Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Gymnasium - Working Out The Kinks

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Daggum Hammor (Chief Operations Officer) in Gymnasium - Working Out The Kinks

Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Gymnasium - Working Out The Kinks
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Hammor smiled and said “Yeah, it should. You’re delivering more force through your fist, so less comes back. It’s not as jarring to you… more so to your target. I’d recommend working on that for a while to get used to it. If you try to throw full force behind it before you are ready, you could make a mistake and that really hurts.” and he laughed. “Trust me. I know it for a fact.” He then nodded once and moved away to go back to the mat; where he began to do slow, meticulous movements that looked to be a combination of dance and some kind of martial art.

Hammor

Viyara laughed lightly as well. “True. I’ve made that experience before as well,” she grinned. For a few moments she watched Hammor in silence, trying to figure out what exactly he was practising, but found that she wasn’t able to pinpoint it. Some things looked familiar, while other aspects of his movements looked rather foreign. Shaking her head slightly, she returned her focus towards the punching bag and practised the movements he had shown her for several moments. With each punch she felt more certain and more comfortable. So much so that she eventually started to vary and even mix in a few kicks here and there. It felt incredible to let go of all the thoughts and especially emotions that had been building up inside of her since her arrival on this ship. Yet with as much force as she was putting behind each punch and kick, it wasn’t too long before she felt her arms and legs starting to tremble. With a sigh she dropped her arms once more and then moved over towards the mat where Hammor was practising. “What are you doing?” she asked curiously while stretching her arms and legs some.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Hammor exhaled slowly as he turned at the waist and pushed his hands, palms first, forward… as if pushing an invisible wall. “Tai chi… old Earth practice… helps me meditate… focus and release tension…” and he moved through another movement before coming back to stand normally. He looked down at Nazeen and said “If you’d like, I can show you some things. It makes for a good cool down, at least.”

Hammor

“Sure,” Viyara replied enthusiastically and moved onto the mat as well. “I know it’s a silly prejudice, but you didn’t strike me as someone who’d meditate,” she mused, looking at him with a slightly tilted head. “Why do you? I never understood the appeal it seems to have on so many people,” she continued, her expression now a little sceptical. She usually tried to get out of her own head and mediation - to her - seemed to be complete opposite of that. Yet she found herself will to have her mind changed and to give this a fair try.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

As she spoke, the Ops Chief unzipped and took off his hoodie. Underneath was the tanktop that left his massively muscled shoulders and arms bare. Those were covered in scars, brands, and burn marks. The marks of years of extreme violence and, to those who understood such things, the marks of ownership and oppression.

For a few moments Viyara’s gaze lingered silently on Hammor’s bare skin. While she didn’t recognise all his scars, brands and burn marks for what they really were, she did recognise were they came from and what kind of story they told. One that was in some ways not terribly unlike her own and she wondered if, for the first time, he was someone who might understand. If she ever decided to actually talk about her past.

Hammor looked at her in the mirror and said “Not a silly prejudice at all. Most people don’t take me for an Engineer or logistics specialist, either.” and he smiled and gave her a wink. “So as to why? Meditation is way to move out of yourself. To let go of everything and simply allow yourself to exist for a time. To drop a lot of the baggage we all carry with us and take a moment to catch our breath. Now…” and he moved to the base starting form. “This is slow movements, methodical… everything with purpose, ok? So just follow me, copy my movements. Pay attention to your breathing, and try to only do it through your nose. Ok, we’ll start slow…” and he waited for her to match his stance and then he began moving.

“I always thought that mediation was all about focusing more on yourself instead of moving out of yourself. Huh,” Viyara mused even more intrigued. Taking a deep breath she mirrored Hammor’s stance and then his movements as well.

The routine was basic, slow, and very fluid. Hammor spoke little, only reminding her to breathe or to slow down. “Now tense your shoulders… and release.” he would say softly, exchanging parts of the body to reflect what they were working through. After about ten minutes, he came to a rest and looked at her in the mirror again.

“Well done.” and he smiled at her, his teeth brilliant white against the dark green of his lips.

Hammor

“Thank you,” Viyara grinned back, her mismatched eyes sparkling. “That was quite something different. But I liked it. Thank you for showing me. I think I’m beginning to see how it can help to move out of yourself.” Raising one eyebrow and with her smile turning a little crooked and even mischievous she added, “Maybe we can do this again some time?”

“Absolutely. If you want to learn, I’m happy to teach.”

As she looked up at him, her eyes towards his scars again on their own accord. And before she knew what she was doing, she traced one of them with the tip of a finger and asked, “What happened to you?” Her voice was soft and there was compassion in it, but not pity. It was more as if she had at least an idea of that kind of pain that would leave scars like that. Even though she herself bore none. On her skin at least.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

As her fingertip slid across his emerald skin, the big man shuddered slightly, took a sharp, surprised breath in; and then took a small, involuntary step back… not out of embarrassment, but more out of ‘decorum’.

As Hammor took a step away, Viyara let her hand drop to her side again. But her eyes remained on his scars a moment longer before she looked him straight in the eyes again.

“I was born on Orion… and an orphan. Orphans don’t do well in that society. I spent my first twelve or so years in the Pits… gladiatorial fights. I won, I ate. I lost, I didn’t. These -” and he pointed to several of the brands, “- are the marks of the people or Families that owned me.” The brands were numerous, going all the way up his left arm and disappearing under his shirt. “The more brands a fighter has, the more often they had been sold. More they had been sold, the better they were in the ring.” His voice was conversational, but there was an undercurrent of anger. “So that’s where I learned to fight… what about you? You know your way around that heavy bag, so you learned somewhere.”

Hammor

Her expression thoughtful, Viyara nodded a little here and there as she listened closely. In a way his life made her own past seem almost happy in comparison. It also surprised her how openly and and easily he seemed to be able to talk about what he had been through. In a way she even admired it that he could talk about his past like that. But how could she answer his question? Pulling the elastic out of her hair and shaking her head a little, she tried to buy herself some time to reply. Time to think what she wanted to share.

Eventually Viyara placed on hand on her hip and gave a small shrug. Trying to sound nonchalant, she replied, “I didn’t exactly have what you’d call a “normal” childhood either. I thought myself how to protect myself and eventually even managed to fight back a bit. But it wasn’t until I left home that I promised myself that I wouldn’t let anyone hurt me again and that I really learned how to fight.” While she managed to keep her voice even, she wasn’t quite as effective in keeping all emotions of her face and out of her body language. Her posture had shifted ever so slightly towards a more defensive stance and there was a hint of anger and pain, maybe even fear on her pale face.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Outside of learning how to fight, the Pit taught Hammor several other very useful skills… among them how to read people very well. His eyes took in her posture, micro-expressions, and shift in stance. Instead of pressing, he just said “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” It wasn’t pity… it was simply a genuine empathy that she had suffered. He took a breath and said “Ok. First lesson. Stand like this.” and he faced her fully so that there was only barely a hand-width between them, his feet shoulder with and his arms at his side. “Again, just mirror what I do… breathe with me.” He took several slow, deep breaths; his eyes never leaving hers.

He led her through a breathing exercise and some small movements designed to increase blood flow and focus the mind on things outside the body. After a few minutes, they finished and he said “Not bad, but we can work on your form some. I bet if we do this on a regular basis you’ll find a lot more flexibility and less… you know… tension. You up for it?”

Hammor