Posted by James Sinclair in Event Horizon - Two Sides To Every Coin

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Event Horizon - Two Sides To Every Coin

(snip)

Faye’s gaze flicked between him and the bag and back again. “Well, I can’t say all the build up isn’t making me nervous, but I trust you. If I didn’t I wouldn’t have let you give me this,” she said, lifting her left hand and wiggling the ring with her thumb. Faye sighed. “If it’s a lot, I’ve got my pendant vial with the scent with me to ground me. I’ll be okay.” She didn’t say anything like ‘It can’t be worse than…’ or ‘You’re being dramatic’. Not only was she not that way with him, she knew they’d both been through Hell and she would never minimize either of their pain.

“Lead the way, husband-to-be,” she said softly, smiling at how nice that sounded.

~Faye

Daggum ushered her out of the room and they made their way to the holosuite. Daggum opened a small pouch on the side of the bag’s strap and pulled out an optical chip and put it in the slot inside the door. The door slid closed and the black room transformed into a large walled enclosure with a dirt covered stone floor. Risers went up in circles all around the space and above them hovered enclosed viewing boxes.

Daggum set the bag on the ground and opened it as he knelt on the ground next to it. He looked at Faye and said “When I feel too comfortable, my brain tells me that its a trap… that I can’t be comfortable or relaxed. I start to feel like I’m being watched… that something is waiting for me. I learned a long time ago that I can keep that part of my brain quiet if he gets what it is after. It took me a very long time to figure out exactly what that was, though.” He looked around and then looked at Faye.

“This is the Pits of Orion. Main arena… where… well… where I grew up.”

He didn’t have to tell her. She knew about these places, even if she hadn’t visited them herself. She’d lived on Orion , after all. She had felt it inartistically, deep within her bones that these was supposed to be on Orion. This was his Hell, come to life.

From inside Daggum retrieved an assortment of odd weaponry and a tangled mass of leather and metal plates. Laying the weapons on the ground, he placed a short spear with a long, fine chain attached to the hilt… a curved knife made of some kind of stone joined in next in line, and then a wicked looking metal hammer. Lastly, he pulled out a round rock that was discolored in places. Oblong impressions worn into the sphere looked like they would fit a large hand. The stone Daggum set almost reverently last in line. Standing up, he shook out the mass of leather straps and laid them out on the ground. Stripping off his sweats, he looked at Faye… the mass of tattoos, brands, and scars all over his torso and limbs seemed somehow more pronounced… fresher.

Faye watched him, her keen eyes taking in all the details, not just of the body she was becoming very well acquainted with, but in the ritual-like nature of his movements, the kind where you could perform a task blindfolded because you knew it so well.

He lifted the straps over his head and began fastening them in a well-practiced routine. In a matter of moments he was dressed in leather straps with metal plates covering most of his vital areas of his chest, arms and legs. The straps themselves were stained dark and seemed well used. Anyone with a knowledge of the darker side of the cultures of the Alpha quadrant would recognize gladiatorial gear; designed to keep the wearer alive (if they were good), but allowing for blood to flow. Lastly, he retrieved a silvery-gray metal helmet with a full face plate. He set it under his arm, fastened all the weapons to various hooks and ties on the armor, hefted the stone in one hand, and looked at Faye.

“You are going to see me fight, Faye. A real fight of mine. I don’t know which, that’s random… one of a few dozen I was able to get vid footage of over the years. I do this here so I don’t lose controlout there. It used to be I had to do this a few times a week. Now, its a few times a month. Sometimes I get lucky and its not once, but that’s not often.” He stepped close to her and his face was a combination of fear, worry, and determination.

“If you don’t want to see this, you don’t have to. But if you do… want or need to… then I’ll put you in one of the boxes up there. Its safer, the Pit audience sometimes… helped.”

Daggum

Stepping right up to him, her stormy grey-green eyes were soft in their affection but firm in her resolution. Stepping up on her tip-toes and bracing her hand on his shoulder, Faye placed a tender kiss on his lips. “I can’t pretend to say I know what this is like for you, or that I completely understand, but I can bear witness, Dag. Even if it’s hard, it’s important for me to see I think. I want to understand better, so I can understand you better. Whatever you need of me here, just ask. though I definitely agree one of the boxes is a good idea. Bearing witness didn’t mean participating. They both knew that was not going to be okay to ask. Not with her own issues.

~Faye