Answers or Excuses? {Gina}

[GINA FAYE]

Gina was so ready to get the hell out of Scriptor Bay and go on back home to Georgia. Just when she was settling into her mother’s and nana’s hometown, the tree of legends split right down the middle and released the doom it had sealed inside. Seriously, wasn’t that something out of a friggin’ movie? She asked her nana about it and tried to figure out if there was any way to reverse it, but Nana had as many answers as Gina did. Great; this was just fucking peachy. Gina hadn’t grown up in town, though her shifting abilities came from the very tree that had split just a week ago. She felt that outsider status left her at a major disadvantage when it came to finding answers, but she was tired of feeling on edge all day, every day. It was like the darkness in the sky kept her shifts right on the surface and she couldn’t make it stop. Not only was she eating meat like a fiend, but she felt like she was always in heat, too. She’d gone to Kit’s bar a couple times to try and solve that problem with Kit himself, but it didn’t seem to be working. And she wanted to run around and play all day! It was so hard to just focus on her work when she wanted to go frolicking through a field.

On top of that, she was starting to shift every night. She had to leave out scraps for herself so she wouldn’t go hungry! It was gross and frustrating and she was getting fur all over her bed. She hoped this wouldn’t last long, but she had a feeling it would keep happening until they found out how to get rid of the darkness over the city. It was wearing her down, though, and as if her overbearing need to go frolic wasn’t enough to distract her, the feeling that she was stretching herself thin was really distracting. She had boundless amounts of energy and not enough energy at the same time. It was like she was running on hyperactive fumes constantly. If only she had more Therian friends to help her! She didn’t know anybody in the city, though her grandma had said something about a Therian leader. She would have to look more into that and see if she could find this leader so she could ask what the fuck was going on. She needed answers before she went insane, damn it!

And just as she was beginning to feel restless and like she needed to just walk away from her desk, her desk phone rang. Her hand shot out for the receiver, desperate for an excuse to get away. “Faye,” she chimed pleasantly. The secretary on the other end of the phone told her a Mr. Dashiell Prideaux was at the front desk for her. She immediately perked up. “Oh, yeah! I’ll come up and get ‘im!” Gina immediately dropped the receiver once more and sprang from her desk. Finally, a distraction! She practically skipped to the front desk, the short walk releasing some of her pent up energy. When she saw the big-eyed, awkward looking man at the front desk she smiled wide, sidling up to him. “Howdy, stranger!” she drawled cheerfully. “What’s the story this time? The end is near?” She gave a soft giggle and then waved for him to follow her back to her desk. They could discuss details on the way over there.

[GINA FAYE]

“Gina! You look amazing as usual.” Gina giggled, still undecided about whether Dash was gay or not. He was lean and sweet enough to be gay, but the way his eyes wandered suggested otherwise. Maybe he was just a gay straight man. She could settle for that right now. “Well, that seems to be the general consensus outside, I was wondering if there was anything you had to add to the contrary actually.” Gina sighed and shook her head. “Not much. It’s only been a day, but I have some ideas.” Her eyes caught the other guy walking in the opposite direction and she gave him a small smile before continuing on. Most of the guys at the police department were used to her by now and knew better than to think she was going to sleep with them. She liked men, but not when it would be awkward for her to come back in the office the next day. “I think my readers would be curious to know why the sky looked the way it did.” Gina gave a small, almost disbelieving laugh. “I think everybody would be interested to know the answer to that question,” she replied playfully.

They came to her desk and she sat down across from Dash, crossing her legs as well. He was looking around the squad room, which gave her a chance to check him out. The full moon was a week away, but she was feeling like a vixen in heat today, and Dash was looking really good. Why? She had no clue, but it was frustrating. Hell, a lot of the men in the office had looked good to her today. The sight of Dash also made her really hungry…she didn’t know why. He was adorable, she wasn’t going to eat him! But she needed to get a nice juicy hamburger. Running her hands through her hair, she gave a shrug and looked down at her desk. “Honestly, there’re no answers on all of that yet,” she responded, sitting back in her chair some to look at him.

“Some witnesses are sayin’ there was an earthquake all ‘round the park, which might explain why that old tree cracked the way it did. Then again, if it was an earthquake that violent, why didn’t nobody else feel it? Some people say they felt a little tremor, but the reports make it look like it actually did focus around that park with the tree. Witnesses are also reporting that a black smoke rose up from where the tree is and went up into the sky. If you ask them, they swear those clouds brewed from that black smoke and that’s when the lightning started. The police department doesn’t have an official story yet, though. To me…it sounds like that legend ya’ll are fond of surroundin’ that tree is comin’ true.” She gave a little smile, but she knew that was the case. It freaked her out that she chose to come back to Scriptor Bay just as all this crap was starting to go down. It was like a damn calling that she should be here now.

Her head tilted to the side as she studied Dash across from her. He was so gangly at first glance that it was cute. She smiled wider, just watching him with her clear blue eyes. “Any other questions?” she asked.

OoC ...........I have no idea why I thought it was a week out. XDD Just ignore all that then, lol!

[GINA FAYE]

Dash made it seem that he didn’t know the legends were true, and Gina let it go. She certainly wasn’t going to say, “Oh, yeah, definitely! Those stories are totally true!” No, she was smarter than that. Of course, if he was one, he would certainly play it off too. She could elaborate on the trembling those around the tree felt, tell him what they were investigating, but he actually did have another question to ask her. “Well, I mean, I could always ask what you were doing for lunch?” Gina’s smile spread all the way across her face. “Why, Dash, are you askin’ me on a date?” she teased in her slow Southern drawl. She was always flattered when asked on a date or when someone flirted with her, no matter how many times she got the attention. “Well, as it happens, I’m famished and cravin’ one of those sandwiches from the shop up the street. We could pop over there, if you’d like.” She was already reaching for her purse beneath her desk, ready to get out of the station for a while.

She put her red pea coat on, buttoning it before they stepped outside. “It’s ridiculous how cold it is. It’s July and fifty degrees outside,” she grumbled. “In Georgia, it’d be ninety-five degrees right now.” As they made their way out of the station, she decided to elaborate some on the earthquake business. “We’re investigatin’ seismic activity in Scriptor Bay to elaborate on the reports of an earthquake. They’re also checkin’ gas and water lines to see if there’ve been any breaks, but from the looks of it, they’re all fine. It’s really bizarre, but the investigations haven’t gotten far at this point. If you came next week, I might have more answers for you.” She gave him a playful smile, knowing he was just here because he wanted the jump on the story. She had a feeling there would be an official statement the police would give, which made her think of a warning. “And Dash, if you put my name on this information, I’ll skin you,” she said lowly, brandishing a finger at him. It probably hadn’t been a smart idea to do an interview at her desk surrounded by a bunch of other people, but she knew nobody had overheard just what information she’d given him. Still, it was better if the captain had to go looking for her; there was a good chance nobody noticed Dash and Gina talking.

“I’d really hate to have to skin you, though. You’re adorable,” she commented with a cute little shrug and a smile. When they stepped out into the chilly air, the rain had stopped momentarily, though the wind was still whipping mercilessly. “What do you make of all this?” she asked, genuinely wanting to hear his opinion on the events of the past twenty-four hours. Did he feel strangely too? She knew how she was reacting to all of this and how the picketers outside the station felt (apparently, this was a sign of the apocalypse), but she wanted to hear another person’s feelings. It might validate some of her own.