Off to a Great Start (Adventures!AU Book 1)

Chapter 23: Middle Ground

Oh Crosshair. You difficult stick.

For new readers, yep Im a history nerd and a gun owner.

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"Shadow, I know you wanted to shift the topic but... are those boards...?"

At Tech's question, I looked back at my smaller bookshelf where four broken boards, ¾ of an inch in thickness, were stacked on the lowest shelf. "Yep, I broke those. Two by foot, two by hand." I scooted back and grabbed one of them before shuffling back and handing it to Tech.

Holding the two halves in his hands, he looked from them to be in surprise. " You broke these?"

"Well I wouldn't own shattered wood otherwise!" I laughed. "Back kick, snap kick, hammer fist, and palm heel strike. I have a scar on my foot from one of the practice boards but I was lucky and escaped my test without severely damaging my foot although the snap kick caused me to limp for a few days. Hell, the entire test did. I lost my wind fifteen minutes into an hour-long test."

"But ya made it, Haran'ika !" Wrecker grinned, nudging me with his elbow.

I returned the grin. "Sure did, Wrecker!"

He winked at me before he scooped up the machete at Hunter's feet and inspected it. "Nice toy!"

"Thanks man, gotta love collecting items of lethal quality!" I chuckled. "Oh, since I said you could pet my head if you got off me, have at it."

Setting down the machete, his face brightened and he reached up to rest his large head on the top of my head. I expected it to be heavy. What I didn't expect was for his touch to be as gentle as it was. Granted my head ducked under the weight of his hand but his touch was still soft.

Oh... this is why people like other's playing with their hair. This ain't half bad.

"Shadow... should I hit play again?" Tech asked shyly, holding the controller in his hands.

"Sure, it's that bottom button," I said, still trying to decide how I felt about Wrecker's hand on my head. The man's palm was nearly the size of my skull.

Tech hit play again and we continued to watch the rest of the video. I had to laugh again when Cory jumped on the counter, but made sure to turn down the volume before the killer attacked him to prevent it from hurting Hunter's ears. Nevertheless, the sergeant still jumped as blood splattered across the screen. He recovered quickly, however, and went back to sifting through my knives.

All was going fairly well through the rest of the video until Wrecker hit me with a curve ball.

"Do you purr?"

My head snapped towards Wrecker as his hand still rested atop my skull. "'scuse me?"

"Purr!" he repeated with a smile. "You're half cat, right? Do you ever purr?"

Both Tech and Hunter looked towards me, no doubt curious as well. Tech especially.

My ears shifted. "Er... I can if that's your question."

"What does it sound like? If I scratch the top of your head will you start purrin'?" His hand shifted as if he were about to test it right then and there.

I took hold of his wrist to stop him. "I'd really rather not test that," I muttered. "It's embarrassin' when I do that."

"Oh, ok," Wrecker said, a bit saddened but at least he respected it. Finally dropping his hand back to his side, he asked, "What about chasin' lasers?"