Thanks for the comments! These are meant to be mostly disconnected one-shots, save maybe being in the same universe; I just like keeping shorter stories together as it feels more organized. Anything longer than 5,000 words or so would get posted separately.

Speaking of length, this one focusing on Iris came out longer than the other two. And more dialogue intensive. But the set-up is worth it. This is another area of the X series that really needs more done with it. Zero having a girlfriend is... well it's just seems weird to me. Likely because writing a romance with Zero that keeps him in-character and makes Iris more than a shallow love interest seems like quite the challenge. Although since it has to do with romance, I'm sure there's a number of fics related to this time period between X3 and X4.

Reverse Taunting

One thing that people had learned about combat reploids was that they tended to be good at one thing: combat. They didn't relate well to civilians and bystanders, to others who were not equipped with strong armor and deadly weapons. With some time and a civilian to relate to, these combat reploids could learn why not everybody could fight, or would fight. They would then have a frame of reference for others who needed to be protected. And that was her purpose.

Iris was on record as being a psychotherapist, although she never had any individual patients. She had dozens of 'patients', her fellows in the reploid militia of Repliforce. As the rest were all combat reploids of various kinds, she was the only civilian there. Her job was to be friends with the rest and remind them that life wasn't war, that combat wasn't everything. So far, she was doing well.

However, that meant that today was boring her greatly. A number of the top fighters in Repliforce, including her brother Colonel, had come to an arena competition between many different businesses, organizations, and labs. It would be one battle after another in this closed in stadium, a rather dark and gray place of stone and metal. While she didn't mind supporting her fellows, it just wasn't something that interested her.

Sighing, she looked out of the dusty window of the lobby. Outside, it was sunny and beautiful. The arena was part of a large amusement park, with rides, theater shows, games, and many more fun things. Iris saw groups of humans laughing, chatting, and generally having a good time. Children carried balloons, sweethearts walked hand in hand, and even the occasional reploid walked by in enjoyment of the sights. However, her peers and brother would go frantic if she left without telling them. They had already said she couldn't go alone.

Why had she agreed to come today? It was such a tease, with the amusement park on the other side of the thin glass and her stuck in here with all the macho taunting, gloating, fighting… she put her elbows on the table and put her forehead on her hands. "So boring," she whispered to herself.

"Hi Iris," an unexpected voice called from nearby.

It was one she recognized though, so she dropped her hands and smiled at the red armored reploid standing by her. "Well hi Zero! It's good to see you. How're you doing?"

"Bored," he said bluntly, dropping down in the seat across from her. "You look bored too."

Her gaze went back out the window for a moment. "Yeah, but I came for the others." She looked back to him; his expression was unreadable as usual, but he had said something odd. "And you're bored? I thought you'd be entering this competition."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Nah. I'd trash all of the competition, so why bother?"

Laughing at that, she responded, "You sound confident in that."

"I would," he insisted. He looked out the window, but didn't seem to find anything interesting there. "Then what're you doing? Just watching?"

"More or less," she said, then thought about it. "Probably less, actually. This doesn't really interest me. Besides, it's disappointing."

"No exciting matches?" he asked. "Some of them might be good."

She shrugged. "I wouldn't know. No, what's disappointing is that I'm in an amusement park and I can't go out there. The guys are all going to be here for the day and they don't want me going out alone."

"It's for your own safety," Zero said, nodding some. "Although they could take you out between some matches."

"Maybe. But then they'd want to go on the roller coasters, and I get sick on those. And there's this carousel that I'd really like to go on, but they wouldn't dare. It's a triple decker one, with three layers of animal sculptures in such fantastic designs… it sounds so wonderful." She smiled at the thought.

"I'll take you over there if you want," Zero offered.

Surprised, she looked right at him, hoping that he might be serious about this. "Really?"

He nodded. "Sure. I'm not doing anything and Colonel can't complain that you're at risk if I'm with you."

"True." She got up, wearing a wide smile. "Great! Let's go tell him, then we can go out."

Oddly enough, they found him in a nearby hall. And he agreed to let her leave the arena so long as Zero stayed with her. "Just don't lose track of her or I'll make you sorry for it," Colonel said in a partly threatening voice.

"I won't," Zero said, not bothered by the intimidation.

"Aw, it's Zero," Iris teased her brother. "I don't think anybody would dare attack me with him nearby."

"I have to make sure," he insisted, shifting his black cap. "You're an important member of Repliforce as well."

Once the two of them left the arena, Iris started happily talking about all the things in the amusement park. Zero had never been talkative, but he offered a few thoughts of his own on occasion. They had met because he had been assigned as a representative of the Maverick Hunters to watch over the development of Repliforce. At first, she had simply addressed him like any of her peers. He was another combat reploid, after all.

Over time, Iris had grown closer to certain members of Repliforce. And Zero. It was different talking to him, as his experience gave him different perspectives. However, he still kept some distance between himself and anyone who tried to get close. It seemed that some of those experiences were bad ones and he was leery of strangers as a result. But they were more than strangers now. Perhaps even friends?

They came to the famed carousel after several minutes of walking. It was like something from a romantic fairy-tale, a glittering fantasy come into the mundane world. On top, there was a statue of a dancing fairy, painted gold with light strands through its wings. Then golden frills spread down a white roof to cover the ride with the toppings of a cake. Playful cherub gargoyles came out at various points, playing elegant instruments. And then there was the triple decked ride itself, done up in absolute gaudiness and absolute fun.

"That is so lovely," Iris said. She looked over to her friend. "But are you sure you want to come on? It's kind of childish and girly for someone like you."

Giving an indifferent shrug, he replied, "Well your brother did say to keep track of you. It doesn't bother me that much."

"It's good to know that you're secure enough in being a man that you don't mind this," she teased him. "Okay, let's go up to the third level."

On finding out that the carousel was currently in constant movement, where people could come on and off as they pleased, Iris merrily skipped up the metal steps to the third level. Zero followed right behind her, maybe not showing as much enthusiasm, but at least showing tolerance. Around the edges, a white shimmer betrayed a safety shield that kept riders from falling off. It ended at the stairway entrances. And since the floor wasn't moving too fast, it was easy to step on and start looking for an interesting animal to ride.

This carousel would look even more fantastic at night, Iris thought. There were many round lights scattered all around, along with beautiful mirrors on the central column and the ceiling. In curved rows of three, the various sculptures were attached to moving poles, which were painted gold and seemingly twisted with silver ribbons. There was only one horse that she saw, but there was also a unicorn, a bear, a trout, a camel, a llama, a sheep…

"Oh, there's a crane!" Iris cheered and walked back a few animals to find a pretty white and gray crane on the outside edge. It wore a gem-encrusted crown and similar saddle. At the end of its long beak, it held onto a little silver star charm. She took the pole and put her left foot in the stirrup.

"Can you get up there?" Zero asked, pausing by her.

"Yeah," she said. When the crane hit the low point of its cycling, she lifted herself into the saddle easily. "And there's a nice tiger right there for you."

Zero glanced at the tiger, which seemed to be in a running pose. It was orange with black stripes and quite powerful looking, but wore a tall blue hat and puffy cuffs around its paws that made it look like it belonged in a marching band. Whether he approved of it or not, he got on it to ride by her.

Feeling pleased, Iris gripped the metal pole and looked around. The carousel had a wonderful view over the amusement park. Many colorful tents, flags, and balloons could be seen lining the winding lanes that spread through the entire grounds. A short distance away, there was a wooden rail bridge. For a moment, she could see an equally fanciful and extravagant train crossing over. The sides were open, letting the passengers relax in the moving air, taking in even more sights. It whistled cheekily, blocking out the carousel's charming music-box style soundtrack.

And there were all the people. They were at peace, having fun and getting along with little effort. To her, that was wonderful. After spending so much time around a military base, it felt good for her to be in a place more suited to her personality.

But it wasn't really to Zero's personality, was it? Iris looked to him. He was looking blankly at the band hat of his tiger, his thoughts somewhere else. Whatever it was, it seemed to make him nervous. That was strange. "Penny for your thoughts?" she asked.

"Huh?" he looked back to her. "Oh… don't worry about it."

"Something's bothering you. Is this boring you?"

"Not really." He let out a long breath then, looking aside again. Seeming to settle on something, he straightened up and got his look of confidence again. Zero then looked back at her and said, "Anything could be enjoyable with your lovely and warm presence."

At first, Iris blinked. Then she burst into laughter. "Zero!"

He looked bewildered. "What?"

She covered he mouth, trying to stop laughing, but he seemed so serious about it. "A-are you trying to flirt with me?"

Reaching back to check his hair in a nervous gesture, he replied, "I tried…"

Taking a deep breath, she managed to calm herself down. "I appreciate the effort, but you didn't quite make the mark."

"Well I thought, you know, that flirting is kind of like taunting, but in reverse. I'm pretty good at taunting others, but…"

Iris pinched her lip to keep from breaking out in giggles. Part of herself was delighted that he was trying. Maybe he thought of her as someone special. But then, "It's a place to start, but you don't flirt in the same tone you taunt with."

"Oh." Then he hid his face with his hand. "Oh right. That should have been obvious. Sorry, I don't watch romances or anything, so I didn't really know what to do."

Typical of a combat-oriented reploid, Iris found herself thinking. But she couldn't really be a therapist in this situation. Maybe something more personal? "Speak more gently," she suggested. "You want to make the person you like feel good about themselves, and you in turn. And it's better to be honest and say why you like her. Like with you, I enjoy meeting and talking with you; it makes me happy. And I appreciate you offering to come with me today. It makes me feel that even though you seem to be a cold person, that you have a warm heart deep within."

Zero uncovered his face, briefly showing a rare bashful smile on his face. But it soon smoothed out to his usual mask of indifference. Not fully, though. He still seemed troubled. "I don't think I could do as well as that," he admitted. "I don't really know why…" he clasped the carousel pole while trying to think of what to say.

As she lived with a number of military reploids, Iris understood that this could be more difficult for him. So she waited quietly, glancing around at the other animals. There weren't many other riders right now, which was good. Zero would be more reluctant to talk like this if there were, even with the twinkling carousel music playing in the background.

After a couple of minutes, he started speaking again. "I don't like relaxing, making idle time like this. Even in a place like this, an attack could happen, so I would need to be at ready. But when you're around, I don't mind being relaxed. I actually like that, just being here, talking with you."

Iris smiled at him. "I'm glad. And that's much better."

"Is it good?"

"Not ideal, but I don't mind, coming from you."

A pair of yelps interrupted their talk, along with a clatter of the metal steps. A group of four children came up to the third level of the carousel and got on, quickly looking for animals they liked. "Aw, I wanted a tiger," one boy said.

"You can take it," Zero said, getting off his. "I'll…"

Iris slipped off her crane as well. "We can go back to that chariot over there," she said, taking his left hand. "Does that work?"

For a moment, he seemed surprised that she would do that. But then he nodded. "Sure." And he held onto her hand on the way over.

With her emotional core skipping in joy, she leaned in closer to him. "And if you want to make up for that horrid bit of flirting," she whispered playfully, "you can call this a date and stay with me for the rest of the day."

"A date?" He considered it for a bit. "I've never been on a date… I know even less about that then I do flirting."

She patted his arm. "I've never been on a date either," she informed him, although she certainly had a better concept of it. "So we'll figure it out together."

Zero nodded, then even gave her another smile. "Sure. Let's do that."