Vanessa may have gotten kisses when Gina arrived at the apartment and while they were in the kitchen, but there were different levels of kissing. There was nothing wrong with cute, tender kisses. Vanessa loved the gentle, innocent moments she could have with Gina, who brought out in her the kind of sweet romance she would normally associate with young, high school puppy love.

The soft kisses were always going to be wonderful, but Vanessa and Gina were also adults. Sitting on Vanessa’s bed, nibbling at her girlfriend’s plump lips, Vanessa had decidedly less innocent thoughts running through her mind. When Gina accused her of being shameless, she did not even break the kiss as she grinned.

Her efforts were rewarded when taloned fingers carefully ran through her hair, sending a ripple of excitement through her from head to toe. Gina guided her closer and Vanessa made no attempt to resist. She felt a tongue that was not her own licking her lips, and Vanessa took that as a sign, letting the kisses grow deeper and more passionate as the heat in her body started to rise.

Vanessa’s hands were so excited to have Gina at their fingertips, they could not help but wander. Her neck, her shoulders, her waist, her hips. They wanted more Gina, and the rest of Vanessa echoed that desire. She positioned herself as close as she could get while they were both still in a sitting position, pressing her body against her girlfriend to achieve maximum available contact.

As the kissing sped up, Vanessa’s fingers found the hem of Gina’s top. They tugged at it, slipping fingertips just underneath to touch the warm skin of her stomach. She smiled and pulled away from the kiss just long enough to ask, ”So this homework… how important is it?” Her voice was low and smoky and laced with desire. They made a noble attempt at a study session, but it had just been too long since they had an intimate moment to enjoy one another and nothing else, and the need for that was too apparent to deny.

The gargoyle was putty in her girlfriend's hands, grey clay ready to be cast into a kiln or... something like that. She was so lost in the kiss and, God, Nessa's hands, that it was hard to really think about... much of anything. Nessa's hands found her waist, and the gargoyle's fingers tugged lightly-- encouragingly-- at the the brunette's hair. She barely contained the shiver that ran through her when Nessa's hand brushed against her stomach.

>> ”So this homework… how important is it?”

"Homework?" Gina echoed, unraveling her fingers momentarily. Her tone was that of someone unfamilmiar with the term. Homework, it seemed to ask? What homework? She wanted to say something enticing, something witty, but her brain had so quickly settled into this comfortable fog, that it was really difficult to find... much of anything to say. Her hand slid to the back of Nessa's neck, and Gina leaned forward, her breath teasing Nessa's ear.

"Well... it is for Human Behavior and the Social Environment..." Gina murmured. Yes, that was literally the class for which she was studying... or at least, that she was supposed to be studying for. She burrowed her face in Vanessa's neck, unable to fight the urge to kiss her, before concluding, "I could argue that... this... is studying?"

That was the best that she could do. Honestly, she liked where this was going and... well, it wasn't like there were weekly quizzes on the reading. She could catch-up later. There was a moment of lucidity where Gina chuckled at her own rationale, peppering her girlfriend in more kisses.

The way Gina said, “Homework,” like it was a word in a language she forgot was a positive sign that both women were on the same page. Vanessa sincerely never intended to be a distraction to her girlfriend, but she was hoping Gina would have stopped her if the need to study was pressing. It was fortunate for both of them that other needs were more pressing.

Vanessa liked the way Gina defending making out as a form of studying, but she loved even more how Gina’s voice was tickling at the delicate skin of her neck, where Gina had buried her face. She could have let her set up shop there forever, claiming all the territory from her jaw to her shoulder, but Vanessa had plans of her own.

To figure out a better position, Vanessa straddled Gina’s lap so they were properly face to face. Vanessa took her own turn at the dappled grey skin of Gina’s neck, but her hands had their own agenda, pulling the hem of Gina’s top slowly up her body until everything it hid was let free, and Vanessa pulled away from her girlfriend’s neck just long enough to pull the shirt off and throw it in the corner of the room.

Vanessa had much more area to explore with her kisses, but between each kiss, she murmured, ”Okay then… we’re going… to do… so much… studying… tonight.” Vanessa was not one for school and it had been years since her last “class” of any kind, but she was pretty sure she was discovering what her favorite subject was.

The gargoyle's face felt like a heat lamp from how flushed it was. Sure, she'd been with quite a few people, casually, but this... this felt different. Nessa responded with her own retaliation, and Gina helpfully inclined her head. Nessa tugged at her shirt, and a shiver ran through Gina-- probably more from hormones than from any sort of chill.

Gina fumbled with her shirt in an attempt to help Nessa remove it, but the kisses addled her coordination and led her to practically tear at the fabric, the snaps clicking free consecutively, until her wings (and chest) were free of the cotton confines of the halter tee.

>> ”Okay then… we’re going… to do… so much… studying… tonight.”

Gina's breath caught, half-lidded eyes following Nessa's wandering kisses. A gently insistent tail had gathered a ball of fabric near the hem of Nessa's shirt, and was also trying to pull the article free. One hand was propped against the mattress, her other hand knotted in Nessa's hair. While standing-by powerless to the brunette's kisses was all well and good, the gargoyle also wanted to do some of the (okay, no, a lot of the) kissing. A gentle but insistent hand unknotted itself and caught the venturing brunette's chin.

Gina kissed Nessa hungrily, a smile tinging her lips. She was damn right, they'd do so much studying.

- ftb -

Vanessa liked the unique ways Gina was different from the other women she dated, up to and including her mutations. They did have to be careful with her wings in some situations, but it was her tail that often added to the fun of a heated make-out session. The corners of Vanessa’s lips curled into a smile when she realized the tail was trying to lift her shirt off. Only the corners of her lips, though; the rest of her lips were too busy being engaged with Gina’s heated kiss.

They had been patient long enough, and they had earned every ounce of enjoyment and pleasure they were going to share.

---

Vanessa was spent in the best way. Glistening with sweat, her muscles were so loose and relaxed, she was sure she could have dissolved into a puddle of contentment and satisfaction. The only reason she even still wanted her solid, physical form was so she could remain entangled with Gina.

Relaxing on her back so Gina could keep her wings free, Vanessa had an arm looped around Gina’s bare lower back. Gina’s head was nestled against her shoulder, carefully accounting for her horns. She could feel Gina’s ample chest still against hers, moving gently with each breath. It was almost enough to warrant pouncing Gina again if she was not so exhausted from the first time. Well, times.

Glad she took the time to shave her legs, she brushed her calf against Gina’s leg and smiled. ”You’re so smoooooth. And soft,” she added, her voice feeling more like a purr than actual words. Gina’s skin was durable and resistant to tearing and biting (which Vanessa noticed,) but it was not tough like actual stone. ”And perfect. That was… really perfect, Gina.”

The moment they shared really was worth the wait. It was hot and passionate, but it was also something more tender and intimate than Vanessa was used to. She was attracted to Gina, but the connection she felt with her was more than something animal and shallow. Vanessa borrowed her face into Gina’s curly hair, kissing the top of her head. ”You’re way too easy to fall for, you know.” Her words were muffled by the hair she was pressing her lips into.

Nessa made a good pillow-- like, a really good pillow. While Gina was predisposed to be the temperature of the room around her, Nessa was warm. In this sense, the gargoyle was almost reptilian, for she glommed onto the warmest body in the room. She might have, maaaaaaaaybe dozed off, her face nestled into the crook of her girlfriend's neck. Gina was quite wrapped-around Nessa, her avian feet hitting the Nessa's calves, her tail wrapped casually around one of Nessa's ankles. One hand was draped loosely to the side, while the other had wrapped itself around Nessa's waist (and was starting to go very, very numb).

The brush against Gina's leg made the gargoyle stir, and Nessa's voice reverberated against the gargoyle's ear. Brown eyes remained closed, but Gina smiled in acknowledgement.

>> ”You’re so smoooooth. And soft, and perfect. That was… really perfect, Gina.”

A groggy chuckle escaped the gargoyle. What'd you say to that? She kissed Nessa's cheek.

"Oh stooooop," the gargoyle teased, in a voice that said she really didn't want Nessa to stop. Another kiss. Nessa had pretty kissable cheeks. Then again, Nessa was just a very kissable person overall, "It was pretty perfect, though..."

They'd apparently had quite a bit to get out of their system. Nessa kissed the gargoyle's forehead, and Gina looked up at her quietly.

>> ”You’re way too easy to fall for, you know.”

"So I've heard," the gargoyle murmured, amused. It was true-- Gina was popular with boys and girls like, for any number of reasons. People took a shine to her personality, to her physique, to her mutation-- or any combination of the three. She wasn't an easy person to hate (unless, of course, you were anti-mutant). The gargoyle tried to redirect the attention-- though she loved the shear adoration that Nessa was lavishing upon her, she could dwell for too long as the center of attention. It felt weird not to reciprocate.

"I think it's just the people I surround myself with," Gina murmured. Every few words, she peppered Nessa's neck with butterfly kisses, "Maybe you just bring out the best in me, 'cuz you're so awesome..."

It felt gratuitously cheesy to say, but in the spirit of building each other up, it needed to be said.

Vanessa did not want to rush into thinks with Gina, but it was hard to ignore the way they clicked so naturally. Conversation was easy, affection was second-nature, and sex… well, it was safe to say they were firing on all cylinders. She did not want to jump to conclusions; for a while, she thought things with Rebecca were promising. Vanessa wanted so badly to be in a relationship that just worked and Gina was starting to feel like the fit the bill, but she had to be careful. If she ended up head over heels for Gina and ended up burned again, she would find herself back on the couch, drinking along and spiraling again.

Still, she wanted to be optimistic. Such a beautiful “first time” was not the ideal moment to panic about the future. Gina gave her no reason to think she would ever hurt her like Rebecca did, so Vanessa had to work on not letting her past experiences color new ones. She might have to accept that Gina was the perfect girlfriend until proven otherwise.

The fluttering of long eyelashes on her neck left that patch of skin tingling. ”I mean, I’m pretty sure you being perfect has nothing to do with me being so awesome. They are both true, but probably unrelated,” she joked, playfully squeezing Gina’s bottom. It was almost instinctual to be touching Gina at all times when she was so close and available for touching.

Emitting a contented sigh, Vanessa closed her eyes and grew sincere. ”I’m really serious, though. This who thing… I can’t remember someone making me happy like this. I’m just scared,” she admitted. ”I know it’s still early. I just really don’t want to think about this ending one day.” Vanessa did not want to sound like a pessimist or a clingy girlfriend, but she also learned how important communication was in a relationship and she wanted to be honest with Gina. She wanted to know she was doing things right this time.

The gargoyle smiled, resting her head against Nessa as the older woman artfully deflected Gina's dismissive remark. Maybe they were both just cool people, completely independent of one another, and it had nothing to do with the other's positive influence. Sure, Gina could accept that. Or rather, she was just too cozy to debate. Gina squirmed a bit when Nessa grabbed her butt, but the gesture earned a conciliatory chuckle.

The gargoyle wasn't necessarily as cerebral as her girlfriend, but she listened as Nessa vented about her concerns... about how the whole thing made her so happy, and how it scared her to think of it ending. Gina traced one of Nessa's collarbones, tilting her head to look up at her.

"I try to just enjoy it for what it is," the gargoyle purred, "In this very moment."

There was no judgment in her tone. She wasn't chastising Vanessaa in the least. It was just who Gina was. She wasn't up in her own head too much, becasue she was too busy looking outwardly. Gina kissed Nessa's cheek, because it felt like the right thing to do-- and, as mentioned before, Nessa had very kissable cheeks.

"That makes sense, though," Gina affirmed her girlfriend's concerns, "No one wants a good thing to end."

For example... Gina didn't want these cozy cuddles to end, either. But her bladder had other plans. And try as she might to fight it...

"Ugh," the gargoyle groaned, interrupting the comfortable, warm snuggles, "Be right back. Gotta go potty."

Thanks, nature. You're a pal. Carefully, the gargoyle disentangled herself, but not with momentarily flopping on the brunette for another moment of complaining. The momentary sulking led to hastily wriggling into panties and her shirt (They were alone but, when one lived with three roommates, old habits died hard.) and an even hastier retreat from the bedroom into the bathroom. Both doors were gently shut behind the gargoyle as she went.

Naked girlfriend time was probably the best time for Vanessa. Obviously, everything that got them there was very satisfactory, but there was something peaceful about cuddling with Gina and feeling the softness of her body with no barriers between them. Tail flicking, butt grabbing, neck nuzzling. Being in bed with Gina was Vanessa’s new happy place and the lack of clothes helped.

Gina recognized her girlfriend’s concerns, however irrational they may be, and handled them with grace. The last thing Vanessa needed was to be told to calm down or stop freaking out over nothing. It was refreshing to have Gina point out that her concerns were valid, but she thought it was best to focus on how good things were rather than how poorly they could end. Their relationship was great and the easiest way to screw that up would be to worry about hypotheticals that were influenced by nothing related to with Gina. ”You’re right. Right now, I really like us. That’s what matters” Gina sealed the discussion with a kiss on the cheek and Vanessa replied with a content hum.

Her joy deflated when Gina had to leave her side, but Vanessa only pouted. Nature was calling, and there would be plenty of cuddling to follow Gina’s return. She resigned herself to watching Gina in all her glory as she covered up with panties and a shirt. ”Mmmm, hurry back. The bed’s not as fun without you,” she purred.

Gina walked out into the hallway and Vanessa laid out flat on her back. How often did she get perfect days? Her brain almost got in the way, but Gina had a way of bringing Vanessa back to a better place. It was a lucky day and she was the luckiest girl in New York. She doubted anything could get in her way on such an amazing day.

Pulse by Prof. Bre were amazing headphones. Booker was extremely happy with his latest purchase. As he marched down the sidewalk, listening to a rather energetic song in honor of the season, the tall, muscular librarian in his beige, button-up shirt, bowtie, and dark slacks, looked somewhat comical. The large, blood-red headphones that covered his ears drowned out all outside sound to the point that he kept forgetting he was alone. That, as it would prove, was not the best of circumstances for Booker as the man absolutely loved to dance.

As he spun on his heel, Booker sauntered into the building, dipping his head in greeting to a pair of women who exited. He offered them both a friendly smile and they, in turn, stripped him of clothing with their eyes. Normally, as he was already in a relationship, Booker would have felt uncomfortable to receive such gazes, but he was far too elated to really care right now.

Booker was in a good mood. He got to work early, managed to get most of his projects done early, and was now able to head home early too! Nessa may not like her space invaded without warning, but what did he care? It was his home too and he shouldn’t have to get permission to come home early. Besides, Nessa knew the rules: if she were busy with anything, then she would text him so that he could take his time coming home. Considering that he had already had to deal with the embarrassment of having her walk in on him and Jules, the two siblings had worked out that communication was the key.

And it was.

Taking the stairs, always good cardio, Booker landed on his floor and continued his dance down the hallway. He pulled his phone from his pocket, whistling lightly to himself as he checked his work emails one last time. So far it seemed that all of his work was holding and no one was bugging him for questions. Awesome, he was going to just flop on the couch and catch up watching Stephen Galaxy. He was so far behind!

A quick turn of the key and Booker was in the apartment, his eyes still locked onto his phone. With the durable headphones on his head, he didn’t see or hear anything that could possibly be amiss so the young man strolled onward, dropping his keys in a nearby dish by the door. Another burn turn and Booker made it a point to stop by the restroom to freshen up before said couch floppage would happen. No thought as to knocking, and Booker grabbed the door handle, turned, and pushed it open.

Nudity. Scales. Wings. Booker only caught a glance of the other person in the bathroom before he yelled. ”OH MY GOD! I’M SORRY! I’M SO SORRY!” He said as he fumbled and pulled the door closed. He stood on the other side, eyes wide, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. How did he manage to walk into the wrong apartment...again? But at this thought he stopped and glanced around...hey, this was his apartment. Why was there a stranger in the house? Hey! This is my house! Why are you in there? I mean, I know WHY you’re in there but why are in here period?!” He demanded.

Of course, even if she answered, he couldn't hear her. He had forgotten that his headphones were still on. No wonder Vincent Price was cackling in his ear.

Gina did her business, and was humming a little tune to herself as she washed her hands. The lights of the bathroom were a little too bright, and she'd be happy to retreat back into the cozy warmth of Nessa's bed (and of Nessa) once again. A door clicked in the distance. Huh? The gargoyle's ear twitched. What was that? Nessa did live with her brother so maybe he was back for the day. She'd have to go put on some pants and say hello. No worries. The gargoyle quieted her absentminded singing to humming-- once she was... done washing her hands, that is.

She felt the influence of the aura before she saw the owner of said aura. Suddenly dappled grey skin started to transition to a deep, warm tan-- beginning at her forearm and spreading outward. Gina shut-off the sink, her eyes widening. Of course, having attended Xavier's and been in the company of Mama T, she knew what was happening, but it didn't make the experience any less jarring. Somehow Nessa had conveniently forgotten to mention that her brother was an Adapted. Or maybe she didn't know? Hmmm... Gina was drying her hands when the door suddenly swung open. A very handsome dude still had his hand on the knob. Nessa's brother, meet Nessa's girlfriend, sin pantalones.

The gargoyle, not usually a timid person, squawked in alarm a flush overwhelming her face. He lived with his sister, for f**k's sake! Hadn't he heard of knocking?! At least she wasn't still peeing.

>> ”OH MY GOD! I’M SORRY! I’M SO SORRY!”

Bury her in jeans, tell her loved ones she died pantsless. The gargoyle was too mortified to speak. She thought the door was going to be closed, but just like that it was open again. At this point, the cinnamon skintone had overtaken her arm and was working its way across her face.

>> "Hey! This is my house! Why are you in there? I mean, I know WHY you’re in there but why are in here period?!”

An owl-eyed gargoyle bit her lip, glancing towards the shared wall between the bathroom and Nessa'a bedroom, and then looked owlishly back towards the guy in the doorway.

"Heeeey, babe?" Gina called, her voice having the upwards lilt of a question, "I think your brother's home." She "thought"?! He was blocking her only way out. Gina couldn't help but crack a smile, which grew into an awkward chuckle. This had to be like... a milestone of a friendship, seeing a person in their underwear... and here they were, not even knowing who the other was.

"I'm... Gina?" the gargoyle hazarded. There was no way Nessa had kept her a secret... right? "Nessa's girlfriend?" Nessa's pantsless girlfriend. Another chuckle burbled up in the gargoyle, and she covered her face. How embarrassing.

Vanessa was in her own little world of post-coital bliss waiting for her girlfriend to return to bed. They had real time together, free from the other stresses of life, and it was everything she could have asked for. She had been long overdue for physical and emotional intimacy, and now that she got a taste, she wanted to revel in it as long as she could. Vanessa was already considering how she could convince Gina to spend the night.

Somewhere outside her glow, Vanessa was sure she heard a man’s voice shouting. One of her neighbors was a man, so she wanted to dismiss it. She had too many good things to think about to wonder what kind of argument some hot head was getting into.

The shout did dismiss some of the happy haze, so even through her door, Vanessa was able to recognize the following voice calling out. Gina was calling to her by name, followed by what? It took a moment for her next comment to process, but when it hit Vanessa, the happy clouds were gone.

Wide-eyed when she remembered that Gina decided to forgo her pants on the trip to the bathroom, Vanessa stumbled out of her bed with a thud, dragging a sheet with her to wrap around her bare body. The telepath burst through her door, with half her sheet still dragging around her feet as she witnessed what she feared had happened.

Booker had his headphones in, but the look on his face was of a man who did not expect a half-naked young woman in his bathroom. Gina was giggly, which was comforting, but it was also not the most noticeable change at a glance.

Vanessa never gave much thought to the way an adapted would affect Gina. She thought some of the non-physical aspects of her mutation would shut off and her wings and tail might become dead weight, but she underestimated the effect. Gina’s grey, dappled skin was turning to soft tones of cinnamon, spreading slowly across her body. The spreading skin tone started down her legs, reminding a stunned Vanessa why she was in the hallway in the first place.

”Oh my God, okay,” she said, figuring out where to start. ”Booker—Booker, take your headphones off!” Vanessa knew all too well how hard it could be for Booker to hear when his headphones were still on.

It was inopportune, but she realized introductions could wait no longer. ”Booker, this is Gina, my girlfriend. Gina, sweetie, this is my brother, Booker.” Her confused look faded to a more in-character annoyance as she pointedly added, ”My brother who was not supposed to be home for a while. I know because I checked.” Before things really got hot and heavy, Vanessa took a quick look at a clock so she could eyeball how much time she had before Booker returned. He could have picked a better day to finish work early, but Vanessa was starting to believe their apartment was just cursed and awkward first impressions were forever going to be the norm.

Okay so there are a lot of things that Booker B. Bookman expects when he walks into his home: he expects to see that amazing GLOOM game poster that Nessa got Romero to sign hanging on the wall, he expected to usually find a pile of Nessa’s clothes SOMEWHERE in the apartment, and he expected to find at least one dish sitting in the sink because his sister is hellbent on driving him crazy. So there were just certain things that one should expect when they walk into their own home. The last thing he expected to see was a curvaceous, pantless woman in his bathroom that he didn’t know. That was just not in the cards.

For a second there it didn’t connect why this person was there. Of course he profusely apologized when he saw his mistake in walking in on them and closed the door. However, the realization that the GLOOM poster, the pile of clothes, and the one dish in the sink all being in their correct places proved that he wasn’t in the wrong here. There was a stranger in the bathroom and that made him want to seek out some answers. So, rather than letting the bathroom door fully close again, he pushed it back open, eyeing the woman. Answers. Now.

Booker fumbled through his questions, but the general jist of it came out. Why was she here? From his tone, he wanted clarification on whether or not she was trespassing but it was up to the other one to decide how she would answer. Strangely enough, when she opened her mouth, all the librarian could hear was Michael Jackson being sung to perfection. Really this young woman had a marvelous voice. But what did that have to do with anything?

Movement out of the corner of his caused him to turn and there he spotted his sister, draped like an ancient greek (or a frat boy on his way to a toga party) in a sheet. She was yelling at him but she too sounded like Michael Jackson. The hell? When she gestured towards his ears, Booker reached up in confusion, feeling the oversized cups of the earphones covering his ears.

>> ”Booker—Booker, take your headphones off!”

Booker pried the headphones off just in time to catch the tail end yelling of his sister’s voice. He winced, tapped a button on the side of the headphones to silence them and then addressed. ”Alright, alright, stop yelling at me! Wait, WHY are you yelling at me when there’s a stranger in the bathroom!” he said, gesturing towards it.

However, the other person, with a smile as sweet as absolute pie, was finding humor in the situation. Another glance at her and Booker could see that her skin tone was seemingly changing over into something that was decidedly more human looking. It confused him for a moment but then he suddenly realized that yes, duh, she was a mutant and he was an adapted. That meant her powers were shutting off.

>>"I'm... Gina? Nessa's girlfriend?"

>>”Booker, this is Gina, my girlfriend. Gina, sweetie, this is my brother, Booker...My brother who was not supposed to be home for a while. I know because I checked.”

He blinked. The wheels caught up and he realized who it was he was looking at. This wasn’t a stranger, well, technically she was a stranger to him since they had never met, but he knew the name and the pieces of her description that Nessa had shared with him: Cute, bubbly smile, and bouncy curls. All those descriptors fit Gina to a T, but there was clearly some aspects that his lovely sister had left out. Not that it bothered Booker, he loved mutants, but some warning would have been nice.

Nessa then tried to toss him under the bus by commenting that he shouldn’t have been home for awhile. Granted, Booker was home a bit earlier than he normally would be, but again, they had a whole communication dialogue set up between them after the last time she walked in on him and Juliette. If she was going to blatantly ignore those rules, then this was just anarchy!

He sighed, turning back to Gina and giving her a sweet, yet embarrassed smile. ”Gina. It’s, um, lovely to meet you. My apologies for causing you any undress...I mean...distress…” his cheeks flushed a little as he hung his head down, resting his hand over his eyes in politeness. ”It seems that while my sister has a firm knowledge of my schedule, she has yet to grasp our earlier conversations about TEXTING in these instances. So, that being said, I’ll...close the door now. Again, lovely to meet you!”

Eyes closed, Booker closed the door to allow Gina her privacy. When that was down, he turned his full form back to Nessa and eyed her.

”You know, if you’re not going to live up to your end of the bargain by texting when your girlfriends are running around with no pants on, which me and Jules have MORE than happily kept up on, then why did we even draw up that contract!? You realize that notaries are expensive, right?”

Pulling his headphones from around his neck, Booker detached them from his phone and made his way to the kitchen. He needed a shot of root beer. Aw screw it, a shot root beer with ice cream in it! The hard stuff...

Gina managed to stop her giggling long enough to watch the interaction between Nessa and the aforementioned Booker. Booker, as in, brother-Booker. The Adapted brother-Booker.

"Nice to meet you," Gina mustered a full sentence, though her voice was thick with humor. It was around then that her tail went limp. Like, totally limp. Whaaaaaat the... she'd never been in Gemma's aura for long enough to hit this stage of unshifting. She backed-up a bit further into the bathroom, but to no avail. Apparently Booker had a huge range. Her vision blurred-- or perhaps a better way of putting was, started to lose its high-definition. The light wasn't as glaring. Their voices weren't as loud. And her skin was now... totally... human, all the way down to her toes.

At least her feet didn't look weird. But... this was kind of weird. Especially the whole limp-tail and dim vision thing.

"Um..." there wasn'r really a polite way to ask someone to leave. Thankfully, Booker dismissed himself.

>> ”Gina. It’s, um, lovely to meet you. My apologies for causing you any undress...I mean...distress… It seems that while my sister has a firm knowledge of my schedule, she has yet to grasp our earlier conversations about TEXTING in these instances. So, that being said, I’ll...close the door now. Again, lovely to meet you!”

And like that, Gina was closed in the bathroom.

"UM..." the gargoyle was momentarily bewildered by this, looking towards the overhead light or the toothbrush cup for answers. They offered none. Through the door she could hear Booker speaking hurriedly to Nessa, presumedly grilling her about the partially-clothed gargoyle in the restroom. It wouldn't be polite to intrude on their conversation... but Gina was also sequestered in the bathroom with no foreseeable way of escaping.

And, goddamnit, Booker's aura was still working its magic. The gargoyle smiled, a laugh attempting to escape through her nose as a snort, and she took a seat on the cusp of the bathtub, making sure not to step on her own tail.

"Mmm, I wear tan well," she mused to herself, surveying her legs. Eventually they'd realize that she was closed-in here and let the garogyle back out.

If she found herself in Gina’s situation, Vanessa was unsure how she would have reacted. Maybe she would be mortified if her girlfriend’s brother stumbled upon her without pants, but Gina was handling herself with poise. When she greeted Booker, it even sounded like she was able to see the humor in the situation. If that was how Gina handled awkward situations, Vanessa, who had a habit of summoning them, would want to keep her around for a long time.

To his credit, Booker acknowledged that it was time to bow out and leave the girlfriends alone. He was polite and, despite one Freudian slip, made his gentlemanly exit. Vanessa was almost thankful for her brother before he turned around to throw her under the bus. ”You could have texted, too!” she shot back, but Booker’s door was already closed.

While her brother ducked into his room, Gina was hiding in the bathroom. Vanessa followed her in, finally able to really look over her soft, tan skin. From head to toe, she looked human. Her tail was lip and Vanessa could have sworn Gina’s wings seemed shorter, but her fingers and toes were pretty much human. ”I guess it doesn’t quite come back right away, huh?” Booker was finally out of range, but Gina was not immediately changing back.

It was an unexpected change of pace, but Gina was handling the transformation in stride, admiring her own legs. ”I want to be careful with how I say this. You are unbelievably gorgeous when you’re grey. The hottest woman I know, bar none,” she clarified emphatically. ”But you wear tan damn well. In either form, you are still utterly irresistible.”

To prove her point, Vanessa sat next to Gina on the edge of the bathtub so she could lean in and kiss the girl’s neck. The sheet she was dragging was on the bathroom floor, leaving Vanessa bare once more. She tugged at the neckline of Gina’s top to expose more of her neck. Vanessa loved Gina’s grey skin, but it was deceptively durable, meaning Vanessa could not do certain things. With the lingering effects of Booker’s aura, however, Vanessa could pick a spot of sensitive skin to nibble and suck at with the intention of leaving a nice, impressive hickey. It would not be something she could do often, so she had to take advantage.

”That’s better,” she murmured, pulling away with a mischievous grin. ”You can wear that, too, for a few days…”