blood moon, marc spector

six.

WHEN LILITH AND FRENCHIE WALKED INTO THE BAR, A TABLE OF MERCENARIES HAD ALREADY BEEN FORMED IN THE BACK CORNER. lilith recognized remy, a burly, bald man with tattooed arms, sitting next to charles, a smaller guy with a large scar along his neck. she'd met the two of them on a cairo mission a few months prior.

she and frenchie grabbed the two chairs across from them, ordering their drinks unceremoniously when a waitress walked by.

"lilith james, in the flesh." remy said, smiling a little as he saw her. "duchamp didn't think you'd show up."

she sometimes forgot that she was the only person who called jean-paul duchamp 'frenchie'. she chuckled at remy's comment. "if there's drinks involved, of course i'm here."

charles shook his head with a small chuckle. "so, how's work treating you two? did you just get back from something?"

"crete." frenchie replied. "shit show of a mission, to be honest."

a man further down the table, who lilith didn't know, leaned in a little closer. "every crete mission is a shit show."

lilith's drink had been set down on the table for a mere second before marc spector walked in. she should've ordered something stronger.

she could practically see the gears in marc's head shifting as he tried to look for any open seat that wasn't next to lilith. there wasn't one.

she wasn't sure if his eye had twitched or if she'd imagined it, his hands balled into annoyed fists before he put one on the back of the chair by lilith. "this seat taken?"

lilith was surprised that he'd not chosen to just walk out of the bar. she took a sip of her drink before looking up at him. "no."

marc let out a huff, sitting down in the seat with his arms folded over his chest. "didn't expect to see you here." he mumbled, adjusting so he was further away from her. "i thought you were too good to go out with the rest of us."

though lilith, admittedly, wasn't always the best at showing up to any sort of function (work or otherwise), she wasn't fond of this narrative that she was just some grinch up in a cave who refused to talk to anyone. "i never said that."

a dry, almost bitter snort left marc as he reached forward, taking his own drink once it was on the table. he didn't seem phased by the whiskey as it hit his throat. he looked back to lilith, his eyes narrowed slightly. "no, but you've certainly implied it before, haven't you?"

his voice was laced with a sort of venom that was starting to piss lilith off. she really didn't know what reason marc had to constant try to start things with her, to constantly be a pain in her ass.

"the only person here i actively have an issue with is you." she replied dryly, taking another sip of her drink.

marc let out a scoff of laughter, shaking his head at her response. "what can i say? i don't like you either."

"i'm glad it's mutual, then." lilith leaned forward to grab a handful of the fries that were sitting in the middle of the table. she handed one to frenchie.

lilith felt, sometimes, that she had a sort of sixth sense about her as a result of her mercenary work. she was always on the run, always in some sort of dangerous situation or other. she was also always being watched, like she was under the scrutiny of some other-worldly big brother camera.

after a while of being watched constantly, lilith had gotten quite used to recognizing the feeling of a pair of eyes on her. almost magically, miraculously, she could guess when she wasn't alone in an alleyway, or when her hiding spot had been revealed. a sixth sense that, in some scenarios, had potentially saved her life.