The soft lighting up against the vaulted ceiling made the dungeon look cosy. Quiet music could be heard whenever the whips and floggers paused or were put down. Someone in the room moaned and gasped. 

Octavia and Dan walked across the dungeon and made their way into the much more quiet locker room near the exit. Dan got a key from his pocket and proceeded to open a locker with it. Octavia searched the bag inside the locker for a moment, taking out a T-shirt and a pair of slacks, and then sighed. 

"No spare stockings." She said with a look of disappointment. "I guess I forgot them."

Dan gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, My Lady. What do you want to do now?"

"If you don't mind, I'll take off the fancy costume and put on my slacks." She gave him a kiss and popped off her pumps to inspect the hole in the stockings she was wearing. Three toes stuck out through the hole. 

Dan reached into the locker and laid out the slacks, and a pair of socks, a sports bra and the T-shirt so Octavia could get changed. He caressed her arms and then started to patiently loosen the laces of her corset.

A man walked into the locker room and opened his locker, not far from them. He glanced at them before he retrieved his phone from his bag and checked his messages. 

"Give me a moment to adjust, Dan." She leaned against the lockers for a moment, the corset moving as she breathed.

"Yes, My Lady." Dan positioned himself between her and the stranger as he gave her a moment to breathe.

When Dan continued with the lacing, the man looked at them again. "Hey, aren't you Octavia?"

"Yes, I am. Excuse my state of undress." She smiled uncomfortably at him and crossed her arms. 

He typed something on his phone and casually remarked: "You're the one who really hates Shinobi."

Dan continued to fiddle with the laces on her back, he had almost reached the bottom of the corset, but he frowned. The man's words made her cringe, and she replied: "I do not hate Shinobi. I just think he shouldn't be allowed in the dungeon anymore."

"I'm pretty new here, but I heard that Shinobi rejected you and that's why you hate him." The man said as he rummaged in his locker.

Octavia sighed. Dan opened up the corset and handed her the sports bra, which she quickly slipped on. She pulled on the T-shirt as well. "I don't hate Shinobi, man. Leave me alone." She said as she started to take off the ripped stockings while Dan carefully packed up the corset. He glared at the man the whole time.

The man went back to his phone and said with a shrug: "That's what I heard, from two different people."

Shaking her head at Dan, Octavia put on her socks and slacks, while Dan put the ripped stockings into the bag in the locker. They both remained silent, waiting for him to leave.

"So, did he reject you?" The man asked as he closed his locker again.

Dan turned to scowl at the man, but he said nothing. If looks could kill, the man would have dropped dead on the spot.

Octavia turned to face him and took a deep breath. "Do you want to know how I know Shinobi? I first heard of him when a friend of mine told me how she was abused by him. He violated her consent. I decided to openly talk about it, I hoped it would help people learn from his mistakes. But Shinobi flatout denied that he had done anything wrong. And then another woman approached me, and she told me how Shinobi had abused her too. And then another one. So you see, this whole thing between Shinobi and me was never about him and me. It's about how he violates the consent of the women he hooks up with, and me openly talking about it."

The man paused, looking uncomfortable. "So why do you talk about it? Why don't they talk about it themselves?"

"Because they're afraid of him." Octavia retorted. "And they're afraid of guys like you."

He shrugged one more time and then disappeared through the door. 

Octavia turned to Dan and gave him a kiss. "Thank you for your patience."

As he packed all of their things back into the locker, she walked over to the sink and splashed some water on her face.

"Whatever happened to Fay?" Dan asked softly. "I haven't seen her around in a while."

"She doesn't come here anymore." Octavia said sadly. "Neither do the others who talked to me. Not as long as he just waltzes around here with his fanboys."

"That's not right." Dan muttered as he closed the locker.

Octavia nodded in agreement. "No, it's not."