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Gina nibbled away at her ice cream, sighing at the idea of such a job.

“That would be the dream,” Gina murmured, “But then we might start hating ice cream.”

Her mom had always regaled the days of working at a pizza place and, after returning home with the scent of pizza clinging to her pores, she’d grown to hate it. In fact, for the first few years of Gina’s young life, her mother wouldn’t even touch the stuff. She’d munch away at a salad while her children enjoyed the feat. Though “hating ice cream” seemed impossible, the gargoyle feared that a dark day such as that might one day come.

The gargoyle was delighted when her friend agreed to walking. Good! The wind in her hair might shake-free any brain-addling thoughts. The two returned to strolling arm-in-arm, each enjoying their respective ice-cream cones. The gargoyle’s eyes wandered along the boardwalk, straining towards brightly colored buildings in the distance, drinking in the people around them, while listening to Nessa talk. She recalled Nessa mentioning that she was a New York native.

“Native to the City, or to the State?” the gargoyle queried, before taking another thoughtful lick of ice cream. It was a fair question—some people were from upstate, and vehement that there was “more to New York than the city”.

“I actually grew up in a coastal town,” the gargoyle admonished, smiling, “A tiny place on the North Coast called Mendocino. Very pretty, very touristy.” Gina chased a dribble of ice cream that was starting to dribble down the cone, “I’m not much of a swimmer, but I was definitely down by the water a lot. My favorite thing was to fly out to little islands and pretend that I was the queen of them.”

And there were always plenty of rocky outcroppings to speak-of. Mendocino was on a ridge above a small bay, after all. Not at all like the sandy, people-filled beach along which the boardwalk ran. It was quieter. Dotted with redwoods. Covered in fog. It was strange to think of how different two beaches, two oceans, could be. Gina smiled, realizing that she’d gotten lost in thought.

“Gosh, I’m sorry,” Gina chirped suddenly, shaking her head, “It’s so easy to get nostalgic.”

She loved the city, she really did... but that didn't change the fact that Mendocino was her home.

Khalil toed sand over the small bonfire, squelching-out the flames. Smoke meagerly swam skyward, the final cough of surrender. Now in the wee light of the hastily-setting sun, the two dimly-lit figures stood. Khalil extended his free hand, crafting a ball of fire in his palm, bringing some light back for them to see by.

>> "Can we fly? I might be your mirror, but it doesn't come withs a manual."

“I can fly,” Khalil remarked, his tone genuine as he circled behind June, his brows stitched, “I don’t know if you can…”

Her wings looked big enough, but… whether or not the appropriate musculature was there was open to debate.

“If you open your wings,” Khalil explained, fanning his own wings as he spoke, “You will notice that they are like a bat’s, yes? And bat wings are very much like a person’s arm and hand, just… deformed.”

He’d never taught someone how to fly before, so he was trying to explain the best he could.

“What you’ll want to do is bend your knees, and then jump with all of your might,” he continued, “As you do this, you’ll beat your wings once, to get off the ground… if you can. Like this…”

Khalil bent at his knees and, like a coiled spring, launched off of the ground, beating his wings once. The force carried him about ten feet into the air, but he did not continue sailing upwards. Gravity carried him back down, his feet making contact with the sand and sending a wave around his feet.

"It's like... stretching your arms out wide, and then snapping them downwards. Like... swimming?"

He wasn't a very accomplished swimmer (that is to say, he didn't swim at all), so Khalil was mostly just looking for a metaphor rather than speaking from experience.

“If not…” Khalil offered, “You look small enough. I could easily carry you.”

The gargoyle’s tail gave an excited shiver when Nessa declared ice cream to be an acceptable food and led the two towards the truck. In fact, the tail continued eagerly flicking as the two queued up and surveyed the menu, which proclaimed the flavors and various dishes available. Of course, there were the usual flavors—cookies and cream, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, mint—but there were some more unique ones as well. Gina fell behind as Nessa stepped-up to the window, absently rummaging for her wallet while she continued reading the board. The unique flavors were also of interest, but if those were a bust, she always had the classics to return to.

>> ”Your turn, Genie. And her order? It’s on me, too.”

Gina’s tail paused in its excited flick and curl, and she looked at her friend in mild alarm. At this point, she’d managed to fish her wallet out—a long, blue canvas wallet with a repeating pattern of two otters holding paws.

“Oh gosh, are you sure?” the gargoyle asked, gaping, “I mean, it’d be no trouble-“ to pay for herself, that is, “-and I was going to get a double scoop, I’d hate to impose.”

She stood rooted in her spot for a few moments, her tail resuming its idle flick and curl as she returned her attention to the menu—oo! That looked pretty yummy… she shuffled towards the window, her wings fluttering slightly.

“May I please get the honey vanilla lavender?” the gargoyle asked, resting her taloned hands on the metal surface outside of the window. Her wallet was still in her grasp as she step aside for Nessa to pay.

“Thank you so much,” the gargoyle said graciously, smiling. She was used to money being tight (as a college student), and each paying their own way when it came to outings. As such, when someone offered to spring for food, Gina was deeply appreciative. It took a few minutes for the attendants to scoop the ice cream, but soon enough they were poking their head out the window and offering two ice cream cones, one of a definitively chocolate variety, and the other the white-gold of vanilla. The two girls eagerly took their cones.

“Thank you!” Gina said, surveying the work. They weren’t stingy with their scoops, she’d give them that. Two meaty scoops stacked on atop the other in a waffle cone, with flecks here-and-there (Gina assumed theses to be lavender).

“Cheers,” the gargoyle said, before taking a lick of ice cream. The flavor was incredible—predominantly vanilla, but the honey gave it a sweet kick. The lavender underlined, but didn’t overpower, the ice cream as a whole.

“Nessa, you have to try this,” the gargoyle said, her tongue chasing after a budding ice cream mustache. Gina held the cone out towards Nessa, who'd paid for it after all, adding-on, “It’s amazing…”

The corners of Gina’s eyes pinched—not in a smile, but in grave understanding. Her mouth tugged at one side. Rehab. At least that was “help”, but that meant that some sort of substance abuse was at play, and that type of thing was never easy. She couldn’t even bring herself to say anything when Agnes confessed that she didn’t know what to do. Gina was in no position to tell Agnes what to do, beyond what she’d already said… and even the gargoyle wasn’t so vindictive as to say, “Be there for her.” That was a no-brainer.

Gina was also inspecting the table, her brain working through the gymnastics of associating with Agnes, Rebecca, and Vanessa. Agnes was her sister, so despite the bumps in the road, the gargoyle would try to make it work. Becca was also a dear friend. But Nessa… Nessa hadn’t done anything wrong, had she? Maybe she had, but Gina wasn’t aware of it—so that meant—well—hanging out with Nessa wasn’t a bad thing. The gargoyle rolled her lips together, the urge to say something churning in her throat. Agnes beat her to the punch. She was gathering her things. She wasn’t finishing her drink?!

>> ”I’m sorry. I…It’s probably best for me to just go.”

Gina also rose—her food, her drink, was finished—there was nothing really tying her to the table anymore. She could respect her sister needing space. That’s just how Agnes was. But she couldn’t just leave like that. Gina was grabbing her bag as Agnes was already making her retreat.

“Agnes!” Gina said urgently, wrestling with the strap that’d gotten stuck to the café chair. She freed the strap and jogged after her sister, “Aggs, hold up!”

When Gina caught up, the two were crossing the threshold to the street. The gargoyle grasped for her sister’s hand, hoping to hold her still for just a moment. She’d let Agnes run, but she’d be damned if her friend ran forever.

“Aggs,” Gina said, straightening herself, “Th- this is gonna… take time for me to process. Okay? A-and yes, I am disappointed, but I know you’ll do the right thing. ‘C-cuz you’re not a bad person. Okay?”

It had to be said. Gina would do anything to make sure her sister didn’t beat herself up too much over this, though they both knew she probably would, at least a little. She probably already was. Gina wrapped her arms around her sister’s waist, constricting her in a hug.

“So I’m gonna let you go,” Gina said… though she wasn’t letting go, yet—she was still holding-on, because she still had things to say, “And give you your space ‘cuz I know you need it.” And maybe Gina needed it, too, but Gina was focusing on her sister, “Just don’t, like, be a stranger. Okay?”

The gargoyle interrupted her face-rubbing to take another long sip of her mocha. Once consumed, she breathed a sigh-- both regaining her breath and mulling over what Agnes was saying. River suspected something but didn't know exactly what was going-on. And Agnes couldn't tell her because "she was going through a lot".

"Aggs," the gargoyle groaned. She fully understood the wanting to handle the collateral. Hell, in the few break-ups Gina had experienced, she did her best to let them down gently, too. She had even managed to keep a few of her ex's around as friends, but... well, she never cheated-on any of those ex's.

"Is she getting help?" the gargoyle asked gently. That was the social work major side of her speaking. If someone was going through a lot, whatever that entailed, they needed help. She took another sip of her mocha, cradling the mug in her hands. There was maybe a sip or two left in the mug. The gargoyle rocked her hands back and forth, causing the mocha to swirl around in the mug. Part of her was inclined to keep venting, but truth be told... they were still in a cafe, and Agnes was still her sister, and Gina felt like she was being fairly overt about her opinions of the whole thing. Though she wasn't saying anything, her reactions and body language communicated surprise and disappointment.

"You need to tell her," the gargoyle reiterated. She was sure her sister knew that, "You owe her that. When the time's right."

How could Agnes disrespect River like that? Sure, River hadn't exactly been the nicest person at Gina's birthday party... but no one deserved to be betrayed like that. It was totally selfish. Gina took another sip of mocha, letting a silence settle there. How did you move-on from a revelation like that? Returning to small talk felt so... disingenuous. The gargoyle realized that her gaze had fixated on a spot on the floor. She let her eyes wander back to Agnes.

The gargoyle tilted her chin at Sam, "I think I can handle myself."

She could control whatever Sam was implying by "oh, but I have a girlfriend" nonsense. He was a former teacher and, although a good-looking former teacher, it would be too f***ing weird to even think about him like. And as per the whole "you couldn't deal with me" schtick, what was he going to do? Attack a volunteer on school grounds, over contraband? That'd go over well. Unless he meant "you couldn't haul my drunk *ss up the stairs if I passed out", in which case Gina would just fetch someone else.

So perhaps she was getting a little worked-up. Thankfully, Sam yielded and began trudging towards the stairs. The querrelous gargoyle followed dutifully behind him. Sam threatened detention if she called him "Mr. Johnson" one more time, and the gargoyle quirked a smile.

"As you wish, Mr. Sam," the gargoyle teased, ascending the stairs. A silence stretched between them but, even when annoyed, the gargoyle didn't handle quietness well.

"What've you been up to?" Gina asked, out of the blue, "Besides today, I mean. In the grand scheme of things. You have a girlfriend now?"

She didn't remember Sam having a girlfriend when she was a student.