[h1][center]Literally Shootin’ the Shit[/center][/h1]

[center]A [@Dervish] & [@DearTrickster] Collab[/center]

[hr]

Dex opened the case for her M-97 Viper, by far her favourite rifle to use a hum of content as she closed it hiking it up over her shoulder effortlessly. The day had picked up after they had landed on Elysium, had an embarrassing debriefing with Captain Donnelly, then everyone was given time to relax. She knew of at least one person she wanted to drag along to practice. No questions, no emotionally wrenching conversations waited. It was a relief. She shrugged on a light jacket anticipating the cooler weather from the morning.

The turian made her way through the ship, the afternoon was open. Sliding down the ladder to the hangar she heard the music first before she saw Tanya standing at an easel, a tarp covered in paint. “[color=007236]Hey! Tanya![/color]” She shouted over the music.

[color=cyan]”Shithead, lower volume to 15%.”[/color] she shouted to her drone, which motionlessly complied with the directive as it hovered unwaveringly nearby,  casting an orange globe on the surrounding work area as if it were a small sun. [color=cyan]”Dex, how’s it going? I assume you are itching to get off the ship.”[/color] She asked, dipping her brush into a water jar.

“[color=007236]Yeah, more than you know. I’m heading to the shooting range, get some practice in. You want to join me?[/color]” Dex asked stepping to the edge of the tarp, paint spotted and splashed the mechanic in a similar way grease or oil did usually.

Tanya didn’t take long to decide. [color=cyan]”Playing with guns and not breathing recycled air. You sure know how to show a girl a good time. I’d like to taste something that hasn’t been frozen or baked in sixteen layers of preservatives for space flight for a change.”[/color] she said, capping off her paint jars and standing up from the stool with a stretch. [color=cyan]”Give me 20 minutes to freshen up, and I’ll meet you back here?”[/color]

“[color=007236]Sure. Digging yourself out of layers of paint [i]would[/i] take a few minutes.[/color]” She commented. “[color=007236]I’ll meet you outside the ship.[/color]”

Dex hammered open the hangar doors, taking in a long breath of cool fresh air. Still too cold for her liking but she didn’t mind. The spaceport was busy with ships arriving and leaving, the sky filled with movement. There was precious little where Dex felt at home or comfortable but local ports with busy traffic was one of the places she felt centered. She called a taxi. It wasn’t long before Tanya reappeared toting her own gun case, conveniently the taxi had arrived a few minutes before Tanya did.

Tanya reemerged washed up and hair fixed up, eliminating all traces of her hobby or mechanical handiwork on her body, save for some barely noticeable black stains within her fingerprints and under the nails. She wore simple thick blue cargo pants, a pair of brown leather hiking boots, and a black jacket, made of similar materials as the pants. She had her Vindicator and Predator already stuffed inside a hard case, which was strapped over her shoulder. 

She looked at the taxi with a frown. [color=cyan]”What, wasn’t going fast enough for your tastes?”[/color] she asked.

“[color=007236]Not nearly.[/color]” Dex joked. “[color=007236]Let’s go, been looking forward to the range all day.[/color]”

They unloaded their cases into the trunk of the cab then hopped in themselves. “[color=007236]Maximilian's Gun Range, please.[/color]”

The taxi took off crossing the city, dipping in and out of heavy traffic. The ride was a comfortable silence, Dex didn’t feel an awkward shift while the background radio played. Reiterating her relief in asking Tanya to join her. Neither of them held any real expectations for the other. Just their first chance to spend any time outside of crew dinners, the odd visit down to the hangar, Dex didn’t know much about the human beyond her need to go back to Terra Nova for the memorial.

They arrived to the gun range, it wasn’t much time to get registered and pay for their slot of time and admittance. The range was set outside, deep pits of dirt were dug out. Bright orange markers showed the distance of some large scrap metal targets with red bulls eyes. Dex settled her case against the wooden benches, she opened her case plucking the rifle up out of the soft foam, unfolding it full size. She checked the sights, then turned to Tanya.

“[color=007236]What rifle did you bring?[/color]”

Tanya plopped her case down on the bench next to Dex. [color=cyan]”Only one I own. And my sidearm.”[/color] she said, pulling the blocky M-15 from the case and strapping a holster to her thigh with the M-3 Predator sitting snug within it. [color=cyan]”Truth be told, if the rifle didn’t do all the calculations in the scope for me, I’d be buggered if I tried to hit anything past 300 meters, and even then it’s a bit of a chore.”[/color] she said, the rifle extending in her hands and power indicators coming to life. [color=cyan]”Was never much of a marksman. So tell me, what does a spy like yourself need to be a crack shot for? Isn’t most of your old job hiding behind a desk and cackling evilly?”[/color] she askedTa with a teasing grin.

Dex laughed easily, “[color=007236]Most of my [i]old[/i] job was field work. Cackling evilly behind a desk was my [i]boss[/i].[/color]” Settling down and straddling the bench, “[color=007236]Sounds like you need some practice. My military years were spent primarily in the cockpit, even with other… uh [i]hobbies[/i] keeping me occupied I always found time to get my hours logged in at the range. Even after that it was habit by the time my military service was done. Much like exercise. Routine, consistency that lacks in so many other areas in my life.[/color]” Dex hummed pleasantly through her sub vocals, eyeing down her scope trying to find a good word to describe what it was she liked about spending time at the shooting range. “[color=007236]Comfort, yeah.[/color]” She took careful aim of her target.

“[color=007236]My hobbies have a habit of saving my life in one way or another,[/color]” She took three consistent shots at the target mid range, warming up. Two hit the inner rings of the bullseye. “[color=007236]Or causing trouble. Depends who you ask.[/color]”

She grinned at Tanya opening the conversation. “[color=007236]I remember you mentioning the trip to Terra Nova would be for your father’s memorial. He participated in the Relay 314 Incident? I was only...[/color]” She paused calculating the years, “[color=007236]17 CE years at the time, I think. Everyone was shitting their pants over some new aliens.[/color]”

Tanya was prone on the mat beside Dex’s bench, adjusting her optical settings. [color=cyan]”Were said hobbies the reason one of your arms attracts fridge magnets?”[/color] Tanya asked, taking aim at the 200m target, watching the little red circle adjust to the weather conditions and range. She put this on top of her target, which still looked large enough in the 3.5x magnification. Her thumb flicked up and knocked the fire selector to semi-automatic and inhaling, she put pressure on the trigger as she began to exhale, the rifle barking almost unexpectedly as it hit within 4 inches of the center of the target. [color=cyan]”18? I didn’t know you had nearly a decade on me. I was 9 when that all happened… when I lost my dad.”[/color] adjusting the scope’s settings, Tanya reacquired her target. [color=cyan]”Lieutenant-Commander Eric Carson, 4th Frontier Division, 6th Fleet. Commanded a cruiser that went down during the turian counter-attack, the reaction before you guys could mobilize your entire fleet. To think he only missed the ceasefire by… what, a week or so?”[/color] she asked, her rifle barking once more. The shot landed a couple inches higher and an inch closer.

“[color=007236]Nah, pirates did me in. Took a shotgun blast point blank at my shoulder. There are easier ways to get a new limb, shotguns are low on that list. My best friend is my engineer, he built the current model [i]from scratch.[/i] Owe him my life.[/color]” She said lightly, peeking at the targets Tanya hit. “[color=007236]Not bad, I can see what you mean about the range for your rifle. A different barrel might help that accuracy some.[/color]”

“[color=007236]You make it sound like I’m ancient.[/color]” She commented with a chuckle. “[color=007236]For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry you lost your father to that stupid fucking battle. I think I’d lose my mind if anything happened to my family.[/color]” She said making eye contact with Tanya, sincerity hummed over her sub vocals but she hoped Tanya picked up on it.



[color=cyan]”Barrel’s fine, thing’s rated out to 1.5 kilometers for an effective range. I just have squishy flesh that doesn’t lock in place like certain cyborgs do that help with my shot placement.”[/color] Tanya said, sighing, setting her rifle down and looking back at the turian. [color=cyan]”Yeah, I won’t lie, kinda sucked. I remember my dad pretty well, even though I was so young. I definitely wasn’t ready to say goodbye, you know?”[/color] she shook her head. [color=cyan]”Dad was the reason I got into the whole military thing, it’s been a long-running tradition for the men in the family going back well before the 20th century on Earth. He didn’t have a chance to have a boy, so I felt like I needed to take up the mantle, as much as that killed my mom. Well, partially that and home didn’t feel like home after my fiance died, so I wanted to get away for a while and figure things out.”[/color]

“[color=007236]Yeah I think I can understand. No real closure. Things that made home - [i]home[/i] - disappeared for you. Here’s hoping whatever shit we run into out here in the black won’t fuck us up much worse than we are now. Generally speaking for myself of course…[/color]” Dex trailed off her mind wandering to the handful of stories she’s heard so far. 

Dex aimed again breaking eye contact, moving her target past the 400 meter mark. “[color=007236]Your father sounds like an accomplished man. If you don’t mind my asking, what was your fiance like? I can imagine someone who could keep up with you.[/color]” She squeezed the trigger hitting the bullseye and subsequently two shots following that were blown off course by the stray wind. She muttered, “[color=007236]Fuck you, wind.[/color]”

A slight smile creased Tanya’s lips. [color=cyan]”Gary was colourful, full of life. Had a sense of optimism and invulnerability that made him seem immune to hardships, and nothing kept him down for long. He’s the one who really got me into vehicles, since he worked at the same shop I got hired onto and spent most of his time teaching me all of my basics. He was funny, crude as fuck, and we teased each other relentlessly.”[/color] Her smile faded and she stared at the ground, her chest rising and lowering in a slow breath. [color=cyan]”It felt like all the colour left the world after I lost him. Been trying to find it again, but it’s tough. I don’t know what he’d think of me if he saw how I turned out.”[/color] she admitted.

Dex didn’t take her eyes off the target, partially knowing if she looked at Tanya now she’d lose her train of thought. “[color=007236]If you were set to marry him I’d say he’d understand. People get married to people they don’t like all the time, by the sounds of it you two loved each other. Some understanding comes from that naturally.[/color]” She shot again hitting the target in the same sequence of three with success. “[color=007236]From the mess I saw earlier in the hangar with your painting, I’d say you’re well on your way.[/color]”


[color=cyan]”Yeah well, he sure as hell didn’t sign on for a borderline alcoholic PTSD suffering asshole who ran away from home rather than try to stay home and try to do right by his family. I let a lot of people down. I just… I just think if he saw me now, he wouldn’t recognize me. I’m a different person now.”[/color] Tanya said, picking her rifle up and flicking the fire selector to burst. She let off a string of shots, not caring much if they grouped nicely. [color=cyan]”I only really started painting to kind of cope with shit, y’know? I’d always had an eye for details, and I took to it well. Sometimes it’s easier to come to terms with things that happen when you can pluck them out of your head and throw them onto a piece of canvas and sell them off to someone who thinks it has some sort of meaning. Fucking weird, I know.”[/color]

Dex let her Viper cool before taking aim again. “[color=007236]Convenient more than weird, spending money in exchange for your problems painted on a canvas. At least with your family, showing up for the memorial will be the right thing to do, help patch things up maybe. Fuck if I know. I hope it does for you.[/color]” She paused adjusting the magnification on her scope, peering for a target at 500 meters. “[color=007236]Can’t say much for Gary and what he would think about you, but change is inevitable. If you had met me twelve years ago, you would have met a turian with two organic arms. Some of us internalize that poison, paint it on a canvas or drink it away. We’re all coping in one way or another, right?[/color]”

“[color=007236]It’s sometimes easy to forget that everyone carries poison inside them in one form or another.[/color]” She thought about Galentos, sometimes she wanted things to go back to the way things were before. When she woke up everyday knowing what she had to do. It would mean swallowing his poison and saying thank you. Ignoring her own as well. “[color=007236]Regardless… I don’t have to tell you that.[/color]”

[color=cyan]”I don’t think any of us doing this kind of work are really healthy, not really. We’re all coping with some serious and unsolvable shit, y’know? I know change happens, I accept that, but most of the time it’s… progressive, healthy. I don’t get through a night without having nightmares. I drink way too much because a numb mind helps me from thinking about this shit. I try not to let people too close to me so I don’t have to bring up the dead… it’s just one thing after another, and some really shitty coping strategies.”[/color] Tanya said, biting her lip. She decided to move her sights out to the 300m target. 

[color=cyan]”Mom kind of disowned me. She reluctantly gave her blessing for me to join the Alliance, and I left her back on Terra Nova alone, no family or anything. It took her husband from her and when I came back… well, I wasn’t the same person. It basically destroyed her and she never learned how to cope again. I don’t know if I’ll even see her at the memorial. I don’t care… I just want to say goodbye to my father.”[/color]

“[color=007236]Yeah, can relate to all too well, keeping things at arm's length. Came with the old job of course, couldn’t get attached to any of the crews I infiltrated. Thank you by the way, for not making this conversation a quid pro quo. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.[/color]” She punctuated her sentence with a shot, the wind blowing off the shot again. “[color=007236]We’ll get you to Terra Nova for that memorial.[/color]” She leaned back and looked to Tanya.


[color=cyan]”Look, I don’t like when people pry into my personal shit, so the courtesy goes both ways. I figure you’ll tell me what you want to when you’re ready. Besides, way I see it, you could have dug up all my dirty laundry given your history, but you chose not to because you want to respect boundaries and that. I respect you for that… and thanks.”[/color] Tanya said, popping off another pair of haphazardly-aimed shots. She really wasn’t trying; she was just enjoying the atmosphere. 

Dex focused back onto her scope then smiled, her mandibles stretching. “[color=007236]You can wash your own dirty laundry. Fucking gross.[/color]” She joked, the equivalent of cackling rumbled out of her sub vocals. “[color=007236]I do try to respect boundaries. Somehow managed to find out more than I bargained for, at least in such a short amount of time. Vellios, Serena, Kho-[/color]” She rhymed the names off on her talons stopping herself before getting much farther. “[color=007236]You get the idea. Have had my fair share of emotionally draining conversations lately, even if I was digging for information on purpose this would have been an easy mark.[/color]”

“[color=007236]Then again it’s a sign of trust, at least… I like to think so. Can’t read minds.[/color]” She said chuckling along. “[color=007236]Maybe one day you’ll hear one of my esteemed secrets. They’re pretty juicy, sex scandals about strangers and cheating spouses. That’s just the entrance to the silver mine.[/color]” Hoping to distract away from her mention of Khosin.

It was impossible to miss the Khosin slip-up. Dex could have mentioned his name casually and Tanya wouldn’t have thought it off, but the fact she immediately tried to cover up her mention of the name aroused Tanya’s curiosity and a lingering sense of dread in her chest. Had Khosin confided something in Dex that would have been troublesome to know about? She wanted to believe he was a good guy who had the misfortune of being the same species as a shitload of literal monsters, but now there was that lingering doubt again… [I][color=cyan]”God, I really hope Iosif’s wrong about him…[/color][/I] she thought pleadingly. Still, she decided to let it slip for now. It wasn’t worth wrecking a perfectly fine day with paranoia and suspicion.

[color=cyan]”I’m pretty sure you name drop half the galaxy and I still wouldn’t have the foggiest clue of who the hell you were talking about. If you ever decide to share some deep dark secret, I hope it’s something about yourself rather than deflecting some billionaire tycoon with a VI fetish.”[/color] Tanya replied, setting herself back in behind the rifle.

Dex shrugged relaxing when Tanya didn’t jump on her slip, “[color=007236]My deep dark secrets are boring as it gets. Now that you mention a billionaire with a thing for VI’s... [/color]” She set her Viper down and opened up her omnitool bringing up a picture of a Krogan from her archives, “[color=007236]Trudtar Qraxxi. A rival big wig wanted to out him and bring him down a couple pegs with some ridiculous secret. That secret was… a fetish for VI’s.[/color]” She sat cross legged then laughed remembering the mission. “[color=007236]It was so bad, his focus was on glitchy dirty talking VI’s. When I broke into his house on… I think it was on the Citadel. Yeah, his software was motion activated and I was greeted by the VI. I thought it was [i]broken[/i] at first. Then when I went digging for hard evidence it just followed me everywhere telling me how much it wanted to-[/color]” Dex made a robotic glitching noise, “[color=007236]To f-f-fcksh-fuck me.[/color]” The turian laughed and hooted, much like she did the first time discovering it.

Tanya snorted, shaking her head and popping off another burst, the rounds smacking against the plate like someone threw a handful of marbles against it. [color=cyan]”The galaxy’s just full of all sorts of delightful assholes, isn’t it? Why in the hell did you hang onto that?”[/color]

“[color=007236]I hang on to every piece of information I have, usually the really important stuff and sometimes the completely ridiculous. It’s like a bad case of information hoarding now that I think about it.[/color]” She minimized her omnitool window and shrugged. “[color=007236]Some people collect heads, ears or objects as trophies and I collect data trophies I guess.[/color]”

[color=cyan]”Uh-huh. Some people might think that’s serial killer behaviour.”[/color] Tanya chipped in with a grin.

“[color=007236]Databases beware! Dex will extract all your figurative data mines, reap what she shall sow.[/color]” Dex laughed taking up position again. “[color=007236]I’m the ghost story security techs tell each other on all nighters.[/color]”

Tanya smiled, propping herself up with a push up and returning to her feet, collapsing the rifle. She moved back towards her case, where there was foam cutouts for her rifle and sidearm, which she decided to get some trigger time on. [color=cyan]”I’m headed to the pistol range, care to join in?[/color] she asked, setting her rifle back into its spot and pulling out her Predator by the frame. [color=cyan]”So, Dex, all of this chatter and I never thought to ask you, what’s your family like, any siblings, things good with your parents?”[/color] she asked.

Dex nodded collapsing her Viper as well sliding it into its hardcase. Her pistol was on her hip in its holster. Grabbing the handle of the hardcase she lead the way over to the pistol range, there were a few other humans concentrating behind walled off single sections but there was a row of open paper targets. 

She placed her hardcase against the wall behind them, pulling her own Predator out of the holster.

“[color=007236]I’m good with my parents, they’re alive and happy on Taetrus. Still doing what they’ve always done. I keep in touch with them when I can, they’re well aware of my dubious career choices. The only real thing I’ve ever been able to give back to my family has been good security.[/color]” Dex checked the thermals on her pistol before extending her arms and taking aim. “[color=007236]I’m the oldest of four, I’ve got two younger sisters and a brother. One sister is paired off and I have a couple nephews.[/color]”
“[color=007236]Family is really important to me, my priorities over the years have shifted pretty heavily but they remain near the top for me. Always.[/color]” Dex said her shoulders relaxing a little as she fired away at the targets.

Tanya considered this, wondering what it would be like having siblings, or if things would have been different if her relationship with her mother wasn’t so strained. Tanya double tapped a close target, 10 meters, and was decently satisfied with the shot placement. Pistols were a bitch to use at range. [color=cyan]”So, why not go home then? Do something closer to your family that doesn’t toss you out in the middle of nowhere where there’s a chance to getting killed and your body never returning home?”[/color] she asked, continuing firing in 2-second intervals, aiming for center mass. 

Dex paused waiting for the thermals to cool and for Tanya to finish her shots. Considering her reply, “[color=007236]I miss them but not enough to live under their roof again.[/color]” Dex told a half-truth, squeezing out a chuckle. “[color=007236]Taetrus isn’t a hub of turian activity. It’s one of the many colonies that feeds the Hierarchy collective force.[/color]” She commented, hints of venom seethed through her sub vocals at mention of the Hierarchy. “[color=007236]Not much work for someone like me outside of the military.[/color]” She didn’t take her eyes off the target. She really did miss her family, she’d give her other arm to sit and have dinner with her family again. To breathe humid Taetrus air again, even help with chores she groaned about doing when she was a kid again. Like cutting back the overgrown vegetation. Return to something familiar. “[color=007236]Besides, I’m a bit too restless to settle in one place.[/color]”

[color=cyan]”I… actually know exactly what you mean. With my skills, I could have taken over the shop like I was supposed to, or even do something on another world but… I chose this instead. I had to leave that life behind because it just doesn’t feel like home anymore. I guess I’m still figuring myself out.”[/color] Tanya replied, a frown creasing her lips. 

Bringing her pistol down, Dex smiled relaxing considerably after talking about her family. Tanya didn’t need to know all the details but she was still on the same page. It was nice. “[color=007236]It isn’t easy but we have time yeah? Dodge a few bullets, get knocked around by some asshole biotic, then [i]maybe[/i] get paid. Somewhere in between all that we might figure it out.[/color]”

[color=cyan]”I guess we’re still trying to figure out that last one, huh?”[/color] Tanya asked, re-sighting her sidearm. The two fell into a comfortable silence, save for the chorus of sporadic gunfire, as they continued their drills well into the afternoon.