Down in the Dump, Chump [Colt, Catty]

[Catty Noir ♦]

With a smile mixed in as she rolled her eyes, Catty brought him inside her unit that still lacked much of a personal touch since she hadn't been living there for very long. The furniture all came with the place so there wasn't much of a need for her to buy more, and it matched pretty nicely. Actually, her entire apartment had a bit of an emo theme to it to match Catty's personality, which explains why that was ever on the rental application. Shizuka must've tried to match the Bount's tastes as much as possible to avoid excess spending. That must be what it was like to be rich, and suddenly Catty was very jealous.

"I can place you here for now and tote you around, but please do not pull the trigger while I sleep," she half-joked as she grabbed a pillow, placed it on the top of the kitchen island counter and gently laid him on top of it. "I startle quite easily and do not wish to question whether or not I am alive."

He seemed amicable enough for a talking gun, or 'artificial soul,' as he had explained. Admittedly, it was nice for her to have a friend, regardless of physical status. She'd only met two people in total so far during her trip to Japan, and the other was a Bount like her. He wasn't quite as friendly, though. Actually, he was loud, arrogant, cocky, rude, and generally too quick to mansplain things. She was well-aware that she wasn't the strongest person on Earth. She didn't need a man to tell her such a thing. What it did do was make her spiteful, and she would do just about anything out of spite. She hoped she could train herself up enough to one day teach him a lesson about underestimating her.

After rummaging around her cabinets and closets for a moment, the Bount was able to locate a small heating pad that was used for her monthly discomforts. Without much effort, she plugged it in to an outlet that was on the side of the island and put it on a setting of three out of ten, knowing it shouldn't overheat the gun's metal. She planned to bring him into her bedroom later, but seeing as creatures like her did very well staying up late, she wouldn't be sleeping any time soon. Actually, she typically found herself getting tired around three or four in the morning and would go to sleep then, so at least she could watch over him and make sure nobody tried anything crazy.

"Mon petit ami, I apologize for the inconvenience of my hospitality since I can only offer you so much. A place to hide for now is my relative limit, but I hope it is okay with you. I will not leave you out in the kitchen, though."

She picked him back up, placed the heating pad on the pillow, and put him back down on top of it so he could feel some warmth. Surely this wasn't exactly what he had in mind, but she knew it would be significantly more comfortable and a bit less awkward than letting him do something like sleep in the same bed as her. She wished she could offer more. She was worried about being able to make friends, and as unconventional as this one was, it was still a friendship. Sitting herself down on a barstool after grabbing a cup of milk to sip on, Catty kept Colt company while they chatted. Then a thought crossed her mind.

"Colt, are you able to teach people how to shoot?"

[Colt]

Colt whistled appreciatively as Catty gave him the chance to look around the room for a moment, sensing his surroundings and admittedly being a little impressed with the space she was living in. Not bad not bad at all. Still however, upon being placed on a pillow, he gave something of a little...Hmmm. "Oh, well I'm usually used to just being carried around and slept with. And hey you know if you're worried about me going off I can just..." He paused, a click sounded as his safety was pipped on, and then he promptly slid the magazine from himself, dropping it out into her hand before his slider pinged back and the shell in his chamber was ejected.

"There see? IF you know how a gun works you can make it safe. Heheh. I can show you how to do it if ya wan." He noted with a proud little smirk. Certainly he wouldn't mind teaching her a little more about how to handle him. And he ..... did hum slightly at the notion of just sitting around. He could let her think he'd just sit around on the counter he supposed. She didn't have to know what he was capable of. That said, her next question DID cause his brows to raise a little.

And he smiled a bit internally to himself. Vaguely he wondered if this was a .... self defense kinda shooting lesson or if she had other plans. He supposed it wans't really his business one way or the other. BUUUUT. Well he supposed he could worry about that later. "I most certainly can. I'm not exactly an expert, but I can see about teaching you the basics." He pointed out. He could hardly promise to turn her into a lone ranger. But some basic stuff certainly could be taught to her.

[Catty Noir ♦]

The fact that Colt suggested sleeping in the same bed as Catty made her raise a brow at the notion. That sounded like such an American thing to say, but she could see the uses. If it were for self-defense, then that was entirely understandable. It would be horrendously scary for someone to break into the apartment and try to steal things, or worse, and Catty is unable to fend them off. It made her consider a few things more deeply. Compared to others, she felt so incredibly weak. Physically, she was certainly stronger than average humans but even that wasn't a huge feat. In this world, though, she was at the bottom of the barrel. It bothered her.

Still, Colt's thoughtfulness prevailed and he was able to strip himself of anything that could potentially harm anyone. Interesting. The Bount watched in awe as Colt performed his trick and reassured that she would be safe, but it made her wonder if he could load himself, too. Twisting the magazine in her hand to give it a good look, she noted how oddly warm it felt. That could be from the heating pad, of course, but it was the first thing that she noticed when she inspected it further. He was fascinating in his own right. She never would have thought about actual living weapons existing in the world the way he did. Could there be others like him, maybe?

At the moment, at least, he seemed genuinely positive towards the idea of helping the girl figure out how to shoot a gun. She'd never even touched one before tonight, so it would take some getting used to. She hoped she wouldn't embarrass herself in front of him and then laughed a bit internally when she realized what she was thinking. I am feeling self-conscious over how a weapon thinks of me. How strange. With a smile, she placed the magazine close to him again and looked at the clock. The time was reading ten-thirty, or close enough to it to count. She wasn't feeling tired, so she figured she could at least make sure her guest was entertained.

"I do not know how to use weapons of any kind, you see. Paris is not exactly that kind of city. They exist, but it is not prevalent where I am from." She paused for a second, weighing her options. "I would like you to teach me, though. I cannot preserve myself properly at the moment, so even if it is not you I am using, I would like to know how to shoot at all. And, of course, I need to work on figuring out what else I can do. You were so kind as to explain yourself and perhaps I am avoiding the topic out of fear, but... I am a Bount. I just do not have my Dolls yet. I came here to train with hopes of one day summoning them."

[Colt]

Colt raised a brow in spirit as she seemed to relax a little at the notion of getting to unload him. Though he was largely unaware of her other concerns. Truth be told, not a lot else was on HIS mind. Sure, he could be thinking about where to go next. Maybe getting a body. But uh... he was kinda fine with what was going on right now. A beautiful woman chilling and using him rather than some wacked out crackhead that thought he could fix all his problems with a firearm? Not a bad upgrade. He didn't enjoy having to see humans kill themselves after all. Much less being the implement for it.

And that had....happened more times than he cared to remember. Even in such a short ammount of time, he'd had to see a fair bit of violence. But all the more, he could see that Catty wasn't worried about gunning anyone down. Good, the preferred mindset for his wielders. And.... bount? Internally he furrowed his btows. The fuck was a bount? Nothing he knew about. Perhaps if he had been properly rasied by his mother, he might know. Perhaps more than any normal person. But well, that wasn't the case.

"Well uh I don't really know a lot about Bunts. But hey. I can teach you to shoot. AND I can teach you some other stuff too. A lot of these special spiritual peeps focus too much on their special stuff. Like those death reaper guys. You should learn a few tricks outside of your uh...dolls ya know? And I can help ya with that. At least teach you a little about what I know." He offered with a brightness to his voice. He wasn't exactly the stoic sensei type. But hey, thats just how he was.

[Catty Noir ♦]

"Oui! Let us do that, then. I can tell you what I know about my kind, and you can teach me what you know that can help. Perhaps we can make this like a symbiosis."

Excited at the notion, Catty's anxieties over being alone in the world and unable to overcome her weaknesses started to fade. She didn't expect her relationship with Colt to be so positive because, frankly, she didn't expect one at all. This was purely happenstance at best and she was all about it. Even if Colt was a gun, she was desperate to find out more about him, so spending some time together would be beneficial for them both. That, and she couldn't help but feel jealous that he seemed to know some things to teach her and she barely knew anything at all. It was frustrating. She didn't want to have to admit that she needed to rely on anyone for these things.

Ultimately, though, that was fine. She had to start somewhere, and this was a great first step! He was friendly and forgiving. That was all she needed. She had to think about some way to repay him, but not much came to mind immediately so that was going to take a bit of time. For the moment, she gently slid her hand beneath him, removed him from the pillow and heating pad, and toted him off to her bedroom. Any changing and getting ready for bed would be done in a separate room, but she figured she could at least gift him a part of his request. He just wouldn't have the bed with her since that was still a little outside of her comfort zone.

"You win, mon petit ami. You can sleep here, but on my nightstand. Otherwise you would be suffocated beneath a pillow." She laughed a bit at her statement but found she was relatively serious. Now, they could resume training in the morning.

[Leonie Dallmann]

Counted 90 paragraphs, so that'll be 450 TP for both participants!