revivalproject | Birds of a Feather

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Birds of a Feather

WHO: Robin Buckley
WHERE: Temba
WHAT: Crossbow Practice, Capra Hypnosis
WHEN: February
WARNINGS: N/A

I. Target Practice?

Okay, time to really learn this thing. It wasn't something she could do well on the ships, but now... Now she has space. Space and a whole hell of a lot of wooden boxes piled up against a ruined building's facade. Okay. She can do this.

Deep breaths.

Robin checks the safety on her crossbow. She breathes in as she lifts it. She raises the stock. Her finger hovers just over the trigger...

And she yelps when she hears a noise. This of course results in her pulling the trigger reflexively and sending the bolt shooting off to hit a nearby tree. Which was not her target. Oops.

II. Losing Yourself

Listen, there was never a point in Robin's life where she had been in a position to consider this. There were lots of weird things that happened here, and weird things that happened back home. She even believed in psychics, okay? But come on, just watching a herd of strange creatures?

Well why would she ever expect they were psychic?

So there she was, minding her own business (or maybe their business), and now the girl was starting to climb a tree to get toward tender leaves to throw down for the creatures. Probably not a good choice given she's a bit clumsy.

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The noise was Alec, because the crossbow-wielding woman isn't the only one looking to get some target practice in today. Alec's much more familiar with his weapon though; as far as he can tell it's his exact bow from back home, not something that just looks similar. The adamas is warm in his hands; the grip has its familiar feel. It's his bow. And what better way to greet what he considers an extension of his own body by putting it through its paces? Seeing the targets setup for crossbow shooting from a distance, his first instinct had been to leave the woman alone. But he dismissed it a moment later; he could hear both Jace and Izzy in his head admonishing him for being a surly loner. Sharing a target range counted as being friendly, right? With the added bonus of shooting taking all of their attention; Alec anticipates minimal talking. Perfect.

Unfortunately he'd chosen an oblique path to reach her, which took him right through the trees that had not meant at all to be a target.

"Woah!" Fortunately Alec's reflexes tend to be better than a regular human's, and it's not like the woman had been aiming at him. Still it's a much closer call than he would have liked and he's cautious to come out from the small grouping of trees with his hands up and visible. "I'll surrender if it'll make you feel better."

"Oh no," Robin says, lowering the weapon. Amazingly she doesn't drop it. "Oh no. Oh god. See, this is why Nancy gets the gun and I get the cocktails."

She runs forward to meet the man to apologize.

"I'm so sorry. I'm not a weapon person. But the aliens, they gave me it. And it felt smart to have. But I don't know how to use it. And now I've almost shot someone twice. Oh god. I didn't hit you, right? Fuck. I'm sorry. Please don't hate me. I didn't mean for it. Why does the thing have so much kick? It's only an arrow, not a gun!"

It's actually a bolt, but she doesn't know.

"Oh. Woah," Alec replies, but this time is for an entirely different reason. He's fine, the bolt had flown well wide of him, but wearing all black means it's probably hard to tell he's not bleeding.

"Okay. It's okay. No harm done." Is that reassuring? Hopefully it's reassuring, because the fact that the Agrii just gave a crossbow to someone who doesn't know how to use it is not reassuring.

"Calm down. I don't hate you." He should say that, right? More reassurance? "I was actually headed this way because I saw you had a target set up, I was going to see if you were willing to share."

Is he sure? She's still looking at him intently, trying to be certain he isn't hurt. Even though the bolt is not really near him.

"Oh, uh... okay then. You can definitely use the targets. Not like I'm going to hit them. I didn't even know crossbows were made that weren't, like, in british history or something."

Of course he's sure. He wouldn't be moving so easily if he wasn't.

"They're still in use today. At least, where I'm from." Alec thinks about it for a moment. "Mostly for hunting, but still."

He moves fully into the clearing, which probably makes the bow and quiver at his back more visible. In a smooth motion he puts an arrow to the setting, loosing it to bullseye one of the targets. "It's not impossible. It just comes down to practice."

Wait, really? Huh, that's interesting. Though she has to wonder a) where he's from, and b) when he's from.

"Ew, hunting," she grumbled, like your typical hippie raised midwestern girl from a small town that had too many (in her opinion) hunters. Too many to the point where evil government experiments could kill people and it could be chalked up to 'hunting accidents' rather believably.

"Woooooah," she coos when she sees how easily he shoots the bow and arrow. "That was badass. Also, practice is something I'm lacking in the worst way."

Granted, the hunting that she's thinking of isn't exactly the kind of hunting in "Shadowhunter." Alec absolutely doesn't see a need to explain that though. He's more than happy to let her believe what she will.

"Only one way to get practice." In the words of Nike: just do it. Alec lowers his bow and considers his companion. "Not to sound insulting, but do you even know how to use that thing, or are you guessing?"

"Guessing," she admits honestly. "But I need a way to defend myself that isn't throwing molotov cocktails. Some people are getting annoyed at how I'm going through the booze here."

And it's not like she could weaponize marching band or soccer.

Privately Alec agrees with the annoyance, less because of the alcohol and more because of the mess. It's hard to contain an explosion or a fire; he thinks it's irresponsible. But he's not going to voice those thoughts; they won't gain him anything.

"Do you want to learn?" At least learn how to handle the weapon safely, which will likely make everyone around her a little safer too.

Hey! Not everyone has demon fighting weapons. Sometimes they have to make their own. Still, she looks leery of the idea.

"Is this anything like that?" she asks, pointing to his bow. Because if she did finally have a way to protect herself and people she loves...

"Like my bow? No, not really, it's different muscles and different technique. But I know how to use one and I can probably show you."

Even if she hated it, at least knowing how to handle the weapon safely should help. And it's not like Alec has a spare bow to share; his earlier attempts at asking for one had produced a child's toy. It's still in his room because he doesn't think littering is polite, even on an alien planet, and he doesn't know what else to do with it.

Okay, so how is he going to teach her if... Oh, that's the answer. He knows how it works. She sighs and lowers the weapon a bit more to hand to him.

"I should really know, yeah."

Alec takes the weapon, checking the safety first and ensuring it's not loaded and won't go off unexpectedly. Only then does he allow his fingers to explore it a little more, tracing the shape of the stock, feeling the strength in the bow arms and string.

"Do you mind if I fire it?" Before he starts teaching, he means.

"Go ahead. Clearly I can't be trusted with it like you could," he says with a sigh.

"Inexperience and irresponsibility are two different things. Don't name yourself the second if you're working to overcome the first." Alec raises the weapon to his shoulder; the stock is a little short for him but he can manage. Aiming down range he clicks the safety off and fires; the projectile hits left of the target and he lowers the crossbow carefully, flicking the safety back on.

"Sights are off, but that's fixable." And means that he wild firing earlier wasn't entirely her fault. "I don't like the trigger, but it doesn't matter what I like, it matters that you can use it. I'm going to unload it, then let's get you comfortable holding it to start."

"You should go into motivational speaking. Or at least real estate. That sort of wording things is definitely going to help people buy things from you. Not that I think you're selling stuff."

Oh no, there she goes again. The nervousness. Perhaps it's because she's seen movies. Movies where the guy gets really close to the girl to 'show her' how to do things. And if this turns into flirting she's going to die. She doesn't want guys flirting with her.

"Yeah, okay. I can do that. We can definitely do the showing of things. Yep. Demonstrations are definitely doable."

Oh god, shut her up.

"Oh no, that sounds horrible." In his heart, Alec's an introvert. He'd prefer to stay as far away from that kind of spotlight as possible. "Absolutely not for me."

Alec doesn't know that Robin's worried about flirting. But Robin probably doesn't know that she's got nothing to worry about from Alec. He's got no interest whatsoever outside of making sure she can safely handle the crossbow.

"Here." Alec drops the magazine out of the crossbow and holds it out. "I want you to take it. It's unloaded, and the safety is on. See it right here? You can flick it off and back on pretty easy. Try it."

Edited 2025-03-12 16:03 (UTC)

Oh, well, she supposes she could get that about him. Hopefully that would also mean he wasn't willing to be forward toward her. That would make ignoring any flirting easier. If she ever noticed it.

When he holds out the crossbow, the bolt removed, she takes it and looks at it.

"This thing here?" she asks, flicking hte safety off.

"Yes." Alec nods; maybe teaching don't be so bad, with an attentive student. "I'd argue that it's the most important part of that crossbow, period. Unless you're ready to shoot the safety should always, always be on. Even when it's not loaded. Safety on."

It's how he'd teach a child, but not insultingly. Alec can't help thinking of his brother Max, and his he'd want to keep him safe. Maybe he'll be able to teach Robin with the same patience — if she doesn't get tired of him.

"Alright. Always be safe. That's something they should tell high school boys. There's been a few times where girls and their families moved to 'be close to family' and all of that. It's really just sad."

Okay, she's rambling. With a blush she looks back to the crossbow.

"Um... okay." It's not something Alec can really relate to, given that a Shadowhunter education differs wildly from a normal human's. So he just forges on, because what else is he supposed to do?

"Now the back part of it, that's your stock. Which you've figured out goes against your shoulder, because when that thing fires it's gonna kick. I want you to raise it, show me how you hold it."

She knows how to raise it, actually. She saw Nancy do the same thing with a shotgun. She had been beautiful and powerful in that moment. So Robin raises the crossbow and braces it like she thinks she remembered seeing Nancy do.

Too bad her feet aren't stable for this.

"See? I know this part."

"Set your feet."

Because yeah, holding the weapon in a firing position is fine and all but all Alec can see is the recoil on the first shot knocking her entire positioning off. Or worse: something coming at her fast enough to tangle her legs.

"Your stance isn't nearly wide enough to be stable, especially when you fire that thing and the recoil hits you." Alec takes his bow off his shoulder, raises it and drawers back the string without an arrow. "See how I take a wider stance with my feet? It gives me more stability, especially since I have to deliberately line up a shot and fire. The same principle applies to you, especially when you're just learning."

Really? Robin looks down at his legs, and doesn't mention how she's relieved not to be touched by the guy. She considers and then tries widening her stance more.

"Like this?"

"That's a little better." Alec thinks for a moment and lowers his own bow. "Here, I've got an idea. Put everything down and face me for a minute."

Alec sets his own bow and quiver down nearby before facing Robin. He takes a stance similar to his archery stance, feet apart but arms relaxed. "C'mon just a little closer, your arms are shorter than mine. Now what you're gonna do is give my right shoulder a sudden, quick shove. Hard as you can."

She moves to face him after carefully putting the crossbow down. It's... weird facing him like this.

"You're a LOT bigger than me. What's the point?"

"Trust me, my sister reminds me of that every time she needs something from a top shelf." Alec of course it's just used to being tall. But having height over Robin isn't the point of the exercise. "Just shove me. You'll see."

If she does, she'll see that she's able to get him to unbalance and stumble back, feet far too close together to counter the sudden force.

She rolls her eyes before lunging forward to try and shove him off balance. And... What the fuck?

"I pushed you. What was the point of that?"

"Are you always this impatient?" Alec replies as he resets himself. This time he's got his feet set more properly, and much closer to the way he stands when he's actually training. "Do it again."

If Robin does in fact try again, she'll find Alec immovable: he's able to absorb the shock of the shove without losing his footing or stumbling back.

No, but she's anxious. And when she's anxious she's impatient. And that's something she can't really shake off. It's who she is. So she moves and shoves at Alec.

"Uh... Okay, but you're stronger than me. So that makes sense."

Except it doesn't make sense compared to earlier is it?

"Then why were you able to move me the first time?" Alec feels himself to be patient in the face of her impatience, because he's got a point and she should be close to understanding it. "Did you notice that I adjusted my stance after you pushed me the first time? I want to be able to absorb a sudden impact, like a shove."

He waits a beat, then connects the last dot. "Or the recoil from a crossbow."

Okay, now that's she's thinking about it, really bothering, she sighs.

"Physics. Dammit. That's a good point."

At least she gets it! Alec's shoulders relax a little, tension he hadn't realized he was holding. He hasn't completely screwed up this impromptu training session, at least not yet.

"I figured it'd be better to demonstrate than to just tell you." Mostly because people in general don't like to be corrected. "So let's work on your stance, then put the crossbow back in your hands. Sound good?"

"Yeah, it sounds good," she says. "But I don't want your hands on my legs or anything. Got it?"

Yeah, lesbian meets gay guy. It's awkward on both sides.

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Birds of a Feather

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