra gloomy, to make up for this monstrosity amount of time?"
Death let out a low laugh, moving the chair slightly closer to the bed. "You misunderstand, I merely want to know how to get you like this more often."
"I'm not sure honestly. I just feel better, I guess." Sam shrugged, smiling at him once again.
"Are you sure that's it?" He cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Yes, I am sure. At least, it's what I'd like to believe." She earned a short laugh from Death.
"Just making sure, darling."
The two stared at each other with their faces full of smiles. Death sighed, and with Sam's words his expression lit up like a light, in happiness, confusion, and probably several other things. "I love you," she had said. Both of their hearts skipped a beat, and when he didn't say anything, she became shy and looked away.
The horseman leaved forward,onto the bed. He cupped her face with his hand, making her look at him. He gave her a soft kiss and pressed his forehead to hers. "I love you too." They sat like this for a minute, Death pulling away and telling her how she needed to rest.
"I am resting, I'm just not sleeping. I'm too awake to sleep."
Death stared at her for a moment before leaning in and onto the bed again, his voice low and thick "Do I need to tire you out?"
The demons face went blank, and she then smiled. "You could tell me a story again! You haven't told me any in quite awhile."
"Only because you were gone." He leaned back again, showing signs of disappointment that Sam didn't notice.
"Exactly, so spill me a story. After I change, sleeping in a bed in jeans is terrible." She stood, wobbling over to her closet. Death stood, fearing she may fall. She got the door to the closet open and the shorts she wanted to wear out of it.
Sam removed her hoodie, and started taking off her jeans, only to fall onto the bed from loss of balance. She clearly didn't care that Death was staring at her, practically holding his breath. She continued trying to remove the clothing,only to almost fall forward off the bed.
Death hurried over, pressing a hand to her shoulder. "You're going to fall doing this alone. Allow me to help." She said no refusal and did nothing but look at him. She leaned back slightly, using her arms to balance herself on the bed as he pulled off the remainder of her jeans. He noted all of the scratches and bruises around her thighs.
He began putting her shorts over her legs, slowly pulling them up until they got to where her thighs touched the bed. She put her hands on his shoulders, hoisting herself up as he stood and pulled her shorts up the remainder of the way.
She looked up at him with a soft expression, and he looked down at her the same. She smiled greatly, hugging him and pressing her face into his chest. He let out a low chuckle, patting her upper back lightly. "You're just a big ol' cuddly bear."
"I truly think this head wound has affected you greatly."
"Is that a bad thing?" she started curling up in her bed, grabbing a pillow to hug.
"I suppose not. You are still Sam." Death moved the chair so he was now closer to her face, sitting and looking at her. "What story would you like to hear?"
"Something about Fury."
"Alright. Give me a moment to think."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"To this day, she cannot stand anybody who recreates the situation of her looking absolutely stupid. Granted, she makes it very difficult to do so." The rider looked to his demon, who was now fully asleep. Her light snore brought odd comfort to his ears.
He smiled once more, gave her a gentle kiss to her temple, and bid her goodnight. He left the room after placing the chair in it's rightful spot, and his mask in it's own. The rider stood by the door for several minutes, longly hesitating to leave. Eventually the pale man chose to go to his own room, but not after muttering the three words that summed up his feelings for her.