#themmy

2013 Expedition Heartbreak. Ricardo and Anathema.

Only 4 months late to answer this one ksjdnkl.

31. "This is our fight."

"Are you, uh…good?" Anathema asks because if they don't ask they're not ever going to get an answer out of captain Steel, as cool and unyielding as his name suggests.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Steel replies, moving through the familiar routine of checking his armor and weapons after a fight. Rhythmic, standard, normal, if not for the set of his jaw.

"You just look tense is all." Anathema fidgets with their fingers, Steel is not an easy man to talk to, with all the friendliness of a brick wall but they were still team mates, and in this line of work, check ins matter. Even to the seemingly invulnerable.

"It was a tense fight." He's not wrong, it had been pretty touch and go before Charge and Sidestep arrived as back up. Anathema can firmly rank self duplicating enemies as among the top most annoying villains to fight. They had made a joke about quality over quantity but only Charge had laughed.

"Did you get hurt?" Anathema doesn't think Steel would try to cover up an injury to save his pride, that's Charge's MO, and Sidestep's but they don't think that has anything to do with ego.

"I'm fine, it's just…" Steel sighs through his nose and Anathema almost holds their breath, if they were ever going to get Steel to open up this was their chance and they didn't want to blow it. "I don't get Sidestep, this was our fight, why is he here?"

"What?" Anathema hazards a laugh. "I mean, I'm glad he was, it would have been a tougher fight without him."

"I'm not ungrateful for his help." Steel sighs again. "I just don't understand why he's doing this. Helping us." His eyes flicker toward Charge and Sidestep, talking among themselves just outside the edge of hearing.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't think its strange?" He turns fully to face Anathema. "He has the skills and the Marshal firmly wrapped around his finger but he won't join the Rangers, won't even take a paycheck, so he's not in it or fame or money."

"Maybe he just wants to do the right thing? Help people?" Anathema regrets the words as soon as they are out of their mouth. The look Steel gives them tells them all they need to know about what he thinks about that particular angle. He's not buying it, and if their honest, neither do they. Too many things about Sidestep don't add up. Too many contradictions.

"And if he gets hurt, he refuses medical attention," Steel continues. "Even knowing the Rangers would foot the bill, so its not about security or convenience either. So why fight with us? Why risk it?" The captain's tone is exasperated and annoyed and if Anathema is being optimistic, a little worried. They're worried too. How many times had they watched Sidestep limp away from a fight, to slink back to wherever they go, no matter how injured? Anathema would be lying if they said it didn't bother them, sometimes it even made them angry but they know all to well the safety of having secrets.

"I don't know." Anathema sighs, shoulders slumping a little and its not just the conversation, post fight adrenaline loss is starting to kick in. "But I trust him, or at least I want to." They give Steel a tired smile. "You don't have to know everything about someone to trust them." After all it was the same for them. They doubt they would ever have had a place with the Rangers if it weren't for Hood's trust.

Steel gives them a long steady look that Anathema tries not to wither under. Too intense, as if he could peel open the layers of flesh and bone like pages of a book to read the secrets buried in their conscious. Another anomaly, another unknown and Steel is not a man who trusts lightly, let alone on faith. Too used to seeing enemies behind every wall, even in his own team mates. Anathema feels sorry for him in that way, trust is hard, they know that, and it can be betrayed far quicker than it can be earned but shutting everyone out just to keep yourself safe is no way to live. Anathema may have an invulnerable body, but the heart is a fragile thing. Risking it with the threat of misplaced trust is difficult, but necessary.

"You have a point." Steel says almost too softly to hear. "Come on, we need to debrief with the others."

i was seeking critique from a friend on my sidestep's tattoo design that i was originally planning to finish today, and among the critiques was a note that the shoulders looked like pauldrons which did not work for my intended direction. however, the baseline idea was fun, so i started thinking of a way to implement it and thus re-gene themmy was born. i mean decanted.

it would be good for sidestep to have someone who really truly understands, and who better than themmy? maybe they would even make sides feel safer to come out to the team, and maybe that would've made the difference after heartbreak

or maybe it just would've gotten ortega killed

“Now you’re at the wheel Tell me how, how does it feel? So good to have equalized To lift up the lids of your eyes. As the miles they disappear See land begin to clear…”

[DOWNLOAD] ‘Agbani Lagbatan’ – Themmy

Gospel music minister Themmy is back after releasing her debut single ‘New Dawn’ last year November. She returns with the new single ‘Agbani Lagbatan’.

She sings of God’s power to deliver and save completely. The steady rhythmic beat is laced with Themmy vocal that is expressive of the abundant power of God in you, to face any situation. This, Themmy does, with elements of worship.

‘Agbanilagbat…