"Riders Of The Apocalypse"
Part 1
by Osiris Brackhaus & Beryll
Starring Brad Pitt as Famine
---
***NEWSFLASH***
...strongly objecting to the rumors of an extended crop failure in the south, the Chinese government sharply pointed out that it would by no means tolerate any more verbal aggression from Taiwan. While the US made unmistakably clear that they would unconditionally assist their Taiwanese friends if military tensions with China would increase, the UN urged all parties to return to the negotiations the Chinese delegates had left after a US-official...
***NEWSFLASH***
-
It was lunch break at the St. Anna Hospital and the small cafe across the street was quite crowded. As the food was much better than what was served in the hospital's cafeteria, most employees there preferred the cafe if they had the time to go there.
Right now, the only free seat in the whole cafe was at one of the two-seat tables close to the window.
A blond young man was sitting there already, wearing faded denims and a green T-shirt, reading the business part of the local newspaper and now and then eating a forkful of the piece of apple pie he had in front of him.
He looked perfectly ordinary. Probably nobody would have believed him, had he told them that he was a biblical figure and on a mission to destroy earth at the moment. But that was the whole point of a mortal seeming, wasn't it?
Famine was waiting for Pestilence to show up for their weekly meeting. They both liked to exchange news and discuss how their various projects were progressing. Well - truth be told - Pestilence like to talk about his 'babies' and Famine liked to have somebody to listen to. As usual, Pestilence was late.
So Famine looked up in surprise when he heard a soft coughing next to him. A blond man of about forty was standing next to the table, a plate with apple pie in one hand, a steaming mug of coffee in the other, smiling politely. He was wearing the white coat of a doctor so Famine deduced that he had to be from the hospital, too.
"You mind if I sit here?" the man asked. "All the other seats are taken."
A quick glance around the cafe told Famine that he was right. He did feel somewhat uncomfortable at the thought of having a human so close to him, but it would have been extremely impolite to refuse. So he nodded, trying to mimic the other's smile. "Sure. Sit."
He knew he wasn't doing the smile very well and was probably failing at the conversation bit as well when he noticed the odd glance the man gave him.
Quickly Famine barricaded himself behind his newspaper again. Still he couldn't help but glance at the man again and again. In his line of work he never really interacted with the mortals. He knew the others were having much more personal contact with their charges, but he was more dealing with subtle changes in the weather, accidents on grand scale and flooding of course.
Maybe that was why he was so fascinated by this human now. He watched as the other man savored his apple pie and this time the smile that came to his lips was better already. He had always been an extremely fast learner.
Learning to love food maybe was a strange thing in his profession but it had happened almost instantly. Just after they had arrived in that parking lot in Jerusalem and the others had gone their respective ways, he had passed a small restaurant in the street leading away from the supermarket. The smell had been more than enticing. And as Famine was never in a hurry he had decided to go in and have a snack. That was when he had fashioned his mortal guise as well.
He had not been disappointed and had spent a lot of time sampling all kinds of foods since. And the apple pie in this particular cafe was very good.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he only noticed the other man was looking back at him, when he was suddenly addressed: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
The question was asked in a friendly tone, but Famine had the impression that he had done something he wasn't supposed to. He really wished he had paid more attention to human interaction.
"I'm sorry." he said, quickly taking a bite of his own apple pie, noticing that a lot of the good taste had gone missing. Damn, this man was making him nervous. And when he got nervous he didn't have complete control over the effects of his presence. And spoiling food sadly was his major talent.
"Are you okay?" the other man asked and Famine glanced at him again. He did sound genuinely worried.
And Famine realized with a bit of surprise that he would have loved to 'chat' with the man. He just didn't know how.
"Yes. I'm okay." he said, trying to think of something else to say, not to let the conversation run dry. "You work at the hospital?" he asked lamely.
The other man grinned. "Yeah, kind of shows, huh?" he tugged on his white coat meaningfully. "What do you do? Haven't seen you around here before."
"I..." Good question. Extremely good question. What was he supposed to say to that? "I work in the food industry." Famine ventured boldly.
"Oh, that sounds interesting. You work for a company or something?" The man smiled again and this time Famine noticed what a nice smile this guy had.
Famine nodded, feeling relieved that he had managed to keep the conversation going as well as desperate as to what to tell the man. "Yes, a big company."
"So what brings you here?" the other man asked, taking another forkful of the apple pie, chewing on it for a moment, then scrunching his face up in a gesture of disgust. "Ewh... something's wrong with this pie... tastes horrible."
Famine felt his nervousness grow. "I... I am meeting here with a business associate." he said, trying to calm himself, not succeeding at all. Behind him a man spit out his coffee, cursing that it tasted terribly bitter. Famine silently cursed his lack of control over his 'talents'.
The man looked at Famine like he expected him to say something else but Famine had no idea what. He did not want the mortal to just walk away but he had no idea on how to accomplish that.
"Well then..." the man said when the silence between them stretched to an unbearable level and the other guests of the cafe were all getting rather angry as the food was falling apart on their plates, leaving nothing but bitter ashes. "I guess my lunch break is over."
Famine watched in despair, as the man got up. There had to be something, anything he could say.
"How about I invite you for a drink when your shift ends?"
Later, Famine wasn't able to say where he had suddenly pulled that question from. And the man looked back at him with just as much surprise as Famine felt at his own boldness.
"What?" the man asked, looking slightly confused but smiling at the same time.
"A drink. How about we... go have a drink together?" Wouldn't do to pull back now.
The man seemed to be considering the idea carefully and Famine found himself praying that he might say yes. Why this suddenly seemed so important he didn't know either, but he really wanted to get to know this human better.
"Why not." the man finally said. "Why don't you call me tonight. Around seven? I'll have to tuck in my kids first."
Famine nodded mutely, almost shocked by his success.
"Here's my number." the man said and handed Famine a card. He smiled at Famine again. "See you around then." he said in goodbye and then left.
-
***NEWSFLASH***
...the mycotic spores, a hybrid of the Aspergillus Niger and a yet to be identified fungus, have not shown up on standard tests and therefore been able to infect at least eighty-five percent of this year's midwestern crops. As the spores do not harm the plants yet render the food toxic to most mammals, first scientists already warn of a famine that would dwarf the rumored Chinese ...
***NEWSFLASH***
-
Famine was nervously bouncing on the balls of his feet, flipping the cell phone in his hand open and closed. It was a quarter past seven and he still hadn't called 'Sean'. At least the name on the card said 'Sean'.
Of course he knew he should have called the minute he got back from his little 'business trip' to the US, destroying this year's whole crop of the Midwest. But he just couldn't work up the courage.
He had spent a lot of thought on why he actually wanted to meet the human again and had come to a confusing conclusion: he liked the man. As he had never before liked anybody - expect maybe Pestilence, now that he thought about it - it was something he very much wanted to explore further.
He snapped the phone open again, gazing at it thoughtfully. What was he afraid of anyway? The worst thing that could happen was that the guy simply said 'no'.
Drawing in a deep breath he dialed the number he had been given. The phone rang quite a few times and Famine was about to hang up again, when the voice he remembered from lunch answered.
"Hello?"
For a moment Famine again didn't know what to say, but then pulled himself together. After all he had been listening to a radio station the whole afternoon to brush up on his chatting skills.
"Hi. You... you said I could call you." The slightly confused silence on the other end prompted him to say: "We met in the cafe across from the hospital?" Obviously he had not left a lasting impression. Maybe not such a bad thing considering his clumsy attempts at talking to the guy.
"Oh, yes. I remember." Sean said, sounding a lot warmer.
"Well... you said you might consider having a drink with me..."
There was another short silence and Famine unconsciously held his breath, hoping for a positive answer.
"Okay, why not." Sean then said and Famine smiled. "There a pub close to my place, why don't we meet there?"
-
Instead of just teleporting there Famine chose a less obvious means of travel. After all, he didn't want Sean to wonder how he had gotten there so quickly.
Just like he had taken on a 'mortal seeming' so had his horse. It now looked like a car. A small, unassuming beige car. Of course, the original looks had carried over a bit and it did sound like it was falling apart with its wheezing and huffing. But Famine really liked it - now that he had learned to identify the emotion of 'liking'.
Sean was waiting for him in front of the pub. He did jump when Famine killed the engine of the car and it died with a last coughing sound.
"Jesus," Sean said in greeting, "your car doesn't sound too good, mate."
Famine just smiled and patted the hood of the car. "Oh, she's fine. I've had her for ages and she's never let me down."
Sean shrugged. "They say the bowl with the crack lasts the longest." he said.
Together they entered the crowded little pub. They found a table in the back and Famine took the opportunity to have a look at the other guests while Sean went to get them two beers. It was a local and almost solely male crowd. Obviously this was the hangout of all the guys who went here for a beer after work and then back to their wives. It made Famine realize that he had no idea if Sean had a wife at home as well.
So when Sean had returned with the beers and sat down opposite him, Famine was happy that he already had one topic they could talk about.
He took a sip of the beer, sighing happily. He really was developing a serious liking for food. There was that word again. There was a lot of stuff he seemed to 'like' lately.
"So," he said, leaning back, "what do you do when you don't work at the clinic?"
Sean smiled back at him, looking surprised. Obviously he was a little confused at the sudden improvement of Famine’s conversation skills. "I take care of my kids." he said. "Three daughters can eat a lot of your time. Especially if two of them are teenagers."
Famine wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, so he passed it by. "Where's their mother?" he asked curiously.
Sean grinned. "Full of questions, aren't we?" he asked back.
Famine felt nervousness sweep over him again. 'Less questions', he told himself firmly.
But Sean was already answering. "She and I divorced about four years ago." he explained.
"That's a sin." Famine burst out before he could stop himself.
Sean raised an eyebrow.
"I mean..." Famine quickly added before Sean could say anything, "so my boss would say. He's... a really rockheaded Christian, you know..."
'Oh my, did I really say that?' Famine felt cold dread run down his spine. Did I really just call The Almighty 'rockheaded'?
But Sean didn't notice his shock. Instead he grinned. "That must be difficult. Can I ask you something for a change?"
"Sure."
Sean leaned forward slightly. "Why'd you ask me out for a drink? I mean, doesn't an incredibly good looking young guy like you have something better to do than hang out with a middle aged doctor?"
Famine blinked at him in confusion. "No?" he said. "I... I liked you, when we met in the cafe. I wanted to get to know you better." he added, trying to be as honest as possible.
Now Sean blinked in surprise. "Well... okay." he said, sounding strangely smug. "Uhm... just to get this straight... are we just having a drink or is this a date?"
Famine hadn't thought about that at all. A date. Going out with somebody you were interested in on more than a friendly basis. Thoughtfully he looked at Sean, trying to determine what exactly his interest in the other man was. The guy did look good. And as far as he had learned so far that was an important thing in determining if you wanted to have a date with somebody. And Famine liked him. So that probably qualified.
"I guess it's a date." he replied, satisfied that he had come to a conclusion.
Sean laughed breathlessly. "Oh boy..." he muttered and than smiled at Famine brightly. "Can't say that I mind." he said and took another sip of his beer. "But isn't that a sin too? Dating another guy?"
Now Famine laughed. "Who cares." he said and really meant it. After all, the world was coming to an end anyway. Last chance for him to get a taste of sin.
-
The rest of the evening they spend happily chatting. That Famine had listened to the radio all afternoon proved useful as he now at least had a bit of an idea what Sean was talking about when they discussed music and sports. Concerning politics he was rather up to date and at some point they just slowly slipped into silence, sitting comfortably, sipping their beers and quietly enjoying the other's company.
Famine was happy. It took him quite a while to identify this new feeling but he was very sure that was, what it was. Happiness.
When they had finished their second beer Sean yawned and Famine realized that he must be pretty tired after a long day of work. Humans needed sleep after all.
So he offered to drive Sean home who readily agreed. Again Sean nearly jumped out of his skin when Famine started the car and it came to life with the horrible sound of something ripping apart.
Famine laughed. "It's okay, really. It does that every time."
"If you say so." Sean said, eyeing the car around him with some distrust.
"By the way," he suddenly said, "you never even told me your name."
It only took Famine a moment to pick one. "Brad," he said, "it's Brad."
"Well, nice to meet you, Brad." Sean said and grinned.
The drive back to his place was only five minutes and Famine noticed with a bit of confusion, that he actually was feeling sorry that they would already part.
Sean sat next to him, looking a little strange too.
"I really enjoyed this." he said, sounding a bit surprised at this fact.
"So did I." Famine said and smiled at Sean. "Maybe... maybe we can repeat that some time?"
Sean nodded immediately. "Yes, that would be nice."
For a long moment they just sat there, looking at each other. Then Sean suddenly leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to Famine's lips. He immediately pulled back, obviously searching Famine's face for some kind of negative reaction.
But Famine just ran his tongue over his lips, marveling at how... nice it had felt.
"Thank you." he then said, feeling something well up inside his heart that he couldn't quite identify yet. Something extremely good.
"Thank you." Sean answered softly. Then he quickly got out of the car. "Will you call me?" he asked, looking back in.
Famine nodded. "I will. I promise." He was still feeling slightly dazed. Like he was floating.
"Good night, then." Sean said and closed the door of the car.
Famine watched as he headed up the steps to his house, stopping at the door to dig out his keys, as he turned back to wave at Famine again, smiling happily, as he entered the house and disappeared. He was feeling wonderful.
He started the car again, only driving around the corner to then teleport somewhere quieter.
Sitting on a bench in the deserted Hyde Park, he gently stroked his mare's nose, sighing happily. He was feeling good, better than good, wonderful, incredible, happy - fulfilled.
His mare neighed softly, poking him with her nose, obviously a bit confused at its master's behavior.
Famine laughed at it.
And then he noticed the oddest thing.
It was late September, autumn already holding Hyde Park firmly in its grip. But right next to the bench a rose bush was covered in budding blooms. And as Famine watched, the blooms opened further, their pedals unfolding, growing at an amazing rate, forming the most beautiful and perfect roses Famine had ever seen.
And he was sure that it was him who had made them grow.
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to: Osiris Brackhaus & Beryll
go to PART 2