[hr][center][h1][color=B8860B]Theo Callahan[/color] & [color=lightblue]Cassandra Voss[/color][/h1][/center][center]Collab between [@beyond visions] and [@Heretic][hr][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wbw6-jx6NU]SYML - Fear of the Water[/url][hr][/center][center][sub]"My sweetest Lesbia, let us live and love,
And though the sager sort our deeds reprove,
Let us not weigh them. Heaven’s great lamps do dive
Into their west, and straight again revive,
But soon as once set is our little light,
Then must we sleep one ever-during night.

If all would lead their lives in love like me,
Then bloody swords and armor should not be;
No drum nor trumpet peaceful sleeps should move,
Unless alarm came from the camp of love.
But fools do live, and waste their little light,
And seek with pain their ever-during night.

When timely death my life and fortune ends,
Let not my hearse be vexed with mourning friends,
But let all lovers, rich in triumph, come
And with sweet pastimes grace my happy tomb;
And Lesbia, close up thou my little light,
And crown with love my ever-during night."

-Thomas Campion- [/sub][hr] 

[/center][indent]
Gingerly as he could, Theo rested the necked bowl lute in his enlarged grasp. Strumming scarred fingers through its strings, he played the notes of a song whose lyrics he did not understand. "My Sweetest Lesbia," it was written by Thomas Campion in the sixteenth century. Delicacy was key to this song, the beauty of its rhythm often lied in the variation of line-length. Theo played only by ear, since reading sheets of music frankly felt impossible to him. If it were not for his future wife, he would not be bothering with rehearsing the day before the wedding. Though because he did care, Theo conversed with the muses three months before, swearing that he would learn any song they believed would be fitting for serenading during the night of the wedding so as long as he could borrow one of their instruments. He supposed this could be his chance to express a more soft and gentle side, contradicting his gigantic reckless reputation.

But here's the thing, Theo is [i]not[/i] soft nor gentle. Passionate and playful he is, but his own nature couldn't allow the facade.

Frustration boiled as notes were missed, this was followed by grunting in irritation. Theo finally snapped as a string from the lute broke. Vexed to his own breaking point, Theo bellowed, howled, and roared, pummeling the lute against the surface of his desk, until wooden fibers of the desk split open. Only seeing red, Theo turned to throw what was left of the lute, but upon turning he stubbed his toe against the chair he was just sitting in. Now his rage blending with pain, his hollering was prolonged as he jumped, gripping his sore foot. Though as he jumped, his head hammered against the ceiling.

Finally, losing his balance he just fell, crashing his heavy body against the floorboards of his bedroom.[color=B8860B]"CASS!"[/color] He cried for his right-hand, with the neck of the lute, detached from its body and curled in his right hand.[color=B8860B]"CASS!"[/color] he yelled again, but louder and purposefully much more whinier. He could distantly hear her responding that she was coming, but just to be annoying he continued yelling, [color=B8860B]"CASSANDRA HURRY UP! CASSANDRA!"[/color]

His toe bruised into purple due to the stubbing, and dots of blood spurted from where he banged his head. Theo was intentionally being such a baby, crying for his right-hand because he had a boo-boo.

[color=lightblue]"Jee-sus! What do you want?"[/color]

Cassie suddenly burst through Theo's door, half-expecting to find the man deep into his work and frustrated because something had gone wrong. But although the latter was true, the whiny expression on Theo's face, coupled with the bruised toe and the fresh blood coming out of a wound in his head told her everything she needed to know as she surveyed the mess that was currently his room.

[color=lightblue]"Did you seriously smash their instrument in a fit of rage because your monster-sized hands were too big for it?"[/color] Cassie couldn't help but smile, looking down at Theo who of course was looking nearly as distressed as someone who was about to be sentenced to death. She knelt beside him, grabbing whatever was leftover of the instrument as she inspected his head. [color=lightblue]"A few stitches will fix that,"[/color] Cassie then looked up at the ceiling, noticing the blood stains and what she could have sworn to be a small crack, [color=lightblue]"but not that. Come on you big baby,"[/color] she pulled on his arm, although obviously he would have to help himself up since there wasn't any chance in hell she was about to pull a muscle because of him.

Cassie tossed the piece of the instrument to the side since there was no use in being gentle with it anymore. She pulled up a chair for Theo, patting the seat for him as she flashed him a wicked grin. [color=lightblue]"We're going to play doctor, but let me warn you now, this doctor doesn't play nice."[/color] Ignoring his annoyed stared she could sense a mile away without even looking at him, Cassie walked across the room to fetch for his first-aid kit. [color=lightblue]"A piece of advice, Callahan,"[/color] she continued, returning to his side with the items she needed to sew his wound shut, [color=lightblue]"don't get too worked up over the wedding. In my honest opinion, Isabel is a very lucky lady to have you...and yes you may not be able to play her a song tomorrow like you wanted, but you have the rest of your life to learn how to do so."[/color] Cassie's voice had softened a bit, mainly because she was feeling heartbroken and depressed that this would be the last day she would spend with Theo as an unmarried man. After tomorrow, she wouldn't be needed as much given that his wife would be taking care of him.

[color=lightblue]"You're going to be fine, trust me,"[/color] she said, her voice a bit shaky as she struggled to keep her emotions in check, something that rarely happened to her.

Completely oblivious to the personal feelings she hinted to, Theo misthought that Cassie grew unsteady due to the political discord the marriage could induce. [color=B8860B]"Of course I'm going to be fine!"[/color] he snapped back at her, jumping from his seat into a defensive position. He mistranslated what she said and instead took it as her doubting his decision for the alliance. If anyone bit back the most crap from Theo, it was Cassie. Every word he spoke to her was raw, never sugar-coated. But it was because of that reason that Cassie knew Theo could never lie to her, or even bottle up his thoughts from her. [color=B8860B]"I know the Masterminds aren't cool with it! But they aren't stopping us! You don't think I have thought hard and long about this decision? Well I have, so don't doubt me, Cassie!"[/color]

His sudden outburst made Cassie take a step back with needle and thread still in hand. She simply stood there as Theo went on his tirade, taking the scolding as if she were a child. Her hand twitched, but she bit her lip and came to terms with the fact that she had pressed one of his buttons yet again, and his brute attitude was simply the result.

[color=lightblue]"I'm not doubting you!"[/color] Cassie shouted half-heartedly, the willingness to argue with him nearly absent as she was growing more frustrated by the minute. [color=lightblue]"But what more do you want me to do? Congratulate you? NOT fucking happening!"[/color]

Cassie turned her back to him as she started to pace the room. [color=lightblue]"It's not like you'd give me a shot, but I hope that if I were your [i]wife[/i], then maybe you'd treat me better!"[/color]

Cassie threw the needle at the wall, then headed for the door. She didn't say anything further as she wanted Theo to sort himself out. She didn't mind being on the receiving end of his angry outbursts, but it was terribly hard for her to pretend to be happy for him only to be slapped in the face.

Even though by rank Theo was her superior, he has never reprimanded her for barking back at him, since it was not too long ago that he was taking orders from her. But in her fiery reaction, Theo realized that she was not speaking in terms of politics. Cassie had opened a door for Theo, one that he had locked himself out of due to utter fear that if he did enter it, he would be greeted by rebuffs. [color=B8860B]"W-Wait, Cass, I didn't mean it like that!"[/color] In his attempt to chase after her, Theo accidentally crammed his purple stubbed toe into the leg of the chair that he was just sitting in. [color=B8860B]"GARGH--HOLD--GAH--UP!"[/color] Falling against his back again and gripping his toe, Theo quickly rolled over to his knees and began crawling after Cassie. As he approached her on all fours, Theo grabbed her ankle with both of his hands, lightly tickling her as he nuzzled his beard against her sun-kissed skin. [color=B8860B]"Don't leave! I'm sorry, Cass..."[/color] He paused, looked up at her, and in his softest voice he asked, [color=B8860B]"Y-You've always wanted me to give you a chance? I didn't think you wanted to end up with a vanguard, all of our lives are so... temporary."[/color]

Cassie stopped, using her free foot for leverage given that Theo had quite the grip on her ankle. She shifted slightly to make eye contact with him, her mind a mess of emotions which she did not know how to approach. But he seemed genuinely surprised to find out that she had feelings for him. Unfortunately, it took him this long to figure it out, the day before his damn wedding.

[color=lightblue]“Don’t you think I know that?”[/color] she replied, a hint of frustration in her voice, [color=lightblue]“Look around you, currently everyone on this Earth has unwillingly been given a death sentence. It’s just a matter of surviving and somehow making the best of it...maybe with the right person.”[/color] Cassie crouched down, one by one pulling his fingers back to undo the intense grip he had her. She then took his calloused hands into hers as she sat cross-legged a few inches away from him.

[color=lightblue]“I’m not going anywhere, Theo. I’ll be right here for as long as I can.”[/color]

With her hand nesting in his palm, he kissed her knuckles. And then nonchalantly Theo blurted, [color=B8860B]"Time to cancel the wedding."[/color] Of course that was impulse talking-- thinking with his heart rather than his head. But there was nothing he could do about it, contracts were signed and the alliance was official. Theo was practically already married to Isabel the moment he signed those documents, the wedding ceremony was only a way to mask the politics. He did have the other option to divorce her now. But that would tear at the vanguard's reputation, raising speculation that the faction is led by an unstable Spartan. Doing something like that could have Theo overthrown. [color=B8860B]"We should get married tomorrow!"[/color] He seemed so excited, but the scariest part about it was that he seemed so serious, not thinking about what it could cost him.

[color=lightblue]"Theo..."[/color] she sighed, an inner struggle within her forming as one half urged her to push him to cancel the wedding as soon as possible while the other half told her that there wasn't anything positive coming out of that little stunt. Unfortunately, she was his right hand, and part of her job was to always have his back and help him make the right decision in order to welcome the best possible outcome for their people. [color=lightblue]"You and I both know that if you cancel the wedding then the relationship we have with The Muses is going to go downhill very fast. Hell, the same could probably be said with the rest of them as well. We can't afford to have those targets painted on our back, you know what I mean? I'd rather have you alive married to Isabel than being hunted down because we wanted to be together. I'm selfish, but not to the point where I'd sacrifice the one person I...care for."[/color] Cassie refrained from saying the term "love" because she knew it would further complicate an already delicate situation. [color=lightblue]"I want to be with you, I really do, but I'm afraid it's too late now."[/color]

Cassie invited Theo to sit up so she could give him a hug. It was killing her to think that this was probably the last time she'd be this close to him.

Sometimes he would wonder if it should be Cassie that wears his Spartan helmet, that it should be her that is tied between an alliance or freedom, and that it should be her on the other side of this embrace. He was a man of action, but without her, he would be destroyed by reckless passion.

Nearing closer to her with each knee scooting past the other, Theo rested his head against her shoulder. Everyone always felt so light in his arms, but not this time. Her heavy heart beating against his chest caused his shoulders to slump, outweighed by his own sorrow. No words left his lips. The only sound from his mouth was a soft humming, and she knew exactly what that meant when he hums. It was a habit he developed with a face smeared in blood or dusted by the particles of rotting flesh. It was what a mother would do to a coddled infant who couldn't stop crying.[/indent][hr][center][h3]The Day of the Wedding Festival[/h3][/center][hr]
[indent]Only a few moments before the sun would rise, Theo awoke to the sound of Cassie knocking on his bedroom door. She woke him up just in time to get ready for the big day. He could hear her in the distance on the other side of that door, yet he was far too groggy to make out her words. It was early, perhaps around 5 AM. This was not just the day of the wedding, this was the day of the wedding festival. Nothing like two factions marrying each other in an alliance had ever been done, thus such an extravagant event like a festival seemed proper. First things first, the day started with the wedding couple meeting each other right before the sun would rise. Theo was preparing himself for step one before meeting Isabel at the center spot of the colony. This was an area that basically acted as the town-square for Churchill, it is here at sunset that they will say their vows. 

Rising upwards from his bed, Theo noticed a tux lying against his covers. He was not quite sure who put that there, whether it be Cassie who was suggesting he wear something decent in front of the muses, or the muses themselves. Though, he simply laughed and muttered, [color=B8860B]"You've got to be joking..."[/color] Shaking his head, Theo retrieved a pair of his khaki cargo shorts from his dresser. 

After dressing himself, he faced the mirror in his room to see his final appearance before meeting Isabel: his usual cargo shorts, combat boots, and vanguard dog-tag. But as he watched his reflection, Theo whispered to himself, [color=B8860B]"Wait I'm missing something..."[/color] On the top of his nightstand, Theo grabbed his Spartan helmet, placing it over his head. [color=B8860B]"Now, I'm ready to take on the world..."[/color][/indent]