Gabriel liked going to the gun range in the evening, when most fellow agents were seeking entertainment, done with the training of the day. There was something oddly comforting about the gun range; dim and quiet save for the actual firing, the scent of hot metal and smoke, the relaxation of taking apart a fine weapon, cleaning it thoroughly, putting it back together. It left him oddly quieted, calm. Paulson, the officer in charge of the range that evening, had let him practice with several handguns at once. Over the years he'd become very proficient at using guns with his middle tentacles; it had taken some time to learn to wrap the grip just so, to slide the tip into the finger guard and over the trigger. The lower set was too large and unwieldy to perform such fine motor movement, better suited for pure strength, for wreaking havoc. Of course his best scores were with his hands, but he had surprising accuracy with his tentacles. There were many times he'd been able to lay down covering fire to help protect team mates.
The hallway lights had gone to half strength in deference to the time; living underground tended to fuck with most people's natural rhythms, so the powers that be tried to keep to a day and night schedule. His hands tucked into his jeans pockets, Gabriel nodded as he passed Adam Jeffries from Victor team and got a haughty sniff in return. One corner of Gabriel's mouth quirked, and a tentacle snaked sneakily toward Adam but he pulled it back before it could smack him in the ass. Naughty, naughty, and he was better than that.
The door to the movie room was ajar just enough that he could sense a whisper of air, and curious, he turned in that direction, pushing it open. Within it was dark, save for the flicker of light from the huge screen. Gabriel stepped in, letting the door slip closed behind him, taking a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dimness. Only one other person was there, stretched across a couple of seats. Long dark hair, the curve of hip and sweet dip of waist proclaimed the viewer as female, as did the scent that touched his sensing tentacles. Anna.
Gabriel glanced toward the screen. It was a horror movie he'd seen a dozen times before. He made an amused sound. "If you had a dollar for every time you've seen this, you could probably buy a Jaguar," he said. He glanced back at the antics on screen. "And I could have two."