A Day At the Range. [Ari]

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Rufus's Home – Gentility Estates. 6:30 AM.
Rufus awoke on the floor of his bedroom. He grumbled and groaned at the rude awakening that welcomed him to an otherwise beautiful spring morning. The sun shone through the window. The world came in the form of a blur as Rufus stood his feet. He rubbed his head as everything cleared in his vision. He grumbled some more and checked the time on the clock. It was nearing seven o'clock already. Backwoods had been opened for two hours prior. He stumbled around before finally getting a hold of himself. Rufus grabbed a pair of jeans, pulling them up his legs. He fastened his belt on as well. Rufus ventured over to his wardrobe, throwing it open. He grabbed a button-up shirt and undershirt. He placed both of them on and headed downstairs to his kitchen.

Rufus's home was a large and luxurious one. He had several rooms that were unoccupied at the moment. The home was made of extravagant wood floors and long drapes. Several high-end rugs laid out on the floors as well. The basement had been converted into a survival shelter. If intruders ever invaded his home, he would be ready. Besides the fact that most of the rooms he used daily had firearms in them, he had a variety of knives as well. The survival shelter had a stocked armory as well with guns and ammunition, ranging from handguns to fully-automatic rifles.

Once he arrived at the modern kitchen, he began to make a quick breakfast of black coffee and over-done eggs. He practically shoveled down his eggs. He washed it all down with his coffee. It took him one big gulp to take back the burning liquid that filled the cup. He wiped any residue from the liquid and headed out. He locked up his house and armed his security system. Rufus loaded into his huge lifted pickup. Rufus sped off for the Backwoods office.

Rufus arrived at the office after an hour of driving. He pulled his truck into the underground parking lot of the building. He exited his truck and headed into the elevator. Rufus checked in with the desk secretary in the front of the building, then headed up to his office. His office was made up of simple wood flooring, with an oak desk at the back part. The wall was made out of plexiglass so that he could watch down on the city. There were steel shutters available if there was security breach or he wanted to block out the sun. Some chairs sat in front of the desk. On the desk sat a high-tech laptop. Some bookcases lined the walls. There was a cabinet to the left of his desk that held vests, badges, and some “personal protection”.

Rufus slid into his office chair and checked his schedule. One of his favorite things about Backwoods was the fact that he was the boss. He had control over his schedule and could choose what to do and when. That day he had chose to go out on the range with two of his employees. He checked the time and alerted his secretary via intercom that he would be heading out. Rufus unlocked the cabinet next to his desk and opened it. He put on a Backwoods Security jacket that he kept in the cabinet. Rufus also gathered his Sig P232 handgun and it's ammunition. He clipped the holster onto his belt and locked the cabinet back up. He went down to the company's armory, gathering a Mossberg 500 shotgun with ammunition as well. He strapped the weapon around his body and left for the garage. Rufus met up with his two employees there. Their names were Bradley and Peters. They were a Security Manager and Security Guard, respectively. Bradley had brought along a Glock 22, his standard handgun. Peters had brought along a Model 460V. Both were fine guns. The men loaded up into a company car, a 2013 Chevrolet Denali. The men rolled off for the gun range.

The team arrived at the gun range. They paid for their time and got to work on firing their weapons. The first weapon that Rufus tried out was his P232. It had been a while since he'd fired it and wanted to sight it in. Who knew what the rest of the day would bring.

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A low sigh escaped the young carthantos lips as she brushed her hair once more out of her face. The days had melded into weeks as each of her targets had melded into one another's lives. Each one seemed to be connected lately and it was starting to worry her, however what had her even more worried was the last target which Maddox Boutique's worker had sent her after. The man had mentioned children in the underground of the operation, which worried the woman heavily, yet she couldn't allow her mind to dwell on it to much, less she allow her mind to slowly lose control of itself.

Finally sitting up in bed moving her eyes from the ceiling to staring out the window of her apartment's bedroom Ari pulled her legs up against her chest it was getting to be very early morning the sun slowly reaming its ugly head like a bright smile to bring in the day. All Arinecro wanted to do however, was to pull the pillow from behind her back and throw it at the window and will the sun away. Knowing that wouldn't work, however, Ari finally stood from the bed and sauntered over to her closet where the day's outfit was laid out. The short black skirt would just come down to her knees, giving off a good feel, but not showing to much off. Her shirt would be a form fitting black vest along with the new boots and stockings that Azoriat had been so kind to buy for her.

Feeling her cheeks heat up at the sound of his name even in her mind Ari shook her head, for she knew evening thinking of liking someone wasn't in her agenda in life let alone allowed with her occupation. Quickly taking a shower and getting dressed the little carthantos put her slightly bouncing hair up into two ponytail's before grabbing her keys off of her counter and pulling the nice SIG mosquito purple .22 LR from her drawer where she kept it hidden, before heading out the door. Today was one of her only free days at the job she did, then again most of her stuff was on call jobs, thus finding it the perfect timing to go to the range and work on her shooting skills once more.

Getting into her beautiful little BMW Ari turned on her tunes, before putting the car in drive and heading out. She wasn't sure what was going on in her life anymore with all the chaos and seeming destruction, all she knew was that hopefully this would help blow off some steam from it all. Pulling into the range around an hour later the young woman smiled paid for her time, then headed on inside to find a good place to shoot.

When she entered it appeared the place was full of ample shooters and not to her surprise mostly men. It was uncommon to come to places like this and find a woman, however it was nice once in a while to find one that would take a common gesture to her skills as well as hobbies. Finding a spot to shoot Ari finally put on the blocking headphones, took aim with a big smirk on her face and took her first shot.

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The day had begun bad, at least on Rufus's terms it had. He woke up with a hangover and dreaded the upcoming day. However, the opportunity to literally unload some stress was a great relief for him. Rufus and his coworkers were determined to spend out the whole day on the range. If they had to rent out other weapons or pay for ammo, so be it. There were more than a few things that were good about Rufus's life style. While most people looked at him as nothing more than a redneck warlord, he had it made. He had enough money to fuel his own needs and that of his business. He had a steady stream of clients as well. He had more toys then just about anyone could desire. He was in top physical condition and wasn't expecting death to come anytime soon. While his business could eventually do him in, he'd rather die from that than natural causes any day.

His choice in life left him with plenty of ways to relief stress and get over those rough times. Mudding and fishing were his top picks. Guns were also a top pick, all three activities were in a tie. Then there were various other ways he could spend his days. Life was good for him. He tried to make it just as good for his employees.

Rufus had started out shooting his gun of choice. The Mossberg 500. It was his favorite shotgun to use. It had a nice kick, but wasn't too over-powering. He was firing slugs, leaving large, round holes in the paper target he was shooting. The gun's butt clocked against his shoulder. Due to his massive figure, however, he easily held his stance. Peters and Bradley also go to work on firing their guns off. The sound of firing weapons immediately took over the range. Rufus was firing rapidly, pumping out shell after shell. Soon he was out of ammo, and worked to quickly reload. The men tended to be wild cards when it came to their shooting. There was no holding back. While they weren't stupid and did their best to keep from injuring or doing something wrong, they didn't go slow at all.

Rufus had emptied more shells, while the boys had emptied two more magazines. They loaded up again. Over the duration of speed-shooting, they had slowed down. They decided to go easy with their weapons and just take a nice relaxing sequence. They'd pick the speed-shooting up again later. As he was inserting shells into his Mossberg, Rufus noticed a female entering the range. Women were a rare commodity to the range. The girl was a looker, alright. He watched as she stepped up to her platform and began to shoot at her target. She was a good shot. Rufus continued to watch, slightly admiring her. If she'd look over at him, he'd smile. If not, he'd think nothing of it. He continued to gaze for a bit, then went back to filling up his own target with holes.

It was sort of odd how he perceived women. At least in contrast to the rest of his personality. Maybe it was due to the fact that he was a thirty-four year old bachelor who was still in his prime. His work hadn't left him much time for women. He'd float from girlfriend-to-girlfriend, but never settled down. He didn't look at women as a possession. Sometimes, he looked at them no differently from men. He'd get along with just about anyone. Rufus continued to try and clear his mind through his gun. The shotgun sounded like thunder as it pounded his shoulder some more.

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As she focused her shots repeatedly Ari began to notice how they slowly began to focus themselves on the head more and more which, as she pulled the silencing headphones down and watched the target come towards her made her worry a little. It wasn't uncommon for the young Carthantos to feel shutters, but this utter hatred that seemed to be slowly enveloping her body was a very new feeling. Setting up a new target and reloading her gun Ari slowly felt someone's eyes on her. Silently turning her head to the side Arinecro noticed a slightly older or at least older looking gentleman looking at her as if admiring the young woman, causing a slight redness appear upon her cheeks, which again was uncommon.

Gritting her teeth after realizing how her emotions and body were slowly betraying itself Arinecro knew she couldn't trust men after all they saw women as toys, wasn't that the truth? Feeling a slow sigh escape her lips Ari had to reposition her mind once more as she looked forward at the new target which was pinned a good several feet away from her. Raising her gun once more Ari went to shoot at the target only to forget she hadn't put her silencing headphones back on so that she heard the shots start from the gentleman whom had been looking at her his gun going off repeatedly causing ringing to start in her ears.


"Fuck..." she cursed gripping her ears for a moment before slowly placing her hands down at her side, "I really need to stop allowing myself to be taken by surprise this just isn't good for me." Shaking her head a small bit of laughter leaving her mouth she slowly shook off the initial attack of the gun, before looking back down at the man who seemed to have amazing accuracy as well as control of the large weapon. Placing her headphones back on and replacing the gun back in the holster she carried Ari headed down towards him to watch him practice unsure, yet as to why she was indeed intrigued.

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Rufus had noticed the younger female blush. His lips formed a grin. It was always refreshing to know he had some bit of charm left in him. He dreaded the day he would become too old to turn on the old spark. One of the main parts of life was coping with age progression. It was one of those things that eventually caught up with you. Rufus had managed to cope well, however. While he wasn't exactly “old”, he was coming up on it. Yet he managed to keep a well-maintained physique, a knowledgeable mind, and well trained senses. His company, large home, and prestigious social life among his co-workers only made it better. There were some negative sides though. But he chose not to focus on them. “Let the good times roll” was his motto.

Rufus had decided to take out his curiosity and emotions through his shotgun. The gun was loud and proud, just like Rufus was. That's probably why he liked it so much. When Rufus aimed and fired, he zoned out. His concentration went solely into his aim and firing. He focused completely on that firearm and the target. Which explains why he didn't notice the girl next to him had removed her ear-protectors. It was a rookie mistake that Rufus had made before. Though in his case, he enjoyed the cracking thunder of a loud gun. He was half-deaf anyways. He had nothing to lose in that case. Only after the third blast did he notice the girl's pain in her ears. He cursed and racked the slide of the shotgun multiple times after all the shells had been emitted. Being both a professional security expert and a former Marine had trained him one thing: safety first, among many other things. He put his shotgun on safety and set it down. He turned towards the girl in the next lane.

“Shit, ma'am. Are your ears alright?!”

His voice was slightly raised. He knew how the ears reacted to thundering booms. The blood pressure filled them and temporarily muffled sound. If the ears took too much noise at one moment, the eardrum would pop. He didn't need anyone becoming deaf at his own hands.

To his left, his two co-workers had stopped firing to check on the situation. They returned to their firearms training once they were sure their boss was in no immediate danger.

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Arinecro was still caught off guard a slight bit at the reaction her ears had to the gun, however she couldn't help, but almost jump when the man raised his voice, heavy worry apparent in his voice and stature, "It's alright sir," A small laugh emitted from her lips as she tilted her head in slight embarrassment, "You would think after going to different ranges that by now I would have learned to keep those bloody headphones on by now, yet it seems I'm still a little cocky when it comes to thinking I can withstand certain sounds."

Arinecro then turned her head to look at the target the man had been shooting at, he was a pretty good shot and the accent was apparent even if the man himself didn't realize it, possibly southern? Unsure however on that Ari could tell that the man had some shooting background, possibly Military? Though, it wouldn't have surprised her otherwise if he had other types of experience in the shooting department for she wasn't one to truly jump to conclusions at first meeting. Looking back to the man she began to try and configure him you could say. He appeared to be the manager of the place or at least involved with the place in some form or fashion seeing as she had felt two other men look down as if to check on him.

Finally after a few moments of what may have appeared to the human eye as an awkward silence Ari finally held out her hand, "The names Arie's, but you can just call me Ari for short if you like," A small gentle smile played its way onto the normally dark woman, for she wasn't about to give herself away, this man was human and thus more than likely didn't have much knowledge of the people who ran among him from the supernatural world, something she hoped to preserve even the men or women on occasions who contracted her for assassinations didn't know of what she was, or most didn't anyways which is how she liked it, for then it didn't cause any uproars.

"It's a pleasure to meet you um..." She then trailed off a light blush rising on her cheeks as she felt a bit embarrassed not knowing the man's name, for normally it was the man who introduced himself first, not Arinecro.

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Rufus couldn't help but smile once the smaller figure approached him. She was a looker, alright. He found her both cute and amusing. Not a dumb type of amusing, however. But there was a certain way he found she had about her that attracted Rufus. Thankfully it was more than less in a friendly manner. Rufus was reassured when she announced she was alright. He calmed his voice down once he noticed her slight jump. His tone sometimes got out of hand when he got louder. Partially due to his slight tone-deafness and because he'd been in combat for so long that he'd got used to talking loud.

Rufus nodded and listened closely as the woman talked about her past experiences at the range. He could tell that she was trying to formulate what exactly he was. Her body language and the way her eyes ventured to his target and then back to him was enough evidence. She wasn't the only one to wonder what exactly he was. It just came with his personality; he was a lot of things. He was a businessman and a redneck at the same time. A business redneck. Those things do not go together. It was an oxymoron.

He noticed her checking out the men behind him and made a mental note to introduce them at a later time. He looked over his shoulder; his boys were busy shooting the hell out of whatever was on the range. Rufus looked downrange, noticing a groundhog running for it's life. He turned his head back towards the girl, who was now introducing herself. She held out her hand and said her name. The girl was a blusher, which was a major turn-on for Rufus. Something about rosy cheeks struck him hard. He carefully took her hand, and being the proper Southern gentlemen he was raised to be, gave her hand a kiss. Some may find this an odd gesture, but it was the way he was raised. He returned her hand to her and told her his name.

“Name's Rufus. It's my pleasure, really.” His Southern accent shone in his dialect as he spoke. “You're a good shot, by the way. You been out on the range long?” He had a small grin on his lips as he conversed.

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As the silence enveloped them for a brief period of time Arinecro worried she may have put him off even by just simply introducing herself, however as his attention quickly returned to her she noticed that he was only just checking out the other's on the range, making sure everyone was alright, then as she raised her hand to him after introducing herself he took it carefully and kissed it like a gentleman something that she hadn't seen done in quite a long time, which made her even more curious about this man. As he introduced himself she heard the accent and some of the behavior put itself together making her realize he was from the south more than likely originally anyways.

As she slowly returned her hand to her side a slight tilt came to her head as she smiled, "Pleasures all mine Rufus and yes, you could say I've had a long time to practice my shot." she then trailed off looking towards the range again an almost longing look in her eyes, "I'm not totally sure why, but from a young age I've had a handle for guns..." Laughing after a brief moment allowing it to be light and simple Arinecro could feel her body slowly becoming relaxed in the situation especially with the rest of her hearing returning from the earlier gun shot. She wasn't all to sure, yet on this gentlemen, but making new friends had been on her agenda lately seeing as the more friends she had, more than likely the more meals she had right? Sexually that was of course, however feeding off of a simple man like this didn't even appear correct for the young Carthantos, however she would do what she had to to survive.

"Your a pretty good shot yourself," she said looking up at him her smile sweet, seemingly innocent, her mind however racing with different plans. She had to keep herself on track never allow yourself to be pulled into a trap, men were animals, simple prey, right? Yet for some reason her normal reasonings were starting to conflict something that worried her greatly on the inside.

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Rufus was grinning as the younger female explained her past with guns. She had apparently had a history with them. He knew what that was like. Rufus had trained with firearms since he was a wee young lad. He had always enjoyed the feel of the firearm. His military experience only furthered that. He had some glorious times in the military. But then again, he had some not-so-glorious times. In the end, it was an experience he had required and needed. It improved him greatly in various aspects. Namely it helped him found his company. The military gave him the knowledge he needed. Some basic online schooling filled in the blanks.

He listened closely and watched the female as she talked to him. He paid more attention to her words than her looks. He didn't want to be admiring her too much. Rufus had come to learn that that could be a major turn off if people noticed. The girl had a history that was likely to his. It was an enjoyable topic to talk about. His social interactions were a bit mixed. While he had had a history of girlfriends, he usually didn't wander outside of his social circle. That being said, his social circle wasn't all too big, though it wasn't very small at all. It was mostly comprised of ex-military and his own employees. There were some smaller characters like the waitress at his favorite diner. But mostly he stuck to his own.

The girl had complimented his shooting. He was appreciative of the compliment, as always. He appreciated just about any feedback on his firing. After years of practice he hadn't been able to master the subject; almost no one could. Yeah, there's a bunch of hotshots in television that seem to get a perfect shot every time. Rufus's question for that was, “how many takes did it take to get that?” He had done a pretty good job of getting a spot-on record though.

Rufus noticed the girl's smile. She was definitely a looker in his books, as he had noted before. He knew he had to be careful around these kind of women. He never wanted to walk into a trap. Now since he had been back in the 'states he had let his guard down slightly, especially with female individuals. But since Backwoods was a primarily domestic-based company, he had to keep some kind of guard. Even females could prove themselves worthy. He wasn't sexist at all means; he had met some females overseas that could kick his ass.

Rufus noticed something in the girl's facial expressions as well. It was a small hint at something bigger. He had a small worry in him that he had turned the girl off somehow or made her uncomfortable. Not everyone liked guns. Maybe he had chose a topic she really didn't care about.

“Ma'am, everything alright? I didn't scare you off already did I?” He asked, slightly chuckling.