Terry & Darcy: Axe-throwing (backdated)

[xp_darcy]

Terry and Darcy walked into Hatchet & Hops, signing in and following their instructor to one of the caged lanes. After several minutes of instruction and a few demonstrations, they were free to play. Darcy picked up one of the lighter axes, testing the way it felt in her grip, and gave Terry a sunny grin. "Second place buys the second round?" Then she focused on the board, and let the axe fly, a groan of disappointment when it hit and fell.

"Works for me," Terry said, reaching for her own hand axe and then just holding it for a moment. It was an odd juxtaposition, being here with Darcy while everyone was still at the mansion... she almost felt like she'd abandoned Kyle and Jean. Rationally, she knew that was ridiculous. She needed time to herself to cope with how what'd happened made her feel -- she needed to be stable in her own mind before she could even think about being the kind of rock for her friend and her boyfriend that she wanted to be.

Still.

It lingered.

Exhaling a long, controlled, breath, Terry narrowed her eyes at the target, pulled back the way the instructors had demonstrated, then hurled the thing at the target. She snorted a bit, smiling despite herself when her axe clunked to the floor and bounced near where Darcy's had landed. "At this rate, we'll be buyin' our own drinks again."

"Nah, we'll get this." Darcy retrieved her axe and took her spot at the tape. She threw with a lighter hand this time, an exultant punch to the air when it stuck on the outer blue ring. "And I've got first round, since I dragged you away from medical. Destress here so we don't scare anyone by screaming in the pantry at home."

Tipping her head in acknowledgement at the pantry comment, Terry picked up another axe and heaved it through the air, just as she had the first. Her throwing aim was better, at least, but the axe still fell to the ground with another thud. "Bollocks," she muttered, shaking her head. "I'll be payin' for all the drinks after, mark m'words. Never had much use for throwin' things," she said.

"Think you might be throwing too hard?" Her next toss was underhand and hit at an angle, falling with a thunk to the floor. "Board's got a little bit of a bounce to it. Not a lot, but enough that it doesn't wedge in unless you finesse it a bit."

"Finesse it," Terry muttered, finding herself almost immeasurably amused. Still, she picked up another axe and attempted to throw it... less hard but still hard enough to actually reach the target. It did, at least, though apparently she'd gone too light and, while it hit one of the rings, it only held its spot for a few moments before falling to the ground. "Ha!" She did a small victory dance, anyway.

"Heck yeah!" Darcy cheered with a laugh. "Totally counting that, it didn't immediately fall." Her next throw was on, sticking in the second ring, and she did a shimmy as she moved to pick it up.

"Brilliant!" Terry actually laughed for a moment. "Aye, alright. I'm probably still goin' t'be terrible at this, but now I've got a feel for it..." She picked up another axe and, attempting the same sort of move as she'd previously made, threw that one. It hit the outside circle and actually stuck.

"See, just had to get into the groove," Darcy agreed. She tossed her axe, watching it land outside the rings. At least it'd stuck, this time. "Want to do another match after this, or get food and drinks?"

"Excellent question," Terry muttered, hefting her axe up for a moment as she thought about it. "Food and drinks," she finally decided. "Then another match?"

"Sounds good to me." Darcy watched Terry's throw, mentally calculating the score as it stuck. "And that's me buying the first two rounds. You're gonna demolish me next round I bet." They gathered their axes and returned them, making their way to a table with a good view of the lanes. She opened the drink menu first, smiling at the list of ciders. "I'm thinking a cider and pizza for me. What about you?"

"Mayhap just a cider," Terry mused. "D'they have Strongbow here? It's difficult t'find Stateside, sadly." She found she wasn't terribly hungry, but she wasn't writing off food entirely. "Lord, it feels awful t'say, but it's good t'be away from the mansion."

"Looks like it," Darcy replied as she pointed at the menu. "And it is nice, the tension was driving me up a wall. I may still duck into the city this weekend so I don't crawl out of my skin, but this might be enough to let me wait a few weeks instead."

"Ooooh," Terry practically cooed at the menu. "Brilliant." Then she gave a soft hum. "I think it's mostly... it's the inability t'do anythin' about what's happened. M'best friend and m'boyfriend wind up..." She waved her arm to encompass the entirety of the situation with their last mission. "Which leaves me where, exactly? Just... bringin' soup and calcium supplements, Lord bless 'em.

"An' knowin' it's only a matter o' time once they're healed up before they're out an' about gettin' the shite beaten out o' 'em," Terry finished, shaking her head.

One of the waiters stopped next to their table. "Ready to order?"

Once they'd placed orders, Darcy turned to Terry with a serious look on her face. "Not being in the field with them is incredibly sucky and stressful, sometimes. But we aren't doing nothing. We're feeding them, patching them up when it's in our capabilities, giving them our love and care and support." She thought about Matt for a minute, and grinned wryly. "Even when they go back out half-healed and full of dumbassery just to take another beating."

"I know," Terry said, offering Darcy a genuine smile, soft around the edges and tired. "Up here, I know it," she continued, tapping her temple. "It's harder t'reconcile with m'heart, but I'm workin' on it. Tryin' to, at least. This helps. Thank you for invitin' me."

"You're welcome. It's nice to have someone to unwind with who gets it. And we try to get them the good intel too, so they don't end up like that every time. Just. Nature of our lives, really." A pint of cider slid in front of her, and the thanked the waiter before tipping it towards Terry. "Slainte."

Still smiling, Terry clinked her pint against Darcy's. "Slainte." It was nice, being out with someone else who really understood how difficult it could be, sitting on the sidelines while their friends and family went out a-heroing. "We should do this again."

"Absolutely," Darcy replied with a beaming smile.