doesntsing | shot through the heart (for allbedestroyed)

shot through the heart (for allbedestroyed)

This is definitely the most unique first date that Midge has ever been on.

Despite the fact that Robert took her to his company party one night and came out to see her show the next night, this outing is their official first date. And it’s to a shooting range outside of the city. Certainly not what Midge would have picked, but she’s open to new experiences. She doesn’t think she’s ever held a real gun, let alone shot one. She’d be more nervous if Robert wasn’t with her. He’s so calm and steady that it should keep her from panicking too much. It helps that he’s an expert shot as well. Midge just hopes that he’s a patient teacher.

They managed to get a warmer than usual day for December in New York with the sun shining brightly overhead. Midge is wearing a sweater and a pair of trousers with her coat and a hat. They’re going to be spending the day outside, so she had to dress sensibly, though still fashionably, of course. They packed a picnic lunch to eat on the grounds after they shoot, and Midge brought along a big thermos of tea to hopefully keep them warm. Tea because he’s English. She made an assumption.

The range is about 30 minutes outside of the city and Midge watches the fields go by as the two of them race through the countryside in his rented car.

“How did you hear about this place?” she asks.

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Midge passes him the cup of tea, then pours one for herself. Looks like her intuitions about his Britishness were right.

“Weeks?” Midge asks. “I can’t imagine.” She’d be miserable doing that, but that’s not the sort of life that she’s lived. Robert is used to it. As long as he doesn’t expect her to join him on such treks.

“You know, I usually feel safe in the city,” she continues. “Most of the clubs I perform at are in Midtown and I take taxis if it’s late at night instead of walking.” She’s also a true New Yorker. If anyone gives her shit, she’s going to give it right back to them. Hopefully there’s no need for a gun.

"A lot of places I've worked are extremely remote. You can't drive there. You're lucky if you can get a boat part of the way."

Unless she specifically requested to go out on a hike, he would never look for Midge to join one. Not even a much shorter one. He's seen the sort of clothes she enjoys wearing and that tells him plenty about what she's comfortable with. Hiking through dense jungle or wading through leech infested swamps don't factor into it.

He sips his tea as he listens, nodding approvingly at mention of taxis at night. It doesn't surprise him. Midge has a good head on her shoulders. "Midtown's not the bad part of town, then, is it?"

As long as he still likes her even if she won’t be joining him in any multi-day hikes. Day hikes, she could be persuaded to do. She would dress properly for them and would probably have a lovely time, so long as they don’t involve leeches.

“No,” she says. “It’s a lot of businesses, which are closed at night, but there are restaurants and clubs too. If you stay where there are a lot of people, you’re less likely to get mugged.”

Midge isn’t naive enough to think that she could never get hurt in New York, but she’s not afraid to go out on her own either.

“If I started carrying that thing around though—“ She points to Robert’s large game rifle. “-I doubt anyone would mess with me.”

Given that his expectations from youth were to marry a homemaker, he's not put off in the slightest that Midge is more of a city woman. Plus, if they did come across leeches he would be inclined to just carry her to spare her the discomfort.

There's more approving nodding as she explains. It's what he'd thought she'd meant, but it's better to hear it said out loud. When they part it's going to be difficult not to worry about her, but this is some consolation.

"I'm shocked anyone would mess with you without a weapon."

Clearly opposites attract in their case.

She will, of course, be worrying about him out in the wilderness as well. So many things could go wrong. Midge will try to remember that as comfortable and confident as she feels in the city, he feels the same way out there.

She smiles slyly at him. “They wouldn’t know what hit them.”

"I have no doubt," he assures her with a grin of his own.

He's thoughtful for a moment as he sips his tea, looking from the range to the way they came, and then back to Midge. "If you like, I could see if they have some smaller models for you to try."

“Smaller pistols?” She asks. “I was actually thinking of trying the rifle - the beginner’s one.” His is so heavy that she would probably find it unwieldy.

“Do you think I’ll need to know how to shoot it if I come to visit you?”

Who knows how remotely he lives? It might feel like being a pioneer in the old west. Those women had to know how to shoot rifles.

That manages to perk him up no end, her answer making him pleasantly surprised. He'd feared she'd written off the larger weapons.

"Of course, you can try whatever you like. You get more range with a rifle, too." As if she cares... He can't help it. He's excited and trying not to show it.

"You won't need to know how to shoot. I'll be with you if you're ever anywhere dangerous," he assures her. "Knowing how to pin a snake down with a broom is useful, but you probably won't have to do that either."

His excitement is obvious, but it’s sweet to see it. He loves sharing this with her, and while she will never be a gun aficionado like he is, she can still enjoy it with him. Besides, she likes how animated he gets when he’s happy about something. It’s the same way when he talks about animals.

“Oh, God. Please tell me that’s a joke.” Midge already knows that it’s not. The entire compound will know if there’s a snake in Robert’s house because she will scream loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I’ll have you to protect me from everything else though?” she asks with a flirtatious smile. Midge puts a hand on his chest, then leans in to steal a kiss from him. “Aren’t I a lucky girl?”

With that, she picks up the rifle and turns it over in her hands. “How do you load this?”

"You're the comedian, not me." That doesn't mean he's not smiling, though. He doesn't plan to leave Midge anywhere she might have to deal with the local wildlife on her own, of course.

It's ridiculous how easy it is for her to distract him. He leans into that kiss and it takes him a second to pull himself back. Now is not the time or place, so he takes a breath to cool down. "I'll protect you from anything. Without a second thought."

Seeing her holding a rifle doesn't help things. He's always had a soft spot for women with guns, but right now he has to focus on safety and practicality. Rather than take it off her, he uses the opportunity to touch her some more, adjusting the weapon and then Midge before showing her how to load the weapon. Then he guides her to the right spot to show her how to stand, how to hold the gun, and how to aim. He does pay special attention to the stock, because it's likely this is where she's going to feel the recoil. Though he doesn't say it, the last thing he wants is to be the cause of her having to wear high collared dresses to hide a nasty bruise.

Midge likes rattling him, making him want her. Before she pulls away, she leans in to whisper in his ear. “Do you know how much that turns me on?” The idea of him being her protector is very arousing to her. While she considers herself a modern woman and can protect herself from some things, there are other things that she would consider to be his specialty.

Midge is glad to let him touch her in order to show her how to load the gun and stand with it. The positioning is different compared to how she held the pistol. She aims, holds the rifle for a moment and then fires.

The shot is louder and the recoil is stronger and Midge lets out an involuntary yelp. Her bullet hits the target, since now she’s used to aiming higher than what seems natural.

As if it isn't difficult enough behaving himself. Then she has to go and say something like that just before he's meant to focus on Serious things like gun safety.

He does manage to focus, though. That little whisper can be kept locked away for later when they don't have dangerous weapons around. He'll hold onto that for a long time yet, in fact.

Seeing her hit the target with a new gun, even with that yelp, is a good distraction. It's not a bullseye, but it's still far better than he'd expect of a beginner. He's not just being polite when he says, "Good shot! I told you you were a natural!"

He’s welcome to save his response for when they’re alone and the guns have been put away. He’s also welcome to act on it in whatever way he sees fit.

Midge laughs lightly. “I don’t know. Is it that hard to hit a non-moving target?” Maybe it is. Midge did kind of think she would be hopeless at this, but she’s doing better than she thought. If a person or animal tried to attack her though, she doubts she’d be able to hit them. It takes her a good ten seconds just to aim.

"It's hard when you've never lifted a gun in your life." And when that gun is primarily suited to a man who has years of experience. "Believe me, I've taught all sorts of people. You're a good shot."

She doesn't need to be good at shooting, he's got that covered for them both, but it's important that she knows her accomplishments. Especially when he's keen for her to have a pleasant, or at least not a frightening, first encounter with guns.-

Midge knows he’s not just indulging her, because he isn’t the type to do that. He’ll tell the truth, even be blunt about it, in most situations. Still, she can’t believe that she’s really impressing him.

“You can call me Midge Oakley from now on,” she says, aiming the rifle again. Quietly, she starts to sing: “Anything you can do, I can do better…”

She fires and the butt of the gun hits her shoulder. “Ow.” She must not have been aiming correctly. At least the bullet manages to sink into one of the rings of the target.

Naturally Midge's instinct is to joke about it. Muldoon does step back to watch her when she lifts the rifle again, but he's got a smile on his lips. Until she makes that sound of pain and his frown is right back where it's used to being.

Coming in closer again, he looks from the range to Midge and looks her over. "Are you alright?"

“Yeah,” she says, rubbing her shoulder with the opposite hand. “I think so.” Hopefully it won’t leave a bruise, but it won’t be the end of the world if it does. “The recoil is definitely stronger with this thing, but I think it’s easier to aim, since you hold onto the barrel when you fire.”

Midge strikes a pose with the rifle, putting the barrel of it up against her shoulder. “Can you see me walking through Central Park with this thing?”

"You'd raise more eyebrows than you do already," he teases gently. "Here..."

Guiding the weapon back down, he steps in to support her as he gets her to aim again. "Now, a lot of instructors explain that when you hold the weapon it helps to imagine you're holding a beautiful woman. Since you are the beautiful woman, maybe hold it like you'd like to be held."

Settling the butt of the gun against her shoulder with warm hands, he explains, "Keep it close, support it. Hold it firmly, but don't grip tightly. You want it against your shoulder so that when it moves suddenly, you move with it." When he turns, his cheek brushes hers. "All make sense?"

“Sounds like you learned something when we danced at that party,” she says, turning her head to kiss his cheek when it brushes against hers. Having him close like this makes her heart beat faster. “Maybe later you can give me a visual demonstration of what you’re talking about.”

Midge takes his advice though, holding the gun steady as she aims again. When she fires, she anticipates the recoil and moves with the gun so that it doesn’t hit her. This time, the bullet hits on one of the rings closer to the center of the bullseye.

It's not often he comes across a lady who's as much of a flirt as him. Probably moreso, really. Things like this are why Midge is so adept at making the normally stoic warden smile. Luckily for him, he gets to step back while she takes her shot. Not that it helps him gather any composure. When he sees where Midge hit he's quick to applaud her.

"Well done! You've got the hang of it now!"

It's difficult to stay back, but he does. "Go on, take a few more!"

He’s more excited about her shooting than she is. With a grin at his reaction, Midge re-aims and fires again. The next few shots land on the target, albeit in inconsistent places.

“Looks like I’ve found a gun that works for me,” she says when she finally lowers it. “Too bad it won’t fit in my purse.”

Robert seems happy and Midge likes making him happy.

"You do look good holding it." Judging by his grin, he means it too. Midge is always pretty, but Muldoon won't lie and say she doesn't look extra good with a rifle in her hands.

Now that the gun is down, he steps up close to her, hands sliding onto her hips as he kisses her shoulder. "Would you like to take some more shots?"

There aren’t a lot of people here at the range with them, so Midge feels comfortable with public displays of affection. She puts the gun down and wraps her arms around his neck.

“I think I want to see you shoot the gun that you brought for yourself,” she tells him, nodding at his heavy gun on the table.

He enjoys the closeness, almost brushing their noses together as she talks. The smallest of smiles tugs incessantly at his lips and he answers with a low, "Alright."

The strong hands on her hips move them in a spin until they've swapped places. Then he pulls away to tidy her weapon away and pick up his own. It might as well have grooves worn down from being handled by him so often. Muldoon pauses to check Midge is alright, and had ear protection on, before loading his weapon and readying it.

This gun is louder than the rest. He picks out targets much further away, too. The warden might not be a bodybuilder, but the muscles in his arms flex as they hold the weight of the rifle steady. He takes the opportunity to show off a little, picking out difficult smaller targets and hitting close to the centre on the circular targets. None of which he wastes any time with, and when he's done he's just as quick in resetting the weapon and getting the safety back on before he turns to Midge for her reaction.

It’s impressive. Midge has never really been impressed by guns in the past, but what Robert can do is nothing short of impressive. She watches as he hits the targets, hardly needing time to reset before moving on to the next one. Her gaze turns to the way the muscles in his arm move and it stirs something deep inside her. Arousal. It’s not difficult for her to get aroused when it comes to him.

He looks to her for her reaction and she’s speechless for a moment, trying to think of something witty to say.

“If you do that again, you might have to take me back to the car for some privacy.”

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