they said fight fire with fire but i just got ash

Women, Azrael was sure, were an entirely different breed altogether. Regardless of their species he was mostly certain they had been created to have the last word on anything and everything. A part of the man readily anticipating Serafina's inability not to offer that sly comment as he sent those papers tumbling himself after berating her for that very same act only moments ago. It was odd really, yet the man could hardly deny he adored that side of her nature. He liked her stubbornness and hot-headedness, even when it drove him mad all at once. He liked her sharp tongue and her simple refusal to lose to him in anything. It had taken him nearly eighty years and yet he'd finally found someone who....matched him. Somehow. Even if he hardly knew how to describe it himself. For all their silly arguments and bickering and jabs at one another he'd simply come to relish her company to the point he was lonely on those nights without her. Even if he hardly knew how to admit such a thing. He hadn't been lonely in thirty years and suddenly, all at once, those emotions he thought he'd forgotten seemed to find him again.

His golden gaze lifted briefly away from those fractured pieces of lamp he'd managed to gather to glance at that plethora of paper and pins and red string taped and patterned around the walls of that room. Jack seemingly of the belief he'd managed to find the worlds answers hidden somewhere amongest it all. Azrael refusing to even entertain the idea the man might be right. It was impossible. It simply made no logical sense. The world was not ending and Alexander or the Nightshade pack or any other amount of random citizens were certainly not part of it in some great conspiracy cover-up by the government. The sudden shrug of Serafina's shoulders in response, followed by that simple admittance he was right was by far the most surprising event to occur so far. Had she just admitted he was right?!. That was damn well unheard off. The surprise on his own features then entirely genuine, so much so that the Hunter was left almost speechless as he rose from the floor to lead the way back downstairs. That package left resting on the table was quickly snatched up, Azrael still debating on what on earth he was going to do with that fractured lamp before the crunching of gravel under wheels saw the man pause. Fucking great. He was home.

The blonde Hunter spun near readily to Sera then, the suggestion that she could just magic the lamp away apparently earning him a near exasperated look as if it was an entirely stupid question. What was even the point of having magic if it didn't do anything useful?! How hard could it be to fix a break in a lamp? Wasn't that basic level magic? Was this not how it worked? That groan of sorts pulled from him then before the young woman made an effort to explain that limited set of abilities witches possessed. Their talents apparently rather specific. Serafina promptly announcing she could kill Jack more efficiently then she could repair a lamp. Azrael's eyes narrowing in a decidedly unimpressed look as he met her gaze.

"Well that is unfortunately not going to be very helpful either."

The sound of those footsteps seemed to prompt the Hunter in to further action. Azrael racing to that sink before proceeding to dump that lamp within that grey dishwater that seemed like it had been sitting there for a week if not longer already. If anything it would at least take the man awhile to find it. Serafina's scolding prompting another shrug from the Hunter as he returned to her side in that same show of speed. Well- it wasn't as if she had come up with a better idea and as long as neither of them was holding the evidence what did it matter? It was a cheap looking lamp anyway. He could get another. Hell, maybe Azrael could send him one for Christmas. His own affinity reached out readily then, that light sweeping gently around his girlfriend to push back that supernatural signature any Hunter would have detected from a mile away, concealing it beneath that gentle glow and making her appear entirely human. Jack was hardly a threat- he'd been in forced retirement for years and yet a Hunter was still a Hunter. Azrael hardly seeing the need to risk triggering the man's age-old instincts this morning.

That sudden soft admittance from the dark-haired woman as Jack pushed open that front door that she had also destroyed a coffee table of some kind saw Azrael near round on her once more, the man forced to keep his features neutral in the wake of Jack's entrance, that single hissed whisper all he was capable off before shifting his attention to the other hunter. Was there anything in the man's house that was safe from Serafina and her apparent determination to break it? His hand reached easily out to shake Jack's own in greeting then. Azrael hardly opposed to the man entirely, in fact, hack and himself had worked on several missions together. Azrael once having found him more tolerable then most others and decent company. It was a shame the man had gone mad. Azrael having distanced himself since then, Jack hardly seeming to have noticed that slow reduction in those he might have called his friends as that madness pulled him further and further into its embrace.

His hand reached for Serafina's own then as he offered that introduction along with that near apology of sorts that they couldn't stay and really had to be going. Azrael attempting some vague effort at politeness, the man oblivious to Serafina's own curiosity of the fellow. Jack, however, hardly seemed willing to release his captive audience just yet. That polite greeting returned to Serafina before the fool of a man readily seemed to explode back into that bizarre rambling about the end being so near and that vampires and Fae were going to take over Europe and Were's would rule the streets and blood and fire and everything else in-between. Azrael struggling to maintain his patience now. Jack suddenly pointing at Serafina with the declaration that she too- along with himself- were key to saving the world. As if this was some ridiculous movie or book following a clichéd plot line. This was exactly why no one ever invited Jack to anything anymore. The sooner they got out of here the better. Azrael hardly expecting that book to be thrust into his arms as he led the way outside. His assurance that he would read it seemingly enough to at least convince Jack to go back inside peacefully. The other hunter's sudden realization that his table was broken having barely echoed from that open front door before Azrael pressed his foot to the accelerator to race away from that house before he could question them on it. Well that was a fucking ordeal.

It took several moments of that simple, silent driving before the Hunter seemed to manage to settle himself enough to speak once more, that car gliding effortlessly along that highway now as he glanced toward that book within his girlfriend's hands. Serafina hardly seemed perturbed by the older Hunter's mad ramblings and yet Azrael hardly liked the idea of her...worrying about them in any sense. The streets were hardly going to run with blood or some sort of mad war going to break out. It was, purely, madness. His efforts to reassure her prompting a soft sigh from the woman that saw one of his own eyes raise before she announced her displeasure in not being the world's saviour. His own golden eyes rolling lightly then and yet that gesture readily seemed to see the return of his better nature now that the stressor of Jack had been removed. Azrael decidedly prone to....over-reacting in those situations he deemed stressful. The man pausing to query that book then. He was almost entirely sure it was nothing they need pay attention and yet he had hardly anticipated it to be in another language. The man glancing down at it once more before turning his eyes back to the road.

"Why on earth would he give us a book we can't read? What language is it?"

That mention of pictures saw the Hunter glance once more, Azrael frowning at those four horseman as they raced across the page, the man remembering that bible passage which spoke of them with near perfect clarity. His own father having been a religious reader and preacher of that tome. That frown only deepening at the sight of that hell and a flaming cat. What was it with cat's today? His head shaking softly.

"You know, the damn ridiculous thing is that the Hunter that Jack thinks is one of the four horseman actually does have a horse, a giant white one, just like Victory in the picture. He also runs a coffee shop and is one of the laziest people I've ever met. Getting him to do anything is like trying to draw blood from a fucking stone. All he does is sit and glare. As for the flaming cat Jack thinks it's that Tetris guy or whatever. You know, that giant panther who lives on the boat in the West? Your pet's Alpha?"

It was all ridiculous as far as he was concerned. That book no more accurate than a fairy tale. Azrael content in the least that Sera hardly seemed too distressed by the ramblings of a lunatic. Why nothing in his life could be easy he hardly knew. The man almost looking forward to the relative placidity of the rest of their afternoon. Azrael having, this time, taken the time to find an outing that was almost entirely for Serafina's interest alone. This perhaps the first time he had made any sort of genuine effort to embrace that supernatural side of her and yet against all odds this relationship they had was, somehow, progressing. Azrael content to press it just that little bit more this afternoon even though it involved a little more open-mindedness on his part then he was normally inclined to give....anything. It was a relatively short drive to that next location, the blonde man rolling that car to a stop outside that rather expansive park. That normally calm, serene space near bustling with people this afternoon. That festival of sorts in full swing with rows upon rows of those tents and stalls lining the grounds. The sheer number if witches and warlocks present already pressing upon his senses and yet, for now, he simply cast those desires aside as he moved to open that door for his girlfriend.

"I used to work at this event every year, that's how I knew about it. A fair few of the people here are humans just dabbling in all that natural healing stuff but the vast majority of them are genuine witches. A lot of them from out of town, selling a lot of things you can't get in the city all that easily, plants, herbs whatever it is you use. I figured this might be something you'd enjoy- and before you ask, I'm fine, I promise. I refuse to taste test anything but that's my only real request."

Azrael