Target Practice

[emit_dark]

 Who: Tim and Alba
Where: The Park
When: January 11th, after class
What: It's all in the reflexes....
Rating: PG 
Status: Closed, Incomplete

Comments

[ablealba]

She watched in amazement. This would be so useful! She couldn't believe it. Granted, she could only use it here. Alba brushed a little bit of snow off her coat as she made sure to take in what he'd done and imitate it. Alba was pretty excellent at imitation.

"Something close?" She took a step closer to the tree. "How about the trunk?" It was a nice thick target. Without waiting for a response, she moved herself into the same position that Tim had previously been in and tried to relax. "How was that?" she asked after hitting it square in the trunk.

[emit_dark]

"Yeah that's---" Tim paused a moment in mute surprise as the batarang stuck into the tree with a dull thunk. "That's actually really good. Wow. Okay, now just try throwing it so it'll come back to you." Moving forward to retrieve it, Tim noted how deep the thing had stuck itself.

"Try to disarm me now. Throw it so it'll hit your target and still come back to you." Tim plunged his hand into the pile of snow at his feet and found the cut branch, walking over to give Alba back the weapon and stand a comparable distance away. "I know you mentioned relying on speed before, which is great but nothing beats being able to disarm at a distance. Come on, you got this." It was impossible to repress the smile that edged above the scarf that nearly covered his mouth. She was good, but with his help...with his help, she would be great.

[ablealba]

"You sound surprised," Alba grinned. She was usually pretty good at things when she tried them. She tried as he suggested, aiming at thin air and it did in fact come back to her, a little bit more slowly than she'd intended but it was awesome!

After that, she looked at Tim standing with the branch with a look of concentration. Alba stopped, chewing on her bottom lip. "How will it just come back? Is there a trick beyond just aiming it there?" She noticed his smile and raised her eyebrows slightly. "I try to just avoid danger when possible, not actively seek it out." After all, what good was a batarang if it was left back here and she was twenty years in the past.

[emit_dark]

"It's about angling it properly, anticipating the trajectory." Tim informed his trainee, holding the branch at chest height. "Sorta like playing baseball." He waited until she was ready, breath steaming out from under the scarf that covered his mouth. "And don't be afraid of hitting me, I've had worse. In Gotham you don't always have a choice about danger seeking you out." The thought brought about a wry chuckle.

'Especially not in my line of work.'

"Give it a shot."

[emit_dark]

"Ehehehe that's...sorta silly, isn't it?" It took all the self control Tim had not to wince at the idea that suddenly formed in his mind, both because it was brilliant and the most awkward thing he'd ever considered subjecting himself to. "But, I mean, if you really think it would work... not that, you know, we have to but if it's what he's most likely to think anyway...besides I already went through that with Bruce. It's not as bad as it seems." A twinge of real pain entered his voice as he was forced to remember Annie. It wouldn't be so bad if the memories weren't so fresh but--

'Mind on the matter at hand, Robin.'

"Anyway, that's your call, I wouldn't want you to walk into anything that awkward." Neither would he, if he could help it.

[ablealba]

Alba noted the discomfort in her friend and smiled slightly. "I mean, honestly? He's going to think it either way, so it'd be easier to go along with that. I don't mind the awkwardness if you don't. After all, I've been in much stickier situations. But the last few times he's even tried to bring it up, I cut him off so fast that I think he's actually starting to become suspicious for no reason." Alba shrugged. Sure, boys were nice and everything, but she didn't do everything because of them.

She heard the sound of hurt in his voice. "But if you don't want to, that's fine. I can do that part on my own if you'd rather. I don't mind."

[emit_dark]

Tim shook his head. It was better to bite the proverbial bullet and work around it from there. "No, it'll work better this way and don't worry, I'm not stranger to awkward. The little crime fighting family I'm part of has definitely had it's moments."

Like every time Dick and Barbara thought they had more than five minutes alone. It was hard for Tim to articulate the level of sheer, shuddering weird when two people he looked at as siblings started flirting. Overtly.

"Besides, we're almost there." Tim's eyes were fixed past Alba, ahead to the end of the long, winding driveway where they usually parted ways and swallowed dryly. The aura the mansion gave off that night was like nothing Tim had seen before, even in his first explorations of Wayne Manor. With a sidelong glance, he reached out for Alba's gloved hand and mustered a smile. "Here goes nothing..."

[ablealba]

Alba frowned and nodded. She didn't like the idea of lying to Mr. Baron, but it was for the best. She'd live through the awkward with some grimaces and turning all shades of red, she was sure.

When Tim grabbed hold of her gloved hand, she nodded and smiled, holding it perhaps a little too tightly. She could tell from there that Mr. Baron had been waiting for her on the doorstep. To be honest, she was a bit surprised he hadn't fled to find them the moment the sun went down. "Sorry in advance," she muttered, looking down and trying very hard to avoid Mr. Baron's gaze. She had to give in eventually, and as they reached the doorstep Alba gave him a wide-eyed apologetic smile. "Hi Mr. Baron. Sorry we're late. We were just - you said you wanted to meet Tim!" She figured the awkward fumbling would work in favor of her story. Hopefully.