Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was early morning and Richard found herself wandering the beach. She wasn't doing anything in particular, just enjoying the cool surf crash around her ankles. She was hoping to run across the snake man by wandering places she didn't frequent. The beach was certainly one such place, she hadn't been back since she had lost her taste for alcohol.

She wore a pair of shorts and a T-shirt with a red squid on it. As she walked she allowed her tentacle's tip to touch the water, savoring the salty water.

Richard heard barking in the distance and peered across the sands, shielding her eyes with an oversized handpaw. Against the glare she saw what appeared to be a dog and someone with a very large tail. She squinted at the pair, trying to place them. She didn't have much to time to look however as the dog was charging directly for her!

Acting before thinking she shifted her balance as her tentacles whipped in to striking position, trailing droplets of water. Her claws un sheathed.

She felt a might bit silly when she saw the dog had a stick in its mouth and wagging tail.

Richard suddenly felt very exposed, here in the open Nita could see Richard's radically changed body. She wearing only a T-shirt and a pair of above the knee shorts that were obviously not made for a man. She made a mewl of embrassment as she felt Nita's eyes on her body. Her arms raised as if to shield her chest from view but forced them back down to her sides, determined to make like it was no big deal anymore.

Her tail lashed nervously hind her, its tip skipping the water as she forced herself to smile nervously at Nita. A meeting that wasn't on her terms was awkward. "Hello Nita." The voice was a still sounded nothing like it had a month ago. "Good morning for a walk eh?"

Richard nodded at Nita, "I think I can understand that, I have been.. spared the fur issue thus far." She wondered how hot black fur would be as she cast glance at the trace amounts of black fuzz that covered the back of her handpaws. She grimaced, they looked bald to her, diseased. She knew that thought and similar ones were products of the feline DNA and did her best to ignore them. It wasn't easy.

She brightened at the prospect of news even though the motivation to actually do another newsletter was nearly gone. "Info? She cocked her head to the side in a feline manner. "What have you heard?"

Richard smiled a little as Nita explained her little project. "Ah yes the recycling project. I heard about that a bit from Marshall." Her mood darkened some as she recalled Marshall's terror at her changes. "Between stutters, the little coward." The grumbling was more to herself but was perfectly audible to Nita.

"Anyway, I think there is a fair chance I will be getting rid of some old clothing soon. Just haven't gotten around to it yet." She licked the back of a handpaw and ran it though her hair. Her gaze drifted out to sea, a scowl creeping over her features. Getting rid of all her male clothes felt like a surrender to her. It was silly to hang on to things she could not use anymore but getting rid of them would be admitting to herself that she'd never be male again.

Searching for a shift away from these dangerous thoughts she reached for a different conversation topic. "So... how are you and Gaius working out?" It was a blunt question from a nosey woman she knew. But relationships on the island were always interesting to hear about.

"The labs decided to keep you and Gaius apart?" Richard repeated, clearly confused. "Why would they do that? I've never heard of them intervening to prevent a coupling. Seems odd."

Richard gave a feline snort. "A long distance relationship at twenty five feet. I would say that would make things a bit difficult." There was a hint of amusement in the cat woman's voice. "Gaius and Zach have quite a history I hear, fortunately for myself I haven't talk to Zach in months. Its not worth the effort."

Something flashed in the water, drawing Richard's eyes, she took a step into the ocean. "I don't suppose Sabin has set a condition on this latest little game?" Richard was fairly confident that the ocean would make it difficult to be overheard here.

Richard squinted at the water's surface but the frothy surf made it impossible to see anything through the water. She shrug and turned back to Nita as she pondered what she knew of Durvert. "Have you talked to the man at all?" Richard was curious to know how active Sabin was with affairs in the village.