Theo Callahan & Cassandra Voss
"Not happening!--" were two words choked through gritted teeth and a clenched jaw. "I cocked the gun fifteen times. Pulled the trigger fifteen times. Watched their craniums splatter till the blood caked over their faces, seeping in to their lips, FIFTEEN times!" The veins riddled in his face bulged from the skin due to all facial muscles flexed. "What were those faces to me? Unrecognizable as soon they sold their souls to the devil, defied my orders against the riot, against Captain McGarth's death. I warned them, all fifteen of them. And if I delivered justice fifteen times, don't you dare think I won't do it once for Thrax! You want to control the prisoners that are rightfully mine. Offering the lieutenant wasn't enough for you!" And as if he were intoxicated with consuming anger, Theo dug his finger nails deeper into the fibers of the mahogany surface, until at last when he roared the word, enough, the table crashed against the stone flooring beneath them by Theo's enraged force.
With the table thrown to the side, Theo took heavy marching steps towards Isabel.
"Theo, stop!" Cassie sprung to action, rushing to place herself between the poor defenseless woman and the monster that was closing the distance between them. While it was true that no man or woman should come between a married couple in the midst of whatever discussion they had going on, this was no ordinary situation. With one hand, Cassie pushed Isabel back as far as she could before Theo's brute strength nearly knocked her off her feet.
"I said STOP!" At this point, Cassie was just as furious as Theo, although the cause for such emotion was mainly due to her frustration with her own King and his need to be reckless. Unable to contain herself any better than him at that exact moment, Cassie did the unthinkable and slapped Theo as hard as she could across the face. It was then the room grew quiet, and it was the first time that she truly felt scared to be standing in front of him.
In reaction to the impact, Theo's jaw jerked to the right till his neck dipped down, burying his chin into his shoulder. First, he drug his hand over the cheek. The rough bundle of bandages that always covers his scarred hand prevented Theo from feeling the swelling skin. Though, as soon as the tips of his finger made contact with the flesh, he could then feel with his fingers what stung to his cheek. Soon after, Theo continued to grace those fingers over his face, wipping away the single stripe of blood leaking from the left nostril.
"Yes ma'am..." Theo held his blood-stained pointer finger in front of his blue eyes, exaiming reality through it. Being struck in the face by his second-in-command did not appall him. It only reminded him that restraint could keep him tamed. "But was that really necessary?"
Cassie breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm afraid so, now apologize to your wife," she said, motioning over to Isabel. Cassie kept a serious expression on to prevent Theo from saying no to her request. She knew him well enough to know that it was rather hard for him to swallow his pride, especially in front of multiple people.
"Well?" she urged when Theo stayed silent for a moment.
"Wait..." Theo eyed the fallen table, motioning a hand in its direction as he spoke. "You see me break things all the time, yet you slapped me over a sturdy wood table that's probably not broken anyways?" He sounded confused before transitioning in a more nonchalant, careless tone, "Even if it was I could barter for a new one." Which was true, the vangaurd faction was perhaps the wealthiest due to the pickers scavenging valuables in London ruins, and the trappers capturing extra livestock. Therefore as leader, Theo was the richest man in Churchill. Unfortunately his wealth does contribute to his recklessness and lack of self-control if he can just simply replace everything he breaks.
"Jesus Christ..." Cassie rolled her eyes before hopelessly glancing at Isabel then back at Theo again. "You're supposed to apologize to Isabel for rushing at her," she said, using her hands as she spoke given that she was starting to become frustrated with Theo. "Trust me, nobody here cares about a damn table."
"So... that's why you slapped me? Just because I ran up to her, not because of potential vandalism?" Theo's brow furrowed, though not in anger, rather in bewilderment until his eyes widened leading him to wonder if Cassie acted in fear because to her, he was not simply marching towards Isabel, he was charging at her. "No hold on, I have a better question: What did you think was going to happen if you didn't um... do something." Theo winced while dragging his fingers over his left cheek again, using touch to visualize how noticable the slap would seem with the swelling.
"You should have seen your face, Theo. Even I was scared. Can you blame me for thinking that at the very least you were going to go off on her for making such a suggestion?"
Cassie stopped to think about the incident from just a few seconds ago. She couldn't help but doubt herself, wondering whether she had completely misjudged him. If that was the case, then she owed him a big apology.
"I got a little bit ahead of myself, didn't I?" she asked him, part of her wanting so badly to be proven completely wrong.
"Outside of sparring, have I ever hit you? No." Theo pointed his palm at Cassie. "You are not my enemy." He then pointed at Isabel. "She is not my enemy. There is no war between me and my colony, nor of any other faction in Churchill. We are at war with the Outsiders... they are our greatest threat..." Theo stepped over the table leg that seperated his distance from Isabel. "Lady Renaissance," he addressed Isabel by a formal title, which was out of character for Theo. However, this meant that he was taking their situation seriously.
"the Outsiders are much more a threat than the Overseers. I realize that now." Thanks to Cassie, even Theo knew the slap served its purpose. It acted like a leash, preventing him from running astray to what he truly wanted, a secure colony to raise his future children in. Executing the Overseers might fulfill Theo's sense of justice, but it did nothing to benefit Churchill in the long run.
"In fact the Overseers might be our only way to finally put an end to the Outsiders. We all know that they fly down from the moon to the earth by an armed Collective space carrier. If we could get a hold of that ship, its artillery would make us unstoppable against the Outsiders. Churchill would be invincible.
Thus I propose that my First Sentinel Reno Wylde interrograte the Overseers, question them why they came to Churchill in the first place and where that ship is. The Overseers will not be harmed by Wylde, that's not his style. Though if we go through with this plan, one of them will have to lead my combatants back to the ship. I say it be the Corporal, I am not ready to trust Thrax just yet to have him possibly my mislead my troops. But as for O'Hare, she seems much more cooperative than the other two. Besides other than aiding Thrax in conspiring the riot, I don't have much to hold against her.
We can decide what to do with Thrax and Alfie later."
Vashonn