Point Blank Shot (Justin)

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Victor applied pressure on his shoulder. It never really healed, though the doctors told him it was merely a phantom pain he was feeling. A memory that wouldn't go away. It'd been there for forty years, and it never seemed to fade. That's one vivid memory, he'd tell them. He rolled his shoulder for maybe the third time that session. Maybe he should take a break? But he was doing so well!

He smiled, inspecting his (fine)work on the target in front of him. "Not bad for an old man," he told Justin, though he didn't know if the other man could hear him though the earmuffs and noise of other shooters on the range. "I might be ready for Hollywood at this rate." He chuckled, readjusting the safety glasses that sat off his nose.

Victor removed the magazine from his gun, then cleared the chamber before setting both pieces on the platform in front of him. The greying man turned to his companion and waited patiently for him to finish with his own rounds before stepping up to offer an inspection of his work. "Justin," he started, squinting his eyes down at the other man's target. "You're slipping. My daughter can shoot better than you." He pat the shorter man on the shoulder, chuckling gently in his friendly jest. "Are you hungry yet? Or do you want to poke more holes in a piece of paper?" he asked with a cheeky smile. Victor was getting there, though he wasn't about to pull the stern-faced man away from his fun just to fill his stomach.

[Justin Wright]

Justin didn't have many hobbies. He was a man who was devoted to his work. And what little down time he had was usually invested in some form of exercise (not that he was overly obsessed, but he didn't like the idea of growing old and chubby), or catching up on sleep. But he did enjoy going to the gun range on a regular basis. There was just something calming about it. And while he wasn't sure he would argue that it was a sport, it did take practice. And it was something more physically active that sitting behind a desk at the office or in the courtroom.

And if he was really honest with himself, it was also satisfying to fire a gun at a target.

"For Hollywood perhaps," Justin teased back, sliding his ear muffs off enough to be able to converse with the other man. "Then they could use special effects on your aiming." Though truthfully the older man always was a better shot than Justin, that was to be expected, given Victor's job.

Justin frowned as the target came towards him. It was true, his aim was a little off today. Not that it was horrible either. Justin hadn't missed the actual target in years though he had days where he missed the black human shape now and then. "Eh, I was just too in awe of your skill to keep my eyes on my own target."

"Maybe one more round?" Justin said, only because he hated to end on a low note and hope his aim would be a bit better next round.

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“Do you mean that CGI stuff?” Victor rubbed his chin. “Yeah…yeaaahhhh, I can see that. They could make it look like I’m shooting fireballs, I bet.” That would be amusing and he wouldn’t mind it at all. He didn’t know how any of that worked, but he was sure they knew what they were doing, those guys down at Hollywood. Or maybe they could just take a video and ask the IT guy for the department to do it. Was that something he could do?

Victor wasn’t meaning to be critical of Justin’s shooting, though. Luckily, it didn’t seem like the other man was upset by it. More so just disappointed in himself, by the looks of it. “Yes, yes, I know I’m great,” he said proudly. “That’s what happens when you’re…me.” No, he was not vain.

Victor nodded, also thinking it would be better to take one more round to see if Justin couldn’t improve his accuracy just a little more. “Right, this time…” he started, leaning forward and pointing forward down-range. “Keep both eyes open…and forward. Okay?” Victor gave Justin a supportive pat on the shoulder, then returned to his own area, re-adjusting his safety equipment once again, and prepping his gun for one last round.

[Justin Wright]

Justin shook his head at the older man. Of course Victor would turn his words around. There was just no competing with old man wisdom. He doubted the other man really understood all of the work that went into special effects. Then again Justin was no expert either, but he had a feeling it was harder than it looked, like most things related to technology.

Justin cracked a smile. Really it was hilarious how full of himself Victor could be. Of course Justin knew that most of it was an act, put on for his amusement. "You wish old man," he said. "Maybe I just didn't want to show you up and ruin your good mood."

He put up a fresh target and sent it backwards as he listened to Victor's bits of advice. They were all things he knew already, but he enjoyed the reminders from his mentor of sorts.

He fired off several shots, making sure to keep in mind all of basics he knew. It helped to shove out the other thoughts that had been throwing him off earlier. Once he was done he peeled off his earmuffs and smiled. Much better this time.

"Prepare to be amazed," he yelled out to Victor, unsure if the other man was done shooting and could hear him.

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To him, technology was all just a fascinating piece of magic that made life easier. He didn’t have to know how it worked to use it. Just like driving a car(though Victor did know how a car worked). He was just going to leave things like that to the younger generations. It was probably easier for them to do it than it was for Victor to understand it.

Victor grinned. “I do wish, ya little whippersnapper!” he retorted. “If you don’t wish, then you have no dream. If you have no dream, then you have nothing! That’s the bottom line!” Because that made sense. As long as it kept his spirits up… “You’re too kind, Justin. But I don’t need you going easy on me,” he said. “Show the world what you’re made of.”

After offering his advice, Victor slipped back into his own shooting box and prepared his own firearm for another round. He resecured his earmuffs, then raised his gun to aim. He could barely hear anything through them, but did get the idea that Justin was shouting something to him. “If you say so,” he called back blindly, hoping that he didn’t just say something that didn’t make sense against what Justin had said. Victor emptied his firearm into the target at the end of the range, one or two of them hitting more off target than he would have liked. The rest, though, were spot on where he wanted.

Victor emptied the chamber and set his gun down again in front of him. Then he peeked over to see Justin’s work. “Ohh, not bad, not bad. Keep this up, and we might recruit you onto the force, instead of the collection of fledglings they keep sending us.”

[Justin Wright]

Justin smiled as the old man continued spouting off life advice. He wasn’t sure if it was a byproduct of Victor’s job, his age, or a mixture of the two but he always seemed to turn everything into a lesson on life.

“Oh don’t you worry. I have a dream,” Justin said. And he did. He dreamt for equality in the judicial system. He dreamt for justice.

Justin laughed again. It wasn’t often someone accused him of being ‘too kind’.

“But if you recruit me, who will keep the bad guys behind bars after we catch them?” Justin teased. Truthfully, he’d never even considered a job in law enforcement. These days he wondered if he’d be able to hold back when it came to apprehending someone. He was sure he’d be accused of police brutality on a daily basis. Better to keep his fighting to the courtroom. Where there were plenty of witnesses.

“To dinner?” he asked.

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Why couldn’t it be both? Victor had had a long enough life to know how to offer proper advice on how to live it. It pained him to see young people these days making the same mistakes that he did, when he knew they could do so much better.

Not that Justin was a kid, but he was at least younger than the 60+ year old man.

“Is your dream truly a wish your heart makes?” he asked, batting his eyes at his associate.

“That’s why we have equal opportunity employment and affirmative action,” he said, pulling back one side of Justin’s earmuffs as he spoke moderately into the man’s ear. Victor wasn’t one to discriminate, but he did find it amusing that the state did so many silly things just to keep from being accused of it themselves. He was with Justin; he preferred equality among men, no matter what, and wish that there wasn’t a need for the legal system to have to make laws to force people to be decent human beings.

Victor straightened himself and reached behind him to crack his sore back. “Sounds like a plan to me. You’re buying, right?”