The best kind of Therapy

Posted on 10 Jul 2013 @ 9:16pm by Chief Warrant Officer 4 Cyrus Kiwosk & Lieutenant Kiri Cho

3,525 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: Holodeck - USS Galileo
Timeline: MD9 0600

[ON]

With everything else that was happening Kiri was trying to maintain some form of order to her life. There was also something in her that wanted to punch things as hard as she could. Trying to retain her old self Kiri approached Kiwosk's quarters, hoping that he had received her message.

Kiwosk had received the message, and yawning from his earlier morning than normal he opened the door and stepped out with a mug of coffee in hand and his gym bag in the other. The message had seemed urgent, which was unlike the young woman. As he saw her walk, storm he thought to himself, her way in his direction he knew something was up. He pretended not to see and put on his customary grin and waved slightly with his coffee mug before taking a sip.

"Morning Lieutenant." He said once she was in ear shot.

"Good morning?" Kiri answered, much less certain of what she was feeling now there was someone else around. Dressed in her training uniform Kiri looked slightly smaller than normal, her face quite pale that morning. Coming to a stop for a moment she tried to think, biting her lip. What to say, um, "A lot of things have happened."

"Yes?" Was all he said, but raised an eyebrow. "Well why don't you tell me about it while we make our way to the holodeck."

Didn't he already know? He had been at Stone's funeral, hadn't he heard about her being trapped underground? Biting on her lip she clenched her fingers for a moment, "How have your away missions gone?" If he didn't already know if she want him to know about how hard things had been for her?

Noting her change in conversation, he decided not to push the issue. "Well you already know how trip under the sea went. The other excursion was a little more interesting." He smiled reassuringly. "We were attacked by a pack of angry animals. Liyar had to kill off the alpha male, but no one was hurt. I was lucky I spotted it just in time." He chuckled.

"Where was this?" Kiri hadn't heard anything about it. It seemed that all of the animals were rather hostile in this system, everything wanted to eat them.

"Some lake or whatever. Lieutenant Panne would know exactly where it was." He explained. He pressed the button to cal the lift and stepped inside once the doors slid open. "What about you? How was your missions?"

"Oh," Kiri really didn't know anything at all, no one had said anything about it. Then again she had done her best not to talk about it that much either, were the rest of them the same? It didn't really seemed that way to her, "One of them was good, maybe two." The others had all involved someone dying or almost dying, those were not missions she liked.

"I see..." Cyrus let the words hand in the air, thought his tone showed that he understood her hesitation to talk about it. "Well, what are you hoping to work on today? Striking, speed or just regular weights today?"

"Everything?" Kiri didn't want to admit that she wanted to hit something, all of it would help though. Doing something physical that didn't have her life in peril at the same time.

Kiwosk chuckled and nodded. "I think I can manage that. I think we can work on improving your striking first. You got better each time we've practiced you know." He smiled nodding in approval.

"Thank you, but that doesn't take much," Smiling Kiri actually felt natural for a moment, "Next time, do you think Dawn could join us?"

As the doors opened once more they continued walking. "I can't see why not. " He replied nonchalantly. He liked the Counselor, and figured that she would benefit from the experience. Sometimes a person's true emotions are shown when they fight. "It doesn't bother me any if she would like to join us."

"She said she'd like to," Kiri found herself wanting to spend as much time with Dawn as she could. Someone her own age she could be friends with, that she wasn't afraid of expressing herself to. Smiling as they reached the holodeck door at the prospect, "Thank you."

As he began putting in the program information he shrugged. "Not a problem Kiri, now I hope you remembered what i taught you last. Don't dip your left hand when you throw your punches, it lets me know that you're going to move to the right." He chuckled. "I'm not going to dodge you this time, I'm just going to block, so you can get a feel for hitting a soft target."

"If you are sure," She really didn't want to hurt him, or even hit him really. The idea of punching a hologram didn't even occur to her, Kiri had never seen a holographic person. Holding steady she waited, watching him. It was nice to do something normal again.

After finishing the program he walked into the room and finished his coffee. "Get yourself warmed up because we're going to have some fun." He laughed hopping on one of the nearby treadmills. Setting it to a moderate pace. The jog was an easy jaunt, but after several minutes he upped the speed until he was running comfortably his body perfectly balanced his arms close to his chest and swinging slightly with a smooth movement.

Kiri did as she was told, stretching herself out, working from toe to neck before going anywhere near the running machines. Taking a few seconds to breath she watched him run. Stepping up at a slower pace she followed suit, though she was a little more uncoordinated and gangly than him as well.

Tucking in his arm began running at a higher running speed making several jabs and uppercuts to warm up his arms and shoulders. She was getting better, after their initial issues with his teaching style and her reservedness, but he had since learned not to push too hard and not to force her into doing things until she felt it was needed. He had gotten much farther in this new way. His breathes were still coming out smooth, but shorter now as his body began to loosen and his muscles began responding to his commands. " Has the cadet taught you anything else?" He asked as he began rolling his shoulders, working them as he continued to jog.

Kiri just focused on running, pushing herself but not too hard. There was still a full day of work ahead of her, not counting everything else she might have to do today. Starting to look a little red in the face she looked over at him, "I haven't had time to speak to her lately." Mor'an hadn't been around when she was in the mess hall, Kiri hadn't even seen her, she should do something about that.

finally Cyrus slowed down his treadmill and hopped off finishing with a series of stretches that would should have been difficult for a man of his stature. As he effortlessly finished his warm up he walked over to the wrestling mat. The foam cushioning helped should one of them take a tumble. The dark blue mat sported a bright white circle in the centre. "Whenever you're ready Kiri."

A little bit lost with her focus she started to slow down before finally stepping down and joining him. Tensing up quite a bit she looked at the mat while taking a few deep breaths. It always worried her at first that he was so much bigger than she was.

He gave her a smile and put his arms up in a defensive posture. His hands were open. "Punch away and I'll adjust your posture and what not if you need it. You know enough that you can do this." He gave a slight yawn.

"Where?" Before she did anything Kiri wanted to be clear. Was she meant to be hitting his palms, his body? Shouldn't they be wearing pads if that was the case?

"Wherever...don't worry. Torso, palms, head, legs...it doesn't matter. I am the target, not anything specific."

"Okay?" Holding her palms open Kiri moved a little closer, aware his reach was much bigger as her own. Not quite clear on what she was going to be doing she within her reach, paused and then looking hard at his chest, stuck him with an open palm on the sternum.

He accepted the hit, tensing his stomach muscles to absorb the impact. It was a soft strike, testing the waters. "Good, again."

Kiri did the same with her other hand, striking at the centre of his chest. Locking her wrist and elbow as she did so, working through the physics in her head as she did so.

His arm came up to deflect this attack and knocked strike wide to the left, noting that she had over extended. "We're only two strikes in, no need to go for the kill yet." He smiled.

"Sorry?" Kiri was confused by the comment, she had tried to hit him in almost the same place before, was she doing something wrong?

Her confusion had made her adjust her posture which was exactly what he had wanted to do. He knocked it wide again, but was nodding in approuval. "Much better posture. "

Backing away slightly Kiri frowned, "Like this?" She was a little looser, not quite as tense. Stooped ever so slightly she looked up at him, half confident at least.

"Yes, much better. Not so much weight on the front foot though. Balance it between the two. Because if I were to do this." He demonstrated with slight kick to the inside of her leg. "or this." He motioned for a sweep. "I would be able to take you down because your back leg won't support you." He motioned with his hands. "Now, come at me again." He smiled. "You're getting a knack for this. "

The kick hurt, there was barely anything between her bones and skin still. Winching slightly she hopped side to side, "Like this then?" With a lunge she fainted to the right before pushing out with her left hand.

He saw the feint and had his left arm up to ward off the blow at the same time pivoting his feet to give himself a little more distance. It connected but his precautions stole the force of the impact. Again he nodded in approval. "just like that. He watched Kiri, impressed with the confidence she had gained over the last few sessions. She was starting to loosen up, which was Cyrus's primary goal. "Feel your body, relax into yourself. The calmer you are in a fight, the faster you can make your body respond." He rolled his shoulders and dropped his hands slightly, giving her a clear opening to his head

"Don't you feel numb, when you fight?" This practice was completely different from how she felt in any of the situations she was in before. She wasn't in any real danger here, no one was trying to hurt her.

"Only if I've had to hit something really really hard." He said jokingly. He dropped his arms some more as he spoke, baiting her in. "When I'm fighting, I can't afford 'numbness.' " He attempted to explain. "I think it comes with time and practice...and lots of meditation." He add chuckling. "But I am completely aware of every muscle, my senses feel almost supernatural, I can hear things and see things that I normally wouldn't. It's almost like I drank a whole pot of coffee but without the anxiety...there's just..." He shrugged. "Calm. " He sighed, unsure really of what he was trying to say. "I know that's really no help." He admitted.

"So, right," It wasn't very heartening to hear that, "So, lots of practice?" She wasn't completely new at combat and yet she had been so unable to do anything in any of those situations. Moving closer again she looked up at him rather hard, keeping to the left she tried to grab his left arm.

He spun his arm in a circular motion to prevent her grab and decided she was sufficiently warmed up. "You're turn to dodge." He grinned and dropped suddenly into a leg sweep just like the one he had previously demonstrated.

Pulling her leg back Kiri moved out of the way, then swung her right leg out after him. It was a reflex but the idea was to put him off balance by forcing his leg further than he wanted to take it.

clever . He thought as he felt his leg swingout farther than he had wanted, it left him completely exposed. Congratulating Kiri silently he did the only thing he could do: he shifted his weight onto the extended leg and shot his other leg out in a mid-section kick in order to keep her away from pressing her advanage and generating enough momentum to begin a roll to his feet.

Kiri backed away every so slightly and put her elbows out to block his kick, crouching down as she did so to absorb the blow. Winching with the blow she wobbled for a moment before trying to grab at his now outstretched foot.

Cyrus frowned and decided that Kiri will learn the hard way today. He baited her in with his foot and wrapped both his legs around her waist. Squeezing slightly he braced himself with his arms and grunted hard.

He thrust his hips up and lifted the much smaller female a couple inches of the ground before pushing off with one arm and causing his body to roll. He let go with his legs and placed them both against her chest and pushed off into a side roll that planted him in a defensive crouch. "You had me..." He replied in all honesty. "I've never had to do that before against anyone." He continued. His pupil was becoming a fine hand to hand fighter. Though she made simple errors which would dissipate with time, but Cyrus knew that once she learned what her body could and could not do she would be a fine fighter indeed.

Clutching her arm across the fleshy part of her chest Kiri looked at him rather uncomfortably, "It doesn't feel like I had you." Her reaction had been to disadvantage him in some way, a grab could eliminate a limb and three against four were better odds. The fact that most of his limbs were at least the size of two of hers didn't really even it at all. Doubting over slightly she took a breath, it didn't feel like she'd made that much progress.

"It only feels that way because I got out of it. And the only reason I got out of it is because I've been doing this for years." He smiled reassuringly at her. "If you had tried that on about 90% of the ship...you would have won. "

"How, exactly?" Kiri could have taken his leg, maybe pulled him over? Yet if she had done that how would she had won, kicked him, she couldn't exactly do it hard. What could she do to stop him getting back up?

"I'll show. You take my position and I'll be you." He offered.

"Okay," Kiri wasn't exactly sure how to really represent him, "Should I try to kick you?"

He nodded. "I'll show you what you could have done that would have shut me down completely."

"Okay," Perfectly aware that this was a trap made her rather shaky as she stuck her foot out, holding it in the air just in front of him.

Instead of moving forward to grab her foot he knocked it aside and stepped forward. "I'm now inside your defenses, your left is to the left of me and your even further off balance. " He explained. " Now you grab the foot." He snatched up her leg and placed her in a light leglock, as he fell to the side. "You had the right idea." He told her. "But you missed only one step. Don't be too afraid to get inside a persons defenses. The bigger they are, most likely the easier to get inside, do your damage and get out." As he released her leg he hopped up and extended a hand to help her up. "Most times...Fighting hand to hand, isn't so much how much strength you have compared to the other person...it's who can break the other's defenses fastest. some people try to brute force their way through." He gestured to himself and chuckled. "Others can simply move around them like Mor'an. Either way gets the job done. But both come with..." He left the answer handing in the air for Kiri to finish.

"Advantages and disadvantages," They were very different styles but she enjoyed this one more. Maybe because she was physical with him, or just because it let her release pressure. Shifting he weight on her leg she smiled at him, "Can we try some more?"

"Fine by me Kiri. " He replied laughing. "Well, what are you waiting for! Come at me!"

Trying to circle around him again Kiri charged forwards, looking for an opening. Was it even remotely possible for her to be faster, not likely but she was meant to try.

A fist came up, cyrus shift his arm up catching her in the forearm, causing the attack to weaken considerably, he caught the second in an open hand and threw it up and brought his right arm back up to this side of his head catching the high kick. She wouldn't brute force her way through, but a thought occurred to Cyrus that she wasn't. Was she testing his defenses?

Kiri was smart, could it be that she was finally learning to think while fighting? He wanted to grin, but decided that he had given her enough praise for one day. He retaliated with two quick jabs followed by an uppercut.

Shying away Kiri ducked, moving away from his blows. Only a little way though, there was no way she could win conventionally. With both hands she grabbed into his forearm and waited for him to pull her in.

Cyrus heaved her forward thinking to wrap her up into a bearhug.

Bracing her left leg against his chest, Kiri tried to kick him below the chin with her right leg.

Her leg almost hit him in the neck, but Cyrus forced himself to straighten up and received the kick to the upper part of his chest, He stumbled back and was forced to let go of Cho. He blinked a couple of times and nodded approvingly.

"About time!" He congratulated as he rubbed the sore spot on his chest. "Almost got me in the neck!" He continued, an evil grin on his face.

She hadn't thought that part through. Falling onto first her shoulders and then ending up with her head between her legs Kiri mumbled unintelligibly, tangled it took her longer than normal to stumble back to her feet. Her heart was thumping and her chest felt heavy, it was like a scary buzz. That she was afraid of something, yet it was also a little exciting. Swallowing hard she looked at him, "Almost."

He rushed over and knelt down, placing large hands on slender shoulders. "Kiri I'm fine." He whispered. Then chuckled. "That had some power! All this work in stances and running is doing wonders for those legs of yours." He couldn't help but start laughing. "Told you that speed is important." He teased. He sat down beside her and leaned back onto the mat.

"Almost." He confirmed as he stretched his massive arms above his head as he continued to lay on the mat. "I remember when you wouldn't even throw a punch because you were too scared. You've improved a lot."

"I know I can't hurt you," Before she was scared, that people would shatter like glass if she held them too hard. At least with him, built like a tree there was no chance of that now, she knew.

He chuckled and raised his head long enough to giver her another wink. "That's me...mr. Plasteel." He shook his head and laid it back down on the mat to hide the frown and the grimace of ghost pain that ripped through his body suddenly. "That's me..." He whispered.

Pushing the thoughts out of his mind he looked over to the young woman. "I think we might be able to call it a day today Kiers. You've made huge progress today, I'll be able to take my training weights off now." He grinned. "Then we'll see if you can duplicate your results."

"I'm not sure about that," Shaking her arms she frowned for a moment, "Isn't Kiers longer than Kiri?" Or was she missing the point, it wasn't like her name was that long was it?

[OFF]
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CWO Cyrus Kiwosk
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Kiri Cho
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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