Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Magnificent Seven characters, I only dream about it. They instead belong to Mirisch and Trilogy.

This was written in response to my sister Azrial's complaint that Ezra was not treated very well. No one let him win at poker or paid due attention to his wardrobe, which must be quite difficult to upkeep. So, being the nice sister that I am, I decided to write this little story just for her.


Momentary Peace

Ezra sat on the side of his bed, smiling gleefully. There had been no emergencies in the last three days. The stage had come in and had dropped off three rich business men who had wanted to play poker.

They had lost badly.

Ezra's grin grew wider as he looked at the neat stack of bills on his dresser table.

The men hadn't even been able to accuse him of cheating. It had made his nights worth while.

Even better, he'd been able to sleep in. No one banged on his door in the morning, rousing him at ungodly hours. He hadn't had to ride out into the elements that were so detrimental to his wardrobe. No one had been hurt, least of all him, and his cleaning bill had been lessened. Blood is always so difficult to remove.

Ezra slowly stood up, and stretched. Then someone knocked on the door. He smiled. His bath had arrived.

With all that money, he had decided to splurge just a little and have one brought to his room, rather than go out to the bath house.

He covered himself up, and cautiously opened the door. It was indeed his bath. The tub was brought in and filled with water, and then the servers left. Ezra smiled some more, content with his world.

He slipped into the water and had a long relaxing bath. He settled back into the water, reading a worn copy of the Canterbury Tales. And, as the water cooled he washed, slipped out of the tub, dried off, and dressed himself in the freshly cleaned and pressed clothes.

Ezra reminded himself to give his cleaner a tip, if his luck at poker continued.

Ezra went out of his room and down the stairs to the saloon. He smiled genially at the barkeep, and wished him salutations and a simply marvelous day. He also mentioned that the bath water could be removed.

Ezra left the building and went down the street to the hotel. He ordered a delicious meal to break his fast, and when it came he started to eat it.

Ezra had almost finished his meal and felt stirrings of anticipation. He knew the cards were going his way. He knew he would win another fortune at the tables in the coming evening.

The door to the hall opened and Ezra looked up and his jaw dropped.

"What are you two, Ladies," he coughed, "doing here?"

They looked at each other and then back at Ezra innocently.

"It's been so peaceful. So quiet. I was getting used to not having to clean the blood out of my clothes every five minutes."

"Now, Ezra, dear. Aren't you just delighted to see us?"

"We thought we'd have a reunion," the other added. "No fights, no blood, no problems."

Ezra whimpered slightly and then laughed. "The odds of that my Ladies are 1 million to nothing."

The End

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