Hiya! Happy Friday, and welcome to the latest edition of Things in Scots. This week’s Scots word is swatch (pronounced swaah-ch).
Today’s snippet is from the beginning of Act Two A of Running the Asset.
Here’s the snippet… (unedited draft)
“She’s two minutes behind me,” Ward said. He’d materialised beside Adam. “I don’t think Elle’s right for this.”
“Elle– The asset is doing fine.” Even Adam didn’t believe that.
“C’mon, man, five minutes into the op, and she ditched the script. She’s got no training to do what she did tonight. If you didnae make that call, I’m pretty sure we’d be fishing her out of the Med.”
“She did what had to be done.”
Ward licked his lips. “That’s what I’m worried about. Last time that didn’t pan out too well for you.”
Adam clenched his jaw.
“Don’t bother with the intimidating look. You know I’m right.” Ward smiled, trying to soften the blow. “Besides, I’ll kick your arse for you.”
“Ay, very good,” Adam drolled.
“What about her sister? She’s trained, knows how to take orders, and can use her link to Elle to get close to the target,” Ward said.
“Ay, let’s do that. Kiy already telt you that Dani’s got issues. If she found out that Blackwell was part of the group that took out her entire unit, she’d have him dead before you could spell stolen drive.” Adam shook his head. “The asset can handle it.”
“And if she can’t?”
“I’ll make sure she can.”
He caught sight of the asset entering the bar, and she wasn’t alone. Though, she seemed unaware of her shadow. It was Gavan, and given the murderous look, he was pissed off that he’d failed to kill her in the fire.
As she neared, Adam got his first swatch at her since he’d sent her off on her first foray into his world. Her eyes were wide, and her oversized shirt made her look so fragile that even the slightest breeze would break her.
A twinge of something a lot like guilt or pity tugged at his conscience. He ignored it, buried it. Saving countless lives was more important than one woman. More important than what might be left of her when it was all over.
Adam feigned a drunken grin and focused on the asset as she scanned the crowd. The woman was insane. She’d somehow taken the time in the midst of an op to cut her hair. And for some reason, the faux grin was no longer forced.
Elle finally spotted him, her eyes locking with his, and a venomous look tightened her features. Dousing any thoughts that she would be relieved to see him. Not that he cared.
Running the Asset (Deniable Unit #1)
Fingers crossed that the context of the snippet helped you to understand the meaning of the word swatch.
In the snippet, swatch means to look at. There are multiple meanings for the word in the Scots language. Ye kin hae a swatch o thim oan the Dictionar o the Scots Leid, here an here.
Swatch in the Wild
Every time I hear the word swatch, this hilarious sketch jumps into my head. It’s a wee bittie naughty, so be warned.
That’s it for this week
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If you want to see more Scots posts, check out the original series, Things in Scots.
Thanks for reading. Take care, and I hope to see you next week for more Scots on Fiction Friday!
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