5841/Shoot This

Shoot This
Date of Scene:	03 April 2021
Location:	Firing range near NYC
Synopsis:	Madigan /finally/ gets her shooting lesson from Cole. A brief one!
Cast of Characters:	Cole Cash, Madigan Belle

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Cole Cash has posed:
Having reached the conclusion Madigan was nuts, Cole proceeded to ignore her calls for a while. But persistence has its rewards, because at some point (after the 100th call or so) he decided she was committed enough maybe she was willing to invest into some firing lessons.

It is also possible Cole was drunk when he finally agreed.

Well, he is not drunk right now. And the firing range is somewhat off the grid, since it is frequented by thugs and mercenaries that do not like to abide New York's strict gun control rules. The place does have enough rules to make it relatively safe, however. Which is what he was aiming for.

Madigan Belle has posed:
Get it, aiming for? And Madigan comes dressed in as bad girl of clothes as she has. A rude tank top, red faux leather jacket, and a plaid skirt. She has her characteristic leg braces on her legs and the crutch gripped by one hand as she makes her way into the establishment. On her leg, and side, is a holster with a small Glock 43 attached to it. She isn't sure if she's just allowed to enter with it, but that's her target. To get in, find Cole and get some lessons.

Various amounts of her texts and messages included selfies, information she was gathering, doing research, and a lot more. She isn't sure what the rules at these places are but she also bought a long arm. A Franchi Affinity Catalyst shotgun. Not exactly the best weapon to shoot with her limited mobility but she bought it so she's bringing it. If she has to check her weapons at the door or whatever, she will do so, as she looks around for her tutor.

"Hey!" Waving and grinning big once she sees the man, "So, I hope the clothes are too rude for this place. I figured, better dress the part. You know? Yeah. So, like, anyhow, I got two guns. A pistol and a shotgun, in case I need a quick getaway. You know, boom, I fly back. Hahah." She giggles, and rolls her eyes, then sighs a bit, "Physics, am I right?"

Cole Cash has posed:
Cole is wearing cargo pants, and old t-shirt and a green duster. Sunglasses too. And he needs a shave, which is about normal for him. "No dress code here," he replies with a smirk, giving the girl a once over. "And that is okay. They don't like fancy energy weapons or space stuff here, but everything else is fair game."

He pockets the sunglasses and picks up a duffle bag. Then reaches for the holster and picks up her gun smoothly. "I got us the third gallery for a couple hours," offers the blond man, checking the Glock 43 magazine and safety. "Good pick. Shame it only holds six bullets. But it is a good handgun for someone your size." Beat, "contrarily to a shotgun. But I gotta approve you trying."

Madigan Belle has posed:
There's a bit of a shrug from her shoulders, "Well, I didn't know, cause someone wasn't responding to every text I sent. Jeez. Only so much I can learn, plus I wanted to have sooooooome kind of bigger gun. You know, maybe pull the trigger once and see how hard I hit the ground? Great stuff." And Madi nods her head, and then her small backpack that she keeps with her she offers, "I brought snacks, hope you did as well, cause a couple hours I only then brought enough for me." Toothy big grin.

She will follow the blonde man, "The pistol was something I researched, people like it, especially for smaller hands. It is also light weight, making it ideal for small women like myself. It's even marketed a little that way, not as much so as the shotgun. The shotgun was designed specifically for women, the higher cheek rest area, matches higher cheek bones for women, and the raised gun sight to match. It wasn't just marketed but built for women shooters." A pause as she is making her way, "I thought, hey, I'm a woman, these get good reviews, so, bam. Pulled the trigger and bought them."

Cole Cash has posed:
"Yeah, I'm a busy guy and I don't check my cells that often," replies Cole. Which is not exactly true, but it was for the number he gave Madi. He nods at her comments, as it seems she did research. On the Internet, probably. Still, that is Generation Z for you.

"Shotguns are tricky, and you will have problems with... compensating recoil," he glances to the bracers. Maybe a bit too insensitive, but guns and bullets aren't polite. "You could still shoot it if sitting down, but... I'm not going to ask you why do you want it." He has been leading her inside the building, some kind of converted Warehouse in an industrial part near New York. There is a door with a bit black 3, and he opens it with a passkey. Lights turn on the firing range, which looks both functional and sparse, and high-tech at the same time. There are the usual paper targets on moving rails hanging from the ceiling, as well as wooden mannequins with masks of famous and not so famous characters. Yes, you can shoot 'Hitler' and 'Captain America' here.

Madigan Belle has posed:
"I get it, I'm just sooooo happy that you returned my call finally. I mean, it gave me time to get the guns, and to get ammunition, and to take selfies, so I figured you were just playing hard to get." And then Madi is looking around the place, eyes getting wide and her mouth grinning big, "Whoooooa. I've never been in one of these before. Are there other kinds of targets? Ooooh ooh, can we bring our own? I could print up some pictures of my uncle, shoot them, and then give them to him for a birthday or something. He'd love that."

A quick few head turns, left, and right, much faster than the rest of her body can keep up. Though she starts moving in further, "What do we do next? I've seen the movies, so you best not get frisky with me when you attempt to show me a better stance to shoot. Tsk tsk tsk." She shakes her head back and forth, "I got my eyes on you, and no double vision, brought my contacts to make it a lot easier to see any funny business. Unless this is really thrilling, then I might be all oogly googly."

Cole Cash has posed:
"You are fives years too young for me, kid," replies Cole, keeping his smirk. He pulls an ancient laptop from a drawer and turns it on. It will be used to control the ceiling rails for the targets. "Who is your uncle? Someone I'd know?"

He jumps on the firing range with a new paper bullseye, since the one currently at around 20 feet has a few holes. Someone else was here before and they don't clean that often. The floor is decorated with bullet casings.

"Just go ahead and shoot at it," he suggests, giving her back the Glock. "We can talk about good stances and all that later. I am sure you have seen a couple LexTube videos already."

Madigan Belle has posed:
"Whoa. I'm not too young for anyone, totally legal here." Madi quirks her mouth to the side, and gives a near furrowed disgusted look, before smiling again. Easy come easy go with emotional expressions. Moving herself up toward the little window area where she's supposed to stand, and she settles her gun on the little counter while she works off her jacket.

"Besides, you are too... uh, normal, for me. I guess that's the right word, just sayin'. Grow a pair of wings, fangs, some kind of weird looking tail, I'd totally be into you more."

With that she takes the best stance she can, moving her legs with the help of her hands, until they are in place, not a great situation to be in if she needs to shoot quickly. Though, with better practice she might be in mid motion more capable of getting into the stance, but then she settles her crutch to the side after her braces are locked in place. "Whew. Okay." Picking back up the gun she grits her teeth and aims, then fires, "Nope!" And then again, and again, too fast, she's empty. Giggling she's breathing heavily, and panting at the counter, "Holy hell apples dipped in chocolate!" She is breathing, and grinning big, and can't stop laughing a bit, "Whhhoooooooo. No wonder there are wars."

Cole Cash has posed:
"Normal American guy here, sorry," comments Cole, not looking very sorry. Then she shoots, and he waits until the echoes of the gunshots are over to arch an eyebrow. "Nope," He agrees. It was difficult to miss the whole target, but Madi managed.

"I hope you brought extra ammo," he comments. "A lot, given how fast you shoot. You might want to aim a little at first, too." He opens the duffle bag and pulls out a large handgun. A Desert Eagle if Madi has been checking guns pictures. "Aim with the eye, shoot with the mind," he offers, quoting a book.

Madigan Belle has posed:
There's a fast bit of breathing, and Madi is grinning still her eyes kind of wide. "I mean, yeah." And she picks up her backpack that she had settled when she took off her jacket before she pops the clip of her gun and fishes out a box of ammunition. Then she's reloading her clip.

"I've never shot at anything before, outside of video games, and random explosives. So, it's a bit different, but wow! Like, my heart feels like it wants to jump from my chest." She states, and reaches up to press her fingers against her chest then nods her head a few times, "Yep. Can totally feel it ready to go. Like, the reverb on the gun shot, just straight through my bones, and everything." Once she's finished reloading she puts the clip back into the gun.

Looking over at the Desert Eagle her eyes pop open wider, "Ooooooooh!" Practically cheering for it, "That's totally a cool gun. Big, really heavy though, probably helps with the kick. I'd imagine, but yeah. And compensates for the dumb saying. Aim with the eye shoot with the mind?" She snorts and shakes her head as she isn't doing a good job of holding back a light chuckle, "I mean, what fortune cookie did you steal that from?"

Cole Cash has posed:
"Stephen King's cookie," replies Cole, raising his arm and smiling. "It works like this," the sound of the Desert Eagle is louder then the Glock, and the target develops a hole in the exact center.

Cole glances at Madi, hrming. Then shoots eight more times, drawing a nice X on the center of the target. "Your turn. And shoot more slowly." He is reloading.

Madigan Belle has posed:
Taking in a deep breath, Madi lets it out in such a way as to blow at a strand of hair that isn't being held back in her current hair styling. "More slowly? I should get a machine gun or something." And she levels the gun at her same target, and she grimaces, bringing her lips forward in a pout that is scrunched, and uses a kind of mocking goofy tone, "Aim with your eye shoot with the mind." Rolling her eyes she looks back at the target.

Squeezing, she pulls the trigger and a spot way off from the center, but still on the target, gets tagged with a small hole being torn in to it. "I hit I hitIhitIhit!" She squeals loudly like a 13 year old girl meeting Justin Bieber.

Cole Cash has posed:
"No machine guns until you can hit a..." and she just did. Mostly. "Uh, okay? But it might have been just luck. Keep shooting, but count to five between shoots, will you?" Cole squint eyes, "you might want to keep balance with your left hand on something, even if that seems to make the shoots harder, it is more important you don't fall down while shooting."

Madigan Belle has posed:
"Heheheheheh." Madi offers out a semi-maniacal laugh as she's shot and hit a target, now it is only a matter of optimization. She looks up and is mostly ignoring what Cole is saying as she's biting the tip of her tongue and is aiming once more. Blam! Blam! Blam! Three quick shots, each one right after the other, and she kind of wobbles a bit but manages to correct for balance. Did she hit? Once, the first shot, similarly wide from the target though. The other two shots off into never never land.

Shaking her gun she kind of looks at it, and then quirks her mouth, and then back over to Cole, "You know, this wouldn't be as bad if you just made me a better gun. I mean, clearly this one can't really keep up with me." Yeah, that's the reason. "Though this is super fun! It is heart racing. I kind of want to go shoot something that is moving, you know? Get the thrill of the chase... ish, on, I can't really chase anyone. So, it'd be tough." A pause, "Like, hunting, you know, squirrels or deer or something."

Cole Cash has posed:
Cole rolls his eyes. "It is your aim that can't follow your shooting. You can't shoot that fast and hope to hit anything until you have devoted hundreds of hours to this. Kid, shooting is easy, hitting the target not so much."

He turns to the laptop, pulling the target a couple yards closer. "Reload, try again. Take some breathing between shoots. Or something. You gotta learn to walk before you can fly. Now, that one was from a fortune cookie. Still true." He pulls a cigarette packet from a pocket and digs for a smoke.

Madigan Belle has posed:
Madigan Belle reaches up and scritches at her own red hair, she groans loudly and with obvious discontent on how things are going. "I don't usually -neeeeed- practice." She offers and then sighs and shrugs her shoulders, "I guess that's that then. There's probably an easier way to do this right? Maybe find someone with really good aim, or a super power to aim, and then figure out a way to be infected by that. Or, get a cybernetic arm installed that does all the aiming for you?"

Showing teeth, grimacing, and looking up to the ceiling. She takes in a breadth and then looks to Cole, "So, you want to go get some food? I'm kind of hungry now. Maybe I'll practice some more another day." All that work, all that money on the guns, and after a few tries she's giving up. "I could watch you shoot or whatever. I mean, there's no way you've put in hundreds of hours on this, right? You are just lying now, who would do that? On anything?" Big eyes, and a small shake of her head, "It is fun to shoot though... hrm."

Cole Cash has posed:
"There are targeting aids," admits Cole. "High tech stuff, expensive and easy to break. And usually you won't have it around if you need to use a handgun." He give her a quizzical glance when she talks about getting 'infected' by good aim. It doesn't work like that!

"Giving up already?" He looks amused, maybe a little disappointed. "After all the time and effort to bring me here? You said you had snacks, so go for them," he chuckles, "I knew I wouldn't be a good teacher, but having my first student quitting after just nine shoots is too much."

Madigan Belle has posed:
There's a pause and Madi looks over her shoulder to Cole, "I think it is you. I mean, come on. A closer target maybe? Then I can work my way back. It's just... huuuuuuuuuuundreds of hours seems like way too long to do anything. It didn't even take me that long to learn a lot of what I know about genetics." She frowns, and puts her shoulders down, then she perks up, "Ohhhhh right, I have snacks."

And she quickly grabs her backpack, rocking her head back and forth happily, "Food is the great equalizer, I know that's a saying somewhere." And she pulls out a bag of mini donuts, and she's opening it up, and then taking one of the powdered sugar cake treats and in two quick bites, finished. Then she's got another one, "So, how did you learn to b..." Pause for two more donuts, powdered sugar getting on her lips and fingers, "able to shoot?" Two more in quick order.

Cole Cash has posed:
Cole shakes his head, but pulls the target a couple yards closer. "Yeah, shooting is not the same as literature or science. You don't need hundreds of hours to manage to hit a target at mid range. And that is usually all you need. But you will need a lot of time to be able to shoot very quickly and hit with all the bullets." He glances at Madi, "which is what you were trying to do, Ms. Impatient."

He stares in mild amusement as she gorges herself in donuts. Uh, teenagers. Okay. "I was in the army a few years," he explains. "Some natural talent, sure, but I got sniper training and all. It was many hundreds of hours in the firing range before I got really good."

Madigan Belle has posed:
"Snooze alert." Madi mentions and giggles a bit at her own joke. "I mean, how did you tolerate -that-? Do they fill you up with drugs in the military to make you more willing to repeat inane tasks? Was it the poor food?" Donut. "Are you some kind of weird uninteresting masochist? I am soooooooooooo glad I never joined the military." She offers, and then her eyes brighten. She recalls something.

"Oh, sorry, you asked me before whether or not you'd know my uncle. Probably not. He isn't famous or anything. And he's mean. Like throw you in the front of a volkswagen bug, handcuffed and gagged to cross the border into canada when you don't have your passport yet, kind of mean. It is kind of cute, for like, old guy antics." She downs another donut, and hrms, "So, Mister Shoot-em-up. What'd you do after the military? Like, I know now, with the gunsmithing and all, but snipers? Don't you people get bored with civilian life?" That's at least what all her video games tell her.

Cole Cash has posed:
Cole huffs, "yeah, I thought the same when I enlisted. That I was going to die of boredness. But I found no time to get bored," he shrugs. "There was a lot of pushing me around, there was a lot of competition, there were some serious partying when we got time off, and... some... business opportunities. Unexpected ones. And then one gets moved around and promoted and sent into hellholes to kill people. Fun times." He lights up his cigarette and drags deeply. "So, I told you I do this and that? Gunsmithing too. Clearly getting students is not going to happen."

Madigan Belle has posed:
There's a few nods to the ideas of boredom that are presented, the entire time you are talking though Madi is refueling off of powdered sugar donuts. Then she is wiping off her face. "Alright. One more try." She offers and turns back to the counter. Popping the clip, she fills it back up with the 6 bullets it can hold, and she pops it back in. "Does it help if I turn the gun sideways?" Quirking her mouth to the side, she turns the gun horizontal and then back vertical and she hrmmms, then shakes her head, "Nope."

With that she takes in a breadth. Holds it, and squints. Blam. Hits the target, then she's grimacing, wincing, holding on, trying to breath, trying to count to 5, she gets to 2 inside of her head, Blam, another hit of the target. Still way off from the center, and the waiting between shots seems to cause physical pain if you were to just look at her expression, and then blamblamblamblam the remaining 4 bullets go zipping off. She gasps and wheezes, and holds onto the counter in front of her as if she might fall over. "Wow. See, soon you'll be calling me Miss Patience. Or Missing Patients, cause I can't shoot them." A couple chuckles and she turns, "I think I'm totally done for the day. This was fun. But, hard, and reaaaaallly time consuming. I mean, shoot, breath, shoot, thought I was gonna die."

Cole Cash has posed:
"No. Turning the gun sideways makes it harder. It looks cool, but..." hundreds of hours, right? He facepalms at Madi's comments about how hard is breathing between shoots. "Next time I am going to make you shot with a flintlock musket," breath, "just kidding, there is not going to be a next time. At least you somewhat hit the target with the first bullet. So, maybe that will be enough if you get attacked by an axe-wielding maniac some day." Haha.

He checks the watch. She got tired of it in twenty minutes. And that counting the donut time. It is probably a new record. "Don't forget to clean the fun when you get home. Or, y'know, have something doing the cleaning, since it is the most boring part even for me."

Madigan Belle has posed:
"OH! Cleaning is super fun. You get the oil, and the rags, and you take the gun apart, then clean each part, and then put it all back together. I can do it super fast. Love it. Looks all clean and everything after as well." Madi smiles, but the realization hits and she lets her mouth drop open, taken aback, "Whaaaaaaaat? No next time? I mean, but, I got the guns. What if I give you the shotgun? Could I watch you shoot? Targets, or whatever you shoot when you shoot? I'd love to do -that- and I'd totally learn. You know. Learning in the realsies dealsies."

She's speaking super fast, her tone is pleading but she's also eating donuts. Putting her gun away in between, and then grabbing up her jacket, donut, putting that back on. So much easier than taking it off, donut, and grabbing her backpack. Donut. Grabbing her crutch. Donut.

Cole Cash has posed:
"You can't learn much by watching," protests Cole. It is really weird she likes cleaning guns, too. But Madi is a strange, strange girl. "Sure, I can shoot your shotgun a few times if you want, but seriously, getting good with guns involves regular practicing. If you want to do it you can't get bored or discouraged in ten minutes and quit. Or rather, if you find it too boring and you don't need to learn to shoot anyway, then find another hobby."

Madigan Belle has posed:
With all that wisdom, Madigan is just staring at Cole. Eyes kind of open, but she's smiling big, cause she's eating donuts while he's talking. A lot of nodding in agreement as well. And then at the end, "But I want to learn. So, I'll do it, just like, maybe 8 minutes at a time. I mean, that's a lot of time to devote to something in any one burst. People don't eat for 8 minutes, or cook for that long, I mean I don't even cook at all. Just order stuff, and it shows up! Like magic." Bright eyes, big, she gasps, and says, "I don't know why I didn't think of that before! Thanks. You are awesome, let me know when you wanna do this again! Gotta go!" And she turns, and in reverse of her excited nature she starts to move slowly toward the exit. Leaving behind her shotgun, but she isn't going to stop to get it just, working her way out.