Target Practice (Rick/Closed)

[Gabriel Preston]

Being a long-time Army Special Ops man, Gabriel Preston hadn't spent much time at a desk. That changed when he joined the Exorcists, having to do a lot of paperwork between missions so the U.N. would be kept up-to-date on their operations. It was a nice office on the upper levels of the Spire, the central hub of the HQ, having a window room overlooking the grounds and gazing out onto the water. It was very comfortable, something he was not use to, and not entirely sure if he was OK with it. Too stationary.

He was missing it already. His "new" office at Shibusen appeared to be converted from a closet no one was using. The desk barely fit and he was going to need more room for file cabinets, because the solitary double-decker was not going to cut it for long. Since this job started, Preston has done nothing but paperwork, filling out reports for the Exorcist HQ detailing mission reports from Shibusen. Looking over all of this, the aging soldier was confident he had made the right choice, pushing for this line of communication. It means less confrontations and more trust. Always good for an alliance.

His assistant, Agent Iris Walker, acted as his eyes and ears whenever he was at his very thin black desk. She informed him that students were both concerned about their presence and curious at the same time. It's easier for Ms. Walker to get along with the students since she's not much older than them, but Preston was intimidating. He was honestly hoping students would be interested in talking to him about the Exorcists. He wanted to re-assure them that they were not the enemy. It's a hard thing to do, though, as it's no secret that their organization has a dislike for Demon Weapons, and this school is basically a shelter for them.

Was a conflict inevitable? Was it impossible for the higher-ups at the base to truly get along with Shibusen? With Demon Weapons? What makes them so different? Why should they be feared more than Witches?

These questions may be plaguing Preston's mind, but his senses were still sharp. He could tell someone was not only at the door, but facing it and ready to knock. Iris wouldn't knock, so it had to be someone else.

"Come in." he said, his elbow on the desk and his hand on his forehead, having the look of someone stressed over their work when in reality it was the other matters on his mind interfering with his paperwork.

[Rick Fader]

It had been three days since Rick's training spree had finally come to an end. Over a month of trying to adapt his style to his new ailment later, Rick had found the answer in the most unexpected of places. Rick didn't know where it came from, though he had a guess based on the training he had done over time had somehow improved his soul wavelength. But in any case, he was now capable of utilizing small electromagnetic fields in the palm of his hands, enough to hold onto and launch magnetic projectiles, as seen with that coin.

One of the two people to witness his discovery, the Exorcist agent known as Iris Walker, had pointed him to Preston in order to improve his accuracy in that respect. For the past three days, Rick had been spending time with Tanya for once, had rested, and communicated with friends after a long time ignoring them. He needed the rest after stubbornly running himself ragged regardless.

The weapon, now ready to talk to this Preston fellow, had walked over towards his office. On his person, he had a bag of small metal discs made of magnetic metals in order for him to fire. A strangely serious look was plastered onto his face as he headed over. When Rick had finally arrived, Rick knocked on the office door.

When prompted to come in, Rick saw a middle-aged man who seemed to be stressed out over their work. "Mr. Preston? I've been directed here by Agent Walker in order to receive marksmanship training.", he told the older man in a business-like manner. "Sorry. My name's Rick Fader.", he told him, hoping that Walker would've warned him that someone might be requesting training for him.

[Gabriel Preston]

So, a student of Shibusen has come to see the Exorcist liaison, it would seem. Preston glanced up from his paperwork for a moment to take a look at the boy who entered. Pretty normal looking aside from the blue hair. He thought back to the mission reports he's been looking over and had a few possibilities as to who this could be, but that would be his military mode of thinking doing that work. He had to appear friendlier here for the sake of both the staff and the students of Shibusen, otherwise he'll just reinforce the talk that Exorcists aren't people they can talk to. Sure, Director Ventura was definitely on the list of people who didn't care for this place, but if he didn't believe that any good could come of this alliance, then the Colonel wouldn't be here, would he?

"Mr. Preston? I've been directed here by Agent Walker in order to receive marksmanship training. . . . Sorry. My name's Rick Fader."

Ah. Well played, Ms. Walker. While the Samurai girl didn't inform him that she would be sending a student his way for this purpose, he was delighted nonetheless. Not only because this was a great chance to interact with the students, but also because it was a great excuse to get away from this avalanche of paperwork for a little while. He leaned back in his chair and interlocked his fingers, resting his locked hands just under his chest as a slight smirk appeared on the face of the soldier. It was a lucky coincidence that one of the reports he had read over lately was a mission this boy had been on, so he knew that he was a solo Weapon. It wasn't a weapon form relating to firearms, though, so his curiosity was piqued by this turn of events.

"Marksmanship training, huh? Ms. Walker said you'd be stopping by but that was about it. So... Rick Fader, right? You're an Electric Chair if I remember correctly. What's got you needing to learn some marksmanship, Mr. Fader?" he asked, the smirk still present on his face.

[Rick Fader]

Rick watched the aging gentleman closely, trying to gauge his reaction. Rick wasn't exactly an unknown student at Shibusen. Despite having so few kills for the near-four years he had been attending the school, he nevertheless garnered infamy for his methods, and some positive publicity with his killing with Garrison Slitz, the Dark Wire of Detroit, which was once again questioned due to Rick's especially brutal method. And recently, Rick's slaying of the Fucking Slasher was a recent, yet comparatively low-key example of Rick's field brutality.

Surprisingly, the man smirked at the mention of training. Rick didn't know if the man was going to relish crushing his hopes of the training, or he was going to enjoy this for some reason. He then brought up that Walker warned him that Rick was stopping by, but she only said that. However, instead of bringing up his history of violence as a reason why he should question this, instead Preston asked him why an electric chair would be training in marksmanship.

"For the sake of wasting less of your time, I'll show you.", he told the older man as he fished out a coin from the bag. He then opened the door to his office door, and checked around the hallways, making sure nobody was coming in. He then shifted into his partial transformation, and held the coin into his hand, channeling his wavelength into his hand and the coin until it stuck to his palm. When Preston had a decent view, he released the hold on the coin he had, and fired it at the wall. However, the path was very wild, and the coin hit the wall harmlessly, not even making a dent. Rick then shifted out of his partial, and went to pick up the coin.

He then walked back into the office and closed the door. He made sure Preston didn't need another demonstration, or a more in-depth explanation before he made his verdict.