( @frequencypawn )
Grey eyes usually filled with light and warmth focus coldly on the targets downrange. Well-trained hands hold a rifle steady, honed in without the scope in use.
It's been too long since he's practiced without it. He can't let himself get too unseasoned, hence the use of iron sights.
They're harder to use accurately at a distance like this. The scope lays off on its own next to his bag on the table behind him, mostly abandoned just like his prior occupation.
Still, Wonderland is not without its dangers. He's not naïve enough to assume that the Comodeen is invincible regardless of how well-built or well-hidden the compound is.
If the time comes, blowdarts aren't going to be saving them like a firearm will. If the time comes, Kain will defend this place with ferocity only Miles has seen a glimpse of.
The once-soldier takes in a controlled breath, moves his index finger to the trigger, exhales, and fires.
Off the bullet goes. The butt of the rifle presses into his shoulder in a way he can't say he misses feeling often.
His hand moves back to the bolt to ready another shot.
Inhale. Trigger. Exhale. Fire. Eject. Ready. Repeat ad nauseam.
It's as easy to him as blinking is, even as much as he hates for that to be true. And while he's certainly no Hawkeye, examining each target once he's fired off all his rounds shows that he's still a deadly threat and a force not to be reckoned with.
Every shot was at least center mass, if not a bullseye outright. He's almost glad that Pilvi isn't in this part of the compound to see him. This isn't the name he's made for himself here.
This isn't who he wants to be, but he knows he cannot let himself be rendered defenseless, either.
As he turns to retrieve his handgun for the second phase of his target practice, he's faced with a looming presence that he somehow missed entering.
"... Hi, Black Wind," he greets. "When'd you get here?"
⋆୨𖤓୧⋆ This is not a display he was expecting from the Amestrian. This one seemed to spend more time injured than anything else. From the moment White Cloud brought him back and beyond, he's been... injured; and if he wasn't - he was practically glued to the Cloud's side.
This man is the reason that White Cloud has been so distracted. He's seen the way jade eyes look at him. He knows what's going on in that head of his. He can see how high the Cloud has ascended without ever so much as leaving the ground. He knows what's happening.
He won't say he cares for it but at the same time it's not his business to care.
Still trained eyes watch as each shot is fired and it's an entire ocean to take up where their final location strikes. At the very least he can say the Amestrian has good aim. At the very least he can say if push comes to shove the Amestrian can defend himself. He does not want to see what happens to his counterpart when this man dies.
Or goes home for that matter.
If he ever goes home.
The ever optimistic look that exists in White Cloud's eyes when he explains to these people that he can find the Pillar that connects to their world so he can send them home - it's as painful to watch as it is deceitful because they both know he's promising the impossible.
They both know that he's been lying to these people the entire time out of some twisted form of care because he knows full well that the Cloud is too damn scared to just tell them the truth.
Which one of them is the wicked one now?
There was mercy and there foolishness what the Cloud was doing was foolishness. What the Cloud was doing was cruel. He couldn't promise these people the impossible just to try to spare them from the pain of the inevitable. The same as this man. He too would feel the pain of the end of his world, just as they all would.
And if White Cloud ever did find the Pillar that connects their Amestris to Wonderland then he would see to it that ever last one of them were returned to their homes himself, if only to make his Other's mind a bit more clear. His head was... filled with frivolities as of late.
There were already enough problems with the other Mistericans, but he couldn't do anything about that and if he dared he's sure that the Lamb would become a Lion at a moment's notice.
So he stands, silently as he watches the Amestrian unload the clip in his weapon as if he's done this thousand times and it's enough to know that the unassuming man before him has seen battle, war at that. It's at least a small comfort. It's a small comfort that should the worse happen, then maybe he would be a hinderance on the battlefield.
That's the last thing they need. Even if he doesn't want any of these people near Chaos in the first place - if only to avoid - a repeat of last time.
The man turns, finally noticing him and he is greeted in a casual sort of way that brings his lips to drag down into a deep frown. He wants to know when he got here which means he had been so absorbed in his task that he hadn't noticed the Windarian's entry. Foolish. That's dangerous to not be completely aware of one's surroundings at all times when handling a firearm.
He has more important questions for this one than the state of his ability to access a battlefield. Blue eyes focus in on grey coldly as his voice leaves him in a deep rumble.
"....tell me something. Is he in your eyes?"
