Disgust

Aurelia tore off her breathing and ski mask, removed the earplugs from her player and shook her soaking wet locks. Viktor, who had done the same to her like the others, laid a brotherly hand on her shoulder. He squeezed lightly, then passed around a pair of headphones for the group to talk to during the flight. Aurelia put the thing on and took a deep breath to shake off the tension. Her muscles were still tingling, waiting for the physical exertion to continue.

Accompanied by a few clicks and clacks from the radio system, she heard Aiden's warm voice.

"Damn it, what the hell was that stuff?" He scolded, holding up his gloves that he dipped in the liquid to loosen the stones. Salt-like edges had formed on it, like on shoes that one wore in winter when it was slippery and scattered. In some places the thick leather was so damaged that small holes were created.

Row took it from him and looked for traces of the chemical. "Looks like a strong acid or alkali, something caustic." Her beautiful eyes widened and she turned her head with a jerk to Aiden, so that the wet blond mane splashed drops of water on the others. She grabbed his right hand and turned it back and forth, examining the skin. A few pink spots had bloomed on it, but otherwise it looked unharmed.

Aurelia knew Row's worried expression all too well. Her colleague had an extremely caring demeanor that quickly made her popular with everyone. Her heart-shaped face never showed any trace of bitterness or hatred, which was quite unusual in a Slayer's lifestyle. Soon after the birth, her parents had already noticed what sunshine their daughter was, which is why she was given the name Rowena, which in her native language meant 'friends' and 'happiness'.

Meanwhile, Aiden's eyes were focused solely on the blonde woman who took hold of his hand. He looked annoyed, as if he were embarrassed to blow up such nothingness. However, there was something else. A flicker in his eyes. And Aurelia didn't need her intuition to interpret it.

She quickly turned away. She felt like she was spying on a secret. In addition, the character of Aiden's gaze, as always, made a strange feeling. Such an intimate affection triggered in her an unexpectedly powerful reflex to flee, which she was only able to suppress with great difficulty. Two different emotions tore her body apart. The urge to run, against the control she held in the here and now.

Aiden quickly pulled away from Row. "Oh, what, already had worse!" He rubbed his hands as if they were tingling uncomfortably, but soon gave up knowing that there would be no more traces to be seen tomorrow. An infinitely long life brought such advantages, although these could hardly outweigh the disadvantages.

Pareios rubbed his short-cropped black hair and freed it a little of the moisture. Then he turned to Aurelia and held out his fist. She returned the gesture and pushed her knuckles hard against his.

“298 years and almost flawless. You're getting on your nerves, Aurelia. ”He laughed, his gray eyes glowing with fighting spirit.

"You just have to work harder!" She replied teasingly and smiled a little too. Pareios brought her out of her personal ordeal and put a blanket of insignificance over the painful thoughts.

"How many do you have?"

He and Aurelia liked to playfully compete to see who fought most efficiently and made the least mistakes. To this end, they liked to compare their wounds after each fight. They started this little game about 280 years ago when the three of them were hunting in Paris in the 1820s. Viktor and Pareios, who were brothers, had always measured each other at the time, and when their task at the time to find and protect the inventor André Marie Ampère had been more protracted than expected, Aurelia was in it because of the general boredom Play with boarded. It was also an effective means of suppressing the oppressive fears, the cruel images and the all-encompassing feelings of guilt about having to kill enslaved, misguided innocents again and again. Even though she knew why she was doing all this, the thought hit her hard every time and she liked any distraction.

Today this running gag only stayed between Pareios and Aurelia and even they both rarely teased with it. Viktor, on the other hand, viewed fighting as a mere necessity since his marriage to Meredia. His fighting spirit had given way to the responsibility and unconditional dedication that his peers felt for his counterpart.

Viktor rolled his eyes in annoyance at her question. Pareios deliberately pretended that he hadn't seen it and replied in a confident tone: "Two hits in the rib." He paused and felt his cheekbone, on which a bruise had bloomed, but which had already subsided. Still, he made a face. “And this fancy baby here. And you?"

Now it was she who grinned and stretched out with relish and without pain. “Not a scratch. I'm really sorry."

"I'll get you, I'll see!" A mischievous joy was visible in his face, which made his attractive features with high cheekbones and full lips glow with rapture. It was precisely this that belied its age and centuries of experience. Outwardly, he looked a lot like his brother. Both were quite tall, around 1.90, had muscular build from hunting and training, and had distinctive facial features. While Viktor's eyes exuded a gentle and deliberate shrewdness, Pareios' sparkled with spirited acumen. They almost sparked the passion and enthusiasm that he showed for every activity.

Aurelia briefly admired the glow that made him seem more alive than anyone else. A vitality that she herself hadn't been able to feel for so long. When her muscles worked, her body mobilized every reserve and she pushed herself to the limit, then the interplay of hormones only produced a faint copy of this glow in her. A spark of sadness climbed her consciousness, but she immediately nipped it in the bud and tore herself away from Pareios' sight.

Viktor interrupted their conversation and addressed them all.

"Good work! I know you haven't had much rest lately, so thank you for your concentration! ”As a team leader, he usually felt obliged to conclude the operation and rarely allowed himself to be misled into undermining their morale with a broad analysis of mistakes. There was almost never anything to complain about anyway.

"Syrus will look at the stones and the chemical stuff as soon as we are back in the bunker," he added and had Aiden pass him the small metal box. He sniffed it and then reflexively grimaced. “There must be ammonia in there. Smells like piss. "

Aiden, too, stared in disgust at his hand, which Row had immediately pushed away. Viktor looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I thought you had seen worse ?!"

"I have too. I'm just saying Sarajevo and potassium cyanide. Still, I might now have strange piss on my hands! ”Grinning nastily, he pelted Viktor with one of the contaminated gloves.

He fended off the thing as if it were a grenade. "Wuäähh. Now I want to go to Sarajevo again. "