ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ's ɴᴏ ᴇxᴘʟᴏsɪᴏɴs ʜᴇʀᴇ ( ᴏᴘᴇɴ )

[perfecting]

Who: Nancy Wheeler + you!
Broadcast: no
Action: heron, iskaulit
When: all through march.



( A; Heron - Arrival )

[ The new arrival can't be more than seventeen-years old. Carrying a school bag, pins in her hair, wearing a pale pair of jeans and red jacket above her sweater. Nancy looks like a high-school girl on the way to her locker.

She had given those who had seen her arrival a little tight smile before slinking off. She never really had the new-school jitters. In Hawkins, everyone knew everyone since they were children. Nancy knew the kids in her high school since pre-school. She never really had to deal with so many strangers before.

She finds a room and places her bag, takes out her books an pencil-box. It's far from her room but it's still better than the Marsiva.

If you pass by her room, you might notice the door is open. If she sees you, she'll get up and call out, a hesitant and yet certain, 'hey'. ]

( B; Heron - nights )

[ the new security officer doesn't really sleep. She tries, however. Nancy lies in the dark and closes her eyes and manages a little sleep but in the end, it's always the same. She hears a terrible growl, sees a dark, cold world and a faceless monster and wakes up gasping.

You might find her wandering at odd hours, making herself tea in the kitchen, going to sit in the shuttle bay or in the armory, reading one of her study books, writing names of people and worlds and terms in a notebook she names FLEET. ]

( C; iskaulit )

[ when she learns the truth of her destined job, she accepts it without a fuss.

It gives her easy access to what she wanted since her arrival, weapons. She places the broken piece of glass she armed herself with on the Marsiva beneath her pillow and goes to the armory.

Instinct leads her to a handgun and she takes it with her, hidden in her jacket pocket. She knows better than to try and use it inside the ship. She goes through the network, reading files and messages until she finds what she's looking for.

She knows nothing about this world but she had seen enough to let herself think she might not need to use one again. It's harder on her own, harder without Jonathan and their conversations but she pushes nerves aside. This isn't any different than shooting cans and it is certainly easier than shooting -

the thing. the monster.

It's the monster she thinks about when she enters the firing range. No beast that she has ever heard of is one of its kind. If there is one, there is another. if there is another than this time, Nancy Wheeler is going to be prepared for it when it comes.

She looks up at the lights, draws a breath when they remain steady, not a single flicker.

It's just me, she thinks, it doesn't like the light.

She thinks about the monster, she thinks about what it had done to Barb ( there is a scream in her head, dead, dead! ) and pulls the trigger once and then again and again and once more.

The noise doesn't startle her, her hand remains steady. Some people are fine dancers or singers. Nancy Wheeler is a good shot. Sixteen years old in jeans and a sweater, she loads more bullets and tries again. ]

Comments

c

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha spends a fair amount of time at the firing range. Not all that surprising, all things considered. She doesn't do it because she needs to stay sharp—practice doesn't hurt, but at this point Natasha could forget how to breathe as easily as she could get rusty with her aim. She also doesn't stay here to teach, but she gets some of that in too.

Mostly she's here because, in a way she doesn't consider too closely, she finds it comforting. It's familiar. The way the gym is comforting. In the way dancing might be if it were more honest.

So it's not really surprising that she can tell when someone else is here looking for comfort in the wrong places.]

Not bad. [Said when Nancy pauses to reload. It's mild praise, but honest enough.] Work on keeping both eyes open, and you'll be even better.

[perfecting]

What happens if I can't see at all.

[ she's not trying to be smart. perhaps a part of her is honestly curious. she remembers the lights going out and the terrible, chilling growl from behind her. The monster can make sure there won't be any lights when it comes and then -

she managed in Jonathan's home but if it gets any darker, it might not be as easy.

She bites her lip and looks down at the bullets in her right hand.

There are so many adults here. It's weird to even be talking to them. For so long, this part of her has only shown with people her age, Jonathan, Steve and later on her brother. ]

[outstandingbalance]

If that happens, a gun's not your best weapon.

[Natasha reads the girl's attitude, and she can tell it's not sass. At least, not primarily.]

But if it's what you have, then you really better get a good look where everything is before the lights go out.

[perfecting]

Before the lights go out.

[ she echoes, the word seem to make sense to her, to find their mark and settle somewhere that is familiar. before the lights go out - they did have a few seconds before the monster had managed that.

the trick is to make each second count. ]

Both eyes open.

[ she nods, loads another bullet and takes a deep breath. apparently, she is going to try again. ]

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha crosses her arms, leaning back on her heels as she watches. There's no rush. Whenever Nancy is ready to try again, she'll have an eye on it.

There's curiosity there, but Natasha keeps it to herself. She doesn't know what this girl is dealing with, but it's obviously something. She's not going to drag it out until she has a better idea what she's dealing with.]

[perfecting]

[ Jonathan couldn't handle the gun as easily as Nancy. Steve handled the baseball bat and Jonathan was the one who figured out the traps. The gun was Nancy's choice of weapon. It didn't freak her out and as it turned out, she wasn't really bad for someone who had one practice-session shooting a can and then had to target a humanoid monster.

She tries to channel out her nerves. an adult is going to see me shooting something, she thinks but reckons it's better than not being prepared for when she has to shoot something.

before the lights go out, she thinks, takes a deep breath and fights away the urge to close one eye. ]

-- It's harder to focus like this.

[outstandingbalance]

It can be, but you also lose your depth perception if you have one eye closed, and you're not learning to compensate for your dominant eye.

[This is a subject Natasha can speak to with confidence.]

Might seem easier now, but it's holding you back in the long run.

[perfecting]

Right.

[ it all makes sense. all she needs to do is to keep her arms steady and her eyes open. she takes another deep breath, steadies her hand, stretches it forward. the following shots aren't entirely out of range as Jonathan's were but they're not her own accurate ones, either. ]

-- It's a start, I guess.

[outstandingbalance]

It is. You'll have to get used to this a little, but it'll help you in the long run.

[She says it with perfect confidence.]

I'm Natasha, by the way.

[perfecting]

I'm Nancy.

[ she thought about giving another name, at first. but nancy isn't keen to start her stay here by pretending to be another girl entirely. it's bad enough that so much of her will have to remain a secret, at the very least she can hold onto her name. ]

It's a pretty name.

[ Russian. While her father may have a lot to say about the so-called commies, Nancy pays little mind to it. Living in Hawkins, Indiana, none of those people has even met someone from Russia before.

It seems like she might be the first. ]

[outstandingbalance]

Nancy's a good name too.

[Very American, though in 2017 it conjures the image of a much older woman than this. There were a lot of reasons that could be.]

You're new? I haven't seen you around here before. And I'm here a lot.

[perfecting]

Yeah, I only got here last week. I got off the Marsiva a few days ago.

[ after doing her fair share of damage to the place. she's almost sorry about it, now. the atroma certainly didn't mind and all she did was provide more work for the odd cleaning robots. ]

How long have you been here?

[outstandingbalance]

Since last Summer. Not as long as some people, but a while.

[She glances across the shooting range.]

I helped set this up. Strange to think it's been that long.

[perfecting]

A while.

[ nancy echoes, lets it sink in. it might be her. in a few months, in a year, she might find herself in a similar position.

it's a sobering thought. ]

It's - it helps.

Small>[ the range. she closes her eyes for a second, scolding herself for how young she must sound. ]

Are you a security officer?

[outstandingbalance]

Communications, actually. This is stuff from before.

[She doesn't sound any younger than she is. Which may be exactly what bothers her.]

You?

[perfecting]

Security. On the Heron.

[ she rather likes it. if she had to gain any skill, better one she can use to protect herself. ]

[outstandingbalance]

It's a good ship. I know the captain.

[She flicks a small smile, gone almost immediately as she puts on a more thoughtful face.]

I'm almost surprised he's not here with you.

[perfecting]

Why? Because I'm younger?

[ she shrugs, not without her own smile. ]

Maybe he thought you'd be here.

[outstandingbalance]

Somehow, I doubt I was on his mind.

[Natasha smiles a little at that, though.]

But since he's laying down on the job... I don't mind giving you a few pointers.

[perfecting]

Just like that?

[ she seems surprised; perhaps by the fact that she isn't protesting her doing this, being young as she is. ]

Okay.

[outstandingbalance]

Would you rather I made it harder for you? [Teasing with a little lift of her brows.] If you're going to be carrying that—[With a pointed glance at her gun.]—then it seems to me the best thing to do is make sure you know how to us it.

[perfecting]

I know how to use it.

[ defensive and just a bit childish. she seems to realize it, however and she deflates, sighs a bit. ]

I mean. Okay. I'm listening.

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha's lips twitch at her assertion. It's clearly true, to a degree. But there's knowing what you're doing and really knowing what you're doing.]

Point that at me.

[She says, despite knowing that it's exactly something she shouldn't tell anyone to do, let alone a teenage civilian.]

[perfecting]

No way.

[ at once but not without a bit of a smile. ]

That's crazy.

[outstandingbalance]

Normally that is the right answer. But this is lesson one.