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Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

[ Sinead O'Riley | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @DocReno
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“Thea, might I ask where th' gymnasium be?” said O'Riley, standing in the corridor, looking at the display screen, which promptly put up a display of the gym's location, followed by a specific direction to the correct turbolift. “Much appreciated.”

Clad in a loose white tank top that almost left little to the imagination and striped black and gold shorts, with a towel draped over one shoulder, her hands and feet wrapped with a protective cloth bandage, she held a small water tumbler in one hand as she made her way over, following Thea's given directions. The last few days had been used to acclimatize herself to the duties and activities of the Theurgy, so she had let her exercise schedule slip; besides, she had been required to assist in much needed repairs to the vessel, as well as render her expertise in building Thea a new mobile emitter, which would allow the woman greater mobility and access to otherwise unreachable sections of the vessel. She idly wondered what it would be like to see things from the perspective of an android that was a ship carrying a crew consisting of hundreds of individuals.

When she entered, she noticed a empty ring and allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction. But first, she wanted to use the punching bag in the corner. Tossing her towel and water tumbler onto an empty bench, she performed some warm-up excercises, stretching her legs and arms, using the bench to help balance. She was careless in her movements, not concerned about being seen. If she were worried about indecency, she would have worn something that covered her better, but that would have hindered her mobility, which she needed for what she was going to be doing. Once she was ready, she proceeded to the bag and began with basic moves, slowly working her way up to deadlier attacks, eventually adding kicks to her punches, all timed for maximum effect. The sound of her fists and legs thumping against the punching bag's material resounded loudly for anyone nearby to hear, her auburn hair, untied and wild, flying about as she lunged forward, again and again.

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #1 –
[Chris Slayton| Gymnasium| Deck 6| Vector 1| USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Triage

Chris was stressed out and nothing helped more then a good work out.

With everything that had happened thus far in the last day and a half...especially considering the events of that morning..he was angry at himself and even though he still had a date planned with Ji later that day at 1900, he still felt like was nothing more then a...

Chris stopped on his way to the gymnasium to shake his head hard before he gripped his towl with an even firmer grip as he continued on his way to the gym dressed in his usual gear of a pair of black workout pants with a white muscle shirt and entered it, praying that he was going to be the only one in there and just allow himself to be the other side of himself..

He could almost hear the chanting..the icy bite of the prison's cold..the sadistic glee of the guards as they chanted "Hegeh taj..Hegeh taj..HEGEH TAJ!!"

There was a resounding smack of flesh on synthetic leather which snapped him out of his funk for a moment as he looked over to see an attractive red-headed woman wearing..basically next to nothing but it was more for range and freedom of movement then anything and she looked like a former classmate of his from his time at the academy and he moved silently over to the ring to lean against it to watch her work.

This went on for a couple of minutes, watching with certain detachment that she was hitting one effective kill shot after another on the heavy bag with no major injury to herself before saying "Impressive high knee there, have you ever thought about angling your left foot back a quarter inch before following through with the shin strike?" he asked.

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #2 –
[ Sinead O'Riley | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @DocReno
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It was mere repetition of action, not actual moves she would use in a real fight. But this helped get her muscles and reflexes, so that she would be able to react on instinct. During her time on the Resolve, she had been assigned to Engineering as her original post, but when the ship ended up lost, and various personnel were found wanting in certain skills, her history and experience in Security made her better suited to combat rather than engineering. So, seeing combat meant she needed to put her years for training in martial arts to good use on more than one occasion.

She timed herself, adjusting according to the motions of the bag, maximizing the damage done. She was aware of the spectator when he came within sight of her peripherals, but she gave no indication that she had noticed him, but she remained alert all the same. After yesterday, he could be one of the Devoted, and she needed to be ready. She already began considering scenarios for a quick exit. Feint left, towards the ring, instead of away from it, sweep with right leg, knee to groin, jab to the jugular, burst into run for exit, analyze the situation, seek help if necessary.

After she drove her knee into the bag, he complimented her and engaged in conversation first. She paused in her routine, catching the bag with both hands, while her ethereal blue eyes fixed on him. She remembered seeing him around the ship, a pilot if she was correct. Her face was an impassive mask, but she made it no secret that she was sizing him up even as she listened to his words, and she finally replied to his query, “In a real fight, aye.” She let go of the bag, “But no' inna exercise o'motion; wastes yer strength, burns more energy than ye need.”

Regulating her breathing, she regarded him curiously, and finally introduced herself, “Sinead O'Riley, Lieutenant Junior-Grade, formerly of th' USS Resolve. Ye are a pilo', aye?”

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #3 –
[Chris Slayton| Gymnasium| Deck 6| Vector 1| USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Triage

Chris watched as her auburn hair slowly shifted about her like a minature wave as she turned around to face him, trying hard to ignore how attractive her form was or how certain aspects of her shifted around rather lovely as she moved...how it bounced..

Chris forced his eyes to look up and into those interesting eyes of her's..a slightly more brighter shade of blue but not in the way normally connected to those with cybernetics but his attention was drawn away as she started to speak to him at which point he bowed his head to her. "Chris Slayton or Husker, Ensign..survivor of the Harbinger and now of the Theurgy." he said with a faint smile crossing his bearded face. "And yes, I'm a pilot."

He came respectfully closer to her, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he looked at her. "I also understand what you're saying but I was trained a slightly different way in that if you're not willing to burn all of your energy in an excerise then how are you certain that you'll be able to burn it properly in a real fight?"

He found himself drawn to those eyes of her's, once again finding himself curious as to why they were that shade. "So, are you wanting to use the heavy bag and its silence or would you care to spar with me and have a conversation?" he offered up before holding up both hands. "Two conditions though if you accept..no talk of politics or anything of the like and no being holding back, how does that sound?" he offered up in an honest tone. 

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #4 –
[ Sinead O'Riley | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @DocReno
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She seemed to be affecting him with just her appearance, by her guess. He was seemingly focused on her eyes now. Another Harbinger survivor. The Theurgy seemed to be a bedrock of survivors from other ships. She nodded at him when he answered her question, and she watched him as he drew nearer, and she maintained an expectant expression as her mask while keeping wary and alert for deception and an ambush. Many people were good at that, and at times she wondered if the Federation was really the best ally to have. Hands hanging loosely to either side, she waited to see what the man would do or say.

She quickly answered his question with a “I was jus' ge'ing star'ed.” Clipping off with her strong accent. As he drew closer she had to crane her neck upwards to maintain eye-contact.

His offer intrigued her. It struck her now, that the man seemed to need an outlet, by her guess. He was troubled. But by what she could only guess. Her training and time with the Vulcans made her somewhat more intuitive and alert to signs of body language. She didn't understand why he would want to talk about politics. The Mariposans had something like that, and she found it utterly dull and unfulfilling to be perfectly honest. So her answer was a shrug, and a “We may spar.”

She gestured to the ring and allowed him to enter first, before following after. She still had to hold back, despite his request. She wasn't interested in killing him. Stretching her arms again, and leaning her body to one side, not in an effort to seduce or even to distract, but simply because she wanted to keep herself limber, she kept her eyes on him, expression still unreadable, and she asked him, “Wha' is troublin' ye?” She just laid it bare. Best way to find out the problem.

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #5 –
[Chris Slayton| Gymnasium| Deck 6| Vector 1| USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Triage

Chris nodded and quickly entered into the ring with an ease that belied his larger frame as he moved to one side of the ring to drape his towel against the ring post before turning around to see her starting to stretch again and while he understood that she was doing it to keep limber..it didn't help matters much that she was also attractive.

Chris started to stretch himself to get ready and to use it as a focus to push certain thoughts out of his mind..including recently painful ones. "A number of things actually but they all follow a recurring theme of how stupid I am." he said as he quickly brought his right foot on to the top turnbuckle and stretched his right knee out just in case before repeating the process to the left.

"But when it comes right down to it I guess you could say that I have found something irreplaceable and I may have lost it because of a possible miscommunication."

Chris then turned around and while he was able to force certain emotions out of his mind, there was still one that stayed there one that he fought hard to keep hidden until he could get a chance to work it out. ..the other "side" of him needed to find its release.

"So, are you ready, Sinead, and also when I say don't hold back, I mean just that because I'm needing a legitimate sparring match..especially today." he offered up as he then shifted into a more ready stance, turned slightly to the right with his fists out and clenching then unclenching as he waited. "Are you ready, lass?"

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #6 –
[ Sinead O'Riley | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @DocReno
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O'Riley was quite observant of details, and it wasn't lost on her how he seemed to show minute reactions to her. If her intuition was correct, he seemed to be growing attracted to her. She wasn't the kind to care about her looks or even be seductive, usually just being very frank about her feelings on matters, and it was up to the opposite party to reciprocate or reject any advances she made, if she felt like it. Partially, this was from her Bringloidi upbringing. The philosophy of Danilo Odell being quite simply, when it came to the matter of love: “You put a young couple together, and you let nature take its course.”

She was familiar with the things that came next though, when Slayton answered her query as to what was on his mind. Apparently he was quite prepared to share. For her part, O'Riley was a good listener, and sometimes became an impromptu or unofficial "counsellor" to many of her Resolve crewmates, when they weren't quite ready to go to the official one. She was logical, and almost cold in her ideals, like a Vulcan, but her Bringloidi nature balanced it out, as did the sum of her experiences from the Dominion War, which often made her relatable or approachable to people, especially those who mainly needed a shoulder to cry on, and someone who can speak the cold, hard truth to snap them out of their funk. If this was how she could best help her crewmates, so be it.

She studied his expressions impassively, aware that he was conflicted, and he had told her as much anyhow. “If ye say 'may have',” she started, “then there be a chance ye can yet make things righ'.”

She moved herself into her own stance, which involved keeping her hands down, loose, and ready to move. She nodded at him when he stated the terms of engagement. “Aye, I am ready. Ye can begin.”

He had moved to favour the left, putting his right side more forward, and she decided to wait and let him make the first move. Generally it worked better in her favour and her technique. She was significantly smaller than him, and so she knew his size meant he had more momentum with any move he used.

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #7 –
[Chris Slayton| Gymnasium| Deck 6| Vector 1| USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Triage

Chris found himself absently nodding with the woman's thought. "Perhaps but if her reaction was anything indication of what went wrong.." he started to say as he watched and studied her movements as he faintly started to hear the sounds of pain sticks on metal grating from somewhere.

Chris didn't say a thing at first as he moved with a quickness that a man of his size and bulk shouldn't easily have as he launched a series of kicks at Sinead, probing and testing what she could do at first while shifting himself just enough to counter any probing blows back at him.

A small part of him was in fact admiring the woman, he found her eyes not an oddity but something that one could become very easily drawn into if he allowed himself to..

..plus her choice in workout clothing highlighted a very tight and toned body but this thought caused him to clench his jaw as he clenched his fists..

This thought cost him a misstep as he pivoted wrong and went left when he was trying to go right.

"The lady that I am..courting said that she wants to be taken serious and asks me to prove how serious I am..so I did and it was promptly returned.." he growled, both at the memory of what happened and of his own mistake as he attempted to correct himself. "I can honestly say that I've never felt so..unsure of myself..or other kinds of feelings in my life.."

The sounds of pain sticks on metal was getting louder..slowly but surely...

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #8 –
[ Sinead O'Riley | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @DocReno
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She kept her eyes wide and alert, studying him now for every movement. Her limbs were supple and ready to move. She deliberately overestimated him, as a habit. This gave her the tendency to use everything she had even if she outmatched her opponent. She always assumed they were superior to her in every way. In that vein of thought, she never held back nor tried to prolong a fight. The longer she was in a pitched battle, the more her foe learned of her own strengths and weaknesses. But this was a spar, and not a fight in which she wished to kill, so it was rather difficult to snap out of her tendency to favour fatal techniques.

Nevertheless, because of her tendency to overestimate, she expected him to move faster than he looked like he could, and she was right. He didn't just deliver one kick, but a rapid series of them; she deflected one with a reverse palm, pushing it away from making contact, and another she blocked with a swiftly raised shin, then her other shin, then her other leg again, looking like she was doing an exhaustive march, followed by a forward palm. Her eyes followed his movements but she often kept them locked on his, reading his expressions. At the last moment, she shot her right index and middle fingers forward while they were pressed together, aiming for his solar plexus. It would stab the wind out of him.

She drew back slightly then, seeing him get distracted and imbalance himself. She reached out for an arm even as he was trying to correct his mistake, and tried to twist and flip him onto his back, using his own momentum to aid her attempt. “Then ye love her.” She said evenly, assessing what he had said, and making an educated guess, “But ye no be sure she truly feels th' same?”

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #9 –
[Chris Slayton| Gymnasium| Deck 6| Vector 1| USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Triage

This whole situation had Chris completely off balance to the point where he didn't see the movement that drove the air out of his chest before his misstep caused a big enough opening that she was able to grab him before hitting basically a Hane goshi or a spring hip throw that drove him to the ground.

As she spoke, something in in her question sparked a flame that roared through his blood as he quickly hooked his right leg around her closest one before using the other to sweep her off her feet as he rolled ontop of her, his bright green eyes now even brighter as he held himself over her.

"Why do people keep using that word?" he asked, his tone low like it was something passionate and dark. "I like her yes...and I think that she feels the same way but love...it's too early to be using that word."

As he said those words, a part of his mind that was raging against how good Sinead felt under him with her toned, more devoloped body under his or how inviting her lips looked as he felt his heart start to race as his eyes flicked to her lips and moved just a little bit before his eyes slammed shut and he quickly moved away from her, angry at himself.

"I got overexcited, Sinead, and the look in her eyes has been haunting me all day." he admitted to both her and himself. "I...I never had these feelings before about anyone and all it took for our worlds to be savagely ripped from us and now even I *FUCKED* that up.."

As he rolled to his feet and took on another stance, subconciously an old form started to slip in instead as he became slightly more hunched over with his right hand extended further out then his left as his expression became guarded, his eyes hooded in appearence.

The sounds of the guards getting louder as Chris started to hear a familiar song start to be sung.

"Now stop trying to hit me and *HIT* me." he growled at which point he came at her full force but where before his movements where more agile, now they were much more structured and favored the advantages of his larger, more muscular build as he swiped head level with his left forearm before trying to follow it up at collarbone level with an elbow strike with his right elbow then a knee attempt at her stomach.

All the while one question rattled around his head in almost abject fear:

What if she doesn't feel this way...what if she DOES!?]/i]

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #10 –
[ Sinead O'Riley | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @DocReno
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“Hnf!” From what O'Riley had learnt of Slayton so far, the man could be ruled by his emotions. Part of her wondered if he had some Bringloidi blood in him. That was unlikely, though, since until only a short time ago, Captain Picard, then in command of the USS Enterprise-D, had rediscovered the lost colony, and exposed them to the galaxy at large. Then the trade port that opened up on New Mariposa had opened them up to new travel opportunities and brought in new immigrants. The danger of genetic failure was long over, though by then, the native combination of Mariposans and Bringloidi had developed into a polygamous one, in which every individual had either three or more husbands or wives, and no less than five-to-ten children on average. O'Riley suspected she had about two hundred cousins at this point in time.

She had seen his leg sweep, but decided to allow him to succeed rather than leaping away, and as he loomed over her, her normally iridescent blue eyes turned into a silvery glow as his shadow reduced the lighting surrounding her face, and she watched the windows of his soul fixedly, he seemed angry that she used the word love. Granted, as a Bringloidi, she probably threw it around a tad more casually than Humans of Earth would would. But that didn't mean she didn't mean what she said. She just never hid her feelings, and sexual attraction was love to her. Such as what was developing between herself and Slayton now. She placed a hand lightly on his left shoulder, partly to balance him, and partly to feel his heartbeat. It was definitely beating fast, and not from the exertion of the spar. Her lips were slightly parted, and when he drew closer for a moment, she thought he was about to kiss her. He certainly seemed to want to. She wasn't entirely opposed to it, but she did question on why he would want to kiss her when his mind was clearly on someone else.

Earth Humans were so weird.

“When would ye use th' word the...” she started saying, but he overrode her and continued, so she raised herself into a sitting position for a moment while he continued as he moved off her. She blinked when he used an expletive. She knew what the word meant, but she seldom used swear words these days, finding no real worth to them. Then he returned to a combat stance and she slid gracefully from a sitting position to standing. She frowned slightly when he told her to hit him.

“Nae.” She said and moved her head and torso to the left, letting his fist slide by her head, then raised her left hand and reverse-palmed his right elbow jab, her fingers lightly resting on the side of his head for a moment. The touch of her fingers was very gentle, loving even, and she moved her entire lower body, bending it to negate the entire force of his attempt at a knee smash, resting both hands on his shoulder then, she slid around him in an almost dancing manner and brought herself around him on the other side, and she rested her right leg behind both of his, and then pushed him by the abdomen with both hands, trying to unbalance him and drop him once more onto his back.

“Ye lot are very strange when i' comes t' attraction.” said O'Riley, “ye love...or like...someone, but ye let all yer other feelin's come in th' way.”

She crouched down beside him, “We Bringloidi are very frank people, me maybe a bit more so...I think ye need t'be tellin' ye lady how ye feel, much in th' way as yer tellin' me now.”

She straightened up and extended a hand to help him up.

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #11 –
[Chris Slayton| Gymnasium| Deck 6| Vector 1| USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Triage

Needless to say that out of all the forms and variations that Chris was expecting her to do, what Sinead did instead was the total and complete opposite as she effortlessly flowed like water around all of his strikes and suddenly he found himself on his back, blinking as he looked up at her, trying to avoid enjoying how she was angled over him or how silvery her eyes now looked.

He couldn't deny that she was the kind of woman that drew his attention above all others-firece, passionate, and most importantly honest which is what Sinead was doing right then..telling him about her people and how they were honest...much like those of Chris' own home colony.

But he *HAD* been honest and frank with Ji, he *HAD* told her how he felt.

Instead those eyes and her actions.

Chris' eyes then flicked up to those lips again and he wondered what it would be like to kiss her...just once...

She then extended a hand to help him up and his body operated on instinct as he let her pull him up but instead of letting go of her hand, he pulled her in close and kissed her hard on the lips, his left hand shot up to the back of her head with his fingers becoming tangled into those red locks of hers as he gave into his confusion as he pulled her even closer in, deepening the kiss ever so slightly.

But as he kissed her, his mind was awash with a level of confusion that he truly didn't understand nor could at that moment, the physical pleasure was there of kissing such a beautiful, firey woman...

...but there was also a heart wrenching confusion, one that he really wasn't prepared for or understood as a battle raged inside of his mind and heart.

==What am I doing, what about Ji??==

==Forget her, she's just like the others...Tali, T'Zantha, Ida, Tessa, Kanti...==

==But Ji said that we could give *US* a serious try!?==

==Then why was there fear and sorrow in her eyes as she was walking away!??==

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #12 –
[ Sinead O'Riley | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @DocReno
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Something or most of the things she said apparently hit home with Slayton, if his look was anything to go by, or she was having an effect on him again. She did not say another word, but did not miss how his eyes went to her lips once more, and she idly wondered if this was a bad sign. Here he was, soliloquizing somewhat crassly about his romantic dilemma, and at the same time making no secret the temptation that sparked between them. In all honesty, she didn't mind. After all, in Bringloidi or New Mariposan culture, polygamy was not only practice, but a necessity. However, she had been amongst these folk in Starfleet long enough to know and understand that the majority of societies practiced a monogamous culture, and as far as she knew, Slayton was from that such culture, therefore wouldn't he be two-timing with her in such a case?

So when he accepted her offered hand and the stood together, her eyes went down to the hand still clasping her, and her silvery gaze turned back up to ask him, “Are we still sparnf!”

She was momentarily taken aback by his intensity and the kiss that her hands froze where they were, and she let him take control, but she wasn't kissing him back or returning the passion. She initially thought this was a new attack method, the way he was tangling his hands into her hair and the back of her head, but then she recognized the sensation and his touches, and when he pulled her deeper into the kiss, she finally allowed him, her hands gently wrapping around his strong torso, but again, she wasn't returning the kiss or applying any signal of reciprocating. She wanted to breathe, and she wanted to ask questions. They hadn't gone long into this before he decided he didn't want to commit to his partner? Or was he trying to engage in a polygamous relationship like the Bringloidi and Mariposans?

Finally she shifted her hands to brace them against his chest and pushed lightly, disentangling herself from his lips and hold, and gazed at him evenly. “What are ye doin'? Do ye no be hearin' wha' I sai'?”

She licked her lips, hands still resting lightly on his shoulders, and they were still in such close proximity that only her chest and head was leaning back away from him and had no contact against his body. She did enjoy his warmth and the sensation of his strong body wherever they touched, but her mind told her that logically, something was off. She slid her right palm down to press against his heart, while her left hand pressed against the side of his neck using two delicate fingers, feeling his pulse. It was predictably racing, but she thought she detected other things, like whatever his eyes were telling her. “Ye be conflic'ed 'bout yer feelin's, then?” Her silver-glowing eyes flicked back up to his, an impassive mask on her face, betraying no emotion or thought, and her own pulse and heart rate beat evenly. She would not engage him until he clarified where he stood on the matter. “If ye no be practicin' in polygamy, then ye have left yer relationship with this other lady with what ye be doin' now wi' me.”

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #13 –
[Chris Slayton| Gymnasium| Deck 6| Vector 1| USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Triage

As he stood there, kissing without really kissing Sinead, that Chris' mind was a warzone of emotional conflict...things raging inside of him was combined by a struggle that he didn't fully understand...

He was in a kind of pain that he'd kept internalized for so long, a pain that he'd been struggling with that he didn't know that he had which was only made worse by things he knew and understood-it was like Old Earth World War One trench warfare only on Andoria against the landscape of his emotions and mental state.

As he saw himself there on that blasted landscape, two distinct voices came blowing across the blasted landscape:

"Ye be conflic'ed 'bout yer feelin's, then?" came the heavily accented tones of Sinead, strong and understanding as he saw the reflection of her silvery glowing eyes looking at him from the sky above.

But the other voice...that one was just as strong and then he blinked a couple of times as he came back to reality and saw where he was standing-still in the ring, her attractive face was set in a rather impressive impassive mask with not one hint of emotion or thought crossing her face or her eyes as he could feel her left hand at his neck and her right at his chest above his heart.

Her next words howver then set something else off in his mind...something that he'd forgotten against the painful backdrop of earlier that day;

Their lips almost but not quite touching as the kiss ended, the look on her face was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen: her eyes lovely large brown eyes looking up into his for a moment, the emotions within them perfectly still, perfectly composed, a look of utter and total serenity...directed at him...

There was a rightness about the whole image that shook him to the core of his being.

Something inside him bent, cracked, and broke in two, and in that one eternal instant, Christopher Joseph Slayton fully under the shape of everything. He knew the only answer to the question she had asked him a few seconds before...he knew all of it in the space of that one frozen moment, and for the rest of his days he would be able to call up the image that had sparked it in his mind, perfect in every detail, and savor it.

In that one moment, Chris' heartbeat and pulse slowed down as he took a step back from Sinead as his expression turned thoughtful as he went over to one of the turnbuckles and lowered himself into a sitting position, his posture reflecting a major change in his mood and mental state.

His eyes lifted up to Sinead's and he tried to speak a couple of times but found that he couldn't as the muscles moved the hinges but their was no sound at which point he took a deep shuddering breath and hung his head for a few seconds before being able to actually speak and when he did, Chris' voice was clear and focused.

"I'm sorry about that, Sinead, I've just spent my whole life not really focusing on those emotions because I've been burned too many tomes that the one person that I finally do meet the only person that I feel that can actually do care about and deeply...I run her off by accident." he explains as he leaned his head against the turnbuckle post, resting the back of his head on the cool metal. "All day since we parted at breakfast, I have had my last sight of her with this look of fear and sorrow in those big brown eyes of her's and in that instant I knew that *I* put it there because I got overexcited at the prospect of starting something serious and real."

He opened his eyes and then looked at her, "When I was kissing you, I was so torn up inside that I don't think I knew what I was doing but...then your question caused me to have a moment of perfect clarity, but I am so incredibly sorry that I did that to you, Sinead." he explained further in a remorseful tone.

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #14 –
[ Sinead O'Riley | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @DocReno
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There it was. O'Riley had managed to bring to the surface whatever was really at the core of Slayton's troubles. The Bringloidi was just some sort of rebound borne of his own self-believed rejection. She thought this to be the case since she didn't know the other side of the story, but the man seemed to be blaming himself in entirety, so the source appeared to be the man himself. She felt his pulse slow, as he fell into a form of despondence. She let her arms drop to her sides, and she remained rooted to the spot, near the center of the ring, while he settled against a turnbuckle.

She clasped her hands behind her back and let him speak, he needed to get this off his chest, clearly. All the while, her blue eyes fixed him with an intense gaze, saying nothing, and her expression still unreadable. What she felt inside about it personally she pushed down, as was her wont to do most times these days, maintaining calm over being ruled by her emotions, something Slayton could stand to do with if he would learn sometime. When he was done, and he apologized for kissing her, she glided over to him, moving with a supple, almost feline grace, and knelt down in front of him, positioned so that she could reach him easily with her hand....

...and slapped him.

Gently though, not hard enough to hurt him, but enough for him to feel it and probably remember. “Ye no be needin' t' apologize to me, Chris Slayton, but t'yerself most, an' to th' lady tha' makes ye feel th' way ye do.” She adjusted herself so that she would be eye-level with him, balancing on her knees,“so ye go' overexci'ed, fine. I' happens, bu' this self-loathin' and regrettin' and bea'in yerself over does ye no good, and no benefi' at all.”

She gestured to him, “Are ye sure that ye wan' a relationship and commi'ment with this lady? Or are ye gonna be kissin' every pretty lass that ye be mee'in wearin' somethin' even a li'l provocative? Tha' no be grounds fer a goo' relation, I kin tell ye tha'. If ye wan' her, then ye must only wan' her, and when ye make a mistake, ye face i', not go somewhere and beat things. Ye work it out wi' yer partner, until it is resolved. Ye understan'?”

She studied him, blue eyes cold and yet considerate, lips loosely parted, and her face still unreadable. “Go t' her, Chris Slayton. No be lettin' wha'ever hurt has already been done t' fester any longer.”

She stood up, leapt over the turnbuckle and went back to practicing against the punching bag, applying more vicious forms now that she didn't use willingly earlier on the man. Punches, jabs, kicks and impacts that would probably be fatal when used on living beings. She appeared completely ignorant to his presence now, indicating their time and conversation was over. She said what she thought needed to be said, and left the rest to him to deal with. But she was keenly aware of her surroundings, in reality.

Re: Day 03 [1400 hrs.] Storm's Break

Reply #15 –
[Chris Slayton| Gymnasium| Deck 6| Vector 1| USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Triage

The slap literally rocked his world.

While it wasn't hard enough to hurt him, he felt the power that Sinead was holding back and he knew that he wouldn't be forgetting it anytime soon nor would he choose to...nor would he forget the words that she said next.

As he listened to everything that she said, it came in crystal clear to him which caused his anger at himself to be pushed back and away, the sounds of his past started to echo into nothingness...

And for the first time in hours, his mind was quiet.

Chris didn't say a word as she leapt over the turnbuckle and went back to working on the heavy bag, leaning forward to put rest his chin on the top of his right knee, his face still stinging from the slap as he considered the full weight of her words and his choices that he would have t...

"So it seems, through your history, you prefer having two women.  I'm going to state this really clearly, right now, so that there's no misconceptions.  I don't share.  I don't want another woman in my relationships.  It's not something that will ever interest me.  If you need more than one woman to sat your needs or to get your hard on... then you need to look elsewhere before we invest too much in this fucking thing and then we get hurt.  I am not nice when my feelings are hurt and I can imagine that if some unfortunate fucker broke my heart, I would probably break his face.  So I'm putting this all out on the table.  This is your opportunity to get out.  Without anything having been created."

He then listened to her next words and understood them as he slowly nodded but instead of answering her right away, he moved closer enough to her so that she could hear him over the din of the room. "You've been honest with me, so I'm going to lay my cards out on the table and tell you that if I have to give up chances like that then I'll do so without a second thought if it means I get to kiss you and call you mine, then consider it done." he said in an honest and warm but serious tone. "I want the good days and the bad, I want you to hit me when I make a bad joke or kiss me when I do something that warms your heart and everything that's in between and if something happens that makes you loose how you feel about me, I fully expect you to break my arms.."

He then undid the "cross" from the chain and held it up for her to see before he looked Ji in the eyes, "This is all that remains of Paran, Ji..this hasn't left my side since his Keth gave it to me years ago.." he explained before he reached out and took her free hand before placing it in the middle of said hand and closed her fingers around it. "This is how serious I *AM* about wanting this, Ji, and wanting you."

Chris blinked a few times, his hand going to the necklace under his tanktop and he gripped it as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he started to understand what he *HAD* done wrong better and what he *WAS* still doing wrong and he understood what he had to do.

Chris blinked a couple of times and then slowly slid out of the ring and he headed for the doors that lead back out into the corridor but he stopped in mid-step before being in the field that would activate the door.

"You're right, Sinead, about everything." he said, trying to avoid making her more mad then she was already as he turned his head just enough to allow his clear green visage to look at her as she was working out, needing to say what he needed to before he couldn't. "Thank you."

He then turned his attention back at the matter at hand and left the gym, making a mental note to try and make a better, fuller apology to Sinead later...if she would accept it.

<FIN>
 
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