How To Shoot Straight, Monday

[suitably_heroic]

"Your trip is next week," Atton said. "So I think this is as good a time as any to end the block on handguns."

They were in the gun range again. He was waving at... guns, yes.

"I want you guys to team up," he said. "One of you has to get the gun, go through all of the safety measures we've talked about, and score at least twenty-five points on the moving targets at the back of the range. The other one takes notes about their point score and whether they're doing everything correctly. Yes, you're allowed to correct each other, and if the other person does it right the second time, they pass. If the other person then behaves like a stubborn idiot and does it wrong anyway, they lose points."

He clapped his hands.

The little round targets at the back of the range - some marked '1 point', some '5 points', and occasionally, one '10 points' - started moving from side to side.

"When you're done, swap places. Okay, go."

Comments

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Um, well, I mean. It's nightmares? And, you know, stuff like that."

It sounded a little stupider when she said it out loud like that.

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[that_oldsaying]

Poor Atton, getting this conversation in his class while they were meant to be shooting...

"Ringo," Alluka said, "if you want to talk about it, I want to hear it. Because you're my friend. Even if it's not fun to talk about."

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Oh."

Ringo took a moment to process that, a grateful smile slowly spreading over her face.

She looked around. "Um, I'm not sure we should talk about it during class, but can we do it later?"

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[that_oldsaying]

"That's better!" Alluka said, and beamed at Ringo. "We'll talk later! For now, shooting!"

Alluka actually did like shooting a lot. It was kind of like her ATs, where she was getting pretty good at it, only shooting had been easier to learn for her.

RE: Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Thanks." Ringo leaned over for a spontaneous hug for her awesome friend.

"And, yeah. Shooting." She didn't sound particularly excited, but she seemed a lot more comfortable. Ringo probably would have felt similarly to Alluka about the whole thing if she hadn't grown up in a culture that was very wary of firearms.

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka did like hugs, so she hugged back.

"I like it," she said, since Ringo didn't seem excited about it. "It's fun trying to hit the targets."

RE: Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

"I think I'm more interested in the way the guns work." The mechanics were interesting, and Ringo had always appreciated well-made machines.

"Though there are some, um, interesting bits to shooting, too?" Even if it still made her feel weird.

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[that_oldsaying]

"A lot of the put together pieces confuse me," Alluka admitted. "All the parts. But I like knowing it works when I use it."

RE: Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo grinned, a lot of her nervousness seeming to melt away. At least for the moment. "It's kinda cool that we like different parts, you know? I mean, I think all the little fiddly parts are neat!"

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[that_oldsaying]

"Maybe that's why you're better at that sort of thing than I am!" she laughed. "I get bored halfway through."

She grinned up at Ringo.

"Should I get ready to shoot?"

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo made sure she had a pen ready to record scores, then nodded. "Go for it!"

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[that_oldsaying]

"First, safety," Alluka said, and carefully went through everything they'd been taught.

It was only after she'd done that, and had her goggles on securely that she took her place to shoot.

"Ready?"

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

Once Alluka had started getting ready, Ringo had followed suit. And now she was wearing ear protectors and safety goggles of her own.

"Ready," she called with a nod after making sure she wasn't going to get in Alluka's way.

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka took a breath, centered herself, and then raised her gun.

The ten-point targets got priority, but there weren't very many of those so most of Alluka's shots were of the one- and five-point kind.

The important thing, really, was that she didn't miss any of them.

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

"No misses!" Ringo exclaimed.

She'd marked down the score for each targets.

"Have you been practicing outside of class, too?"

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[that_oldsaying]

"N-No," Alluka said, confused, lowering her gun and looking over at Ringo. "Just what we've done in class. We're allowed to practice outside of it?"

Alluka didn't need much practice on targets like this. Not with her hand-eye coordination.

Had she done something wrong?

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Oh, well, I mean, you did so awesome, I thought that maybe you had." Ringo grinned. "And I doubt anyone would get upset with you for practicing if you thought it was worth doing."

She paused, looking thoughtful, "I mean, you practice AirTrek without me, right?" And that was totally okay!

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[that_oldsaying]

"Yes," Alluka admitted, "but that's not... that's not something that could hurt someone, is it?"

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Well, you could hurt yourself," Ringo pointed out. But that wasn't what Alluka meant, and she knew it.

"But, I mean, you're right that practicing shooting could be dangerous, but you've paid attention to safety rules, right?" She'd just demonstrated that. "So if you could just find a good, safe place to do it, I bet it wouldn't be a problem at all."

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[that_oldsaying]

"I guess," she said, "though then I'd have to get a gun for my own use."

Alluka wasn't sure if her Papas would like that.

"It's your turn now, right?"

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Oh, that's true." Ringo wasn't even sure where you could get a gun. "Hadn't really thought of that part."

But she nodded.

"And, yeah, you're right. My turn." She took a deep breath, steeling herself, and nodded again.

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka holstered her gun, making sure the safety was on, and then moved to where Ringo was so that she could keep score.

"You'll do fine," Alluka said comfortingly.

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

Another deep breath. "I'll do my best."

She started by slowly picking up a gun and going over it carefully. Making sure all the mechanical bits were working as they should. That part was calming, familiar, and helped her settle down.

She checked her ear protection and goggles again, even though she hadn't taken them off from when Alluka had shot. Then she lifted the gun and glanced over at Alluka.

"Ready?"

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka had watched Ringo's checking the gun carefully and when Ringo asked her if she was ready, she nodded.

"Good to go," she said.

Re: Find A Partner And Head To The Range

[soniaroadsqueen]

One more deep breath, then Ringo aimed down-range.

Her hands were steady, which was an improvement over where she'd been at the start of the class.

She waited for one of the ten point targets to appear before she took her first shot, and she hit that one. But she was still tensing up too much, squeezing the trigger too hard when she fired, anticipating the gun's recoil, and throwing off her aim each time.

She still hit more than she missed, but she would have hit a lot more if she'd just relax some and get into a good rhythm.