Doug & Mel | Range Time
Nov. 20th, 2025 12:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsBackdated to November 20th, 2025 Practice makes perfect, that's what they say.
Doug generally spent time in the mansion's small gun range at least once a week to keep his skills fresh. Usually it was pistols, though he would occasionally send targets out to the limit for something larger. (Practicing at sniper distances required finding somewhere outside, usually with Kevin to spot.) Or sometimes he'd hang a reinforced target as close as possible and work with throwing knives. The key was to make practice a habit without getting too far into a rut of making it routine.
Today was pistols, though, and he had his weapon and ammo laid out neatly on a table as he cleaned his eye protectors and rolled plugs to put in his ears.
Mel was feeling twitchy as she poked her head in the range door. She’d heard about it, but not actually been inside yet.
It’d been ages since she shot. She couldn’t have Lizzie showing her up at Christmas.
That was what she told herself, anyways, as she sent a wave Doug’s way. Totally no other emotional issues going on.
Doug took the one plug he'd put in out of his ear and waved back. "Hey there, Mel. How's things?" He picked up on the slight twitchy vibe, but figured if it was important she'd give context.
“Howdy. They’re.. um. Going.” ‘Good’ would’ve been a total lie, and ‘bad’ would’ve been impolite. She cracked a half smile. “How’ve you been? Any holiday plans?”
Maybe it was the whole 'elder sibling union' thing, but Doug definitely read plenty into the 'going' from Mel. Somehow he would bet she'd have put up more of a cheerful facade for Sam. "Been all right, if kinda boring lately. All work and no play, yadda yadda." He shrugged. "No real holiday plans for me this year. Probably just hang around the mansion, exchange gifts, that sort of thing."
“Fair ‘nough.” She sidled over closer to take a peak at his gun. “Whatcha got goin’ on in here?” It had been somewhat surprising this place even had a range. Not many seemed the firearm type.
"Just keeping in practice," Doug replied. "I'm usually down here every so often." Knowing Sam and the other Guthries, he didn't bother asking if Mel knew her way around firearms, that was just a given. "You looking to get some practice time?"
"Maybe, though I ain't so familiar with pistols. We mainly use a shotgun back home." She was well aware she was a walking talking stereotype in many ways. Though not a bad shot at all. After Lizzie, Mel liked to think she was one of the better in her family. "I wouldn't want to intrude though."
Doug waved off the last comment. "You're not intruding at all. Like I said, I just keep in practice, happy to help if you want to give it..." He grinned and made finger guns as he delivered a terrible pun. "...a shot."
That earned him a smile that cracked wide across her face. “If Sammy starts usin’ jokes like that I know who to blame,” she grinned. “If ya wouldn’t mind? Good thing to know, I figure.”
"Us older brothers gotta have each others' backs, y'know." Doug laid the pistol on the table and went looking for another set of ear protectors and shooting glasses. "Don't mind at all. A little extra knowledge is never a bad thing, gives you another skill in your toolbox, even if you wind up never needing it." That was him boiled down to its essence - always wanting to know things.
"Mhm, yeah. Seems I'm pickin' up quite a few of those here." She was now confident in her ability to whoop Bobby John Cabot's ass if he ever tried shit again, for one. But most dangers seemed so much bigger than her blood feud back home.
Doug made a self-deprecating move of his shoulder. "I'm one of those sorts who believes in being prepared for as much as you can. Better to have something and not need it, than to need it and not have it." The Batman approach to navigating the world, some might call it. "That way whatever comes, you're more likely to be able to roll with it." Granted, the world he lived in meant quite a wider variety of potential things to be able to roll with, but at this point he'd be bored with 'normal', to be honest.
Mel slid on the spare pair of glasses. This was all much more… official than practicing back home. “Very wise of ya.”
"All right, let's see what you got." Doug indicated the target he'd already set up for pistol practice and the unloaded pistol where it sat on the table.
Taking the gun in one hand, she loaded in a fresh magazine and took a moment to feel the weight of it in her hand. It was a cold, solid thing. She got into position in front of the target and clicked off the safety.
With a bang a bullet punctured the “7” ring. Mel frowned and readjusted for the weapons kick back. She was too hunched up and could feel it. The next few shots landed her in the same range. A 6, another 7, two 8’s, and a lucky 9.
She was usually better than this.
Doug examined the target. Decent enough to be going on with, though he definitely caught the feeling that Mel was frustrated with her performance. "You always shoot one-handed?" he asked curiously. The side-on single hand grip was more of an old-fashioned technique, he himself preferring the two-handed Weaver stance. "Seems like you needed to get used to the recoil. Been a while since you last shot?" There was no judgment, just the underlying offer of assistance if she wanted it.
Mel clicked on the safety briefly and shrugged. “Yeah, jus’ how I was taught. An’ it’s been a few months. I ain’t been keepin’ up with it down here.” It had crossed her mind that it might be useful to own a gun with all that she got in to, but she hadn’t gotten around to it. “How would you do it?”
"I usually go two handed," Doug replied easily as he sent a fresh target downrange. He took the pistol from Mel and demonstrated, angling his body to the side and putting a fresh clip in. His target came back mostly 9s, a few poor 8s, and a couple in the 10 forming a misshapen blob. "But honestly, stance is a preference at the end of the day."
“Huh, yeah. I suppose that would help with stability a ‘mite.” She mirrored his movement after the fact, trying to see what suited her better.
Doug nodded, letting Mel get a feel for the differences. "Really, practice is the best thing you can do to keep things from getting rusty. The more you use a skill, the easier it is to maintain it."
“I reckon yer right, about that an’ the two hands.”
Doug generally spent time in the mansion's small gun range at least once a week to keep his skills fresh. Usually it was pistols, though he would occasionally send targets out to the limit for something larger. (Practicing at sniper distances required finding somewhere outside, usually with Kevin to spot.) Or sometimes he'd hang a reinforced target as close as possible and work with throwing knives. The key was to make practice a habit without getting too far into a rut of making it routine.
Today was pistols, though, and he had his weapon and ammo laid out neatly on a table as he cleaned his eye protectors and rolled plugs to put in his ears.
Mel was feeling twitchy as she poked her head in the range door. She’d heard about it, but not actually been inside yet.
It’d been ages since she shot. She couldn’t have Lizzie showing her up at Christmas.
That was what she told herself, anyways, as she sent a wave Doug’s way. Totally no other emotional issues going on.
Doug took the one plug he'd put in out of his ear and waved back. "Hey there, Mel. How's things?" He picked up on the slight twitchy vibe, but figured if it was important she'd give context.
“Howdy. They’re.. um. Going.” ‘Good’ would’ve been a total lie, and ‘bad’ would’ve been impolite. She cracked a half smile. “How’ve you been? Any holiday plans?”
Maybe it was the whole 'elder sibling union' thing, but Doug definitely read plenty into the 'going' from Mel. Somehow he would bet she'd have put up more of a cheerful facade for Sam. "Been all right, if kinda boring lately. All work and no play, yadda yadda." He shrugged. "No real holiday plans for me this year. Probably just hang around the mansion, exchange gifts, that sort of thing."
“Fair ‘nough.” She sidled over closer to take a peak at his gun. “Whatcha got goin’ on in here?” It had been somewhat surprising this place even had a range. Not many seemed the firearm type.
"Just keeping in practice," Doug replied. "I'm usually down here every so often." Knowing Sam and the other Guthries, he didn't bother asking if Mel knew her way around firearms, that was just a given. "You looking to get some practice time?"
"Maybe, though I ain't so familiar with pistols. We mainly use a shotgun back home." She was well aware she was a walking talking stereotype in many ways. Though not a bad shot at all. After Lizzie, Mel liked to think she was one of the better in her family. "I wouldn't want to intrude though."
Doug waved off the last comment. "You're not intruding at all. Like I said, I just keep in practice, happy to help if you want to give it..." He grinned and made finger guns as he delivered a terrible pun. "...a shot."
That earned him a smile that cracked wide across her face. “If Sammy starts usin’ jokes like that I know who to blame,” she grinned. “If ya wouldn’t mind? Good thing to know, I figure.”
"Us older brothers gotta have each others' backs, y'know." Doug laid the pistol on the table and went looking for another set of ear protectors and shooting glasses. "Don't mind at all. A little extra knowledge is never a bad thing, gives you another skill in your toolbox, even if you wind up never needing it." That was him boiled down to its essence - always wanting to know things.
"Mhm, yeah. Seems I'm pickin' up quite a few of those here." She was now confident in her ability to whoop Bobby John Cabot's ass if he ever tried shit again, for one. But most dangers seemed so much bigger than her blood feud back home.
Doug made a self-deprecating move of his shoulder. "I'm one of those sorts who believes in being prepared for as much as you can. Better to have something and not need it, than to need it and not have it." The Batman approach to navigating the world, some might call it. "That way whatever comes, you're more likely to be able to roll with it." Granted, the world he lived in meant quite a wider variety of potential things to be able to roll with, but at this point he'd be bored with 'normal', to be honest.
Mel slid on the spare pair of glasses. This was all much more… official than practicing back home. “Very wise of ya.”
"All right, let's see what you got." Doug indicated the target he'd already set up for pistol practice and the unloaded pistol where it sat on the table.
Taking the gun in one hand, she loaded in a fresh magazine and took a moment to feel the weight of it in her hand. It was a cold, solid thing. She got into position in front of the target and clicked off the safety.
With a bang a bullet punctured the “7” ring. Mel frowned and readjusted for the weapons kick back. She was too hunched up and could feel it. The next few shots landed her in the same range. A 6, another 7, two 8’s, and a lucky 9.
She was usually better than this.
Doug examined the target. Decent enough to be going on with, though he definitely caught the feeling that Mel was frustrated with her performance. "You always shoot one-handed?" he asked curiously. The side-on single hand grip was more of an old-fashioned technique, he himself preferring the two-handed Weaver stance. "Seems like you needed to get used to the recoil. Been a while since you last shot?" There was no judgment, just the underlying offer of assistance if she wanted it.
Mel clicked on the safety briefly and shrugged. “Yeah, jus’ how I was taught. An’ it’s been a few months. I ain’t been keepin’ up with it down here.” It had crossed her mind that it might be useful to own a gun with all that she got in to, but she hadn’t gotten around to it. “How would you do it?”
"I usually go two handed," Doug replied easily as he sent a fresh target downrange. He took the pistol from Mel and demonstrated, angling his body to the side and putting a fresh clip in. His target came back mostly 9s, a few poor 8s, and a couple in the 10 forming a misshapen blob. "But honestly, stance is a preference at the end of the day."
“Huh, yeah. I suppose that would help with stability a ‘mite.” She mirrored his movement after the fact, trying to see what suited her better.
Doug nodded, letting Mel get a feel for the differences. "Really, practice is the best thing you can do to keep things from getting rusty. The more you use a skill, the easier it is to maintain it."
“I reckon yer right, about that an’ the two hands.”
