1510/Straight Shootin'

Straight Shootin'
Date of Scene:	04 May 2020
Location:	Gymnasium - Happy Harbor High School
Synopsis:	Roy shows AJ a little bit of archery and they briefly talk of summer plans.
Cast of Characters:	Roy Harper, AJ Strong

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Roy Harper has posed:
Roy had promised to teach AJ how to use some weapons in exchange for AJ's help with school related focus, and so today he has commandeered one end of the gym where some archery targets have been set up with a faux wall behind them in case arrows get stuck in something other than the targets beyond them. He's completely eschewed the crappy gym plastic bows, however. He's got his own, and he has a practice bow that was his when he was learning for AJ, and enough arrows for both of them to do some shooting before they have to go retrieve them. "So, lesson one -- don't go retrieve your arrows til everyone's done shooting." He flashes a grin.

AJ Strong has posed:
"I think I could have figured that one out.." AJ bounces the bow by the handle on the palm of his hand, eyes shifting between the bow and the targets. He doesn't grab an arrow and start shooting as much as it looks like he wants to. He's one of those students that listens politely and does as he's told, with maybe the occasionaly sarcastic comment thrown in for flavor.

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper smirks a little bit and says, "Hey, just figured I'd cover it in case you decided to see how good my dodging reflexes are." Then he picks up his own bow and shows AJ the proper positioning for holding it, and making sure not to twist his arm in to where the string would rip the flesh off, because that hurts like hell. He goes through the way to nock the arrow so that the fletching doesn't tear off when shooting. He goes over all the basics, including how to destring and restring the bow and then he turns AJ loose on the target. "Go for it," he says with a grin, and then steps back to let him give it a try.

AJ Strong has posed:
"I wouldn't do that by shooting at you." AJ follows along like the diligent student he is, following the instructions and watching carefully. Finally, he shrugs out of his grey hoodie and tosses it aside, just to give his arms a little more freedom of movement while he figures this thing out. He even repeats the steps under his breath as he goes through them one by one, nocking, drawing, aiming, and only going silent a moment before shooting and sinking the arrow.. into the wall behind the target.

Roy Harper has posed:
"Didn't figure," Roy grins, and then stands back, giving AJ some space to prepare and take his first practice shot. It goes wide and thunks into the wall behind the target. Well, that's what it's there for. Roy makes no comment at all. It's only AJ's first shot, after all, and he's not going to start giving pointers until he's had time to try a couple of times, at any rate. Instead, he plunks down on the floor nearby next to his bag and works on repairing the fletching on some of his own arrows while he watches.

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ glares at the arrow in the wall as if it personally offended him. He sighs and picks up another arrow, this one landing in the wall as well. Though he doesn't complain, there's just another slight glare. At least he's not pulling too weakly as to not even get the arrow to the target. The third arrow sinks into the target, though well away from he bulls-eye. He squints slightly, obviously trying to figure out aiming.

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper grins as he watches, noting that AJ is gradually getting closer to the destination. "That's it. Small adjustments. A little bit at a time until you can hit the bullseye, then, once you get there, the trick is repeating it consistently, over, and over, until it's second-nature, just how far you have to draw, what angle it needs to go." He fixes the fletching on another arrow as he watches, keeping an eye on AJ and his progress.

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ Strong shakes his drawing hand, flexing the fingers slightly. Even with the borrowed shooting glove, bow strings put pressure on the joints. "Right.. Then I'm outside and a stray breeze ruins everything." He smirks and picks up another arrow, teting off three more shots. Wall, target, target. Though none of the ones in the atget are particularly impressive. He sighs and starts walking to pick up his arrows.

Roy Harper has posed:
"Well, that's the next thing you learn," Roy laughs. "First, you gotta learn how to aim, and how to hit the target consistently. Then, you do it outside where you have to compensate for wind and environment. Then you start moving the target. But you gotta start with the basics and then add a variable at a time, because eventually you're going to be moving, your target's going to be moving, there's going to be obstacles, and weather, and mole people, and electric people, and guys swinging around telephone poles and it's all a giant shit show. But, trying to do any of that right off the bat is probably not the best way to start." He grins.

AJ Strong has posed:
"Or I just hop in and stab them." AJ says with a mild smile as he yanks his arrows free of the target then stares at the ones stuck in the wall with a frown. "And gotta make sure you dont shoot some random passerby by accident." He sighs and walks to the wall, yanking those arrows free as well. He holds up the tips to make sure those are fine before retreating back to his shooting spot.

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper sighs a little bit, but it's a good-natured sigh, "Yeah, or you hop in and stab them. Fine, we'll train with stabby weapons next if you like. Just can't do that here," he nods to the gym, "in the middle of the school. At least this stuff is, you know, school sanctioned gear." He smiles a little lopsidedly and then shrugs his shoulders. "If you're not into it, it's fine, you know. I won't be offended."

AJ Strong has posed:
"It never hurts to learn new things. You don't know if you'll be good with something or like it till you try, right." AJ spins one of the arrows in his fingers before returning it to te stand at the shooting post, the other arrows following suit. He rolls his shoulders to loosen them, this time he picks up one arrow and seems to be taing his time figureing out the aiming before losing, holdingit and sighting down the shaft.

Roy Harper has posed:
"True enough," Roy grins a little bit, resting his elbows on his knees where he sits cross-legged on the ground, watching AJ spin the arrow between his fingertips. "I can teach you how to swordfight, too, and knives, and other blades. I'm kind of shit at escrima, though. I've got the bruises from the other weekend to prove it." He grins. He doesn't. He did have bruises when he came back from Starling City the last time, but they've long since healed by now.

AJ Strong has posed:
"What I have to think about is how much I carry on me. The more I have on me the more it takes to hop. It may not be much in a few short jumps but over time.." AJ stops talking and pulls back the arrow. There's a few more seconds of silence and he lets it fly, this time striking the target. It's still near the edge, but he nods with satisfaction nonetheless.

Roy Harper has posed:
"Well, a sword is going to be heavier than most bows, but it's also going to be a single weapon as opposed to needing a bow and quiver. I tend to carry knives anyway when I have the bow in case I end up in too close quarters to make it effective, or I really need to go hand to hand. And I like the sword. I'm really pretty good with it, but the bow's always going to be first in my heart," Roy grins, putting a hand over his heart. Though he's quiet while AJ aims, not interrupting him. "Good!" he says when it hits the target.

AJ Strong has posed:
"Knives might work, can stab with them, throw them.." AJ aims again, going quiet, this one hits nips the targt on the edge, slowing enough to clatter off the wall. There's only a slght grimace as he grabs another arrow. "You really do like your variety of weapons, don't you?"

Roy Harper has posed:
"There's a reason my codename's Arsenal," Roy grins, "Besides, I had to keep up with Green Arrow. And try to find something that I could beat him at." Escrima is obviously /not/ it. "Plus, I want to be able to pick up pretty much anything and be able to use it. I love my bow. I'll use it all the time if I can. But if I'm caught without it, I want to be able to grab whatever I can find." He watches the arrow glance off and clatter and then says, "Little to the left."

AJ Strong has posed:
"Thanks." AJ is aiming again, this one is a much more sold hit, it's no bullseye, but at least he seems to be getting the target on a pretty regular basis, perhaps correcting his errors a little too quickly. "Well, I guess that makes sense. Makes sure you're always a threat on the field, right?" He draws another arrow from the stand, but for the moment just kind of stares at the target.

Roy Harper has posed:
"Pretty much. You never know what you're going to run into, so being able to just pick up and go with whatever you've got, even if you're caught flat-footed is important," Roy says. He pulls himself up to his feet then and moves over to where AJ is standing. He moves over behind him, and very gently places his hands on his shoulders, drawing them back a little, adjusting his stance.

AJ Strong has posed:
"Now I want to see you go to town on some bad guys with something completely ridiculous... like a pool noodle. Those things hurt when you can whip them fast enough." AJ laughs cheerily. He takes the stance corrections from Roy easily, shifting the position of his arms and legs as directed. Once Roy backs away, he fires, getting closer to the bullseye than before, it's still off, but it's a solid hit to the target. AJ winces though. "I think if the bullseye is the chest, I just shot that guy in the crotch.."

Roy Harper has posed:
"While not trained in the fine art of pool noodling," Roy says with a broad grin, "I would be willing to give it a shot, perhaps even develop an entire technique." He steps back to let AJ shoot, and then grins when it gets further into the target than before. He laughs and winces at the same time, "Ow, man.. that is one thing that's never happened. I don't even want to think about that too hard. Getting sympathy pain just thinking about it."

AJ Strong has posed:
"Never? You never accidentally, or you know on purpose.. I don't judge, hit a guy between the legs?" AJ looks over at Roy, tilting his head to the side. "I mean, even I kicked a guy there once, but that's just because my hopping aim was off and I came in a few feet lower than I meant to. I was aiming for his head."

Roy Harper has posed:
"No, I meant /I've/ never been shot in the nuts," Roy laughs. "Kicked in the nuts, yeah. That sucked. And I've absolutely hit other people in the nuts." He takes up his own bow and takes three arrows between his fingers, then, thwip thwip thwip all three zip, nearly too quickly to be discerned as separate actions, and thunk one after the other into the bullseye of the second target in a neat little triangle.

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ Strong says, "Well, I'd hope you've never been shot in the nuts, that just sounds unpleasant." AJ shudders dramatically as he thinks about it. He opens his mouth to say something and then Roy shows off his shooting prowess, to which AJ gives a slow golf clap. "Show off." Though he says it jokingly and with a smile."

Roy Harper has posed:
"Right? That's what I was saying," Roy grins just a little bit, and then he raises a brow when AJ stops whatever he was going to say. "What?" he asks, though his grin broadens at being called a show off. "Little bit," he agrees. "Come on. You teleported us through the sky all the way to the school. I don't get to show off just a little bit?"

AJ Strong has posed:
"Yes, you get to show off." AJ very pointedly strides over to the targets to grab the arrows. "How deep did you sink these things.." He actually takes a little effort to get the arrows free. Finally he returns to the shooting spot and redeposits the arrows, though he's watching Roy for a moment a small smile on his face. "So, I think we should sneak out to Manhattan some afternoon this week."

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper chuckles when AJ has to tug a bit to get the arrows loose from the target and shrugs his shoulders, "Not /that/ deep." He doesn't take another shot though when AJ comes back over, instead just slinging his bow over his shoulder. He tilts his head a little bit at that small smile and then says, "Yeah? Alright. Just tell me when and I'm good to go." Then he pauses and asks, "So uh, what are you doing over the summer? We've only got a couple of weeks left of the semester."e

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ sets his bow on the stand and folds his hands behind his neck. "Summer? I, um, dunno. Gotta spend a week on the beach somewhere in there, I guess, but other than that." He shrugs. "No clue. Itll be nice to just go do things though. Why? Did you have something in mind?" He drops his hands, regarding Roy curiously.

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper nods his head when AJ mentions going to spend some time at the beach. He slides his hands into the pockets of his jeans and then shrugs his shoulders, "No reason. I was just curious if you were staying at the school or if you were going somewhere. I'm deciding whether I'm going to hang out at the school or go back to Starling City for the summer."

AJ Strong has posed:
"Well, considering going home is just a ferry ride and a few subway stops.." AJ shrugs. "My dad will probably want me home once in a while, but I was thinking of staying at the dorms.. Though I've never really spent time in Starling. Though I've heard the city's orchestra is pretty good." He tilts his head to the side. "I guess, I'm just going to see which way the wind blows this summer and go with that."

Roy Harper has posed:
"Yeah, that's a little closer than Starling," Roy grins a bit at that and then slings his bow off of his shoulder and begins unstringing it and putting it away. "Cool. Well, I'm starving, so, wanna go grab some burgers? We can always come back and take a few more shots at the targets later? I got permission to use this end of the gym with them for the rest of the afternoon." He grins then. "What'd you want to do in Manhattan? The museum thing? Or something else?"

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ shakes his head. "Nothing in particular, just wander around, maybe go and get a bite to eat. I just need a little changeof scenery away from the stress of studying for finals." He follows suit and unstrings the bow, to store. "Yeah, burgers sound good about now, I'mkind of starving."