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glassautomaton · 1 year

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This is an excerpt from my upcoming tale that I’m working on with a couple other writers from somewhere near the middle. It’s going to take place over the course of a single day in Site-17 and be more of a slice-of-life tale.

I figured I could post this here since I’ve been taking so long to get a new article out and I haven’t written any with the Alpha-9 characters since Voices Carry (save for Kill the Feeling, which was very short and not my usual fare). Feel free to let me know what you think, though of course, don’t feel like you need to give critique - I know how draining that can be, and I haven’t put this scene through the typical crit process yet.

I might make this a more regular thing or post excerpts of cut content here in the future as well, depending on if people like this.

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Jackie supposed she wasn't entirely blameless for what happened earlier, although in terms of force delivered to the nose, the response wasn't entirely in line with the provocation. Regardless, she wasn't really expecting much - Iris had promised not to make apologizing a habit, after all - so when Iris awkwardly asked her if she wanted to help her work out, Jackie took it as an olive branch. All that girl does is work out and do crossword puzzles. Honestly, it's a little concerning, Adams had told her. Hey, if she's asking, that's definitely progress for the two of you. As much as there is a 'two of you.' Don't get any ideas.

In retrospect, the first warning sign came when Jackie asked Iris who she usually worked out with.

"It depends," she had said, not even bothering to look at Jackie. "It was Doctor Song at first, then Agent Brigs, then Commander McCarthy. Now it's a little up in the air." Their schedules must be awkward, Jackie had thought. She did not recognize the clear escalation in partners.

The second tip should have been the way the staff reacted when Jackie had told them what she had come to the training room for. The seemed incredulous, even a bit worried, and Jackie pulled out her credentials that marked her as a staff member, despite how much she disliked pulling it out.

"That's not really the… oh, never mind. You're all good. Equipment's in the front, just return it when you're done." The person attending the entrance looked resigned. The one behind him looked amused. They're probably just eager to see an anomaly like me, Jackie had thought. It's not every day someone with physical augmentations comes to lift weights.

Except, Iris was nowhere near the weights when Jackie found her way over to them. A quick glance around the room revealed that she was, in fact, standing in the middle of the open part of the room with the padded floors and circular markings on the ground. As she made her way over, Jackie had realized that Iris had not, in fact, told her how she planned to work out. Jackie had only assumed it would be weights or cardio.

"You've good a decent CQC assessment, yeah?" Iris asked, more of a reminder than a question considering Iris' privileges over Jackie's assessment information. Jackie began to feel slightly worried, but by then it was too late.

"Um… pretty good, yeah. Though you know what gets the heavy lifting done, eheh." Jackie flexed a bicep to show off. Iris didn't look, her attention fixed on the gloves she was securing onto her hands with practiced dexterity.

"Yeah, alright. Put those on, they should fit you." Even when Iris nodded over to the small pile of protective sparring equipment, Jackie failed to comprehend the weight of her situation. Iris was a shrimp compared to her - if she wanted to blow off steam, no big deal.

"Oh, is this kickboxing? I'm not super familiar with it, to be honest," Jackie halfheartedly explained, trying not to look too proud of the fact that she had enough strength to pick Iris up and throw her clean across the room.

"Don't worry about it, we don't need to spar." Iris finally turned to face Jackie once her gear was on, looking… oddly relaxed and limber compared to her typically tight posture. "I just want to work on some of my strikes, you just need to block them. I won't be faking you out or anything."

"Oh, alright." Jackie finished getting the protective equipment on and made the worst mistake of the day. (Or maybe afternoon. Or hour. It was still early.) "Don't feel like you need to go easy, I can take it!"

Of course, as another rapid kick forced Jackie to readjust her footing, she began to truly appreciate how badly she had underestimated the sheer power of what appeared to be sixty-eight inches of lean muscle and deep emotional repression sublimating their dissatisfaction into exercise. Iris wasn't particularly strong - Jackie knew this on a factual level - but the sheer ferocity of her blows made Jackie feel like her pseudo-metal bones were under an undue amount of stress.

It wasn't really clear how long the two of them had been going at it. It was hard for Jackie to keep the time in her mind when as soon as she was done focusing on blocking one punch or kick, another one was winding up, and despite the way Iris had been sweating, she didn't show any signs of slowing down.

"Y'know, I, um…" Iris suddenly started talking, though she continued bobbing back and forth, making no effort to look like she was winding down. "I can get a little, uh…" Jab to the face. "Jumpy."

"Uh huh." Not the most conversational response, but Jackie wasn't certain if this was a genuine conversation from Iris (rare) or a distraction so she could get her licks in easier (which would track). Or both.

"Right, so. I'm just not really used to-" one-two punch towards the chest- "Being, uh, you know. Touched like that. Wait, no, that sounds wrong…"

"I know what you mean, si-" That last syllable cost Jackie a quick kick to the gut. Definitely both, though it was odd to see Iris so talkative. Though then again, kicking the shit out of your conversation target partner would probably leave you feeling less vulnerable. Not like Jackie could find an opening, with her hands or with her mouth.

"So it's just that earlier, that was, like, all reflexes." Iris finally relented a bit, taking a half-step back from striking distance and shifting her weight from foot to foot. Then, as if sensing something shifting, she added "And I'll probably still have them if you try it again."

"Ah. Mhm." Jackie watched Iris for another kick and slowly began to lower her arms the slightest bit when she didn't see any coming. After actually taking a second to process what Iris had said, she squinted. "But Nanaya-"

"Right, yeah. It's like…" Iris rubbed her neck. "Nanaya's just this thing."

"It's not nice to talk about other skips like that," Jackie said with a frown.

"I don't mean it like that," said Iris, her eye roll audible in the response. "Nanaya's just this thing that just so… far away. An you're…"

Jackie's guard lowered even further. And I'm…?

Iris shook her head. "Nanaya's like…"

Now it was Jackie's turn to roll her eyes. "A goddess whose every action drips with seduction and promise?" Wait. Why was she talking like that.

"Right, yeah. No." Oh, look, Iris was getting flustered again.

"She doesn't count?" Jackie failed to keep herself from using a mocking tone.

Regardless, the jab sailed over Iris' head. "Right. She doesn't count. Not like you - or anyone else," she added hastily.

Jackie had about a quarter of a second to process not like you - or anyone else before Iris jumped clean into the air and send one of her legs towards Jackie's face. She noticed too late to block but her reflexes jerked her to the side just in time to allow Iris to land safely on the other side of her, bobbing back and forth just the same as before.

"Glad we could talk this one out."

"You and I have very different definitions of kickboxing-" was all Jackie could get out before Iris got back to it,

Once again, Jackie lost track of time. Eventually, she started getting concerned about Iris. This was an honestly impressive show of stamina, but Jackie figured she'd eventually get tired and just pass out. As Alpha-9's medic, it was her job to be concerned about her squadmates, so it was only natural she look for signs of fatigue from her 'partner.' She was definitely not just worried about looking bad if she ended up running out of gas first.

A moment's reprieve eventually did, though, when Iris glanced past her target and muttered "Oh, Adams is here." Oh good, Jackie thought, Iris will have to stop to talk to her. If she wants to be polite. Which she never is with Adams. Maybe it was just a trick, though, because the instant Jackie started to turn around, Iris threw out another kick towards Jackie's face - no small feat considering their difference in height.

"You guys are still here? Figures," came Adams' voice from some ways behind Jackie. After a few seconds, Adams walked up to the two of them, stopping at least one-and-a-half lengths of Iris' legs away from her. "Iris, I need to talk to you about something."

"Can it wait?" Iris asked in the terse voice she used for speaking to staff members.

"Not for much longer. It's about the…" Adams glanced at Jackie and bit her tongue. "…Thing tonight."

"Oh." Iris slouched, seeming to accept she couldn't weasel her way out of the conversation. Jackie was a little bit confused by how secretive Adams seemed, but hey, she and Iris had a life outside of Alpha-9. "Could I finish the set?"

"Yeah, sure." Adams seemed to lean back a bit and watched Iris' form, though she looked less like she was watching her just work out and more like she was studying the two of them "How you holding up?"

"Fine," Iris answered. "Jackie's-" A kick to the gut- "Actually not too bad at this. She's pretty sturdy."

It was a rare complement from Iris, but nonetheless difficult to take well, considering she'd basically called her very good at standing in one place and eating shit.

A quick glance towards Adams showed that she was amused by Jackie's situation, or at the very least more aware of it than Iris. "You thinking of making this a habit?" She asked, not even bothering to look like she was posing the question to Jackie.

"Mmm…" Iris grimaced, as though she felt she'd been caught in some kind of trap. "I don't know…"

As much as the prospect of making this a regular thing scared Jackie (which wasn't a lot, she told herself), it seemed like Iris enjoyed it. Well, probably, Jackie never got a good baseline for how Iris acted when she was happy, but she seemed almost… weirdly excited to just kick the shit out of somebody. She'd never seen her so… loose. She was always constantly moving like she was expecting Jackie to throw something out at her, while most of the time she was as rigid like a chip of steel. Now, though, she had her some hair in her face - it was always kind of messy, like she hacked it away herself, but she at least kept it all straight - with some of it stuck onto her forehead form the thin sheen of sweat she'd developed. Her clothes were all ruffled too, and even though she usually dressed like the sight of her clavicle was a memetic kill hazard, each time she threw out a kick her shirt came up a little-

Adams smacked Jackie on the back of the head with a frankly distressing amount of force.

"The hell was that for?" Jackie asked as soon as she righted herself back up, thankful that Iris seemed confused enough to stop attacking.

"Quit leering," Adams said with tight lips.

Jackie huffed. "The hell do you mean by that?"

"That certainly seems targeted," came a familiar voice from right behind Iris.

True to what she had said before, Iris, already sufficiently worked up, spun around with the speed of one of those fucked-up little shrimp to atomize whoever had snuck up on her - only for Anne to gracefully duck the attack and stand a little out of striking distance. A good thing, too, because although Iris seemed embarrassed at first, as soon as she saw who it was, she looked ready to try again.

Iris did little to hide the distaste on her face or in her voice. "The fuck are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know." Anne placed a hand on her hips in a relaxed gesture. She looked between the three other women staring at her with expressions of one part confusion and three parts annoyance and shrugged. "Leering."

"Alright, out, out, the both of you." Adams waved her hands as though she was shooing away seagulls trying to steal her lunch.

"What… what's that supposed to mean?" Iris looked between Adams and Anne while Jackie hastily relieved herself of her gear. With any luck, Iris wouldn't hit her without it.

"Don't worry about it," Adams replied with a tired look before shooting a glare at Anne and Jackie to get them to scram. Jackie left first despite being the one who had to take a bunch of padding off (not that she bothered to put it away - Iris took it out, so he probably had it handled), and Anne followed behind her. Jackie didn't have eyes on the back of her head, but it sure felt like that woman was smirking.

#scp #scp 105 #scp 1985 #andrea adams #writing #something something intricate rituals

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