Gun Training ♔ And all you hold onto's slipping, Like water through your hands...

[lightblindbadass]

♫ Black//Kari Kimmel

WHO || Riddick and Katniss [Closed]
WHAT || Gun training
WHERE || Knights HQ: The shooting range in the Dragon's Hide.
WHEN || February 16th, 10pm sharp. [Backdated]
HOW || Either prose or actionspam!

[Riddick is waiting patiently in front of the doors leading to the Hide's training room, arms folded across his chest, head bent in thought. His goggles are off for now, the strap held in his fist and dangling below one elbow. He looks around after a moment, his eyes catching the faint light the hallway provides, flashing like the eyes of an animal.

Comments

[befree]

[She feels incompetent still and makes sure to go even slower with this next step, so that she does it as properly as possible without looking like a fool. Also, she's secretly wanting to take as long as possible, so she can have an excuse to stay in his company without feeling like a child that's latched on to an older sibling.

As she works on filing things down, she tries to come up with a subject for conversation.

Unfortunately, she fails at it entirely.]

Do you remember how old you were when you learned?

[How to use a gun, but she fails at talking and doesn't specify that.]

[lightblindbadass]

[He watches her carefully file the metal shaving down, handing her the pipe brush when she finishes, then inspects the barrel for any more blemishes. Deeming it worthy, he nods at her to assemble the gun once more.

Her question brings back a wave of memories he thought had been buried long ago. The first weapon he'd held. The first Slam he'd been in. The first life he'd taken. She could have meant any number of those times, but oddly he wasn't put off the subject, feeling more open to talk about himself than he ever had before.]

How old I was when I learned what, exactly? It's kinda hard for me to say since I don't really know how old I am in the first place, but my best guess is I was about, oh, say around six or seven the first time I held a weapon, and the first time I killed someone. Same time, actually.

[befree]

You don't look that old to me. [this is said as if she's the final decision maker on how old someone looks, and she glances up at him for a few moments before shrugging and getting back to work assembling her weapons.]

I don't think I was that young. Everything about what I know feels learned from a young age, but the things that I dream that I think are memories don't seem that old. It's hard, not being able to tell if they're real or not. It makes knowing for sure impossible.

[Which really pisses her off, but she's not going to huff and puff over that. She knows that he understands how she feels about it.]

I'd say that I'm sorry you had to do that at such a young age, but if I did, then it would be like apologizing for who you are right now. [And she really likes who he is right now.]

[notafraidofthedark]

[He chuckles at her first statement.] I don't feel too old. Best I can guess is I'm somewhere between thirty and thirty five, give or take a few.

[And he does understand how she feels. It's not pity that he feels for her, mainly because he had little enough of that to go around. She didn't need pity, she needed someone to understand her and show her that she wasn't alone in how she did feel.

He waits a few beats before saying anything else, collecting his thoughts. He is pretty wise about most things, especially concerning people's abilities and experiences and with a 17 Wisdom check he makes a few stabs in the dark about a few things. ]

So maybe that just means you had some skills taught to you quite young, and just recently you had to sharpen them for some reason? I don't know what, to you, seems more memory than instinct because the two usually get so intertwined. Someone in your position has to have a helluva time with that.

Most others wouldn't be able to even begin to comprehend what that's like. [He finishes piecing his gun together again, then nods for her to follow him to the range, breaking the topic up for some alleviation. Firing weapons was a surefire way to break them out of their gloomy conversation.] Now, this is your clip, [he raises the clip to eye level before sliding it expertly into the butt of the gun] and this [with a sharp click] is how you load it. Go ahead.

[Once she loads the clip he shows her how to hang onto the gun correctly, showing her again the safety lock, making sure she was comfortable with those. Finally, in his rumbling voice he tacks on, almost as an afterthought:] I never apologize for who I am. Never felt the need.

Neither should you, Katniss. [And with that he turns and squeezes off a double-tap round into the target at the other end of the range, hitting center both times.]

[befree]

[That last part gets her to smile, but she tries her best to bite it back or think of something to make her scowl again. It's not that she doesn't appreciate his saying things that touch her enough to make her smile, this just isn't the time or the place for happiness to occur. This is business, after all, and she doesn't want him to view her as being weak.

So she watches him fire off his gun before taking a stance and attempting it on her own. She completely misses the target on her first shot, and just stares in shock at her failure. She goes from shock to glaring over at the target, before taking aim once again. This time she only hits the edge of the target, and she nearly growls at her lack of ability with this weapon.]

There's plenty of other things to apologize for. [She finally speaks, gritting her teeth. She tries one final time, concentrating fully, and manages to get reasonably close to the center.

She doesn't smile, but is satisfied enough, and turns around to face him once again.]

Next time, we should focus on hand to hand. It's a weakness to only be able to use long range weapons.

[lightblindbadass]

[Where Katniss refuses to laugh, Riddick does. He isn't laughing at her, per se, but more at the show she puts on when frustrated. He watches her fire her three rounds, noting the subtle changes she makes with each one, and tacking on a few she could be making.]

Try standing like this [he turns his own body slightly sideways to demonstrate, gun pointed towards the target. His left foot is slightly behind his right, giving him more of a chance to balance himself while taking a shot] when you fire. It looks like you favor this side over the other. It will help you get accustomed to the weapon.

Hand to hand it is, next time. That's my specialty. I agree though, it is a weakness to only be good with long-range weapons, but I'd still put my money on you.