they said fight fire with fire but i just got ash

He had hardly anticipated that sudden 'fun fact' from the woman beside upon the tail end of his own tale of woe in regards to that treasured car that had been so unceremoniously hijacked by some fucking vampire and a renegade cat. That soft assurance that vampires and their association with cats stemmed from witches like his own girlfriend saw one eyebrow arch slightly upward in clear surprise at both the fact and the very notion Serafina was offering it to him. The pair rarely, if ever, given to discuss anything of a species based nature if only for the fashion in which it unsettled Azrael and indeed the man tended to respect his girlfriend's desire not to hear about just who or what he had spent the day murdering. Still, he supposed, he was hardly opposed to facts in the least, his head nodding slightly in some gesture for the woman to continue despite that long pause. The very notion that vampires and cats had been created or made or blended somehow saw his own lip quirk upward in a clear distaste. That, in the least, was one vampiric legend he had never heard and he had damn well heard his fair share of them. Still, this one, somehow, almost seemed to make some sort of sense- ridiculous though it was. Azrael never before having considered how alike cats and vampires truly were until laid before him like that. His fingers taped momentarily against that steering wheel, the blonde man clearly contemplative a moment before his lip quirked just slightly at the corner, his gaze glanced towards Sera once more now.

"You know you can make vampires hiss almost on cue? Don't go and try it or anything ridiculous like that, but if you surprise a vampire- genuinely surprise them- like sneaking up behind them or jumping out at them or something, hissing is the first thing they do before they attack. We used to think it was a pain response or some sort of aggression thing. Ninety percent of the time it's just surprise. The other ten percent is territorial aggression- usually aimed at other vampires. Never knew the cat thing though. Makes sense."

Well- it did. Azrael willing to admit that he had found a genuine intrigue in that titbit of information, enough to actually share his own, or at least, part of that knowledge that had been instilled within him in those early years as a hunter. Vampiric research moving ahead in leaps and bounds every day. If only they could somehow harness light in the fashion he did as a weapon accessible to other hunters. That would solve the vampire issue once and for all. He allowed those thoughts to shift all the same. Azrael hardly willing to tempt any of that desire to hunt anything with his girlfriend nestled in that leather seat behind him. The man near having mastered ignoring those instincts entirely when the witch was around. He'd even gotten marginally better at tolerating her ridiculous pet. Even if he was content to pretend she bothered him more then she truly did. That car turned easily up that long driveway then, Azrael parking it a few feet away from that house before coming around to open the door for Sera in turn and make his way up to that front veranda.

Why was it that nothing in his life could ever go right? Did someone up there hate him? Realistically speaking he supposed they probably did, the man scowling lightly at the thought before giving up on trying to find that key entirely despite Jack's assurance it would be right there. Crazy old fool. That drawn out sigh fell softly from his lips then, his gaze glancing briefly from that door he was more than capable of kicking in and upward to that Witch window Jack had installed some thirty years ago under the belief it truly would stop witches. It was almost as if so many years with the Council had taught him nothing. An oddly shaped window was hardly going to stop a witch. In fact, Azrael was almost willing to bet that it wouldn't. His golden gaze falling onto the young woman beside him then before gesturing up to that window in question. He could see that 'no' already forming on her lips, Azrael quick with his own almost goading words in return. After all, if he could count on anything more than that hard-headed argumentative streak within the woman it was her competitive nature and complete determination to do exactly the opposite of what most expected of her. That soft snort of amusement stirred from within him as that look upon her face seemed to shift from argumentative to contemplative and back again as the predicament he was putting her in became clear. That word near muttered under her breath as she shoved her purse into his hands prompting an eye roll.

"You know I can hear you."

He hardly anticipated any true response all the same other then perhaps another withering look as his arms wrapped easily around her petite waist, the woman so desperately easy to lift it was almost laughable. Her slender frame hoisted up high enough to grasp that roof as she clamoured on. The hunter assuring her that stupid little dog had died years ago. He waited only so long as it took her to hoist that window open and make her way inside, that worn wood groaning with protest and yet the very idea that a Witch Window would keep a Witch out was dispelled within a matter of seconds as the woman climbed inside. Azrael making his way around to that front door as he promised he would. The Hunter pausing to glance at his watch. Why was nothing in life simple? Why could nothing go right the first time? Why did picking up one simple thing turn into an hour long expedition that had his girlfriend climbing through windows and-. The sudden sound of something momentarily saw his own thoughts pause as his eyes narrowed slightly, Azrael attempting to peer through that front window then.

"Sera? What are you doing in there?"

She couldn't possibly have broken anything could she? She'd been in there five bloody minutes! That distinct lack of answer earning prompting a grunt from him as he lent back against the side of the house, listening for the sound of her all the same. How long did it take to go from one room to another? Was she lost in there? Christ, she had one job to do. Jack 's house was messy but there hadn't been anything dangerous in there right? Azrael only just contemplating shouting for the woman again when that front door finally opened another ten minutes later. That worried look upon his face still entirely present- at least until that abrupt admittance she had broken his lamp. Azrael's features abruptly shifting as that rather long sigh fell from his lips, one hand lifting to pinch at the bridge of his nose as if attempting to prevent himself raising his voice.

"How broken is it? Is it the chipped sort of broken or humpty fucking dumpty broken? How did you even manage to break it for heavens sake? He's weird about this shit, we're going to have to try and fix it. Christ this place is a dump. Oh-."

The Hunter managed to pause near midstride past the woman and into that house. His mind already fixated on at least attempting to fix that stupid lamp before another thought seemed to strike him entirely. His head tilting downward to place that quick, sweet kiss on Serafina's cheek before he continued to walk past, the man glancing briefly over his shoulder with that entirely teasing look in place, both eyebrows arching upward in the same moment.

"That's for trying. After all, you got the door open. I still think you could have done better though. Average marks overall."

There was an affection to those words, even despite the fashion in which he saw fit to goad her. Azrael making his way further into that house then in an effort to find that supposed lamp. The man stepping over piles upon piles of books and newspapers that had been torn apart and put back together or traced on and over with certain words circled and aligned with others. Was this really how bad the man had gotten since the last he had seen him? Jack had been crazy then, the man appearing for all purposes to have become absolutely insane. One hand lifted upward to run through his hair, his gaze at last falling onto that broken lamp resting beside a stack pf piled papers, Azrael crouching slightly to pick up several of those pieces. This was going to take more then glue to put back together. Maybe they could just hide the damned thing somewhere. His gaze glanced briefly upward at the sound of Sera behind him, Azrael turning only to knock a book placed precariously atop another pile of papers down, that paper work tumbling with it.

"Don't you dare say anything."

He could see her thinking it from here, the hunter half expecting to hear her laugh a moment later. Azrael bending to pick up that book, the page having fallen open on a list of the ten most dangerous individuals according to Jack. Azrael scowling slightly at Alexanders name printed in that book, along with a lengthy description of how and why the Hunter was, in fact, one of the Horseman of the Apocalypse. Conquest. To be specific. Those celestial changes set to occur within the next few years so apparently about to grant that coffee-making Hunter further powers. This exactly the sort of rubbish that had gotten him kicked out of the organisation to begin with.

"He used to be a good Hunter in his day, believe it or not. Then he started up with all....this. He thinks the end of the world is coming, he started thinking certain people were involved in planning some sort of Armageddon. He thinks certain individuals are key to the future of the universe. He's convinced some WerePanther is the key to it all."

The man gestured to those walls then, that book tossed back upon the nearest pile as Azrael paused to scoop up that lamp- maybe he stash it in his car. Given the amount of time they had that was surely the best they could do. Besides, he could always deny it if the man asked. Now all he had to do was find that package he needed to pick up. Azrael made his way easily back into that hallway then, following it down to the kitchen to spy that wrapped packing on the kitchen table, the man snatching it up readily before glancing back to make sure Serafina was following. Jack hardly had any weapons anymore and yet the idea of his girlfriend injuring herself on something in this house displeased him all the same. Who knew what the fuck was under all those papers?

"This looks like what I'm after. Are you ready to go? Let's get out of here quickly he's coming up the bloody driveway now. Christ- the lamp. Can you, I don't know, magic it away or something?"

That he had never yet seen Serafina 'magic' anything away remained to be seen, Azrael's own affinity for speed engaged in that moment, the man reappearing within that kitchen and beside the sink filled wish dishes. Azrael abruptly dumping that lamp into the sink only to watch it descend beneath that days old water. The Hunter glancing towards his girlfriend now.

"Did you have a better idea?"

Azrael