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[vorrutyer]

Who: Prior(ly) (priorly) & Byerly (vorrutyer)
What: By fusses about Prior's life potentially being in danger and consequently endangers his life. He's sssoooo good at his job.
When: The 26thish
Where: The jungle
Warning(s): Cursing without a doubt


[ By would not, by choice, be coming out into the jungle. It's a dreadful place, truly: full of buzzing insects and sweat and mud and foul odors. Give him the open plains stretching to the sea any day - better a hundred times over than this, the wretched sticky stinking jungle.

But he has a task out there, doesn't he? And the task is this: ensure that Prior has the tools he needs to avoid a bit of murder. And so he finds a relatively open clearing, far away from any place where anyone would be alerted by noise, and settles them down there. He brushes off a fallen log for Prior to sit upon, and then asks, a bit solicitously: ]

All right there, dear fellow? Do you need a rest?

Comments

[vorrutyer]

[ Wryly: ]

Speaking of performing monkeys...

[ But, obediently, he lifts his aim, squints just a moment, and shoots. The bullet and the berries go winging off together into the foliage. ]

[priorly]

[Applause!]

Very Clint Eastwood. Do you know, I could watch this all day.

[What if he just sits back here and does that?]

Now, let me pick a leaf I don't like the look of...

[vorrutyer]

[ Sigh. ]

Prior, dear fellow, I'm not going to use up all the ammunition and keep you from having to try.

[priorly]

[Guiltily, he stops mid-way back to the log. Looks over his shoulder, sheepish.]

It was worth a shot.

[And slowly retraces his steps back to Byerly.]

I've never even held one, is that ridiculous? Do I start with this one or your sleek little thing?

[vorrutyer]

This one.

[ He smiles faintly, ironically, appreciating that at least Prior didn't keep up the bullshit. ]

Tragically, this world does not make replacement energy packs for the stunner. So once I run though that battery, that's it. Good for another hundred shots or so - I'd sooner not use them on flowers and leaves. Besides which, how can we tell if a tree is stunned?

[priorly]

Oh is that what it does? [If anything he's more interested in Byerly's own weapon now, though he won't ask for it to be wasted on his account.] I don't mind so much about trees, but I'd be more comfortable knowing I wasn't making holes in anybody. It's so messy.

[He's seen the aftermath of a shooting, and while that's kind of a joke, it kind of isn't. It's just not a thing he can imagine inflicting by choice.

Though, maybe there are times when choice isn't quite the word.

Blowing the air out of his lungs in one quick rush, he holds out a hand.]

But as long as it's only trees.

[vorrutyer]

[ By passes him the gun without further comment. It's his intention, fully, to pass the stunner along to Prior at the end of all of this. It leaves him uneasy, the prospect of carrying only lethal weapons for himself; he himself certainly does not love the prospect of shooting to kill. But he doesn't think for a moment he'll ever be able to talk Prior into using anything but the stunner. He'll just have to traumatize Prior enough here to convince him that it's worth depriving Byerly of it.

Sometimes he does loathe good people, truly. ]

Alright. Weigh it in your hand. See how heavy it is. Yes?

[priorly]

[He adopts a grip copied from movies he's never really liked, but lets it tip to feel the weight.]

Yes? Am I supposed to calculate something from that? Is this like baking?

[vorrutyer]

[ The look By shoots him is just a little bit annoyed. ]

Now raise it and hold it level. Twenty seconds. Feel how heavy your arm gets just from that.

[priorly]

[Look, he's nervous around these things, and disguising that requires flippancy. It's one or the other.

He raises his arm, resisting the inclination to hold it two-handed, or with one palm supporting his wrist. Twenty seconds in and his arm isn't steady any longer, but he hasn't lowered it either.]

[vorrutyer]

[ A small nod of approval, measured. ]

That's what you'll be fighting against when you actually hold it. Fatigue will throw off your aim. So will the kick of the gunshot. Modern energy weapons don't have that kick, thank heavens - it's a dreadful thing - but since we're working with barbarian technology, here we are. All right - use your left hand to support your right, to keep it up.

[priorly]

[First he swaps the gun into his left hand, still tentative in how he handles it, shaking the ache out of his right wrist.]

If my century's so barbarian, perhaps we should be out here with fur loincloths and clubs? I'm sure I could source at least the first part.

[Right, another go. It's easier with two hands, at least. Gun raised, he doesn't even realise he's automatically closing his eyes.]

[vorrutyer]

I wouldn't fancy the draft on my nether parts. Eyes open, darling.

[priorly]

I don't know, fresh air can be quite exhilarating.

[He blinks, frowning as he opens his eyes, narrow but as functional as they get.]

You understand I'm unlikely to be precise in this? [But if he has to hold this pose much longer he'll barely manage to aim at all.] And now? Point and crook my finger? Is everything on? Or, off. Whatever it's supposed to be?

[vorrutyer]

The safety is off, yes. That's the switch that keeps it from firing accidentally. So don't pull the trigger just yet, eh? Now -

[ By grasps Prior's wrist gently, then adjusts the way that the gun sits in his hands. Then he bends down to reposition Prior's feet, then rises up just a bit to grasp his hips and turn them at an angle. ]

Do you feel balanced?

[priorly]

I feel practically seduced.

[Just a flash of a smile over his shoulder before he reminds himself to watch the gun, stupid.]

Balanced. Yes.

[vorrutyer]

[ Just to check, Byerly shoves Prior's shoulders, checking for any hint of stumbling. ]

[priorly]

[Well that's how to spoil a moment, of course Prior stumbles. Stumbles, reels and hisses, and comes incredibly close to firing off a warning shot somewhere near Byerly's shoulder as he spins.]

Well I was until then. I take it back, your seduction is lacking some finesse.

[vorrutyer]

[ Altogether - infuriatingly - unperturbed by the snarling - ]

Aren't we full of vinegar today. Plant your feet more firmly, dear Prior. Bend your knees. Get firm.

[priorly]

[Oh he's barely snarled, it would take a lot to put Byerly in receipt of the worst of that. But he's certainly no less than snippy.]

I have a shoddy leg, it doesn't do firm. I was managing balanced until someone decided to tip it.

[And it hurt, which is one thing he's not accusing Byerly of causing deliberately, though it may lend a little to the sharpness of his tone.]

[vorrutyer]

The kickback from the gun will tip you, too, Prior.

[priorly]

Well maybe I should consider not shooting people, then.

[More frustration than anything else, now, ebbing down into something more gracious.] No, spare the reasons, I know. I don't... not appreciate it.

[He's still holding the gun like something that could bite. Tipping his chin, he checks Byerly's stance.]

Are you balanced? Stable?

[vorrutyer]

[ By responds to neither frustration nor apology; he just watches Prior's gamut of emotions with eyes slightly hooded and his mouth a placid line. There's a stillness to him when he's in ImpSec mode, quite unlike his usual half-drunk garrulousness. Steady indeed. ]

Give me a shove, if you'd like.

[ He also lets the obvious "unstable" joke pass. ]

[priorly]

No, I believe you.

[You and your sudden stoicism.

Which is why this time when Prior takes up a stance, it's with his shoulders braced back against the supporting structure of Byerly's chest. There. Recoil can't knock the both of them back, right?]

[vorrutyer]

Ah -

[ That gets a slight blink of surprise. Then, dryly (though not without amusement): ]

This rather defeats the purpose, you know.