It's a wonderfully romantic evening. The sun is setting and glittering red off the river, the sky seems aflame, and it's all crisp and clean and, well, romantic.

This is not entirely lost on Alexander, although it probably would have been had he been alone. Or if he had not met Bo in the first place. Or if he were brooding. Or... Well, there are a lot of moods in which Alexander doesn't notice things like gorgeous sunsets.

There are much fewer moods in which he does. This is one of them.

For once, he feels something close to happy. But there's always a part of his mind thinking about Azrael and his revenge and worrying over things, and it's really rather depressing.

He's trying not to be moody at the moment, though. He's even smiling.

Bo, on the other hand, seeks out these kinds of evenings and revels in them. He's keeping up a running commentary (which somehow fails to ruin the mood) of particular little details that he thinks Alexander might not notice; for instance, the way the dying sun falls on this leaf, which is only beginning to change color, at just such an angle...
Et cetera.

Sad, isn't it, that they're being followed?

Alexander likes to listen to Bo's voice. It's comforting, really.

He squeezes his lover's hand and looks down at him. (Very far down. The height difference between these two is most impressive.)

He bends to kiss Bo on the forehead.

That someone is following them registers, but not completely. He's thinking of Bo and Azrael--and isn't that a strange combination--and the fact that there is someone else about seems inconsequential.

Even Alexander gets caught off guard, sometimes.

Bo grins and catches him with a kiss on the mouth before he has a chance to straighten again.

And...the moment is ruined.
"I've got it now. Thought you smelt funny, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was. I know what you are now."
Alexander might not even be there for all the attention Miriam is paying him. She has hypnotic snake eyes fixed on Bo, who like the bird from that very same cliche, freezes perfectly still.
"And I can't let you live." she finishes.

"I told you to leave him be."

Alexander wraps protective arms--and shields--around Bo and glares at Miriam. If she's a snake, he's an eagle. Eagles eat snakes, you know. When they can catch them.

"He's mine."

Anything that's Alexander's is rather fiercely protected.

Alexander's arms around him seem to snap Bo out of his paralyisis, and he lifts his chin, glaring at Miriam...and then Alexander too, for good measure (I can take care of myself.)

Miriam advances slowly, apparently untroubled. "You 'ave to understand...if I left 'im be, if I didn't kill 'im...it would be me 'oo 'ad committed a crime. 'E's an abomination--the son of one of us, and one of our enemies. Those aren't allowed. 'E's something that shouldn't be. Aren't you, love? Abomination, I think, is the old-fashioned word for it."

And then, Bo seemed to...crumple. He turned slightly towards Alexander, the fire draining out of him. His head was in his hands, but he wasn't crying.

"Bullshit," answers Alexander evenly. "I won't let you hurt him."

Alexander is possessive. Very, scarily, dangerously possessive. I don't know if Bo has realized this, but that odd kind of object-possessiveness that Alexander displays towards Keye has a twin in the way Alexander thinks of Bo.

He really does mean 'mine.' Just like a two year old does.

"Fuck off."

Alexander's language degenerates when he's angry.

He realizes it now. His eyes flick from Miriam to Alexander, and despite the protective arms around him, doesn't feel safe at all. He hurriedly pulls his shirt over his head, tosses it to the side, and plants his hand on Alexander's shoulder (shoving his arm out of the way)...
It's almost definitely physically impossible for someone to move that fast, but a fraction of an instant later, he has vaulted into the air, his wings unfurled, making a bid for escape.

Almost in the same moment, Miriam changes. A pair of venomous, slit-pupiled green eyes stare at Alexander for a moment, and then it springs. The thing she's become is easily large enough to leap directly over Alexander's head.

Alexander throws some of that blue fire at Miriam and swears loudly in latin. (You know, I think he might be a nerd. Just a bit.)

Oh yeah, and he ducks, because he doesn't want to be landed on or kicked or whatever.

Miriam twists in the air, landing heavily on her feet, slightly singed. She begins to bound after Bo again, but he is out of reach. Enraged at having lost her prey, she turns back to Alexander, looking as awful as the moment you realize that Grandma is a ravenous wolf in disguise.

Alexander doesn't actually care that she's furious with him now. He's grinning. Bo got away. That makes it all better.

"I don't believe you ever told me your name," he comments airily, as if he wasn't just about to blast her if he had to and as if she isn't looking like she'd like to kill him in Bo's place.

Also, he's not afraid of dying. He's messing with Death.