Julian looked at her smiling face and clapped excitedly to cheer her on. Overall, he was indeed impressed that she managed to hit the target from such a distance.
Rayne walked over and handed Julian the gun, then ran off to reset the tin cans.
Julian looked at the loaded gun in his hand and shook his head. This girl is way too trusting.
She ran back to the picnic table and looked smugly at Julian. "Okay, Mr. Master Marksman, let's see what you can do!" she teased.
Julian's competitive spirit ignited at her "prove yourself" tone. He rarely felt the need to show off, but for so reason, he wanted to be a little extra in front of Rayne.
Julian stayed sitting on the bench and lifted his arm, holding the gun up. He held his position for a few seconds, then...
Bam! Bam! Bam!
He shot three consecutive shots without any delay, hitting each can cleanly off the tree stump.
Rayne watched his fluid movents with awe! She felt that he looked cooler than any actor in an action movie!
"Wow! Julian, you really weren't kidding about being skilled!" she exclaid, complinting him on his shots.
Julian's face blushed slightly at her nonstop praise. He realized that he liked this feeling of being praised for sothing. Maybe it's because I can tell she's being genuine, unlike those other won in the past.
Julian motioned for Rayne to co over so that he could give her a few tips.
"So, your overall stance is very good; however, it'll only take you so far. If you only plan to shoot at a range, then you should be all set, but shooting in the real world is a little different."
He continued to give Rayne detailed explanations on how she could improve, along with praise for the things she'd already mastered.
Rayne listened closely, soaking up all the new information. She didn't get upset or discouraged when Julian pointed out a mistake. She knew he was trying to help her improve, and this information could give her the upper hand in the future.
They spent the rest of the day practicing shooting. Rayne had to go and "retrieve" a few more boxes of ammo throughout the process.
They only stopped once the sun started to set, making it too dark to see the soda cans in the distance.
"Oh wow, we've been at this for a long ti. I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your ti!" said Rayne. She was so in the zone that she hardly realized how much ti had passed!
"Haha, no worries. I was having a really enjoyable ti, so don't feel bad," replied Julian.
Rayne still felt slightly guilty, so she decided to treat Julian to an extra-special dinner. "It's probably close to dinner ti. Allow to cook sothing delicious to make it up to you!"
Julian smiled, shaking his head. "You don't owe anything, but I'll gratefully enjoy anything you make."
Rayne smiled and ran back inside the camper. She felt bad leaving Julian to just sit outside on his own, so she picked up her laptop and brought it over to the picnic table.
Just as she placed it on the table, the earth began to shake again.
"Oh, it's another earthquake!" said Rayne, with subtle panic. This earthquake was stronger than the ones this morning, causing her to almost fall over.
Julian quickly stood up, ignoring the pain from his twisted ankle, to help stabilize Rayne. He stood there holding her until the earthquake finally ended.
Rayne shyly pulled herself away, her cheeks flushed pink. "Thank you, how's your ankle? You shouldn't have stood up!" she exclaid with worry.
Julian smiled and said, "Don't worry, my ankle is fine. I'll just take a few more painkillers with dinner."
Rayne frowned; she wanted to help but wasn't sure what she could do. She turned her attention to the laptop on the table.
"I brought you this. Normally, I like to watch a TV show while I eat. I just started this new show and am on episode 2. I figured I could put on the first episode for you to watch while I cook!" she said happily.
Julian smiled. He wasn't sure when the last ti he watched a TV show was, but since he had nothing better to do, he didn't refuse.
Seeing that he didn't refuse, Rayne felt even more excited! "It's called 100 Days Without You and it's sowhat of a romance drama, but there are action scenes!"
She put on the episode and hurried into the camper. She felt like today was a really good day and wanted to celebrate with good food!
She decided she would cook a soup herself while taking out other food from the system. She rembered the fried chicken she had from that one street vendor with a long line and couldn't get it out of her head.
"Fried chicken it is!" she decided and began to pull out a variety of vegetables from her system for the soup.
Once the soup finished, she quickly poured it into bowls and brought it out to the picnic table. Rayne noticed how dark it had gotten and went back inside to pull out a propane camping light. Once she placed it on the table, the surrounding area imdiately lit up in a nice bright light.
Julian saw Rayne bring out two bowls of delicious-looking vegetable soup, excited for the freshly made dinner. But when Rayne ran off back inside her camper instead of sitting down, he was a little surprised.
A few monts later, she walked out holding a bright camp light in one hand and a large plate of perfectly fried chicken in the other. Julian's eyes lit up at the sight of fried chicken! He had already felt the vegetable soup was a big treat, but the fried chicken was well out of his expectations.
"Wow! I must admit I am very surprised to see such delectable fried chicken! I feel like it's my birthday," laughed Julian.
If any of his subordinates were here, they would be convinced that their boss was possessed due to how cheerful he had been this whole ti. Julian had laughed more today than he had in the past few years combined!
"I said that I would treat you to a nice dinner in return for your shooting lessons today! I hope it's to your taste!" said Rayne cheerfully. She then turned and ran back into the camper to grab plates and silverware, along with two cans of cold beer.
Once she got back to the picnic table, she sat down, put on episode 2 of the show, and the two of them began to eat.
"Wow, everything tastes so good! This chicken reminds of a place I used to order from!" complinted Julian, taking a bite of chicken and a sip of cold beer.
He felt like he was on a camping vacation trip. The only thing off about this day was the pain from his twisted ankle. Everything else was incredible.
Rayne lowered her eyes to hide the guilt of claiming to have cooked the chicken herself. She secretly thanked the man at the fried chicken stall for his aromatic chicken.
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