can_finish_them | Outside Milliways

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Outside Milliways

It's a nice day outside, sunny and still but not too warm, and Kaidy has had a long and busy (though not entirely unproductive) week, so she's doing something she always finds calming: she has targets set up on the lawn outside the bar and is practising with her handgun.

She's not a bad shot but it doesn't come naturally to her, which means she has to concentrate. It used to frustrate her that not everything came easily, but these days - now that she's got the knack - she actually quite enjoys having to concentrate on something in order to get it right. It's an opportunity not to think, and the mechanical repetition - load, lift, aim, pause, fire - is oddly soothing.

So she's smiling to herself faintly, as the bullets march closer and closer to the bullseye.

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He stops before he does a twirl, knowing from some experience that twirling whilst moving is a terrible idea. Especially on grass. Though to be fair, the last time he twirled on grass he was quite drunk as well.

"I think it looks better without the film of engine grease, but I could be wrong."

As he reaches her he's not sure whether to go for a hug or a kiss, so instead of choosing he reaches out and plonks the hat onto her head.

"You look busy." He says, still grinning.

She comes quite close to saying that it would look even better on her bedroom floor, but she's making a concerted effort not to push it.

She giggles when he twirls for her and laughs harder when he drops the hat on her head, reaching up to adjust it to a suitably jaunty angle before she leans in to kiss him.

"Would you believe me if I told you this was my idea of relaxing?"

She looks good in his hat. Especially when it's jaunty. It's not a word usually associated with women necessarily, but she definitely looks rakish. Martin approves wholeheartedly of Kaidy looking rakish.

The kiss, as always, cuts him a little off guard. He's never really expecting her to kiss him, though he is getting much, much better about it. He pushes back into the kiss for a long moment or two. He's missed her. It hasn't been too long, but long enough, and he can't help her being in his thoughts more and more often.

"Mmm. I would. Believe you I mean. I'm not sure I'd find it relaxing exactly, but then most people wouldn't find reading flight manuals relaxing." He shrugs and smiles in a slightly apologetic kind of way.

He does read them from time to time, mostly because he knows the vast majority of them off by heart, and the dull familiarity is comforting in times of stress.

She smiles at him, her eyes dancing.

"Same reasoning, really - repetitive procedure and all that." Her fingertips are still at his jaw; she gives him another quick, light kiss like an echo, just for good measure. "Have you ever shot before?"

Kisses are always good. Even when they're only tiny.

"No. I've never had the opportunity, to be honest. When Simon was 12 he took up archery for about a year and a half, and I had a go at that once, but it was just kind of dull."

He smiles. "I imagine guns are different though."

He can always have more later.

"Can't say I've ever tried archery, but I'd imagine so, yes."

She's had the odd go with the crossbows Nix and her crowd use when they need to work quietly, but never really had the need to use one properly.

"Would you like to have a go?"

Martin thinks about it. It's not just that he's never had the opportunity, he's not really sure how he feels about guns, but then, he's never going to know exactly unless he tries, and he'll only be firing at targets which he probably can't hit anyway.

"Hmm. Yeah. Okay." He nods firmly. "Maybe it'll be relaxing for me too."

"It used to do my head in," Kaidy admits. "It's not one of my natural talents. But it's quite calming once you get the knack for it, because you can't aim properly without a cool head."

She takes the gun out of its holster and clicks open the chamber, showing him how to load the bullets.

"Three rules: every gun is loaded, at all times. Even if you know there are no bullets in it, even if you can actually see it doesn't have bullets in it, treat it as if it does. Second: only ever point it at things you don't mind destroying. And lastly: it's not a toy, but at the end of the day it's just another tool. Don't be scared of it."

She flicks the chamber shut and secures it, then offers the gun to him, grip first.

Martin nods for each of the rules. They make absolute sense, and while he's finding this possibly a little worrying, he supposes you shouldn't have a gun anywhere near you if there aren't any rules. (When Martin is told something that's obviously for his own bloody good, he does listen because he's not actually an idiot, even if he does do some stupid things at times.)

He takes it from her, and it's heavier than he's expecting, but then it's basically a lump of metal. Obviously. He shifts the weight and shape of it in his hands until it's comfortable, or at least feels less strange.

He points the gun at the grass, and certainly nowhere near himself or Kaidy, but he's, well, curious. He's never even seen a gun in real life until now, and he's not entirely sure what to make of it. He checks it over and this bit is instantly recognisable as the trigger, and this switch is probably a safety catch, although whether it's on or off, he's not sure, so he keeps his fingers well away from the trigger.

"It's heavy." He remarks, after probably a little too much time has passed. But really, it's a new experience.

"So. What now?"

"Yes, that tends to surprise people."

Hollywood lies: who knew?

"Stand three-quarters on to the target," she tells him. "You're right-handed, aren't you?"

"I am, yeah." Martin replies, and turns while looking at his feet. "Is this right?"

Yes, he's seen the movies, but they're probably all lies. But he trusts that Kaidy knows what she's doing.

"Mmm, not so forced."

She takes a breath, mentally crosses her fingers, and steps behind Martin, gently pushing his hips into place.

"It'll kick back when you fire - if you're not standing comfortably it's harder to absorb it."

Martin's not exactly used to being forcibly moved, but in this case he's not entirely displeased about it.

"Er-" He falters a little, and swallows before he can say anything stupid.

He peers down to his feet, back up to the target and back down again and takes note of where he should be standing. Right.

"So, is this the safety?" He thumbs towards the catch very carefully so as not to disturb it. He's still keeping his fingers well away from the trigger.

"Yes. It's on, don't worry - flick it up with your thumb to switch it off. When it fires it'll kick back against your hand; don't fight it, just absorb it."

She stays where she is for the moment - and leaves her hands where they are, too, since Martin doesn't seem inclined to object.

"Use your left hand to steady it, look along your right arm to line it up, flick the catch up, steady... and pull the trigger."

Martin brings the gun up to point at the target, leaving his elbow a bit loose, (he's heard it helps, though it might just be television lies again) and then brings his left hand around to steady the base of it.

Kaidy's hands being where they are is more than a little distracting, but he has a gun in his hand, which sobers him somewhat.

Martin breathes carefully and looks along his arm, along the gun to the sight, and then follows that to the target. He's very deliberate about the whole business, telegraphing to Kaidy exactly what he's doing at all times.

"Right." He says, once he's sure. "I think I'm ready."

"It'll be on the loud side," she warns, and smiles. "Keep your arm loose like that... and take the shot, if you think you've got it."

Oh yeah. He hasn't got any ear defenders. They always have ear defenders on telly when they're in shooting ranges. Mind you, he did just hear Kaidy shooting, and it wasn't too big of a deal.

Martin tries to brace himself for the noise without actually bracing himself and tensing up. It's difficult, and he's pretty sure he hasn't succeeded, but he tries at least.

He stands steady, attempts to put all thoughts of Kaidy at his back out of his head, and breathes steady again. Actually, it's possible his breathing's all over the place, but he can't tell.

He refocuses. Right. Gun. Yes.

He slides the safety catch off at glacial slowness and he's suddenly very aware that he's holding a live firearm. He bites his lip. Takes in a deeper breath and tries to push all the stupid, shaky, unhelpful thoughts out as he breathes out.

He stares intently at the target via the sight, and squeezes the trigger on an exhale.

It's shakier than he'd intended. There's a terrifically loud noise, and the recoil, whilst it's perhaps not as bad as he'd been expecting, is still something of a kick and slams into his hand with a thump. He blinks, huffs a sigh of very mixed feelings, and deliberately clicks the safety back on again.

"Wow! Okay. That was-" He laughs. "I'm not even sure. It was bloody loud, for a start. Louder than I thought it was going to be. And it's a bit terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time."

He turns to face her.

"How did I do for my first time?" He asks, beaming grin on his face and no particular idea of what words are coming out of his mouth right now.

...Well, then.

She bites her cheeks until the giggles stop... well, until most of the giggles stop.

Most. Ish.

"I'll tell you later," she promises instead. "As for how the shooting went..."

Right. Yes. She's, um, laughing. Er.

As Kaidy creases up Martin scrolls his brain back through what he just said to find out that it was that made her laugh. When he catches it, his blush, which had been creeping along anyway, flares up full force, as the weight of it hits him.

"I- Um. That's not-"

And then her reply catches up with him, and his brain is knocked for another loop, because well, yes. And that's something he shouldn't be thinking about with her right there and her gorgeous smile twinkling at him from under those wicked eyes.

He glares at her, ears blazing red and cheeks flushed.

"You are a terrible, terrible person. " He says indignantly, not meaning a word of it. "Just dreadful."

That only makes her laugh harder, until her mascara is in severe danger of becoming a casualty to her gigglefit and it takes her several moments to remember to take her gun back from him and re-holster it (with the safety back on, yes) so that she can cup his face between her hands and pull him down for a kiss.

(She still can't quite stop laughing, so it's a very light and shaky kiss, but she feels she should get points for making the effort anyway.)

"I am a truly appalling person," she agrees, dotting his lips with further quick, giggling kisses after every few words. "Would you like to see some more evidence of that?"

Martin lets her take the gun from him with her shaking fingers and then lets her kiss away his glare bit by bit, in-between her giggles.

He's been laughed at before, and kissed, but never at the same time, and he's finding that it's an awful lot better than he thought it could have been.

He kisses back, peppering her giggling, gorgeous smile with smudging kisses of his own.

He's not sure how to answer because he knows what she means at least in an overall sense, and obviously yes, but also he's not entirely ready, and isn't that strange how he can be both at the same time? It wouldn't be his first time ever. Even he's not quite that bad. But it'd be his first time in rather longer than anyone would care to admit, and he's somewhat terrified of making things go wrong.

He doesn't want to obsess, he really doesn't, just like he doesn't want to be pessimistic, it just happens that way. But he's trying to be not that person. Because if he expects bad things then bad things happen. And he likes Kaidy. A lot. Maybe more than he should, but they've known each other for a while now, and he misses her like crazy whenever he's back home in what he sort of thinks of as the real world, and well, he wants to. He's allowed to want to, it's not a failing on his part.

Martin's brain is a complex jumble of worries and fears, but even if he's not entirely sure that he deserves to be happy, he really, really wants to be.

He presses into a kiss slowly but definitely, his hands settling easily into their default position on her shoulders, and it probably doesn't last as long as he thinks it does, but it feels like forever before he pulls back to breathe.

He looks at her, takes in her beauty, her wicked cheek, her confidence and elegance. He can't believe how lucky he is.

He smiles, wide and happy.

"A-actually. Yes. I- Yes." He bites his lip to stop himself from babbling. There's nothing he can do about the blush.

Kaidy takes a deep, calming breath, firmly irons out (nearly all) the rest of her laughter, and grins up at him.

"Good," she says firmly, and then (because even for someone as spectacularly self-absorbed as Kaidy can be, he's not difficult to read, and the nervousness is broadcasting loud and clear) she leans up and kisses him again, slow and (for her) gentle, and slides her fingers up his jawline and into his hair.

Martin goes willingly into the kiss, his eyes drifting closed, and how could he not, when her fingers are skidding through his hair? He can smell-taste the faint cling of smoke from her cigarettes, but it's faint, and what he mostly tastes is just Kaidy.

He finds that his hands are in rather the wrong place, and without him really thinking about it his left resettles itself to her waist, while his right skids across from where it was just brushing the line of her hair, to the curve of her shoulder.

Without any especial input from his brain, his right thumb starts to stroke circles against her skin, bumping over the fabric of her top without really noticing the change in texture.

Mmmm.

Kaidy very much does notice the change in textures, as her faint shiver gives away, her fingers curling and opening reflexively in Martin's hair. Given that he evidently hasn't been picking all this up from practical experience then he's clearly an extremely fast learner, she decides, and makes an unmistakably encouraging sound as she nudges further into his touch.

She steps closer, closing all trace of the gap between them, and lets the fingers of one hand trickle down his throat to his collar, slow and stroking, to eventually play thoughtfully with his tie.

Edited 2013-10-10 00:24 (UTC)

The skritch of her fingers through his hair, involuntary though it may be to Kaidy, sends ice-trickles down his spine and makes him draw in a sharp breath through his nose.

His fingers skitter across her skin. Grip. Release. It's fast becoming a loop, a particularly nice one at that.

It's less that Martin is a fast learner, and more that he's not really paying attention to what it is he's doing, which means that he's not over-thinking it. Over-thinking is something that tends to ruin a lot of his plans.

The encouraging sounds are indeed encouraging. And very good to hear. For various reasons.

Martin swallows heavily, and a strangled sort of squeak escapes his throat even through the kiss. Everything seems to be rather too warm all of a sudden.

Outside Milliways

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