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Transfering from docs, this was an old RP that was an important part of Isaac's plot that never got posted.
Leucite had mentioned back in the Rift that he wanted to have a talk, however, the invite to visit The Gym he and his wife co-owned came through Imara instead. That was a week ago. Just enough time for any soreness from the battles with the feral youma to subside.
Unfortunately his time spent away from the Dark Kingdom did little to curb his irritation with how careless several of the agents had been. So many mistakes had been made that could have proved to be fatal had luck not of been on their side. His biggest frustration, however, was more so that with so many generals around, too many wanted to play leader and bark orders which only leads to confusion.
With a heavy sigh Isaac shook his head to rid his mind of such thoughts as he pulled into the warehouse parking lot. There was no sense in dwelling on things he couldn’t change, not yet anyway, perhaps somewhere along the road there might be an opportunity to run some training exercise for those willing to learn. But that in and of itself was a discussion best saved for another time.
Thankfully traffic hadn’t been too bad when Isaac had left the base. In fact by the time he pulled into the nearest parking spot, right beside a Black Ford 4x4, he was actually almost twelve minutes early. By the looks of it, once he had gotten out of his car, it seemed like there were already a fair number of people here to work out which gave the impression that business was going well, or so he assumed.
Being that The Gym was a renovated warehouse, the exterior itself was rather unassuming but when he finally entered the building he would be lying if he didn’t admit that he was impressed by what he saw. The layout was fairly organized with mats on one side and machines on the other but what actually caught his attention was the octagon ring with two individuals sparing inside. Although one design feature he did notice as he approached the front desk was the few large commercial doors in the back which was probably nice feature to have especially in the summer months.
“Hello,” Isaac greeted the man on the other side of the desk. “I have a meeting with Mathias, do you happen to know if he’s available by chance?” He had come in early so it would be no big deal if he had to wait.
--
Given the gym’s location - and the fact that it catered to one of the fastest growing sports in the country, the fact that it was busy and booming was hopefully a sign of longevity and not a bubble that would eventually burst. Mixed Martial Arts was still - as martial arts went - still in its infancy, and it wouldn’t take much in the way of things to chill it, or even kill it. But all in all Mathias was proud of what he’d built - and would stand by it. To that end, he sometimes pulled front desk duty when he was between paintings, and today was one such day.
“You must be Isaac,” He said, standing up to give the other man a look over. It was strange putting a face to the name when you’ve met the person before by a different face and name. But, it was easy enough for him to build the connection with a nod. “You’re early.”
It wasn’t an accusation - but a statement of fact. He held a hand out to Isaac with a small smile. “Mathias White, I believe you’ve already met Imara,” He said as he motioned his head up toward the large windows that showed an office space that his wife often watched the goings on from. The administrative offices of the gym, which they had converted from the foreman’s offices.
“You’ve caught me between projects, normally I’m in the back, or teaching a class.” He motioned at the mats and the octagon. “Did Imara run you through all the various and sundry sign-up packages? We do give a 25% discount for Active Duty and Vets.” He added with a nod. “But to get in the ring requires a waiver and all the fun stuff,” He added with a small shrug. “Most people who sign up for that are looking to get in the circuit.”
---
With a light chuckle, Isaac reached over the desk to shake Mathia’s outstretched hand. “It has not come up in conversation yet, no.” Most of their conversations had been strictly related to the jobs and tasks related to the Negaverses. Home and civilian life had been kept as a need-to know or fairly vague. Not out of distrust but rather respect for each others personal lives outside of ‘work’. “I’m sure she would have gotten to it eventually.”
“Let me take a look at my schedule later and I’ll see if I can move things around to make it work.” It wasn’t a no, but with being in a relatively new relationship and technically working two jobs there would need to be compromise somewhere unless Imara, or rather Stibnite, flat out required him he had to join then there wouldn’t be any room for debate.
However, after the incident that had happened not even a full month ago when the convict broke into his home, perhaps Vera might be more easily convinced to come here and maybe take some self defense classes. While he did have weapons around the house and he had been slowly getting her use to using a handgun, she was still reluctant to use them but maybe this may be a better avenue for her instead; although he wasn’t entirely sure if it would make Vera more or less nervous if he was here too. Either way it was worth a shot.
“I will say that this is a very nice establishment you two have.” The equipment appeared to be very well kept and their patrons had enough decency to put weights away and not litter the floor with used towels or discarded shirts. There were a few guys on base that had to be frequently reminded to pick their s**t up.
---
“Well, it was procured in part through the aid of my…” Mathias began talking, then his face clouded a bit, as he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “My cousin’s ex-boyfriend, their breakup thankfully didn’t affect the business dealings too much. The other half of the money came from my family's side of things. But, we cater to people who care about being good at what they do Isaac. A lot of these men and women want to be pros. With the opening of the women’s league we’ve seen a huge influx of women it’s actually really heartening.” He said with a small chuckle.
“Imara would also murder anyone who didn’t pick up their mess on sight, as would I, I run a tight ship here,” Mathias said as he stopped for a moment to reorganize a rack of weights that were only slightly out of order. “If things are neat and tucked away, then everything tends to run smoother. I might not have gone full six-sigma, but it’s been tempting.”
Did they have Six-Sigma in the Army? He’d grown up on Air Force Bases and his father had always come home complaining about Six-Sigma and how nobody seemed to know how to utilize it properly even after it was put into use. After a week of him labeling everything in the house though, Mathias had been ready to throw his clothes on the floor for spite.
“But, out on the floor is no place to have a proper conversation, let’s reconvene to my office,” He said with a nod toward the stairs, moving to lead Isaac past the glass doors and down a long hallway. Stopping at one of the heavier doors, he pulled out a set of keys and unlocked it, leading into what had probably been at one point been hazardous chemical storage. Half the room looked like a standard office. Desk, chair, filing cabinets, phone, and computer. The other half though, sported a gigantic fume hood, three floor to ceiling metal racks along each wall, each filled in an almost chaotic diaspora of various and sundry kinds of paint. A large easel, stacks of canvases of various sizes, and a recently finished and now drying oil painting of a young black haired woman, with vibrant red eyes. The woman in the painting couldn’t have been older than say, 18 or 19, as Mathias had done it all from memory - wanting to capture the soul - the essence - of his missing cousin. To him, she would always be young, vibrant - alive.
The fact that he’d even been asked to do the portrait - through way of his mother, even if it had been asked by his father - for the older members of the White family to remember “That branch of the Tree,” had almost made him refuse outright. But, in the end, he knew he was the only one that could give the subject any justice, and so he had captured his missing cousin at her most alive. It was not a portrait one could look at to mourn - but celebrate….
Mathias pointedly didn’t look at it as he grabbed a spare chair from the wall and placed it in front of his desk.
“Have a seat,” He motioned at the chair. “Can I get you anything? Water, soda, protein shake?”
---
Isaac wasn’t entirely sure what to expect upon entering Mathias’ office; not quite an executives office but perhaps some trophies or awards mounted on the wall perhaps. So when he followed Imara’s husband into the room there was a notable amount of curiosity if not surprise when he saw that a good portion of space had been converted to an art studio.
“A water would be great thank you.” He replied after a few second delay as he took a seat. His gaze, however, lingered for a moment longer on the painting of the woman who bore a striking resemblance to his girlfriend, Vera. Although the girl in the painting looked to be a bit younger the liveliness in their crimson colored eyes held some similarities.
“That’s a beautiful painting, very lifelike. You have quite the talent.” At least Isaac assumed that Mathias was the artist, after all this was his office. Then again Imara had surprised him a few times already, what’s one more thing to add to the list?
---
“Oh, thank you,” Mathias said with a small chuckle. “I actually prefer to work in spray paint and do abstract stuff, but oil can be pretty expressive as well,” He nodded a head toward the portrait. “Waiting for it to dry before I start another. That one is going to family.” His voice was a bit dour on that point.
He moved to a small mini-fridge that was tucked in behind the desk, nudging it open with is foot as he grabbed two bottles of water, before placing them both on the desk as he closed it again with his foot as he sank down into the chair.
“The subject should actually be a little older, but…” Mathias said with a small sigh as he looked at the painting. “I’m nothing if not petty when it comes to my family. That’s something you’ll learn if you’re around us White’s long enough - I’m a bit of a black sheep. She was the only one who’d put up with me on a general basis.” He pointed a finger at the portrait. “But, sadly, she’s been missing for a few months now after her parents passed away - and of course, everyone thinks the worst.”
On that point he looked like he could spit.
Turning his attention back to Isaac he gave a small, dark chuckle. “Oh, this probably feels like I’m oversharing,” He said, nodding his head to the other man. “You don’t know me from Adam aside from… work… and in that capacity you only know me as a superior. As far as I’m concerned, if you’re in my wife’s care you’re part of the family. I take morale and retention VERY seriously. If you have any problems - any assistance or needs. You let me know, and I’ll see what I can do. The Negaverse is a family - should be a family.”
“Us militant orders have to stick together.”
---
Before Isaac had an opportunity to offer his condolences Mathias had skillfully segued their conversation into a more comfortable topic. Whatever reasons he had for doing so were his own, Isaac understood loss and that each person had different ways to cope and while he would listen if Mathias wanted to talk more on what had happened to his aunt and uncle or theories on where his cousin might be, it really wasn’t his place or desire to pry.
“Thank you, I appreciate it. Though, I hope you both know the offer goes both ways. Your wife, Imara, had done something for me not even a month ago that I don’t think I’ll ever truly be able to repay her for.” Isaac drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I’m sure she has already mentioned it to you, but a few days before Halloween someone broke into my house. It was the day of the heavy storm where multiple neighborhoods were without power. I had been stuck on base when my roommate at the time called” Their relationship status had changed not too long after the incident but that was neither here nor there and not really relevant to the point he was trying to make.
“If it wasn’t for Imara I would not have made it home in time to save her.” Isaac was under no illusion that he could have sped down the freeway and made it there in time. The convict had thankfully not known she was there and had assumed the house to be empty.
Under the false sense of security because no alarm went off, the criminal had gone through several drawers to find something that could be used to stop the bleeding from his injured arm. Regardless of his intent, or reason for being there, the man was now dead and Isaac felt no guilt for having taken the man's life and handing over his starseed to Stibnite before tending to Vera who had been hiding upstairs.
“It is a debt I will never be able to fully repay.”
---
Mathias gave Isaac a small nod. “It is our duty, as superiors, to ensure that our subordinates have what they need to function at their best. Imara has made me aware - in general - of the events that transpired that evening. You did the right thing.”
There was a cold sense of finality in his voice that seemed odd coming from a man who just moments before had been a bastion of warmth and gregariousness. “I won’t speak for Imara, but I would consider what she did for you the minimum of what I expect any of those I have trained to do for their subordinates. You are in our care. I’ve lived in that general sphere for all of my childhood, have seen what not offering support at the right time can do. I’ve seen friends lose fathers, mothers, and more to not being there at the right time.”
“It’s ironic, really,” Mathias said, pointing once more back at the painting. “That talent you speak so highly of? Fostered out of spite.” He laughed a bit, something cool and dark. “My father was already an officer - he had no need for his GI bill, transferred it over to me so I could go to school. Wanted me to go to the Air Force Academy in Colorado… Join the Air Force as an Officer - continue his legacy where he knew he wouldn’t make it past Colonel.”
He motioned to the wall behind him, where his diploma was framed in a very ornate gilded frame. The paper itself wasn’t overly impressive given that it had come from the local University, and was only a B.A. in Fine Arts, but you’d of thought from the frame that it was some post graduate accomplishment of some renown.
“In my ever rebellious glory, I instead attended DCU, got my B.A. in Fine Art,” he motioned at the portrait again as he spoke. “I honed my skills out of spite - on the sacrifice of others who I respected more than my father, truth be told, because it made him angry.”
“The irony of all this - of course - is now I AM in fact, a general, just not the kind he wanted me to be,” Mathias said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “I mean, he doesn’t know, of course. We’ve mended the fences, somewhat, since I got out of school and have started actual pursuits of business. He was surprised actually, that I was so willing to bury the hatchet somewhere other than the back of his skull.”
He steepled his fingers in front of him as he watched Isaac for a long moment.
“Which is why, I told myself that I would be the best General the Negaverse could ever want,” He said calmly. “I don’t know if you’re aware of the various branches of the Negaverse yet - Imara has not given me your full profile or told me what she had on the docket for you as far as training - and since she’s a General herself, I’m not going to pry or put my foot in it - because quite frankly that’s rude and unprofessional and those are two things I cannot abide in a professional setting.”
“In any case,” he continued. “I was a part of Special Operations - the… enforcement arm of the Negaverse if you will… for a very long time. I made the mistake of being insubordinate in public and that was taken from me - and rightly so. I have no illusions that I was wrong in my actions at that time, even if I will stand by what I said. To that end, I created the Training Corps, a place where those who might need a bit of assistance in learning what it meant to be an officer could come to learn. It has been a delightful, if difficult learning experience in my own right, and I have come to the conclusion that trying to run it on my own, with only Imara’s assistance is perhaps, a bit beyond the pale.”
“So if you really feel that you owe her… us… I… a debt, consider this an offer to join the cadre of the Training Corps, or at least join as a student until you can attain captaincy, then become a member of the cadre. I’m in need of good - educated hands. People who understand the importance of protocol, decorum, and rank.”
---
“That’s not an offer he makes very often.” Imara’s voice came from the doorway as he door clicked close behind her. She had seen Isaac enter the gym a few minutes ago and had decided to keep herself up in her office to allow them a chance to speak without her. Both men she felt might have more in common than they let on she she hoped things wouldn’t be ALL work. Still, both men were very to the point.
It was one of the reasons she liked them both after all.
As the door shut, Imara moved to the side of Mathias’ desk, taking not a chair but a hip lean on the edge where she could easily watch both men. Much like both of them before, her eyes caught the portrait of Delilah and she had to stop herself from speaking about it. “The Training Corps is his baby. He’s had many people ask and very few make the cut as teachers. I knew he liked you but even I didn’t see this coming.”
A smile on her face, a real one, showed just how much she also agreed with the idea. “Forgive the interruption, gentlemen. But I can’t have you two having all the fun without me.”
But before she could continue, Imara pushed off the desk and went back to Mathias’ paintings. Grabbing the drying oil of his cousin from the canvas, she turned it away from them. “Sorry. Mathias captured Delilah well enough that I feel like she’s watching over my back right now. Pet peeve but I can’t stand that feeling.”
The teal haired woman gave a shiver before returning to her desk space.
---
“I’ll be honest, I was beginning to wonder if you were going to be joining us.” Granted it had been Leucite who had suggested they meet after their excursion in the Rift with those corrupts, to which he still had no idea what the purpose of them going truly was since nothing had been mentioned to him after the groups had each found their gears.
“To your offer though” Isaac turned his attention back to Mathias, “If you think I could be of assistance then I’d like to accept.” From what he saw that night there were several agents who were in desperate need of even the most basic training.
---
“You combat skills alone would be an asset,” Mathias said with a small nod to Isaac as he accepted the offer. “Hand-to-hand combat is important, and the better equipped people are to deal with it, the more likely they are to succeed in bringing down our foes.”
His wife got a smile, and then a nod as she went to move the painting so that it was no longer watching them. He could understand her issues with it. He had done his best to capture his cousin at the most fullest of her life - and perhaps he had gotten a bit overzealous. But, he took her need to turn it away from them as a sign that he’d done well.
“But, Imara is correct - I don’t make this offer lightly,” He said with a nod to the other man in the room. “If you’d like to get me a list of things you feel comfortable teaching - I’ll see about getting something set up in the schedule for you.”
Plus it might help some of the Lts. feel less pressured if their teacher was their own rank.
