Sparring at Night

Posted on Sun Jun 15th, 2025 @ 9:18am by Petty Officer 3rd Class Josef Forstinger
Edited on on Sun Jun 15th, 2025 @ 11:08am

Mission: Season 6: Echoes of the Zynari
Location: Gymnasium
Timeline: Late Evening
2728 words - 5.5 OF Standard Post Measure

It was quiet in the Gym, too quiet. Well, actually not-since Josef appeared to be only one using it at the moment.

He had been using it regularly since he came on board. Lifting weights, running the treadmill-looking at new pieces of gym equipment that boggled his mind and or felt awfully familiar. The usual it seems when visiting places on this ship.

For now though, he was running the treadmill, dressed in another tanktop with some sweatpants and running shoes, still that usual cross on his neck though. Seems like he never went anywhere without it.

Locked into his own thoughts, he keeps running, on and on-having tuned out his surroundings pretty much entirely at this point.

That was when the door slid open.

Two figures stepped inside--one tall, one small. Rixi's outline, unmistakable in its contained energy, came first. Tenzi followed just behind her, walking with that smooth, rolling pace that looked remarkably similar to panthers at a zoo. Deliberate, but never slow.

Tenzi was the first to notice him.

Her gaze skimmed the room with the practiced detachment of someone used to reading spaces before stepping fully into them. Not in a tactical way--though that skill always seemed close at hand--but in the subtle, instinctive way that let her sense when a mood had already settled.

And that gym had a mood.

It wasn't emptiness exactly, but solitude. The kind that collected in corners when someone was alone just long enough to change the air around them.

Her eyes landed on the treadmill.

Josef.

Tenzi glanced to Rixi, who had stopped just inside the doorway.

The Bajoran was tilting her head, expression unreadable. Not playful, not wary--just watching. She always did that, Tenzi had noticed.

"Well," she said, voice pitched low and dry, "he's still in one piece. That's something."

Tenzi's gaze flicked back to Josef.

"He's running hard."

Rixi shrugged. "Maybe that's his version of breathing."

They stepped forward finally, the soft thud of their training shoes against the mat-covered floor drawing slightly louder attention than intended.

The man had not noticed them entering. Though for some reason, where the swishing open of the door did not alert him-the soft thud of their training shoes did.

His head shot towards them-but as his brain tried to process what was happening-it also did not account for-well-keeping his legs moving.

And so, with a yelp and thud, he is sent slightly flying off the treadmill, landing in front of the two after sliding across the mat, lading face upright.
"Oh. Hey you two." he lets out, seemingly not hurt at all by this comical display.

Rixi blinked.

Tenzi arched a single brow, her antennae folding in briefly.

"Graceful," Tenzi murmured.

Rixi knelt without comment, reaching to offer him a hand up--not that he seemed to need it, but more out of habit than anything else. "You know," she said, "for a guy who survived cryogenic stasis and culture shock, I expected a bit more awareness."

"And for two Engineers, you are surprisingly sneaky. I was just distracted with my thoughts." he retorted back to the both of them. "And hey Longlegs, maybe you get launched off this thing-maybe you can land a double somersault and land in a pirouette if you feel like giving pointers." he teased at Tenzi as she murmured, close enough to hear it in the quiet room as the Treadmill died down.

He accepted Rixi's help, getting onto his knee's before quickly standing up by his own self. "So, what are you two doing here this late ?"

Rixi didn't answer right away. She was watching him again--less like she was assessing for damage and more like she was cataloguing something peculiar she hadn't quite decided how to label. After a beat, she rocked back on her heels and stood. "Could ask you the same. But if I had to guess... insomnia?" Her tone was light, but not flippant. It was a careful, calculated nudge--not a challenge.

Tenzi was still standing where she'd stopped, arms loosely folded. "Couldn't sleep," she said simply, then shrugged. "Rixi suggested sparring. Thought it might help burn-off whatever's keeping the circuits humming."

She took a few steps closer to where Josef had landed, casting a glance at the now-silent treadmill. "Didn't expect company, but--then again, I guess neither did you."

Rixi's mouth twitched faintly. "We can give you the room if you need it. Or," she added, gesturing toward the adjoining mats, "we can share. You've already made a dramatic scene. Might as well make it worth something."

"Sparring ? Sounds like fun. Its been a month-well plus 400 years since I last did that." he muses a little.

"But sure, ill bite. What did you have in mind-or well, the two of you." He asks while cracking his knuckles, sending a pop through the room while stretching his neck a bit.

Tenzi tilted her head at that--just enough to suggest amusement without actually smiling. "Four hundred years out of practice?" she said, taking another step onto the mat. "Might be a short match."

Rixi gave an exaggerated shrug. "Or entertaining. Could go either way." Her gaze flicked down to Josef's hands as the sound of knuckles cracking echoed across the room, then back up to his face. "Depends how much muscle memory you've got left and how hard you're planning to swing."

Tenzi circled a little now, letting the space guide her body into motion, the way someone might trace the edges of a dream they weren't entirely sure was theirs. "We usually keep it technical," she said. "Form, reaction, movement. No bruises unless someone forgets the difference between sparring and brawling."

"But," Rixi added, stepping aside to let Josef choose his footing, "if you are secretly a 21st century bruiser, now's your chance to impress us."

Her expression remained unreadable, but there was a definite spark behind it now--something curious, possibly inviting, like a scientist about to test a very old theory.

Josef gave Tenzi a smirk. "Listen here, young Lady." The last part dripping with irony. "It was 400 years for everyone else, for me it was a month ago. I'm still as fit as I was back in the day." During his words he stepped up to her on the mat, practically eye to eye with her due to her size being similar to his.

The Man nodded along to both of the woman's words. "Sounds good. And well Rixi, I guess I'll have to give it my all then."

Tenzi gave a soft, almost imperceptible huff at Josef's confidence. Not quit a laugh. More like a gust of air brushing over something sharp. Her eyes narrowed.

"Still fit, huh," she said, letting the word settle in. "Guess we'll see what century that technique's from."

She shifted her stance--just enough to suggest she'd already chosen an angle of approach, though the first move was still clearly his. She wasn't posturing. She was waiting. Like gravity.

Rixi circled behind them, a step just outside the invisible sparring line, arms folded loosely across her midriff. "Better warm-up quick, Josef," she said. "I give you three moves before Tenzi humiliates you." Her eyes gleamed--not mocking, not mean. Just curious.

Josef chuckled at both of their teasing words. "Oh, its from the one that will kick your ass regardless."

Josef meanwhile barely shifted his stance-and while Tenzi seemed light on her feet, he was the exact opposite, more like a brick wall-deceptively so however.

"Really now ?" he responds to Rixi, his eyes still locked onto the Andorian in front of him. "I mean damn Tenzu, I never guessed you were into THAT type of stuff".

A Tactical Joke. For immediately after finishing his sentence, he went in, feigning a strike from the right before offstepping to the left to catch her into a grapple. He was used to fighting enemies that were both faster and stronger than him-so for now he was attempting to go with the distraction route-but still, he didn't stop taking mental notes-he had to figure out how she fought on the fly.

Tenzi didn't take the bait.

The moment he shifted, she moved--just enough to slip past the incoming grapple without wasting energy. Her balance adjusted low and quick, one forearm braced across his bicep to redirect the grab, the other guiding him slightly off-course at the hip. Not an aggressive throw--just a suggestion of gravity, a reminder she could easily take him off his feet if she truly wanted.

He didn't fall. Not quite. But he felt the moment tilt.

"Into that type of stuff?" she echoed dryly. She held her stance and waited, one brow angled, antennae tilted forward like a second set of eyes.

Behind them, Rixi let out a low whistle. "One move in. You might make it to five after all."

Josef furrowed his brow a bit as she easily redirected him and echoed his words dryly back to him. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know."

He was now completely focused on her. Turning on his heels he circles a little, before going in for another feint and this time punch-obviously though he seemed to pull them by a lot, not wishing to end up hurting her on accident.

Tenzi didn't fall for the feint but she predicted the incoming strike and didn't meet it head-on. She never did. Instead, she stepped in under it, folding the distance with a sharp pivot at the hip. One arm swept low to redirect his momentum; the other caught the angle of his shoulder, and with one controlled twist of leverage and timing--

--she dropped him.

It wasn't violent. Just sudden. The kind of fall that knocked the air out of the room more than the lungs.

There was a heavy thud as Josef hit the floor, all the air knocked out of his lungs. He had leaned too much into the punch-had put too much force into his advance, all of which had now been directed directly back onto him. Laying on the matt for a good bit recovering as the world came back into focus around him, vision blurry-seeing only a bit of blue standing above him.

For a moment, Tenzi didn't move. Just stood there over him, her stance still half-set, like she might need to do it again. But her expression had shifted--barely. A subtle softening around the eyes. Not pity. Just recognition. She knew that kind of fall. Knew what it did to the body and the ego both.

She stepped forward, offering a a forearm to help him to his feet.

"You okay?" she asked, the question low and even. No mockery. No smugness. Just a pulse-check.

For another moment, there was silence. Before Josef took in a sharp breath, and exhaled into... laughter ?

He jumped back onto his feet by himself, patting her forearm as to not snub her, grabbing onto it once as to not lose balance-slightly dizzy from the fall.

Finally, when he was fully back onto his feet did the laughing start to die down. "Man, you sure got some skills. Seems like I underestimated you Longlegs." he says, seeming rather cheerful that she actually beat him, giving her shoulder a very light jab. "Made me actually feel alive for a change."

Rixi tilted her head. "That was two moves," she said. "Technically. So you're still in the running." She paused. "Sort of."

Tenzi's antennae twitched once, then settled. Her tone, when it came again, was almost mild. "You leaned in too far," she said to Josef. "Force without balance gets recycled. Every time."

Josef nodded along "Yeah yeah, I remember. Got overconfident there for a second-thats also a big error."

He jumps up and down in place for a second or two, getting properly warmed up now before taking a step back from Tenzi. "So, Round 2 ?"

Tenzi didn't answer right away. She took one slow step back, keeping her frame low and loose. Her breathing was steady and focused. She subtly flexed her fingers, as though winding through the tension in the air between them.

Then she came in.

It wasn't flashy. No dramatic wind-up or overt speed--just a clean step with her right foot forward, followed by a sudden torque at the waist. Her elbow came in low, a tight little strike aimed just beneath Josef's ribs. Not hard enough to bruise, but sharp enough to sting. Enough to see if he'd adjusted his stance... or if she could make him stumble again.

Luckily for Josef, the adrenaline hit he had received was enough to bring his instincts back up. He was surprised of course by the sudden attack-but that didn't mean he wasn't fast.

Answering her tight attack, he moved his own elbow down-blocking it without so as much as a grunt. Though where she might expect a strike back-he did not. Remaining completely still instead, practically opening himself up for another attack.

Tenzi didn't hesitate. The moment Josef held still, inviting another move, she took it--but not recklessly. She spun herself on the ball of her left foot, launching a calculated side kick aimed as his thigh.

Josef's hand once again shot down, blocking her kick onto his thigh, grabbing onto her foot for a second or two to halt her momentum before letting go-not throwing or dropping her so she might stumble, but just letting safely enough so she can return to her stance. He didn't say anything this time, just raising an eyebrow teasingly at her, remaining in the same position as before.

Rixi's voice drifted in from the sideline, faintly amused. "Now we've got a match."

Tenzi shifted her weight to her back leg with confidence. She could tell Josef was sparring with restraint. But she knew she wouldn't hold back.

The time, her kick came low and fast--more snap than power, angled toward the side of his knee. Not a strike to disable, but one meant to disrupt his footing and rest the root of his stance. A classic follow-through from the Andorian kickboxing rings: if the upper body stays rigid, break the base.

It would have worked--should have.

But Josef shifted just as she committed.

And with the shift, came a jab-or well, a jab for Josef at least. A jab that would perhaps lightly daze a Klingon or Genetically Enhanced Human-but not an Andorian. He realized his error mid jab-but it was already too late as his fist came barreling towards her face.

Her nose was bleeding. Fast.

Tenzi finally spoke. "That wasn't what I thought would happen," she said softly, then gave a tiny sniff--and winced. "That was your fist."

She turned slightly away from him, not out of avoidance but necessity, eyes narrowed as more blue blood started to well. She touched the bridge of her nose and gritted her teeth. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

Her Andorian blue blood was already running down her face, along her hand and down to the tip of her elbow where it began to drip rapidly on the gymnasium mats.

Rixi was already moving. "C'mon," she said, eyes moving between Tenzi and Josef. "That's not bruised. That's cracked." She turned to Josef as she helped her Andorian friend to her feet and said, "You'd better walk her to Sickbay before she leaks everywhere."

Josef seemed absolutely mortified about what happened. "Ah shit shit shit shit shit-" he kept repeating with the short rush over to help her. "I'm so sorry Tenzi-I didn't mean to-damn it-" he fell over his own words, helping her cover the bleeding. "Just turn your head up, come on, lets go," he said to her as he gave a nod to Rixi, going to try and help guide her to sickbay.

Of course nothing could ever go his way.

Tenzi didn't brush him off. She just nodded once, pressed her hand under her nose and began walking. She couldn't see exactly where she was walking with her face pointed upward, but she could feel Josef's arm around her shoulder, guiding her to the gym's exit.

Behind them, Rixi stood atop the sparring mat, arms now loose at her sides. "Well," she murmured to herself, "guess that answers the muscle memory question."

* * *

Petty Officer 3rd Class Josef Forstinger
Security Officer
USS Elysium

&

Ensign Tenzi Sh'reyva
Engineering Officer
USS Elysium

&

Petty Officer 2nd Class Zal Rixi
Engineering Technician
USS Elysium