Into That Wild Blue Yonder

15. Two to Tango

Colm squinted cautiously as he walked through the adjoining door into Idara's substantially larger room. She had a hot tub off to the side; large enough for Ulan, even; directly connected to the master bathroom through a hole in the wall. The furniture sat haphazardly at one end of the room to create space in the middle, and exercise bands and small workout tools littered the ground like tobacco stubs in a public space.

"Huh," Colm said curiously as he looked over the equipment.

"You like my setup?" Idara asked.

"It's interesting," Colm said simply.

"I gotta get a good workout in, and the bands provide loads of resistance for squats and lunges. Great for shoulders, too."

"I can tell."

Idara pulled her head back a bit in surprise, but when she realized Colm wasn't thinking before speaking, she shrugged and walked over with a small smile on her face to clear the equipment away from the space. Colm took in the rest of the room while Idara managed her things; bags with the contents spilled out, clothes everywhere, random boxes of things Colm didn't understand. As much as he hated clutter, he didn't dare go around touching Idara's things.

"So, here's the rules-" Idara picked up a hard rubber trainer mace like the real one she carried- "We only go half force. No one needs to get hurt for real before the job."

"For real?" Colm asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"I don't know how real your pride is, but it'll need the ICU after we're done."

"Enough projecting, let's get this done," Colm replied, moving to a spot opposite Idara.

The two took light fighting stances and sized each other up. Without hitting for real, Colm would have to simply tap her and avoid being hit to take the win in the bout. Hopefully she would take the hint and leave him be. Without armor, though, Idara would be significantly faster, and lighter strikes meant she may be bolder than she otherwise would be with less protection. The mace appeared lighter too, not weighted to a realistic level, so he had to be extremely careful of a massive speed increase.

Idara pulled a hacky sack out of her pocket and wiggled her eyebrows as she tossed it up. Colm narrowed his gaze suspiciously for a moment, but when he saw her prepare to spring forward, he realized she would start as soon as it hit the ground and prepared for action. Time slowed briefly as the sack came into contact with the floor.

On cue, Idara sprung forward with the mace up to her right and swung it down toward Colm while airborne. Colm rolled right, narrowly avoiding the strike, but as he stood, Idara tried to spin into a swing to his side. Colm dropped back down, just below the mace, and spun into a light heel kick to Idara's abdomen, catching her by surprise and pushing her backwards.

Colm stood into a light-footed fighting stance and kept his guard up as Idara huffed and stomped toward him. She raised the mace to go for the same attack again, but as Colm prepared to roll away, she pulled the mace in close to her chest and charged him, shoving the handle forward. Colm tried to backtrack away, but caught the mace handle to his gut and flew back and onto the floor.

Colm rolled back up and threw himself to the side into another roll as Idara swung the mace low to high, trying to catch him on his chin or armpit. He sprung back up and leapt forward, planting a foot on her hip and then one on her shoulder to push her away to simulate a kick without doing it. Idara had her arm up to protect her face, though, and his foot would have failed to connect where he wanted in a serious fight.