"Ripley or Faith would probably approach things the same way Blaise does--from a practical combat-training point of view. But we've a lot of women who don't even know how to channel their adrenaline responses so they don't freeze. Most of 'em don't even know to carry a safety whistle or a handy light source." /Learned helplessness./ "Ah figure I can handle the personal safety stuff while Blaise teaches folks to fight." She sounded marginally more confident now, something that had been happening since she started talking about the class again.
"Your friend Jack sounds like my Daddy sometimes." She smiled a little. "Course, where I was growin' up, firearms were necessary for a lot more'n personal defense. Reason I'd eaten bear before was that Daddy bagged us one on the way home from work a few times." She didn't like talking about being that poor, but...hell, she wasn't hiding anything from Daniel either. "He was a real God-Guts-and-Guns guy. Even had a temper like Jack's."
**/Aw, c'mon, baby, ah was never that bad./**
Pause. Blink. /No. No way./
She shook it off as Daniel described not feeling any safer armed. /I, meanwhile, feel naked unarmed./
And then he got it. That it wasn't ultimately about her pride or safety; that it was about not having to watch helplessly while the others were hurt or killed or dragged away. She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I don't even like guns that much, b'lieve it or not. But I'm more confident with one in hand by a great deal because...well...ah /do/ have a gift."
She fished into her bag. The folded-up slip of range target she came up with had an extraordinarily tight little six-shot smiley face in it. "It's kind of ironic. I've killed two people in my life and it makes me sick every time, but I'm one of the best shots out there."
When he mentioned how useless the P90s had been, she nodded thoughtfully. "You can't defend a beach fulla people very easily with four firearms, it's true. Especially in the dark. A gun isn't a magic wand no matter how firmly Jack or my daddy believes in 'em. But if the Others weren't scared of 'em, they wouldn't have tried to steal 'em. And more to the point...OK, so they don't help much in protecting people from kidnapping. But they'll be a damnsight handy in getting them back, if it comes to that.
"Four guns ain't much. But that, plus the people who want to learn archery or take a class from Blaise, plus the folks with other combat skills, plus any kinda fortifications and early-warning things y'all can put together...."
Daniel laughed a little. "Ok, ok, I get what you're saying. Not the be-all and end-all, but an important piece of the puzzle."
"Yeah, basically...."
She trailed off, eyes flashing suddenly. "Jesus, that's so simple, why didn't I think of it before?" "What is it?"
"Doc can carve metal with that doohickey of his. Stick a warning gong by the watchfire made from fuselage metal, and another somewhere central in the caves. Heck, ah'll donate my plate. Just knock a coupla holes in it and stick it on a bamboo frame."
She didn't mention to Daniel that she had no qualms about shooting one of the Others in the back of the head--if the bastard was carrying one of the castaways at the time.
When Daniel unstrapped his pistol and handed it to her, she blinked slowly down at it. /I guess he's seeing enough signs of recovery now. Maybe because I actually agreed to scale back tomorrow. Or maybe he just realizes my motives fully now./
"Thank you," she said quietly. She weighed it in her hand. /Not a magic wand, but I can damn well work some magic with it if I have to./ Surprisingly enough, she strapped the gun belt on and then pulled her long tanktop down /over/ it. "It ain't a Superman cape." /But it means you finally trust me fully, especially not to wig out on you, and that's just as important./ "But four armed people is better than three. Ah'm gonna be practicing with the bow as usual, of course, and I'm getting fairly good at making arrows. I don't even think I'll let people in general know I'm carrying yet." She looked very thoughtful.
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timeasmymeasure
[Clarice] The Ugliest Talent (tag Daniel, open)
Date: 2006-05-03 07:41 am (UTC)channel their adrenaline responses so they don't freeze. Most of 'em don't even know to carry a safety whistle or a handy light source." /Learned helplessness./ "Ah figure I can handle the personal safety stuff while Blaise teaches folks to fight." She sounded marginally more confident now, something that had been happening since she started talking about the class again.
"Your friend Jack sounds like my Daddy sometimes." She smiled a little. "Course, where I was growin' up, firearms were necessary for a lot more'n personal defense. Reason I'd eaten bear before was that Daddy bagged us one on the way home from work a few times." She didn't like talking about being that poor, but...hell, she wasn't hiding anything from Daniel either. "He was a real God-Guts-and-Guns guy. Even had a temper like Jack's."
**/Aw, c'mon, baby, ah was never that bad./**
Pause. Blink. /No. No way./
She shook it off as Daniel described not feeling any safer armed. /I, meanwhile, feel naked unarmed./
And then he got it. That it wasn't ultimately about her pride or safety; that it was about not having to watch helplessly while the others were hurt or killed or dragged away. She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I don't even like guns that much, b'lieve it or not. But I'm more confident with one in hand by a great deal because...well...ah /do/ have a gift."
She fished into her bag. The folded-up slip of range target she came up with had an extraordinarily tight little six-shot smiley face in it. "It's kind of ironic. I've killed two people in my life and it makes me sick every time, but I'm one of the best shots out there."
When he mentioned how useless the P90s had been, she nodded thoughtfully. "You can't defend a beach fulla people very easily with four firearms, it's true. Especially in the dark. A gun isn't a magic wand no matter how firmly Jack or my daddy believes in 'em. But if the Others weren't scared of 'em, they wouldn't have tried to steal 'em. And more to the point...OK, so they don't help much in protecting people from kidnapping. But they'll be a damnsight handy in getting them back, if it comes to that.
"Four guns ain't much. But that, plus the people who want to learn archery or take a class from Blaise, plus the folks with other combat skills, plus any kinda fortifications and early-warning things y'all can put together...."
Daniel laughed a little. "Ok, ok, I get what you're saying. Not the be-all and end-all, but an important piece of the puzzle."
"Yeah, basically...."
She trailed off, eyes flashing suddenly. "Jesus, that's so simple, why didn't I think of it before?"
"What is it?"
"Doc can carve metal with that doohickey of his. Stick a warning gong by the watchfire made from fuselage metal, and another somewhere central in the caves. Heck, ah'll donate my plate. Just knock a coupla holes in it and stick it on a bamboo frame."
She didn't mention to Daniel that she had no qualms about shooting one of the Others in the back of the head--if the bastard was carrying one of the castaways at the time.
When Daniel unstrapped his pistol and handed it to her, she blinked slowly down at it. /I guess he's seeing enough signs of recovery now. Maybe because I actually agreed to scale back tomorrow. Or maybe he just realizes my motives fully now./
"Thank you," she said quietly. She weighed it in her hand. /Not a magic wand, but I can damn well work some magic with it if I have to./ Surprisingly enough, she strapped the gun belt on and then pulled her long tanktop down /over/ it. "It ain't a Superman cape." /But it means you finally trust me fully, especially not to wig out on you, and that's just as important./ "But four armed people is better than three. Ah'm gonna be practicing with the bow as usual, of course, and I'm getting fairly good at making arrows. I don't even think I'll let people in general know I'm carrying yet." She looked very thoughtful.