Breathe and let it blow away ~ Patch and Stella
She could say she didn't know what had made her think about it, except that would be a lie. She'd been carrying the thought around with her most of the day, remembering a promise to stay safe and carrying around a vague sense of guilt for the amount of time that had passed since the last time her finger had curled around a trigger as she'd taken aim at worries that weren't solely in her imagination.
She'd worked hard to make sure she wasn't defenseless, worked her schedule as best as she could to get practice sessions with any available hitman. She'd ended up with bruises from being flipped onto a mat, but learned how to fight back, torn the web of skin between her thumb and first finger by catching it in the slide of a gun, but found out how to lodge a bullet into the pretend brain of a cut-out without flinching. That had been the hardest part of her lessons with Silver, more so than sinking a projectile in a target area. Every time she heard that bang, she'd wince, even when she knew it was coming because she'd applied the pressure or watched the hammer drop as Silver took her own shot.
But she got over it. She practiced with the other woman and by herself, but lately she'd been slipping, relaxing and forgetting how important it was not to. Stella didn't intend to let all of Silver's training go to waste or slip into a situation where she was defenseless, but didn't have to be.
She was done with her clients for the day and not due on stage until far later that night, giving her plenty of time to practice. She was more than halfway convinced to spend her free time at the shooting range when Patch happened to show up. It didn't take long, only a comment or two, before her lips were curving upwards into a smile at him. She'd realized enough weeks to burgeon on months ago that being around him made things perhaps not easier, but brighter, more enjoyable, and she wouldn't pass up the offer he made her. As far as she was concerned, the chance to spend more time with him and work on something she knew she needed to do was a win-win and Stella offered her hand to him with a smile and a tilt of her head. "So off to the shooting range, right? Let's go."
