"The new look?"
"Yeah," she said reaching out and running her right hand over his neatly short cut beard. "I like it, makes you look somehow more badass I think."
"It's nice to feel your touch again," he told her just as she retraced her hand swiftly away.
"Don't be like that," he added as she slightly stepped away and tucked her hand under her left armpit as thought to hide it from him. Her action only drew all his attention to her left arm tattoo. "I like the new skin art, when did you get that?" "Striker continued as he brought his left hand up to run his fingers over the thorns and roses of her arm canvas. "How far does it go up?" he said as his fingertips slid their way from her lower forearm on up and under the sleeve of her blue tee shirt.
"Don't!" she said pulling away.
"Sorry, I didn't mean anything," he said retracing his hand.
"It's alright, glad you like my vine of roses. Oh and it goes all the way up to my shoulder by the way," she said pulling up her shirt sleeve to reveal the rest of the skin painting.
"What does it all mean?"
"Well the red roses indicate life, the black ones mean death and the intertwining vine of thorns around my arm represent pain."
"How badass," he said with a grin.
"Why thank you," she replied matching his smile.
"Why pain?"
"Pain is what I am."
"You really think that?"
"Very much so."
"I have missed you Aurora."
"Oh Stryker, please don't even go there."
"Why?"
"Just don't."
"We were really something back in the day."
"Yeah we were something alright….I don't know what…..but something nonetheless."
"We were good together, were we not?"
"We were partners Stryker, good partners nothing more."
"Oh, we were more than good partners, I remember that."
"Oh please….spare me the soap opera will you."
"Remember our time in Columba?" he said with a smile.
"I remember taking out a kingpin drug and war lord in Columbia, that was one of my best long range sniper shots to date. I was damn proud of myself for that one too. Even you thought I couldn't do it…showed your ass up that day didn't I," Aurora said strolling around the room at a gleeful prance.
"Yeah but you remember what we did afterwards?" he questioned with soulful eyes.
"We got drunk?"
"Shit woman…..we first slept together….remember?"
"Oh we did…..didn't we?" she responded with a smirk.
"Yeah we did… smart ass."
"Oh yeah, I may recall that."