Ship It (Destiny)

by Kahzgul, Tuesday, January 16, 2018, 15:22 (2446 days ago) @ Cody Miller

"What did you do before the Fall?"

Before the Fall? Shaxx hadn't thought about those days in a very, very long time. He inhaled sharply, remembering the tang of sweat mixed with perfume and desperation. Not too unlike the arena, these days. "Well..." He stalled. Could this woman be trusted? His past was common fodder for the arena rats, Oft discussed in hushed tones just around the corner from him, and just as often hushed immediately at his approach. "Can you keep a secret," he asked her.

Avalon flushed a darker shade of blue, almost purple. "Of course, silly," she laughed. "Just about the only thing Warlocks do is keep secrets."

Shaxx laughed as well. He brassy, reverberant outburst shook the small bar. Two of the normal humans asked for their check, afraid of boisterous guardians, and rightly so.

"WELL DONE," He said.

"Please, Alex," Avalon whispered, a little embarrassed.

Shaxx settled down. "Fine, fine," he muttered. "Before the Fall, yes? I was an announcer."

"You're still an announcer."

"And I was then, too. Sure, the office looks different, but the job's the same. That's how I got it, you know."

"Really?" She was intrigued. "Nothing to do with your heroics at Twilight Gap.

"Nothing whatsoever." Shaxx loved this story, "If heroics were all it took to be Announcer of the Crucible, fifty other guardians would have been chosen before I was ever considered. Helheim-9 broke the first phalanx with a Fist of Havok from five stories up. Sk8rChkQUEEN shot three captains with a single round... from a Vanguard Armory Sniper, if you can believe that! And XxFkUImDaBeAsTxX caught seven incoming rockets with his face. And two outgoing ones. No one likes that guy. Hell, Zavala saved damn near 400 civilian lives with a mid-air bubble."

"Zavala?" She was laughing. "Can you imagine him announcing the arena kills?"

"Well," said Shaxx in his best 'serious Zavala' voice, "a bullet did just puncture that guardian's helmet. Satisfactory showing, guardian. Moderate marks."

Avalon joined in, furrowing her brow and glowering with all her might, "Four kills in a row; adequate work, but we expect better on the front lines."

Shaxx applauded as Avalon took a little bow.

"So you see why they needed a real showman," he went on. "Someone who knew how to appeal to the masses' more, ahem, carnal instincts."

"Carnal, you say?"

"Carnal indeed. You haven't asked me what sort of announcer I was."

"Alright," said Avalon, "Alexander Shackleton, what sort of announcer were you?"

"I regret telling you that," said Shaxx, though, in truth, he enjoyed her private barbs at his birth name, "and I imagine I will regret telling you this as well."

He paused, milking the antici... She leaned forward. Caught her breath.

-Pation "A strip club announcer." He studied her face to see how she took it.

"So you've seen a lot of girls naked, I take it?" She took it in stride. "But have you ever seen one clothed only in the Light?"

"I have," Shaxx replied. "IT WAS AMAZING!"

Avalon laughed as she led him out onto the street. "Well," she told him, as her eyes narrowed slyly, "You'll have to tell me what spec she was."