15681/Firearms 101: Orientation

Firearms 101: Orientation
Date of Scene:	22 August 2023
Location:	Classroom - Happy Harbor High School
Synopsis:	Stadler and Crush have a discussion on how she can get furthur with getting an ID and Firearms training. Things get... a bit tense.
Cast of Characters:	Xiomara Rojas, Richard Stadler

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Xiomara Rojas has posed:
With University classes not starting until September 15th, Crush had been working every day with the O'Connail construction to ensure a large cushion of cash in her pockets. She has mentioned taking some of the 'required to graduate' classes this semester, in fact she had chosen five subjects that had one class early morning or later in the day. The idea behind the chosen class times was to allow her to work security at Happy Harbor High School during the day, and on the weekends she could continue construction for the big money.

Indeed the young adult had it all worked out except for one glaring problem... she had no ID and no idea how to fire a gun. The university had accepted her transcripts from the high school, but come the first of September she had to present New York ID to finish registering, and the fire arms courses all required ID.

Stopping just outside Mr. Stadler's class room, she peeked inside to see if he was even there and sure enough... he was at his desk. Some summer classes were available to students, perhaps he was teaching one? She really didn't know but was glad he was there.

Stepping into the classroom she glanced around to make sure no students were there, then said almost cheerfully, "Hey Mr. S, how you doing today?"

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Stadler looked up from his desk at the back of the classroom, his hand moving to the frame of his glasses to adjust them a bit, squinting just slightly to look toward the door. Not that it was needed, of course; there was only one person with that sort of look on campus (or, to his knowledge, on earth).

"Crush! Good to see you about. Working security today?" He asked, amible, standing up briefly and motioning with a hand to both invite inside and to a chair on one side of the desk (at least it wasn't one of the student desks in the room itself). "Oh... I'm doing fine. Well, at least as fine as someone of my age gets to these days. Just setting up lesson plans for the fall." He said.

The classroom itself didn't exactly look used. The desks were perfectly straight, stray papers or detrius that might indicate a summer class absent from them. Half the lights were off, in an effort to save a bit of electricity.

"Something I can help you with?"

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
It was true that Crush had a very distinctive appearance, the pure white skin and dark trianglish markings on her eyes, and she always wore black lip stick. If that wasn't enough, the clothing she wore matched a specific style in her own head. Red leather pants tucked into knee high combat boots, an aqua colored short shirt that left her bellow exposed most of the time, and a black leather jacket with the sleeves cut off. Wrapped twice around her waist was a thick black chain that only a select few knew was Obelus.

Starting to walk across the room at his gesture, she shakes her head as she replies, "Not working today, my trainer is on vacation."

When she reaches the chair, it is eyed thoroughly before she sits herself down. "I always liked your lessons, so I'm sure the kids next year will as well," she states with a smile, then shifts slightly. "I uh... well, you remember I said there was a problem with my security training? Its that. I... kinda need some help figuring it out."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Stadler was still a bit of a salt of the earth type, in some respects; he had experience with the magic and the otherwordly these days, of course, but he defaulted to looking at a chain as a fashion statement, and not... well. Sentient. Stadler's own clothing was reliably predictable (or predictably reliable). One of the same rotation of three suit jackets with matching pants, a pressed white shirt and a rather conservative tie (the latter two of which were unbuttoned and loosened, at least, in response to the stodgy summer heat.

"Always good to have a day off, I know. Though I'd expect you'd be out and about enjoying it; The pub on the island is certainly a good place to spend an evening, at least."

The chair is... normal. No traps, and sturdy enough to hold a decent amount of weight. Stadler regards Crush as she did the chair, when she speaks about the trouble she's having. "Oh? Well, I'm admittedly not an expert, but I happen to know a little bit about everything." He says, with a bit of a smile. "Suppose we cut right to the chase; trouble getting the training you need? Certifications?"

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush shifts in the chair again. "A pub? You suggesting I go drinking?" she asks with a mischievous grin. "That sounds like a great deal of fun... even if I can't get drunk."

The chuckle fades away, as does the grin as she says, "There's lots of places I could get certification from," a sigh escapes and she then she tries to put on an expression that it's not as bad as she clearly thinks it is.

"That's not the problem... I mean that's just one of the problems, and I'd love to learn from you, I really like the way you teach its..." she pauses, almost twitching. "I... I'm not legal, I got no ID, I can't get into Columbia, or get gun training without ID."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     "Now," He holds up a hand. "I didn't say you should go drinking; those words never came out of my mouth. I simply said the pub was an excellent place to spend an evening. They do have some rather lovely dinner specials, for instance. Granted, you /are/ 21, so it really isn't my place to say otherwise."

Stadler does seem to be rather good at saying something without saying something.

"Well..." He says, clearing his throat as things change from the jovial to something more serious. "That's certainly a problem, but not one we can't attack. Columbia might be a bit more of a challenge, depending on their requirements for such. Well, I suppose the first question would be if you know how to drive?"

He pauses again. "You do need training. 47 hours of it, if you plan on getting a proper Armed Guard certification in New York State. There's... well, I do think we could start that without the needed ID, if time's a factor."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Reaching up to push her long mohawkish style hair out of her face, Crush takes a moment to consider. For now she'll leave the drinking talk aside, even if she should correct him about her age.

"I can drive anything," she says with a nod. "Motorcycles, cars, big trucks, I just have to be able to get into it... and yes, I know the laws. I read that driving book from the DMV a couple of times cause I was bored."

"I gotta have an ID by September first, or I lose my registration at Columbia," she adds, then switches to the other topic. "Forty-seven hours? Holy shit, okay... so how do I get that documented without ID?"

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Stadler gives her a rather long look when she gives a date. "September... In nine days?" He asks, and his tone can't help but hide the suprise in his voice. It certainly isn't a good type of suprise, either. He holds up a hand. "Give me a minute."

And for that minute, he's looking past Crush, thoughts busy behind the glasses and his eyes, leading up to him taking a breath. "All right. Quickest way here. Go to New York's DMV website; sechulde an appointment for a Learner's Permit. Non-driver ID's out of the question; that'll require information we don't have. Permit's photo'd, and it's accepted in a number of places, so it'll probably be accepted at Columbia. If it isn't, I'll... need a little time to do a bit of digging.

"So, ID before documentation. Documentation's always going to take longer, but I think refugee travel documents would be the way to go. There's some requirements, but I'll see what we can do about that. Keep your calender open, though.

"Another checkbox. "Firearms. Again, I'm probably not the best person to talk to about guns; the last bit of hunting I did was a few years ago, and that was in Petobego. But I do have a friend who knows a bit more in Metropolis." He says, clicking a black plastic pen up and jotting something down on a notepad next to him.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush had known the ID would be an issue, a bug issue. She'd look up a few things on the internet and the very first requirement for ID or a drivers license was a birth certificate which she did not have... yet. Truthfully she had already spoken to a forgery expert about getting one from the state of Nevada where she 'landed', but never went through with it.

"Ain't I gonna need a birth certificate for a learning permit as well?" she asks, kicking herself for not just getting one forged already. "I mean, I /could/ get a forged one..."

She leaves that hanging there to wait for his reaction, then moves right onto the next topic with, "I have to learn how to take one apart, clean it properly, and then actual shooting practice, which you just said was forty seven hours. You said you know someone in Metropolis, but I don't know that someone, and well... I don't trust people I don't know, you know that."

Richard Stadler has posed:
    Stadler pauses on the quick flow of writing for a moment, when Crush mentions not knowing. Or trusting. It's just for a moment, as he purses his lips in thought, before taking another breath, and resuming his writing, before tearing off the piece of paper and folding it up.

"Nope. Enhanced or one of those newfangled federal ones, yes, they would require proof of citizenship or eligibility of residence, but, as I've said before, you aren't the first undocumented immigrant the State of New York has to deal with. Non driver ID's not something we can apply for, but a driver's license or learner's permit is, and that doesn't require documentation."

He moves to use the pen in his hand to point with just a bit of force at Crush. "No forgeries; this isn't some short term hop into a country you plan on getting out of as soon as possible. This is your home, and you don't want to build a foundation with counterfeit bricks. The bureaucracy provides for those that know how to navigate it and... let's just say I'm not a slouch at piloting through the shoals. So, Permit first, all right?"

He moves to hand the piece of paper to Crush. "That's the address for my friend's place. Don't worry, I've got that you don't know her. I'll come with you, all right? She's... eccentric, but she knows what she's doing, and she's one of the people I trust implicitly, which is a bit of a short list."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Folding her arms across her chest, Crush snorts softly and shakes her head. It had taken her a very long time to trust the teachers at Happy Harbor, in fact that lack of ability to trust is the reason it took her to the age of twenty to graduate. He was asking her to extend the trust she had for him to someone else, someone she didn't know, and who knew nothing about her. That was a hard sell for the Czarnian, which causes her eyes to narrow slightly as she thinks it over.

"Fine, no forgery," she states a little too must agitation in her tone. "If the permit works for ID, then fine, I don't know anything about it, but I trust you."

Shifting in the chair slightly, eyes still a little narrow she watches him offer the folded piece of paper. She hesitates, still trying to decide if she can trust a stranger, even a stranger that Richard trusted. Her body remained tense, too tense really as she unfolded her arms and slowly reached to take the piece of paper.

"I'd rather learn from you," she states bluntly, still showing agitation over it. "I won't trust this person, I can't... but I trust you, so if you're there, I'll try... but one comment or odd look at me, and I leave."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Richard hears the agiitation building, the tension taunt like a string ready to snap, in the words that she says and the way that she moves for the paper in front of her. Stadler hesitates himself, for a moment; his mouth opens, briefly, and closes as he tries to pick his next words. "It's... look, Crush, I...I'm not the type of person for this. I've..." He pauses again, and for once he's helpless with what he'll say next.. "Please. Just trust me. My friend here's got a lot more knowledge on the subject than I have. I'll be there, that's no problem. I'll take the hyperloop with you if you want. If you decide that you don't want to, then that's... that'll be fine. All right?"

He leans back in his chair, trying to do something to defuse. "It's... going to be hard for you. I'm not going to lie about that. This sort of thing means talking to a number of people. It means answering questions from new people that you may have trouble trusting. I'm going to help you, I am, but I'll need you to help me, as well."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Keeping her eyes on Richard while he talks, Crush can see the tension in him. Most of the time she pretends to be clueless and unobservant, but she could see something in his eyes, something more than tension. She wasn't going to push at it, not right now anyway.

"Talking to strangers ain't a problem," she finally says after another long pause. "I can talk to anyone, never had troubles with just talking cause there's no trust required. Now, someone telling me what to do, that's a whole different thing entirely, and that's where the problem comes."

Another shift of her body and she crosses her arms again. "I'm gonna try ta do this with your stranger friend, but I ain't making any promises that I can do it. I can promise I won't lose my shit on her, I'll just leave if there's a problem."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Stadler nods, slowly. "That's all I ask, that you try. If it doesn't work out.. We'll.. I'll think of the next course of action. You have my word on that. But I do want to help you get this done, and get you started with firearms the right way. Again, my own experience may not be the most appropriate here, but I know enough to want to make sure you get the right information." He states, tapping the pen in his hand on the paper with a absent, almost nervous thunk-thunk-thunk.

"I can't promise the State Department won't be giving you orders as well. They can be... pushy. It's not a pleasant system to be in. But I'll be there to help you. You can count on that. "

Another pause, and another breath. "So. Set up that appointment for a learner's permit. I don't think you'll have trouble passing the test for it. That'll be step one. If you're avalible in the next few days, we can run up to Metropolis. Was there anything else we're missing?"

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
For a few minutes as Richard is talking and tapping his pen, Crush stops paying attention to the words. She hears them, and can acknowledge them, but her focus is on the man sitting at his desk. It made no sense for him to be nervous or tense, he had nothing at risk in the current situation. Was that nervous energy because of her? Did he actually fear her aggravation would lead to him being harmed in some way? Try as she might, she couldn't put her finger on what it was that caused this kind of reaction from him.

"Sure, the State department will tell me to move to a desk or table and take my test. No looking around, no talking during the exam time, etc. etc. etc." She shrugged her shoulders once. "No harm in that sort of instruction, even if it sounds like a pushy order. That thing is more like a teacher telling a student to sit down and do their work, or stop talking during class."

Taking a slow breath, her shoulders seems to relax a little and she uncrosses her arms. "I'll call for an appointment tomorrow morning," she adds, still watching him. "I have the next few days off. Mr. O'Connail is waiting for a shipment of items to arrive before we can continue building, so uh... we can met up and take the Hyperloop when you're ready."

Final pause before she shakes her head, "I don't know if we're missing anything else, but I did want to say thanks... I may not sound grateful for your help, but I am... like, a lot."