milliways_bar | (no subject)

She cocks an eyebrow at him, her look growing sharper. She can scent the difference in meaning.

"So you'll teach me how to be a marksman then?"

"The best shots are the ones that do the most damage," he points out. "It ends the threat quickly and conserves ammo. It's not shooting that's important, it's shooting well".

She purses her lips at him.

"Which is why you don't shoot things you don't want to see destroyed."

He gives her a softer version of his 'don't be a moron' look, but only because she's River.

"No, then you just shoot them in the knee or other non-vital part."

It has the bonus of making them more willing to talk, too.

River blinks, wincing a bit.

"Do I have to?"

"It depends entirely on the situation." He gives her a small bump.

"If it has to be done, I'll deal with it."

Wouldn't be the first time. This probably doesn't reassure her.

On the contrary, if he thinks it needs to be done, she'd rather he take care of it.

She trusts him.

"Can we focus more on the mechanics and leave the sticky ethical dilemmas for later?"

"Fair enough.

"Range first."

There, that's cut and dry enough, isn't it?

She nods, leaning her shoulder against his for a brief moment, her hands curled around her teacup.

"I'll try not to embarrass you too badly."

"Believe me when I say I'll have seen worse."

Suzi scared the bejeezus out of him the first, and only, time he got her to fire a gun.

"I should hope so. I've fired energy weapons before. Non-lethal ones. These projectiles -- they just seem so -- primitive."

Fifty fourth century sensibilities are so very different than his own sometimes.

"They're what I know," he says dryly, arching an eyebrow at her.

Don't insult his weapons. They're the only weapons he has.

She sits back a little, giving him a gentle smile. "And I've no doubt they're deadly in your hands. They just -- well, frankly... They're loud."

Someone has spent far too many years in a library.

"We'll get you a set of earplugs."

Silencers throw off aim slightly.

Again she wrinkles her nose just a bit.

"Earplugs." She's out of excuses. "Well, I suppose if you insist."

He tilts his head at her.

"I thought you wanted to learn?"

"I do," she says without hesitation, and her scent concurs.

"But you know how I feel about -- violence. It's just -- it should be a tool of last resort."

He frowns.

"Define 'last resort'."

"Richard, don't be cross with me." She sips her tea, watching him with keen eyes.

"I've a right to my opinions, backed up as they are by my own experiences."

He frowns further.

"I'm not being cross," though there's a hint of it threading into his scent now, "I'm just checking to be sure that your last resort is resorted to before it's too late to do anything. I much prefer an active defence."

In other words, he'd shoot the roaring T-Rex rather than waiting to find out if it planned on actually eating him or not.

"Well, sometimes an active defence can make a situation worse. I'm sure you've seen individuals who think they can resist rather than knowing when to retreat? Last resort means you've exhausted all other options."

And she'd rather not give away a location by shooting at something that just as easily might pass them by. He should know by now just how clever his mate is.

"As long as you still have time to make it a last resort and not a last realization that you've put it off too long."

That's all he's trying to say. Frown.

"You should know, I am never one to forget a tool in a time of need."

(There's a reason the Doctor never saw it coming. Her hand still smarts at that particular memory.)

"Fair enough." He could have said 'if you say so' in much the same tone.

"But you'll learn, then," he clarifies, "since it's better to know and not need than need and not know?"

"I will," she says, leaning out to touch his arm. "And I promise you, if I need the training, it'll get used."