open post: target practice

[dangerous_dog]

Who: Bob, Rocco and Chris, and OPEN for Bob.
What: Bob hangs out at the outskirts of town, giving shooting lessons and clipping cans off stumps.
Where: The city limits.
When: Right now.
Warnings: Firearms. Discussions of violence in the context of self-defence.

Bob contacts Chris by communicator before making his way out to the edge of town, where no one is likely to end up in the line of fire by accident. They're not going to be at it long- there aren't enough bullets in town for that, but the ones they do fire, it's best to be safe about. He texts him a few landmarks, and then sets up clearing a range for them, heading out into it and setting up empty cans on various bits of rubble at different heights.

There'll be a brief flurry of gunfire to follow, followed by silence. If anyone wants to come investigate it'll be just Bob and Rocco, who's out of his most purely puppyish stage by now but still all too happy to bounce around his owner's feet, fetching a beaten up, grayed old tennis ball while Bob rescues his cans back; never know when metal like that will be useful.

He's careful with the bullets, but tennis balls, on the other hand, are much more likely to whiz past a bystander's ear.

Comments

[thechoiceisyours]

"Hey, Bob."

Chris shows up soon after he gets the message, as quickly as possible with how far of a walk it is, anyway. He's excited but nervous at the same time and he's not entirely sure why regarding the latter; he definitely wants to learn a bit better form in shooting rather than rely on natural talent, since he's nowhere near egotistical enough to choose pride over potentially getting an edge up that helps him survive in the future. But there's also a sick twisting feeling in his stomach.

Maybe it's that he hasn't shot anything while here in Hadriel and he's afraid it really was beginner's luck back on the mountain, and one of the few useful skills he has here isn't going to be useful at all. Maybe it's the weapon itself; he vastly preferred the hunting rifle and shotgun he'd used to any sort of smaller gun, for many reasons ranging from never actually firing a bullet--just blanks--from one, to the situation and targets he'd had to shoot at.

Hopefully the latter problem would be worked out by the lessons, though, and maybe the former wouldn't be a problem at all. If he can stay calm enough to make his shots, anyway.

So he probably looks a little nervous as he steps up beside Bob, reaching out toward Rocco to see if the dog will let him pet him.

[dangerous_dog]

"Chris."

He greets him, setting the gun down, barrel pointed downfield, turning an eye on him and Rocco while they greet one another, just in case. Rocco has been a little bit variable since he came to Hadriel; he's a sweet natured thing, and Bob spent his early months doting on him and training him diligently. Sit is hard, roll over is confusing, but 'stay' is in there and he's a good boy and doesn't bite or jump up...

He has, however, nearly been killed a few times now, and that has put a streak of aggression and fear in him that Bob doesn't like, but can't blame him for. It means that it takes Bob bending down and scratching his nape, just once, for him to take to Chris- though when he finally does it's with a good deal of tail wagging and finger licking, made more enthusiastic by Bob's tender;

"Good boy. You know Chris, Rocco, good boy."

[thechoiceisyours]

As soon as Rocco warms up to him Chris smiles, kneeling down carefully on his bad knee to better pet the pup; he grins, scratching behind Rocco's ears. "Hey, little guy. You know me, yeah, though I wouldn't be like... Offended if you're still holding a grudge about the window thing."

He glances up at Bob at as he says it, flashing a smile toward him also. Another few scratches and he straightens back up, turning toward Bob. "Hey. So uh... Nice range, you've set up."

He's not kidding; the setup is kind of familiar, actually, and one of the few good memories he has of the night before arriving here.

[dangerous_dog]

"No trouble. Seemed a little safer than just heading out trying to take out monsters- though if I can find a spot with a little elevation, we're going to do that instead next time."

From a point of comparative safety.

"Show me what you've got?"

[thechoiceisyours]

"Y-Yeah. Definitely. I'd prefer to like... Have my monster-shooting days be behind me."

Though he's pretty sure that isn't realistic. Still, getting used to the revolver without threat of death if he misses is a lot less terrifying.

Speaking of the revolver, he pulls it from his belt and carefully holds it out to Bob, barrel down. "I've uh... Never shot this gun before. Or any handgun that like, didn't have blanks in it; I figured out the safety but beyond that any tips are gonna be great." He's not even sure he's been holding it right, having just copied Mike; Mike looked like he knew what he was doing, but who even knows.

[dangerous_dog]

"Well, that's not going to happen."

Says Bob, with a wince. He's a gentle soul at heart, but he has this ferociously pragmatic streak to him.

"But it's a nice idea, isn't it?"

While he takes the gun from him, and neatly cups it, opens the barrel, and checks that it's loaded.

"When you're counting rounds like this, do it with a fingertip, so you're used to it in the dark."

[thechoiceisyours]

Chris watches carefully, nodding. "Right, okay, that's a good idea." Because ending up in the dark is a distinctly likely possibility here. "Can it uh, be loaded in the dark too? If necessary?"

Running out of bullets and not being able to reload the weapon because he can't see it would be a huge issue, whether because of the dark or any other reason.

[amos_moses]

Gunshots are always alarming, and Amos comes closer cautiously to investigate.

It's not a bullet that he has to dodge, though, it's a tennis ball...and the very enthusiastic dog right behind it. Amos scrambles aside with a startled yelp that turns into laughter. "Oh, hey, Rocco!"

And if Rocco is here...yup, there's Bob. "Hey Bob!"

[dangerous_dog]

Bob whistles, and takes the tennis ball out of Rocco's mouth when he brings it back, pausing and giving Amos a little nod, hello, yes. He remembers him.

"Afternoon."

While he scratches Rocco's ears, settling him to the company.

[amos_moses]

"You the one shootin' things?" Amos wants to know, as he wanders closer. He's got nothing against people shooting, but he'd prefer to know who it is and where they are so he can keep himself out of the way.

Fishing in his pocket, he produces a length of bear jerky and crouches down to offer this to Rocco.

[dangerous_dog]

"No. But I was helping."

He says, and hisses through his teeth when he sees Amos reach to feed his dog. Rocco takes the meat from him, leaving Bob shifting, worriedly, clicking his tongue to bring the dog back in close.

"We're through with practice."

[amos_moses]

Amos notices the disapproval and frowns up at Bob. "Hey, I wouldn't feed him anythin' bad. I ain't like that." That, and he'd have to hear the suffering caused: there are downsides to hearing animals, after all. Cruelties become more apparent when the dumb are given voice.

[dangerous_dog]

"I don't know you."

Bob points out, quietly. He has literally no way of knowing if this is true, at all, and little inclination to take risks when it comes to Rocco.

[morphinum]

Johanna finds this particular tennis ball just before Rocco does. She's inspecting the ball when Rocco comes bounding out of nowhere, looking for his prize. Satisfying his ages-old hunting instincts, Johanna thinks to herself. It's almost cute. She rolls the ball back to Rocco. She isn't usually nice to animals as a rule, but Bob's dog has somehow wormed his way into her heart. She doesn't quite like the dog, but she does more than tolerate it, which is saying a lot.

And Johanna knows that where Rocco is, Bob is. She lazily follows the dog until the larger man comes into view, then gives him a cocky sort of grin. She hasn't seen Bob since she started to turn, and while she probably should've come back once she was revived, she opted to stay alone for a little while, making sure that whatever happened to her wasn't coming back.

"Surprise."

[dangerous_dog]

Surprise is right. Bob straightens right up, expression changing into something private, cautious, hopeful- for a man of reserved sentiment, his heart is dreadfully out on his sleeve.

"Think it takes turns?"

He wonders, without much context, but meaning, the horrible things this place does. Her eating people. Him ending up in a grave.

"Think it's me up next again?"

[morphinum]

Johanna isn't quite sure what she was expecting, but the tenderness in Bob's expression, the hope, definitely wasn't it. Johanna isn't sure if she should like it or feel uncomfortable-- she has more experience with glares and tears, frustaration and sass.

She shrugs. "Maybe. Seems like the gods here run on an equal opportunity torture system. At least they haven't worked out that they could get us at the same time."

Johanna grins, sharp and wild, but not entirely unpleasant this time.

"If they go for you again, I'm ready." One Johanna-grade shitstorm, coming right up.

[dangerous_dog]

"Yeah you are."

Bob agrees, with a sensible nod. He believes that about her with all of his heart.

"I'm out here giving shooting lessons. You don't need them, eh?"

Would be his best guess about her.

[morphinum]

Johanna scans the course and nods approvingly. Considering with what Bob's got to work with, it's pretty good, and Johanna is as close as she gets to impressed.

"I'm a decent shot. Better with axes and knives, because I learned to use those first." Johanna smiles, but there's a touch of bitterness there, too. She didn't learn how to shoot until after her time imprisoned in the Capitol. And by then, the electric shocks had made detail work hard, her hands shaking almost every time she tried to load or fire the gun.

[dangerous_dog]

"Show me?"

He says, eyebrows ticking up.

"I've never thrown an axe, and I want something I don't have to worry about reloading."

And he believes, sort of inherently, that she must be an expert.

[dragonbite]

Almost being hit by a tennis ball is a surprise. Although, Vaiz is entirely unfamiliar with tennis balls so he doesn't actually know what it was that just whizzed past him. At least he recognizes the dog, though, so he determines that whatever it was probably wasn't a threat. Not that it was easy to know, and he often didn't put much thought into things anyway.

"What are you doing?" He doesn't sound curious but he is just a little curious.

[dangerous_dog]

"Sorry," says Bob, first things, because he's wincing- he saw how close that came, "we're playing fetched."

As evidenced by the bouncing return of the pitbull, ball in mouth, to come careening towards Bob's feet. He takes the ball back before Rocco can start chewing it- his powerful jaws will be through in seconds if he lets him get going.

[dragonbite]

It's no big deal though, had there been any real intent he would have just used a barrier or knocked it away or something. It was obvious that he had not been supposed to be (almost) hit.

"Oh." Playing fetch. "Not with sticks?"

[dangerous_dog]

"There are fewer trees than you would think in the city. Probably because it's a cave."

Bob says, quietly.

"We can find wood, but not sticks. The wood sometimes has nails in it- better with the ball."

[dragonbite]

"Hmmm..."

He's pretty sure that you could just chop up the wood a bit and pull out any nails but he supposes that it's troublesome, and that Bob thinks it's troublesome as well.

"I see."

[dangerous_dog]

"Oh, good?"

Says Bob, not entirely sure where to take that from there. After a fidgeting moment, he bends down for the ball for Rocco, and hurls it again, sending the dog flying after it.