Shooting Range - Kevin and Shatterstar
Aug. 24th, 2023 03:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsKevin agrees to teach Shatterstar how to shoot.
It seemed that someone had spilled the beans on him. Kevin huffed, leaning against a counter at the gun range he'd taken Gabriel, Darcy, Quire and now his latest request. His eyes checked the handguns on the tray for the tenth time out of habit. Was this the cost of getting older? He was now in teacher mode forever? Still, he settled himself in the spot, waiting for this new pupil.
Shatterstar, for once, seemed uncomfortable with being in a combat space. He didn't like the distance gums, or any other long distance weapon, gave people from the people they hurt. Unfortunately though, long distance weapons included his own powers. He valued Darcy's advice though about his aim being improved with a weapon that was a little more controllable with a much more controlled environment. Maybe he'd get more comfortable with guns if he knew how to use them.
"Miss Darcy mentioned you very highly, Mr. Sydney," he said and offered his hand to the older man. "I'm Shatterstar."
"Miss Darcy is a smart lady. You should listen to her." He said, as easily and smoothly as the handshake. "So I'm told that you want to learn how to shoot. Handguns, specifically. That correct?"
"No," Shatterstar said bluntly as he let go of the handshake. "But I want my aim to get better so I can use my powers more safely and Miss Darcy suggested this so I'm willing to try." He paused. "And I need to get over my apprehension of firearms someday, right?"
He had also wanted to meet the mysterious Mr Sydney as well.
"Fair enough. Not the first person with an aversion to guns I've taught." Kevin turned towards the range for a second and then back. "Ever fired a gun before? Any type?"
Shatterstar shook his head. "No. I've only been on the other side of them." Unfortunately cops and juvenile detention officers didn't take kindly to a mutant using their powers in dangerous ways. He had never actually been scared of being shot at in the moment, but it felt strange to admit it to Sydney. "Never actually shot at," he clarified. "And certainly never shot one."
"On the plus side, it means you don't have any bad habits." Kevin motioned him over. "These are the rules. You don't touch a gun until I give you permission. You always check if the weapon is loaded and the safety is on every single time. And you don't point a gun at anything you're not intending to shoot. Can you live with that?"
He hadn't thought of guns having safety rules, which in retrospect he felt a little stupid for, but honestly hearing these rules Sydney gave him made him feel a little more confident about this whole interaction. He put his shoulders back and nodded. "Yes, sir." He waited a second before saying, "You'll have to teach me how to check the safety and if it's loaded too. I'm sure I can figure it out but that doesn't sound safe."
"Don't worry. I'll walk you through everything. But no matter how much I teach you, those rules apply every time you approach a gun." Kevin pointed out. "A gun is a tool, but a dangerous one. You treat it like a dangerous tool, you'll stay safe."
Shatterstar nodded again. "Yes, sir." He respected weapons a lot, and a gun was just another type of weapon. "That makes sense."
"Good. I hate it when someone shoots off a couple of toes on my watch." Kevin walked over to the tray, picked up an automatic pistol, and pulled back the slide. He brought it over, showed the empty magazine slot in the frame and then the empty chamber. "This gun is safe. You can only say that if you've cleared and checked the weapon personally." He snapped the slide back in place. "Take it. Pull the trigger a few times. See how it feels in your hand."
Shatterstar thought that Mr. Sydney was probably joking about the shot off toes. Maybe. He followed after him and watched with keen intent at the actions he performed. Instead of pulling the trigger right away when he gingerly took the gun, he repeated the same action of pulling back the slide before looking at the empty magazine. Only then did he raise the pistol at one of the targets and pull the trigger.
"It's lighter than I was expecting."
"It will be heavier when loaded, but yeah, Glocks, especially chambered in 9mm tend to be pretty light. Do you want more weight?" Kevin said, arms crossed as he leaned against the side of the range stand. "Some people feel more comfortable with a bit of heft. How does it feel in your hand? No straining to pull the trigger? Moving it around to sight up?
"It feels too light," he replied. Shatterstar had no strain in pulling the trigger and with as good as his eyesight was, it was easy to sight up, even if he wasn't sure he was doing it correctly. But it felt like something designed to kill people should have more weight to it. "But I think I can use it. Did I do the aiming and sighting right?"
"No way to tell that until bullets start coming out the front." Kevin took the Glock from him and replaced it with a different, heavier pistol. "This is the Browning 9mm. A little more weight, better recoil control. See how that feels? It's important that you're comfortable with the weapon you're training with."
This one, the Browning, felt better in his hand and less toy-like than the weight of the other gun. Shatterstar figured out where the slide was and looked at the magazine- empty as well. "This is better," he told Kevin.
"Good. So we'll do this for real." He reached over and passed a pair of glasses and ear protection to him. "Put these on while I load the gun."
He hadn't even thought about how loud firing a gun would be- it was bad enough with his hearing to hear gunshots when he wasn't right next to them. Shatterstar put the ear protection on gratefully and then the eye protection. He watched Kevin with interest.
"Ok, so we'll do this simple." Kevin nodded down the range at the target; a simple Q target. "Raise the pistol with the arm at full extension. Take your other hand, wrap it around the fingers holding the grip. Set your trigger finger against the trigger guard, not the trigger." Kevin helped move Shatterstar's hands and arms until he was satisfied with the stance. "So, in this stance, you aim using your body and arms, so the gun is like the end of a turret. That way, you're always stable and able to absorb the recoil."
He tensed at Kevin's hands on his as he adjusted his stance, the urge to elbow the man in the face strong. It'd been a long time since someone had physically corrected his stance like this, and he knew he was over reacting, so he tried to relax. He tightened his grip on the trigger guard, then loosened it. "Strong stance. Right."
He found it hard to focus on the gun and the target all at once. One was always slightly blurry, which frustrated him. His hands were steady though.
"Now, when you're ready, I want you to take a deep breath and sight up the target. Aim for centre mass." He pointed down to the target; a simple human silhouette of a head and upper body. "Then, let the breath out slowly as you squeeze the trigger. Don't jerk it. Just a smooth steady motion."
Shatterstar aimed for the center of the target and took a deep breath, both to sight the target and to relieve the tingling growing in his arms. He doubted shooting and using his powers at the same time would be a good idea. He took another breath, then pulled the trigger. His wrists had been too loose and there was a lot of kickback. He couldn't tell if the vibrations in his arms were from the kickback or his powers. And even with ear protection, it was loud. He jerked slightly at the sound.
"Damn."
"It's that loud and it kicks that hard. Now you know." Kevin said, haven't as much as twitched with the wild shot. "Get back in your position, take a breath and try it again. Anticipate the sound and the recoil."
Shatterstar was frowning to himself, frustrated and shook his head once as he took a breath, then another. He held the gun with firmer wrists and was already grimacing at the sound. He pulled the trigger again. It wasn't a good shot, but it hit the target. Just not with any sort of good aim.
"Good. I want you to keep doing that until the clip is empty." Kevin said, stepping back from the range so he was out of Shatterstar's peripheral vision. "Sight, breathe, shoot. Sight, breathe, shoot."
It was slightly easier to focus with Kevin out of his sight. Shatterstar had released two shots already.
He lined up the shot, breathed, shot. Three.
Sight, breathe, shot. Four.
Sight, breathe, shot. Five.
He lowered the gun slightly for a moment to take a larger breath, making sure that his powers weren't building up and the vibrations were kickback only. The last thing either of them needed was for him to use his powers while shooting a gun.
Shatterstar rose the pistol again. Sight, breathe, shot. Six.
Sight, breathe, shot. Seven. Shatterstar tried to force himself to not get frustrated with how poorly he was shooting.
He went slower this time. Sight. Breathe. Sight again. Shot. Eight. Better.
Sight. Breathe. Shot. Nine.
Sight. Breathe. Shot. Ten. Magazine empty.
"That one was okay, I think," he said, lowering the gun and making sure his finger was on the trigger guard.
"Remove the magazine, work the slide to ensure it is empty." Kevin said, and once Shatterstar had completed the actions, he took it and put it back on the tray before pressing the button to bring the target in close to them to look at. Only three shots hit the target, and of the three, only one was centre mass. He tapped the target. "These three holes are your last three shots. Because you stopped trying to flinch away from the recoil and instead absorbed it. That's why they landed better."
He caught sight of Shatterstar's face and shook his head. "Movies lie. Hitting a target with an automatic pistol is hard work. It might not feel like it, but this is a good start."
Shatterstar still wasn't convinced. He shook his head. "I shouldn't have flinched. But... Thank you." He did take the praise to heart. Kevin Sydney didn't seem like someone to say something was good if it wasn't. Still, he was frustrated with himself for flinching. He thought he had gotten over flinching at things years ago.
"Thank you for being willing to teach me."
"This is just the start... assuming you still want to properly learn." He went over and picked up another tray, stacked with pre-loaded clips. He placed it on the counter next to the pistol he'd cleared. "If so, you have another hundred and ninety rounds to fire today. And next week, at this day and time, I'll be here with another two hundred rounds. And each week after until you're comfortable with your skills. If you're not committed or blow off a session without a good reason, you'll need to find someone else. That sound fair?"
Shatterstar thought for a moment before committing but nodded. "That's very fair." He doubted this would ever be something he would ever want to rely on, but it would help him in other areas. "I will be here every week until my aim is good."
It seemed that someone had spilled the beans on him. Kevin huffed, leaning against a counter at the gun range he'd taken Gabriel, Darcy, Quire and now his latest request. His eyes checked the handguns on the tray for the tenth time out of habit. Was this the cost of getting older? He was now in teacher mode forever? Still, he settled himself in the spot, waiting for this new pupil.
Shatterstar, for once, seemed uncomfortable with being in a combat space. He didn't like the distance gums, or any other long distance weapon, gave people from the people they hurt. Unfortunately though, long distance weapons included his own powers. He valued Darcy's advice though about his aim being improved with a weapon that was a little more controllable with a much more controlled environment. Maybe he'd get more comfortable with guns if he knew how to use them.
"Miss Darcy mentioned you very highly, Mr. Sydney," he said and offered his hand to the older man. "I'm Shatterstar."
"Miss Darcy is a smart lady. You should listen to her." He said, as easily and smoothly as the handshake. "So I'm told that you want to learn how to shoot. Handguns, specifically. That correct?"
"No," Shatterstar said bluntly as he let go of the handshake. "But I want my aim to get better so I can use my powers more safely and Miss Darcy suggested this so I'm willing to try." He paused. "And I need to get over my apprehension of firearms someday, right?"
He had also wanted to meet the mysterious Mr Sydney as well.
"Fair enough. Not the first person with an aversion to guns I've taught." Kevin turned towards the range for a second and then back. "Ever fired a gun before? Any type?"
Shatterstar shook his head. "No. I've only been on the other side of them." Unfortunately cops and juvenile detention officers didn't take kindly to a mutant using their powers in dangerous ways. He had never actually been scared of being shot at in the moment, but it felt strange to admit it to Sydney. "Never actually shot at," he clarified. "And certainly never shot one."
"On the plus side, it means you don't have any bad habits." Kevin motioned him over. "These are the rules. You don't touch a gun until I give you permission. You always check if the weapon is loaded and the safety is on every single time. And you don't point a gun at anything you're not intending to shoot. Can you live with that?"
He hadn't thought of guns having safety rules, which in retrospect he felt a little stupid for, but honestly hearing these rules Sydney gave him made him feel a little more confident about this whole interaction. He put his shoulders back and nodded. "Yes, sir." He waited a second before saying, "You'll have to teach me how to check the safety and if it's loaded too. I'm sure I can figure it out but that doesn't sound safe."
"Don't worry. I'll walk you through everything. But no matter how much I teach you, those rules apply every time you approach a gun." Kevin pointed out. "A gun is a tool, but a dangerous one. You treat it like a dangerous tool, you'll stay safe."
Shatterstar nodded again. "Yes, sir." He respected weapons a lot, and a gun was just another type of weapon. "That makes sense."
"Good. I hate it when someone shoots off a couple of toes on my watch." Kevin walked over to the tray, picked up an automatic pistol, and pulled back the slide. He brought it over, showed the empty magazine slot in the frame and then the empty chamber. "This gun is safe. You can only say that if you've cleared and checked the weapon personally." He snapped the slide back in place. "Take it. Pull the trigger a few times. See how it feels in your hand."
Shatterstar thought that Mr. Sydney was probably joking about the shot off toes. Maybe. He followed after him and watched with keen intent at the actions he performed. Instead of pulling the trigger right away when he gingerly took the gun, he repeated the same action of pulling back the slide before looking at the empty magazine. Only then did he raise the pistol at one of the targets and pull the trigger.
"It's lighter than I was expecting."
"It will be heavier when loaded, but yeah, Glocks, especially chambered in 9mm tend to be pretty light. Do you want more weight?" Kevin said, arms crossed as he leaned against the side of the range stand. "Some people feel more comfortable with a bit of heft. How does it feel in your hand? No straining to pull the trigger? Moving it around to sight up?
"It feels too light," he replied. Shatterstar had no strain in pulling the trigger and with as good as his eyesight was, it was easy to sight up, even if he wasn't sure he was doing it correctly. But it felt like something designed to kill people should have more weight to it. "But I think I can use it. Did I do the aiming and sighting right?"
"No way to tell that until bullets start coming out the front." Kevin took the Glock from him and replaced it with a different, heavier pistol. "This is the Browning 9mm. A little more weight, better recoil control. See how that feels? It's important that you're comfortable with the weapon you're training with."
This one, the Browning, felt better in his hand and less toy-like than the weight of the other gun. Shatterstar figured out where the slide was and looked at the magazine- empty as well. "This is better," he told Kevin.
"Good. So we'll do this for real." He reached over and passed a pair of glasses and ear protection to him. "Put these on while I load the gun."
He hadn't even thought about how loud firing a gun would be- it was bad enough with his hearing to hear gunshots when he wasn't right next to them. Shatterstar put the ear protection on gratefully and then the eye protection. He watched Kevin with interest.
"Ok, so we'll do this simple." Kevin nodded down the range at the target; a simple Q target. "Raise the pistol with the arm at full extension. Take your other hand, wrap it around the fingers holding the grip. Set your trigger finger against the trigger guard, not the trigger." Kevin helped move Shatterstar's hands and arms until he was satisfied with the stance. "So, in this stance, you aim using your body and arms, so the gun is like the end of a turret. That way, you're always stable and able to absorb the recoil."
He tensed at Kevin's hands on his as he adjusted his stance, the urge to elbow the man in the face strong. It'd been a long time since someone had physically corrected his stance like this, and he knew he was over reacting, so he tried to relax. He tightened his grip on the trigger guard, then loosened it. "Strong stance. Right."
He found it hard to focus on the gun and the target all at once. One was always slightly blurry, which frustrated him. His hands were steady though.
"Now, when you're ready, I want you to take a deep breath and sight up the target. Aim for centre mass." He pointed down to the target; a simple human silhouette of a head and upper body. "Then, let the breath out slowly as you squeeze the trigger. Don't jerk it. Just a smooth steady motion."
Shatterstar aimed for the center of the target and took a deep breath, both to sight the target and to relieve the tingling growing in his arms. He doubted shooting and using his powers at the same time would be a good idea. He took another breath, then pulled the trigger. His wrists had been too loose and there was a lot of kickback. He couldn't tell if the vibrations in his arms were from the kickback or his powers. And even with ear protection, it was loud. He jerked slightly at the sound.
"Damn."
"It's that loud and it kicks that hard. Now you know." Kevin said, haven't as much as twitched with the wild shot. "Get back in your position, take a breath and try it again. Anticipate the sound and the recoil."
Shatterstar was frowning to himself, frustrated and shook his head once as he took a breath, then another. He held the gun with firmer wrists and was already grimacing at the sound. He pulled the trigger again. It wasn't a good shot, but it hit the target. Just not with any sort of good aim.
"Good. I want you to keep doing that until the clip is empty." Kevin said, stepping back from the range so he was out of Shatterstar's peripheral vision. "Sight, breathe, shoot. Sight, breathe, shoot."
It was slightly easier to focus with Kevin out of his sight. Shatterstar had released two shots already.
He lined up the shot, breathed, shot. Three.
Sight, breathe, shot. Four.
Sight, breathe, shot. Five.
He lowered the gun slightly for a moment to take a larger breath, making sure that his powers weren't building up and the vibrations were kickback only. The last thing either of them needed was for him to use his powers while shooting a gun.
Shatterstar rose the pistol again. Sight, breathe, shot. Six.
Sight, breathe, shot. Seven. Shatterstar tried to force himself to not get frustrated with how poorly he was shooting.
He went slower this time. Sight. Breathe. Sight again. Shot. Eight. Better.
Sight. Breathe. Shot. Nine.
Sight. Breathe. Shot. Ten. Magazine empty.
"That one was okay, I think," he said, lowering the gun and making sure his finger was on the trigger guard.
"Remove the magazine, work the slide to ensure it is empty." Kevin said, and once Shatterstar had completed the actions, he took it and put it back on the tray before pressing the button to bring the target in close to them to look at. Only three shots hit the target, and of the three, only one was centre mass. He tapped the target. "These three holes are your last three shots. Because you stopped trying to flinch away from the recoil and instead absorbed it. That's why they landed better."
He caught sight of Shatterstar's face and shook his head. "Movies lie. Hitting a target with an automatic pistol is hard work. It might not feel like it, but this is a good start."
Shatterstar still wasn't convinced. He shook his head. "I shouldn't have flinched. But... Thank you." He did take the praise to heart. Kevin Sydney didn't seem like someone to say something was good if it wasn't. Still, he was frustrated with himself for flinching. He thought he had gotten over flinching at things years ago.
"Thank you for being willing to teach me."
"This is just the start... assuming you still want to properly learn." He went over and picked up another tray, stacked with pre-loaded clips. He placed it on the counter next to the pistol he'd cleared. "If so, you have another hundred and ninety rounds to fire today. And next week, at this day and time, I'll be here with another two hundred rounds. And each week after until you're comfortable with your skills. If you're not committed or blow off a session without a good reason, you'll need to find someone else. That sound fair?"
Shatterstar thought for a moment before committing but nodded. "That's very fair." He doubted this would ever be something he would ever want to rely on, but it would help him in other areas. "I will be here every week until my aim is good."
