2010-04-16 - A Favor

BLAM BLAM BLAM

The sound of gunshots fill the zero gravity training center on board the Exelion in a steady, deafeningly rhythmic progression. With its sheer size, Exelion has served as the vanguard flagship for A-LAWS and one of its principle bases of operation. It has been able to accomodate countless people and various strategy meetings, mobile suit training regiments--

--and apparently, shooting ranges in zero-g.

'Alex Dino' floats alone in one of several three-dimensional cubicles that assemble the bizarre shooting ranges. At any side of him are three practice dummies, target marks centered around the head, chest and abominals.

Tiny rings of bullet holes decorate where the heart and brain would be, roughly, at each; smoke rises from the head of the bottomost dummy as Dino slowly pulls back, sighs, and pushes up his goggles to observe his work. He squints at the last batch, and frowns; a single bullet hole strays roughly off the perfect center of the bullseye at the dummies head, half an inch at best.

"..." Alex Dino frowns. A half an inch at best; it'd hardly constitute as anything less than a success for most people, but.

"... Dammit. I'm slipping."

Most people didn't have the kind of upbringing Alex did.

By comparison to the likes of the Minerva, the Exelion is vastly superior in size and its on-board accommodations. Almost immediately young First Lieutenant Sarah Zabiarov was surprised at its impressiveness--for a brief moment, she almost felt a little envious of the squads who had the luxury of being aboard the Exelion. They seemed pampered.

Not to mention they don't have Lindt as their co-captain of the ship.

As the Exelion is essentially one of A-LAWS' bases of operation in orbit, it is military business that brings the young lieutenant aboard the ship. A generic GN-XIII requests permission to dock and, summarily from the mobile unit the young Newtype exits. An hour later, she's put in her reports and set off back toward the hangar.

But the curious youthful part of her wanders. Rather than immediately leave, the young lieutenant simply feels inclined to explore the massive battleship, seeing just what amenities they have over her current assignment. Certainly it is 'a lot more.'

And that's when she happens across the Zero-G shooting range.

Those even exist..?

A glance is spared either direction before the young woman enters quietly. That's about when three shots crack the silence, startling Sarah, followed by a rather loud cry/squeak from the pink-haired Newtype. The sound of gunfire still doesn't sit well on her pallet.

Looking toward Athrun as he comments, Sarah offers a sheepish expression before she notes, "I didn't think anyone was here...I apologize, sir."

They even get their own inexplicable vending machine corner.

It's an entire room.

So deal with /that/.

The clip of 'Alex's' gun ejects into zero gravity; the blue-haired Coordinator is about to pick up errant, floating shells and distribute them into his handy 'ZERO G WASTE DISPOSER HARO' floating around nearby him that he may or may not have stolen the idea for off of Haro v8 when the startled cry makes him jolt.

"Wh--?!"

Green eyes widen in surprise and his right hand flails upward with enough force that he is sent spiraling upward, smacking his head directly into the back of an all-too solid wall with a sudden and painful-sounding CRACK. "Ghh--"

Letting out a brief curse that sounds vaguely like "son of a monkey's uncle" but is a bit too slurred to make out, the incognito ZAFT soldier clenches the back of his head, flipping head over heels through the air until he comes to an abrupt stop, feet-first, on the ground below. He rubs his head, grumbling something, before he finally looks up. Pink hair. Is it-- his eyes widen, he looks further up--

To see Sarah Zabiarov, looking sheepishly at him. Alex gives a long, slow blink, as if trying to process reality not meeting what he expected -- before an embarassed smile crosses his lips.

"No, ahh -- it's fine. It's fine, don't worry about it," the Coordinator dismisses with a bit of an easier smile. "Err -- I should be the one apologizing. For startling you, I mean." A brief pause. Her face is familiar... wait--

"You're Lieutenant Zabiarov, aren't you?" he asks, before something dawns on him. He smiles apologetically, offering up a hand. "Err, sorry." So /she's/ the one who's in charge of--

"I'm Lieutenant A--Alex Dino." The slightly bulky-looking, but still tiny, yellow haro floats by, mouth open like some bizarre pac man.

"WASTE?"

"..."

Causing involuntary harm to Alex was not what Sarah intended.

Her expression says as much; her lips are pulled into a light frown, thin pink brows raised over her green eyes and her posture withdrawn as she floats by the door. After he comes to an abrupt stop after spinning through the lack of gravity, Sarah's frown tries to pull itself into some sort of smile. It looks pathetic.

"I-I am really sorry. I didn't mean for you to hit your h-head," the young Newtype stammers. "I should have known there would possibly be gunfire here, since...it's...you know..." Shrugging her shoulders, she adds, "A firing r-range."

After a moment's pause, she wonders: "Are you okay..?"

When he insists on apologizing, Sarah lifts both gloved hands and shakes her head. "N-no, really, it was my fault!" she awkwardly blurts with a slightly reserved tone. "Really..."

The sudden shift of conversation draws an obvious look of surprise across the young lieutenant's face, green eyes widening a fraction before she offers another coy smile. "Yes sir, I am First Lieutenant Zabiarov," she offers with a slight nod. The Haro is briefly noted before she simply ignores it and looks back to Alex Dino.

"I'm sorry...I don't know who you are..?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," the A-LAWS lieutenant assures Sarah; his smile is barely there, but reassuring.

"I've had a lot worse than this."

"SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THERE'D BE GUNFIRE! SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!"

"... You can just ignore that."

Pushing up off his feet, Dino ascends towards the haro, turning it slowly and gently away from Sarah and towards the floating series of ejected shells in the distance. "WASTE! WASTE! CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP--" Flailing its wing-like ears, the machine flounders off awkwardly through the air, leaving Dino to begin slowly loading his gun once again. Sarah Zabiarov. That means she's /that/ soldier's new superior officer--

'I don't know who you are..?'

Alex pauses mid-reloading. It might almost seem like he's offended, if not for the awkward, dismissive laugh that comes after.

BEFORE

"What's with that awful faerie disguise?" Jung Freud asks skeptically, squinting at "Alex Dino." Confusion washes over the blue-haired Coordinator's face as he looks down. "Does that really work?"

"What?" he asks, almost honestly confused as he pushes up his visor shades.

"Isn't this enough?"

NOW

It's totally enough.

Nevermind Sarah Zabiarov has never met Athrun Zala face-to-face before in her life. MISSION: SUCCESS. Faerie disguise his ass--

"It's fine," Alex reassures after a moment. "I... haven't been out on the field in active combat for very long. They brought me onto the frontlines after--" Dino's voice halts there. He looks down, thoughtfully.

"Have you never been to a shooting range before?"

With a faint exhale, Sarah feels lightly relieved. "I'm glad."

The Haro's /very rude/ blurting draws the young woman's attention, green eyes widening slightly before her thin brows lightly knit. Though Alex excuses the Haro's lack of courtesy and manners, Sarah just offers a faint shake of her head and grins. "No, it's right," she admits. "I should have paid more attention. But it's okay."

One last glance is cast back to the yellow Haro as it chases after the discarded casings before her attention finally settles back on the blue-haired Coordinator. The pause followed by laughter earns him a discreet tilt of her head, lips pulling into a pensive line. Did she offend him..?

When he dismisses her statement-question, she nods her head lightly. She begins to pry about his cut off sentence, but finds herself cut off when he asks her if she has been to a shooting range before. The young Newtype looks momentarily uncomfortable.

"No," she shyly admits. "I don't...really like combat outside a mobile suit..."

With a faint click, Alex Dino's magazine clip slides completely into the beretta. He ratchets the slide back, and then finally looks back down on Sarah Zabiarov. He considers her words. She doesn't like to fight outside a mobile suit?

"Neither do I," Alex admits after a long moment of silence. "... If I had my way, I'd never have to use a gun or a mobile suit." Hitting the ceiling of the training grounds, he pushes down again. The Coordinator begins a gradual descent, the coattails of his A-LAWS uniform fluttering around him in the utter lack of gravity. When he lands in front of the still-floating Zabiarov, his gun is extended out to her, handle first.

"But... we don't really have that sort of choice."

The gun hands there, extended in Dino's white-gloved hands. Looking up, he gestures at one of the dummies in the distance slung to the walls.

"Here; it's not that difficult. We'll use the target on the eastern wall. If you want, we can activate the gravity -- it might be easier." Yes, he is giving her a gun to shoot things with. He offers it up with an awkward, yet still somehow reassuring smile.

"The best weapon is one you never have to draw, right? But if you have to..."

"Well, you do have a choice, sort of..." she notes quietly, glancing aside. The way she sees it, she would much rather stick to hiding in a mobile suit--at least that way she can simply cripple the enemy's resources at best. At worst, if they die...well, she can't see their face, right?

When she looks back, the Coordinator has a gun in hand, extended toward her. She blinks once, vaguely balking at the very concept of putting it in her hands. It isn't as if she hasn't held a gun before, but the last time she did, it was a panicked mess.

"I-I am really not that g-good," she stammers, hesitant to actually reach out and take the weapon from the young man. "And e-even so, I don't know if I could..." Except to save the very few people she cares about, Sarah mentally amends. Briefly, her expression seems one of resolve.

Looking up at Alex, the young Newtype asks, "Have you ever killed anyone before?"

Her hand hovers near the gun, but she does not take it. Yet.

"It'd be -- nice," Alex Dino says, with an awkward, halting sort of tone; he's never been very good at this. But since Jachin Due... he can't quite put his thumb on it.

Is this what obligation feels like?

"... it'd be nice, if we didn't have to take lives," he continues, after a moment. "But eventually -- that time will come, where there's not a mobile suit divide you and your enemies.

"It's just... good to be prepared."

Silence follows after. Especially with Sarah's next question; thankfully hidden behind the overcast of his shades, Alex Dino's eyes widen.

'Have you ever killed anyone before?'

'I'll tell her... I did it all for her--'

When Alex speaks again, it is significantly more quiet. "... Yes." He looks down at the gun for a long, silent moment. Eventually, that solemn look fades into something a bit more awkwardly casual as Alex looks up, and rubs the back of his head with his free hand. Despite himself, he winces -- that smack really stung.

"But -- it's not about whether you take a life," Dino amends after a moment. "It's about why you're holding a gun. You know? The difference between shooting someone out of hatred, and shooting someone to protect the people you care about..."

The gun lifts.

"... I guess it's not that different from using a mobile suit, in that sense."

"It. ..yes, it would be," she agrees, her head offering a slight nod. But she cannot say it out loud--that being a soldier--or rather, a mobile suit pilot--does not afford her that luxury. She knows, deep inside, she has killed people before, and the very thought begins to make the young Newtype feel ill to her stomach. But it feels so less painful in a mobile suit--

However, Alex is right. There will come a time when she will be faced with that inevitability.

"Prepared," the girl echoes. "But..." Flinching slightly, she adds. "Can you...really ever be prepared for the ramifications /of/ taking a life like that? In a suit I don't have--" Cutting herself off, the young lieutenant flinches again and shakes her head.

The thought is dismissed when he admits to killing someone.

"I...am sorry," Sarah offers with a heavy frown. "I...I shouldn't h-have asked that. It was callous of me--"

Alex Dino's amendment and words bring /some/ sense of rationality to it all. Reason..?

The gun lifts. Sarah's gloved hand takes it carefully, her lips pursing tightly. The way she holds it is incredibly awkward, her other hand coming forward to help fix it and set it comfortably in her palm. Only then does the young woman look up with an uneasy smile. "Maybe...you can give me a few pointers..?"

Be truly prepared?

"No," Dino responds, almost immediately. But he is quick to amend it:

"But you can at least be prepared enough to make sure they don't hurt you or your comrades."

Sarah apologizes. Alex manages to keep the pain out of his expression when he offers Sarah a reassuring smile -- he's always been good at hiding those sorts of things. Something to thank his father for. "It's fine," he tells her, in a sincere ad resolved voice for someone who has, apparently, only just gotten on the field. He seems content to leave it there... but then his lips part again. He needs to remember, he can't hold /everything/ in--

"It's never easy to deal with -- but it's easier when you know you did it for the right reasons."

Looking down as Sarah speaks, Dino moves forward, momentarily forgetting the boundaries of personal space to take Sarah's hands and slowly readjust her grip until she's holding it with both hands in a more conventional position.

"... There, like that," the Coordinator speaks, pointing upward at the target in the distance. "Try to just... forget everything else. Forget everything around you, forget any of your problems, any of your work. Only one thing exists -- that target. Don't try to see it, just -- feel it." It's not the best advice, but then.

'Feeling things' is slightly better when you are a CRAZY SPACE PSYCHIC

(ps: alex is not the crazy space psychic)

"There'll be a bit of a recoil so try to brace yourself. Press one of your legs against the wall, it'll help to anchor for you in zero-g. It's not exactly easy for people just starting out in this kind of environment, though..." He pushes off, slowly beginning to float towards the control center.

"Keep on the ground, I'll readjust the gravity settings."

"That's...true," Sarah offers, nodding her head slightly. As long as /he/ is safe...

It'd be okay to take a life. She's resolved herself to that.

Alex's assurance snaps her out of the distant thought, green eyes blinking once before she returns the smile with a tiny, coy smile of her own. "Well...okay, Lieutenant Dino." She doesn't want to argue or press matters--that isn't her place. "You're right." For all the right reasons, surely that is justified.

There crosses a vague look of surprise as her personal space is intruded upon, Sarah's eyes widening lightly before she tries her best to stave off a blush of embarrassment. Rather than focus on what he's doing, Sarah instead puts her mind on how he is trying to /help her/.

"O-okay," she replies as her hands are placed properly. "Forget about things...

"The target..."

When he goes to move for the gravity, she shakes her head lightly. "N-no, it's probably better this way," Sarah notes. "I...spend more time in space and these environments as it is...so..." Offering an awkward smile, she adds, "Besides...if I practice like this and if it is difficult surely it means I'd do better in gravity. Right?"

Either way, Sarah looks back to the gun held in her gloved hands. Again, the young Newtype briefly hesitates. Could she /really/ use it on someone, if push came to shove..? If someone tried to kill /him/?

She bites her lip. Of course she could!

With newfound resolve Sarah lifts the gun, taking aim on a dummy, and fires.

It misses considerably. Sarah lightly frowns.

Dino is about mid-float toward the console when Sarah speaks up. Pressing against the wall, he redirects his momentum with a backward push, flipping elegantly through the air. Looking down on Sarah as he inverts through the air, Alex crosses his arms over his chest upside down and considers.

"Well, that's probably true," he notes thoughtfully, tapping his chin. He pushes off the wall again, descending towards the ground. "Then again, it might just make it harder."

This part he very artfully says under his breath as if simply talking to himself. Because it is never important to vocalize important notes like that to the actual subject in question.

Obviously.

The gun fires. When Alex looks up, he sees the dummy -- and then sees the bullet hole, several feet to the right. He blinks.

"BEGINNER'S LUCK!" screeches the yellow haro as it floats by. It's hard to tell if it's being sarcastic or just retarded.

"Err -- it's okay, don't worry about it too much, Lieutenant," Dino says after a moment. "No one ever starts out good at using a gun, you know? It just takes practice."

A LONG TIME BEFORE

A young blue-haired boy lowers a smoking gun in his grasp. Beyond him, a bullet hole wafts smoke through the air, drifting it upward in weak trails from a point only two inches from the bullseye on the target's head. The boy turns large green eyes hopefully upward, where his stern-faced father does not even bother to look down at him.

"... A failure," he remarks gruffly, walking away.

"Even an inch off the mark can cost your and your loved ones their lives, Ath--"

NOW

"... Here, try this," Alex says after a long, thoughtful moment. "Forget about everything. Forget about the target, even." He pauses, as if struggling to find the proper words to place it. His own method is... much more difficult to quantify. Eventually, though, he clears his throat, and offers:

"Try to -- just try to picture the person you care about most -- like you're... trying to keep them safe." A pause.

"Do you have it?"

Fortunately for Alex, Sarah does not hear the artfully stated advice; instead, the young woman's green eyes are thoroughly fixed on the target ahead of her. In her mind, she hesitates to pull the trigger. Discreetly, her hands are shaking. It's like the last time she held a gun--

But that time she was expected to /use it/.

The pressure on her mind is considerable in that moment; when the trigger is pulled her eyes snap shut, the gun jerks out of reflex, her trajectory thrown off. Frowning at this, Sarah exhales lightly--but finds herself twitching lightly in annoyance at the Haro's screeching.

"I-I know," she admits with a tiny albeit sad sort of smile. "I was just hoping for...better...you know?"

His further advice is met with attentive ears, the young woman's eyes fixed on Alex as he speaks. When all is said, Sarah's eyes shift back toward the target. "Like I am trying to keep them safe..?" she echoes quietly, likely aloud and to herself. A pause follows, as her eyes shift to the gun in her hands.

Then they're back on the target. Her eyes half-lid faintly.

"Y-yeah," she offers with a nod. "I think so."

Again, Sarah pulls the trigger. This time it's a slight improvement. For one, her eyes stay open and two, she doesn't twitch /as/ badly. As result, the target is struck, albeit in the middle of the right arm. But hey, that's certainly an improvement?

Blinking, the young woman turns her eyes from the target to Athrun with a sheepish smile.

"It will definitely take getting use to, I think," she confesses. "But...your advice is very good. It's the best advice I've been given on this sort of thing." Turning to face him properly, she offers his gun back with a sincere smile.

"Thank you very much, Lieutenant Dino. I will definitely try to practice more."

"Right," Alex confirms to Sarah's echoed question. His arms cross over his chest; the uniform, despite himself, still feels stiff.

"... wanting to protect people is a good motivator."

It's perhaps not the most elegantly worded thing in the world, but it more than suffices. Afterward, Dino goes silent, watching Sarah as she stares straight forward at the target. she squeezes the trigger--

The bullet fires, hitting the arm. But that's not what Alex notices. It's the form; no flinching, still focuses, no involuntary recoil. It's why, when Sarah turns his gaze towards him, the Coordinator is smiling.

"Much better," he compliments genuinely. "It's all about technique.

"I think you found yours."

Feet touching the ground, Dino takes the proffered gun. He takes a moment to slide it back into the holster within his jacket, glancing back at the target for a long, thoughtful moment.

"It'll take some time," he notes, distantly. "But you're on the right track." That sort of form she had -- it was from someone with resolve. And that's what's really essential.

After a long moment, Alex clears his throat, as if remembering something. "Err -- it's not a problem, Lieutenant. But..." His lips pull away from a smile, as his green eyes focus intently on that dummy.

"... Lieutenant Zabiarov, Lieutenant Shinn Asuka is part of your squad, right?"

She cannot help but grin almost dopeishly when he offers his compliment with a smile. Feeling less uncomfortable with the whole idea of 'shooting a gun' and more inspired to use it as a tool of protection, she has certainly found confidence and resolve in doing as he said: protect people if she has to.

And she will.

Still, Sarah lightly blushes at the compliment. "Th-thank you," she notes as he takes the gun. "I'll try to practice when I get the chance. Like I said, you gave really good advice." She looks away, still a touch red from embarrassment as she lets her green eyes land on the target as well.

Only when Alex Dino clears his throat does Sarah Zabiarov look back, curious. But..?

"Lieutenant Asuka..? Yes, he is a member of Minerva's Lance. Why do you ask..? Do you want me to relay a message to him for you, Lieutenant?"

Alex has never been good at expressing gratitude properly. It's why, when Sarah shifts towards the subject of Shinn, Dino eagerly moves forward with it even moreso than originally intended.

"Err, no, that's fine; please don't," Alex says, in a tone that seems to very subtly emphasize the 'don't' part as much as possible. Dino's brows furrow. Shinn... he wasn't there on the battlefield when the Eternal escaped, but he heard what happened. To Lacus' father--

"I just... wanted to request something from you." His voice comes out with a little more difficulty. "I'd just like you to keep a close eye on him and make sure he doesn't get out of line." He pauses. Maybe that sounds too harsh. But--

"... Lieutenant Asuka has a lot of potential to become a great mobile suit pilot but... his head isn't in the right place. He has some... issues." He's read Shinn's dossier, even if the young man didn't tell him personally. He knows why he's so angry. "I -- I guess what I mean to say is that he has too much potential to let it be wasted by making stupid choices." His brows furrow behind those shades.

"So just... don't be afraid to be strict with him so he doesn't go down the wrong path." He pauses. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I know it's a bit of a selfish request..."

Tilting her head slightly at Alex's response, Sarah seems content to simply listen and hear him out. At the mention of a request, her expression becomes visibly puzzled, brows lifting gently over her gaze before she seems to focus on the young Coordinator's gaze.

"Get...out of line?" she wonders.

But she as she's about to inquire further, Alex Dino explains himself. Nodding softly in response, she offers a tiny smile. "I will do what I can," she assures. Granted, Sarah isn't exactly the /best/ person to put in a leadership-type role. Whoever decided she should be head of the Lance squad should probably reconsider. But she tries!

"I can see where you are coming from...so as thanks for your advice, I will do my best to see to it that he stays on path and becomes a great mobile suit pilot." Her smile fades only slightly as she mentally amends, 'that is if he'll listen to a /girl/.'

"Don't worry, Lieutenant," Sarah assures, smiling gently. "It isn't a selfish request if you want me to help you look out for someone else. You're putting another's best interests before your own as best you can. That isn't selfish at all."

Bowing her head lightly, the young woman sheepishly comments, "I-I should probably get back to the hangar. I was here to drop off some reports, but I got distracted at how big and impressive the Exelion is." A little embarrassed, Sarah takes a small step back (as small as one can in zero g) before she bows a bit further.

"Thank you for your time, Lieutenant. I hope we get a chance to meet again. Take care." A stiff salute is offered.

And unless stopped, Sarah makes her exit as quietly as she came.

"Don't be afraid to get firm with him if you have to," Alex says, entirely seriously. "He's got a good heart, but he's..." Alex pauses, trying to figure out the best way to put it.

"SPECIAL ED! SPECIAL ED!" chirps the haro. Alex frowns.

"... a bit thick sometimes."

Sarah's reassuring words are met with a faint smile, however, as Alex turns his gaze towards the right. 'Putting another's best interests before his own,' huh? He doesn't respond for a long moment afterward, instead opting to run a gloved hand through the hair at the back of his head.

"... Thanks," he manages to offer, finally. But he still doesn't know how true that compliment is.

Sarah pulls back. And as she does, Alex tilts his head, watching her form up in a crisp, zero g salute. His expression turns from mildly befuddled to amiable as he turns easily on his heel, lifting slightly off the ground as he salutes Sarah Zabiarov in return.

"Come back any time, Lieutenant; this place is as much your home as it is ours." It's weird, saying that. But in a literally and figurative way... it really has become that, hasn't it?

"Thank you for the talk, Lieutenant Zabiarov."

"START SHOOTING BETTER! START SHOOTING BETTER!"

"... I've been getting really rusty on programming these things right..."