It’s almost like he’s back in the Legion with demons and the Cabal on his ass all the time. The same stomach-twisting, restless feeling in his gut. Looks like being haunted doesn’t go away.
But they are gone and he's not on the run anymore. So it could just be a force of habit. Either way, he ignores it.
The feeling only intensifies whenever he visits Lara. Coming, leaving, and especially when they are out together for lunch in her hometown. She doesn't notice it, or maybe she just plainly doesn't care. She just chips away at her lunch as they swap stories.
But he does notice it and spends hours thinking what kinda demon or evil entity would even think of dwelling in Surrey, of all places. ‘My parents,’ Lara quipped once in response to his hypothetical question.
Shortly after, as he’s getting a coffee in town, he comes face to face with a man-made horror worse than any demon he’d ever fought or could ever imagine.
Pressing into his face not fangs or claws, but a camera, assaulting him with a barrage of the most insane questions straight out of hell.
“When did you two start dating? Did you get with her just for her money? How does it feel to be settled for after the Earl of Farringdon? Have you ever ‘done it’ in a tomb?”
Before his brain could register them as just a tabloid photographer, his years long Lux Veritatis and Legion training kick and in have him act on reflex. Kurtis delivers a left hook right into the paparazzi’s nose, and the feeling of being haunted goes away. And so does the photographer’s consciousness.
In hindsight, he regrets it. Kind of. He sometimes forgets that Lara Croft is a celebrity, but it's easy to since she's become more or less a constant presence in his life.
The next time he visits Lara, he finds her reading some trashy tabloid paper, its front page decorated with a blurry photo of his face and a screaming title:
‘LARA CROFT’S MYSTERY MAN DELIVERS KO!!!!’
She looks at up him, and shakes her head. “Rookie mistake, Kurtis. Next time aim for the camera, that costs less than a nose surgery,” she says casually, like she's used to it.
Looks like I'm not the only one dealing with demons, he thinks.
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