Of Pasts and Presents

[111]

Eva paces back and forth in the hallway, practically wearing a hole in the carpet. Vaughn would not be pleased at being bothered... but who else could she ask?

 

She had seen the man in action though, a steely precision in his eyes and arms that belied his usual tenderness. Arrows flying straight and true, with barely a moments aim. Also, if the rumors were true, it was not only arrows he was skilled at launching. She knew so little of his past in truth, whispers of chains and brothels, of ships, blood and steel.

 

Sighing she knocks on the door of his office, "Vaughn, It's Evangeline, might I come in?"

[Antain]

Vaughn laid on the couch in the back of his office, book on his chest and golden hair cascading off the edge and dusting the floor. Even asleep, he exhibited grace. Nights have been rough, and this was his only chance at real sleep. After all, he needed to be awake for...

 

The knock at the door made him jump. It took him a moment to register the voice as Evangeline's, but when he did, he launched himself from the couch, bookmarking his place in the novel, and ran his fingers through his hair to smooth it down. Adjusting his clothes and checking his breath (satisfactory), he smiled as he opened the door. "Ah, Lady Evangeline. Please, come in." He moved aside to let her pass. "What may I help you with?" He took a second before adding as an afterthought, "Angora's not missing, is she?"

[111]

Evangeline blinks, "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to bother you." She enters the room, "No Angora isn't missing... I think?"

 

"I don't know where she is, but I haven't checked under the couch yet. That's not why I came though."

 

Her long robes swoosh around as she makes her way to the large desk in the center of the room, "I wanted to ask you a favor... and I wanted you to teach me something."

 

"I know I bugged you about the cannon." She pokes her fingers together, "But the truth is..."

 

She blushes, "I've never actually fired a gun."

[Antain]

Vaughn tilted his head in curiosity at her actions, then blinked at her confession. Slowly, a smile crept on his lips as he let out a soft chuckle. As abrasive as this woman was at times, she did have her adorable moments.

 

"Then it's a good thing one doesn't need pistol training to fire a cannon." He slides himself into the tall chair behind the desk and takes out a key, unlocking the center drawer and pulling a hefty-looking black hinged box out of it. "A cannon is a brutish weapon meant to punch large holes in the sides of ships. Or walls, as the case may be."

 

He took out another key and unlocked the box, opening it to show a pistol the size of the gemscope on the edge of his desk. It was nestled in rich purple velvet, an ivory handle to a dark steel barrel, etched with delicate filigree gold vines. It was a well-maintained piece, that's for sure. not even a speck of dust dared to fall upon it.

 

He smiled at Eva. "This...used to belong to someone I was very close to. Only Jaques knows about this. And now, since he trusts you with his workshop, I trust you with this knowledge." He sighs and sits back, crossing his legs and placing his delicate hands on his knees, allowing her to touch the pistol should she choose to. "A well-placed bullet will do more damage to what you fight than a cannon ever will."

[111]

"But... the higher mass of a cannonball means..." She drops it, perhaps firearms are not as simple as she had assumed. Reaching out tentatively lifts the pistol in her hands, "It's heavier than I would have thought."

 

She fiddles with it for a few moments, feeling the weight of the springs on the hammer and trigger. "I... I heard some bits of your past, but I know little in truth."

[/align]

Evangeline runs a thumb across the sights, "I did not know it included something such as this. Even I can tell this is not the weapon of a simple bandit. This is a noble's piece."

 

"I assume it still fires?"

[Antain]

He smiled. "It used to be a noble's, yes. Then...my Captain obtained it." He lifted the velvet lining to reveal more compartments underneath, containing cleaners, tools, and a few boxes of bullets.

 

"Yes, it does still fire. Did you wish to try?"

[111]

"Your captain...?" She fiddles with the various tools, "I'm assuming the noble did not survive the encounter."

 

"I would very much like to fire it but there is an unfortunate problem."

 

She nudges him playfully, "Someone said we weren't allowed to have gunpowder in the house. You're not suggesting that you broke the rule, are you?"

[Antain]

He smirked at her, biting his lower lip as he tilted his head back and chuckled. "I have not broken that rule. I do not have gunpowder on site." He looked at her with a raised brow and a teasing grin. "I'd like to think nobody does."

 

He leaned forward. "But there's a place near the workshop's entrance where Jaques and I set up a firing range. It's hidden for the most part, and with the workshop being a 'mining shaft', the noise isn't unheard of." He smiled. "I need to keep in practice after all. And...if you're interested in a small boom with large damage, yes, I could teach you. Just...nobody else must know. Jaques will, of course, but no one else. I...don't think they'll understand."

[111]

"O-oh..." Evangeline looks nervous, "Of course, I haven't broken it either. No gunpowder around this house, not even a little teensy bit"

 

"Haha..."

 

"Ha...."

 

"A firing range though! That could be..." She pauses, "Safer. I'm not exactly convinced I can make a bullet go anywhere close to where I would like." She bows, "I would very much like for you to teach me."

 

"I will of course, keep it secret. However I'm not sure why." She nudges him playfully once more, "Nothing sexier than a man with a big... powerful... pistol." There is much winking involved.

[Antain]

Vaughn raised a brow in slight amusement, chuckling at her. "Right..." He started to put everything away and back into the desk drawer. "I'm not exactly proud of everything I've done, so this secret has to be kept. I fear if others knew...well, I don't think we'd have much of a house left. Cautionary, and..." He sighed.

 

"I don't want my past to color what others think of who I am now."

[111]

Evangeline looks longingly at the pistol as it is nestled away. "Ah."

 

"I wouldn't worry too much about that though Vaughn. I'm not sure anyone in this house is." She gives what she hopes is a reassuring back rub.

 

"We are the Phoenix Rose, after all." She smiles, "If we couldn't rise from the ashes, we'd have to change our name."

 

"We're all colored by our past here." She taps the brand on her cheek, "But it doesn't define our future."

[Antain]

He smiles. The first genuine smile Eva has seen from him since she arrived. "Yes, you're right. Still, I will not flaunt it. There's no use doing that either."

 

He stands from his seat and tilts his head at her. "So, when would you like to start? It will take me a bit to set up, after all." He stretches with a light yawn. "And Jaques will be back soon, I think.." He looks out the window. "Yes...he'll be home soon."

[111]

Evangeline laughs, "And how do you know that exactly? Lover's intuition?"

 

"As for starting, I'd love to as soon as you're able. Shall we meet again tomorrow, at that site you mentioned?"

[Antain]

Vaughn chuckled. "If you call knowing his schedule 'lover's intuition', then sure."

 

He tilts his head with a small grin. "Tomorrow, hmm? You're very eager." He ran his delicate fingers through his long hair. "I guess I should get started on supplying the site." He smiles. "Anything else I can help you with? Any further questions?"

[111]

She rolls her eyes, "You could have let me believe..." Nodding, "Yes! Very eager."

 

"I don't think I have any other questions." She stands and bows slightly, "Tomorrow then?"

[Antain]

Vaughn nodded and saw Eva out.

 

The next day came to Vaughn in an unusually foul mood. His hair was plaited back with the few strands partially covering his face. He wore his snug cotton pants and thigh high riding boots. A flowing shirt clinched at the waist and open up top kept his scarification covered, but a gentle breeze still made it seen, as well as the little bird charm on his pierced pec.

 

The range he set up was a long board strattling four crates, lined with various bottles, figurines, and barrels with painted targets. fifty fulm from the setup was another crate with two simplistic pistols, gunpowder, and a few boxes of bullets, waiting to be used.

 

He was setting up the last target as Eva came over the sand dune.

[111]

Evangeline strides up, "Morning Vaughn... you really went all out."

 

She looks over the practice area with appreciation. "Thank you for this, truly." She off her blue blazer, leaving her in a starched white shirtwaist, "However you look a little troubled Vaughn."

 

"Not your usual flowery self."

[Antain]

Vaughn put on his best practiced smile as he waves a hand to the range, attempting to keep Eva on topic. "What I have set here is a basic training range. What I want to see is how good your eyes are." He tilts his head and brushes his stray locks aside before taking up one of the pistols and rapid-firing three of the bottles and two figurines. The tiny targets. Of course...

 

He hands Eva the pistol with one round left, nodding back to the range. "Hit the barrel."

[111]

Evangeline takes the pistol eagerly, like a child being given a sweet-roll. She holds the gun, pointing it vaguely downrange in one hand, "Heavier than I would have thought."

 

Closing one eye she looks down the sights, though slightly unsure how to use them properly. "So I just..." She adjusts her glasses, as the gun wavers, her finger tugging at the trigger.

 

"I just pull this rig.. *CRACK*"

 

A gunshot echoes over the range, and the gun jerks back in Eva's hand, nearly missing her face. She holds onto it, smoke drifting up from the barrel, across what is perhaps the largest grin Evangeline has ever worn. Far off in the distance, there is a puff of dust as the bullet hits a sand dune.

 

"That was..." She laughs ecstatically, "Fun."

[Antain]

Vaughn rolled his eyes as he hands her the full pistol. Before letting go, however, he looks straight into her eyes. "Lady Evangeline, if you want to learn this, you'll have to follow instruction. Is that clear?"

 

Before he gave her a chance to answer, he reaches for the empty pistol. "Keep both eyes open, bend the elbow, and keep the wrist loose. We don't want any fractures, understand?"

[111]

She nods, though a stupid grin is still plastered across her face, "Yes Master Vaughn~"

 

Taking a deep breath she steadies the butterflies in her stomach and points the pistol downrange. Her arm is straight at first, but she pulls back slightly, bending at the elbow and wrist to give some flex.

 

"Heh... heh heh...." She gets out the last of her giggles before looking down the barrel again, this time keeping both eyes open, and not worrying overmuch on the sights. Instead she just looks points it at the target barrel, and, after exhaling once more, squeezes the trigger.

 

*CRACK*

 

The gun jerks in her hand, her wrist and elbow bending at to absorb the recoil, and she slowly draws it back down level with the barrel. She smells gunsmoke, and the sensation sends a cool shiver down her spine. The Bullet goes wide though, creating another small puff of dirt.

 

She continues, firing more rounds

 

*CRACK*

 

*CRACK*

 

Until finally, with the last.

 

*CRACK*

 

Is followed by the splintering of wood, as the heavy bullet impacts the barrel. Evangeline is silent, only breathing for a few moments.

 

"Fun..."

[Antain]

She nods, though a stupid grin is still plastered across her face, "Yes Master Vaughn~"

 

He shook his head. "No Master please..."

 

He watches Eva's form, taking notes of her posture and seeing if she was heeding his advice.

 

*CRACK*

 

Good. She listened. That was a first...

 

*CRACK*

 

*CRACK*

 

*CRACK*

 

The old barrel splintered and Vaughn smirked. "You think this fun, hmm?" He reloads the other pistol. "Let's keep going until you can shoot everything off its mount. Without missing."

[111]

Evangeline scoots over, watching him reload the pistols with delicate fingers. There is a strange inconsistency in the viewing, Vaughn's graceful hands, moving with practiced ease over hot steel, blackened with burnt powder. He rotate's the pistol's pepperbox barrels, deftly packing powder and balls into each.

 

"I have to call you something more than Vaughn..." Evangeline examines a stray ball with a critical eye, wondering at the alloys used in it's construction. "It's something of a rule of mine. If I have respect for anyone in this world, it's those that teach others."

 

"I call all those who teach me Masters. Master Wolfsong, Master Vann... I even call Orrin Master Dragoon when I am being taught."

 

She tilts her head, "Does the word rankle you so?"

[Antain]

Vaughn finished loading the pistol, flicking the pepperbox back in its place. He then looked to Eva with a practiced smile. "All my life, I have called others 'Master' or 'Mistress' because they owned people. I do not own you, nor will I ever. To me, it is a vile term of placing power over others."

 

He tilted his head in thought. "It's why I prefer to use 'Sir' or 'Lady', as all are above me in the....as you say, social ladder, I suppose. So calling me 'Sir' would belittle you as well, so please don't use that either. I am simply Vaughn. Nothing more."

 

He held out the fully loaded pistol toward her while holding his other hand out, requesting the empty one.

[111]

"One does not need to own another to be respected." Evangeline shakes her head, her expression growing serious. "That is the cancer of subservience Vaughn. To the free, respect is given and shared without thought of status."

 

Her face gains that stubborn bent that Vaughn has probably gotten to see far too many times. "Your past does not lessen you Vaughn. You can have pride without arrogance, power without tyranny, respect without servitude."

 

"I give you respect because of your words and actions Vaughn, and whether you believe it or not... it is deserved."

 

She takes the loaded pistol, her eyes serious, and she points over his shoulder towards the skyline of Ul'dah in the distance. "Worth does not come from those gilded domes, Vaughn."

 

Evangeline turns, unleashing a stream of bullets down the range, leaving a bottle shattered among the sand. Standing there breathing heavily she scowls.

 

"The hell did they do to you Vaughn?"

 

"And can I shoot them next?"