Shadow of a Bullet[Natasha, Orion]

His reaction to the pinch was adorable. She was probably going against the propriety of personal space, that pesky old law that established a certain level of contact between two people, yet she hardly displays any regret. Regardless of how he expressed it, what mattered was that it meant enough to him to encourage her. Feminine pride certainly told her that she was special, but she wouldn't dare to be so presumptuous.

To him, considering her role as a coordinator, perhaps it's better to operate with a clear mind. To her, it's just the right level of encouragement to keep her from falling into an abyss. Something she can't easily pull herself out of. All that talk about him being a merciless shadow feels like an illusion when he's flustered like this. Cute. She'll tease him a little more for extra measure. Turning the pinch into a pat against his cheek, Natasha would follow his eyes as she grinned.

"Aw, is that a blush I see? Sorry if I overwhelmed ya, honey. Just wanted to show my appreciation in my own... natural way. Can't proclaim things'll get better immediately, but I won't let these thoughts defeat me. I know ya' talk about my pure eyes, but you ain't half bad at heart yourself, Orion."

Pulling her hand away, she would turn her head toward the simulation room. With an upraised finger, she canceled the simulation. Turning her gaze to the door, Natasha motioned for him to follow. This target practice was a half-hearted affair, to begin with, so little was lost in bringing this to a close early. If anything, she sees a more ideal way of improvement through sparring with someone else.

"Ain't gonna get much achieved through target practice. What say you and me find another training hall and engage in a spar? Sharpshooter versus sharpshooter."

Heart? If anything, his heart could be easily explained by his upbringing. It made since he had a childlike behavior when put in these casual situations. His life was nothing but training and abuse. Now that he's allowed to be a normal person, there are still many interactions he's never experienced. The splendor of freedom is too much at times.

This hospitality being thrown his way doesn't help him one bit. Since he first joined, he had resolved to be a stoic protector for the Vandenreich. How quickly he's been forced to experience actually living outside of being a weirdo. Well, he's still a weirdo, but he's learning day by day how to be a member of society. Natasha's pushed him towards that more grown-up side of being human is all.

However, he's not a toddler, so it wasn't hard for him to focus on the rest of the conversation. He did need to clear his throat and regain his composure, but he made sure to give her a more serious expression as she asked for assistance. Now, this is something he's familiar with. He was fine imparting advice and encouragement, but a fight is where one can break down issues and resolve them with better results.

"If we spar, I expect you to take any words I share to heart. I mean to only assist in bettering your skills."

Take his words to heart, huh? Since she had already taken his advice in a meaningful way so far, she couldn't imagine ignoring any further advice. Such a thought certainly wouldn't sit right with her, and she had no particular intention of sullying his efforts up until now. As they entered the room, Natasha stretched her muscles in a free-flowing, practiced routine movement. When that sequence was properly finished, she turned back to Orion, stepping backward to create some distance between them. There were a lot of curiosities floating in her head. What were his abilities like? How did he fight compared to her other peers in the Sternritter? Come to think of it, she hadn't faced a member of the Todgestalten. Natasha exhaled a small blast of air from her lungs, manipulating the form of her spirit weapon into a pair of twin pistols. Shifting her feet from side to side, she offered an affirmative nod, readying herself for the spar ahead.

"Fine by me, honey. I know your heart's in the right place. If you teach, I'll most certainly listen. Don't hold back at my expense, either."

What to expect from a man like him? No one knows how he fights except one. But that would be an unfair assessment. Despite everything Orion knew before he joined the Vandenreich, that man revealed what an infant he truly was. He's grown, but no one will ever know the quantity. All they'll know is what he is now.

"Let us begin," He muttered through tight lips as his rifle formed in his hands, Reishi piling together into a construct of black, blue, and gold.

The colors of one's power made manifest is magnificent, isn't it? Everyone has their color and tone. How they shape it reveals so much, but if Natasha's even a second slow, she'd find her head removed.

A barrel suddenly behind her head, no grandiose showing or indication that they've even begun. She's strong enough to have seen it coming, but being strong has little to do with being ready. Even the weakest opponent can get the drop on the strongest creature. What will she do? She doesn't even have a second as the pressure of his trigger is pulled, his barrel crackling with energy formed lethal.

It would have been severely false to say she expected a gun to her head to start their bout. It was a parameter she didn't account for. A gunshot to start? Sure. A gunshot from above? Why not? But the head? A trickle of sweat followed as she immediately reinforced her body with Blut to prevent the blow from turning her head into a fine pool of crimson and brain matter. Rolling forward through the ground, Natasha looked at him with an expression that could only be described as playfully incredulous as she turned to him with the azure pair of pistols pointed straight at him. Was this a part of his lesson? Or was this merely the way Orion fought? It was frightening, certainly. So much so that she hesitated to return the favor with her own gunfire.

"Hey, sweetheart... mind tellin' me why ya went for the head? We're just sparrin'..."

"We are sparring. Did you expect a halfhearted session? Enemies will not hold back. Train the way you'll fight. If you're aiming to kill anyone in your way..."

He aimed his gun at her, his one arm extended as the barrel of his Spirit Weapon flared.

"Then aim to kill me."

He fired again, aiming for her person. Even if he told her to fight like her life depended on it, he'll not purposely go for the kill every shot. However, taking any hit will cause her Blut to flare and being careless will leave her with nasty bruising or wounds. She's right. She doesn't know how he fights or how his side of the Vandenreich handle things. They're not here to question morality or paint the world with their perspective.

A job needs to get done. They get it done.

A chilling drop of sweat accompanied those words. This was uncharted territory for her. What was her approach to battle? What was the manifestation of her combat style? Orion was efficient and emotionless. He pulled the trigger without hesitation, warning her that this spar required more than a casual exchange of gunfire.

Train the way you'll fight. If you're aiming to kill anyone in your way...

...Then aim to kill me.

Like that, another bullet was promptly fired off, connecting with her person as her Blut flared and she felt the impact of that shock jarring her body into reality. Aim to kill? A fellow soldier? The thought was alien. A concept that never crossed her mind. Hazel eyes traveled down to the bruise at her side and the torn fabric.

"Aim to kill you? How... can ya say that all casual like?"

Even with her blut active, those bullets packed one hell of a punch. She had to get her head in the game. Any further faltering would only result in a quick defeat. What were the words for? What were the battles for? In order to protect those she held dear... she had to go beyond what felt comfortable to her, a far cry from the way she usually conducted battle. Could she get dirty? Could she get bloodied? What if she faltered? No, she reminded herself there was a purpose to all this. There had to be. Crossing her guns, Natasha shot forward, propelled by Steigen, to reappear above Orion and fire a flurry of bullets as her body spun through the air.

"Casual?"

She disappeared and appeared. His senses tracked her for the most part, allowing him to move as she fired down. She was caught off guard, but she'll never find him lacking in terms of attentivity.

"I'm deadly serious, Natasha. I'm a killer, an assassin. You know what my Department is about. Your friend one day could be your target the next."

He stopped on the other side of the room, aiming his crosshairs. Pulling the trigger, he brought forth the same amount of Hell she rained upon him.

"How else are you going to grow?! Sit your ass on your hands and hope you'll get better by make believing?! Fight seriously or go play nurse!"

His reaction time was impressive. He evaded and countered within the space of a single movement. Natasha furrowed her eyebrows, crossing her arms to guard against a profusion of bullets. Flesh softly tore, rivulets of blood lined her arms, and the pace of her heartbeat increased. To Natasha, Orion's words certainly did not fall on deaf ears, but the thought of murdering a fellow peer in cold blood was difficult to imagine. Rolling out of the way of his gunfire, Natasha locked onto him with her gaze, absorbing ambient reishi to increase the potency of her spirit weapon. A question rose unbidden from her lips, hazel eyes questioning her resolve to cross that line.

"If any of us became yer enemy the next day, you'd just shoot us down without hesitation...?"

Natasha awaited his answer, paying no heed to the fact that she paused once again. Killing intent...? Against Orion? Against any of her peers? From her perspective, she wholeheartedly knew there was a purpose to this, but what was she missing? Move, dammit. Attack. Strike him down. Thoughts did not align with actions, and her physical movement and explosiveness clearly lacked an edge in the pivotal moment.

She stopped. Again. He should shoot her. Show her no mercy. But he doesn't.

"I told you you lacked dirty eyes," Was his response.

He lowered his gun, thoughts swimming through his head. She gave him a compliment not long before. Fresh in his head, how could he not let it dull his will to shoot. This is why this socializing thing isn't for him. However, he's not going to ignore his upbringing to sugarcoat things. She can question why all day long, but at the end of the day, who's going to push her over the edge if all she does is stop and whine about the difficulties of what's before her?

"...Gabriel."

He had contemplated it before he said it, but he does not want her to walk away from this without anything. The enemies will have no mercy. She has already experienced this. She knows enough of war. But, either way, as his skin darkened, being encompassed by Reishi, he turned his eyes away from her, afraid that they'd blind him.

"Would you kill a friend to save a friend?" He deposited as his hair became wisps and his eyes blue. Instead of a normal Vollstandig, he leaked Reishi and Reiryoku out of his body.