i'm dragging a heart that weighs a ton / holding out for not just anyone

[monoceroscaeli]

[Fontaine: The technological hub of Teyvat.

For as long as anyone can remember, the country of Fontaine has always been the innovative center for the continent. High speed rail was originated here, and now spans across the entirety of Teyvat and beyond. High rises and skyscrapers pepper the skyline, modern Victorian buildings supporting a gear-like aesthetic from an era gone by. A thousand years ago, it was a much different place, but now it thrives with the bright lights and bustle of its people. One can hear the occasional street performer playing for cash, as businessmen and tourists alike walk down narrow cobblestone streets. People are buried in their phones, some take pictures as they gawk at the sights of the city, but one young man in particular walks languidly down the street, enjoying the life around him. He's in no hurry to get where he's going, as he has plenty of time to get there, noting a deli across the street from where he is now that he'll have to try.

Unfortunately, he is on business, so that'll have to wait.

Never being one to be dressed completely formal, he wears a comfortable pair of slacks and dress shoes, with a collared shirt that isn't buttoned up all the way under a grey vest. Various pieces of metal are woven into the vest, notably a crest on his right shoulder with a chain attached to it that hangs under his arm to the back. On his belt lies a Vision, glowing blue with hydro. The young man always seems friendly and easy going, but what lies underneath is something that not many are allowed to know- the heir to the family business of a company who develops tech for various products is also the right hand man of the mafia that runs the city.

And, their true business behind the scenes; creating Delusions to sell on the black market.

Today is a day where some investigating has to be done, and he's headed to see an old friend of his, from university. One that he's sure can help him with this problem he has. Entering the building, he swings in quietly to give a polite wave and a smile to the only person there.

Someone who looked exactly like their brother, whom he can only assume is the twin sister he'd yet to meet that he'd heard about.]

Hello, I was wondering if Aether was in today? I had a...business proposal for him, and I'm sure that he'd love to hear it. Unless of course, you might be of assistance instead.

Comments

[monoceroscaeli]

If you give the gun back, you don't get instruction. It's as simple as that.

[He says very matter-of-factly. Ultimately, it is up to her whether she wants one or not, but he knows that it's not a good idea for her to go around town unarmed after what had happened to her prior to the Windblume festival.]

But, it's as I said. I don't recommend it. In fact, it's more important you have it now rather than later, just in case you need it. Which is the entire point of this exercise anyhow.

[Lumine walking out of her without a gun really makes most of this moot.]

[traversal]

[ just in case she needs it. just in case someone tries to slit her throat again.

a part of her is tempted to push the gun back into his hands, but she also recalls aether's expression when she got home, the front of her blouse covered in blood. she couldn't blame him if he's decided to ask ajax for help, especially since he assumes that this is because of the project he's done for him. ]

Fine, [ she huffs, feeling helplessly irritable over all of this. ] Fine. I get it, I honestly don't understand it, but fine.

[ now, they can't blame her if she shoots someone by accident. she's washing her hands of any responsibility of anyone getting shot because they gave her this gun. ]

[monoceroscaeli]

[Well, at least she's agreed. Now he has the task of getting her to relax enough to learn some basic safety measures, so he quickly composes himself, ready to teach.]

Let's concentrate on teaching you how to use it safely and properly for now, okay? If you walk out of here with anything today, that's what I want it to be.

[Ajax stands next to her, drawing one of his own pistols out and holding it with two hands. It faces downrange, and during the entirety of the time he has it out, it will never face in another direction other than that.]

Muzzle awareness. Always know where your muzzle is pointed and always keep it pointed downrange while you are here, unless it's holstered. And never, never point it at anything unless you're going to shoot it. I know that's pretty common sense, but it bears repeating. Now look here.

[He indicates for her to look at his own gun, which he lifts to aim at a target. His index finger, however, is not on the trigger.]

Your finger never goes into the trigger well until you're ready to fire. Always rest it here, above the well on the side of the weapon.

[He then drops the magazine out of it, pressing a button on the side and sliding it out into his hand on the bottom of the gun. He then opens the chamber of his pistol, checking inside of it for ammo. His is currently loaded, so when he slides it back, a bullet pops out of it and falls to the floor. After physically inspecting it, he shows it to her.]

When you're done shooting, you'll unload your weapon like this, checking it to make sure it's unloaded for safety purposes. Make sure you also check the chamber to make sure it's empty before you load it, too.

[He picks the bullet up off the floor, depositing it in his ammo pouch- the magazine is loaded back into the gun.]

Okay. Pretty simple, right?

[traversal]

[ now that she's agreed, she's forced to watch his instructions and abide by them. and to be honest, it's simpler than what she's expecting, thinking that she'd be forced to take apart her gun and then put it back together. if ajax had made her do it, then she'll probably just insist on defending herself with her vision.

lumine sighs under her breath, mimicking the movements he's done and showing him her handiwork. at the very least, it's mindless things like this that she can do without fail. but really, what has she gotten herself into? ]

That's it?

[monoceroscaeli]

One last thing. Look at how I'm holding the weapon.

[Aiming once more at one of the targets, he shows her how to hold it with both hands, elbows bent.]

You'll want to keep both hands on the weapon when you fire. It's not like in the movies where people are just shooting with one arm and not aiming. Granted, that does happen from time to time- but for you, you'll need to learn how to properly shoot first.

[He now holsters his own weapon, so he can pay attention to her form.]

Go ahead, give it a try. Let me see how you hold it before we let you start practicing.

[traversal]

[ what is ridiculous? holding a tiny gun as he does just to fire it.

but you know what, it doesn't matter anymore. lumine just wants to get this over with and maybe stash her gun in one of her drawers. all those times aether's been nagging at her to carry her vision all the time, and she just might this time around so she has an excuse not to bring a gun.

in any case, she curls both hands around the grip, adjusting her fingers so it doesn't feel too uncomfortable to hold. still, even with that, she finds that holding it is just weird. ]

Like so?

[monoceroscaeli]

[He inspects her stance, noting that is was good, but he wants to make some small adjustments.]

Here, widen your stance a little, and raise your arms up just a little more.

[Ajax places his palm under her hands, lifting them up right where he thinks is the proper place, before nodding. He hands her the box of bullets he'd previously grabbed, opening it and holding it for her to take bullets out.]

Just like that. Now, go ahead. Put your ear protection on, load your weapon, and aim at center mass on the target. Fire as you breathe out, and pull the trigger slowly so you don't jerk the gun. Let's see how you do, Lumine. Maybe you'll impress me, haha.

[traversal]

[ impress her, he says. lumine rolls her eyes at that, irritation lancing through her like lightning. if she shoots him in the face, will that impress him, she wonders?

but she makes no witty or snarky comments, for now, doing what she's told and aiming at the target once more. the glasses are annoying, she'd have to say, as someone who's never worn any kind of reading glasses before. and lumine pauses to take them off just so she can look at the target without any hassle.

she takes three shots at the target, all of which are clustered around the area of the head. a frown mars her expression, and she wrinkles her nose. ]

Huh. I didn't hit the bullseye.

[monoceroscaeli]

[He frowns when she takes the safety glasses off, about to say something to her when she begins shooting. Too late, he supposes, but it's not like he wears glasses out on a job so...]

Ok, go place that back on the counter, so we can go take a closer look together.

[Though he can kind of see it from there, he wants to make sure his eyes aren't playing tricks on him. Walking down with her to the target once she's put her weapon down, his hand goes up in front of his mouth, inspecting it.

Uhhhhhhhh. That cluster wasn't what he expected.]

Are you sure you were aiming for center mass, Lumine...?

[traversal]

[ what? is he unhappy about it?

lumine sighs the nth sigh she's sighed for today, trailing after him. see, this is why she doesn't want to do things like this. criticisms are one thing, but what's the point of criticising her when she's only started learning how to use the damn thing in the first place? what a pain. ]

Aren't I supposed to incapacitate someone with this tiny thing?

[ isn't a headshot enough to incapacitate someone?? she doesn't understand why he looks so ... unsatisfied. ]

[monoceroscaeli]

I mean, yes, but...

[He indicates the target again, because he's trying to make a point here.]

If you were aiming for center mass, you shouldn't of hit three perfect head shots in a row. I'm just asking so I know if you did this deliberately or not. Though, if it was deliberate...your foe is certainly not getting up from that one. I'm actually quite impressed.

[Maybe she's a born killer after all.]

Hah, perhaps you should be the one protecting me.

[traversal]

[ okay, so maybe she went too liberal on the definition of centre mass. ]

Shooting someone in their centre mass isn't going to take them down.

[ which she assumes is the point?? of this exercise?? after all, if someone really wants to take and try to kill her, a minor graze on their arm or torso isn't going to stop them.

lumine sends him a look at the remark. ] There's not enough mora in this world to pay me to protect you.

[monoceroscaeli]

Yes it is, [he corrects her sternly,] you're more likely to hit a vital organ if you aim for the torso, and it's a larger target. Trying to land head shots in the heat of a gun fight is much harder, and you'll be wasting ammo. Trust me.

[He sighs, setting his arms akimbo as he takes the target down and puts a new one up. She's got better aim than him, and that's kind of scary.

He likes it.]

Anyway, [letting his throwaway comment go aside,] your aim is far better than I thought it would be. If you'd like, you can shoot a little more, or I can show you the other part of this facility.

[traversal]

[ she shrugs: ] It's only a waste of ammo if you're a bad shot.

[ is she pertaining to anyone? of course not. she doesn't even know how good of an aim he has, so she's definitely not making a potshot about him. in any case, she shrugs again at him, gesturing for him to lead the way.

she's done with shooting, she wants to get out of this building already. ]

I hope what you're showing me is the exit.

[monoceroscaeli]

[Ajax shoots a look at her, wholly unimpressed with her attitude about this when he's tried to teach her as a proper instructor would. But, at the same time, he'd kill to see her take out a few guys just like that, well placed shots right to the head. That would be cool to see.]

Haha, I'm afraid not. We have a lot of vision users who also use this building to train their skills, and we still have one more thing left to do. Come.

[He takes her to that door that had been muffling sounds of battle and explosions and the like, gesturing her to follow. Inside is a long hallway that has multiple doors lined down it, each door lying a great distance between each other, as if the rooms they lead to were ginormous in size.

He leads her to one that is marked as unoccupied, opening it for her. The room inside is as large as one could imagine, the walls seemingly made of a different material than the normal concrete the range had.]

These rooms were made with the intention of being able to take the impact from multiple elemental reactions. People will spar in here, testing their skills, or even just train alone. Here, they can do so in private and not be arrested for any, let's just say, "accidents" that may happen due to their visions.

[traversal]

[ to be fair, he imposed this on her. to be fair, she didn't want to do this in the first place. if her attitude about this entire gun thing is unimpressive, she has no excuses, no remorse or self-reproach. ajax can deal with it or not.

lumine follows after him again, looking around her. the doors lining the hallways are a little strange, perhaps even suspicious. she wonders if this is where the volkovs torture the people they capture, until she hears what sounds like explosions behind them.

his explanation suddenly makes sense, then. what doesn't make sense is him leading her into one of the empty rooms, gesturing her to go in. ]

... I know how to use my Vision already.

[monoceroscaeli]

[He stands in the doorway, wondering if she's purposely hiding it or if she really doesn't know. He'd wondered before they walked in here. Guess it's finally time.]

Haha, we're not going in here for lessons on how to use a cryo vision. Though, I certainly know a few tricks up my sleeve that might give you even more of an edge in combat should it come to that.

[He starts to walk inside, not waiting for her. He's not going to stand here and hold the door open for her forever.]

We're here so you can get a handle on your new anemo powers. You remember, don't you?

[traversal]

[ she's about to follow him inside the room, stopping in her tracks at his remark. confusion dawns on her face, her eyebrows furrowing as she looks at him. it's clear that she doesn't remember the events that evening in windblume, doesn't even realise that she's managed to absorb or borrow elemental powers from the statue of the seven when she touched it.

because anemo powers? what? ]

Did you shoot yourself in the head? Since when did I have anemo powers?

[ lumine, out of exasperation, takes out her vision from her cardigan pocket and shows it to him. it glows pale blue, the symbol of cryo radiating through the glass. see? ]

[monoceroscaeli]

[He turns, an amused smile on his face.]

You really don't remember. Well, this just got a little more interesting.

[He doesn't even pay her cryo vision any mind, knowing full well that she has it anyway, urging her to come in now from the doorway.]

I don't want you using your elemental powers there, come in. I'll explain everything. I guess you were too drunk to remember. I'm really not going to let you drink that much ever again.

[Even if she was really cute. Even though she kissed him so passionately like that. He sighs inwardly, wondering how much of that was just the alcohol.]

[traversal]

It was your idea to drink ...

[ lumine closes the door behind her, letting its weight push it in place. she remembers a number of what had happened that evening, some are admittedly vague in certain parts, but that doesn't mean she's about to say something or point it out. she certainly wants to forget a few of those events ... ]

You're lucky Aether didn't find out about that.

[ or if he did, he sure didn't tell her what he's done about that little detail. ]

[monoceroscaeli]

We still had fun, didn't we? Well, up until you threw up on me, haha.

[There's really no place to sit in here, so he approaches her. Guess it's finally time to tell her what happened.]

Do you remember anything from when we went out to Windrise? I gave you a piggy back ride all the way there, we took a picture together, and then we went up to pay our respects. When you touched the statue, something peculiar happened, as if the statue reacted to your touch.

[The sight of it still stuck out in his mind, that brilliant swirling white light that circled around it, the wind that picked up and enveloped her- he was sure of it, that she'd been granted new power. There's no other explanation for it, it reminded him of how she'd received the power of pyro in that vision.]

[traversal]

[ lumine frowns, her forehead wrinkling in thought. she remembers the bridge and the piggy back ride, sure. but anything beyond that was a haze of memories, jumbled and meshed together that it barely makes any sense to her. the concussion she managed to incur that evening didn't help clear things up as well. ]

I don't remember touching the statue.

[ unless he's referring to the statue in the cathedral square, though she doesn't remember touching that either. ]

Look, we were both drunk that night. Are you sure you weren't just seeing things?

[monoceroscaeli]

[He's positive he knows what he saw. He was drunk, for sure, but there's no denying it.]

I might be second guessing myself right now if it weren't for the reaction of the crowd. Not to try to embarrass you, but you drew some attention. I grabbed you ask quickly as I could and took you back to the hotel so people couldn't get a good look at your face or worry too much about you.

[The whispers among the crowd were enough to send him into a mild drunken panic. Had their enemies been in the crowd, they'd been given more information on the both of them- something he didn't want.]

If you don't believe me, why don't you try seeing if you can bring forth that power to the surface? That's why we're here, after all.

[traversal]

[ she stares at him incredulously like he's just grown a second head right next to his original one. what is he even asking from her? lumine gives it a beat before she sighs, heavily and loudly this time around, unwilling to hide her exasperation over this.

can she just leave? now? before her temper gets the better of her again. ]

You're probably mistaking me for the other Lumine.

[ which admittedly is very, very vexing, her heart squeezing tightly in her chest. she doesn't know why she's feeling that way, but she chalks it up to hating being compared to someone else. how is this different from being compared to her twin brother? ]

I'm going home.

[monoceroscaeli]

[Ajax stands there, not understanding why she would think that he was making a mistake here. He knows what he saw. He supposes it would be a hard fact to accept, especially since she doesn't remember a thing from the whole exchange.]

Wait. That's not it at all.

[He thinks for a moment, closing his eyes and letting out a deep breath.]

I know what I saw. And I know that you know I'm not lying to you. Just give it a shot, that's all I'm asking.