InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'm so white and nerdy"

Holly Jasmine Page (shewhodrifts) wrote in commandhq,
@ 2018-03-07 21:38:00

Entry tags:

holly page, p: mena, ~bear, ~p: bb

Who: Holly Page & Bear
What: Holly's letting off some steam
When: March 8th, mid afternoon
Where: The shooting range
Rating: PG13?

Holly adjusted how the goggles were sitting covering her eyes and raised the M-16A2 rifle, nestling it in the correct position. Narrowing her gaze, she focused on the target that was five hundred yards away from her. She took a deep breath, in through her nose and out through her mouth, a few to settle her hands as she flexed them around the grips.

After doing a cursory check to make sure there was no one on the firing range - and there wasn't, as far as she knew she was alone - she adjusted the sight and put her finger on the trigger, bracing herself against the recoil and firing.

When the magazine was emptied, when all thirty rounds were expended, Holly lowered it and pulled her ear defenders off and pushed the button to bring the target closer so she could check her marksmanship. Twenty-five of the thirty rounds she'd fired had hit what would have been considered critical locations. She thought back to her training, worked out how many points it would be and nodded to herself.

Acceptable, but not good enough. That seemed to be the motto for her career right now. Acceptable, but not enough. Not enough. She hadn't picked up that Jagger's exhaustion was more than just tiredness. Eric had been masquerading as a Handler for an extremely long time under their noses and who knew what he'd manipulated them into doing, or believing. Acceptable, she thought, was not good enough. She had to be better.

Ripping the paper target down rougher than she needed to, she replaced it by clipping a new one to it and sending it back out to the five hundred yard mark.

Expertly putting a fresh magazine into the rifle, she put her ear defenders back on, raised the rifle and shouted Weapons live before she checked and fired once more.

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wildabandon
2018-03-08 02:40 am UTC (link)

Guns were fun! Oh the big guy was mostly known for enjoying the thrill of close quarters fighting; especially unarmed, or wielding that sledge hammer of his. However Bear loved playing with the firearms too, and his gift ensured he was quite proficient with them as well. Most of the time the large man was found in the weight room, hologym, or just hanging out in his quarters. Yet from time to time he headed to the shooting range to train there as well.

After lunch, and savoring a little nap, the mountain of a man strolled over to the range and when he spotted the tiny handler already there Bear just smiled and stood there as he watched her practice. Spooking folks when they were holding guns was bad. Well, not really for him since that thick hide of his would stop a bullet, but just in general it was better to be patient. When she finally finished with her clip, and moved to collect her paper though, Bear slowly walked over to set the firearm he had been given by the quartermaster down onto the stall.

Checking the gun was always the first step. Check it, clean it if needed, then fire away. He paused though when the handler called out, and those eyes of his drifted down range to her target, watching as Holly started to fire again.

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shewhodrifts
2018-03-08 08:35 pm UTC (link)

With the second clip emptied, Holly became aware of eyes on her. She might not have been a super, but she had a very keen sense of when she was being watched. Call it ten years deep in enemy territory. Survival instinct. And while she might not have needed it here - or so she thought - this business with Eric had her all on edge in all the wrong ways.

Putting the safety on and putting the gun down, Holly turned her head to see who it was that was looking at her and tugged the earphones off when she saw that it was Bear. She'd been here for a long time, now, and knew him quite well - or as well as it was possible to know someone who hadn't known their own name when they'd arrived. She liked him. He was a good counterfoil to train agents against, he did as he was asked and was relatively low maintenance. More than she could say of some of her team, that was for sure.

Ear defenders around her neck, Holly pulled the goggles off and put them on the side, offering the agent a smile.

"What brings you out to the firing range, Bear?" she asked, clearing her throat and repacking away the frustration at herself that had been bubbling up as she'd been firing. "You alright?"

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wildabandon
2018-03-09 11:20 pm UTC (link)

Something strange was going one with a lot of folks around Limbo; people getting worried or upset over some kinda news about a handler, but honestly Bear had no real clue. Typically if food, beer, movies, or missions weren't involved...well the large man was kind of bad at staying in the loop. Oh he cared deeply about the well being of his friends, and would die or kill to keep em all safe. However the mountain of a man really did live a rather uncomplicated life, even while being an agent living within a super secret super base.

Even as he stood there though; watching her intently, noting the tension in his muscles, and the laser like focus as she fired away, a hint of a frown tugged at Bear's lips. Holly was nice. He liked her, and counted her as a friend within the category of friends he trained with from time to time. So seeing her frustration left him feeling concerned. Though honestly he had no clue what to do, or how to make things better. Beer was good, but aside from the single bottle of it that he had brought with him...well the rest was all back in his room. Hugs seemed to make people feel better to, but not always so it was kind of tricky to know when to give em out.

Lost in 'deep' thought the big guy barely registered the fact that she had turned her attention to him, and when she raised the question it took Bear a second stir from his thoughts. "Huh? Oh I'm here to test out some of the new rounds, and to get some practice in...but uh, are you okay? Not sure if one of my awesome 'Bear hugs' would help or not..."

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shewhodrifts
2018-03-10 11:02 pm UTC (link)

Holly had noticed that Bear seemed to be thinking about something. He got a crease between his eyebrows when a thought was particularly taxing or troublesome. Sometimes she really did envy the simplicity of his life; there were precious few things he needed to be happy and despite having no clue as to who he was, underneath all those muscles, Bear was a genuinely nice man. And a pleasure to work with. She tilted her head a little as he spoke to her and she smiled.

"I'm okay," she reassured him, crossing over to pat him on the upper arm. "It's been a tough few weeks, we're all just a little stressed out." She wet her lower lip, "And I appreciate the offer, Bear, but you know me. I'm not a hugger."

She blew out a breath. "Don't you worry about me. It's my job to worry about you, big guy."

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wildabandon
2018-03-11 12:15 am UTC (link)

There was a lot of situations that the large man was well equipped to handle. Leading the charge through a heavily out manned group, going toe to toe with just about any physical based super, or drinking his friends under the table. But when it came to offering emotional support and dealing with situations that required finesse and tact, Bear knew he was out of his depth. It was tough though; because as simplistic as his life may have been, he really did care deeply for those the big guy counted as friends. And Holly was firmly on that list. Seeing them hurt, physically or emotionally, just made him want to act. Made the large man want to protect em, and help his friends feel all better.

However this seemed like one of those situations that he really couldn't make all better. No matter how badly he wished to. So when she patted his arm and spoke up once more bear nodded slowly. That frown still lingered yet he tried to smile when she did...and he offered a soft chuckle at the news that she wasn't a hugger. "If hugs are no good I know that beer, snacks, and movies helps with stress stuff, Holly. Or sex does too. So if you think any of that would help just lemme know, okay?" Unsure of what to say or do he reached out and mirrored her own gesture, gently patting the handler on her upper arm before his smile grew a bit brighter.

"Oh! You can totally shoot me for a bit if you want? That always seemed to make Sin happy!! I won't even move or nothing." As odd as the offer was; which was somehow possibly less odd then the casual way he had just offered her sex only a moment before, Bear was quite serious about getting shot.

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shewhodrifts
2018-03-11 04:58 pm UTC (link)

It shouldn’t have surprised Holly that on Bear’s list of things-that-made-everything-better, sex was on that list. It shouldn’t have surprised her in any way that he was offering to keep her company through any of the listed activities but it did. Movies, beer and snacks she was okay with. The sex thing did sort of throw her for a loop but Holly was excellent at covering her surprise, she worked with Supers, after all, so she just laughed when he awkwardly patted her upper arm.

“I’m good, but if I need a mate to watch films with,” she promised, “You’ll be the first one I call.” After all, trying to pin Lucas down to watch a movie was a nightmare, especially recently after whatever had happened that had put him in a near-permanent funk that permeated the air when they hung out. He still refused to tell her about it, and even though she had her own nagging suspicion, she wasn’t about to assume. She knew all too well what they said about assumptions.

She laughed after he offered to let her shoot him, surprised and delighted and genuinely touched by the gesture. Bear was one of the few agents here that Holly genuinely considered that she could be friends with. She knew he considered her a friend already, and if she were more willing to be lax with herself, she would say the same. But she didn’t want to cross that line, didn’t want anything to be even the tiniest bit blurred under a situation where a friend would do one thing and a Handler would do another.

“Where’s the fun in it if you don’t move?” She asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. “I’m a good enough shot that I can hit a still target, Bear. There’s no challenge in that.”

She pushed a loose strand of hair back behind her ear and then sighed. “Okay, here’s what I propose. You finish what you came here to do, and then you can I can run an Insanity combat drill in the Hologym? How does that sound? Co-Op smashing stuff.”

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wildabandon
2018-03-11 09:09 pm UTC (link)

The whole 'handler-agent' dynamic was kind of completely lost on the mountain of a man, along with so much more. He liked the handlers, even Frost, and never really understood why folks had issues with em. Whether it was because Limbo was literally all that Bear had ever known, since arriving in the base four years ago with no memories, or because he generally lacked comprehension on the fact that he was technically a prisoner...well no one could really say for sure. In all honesty the big guy was just content with life. He liked his friends, the good food, drinking cold beer, and getting to fight. Heck as far as he was concerned Limbo was great, and the handlers were the ones that took him out into the field to beat the crap out of some bad people.

When Holly used the word mate the large man just looked at her for a moment, those eyes of his just appraising her carefully as if he was trying to make up his mind on something. Bear's only real frame of reference for that word came from the countless hours of those wildlife documentaries that he watched with glee. So when she spoke he genuinely thought she was asking to mate while watching films....which wasn't something he had ever done before. "Huh, never tried that but it sounds fun. You are tiny, but very pretty. Plus fit too. Can totally give sex while watching a movie a try if that would help you feel all stress free and stuff."

There was no smirk, nor creepy leer, even as he talked about sex with her. For Bear it was just another fun way to pass the time, and with his inability to grow tired...well he had a few friends that enjoyed his company in that department. Holly was always nice to him, and the big lug really did count her as a friend, so extending the offer was natural to him. Plus he really really did love those documentaries that Jester downloaded for him. When she finally smirked though, and posed the question, Bear laughed and grinned so easily.

"Oh that can be plenty fun too!! When Sin and I were beating the crap outta each other, to test Ben's armor...well it was a blast! Still if you wanted me to move I can totally do that too." Her suggestion to run a combat drill together, on the hardest level, had his full attention and the massive man actually giggled at the thought of it. Most folks weren't fans of constantly training or working out, but he absolutely loved it. "Heck yeah! Count me in, Holly. Can bring my sledgehammer, some beer, and we can have some fun!" He had literally run through ever single program in the hologym countless times over the years, but playing with someone was always better. "Bet we can beat our old time record by...well maybe a whole minute or so!"

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shewhodrifts
2018-03-16 01:34 pm UTC (link)

Holly stared blankly at Bear for a moment when he talked about 'giving sex' while watching a movie and she wondered if she hadn't been clear enough in the first instance when she'd turned the offer down originally. She might not have been, honestly, because someone like Bear often missed subtleties and the more nuanced inflexions in people's voices.

She wasn't a prude, far from it, but she was definitely not a huge fan of talking about it out loud. Blame her years in Afghanistan and Iraq and her reserved, British nature that meant sex wasn't something that she talked about much, even if it was more than occasionally on her mind.

"I meant-" she took a breath, "I meant a friend to watch movies with. Sex is off the table for us, Bear, but I appreciate your concern for my stress levels. That's a line I'm not gonna cross, I don't sleep with agents. Nothing personal."

She let the conversation move on from there: he was pretty pragmatic, it was hardly as if he'd register a rejection in the same way some others might. So she moved with the flow.

"Just a minute?" she asked, lips quirking upwards. "Now, Bear, don't you think we can try to get at least a ninety-second improvement? Bring the sledgehammer. You're gonna need it."

She rocked back on her heels and tilted her head, "So I can meet you in the Hologym in half an hour?"

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wildabandon
2018-03-16 01:54 pm UTC (link)

That blank stare of hers had the big man genuinely confused for a moment, but when Holly took a breath and clarified what she meant Bear chuckled for a second. There was no sudden look of shame, or even anger at being rejected. If anything he preferred when people were just straight forward with him; since the subtler things tended to elude him. With a warm smile he simply nodded his head, and spoke up again. "That's cool. Love watching movies with friends. Just was confused when you mentioned a mate." It was likely sad that most of what he learned about relationships came from either his friends, or the wild life documentaries that the mountain of a man watch. Yet his handler and the Regiment never really placed must value in properly educating a weapon like Bear. After all if he was content, why risk messing with that?

There was no wounded pride over her disinterest, no soured mood either. He had all kinds of different friends, and it made life easier just knowing what kind of friend they were. Some were just training friends and teammates. Others were drinking friends, or those he ate with. A few were friends he liked to watch movies with, and a couple were friends who enjoyed physical intimacy too. Life was simple that way, knowing where he stood, and what his role was in things. So the clear and concise explanation from Holly suited him perfectly.

When the conversation moved to the co op mission he chuckled again, nodding as she raised the questions. "Even with the sledgehammer I think a minute is good. I mean the extra thirty seconds seems like nothing now, but when those rocket launcher guys show up it'll feel like a lifetime!" Already his mind was racing with thoughts of all the fun they would have. The simulated missions were tough; especially the ones with objectives that required more than just sheer brawn. Still with Holly as his partner the two had always done remarkably well.

When she asked about half an hour he considered it for a second, before finally nodding once more. "Sounds good! I will bring Tina, and some beer, and meet you there!" Most people laughed, or smirked, when he called his sledgehammer Tina. But his teammates stopped laughing long ago. Especially when 'Tina' saved their lives or helped clear the way when the team was deployed in the field.

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