A direct approach

In the morning, you and Marian didn't talk much about revelations from the prior day. As friendly as you and she had been able to be off the clock, it felt like after a full night's rest, there was a bit of morning awkwardness to get over as you both prepared for the day. But, eventually, talk of work and the Tarantula unit helped the things find their momentum again, as Marian dressed and prepared for the day, back in a clean work shirt.

You helped guide Marian in a variety of new equipment and techniques, teaching her vast amounts of things ranging from construction techniques to how to swap modules quickly, and the like. In addition, you introduced Marian to one of the greatest advantages of the Tarantula module: multitasking. She could quickly move between typing or checking designs on a tablet, while she was in the middle of using the Tarantula module for something needed for building walls, digging and preparing pipes or electrical work, or other feats needed to prepare for the final building. Marian spent much of day two digging and leveling and packing other areas, readying areas for eventually paving the parking lots while Jessie worked on readying walls and other structures, bracing heavy objects with her massive mechanical arms while her normal arms did more finesse work.

For the second and third day, the work the two girls had to complete didn't require much interaction with one another. Brief glances, or waves, or short greetings were about as far as they went, often because you were the one initiating the wave. Even during the lunch break, each girl seemed to go in her own direction, almost like they were worried about trying to strike up conversation with one another. Even though Jessie seemed like the outgoing and conversational type, she seemed unusually quiet. But, Marian seemed slightly relieved, as she realized just how strange she acted around Jessie, and didn't know if that was her or your doing.

Marian certainly suspected that you would have changed that whole scenario around, as she was convinced that the strong feelings for Jessie all came from you. You didn't want to admit that she was likely right, at least the majority side of things, as you knew how challenging it made work. Still, Marian and you had the occasional conversation about it, and she was at least understanding--and less weirded out by the prospect of working closer with Jessie as time went on, able to accept the feeling she had, regardless of the origin.

That revelation was helpful to you, because on day four, now working almost side by side with Jessie, admiring her luscious shape and her rusty red hair and her friendly, boisterous attitude while Marian and Jessie were putting up walls... you made a decision.

"Hey, uh..." you started. Marian froze, mid-work. She realized you were taking over, realizing what you were doing as you looked over at Jessie. She wanted to get out of there in that moment, to focus back on work, but it was too late, as Jessie looked over.

"Yeah, what's up darlin'?" Jessie said with her easygoing accent, smiling right at Marian. Smiling right at you.

You blinked, feeling Marian twitch a little. You had almost total control over her, and you had override capabilities, so she couldn't stop you. You thought about just dropping it, but by then you were at least in deep enough that you needed to say something at least! "Your, uh... hair. I really like what you do with it."

"Aww, thanks hon," Jessie said, smiling kindly still. "I like your style too, y'know. Those curls are real pretty the way they frame 'round your face."

You felt your face go red, as Jessie cleared her throat, looking away. You couldn't tell if she was blushing as well... but you relinquished control, letting Marian get back to it. "Th... thanks," Marian said, a little more nervously, without any prompting. "Hey, uh, if you want, maybe we could do lunch in the same spot today?"

Jessie turned back to look at you and Marian, almost forgetting she was propping up a wall to affix to the ground. She just caught the wall in time with her Silverback arms, before she huffed a little at her lapse in judgment. "I'd... like that, just to talk."

You reflexively smiled through Marian, though you felt that your host body likely would've been smiling as well. Romantic interests and friendliness didn't look too different when it came to enjoying a lunch together, and it seemed like an opportunity for both sides to get to better know each other. For the rest of the work period, they focused entirely on their tasks, getting the framework for the walls in place even faster than either of them had anticipated.

With the walls up, the girls briefly split to go find food, opting to meet back at a little shady spot nearby to eat together. Marian seemed to try to get ahead of things. "Let's just play things cool and calm, okay?" she said, sounding like she was talking to herself as much as to you.

"I hear you," you said, "but I do think I like Jessie enough that I want to at least get to know her better in case I can connect with her in a new way after the training sessions are up. That's fair, right?"

"Fine, fair," Marian said, with a little bit of a sigh. "If I work with her in the future, I just don't want it to be awkward, if you make me behave so goofy around her. Just, I dunno, get it out of your system somehow, but the truth will come out tomorrow if she's gotten the wrong impression. So, flirt all you want, I guess, when we meet at the Phase Binder she'll see the reality of things tomorrow afternoon. It's not all bad anyway, it's nice to feel that fuzzy feeling about someone again, even if it's not someone I would feel that same way about when you're gone."

With a free pass to take more control in the conversation, you parked Marian's robo-spider self into the shaded area, pulling out another salad bowl. Bleh. Salad on occasion is fine, but it's the only thing she'd been eating this whole while it felt like! Some trainees just don't live it up, and you had to just endure some dull behaviors sometimes.

Jessie came over, crossing her Silverback arms behind herself and then sitting down on the impromptu chair she had made, pulling out a box of pizza.

"Mmmh, that smells great," you said without thinking much. Even though Marian had already been digging into her preferred lunch, you couldn't help but blurt out your truth.

Jessie quirked an eyebrow, and then opened up the box to you and Marian. "Wanna try a slice? It's got every kind of meat under the sun."

Marian quickly asserted herself before you could take control and get a slice of pizza. "N-no thanks. I'm fine with what I have now."

Marian and Jessie ate quietly for a while, again getting back into this nervous silence that seemed to create a barrier. You'd sneak glances at Jessie, building up your own confidence to say something. And then eventually, you simply seized control! "I just wanted to say, I think you're really pretty. Head to toe, even with the Silverback module. ...Maybe especially with the Silverback module." You felt your whole body tense up, Marian wanted to turn away or take control and blush and take everything back, but you held fast to your override controls, keeping your eyes fixated on Jessie.

Jessie bit her lip, her eyes similarly fixed on yours. You took a deep breath, bracing for the idea that Jessie would brush you off, pass it all off as a joke, or whatever she might do to end everything there and then. Had she done that, Marian and you could've just gotten back to work, to finish out the rest of the week. However... "You're beautiful, Mari. I know it's been kinda quiet 'round here sometimes, but eventually somethin' comes over me and I can really appreciate the lovely lady you are. Ah, there I go, sayin' too much..."

You grinned, reaching out to take Jessie's hand. You felt that fuzzy feeling building up inside, which you and Marian shared even if she didn't really know how she felt about the situation. You relaxed control, and soon both you and Marian were tag-teaming in discussion, where you were happy to flirt and ask Jessie questions about herself, while Marian would talk about her own hobbies and favorite things to help sort of complete the illusion that you and Marian were the same singular being, just like you had told her to try and be on day one.

After lunch, work felt effortless, like a dam had broken between everyone. Conversation flowed nicely, things got done, and before you knew it, the construction efforts with just two bodies was showing incredible progress, with interior walls going up in addition to the outer frame. It really wouldn't take long at all to finish with Marian and Jessie continuing this pace past the training week...

Marian hummed after cleaning up after day's end, leaning on the padded countertop to watch some television after sundown. She was smiling all on her own, sighing happily as she settled in.

"You're in a good mood," you said observantly. "I thought you'd have been bothered by all the flirting and stuff, even though you said it was alright. I appreciate you let me do it, but you can be honest with me if it bugged you. I mean, it's pretty much just one more work day, so one more lunch break."

Marian smiled a little, leaning forward on a pillow. "I dunno, I mean... I tried to embrace it. It doesn't feel wrong when we were doing it together with Jessie. And, I like the attention, I liked hearing everything she said about me. Well, about us, I guess it's not just me when you are part of the movements. I'll kinda miss this when you're done training me and the truth is out, though it'll be a little awkward finishing out this job I guess with all that tension in the air that won't mean the same to me next week..."

You sighed a little. "Yeah... I'll miss it too. You've been a fun trainee, and I appreciate the leeway you'd given me with yourself. You'd really embraced this as just a week of going with the flow."

Marian eventually went back to watching her show, while you relaxed with her. Just one day to go...