Hybridization Novel Chapter 156 – Interests

Chapter 156 – Interests

“One of the things we have learned to avoid ntioning is so stereotypes from common fiction. Not all dwarves live underground, elves don’t live in trees and vampires don’t sleep in coffins.” – Professor of paranormal studies, UC Berkeley

Over the years, Kurt's various ntal states had peaked at various spots. He had been intrigued about enchanting when he was young. He had been puzzled over how so idiots ended up in charge of things and people. Recently he had been thoroughly enraged over several things related to his new career. But today, today he was at a loss for the ntal state he found himself in.

“Yeah, I have no idea what to think about this.” Val said, clearly having a similar ntal state after they watched Rindi test out a few guns.

Kurt had brought his team and his modest assortnt of firearms to the Order training range that they had commandeered for Jays teams. The goal was to get Rindi accustod to firearms and find out what she preferred to use, since she would be going with them into rifts.

Rindi herself had been a rather apt pupil considering she admitted to never using a firearm before. Not even the black powder ones that worked on so worlds that couldn’t use modern smokeless. The way she described them made Kurt imdiately think of Clint Eastwood westerns and he desperately wanted to visit so of those places.

Their newest mber of the team had taken to the explanation and demonstrations very well and easily rembered the controls, gaining muscle mory for them startlingly quickly. She also seed to quickly understand the manual of arms and the order of operations for the various guns, not that modern guns are very different from one another.

The strange part that was giving the team conflicting emotions was the various firing positions she used in her various body shapes. Everything was pretty normal in her more human form, just slightly scaled up due to her extra height and body mass. The strange part was when she was in the felitaur form she preferred and said she would like to be in when possible.

When she was standing, things were mostly normal, even better in so cases since her center of gravity was so low and her… abdominal muscles? Whatever muscles that stabilized her human half were rather over developed to handle the recoil. When she was ‘kneeling’ was when things got a little strange.

Rindi’s kneeling position was essentially lowering her front legs with them settled under the hip/shoulder joints looking like a cat ready to pounce. The back legs were another story. They stood upright and, while not adding to her vertical profile, made for an odd look to her posture. The thing that made Kurt uncomfortable was how her tail behaved while she focused. The tail that normally hung down behind her had a tendency to curl upward, exposing her more sensitive and surprisingly human looking anatomy.

Then ca the prone position which solved the odd posture look but did nothing for the tail issue and made things worse at the front end. While Rindi was much lower to the ground, her human torso didn’t really lay flat against the ground and she made a bridge from her elbows to her first set of legs. This was a less than ideal position to fire from as it made her very unsteady. There was also the issue of her rather large tiger body sticking out behind her that would be hard to get behind low cover.

“Yeah, I don’t think any AT weapons would work either unless she is limited to her humanoid shape or we really focus on her firing from a side profile.” Kurt said, trying to look away from the way her bandana like skirt that was hanging low and letting him see the goods.

Val had told him, for reasons unknown to him, that she had the womanly bits in both the front and back of her felitaur form. Sothing that Kurt wasn’t sure he needed to know but filed it away for… well he wasn’t sure if he would ever need that information.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM. Rindi ripped off a triple tap onto the steel target set at the fifty-yard line and knocked it over. She had taken to Kurt’s SCAR 17 like a kid with a security blanket, saying it was easy to handle in both shapes. He had a feeling he wasn’t getting that one back.

“She handles that rifle like a champ though.” Val said as Rindi popped back up into a standing position and cleared the rifle before letting it hang on the sling. “Better get another suppressor made.”

“Got several ready. Pretty easy to do when all my guns have the sa muzzle device.” Kurt replied and they walked over to where Kristi was already talking to Rindi and pantomiming sothing.

“… I think it would be more stable if you tried to square yourself up. It doesn’t matter much in your other form since you make that gun look small.” Kristi was demonstrating with her arms held like she had a rifle.

“Does that work? I feel like I am a little wobbly when I stand or kneel with this.” Rindi wiggled the rifle as it hung on her sling.

“Ahem. Scuse .” Val said while sliding up to Rindi and grabbing her skirt. She then gave it a little tug and twisted it before letting it settle. “Sorry you were showing the goods… both sets actually.”

Rindi flushed and looked to Kurt, but Val once again interjected. “AH, he was a perfect gentleman and turned away when he saw.”

“Sorry, the umm social side of that is not lost on

but … well it’s hard to wear clothes on my lower half.” Rindi said while smoothing a hand over the skirt she had made.

While shopping with Val, she had found a craft store in the mall and had purchased a few yards of various fabrics along with the materials to cut and sew them. She had spent the evening after the shopping trip doing just that, sitting by the fire and chatting with Kristi while she made her skirts.

The skirt was very similar to a bandana in its shape, triangular in its overall design but she cut the bottom point to be a bit flatter so it wouldn’t drag. She then sewed a series of buttons on to one end and made eyelets in the other so she could put it on without going over her head.

Kurt wondered if there was a way to pretension the fabric so it would hang a little closer to her front and not dangle as much. He decided to look into it and show her his sewing machine if she was going to be making her own clothes in the future.

“Don’t worry about offending .” Kurt said in the least creepy way he could and still feeling like he failed in the task. “How did you get along with the guns you tried? Anything you didn’t like?”

“They are very loud.” Rindi said imdiately then gestured to the clip on earring. “But this device you made is simply magical.”

“Well, it is enchanted…” Val said to Kristi who chuckled.

“Right, well I have a silencer for it at ho so that will cut so noise but it will still hurt your ears if you shoot it in an enclosed space or for a long ti.” Kurt ignored Val. “Did you want to try so handguns today or take a break and try them next week?”

Rindi chewed at her lip for a mont before answering. “I think I would like to wait until next week if possible.”

“Cool.” Kurt said, giving her a thumbs up which she gave a curious look. “This ans good.”

“Ah, I see.” She then stored the rifle in her ring before looking to the other two standing near by.

“Did we have another plan tonight then.” Kristi asked.

They all began walking out of the range and back toward the Earth ops wing of the Order. “I was thinking we could go and get so supplies for the spare room and dinner?”

“Jonny’s?” Kristi asked.

Kurt shrugged. “Works for . The big box hardware store is over that way so we can easily hit both.”

“Hardware store?” Rindi asked.

Val answered her so Kurt wouldn’t have to turn around. “Place that sells tools, lumber and building supplies. General stuff like that but not specialty equipnt.”

“OH? I think I would like to see that.”

Curiosity peaked and unable to resist, Kurt looked over his shoulder. “You like building stuff?”

Rindi nodded. “Yes, when I was young I helped out around a furniture maker’s shop. He let

sleep in the back of the shop and gave

so food if I helped him with the work. I rather liked doing it, and the slls of wood and tal coming together along with seeing a project finished was nice.”

“Did you stick with any of it?” Kristi asked before flushing a little. “Shit. Sorry, that was insensitive.”

“No, it is fine. I umm… haaa. He passed away and I was kicked out by his son who took over the business in his father’s stead. We had never gotten along and I think he blad

for his father’s lack of attention.”

“Huh, I figured it would have been because you are a hybrid.” Kurt muttered. “That’s the usual reason for people hating us.”

Rindi shrugged. “In my other shape I look like a big human. I think people assud I was just a demi-human of so sort like a half goliath or half orc. It was an effective way to pass through life unnoticed. At least it was for a ti.”

Kurt couldn’t argue that. He had lived most of his life under the protection of the veil and it was only a couple years previously that he had to worry about his appearance and used a glamor to cover himself. It made him wonder how long it would be until Earth fully acclimated, and the various paranormal organizations finally got their way.

They crossed over to their side of the portal shortly after and set about getting ready to head out. Kristi went to help Rindi with an outfit while Val and Kurt cleaned up around the kitchen so they wouldn’t need to after getting ho.

A little over an hour later they were pulling into the big box store. Kristi and Rindi both seed very interested in the towering racks of goods and the wide variety of things set out on display as spring was now firmly entrenched.

Kurt and Val ended up testing out a few of the patio sets but didn’t find anything to their liking that would go well on the porch. They also looked at the lawn equipnt but didn’t really need anything since the yard was mostly left to grow wild except for the area directly around the house where Kurt had used a push mower for most things.

Eventually they made their way over to the building supplies section and began filling their carts. They got all the drywalling, flooring and bathroom tile but opted to have the vanity and toilet delivered with the shower door and floor pan. Those were out of stock but would be delivered the following week.

All and all, it was more than enough for Kurt to get started and even mostly finished within the week if he put in a couple hours a day. The girls all promised to help and he actually believed two of them. Val was always more of an emotionally supportive mber when it ca to physical labor rather than actual muscle.

They then took their purchases out to the car and began loading it. Kurt made it look like they were sohow fitting everything into the trunk of his SUV, but they actually put it all in their rings. Anyone watching would likely be very confused at how they managed to put it all in the back and still fit all of them in the seats. Thankfully, nobody paid them much mind as they returned their carts and climbed in to head to the next stop, dinner.

*****

“Kurt! Where ya been?” John rumbled as he pressed into the booth, squishing Kurt and Kristi against the far side. “Good to see you Kristi, Val and… new lady?”

“Rindi, sir.” Replied the human looking Rindi.

“Bah, just John.” Said the big man while extending his hand across the table toward her. She took it and his eyes seed to twinkle a little as he looked back to Kurt.

“Sorry hadn’t been around much.” Kurt said.

“You know, I would have been worried if not for the occasional takeout order we get from you.”

“Yeah, sorry. Things have been, umm, hectic.” He replied, not wanting to get into any details in a public place.

John nodded. “Sure, sure. Life happens and all that. Trust , I get it.”

“Why didn’t you just text him?” Val asked. “He has a phone now.”

“Well why didn’t you remind him to stop in? Hmm little lady?” John snipped back. “You have a point though, I’ll try to rember in the future. Also, I let my brother and Hailey know. They were about to co up there unannounced to do a wellness check.” He laughed and extracted himself from the booth, letting Kurt and Kristi have so breathing room again.

“I will stop back in the office here in a little bit to check on things, but you hadn’t said anything about the enchants failing so I assu it’s all good since I put in that self-charging system.” Kurt said

“Right, I will tell the staff to let you pass, got a couple new folks that don’t know the rules yet.” John sighed. “Welp, good to see you again, don’t be strangers. Nice to et you too, Rindi.” He said while backing away and allowing their waiter to co up to the table.

The waiter took their drink orders before disappearing and leaving them alone. Kurt decided that he would get things moving along and turned to Rindi. “So, what kind of woodworking do you think you would want to do?”

“Umm, I don’t know.” She replied. “I used to help with so of the assembly but did a lot of the rough cutting and clean up.”

“How was that done?”

“What, the clean up? I used a broom and shovel.”

Kurt smirked. “No, the rough shaping. Like what tools did you use and what was the process like?”

“Well, it was a lot of hand tools. Big saws and things like axes, adz and froes to get the stock to rough shapes.” She made a few shapes with her hands as she ntioned the tools. “We would cut it and let it dry out in the barns for a while. Then process it down to whatever stock we needed.

“We made all kinds of things. Tables, chairs, cabinets, and such were pretty common. Simple designs that got the job done but lasted for a while.” She seed to be lost in the mories for a mont before she continued. “I rember making staves and dowels using so jigs. That was really nice. I liked to try and get perfect shavings with the spoke shave and planes.”

“So only hand tools?” Krisit asked.

Rindi nodded. “Mostly, yes. You know that there aren’t any electrical things on Talth but I did once travel to the local sawmill when the old man needed so lumber we didn’t have. That was rather impressive, seeing how long and straight they could cut boards was interesting.”

“I knew a guy that liked to make pens, bottle stoppers and bowls on the lathe.” Kurt said but paused as their drinks ca along and they ordered food. He continued a mont later after taking a sip of his Coke. “He would order the hardware and turn down the rest for the pens and stoppers. He actually did a lot of stuff like that. Anything that could be made on a lathe really.”

“What’s a lathe?” Rindi asked, giving her beer an apprising look. “Is it like the treadle lathe?”

“Umm…” Kurt had to look that one up on his phone before answering. “Oh, yeah sa idea but powered with electricity and probably more versatile. He made everything from pens to pool cues but really likes bowl turning and making segnted turning projects.”

“This is sothing I would like to look into.” Rindi declared after seeing the pictures on Kurts’s phone. “I liked hand tools, but this intrigues .”

Kristi leaned over with her phone in hand. “There are books on the subject. But there is also a lot of things on YouTube.”

Rindi looked at Kristi’s phone for a mont before looking back up. “Will you please show

how to use Your Tube? Is it like the movie we watched last night?”

That led them into talking about all the different things that Rindi could use the internet for and also that they would look into getting her set up with a phone and tablet after the weekend. She would likely get the ones issued by the Order like they all had. That issued equipnt would work out in her favor instead of having to choose not only a phone but also an operating system.

They finished dinner and had begun the trip ho when Rindi suddenly leaned forward. “Have they done the sa with tal working as they did with woodworking?”

“I think so?” Kurt wasn’t sure about that but assud there were so advancents. “There is a local smithy that started up a few years back. They have a bunch of power tools like power hamrs, grinders, saws and such all made specifically for tal.”

“Is that another interest, Rindi?” Val asked as she turned in the front seat to face her. “tal and woodwork?”

Rindi sat back in her seat with a small frown. “I don’t know. It just ca to

that you might have sothing different. I wouldn’t know since I was never allowed near a smithy on Talth and none of my masters let

leave them long enough to learn much about them.”

“You should see the equipnt that Kurt has in his vault. Well, see it run anyway.” Kristi said. “A lot of what once was hours of skilled labor by hand is now automated and repeatable to absurd degrees of accuracy.”

Her eyes sparkling, Rindi looked to Kurt. “I would very much appreciate it if you would show

your machine.”

“Give it ti and he will show you a lot mor-OW!.” Val began to say before there was a thump and the plates clattered atop the table. The kitsune shot a scathing look at Kristi who had clearly kicked her under the table.

“No teasing in public.” Kristi said before taking a sip of her beer.

There was another thump and the table once again rattled. “Son-of-a-bitch.” Val cursed and bit her knuckle to stifle another string of oaths and swearing.

“Barrier.” Kristi said after catching the looks from Rindi and Kurt. “I excepted her to retaliate and solved the problem before it beca one.”

“Right…” Kurt rolled his eyes before turning back to their very confused fourth. “So, ever play story gas? We have our regularly scheduled one coming up and you are more than welco to join if you want. Otherwise, you might have to just loiter around the area because of, well, this.” He tapped his arm though it was still covered by his sleeve.

“OH, yeah! You should play D&D with us.” A miracle descended upon Val, and she was suddenly healed of her ‘bruised and broken’ toes.

Rindi squinted like she wasn’t sure what she had heard. “What is D-in-D?”

That kicked off a half hour long sales pitch as they finished dinner. It was followed by a forty-minute abridged version of the campaign as they drove ho. Then they all went down to the basent where Val broke out the books and began helping Rindi make a character.

Kurt just let it happen. Rindi seed curious and Val was having fun, so he didn’t see any harm in the felitaur joining them. Besides, it’s not like anyone in the group would mind having her around and playing a ga with them.